Guangzhou, July 8, 2009 (Guangzhou Daily)

Shang Zhitan, Professor of anthropology of SYSU, died from a sudden stroke on the early morning of 1 July. He was 76. In his old age, Prof. Shang Zhitan kept his mind on sorting out and researching the historical documents.

A native of Panyu of Guangdong Province, Prof. Shang Zhitan, with the courtesy title Xu Yi, had been a prominent educator, archeologist, researcher on cultural relics, and member of Democratic League who had made great academic achievements in fields such as Shang-Zhou Dynasties archaeology, ethnic archaeology, and history of documents, and educated a large number of students.

Shang Zhitan is the grandson of Shang Yanliu, the Second Runner-up (in imperial examinations) of late Qing Dynasty, and son of Shang Chengzuo, a famous ancient Chinese character expert. Of course, he stood out all on his own. He initiated the research on Wu culture in Jiangsu Province, and his viewpoint that Pre-Wu culture was rooted in Ningzhen area was recognized by the academic community. His research on Hong Kong-Macao archaeology and bronze vessels is of seminal significance.

From 1964 onwards, Shang Zhitan and his families have donated more than 1200 precious historical relics in total to Palace Museum, National Museum of China and Shenzhen Museum. The relics donated to SYSU alone are worth more than 40 million.

The funeral rite for Prof. Shang Zhitan was scheduled to hold at 4 pm, 4^th of July in Baiyun Hall of Guangzhou Funeral Parlor.