Liang Siyong

Life and career

Liang was born on 13 November 1904 in Macau, the fourth child and second son of journalist and scholar Liang Qichao. He had eight siblings – four brothers (Sicheng, Sizhong, Sida, and Sili) and four sisters (Sishun, Sizhuang, Siyi, and Sining). He completed his primary education in Yokohama, where his family had been exiled to, and graduated from Tsinghua University in 1924. He then enrolled at Harvard University, where he studied archaeology and picked up English. At the time, the archaeology field in China was virtually nonexistent, thus Liang is considered as one of the "first-generation archaeologists" who introduced the discipline to the country.

In 1930 he began research at the Yingjin River and was the first Chinese to publish a survey on it. Likewise, in 1931, he performed what is thought to be "one of China's first scientific excavations" at Qiqihar, which led to the unearthing of artefacts thousands of years old. In January of that year, Liang wed his cousin Li Fuman (李福曼). Three years Liang's junior, Li was also a Tsinghua graduate. Liang's line of work was strenuous and often he had to "spend hours in the water" for field work, while having to forgo proper meals too. Praised for his disciplined work ethic, Liang was known for not letting discomfort or illness hinder his job. This, however, was not without its consequences; in 1932, Liang fell ill in the wilderness but refused to seek medical help until he ran an unbearably high fever. It was later found out that he had serious respiratory infection.

Liang published a comprehensive report on the Chengziya site of the Longshan culture in 1934, titled Chengziya site excavation report (城子崖遺址發掘報告), which is regarded as one of his more notable publications as an archaeologist. His excavation of a tomb at Hougang (后岗) in the same year, as part of a project which had begun in 1928, provided groundbreaking evidence of "large burials anywhere at Yinxu". Liang continued investigations at Yinxu till 1937, uncovering several other tombs, artefacts and worshipping structures dating back to the Shang dynasty. Liang was the first deputy director of the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, serving from 1948 until his death in 1954. He was succeeded by Yin Da.