Biography
Ling-Wei Kung is a historian of early modern/modern China and Inner Asia, with a focus on information, technology, and knowledge in international and comparative contexts. He received a B.A., summa cum laude in History from National Taiwan University (2012), and his M.A. (2015), M.Phil. (2018), and Ph.D. (2021) in History and East Asian Studies from Columbia University. His current book project, tentatively entitled “The Great Convergence: Information Circulation, International Trade, and Knowledge Transmission Between Early Modern China, Inner Asia, and Eurasia,” investigates the Eurasian integration of knowledge systems from Inner Asia, the middle ground between China, India, and Russia. Supplementing modern and classical Chinese sources with multilingual materials in Tibetan, Mongolian, Manchu, Japanese, Russian, and a range of European languages, his research goes beyond the limits of the metropole-periphery discourse by shedding light on the mobility, indigeneity, and transnationalism of Tibetan, Mongolian, and Uyghur societies in the making of the modern world.
Honors
Li Foundation Heritage Prize（2022）
New History Outstanding Article Award, 2021
Remote Dissertation Research Award, Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University, 2020
Yu Chi-Chung Award for Chinese Studies, China Times Cultural Foundation, 2020
Florence Tan Moeson Fellowship, Library of Congress, 2020
Foreign Language and Area Studies Summer Fellowship: Mongolian, Inner Asian and Uralic National Resource Center, Indiana University Bloomington, 2020
Mellon Humanities International Travel Fellowship, GSAS, Columbia University, 2020
Yu Ying-Shih Prize for Humanities Research, Tang Prize Foundation, 2019
International Dissertation Research Fellowship, Social Science Research Council, 2019
Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship: Tibetan (Declined), Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University, 2019–2020
Japanese Studies Fellowship, Japan Foundation, 2018–2019
Fellowship of Humanities & Social Science, Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association, 2018
Certificate of Honor, National Post-Secondary Russian Essay Contest, American Council of Teachers of Russian, 2017
Ichiro Shirato Fund Scholarship for Japanese Language Study, Donald Keene Center for Japanese Studies, Columbia University, 2017
IRCPL Graduate Research Fellowship, Institute for Religion, Culture and Public Life, Columbia University, 2017
Language Fellowship for International Students, GSAS, Columbia University, 2016
The First Taiwan-Columbia Ph.D. Scholarship, Taiwan Ministry of Education, 2015–2019
Dean’s Fellow, GSAS, Columbia University, 2015–2020
Y.F. and L.C.C. Wu Fellowship, Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University, 2015–2016, 2017–2018
M.A. Thesis Award, Mongolian & Tibetan Affairs Commission, Taiwan, 2015
Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Fellowship, Columbia University, 2014–2015
First Prize, History Department, Peking University, 2013
Outstanding Award in Social Service, National Taiwan University, 2011
Outstanding Exchange Student Fellowship, National Taiwan University, 2011–2012
科技部專題研究計畫：「清朝西域地圖測繪與歐亞地理知識傳遞」（111-2410-H-001-005-MY3），2022年5月–2025年4月。
本院關鍵突破種子研究計畫：「清帝國對明鄭臺灣歷史記憶與族群認同的重構——中研院史語所藏《平定海寇方略》滿、漢文本研究」（AS-GCS-112-H01），2023.1.1-2024.12.31
國立臺灣大學與中央研究院創新性合作計畫：「古代至近世中國與歐亞世界間的政治與宗教關係」（AS-NTU-112-05），2023.1.1-2024.12.31
The James P. Geiss & Margaret Y. Hsu Foundation明代研究獎助計畫：「明代跨境史研究」（Border-Crossing in the Ming）國際合作案（2023.1.1-2025.12.31）
Taiwanese Overseas Pioneers Grants, Taiwan Ministry of Science and Technology, 2020
International Exchange Grant, Association for Asian Studies, 2020 (Conference canceled because of COVID-19)
Conference Matching Travel Fund, Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture, Columbia University, 2019
Travel Grant for 15th IATS Seminar, International Association for Tibetan Studies, 2019
Travel Grants for AAS 2019, Japan Foundation, 2019
Daniel and Marianne Spiegel Fund Grant, Weatherhead East Asian Institute, 2018
Predissertation-Summer Travel Grants, Henry Luce Foundation/American Council of Learned Societies Program in China Studies, 2016
Weatherhead Ph.D. Training Grant, Weatherhead East Asian Institute, 2016
Travel Grant Award, Graduate Student Advisory Council, Columbia University, 2016
Summer Training Grant, Weatherhead East Asian Institute, 2015
GSAS Conference Matching Travel Award, Columbia University, 2015, 2019
M.A. Thesis Research Matching Award, Columbia University, 2015
International Conference Travel Grant, National Taiwan University, 2011
Experience
Current Position: Assistant Research Fellow, Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica, 2021.8-
Founding Editor, Waxing Moon: A Journal of Tibetan and Himalayan Studies (ISSN: 2694-6149), Centre for Digital Research and Scholarship, Columbia University, 2019–present
Expert of China and Inner Asia, Database of Religious History, University of British Columbia, 2019–present
Project Leader, “Mapping Tibetan Monasteries,” Columbia University, 2015–present
English Editor, Journal of Ethno-National Studies (ISSN: 0256-1891), 2017–2018
Late Imperial/Modern China and Inner Asia in the World
History of Technology, and Science (Information, Medical Technology and Environmental Knowledge)
Chinese, Tibetan, Mongolian, and Manchu Philology
Global and Comparative History (China, India, and Russia)
Junior Visiting Scholar, Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica, 2019
Visiting Researcher, Social and Cultural Studies, Kyushu University, 2019
Guest Research Associate, Oriental History, Kyoto University, 2018-2019
Ph.D., History & East Asian Studies, Columbia University (2021)
M.Phil., History & East Asian Studies, Columbia University (2018)
M.A., History & East Asian Studies, Columbia University (2015)
B.A., History, National Taiwan University (2012)
Peer-Reviewed Articles
“Textual Comparison of Manchu and Han ‘Pingding haikou fanglüe’, Introduction,” Disquisitions on the Past & Present 41 (2023.12): 140-144. (In Chinese)
Ling-Wei Kung & Xin-ping Li,“Textual Comparison of Manchu and Han‘Pingding haikou fanglüe’Volume One (1),”Disquisitions on the Past & Present 41 (2023.12)：173- 201. (In Chinese)
“Suningga’s Wanli huijiang tu and the Qing Geographic Knowledge of Xinjiang in the Late Eighteenth Century.” Bulletin of the Institute of History and Philology Academia Sinica 94.3 (2023.9)：573-651. (In Chinese)
“The Relations between China and India During the Transition from the Late Qing to the Early Republic: A Study of Shi Youming.” Reading, 2022:12, December 2022, pages 134-141. (In Chinese)
“Qianlong’s Imperial Manuscript Rehe Examination Kesi and the Prosperous Qing Geographical Knowledge.” Monthly Journal of the Palace Museum, 476, November 2022, pages 34-43. (In Chinese)
“Buddhist Lama, Secret Agent, and Imperial Envoy: Qing Topographic Investigation on Tibet and Knowledge Transmission in the Early Modern World.” Bulletin of the Institute of History and Philology Academia Sinica 92 (2021): 603–648. (In Chinese)
“An Annotated Translation of Chahar Géshé’s Oyirad’s Royal Genealogy (O’i rod kyi rgyal rabs),” Oyirad Studies 6: 25-34. (In Chinese)
“Tibetan Buddhist Material Culture in the Qing Court and the Religious Mentalities of the Qianlong Emperors.” Journal of Tibetology 22 (2020): 328–341. (In Chinese)
“Chen Yinke and Oriental Philology: A Reflection on the Future of Inner Asian History and Philology.” New History 31.1 (2020): 53-102. (In Chinese)
“Communication and Translation of Intelligence Documents Between Ladakh and the Qing Court.” China Tibetology 3 (2019): 114-124. (In Chinese)
“Historical Effects of Tibetan Buddhism on Torghuts’ Eastward Movement: A Study of Newfound Tibetan Manuscripts.” China Tibetology 1 (2019): 125-136. (In Chinese)
“Eurasian Intelligence Networks Between Ladakh, Tibet, and the Qing Dynasty, 1724-1768: A Study on Qing China’s First Recognition of Mughal India.” The Qing History Journal 2 (2018): 27-48. (In Chinese)
“Transformation of Qing’s Geopolitics: Power Transitions Between Tibetan Buddhist Monasteries in Amdo, 1644–1795.” Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines, 45 (2018): 110-144. (In English)
“A Review of the Debates on the Well-field System in the Western Zhou Dynasty since the 20th Century.” Shih Yuan 30 (2018): 63-81. (In Chinese)
“Between Statutes and Dharma: The Regulation and the Punishment of the Mongolian Monks in the Early Qing Period.” Journal of History and Anthropology, 15/2 (2017): 187-220. (In Chinese)
“The Networks Between the Oyirad-un Yeke Küriy-e, Tibet, and the Qing Dynasty: A Study on Tibetan Documents Found in Xinjiang Recently.” Translated by Nobuaki Murakami. Quaestiones Mongolorum Disputatae 13 (2017): 11-24. (In Japanese)
(Co-authored with Oyunbilig). “The Origin and the Meanings of ‘Five Colors and Four Vassals’ in Mongolian Historiography.” Ethno-National Studies 2 (2016): 85-97. (In Chinese)
“The Development of Tibetan Monasteries in Amdo and the Mongolian Factors during Ming-Qing Dynasties: A Study on Tibetan Monks in the Manchu-Mongolian Routine Memorials of the Lifanyuan.” Bulletin of the Institute of History and Philology Academia Sinica, 86.4 (2015): 855-910. (In Chinese)
Book Chapters
“Buddhism Among the Zünghars.” Brill’s Encyclopedia of Buddhism, Volume Four: History, Leiden: Brill, 69-74. (In English)
“King’s New Clothes: Fake Tribute and False Information between the Tibetan Ganden Phodrang and the Early Qing Dynasty,” Manipulating the Media: Communications and Representation of Information in China since Early Modern Times(Forthcoming).(In English)
“Beyond Discontinuity and Colonialism: Foreign Immigrants in Inner Asia During the Ming and Qing Periods.” In Wu Shixu ed., Yi Wu Lv Jiang Zuo Shi Lu (Shenyang: Liaohai Publishing House, 2021), Volume 1, pages 257-286.(In Chinese)
“The Convergence of Śūraṅgama Mantra and Sitātapatrā Dhāraṇī in Da-Zang-Quan-Zhou: A Study on the Manchu Transliteration of Tibetan Mantra and its Influence on Philology in the Qing Dynasty.” In Shen Weirong ed., Sino-Tibetan Buddhist Studies: Texts, People, Images, and History (Beijing: Chinese Tibetology Press, 2013), 640-650. (In Chinese)
“Comparative Research on the Manchu Translations of Diamond Sūtra: Manchu Identity and Official Translation of Buddhist Texts in the Qing Dynasty.” In Shen Weirong ed., History through Textual Criticism: Tibetan Buddhism in Central Eurasia and China Proper (Beijing: Chinese Tibetology Press, 2012), 455-496. (In Chinese)
Book Reviews
[Book Reviews]”Manuel Perez-Garcia. Global History with Chinese Characteristics: Autocratic States along with Silk Road in the Decline of the Spanish and Qing Empires.” China and Asia, 2023(4): 325-332.(In English)
“Introduction: Beyond the Myth of ‘Coolie’ - The Struggles and Global Politics of Chinese Migrant Workers during the Gold Rush.” In Mae Ngai, translated by Huang Zhongxian, The Chinese Question: The Gold Rushes and Global Politics, Taipei: China Times Publishing House, March 14, 2023, pages 12-17. (In Chinese)
"Foreword: The Dialectics of Empire." In Krishan Kumar, translated by Hu Xunzhun, Visions of Empire: How Five Imperial Regimes Shaped the World, Taipei: Linking Publishing Company, March 2, 2023, pages 9-12. (In Chinese)
“Competition for Maritime Power in the Globalization Tide: A Review of Geoffrey F. Gresh’s To Rule Eurasia’s Waves.” China Times Literature and Art, Taipei: China Times Publishing House, accessed on: https://www.readingtimesliteratureandart.com/post/【書評】全球化浪潮下的海權角逐-歐亞海上之主(Retrieved on: 2022/12/6)(In Chinese)
“Re-visiting the Starting Point of the Global Village: A Review of Valerie Hansen’s The Year 1000.” China Times Literature and Art, Taipei: China Times Publishing House, accessed on: https://www.readingtimesliteratureandart.com/post/【書評】：重訪地球村的起點-西元一千年(Retrieved on: 2022/12/6)(In Chinese)
“Introduction: Nation, Capital, and Economic System: The Critical Moment of the Rise of Europe and the Diversion of the World.” In Patrick Wyman, translated by Wu Weisheng, The Verge, Taipei: Ping’an Culture, 2022, pages 3-5.(In Chinese)
“Foreword: Challenging Western Empire from the Perspectives of the Indian Ocean - A Review of Waves Across the South.” In Sujit Sivasundaram, translated by Ye Pinchen, Waves Across the South, Taipei: China Times Publishing House, 2022, pages 4-9(In Chinese)
“Foreword: Reversing ‘Core’ and ‘Periphery’.” In Christopher Beckwith, translated by Yuan Mowen, Empires of the Silk Road, Taipei: Linking Publishing, 2022, pages 5-8.(In Chinese)
“What is ‘China’: A Review of China Marches West by Peter Perdue.” Preface of the Chinese translation of China Marches West by Peter Perdue, Taipei: Weicheng Press, 2021, 11-14. (In Chinese)
“A Review of The Silk Road and the Tang Empire by Moriyasu Takao: The Mobility of Central Eurasia.” Shanghai Book Review, January 29, 2019. Also included in the Chinese translation of Shirukurōdo to tō teikoku by Moriyasu Takao, Beijing: Lixiangguo Press, 2020, 6-14. (In Chinese)
“A Review of Legal History of China by Terada Hiroaki: The Outlook of Legal Pluralism and Cross-Cultural Comparative Legal History from Inner Asian Perspectives.” Journal of Chinese Ancient Legal Literature Studies 12 (2018): 668-681. (In Chinese)
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