Background

Fred Fangyu Wang was born on January 2, 1913, in Beijing, China.

Education

Wang graduated from Catholic University in Beijing. He received his master’s degree from Columbia University in 1946.

Career

Wang’s early career was spent teaching Chinese and writing textbooks, but he later blossomed into an accomplished artist, specializing in traditional Chinese calligraphy and painting. He immigrated to the United States in 1945. From 1945 to 1965 he taught Chinese language and literature at Yale University, he then taught at Seton Hall University in New Jersey.

He wrote several textbooks on Chinese language for various levels of learning. His works include Chinese Dialogues (1951), Read Chinese Book (1953), Introduction to Chinese Cursive Script (1962), Lady in the Painting (1962), Readings on Chinese Culture (1962), Talks on Chinese Culture (1964), Japanese and Korean Language Study (1965), Mandarin Chinese Dictionary, and An Introduction to Literary Chinese: From Spoken to Literary (1972). While at Seton Hall in the 1960s, Wang helped develop the first computer-aided Chinese lessons.

Wang, whose paintings and calligraphy combined ancestral Chinese and modern styles, began to show his works in the 1970s, holding exhibitions in several countries.

Achievements

• Wang is best known as a professor of the Chinese at Yale University and Seton Hall University.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Chinese Cursive Script

    (In this useful volume, Fred Fang-yu Wang presents materia...)

    1962
  • Read Chinese, Book Three

    (This third book of the Read Chinese series covers an addi...)

    1961
  • Mandarin Chinese Dictionary

    (Compact and structure-oriented, this English-Chinese dict...)

    1967
  • The Lady in the Painting

    (A well-known chinese folktale is retold here within the l...)

    1962
  • Chinese Dialogues

    (This book is planned for students of spoken Mandarin who ...)

    1981
  • Character Text for Chinese Dialogues 1973
  • Read Chinese 1953

Personality

Wang, a formal, reserved man, was also known for his wry sense of humor, usually displayed when he injected a bon mot - in Chinese - into the conversation. Wang was also generous with his time and his expertise to many art historians.

Connections

Wang is survived by a daughter, Shan Fung, three sons, Shao, Shen and Lun, and two sisters, Wang Shi Fen and Shih Hiang Chu.

Daughter:

Shan Fung Wang

Son:

Shao Wang

Son:

Shen Wang

Son:

Lun Wang

Sister:

Wang Shi Fen

Sister:

Shih Hiang Chu