My Journey in Ming Studies: An Interview with Professor Lin Li-yueh 林麗月

Lin Li-yueh: The reason I chose Ming history as my research field is closely related to influences from my educational background. In 1972, I entered the Graduate School of History at National Taiwan Normal University as a master’s degree student. Most of my classmates at the time were researching modern and contemporary Chinese history, especially the history of the late Qing dynasty. While I was in the master’s program, I took many courses in modern history. But I think to understand the changes taking place in modern China, we should not focus all our attention on the 19th century, but also deeply investigate history prior to the mid-19th century. At that time, in courses teaching Chinese history by period at Taiwanese universities, the Qing dynasty up to the mid-19th century was classified as “Qing history,” while the Qing dynasty from the mid-19th century onwards belonged to “modern Chinese history.” The content being taught was largely unrelated to the late Ming or early Qing dynasties or even earlier Ming history. In one regard, I held a certain amount of interest and curiosity in research concerned with the internal changes in Chinese politics, society, and thought prior to the impact of Western influence during the 19th century; and in another, I also thought at the time that there should be more young scholars working on questions regarding premodern China, and so I paid particular attention to Chinese society before the 17th and 18th century. My choice to settle on Ming history from the 14th to the 17th century for my master’s thesis can thus be said to be a result of these academic concerns.