This dissertation research improvement grant, which was funded by way of the Science, Technology and Society program, will be used to explore the intellectual works and varied expeditions of foreign and Chinese scientists between 1911 and 1951. The research will focus on scientists who researched the geology, paleontology, anthropology, and archaeology of China's northwestern and southwestern frontiers. This vast space, encompassing Xinjiang, Mongolia, Gansu, Qinghai, Tibet, Sichuan, and Yunnan, had historically not only been a geographical border zone, but also a zone of cross-cultural encounters. The research of foreign and Chinese scientists in the frontier in the first half of the 20th century resulted in the discovery of prehistoric cultures and the famous Peking Man, as well as in pioneering work in ethnological studies on the frontier regions non-Han people. This project examines how concerns with human civilization, the individual search for intellectual identity, and national interests motivated these scientists to explore the Chinese frontier; and how ideas were exchanged and shared among scientists in certain intellectual networks. Ultimately, it highlights the tensions between participating in global scientific community and the desire for the indigenization of imported knowledge systems experienced by Chinese scientists. This project argues that ideas and debates in the international scientific arena had a great impact on the formation of the concept of modern "China" as originated in North China and the notion of "Chinese" as a multi-ethnic group. Moreover, it contends that Euro-American scientific imperialism and Sinocentrism were not antagonistic. The approach of this project elucidates the entangled histories of Chinese nationalism and scientific imperialism, and demonstrates that the frontier is a space for contestation against the "myth" of China. It also sheds new light on the intellectual history of science and social history of scientists of modern China.
Funding from the National Science Foundation allowed me to complete research in China and Taiwan that was cruical to the completion of my dissertation at the history department of Harvard University. The dissertation will be completed by the summer of 2011, at which time it will be presented to the public. My research in archives in Taiwan and China led me to the cities of Taipei, Beijing, Tianjin, and Chengdu. Here I explored the history of paleoanthropology and anthropology during the Republican Period (1912-1949) and in the early years of the Communist era. My disseration, "Discovering China: Science, Imperialism and Nationalism in the Chinese Frontier," explores the foreign and Chinese scientific expeditions in the Chinese frontier. The activities and discoveries of these expeditions had great impact on modern Chinese society and the formation of the concept of modern "China" and the meaning of being Chinese along with the discourse of the frontier. How did concerns with human civilization, individual search for intellectual identities, and national interests motivate these scientists to explore the Chinese frontier? And how were ideas exchanged and shared among scientists in certain intellectual networks? To answer these questions, this dissertation examines the intellectual oeuvre and varied expeditions of scientists who researched the paleanthropology and anthropology in China’s northwestern and southwestern frontiers. This dissertation poses unique questions and expands on innovative historical methodologies. Most importantly, it examines the question of Chinese nationalism through the lens of the transnational scientific community in Beijing between 1910s and 1930s, focusing on both the contributions of Chinese scientists and the discourse amongst a motley crew of foreign scientists. By looking beyond a single place or a single national community of scholars, this dissertation is well-positioned to reveal new stories and consider new interpretations. An additional impact of this research is its contribution to the on-going project of historicizing and critiquing the Chinese empire. Scientists played an important role in empire building and historians of science have both a moral and intellectual duty to unravel this story in order to undermine the intellectual foundation of empire. Finally, this project contributes to an interdisciplinary conversation between hard sciences, social sciences, and history. Historians of science need to begin a conversation with mainstream historians and engaged some of their most pressing questions: nationalism, imperialism, identity, and international and transnational connections. This project speaks to all of these questions in a way that not only enriches mainstream history but can also increase the relevance of the history of science. I have presented parts of my findings at the 2010 American Historical Association Meeting in San Diego and to the students of the history department at Tsing Hua University in Taiwan. Both were received well by the audience. This funded research also trained me in the use of Chinese archives, both national and local. This knowledge will aid my future research on these topics.
