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Publications by Devin Fitzgerald 冯坦风

Saksaha, 2021

This paper explores the history of Manchu language education during the Qing dynasty in order to ... more This paper explores the history of Manchu language education during the Qing dynasty in order to reconstruct the relationships between printed pedagogical genres and their manuscript counterparts. Through a consideration of both the revolutionary nature of Manchu language pedagogy and evidence from manuscript materials in the Harvard-Yenching Library, it reconstructs the hypothetical progression of Manchu language students during the Qing dynasty. 1. This paper is received the feedback and support of more colleagues than I can possibly enumerate. My interested in Manchu pedagogical genres was fostered by Mark Elliott in intermediate Manchu when a group of us, including Hanung Kim and He Bian, began translating Muwa gisun. The rough seminar paper that emerged was read by many, including David Porter, Eric Schluessel, and Mårten Söderblom Saarela, all of whom provided critical feedback. In addition, my 2014 panel on "Knowledge and the Manchu Book," at the AAS aired some of the early ideas to Carla Nappi, who also provided useful feedback. Several rounds of reviewers and Maura Dykstra helped to sharpen the argument. Finally, Sven Osterkamp provided encouragement and useful edits.

Ars Orientalis, 2021

This article demonstrates that premodern Chinese papers were far more globally dispersed than pre... more This article demonstrates that premodern Chinese papers were far more globally dispersed than previously recognized. It argues that one reason for the absence of early modern Chinese papers in our historiographies is the divergences between the idea of Chinese papers, which are described in Chinese sources as products of a standardized process that followed similar methods for each variety, and the realities of the heterogeneity of paper types and places of production. Through an examination of a newly appreciated type of evidence, paper trademark stamps, scholars should be able to develop new methods for the study of the circulation of paper.

The Routledge Companion to Global Renaissance Art, 2024

An overview of the history of information in EM East Asia, coauthored with Carla Nappi for the 20... more An overview of the history of information in EM East Asia, coauthored with Carla Nappi for the 2021 Information: A Historical Companion. Edited by Anthony Grafton, Anja-Silvia Goeing, Ann Blair, and Paul Duguid

Harvard University Dissertation , 2020

My dissertation project on the relationship between Ming books and the globalization of knowledge... more My dissertation project on the relationship between Ming books and the globalization of knowledge about China. This is actually the final version which will be on proquest - the draft uploaded on 9/4 had a few formatting errors.

This is my solicited response to a 2016 article by Chen Bo (see JAH vol. 50, No. 1)

The modern Chinese word for archive (dang'an) appears in no sources prior to the Qing. This resea... more The modern Chinese word for archive (dang'an) appears in no sources prior to the Qing. This research note briefly introduces the origins of dang'an by tracing its etymology back to pre-conquest Manchu sources. It briefly describes the paper shortages in Liaodong and suggests that this forced the Qing to use other materials, leading to the evolution of a distinct Manchu archival tradition.

Co-authored with Ann Blair in the Oxford Handbook of Early Modern Europe. Please do not cite this... more Co-authored with Ann Blair in the Oxford Handbook of Early Modern Europe. Please do not cite this draft, which differs in some places from the final version.

Online contributions by Devin Fitzgerald 冯坦风

Talks by Devin Fitzgerald 冯坦风

The opening address and overview of the concept "(dis)entanglement" and its uses for global histo... more The opening address and overview of the concept "(dis)entanglement" and its uses for global history from "(Dis)entangling Global Early Modernities 1300-1800," a conference held at Harvard University on March 24, 2017.

"The central plains of Shaanxi province are littered by ruins which are invested with the memorie... more "The central plains of Shaanxi province are littered by ruins which are invested with the memories of the golden ages of Chinese antiquity. These sites, while always significant centers of historical memory, attained new importance during the Boxer Rebellion. Late in 1900, the Qing court fled invading foreign armies to Xi’an, the provincial capital. En route to the city, the court and its officials visited the region’s landmarks, composing poetry and plaques to commemorate their patronage. Depictions of the court’s “tour” were quickly disseminated across the empire, transforming their flight into a pilgrimage to the sacred landscapes of the Zhou, Han, and Tang. Throughout the crisis, the historical landmarks of Shaanxi were utilized to reaffirm wavering Qing sovereignty through association with the landscapes and practices of antiquity.
This paper explores elite and imperial touring and composition in Shaanxi during the Boxer Rebellion in order to explain the relationship between landscapes as sites of memory and the construction of Qing imperial identity and legitimacy. Throughout the Qing, official and elite activities at Shaanxi’s places reinforced the continuity of the Manchu empire with the past. At the end of the dynasty, the landscape produced variable readings. The sites patronized by the court in 1900 were reread by revolutionaries in 1911 to create a “Chinese” identity that rejected the earlier interpretations of Shaanxi’s landscapes articulated during the court’s time of exile.
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Before the Shaanxi Muslim rebellions, ten percent of Shaanxi's population (about one million peop... more Before the Shaanxi Muslim rebellions, ten percent of Shaanxi's population (about one million people) were Hui. Between 1860 and 1870, numerous armed and unarmed Hui were slaughtered by frightened Han and county officials. This wanton bloodletting, which generally emerged as a direct result of rumor, raised tensions in the countryside and blanketed the province in violence. At the height of the rebellions, Hui and Han were embroiled in a struggle for survival. The annihilation of either group was increasingly seen as the only possible outcome.

Despite the totality of the violence in Shaanxi, the Hui of Xi’an survived. In this paper, I will consider their remarkable survival by examining the diary of a contemporary witness. The diary reveals that Hui elites and Qing government officials worked to overturn the cycle or rumor and violence. Peace seeking groups of Imams and government officials met in Xi’an and traveled as emissaries to outside groups. Despite their efforts, they only preserved the Xi’an Hui, and they were only able to protect them due to the strength of government power in the city. Through reconsidering this conflict in light of government power, I hope to further our understanding of the nature of fear and violence as experienced in the context of Qing state power.

Saksaha, 2021

Ars Orientalis, 2021

The Routledge Companion to Global Renaissance Art, 2024

Harvard University Dissertation , 2020

This is my solicited response to a 2016 article by Chen Bo (see JAH vol. 50, No. 1)

During the Mid-Qing Manchu language skills were regarded as one of the primary markers of Manchu ... more During the Mid-Qing Manchu language skills were regarded as one of the primary markers of Manchu identity. Qing Emperors, most notably the Qianlong Emperor, continually scolded members of the eight banners for their failure to properly study Manchu language. Although many scholars have fruitfully explored the official dimensions of Manchu language pedagogy, little attention has been paid to the perspectives of both teachers and students.

In this paper, I move our attention away from the court and into the realm of individuals. Through considering a recently discovered Manchu student's notebook, interlinear notes in Manchu language textbooks, and the diary of a Manchu language teacher, I will widen our perspectives on the relationship between Manchu language and Manchu identity. By considering individual agents and their relationship to language learning, we can begin to gain clearer perspective on the role of Manchu language in the formation and maintenance of Manchu identity.

In 1704, the Kangxi Emperor sent an edict ordering the establishment of a Tibetan Buddhist temple... more In 1704, the Kangxi Emperor sent an edict ordering the establishment of a Tibetan Buddhist temple in Xi’an. Before the Emperor’s edict, Xi’an was home to the largest Eight Banner (Manchu and Mongol) garrison in the country, a flourishing Catholic community, a significant Chinese Muslim population, and Han from throughout the empire. The Tibetan temple completed Xi’an. It turned the city into a microcosm of the Qing Empire.

Despite Xi’an’s cosmopolitan credentials, its late imperial diversity has never received scholarly attention. Situated far removed from both the coast and the capital, the city has avoided recognition as a major center of Qing culture. This paper examines Qing Xi’an to further explore concepts of diversity and cosmopolitanism in late imperial China. The first half considers the development of Xi’an as a site of Qing universalism. In the second half, I explore the end of religious and ethnic tolerance that accompanied the fall of the Qing. In 1911, we find that the importance of Xi’an’s cosmopolitanism to the Qing imperial project is clearly visible in the massacre of the 20,000 Manchus and Mongols who called the city home. Their slaughter cleansed the city and returned it to its imagined Han purity.

Beginning in 1620, Catholicism arrived in Northwest China. This paper briefly traces the evolutio... more Beginning in 1620, Catholicism arrived in Northwest China. This paper briefly traces the evolution of Catholic networks and social organizations in Shaanxi and Shanxi through the fall of the Ming. It demonstrates the ease with which minor intellectual movements could move from the developed coastal regions of Jiangnan to the alleged 'hinterlands' of the Late Imperial State.

In this paper I explore the reorientation of the Qing empire towards Xi'an, the capital in exile,... more In this paper I explore the reorientation of the Qing empire towards Xi'an, the capital in exile, during the Boxer Rebellion (1900-1901). While in Xi'an, the court and its officials saved countless famine victims and created an alternative "Capital" through elite cultural practices, such as touring and poetry compilation, and imperial acts, such as temple patronage and famine relief. The many acts of the exiled court and its officials reinforced the sovereignty of the Qing despite the disaster that had befallen Beijing and its environs. They also demonstrate that the Qing still conceived of itself as an empire with a movable imperial center, one that vested symbolic power in the "Centrality" of the person of the emperor. In this paper, I will specifically discuss court sponsored famine relief and religious patronage in order to reconsider the nature of the court's flight.

On October 22nd, 1911, Xi’an was home to one of the largest Manchu communities in the Qing Empire... more On October 22nd, 1911, Xi’an was home to one of the largest Manchu communities in the Qing Empire. By October 24th, the majority of them - over twenty thousand individuals - were dead. News of the Xi’an massacre shocked the western world and outraged Qing loyalists, leading both to write vivid accounts detailing the violence. In contrast to the narratives produced by foreigners and loyalists, most revolutionaries omitted the massacre from their writings. Their omissions created a new narrative of Xi’an, one which eventually undermined the reports of mass violence.

Through juxtaposing these divergent accounts of the Xi’an massacre, this presentation will consider how the Revolution has been witnessed and re-witnessed over the last one hundred years. Shock, guilt, loyalty, and denial permeate memoirs and historical sources about 1911. These emotions brought about by the trauma of the Xi’an massacre permeate primary sources about 1911 to varying degrees, complicating our understanding of the revolution in general and of Xi’an in particular. In considering issues relating to the most sanguinary event of 1911, I will demonstrate that violence, or its absence, should be essential in our understanding of the revolution.

Saksaha: A Journal of Manchu Studies, 2016