FACULTY OF ASIAN Cambridge Chinese Studies AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES, CAMBRIDGE Newsletter VOLUME 1 ISSUE 2 JULY 2020 INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Welcome 2 Seminar Series 3 Lent and Easter — 2020 5 Interview: Dr 6 Loewe — Feature: Reduc- 8 ing the Distance Student Updates 8 Feature: — Language in 13 Lockdown Interview: 14 Feng Jing — 15 Thomas Wade 16 Society Updates Lectures, 16 Conferences, — and Workshops 17 Staff Updates 18 — 19 Notices and 20 Illustration by Juliette Odolant, Undergraduate class of 2019 Advertisements Inspired by a photograph she took on a recent trip to Paris’ Musée Guimet of her friend wearing a mask in front of the “Peintures de fer: paysages de montagne,” this piece rep- resents what an appreciation of Chinese culture may look like for the foreseeable future. PAGE 2 Welcome Letter Dear friends, Welcome to our second newsletter! You will not be surprised to learn that the last few months have been dominated by the Covid-19 pandemic. I am glad to be able to report that colleagues and students have adjusted to working online effectively, rapid- ly, and graciously. At the beginning of the outbreak, we moved our Year Abroad stu- dents from Beijing to Taipei. The University decided to make examinations for first and second year students ‘formative,’ meaning that students were free to take them or not, that no one could fail, and that they will Third Years in Shanghai not appear on transcripts. Most students did take them and their unofficial nature than before: living online brings new opportu- meant that we could give detailed informal nities. The pandemic has had serious, but still feedback. We think this an improvement. unclear, consequences for postgraduate stu- Final Year students did have ‘official’ online dents requiring access to libraries and archives examinations and our graduands will be and/or needing to conduct field research. invited back to Cambridge for a formal Some are in the process of redesigning their graduation ceremony when the situation projects. allows for this. The summer term has now begun. That allows What have we learned after learning and us to return to our own research projects, teaching online for one term? Our language but we are also preparing for the return of teachers found teaching online language students to Cambridge next October, includ- classes exhausting, but workable, and prob- ing by consulting each other about the best ably preferable to in-person classes where ways of delivering classes online. everybody has to keep two metres apart Finally, some good news. I trust you will be as and must wear face masks. We cancelled delighted as all of us at the promotion of Dr the China Research Seminar, but Dr Galam- Adam Chau to Reader. bos’s Dunhuang Seminar restarted after a - Hans van de Ven brief pause. It now has a larger audience A Message to the Fourth Years With arguably one of the most disrupted that the students still found a moment to final years students have ever experienced, celebrate their success and that they will we want to congratulate the class of 2016 be reunited soon with their classmates and on completing their degrees. As formal professors to commemorate their impres- graduation ceremonies are postponed and sive achievements. May Week has been cancelled, we hope CAMBRIDGE CHINESE ST UDIES NEWSLETTER VOLUME 1 ISSUE 2 PAGE 3 China Research Seminar Series Beginning with Prof. Romain the many lives of a Buddhist Chinese Civil Graziani’s fascinating discus- monastery in the wake of War with a sion of crime and punish- the Taiping War, providing talk on China’s ment in pre-modern China, a window into the some- ‘Hog Bristle the Lent Term’s China Re- times competing, some- King,’ and his search Seminar series pro- times complimentary inter- surprising post vided students and Faculty ests of national and spiritual -1949 bureau- with a wide survey of some rejuvenation. Meanwhile, cratic rebirth. of the latest research being our resident Ming historian, Finally, Prof. done in the field of Chinese Dr Noga Ganany, continued Barbara Mit- studies. the religious theme with her tler concluded Stills from Gigi Scaria’s This was followed by a talk talk on material manifesta- the research seminar with a by Dr Sun Jicheng on trans- tions of the Zhenwu Cult in socially-distanced discussion video installation No lating the verse of Republican otherworldly guidebooks to of both the production, and Parallel (2010), discussed -era poet and Cambridge Mount Huashan published later artistic repurposing of by Prof. Barbara Mittler alumnus Shao Xunmei — a by commercial presses in archival photographs of friend of the more well- the 15th century. Mao, raising compelling par- known poet Xu Zhimo, Dr Judd Kinzley brought the allels with the return of whose memorial garden has conversation back to the political hagiography under graced the grounds of King’s 20th century with an explo- Xi Jinping. College since 2018. ration of the logistical di- - Nick Stember Dr Gregory Scott discussed mensions of WWII and the PhD student & DEAS Grad Dunhuang and Silk Road Seminar Series As expected with a remit sented the result of such talks—Dr Lilla Russell-Smith as broad as ‘Dunhuang and skilled craftsmanship, lead- (Asian Art Museum, Berlin) Silk Road’ studies, Lent ing us through the stunning re-examined the well-known term’s seminar series murals of Afrasyab and ‘Sogdian Deities’ sketch, boasted speakers from all analysing the rich symbol- while our own graduate disciplines and regional ism therein to touch on student Feng Jing discussed, specialities. Sogdian and Chinese cus- with brilliant demonstra- Dr Agnieszka Helman-Ważny We opened in January with toms and celebrations. tions, the mystery of Dr Agnieszka Helman- Our next speaker, Dr An- ’whirlwind binding.’ The Ważny’s (Centre for the tonello Palumbo (SOAS), early Chinese Anhui Daxue Study of Manuscript Cul- also shed light on the hid- manuscripts were re- tures, Hamburg) talk on den depths of extant mate- interpreted by Dr Dirk Mey- the spread of paper-making rial sources—exploring the er (University of Oxford), technology, which placed interactions between impe- including the beloved poem the medium of paper cen- rial propaganda, Daoism, ’Guanju;’ and the series con- Dr Antonello Palumbo tre-stage. and Manichaeism in two cluded with Dr Brandon Dotson’s (Georgetown Uni- From the technicalities of Tang-era Dunhuang manu- versity) talk on dice divina- material production, Prof. scripts. tion along the Silk Roads. Matteo Compareti (Shaanxi Manuscripts were also Normal University) pre- central to our remaining - Kelsey Granger PAGE 4 Interview with Prof. van de Ven and Dr Galambos In this issue, we speak with Prof. van de Ven and Dr Galambos on the past, present, and future of the China Research Seminar series and the Dunhuang and the Silk Road Seminar series. The recent lockdown has given us all much ers from other cities and countries, which was of time to stop and reflect—what were the course a major step forward. original aims of your seminar series and do you feel these have changed over time? What has been a highlight of the seminar se- Prof. van de Ven: We had three aims. The ries this academic year in your eyes? first was to strengthen a sense of cohesion Prof. van de Ven: First because of the UCU among all those working on China at Cambridge strike and then the pandemic, we twice had to by being together once a week. We also wanted cancel a talk by Jennifer Altehenger, a University to hear about important new research in the Lecturer at Oxford and a specialist in early PRC UK especially, although not only, by early career history. She began her career as an undergradu- researchers. And finally we wanted to increase ate here with us. That was a pity, but we will the visibility of China Studies within Cambridge. have her back once we restart in the fall. For me, Over the years, we have brought in some inno- one highlight was a panel session on Reading the vations. We are now on Twitter and Facebook China Dream, presented by Timothy Cheek and have developed a substantial following. The (UBC), David Ownby (Montreal), and Joshua next step will be to make better use of the Fogel (York University in Canada). Tim and Da- online world, whose possibilities the pandemic vid were class mates at Harvard, while Josh was a has revealed to us. I would like us to stay local teacher there. We had lovely talks by Noga Ga- and not simply have big names from all over the nany and Hajni Elias, who are now colleagues. world, which is a temptation. But our graduates Another highlight was Barbara Mittler from Hei- are all over the world and the research we pre- delberg University. She presented a wonderful sent will be of interest to many others as well. talk about the uses of Mao portraits by an Indian We should exploit that. artist. She did so from Heidelberg early on in the pandemic using Skype. Now that we are all on Dr Galambos: Originally, the seminar series Zoom, Teams, and Meets, that now seems very were simply weekly meetings with a visiting old technology. It made clear the possibilities of graduate student who was working on a the online, though. Dunhuang manuscript. Then my two visiting scholars from Beijing joined us, which resulted in much more discussion. Once we ran out of pre- senters, we invited others to present and to participate. This is how the Dunhuang and Silk Road seminar series started. Fortunately, there were always enough academics around Cam- bridge who were interested in the Silk Road and medieval China.