Professor Yuan Shishuo, a native of Yanzhouxian, Shandong Province was born in 1929. In 1953, he graduated from Shandong University’s Department of Chinese Language and Literature and thereafter stayed on as a teaching staff at his alma mater. He rose through the faculty ranks, first as a Graduate Teaching Assistant, then as Lecturer and Associate Professor, and finally, Professor. He is currently Professor with lifetime tenure in the School of Literature at Shandong University.

Professor Yuan’s major field of study is Ancient (Traditional) Chinese Literature. He specializes particularly in philological and textual research in the traditions of Chinese literary culture and Sinology in general, as well as in modern and contemporary literary criticism. Professor Yuan has conducted especially thorough cutting-edge investigations and studies of the lives and deeds of Kong Shangren and Pu Songling, two renowned writers of Traditional China, and he has also rendered uniquely insightful and penetrating analyses and interpretations of a number of widely read and enjoyed Classical Chinese novels.

In addition to his faculty positions, Professor Yuan has been a leader in many scholarly and literary organizations. He has served as Vice Chairman of the Shandong Branch of the Chinese Writers Association, and an expert consultant for the review and assessment of projects for the Planning Commission of the National Foundation for Philosophy and the Social Sciences. He was a member of the Leadership Group for the Editorial Planning Board of the National Ancient Texts Restoration and Management Publishing House, as well as President of the Shandong Association of Classical Literature Studies. He is the Chief Expert on the Writing and Editing Panel for the production and publication of the textbook/teaching material project A History of Ancient Chinese Literature, under the aegis of the National Project of Marxist Theory Research and Construction.
Academic Achievements.

Professor Yuan has authored the following major monographs: A Biographical Chronology of Kong Shangren; A New Study of the Deeds and Writings of Pu Songling; Literary Historical Studies of Novels of the Ming and Qing Dynasties; A Critical Biography of Pu Songling (coauthored with Xu Zhongwei); The Tattered Broom Collection; and Collected Lectures at Jixia. In addition, Professor Yuan has authored and published more than a hundred papers and articles of research on subjects of literature and literary studies in various academic journals. He is Editor-in-Chief of A History of Chinese Literature(Higher Education Press, 8^th Edition);A Selection of Literary Works of Traditional China (People's Literature Publishing House);A History of Chinese Literature (Renmin University of China Press edition);A History of Ancient Chinese Literature (Higher Education Press); The Complete Works of Wang Shizhen; and The Collected Works of Lu Hanru and Feng Yuanjun.

Professor Yuan’s scholarly works have been widely read and critically acclaimed. A New Study of the Deeds and Writings of Pu Songlinghas been reviewed domestically in Our Literary Legacy, Wen-Shi-Zhe (A Journal of Literature, History and Philosophy), and in Social Sciences in Shanghai. Abroad, reviews of this monograph have appeared in Japan in Toho (“Oriental Studies,” a journal of reviews,) and in Chugoku kodaishosetsukenkyudotai(Recent Developments in the Study of Traditional Chinese Novels), as well as in the Journal of the Association For Asian Studies in the United States of America. For this monograph, Professor received a Highest Level of Excellence Prize for Outstanding Achievement in the Social Sciences in Shandong Province, as well as Highest Level of Excellence Prize for Excellence of Achievement in the Humanities and Social Sciences in the first year of the conferring of the prize by the Chinese Ministry of Education. For A Selection of Literary Works of Traditional China Professor Yuan was awarded a Level-Two National Prize for Excellence in Teaching. Both The Complete Works of Wang Shizhen; and The Collected Works of Lu Hanru and Feng Yuanjunwere nominated by the Chinese government as Outstanding Books of the Nation. In 2008, Professor Yuan received the Award for Outstanding Contribution to Philosophy and the Social Sciencesin Shandong Province and in 2009, he won Shandong University’s Outstanding Merit Award For Training and Nurturing Young Talent.

A detailed academic database for Professor Yuan Shishuo:

Field(s) of Research and Academic Specialty(ies):Ancient (Traditional) Chinese Literature; Literature of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties

Most Representative Scholarly Writings and Publications Over the Years (limit to 3-5 items):A Biographical Chronology of Kong Shangren; A New Study of the Deeds and Writings of Pu Songling; Literary Historical Studies of Novels of the Ming and Qing Dynasties; (Annotations of) A Collection of Critically Selected Poems From the Qing Dynasty; A Critical Biography of Pu Songling (coauthored with Xu Zhongwei)

Results of Research Work Published or Presented Since 2000 (Books/Monographs/Articles published. Include details of publication: Title, Publisher or Periodical in which the item is published – indicating whether the periodical is a CSSCI Source, year and date of publication, volume/issue number, word-count, personal role, and Categorization [Special/A/B/C]):

· A Critical Biography of Pu Songling (coauthored with Xu Zhongwei), 220,000 characters, Nanjing University Press, June 2000

· A Selection of Literary Works of Traditional China (Chief Editor), 1.4 million characters, People's Literature Publishing House, May 2002

· ABiography of Pu Songling(Chief Editor) 350,000 characters, Shandong People’s Press, May 2003

· A History of Chinese Literature (Chief Editor), 1 million characters, Renmin University of China Press, November 2006

· The Works of Wang Shizhen(Chief Editor), 3.5 million characters, QiluShushe Publishers, 2007

· “An Explanation of the Qing-Dynasty Edition of the Journey To The West With Daoist Commentaries,” (Sole author), 10,000 characters, Wen-Shi-Zhe (A Journal of Literature, History and Philosophy), no. 4, 2003 (category A, *CSSCI source)

· “The Question of the Nature of Literary History,” (Sole author), 11,000 characters, Academic Journal of Shandong University, no. 4, 2003 (category B)

· “Explaining the Writings of Gong Kai,” (Sole author), 13,000 characters, Our Literary Legacy, no. 4, 2004 (category B, *CSSCI source)

· “Literary History and Philosophy,” 11,000 characters, Qilu Academic Journal, no. 3, 2005

· “Literary History and Exegetical Scholarship,” 10,000 characters, Wen-Shi-Zhe (A Journal of Literature, History and Philosophy), no. 4, 2005

· “Raising Questions About Hans-Georg Gadamer’s Theory of the Form of Existence of Literary Works,” 10,000 characters, Studies in Literature and Art, no. 2, 2006

· “An Analysis of ‘Liu Xinwu Reveals the Secret of A Dream of the Red Mansions’”, 12,000 characters, Scholarly Journal on A Dream of the Red Mansions, no. 2, 2006

Research Project(s) Undertaken Since 2000(Title of project, authorizing unit, dates of project inauguration and conclusion, registration number/code at beginning and conclusion of project, personal role):

· Analytical Critique of A Brief History of Chinese Novels (Ministry of Education Doctoral Program Research Project, January 2003 – December 2005

Academic Prizes and Awards Since 2000 (Title, award sponsoring unit, date/year of prize/award conferred, personal role):

· A Selection of Literary Works of Traditional China, Teaching material/textbook, Chief Editor, Prize/Award received: Level-1 Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Teaching Material Productivity in Shandong Province, 2004. This textbook/set of teaching materials is adopted by more than a hundred universities and colleges nationwide. Also received a Level-Two National Prize for Excellence in Teaching in 2005

· A History of Chinese Literature, 8^th edition, Chief Editor. Received: Special Prize for Excellence in Achievement in Philosophy and the Social Sciences, Beijing, 2000; National Book Prize conferred by the National Bureau For Journalism and Publishing, 2001; Level-1 National Teaching Materials Prize conferred by the Ministry of Education, 2002; Prize for Outstanding Contribution to the Social Sciences, Shandong Province, 2007

Topic(s) of Current and Ongoing Research Undertakings and Recent Research Plans (within 3-5 years):

· Analytical Critique of A Brief History of Chinese Novels

· The Complete Works of Wang Shizhen (currently in the copyediting/proofreading stage)

· Theoretical Structure of Literary History

· Investigation of Strange Tales From A Chinese Studio studies