Sih, Paul K. T. (Paul Kwang Tsien)

Paul K. T. Sih was an author of histories of China and translator of Chinese classics. Sih was born near Shanghai, China. Nominally a Buddhist from a family that did not stress religion, he was exposed to Christianity through earning a doctorate in Rome, Italy, and though a Chinese government position in Rome. Through this job, he met Merton's friend John C. H. Wu, who was Chinese ambassador to the Vatican. Wu, having bridged connections between Christianity and Taoism, was a factor in Sih's conversion to Catholicism. In 1959, Sih became a professor of history and Director of the Center for Asian Studies at St. John's University in New York. It was here he began his correspondence with Merton. (Source: «The Hidden Ground of Love», pp. 548-549.)