My research delves into the reciprocal influences of state, society, and economy in modern East Asia from the 1700s to the 1970s, with additional interests in transnational history and the history of capitalism. My Master's thesis at the University of Chicago in 2017, entitled "The Decline of The Yunnannese Copper Industry (1800-1850)," examined the decline of Yunnan's copper mining industry, which served as the backbone for the Qing Empire's minting. Through my research, I posited that the international trade of copper played a crucial role in determining not only the viability of China's domestic copper production but also the stability of China's monetary market.
In my PhD dissertation, provisionally titled “Empire of Copper: Chilean Copper, British Global Trade, and the Transformation of the Chinese Monetary System (1800-1862),” I delve into the complexities of the global trade of copper and its far-reaching implications. This study is anchored in two pivotal components: the sprawling network of global copper trade and the consequential dynamics of Qing cash coins on China's monetary system and economy. Through comprehensive archival research across institutions such as the National Archives of the UK, the UK Parliamentary Papers, British Library, and Harvard University's Baker Library, my work illuminates the transnational collaboration between the British merchant banks and American companies. This synergy facilitated the colossal annual shipments of Latin American copper from the mines of Peru and Chile directly to the burgeoning markets of South China and India between 1820 and 1860. Such a vast movement of copper not only bridged continents but might also play a decisive role in the monetary flux within Qing China. Concurrently, my research also probes the epidemic of counterfeit Qing copper cash, exploring its contribution to the precipitous decline of China’s monetary order during this period of intense global economic integration.
My previous research at UChicago included a study of taxation and land reform in North China, which examined how the Chinese state developed its statistics, intensively quantifying the rural economy and remarkably expanding their fiscal capacity in the 1930s and 1940s. Before joining UChicago, I received my B.A. in Economics from the School of Finance of Nankai University, and my M.A. in History from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.