Dr. ZHENG Yangwen 鄭揚文
Born and raised in China, I was educated at Oberlin College (BA 1995),Université de Strasbourg, and King's College, University of Cambridge (MPhil 1997 and PhD 2001). Then I taught at the University of Pennsylvania (2002-04) and researched at the National University of Singapore (2004-06) before joining the University of Manchester in January 2007. This global learning experience has shaped my life and work so far.
Trained as a Qing dynasty (1644-1911) historian with a focus on China's maritime trade andconsumption pattern,Ihave beenfascinated with the foreign goods and things that went into China, and theways inwhich they became Chinese or indigenised. This interest in the dynamics of Sino-foreign interaction and more importantly in the process of sinicisation hasled me to foreign performing art genres like ballet.The two years in Singapore encouraged me venture into other research areas that included naming practice, China's relations with her neighbours in Southeast Asia, and the Asian Cold War. I am currently finishing up two new manuscripts titled “A Chinese Century, 1684 – 1838” and “Choreograph History” for publication.
Authored Book/s
- The Social Life of Opium in China, Cambridge University Press, 2005
- Storia Sociale Dell’Oppio, UTET Libreria, 2007 (Italian translation édition)
- 중국을 뒤흔든 아편의 역사 ECO-LIVRES, 2009 (Korean translation edition)
Edited Books
- The Cold War in Asia: The Battle for Hearts and Minds, edited by Zheng Yangwen, Hong Liu and Michael Szonyi with a chapter by Immanuel Wallerstein, Brill USA (March 2010)
- The Body in Asia, edited by Bryan S. Turner and Zheng Yangwen and with an Introduction by Bryan S. Turner and Zheng Yangwen, Berghahn Books (October 2009)
- Personal Names in Asia: History, Culture and Identity, edited by Zheng Yangwen and Charles J-H Macdonald with a Preface by James C. Scott, National University of Singapore Press (October 2009)
- Negotiating Asymmetry: China’s Place in Asia, edited by Anthony Reid and Zheng Yangwen with an Introduction by Anthony Reid, National University of Singapore Press and University of Hawaii Press (June 2009)
Book Chapters
- “Women’s Liberation in China during the Cold War”, in (above-mentioned) The Cold War in Asia: The Battle for Hearts and Minds, edited by Zheng Yangwen, Hong Liu and Michael Szonyi, Brill USA (March 2010)
- “The Circulation of Foreign Goods [洋货] and the Emergence of the Foreign [洋] Urban Mosaic during the Qing”, in The City and Chinese Modernity, edited by Paul Katz and Li Dajia, Academia Sinica Institute of Modern History Press (March 2010)
- “Introduction Piety, Politics and Philosophy: Asia and the Global Body”, in (above-mentioned) The Body in Asia, edited by Bryan S. Turner and Zheng Yangwen, Berghahn Books (October 2009)
- “Women’s Revolution Embodied in Mao Zedong Era Ballet”, in (above-mentioned) The Body in Asia, edited by Bryan S. Turner and Zheng Yangwen, Berghahn Books (October 2009)
- “From 居正 Live Righteously to 小兰 Small Orchid and 建华 Construct China: a Systematic Inquiry into Chinese Naming Practice”, in (above-mentioned) Personal Names in Asia: History, Culture and Identity, edited by Zheng Yangwen and Charles J-H Macdonald, National University of Singapore Press (October 2009)
- “The ‘Peaceful Rise of China’ after the ‘Century of Unequal Treaties’: Will History Matter?”, in (above-mentioned) Negotiating Asymmetry: China’s Place in Asia, edited by Anthony Reid and Zheng Yangwen, National University of Singapore Press and University of Hawaii Press (June 2009)
- “Swan Lake to Red Girl’s Regiment: the Sinicisation of Ballet in China”, in The Cambridge Companion to Ballet, edited by Marion Kant, Cambridge University Press (2007)
Refereed Journal Articles
- Hunan: Laboratory of Reform and Land of Revolution,” Modern Asian Studies 42, 6 (2008), 1111-1134.
- The Social Life of Opium in China, 1483 to 1999, Modern Asian Studies 37, 1 (2003), 1-40.
Books-in-Progress
- A Chinese Century: 1684 to 1838 (book manuscript to submit in 2009)
- Choreograph History (book manuscript to submit in 2010)
Teaching
Teaching is my passion and I believe in motivating students. I have offered Modern China, a Level One survey course, Late Imperial China, a Level Two survey course, and Twentieth Century China: Historical Themes, a MA course since I joined Manchester. China and the West, a new and Level Three course, will be offered in semester one, 2009-2010.
PhD students:
David Woodbridge (Brethen Mission to China)
Hubertus van Malssen (Martial arts fiction during the Republican Era)
Carl Kilcourse (Taiping Rebellion and theology)
Keynote
- “The Many Biographies of Mr. Opium” delivered at the 4th International Conference on the History of Alcohol and Drugs titled “Global Approaches”, held at Guelph University, Ontario, Canada on 10-12 August 2007.
Invited Papers and Lectures
- “Performing Modernity”, paper delivered at Third World Modernism, an international conference funded by and held at Sussex University Centre for Colonial and Post-Colonial Studies held on 11-12 June 2009
- “Shanghai Vice”, paper delivered at Intoxicants and Intoxication in Historical and Cultural Perspective, a conference funded by ESRC and held at the Victoria and Albert Museum on 20 May 2009
- “The Cultural Biography of Ballet”, paper delivered at Circuits of Cultural Entrepreneurship in China and Southeast Asia”, an international conference funded by and held at Columbia University on 20-21 March 2009
- “To Compensate the Shortage of Cultivation: Early Qing Maritime Policy”, paper delivered at The China Symposium at National Maritime Museum, a conference funded by and held at the National Maritime Museum on 27 February 2008
- “The Introduction and Naturalisation of Maize and Foreign/Sweet Yam in China”, paper delivered at Chiles, Chocolate and Tomatoes: Global Cultures of Food After Columbus, an international conference convened/funded by the University of Warwick Global History and Culture Centre, held at Palazzo Pesaro Papafavo, Venice (Italy) on 11-12 January 2008
- “The Social Life of Opium in China”, lecture delivered at Department of East Asian Studies, Princeton University on 30 April 2003
Public
- “The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution”, public lecture delivered at CornerHouse Manchester for the launch of the State Heritage Exhibition on 23 April 2009
- “The Taiping Rebellion”, public lecture delivered at CornerHouse Manchester for the special screening of the Golden Horse Award film The Warlords on 5 February 2009
- “The Opium War”, public lecture delivered at Bolton Historical Association on 12 January 2009
- “The Opium War” on BBC Radio Four “In Our Times” with Malvyn Bragg on 12 April 2007
Conferences Organized/Convened
- The Cold War in Asia: Beyond Geopolitics and Diplomacy (with Liu Hong, Michael Szonyi and Chen Chunsheng) held at Sun Yat-sen University, China on 1-2 November 2007
- The Body in Asia: Human Cosmos and Culture Canvas (with Bryan S. Turner) held at National University of Singapore on 15-16 March 2007
- The Cold War in Asia, 1948 – 1980 (with Anthony Reid) held at National University of Singapore on 6 November 2006
- Rationalising China's Place in Asia, 1800 to 2005 (with Anthony Reid) held at National Library of Singapore on 3-4 August 2006
- Asian Expansions: Historical Processes of Polity Expansion in Asia (with Anthony Reid and Geoff Wade) held in Singapore on 12-13 May 2006
- Naming In Asia: Local Identities and Global Change (with Anthony Reid and Charles Macdonald) held at National University of Singapore on 23-24 February 2006
Conference-in-Planning
- China on the Water with Hans van de Ven (University of Cambridge) and to be held in July 2010 in Singapore
- Charting the Global Footsteps of Maize
- The Sixth International Conference on the History of Alcohol and Drugs with Society for the History of Alcohol and Drugs and to be held in 2011