Introduction
Tu Cheng-sheng (born 10 June 1944) is a Taiwanese politician and historian. Tu served as the Minister of Education of the Republic of China during Chen Shui-bian's second term as President.
Educational background and career
Tu Cheng-sheng graduated from the Provincial Tainan Normal University (present-day National University of Tainan) in 1966. He also attended the National Taiwan University in 1970 and majored in history (bachelor's degree 1970, master's degree 1974). He is a specialist in the history of ancient Chinese society, culture and medicine.
He used to be the director of the National Palace Museum and a research center on history and languages of the Academia Sinica, professor of the National Tsing Hua University.
Scientific activity
In articles of 1986, 1987 and 1992 Tu explored semblance between the city-states of the ancients Western civilization and the state formations of early China.
Personality
Tu gained notoriety for his colorful and abrasive behavior. After being filmed asleep at a 2007 meeting of the Legislative Yuan, he was photographed picking his nose in response to public criticism. Also that year, he grabbed a reporter's microphone and shoved a cameraman into a wall.
Publications
- 走過關鍵十年 / 1990-2000 [Going Through the Ten Critical Years: 1990-2000] (in Chinese). 2000. ISBN 957-469-141-1.
- 臺灣的誕生 : 十七世紀的福爾摩沙 [The Birth of Taiwan: Formosa in the 17th Century] (in Chinese). 2003. ISBN 957-28159-1-1., translation: Ilha Formosa: the Emergence of Taiwan on the World Scene in the 17th Century
- 新史學之路 [New Road for Historical Studies] (in Chinese). 2004. ISBN 957-14-4027-2.
- 臺灣的教育改革與臺灣的未來 [Educational Reform in Taiwan: Retrospect and Prospect] (in Chinese). 2007. OCLC 173372350.