Prof. Dr. Michael Höckelmann

Vormoderne chinesische Philologie, Geistes- und Institutionengeschichte, mittelalterliche Geschichte, Geschlechtergeschichte (Eunuchen)

Akademische Tätigkeit

2019–heute: Professor für Staat und Gesellschaft Chinas, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen Nürnberg

2018–2019: Research Fellow in Chinese Intellectual and Cultural History, ERC-Projekt „PAIXUE: Classicising Learning in Medieval Imperial Systems: Cross-cultural Approaches to Byzantine Paideia and Tang/Song Xue”, University of Edinburgh

2017–2018: Lecturer in East Asian History, History, University of Manchester

2015–2017: Assistant Professor, Department of History, Hong Kong Baptist University

2015–2017: Visiting Research Fellow, History, King’s College London

2014–2015: Postdoctoral Teaching Associate, Faculty of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies, University of Cambridge

2013–2015: British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Cambridge (04.–08.2015) und King’s College London (09.2013–03.2015)

2013.04–07: Stipendium des Schneider-Sasakawa Fund der Universität Münster für Forschung am Seikado Bunko 静嘉堂文庫 (Tokyo), Institute for Research in Humanities (Kyoto University) und in Taiwan

2009–2013: Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter, Exzellenzcluster “Religion und Politik in den Kulturen der Vormoderne und Moderne”, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster

2008–2013: Lehrbeauftragter, Institut für Sinologie und Ostasienkunde, Universität Münster

Studium

2013: Promotion (summa cum laude) zum Dr. phil. im Fach Sinologie, Titel der Arbeit: “Li Deyu (787–850). (Zivil-)Religion, Politik und Biographie”, Universität Münster

2009: Magister Artium in Sinologie (Note 1,30), Politikwissenschaft und Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft, Titel der Arbeit: “Gerechter Krieg und Strafen im Lüshi chunqiu”

2005–2007: Studium des Chinesischen (Mandarin) sowie chinesischer Philosophie und Religion an der Sun Yat-sen University 中山大學 in Guangzhou, VR China.

Öffentlichkeitsarbeit und Sonstiges

Empire and Its Dysfunction: Classicising Learning and Careers in Middle Period China

Between 760 and 960, the breakdown of central authority in imperial China similarly led to a decentralisation of classical learning. Literati careers, which had largely depended on pedigree, became more diversified. While more and more sons of great-clan descent competed for the prestigious examination degrees, many faced difficulties in obtaining even their first office. Some resorted to signing up with the regional army headquarters (mufu 幕府); others entered marriage or adoptive relations with powerful non-literati. For many, personal aspiration was inextricably linked with hopes for a dynastic revival (zhongxing 中興). In that climate, literati (shi 士) sought for new ways of expressing ideas beyond the poetic genres that dominated the examinations. One product of that desire was Ancient Style (guwen 古文) prose, the exposition (lun 論) another. Unsurprisingly, the great stylists of the era – Han Yu 韓愈 (768–824), Liu Zongyuan 柳宗元 (773–850), Li Deyu 李德裕 (787–850) – wrote some of their best pieces while being away from court. What role did the court play for them? Was it still the centre of public life and main source of cultural and social capital? Or a snake pit full of factions and eunuchs, better to be avoided? What role did subaltern officials outside the pure stream or “literocracy” (qingliu 清流), i.e., in the professional services and the military, play in the evolution of institutions and learning? This book will look at the career paths of middling officials and their writings, and map them onto some of the new institutions that were created during the period – the regional army headquarters, the Hanlin Academy (hanlin yuan 翰林院), and the Palace Secretariat (shumi yuan 樞密院). All of them survived the fall of the dynasty and into the Song; all of them impacted on the evolution of learning in Middle Period China, directly or indirectly.