Abstract
During China’s Tang dynasty (618–907 CE), the capital city of Chang’an
(present-day Xi’an) was a megalopolis, career launch pad, and most
importantly, cultural paradigm. As such, it captured the imaginations
of Tang writers, shaped their future aspirations, and left significant
traces in the literature of this period. This talk takes up some of
the most powerful shaping forces of Tang-dynasty Chang’an: its siren
call as a destination; the unforeseen nooks and crannies of its urban
space; its potential as a “media machine” to broadcast images and
reputations, and its demimonde—a city within a city where both
literary culture and commerce took center stage.
About the Speaker
Linda Rui Feng is Associate Professor of Premodern Chinese Cultural
Studies at the University of Toronto’s Department of East Asian
Studies. She is currently working on a project titled “The Mindscape
of Here Versus There: Imagined Geographies and the Circulation of
Spatial Knowledge in Medieval China.”
RSVP here.
