Xu Dishan

Who was Xu Dishan?

Xu Dishan is a Chinese author, translator and folklorist. He is best known for his Chinese novels that focuses on the people of the southern provinces of China and Southeast Asia.

Xu was born in Tainan, Taiwan to a family of nationalists. He accompanied his father to Fujian and settled down there. He also taught in a Chinese School in Myanmar. Xu was an active participant and one of the pioneers of the May Fourth Movement. He was interested in Indian literature, and liked Rabindranath Tagore's works. He would translate many of his works and become one of the very few Indian Literature experts in China during the 1930s.

After obtaining a BA degree from the Yenching University, he continued his studies at Columbia University and Oxford University. He is also remembered as an educationalist and professor at Yenching University, Peking University and Tsinghua University. His association with Hong Kong began in 1936 when he was appointed by Hong Kong University to be dean of the department of Chinese literature. Soon after the appointment, he devoted himself to the reformation of the education system. He was also active in cultural circles in Hong Kong, forming literature societies in Hong Kong.