The master narrative of modern Chinese history has long framed the fall of the Qing empire and the rise of the Republic of China as the inevitable triumph of Chinese nationalism.This nationalist teleology obscures an intricate reality: many of the so-called nationalists were simultaneously localists, whose political pursuits were rooted in the specific crises of their native places and designed to redress them. Nor does it adequately explain why localism—so often a force that toppled old dynasties only to install new ones—suddenly turned against dynastic rule altogether and championed a republic instead.Departing from the familiar sweep of national history, this lecture proposes a trialectic framework—local, national, and transnational—to reinterpret the transformation of the Qing empire. Combining a social history of the activities of Qing elites educated in Meiji Japan and an intellectual history of their localist pursuits, it illuminates how Japanese knowledge crossed national boundaries to ignite local changes that ultimately reconfigured the Qing empire.

Date&Time: Monday, October 26, 2026, 10:00 a.m.–11:30 a.m.
Venue: Conference Room (1st Floor), Graduate School of International Cultural Studies Building, Kawauchi Kita Campus, Tohoku University(MAP)
Capacity: 20 participants 

Registration: Please register using the registration form or by scanning the QR code below.
▶ Registration Form: https://forms.gle/SqCwRCfy2yutT6nP9
▶QR code:
                 
　　　  
Registration Deadline: 10:00 a.m., Monday, October 26, 2026

Organized by: Graduate School of International Cultural Studies, Tohoku University

Contact:
Egas Moniz Bandeira(Department of International Politics and Economy)
Tel: 022-795-7592
E-mail: ipe.gsics[at]grp.tohoku.ac.jp (Please replace “[at]” with “@”.)