What was the nationality of Yang Jingnian from Oct 1949 to Sep 2016?
Yang Jingnian Yang Jingnian ( ; 17 October 1908 – 4 September 2016 ) was a Chinese economist and translator from Miluo , Hunan Province . In 1932 , Yang attended National Chengchi University in the Administration department . Graduating in 1936 , he joined the Nankai University economic research institute . Nine years later , in 1945 , he studied politics at Corpus Christi College , Oxford , specializing in economics . In 1948 , Yang earned a D.Phil . from Oxford , and that same year he became a professor at Nankai University . Yangs most notable translations were The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith ; The Economic Development of France and Germany , 1815-1914 by John Clapham ; and History of Economics Analysis by Joseph Schumpeter . In an interview in 2006 , a 98-year-old Yang said his secret for longevity was a balanced attitude , constant use of the brain , learning new things frequently , and physical exercise . In 2008 , he published an autobiography when he turned 100 years old . Life . Childhood . Yang was born in Miluo , Hunan , China on 17 October 1908 . His father , Yang Haizong ( ) , had considerable discord with his wife , Li Yuxia ( ) , and angrily left home when Jingnian was still a child , never to be seen again . At the age of one month , Yang was sent by his mother to be raised by his maternal grandfather . When Yang was 10 years old , his mother remarried . Although he lived a poor villagers life , Yangs grandfather became a scholar and passed the county level exams during the end of the Qing dynasty . He placed much emphasis on Yangs education , which began at four years of age ; the young Yang moved on to reading his grandfathers books . At the age of 13 , Yang was already well versed in the four books and five classics , and was proficient in literary Chinese . Early studies . At the beginning of the Chinese Civil War in 1927 , after graduating from Hunan First Normal University , Yang was admitted to the infantry department of the Changsha branch of Whampoa Military Academy , in order to join the Revolution . Three months later , due to the Mari Incident ( ) , he decided to leave the Whampoa Academy because of his sentiments , as a person raised in a poor family , towards socialism and the Communist Party . For several years he made his living as a teacher . In 1932 , he was admitted to the KMT Central Politics University . Unlike many others who enrolled in order to get a government office , Yang went there since they required no tuition fees . During his studies he became aware of the KMT top cadre , and mainly the universitys dean Chen Guofus tendency to demand absolute obedience , and realized he could not yield to such an attitude . He therefore abandoned the idea of a public service career and planned to continue his studies abroad . This ambition required two years of experience in the desired field of study , which he intended to complete as an economics student at Nankai University . After a short career at the Jiangsu civil affairs bureau , Yang passed the Nankai University entrance exams . His studies at Nankai University lasted for one year until the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out with the Marco Polo Bridge Incident and all students were dismissed . During that period , Yang managed to make a living by finding jobs with some help from the Nankai economic institution director , the Chinese economist Fang Xianting , and other friends . His mind was still set on studying abroad , however , which made him quit his developing career in the Ministry of Finance . Attending Oxford University . In his first attempt to gain admission to Oxford University , in 1939 , Yang failed the exams by 0.9 points , as the foreign students quota was limited to 20 students . Due to World War II , he had to wait until 1945 in order to get a second chance , and this time he went to Oxford , attending Corpus Christi College through India with a delegation of 100 Chinese students funded by public budgets . Life as a student in England was quite comfortable , with a scholarship that allowed Yang to study without having to work for his living . He related to his time in Oxford as an experience which opened his eyes to the world . Back in China . In August 1948 Yang received his PhD in Oxford and was about to move to the United States , but he was called back to Nankai University by Franklin Ho ( ) , who had become president there . Initially the boat company denied him his ticket to China , but some help from past colleagues at the political science university who served in the Chinese embassy in the United Kingdom got him the needed tickets . Upon reaching Hong Kong , his former teacher Chen Xujing located him and offered him a job at Lingnan University . In a talk with Ho , Ho did not mind that Yang would stay at Lingnan . At the beginning of the year , however , he prevented Yangs books , which remained in Shanghai , from being moved to Lingnan , and so without his teaching aids he was forced to move back to Nankai , as originally planned . Soon after Ho left for the United States and with , the rise of the communist regime , advised Yang to do the same . Yang refused , however , as being raised in a poor family made him quite pleased that the communists had won . Under the Communist regime . As the communist army took control over Nankai University , all legal , social and political studies were canceled , and so Nankais political studies department converted into an economics school and Yang was asked to form and head the new department . In an effort to establish the new department , Yang hired specialists and signed contracts with the Ministry of Finance enabling him to get lectures from government personnel and Russian experts , and on the other hand giving his students the chance to get a practice in the Ministry of Finance . This department existed for five years . During the cultural revolution , Yangs salary shrank into 15% of the original sum , but later raised to 50% . This salary maintained his family of five members for 20 years . Being a member of right-wing counter-revolutionary group , Yang was sent to re-education through labor . Being kept away from any academic research , and not allowed to serve as a teacher , Yang worked as a translator , translating foreign economy related works and UN documents , usually under a pen name or with no personal attribution . Later he was sentenced to detention for 3 years . Yang claims these years to be the best times of his life as his most important articles were written during these years . In 1974 Yangs wife became paralyzed due to an accident at home . He took care of her while she was bedridden for 24 years , sleeping in a camp bed near her bed . In 1976 Yangs son , Piaopeng , has died of a grave disease . His wife died in 1998 at the age of 92 . On her deathbed she begged to see Piaopeng , to which Yang lowered his head and replied I am Piaopeng . In 1979 Yangs reputation was rehabilitated , but he was already over 70 years old , beyond retirement age . He insisted on teaching in order to make up for the lost years . In 1994 , aged 86 , he reluctantly quit teaching . There was some criticism of his academic infertility during these years , but Yang felt that he did his share of academic work . At the age of 80 , in 1988 , Yang joined the Chinese communist party . In 1998 , aged 90 , he started writing his work Discussions on Human Nature , handling the human nature from a combination of economical , political , social , psychological , and ethical points of view . In his 90s he did not cease publishing essays , mainly on the subject of development economics , and served as a mentor for 20 research students . In 2001 , at the age of 93 , he translated Adam Smiths The Wealth of Nations , feeling that it would help spread popular economics among the people . The translation took 11 months in which he worked for eight hours a day , after which he manually added an Index . Although not being the first translation into Chinese , Yangs translation became a bestseller in China . In 2008 , at 100 years old , he published an autobiography . On that occasion his students gave him a memorial board saying : Life begins at 100 years of age . Economic views . Unlike some other scholars in China who treated development economy as just another piece of information , or as a threat , Yang claimed that development economy should be researched , criticized and utilized . He believed that the theories of Marx , Engels and Lenin on how to handle the bourgeoisie economy of their time should be used to handle western development economics . He started writing his work on these views : Outline of Western Development Economies . After five years , however , in 1957 , the cultural revolution stopped his work .