I’m excited about the upcoming conversation with Vanderbilt students about life and study in the global context. The title for my talk is At Crossroads: Chinese Students, America, and Vanderbilt University.
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Book colloquium at UC Berkeley
Thanks to the invitation from Sophie Volpp and the Center for Chinese Studies at UC Berkeley, I had a memorable conversation with a lovely audience about my recent book Staging Personhood. Thank Ling Hon Lam for the conversation and for supporting the project from the time of its inception!
It’s the first time I talked about this book after it came about during the Pandemic. It wraps up a decade of my study in the States, coinciding with a turning point in the history of this country. We will all move on ahead!
Conference Presentation: Scenes of Corpses: Forensic Examinations in Early Modern Chinese Literature
My Abstract
Scenes of Corpses: Forensic Examinations in Early Modern Chinese Literature
The past decades have seen a growing number of studies on literature, law, and medicine in premodern China and a similar interest in literary depictions of human anatomy in European history. Building on those studies, this ongoing project examines the representations of dead bodies in forensic literature of early modern China. In particular, it focuses on the scenes of corpse examination (shichang 屍場) in written, visual, and performance materials produced from the 17th to the 19th centuries. The project anatomizes various aspects of those scenes––dead bodies for examination; different participants including families, coroners, and spectators; various modes of viewing; and the media that enabled those experiences. With a focus on the dead bodies in forensic scenes, this project aims to reveal how forensic practices influenced the representation of personhood and justice in early modern Chinese literature and society. This presentation introduces the questions and materials for the project and invites critiques.
Conversation at George Washington University Textile Museum
Thanks to invitation from Liana Chen and GWU Confucius Institute, I will be giving a talk about my upcoming book at The GW Textile Museum (Meyer’s Room) on 11/11 12-2pm.
ASTR: Dead Bodies and Forensic Examination in Early Modern Chinese Drama
3:45pm, Arlington
Problematizing the Paratextual Space in Traditional Chinese Drama Prints (Yale U)
Problematizing the Paratextual Space in Traditional Chinese Drama Prints
This paper considers the relationship between playwrights and their theatrical works through examining a group of drama prints produced in the Qing dynasty. Despite the longstanding tradition of portraiture in traditional China, fictions and dramas seldom included images of the authors. However, starting from the early Qing period, some drama prints included images of the authors in the form of portraits and figures in illustrations. That phenomenon was part of a larger trend in which playwrights and their scholarly friends increasingly took up the paratextual space for self-representation or communal conversation. The paper argues for an increasing authorial presence in traditional Chinese drama, a development enabled by changes in play production and shifting understandings of the dramatic genre.
LUCE/ACLS Early Career Seminar
Just finished a Luce Foundation/ACLS Early Career Seminar in NYC. I was fortunate enough to have inspiring and intensive conversations with four mentors, twelve junior fellows, and Luce/ACLS officers. It’s heart-warming to witness Luce/ACLS’ commitment to China studies; NYC is unique, with its unique people, food, and rain showers.
I valued so much the rapport between my friends and young colleagues. It’s one of the rare occasions in which we can leave aside many things and focus on exchange of ideas.
Special thanks to Paola Zamperini, my mentor during and beyond the two-day program.
Photo credits: Bin Xu
U Pittsburgh Summer Institute for Chinese Studies
I’m looking forward to participate in the University of Pittsburgh Summer Institute for Chinese Studies––seminar on science, technology, and medicine (5/26-6/1, 2019). Many thanks to Joseph Alter and other colleagues at UP for including me in the program!
