Ya Zuo 左娅
@zuoya.bsky.social
Historian, middle and late imperial China, cultural history, history of emotions, Associate Professor at UC Santa Barbara
My chapter “Knowledge and Knowing in Neo-Confucianism” is out in the Routledge Companion to Chinese Philosophy edited by Brook Ziporyn and Stephen Walker. It was a pleasure working with philosophers! www.zuoya.org/_files/ugd/6...
October 27, 2025 at 9:05 PM
My chapter “Knowledge and Knowing in Neo-Confucianism” is out in the Routledge Companion to Chinese Philosophy edited by Brook Ziporyn and Stephen Walker. It was a pleasure working with philosophers! www.zuoya.org/_files/ugd/6...
Bowdoin president's message one Kidder Smith's passing. He was my predecessor as the China historian at Bowdoin. I never met him, but I’ve heard so much about him as a campus legend.
October 10, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Bowdoin president's message one Kidder Smith's passing. He was my predecessor as the China historian at Bowdoin. I never met him, but I’ve heard so much about him as a campus legend.
Wrapped up my talks at Princeton and Rutgers. Had a great time catching up with old friends and teachers, and meeting new ones too. Took NJ Transit to and from the airport and landed on the old cars. They look exactly the same as 20 years ago! Felt like I was zapped right back into a time capsule…
October 3, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Wrapped up my talks at Princeton and Rutgers. Had a great time catching up with old friends and teachers, and meeting new ones too. Took NJ Transit to and from the airport and landed on the old cars. They look exactly the same as 20 years ago! Felt like I was zapped right back into a time capsule…
I'm excited to return to New Jersey next week to give two talks respectively at Princeton and Rutgers. I'll be speaking about my recent work on Zhu Xi and his theory of emotions. I hadn't excepted a classical topic to spark so much joy of discovery, and I look forward to sharing that.
September 24, 2025 at 10:49 PM
I'm excited to return to New Jersey next week to give two talks respectively at Princeton and Rutgers. I'll be speaking about my recent work on Zhu Xi and his theory of emotions. I hadn't excepted a classical topic to spark so much joy of discovery, and I look forward to sharing that.
I gave a talk on male tears in premodern China as part of the Profs at the Pub series, held at the Third Window Brewery in Santa Barbara. First time for me to speak among beer barrels!
April 14, 2025 at 5:21 AM
I gave a talk on male tears in premodern China as part of the Profs at the Pub series, held at the Third Window Brewery in Santa Barbara. First time for me to speak among beer barrels!
Posting on behalf of the Society for Song, Yuan, and Conquest Dynasties: we are hosting this exciting roundtable at the AAS in March. This promises to be a wonderful occasion to reflect on the present and future of our field and celebrate the study of Song. Everyone is warmly welcome—see you there!
January 8, 2025 at 10:28 PM
Posting on behalf of the Society for Song, Yuan, and Conquest Dynasties: we are hosting this exciting roundtable at the AAS in March. This promises to be a wonderful occasion to reflect on the present and future of our field and celebrate the study of Song. Everyone is warmly welcome—see you there!
My book, the Chinese translation of Shen Gua's Empiricism (Harvard, 2018), has been selected for a feature by the Southern Weekly--another major newspaper I grew up with. This is the fifth feature I've received in a month. It still feels unreal...https://www.infzm.com/wap/#/content/283388
November 27, 2024 at 8:57 AM
My book, the Chinese translation of Shen Gua's Empiricism (Harvard, 2018), has been selected for a feature by the Southern Weekly--another major newspaper I grew up with. This is the fifth feature I've received in a month. It still feels unreal...https://www.infzm.com/wap/#/content/283388
I gave a talk on the theory of emotions in Quanzhen Daoism at Harvard last Monday, and I was so touched to see a full room of people there. The insightful questions from colleagues left me feeling energized. It’s exciting to see emotions studies really gaining momentum in premodern China studies!
November 21, 2024 at 11:20 PM
I gave a talk on the theory of emotions in Quanzhen Daoism at Harvard last Monday, and I was so touched to see a full room of people there. The insightful questions from colleagues left me feeling energized. It’s exciting to see emotions studies really gaining momentum in premodern China studies!