Ya Zuo 左娅

Oxford Studies in Medieval History is now Oxford Studies in the New Medieval History. Glad to be part of the opening up of this great series to global approaches. We are looking forward to receiving book manuscripts in global #medieval history.
More info in the flyer:
fdslive.oup.com/www.oup.com/...

Just in case anyone else finds the idea of blood-stained tears oddly appealing, here's a piece I wrote on the subject www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10....

'Echoes of Great Brightness: The Ming Dynasty and Beyond' In Oxford, 16-17 September. Booking now open. I'm honoured (my goodness, I really am, so grateful to this amazing roster of colleagues)
web.cvent.com/event/a4ff13...

Xuelei Huang. Scents of China: A Modern History of Smell. Xuelei Huang’s Scents of China: A Modern History of Smell is a cultural history of smell in modern China. It delineates an “olfactory revolution” that link

My review of Xuelei Huang's Scents of China: A Modern History of Smell is out in the American Historical Review. This is the first monograph ever written on the history of olfaction in China studies. A pleasant read! academic.oup.com/ahr/article-...

谢谢🙏

My friend Chen Hao passed away a month ago. He was a historian of medicine and middle-period Chinese history. He would have turned 42 this July. I wrote this obituary for him. Though I’ve written it, I still don’t have the words for such grief. www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_f...

Thank you!

Thank you. The brewery has given their beer a variety of sexy names, but unfortunately Male Tears isn't one of them!

Glass in hand, but don’t be fooled—it’s just water. 💧

I gave a talk on male tears in premodern China as part of the Profs at the Pub series, held at the Third Window Brewery in Santa Barbara. First time for me to speak among beer barrels!

Many thanks to everyone who came to the SSYCDS annual meeting at AAS Columbus! We’re so grateful for your support and excitement!

For those attending the AAS in Columbus, our Society has prepared a great lineup of activities! Be sure to come find us – see the schedule attached. See you there! #AAS2025 #SongYuanStudies

For those attending the AAS in Columbus, we’d like to warmly invite you to our roundtable discussion on Christian Lamouroux's La dynastie des Song: Histoire générale de la Chine (960-1279). Join us from 12:15–1:45 PM at Pheoris West A, Hilton Columbus.

My review of Peter Bol's Localizing Learning: The Literati Enterprise in Wuzhou is out in Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies. A must-read book please check it out!

muse.jhu.edu/pub/109/arti...

For SoCal friends,

Here is a list of resources for shelter, animal boarding, free items, and distribution hubs. These places can also use donations (e.g., food, water, masks, and blankets). Please consider donating if you can.

For more info, visit Instagram: mutualaidla

Posting on behalf of the Society for Song, Yuan, and Conquest Dynasties: we are hosting this exciting roundtable at the AAS in March. This promises to be a wonderful occasion to reflect on the present and future of our field and celebrate the study of Song. Everyone is warmly welcome—see you there!

Thank you!

This is a must read for anyone interested in the study of North China.

YouTube video by Center for Chinese Studies - University of Hawai'i Booktalk - The Collapse of HeavenThe Taiping Civil War and Chinese Literature and Culture, 1850-1880

I shared some thoughts about Huan Jin’s excellent book The Collapse of Heaven:
youtu.be/H6ySX68b9uo

Eleven copies of our book “Countless Sands” are stacked one atop the other, with every other spine showing the title. One copy at left is facing out, to show the books cover.

First copies just arrived:

COUNTLESS SANDS: MEDIEVAL BUDDHISTS AND THEIR ENVIRONMENTS (2025)

The publisher’s website is shipping now
go.hawaii.edu/bXG

Thank you!

My book, the Chinese translation of Shen Gua's Empiricism (Harvard, 2018), has been selected for a feature by the Southern Weekly--another major newspaper I grew up with. This is the fifth feature I've received in a month. It still feels unreal...https://www.infzm.com/wap/#/content/283388

Military Medicine in East Asia: Histories of Instrumentalism, Resistance, and Agency Published in East Asian Science, Technology and Society: An International Journal (Vol. 17, No. 2, 2023)

Bluesky, here's my 2023 article on the histories of military medicine in East Asia titled, "Military Medicine in East Asia: Histories of Instrumentalism, Resistance, and Agency" in the EASTS journal 1/

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

You, tragically falling over while everyone else is tearfully saying goodbye.
7/7

Thanks!

What’s the source of the image, if I may ask?

I gave a talk on the theory of emotions in Quanzhen Daoism at Harvard last Monday, and I was so touched to see a full room of people there. The insightful questions from colleagues left me feeling energized. It’s exciting to see emotions studies really gaining momentum in premodern China studies!

The best books on what your emotions are and where they come from Rob Boddice shares the 5 best books on what your emotions are and where they come from. Have you read The Navigation of Feeling?

I did this for Shepherd a little while ago. If you're looking for entry points in the history of emotions or you're just trying to catch up, you could do worse than this short list: shepherd.com/best-books/w...

A Stairway to Heaven: Daoist Self-Cultivation in Early Modern China "A Stairway to Heaven: Daoist Self-Cultivation in Early Modern China" published on 04 Nov 2024 by Brill.

Excited for this new book on Daoist inner alchemy in late imperial China. Link below.

Very much looking forward to welcoming all these wonderful folks and more to Leuven tomorrow to discuss social histories of texts and images on stone. #medieval #earlymodern #epigraphy