About Us

School of Chinese Scholar Seminar

The Gender of Knowledge: Virtues and Crimes in the Forensic Drama of Early Modern China

分享嘉賓 Speaker:

Prof. Guojun WANG 王國軍 教授

(Department of East Asian Studies, McGill University)

主持人 Moderator:

Prof. Binbin YANG 楊彬彬 教授

(School of Chinese, The University of Hong Kong)

日期時間 Date & Time: June 12, 2026 (Fri) 16:00-17:30 (HKT)

語言 Language: English 

地點 Venue: CRT-7.30, 7/F, Run Run Shaw Tower, Centennial Campus, HKU 香港大學百周年校園逸夫教學樓7樓730室

講座模式 Delivery Mode: Face-to-face & Online (via Zoom)

報名 Registration:

https://hku.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8cuxcDu2Dq3d8d8

摘要 Abstract:

In premodern China, practitioners of forensic investigations were predominantly male. However, crime literature, especially court-case drama, frequently portrays female characters not only as objects of forensic inquests, but also as subjects of forensic knowledge. This study explores the gendered subjects of forensic knowledge as represented in a number of theatrical works of early modern China. It argues that court-case dramas from that period increasingly valorized men’s forensic knowledge as part of the state legal system, while presenting women’s forensic knowledge following two literary traditions, namely, the commendation of exemplary women and the condemnation of “wanton women.”

講者簡介 About the Speaker:

Guojun Wang is a scholar of early modern Chinese literature and culture, whose work explores the intersections of writing, performance, gender, and legal practice. He is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of East Asian Studies at McGill University, where he holds the Richard Charles & Esther Yewpick Lee Chair in Chinese Cultural Studies. His first book, Staging Personhood: Costuming in Early Qing Drama (Columbia University Press, 2020), explores theatrical costuming in 17th-century China, a period when the Manchu regime imposed hairstyle and clothing regulations based on ethnicity and gender. He is currently working on a project about forensic literature in early modern China. Dr. Wang is the current President of the Society for Ming Studies and a former President of the Ming and Qing Chinese Forum at the Modern Language Association. His research has appeared in Late Imperial China, Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews, T’oung Pao, and other academic journals.

王國軍博士  畢業於耶魯大學東亞語言文學系，現為加拿大麥吉爾大學（McGill University）利銘澤黃瑤璧基金會中國文化學講席教授、東亞研究系副教授，此前任教於美國范德堡大學（Vanderbilt University）。目前擔任明代研究協會（Society for Ming Studies）會長，曾任現代語言協會（Modern Language Association）明清論壇主席及亞洲研究協會（Association for Asian Studies）年會學術委員等職。其主要研究領域為明清時期的文學與文化，關注文學、表演與物質文化之間的互動，亦涉足古代文學中的法律敘事與法醫檢驗等議題。出版專著《粉墨威儀：清初戲曲中的衣與人》（Staging Personhood: Costuming in Early Qing Drama，哥倫比亞大學出版社，2020），並於《哈佛亞洲研究學報》（Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies）、《中國文學》（Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews）、《通報》（T’oung Pao）等國際權威期刊發表多篇研究論文。

Notice:
1) The seminar will be conducted primarily in a face-to-face mode; Those who cannot attend the seminar in-person could apply for online participation (via Zoom);
2) All those who would like to attend the seminar are required to register online (Click HERE) on a first-come, first-served basis;
3) Email of confirmation will be sent to the registered email addresses and participants have to show the screenshot or print-out version of the email for entry of the seminar venue;
4) Walk-in or late-comers will not be allowed for entry of the seminar venue unless situation allows.
 

ALL are welcome*
*Pre-registration (Click HERE) is required.