I am currently in the initial research planning phase for my upcoming book project titled “Horse Power: Working with Animals in Early Modern China.” If it weren’t for the pandemic, I would likely have been deep into my research on private printing shops in Beijing during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries for my previous project, “The Buddha’s Words Materialized.” This project delves into the production and distribution of Tibetan Buddhist texts in eastern Mongolia. However, circumstances being what they are, the pandemic has reshaped my research interests significantly.
I have been delving into the fascinating topic of how Ming-period China and the Qing Empire managed their equine resources for military campaigns. While camels may also have played a role, my knowledge in that area is not as comprehensive at the moment. If you happen to visit this page and have any insights or suggestions related to horses or camels during the Ming and Qing dynasties, I would greatly appreciate it if you could leave a comment or reach out to me via email at lwu at mtholyoke dot edu. Your input would be invaluable to my research.
Recent speaking engagements on horses
- Title: The Dilemma of Raising Strong Horses in the Ming (03/19/2023)
- Abstract: What role did horses play in the border defense regime in Ming-dynasty China? And, how was the Ming to increase the number and capacity of horses in their perennial struggle with the equestrian Mongols? The former question often led to a consensus and a substantial investment of financial and human resources from the Ming state, especially in the early Ming. But to the latter concern, officials and the Ming state had varying resolutions. They show changing attitudes, resources, and understandings of how to work with horses over time in the Ming. This paper examines writings by Yang Yiqing (1454-1530), who was posted to Shannxi three times and tasked with administrating horses (mazheng). While in office, Yang proposed administrative reforms, believing that good management would revive the horse farms and thus procure healthy horses. Yang’s writings revealed ignorance of veterinary care for horses, mismanagement of state-run horse farms, and reliance on the established horse-tea trade system. Collectively, they worsened the Ming state’s already anguished pursuit of more and stronger horses. As Yang’s career ended and fiscal reforms reshaped much of the Ming social life, the Ming’s enduring struggle to rear and preserve horsepower was further complicated. This paper argues that the ill-conceived system of horse farms was not savable by good management, as Yang believed. The Ming’s struggle to rear healthy horses reflected a changing political and economic reality that the Ming had little control in Inner and East Asia.
- Beyond Sheer Numbers: Animals in Qing China’s Border Trade Nexus (04/15/2023)
- Abstract: Animals were an integral part in long-distance trade. Their hides and skins were valuable commodities for sale, as well as exquisite gifts. Their value was quantifiable in this sense. But they were sold or gifted alive, as much as postmortem. Their muscle power also hauled goods and carried humans across diverse terrains. Additionally, animal products were used to feed caravans. Thus, it is a salient issue to keep animals alive for their practical, monetary, and symbolic values, all of which were invaluable, even if less measurable. In this paper, I propose a different approach to studying the Qing’s border trade nexus in its northwestern regions. Animals’ biological and ecological needs shaped where and when border trade was conducted, and ignoring these requirements could have had political implications. Seeing animals beyond the sheer numbers in trade offers a different interpretation of power dynamics in the Qing’s border trade scheme.