Norman Kutcher | Syracuse University will present the first of four text readings for the spring CCCC series:

A Unique Eunuch Document of the late Qianlong Reign

In 1788, the Qianlong emperor ordered his chief minister Hešen to investigate the case of Eunuch Wang Jinxi, who absconded to pursue a series of romantic trysts with men outside the palace. In this workshop, we will conduct a close reading of Hešen’s investigation and
report to Qianlong, to better understand the lives of late eighteenth-century Chinese eunuchs and to shed light on the emperor’s enigmatic relationship with his most notorious official.

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The CCCC is a reading group for students and scholars with interest in pre-modern Sinographic text. 

All are welcome, at any level of experience with classical Chinese.

At each session, one participant presents a text in classical Chinese.   Attendees discuss historical, literary, linguistic, and other aspects of the text, and work together to resolve difficulties in comprehension and translation.

Presentations include works of all sorts, from the earliest times to the twentieth century.

No preparation required:  all texts will be distributed at the meeting.

contact: eap-guwen@cornell.edu