Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Jon Howlett @jonhowlett.bsky.social · 1d

If your Thursday needs a boost, can I recommend the delightful Jin Shengtan's 金聖嘆 "Thirty-three Nice Things", translated by @bokane.org?

www.burninghou.se/p/whats-good

— if that’s not nice, what is?

What's Good? A Collection of Small Nice Things

Everything is awful, the dynasty is collapsing, and the vibes are fucked. Other people have been here before. Here's a few of Jin Shengtan's favorite things to distract you.

www.burninghou.se

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Reposted by Jon Howlett

Brendan O’Kane @bokane.org · 4d

For the Mid-Autumn Festival, I translated the 17th century failson, epicure, and memoirist Zhang Dai's account of the annual Mid-Autumn singing competition on Tiger Hill in Suzhou. www.burninghou.se/p/mid-autumn...

Mid-Autumn, Tiger Hill, Late Ming

"Everyone was perfectly silent, even the mosquitoes."

www.burninghou.se

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Jon Howlett @jonhowlett.bsky.social · 9d

Brilliant new research from York's @mrmhurst.bsky.social on the 88,000 Hong Kong colonial government records that remain at Hanslope Park, contributing new insights on how outgoing colonial officials handled records towards at end of the British Empire. #history

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Hong Kong Colonial Government Migrated Archives at Hanslope Park

Following the revelation in 2011 that the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office was sitting on the migrated archives of dozens of colonial governments, almost 20,000 files were transferred from s...

www.tandfonline.com

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Jon Howlett @jonhowlett.bsky.social · Sep 8

Brilliant to see York PhD student @mrmhurst.bsky.social win the @chinesestudies.bsky.social Early Career Researcher Prize last week for his work on the Hong Kong colonial government migrated archives at Hanslope Park - huge congrats Matthew!

Matthew Hurst presenting a keynote speech in front of a powerpoint presentation reading Hong Kong Colonial Government Migrated Archives at Hanslope Park

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Jon Howlett @jonhowlett.bsky.social · Jul 1

Great to be welcomed so warmly in Whitehall at the Treasury today putting Uk-China relations in historical perspective (not my usual Tuesday!)

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Jon Howlett @jonhowlett.bsky.social · Jun 25

You can find out more about YARN here and join if you are affiliated with York:

www.york.ac.uk/yarn/

York Asia Research Network (YARN)

The York Asia Research Network (YARN) is an interdisciplinary group for people across the University whose research interests relate to Asia.

www.york.ac.uk

Jon Howlett @jonhowlett.bsky.social · Jun 25

Monday's third annual York Asia Research Network PhD Conference was brilliant - we had 16 speakers from across ten different departments and centres. Their exciting work took us from conserving ponds in northern India to Shakespeare in China and melon seeds in medieval Merv. Thanks everyone!

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Holly Snape @hollysnapewang.bsky.social · May 9

The British Association for Chinese Studies has announced the call for its 2025 Early Career Researcher Prize

www.facebook.com/bacsuk.org.u...

British Association for Chinese Studies

𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗦 𝗘𝗖𝗥 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗲 The British Association for Chinese Studies (BACS) invites early career researchers to submit an original research paper for consideration for the.....

www.facebook.com

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Reposted by Jon Howlett

Damian M @damiandamiani.bsky.social · Mar 13

In 1981, the Chinese science-fiction monthly 奥秘 (Aomi) featured Russ Manning’s first run of Star Wars comic strips. Collected and re-arranged to fit a fullpage format, the comics remained virtually identical to their American original—if not for one key difference. Let’s look at one exemplary strip.

Two first pages from a 1981 Chinese version of Russ Manning's Star Wars comic strip from 1979.

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Jon Howlett @jonhowlett.bsky.social · Mar 7

Join us at the University of York on 2 April for a research seminar by @viviankonghk.bsky.social with the intriguing title 'In and Out of Marginality: An Anglo-Chinese 'Brothel Keeper' in Cornwall, Hong Kong, and London, 1889-1942'.
www.york.ac.uk/history/abou...
#York #history #chinesehistory

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Jon Howlett @jonhowlett.bsky.social · Mar 6

#chinesehistory

Jon Howlett @jonhowlett.bsky.social · Mar 6

#China #Shanghai #Music #Records #History #YaoLi

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Jon Howlett @jonhowlett.bsky.social · Mar 4

Thanks for reading. If you would like to know more, there is a great webpage on this story with lyrics and images here: 78rpmshellacroundabout.com/rose-rose-i-...

Rose Rose I Love You – A Chinese World Hit – 78rpm Shellac Roundabout

78rpmshellacroundabout.com

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Jon Howlett @jonhowlett.bsky.social · Mar 4

74 years later, it is tempting to see the song’s sudden popularity as evidence of the world’s attention turning eastward in the early 1950s, albeit the Western gaze was still informed by colonial-era Orientalist ideas about China and SE Asia, as evidenced by Shanghai Rose's transformations. (7/8)

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Jon Howlett @jonhowlett.bsky.social · Mar 4

The song’s sudden popularity came only two years after the Communist takeover of China in 1949. By that time Yao Li had fled into exile in Hong Kong, but Chen Gexin (pictured) remained in mainland China. He was tragically persecuted for his bourgeois background and died in a labour camp. (6/8)

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Jon Howlett @jonhowlett.bsky.social · Mar 4

Alternate English lyrics in Petula Clark’s May 1951 version restored Rose to China, albeit the ‘fairest flower of China’ was now a resident of ‘Old Peking’:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Mvg... (5/8)

Petula Clark - May Kway ( Rose Rose I Love You ) (1951)

YouTube video by Four Seasons Oldies

www.youtube.com

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Jon Howlett @jonhowlett.bsky.social · Mar 4

Rival English-language covers were soon recorded. The most successful was Frankie Laine's version, with lyrics by Wilfrid Thomas. Their ‘Rose’ became a ‘Flower of Malaya’, an ‘Eastern Rose’ with ‘almond eyes’, ‘fragrant and slender ‘neath tropical skies’ :
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV4a... (4/8)

1951 HITS ARCHIVE: Rose Rose I Love You - Frankie Laine

YouTube video by The78Prof

www.youtube.com

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Jon Howlett @jonhowlett.bsky.social · Mar 4

A copy of the record had been brought back from Asia by BBC broadcaster Wilfrid Thomas and played on his show Record Rendezvous, prompting listeners to request replays. You can hear Yao's version of the song here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=MP0d... (3/8)

玫瑰玫瑰我愛你:1941年-姚莉唱（歌詞）好歌聽出好心情

YouTube video by Alan Kayangan

www.youtube.com

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Jon Howlett @jonhowlett.bsky.social · Mar 4

The song had been recorded by Yao Li, ‘the Silver Voice’ of Shanghai, in 1940. It had been composed by Chen Gexin (陳歌辛), a prolific ‘golden age’ songwriter. The titular Rose was ‘dainty’ and ‘fragrant’, but strong of heart and possessing of sharp thorns. (2/8)

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Jon Howlett @jonhowlett.bsky.social · Mar 4

74 years ago, in March 1951, ‘Rose, Rose I Love You’ (玫瑰玫瑰我愛你), sung by Yao Lee (姚莉, pictured) became the first Chinese record to become a hit in Britain and America. (1/8)

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Jon Howlett @jonhowlett.bsky.social · Feb 19

Great to be back at @uobrishistory.bsky.social yesterday to talk to the wonderful Asian History Seminar Group about decolonisation, refugees, Hong Kong and even Tom Hanks at one point... Thanks @bickers.bsky.social, @viviankonghk.bsky.social and @sulinlewis.bsky.social

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Reposted by Jon Howlett

Min Chao @wordsfromtaiwan.bsky.social · Jan 3

The National #Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts (NTMoFA) holds an annual open call for #zodiac prints. Here are this year's winning #snake art 🐍

首獎蘇宜琳〈蛇彩繽紛〉: Colorful
優選黃昱慈〈蛇麼都順〉: May Things Go (Slither) Your Way

* homophonous play on words for 蛇: 色 and 什

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Jon Howlett @jonhowlett.bsky.social · Jan 17

Opportunity at the University of Glasgow, historians of China particularly encouraged to apply:
www.jobs.gla.ac.uk/job/lecturer-in-asian-history-c-1500-2000-focussing-on-either-east-asian-history-slash-history-of-china-or-history-of-the-indian-ocean-world-r-and-t-track

Lecturer in Asian History (c. 1500-2000), focussing on either East Asian History/History of China or History of the Indian Ocean World (R&T Track)

College of Arts & HumanitiesSchool of Humanities Lecturer in Asian History (c. 1500-2000), focussing on either East Asian History/History of China or History of the Indian Ocean World (R&T ...

www.jobs.gla.ac.uk

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Reposted by Jon Howlett

Coraline Jortay 喬海霖 @qiaoj.bsky.social · Jan 8

After 3 years and multiple job/country changes for us all, THRILLED to announce that the conference of the China Academic Network on Gender is back for a 4th edition! ✨

Join us on 17-18 June in lovely Paris with fab keynote speakers (Howard Chiang and Rachel Harris 💫 ) for "Voicing Gender in China"

Voicing Gender in China
Fourth Conference of the China Academic Network on Gender
Dates: 17-18 June 2025
Location: Université Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris (France)
Deadline for abstracts (300 words): 1 February 2025
Send to: voicinggenderinchina@gmail.com
We are pleased to announce that the Fourth Conference of the China Academic Network on Gender will be hosted by the Université Sorbonne Nouvelle on 17-18 June 2025. Titled 'Voicing Gender in China, the conference seeks to explore the multiple sites of intersection between voice and gender in Chinese society, past and present.
Within Chinese studies, fruitful articulations between voice and gender studies have drawn from studies of women's political activism in history and sociology, exploring the ways in which activists and organisers have articulated new political identities in rallying cries and everyday protest. Literary scholars have looked at the shaping of gendered subjectivities through self-narratives and autobiographies, paying close attention to dialogue, orality and the mechanisms of silencing within literary establishments. In recent years, an explosion of sensory histories have explored how gender is enacted and defined through music, opera, dance and song. In parallel, sound studies scholars have brought to life the gendered soundscapes of modern and contemporary China in considering, for instance, the production of socialist state-sponsored music as well as the aural experiences of everyday life. Drawing from these multivocal approaches, this conference seeks to explore ways of rewriting into academic scholarship previously silenced minority voices, paying attention to the affective and political resonances of voicing out gender issues in different spaces, academic and public-facing.
Interdisciplinary at heart, the conference aims to bring together scholars (including doctoral, postdoctoral, early, mid and advanced career researchers) from the humanities and social sciences working on gender and China. W…

as discussants in each panel session. Outstanding papers will be considered for publication in an edited volume.
Participating scholars
The opening keynote speaker, Prof. Howard Chiang (University of California, Santa Barbara), is a historian of queer Asian Pacific history, the author of several books, including After Eunuchs: Science, Medicine, and the Transformation of Sex in Modern China (Columbia UP, 2018) and Transtopia in the Sinophone Pacific
(2021). Prof. Rachel Harris (SOAS), who is an ethnomusicologist and has worked extensively on the soundscapes of Uyghur islam in China, will also present her latest research in the closing keynote. Dr Jennifer Bond (University College London), Dr. Chang Liu (Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen), Dr Coraline Jortay (CNRS UMR 7172 Thalim Sorbonne Nouvelle/ENS), Dr. Beatrice Zani (CNRS, LISE UMR 3302) will also participate as panel discussants.
Submission
Please send a 300 word abstract to voicinggenderinchina@gmail.com, including your full name, institutional affiliation, email address, and a short bio before 1 February 2025. Applicants will be notified of the outcome by mid-February 2025, and successful applicants will need to submit full papers two weeks prior to the conference (1 June 2025). We are currently in the process of exploring options for providing funded on-site childcare for conference participants. If you would be interested in this option, please indicate the age, languages spoken, and specific needs (if applicable) of any children travelling with you in your submission email.
For further information, please contact the workshop committee at the above email address.
Calendar
- Deadline for abstract: 1 February 2025
- Notification of acceptance: mid-February 2025
- Deadline for full submission: 1 June 2025
Organisers
China Academic Network on Gender & Université Sorbonne Nouvelle
Organising committee: Jennifer Bond (UCL), Chang Liu (CUHK Shenzhen), Coraline Jortay (CNRS)
Scientific committee: Jennifer …

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Jon Howlett @jonhowlett.bsky.social · Jan 2

A great read to shake off the Xmas-New Year torpor:

Filip Noubel @nasredinhoja.bsky.social · Jan 2

Sitting at the crossroad of #feminism and Afro-Asian solidarity: “representations of Afro-Asian solidarity prioritise men’s internationalist activism&homosocial bonds, often simplify women’s role." #MabelRobinsonWilliams #blackfeminism
madeinchinajournal.com/2024/04/10/t... @madeinchinajournal.com

Tracing the Chinese Arc of Black Internationalist Feminism: An Archive Story | Made in China Journal

Ranging from the personal, political, and intellectual affinities between W.E.B. Du Bois and Mao Zedong to multiracial groups of muscular male revolutionaries on the front lines of the global charge a...

madeinchinajournal.com