Jao Tsung-i, 101, Sinology 'master', dies in Hong Kong

World renowned Sinologist Jao Tsung-i passed away in Hong Kong early on Tuesday. He was 101 years old. Condolences from the city's political, business and academic leaders poured in, noting his lifelong contribution to Chinese culture.

Hailed as the "pride of Hong Kong" by Premier Li Keqiang during a meeting in Beijing in 2015, Jao often was mentioned along with another "master of Chinese culture", Ji Xianlin, who died in 2009, as "Jao of the South and Ji of the North".

Jao was born in Chaozhou, Guangdong province, in 1917 and home-schooled in his childhood. He came to Hong Kong in 1949 and studied a broad range of disciplines, spanning the East and the West, the ancient and the modern, touching on 13 genres covering the entire field of Sinology, including ancient history and oracle bone inscriptions. He initiated research on the Dunhuang Manuscripts (now known as Dunhuangology) and on Chaozhou Studies.