Dr Yitong (Nora) Qiu

Goods tell a rich story of individuals. Yitong attempts to study the Qing empire through examining household possessions to understand the broader social and economic changes. She exploits the only continuous sources: the inventory confiscation records, which no previous scholars have collected and examined for this purpose. Her research is the first cross geographical and proto-ethnical study on Qing household possessions that covers the long 18^th and 19^thcentury.

In addition, Yitong is also interested in the confiscation process. Since confiscation was a tool used by both the regime in the East Asia central plain and by the steppe, study confiscation can reveal the nature of Qing governance.

Yitong holds a BA Cum Laude with honours in Economics and History from Mount Holyoke College, MA, USA and MSc in Economic History (Research) from the London School of Economics. She was a visiting scholar at Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica, Taiwan, in Summer 2019.

Languages

• Fluent: Mandarin, Classical Chinese, English, German, Japanese; Basic reading Manchu, Tibetan

Research Interest

• Long-run Economic Growth, Consumption Pattern, Material Culture, Wealth Accumulation, Institution and Law, Global Trade

Thesis Working Title

• Confiscation in the Qing Empire: A Study of the Political and Economic Life of the Elites 1700-1912

Dissertation Supervisors

• Professor Patrick Wallis (LSE), Lars Peter Laamann (SOAS), Jonathan Lipman (Mount Holyoke College).

Curriculum Vitae

• View Yitong (Nora) Qiu's CV here: Yitong (Nora) Qiu CV [PDF]

Office hours 2022

Monday 2-3pm, Friday 3-4pm. Sign up via this link: Nora office hour sign-up

Expertise

Chinese Economic History, Consumption and Material Culture in Eurasia; Qing Empire