Prof. PENG Peng
Assistant Professor
Prof. PENG Peng
B.A., M.A., (Peking University,Beijing, China), M.A., PhD (Princeton University, New Jersey, USA)
3943 0554
Room 207, Leung Kau Kui Building
Office hour (by appointment) : Every Wednesday 1400-1500 (fixed for 2022-23 Term1 and may vary in the future semesters)
Office hour (by appointment) : Every Wednesday 1400-1500 (fixed for 2022-23 Term1 and may vary in the future semesters)
Introduction
Prof. Peng holds a PhD and an MA from Princeton University, an MA and a BA from Peking University. Before joining The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prof. Peng taught at Pace University (2017) and The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (2018-2019). Prof. Peng’s research centers on the art, archaeology, visual and material cultures of ancient East Asia. His first book, Metalworking in Bronze Age China: The Lost-Wax Process (Amherst, New York: Cambria Press, 2020) is well received in the academic world. His second book, Origins: Copper and Bronze Metallurgy in Early China (initial book title: Bronze Casting in Early China) has successfully completed the peer review process and is under contract with Amsterdam University Press. Additionally, Professor Peng has curated exhibitions, including one focused on early Chinese garment hooks, and has edited the accompanying bilingual research catalogue, Cast for Dignity: Early Chinese Belt Hooks from the De-Neng-Tang Collection (Chinese Title: 霜雪明金玄鈎沉: 德能堂藏華夏早期帶鈎; Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2023).
Research Interests
East Asian Art History, Chinese Visual and Material Cultures, Chinese Archaeology, Early Chinese Metalworking and Metallurgy, Artistic Exchange between China and Inner Asia, and Interdisciplinary Research on Cultural Heritage
Courses Taught
Fall Term (2024-25):
CUMT 2004 Chinese Materials Culture
CUMT 4003 Culture-led City Development
Spring Term (2024-25):
CUMT 1002 Cultural Theories
CUMT 3009 Interpreting Chinese Antiquities
Publications (Selected)
Monographs
| In Preparation | Origins: Copper and Bronze Metallurgy in Early China (initial book title: Bronze Casting in Early China). This book has successfully completed the peer review process and is under contract with Amsterdam University Press, forthcoming in 2025. |
| 2020 | Metalworking in Bronze Age China: The Lost-Wax Process. ISBN: 9781604979626 (hardcover), 9781638570257 (paperback), 514 pages. Amherst, New York: Cambria Press, 2020 (for reviews and more information, see http://www.cambriapress.com/cambriapress.cfm?template=5&bid=741). |
Edited Books
| In Preparation | Boundary-Crossing Brainstorms in Ancient Chinese Bronze Metallurgy: Art History, Archaeology, and the History of Technology (based on my chaired panel “Metallurgical Technologies in Ancient China,” The Sixteenth International Conference on the History of Science in East Asia [16th ICHSEA], Frankfurt am Main, Germany). Edited volume in preparation. |
| 2024 |
Cast for Dignity: Early Chinese Belt Hooks from the De-Neng-Tang Collection 霜雪明金玄鈎沉:德能堂藏華夏早期帶鈎. ISBN: 9789881949486, 243 pages. Hong Kong: Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2024 (for more information, see https://www.artmuseum.cuhk.edu.hk/en/bookstore/recent/detail/266).
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Journal Articles (Selected)
| 2024 | “Devouring Predator on the Waist: An Intriguing Chinese Garment Hook in the De-Neng-Tang Collection and Some Relevant Pieces,” Arts of Asia, Spring (2024), pp. 124-133 [Indexed in AHCI]. |
| 2023 | “Between Piece Molds and Lost Wax: The Casting of a Diatrete Ornamentation in Early China Rethought,” Humanities and Social Sciences Communications 10.456 (Springer Nature, published: 31 July 2023), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-01984-5 [Indexed in SSCI & AHCI. 2-year Impact Factor = 3.5]. |
| 2023 | “3D Jishu yu Yishu Kaogu: Xianqin Quantong Qingtongqi zhi Tansuo ji Xiangguan Yiti Pingshu” 3D技術與藝術考古: 先秦全同青銅器之探索及相關議題評述(3D Archaeology and Art History: In Search of Identical Bronzes in Early China). Kaiwu: Keji yu Wenhua 開物：科技與文化 (Kaiwu: Science, Technology and Culture), edited by Department of Chinese Culture, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, founding issue 創刊號, 1 (2023), pp. 88-101. |
| 2021 | “Decentralizing the Origin of Civilization: Early Archaeological Efforts in China,” History of Humanities vol. 6, no. 2 (2021), 515-548 [The University of Chicago Press Journals]. |
| 2018 | “Was Lost-wax Casting Adopted in Pre-Qin Chinese Bronze Art?” Orientations, vol. 49, no. 1 (January/February 2018), 103-111. |
| 2017 | “A Study on the Origin of Chinese Lost-wax Casting from the Perspectives of Art, Technology, and Social Agency.” Sino-Platonic Papers, edited by Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania, January 2017(no. 265), pp. 1-48. |
| 2015 | 30-Second Ancient China. Lewes: Ivy Press. Book contributor with two entries: “Oracle Bone Inscriptions,” pp. 116-17, and “Bronze Inscriptions,” 2015, pp. 118-19. |
| 2012 | “Lubei Laizhouwan Yanan Shangzhou Shiqi Zhiyan Gongyi Chutan”魯北萊州灣沿岸商周時期制鹽藝初探 (A Preliminary Exploration on the Salt-producing Craft in the Region around Laizhou Bay in the Northern Shandong Province). Nanfang Wenwu 南 方 文 物 (Relic from South), edited by Jiangxi Provincial Museum and Jiangxi Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology (Nanchang, China), 1 (2012): 53-58. |
| 2012 | “Shilun Jindong Diqu de Nongye Qiyuan” 試論近東地區的農業起源—以植物的栽培和馴化為中心 (On the Origins of Agriculture in the Near East: Cultivation and Domestication of Plants). Sichuan Wenwu 四川文物 (Sichuan Antiquity), edited by Sichuan Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau (Chengdu, China), 3 (2012): 37-47. |
| 2011 | Peng Peng and Jang Ah Reum “Shuishuxiansheng he ‘Guishi’: Shuizu Shehui zhong Liangzhong Shenfen de Bijiao” “水書先生”和“鬼師”—水族社會中兩種身份的比較 (Shui-scripture Master and Exorcist Master: A Comparison of Two Identities in the Society of Shui Nationality). Zhongguo Renleixue Pinglun 中 國 人 類 學 評 論 (Chinese Review of Anthropology), edited by Beijing Central University for Nationalities of Ethnology and Anthropology (Beijing, China), vol.19 (2011): 157-171. [First Author] |
| 2011 | “Muzang Dengji Fenxi zhong Yizhong Lianghua Fangfa de Sikao: Yi Dadianzi MudiWeili” 墓葬等級分析中壹種量化方法的思考—以大甸子墓地為例 (Considerations on a Quantitative Method for Mortuary Analysis by the Example of the Dadianzi Cemetery). Bianjiang Kaogu Yanjiu 邊疆考古研究 (Research of China’s Frontier Archaeology), edited by Research Center of Chinese Frontier Archaeology in Jilin University (Changchun, China), vol. 10 (2011): 54-72. |
| 2011 | “Guanyu Chifeng Quyu Kaogu Diaocha zhong ‘Xiaocaijidian’ Xingzhi de yige Sikao” 關於赤峰區域考古調查中“小采集點”性質的壹個思考 (Considerations on the Nature of the Small Collections in the Regional Archaeological Survey of Chifeng), Xibu Kaogu 西 部 考 古, edited by Cultural Heritage and Archaeological Research Center of the Northwest University (Xi’an, China), vol. 5 (2011): 141-156. |
Conference Presentations and Invited Talks
| 2024 | Invited Keynote Speech, “Metallurgical Inceptions in China: An Art Historical Note,” for international conference “Innovation and Integration: A Symphony of History, Technology and Art,” invited by Ioannis Liritzis (Distinguished Professor, Alma Mater Europaea, Maribor, Slovenia). Conference (Nanjing, China) organized by Herança – History, Heritage and Culture Journal, and patroned by European Academy of Sciences & Arts (EASA) (www.euro-acad.eu), among others. (Nov 2024) |
| 2024 | “Devouring Feline on Waist: Some Early Chinese Belt Hooks Revisited in Comparative Perspective,” CAA (College Art Association) 112th Annual Conference, Chicago, United States. (Feb 2024) |
| 2023 | “Sanxingdui and the Lost-Wax Mystery: Early Chinese Metalworking in Multiregional Perspective.” Talk invited by The University of Chicago (Francis and Rose Yuen Campus in Hong Kong) for the forum “The Mysteries of Sanxingdui: Reflections on the Hong Kong Palace Museum Exhibition,” dialogue with Edward Shaughnessy (Lorraine J. and Herrlee G. Creel Distinguished Service Professor in Early Chinese Studies, The University of Chicago). (Nov 2023) |
| 2023 | “The Devouring Feline and the Overpowered Cultural Other: Fighting Images Cast in Metal from The Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age of China.” Fourteenth International Conference on The Image, San Jorge University Zaragoza, Spain. (Nov 2023) |
| 2023 | “德能堂所藏華夏早期帶鈎: 精品解讀與策展心路” (Early Chinese Belt Hooks in the De-Neng-Tang Collection: Interpretation of Exquisite Artworks and Relevant Curatorial Thoughts). Talk for the Exhibition “霜雪明金玄鈎沉”(Cast for Dignity: Early Chinese Belt Hook from the De-Neng-Tang Collection), Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. (Sept 2023) |
| 2023 | “Piece Molds or Lost Wax? Casting of a Diatrete Ornamentation in Early China.” Themed Panel 65 “Metallurgical Technologies in Ancient China.” The sixteenth International Conference on the History of Science in East Asia (16th ICHSEA), Frankfurt am Main, Germany. (Aug 2023) |
| 2023 | “On the Origins of Metalworking in China.” Themed Panel for The Histories of Technology. Nineteenth International Conference on Technology, Knowledge, and Society. University of Malta, Malta. (Apr 2023) |
| 2023 | “On the Origins of Metalworking in China: Technology and Art.” Symposium Tracking Populations, Resources, and Knowledge across Space and Time, Part 1. The 88th Annual Conference of SAA (Society of American Archaeology) at the Oregon Convention Center, Portland, United States. (Mar 2023) |
| 2023 | “Early Archaeological Efforts in China and Relevant Historical Discourses,” Invited Lecture for the course “Adventures, Treasures, and Archaeology in China,” Hong Kong Baptist University. (Mar 2023) |
| 2022 | “華夏失蠟工藝的起源及相關熔模鑄造傳統” (The Lost-wax Origins of Early China and Related Traditions of Investment Casting). Themed talk invited by Li Shuicheng (International Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences) for “三星堆與歐亞文明: 2035先導計畫” (Sanxingdui and Eurasian Civilizations: 2035 Pilot Program), Sichuan University, China. (Nov 2022) |
| 2022 | “Rethinking the 5,000-yr-old Tin Bronze in Xinjiang, China: An Early Metal Anomaly related to ‘Afanasievo’?” Panel F15-02 (The Beaker Age. Exploring the Third Millennium BC spread of shared cultural identity in Eurasia), WAC-9 (World Archaeological Congress), Prague, Czech Republic. (July 2022) |
| 2022 | “Cast for Novelty: An Alternative Way of Metalworking in Early China.” Panel Making bronze: manufacturing techniques in the ancient Asia (I). The Tenth International Conference on the Beginnings of the Use of Metals and Alloys. Bangkok, Thailand. (July 2022) |
| 2022 | “On the Origins of Copper-based Metallurgy and Iron Smelting in China: A Comparative Perspective.” Session 24 (Metallurgy) in the SEAA (The Society for East Asian Archaeology) 9th Worldwide Conference, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea. (July 2022) |
| 2022 | “The Monument of Time – From Antiquity to Artistic Creation” 時間的紀念碑——從古物到藝術創作, hosted by 言本當代 am space, Art Dialogue with Zhou Jin (Associate Professor, Department of Fine Arts, CUHK) and Chu Lok Ting, Natalie (Artist):https://www.facebook.com/events/335425201665820/ (Feb 2022) |
| 2021 | “On the Inception of Copper-based Metallurgy in China and Its Inspirations to Our Understanding of Early Chinese Iron Smelting.” Session 7: Ancient Iron in Europe and China, Second International Conference on Global Issues of Environment & Culture, Sino-Hellenic Academic Project, Delphi, Greece. (Sept 2021) |
| 2021 | “Bridges to Scholarly Excellence: Research Design, Thesis Format and Academic Writing.” Cultural Management Research Training Workshop Talk, Faculty of Arts, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. (July 2021) |
| 2021 | “Early Chinese Investment Casting in Comparative Perspective: Metallurgical Evidence from the Pre-Han China and Its Cultural Frontiers.” Invited Talk for the RPCAA (Research Programme for Chinese Archaeology and Art) Lecture Series 5, Institute of Chinese Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. (Jun 2021) |
| 2021 | “Perspectives on Technology, Design, and Provenance: The Investment Casting in Bronze Age China.” Invited Talk for the Workshop Series of Art History (organized by Dept. of Fine Arts and the Art Museum), The Chinese University of Hong Kong. (Mar 2021) |
| 2020 | “The Lost-wax Casting Re-examined: Archaeometallurgical Evidence from Early China and Its Borderlands.” Invited Talk for the Special Seminar, Dept. of Anthropology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. (Oct 2020) |
| 2020 | “Theory and Practice as One: An Innovative Scheme of Teaching Chinese Art and Material Culture.” Talk for CUHK Teaching and Learning Innovation Expo 2019/20, organized by CLEAR, ITSC and ELITE, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. (Jul 2020) |
| 2018 | “The Lost Wax Casting in Bronze Age China: Art and Technology” Art History Faculty Symposium, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, United States. (Apr 2018) |
| 2017 | “On the Origin of Landscape Representation in Chinese Art.” The Campus-wide “Princeton Research Day,” Princeton University, United States. (May 2017) |
| 2017 | “Interaction between Art and Technique: Early Chinese Bronzes Reviewed.” CAA (College Art Association) 105th Annual Conference, New York, United States. (Feb 2017) |
| 2016 | “Max Loehr and His Contribution to the Study of Chinese Bronzes and Paintings.” Conference “The Making of the Humanities V” organized by the Society for the History of the Humanities, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, United States. (Oct 2016) |
| 2016 | “Rediscovering Bronze Art and Technology of Early China from Mayer Collection.” Seventh Worldwide Conference of the Society for East Asian Archaeology, Boston, United States. (Jun 2016) |
| 2016 | “Art in the Making: A Case Study in the Technical Art History of Ancient China.” The Campus-wide “Princeton Research Day,” Princeton University, United States. (May 2016) |
| 2016 | “Disjuncture in Style and Technique: A Group of Chinese Bronzes Revisited.” Art History Graduate Symposium “Dislocation, Disjuncture, Dispute.” Rutgers University, United States. (Apr 2016) |
| 2016 | “Writing the History of Chinese Bronzes in the Perspectives of Art, Technology, and Social Agency.” Graduate History Conference “Putting History to Work”, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, United States. (Mar 2016) |
| 2014 | “Rethinking Lost-wax Casting in Bronze Age China.” Invited Talk for the Special Joint Seminar, Depts. of Materials Science and Engineering, Art, Architecture, and Design, Sociology and Anthropology, Lehigh University, United States. (Apr 2014) |
| 2013 | “Was the Lost-wax Casting practiced in the Bronze Age China? —A Case Study of the Rim Openwork Appendage of the Bronze zun-pan Set in the Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng” in the 78th Annual Conference of SAA (Society of American Archaeology) at Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. (Apr 2013) |
| 2009 | Invited Talk on the comparative Research on Shuishuxiansheng 水書先生 and Guishi 鬼師 in the Society of Shui People. Dept. of History, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China. (Oct 2009) |
Academic Interviews
| 2017 | “Di Yuzhou Jiaoshou Fangtanlu” 狄宇宙教授訪談錄 (Interview of Prof. Nicolas Di Cosmo). Interviewed by Peng Peng, Cao Dazhi and Cao Yecheng. Nanfang Wenwu南方文物(Relic From South), edited by Jiangxi Provincial Museum and Jiangxi Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology (Nanchang, China), 2017 (1): 40-45. |
| 2014 | “Aoliwei Jiaoshou Fangtanlu” 奧利維教授訪談錄 (Interview of Prof. Laurent Olivier). Interviewed by Peng Peng. Nanfang Wenwu南方文物 (Relic From South), edited by Jiangxi Provincial Museum and Jiangxi Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology (Nanchang, China), 2014 (4): 14-18. |
Translations
| 2017 | Lothar von Falkenhausen: Chinese Society in the Age of Confucius (1000-250 BC), Chapters 1-3 translated by Peng Peng, Shanghai: Shanghai Guji Press, 2017. (From English to Chinese) |
| 2010 | Matin Hees. “Prehistoric Salt Production in Southwest Germany”, translated by Peng Peng, in Zhongguo Yanye Kaogu 中國鹽業考古 (Salt Archaeology in China), Volume 2, edited by Shuicheng Li and Lothar von Falkenhausen, Beijing: Science Press, 2010: 218-237. (From English to Chinese) |
| 2010 | Laurent Olivier. “The ‘Briquetage de la Seille’ (Moselle, France): An Iron-Age Proto-Industrial Salt-Extraction Center,” translated by Peng Peng, in Zhongguo Yanye Kaogu 中國鹽業考古 (Salt Archaeology in China), Volume 2, edited by Shuicheng Li and Lothar von Falkenhausen, Beijing: Science Press, 2010: 238-259. (From English to Chinese) |
| 2008 | Laurent Olivier & Joseph Kovacik. “The ‘Briquetage de la Seille’ (Lorraine, France): Proto-industrial salt production in the European Iron Age,” translated by Zhang Ying and Peng Peng, Nanfang Wenwu 南方文物 (Relic From South), edited by Jiangxi Provincial Museum and Jiangxi Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology (Nanchang, China), 2008 (1). (From English to Chinese) |
Esteem Items (Selected)
| 2024-2025 | Principal Investigator, CUHK Direct Grant for Research Project Title: “Rethinking the Late Western Zhou and Eastern Zhou Bronzes in the Han-Huai Region: A Long-term Trajectory Approach”, Faculty of Arts, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (12 months, 83,500 HKD, Reference no. 4051245) |
| 2023-2025 | Co-investigator, Archaeological Science in Hong Kong Interdisciplinary Initiatives – Research Institute for the Humanities, Faculty of Arts, CUHK. PI: Christina Cheung |
| 2023-2024 | Principal Investigator, CUHK Direct Grant for Research Project Title: “Rethinking the Iron-blade Bronze Weaponry in Early China”, Faculty of Arts, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (12 months, 85,975 HKD, Reference no. 4051217) |
| 2021-2024 | Principal Investigator, RGC Early Career Scheme Project Title: “Early Chinese Investment Casting in Comparative Perspective: Craft Production, Consumption, and Patronage” (24+12 months, 557,000 HKD, Reference no. 24609620) |
| 2022-2023 | Principal Investigator, CUHK Student Campus Work Scheme Project Title: “Rethinking the Origins of Korean Metalworking and Metallurgy”, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (SCWS summer project, 4,200 HKD, trainee: Park Chanseo, Reference no. 22035-S) |
| 2021-2023 | Contract Research, Warring States and Han Dynasty Belt Hook Research, Exhibition Design, and Catalogue Editing. Curatorial Project: “Comparative studies on Ancient Chinese Belt Hooks from Archaeological Perspectives.” Research Programme for Chinese Archaeology and Art, Art Museum, Institute of Chinese Studies, CUHK. |
| 2021-2023 | Principal Investigator, CUHK Direct Grant for Research Project Title: “Reexamining the ‘Circum-Yellow Sea Cross-cultural Sphere’: Metallurgical Interactions between Korean Peninsula, Japanese Archipelago, and Early China”, Faculty of Arts, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (12+12 months, 97,500 HKD, Reference no. 4051178) |
| 2020-2021 | Principal Investigator, CUHK Direct Grant for Research Project Title: “Rethinking the ‘Crescent-shaped Cultural-Communication Belt’: Archeometallurgical Evidence from Early Chinese Frontiers”, Faculty of Arts, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (12 months, 80,550 HKD, Reference no. 4051155) |
| 2021 | Faculty of Arts Outstanding Teaching Award, The Chinese University of Hong Kong |
| 2017-2018 | Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation Doctoral/Dissertation Fellowship (12 months, 18,000 USD, Reference no. DD027-A-16) |
| 2016 | The NCHA (National Committee of the History of Art) Award, United States |
| 2015-2020 | Counselor, “Shandong Beibu Shangzhou Shiqi Yanye Shengchan Zuzhi Zonghe Yanjiu” Comprehensive Study on Salt Production Organization in Northern Shandong during the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, NSSF Youth Project, China. PI: Wei Qiaowei |
| 2013 | Summer Award and Certificate of Japanese Fluency, Hokkaido International Foundation (Japan), Scholarly Travel Grant, Dept. of Art & Archaeology, Princeton University, Pre-dissertation Research Fund, Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies |
| 2010 | Peking University Founder Scholarship Outstanding academic performance in the Grade of 2008 Graduate Students, School of Archaeology and Museology (Academic year 2009-2010), “Triple-A” Outstanding Student, Peking University |
| 2008 | Égide Scholarship (France) ．For excavation and research in the archaeological site Marsal, Lorraine, France |
| 2005-2007 | Peking University President Research Fund ．For research project “Porcelains of Yuan Dynasty Unearthed in the Archaeological Site Jininglu 集甯路, Inner Mongolia” |