Past Awards

The award supported in-person and online project planning meetings for a workshop presenting transformative research on the “lesser relations” of the Ming world—brokers, merchants and shopkeepers; accountants and scribes; clerks and runners; gatekeepers and doormen; clergy; boatmen, porters, grooms, and sedan-chair carriers—who played key roles in shaping social and knowledge structures. The planners held a related workshop in 2025 and aim to publish papers in 2026.

Funding from GHF supported scholarships for students of the history of the book in Asia at Rare Book School (RBS), allowing young scholars to pursue learning in areas germane to the study of the book in the greater Ming world by studying with the School’s distinguished international faculty in seminar-style classes. The RBS course week included academic lectures, discussion forums, demonstrations, exhibitions, and additional opportunities to socialize with students and faculty from early morning through late evening.

Using multiple approaches from the humanities to think through a plant’s cultural significance is the work of the nascent subfield of Plant Humanities. This spring 2025 workshop was an interdisciplinary exploration of what it means to take plants as an organizing focus in the study of Chinese culture. Countering the presentist orientation of much of environmental humanities, the workshop took a long view of plant studies, with scholars whose work spans from the Song dynasty through the Qing, to the present day.

The first of three planned volumes spanning the entire Ming dynasty, the book examines the social, political, economic, and cultural hierarchies, rituals, and codes of behavior that defined and protected the status of women within the family and the household during the early Ming dynasty. Richly informed by evidence from texts and material culture, it analyses and interprets women’s contributions to the many successes and the eventual failure of the dynasty and the state.

The Forger’s Creed examines how and why numerous fake texts, forged paintings, and bogus art theories were fabricated in the late Ming and early Qing periods. Investigating the forgeries as sites of conflict and negotiation in the production and consumption of art invisibly shared between different social groups, Park considers the establishment of a refined and elegant public sphere under the rubric of “legitimate lineage” as an attempt by elites to regulate public discourse on art.

The Peach Blossom Fan is one of the most important plays in Chinese history. It is also a masterpiece of world literature, acclaimed for the sophisticated ways it uses the tools of the theater to reflect on historical trauma and memory. This roundtable and reception celebrated the publication of Professor Li’s new translation, reflecting on the enduring significance of The Peach Blossom Fan, the challenges involved in translating this monumental work, and how the play still resonates with readers around the world. Panelists shared their thoughts on both the drama and the craft of literary translation in general.

The Woven Image: The Making of Mongol Art in the Yuan Empire paints a drastically different picture of the visual and material worlds of the Mongols in their imperial court. It focuses on fabric images to demonstrate that in the eastern half of their world empire known as the Yuan (1271-1368), the Mongol rulers created a completely new system of the arts. This new system subverted the traditional hierarchies of visual and material arts that had thrived in the various dynasties that previously ruled East Asia. 

Xu Xiake stands as China’s most distinguished traveler and travel writer, whose extensive journeys through Ming-dynasty China offer a unique window into the era’s geography, history, and cultural traditions. This new, fully annotated English translation includes maps and illustrations, allowing readers to follow Xu’s routes. It will be indispensable for scholars of Chinese history, geography, and travel writing and will bring Xu Xiake’s extraordinary journeys to a broader audience. The award from GHF will supported both print and open-access editions.