This talk is part of the Jonathan Spence Memorial Series 

Event Time

Thursday, July 16, 2026 

Registration

18:30-19:00

Lecture and Q&A

19:00-20:30

Location

Yale Center Beijing 
36th Floor Tower B of IFC Building 8 Jianguomenwai Avenue Chaoyang District, Beijing (Yong'anli Subway Station, Exit C) 

Registration and Fees

Please click “HERE” to register. Please send an email to yalecenterbeijing@yale.edu if there are any problems. If you encounter any payment issues, please attach a screenshot that identifies the issue. 

Ticket: RMB 30 for members of Yale community and Yale or non-Yale students (must submit valid .edu email address to qualify); RMB 60 for regular admission. This price includes canapes.

*The registration fee is non-refundable. Unless due to a force majeure reason, Yale Center Beijing will not refund any part of the registration fee if a participant fails to attend the event.

Walk-ins will not be accepted.

The event will be in Chinese.

Note: Seats are available on a first-come-first-served basis.

The Event

Jonathan Spence PhD ’65, Sterling Professor Emeritus of History at Yale University, was renowned for bringing history’s overlooked figures to life, particularly those who left little trace in traditional historical records, including women. Focusing primarily on late imperial China, especially the Ming and Qing dynasties, he illuminated the complex human experiences and social transformations that shaped China's past, reflecting the profound humanism that distinguished his scholarship.

On July 16, as part of Yale Center Beijing’s Jonathan Spence Memorial Series, Liping Mao, Professor at the Institute of Qing History at Renmin University of China, and Ning Xu, Shuimu Scholar and Research Fellow at the Tsinghua Institute for Advanced Study in Humanities and Social Sciences, will uncover the little-known lives of Qing imperial princesses. Centered on Gurun Princess Hexiao, the youngest and most beloved daughter of the Qianlong Emperor, the lecture will explore their political roles, the constraints they faced in marriage, and why many, despite their royal status, struggled with financial hardship and never attained the enduring fame of the celebrated princesses of the Han and Tang dynasties.

Speakers

Liping Mao
Professor, Institute of Qing History, Renmin University of China

Liping Mao is Professor at the Institute of Qing History at Renmin University of China, specializing in Qing court history and gender history. Her monographs cover Palace Governance: A Study of Women in the Qing Imperial Court, Research on Lower-Class Women in the Qing Dynasty: Centered on Nanbu County and Baxian Archives, A Study of Dowries in the Qing Dynasty, and Statecraft: State Governance and Imperial Household Affairs of the Qing. She also hosts the popular Qing history lecture series A Detailed Account of the Forbidden City on Bilibili to popularize Qing history for the general public.

Ning Xu
Shuimu Scholar & Research Fellow, Tsinghua Institute for Advanced Study in Humanities and Social Sciences

Ning Xu is currently a Shuimu Scholar and Research Fellow at the Tsinghua Institute for Advanced Study in Humanities and Social Sciences (TIAS). She graduated from the School of Chinese at the University of Hong Kong (HKU). Her research focuses on Ming and Qing women's history, social and economic history, and popular literary documents of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Her doctoral dissertation was nominated for the Li Ka Shing Prizes. Her academic articles have been published in various professional journals.