BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//UM//UM*Events//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:America/Detroit
TZURL:http://tzurl.org/zoneinfo/America/Detroit
X-LIC-LOCATION:America/Detroit
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20070311T020000
RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=2SU
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20071104T020000
RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=11;BYDAY=1SU
END:STANDARD
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20260812T143226
DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20260929T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20260929T130000
SUMMARY:Lecture / Discussion:LRCCS Noon Lecture Series | The Sea as a Medium in Early Modern Chinese Fiction
DESCRIPTION:In this talk\, Dr. Kile demonstrates how we might better understand Chinese early modernity through environment and experience\, categories that also open up possibilities of geographical comparison. He analyzes how the sea novels *Sanbao taijian xiyang ji* (*Record of the Sanbao Eunuch in the Western Seas*\, pub. 1597)\, *Haiyou ji* 海遊記 (*Record of a Sea Journey*\, pub. ca. early nineteenth century)\, and *Xiyi meng Xiyi meng Haiguo chunqiu* 希夷夢 海國春秋 (*A Dream of the Master of Infinitesimal Subtlety\, or A Chronicle of the Sea Kingdom*) describe travel by sea – for example\, into a luoji 落漈 (whirlpool)\, or across a ruanshui yang 軟水洋 (“soft water” sea)  – and how this fictional practice details and elaborates the perceived and imagined qualities of water. Lu Xun famously described Ming and Qing novels that abounded with super-mobile human characters as “supernatural” fiction (shenmo xiaoshuo 神魔小說). Dr. Kile departs from this foundational paradigm to look more precisely: what terms do these novels use for moving through air\, and how did that relate to water travel? The depths of the seas and the heights of the skies did not function as media for actually existing humans in the early modern period\, but in the fiction of the time\, humans could travel through the sea\, both across its surfaces and through its depths\, as well as through the sky in all its vastness.\n\nSE Kile is a scholar of early modern Chinese literature and cultural history\, focusing on the intersections of multimedia practice across a broad range of cultural objects\, from poetry to props\, from novels to gardens. An associate professor in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Michigan\, Kile’s first book\, *Towers in the Void: Li Yu and Early Modern Chinese Media* (Columbia\, 2023)\, theorizes early modern mediation and entrepreneurship through Li Yu's cultural production across the areas of playwriting\, fiction writing\, garden and architectural design\, theater direction\, and body modification. His current book project argues for the relevance of the “early modern” to the study of China\, exploring how novelists synthesized scientific\, religious\, and vernacular knowledge about the world.\n\n*If there is anything we can do to make this event accessible to you\, please contact us. Please be aware that advance notice is necessary as some accommodations may require more time for the university to arrange.*
UID:150163-21908308@events.umich.edu
URL:https://events.umich.edu/event/150163
CLASS:PUBLIC
STATUS:CONFIRMED
CATEGORIES:Asian Languages And Cultures,China,chinese history,Chinese Studies,Literature
LOCATION:Weiser Hall - 10th Floor
CONTACT:
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR