Than Just A Drink: Bodily Experiences And Material Culture In Early Modern China

I am writing to apply for the advertised position of assistant professor in East Asian history, to begin in the fall of 2018. As a historian who has been trained in universities of both China and the United States over the past decade, I have not only published a peer-review article published by China’s leading journal in world history, but also taught three different courses independently in two universities. My dissertation entitled “More than just a Drink: Tea Consumption, Bodily Experiences and Material Culture in Early Modern China (1550-1700)” explores the scholar-official tea connoisseurs’ role in reshaping tea production and consumption in China from the mid-sixteenth century to the early eighteenth century. I will defend in May of

“Taste” not only refers to its sociological meaning, which emphasizes on personal and cultural patterns of choice and preference associated with social relations and dynamics between people; but also refers to gustatory perception, the sensory impression of food and drink on the tongue. By focusing on the rise and decline of commodity goods relating to tea which circulated in the market, my dissertation examines the role of “taste” as sensory experiences in tea drinking that have played in a sociological understanding of “taste” in a context of early modern China. Some scholars have paid attention to the important role that “taste” had played in the early modern China. When facing the “social emulation” from the merchant class, the elite class brought up the topic of “taste” in their writing and practiced it in their daily life. However, this discourse of tasting tends to focus on the sociological layer of “taste.” Introducing tea to the study of material culture in Chinese history can bring an opportunity of turning our eyes from the sociological meaning to the other layer of “taste,” which focuses on the bodily

Over the past six years, I have assumed many teaching roles in history classes of various sizes, ranging from a reader/grader, a discussion leader, to an independent instructor. This not only allowed me to observe the rich teaching styles of many professors and thus facilitated my own transition from a student to a teacher. Meanwhile, as these courses covered various regions, periods, and themes, I was able to cross reference from different classes to clarify complicated themes and enhance the comparative thinking of my