Event Details
Jonathan Spence PhD '65, Sterling Professor Emeritus of History at Yale University, vividly portrayed seventeen-century provincial China through the story of a local women's attempt to leave her husband in The Death of Woman Wang, a landmark work of microhistory. His distinctive approach has profoundly influenced generations of historians and writers. From Xin Luo, Professor at the Center for Research on Ancient Chinese History at Peking University, who traces the lingering life of a Northern Wei palace woman, to Di Wang, Chair Professor of History at University of Macau, who reconstructs the social world of teahouses in Chengdu, scholars have continued to illuminate broader historical landscapes through the lives of seemingly ordinary individuals.
On June 13, the inaugural lecture of Yale Center Beijing's Jonathan Spence Memorial Series welcomes Xin Luo and Di Wang. Drawing on their readings of The Death of Woman Wang and their own microhistorical research, they will discuss Spence's influence on both scholarship and public history, and explore how microhistory can engage, resonate with, and inspire a wider audience.
