Berkeley University of California Regional Oral History Office University of California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California University History Series Department of History at Berkeley David N. Keightley HISTORIAN OF EARLY CHINA, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY, 1969-1998 With an Introduction by David Johnson Interviews Conducted by Frances Starn in 2001 * Copyright 2003 by The Regents of the University of California Since 1954 the Regional Oral History Office has been interviewing leading participants in or well-placed witnesses to major events in the development ofNorthern California, the West, and the Nation. Oral history is a method of collecting historical information through tape-recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. The tape recording is transcribed, lightly edited for continuity and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewee. The corrected manuscript is indexed, bound with photographs and illustrative materials, and placed in The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and in other research collections for scholarly use. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account, offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ************************************ All uses of this manuscript are covered by a legal agreement between The Regents of the University of California and David N. Keightley dated July 1 6, 200 1 . The manuscript is thereby made available for research purposes. All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. No part of the manuscript may be quoted for publication without the written permission of the Director of The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to the Regional Oral History Office, 486 Library, University of California, Berkeley 94720, and should include identification of the specific passages to be quoted, anticipated use of the passages, and identification of the user. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: David N. Keightley, "Historian of Early China, University of California, Berkeley, 1969-1998," an oral history conducted in 2001 by Frances Stam, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2003. Copy no. David Keightley, Visiting Fellow, Cambridge University, 1978. TABLE OF CONTENTS-David N. Keightley PREFACE i INTRODUCTION by David Johnson iv INTERVIEW HISTORY vii BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION ix I PERSONAL BACKGROUND AND EDUCATION 1 Early Years in England English Schools The Habit of Writing American High School 9 School Sports 1 1 n AMHERST COLLEGE, 1949-53, AND A FULBRIGHT YEAR IN FRANCE, 1953-54 12 Parental Expectations: Engineering 12 Becoming an English Major Campus Politics 13 Amherst s English Program 14 A Fulbright at the University of Lille, 1953-54 16 Cycling through Europe 16 Coming to Terms 1 7 HI AN EARLY CAREER IN PUBLISHING AND WRITING, 1 954-62 Editorial Work at Row Peterson An M.A. in Modem European History at NYU, 1956 Misadventures with the State Department and a French Engagement 20 Working as an Editor at World Publishing End of the Engagement 24 A Serious Accident 24 Freelance Writing in New York City 25 IV GRADUATE WORK AT COLUMBIA AND TAIWAN, 1963-1969 28 Choosing a Frontier: China Moving Back in Chinese History 29 Studying Chinese and Researching in Taiwan and Japan Arguing with Karl August Wirtfogel Oracle Bones: the Beginning The Importance of One Book The Vietnam War and Dissent-in Taiwan and the United States 34 A Letter to the New York Times Marriage 36 A Job Offer from Berkeley Studying Early China from a Distance V LIFE AND WORK IN BERKELEY, WITH TIME IN CHINA 38 38 Moving West with a New Family in 1 969 Early Teaching at Berkeley 38 Culture Shock: Leaving New York and Moving to Berkeley 40 A Northside Apartment and Collegiality 40 Changing Student Enrollments in Early China Courses 42 New Courses 43 Teaching Graduate Students 45 Political Unrest on Campus and Beyond 45 Young Turk--or Not? 47 Problems at the East Asian Library 47 Memorable Conferences 48 An Unexpected Expedition to the People s Republic of China 49 A Visitor at Peking University in 1 98 1 50 Continuing Problems for Sinologists 52 The Yuppie Bikers 52 Changes in the Field of Chinese Studies 54 The Chinese Brain Drain 55 Archaeology in Taiwan 56 Regionalism Increasing in China 56 Ancestral Bones 57 Looting of Excavations 5 8 New Cultural Nationalism in China 59 Status of the Archaeologist in China 60 VI CHAIR OF THE HISTORY DEPARTMENT: 1 992- 1 994 61 Funding Difficulties Foreshadowed 61 The Associated Graduate Student Employees Strike 62 A Heart Attack Intervenes 63 Some Consequences of the Strike and of the Heart Attack 64 The Argument for Statewide Rationalization of Teaching 65 Attempting to Maintain the Department s Size and Quality 66 Hiring a Korean Historian 67 Quality of Curriculum and Interdisciplinary Teaching 68 Thoughts on Funding Cuts and VERT? 69 Demands of Chairmanship 70 Lack of Institutional Memory in the History Department 72 VH REFLECTIONS ON GENIUS, CHANCE, AND ORIGINS 74 MacArthur Years: 1986-1991 74 New Models for the Origins of Chinese Culture 77 Pinyin versus Wade-Giles Spelling 78 The Origins of Writing in China 78 The Oracle Bones and Their Inscriptions 81 Oracle Bone Scholars 86 The Harbsmeier Dictionary Project 87 The Problem of Continuing Accessibility of Emerging Artifacts 88 The Origins of Confucian Spirituality 89 VHI ACADEMIC CONTRIBUTIONS, INSTITUTIONAL AND INDIVIDUAL Cracking the Oracle Bones 96 Practicing Pot-making Shang Dynasty Ancestor Worship: A Lasting Influence 98 101 History in the Archaeological Records Comparison of Early Chinese and Greeks 1 03 Happy Accidents 104 Forthcoming Works Ancient China and Modem China 1 07 The Significance of China 1 08 Taiwan and the People s Republic of China 1 09 The Asian Art Museum s Brundage Collection 1 1 DC AFTERTHOUGHTS ABOUT TAIWAN, BERKELEY, WAR, AND LIFE 1 1 2 Life in Taibei in the Sixties Teachers: the Gifted and the Eccentric 114 The Academia Sinica 1 1 6 Acupuncture More About Life in Berkeley, After Bamarditis Parenting in California 1 1 9 Singing, Poetry, and Teaching Training Graduate Students The Ancestral Landscape 124 Geographical Determinism Changes in the Berkeley Student Body Teaching and Writing in Retirement The Continuing Role of War in Life and Work The Influence of Climate; of Loss The Need for a New East Asian Library Building 1 30 TAPE GUIDE 132 INDEX 133 APPENDIX 141 UNIVERSITY HISTORY SERIES LIST 1 49 PREFACE TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY AT BERKELEY ORAL HISTORY SERIES The Department of History at Berkeley oral history series grew out of Gene Snicker s (Professor of History, 1954-1991) 1995 Faculty Research Lecture on "History at Berkeley." In developing his lecture on the transformations in the UC Berkeley Department of History in the latter half of the twentieth century, Brucker, whose tenure as professor of history from 1954 to 1991 spanned most of this period, realized how much of the story was undocumented. Discussion with Carroll Brentano (M.A. History, 1951, Ph.D. History, 1967), coordinator of the University History Project at the Center for Studies in Higher Education, history department faculty wife, and a former graduate student in history, reinforced his perception that a great deal of the history of the University and its academic culture was not preserved for future generations. The Department of History, where one might expect to find an abiding interest in preserving a historical record, had discarded years of departmental files, and only a fraction of history faculty members had placed their 1 personal papers in the Bancroft Library. Moreover, many of the most interesting aspects of the history-the life experiences, cultural 2 context, and personal perceptions-were only infrequently committed to paper. They existed for the most part in the memories of the participants. Carroll Brentano knew of the longtime work of the Regional Oral History Office (ROHO) in recording and preserving the memories of participants in the history of California and the West and the special interest of ROHO in the history of the University. She and Gene Brucker then undertook to involve Ann Lage, a ROHO interviewer/editor who had conducted a number of oral histories in the University History Series and was herself a product of Berkeley s history department (B.A. 1963, M.A. 1965). In the course of a series of mutually enjoyable luncheon meetings, the project to document the history of the Department of History at Berkeley evolved. In initial discussions about the parameters of the project, during which the varied and interesting lives of the history faculty were considered, a crucial decision was made. Rather than conduct a larger set of short oral histories focused on topics limited to departmental history, we determined to work with selected members of the department to conduct more lengthy biographical memoirs. We would record relevant personal background family, education, career choices, marriage and children, travel and avocations; discuss other institutional affiliations; explore the process of creating their historical works; obtain reflections on their retirement years. A central topic for each would be, of course, the Department of History at Berkeley-its governance, the informal and formal relationships among colleagues, the 1 The Bancroft Library holds papers from history professors Walton Bean, Woodbridge Bingham, Herbert Bolton, Woodrow Borah, George Guttridge, John Hicks, Joseph Levenson, Henry May, William Alfred Morris, Frederic Paxson, Herbert Priestley, Engel Sluiter, Raymond Sontag.