P R E S S R E L E A S E
A world-renowned sociologist and anthropologist, Professor Fei Xiaotong has devoted himself to the teaching of and research on sociology and anthropology in China for almost six decades. His works on these subjects were instrumental in laying a solid foundation for the development of sociological and anthropological studies in China. He is currently Professor of Sociology at Peking University.
Professor Fei received his sociological training at Yenching University and Tsinghua University. He furthered his studies in England and obtained his PhD from the University of London. He then returned home and taught at various prestigious universities. He has served as Deputy President and Professor of Anthropology of the Institute of Central Nationalities, Deputy Director of the Institute of Nationalities of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Director of the Institute of Sociology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and visiting professor of many famous universities overseas. He helped found the Chinese Sociological Association which promotes sociological studies in China and is the Honorary President of the Association.
Professor Fei is a prolific writer. His masterpieces, Peasant Life in China and From the Soil, the Foundations of Chinese Society are essential reading for sociologists interested in rural China. His insightful research on rural China has won him wide international acclaim and numerous awards. These include Malinowski Prize of the International Applied Anthropology Association, Huxley Memorial Medal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Encyclopaedia Britannica Prize, the USA and Asian Cultural Prize in Fukuoka, Japan. Professor Fei was also conferred the degrees of Doctor of Letters, honoris causa by The University of Hong Kong and Doctor of Social Science, honoris causa by University of East Asia, Macau.
Besides academic accomplishments, Professor Fei has also made significant contributions towards the modernization of China, in particular the development of the country's rural economy. He has served as Vice-President of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Vice-Chairman of The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and Vice-Chairman of the Drafting Committee for the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. He is now Honorary Chairman of the Central Committee of the China Democratic League.
Professor Fei has maintained a close relationship with The Chinese University
of Hong Kong since the early 1980's. He initiated a series of conferences
on the modernization of China, which were enthusiastically received by
academics and researchers from mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and overseas.
He gave a distinguished Tanner Lecture organized by the University in 1988
as part of the University's 25th Anniversary Celebration Programme.
He served as Sir Run Run Shaw Distinguished Visiting Scholar in 1994 and
gave a lecture on "Stages of Recent Economic Development in Rural China".
In November 1998, he visited Chung Chi College and the Department of Sociology
as Chung Chi's Visiting Scholar sponsored by the K C Wong Foundation, and
gave a speech on the industrialization and urbanization of rural China.
Professor Fei has made remarkable contributions to the development of sociological
and anthropological studies and research work at The Chinese University
of Hong Kong.