Southeast Early China Roundtable

Scholars from the south Atlantic region, dedicated to the study of China, from the earliest period through the Tang dynasty.

Founded in 1997, the Southeast Early China Roundtable (SEECR) is a group of scholars from the south Atlantic region who specialize or maintain an interest in the study of China, from the earliest period through the Tang dynasty. The purpose of the group is twofold — first, to provide a forum for specialist discussion of all aspects of early China studies through yearly meetings; and second, to promote the study of early China in the Southeast by sponsoring public non-specialist lectures. SEECR members typically host annual meetings at their academic institutions, providing meals, accommodations and meeting space for participants.

The current Chair of SEECR is Keith Knapp, Professor of History at The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina.

Upcoming Meeting

The 29th Southeast Early China Roundtable will be held at the Elling Eide Center

October 31 to November 2, 2025

Participants and Paper Titles

Below is a list of participants and paper titles for the 2025 Southeast Early China Roundtable

Uffe Bergeton

UNC Chapel Hill

Lexical Approach to Longue Durée Cross-Cultural Comparison: Tracing Parallels in the Shift from Bronze-
Age Warrior Societies to More Bureaucratically Organized States in Ancient Greece and China

Liang Cai

University of Notre Dame

Innocent Convicts and Unlawful Commoners in Early Chinese Empires (221 BCE–23 CE)

Frankie Chik

Bard High School Early College

Language, Correctness, and Sinicization: Reconsidering the Guoyu Xiaojing in the Northern Wei Empire

Andrew Chittick

Professor of East Asian Humanities and History
Eckerd College

Maritime Exchange in the Early Tang Era

Chi Feng

Indiana University, Bloomington

The Shape of Sound: Musical Instruments and Prescriptive Crafts in “Kao gong ji” 考工記 (“the Artificers’ Record”)

Eric Henry

Asian Studies Department University of North Carolina
(Emeritus)

Lĩnh Nam Chích Quái, a Non-Chinese Foundational Work Written in Chinese

Stephan Kory

University of Florida

The Grottoes and Groves of the Changes and Guo Pu’s Early 4th Century Journey North to South

Keith N. Knapp

Department of History
The Citadel

Invasive Auspicious Beasts: The Replacement of Animal Figurines with Propitious Creatures on Figured Jars (duisu guan 堆塑罐)

Brian Lander

Brown University

Narratives of Conquest in Han Histories

Yunxin Li

Department of Humanities
Simmons University

Violence, Legal Practice, and State-Society Relations in Han Local Society

Kate Lingley

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Convention and the Unconventional: On Epigraphy and Social History

Andrew Meyer

Professor of History
Brooklyn College CUNY

Keeping the Faith and Breaking the Rules: Modeling Success for Women Leaders of the Warring States Era (481 B.C.E.-221 B.C.E.)

Stephen Walker

University of Chicago

Ji Kang on Morality and Self-Concealment

Wen Xing

Chinese University of Hong Kong & Dartmouth College

Confucius as Mathematical Philosopher: A Study in Chinese Mathematical Philosophy

Joy Yi Lidu

Art and Art History
Florida International University

Artistic Legacy of Buddhist Sculptures Excavated in Yecheng

Ce Yin

Hebei University

Sources and Compilation Mechanism of Supernatural Stories in the Tang-dynasty revision of the Book of Jin

George (Zheng) Zou

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Differentiating Buddhist Art from Funerary Art

Call for Papers

This year’s meeting will held at the beautiful Elling O. Eide Center in Sarasota, Florida, from October 31 to November 2, 2025. The keynote speaker will be Professor Cai Liang of the University of Notre Dame.

We welcome papers on pre-Song China from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, including anthropology, archaeology, art history, history, literature, philosophy, and religious studies. Please send abstracts of individual papers (250 words) to Keith Knapp (knappk@citadel.edu) by September 1, 2025.

As per custom, the sponsoring institution will provide free room and board to paper-presenters. Participants will be responsible for their travel expenses. If you would like to take part, please e-mail me 200-word abstract.

Sincerely yours,
Keith

Past Meetings

1997 — Charlottesville, Virginia	1998 — Charleston, South Carolina
1999 — Asheville, North Carolina	2000 — Athens, Georgia (program)
2001 — Charlotte, North Carolina	2002 — Chattanooga, Tennessee
2003 — Berea, Kentucky (program)	2004 — Gainesville, Florida (program)
2005 — Chapel Hill, North Carolina (program)	2006 — Charleston, South Carolina (program)
2007 — St. Petersburg, Florida (program)	2008 — Jacksonville, Florida (program)
2009 — Athens, Georgia (program)	2010 — Lexington, Kentucky (program)
2011 — Sewanee, Tennessee (program)	2012 — Berea, Kentucky (program)
2013 — Bowling Green, Kentucky (program)	2014 — Chapel Hill, North Carolina (program)
2015 — Knoxville, Tennessee (program)	2016 — Charleston, South Carolina (program)
2017 — Sarasota, Florida (program)	2018 — Jacksonville, Florida (program)
2019 — Milledgeville, Georgia	2020 — Sarasota, Florida (virtual) (program)
2021-2022 — Gainesville, Florida (program)	2023 — Charleston, South Carolina (program)
2024 — Chapel Hill, North Carolina (program)	2025 — TBA