Herrlee Glessner Creel

Who was Herrlee Glessner Creel?

Herrlee Glessner Creel, usually known as H. G. Creel, was an American sinologist and philosopher who specialized in Chinese philosophy and history, and was a professor of Chinese at the University of Chicago for nearly 40 years. Creel was regarded as a giant among specialists on early Chinese civilization, and was described in various circles as "the doyen of American sinologists".

In his 35-year career as a professor there, Creel established the University of Chicago as a leading center of East Asian Studies in the United State. His career was marked by the longevity of his publications. Although he published for half a century, most of his major books remained in print at the time of his death. The quality of his scholarship was accompanied by a prose style that was deemed to have high levels of cogency, lucidity, and grace that made his work easily accessible to the reader.

Creel was an outspoken proponent of the theory that Chinese characters are inherently ideographic in nature. Creel was primarily opposed by sinologists Peter A.