Event Recap: Navigating China’s Archives: A Hands-On Guide for Emerging Researchers
Reported by Disty Mahmud, the Class of 2026 & Yuruo Zhang, the Class of 2027.
On March 19th, the Archives and History Initiative hosted a presentation featuring Professors Lei Lin, Qian Zhu, and Andrew Field. The event explored strategies for accessing and utilizing China’s archival materials, both physically and digitally, drawing from the professors’ research experiences.
Professor Lei Lin: Archives of China’s Qing Dynasty
Professor Lei Lin, an assistant professor of Chinese History, focused on Qing dynasty (1644–1912) archival research. She introduced Qing archives, distinguishing between primary archival sources and secondary historiographical materials. She highlighted key government documents such as imperial edicts (Shangyu), palace memorials (Zouzhe), and routine memorials (Tiben), also noting the emperor’s red-script annotations (Pihong). She also discussed Manchu-language memorials, which were rarely translated to Chinese due to the Manchu background of government officials.
Professor Lin shared examples of archival collections, including wartime communications between Qing officials and generals, compiled into books for retrieval. She provided guidance on accessing digital archives, such as the National Palace Museum in Taipei, and unpublished materials from the First Historical Archives in Beijing and Nanjing. She also explained the structure of provincial archives, like those in Shanghai, and accessing physical archives with a Chinese national ID (or foreign passport) and an institutional letter from a DKU professor.
During the Q&A, a student asked why unpublished archives remain restricted. Professor Lei explained that archives also serve national accountability, and restricted historical materials allow for manipulation of narratives to the public. She also addressed a question on historical sources beyond archival documents.
Professor Qian Zhu: Researching 20th-Century China
Professor Qian Zhu’s presentation focused on archival research in 20th-century China, highlighting resources accessible both at Duke and online. She introduced some key off-campus archives. The Second Historical Archives of China (SHAC) in Nanjing (http://shac.net.cn/sy_59/) was mentioned. Visiting this spot requires an appointment, a valid ID, and an introduction letter from a DKU professor. Also, Shanghai Municipal Library (https://www.library.sh.cn/) was brought to the conversation. It is open to the public with an ID and library card. A Digital Humanities Platform can be visited by clicking https://dhc.library.sh.cn/, which offers free scanned copies of documents.
On top of that, she introduced Duke University’s online resources, such as primary source databases like the Chinese studies collections, ProQuest Historical Newspapers, and the Chinese Newspapers Collection. Additionally, she highlighted Late Qing and Republic of China (Minguo) Periodicals housed at the National Library in Beijing and an OCR tool that converts PDFs and images into editable text, with translation capabilities.
For digital archives, Professor Zhu recommended several other resources, including: the WeChat account Hong Kong-Macau-Taiwan and Overseas Historical Materials (港澳台及海外历史文献), Guangdong-HK-Macau Special Archive Digital Platform (https://www.zslib.com.cn/jingtaiyemian/yga/nav.html), Literature and Periodicals in Republican China (https://cadal.hytung.com.cn/), and Digital Image Collections of the Republic of China (http://www.minguotupian.com/).
Professor Zhu concluded by reflecting on how archives “speak” to researchers. She emphasized that interpretation is shaped by the person’s background and knowledge, making historical and cultural context crucial when working with archival materials. She also discussed how archives both reflect power structures and reveal hidden narratives.
Professor Andrew Field: The Role of Archives in Historical Research
In the final presentation, Professor Andrew Field emphasized the importance of archival research for historians. Not only in terms of deep engagement with sources but also in building connections with like-minded scholars. He also highlighted the need for persistence and patience when working with archives and archivists.
He then shared the case of the Shanghai Municipal Police files, a collection of intelligence records smuggled out of Shanghai in 1949 by the CIA due to their data on global communist activities. Originally hidden in Langley, these files were later declassified through the Freedom of Information Act by a couple of historians and are now housed in the U.S. National Archives. The documents provide valuable insights into daily life and nightlife in Shanghai during that period.
Professor Field concluded with a reminder to the audience: “Archive your personal life”, emphasizing the value of documenting your own experiences as a way of memory.
The event saw an estimated attendance of 37 students and faculty. The presentations were enjoyed with snacks and drinks catering. To learn more about DKU’s Archives and History Initiative and be updated on our events, email student coordinators Yuruo Zhang (yuruo.zhang@dukekunshan.edu.cn) or Disty Mahmud (andhisty.mahmud@dukekunshan.edu.cn), to be added to the WeChat group.
DKU Film Society Schedule｜Pushing Boundaries: The Best of Cinema
Join the DKU Film Society for a carefully curated series of screenings showcasing some of the most acclaimed films from renowned directors across different eras and genres. This semester’s lineup highlights a diverse selection of cinematic masterpieces that have left a lasting impact on the world of film.
Convener: DKU Film Society
Time: Thursdays, 6:30 PM
Location: CCTE Theatre
Spring 2025 Screening Schedule
March 6 – Little Women (2019) – Dir. Greta Gerwig
A fresh and poignant adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel, exploring the lives, struggles, and ambitions of the March sisters.
March 20 – I’m Not There (2007) – Dir. Todd Haynes
A unique, multi-actor portrayal of the enigmatic Bob Dylan, blending fact and fiction to explore the many facets of his identity.
March 27 – Do the Right Thing (1989) – Dir. Spike Lee
A powerful and visually striking film examining racial tensions in a Brooklyn neighborhood on a scorching summer day.
April 3 – Election (1999) – Dir. Johnnie To
A gripping Hong Kong crime thriller about power struggles within a triad organization, showcasing To’s signature tense and stylish direction.
April 10 – Taxi Driver (1976) – Dir. Martin Scorsese
A dark psychological drama following the descent of an alienated Vietnam War veteran into vigilante violence in a corrupt New York City.
April 17 – Underground (1995) – Dir. Emir Kusturica
An epic, surreal tragicomedy chronicling the turbulent history of Yugoslavia through the lives of two friends caught in the chaos of war.
April 24 – Fitzcarraldo (1982) – Dir. Werner Herzog
An audacious tale of obsession, following a dreamer’s impossible quest to build an opera house in the Amazon jungle.
May 1 – La Haine (1995) – Dir. Mathieu KassovitzA gripping social commentary on urban youth and police brutality, following three friends navigating life in the Parisian suburbs.All students and faculty are welcome! Whether you’re a film enthusiast or just looking to experience great cinema, join us for engaging discussions and an exploration of storytelling through film.
Event Report — Female Pain in Pre-modern China/ Reading group night
By Yuqing Wang, Class of 2025 & Yuting Zeng, Class of 2026
February 21, 2025, Professor Wenting Ji, Yuqing Wang and Yuting Zeng hosted a reading group sharing event centered on the theme of “female+pain,” guided by historian Dorothy Ko’s two monographs on women in Chinese history: Cinderella’s Sisters and Teachers in the Inner Chambers. This session attracts more than fifteen participants, including students and faculty members.
The event began with Yuting distributing handouts to initiate our discussion, setting the stage for an engaging conversation. Participants first reflected on pain as a personal and historical experience, questioning whether it can serve as a voice when words fail. This led to a nuanced discussion on footbinding, moving beyond its traditional portrayal as a symbol of oppression to examine its complex roles in cultural identity, social status, and gendered expectations. Yuqing then shifted the discussion to women’s education in premodern China, highlighting its dual nature as both a privilege and a tool of control. Professor Ji provided valuable insights into the gendered limitations of learning, from home-based instruction to moral conditioning. Participants engaged in a debate on whether education fosters liberation or reinforces confinement, drawing connections to modern-day gender norms.
Our conversation expanded beyond historical analysis to address the multifaceted forms of pain experienced by women, past and present. Topics ranged from menstrual pain and its associated social stigma to the systematic exclusion of women from intellectual spaces. Participants drew parallels between historical silences and modern struggles for visibility and voice, prompting a deeper reflection on the enduring impact of pain—whether physical, social, or intellectual—on women’s lives.
By the end of the session, participants left with a deeper understanding of the complexities surrounding women’s pain, both in historical contexts and contemporary society. The discussion fostered a critical examination of how pain has been used to define, constrain, and sometimes empower women, highlighting its role in shaping gendered experiences over time. Through engaged dialogue, attendees reflected on the evolving significance of footbinding, education, and exclusion, drawing connections between past struggles and present-day realities. The event not only encouraged meaningful scholarly exchange but also inspired participants to continue exploring these themes in their own research and daily lives.
DKU Film Society Presents: 情书 Love Letter (1995)
Location: CCTE Theatre
Time: This Thursday, 6:30 PM
Tonight at CCTE Theatre, we’re excited to present a screening of Shunji Iwai’s Love Letter, as part of our “The Best of…” series. This emotionally evocative film is a masterpiece of modern Japanese cinema, renowned for its exquisite portrayal of love, grief, and the passage of time.
Set in the scenic beauty of Hokkaido, Love Letter follows the story of a woman who, after the death of her fiancé, uncovers a letter he wrote to her years earlier. As she delves into the past, the film explores themes of loss, memory, and the enduring power of love. With Iwai’s signature delicate style, Love Letter is a beautifully crafted meditation on human connection and the ways in which we cope with the loss of those we love.
Join Professor Davis and the Film Society in experiencing this beautiful film. Professor Davis will give a brief talk before the screening so please make sure to come early and grab a seat! Immerse yourself in this profound and visually stunning story of love and remembrance. See you there!
Teng Tong 疼痛: Female + Pain Reading Group
Date: 2/20 (Thursday) 6:30-7:30 pm
Location: AB1075A(HUM Space)
Introduction:
Pain, both physical and psychological, is one of the most complex emotions and experiences. In late imperial China (17th to 19th century), shaped by cultural and historical contexts such as Confucian hierarchy and the practice of footbinding, women experienced pain in ways distinct from their male counterparts and from contemporary understandings. This created a unique discourse around gender, the body, and historical conditions. In this reading event, we will begin by exploring two books by historian Dorothy Ko: Teachers of the Inner Chambers: Women and Culture in Seventeenth-Century China and Cinderella’s Sisters: A Revisionist History of Footbinding. Following the reading, we will open up a discussion on the intersection of female experience, pain, and the gendered body.
All are welcome. Pizza and refreshments will be provided on-site. Scan the QR code to join the group and stay updated on future events.
Student Report on Migratory Ghost Reading Event
Pictured left to right: Maya Peak ‘25, Juli Min, Sidney Brown ‘26, and Zhou Sivan.
By Rebecca Combs
On September 22nd, 2024, the HRC welcomed authors Juli Min and Zhou Sivan, along with Migratory Ghost DKU student winners Maya Peak ‘25 and Sidney Brown ‘26, to read their award-winning works in an immersive session. About 20 students and 8 faculty members attended.
The event began with the announcement of both student winners: Maya Peak, Class of 2025 Global Cultural Studies – Literature Track Major, and Sidney Brown, Class of 2026 Global Cultural Studies – Literature Track Major. This was promptly followed by each of them reading their submitted work to the attendees.
First, Maya read her short story titled Metamorphoses: Homunculus, a frankenstein-esque telling of a scientist, their life-given experiment, the gruesome steps of the process, and the emotionally painful reality of their creation having autonomy: “it’s a whole person who treats me like a mystery for not knowing what it is”.
Next, Sidney read her four poetry pieces titled “I Believe I Can Fly”, “Lost at Sea”, “Tempest”, and “The Great Escape”. Each explored the complexities of negative emotions and captured themes of transformation, change, and letting go: “for this moment I am airborne, looking down at this swath of land and empty bodies limping with their strings sewn up”. (“I Believe I Can Fly”)
Following the student winners, Shanghai-based Korean-American author and Harvard University graduate Juli Min read a section of her book Shanghailanders. Published in May of this year, Min’s work of fiction covers Shanghai cosmopolitans told backwards in time. In light of the theme of migratory ghosts, New York Times reviewer Jean Kwok states: “having knowledge of these characters’ futures before we know about their past makes stumbling on their bygone days all the more touching”.
Finally, Hong-Kong-based Malaysian poet and author Zhou Sivan read from his book of poems “The Geometry of Trees”. Published in 2022, Sivan details themes of queer desire through the trees, their trunks, and language, revealing how their growth has stayed with him throughout his entire life. Much like the lurking nature of ghosts, Sivan emphasizes how “in the background, trees dramatize the architectural displays of empire”.
Faculty, authors, and student-winners were treated to a dinner. The event was a complete success, student and faculty attendees alike having been immersed in prose which illuminated the starkly different facets of migratory ghosts–whether fear, folklore, our pasts, or periods of transition and change.
Migratory Ghost Series Finale with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen : Screening of The Sympathizer,Episode 01 & QA Section
Time: Thursday, Dec. 5 @ 6:30 PM
Location: CCTE Theater
Food and drink will be provided.
Date: December 6
Time: 11:15 AM
Location: IB Lecture Hall
About Viet Thanh Nguyen:
Viet Thanh Nguyen’s novel The Sympathizer won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and was adapted into an HBO series. A recipient of Guggenheim and MacArthur fellowships, his most recent publication is A Man of Two Faces: A Memoir, A History, A Memorial.
Organized by:Stephanie Anderson, Ye Odelia Lu
History Through a Student’s Eyes: Research Assistant & Signature Work
Date and Location: Dec. 4, AB 1079 , 5 to 6pm.
On Wednesday, Dec. 4, from 5-6pm, Haiyi Guo will share insights from his experience working as student researcher for Prof. Zach Fredman for his recently published book The Tormented Alliance and for Prof. Fredman’s new project on the “Rest and Recreation” program in Vietnam. Haiyi will also present his own Signature Work project and receive feedback and comments from the community.
Sponsored by: HRC’s Archives and History Initiative
Student Report on Forum and Exhibition on Multimodality in Multilingual and Intercultural Education
Report by Delfin Kaplan, class of 2027
On November 1st, 2024, Dr. Xin Zhang, assistant professor of Chinese and Intercultural Communication from the Langauge and Culture Center at Duke Kunshan University(DKU), and Dr. Peiru Tong, associate professor of International Education at Wuhan University (WHU) co-hosted the Forum and Exhibition on Multimodality in Multilingual and Intercultural Education. A collaboration between DKU and WHU, the forum and exhibition took place in-person at DKU, though it was also attended by audience online through Zoom and on Spot, the latter being a metaverse exhibition. The one-day forum consisted of invited talks, workshops, and faculty lightning talks by professors across multiple acclaimed universities beyond DKU and WHU, including Duke, University of Sydney, the Ohio State University and University of HongKong, and a student-led artwork exhibition.
The forum started with a welcome speech by the senior director of Language and Culture Center (LCC) Dr. Don Snow, followed by Dr. Peiru Tong’s introducation of the “Multimodal Intercultural Education Interdisciplinary Innovation Platform”, co-funded by the WHU and DKU Joint Research Platform Seed Funding and the Kunshan Municipal Government Research Funding, and the DKU HRC Small Event Grant.
The talks and workshops on Multimodality in Multilingual and Intercultural Education were led by nine accomplished professors: Dr. Francis Troyan from Ohio State University and Dr. Zhenjie Weng from Duke Kunshan spoke about the development of language teacher identity through photo-elicitation in TESOL teacher education, which is a reflection technique used to explore the connection between emotions and the teachers’ identities. They also shared some reflections from participating teachers. Dr. Yan Liu gave a speech on the multimodal approaches to teaching Chinese, focusing on the power of visual arts, followed by a collaborative presentation between Dr. Xin Zhang from Duke Kunshan University and Dr. Peiru Tong from Wuhan University on the visual narratives of international students’ multilingual identity (co)construction during their long-term studies abroad in China. After that, Dr. Hongzhi (Veronica) Yang from the University of Sydney shared her insights on the use of generative AI to create multimodal language learning resources.
After a lunch break to allow participants to explore the exhibition and discuss the contents of the morning presentations, Dr. Mari Noda and Dr. Galal Walker from the Ohio State University led a pedagogy workshop on applying performance watch tasks in language and culture classrooms. Dr. Tai, Kevin W.H. from the University of Hong Kong, led the a second workshop on research methodology for understanding the construction of translanguaging spaces in multilingual classrooms, focusing on insights from combining multimodal conversation analysis with interpretative phenomenological analysis. Another highlight of the forum was the faculty-led lightning talks which showcased various teaching and research projects by faculty in the Language and Culture Center at DKU, and faculty from peer institutions including Wuhan University and University of Sydney.
The student artwork exhibition consisted of artwork and reflections created by DKU, WHU, and University of Sydney (USYD) students, as part of a collaborative research project between Dr. Xin Zhang and Dr. Peiru Tong. Student participants were asked to reflect on their identity as international students in an intercultural student cohort and their experiences with multilinguality over two months with weekly check-ins, which were then processed through an extensive selection process and displayed by two student workers, Delfin Kaplan and Davit Kavkasyan, supervised by Dr. Xin Zhang. Both students responsible for the exhibition were also part of the preliminary artwork collection process in 2023.
Throughout the weeks leading up to the exhibition, Delfin and Davit individually inspected every single one of the dozens of artworks and the accompanying reflection and chose around 30 final artworks to be presented in the exhibition. The forum attendees could view these posters on the day of the exhibition, and they will remain visible in the foyer outside Performance Cafe in CCTE for another month. The artwork can also be viewed virtually via a metaverse exhibition.
In curating the exhibitions, the two student workers independently handled the budget, acquired the materials, communicated with the creators of the artworks, set up the exhibition, and they gave a short speech in the forum to talk about their experience and what they’ve learned. Both students reported that seeing the perspective of other international students was ‘eye-opening’ and that this exhibition was especially important to them due to both of them being the only students from their countries.
