The year 1368 marks an important juncture in Chinese history. It was not only the year when the Ming Dynasty was founded; it was also the year that ushered in a period of economic reconstruction, the installation of new institutions and diplomatic and military expansion. The movement was paralleled in Mongolia, South-East Asia, the Indian Ocean and Central Asia. It was during the ensuring decades that China came into close contact with the outside world that resulted in the second Chinese “Renaissance”, which was marked by a whole series of economic, social and intellectual changes. Many a historian considers 1368 the year when China entered the modern era.

To help better understand China and its interaction with the rest of the world in the modern period beginning from the landmark year of 1368, the Renwen Society at China Institute is inviting the renowned Prof. Morris Rossabi to give a special lecture on China and the World since 1368.

Professor Rossabi is a historian of China and Central Asia who teaches courses in Inner Asian and East Asian history at Columbia. He is author of several books, including Modern Mongolia: Descendants of Khubilai Khan in Transition (University of California Press, forthcoming in 2005); Khubilai Khan: His Life and Times (University of California Press, 1988) chosen as a main selection by the History Book Club; China and Inner Asia (Universe Books, 1975); editor of Governing China's Multi-Ethnic Frontiers (University of Washington Press, forthcoming); contributor to several volumes of the Cambridge History of China; and has recently completed a manuscript on Mongolia since 1990. He has helped to organize exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, at the Cleveland Museum of Art, and at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco. He is on the advisory board of the Project on Central Eurasia of the Soros Foundation. He is author of numerous articles and speeches and travels repeatedly to Central Asia and Mongolia, where he teaches courses on Mongolian history and East Asian history.

In this lecture, Professor Rossabi will provide a brief survey of China's traditional foreign relations with its neighbors, followed by the changes in its views of foreigners and foreign relations necessitated by the modern world.  He will particularly consider China's engagement with the West since the middle of the nineteenth century, and examine China's place in the contemporary world.

Admissions: Free for Renwen members and $5 for non-members. Advance registration/payment is required. To register online, please fill out the following form. To register by phone, please call 212-744-8181, ext. 142. For inquiries, please email renwen@chinainstitute.org.  To make payment online, please click the button below: