费孝通 (FèiXiàotōng): Fei Xiaotong (1910-2005), pioneering Chinese sociologist and anthropologist, author of From the Soil (乡土中国) and Peasant Life in China

Studied under Bronisław Malinowski at the LSE; his PhD fieldwork became the 1939 classic Peasant Life in China. Coined the term 差序格局 (differential mode of association) to describe Chinese social networks as concentric ripples around the self, in contrast to Western group solidarity.

culture

Survived denunciation as a 'Rightist' in 1957, returned to prominence after the Cultural Revolution, and served as vice-chair of the NPC Standing Committee in the 1980s-90s.