Dr. Kwang-yu Sung discovered the late imperial mortality book “Juewu xuan xin” in Penghu, which contains spirit writings used by local elites to advance social reforms. Contents list “good deeds” and “misdeeds,” emphasizing the link between morality and affluence.

Pit YH127 of the Yinxu site was excavated in 1936 and held more than 17,000 oracle bones. The startling discovery was a challenge to transport, but creatively accomplished as a pillar of soil, to the IHP at Nanjing: openmuseum.tw/muse/exhibitio…

The FSN Library houses “Shenlu Shandong tigao,” collected memorials of Lu Zhenmo (Ministry of Justice). Lu was dispatched to Shandong in 1592 to rejudge cases and show leniency in punishments. Contents include issued edicts, official lists, and criminal trial records.

Join us on August 19th for Dr. XU Xiaojie’s lecture on “Decoding the Historical Memory of Books and Paper: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Humanities Research.” Registration: forms.gle/3THxeWjGPTeRjt… The lecture requires prior registration. There is no online broadcast.

Join us from August 21–22 for the “Conference on Politics and Religion in Chinese and Eurasian History,” held in collaboration with NTU History. Required registration (until 8/18 or full): forms.gle/gJyy4X5yrdkW26…. Note this is an in-person only conference.

Join us on August 19 for Dr. David Armitage’s lecture on “Mozart's Marriage of Figaro and the (Im)Perfect Ambassador.” This talk will be given in English. Prior registration is required. Registration Link (Deadline: August 18 or until fully booked): docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAI…

To present the hierarchical structure of Ming-Qing administrative regions, the “Database of Place Names in Imperial China” has added a new “tree view” function on the homepage. Users can now also simultaneously browse subordinated administrative regions: newarchive.ihp.sinica.edu.tw/hplname/

From January to June 2024, the Scripta Sinica database (IHP) has newly added the full texts of 20 books, totaling more than 10 million characters and 38 thousand images. For a bibliography of works: hanchi.ihp.sinica.edu.tw/ihp/2024_bookl…. For the database: hanchi.ihp.sinica.edu.tw/ihp/hanji.htm

Join us on August 29 (Thur.) for Dr. Kai-hsiang Hsu’s lecture on “Dissemination and Discourses of Inauspicious Omens of Dynastic Changes during the Five Dynasties and Ten States Period, 907-960.” All are welcome to attend.

Join us on September 2 (Mon.) for Dr. Kwang-tzu Chen’s lecture titled “Scientific Analysis of Excavated Clay Molds from the Yinxu Archaeological Site in the IHP Collection.” All are welcome to attend.

Join us on Spet. 3-4 for the workshop titled “Women Historians around the World, 1860–1960.” Please register via the link: forms.gle/8i21V1WnzgWfHE… before August 28. The conference is in-person only and the official language is English.

The Archives of the Grand Secretariat contains confessions that reveal the quotidian life of local peddlers, detailing family backgrounds, business practices, funding sources, and challenges when traveling to village fairs, a likely more accurate depiction than those in novels.

The MIHP invites you to visit our exhibition “Rare Texts: Connoisseurship and Collection Seals,” which features one of the few surviving Ming editions of “Dongmou ji,” remarkable for having the Qianlong emperor’s collection seal. For more: museum.sinica.edu.tw/en/exhibitions…

Dr. Benjamin Elman donated his academic materials to the Archives, IHP, including research notes, manuscripts, correspondences, lecture drafts, syllabi, and articles and gifts from other scholars. Collation should conclude soon, with digitization expected to be completed in 2025.

Join us on Sept. 10th for Dr. Aya Homei’s lecture on “Japan in the Transnational Network of Family Planning, Development Aids and Global Health, 1960s-80s.” All are welcome to attend.

Join us on September 11 (Wed.) for Dr. Carsten Timmermann’s lecture on “De-centering Rudolf Virchow: the making of a social medicine pioneer.” Registration isn’t required. All are welcome to attend.

On Sept 13th, Dr. Rima Apple (University of Wisconsin-Madison) will deliver a lecture on “Women and History: Feminist Notes on the Changing Nature of Health Care for Women.” The talk will be given in English. All are welcome to attend.

The IHP scholarships in the Departments of History, Anthropology, Archeology, and Philology are now inviting applications for graduate students enrolled in a domestic university. For more information, please see the following announcements.

Join us on September 16 (Mon.) for Dr. Hung-tai Wang’s lecture on “Violence to Curb Violence: Transformations in Popular Customs and Practices of Scholar-Officials during the Jiajing Wokou Raids in the Ming Dynasty.” All are welcome to attend.

Qing noble Yihui (1799–1838) was well-known for his poetry, which uniquely includes western implements as subjects. Dr. Ping-yi Chu indicates that he was familiar with western learning, positioning him as a potential apologist with the Christian community.