Born in 1930, Yu began his academic career in 1962 and was educated in China, Hong Kong and the United States. He was made a lifetime member of Academia Sinica, Taiwan's most distinguished academic institution, in 1974, and more recently became a member of the American Philosophical Society. He is also an Emeritus Professor of East Asian Studies and History at Princeton University.
In the announcement of the prize, the U.S. Library of Congress called Yu "the most influential Chinese intellectual working in both the Chinese and American worlds." His scholarly works of over 30 volumes cover early and medieval Chinese history and Chinese intellectual and cultural history.
"Yu is an authentic liberalist intellectual," said Wang Fan-sen, a member of Academia Sinica, as reported in the Chinese-language China Times newspaper. During the 1970s and 1980s when dissident voices were suppressed in Taiwan and liberal ideas were suspect, students with an interest in history and philosophy held Yu's books, such as "History and Thought," in high regard. Published in Taiwan in 1976, "History and Thought" discusses anti-intellectualism in the Chinese political tradition and examines the Renaissance and other civilizational movements in the West.
In politics, Yu is known for his sympathy for the democracy movement in China and his support of the students that fled the country to escape reprisals following the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre. Yu was absolutely uncompromising toward a regime that tramples on human dignity, according to Wang.
The bulk of Yu's writing is in the Chinese language, mostly published in Taiwan and China. Yu encouraged Taiwanese students and academics to contribute to the academic world. "Chinese academic writings have been gaining in importance internationally," Yu said.