ABSTRACT
The contribution that Wang Gungwu has made to the studies of Southeast Asian history and to the emerging field of research on the Chinese overseas has long been well acknowledged. A decade ago, Philip Kuhn called Wang Gungwu ‘the historian in his time’, who ‘filled the indispensable roles of authoritative historian, cultural intermediary, academic leader and teacher-mentor that the times and region required’ (Kuhn 2003: 27). More recently, Liu and Benton, in their assessment of the life and work of Wang Gungwu, noted that writing history was ‘his first and in many ways best love’ and argued that Wang’s work ‘ultimately shatters the Sino-centric (and colonial) view of Asian history and has created the conditions for ethnic Chinese studies to emerge as a field of scholarship in its own right’ (Liu and Benton 2004: 5). A prolific writer whose scholarship moves gracefully across disciplinary boundaries of humanities and social sciences, Wang has also made significant contribution to the studies of China’s international relations from both historical and contemporary perspectives.1 Such contributions seem to have been insufficiently noted and inadequately appreciated in the discipline of International Relations (IR), least of all in IR theories. This should not, perhaps, be surprising. With his characteristic humility and modesty, Wang has never made any claim to being an IR specialist or a theorist of any description. In addition, such contributions from Wang tend to be overshadowed by, and often interpreted (with good reason) as part of, his historical scholarship.
