Did Lord Macartney see a Spouting Whale or Dragon-Carp in 1793? Digitising and Unlocking Early Modern Chinese Court Drama

Join Professor Tian Yuan Tan, University of Oxford, for an introduction to the TEXTCOURT research project, which uses digital methods to explore the rich and interconnected textual worlds of early modern Chinese court drama.

Taking as a case study a Qing court performance witnessed by Lord Macartney in 1793, the talk examines how court drama scripts and foreign records can be read together to uncover hidden connections and to ask new questions. By tracing links across these often fragmented sources, the talk demonstrates how digital humanities tools can help navigate the textual maze of Chinese court theatre and reveal new insights into imperial performance, textual research, and cross-cultural encounter. 

Professor Tian Yuan Tan is Shaw Professor of Chinese in the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Oxford, and a Professorial Fellow of University College. The Digital Scholarship Lunchtime Lecture series is co-hosted by the Centre for Digital Scholarship and the Asian and Middle Eastern Collections at the Bodleian Libraries. The event has been generously supported by the Chung Hon Dak Fund.