University of Hawai'i at Manoa Center for Chinese Studies

Ming-Bao Yue, Director

Ni Zhang, Associate Director

Adriana Choi, Academic Support Specialist

Jian Shan, Casual Hire

In recent years, Food Studies has emerged as a dynamic interdisciplinary field, blending insights from multiple disciplines in exploring the pivotal role of food in shaping societies. The upcoming CCS webinar offers an opportunity to delve into how food culture has both historically and contemporarily operated in China. This panel will bring together two scholars to discuss their research projects into the significance of food in Chinese religious and social practices. By examining food as a lens to understand broader cultural and social transformations, this webinar promises to contribute new perspectives to the growing discourse on China’s vibrant food culture. Dr. Feng's presentation, “'Eat Bitterness,' Process Trauma: Two Novels by Wang Anyi and Ge Liang," argues that the two novels affirm the life-sustaining efficacy of food that defies the gravity of inherited traumas in twentieth- and twenty-first-century Greater China.  Dr. DuBois's presentation, "Exploring Taste in Chinese Food Writing" will examine the Chinese word for "taste" (wei 味) spans a range of distinct, but related ideas. His talk will use the idea of taste in Chinese food writing to explore the key relationship between the foods you crave and the ones you need.