NORMAN HARRY ROTHSCHILD

Norman Harry Rothschild, 52, eminent scholar of Tang Dynasty China, died at the family farm he grew up on in Phillips, Maine, on December 10, 2021, after a six-year battle with cancer. Early on, Rothschild demonstrated a precocious love of wordplay and a facility with numbers. At the age of 12, having skipped several years of school, he entered Mt. Abram Regional High School. In particular, he loved throwing things—baseballs, hay bales on the farm, the shotput and discus on the athletic field. He competed in the Junior Olympics, and graduated high school at 15, already well over 6 feet tall and 200 pounds. After a post-graduate year at Phillips Academy Andover, he entered Harvard College at the age of 17. At Harvard, he began his concentration in East Asian Studies and earned the first of a half-dozen varsity letters in Track and Field. While traveling and studying in China during his sophomore year, he met his future wife, Liu Chengmei. They were married in 1991 on the family farm. At his 1992 Harvard graduation, he received the Imre Memorial Award, given to one whose interests are "not bounded by academic or institutional structures—a joyous, deeply-rooted affirmation of life, disdain for the purely conventional, a love of adventure, and desire to learn by experiencing; the ability to respond creatively to difficult situations." For the rest of his life, in an uncanny fashion, he not only fulfilled, but embodied, these words. After teaching history and coaching at Hebron Academy, Rothschild earned a Ph.D. in History from Brown University and was a Fulbright Scholar at Peking University in 2000-2001. He joined the University of North Florida as a history professor in 2003, where he taught until just weeks ago. While at UNF, he authored two books: a biography of Wu Zetian entitled Wu Zhao, China's Only Female Emperor (Pearson-Longman, 2008) and Emperor Wu Zhao and Her Pantheon of Devis, Divinities, and Dynastic Mothers (Columbia University Press, 2015). He also wrote, translated, and edited dozens of scholarly articles that appeared in Italian, Korean, Chinese, and English journals, and he lectured across the U.S., England, and China. He is the sole American to serve as President of the Wu Zetian Research Society in China. After he was diagnosed with Stage IV gastroesophageal cancer, he was powerfully productive over the last six years. Shortly before his death, he finished a third book, The World of Wu Zhao (Anthem Press, forthcoming). He also completed a collection of short stories. He is buried in the apple orchard he helped plant, prune, and harvest throughout his life. He is survived by his wife Chengmei Rothschild, daughter Viola, and son Liu; by his mother and father Catharine and Michael Rothschild and Wendy Slaughter Fleming. By his sister Ana and brother-in-law James; his sister Ida; his brother Amos and sister-in-law Sara, and their children Eva and Marlowe; his brother Walker and sister-in-law Julia; his sister Rita and brother-in-law Girish, and their children Aadi, Aara, and Ayan. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Rothschild's name to the University of North Florida Foundation, which has endowed a scholarship in his honor for exceptional student-athletes to pursue graduate studies. UNF Foundation, 1 UNF Drive, Building 60, Jacksonville, FL 32224 or online at https://give.unf.edu/rothschild

View the online memorial for Norman Harry ROTHSCHILD