Event Details

WHAT: an RASBJ online talk, May 17,followed by Q&A - Nancy Steinhardt on '"Architecture and Identity -two Bai Ta and The Observatory—built by Mongols or Chinese?'


WHEN: May 17, 2023, Wednesday, 8:30 PM to 9:30 PM Beijing Standard Time (not 7.00PM)


MORE ABOUT THE EVENT: Two major monuments patronised by Khubilai Khan, Bai Ta in Miaojing Temple in Beijing's Xifeng District, also known as The White Pagoda or Dagoba, and the Observatory in Dengfeng, Henan province , were both built in the late 1270s

Both are often explained as foreign architecture that came to China as a result of Mongol rule. Nancy Steinhardt discusses the circumstances of construction and actual structures of the pagoda and observatory, showing that they are not as foreign as appears at first look, and as commonly supposed.

If they in fact are Chinese architecture, did the Mongols have an impact on Chinese architecture and if so, what was it?


HOW MUCH: This event is free for RASBJ members; RMB 50 for members of partner RAS branches; RMB 100 for non-members. Interested in becoming an RASBJ member? Please sign up at https://rasbj.org/membership/​​


HOW TO JOIN THE EVENT: Please click "Register" or "I will Attend" and follow the instructions. After successful registration you'll receive a confirmation email with a link to join the event. If you seem not to have received it, please check your spam folder.

Members of partner RAS Branches: Please register 72 hours in advance to allow time for membership verification. You'll received three emails from us: the first confirming receipt of your registration request, the second requesting payment, and the third confirming receipt of your payment, with a link to join the event. Please check your spam folder to ensure you see all RASBJ emails.

Speakers

  • Nancy Steinhardt (Speaker)

    Nancy Steinhardt

    Speaker

    Nancy S. Steinhardt is Professor of East Asian Art and Curator of Chinese Art at the University of Pennsylvania. She has broad research interests in architecture and urban planning, and ongoing field projects in China, Korea, Japan, and Mongolia. Steinhardt is author or editor of fourteen books and more than 100 scholarly articles; her most recent books are The Border of Chinese Architecture (Harvard, 2022), Chinese Architecture: A History (Princeton, 2019), which received the Hitchcock Prize from the Society of Architectural Historians, and Yuan: Chinese Architecture in a Mongol Empire (Princeton, 2023). In 2019 she received the Distinguished Teacher of Art History Award from the College Art Association and the Provost’s Award for Distinguished Ph. D. Teaching and Mentorship from the University of Pennsylvania.

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  • Matthew Hu (Moderator)

    Matthew Hu

    Moderator

    Matthew Hu was born and raised in Beijing. His work in the past 17 years is largely related to the preservation of built heritage as well as intangible heritage in China. He is currently serving as China Representative of The Prince’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts, trustee of Beijing Cultural Heritage Protection Center (CHP), and Co-Founder of The Courtyard Institute.

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