Prof. Wang Fan-sen is an historian specializing in the cultural-intellectual history of early modern and modern China (circa 1500 to 1930). He has written many books on the intellectual history of China from the Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty and the early republican era. His works include Fu Ssu-nien: A Life in Chinese History and Politics, The Rise of the Ku-shih-pien Movement, Chang T’ai-yen and His World, The Geneology of Modern Chinese Thought, and Ten Essays on Ming and Qing Intellectual History, The Historian and the Historiography in Modern China, The Capillary Effects of Power: Intellectual, Mentality and Scholarship in Ch’ing Period, Intellection as a Way of Life.
Prof. Wang Fan-sen received his Ph.D. from the East Asian Studies Department at Princeton University in 1992. He has taught at some universities including National Taiwan University and National Qing-hua University.
Prof. Wang analyzes the interaction between the intellectual, cultural and social spheres. He has focused in particular on the cultural-intellectual transformations in the late 16th and early 17th century and the late 19th and early 20th century China. He examines the shift in intellectual paradigms and cultural patterns, the emergence of a modern Chinese intelligentsia and intellectual communities. He has also conducted research on the history of Chinese historiography and showed how developments in the study of history were closely linked with transformations in politics, culture, society and the traditional Chinese value system. His research has brought many unstudied fields to the attention of the academic community.
Prof. Wang Fan-sen has been the recipient of domestic and international awards. He was elected as Academician of Academia Sinica in 2004 and a Distinguished Research Fellow of the Institute of History & Philology (IHP) of Academia Sinica in 2005. He was also awarded the Outstanding Scholar Award Winner by the Foundation for the Advancement of Outstanding Scholarship. In 2005, he was elected as Fellow of the Royal Historical Society of the United Kingdom. His The Capillary Effects of Power: Intellectual, Mentality and Scholarship in Ch’ing Period was elected as one of the most influential academic works of the past ten years by the Minister of Science of Taiwan in 2020.
Education:
Ph.D., Department of East Asian Studies, Princeton University, 1992
M.A., Department of History, National Taiwan University, 1983
B.A., Department of History, National Taiwan University, 1980
Academic Positions:
1985-1993, Assistant Research Fellow, Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica
1993-1998, Associate Research Fellow, Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica
1994-1995, Deputy Director, Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica
1998-2005, Senior Research Fellow, Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica
1998- , Professor, Department of History, National Taiwan University
1998- , Professor, Institute of History, National Tsing-hua University
2000-2002, Director General, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, National Science Council
2003-2004, Director, T’sai Yüan-p’ei Research Center for Humanities and Social Sciences
2003-2009, Director, Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica
2005- , Distinguished Research Fellow, Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica
2010-2016, Vice President, Academia Sinica
2010-2012, Director, Taiwan e-Learning and Digital Archives Program
1999, Visiting Professor, Chinese University of Hong Kong
2017, Visiting Professor, Princeton University
2019, Visiting Professor, Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, Peking University
2020-2023, Sin Wai-Kin Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Humanities, The University of Hong Kong
2003-2014, Member, Council of Academic Reviewal & Evaluation, Ministry of Education, Taiwan, ROC
2003-2005, Member, Advisory Committee on Humanities and Social Science Development, National Science Council, Taiwan, ROC
2004- , Member, Steering Committee, Center for Chinese Studies
2006-2008, Member, Advisory Committee, National Palace Museum
2008-2014, Member, Board of the Foundation for Scholarly Exchange (Fulbright Taiwan)
2013- , Member of the Board of Trustees, China Foundation for the Promotion of Education & Culture
- 1987, 12th Annual Golden Tripod Award
- 2004, Academician, Academia Sinica
- 2005, Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, United Kingdom
- 2012, Paju Book Award Planning Prize
- 2020, 《權力的毛細管作用:清代的思想、學術與心態》獲選為科技部人文及社會科學領域「2020最具影響力研究專書」
- 2023, Humboldt Research Award by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany
Lectureship
1998-2003, Outstanding Scholar Award, the Foundation for the Advancement of Outstanding Scholarship
2005, Liu, Chong -fung Academic Lectures, Tunghai University
2005, Contemporary Distinguished Historians’Lecture, Hong Kong Baptist University
2006, Hui-Sun Distinguished Lectureship, National Chung Hsing University
2009, Chiu Chin Yin Fund Visiting Scholar, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
2010, F. W. Mote Memorial Lecture, Princeton University
2011, Guanghua Eminent Scholars Award, Fudan University
2011, Distinguished University Lecture, City University of Hong Kong
2011, Wu Teh Yao Memorial Lecture, The National University of Singapore
2012, Yu Ying-shih Lecture in History, the Chinese University of Hong Kong
2012, Yip So Man Wat Memorial Lecture, the University of British Columbia
2013, Xu Zhongshu Memorial Lecture, Sichuan University
2016, Peking University Global Fellowship
2016, 中山大學「院士講座」
2016, 成功大學「成大研發論壇」系列講座
2016, 香港中文大學深圳分校中國文化大講堂
2016, 政治大學博雅講座
2018, 浙大馬一浮講座
2018, 東吳大學「劉光義教授紀念專題講座」
2018, 政治大學潘黃雅仙人文講座
2018, 香港理工大學中國文化系中國歷史專題講座
2018, 香港浸會大學「歷史系四十周年誌慶講座」(Ruby Lectures in Commemoration of the 40th Anniversary of the Department of History)
2019, 中央大學「余紀忠紀念講座」
2021, 國立臺灣師範大學研究生講座
2021, 國立臺灣大學潘寶霞人文講座
2021, 國立清華大學通識講座
2021, 國立成功大學人文講座
2021, 國立政治大學「羅家倫國際漢學講座」系列講座
2022, 華梵大學佛教藝術大師講座
2022, 國立陽明交通大學經典通識教育講座
2022, 國立陽明交通大學校長講座
2023, Visiting fellowship, IKGF (Friedrich-Alexander-University, Germany)
2023, Richard Wilhelm Lectures (Frankfurt university, Germany)
2023, 國立中山大學大學之道通識教育講座
2023 新加坡南洋理工大學「陳六使講座」