P. C. Chang
Who was P. C. Chang?
Chinese philosopher and diplomat (1892–1957)
Biographical data adapted from Wikipedia’s article on P. C. Chang (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Biography
Peng Chun Chang, or P. C. Chang, was a Chinese academic, philosopher, playwright, human rights activist, and diplomat. He was born in Tianjin, China, in 1892. During his early years, China was undergoing significant change, with the fall of the Qing dynasty and the rise of the Chinese Republic. Eager to learn, he went to the United States for further education, studying at Clark University and Columbia University, where he earned a doctorate. While he learned about Western philosophy and educational theories, he stayed connected to Chinese classical thought.
Before Fame
Chang was born in Tianjin in 1892 and was the younger brother of well-known diplomat and politician Zhang Boling. He grew up during the last years of the Qing dynasty, a time of foreign interference, internal struggles, and strong demands for national modernization. His early education embraced the reformist spirit of the time, mixing traditional Chinese learning with new Western-influenced courses that were starting to change Chinese intellectual life.
Key Achievements
- Served as a key member of the drafting committee for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), contributing cross-cultural philosophical arguments to its foundational text
- Played a pioneering role in the development of modern Chinese drama, integrating Western theatrical techniques with Chinese performance traditions
- Earned a doctorate from Columbia University and became a prominent educator and administrator at Nankai University in Tianjin
- Represented the Republic of China at the United Nations during the critical postwar years, participating in the formation of major international institutions
- Articulated one of the earliest systematic arguments for grounding international human rights principles in non-Western, specifically Confucian, philosophical traditions
Did You Know?
- 01.Chang studied under John Dewey at Columbia University and was deeply influenced by Dewey's pragmatist philosophy, which he sought to reconcile with Confucian thought.
- 02.During drafting sessions for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Chang famously invoked the Confucian concept of 'ren' (benevolence or humaneness) to argue for a non-Western philosophical basis for universal human dignity.
- 03.Chang wrote and produced plays in China during the 1920s and 1930s and was considered one of the early figures in Chinese modern drama, helping introduce Western theatrical methods to Chinese stages.
- 04.He served as China's Deputy Representative on the UN Commission on Human Rights and was one of the eight members of the drafting committee that produced the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
- 05.Chang died in Nutley, New Jersey, in 1957, relatively obscure outside specialist circles, though his contributions to the Universal Declaration have since been the subject of growing scholarly recognition.