The news of Professor Zhang Kaiyuan’s passing reached me while I was in the mountains of Oregon and away from email and the internet.  Now back in Berkeley, I received Mr. Wu’s email with confirmation of the sad news. This is indeed a great loss for Central China Normal University and indeed for the entire global community of modern China scholars.

Professor Zhang twice wrote kind introductions to my translated books, first on 改良与革命:辛亥革命在两湖 and then on 叶：百年动荡中的一个中国家庭. It was indeed a great honor to have the support of such a great historian. I have known Professor Zhang since 1980, and he stands unequaled as a historian of great learning and intellect, and a man of unquestioned integrity. I will never forget the speech he gave at the opening of the conference on the centennial of the 辛亥革命.  In a broad evaluation looking at the period before and since 1911, he cited a famous quote from Sun Yatsen (孙中山) that should be a lesson to us all: 世界潮流，浩浩荡荡，顺之则昌，逆之则亡. Professor Zhang lived a life of great honesty and courage, always in accord with the great tides of global history.

Joseph W. Esherick (周锡瑞)