L Simian was a prominent Chinese historian as well as a former professor and history department head at Kwang Hua University, a predecessor of the East China Normal University in Shanghai. L took the courtesy name Chngzh and wrote under the pseudonym Nni . His students included famous historians Chien Mu and Yang Kuan. Historian Yan Gengwang considered L one of the four greatest modern Chinese historians, along with his student Chien Mu, Chen Yuan, and Chen Yinke.
L was born in Wujin in Chinas Jiangsu province. At the age ofhe entered the county school. In the second year he began teaching himself history. He later became a member of the Doubting Antiquity School which was a group of scholars and writers who showed doubts regarding the authenticity of preQin texts.
Source: Wikipedia