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X-WR-CALNAME:Book Talk: Convict Politics: Innocent Convicts and Unlawful Co
 mmoners in Early Chinese Empires (221 BCE-23 CE) 
X-WR-TIMEZONE:Eastern Time (US & Canada)
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DTSTAMP:20260512T063844Z
UID:tag:localist.com\,2008:EventInstance_51833264119632
DTSTART:20260409T203000Z
DTEND:20260409T213000Z
DESCRIPTION:East Asia Program Lecture Series presents "Convict Politics: In
 nocent Convicts and Unlawful Commoners in Early Chinese Empires (221 BCE-2
 3 CE)"\n\nSpeaker: Liang Cai\, Ruth and Paul Idzik Associate Professor in 
 Digital Scholarship of History\, University of Notre Dame\n\nDescription: 
 \n\nThis talk\, based on newly mined data from newly unearthed manuscripts
  and traditional sources\, explores convict politics in the early Chinese 
 empires. Whereas a substantial number of bureaucratic personnel were convi
 ct laborers\, assisting local officials\, the central court reemployed num
 erous previously convicted individuals as high officials. The book argues 
 that convict politics emerged because the mutual responsibility system and
  high-performance-oriented law extensively criminalized people\, including
  the innocent. Paradoxically\, the Western Han dynasty’s stringent crimi
 nalization of individuals was juxtaposed with redemption policies and freq
 uent amnesties that excessively exonerated offenders\, even the most heino
 us. The intellectual roots underpinning the harsh laws and the universal a
 mnesties fundamentally embraced the same utopian ideal of a crime-free soc
 iety. Although this dual practice of extensive criminalization and widespr
 ead pardoning fostered the population’s tolerance towards the political 
 system\, these practices were fraught with injustice and led to form Confu
 cian deep-seated skepticism towards the law in Chinese tradition.\n\nSpeak
 er's Bio:\n\nDr. Liang Cai received her Ph.D. from Cornell University and 
 currently serves as an associate professor of history at the University of
  Notre Dame. She specializes in Chinese political and intellectual history
 \, with a focus on the Qin-Han dynasties (221 BCE - 23 CE). Dr. Cai's publ
 ications cover topics such as Confucianism\, bureaucracy\, law\, social ne
 tworks\, and archaeologically excavated manuscripts. She has also collabor
 ated with computer scientists on a digital humanities project aimed at cre
 ating structured biographical data and conducting social network analysis 
 of early Chinese empires\, particularly those in the Qin-Han period\, whic
 h is considered the fountainhead of Chinese civilization.\nDr. Cai’s fir
 st book Witchcraft and the Rise of the First Confucian Empire contests lon
 g-standing claims that Confucianism came to prominence with the promotion 
 of Emperor Wu in the Han dynasty. She argues that it was a witchcraft scan
 dal in 91–87 BCE that created a political vacuum and permitted Confucian
 s to rise to power\, ultimately transforming China into a Confucian regime
 . Her book won the 2014 Academic Award for Excellence presented by Chinese
  Historians in the United States and was a finalist for the 2015 Best Firs
 t Book in the History of Religions presented by the American Academy of Re
 ligion. \nHer other selected publications appear in The Journal of the Roy
 al Asiatic Society\, the Journal of Asian studies and Law and History Revi
 ew.\nDr. Cai’s second book\, Convict Politics: From Utopia to Serfdom in
  Early China (221 BCE–23 CE) (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)\, i
 s scheduled for release in December 2025. This book seeks to stimulate dee
 per reflection on utopian thought and its perilous application in politica
 l practice.\n\nAbout East Asia Program\n\nAs Cornell’s hub for research\
 , teaching\, and engagement with East Asia\, the East Asia Program (EAP) s
 erves as a forum for the interdisciplinary study of historical and contemp
 orary East Asia. The program draws its membership of over 45 core faculty 
 and numerous affiliated faculty\, graduate\, and undergraduate students fr
 om eight of Cornell’s 12 schools and colleges.
GEO:42.449066;-76.481926
LOCATION:Rockefeller Hall\, 374
SUMMARY:Book Talk: Convict Politics: Innocent Convicts and Unlawful Commone
 rs in Early Chinese Empires (221 BCE-23 CE) 
URL;VALUE=URI:https://events.cornell.edu/event/convict-politics-innocent-co
 nvicts-and-unlawful-commoners-in-early-chinese-empires-221-bce-23-ce
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