City of Marvel and Transformation: Chang’an and Narratives of Experience in Tang Dynasty China

Sponsor: Centre for Chinese Research, St. John’s College
Date: 12-2PM, April 12, 2016
Location: Fairmont Social Lounge, St. John’s College
Address: 2111 Lower Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
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Abstract
During China’s Tang dynasty (618–907 CE), the capital city of Chang’an (present-day Xi’an) was a megalopolis, career launch pad, and most importantly, cultural paradigm. As such, it captured the imaginations of Tang writers, shaped their future aspirations, and left significant traces in the literature of this period. This talk takes up some of the most powerful shaping forces of Tang-dynasty Chang’an: its siren call as a destination; the unforeseen nooks and crannies of its urban space; its potential as a “media machine” to broadcast images and reputations, and its demimonde—a city within a city where both
literary culture and commerce took center stage.
About the Speaker
Linda Rui Feng is Associate Professor of Premodern Chinese Cultural Studies at the University of Toronto’s Department of East Asian Studies. She is currently working on a project titled “The Mindscape
of Here Versus There: Imagined Geographies and the Circulation of Spatial Knowledge in Medieval China.”
RSVP here