Lawrence Zhang 張樂翔
@historianzhang.bsky.social
Historian of China who studies, among other things, how people bought jobs in the government during the Qing dynasty. #tea addict. My book: https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674278295
Peter Perdue's China Marches West is a great book, but this part is off by 100 years. My paper next month at Academia Sinica would argue that "outsourcing war" as I call it was probably integral to the Qing war effort against the Zungars
November 10, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Peter Perdue's China Marches West is a great book, but this part is off by 100 years. My paper next month at Academia Sinica would argue that "outsourcing war" as I call it was probably integral to the Qing war effort against the Zungars
I can use a turn in this after grading yet another obviously AI generated paper
October 12, 2025 at 6:16 PM
I can use a turn in this after grading yet another obviously AI generated paper
Just this morning I was thinking to myself I don't have enough Munch conducting Berlioz, and then the gods answered
July 17, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Just this morning I was thinking to myself I don't have enough Munch conducting Berlioz, and then the gods answered
How to party 101
June 6, 2025 at 3:48 AM
How to party 101
The very definition of having a good time
May 18, 2025 at 5:48 PM
The very definition of having a good time
Surprised to see this for sale and hasn't been picked up
April 30, 2025 at 10:11 AM
Surprised to see this for sale and hasn't been picked up
We all know what we are going for I guess
April 8, 2025 at 1:21 PM
We all know what we are going for I guess
Visited a tea maker in Yuchi who had these top prize plaques stacked up on the side because he didn't have enough wall space for them
April 1, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Visited a tea maker in Yuchi who had these top prize plaques stacked up on the side because he didn't have enough wall space for them
When you didn't study for your Chinese exam
February 2, 2025 at 7:41 AM
When you didn't study for your Chinese exam
Here's an idea for a project for maybe an econ PhD student: there's a lot of market data online from Donghe tea for major productions of pu'er since around year 2000. It has all kinds of historical data too and so if you want to study a nonessential collectible market in China...
tweb.donghenet.com
tweb.donghenet.com
January 27, 2025 at 7:03 AM
Here's an idea for a project for maybe an econ PhD student: there's a lot of market data online from Donghe tea for major productions of pu'er since around year 2000. It has all kinds of historical data too and so if you want to study a nonessential collectible market in China...
tweb.donghenet.com
tweb.donghenet.com
Who's the marketing genius who got paid for this
January 25, 2025 at 2:27 AM
Who's the marketing genius who got paid for this
So I knew that my ancestor translated what is titled Veritable Records of Chinggis Khan 成吉思汗實錄 but also learned today that 1) it was never printed and probably lost during CR and 2) he was friends with Naito Konan!
January 24, 2025 at 8:34 AM
So I knew that my ancestor translated what is titled Veritable Records of Chinggis Khan 成吉思汗實錄 but also learned today that 1) it was never printed and probably lost during CR and 2) he was friends with Naito Konan!
Oh does that make me rich now?
January 8, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Oh does that make me rich now?
Btw these are examples of what's wrong with the printer. Notice how some letters are a bit broken with missing ink. It happens at least once every five pages or so
January 8, 2025 at 12:40 PM
Btw these are examples of what's wrong with the printer. Notice how some letters are a bit broken with missing ink. It happens at least once every five pages or so
Julia Donaldson doesn't miss
December 4, 2024 at 7:13 AM
Julia Donaldson doesn't miss
Supposed to be 梅菜扣肉 2/10 do not recommend
December 3, 2024 at 9:44 AM
Supposed to be 梅菜扣肉 2/10 do not recommend
Managing the bureaucracy is a millenia old problem in Chinese government
November 27, 2024 at 3:56 AM
Managing the bureaucracy is a millenia old problem in Chinese government
Parts of dinner last night. There was a lot of cheese
November 16, 2024 at 11:22 PM
Parts of dinner last night. There was a lot of cheese
That didn't take long
November 7, 2024 at 3:23 AM
That didn't take long
In case your kid needs lessons in strategy
October 20, 2024 at 11:15 AM
In case your kid needs lessons in strategy
This was my crowning achievement as a buyer of random antiques on Yahoo auctions - a silver teapot from Japan, I paid 1000 yen
October 6, 2024 at 4:08 PM
This was my crowning achievement as a buyer of random antiques on Yahoo auctions - a silver teapot from Japan, I paid 1000 yen
Paper copy hits different
February 22, 2024 at 1:38 PM
Paper copy hits different
So I was going through the documents for my Qing docs class and noticed something... Suspicious. Who wrote the vermillion rescript here? Second photo from JQ 7 for comparison
February 15, 2024 at 9:26 AM
So I was going through the documents for my Qing docs class and noticed something... Suspicious. Who wrote the vermillion rescript here? Second photo from JQ 7 for comparison
Soon we will lose our ability to run these things because the bulbs break and nobody makes replacement anymore
January 25, 2024 at 4:50 AM
Soon we will lose our ability to run these things because the bulbs break and nobody makes replacement anymore