Renowned historian and academician Li Hsiao-ti passes away at 72

Li Hsiao-ti, a distinguished professor at National Central University's Graduate Institute of History and an academician of Academia Sinica, passed away on the evening of August 25 at the age of 72. His death has deeply saddened students and colleagues across the university.

Professor Li was a globally recognized master of history, with research spanning the Ming and Qing dynasties, social history, urban history, and cultural history. He was lauded for his keen observation, using historical minutiae to reflect macro-level changes of the era, thereby opening new research vistas for Chinese historical studies. He was elected as an academician of Academia Sinica in July of this year.

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When we say the situation is becoming increasingly severe, we mean that the number of their government vessels in the waters surrounding Taiwan has increased, and there was a marked increase in July.

National Central University actively recruited outstanding talent, and Li Hsiao-ti joined the Graduate Institute of History in late 2020. He received the Ministry of Education's 68th Academic Award in 2025. He brought a spirit of rigorous research and teaching to the university, organizing significant events such as the "New Trends and Methods in Ming-Qing Research International Workshop," "Sinology Research Lectures from a Global Perspective," and the "Cities, Life, and Migration in China's Coastal Regions from the 16th to 19th Centuries" international academic conference.

National Central University President Hsiao Shu-san stated that Li Hsiao-ti was not only an outstanding historian but also an educator who embodied the spirit of scholarship through his life. His writings recreated the warmth of history, his research expanded understanding of the past, and his example taught younger generations that learning is not just the accumulation of knowledge but a continuous and unwavering concern for people, society, and the times. The university will hold a memorial service soon and an international commemorative academic conference in May next year.

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The Communist Party “has never ruled Taiwan for even a single day” and “without sovereignty over land, it has no right to claim economic zones at sea”.