TAN AOSHUANG

1931, Shanghai — 2017, Moscow

Sinologist, Linguist and Professor of Chinese Philology

Tan Aoshuang was born in Shanghai in 1931. She studied in Nanjing, Qingdao, Chongqing, Shanghai and Beijing before moving to the Soviet Union in 1957. She later taught at the Institute of Asian and African Studies at Moscow State University.

SHANGHAI

1931

1931

Tan Aoshuang was born at a German hospital on Great Western Road (now Yan’an West Road) in Shanghai.

She was the second daughter of the Chinese physician Dr. med. Shou-Ren Tan and the German-born Maria Tan, née Häuser.

NANJING

Early 1930s

Tan Aoshuang attended Gulou Kindergarten (now Nanjing Gulou Kindergarten) in Nanjing.

QINGDAO

1935–1937

1935

At the age of four, Tan Aoshuang moved to Qingdao with her elder sister, Tan Xuemei.

The two sisters initially stayed in the dormitory of Qingdao Shenggong Private Girls’ Middle School (now Qingdao No. 7 Middle School).

Their parents and younger brother later joined them in Qingdao.

1937

Following the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, Tan Aoshuang left Qingdao with her family and travelled towards Chongqing.

CHONGQING

1937–1945

Tan Aoshuang attended a kindergarten in the Nanshan area of Chongqing.

She later attended Guangyi Primary School and Guangyi Middle School.

SHANGHAI

1946–1951

1946

Tan Aoshuang returned to Shanghai with her family aboard a British military aircraft.

The family’s former residence on Route Leka had been sold, and the family established a new residence in Shanghai.

After 1946

Tan Aoshuang and her elder sister attended Qiming Girls’ School at the Xujiahui Convent of Notre Dame.

The former Qiming Girls’ School is now part of the campus of Shanghai No. 4 High School.

The sisters later transferred to Aurora Girls’ Secondary School (affiliated with Aurora College for Women), located within the Sacred Heart educational complex on Route Bourgeat (now Changle Road).

The former Aurora Girls’ Middle School is now associated with Xiangming High School, while part of the former Aurora College for Women complex is now occupied by the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.

The family later lived near Avenue Joffre (now Huaihai Middle Road) in the former French Concession.

Summer 1951

After members of the Society of the Sacred Heart left Shanghai for Taiwan, Tan Aoshuang moved to Beijing.

She was admitted as a second-year transfer student to the Department of Journalism at Yenching University.

BEIJING

1951–1957

1952

Following the nationwide restructuring of higher education, Tan Aoshuang transferred from Yenching University to the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at Peking University.

In the same year, she won the diving competition at the first National Swimming Championships, held at Yuexiu Mountain in Guangzhou.

1954

Tan Aoshuang graduated from Peking University.

She subsequently worked for China News Service.

She later joined Russian Friendship.

1957

Tan Aoshuang left China and moved to the Soviet Union.

MOSCOW

1957–2017

1963

Tan Aoshuang began postgraduate studies at Moscow State University.

From 1966

She taught at the Institute of Asian and African Studies at Moscow State University.

1972

She received the degree of Candidate of Philological Sciences with a dissertation on the tonal system of Cantonese.

1983

Textbook of Modern Conversational Chinese was first published.

1988

Tan Aoshuang returned to China for the first time since leaving the country in 1957.

1995

She received the degree of Doctor of Philological Sciences at Moscow State University.

1997–2008

She served as Chair of the Russian Association of Chinese Language Teachers.

1998

She was appointed Professor in the Department of Chinese Philology at the Institute of Asian and African Studies, Moscow State University.

2004

Chinese Picture of the World: Language, Culture and Mentality was published.

2011

Memoirs of Tan Aoshuang was published.

2017

Tan Aoshuang died in Moscow following complications arising from medical treatment.