David Shepherd Nivison

David Shepherd Nivison (January 17, 1923 – October 16, 2014) was an American sinologist known for his publications on late imperial and ancient Chinese history, and philosophy, and for his 40 years as a professor at Stanford University. Nivison is known for his use of archaeoastronomy to accurately determine the date of the founding of the Zhou dynasty as 1045 BC instead of the traditional date of 1122 BC. Born in Farmingdale, Maine, Nivison's studies at Harvard University were interrupted by World War II, during which he served as a Japanese translator in the United States Army Signal Corps. After returning to Harvard, he graduated summa cum laude in Chinese and later earned a Ph.D. in Chinese, with his dissertation focusing on the 18th-century philosopher Zhang Xuecheng. He taught at Stanford University from 1948, holding joint appointments in Philosophy, Religious Studies, and Chinese and Japanese. He served as chair of the Philosophy Department from 1969-1972 and was president of the Pacific Division of the American Philosophical Association in 1979. His major contributions include applying analytic philosophy techniques to Chinese thought and precisely dating the Zhou dynasty's founding using archaeoastronomy, suggesting dates around 1045-1040 BC. Nivison died in Los Altos, California, at age 91.