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Profile: Post Doctoral Student Jiahui Yue

Learning@Georgetown China Yue

Post Doctoral Student Jiahui Yue is enjoying her time at Georgetown. (Photo: Roland Dimaya)

October 27, 2008

By Gabrielle Matthews

Jiahui Yue is a post doctoral student in the Department of History. She hails from Beijing, China, and is working on a project of monumental proportions.
    
Yue is part of a National Cultural Project sponsored by the Chinese Department of Culture, which involves nearly a thousand scholars and professors from universities as well as the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The project’s aim is to compile Qing dynasty history and has been ongoing since 2002—the undertaking is so vast, it will need ten or more years to see completion.
    
During the last 600 years, four official state compilations of history have been done. The first was undertaken by Emperor Hongwu of the Ming dynasty in 1368, the second by Emperor Shunzhi of the Qing dynasty in 1645 and the third, called the Draft of the Qing History because of its incompleteness, was begun in 1914 and was settled in its incomplete form in 1928. For the current study of Qing history, scholars from Hong King, Macau, and Taiwan are working with the scholars from the People’s Republic of China.  
   

Yue’s personal project, and her study at Georgetown, is researching frontier issues from the late 19th and 20th centuries. She draws parallels between the frontiers of the United States during the same time period to those of China. She sees the American patterns of development to be indicative and instructive of similar patters in her native country.
    
“Geographic and ethnic diversity of China is an issue of political import and historical interest,” she says. “[I am studying] the period from the 17th and 18th century creation of the Qing Empire, through the first contacts with European states, to the ultimate creation of the People's Republic of China and solidification of most national boundaries. [This] has been accompanied by momentous shifts in Chinese concepts of territoriality and identity.”
    
A top researcher in China, having studied Tang dynasty poetry at the Capital Normal University, and earning a doctorate degree in history from Renmin University with a specialization in the history of the Qing dynasty, she is excited to continue her studies at Georgetown. She notes the long academic history, the beauty of the campus architecture and location in DC, diversity, and international scholastic reputation as some of the reasons she decided to study at Georgetown, and why she is thrilled to be a visiting post doctoral student. Furthermore, she says, “it’s not just the grand buildings, but also the grand masters, whose spirit shines [in] our minds. That, I think, exactly expresses my feelings about Georgetown University.” She is currently working with several professors in the history department, including James Millward, Howard Spendelow, and John Witek.
    
Yue is a keen ambassador for her country, and a prime example of how international cooperation is imperative for the study of humanities.

“I hope Georgetown and universities in China will [work together] in many research fields, [and] offer more chances for both students and teachers to visit each other and share the valuable knowledge pool of humankind,” she notes. “As Confucius says, isn’t it a pleasure to have friends to come from afar? Today a more open China is welcoming international friends worldwide to visit her.”

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