Interdisciplinary Research Seminar Series

One of the two doctrinal pillars of Sun Yat-sen’s Principal of the People’s Livelihood was to “contain the capital,” which was never clearly defined and invited conflicting readings over the years.

Ho Amei is a fascinating figure. He was a pioneer in modern capitalist enterprises such as telegraphy, insurance, waterworks, and high-technology mining;

As a Western foothold at the southern tip of China, Hong Kong has played a crucial role as China’s interface with the rest of the world since the nineteenth century. The appeal of Hong Kong must be understood within a broader regional and national context.

This paper examines the transition from limited to open-access societies, focusing on early and high-Tang China (618–906). Using a dataset of 1,200 marriages from 618 to 755, we find that Empress Wu’s rise to power in 674—the first and only female emperor in Chinese history—positively impacted upward mobility. After 674, men from common and poor clans were more likely to marry into elite clans. This increase in inter-class marriages was primarily driven by Empress Wu’s expansion of national civil examinations, which strengthened her legitimacy and created new opportunities for social advancement.

ABSTRACTIn this talk, I propose a new approach to studying elite politics by focusing on changes in network structures that emerge from elites’ informal conversations. I apply this method to solve two interrelated puzzles from China’s early reform era (1977-1992): on one hand, why did intense political conflicts frequently occur (often among reformers) despite their […]

ABSTRACTWe analyze whether and how iron technology drove political consolidation in pre-imperial China (770–221 BCE) using the China Archaeological Database (CADB)—689,943 grave goods from 98,020 sites. Dividing the era into eleven 50-year subperiods, we construct a state-level proxy for its quantity of iron weapons and estimate panel and instrumental-variable models linking lagged iron weaponry to […]

ABSTRACTThe Lanten Yao 藍靛瑤 of what is now northern Laos historically lived at the margins of three socio-political systems: the Chinese empire, Tai polities (müang), and the forest. As they migrated into the region, they engaged in cosmological warfare with the forest to conquer their land, a conquest that engaged a pantheon of militarized deities. […]

ABSTRACTWhat is the meaning of love in modern Chinese politics? Why has ai (love) been a crucial political discourse for secular nationalism for generations of political leaders as a powerful instrument to the present day? This book offers the first systematic examination of the ways in which the notion of love has been introduced, adapted, […]

ABSTRACTBeginning in late 2023 the notion of “nine purple li fire trend (jiuzi lihuo yun 九紫离火运)” started to emerge on various Chinese media platforms. The trend (yun 运) is a temporal unit of twenty years from 2024 to 2043 during which the Chinese world enters the final stage in the cosmic cycle of “Three Phases […]

ABSTRACTIn 1375, Emperor Hongwu, sitting in a newly constructed hall, reportedly heard strange noises on the roof. Believing them to be the result of carpenter sorcery, he ordered the execution of all craftsmen involved. Since then, rumors of magic have circulated among both the elite and ordinary villagers.This talk examines two types of sources: anecdotal […]

ABSTRACTIn recent years, cultural archaeology has broadened its scope to include churches and seminaries, leading to groundbreaking discoveries in North China that uncover evidence of missionary activities and Christian communities. Church records — comprising extensive land and property deeds, along with economic and business documents — serve as invaluable primary sources, challenging traditional narratives and […]

ABSTRACTIn recent years, contents showing deep knowledge about African countries and people have been increasingly popular in Chinese social media, especially on short video platforms. Such knowledge often contains insider business information and cultural understandings of Africa that are difficult to get without living in Africa for a long time. Drawing on a handcrafted dataset […]

ABSTRACTThis talk explores the logistics networks of the Qin state during its war of unification between 230 and 221 BCE. First, the article investigates the Qin’s “assigned transfer” logistics system, which was comprised of two forms, namely, the transfer of resources among regional administrative units, and that between the central and regional governments. Second, it […]

ABSTRACTMany of the knowledges we can classify as vernacular were enacted by women in spheres that were largely governed by women: whether household maintenance, family emergencies, or basic healthcare. Accessing this level of knowledge and penetrating women’s experience, however, poses significant methodological challenges. Where can we look to find vernacular knowers who left few physical […]

Capitalism is a remarkable system which has re-invented itself throughout history. It has proved capable of co-existing with entirely different political and economic contexts.

Title: Rediscovering Ni Kwei Tseng and the Rise of the 'Soong Dynasty' in the Republican EraSpeaker: Dr. Annie Hongping Nie (Faith and Global Engagement Research Fellow)Date/Time: March 11, 2025 (Tue) 12:30 – 13:30 HKT (Mar 10 | 21:30 – 22:30 PDT)Venue: Lecture Hall, G/F, May Hall, The University of Hong Kong & Via ZOOMLanguage: EnglishEnquiry:ihss@hku.hkRegister Now: https://hku.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_RoUcDL7wTXyO3TUJPk01TQ#/registrationAbstractEven […]

Capitalism is a remarkable system which has re-invented itself throughout history. It has proved capable of co-existing with entirely different political and economic contexts.

This paper examines the transregional thinking that conceptualized the British imperial interests and expansion in Asia from the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 to the Opium War or “First China War” (1840–1842).

The rich have always fascinated, sometimes in problematic ways. Medieval thinkers feared that the super-rich would act ‘as gods among men’;

Today the term fengshui, which literally means “wind and water,” is recognized around the world. Yet few know exactly what it means,

The Silk Road is not merely a geographical or sociohistorical route but also, to a considerable extent, a catalyst for historical ups and downs ...