Laurence G. Thompson (1920 - July 10, 2005) was a World War II veteran, sinologist, classical violinist and professor emeritus of East Asian languages and cultures at the University of Southern California.
From 1951 to 1959, Thompson served in the United States Foreign Service in Taipei, Tokyo, Manila and Hong Kong.
An accomplished classical violinist, Thompson taught music at National Taiwan Normal University from 1959 to 1962.
Thompson's first major publication was a translation of Kang Youwei's "Da Tong Shu."
His three-volume bibliographical work Chinese Religions: Publications in Western Languages is a basic resource to the field, which he continued to update in retirement.