Michael Szonyi
@MichaelSzonyi
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宋怡明 Frank Wen-hsiung Wu Prof. of Chinese History; former Director, @FairbankCenter for Chinese Studies, Harvard Univ.; #PIPFellow @NCUSCR ; Chair @WCFIA_Canada
Cambridge, MA
Joined October 2012
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Pinned Tweet
Simplified Chinese edition of The China Questions
@FairbankCenter
is now available for free download here: (reposting with new link)
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Interviewing a descendant of Ming soldiers near Chongqing. Are you from around here? No, we’re not local. Where are you from? From Jiangsu. When did you move here? In the 1570s
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Look what just arrived! Thanks and congratulations to all the contributors and my wonderful co-editors
@FairbankCenter
@Harvard_Press
/🧵
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Book talk today this aft. Beijing friends, please stop by
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You know what never gets tiresome for me? Being hectored by Chinese diplomats! (More seriously) I increasingly get the feeling that the hectoring has nothing to do with me; the main purpose is virtue-signaling in front of the other Chinese diplomats in the room.
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Have to try this resto in Chengdu. It should be fine, I’ll just show them my Canadian passport. Oh, wait
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Another talk at 北大 this week. The room has been changed, so I can (almost) promise there will be enough seats. DM if you need help accessing campus
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The Art of Being Governed is on 晓说！
@PrincetonUPress
Apparently the censors report that my Chinese is pretty good
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Excited to model the latest XJP Thought Infographic fashion. Thank you to Tripp Rosenfelt for this awesome gift. Ask the twitterverse and ye shall receive!
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I’m in southeast Asia this week. Wechat knows it; my Chinese bank knows it, and so I assume the PRC knows it. Facebook is sending me targeted ads for cherries on sale in Cambridge Mass, and my US bank seems to assume my card has been stolen
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I'm pleased to announce the publication of The Chinese Empire in Local Society, co-edited with Zhao Shiyu, and translated by the brilliant Joel Wing-Lun. Nine exciting essays by the next generation of local historians in China
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a useful way of thinking about the two Palace Museums in Beijing and Taipei - one is all palace no museum; the other is all museum no palace via
@supchinanews
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Great to be back in Taiwan; proud to share some of our recent work
@FairbankCenter
; thanks to all we met for some fascinating conversations about the challenges facing Taiwan; thanks for your hospitality
@MOFA_Taiwan
; apologies to those I couldn't see; also - of course- mango ice
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I am overwhelmed with messages asking if there is anything that can be done. I will reply with details as I can. But I know what Ezra would want: for us to exert ourselves to improving the US-China relationship in ways that are beneficial to the peoples of both countries
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We've posted a summary of the insights from our November event on "Challenges to the Research Environment in China"
@FairbankCenter
here:
@yuenyuenang
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I am sad to share this news with our community. I am proud and grateful to have had Ezra Vogel as a mentor and a friend.
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our former director Ezra F. Vogel (1930-2020).
Professor Vogel served as director from 1973-75 and from 1995-99. He was a true champion of our center, an erudite scholar, and a wonderful friend. He will be truly missed.
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Congratulations to Josh Freeman on his exhibition of Uygur poetry in translation
@FairbankCenter
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Text of my Nov 2019 speech at the Central Institute of Socialism, on "China's Civilization and China's Path". Host wanted to publish highly redacted version; I declined, insisted on full text. I was told that would be "inconvenient", so I withdrew it.
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We Stand with MERICS The appropriate place for the Chinese to challenge views of intnl think tanks and experts is not the visa line or court room but the sphere of scholarly interchange- reports, journals, commentaries, podcasts, roundtables, conferences
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Here's a very incomplete crowdsourced list of readings for a possible lecture on epidemics in late imperial China. DM me if you'd like to contribute, and I'll share editing privileges
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Bertrand Russell letter (1906): "China is so exactly like England: it is the only other country where govt appointments are given for power of writing verses in a dead language, & where a man’s later career depends entirely on good form, & to no extent upon knowledge of his job
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Very excited to dive in to the next phase of this project. My new auto-reply: sorry, due to pressing research I am not able to respond to your email immediately. I’ll get back to you as soon as possible, maybe in 2026 or so
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哈佛大学费正清中国研究中心
@FairbankCenter
所编《中国36问》(The China Questions)（简体版）今天面世了。免费下载：
Simplified Chinese edition of The China Questions
@FairbankCenter
is now available for free download here: .
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Visiting the site of two great works of Chinese history. Usually I like to be acknowledged on my own terms, but in Shanxi it seems I will always just be 沈艾媂(Henrietta Harrison)的学长 . That’s ok
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Decoupling won’t help Uighurs, cancelling Fulbright won’t help Uighurs, closing consulates definitely won’t help Uighurs. Here are some things that might, from
@JimMillward
The Uighurs' suffering deserves targeted solutions, not anti-Chinese posturing
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Lecture this week at Beida on a current project: DM me details if you need help arranging campus access
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Very pleased to announce the launch of a new
@FairbankCenter
initiative: the International China Studies Virtual Events Clearing-house.
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Interesting how a successful election in Taiwan can generate a day (and counting) of good-feelings, support, pride, love and just all-round joyfulness among China-watchers on twitter. Other societies seeking to build soft power might take note....
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This took a while (like 20+ years). But I’m glad it is finally out. My thanks to brilliant translator 王果
@stanfordpress
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Simplified Chinese edition of The China Questions
@FairbankCenter
is now available for free download here: .
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I’ll be in Shanghai next week for a book launch for the Chinese edition of Art of Being Governed 12/8
@FairbankCenter
@PrincetonUPress
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I'm willing to try almost anything once, but I think I'll be leaving this medium to the kids:
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China historians (or maybe anyone interested in China) - here's a suggestion if you are ever feeling uninspired by your work (or overwhelmed by the news) - just go read something/anything by Gail Hershatter - makes me feel better every time!
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So how adorable is this? Book talk and signing in Xiamen, long delayed due to Covid. Sold out of books, hence the odd glum face (or at least that's how I'm telling the story)
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Tracking down the entrance to a Chongqing coal mine that was opened by a local family in the 1740s, then interviewing the 94 year family descendant who ran the mine in the 1940s, when it was handed over to the CCP
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I'm thrilled to welcome participants to inaugural Digital China Initiative summer workshop on DH methods for China studies
@FairbankCenter
. Looking forward to an intensive two weeks - are we really going to learn all these things? (I'm hosting, and also participating)
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Is there a clash of civilization between east and west?
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I forgot to mention I am back in the land of extremely large chairs! (I didn't forget; there is a lot to process; will share some thoughts when I have collected them)
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Wise words from Ezra Vogel. Even if you are pro-decoupling, current policy efforts to ensure we know less about China, have fewer friends in China, and alienate those who share US values is counter-productive
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This cuts close: Will I Return to China?
@chinafile
: Please do a follow-up on “How will I advise my students/young people in my field about China travel?”
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Historians have spent half a century rebutting "failure of China" narrative by showing that the real story is "lucky accident of the West". This is the 21st century flipside of that same mistake - a "failure of the West" misunderstood as a "success of the East".
1/3 East Asia's handling of the pandemic has been disgracefully ignored in the West. It shows how provincial, ignorant and narrow-minded the West has become. The biggest single reason for their success is Confucianism. But this is never mentioned.
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A talk (in Chinese) from my project on rural China in the 20th century: Rethinking Chinese history through the diary of an "extremely ordinary peasant" 從一個「非常普通農民」的日記來思索二十世紀的中國歷史
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Honored to present the very first copy of The China Questions to President Tsai Ing-wen, who said she would start reading it tonight
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If you're up very early tomorrow, I'll be speaking about local history and rural development challenges
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It is so cool to see the work of three younger scholars with whom I’ve had the privilege of working come to fruition all at the same time. Big congrats to Xiaoxuan,
@EricTSchluessel
,
@imiller82
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I just gave a talk in which I jokingly complained about people not reading my work, and then this happened
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Amazing thread. And a more persuasive argument than mine for why learning to read Chinese tomb inscriptions can teach you important things. This will go on my graduate student reading lists!
THREAD! How we (mostly
@jotted
) documented that the daughter of the man who pushed Hong Kong's national security law through China's NPC ascended the ranks of Hong Kong's pro-Beijing elite, amassing great wealth. This thread will cover A LOT of territory. (1/x)
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Among Ezra Vogel's last efforts to improve US-China relations was a draft statement that was still unfinished at the time of his death. In Ezra’s honor, Robert Ross and
@MichaelSzonyi
have edited the document and provided an explanatory preamble 1/3
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Part II of my interview with Gao Xiaosong on 晓说
comments still mostly about my accent (and a surprising number about my socks), but happy to see that some viewers are engaging with my ideas
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明代军人后代
q:先生你是本地人吗？
a:不是本地人
q:你们从哪里搬过来？
a:我们江苏人
q:什么时候搬到这里？
a:明万历年间
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I know there is all kinds of bad stuff in the world right now, but I have my priorities and I need everyone to know that baijiu cocktails are an abomination
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Update from the Yongtai Studio: things that eighteenth century Fujian peasants could and did securitize: clerical position in nearby yamen; right to earn 1/16 share of the nuts harvested from a single gingko tree (distinct from ownership of the underlying asset); a pile of shit
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What I've been doing the last few months:
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@chowleen
I don't see the button for: gentle misting of stale baijiu and cigarettes. We must run in different mahjong circles
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A great honor to spend time with former colleague
@USAmbChina
in my Xiamen haunts, and to see a masterful diplomat in action
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One of the "bots" showing concern about the situation in the US at the behest of the CCP just sent 50 N95 masks to my pediatric anaesthetist friend.
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Spotted in a Dalian bookstore: “A Harvard class on women’s temperment”. Curiously, could not find said class anywhere on the Harvard Women, Gender and Sexuality course calendar
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Workshop on reading local documents in Yongtai, Fujian with students from Xiamen University and Harvard
@FairbankCenter
1/
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Pompeo adviser Prof. Yu Maochun "expunged from the Yu genealogy," traditionally an informal punishment for grievous offenses (including becoming a monk)
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Haven’t had time for updates from
#Yongtai_studio
in a while. Here is a family document from 1834 that says “these trees are collective property and must be protected because they are important for geomancy 风水.” And here are those trees in 2024
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and if you disagree with the party line, it is because you don't understand that history 2/2
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ICMYI,
@FairbankCenter
exhibition of Cultural Revolution big character posters 大字报 is now virtual.
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If accurate, this is extraordinarily troubling:
Zoom closes account of U.S.-based Chinese activist after Tiananmen event
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A brilliant essay on the lessons to be learned from the life of Ezra Vogel, by one of his last PhD students Hu Xiaojiang via
@US
-China Perception Monitor 1/2
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Please join me next week for a talk at UC Irvine: Did Chinese peasants have a revolution? This will be my first public lecture about my current project. 12/3/2020 @ 4 PM PST/7 PM EST. With Gail Hershatter and
@jwassers
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Some good news - the Fung library collection will finally re-open. Details here: My thanks to librarians Nancy Hearst and Charlotte Cotter for super-human efforts to single-handedly provide access to patrons for the last year+
@FairbankCenter
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Retweeted this already, but doing so again to highlight the dozens and dozens of colleagues who responded with introductions to their fascinating work!
As we start the fall semester, we'd like to give a
#FollowFriday
shout out to junior scholars, researchers, and practitioners working in
#China
Studies.
Comment below and introduce yourself if you're a junior scholar working on China (all fields welcome!)
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How ordinary folk in the Ming managed their relations with the state. via
@aeonmag
@PrincetonUPress
@FairbankCenter
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I'm proud to join this large group of colleagues in condemning racism against Asian-Americans and all Asians.
Foreign policy experts call for end to hate crimes against Asian American community: Readers via
@usatoday
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Heading to Taiwan for a busy week of talks on multiple projects: 5/4 10 am
@ihptaiwan
on “Towards an information ecology of the popular archive in Ming-Qing Fujian” (
#theYongtaistudio
) hybrid:
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MacFarquhar Collection arrives at Ashoka University
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Today wrote 1K words on a subject I've been studying intensively for the last few months. Just out of interest, opened up Spence's Modern China to see how he handled it. Better than I could ever hope to. Feeling deflated. I guess his students must face this all the time.
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Part II of my interview with VOA, with some thoughts on the challenges facing China studies today, a discussion of my new project on the modern history of rural China, and some praise for
@MargaretKLewis
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Please join us to hear how scholars in a range of disciplines are advising their students at a time of unprecedented challenges. I'm very glad that we can co-sponsor this with so many (too many to list in a tweet) other centers around the world.
Overcoming Challenges in the Research Environment in China
A panel discussion on guidance for graduate students who face challenges when researching in China
Elizabeth Perry
Denise Ho
Robert Weller
@yuenyuenang
Moderated by
@MichaelSzonyi
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Proud to be a "nihilist"!
“Historical nihilism” is nothing more than a denial that the past is fundamentally a resource to be plundered by the present.
@daicing
The Chinese Communist Party sees the past as a resource to be plundered by the present.
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@FairbankCenter
Hershatter's Gender of Memory: Rural women and China's collective past reshaped how I thought about oral history for my Ming book, and is a big inspiration for my current project on the modern history of rural China
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As a non-citizen/would-be citizen, I make it a point never to post on domestic political topics. I’m making an exception. Those were two remarkable, powerful, moving, inspiring speeches
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Very sorry to learn that
@BaldingsWorld
is leaving China. His posts were always thoughtful and thought-provoking. “China has reached a point where I do not feel safe being a professor and discussing even the economy, business, and financial markets.”
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In a two-minute video, this PRC state media editor calls free Canadian media: annoying, petty, narrow-minded, spewing ideological nonsense, and repulsive. He ends by telling free Canadian media it ought to "know its place" - really rockin' that soft power, sir!
Canada has very little influence on China. Canadian media ought to know its place: Editor-in-Chief Hu Xijin
#HuSays
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A first for me - wrote a long careful letter in support of a colleague applying for a position. Just got a nice note from the relevant dean, thanking me for my letter and informing me that they got the job. I really appreciate this approach.
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Join us for a special session of Critical Issues in Contemporary China
@FairbankCenter
tomorrow, on "Is China Exporting Authoritarianism", organized by
@HarvardWCFIA
and featuring a terrific line-up (all of whom, I think, are previous CICC speakers)
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I wrote a new preface for the Taiwanese edition of Art of Being Governed, forthcoming later this fall from Lianjing Press. You can read the English version here:
@PrincetonUPress
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This week in Chinese history: The Taiwan Straits Crisis of 1954-55 and specter of nuclear war via
@supchinanews
@jayjamescarter
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In 1646, Qing forces defeated the army of strongman Zhang Xianzhong in a great naval battle near here. For a century, locals have told a legend about Zhang’s sunken treasure. In 2010 archaeologists unearthed silver taels, gold coins minted by Zhang’s regime from the riverbed
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New publication: Lang C, Zhuo J, Szonyi M. 揭开东南亚华侨华人历史上经济成就之谜 ("Solving the riddle of the economic success of Overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia: evidence from Yongtai, Fujian").
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Pulled out the vintage apparel for today's
#harvardmoves
run. Hi to all Harvard runners from London Ontario.
#stillfits
@HarvardAlumni
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