History

I am a historian of pre-modern China. My research interests lie predominately in the middle and late imperial periods. My academic work most frequently involves exploring ideas and the circulation of ideas. I also make forays into the history of science, which affords me a particular perspective on the cultural and intellectual sphere.

I am currently working on a book manuscript which examines the life and thought of a polymath, Shen Gua, who lived in eleventh-century China. Among other things, this project purports to illuminate the epistemological stance of an individual who managed to acquire skills in what modern people would perceive as a wide range of disparate fields of study. Recently I have also been engaging middle-period encyclopedias, which serve as a new platform for my study of historical taxonomies and epistemologies.

I publish in both English and Chinese. My work has appeared in East Asian Science, Technology, and Society and the Journal of Tang Studies.