(See English below)

Unser Stipendiat Herr TANG Sanjiao (University of Auckland, Neuseeland) hält am 14. Mai ab 18 Uhr einen Vortrag zu seinem aktuellen Forschungsthema „Lives in Mao-Era Militias under the Mass Mobilisation and Militarisation Context“ im Simon-Bolivar-Saal bzw. online via Webex.  Der Vortrag findet in Kooperation mit der SBB Wissenswerkstatt statt, da Herr Tang Sanjiao derzeit im Rahmen eines Forschungsaufenthaltes, finanziert über das Stipendienprogramm der Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz, an der Staatsbibliothek forscht.

In China today, the younger generations are having militarised experiences. Admittedly, military training is a routine thing for students in many countries. Currently, the reviving nationalist trend is making the Chinese young people’s military training different. On the video-sharing platforms popular in China, such as Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok), with keywords like “students’ military training,” tens of thousands of videos are well-received. As vividly shown in the videos, the Chinese young people, including children in kindergartens, were learning to have simulative combat with imaginary enemies. Indulging them in burning passion, the younger generations feel as if they were glorious soldiers fighting for the nation.

Surprisingly, many of these young people’s grandparents had paralleling militarised lives when they were young. It was the experiences of being involved in the Mao-era mass mobilisation and militarisation, becoming members of Mao’s militias. In the early 1960s, despite the famine causing tens of millions of deaths, the country was celebrating its militias nationwide maintaining a scale of over two hundred million members. In the mid-1960s, Chinese residents were mobilised to “prepare earlier for fighting a war, a big war, and even a nuclear war.” Resulting from the mass mobilisation and militarisation, as demonstrated by a well-known slogan, seven hundred million Chinese people had all “become soldiers” (qiyi renmin qiyi bing). While it was rhetorically exaggerating, it indicated that the younger generations in Mao’s China were involved as the core forces in the militias.

Through revisiting the experiences of joining Mao-era militias, this research aims to reconsider the legacies of Mao-era mass mobilisation and militarisation. How did the lives in militias shaped their adolescence and early adulthood physically, psychologically, and profoundly? Benefitting from unique sources in the Berlin State Library, this project intends to answer these questions.

The results of the project contribute to understanding the mass-based legacies of Mao-era mobilisation and militarisation. Paying attention to the transgenerational resonance on young people’s involvement in war-preparing campaigns, it helps rethink today’s China, which is an urgent task for not only academics but also analysts and policy-makers worldwide.

Die Vortragssprache ist Englisch. Wir bitten Sie um Voranmeldung für den Vortrag unter: ostasienabt@sbb.spk-berlin.de und eine kurze Mitteilung, falls Sie einen barrierefreien Zugang benötigen. Die Veranstaltung wird gefilmt.*

Der Vortrag wird darüber hinaus via Webex gestreamt und aufgezeichnet. Sie können am Vortrag über Ihren Browser ohne Installation einer Software teilnehmen. Klicken Sie dazu unten auf „Zum Vortrag“, folgen dem Link „Über Browser teilnehmen“ und geben Ihren Namen ein.

Alle bislang angekündigten Vorträge finden Sie hier. Die weiteren Termine kündigen wir in unserem Blog und auf unserem X-Account an.

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The scholarship holder Mr. TANG Sanjiao (University of Auckland, New Zealand) will give a lecture on his current research topic „Lives in Mao-Era Militias under the Mass Mobilisation and Militarisation Context“ in the Simon-Bolivar-Saal and online via Webex on 14 May from 6 pm. This lecture will take place in cooperation with the Wissenswerkstatt, as he is currently working at the Staatsbibliothek as part of a research stay funded by the grant program of the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz.

In China today, the younger generations are having militarised experiences. Admittedly, military training is a routine thing for students in many countries. Currently, the reviving nationalist trend is making the Chinese young people’s military training different. On the video-sharing platforms popular in China, such as Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok), with keywords like “students’ military training,” tens of thousands of videos are well-received. As vividly shown in the videos, the Chinese young people, including children in kindergartens, were learning to have simulative combat with imaginary enemies. Indulging them in burning passion, the younger generations feel as if they were glorious soldiers fighting for the nation.

Surprisingly, many of these young people’s grandparents had paralleling militarised lives when they were young. It was the experiences of being involved in the Mao-era mass mobilisation and militarisation, becoming members of Mao’s militias. In the early 1960s, despite the famine causing tens of millions of deaths, the country was celebrating its militias nationwide maintaining a scale of over two hundred million members. In the mid-1960s, Chinese residents were mobilised to “prepare earlier for fighting a war, a big war, and even a nuclear war.” Resulting from the mass mobilisation and militarisation, as demonstrated by a well-known slogan, seven hundred million Chinese people had all “become soldiers” (qiyi renmin qiyi bing). While it was rhetorically exaggerating, it indicated that the younger generations in Mao’s China were involved as the core forces in the militias.

Through revisiting the experiences of joining Mao-era militias, this research aims to reconsider the legacies of Mao-era mass mobilisation and militarisation. How did the lives in militias shaped their adolescence and early adulthood physically, psychologically, and profoundly? Benefitting from unique sources in the Berlin State Library, this project intends to answer these questions.

The results of the project contribute to understanding the mass-based legacies of Mao-era mobilisation and militarisation. Paying attention to the transgenerational resonance on young people’s involvement in war-preparing campaigns, it helps rethink today’s China, which is an urgent task for not only academics but also analysts and policy-makers worldwide.

The lecture will be held in English. We kindly ask you to register in advance at: ostasienabt@sbb.spk-berlin.de, and to let us know if you need barrier-free access. The event will be filmed.*

The lecture will also be streamed and recorded via Webex. You can take part in the lecture using your browser without having to install a special software. Please click on the respective button “To the lecture” below, follow the link “join via browser” (“über Browser teilnehmen”), and enter your name.

You can find all previously announced lectures here. We will announce further dates in our blog and on X.

*Mit Ihrer Teilnahme an der Veranstaltung räumen Sie der Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz und ihren nachgeordneten Einrichtungen kostenlos alle Nutzungsrechte an den Bildern/Videos ein, die während der Veranstaltung von Ihnen angefertigt wurden. Dies schließt auch die kommerzielle Nutzung ein. Diese Einverständniserklärung gilt räumlich und zeitlich unbeschränkt und für die Nutzung in allen Medien, sowohl für analoge als auch für digitale Verwendungen. Sie umfasst auch die Bildbearbeitung sowie die Verwendung der Bilder für Montagen. / By participating, you grant the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz and its subordinate institutions free of charge all rights of usage of pictures and videos taken of you during this lecture presentation. This declaration of consent is valid in terms of time and space without restrictions and for usage in all media, including analogue and digital usage. It includes image processing and the usage of photos in composite illustrations. German law will apply.

(See English below)

Wir freuen uns sehr Ihnen den Vortrag von unserer aktuellen Stipendiatin Frau Dr. Julia Schneider (University College Cork) mit dem Titel „Incredibly woke or cancel culture at its best? The Qianlong emperor’s censorship of Ming books (1770s–1780s)“ am Mittwoch, den 28. Juni ab 18 Uhr im Dietrich-Bonhoeffer-Saal (Potsdamer Straße 33, 10785 Berlin) ankündigen zu dürfen. Der Fokus des Vortrags liegt auf der Agenda des Qianlong Kaisers in der sogenannten „Literarischen Inquisition“ (1772–1788) und welche Diskurse nicht-chinesischer Personengruppen in vor allem mingzeitlichen Texten für zensurwürdig erachtet wurden.

Did the Qianlong Emperor of the Manchu Qing Dynasty (1636/1644-1912) issue an anti-racist campaign when he forbade Chinese books that discredited non-Chinese others? In my lecture, I aim to answer this question by introducing passages and terms that made Qing officials collect books for censorship. I focus on the so-called literary inquisition (c. 1772–1788) of the Qianlong emperor which particularly censored books from Ming times (1368–1644). Among other criteria, censors were liable to collect and destroy books that contained partial or derogatory descriptions of the Jurchen (the Manchus’ ancestors), Liaodong (the region of Manchu origin), and non-Chinese peoples in the northwest (the Manchus’ allies).

As a Manchu emperor, the Qianlong emperor belonged to a people that was a numerical minority if compared to the Chinese, the largest constituency among the Qing subject peoples. From an analysis of books that were censored for the above-mentioned reasons we can learn if the Qianlong Emperor indeed attempted to end a hegemonic Chinese discourse on ‘barbarians’ that he perceived as harmful to his dynasty. How did Ming historians understand and narrate non-Chinese history, which of their narratives did Qing censors find worth censoring, and why? A textual analysis of relevant passages in censored books will provide new insights into the Qianlong emperor’s agenda of censorship and his censors’ reading of Chinese discourses on non-Chinese peoples.

Die Vortragssprache ist Englisch. Wir bitten Sie um Voranmeldung für den Vortrag unter: ostasienabt@sbb.spk-berlin.de und eine kurze Mitteilung falls Sie einen barrierefreien Zugang benötigen. Die Veranstaltung wird gefilmt.*

Der Vortrag wird darüber hinaus via Webex gestreamt. Sie können am Vortrag über Ihren Browser ohne Installation einer Software teilnehmen. Klicken Sie dazu unten auf „Zum Vortrag“, folgen dem Link „Über Browser teilnehmen“ und geben Ihren Namen ein.

Alle bislang angekündigten Vorträge finden Sie hier. Die weiteren Termine kündigen wir in unserem Blog und auf unserem Twitteraccount an.

Alle Informationen zum Stipendienprogramm der SPK an der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin finden Sie hier.

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We are very pleased to announce the lecture by our grant holder Dr. Julia Schneider (University College Cork) entitled „Incredibly woke or cancel culture at its best? The Qianlong emperor’s censorship of Ming books (1770s-1780s)“ on Wednesday June 28th at 6 pm in the Dietrich-Bonhoeffer-Saal (Potsdamer Straße 33, 10785 Berlin). The focus of the lecture is on the Qianlong Emperor’s agenda in the so-called „Literary Inquisition“ (1772-1788) and which discourses of non-Chinese groups of people were deemed worthy of censorship in mainly Ming-period texts.

Did the Qianlong Emperor of the Manchu Qing Dynasty (1636/1644-1912) issue an anti-racist campaign when he forbade Chinese books that discredited non-Chinese others? In my lecture, I aim to answer this question by introducing passages and terms that made Qing officials collect books for censorship. I focus on the so-called literary inquisition (c. 1772–1788) of the Qianlong emperor which particularly censored books from Ming times (1368–1644). Among other criteria, censors were liable to collect and destroy books that contained partial or derogatory descriptions of the Jurchen (the Manchus’ ancestors), Liaodong (the region of Manchu origin), and non-Chinese peoples in the northwest (the Manchus’ allies).

As a Manchu emperor, the Qianlong emperor belonged to a people that was a numerical minority if compared to the Chinese, the largest constituency among the Qing subject peoples. From an analysis of books that were censored for the above-mentioned reasons we can learn if the Qianlong Emperor indeed attempted to end a hegemonic Chinese discourse on ‘barbarians’ that he perceived as harmful to his dynasty. How did Ming historians understand and narrate non-Chinese history, which of their narratives did Qing censors find worth censoring, and why? A textual analysis of relevant passages in censored books will provide new insights into the Qianlong emperor’s agenda of censorship and his censors’ reading of Chinese discourses on non-Chinese peoples.

The lecture will be held in English. We kindly ask you to register in advance at: ostasienabt@sbb.spk-berlin.de, and to let us know if you need barrier-free access. The event will be filmed.*

The lecture will also be streamed via Webex. You can take part in the lecture using your browser without having to install a special software. Please click on the respective button “To the lecture” below, follow the link “join via browser” (“über Browser teilnehmen”), and enter your name.

You can find all previously announced lectures here. We will announce further dates in our blog and on Twitter.

All information on the SPK research grant programme at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin can be found here.

*Mit Ihrer Teilnahme an der Veranstaltung räumen Sie der Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz und ihren nachgeordneten Einrichtungen kostenlos alle Nutzungsrechte an den Bildern/Videos ein, die während der Veranstaltung von Ihnen angefertigt wurden. Dies schließt auch die kommerzielle Nutzung ein. Diese Einverständniserklärung gilt räumlich und zeitlich unbeschränkt und für die Nutzung in allen Medien, sowohl für analoge als auch für digitale Verwendungen. Sie umfasst auch die Bildbearbeitung sowie die Verwendung der Bilder für Montagen. / By participating, you grant the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz and its subordinate institutions free of charge all rights of usage of pictures and videos taken of you during this lecture presentation. This declaration of consent is valid in terms of time and space without restrictions and for usage in all media, including analogue and digital usage. It includes image processing and the usage of photos in composite illustrations. German law will apply.

(See English below)

Wir freuen uns Ihnen den Vortrag von Prof. Dr. Paul U. Unschuld (Charité Berlin): „Historical Resonances Illuminated – The Chinese Handwritten Health Care Volumes of the 16th through the 20th Century (Sammlung Unschuld, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin) as Resources of Knowledge“ am 25.5.2023 ab 18 Uhr im Dietrich Bonhoeffer-Saal (Potsdamer Straße 33, 10785 Berlin) ankündigen zu dürfen. Der Vortrag wird ein Schlaglicht auf chinesische Medizintexte werfen.

With the acquisition of the „Sammlung Unschuld“ the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin has significantly expanded its holdings of East Asian manuscripts. The Sammlung Unschuld includes more than 1000 volumes, dating from the 16th century to the mid-20th century, of personal records on health care, handwritten by professional physicians and itinerant healers, by the owners of apothecary shops and private households, by exorcists and Buddhists, students and other concerned individuals. These are documents opening a window  on the reality of professional and lay health care in pre-modern China. They serve to correct an ahistorical image associated with the spread of so-called „Traditional Chinese Medicine“ in the West. In addition, they offer countless clues on social life and natural knowledge not found in printed texts and other sources of the time. The Institute for Chinese Life Sciences (ICL)  of Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin has explored these texts from a medical-historical perspective. At the same time, in collaboration with the molecular-biological research group Bicoll in Martinsried and Shanghai and funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, it has examined more than 40 000 therapeutic recipes recommended in these volumes for hints at substances that may have a value in a science-based health care system. This talk will address and portray both the historical and the application oriented agenda pursued by ICL.

Die Vortragssprache ist Englisch. Wir bitten Sie um Voranmeldung für den Vortrag unter: ostasienabt@sbb.spk-berlin.de und eine kurze Mitteilung falls Sie einen barrierefreien Zugang benötigen. Die Veranstaltung wird gefilmt.*

Der Vortrag wird darüber hinaus via Webex gestreamt und aufgezeichnet. Sie können am Vortrag über Ihren Browser ohne Installation einer Software teilnehmen. Klicken Sie dazu unten auf „Zum Vortrag“, folgen dem Link „Über Browser teilnehmen“ und geben Ihren Namen ein.

Alle bislang angekündigten Vorträge finden Sie hier. Die weiteren Termine kündigen wir in unserem Blog und auf unserem Twitteraccount an.

—

We are pleased to announce the lecture by Prof. Dr. Paul U. Unschuld (Charité Berlin): „Historical Resonances Illuminated – The Chinese Handwritten Health Care Volumes of the 16th through the 20th Century (Unschuld Collection, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin) as Resources of Knowledge“ on 25.5.2023 from 6 pm in the Dietrich Bonhoeffer-Saal (Potsdamer Straße 33, 10785 Berlin). The lecture will shine a spotlight on Chinese medical texts.

With the acquisition of the „Sammlung Unschuld“ the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin has significantly expanded its holdings of East Asian manuscripts. The Sammlung Unschuld includes more than 1000 volumes, dating from the 16th century to the mid-20th century, of personal records on health care, handwritten by professional physicians and itinerant healers, by the owners of apothecary shops and private households, by exorcists and Buddhists, students and other concerned individuals. These are documents opening a window  on the reality of professional and lay health care in pre-modern China. They serve to correct an ahistorical image associated with the spread of so-called „Traditional Chinese Medicine“ in the West. In addition, they offer countless clues on social life and natural knowledge not found in printed texts and other sources of the time. The Institute for Chinese Life Sciences (ICL)  of Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin has explored these texts from a medical-historical perspective. At the same time, in collaboration with the molecular-biological research group Bicoll in Martinsried and Shanghai and funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, it has examined more than 40 000 therapeutic recipes recommended in these volumes for hints at substances that may have a value in a science-based health care system. This talk will address and portray both the historical and the application oriented agenda pursued by ICL.

The lecture will be held in English. We kindly ask you to register in advance at: ostasienabt@sbb.spk-berlin.de, and to let us know if you need barrier-free access. The event will be filmed.*

The lecture will also be streamed and recorded via Webex. You can take part in the lecture using your browser without having to install a special software. Please click on the respective button “To the lecture” below, follow the link “join via browser” (“über Browser teilnehmen”), and enter your name.

You can find all previously announced lectures here. We will announce further dates in our blog and on Twitter.

*Mit Ihrer Teilnahme an der Veranstaltung räumen Sie der Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz und ihren nachgeordneten Einrichtungen kostenlos alle Nutzungsrechte an den Bildern/Videos ein, die während der Veranstaltung von Ihnen angefertigt wurden. Dies schließt auch die kommerzielle Nutzung ein. Diese Einverständniserklärung gilt räumlich und zeitlich unbeschränkt und für die Nutzung in allen Medien, sowohl für analoge als auch für digitale Verwendungen. Sie umfasst auch die Bildbearbeitung sowie die Verwendung der Bilder für Montagen. / By participating, you grant the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz and its subordinate institutions free of charge all rights of usage of pictures and videos taken of you during this lecture presentation. This declaration of consent is valid in terms of time and space without restrictions and for usage in all media, including analogue and digital usage. It includes image processing and the usage of photos in composite illustrations. German law will apply.