Chen Chi-nan
Taiwanese anthropologist
Chen Chi-nan (Chinese: 陳其南; pinyin: Chén Qínán; Wade–Giles: Chʻên2 Chʻi2-nan2; born 29 October 1947) is a Taiwanese anthropologist. He led the Council of Cultural Affairs from 2004 to 2006. He was named Director of National Palace Museum in 2018 and served until 2019.
Early life and education
Chen was born in Pingtung County in 1947. He graduated from National Taiwan Normal University with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in geography in 1970 and obtained a master's degree in anthropology from National Taiwan University in 1975. Chen then won a Fulbright Program grant to pursue graduate studies in the United States, earning a Master of Arts (M.A.) in anthropology in 1978 and his Ph.D. in anthropology in 1984, both from Yale University. His doctoral dissertation was titled, "'Fang' and 'Chia-tsu': The Chinese kinship system in rural Taiwan".
Academic career
After receiving his doctorate, Chen worked as a researcher at the Academia Sinica and taught anthropology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and the University of Virginia. After returning to Taiwan, Chen joined the college of humanities and social sciences at National Chiao Tung University, where he later became dean.
Political career
Chen was named the vice chairman of the Council for Cultural Affairs from 1994 to 1997.
The public source identifies “Chen Chi-nan” as taiwanese anthropologist. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Chen, Chi-nan and Taiwanese.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q8347862. VIAF identifies the subject as 114392113. The Library of Congress control number is n80147569. 1 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1947, 2004, 2006 and 2018.
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This entry incorporates text from “Chen Chi-nan” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.