Xin Fan 范鑫
@xinfan.bsky.social
Historian, Teacher, and Traveler; Author of "World History and National Identity in China" (CambridgeUP, 2021) & "Global history in China" (Palgrave 2024).
Reading amazing scholarship like this makes you wonder to what extent the 1911/12 divide is still applicable to modern Chinese history!
May 29, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Reading amazing scholarship like this makes you wonder to what extent the 1911/12 divide is still applicable to modern Chinese history!
Back to reading and finished this new translation of the history of the Republic of China (originally in French). Very strong synthesis of the economic, political, social, and cultural in the last four chapters. Less focused on the revolutionary narrative.
May 28, 2025 at 4:52 AM
Back to reading and finished this new translation of the history of the Republic of China (originally in French). Very strong synthesis of the economic, political, social, and cultural in the last four chapters. Less focused on the revolutionary narrative.
Conference on “Identity, Ignorance, and the Politics of the Self” on May 19 & May 21 in Göttingen, co-organized by Dominic Sachsenmaier (Göttingen) and Wang Hui (Tsinghua), which will be featured with a range of renowned artists, writers, and scholars. Programs below.
May 7, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Conference on “Identity, Ignorance, and the Politics of the Self” on May 19 & May 21 in Göttingen, co-organized by Dominic Sachsenmaier (Göttingen) and Wang Hui (Tsinghua), which will be featured with a range of renowned artists, writers, and scholars. Programs below.
Looking forward to my talk on the history of emotions at City University of Hong Kong on 9 April! So exciting to visit Hong Kong after so many years…
March 30, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Looking forward to my talk on the history of emotions at City University of Hong Kong on 9 April! So exciting to visit Hong Kong after so many years…
Ta-Nehisi in town. What a treat!
March 29, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Ta-Nehisi in town. What a treat!
Book received, and intrigued by the topic. Looking forward to reading it! @mihatsch.bsky.social
January 23, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Book received, and intrigued by the topic. Looking forward to reading it! @mihatsch.bsky.social
Street scene. Found on a rainy day in Cambridge while walking…
December 7, 2024 at 7:51 PM
Street scene. Found on a rainy day in Cambridge while walking…
Great exhibition about a significant moment in history! — Whipple Museum in Cambridge.
November 30, 2024 at 9:23 AM
Great exhibition about a significant moment in history! — Whipple Museum in Cambridge.
Conclusion reflects on the historiographical significance of world-historical studies in China. It highlights its relevance beyond Chinese studies. It challenges the Eurocentric bias in existing world history scholarship, emphasizing its global value.
November 24, 2024 at 11:16 AM
Conclusion reflects on the historiographical significance of world-historical studies in China. It highlights its relevance beyond Chinese studies. It challenges the Eurocentric bias in existing world history scholarship, emphasizing its global value.
Chapter 5 examines the 1980s and 1990s, a period when ideological control relaxed. Although early debates remained within Marxist frameworks, the lack of theoretical focus in the 90s paradoxically led to a rise in cultural nationalism. A brief history of IHAC will interest many in ancient studies.
November 24, 2024 at 11:16 AM
Chapter 5 examines the 1980s and 1990s, a period when ideological control relaxed. Although early debates remained within Marxist frameworks, the lack of theoretical focus in the 90s paradoxically led to a rise in cultural nationalism. A brief history of IHAC will interest many in ancient studies.
Chs 4 & 5, the core of the book, focus on the early 1950s. They argue World History became an established discipline due to the state's ambitious agenda of ideological control. However, the imperfections and ambiguities within the ideological system allowed for the rise of diverse research agendas.
November 24, 2024 at 11:16 AM
Chs 4 & 5, the core of the book, focus on the early 1950s. They argue World History became an established discipline due to the state's ambitious agenda of ideological control. However, the imperfections and ambiguities within the ideological system allowed for the rise of diverse research agendas.
Ch2 traces the rise of non-Chinese history in the republican period. It started as a professionalisation and specialisation process taking place in the wake of the rise of modern higher education. But the war with Japan interrupted this healthy development giving rise to cultural nationalism.
November 24, 2024 at 11:16 AM
Ch2 traces the rise of non-Chinese history in the republican period. It started as a professionalisation and specialisation process taking place in the wake of the rise of modern higher education. But the war with Japan interrupted this healthy development giving rise to cultural nationalism.
Ch1 challenges conventional view that world history in China was simply a foreign import. By examining early publications, I present a case study showing how the internal dynamics of Confucian classical studies laid the groundwork for the earliest world-historical research among Chinese scholars.
November 24, 2024 at 11:16 AM
Ch1 challenges conventional view that world history in China was simply a foreign import. By examining early publications, I present a case study showing how the internal dynamics of Confucian classical studies laid the groundwork for the earliest world-historical research among Chinese scholars.
The introduction addresses a broad audience beyond Chinese Studies. It raises a key question about control and resistance in a state aiming to dominate historical knowledge. Resistance was possible, as shown in the book; but the unintended consequence was the rise of cultural nationalism.
November 24, 2024 at 11:16 AM
The introduction addresses a broad audience beyond Chinese Studies. It raises a key question about control and resistance in a state aiming to dominate historical knowledge. Resistance was possible, as shown in the book; but the unintended consequence was the rise of cultural nationalism.
The book has five chapters arranged chronologically. I was able to access some critical primary sources including some university archives that are not easily available today. They offer us a unique way of looking into the dynamics of social production of history knowledge under communist regime.
November 24, 2024 at 11:16 AM
The book has five chapters arranged chronologically. I was able to access some critical primary sources including some university archives that are not easily available today. They offer us a unique way of looking into the dynamics of social production of history knowledge under communist regime.
New to Bluesky, so I thought I'd reintroduce my work! My first monograph, World History and National Identity in China, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2021. It explores #IntellectualHistory, #Historiography, #Nationalism, and the development of the #WorldHistory discipline in China.
November 24, 2024 at 11:16 AM
New to Bluesky, so I thought I'd reintroduce my work! My first monograph, World History and National Identity in China, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2021. It explores #IntellectualHistory, #Historiography, #Nationalism, and the development of the #WorldHistory discipline in China.
The scene before a Cambridge college formal dinner…
November 23, 2024 at 9:02 AM
The scene before a Cambridge college formal dinner…
#VirginiaWoolf ‘s advice to Ling Shuhua on how to write English as Chinese:
… to come as close to the Chinese both in style and in meaning as you can. Give as many natural details of the life, of the house, of the furniture as you like. And always do it as you would were you writing for the Chinese.
… to come as close to the Chinese both in style and in meaning as you can. Give as many natural details of the life, of the house, of the furniture as you like. And always do it as you would were you writing for the Chinese.
November 21, 2024 at 4:53 AM
#VirginiaWoolf ‘s advice to Ling Shuhua on how to write English as Chinese:
… to come as close to the Chinese both in style and in meaning as you can. Give as many natural details of the life, of the house, of the furniture as you like. And always do it as you would were you writing for the Chinese.
… to come as close to the Chinese both in style and in meaning as you can. Give as many natural details of the life, of the house, of the furniture as you like. And always do it as you would were you writing for the Chinese.
Reading Hu Shi’s letter to his friend’s kid, and deeply touched by his profound humanity!
“You are a very good child. Don’t worry about not making progress, and don’t work too hard!”
你是很好的孩子，不怕没有进步，不可太用功！
We all need uncle Hu Shi 😀
“You are a very good child. Don’t worry about not making progress, and don’t work too hard!”
你是很好的孩子，不怕没有进步，不可太用功！
We all need uncle Hu Shi 😀
November 19, 2024 at 9:59 PM
Reading Hu Shi’s letter to his friend’s kid, and deeply touched by his profound humanity!
“You are a very good child. Don’t worry about not making progress, and don’t work too hard!”
你是很好的孩子，不怕没有进步，不可太用功！
We all need uncle Hu Shi 😀
“You are a very good child. Don’t worry about not making progress, and don’t work too hard!”
你是很好的孩子，不怕没有进步，不可太用功！
We all need uncle Hu Shi 😀
Ok, I wrote about this in our special issue. A government staffed with “good people” was proposed by liberal intellectuals in 1920s-China…Well, sadly, it didn’t work out.
See “Making Sense of the Political in Twentieth-Century China” by yours truly
www.berghahnjournals.com/view/journal...
See “Making Sense of the Political in Twentieth-Century China” by yours truly
www.berghahnjournals.com/view/journal...
November 18, 2024 at 9:20 PM
Ok, I wrote about this in our special issue. A government staffed with “good people” was proposed by liberal intellectuals in 1920s-China…Well, sadly, it didn’t work out.
See “Making Sense of the Political in Twentieth-Century China” by yours truly
www.berghahnjournals.com/view/journal...
See “Making Sense of the Political in Twentieth-Century China” by yours truly
www.berghahnjournals.com/view/journal...
Indeed, not only are they a great idea, but also a people’s great idea👌
November 17, 2024 at 6:30 PM
Indeed, not only are they a great idea, but also a people’s great idea👌
Online talk on the making of national heritage in the Department of Archeology at Cambridge this coming Wednesday.
November 17, 2024 at 1:34 PM
Online talk on the making of national heritage in the Department of Archeology at Cambridge this coming Wednesday.
Talk on 陳寅恪 at my faculty. Chen is such a profound figure but difficult to study. Glad someone is working on it. Looking forward to the event on Thursday!
November 16, 2024 at 7:37 PM
Talk on 陳寅恪 at my faculty. Chen is such a profound figure but difficult to study. Glad someone is working on it. Looking forward to the event on Thursday!
discussed Andrés Rodriguez’s fascinating book on ethnographic identification in the XiKang region during the Republican period with the author and students in Cambridge this past Wednesday. Another significant work that helps unravel the complex knowledge systems that have shaped China.
November 16, 2024 at 4:25 AM
discussed Andrés Rodriguez’s fascinating book on ethnographic identification in the XiKang region during the Republican period with the author and students in Cambridge this past Wednesday. Another significant work that helps unravel the complex knowledge systems that have shaped China.