Zhou Guoping
Chinese philosopher
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Zhou Guoping (Chinese: 周国平; pinyin: Zhōu Guópíng; born July 25, 1945) is a modern Chinese author, poet, scholar, translator, philosopher, and research fellow at the Institute of Philosophy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
• Scholar
• PhilosopherXiang Lingyu (divorced)
Guo Hong (1997-present)Zhou Guoping 周国平 | |
|---|---|
Zhou in 2019 | |
| Born | July 25, 1945 |
| Education | Peking University Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences |
| Occupation | • Writer
• Scholar • Philosopher |
| Spouse | Minzi (?-1980)
Xiang Lingyu (divorced) Guo Hong (1997-present) |
| Children | Niuniu (deceased) Jiujiu |
As of 2017, Zhou had published more than 20 books, some in Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Korea.[which?]
Biography
Zhou was born in Shanghai, where he grew up and attended Shanghai High School. After he graduated from Peking University in 1967, Zhou worked on a Hunan farm for one and a half years. He was later relocated to work in the Tzeyuan town in Guangxi, where he married his first wife, Minzi (Chinese: 敏子).
In 1978, he left Guangxi and attended the Institute of Philosophy of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, where he received a masters degree and a PhD.
In the spring of 1980 Zhou's first marriage ended. He then married Xiang Lingyu (Chinese: 项灵羽). When Zhou was 43, he had his first daughter Niuniu (Chinese: 妞妞), who was diagnosed with and died from a rare cancer, Retinoblastoma. His second marriage ended soon after Niuniu's death.[1]
In September 1997, Zhou married Guo Hong (Chinese: 郭红), who was twenty years younger than him. Together they had a daughter, Jiujiu (Chinese: 啾啾).[2]
Zhou caused controversy in 2015 by a Weibo post which said that women were beautiful when cleaning the house or feeding babies, which led to him being accused of having straight man cancer.[3]
Selected publications
- Niuniu: the Reading Notes of a Father (Shanghai People's Publishing House, 2006)[4] was written after the death of Niuniu (Zhou's first daughter) from retinoblastoma.
- Men and Eternity (Shanghai People's Publishing House, 1987)[5] is a book of short essays.
- The Starry Sky of Thoughts (People's Literature Publishing House, 2009)[6] is a book of essays.
- Souls Only Walk Alone (People's Literature Publishing House, 2009)
- Freestyle (People's Literature Publishing House, 2001) is a book of dialogues between Zhou and rock musician Cui Jian.
Controversy
In the Starry Sky of Thoughts, Zhou states that from his viewpoint, the beauty of a woman will inevitably be compromised if she fails to become a good lover, wife, and mother.[7] His words lead to criticisms from numerous feminists.[8] Lu Ping (Chinese: 吕频), a feminist activist, argued that Zhou’s words were "not only ignorant about women, but also contained an arrogant attitude from his ivory tower.”[9]