Centre for Modern East Asian Studies - Cemeas

14/10/2026

Literature can shape how we understand the natural world.

Wu Ming-Yi's fiction challenges readers to rethink the relationship between humans and the environment.

How can novels influence environmental thinking?

Explore new perspectives in "The Wu Ming-Yi Companion" https://www.cambriapress.com/WuMing-Yi

14/10/2026

Few people in China have heard of Transsion Holdings, but hundreds of millions of people across the Global South use its phones.

The firm, headquartered in China’s southern tech hub of Shenzhen, has risen from obscurity to become a dominant player in Africa, where it makes nearly half of all phones bought on the continent every year, beating competition from Samsung, Apple, and domestic Chinese giants like Xiaomi and Huawei Technologies. It also holds more than a 10% share of the Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern markets.

How did it conquer Africa’s tech market?

Lu Miao, a media anthropologist and assistant professor at Hong Kong’s Lingnan University, charts this fascinating tale in her book “The Transsion Approach: Translating Chinese Mobile Technology in Africa.”

Based on years of research, it explores the secrets to the company’s success in the Global South — and how its strategy offers an alternative to the “blitzscaling” model favored by many tech startups in both Silicon Valley and China.

Read more: https://ow.ly/b2ME50ZWMnJ

14/10/2026

𝐍𝐄𝐖 Cha: An Asian Literary Journal 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 + 𝐄𝐗𝐂𝐄𝐑𝐏𝐓 | Diana Hongcha: "In late spring, I was invited to a meeting of the Tuesday Night Book Club of Zurich to talk about my novel 𝐼𝑓 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝐷𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝐺𝑜 (2025). For an indie author not above selling her books out of the trunk of her car, every opportunity to directly connect with readers was appreciated. I watched their smiling faces on the screen, wishing I were in that airy modern house with them, enjoying w**e and cheese and good company. Eight intelligent expats from eight different countries, including China. A relaxed crowd that was curious and open. My ideal audience. The following is based on the questions they asked, with answers I wish I had given instead of the off-the-cuff ones I managed that evening. I have also included, after the interview, a short excerpt from𝐼𝑓 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝐷𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝐺𝑜."

/ 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐢𝐚𝐧’𝐚𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐒𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤? 𝐈𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐚? /

𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗: https://chajournal.com/2026/10/12/diana-hongcha/
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14/10/2026

Kirkus Reviews calls Sitta von Reden's Beyond the Silk Road "clear and efficient. . . . A sweeping, meticulously supported case for dynamic interimperial interdependence." Read the full review here: https://hubs.ly/Q04zQBrm0

14/10/2026

13/10/2026

📚✨ New books at the KWZ book table!

Calling all bookworms! 🐛📖

Explore an eclectic mix of books CDs on Asia, anthropology, religion, art, and even crime stories**.

Whether you're looking for academic inspiration, a gripping read, or simply something unexpected – come by, browse, and discover your next favorite book!

📍 KWZ, Göttingen

📚 Leseratten herzlich willkommen! 💜

AsiaStudies Anthropology Religion Art CrimeFiction UniGöttingen Books

12/10/2026

Listen to the new podcast episode with our "What China's Reading" columnist Na Zhong, hosted by Alexander Boyd: https://chinabooksreview.com/2026/10/06/38-na-zhong/

12/10/2026

China said on Sunday that

12/10/2026

𝐍𝐄𝐖 Cha: An Asian Literary Journal 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 | Marsha McDonald writes about 𝐻𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝐶𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑠 𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑂𝑙𝑑 𝑅𝑜𝑜𝑡𝑠: 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐶𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑃𝑜𝑒𝑚𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑌𝑢 𝑋𝑢𝑎𝑛𝑗𝑖 (Oxford University Press, 2024), translated by Lucas Klein.

/ “Rebuilding the fishtrap”, the title of this review, is a phrase taken from Lucas Klein’s introduction to his translations of the poetry of Yu Xuanji, a Tang dynasty poet:

𝐼𝑛 𝑝𝑜𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑦, 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑝 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑎𝑔𝑒, 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑤𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑤𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝐼𝑛 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑤𝑒 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑏𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑝 𝑠𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ 𝑓𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑑. (p. xxvi)

Yu Xuanji’s small body of extant work, comprising 50 short poems as well as poetic fragments, is presented here in Chinese and English. There have been many English translations of Yu Xuanji’s work. What does Klein’s translation offer? /

𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞: https://chajournal.com/2026/10/11/fishtrap/

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𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗦𝗧 𝗜𝗠𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦 is a section of Cha: An Asian Literary Journal devoted to compact reviews of books and films (500-800 words; negotiable) that may also offer personal reflections. We welcome first impressions on any books and films, old or newly released, with an Asian angle. Information: https://chajournal.com/2025/12/25/impressions/
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08/10/2026

A Case of Buddhist Governance? Buddhism and State-Building in Wartime North China

Erik Schicketanz

Time: October 28, 2026, 16:00 – 18:00 CET
Venue: KWZ 0.606 / Zoom
Language: English

Zoom Link: https://uni-goettingen.zoom-x.de/j/69514667507?pwd=F2oPhOXY0ESirHaHk0k5dGy5vSvrv4.1

https://www.cemeas.de/lecture-a-case-of-buddhist-governance-buddhism-and-state-building-in-wartime-north-china/

Abstract

How did Buddhism shape political collaboration under Japanese occupation in North China?

This talk explores the role of Buddhism in the pro-Japanese regimes established after the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937. Moving beyond the conventional portrayal of these regimes as mere Japanese “puppets,” it examines how Buddhist organizations, religious policies, and individual collaborators contributed to political governance and state-building under occupation.

Erik Schicketanz is Assistant Professor at Kokugakuin University in Tokyo. His research focuses on the relationship between religion and politics in modern Japanese and Chinese history. He is currently working on a book examining religion and state-building in Japanese-occupied North China.