HUANG Shijian （1935-2013）was born in Shanghai, and came from a scholarly family that has officials for generations. He was a famous historian of Sino-Western relations. He graduated from the History Department of Peking University in 1958. From 1958 to 1979, he engaged in teaching and research on Mongolian history in the History Department and Mongolian History Research Office of Inner Mongolia University. He started to teach at the Department of History at Hangzhou University in 1979 and became a Professor in 1987. He was once being the Librarian of Hangzhou University, the Director of the Sino-Foreign Cultural Exchange Center of Hangzhou University, the Deputy Director of the Korea Research Institute, and a Research Fellow of the China and Maritime Silk Road Research Center under the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.