Friends of the Arts: Cultural Activities and Social Networks of the Literati during the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries

This project explores issues about the cultural and political history of China during the Southern Song and Yuan dynasties, with a focus on the cultural activities of the shi-literati class. It will take into consideration the social networks that the literati cultivated to delineate the patterns and contents of their cultural activities. Furthermore, it will trace the ways in which those cultural patterns were formulated and changed with time, particularly during the political turmoil of the Mongolian conquest in the late 1270s, and, finally, to assess the roles the literati played in the formation of later Chinese culture. To tackle the triangulation among the social networks of the literati, their cultural activities, and their political situations, this project adopts a multidisciplinary approach, bringing together experts in socio-political history, art history, and literature. Moreover, it attempts to cross the boundary of dynastic history, long dominating the field of history studies, to examine the socio-political changes and literati’s responses at the turn of the dynasty. This direction has already attracted attention from scholars worldwide and deserves further investigation. To achieve the goal, we will organize regular seminars to read primary materials, particularly literary works of the literati, and to discuss discoveries; we will also invite scholars to speak on relevant subjects to a larger audience; after three years of research, we will hold an international conference to present findings and exchange ideas with colleagues from China, Japan, US, UK, and France. With these designs, we hope to advance collaboration among scholars in different disciplines and of various nationalities, which may open up a new avenue in the humanities at the era of globalization.

Project ID:PE10202-0331
External Project ID:NSC101-2420-H182-002-MY3