In June 1925, the Institute of Chinese Studies of Tsinghua University was established, and four professors, Wang Guowei, Liang Qichao, Zhao Yuanren, and Chen Yinke, sat in the hall to open the hall, in fact, there was another tutor who was also listed, that is, Li Ji, who was only 31 years old "turtle" who was later known as the father of Chinese anthropology and archaeology.
Lizi
Li Ji, who was born in Zhongxiang, Hubei Province in 1896, entered Wucheng Middle School (the predecessor of the High School Affiliated to Beijing Normal University) for his father in Beijing at any time for his father in Beijing, and was admitted to Tsinghua School at the age of 14, and stayed in the United States after graduating in 1918. In 1923, Li Ji received a doctorate in philosophy (anthropology) from Harvard University with his three-year thesis "The Formation of the Chinese Nation", which was the first Chinese to receive this honor, and that year, at the age of 27, Li Ji returned to China.
Yin Tomb Archaeology
In 1926, Li Ji led the archaeological team to excavate the ruins of Xiyin Village in Xia County, Shanxi Province, in cooperation with the Ferrier Museum of Art in the United States, opening up the road for China's independent scientific archaeological excavation. In 1929, he was hired as the director of the archaeological group of the Institute of History and Philology of the Academia Sinica in Nanjing, and in the same year presided over the archaeological work of Yinxu in Anyang, Henan. In this way, the history of China has been pushed forward by hundreds of years. To this day, it is still regarded as one of the most significant excavations in the history of human civilization. In 1938, Li Ji was elected honorary president of the Royal Anthropological Society, becoming the first Chinese scholar to receive this honor.
Li Ji's family took a group photo in Guilin
After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Li Ji took a family of six from Nanjing to Kunming to Lizhuang, Sichuan, traveling thousands of miles and suffering from travel. In the summer of 1940, when the Shiyu Institute was discussing the relocation of Lizhuang, Sichuan, the 14-year-old second daughter Hezheng suddenly suffered from acute pancreatitis and died due to the lack of timely treatment with medicine. In the early spring of 1942, the 17-year-old eldest daughter Feng Zheng, who was about to graduate from Lizhuang Middle School, unfortunately contracted typhoid fever again. Before leaving, he said: Mom, I don't want to die, I want to be a doctor. In just two years, the two beloved daughters, "Crane" and "Phoenix", left one after another, which brought a serious blow to Li Ji.
As Li Ji entered his twilight years, a group of relatives and friends passed away one after another, Li Ji's longing for his homeland became more and more intense, and he deeply missed his friends and years in the mainland, and of course he missed his son who stayed on the mainland, as well as his two daughters who went west in Kunming and Li Zhuang one after another. In a letter to Fei Weimei, Li Ji said sadly, "The passing of old friends who share the same views and feelings as me has undoubtedly weakened my sense of intimacy with the things around me." This is the last personal letter written by Li Ji in his life, at this time he has run out of oil and salary, and is about to pass away with thoughts and regrets.
On August 1, 1979, Li Ji died of a heart attack in his apartment in Taipei, which coincided with the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology of National Taiwan University, which he personally founded.