In this talk, Professor Joanna Waley-Cohen discusses China and the West in the period preceding the 1839–1842 Opium War, focusing in particular on foreign goods and foreign knowledge. She shows multiple ways in which the lingering assumption, that at that time China was closed to outside ideas and influences, is mistaken.

About the speaker

Joanna Waley-Cohen is Provost for NYU Shanghai and Julius Silver Professor of History at NYU. She has taught the history of China at NYU since 1992 and at NYU Shanghai since it first opened in 2013. As Provost, she serves as NYU Shanghai's chief academic officer, setting the university's academic strategy and priorities, as well as overseeing academic appointments, research, and faculty affairs. Her research interests include early modern Chinese history; China and the West; Chinese law, and Chinese imperial culture, especially in the 18th century. Her major publications include The Culture of War in China: Empire and the Military under the Qing (2006), The Sextants of Beijing: Global Currents in Chinese History (1999), and Exile in Mid-Qing China: Banishment to Xinjiang: 1758-1820 (1991). Waley-Cohen's ongoing scholarly projects include a revised history of imperialism in China, a study of daily life in China c.1800, and a history of culinary culture in early modern China. She holds a PhD in History from Yale and an MA in China Studies from Cambridge.

This China Crossroads​ event is available to RAS China members at the usual member price of 50 RMB. Others may register for Non-member tickets at 150 RMB. You may sign up here for annual RAS China membership to get member price at all our events