Professor Hsu was professor of Humanities and Foreign Languages and Director of Area Studies at San Francisco State College. He received his BA in foreign languages and literature at the National Tsing Hua University in China, his MA in journalism at the University of Oregon, and his PhD. in modern Chinese literature and thought at Stanford University.
During WWII, he served as liaison officer in the Chinese Army assigned to work with the US Army in the China-Burma-India Theatre. He has been foreign news editor of The Chinese World Daily in San Francisco, research assistant on Stanford University's China project, and lecturer and instructor in the Department of Asian Languages at Stanford.
He was also editor and translator of several books including "Twentieth Century Chinese Poetry." He lived in Palo Alto with his wife and sons.