• 2016-05-25

The Center for Chinese Studies (CCS) organized the Academic Seminars for Global Chinese Studies lecture series on the 25th of May inviting one Chinese Studies Research Center visiting scholar to share his research results.

The invited speaker was Professor Peter B. Ditmanson from Oxford University Pembroke College who spoke on "Politics, Violence and Publishing in the Mid-Ming Period "

There were many publications related to political violence that exposed the dynasties' political violence in China during the late 15th century to the early 16th century. They described the atrocities committed by rulers. Professor Ditmanson by analyzing 1401-1402 Jingnan campaign (Ming Dynasty Chinese civil war) related publications, investigated the relationship between political violence and the publishing industry. Professor Ditmanson specifically mentioned that his focus is not whether or not there were so much political violence that existed during the Ming Dynasty but rather, why there constantly appeared these violence-related narratives.

Professor Ditmanson in his study of Ming Dynasty history provided a new and different perspective, exploring the creative balance between history and literature. Many of the participants of the lecture that day were Taiwan experts and scholars of Ming Dynasty history. The discussions that followed were filled with enthusiasm and pleasant participation.