Xin Wen

Position
Assistant Professor of East Asian Studies and History. Johanna and Alfred Hurley *61 P76 P82 P86 University Preceptor.
Role
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Office
237 Frist Campus Center
Office Hours
Wednesday: 2:00 pm-4:00 pm
Education

B.A. from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC)

M.A. in Pre-modern Chinese History, Peking University

Ph.D. in Inner Asian and Altaic Studies, Harvard University (2017)

Bio/Description

Xin Wen (Ch. 文欣) is a historian of medieval China and Inner Asia. His work goes beyond the dynastic units of Tang (618-907) and Song (960-1279), and situates “China” in the connected world of Eurasia.

His current book, The King's Road: Diplomacy and the Remaking of the Silk Road, project examines the ways people traveled between Northwestern China and Central Asia in the ninth and tenth centuries. Utilizing multi-lingual manuscripts from Dunhuang as well as transmitted Chinese texts, this book shows a world in which the movements of people were motivated primarily by the pursuit of social prestige rather than the interest in commercial profit. His research interests in medieval China also include manuscript culture, urban history, and digital humanities.