Ostasiatisches Seminar

Privatdozent für Sinologie
Büro 322

Sprechstunden nach Vereinbarung
Aktuelle Lehrveranstaltungen an der Universität Zürich

Academic Qualification
Professional Positions
Research interests
Publications

Academic Qualification

2001 Habilitation (attainment of venia legendi) at the University of Zurich, Philosophical Faculty

Sep–Dec 1998 Visiting Scholar at the Center for Chinese Studies, National Central Library, Taipei

1996–1998 Associate Scholar at Harvard University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations (Prof Patrick Hanan), for a post-doctoral research project “The Motif of the Lady Knight in Chinese Literature”, supported by the Swiss National Research Foundation.

1996 Doctoral degree received from the Philosophical Faculty I of the University of Zurich, doctoral thesis on “Addressing in China around 1750: A Sociolinguistic Study Based on the Novel Rulin waishi”.

1992–1996 Doctoral candidate, scientific assistant, and participant in the project of a fully annotated German translation of the mid-18th c. novel Rulin waishi.

1991 Graduation from the University of Zurich with the degree of Lic. phil., thesis on the topic of eremitism in Rulin waishi.

1984–1991 Study at the University of Zurich, majoring in Sinology (Prof Robert H. Gassmann), subsidiary subjects in German Literature Since 1700 (Prof Michael Böhler) and German Linguistics (Prof Horst Sitta).

1986–1987 Language training and study of modern and traditional Chinese literature at Nanjing University (PR China).

1976–1983 Middle/High school in Zurich.

Professional Positions

Since 2001 Senior Lecturer (Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter), Department of Sinology, University of Zurich

1999–2001 Senior Assistant, Department of Sinology, University of Zurich

1991–1996 Scientific Assistant to Prof Robert H. Gassmann, Department of Sinology, University of Zurich

1989–91 Library Assistant at the Chinese Library of the East Asia Seminar, University of Zurich

Research interests

Forschungsdatenbank der Universität Zürich

• Traditional Chinese literature, late imperial period (Song to Qing)
• Vernacular narrative of the Ming and Qing, especially 18th century
• Popular literature of the Qing and early Republic
• Regionally defined bodies of writing (West Lake)
• Local cultural history (Hangzhou, Yangzhou)
• Sociology of reading and writing
• Popular and everyday culture
• Knowledge and communication in the Qing empire, 18th century

Publications

Monographs

Eremitische Konzepte und Figuren im Roman Rulin waishi. Eine intertextuelle Studie [Hermitic Concepts and Characters in the Novel Rulin waishi: An Intertextual Study]. Mit einem Vorwort von Robert H. Gassmann. Bochum: Brockmeyer, 1994. (Chinathemen; vol. 84). 277 pp.

Anredeverhalten in China um 1750. Soziolinguistische Untersuchungen am Roman “Rulin waishi” [Addressing Behavior in China Around 1750. A Sociolinguistic Study Based on the Novel Rulin waishi]. Bern etc.: Peter Lang, 1997. (Schweizer asiatische Studien; Monographien; vol. 27). 378 S.

Articles

“Ritual als struktur- und sinnbildendes Prinzip im Roman Rulin waishi” [Ritual as a Structural and Interpretive Device in the Novel Rulin waishi]. Asiatische Studien/ Études Asiatiques 44.1 (1990): 49–76.

“Anrede und Selbstbezeichnung im Spiegel der chinesischen Romanliteratur des 18. Jahrhunderts. Methodische Überlegungen zu einem Dissertationsprojekt” [Address and Self-reference as Mirrored in the Chinese Novel of the 18th Century. Methodical Reflections on a Dissertation Project]. Asiatische Studien/ Études Asiatiques 48.4 (1994): 1285–1290.

“Cong huwenxing kan Rulin waishi de fengci shoufa” 从互文性看儒林外史的讽刺手法 [The Technique of Satire in Rulin waishi in Intertextual Perspective]. Ming Qing xiaoshuo yanjiu 明清小说研究 1/1997: 54-65. Also in: Newsletter for Research in Chinese Novels (Seoul/Korea) 27 (1996): 1–7.

“Willing to Please: Zhang Henshui’s Novel Tixiao yinyuan (Fate in Tears and Laughter) and Mao Dun’s Critique.” In: Raoul D. Findeisen and Robert H. Gassmann (ed.). Autumn Floods / Qiushui. Essays in Honour of Marian Galik. Berne: Lang, 1998. (Schweizer Asiatische Studien. Monographien; vol. 29). 185–194.

“Jianxia zhuan (Tales of Knights at Arms): On the Formation and Tradition of the Classical Anthology of Knight-Errantry Stories.” Asiatische Studien/Études Asiatiques 54.2 (2000): 303–348.

“Die Figur der ‘Ritterin’ (nüxia) in der Erzählliteratur der frühen Republikszeit” [The Female Knight-errant (nüxia) Character in Early Republican Narrative Literature]. In: Monika Uebelhör (ed.). Zwischen Tradition und Revolution: Lebensentwürfe chinesischer Frauen an der Schwelle zur Moderne. Marburg: Universitätsbibliothek, 2001. (Schriften der Universitätsbibliothek Marburg; vol. 107). 153–167.

“Chains of Ghost Talk: Highlighting of Language, Distancing, and Irony in He Dian.” Asiatica Venetiana 6 (2001/02): 23–46.

“Übersetzungskritik: Zur deutschen Übersetzung des Romans Niehai hua (Blumen im Meer der Sünde)” [Translation Critique: On the German Translation of the Novel Niehai hua]. Asiatische Studien/Études Asiatiques 56.1 (2002): 201–221.

— and Robert H. Gassmann. “In Memoriam Robert P. Kramers (1920–2002).” Asiatische Studien/Études Asiatiques 56.1 (2002): 5–13.

“Fatales Lesen: Berichte über exzessive Lektürepraktiken mit dem Honglou meng und ihre Bedeutung für eine Geschichte des Lesens in China” [Fatal Reading: Reports on Excessive Ways of Reading Honglou meng and Their Significance for a History of Reading in China]. In: Bernhard Fuehrer (ed.). Aspekte des Lesens in China in Vergangenheit und Gegenwart. Bochum: Projekt Verlag, 2005. 192–215.

“Living Hell: On the Representation of Courtroom Torture in Huo diyu.” In: Muriel Détrie and Antonio Dominguez Leiva (ed.). Le supplice oriental dans la littérature et les arts. Neuilly-lès-Dijon: Les Editions du Murmure, 2005. 227–247.

“Is It Clothes that Make the Man? Cross-Dressing, Gender, and Sex in Pre-Twentieth Century Zhu Yingtai Lore.” Asian Folklore Studies 64.2 (2005): 165–205.

“The Avenger’s Coldness: On the Emotional Condition of Revenge as Represented in in Pre-modern Chinese Fictional Narrative.” In: Paolo Santangelo and Donatella Guida (ed.). Love, Hatred, and Other Passions: Questions and Themes on Emotions in Chinese Civilization. Leiden: Brill, 2006. 356–369.

“Xiang Kairan (Pingjiang Buxiaosheng; Buxiaosheng).” In: Thomas Moran (ed.). Chinese Fiction Writers, 1900–1949. Detroit etc.: Thomson Gale, 2007. (Dictionary of Literary Biography; vol. 328). 235–240.

Translation

Zhaoshi: “Eine Würdigung von Genf” [An Appreciation of Geneva]. In: Raoul D. Findeisen, Thomas Fröhlich and Robert H. Gassmann (ed.). Chinesische Reisen in der Schweiz. Aus dem «Garten Europas». Zürich: Neue Zürcher Zeitung Verlag, 2000. 31–38.

Reviews

Review: Wai-yee Li: Enchantment and Disenchantment. Love and Illusion in Chinese Literature (Princeton, 1993). Asiatische Studien/Études Asiatiques 49.1 (1995): 259–264.

Review: Klaus Mühlhahn: Geschichte, Frauenbild und kulturelles Gedächtnis: der ming-zeitliche Roman Shuihu zhuan (München, 1994). Asiatische Studien/Études Asiatiques 49.1 (1995): 264–267.

Review: Yue Jun: Geschichten vom Hörensagen. Novellen der Qing-Zeit. Aus dem Chinesischen übersetzt von Rainer Schwarz (Wiesbaden, 2003). Asiatische Studien/Études Asiatiques 58.4 (2004): 274–280.

Review: Zhou Zuyan: Androgyny in Late Ming and Early Qing Literature (Honolulu: Hawai’i University Press, 2003). IIAS Newsletter 35 (2004): 30.

Review: Martin Gimm: Hans Conon von der Gabelentz und die Übersetzung des chinesischen Romans Jin Ping Mei (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2005). Asiatische Studien/Études Asiatiques 60.2 (2006): 497–501.

Review: Carrie E. Reed: A Tang Miscellany: An Introduction to Youyang zazu (New York etc.: Peter Lang, 2003). Asiatische Studien/Études Asiatiques 60.2 (2006): 512–515.

Review: Zhao Xiaohuan: Classical Chinese Supernatural Fiction: A Morphological History (Lewiston: The Edwin Mellen Press, 2005). Asian Folklore Studies 66.1–2 (2007): 265–267.

Review: Chan Hing-ho (ed.): Inventaire analytique et critique du conte chinois en langue vulgaire. Tome cinquième (Paris: Collège de France, Institut des Hautes Etudes Chinoises, 2006). Asiatische Studien/Études Asiatiques 62.1 (2008): 454–458.

Lexicon Entries

Entries for “Guo Moruo”, “Die Räuber vom Liangschan-Moor (Shuihu zhuan)” and “Der Traum der Roten Kammer (Honglou meng)” in: Axel Ruckaberle (ed.): Metzler-Lexikon Weltliteratur: 1000 Autoren von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart. 3 vols. Stuttgart: Metzler, 2006. 2: 81–82, 3: 131–132, 3: 361–362.

Various Non-academic Publications

“Hanxue zai Ruishi: Sulishi daxue hanxue xi jianjie” 汉学在瑞士: 苏黎世大学汉学系简解 [Sinology in Switzerland: Short Introduction to the Department of Sinology at the University of Zurich]. Beijing tushuguan guankan 北京图书馆馆刊 (Journal of the National Library of China) 11-12 (1995): 98–99.

“Nachwort: Der doppelseitige Spiegel: Beobachtungen zu Selbstdarstellungen von Chinesinnen und Chinesen in der Schweiz” [Postscript: The Double-sided Mirror: Observations on Self-representations of Chinese Living in Switzerland]. In: Wei Zhang. Zwischen den Stühlen. Geschichten von Chinesinnen und Chinesen in der Schweiz. Zürich: Verlag Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 2006. 170–174.

“Fragmente zum chinesischen Kulturkreis” [Fragments on the Chinese Cultural Sphere]. In: Mona Spisak and Hansruedi Stalder (ed.). In der Fremde. Ingenieure und Techniker auf interkultureller Entdeckungsreise in arabisch-islamischen Ländern, in China und Indien. Bern etc.: Haupt, 2007. 115–117.

“China’s Examination Culture / 中国的科举考试文化”. The Bridge: Journal of SwissCham China 12 (Summer 2007): 62-63.

“Der Raub, der eine Rettung war: Geborgen, verstreut und (virtuell) zusammengeführt – der Handschriftenschatz von Dunhuang ein Jahrhundert nach seiner Entdeckung” [Pilferage and Salvaging: Recovered, Scattered and (Virtually) Reunited – The Dunhuang Manuscripts One Century after Their Discovery]. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, November 26, 2007 (No. 275): 27.

Publications in Preparation

The Sword or the Needle: The Female Knight-errant (xia) in Traditional Chinese Narrative. Bern: Peter Lang, [forthcoming, 2009]. (Welten Ostasiens/Worlds of East Asia/Mondes de l’Extrême-orient). 420 pp.

Translator and editor of: Liu Yongqiang: “West Lake Fiction of the Late Ming: Origin, Development, Background and Literary Characteristics.” Asiatische Studien/Études Asiatiques 63.1 (2009): 135–196.

“Weises Kind und subversiver Bengel: Zur volksliterarischen Ausgestaltung der Begegnung des Konfuzius mit Xiang Tuo in den Dunhuang-Handschriften” [Wise Child and Subversive Rogue: On the Folk-literary Arrangement of the Encounter between Confucius and Xiang Tuo in the Dunhuang Manuscripts]. In: Roland Altenburger, Martin Lehnert and Andrea Riemenschnitter (ed.). Dem Text ein Freund. Erkundungen des chinesischen Altertums. Bern etc.: Peter Lang, [forthcoming, 2009]. 25 pp.

“Early-Qing Yangzhou in Shi Chengjin’s Vernacular Vignettes.” In: Vibeke Børdahl and Lucie Borotova (ed.). Lifestyle and Entertainment in Yangzhou. Copenhagen: NIAS Press, [forthcoming, 2009]. 25 pp.

“Fantasizing the Homeland: Ji Yun’s Recollections of Exile in Xinjiang (1768–1771).” In: Deborah L. Madsen and Andrea Riemenschnitter (ed.). Diasporic Histories: Cultural Archives of Chinese Transnationalism. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, [forthcoming, 2009]. 20 pp.

Selected Conference Papers and Talks (Unpublished)

“The System of Address and Selfreference Derived from Data in the Social Novels of the 18th Century.” Paper presented at the 10th conference of the European Association of Chinese Studies (EACS), Prague, August 29 – September 1st, 1994.

“The Domestication of the Lady Knight in the Tangles of the Romance.” Paper presented at the 49th conference of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS), Chicago, March 13–16, 1997.

“The System of Terms of Address in Rulin waishi.” Invited guest talk, University of California at Santa Barbara, September 1997.

“Swordswomen and Love: The Martial Arts Novel Huangjiang nü xia by Gu Mingdao (1896–1944).” Paper presented at the annual conference on Asian Studies in New England, October 18, 1997, Wesleyan Universität, Middletown/CT.

“The Female Knight and the Vamp: Intertextual Reading in Fate in Tears and Laughter.” Paper presented at the 50th conference of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS), Washington/DC, March 26–29, 1998.

“Chuanshuo / wuxia xiaoshuo / lishi yanyi: Lü Siniang gushi de laili yu yanbian” 傳說/武俠小說/歷史演義: 呂四娘故事的來歷與演變 [Legend / Martial Arts Fiction / Embellished History: On the Origin and Development of the Lü Siniang Story]. Research report, Center for Sinological Studies (Hanxue yanjiu zhongxin), National Central Library (Zhongyang tushuguan), Taipei (Taiwan), December 16, 1998.

“Rumor, Legend, Fiction, History: The Story of Lü Siniang, Assassin of the Yongzheng-Emperor.” Paper presented at the 51st conference of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS), Boston, March 11–14, 1999.

“Zwischen Imitation und Innovation: Originalität als Problem in der chinesischen Erzählliteratur?” [Between Imitation and Innovation: Originality as a Problem in Chinese Narrative Literature?]. Lecture series “Originalität und Authentizität”, winter semester 2000/01, University of Zurich, November 20, 2000.

“Saviors of the Nation? Pioneers of Women’s Liberation? Early Republican Anthologies of Female Knights Stories.” Paper presented at the 53rd conference of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS), Chicago, 22.–25.03.2001.

“Knight in the City: Republican Xia-Fiction Set in the Modern Urban Sphere”. Università degli Studi di Torino. Paper presented at the 13th conference of the European Association of Chinese Studies (EACS), Torino, August 30 – September 2, 2000.

“China entdeckt die Weltliteratur: Zur Rezeptions- und Wirkungsgeschichte der Kameliendame im China des frühen 20. Jahrhunderts” [China Discovers World Literature: On the History of Reception of La Dame aux Camelias in early 20th century China]. Habilitation lecture, Philosophical Fakulty, University of Zurich, April 20, 2001.

“Zu den geschlechtsideologischen Funktionen der rächenden Schwertkämpferinnen in der chinesischen Erzählliteratur” [On the Gender-Ideological Functions of Avenging Female Swordfighters in Chinese Narrative Literature]. Paper contributed to the 1st Workshop Gender Studies, “Work in Progress”, University of Zurich, May 10, 2001.

“Das Elegante (ya) und das Vulgäre (su): Zu einer problematischen Dichotomie in der chinesischen Literaturgeschichte” [The Elegant (ya) and the Vulgar (su): On a Problematic Dichotomy in Chinese Literary History]. Inaugural lecture, University of Zurich, June 10, 2002.

“‘What Classical Reference?’ Meta-Discourse in the Fictional Narrative He Dian (19th C.).” Paper presented at the 14th conference of the European Association of Chinese Studies (EACS), Moscow, August 26–28, 2002.

“Ghost Talk Lined Up: Travesty of Fictional Discourse in He Dian.” Paper presented at the 55th conference of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS), New York, March 26–30, 2003.

“Narrating West Lake: Tourism and Fiction in Conjunction.” Paper presented at the 3rd Conference of the International Convention of Asia Scholars (ICAS 3), Singapore, August 19–22, 2003.

“Water Myth in the Early White Snake Tradition: A Regional Re-Contextualization.” Paper presented at the 15th conference of the European Association of Chinese Studies (EACS), Heidelberg, August 25–29, 2004.

“Fantasizing the Homeland: Ji Yun’s Recollections of Exile in Xinjiang (1768–1771).” Paper presented at the International Conference on Chinese Diasporic and Exile Experience, University of Zurich, August 10–14, 2005.

“The Chronotope of the City in Shi Chengjin’s (1660–?) Two Collections of Yangzhou Narratives.” Paper presented at the Workshop on Lifestyle and Entertainment in Yangzhou, Yangzhou, October 20–22, 2005.

“Moral and the City: The World of Shi Chengjin’s (b. 1660) Vernacular Stories.” Paper presented at the 16th conference of the European Association of Chinese Studies (EACS), Ljubljana, August 30 – September 3rd, 2006.

“Weises Kind und subversiver Bengel: Zur volksliterarischen Ausgestaltung der Begegnung des Konfuzius mit Xiang Tuo im Dunhuang-Text” [Wise Child and Subversive Rogue: On the Arrangement of the Encounter between Confucius and Xiang Tuo in the Folk-literary Dunhuang Text]. Invited guest talk, University of Hamburg, December 8, 2006.

“An Environmental Clash at the Root of the Aquatic Myth in the White Snake Legend.” Paper presented at the Biennial Conference, The Association of Chinese and Comparative Literature, Chengdu, August 6–7, 2007.

“Bildung und Lernen in China – gestern und heute” [Education and Learning in China – Past and Present]. Workshop Weiterbildung Oberland, Thun, November 17, 2007.

“Re-reading Myth in Water Margin.” Paper presented at the International Conference Re-reading the Classics: International Conference on Traditional Chinese Fiction and Drama (Chongdu jingdian: Zhongguo chuantong xiaoshuo yu xiqu guoji xueshu yantaohui 重讀經典: 中國傳統小說與戲曲國際學術研討會), The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Department of Chinese Language and Literature, January 3–5, 2008.

“Der Kangxi-Kaiser – chinesisches Vorbild des aufgeklärten Herrschers” [The Kangxi Emperor – Chinese Model of the Enlightened Ruler]. Volkshochschule des Kantons Zürich, Ringvorlesung “Zeitalter der Geschichte: Barock/Absolutismus”, April 15, 2008.

“Mythos, Macht und Machenschaften in Shuihu zhuan (Saga vom Wasserufer)” [Myth, Power and Machinations in Shuihu zhuan (The Water Margin Saga)]. Guest Lecture, University of Würzburg, January 16, 2009.

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