Alum Jiaying Gu (M.A., ‘16) received the Hong Kong Bei Shan Tang Foundation Doctoral Thesis Grant to further her dissertation examining two genres of Chinese painting, yaji tu 雅集圖 (elegant gathering paintings) and huanji tu 宦蹟圖 (pictorial autobiographies of officials), and the role they played within Ming political bureaucracy. Gu is currently a Ph.D candidate at the University of Edinburgh.

Gu’s thesis topic, ”Idealised Statesmen: Cultural-Political Expressions in Ming Dynasty Yaji tu 雅集圖, Huanji tu 宦蹟圖, and Their East Asian Contexts,” will explore the way in yaji tu and huanji tu paintings operated as cultural and political instruments in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Ming China. Commissioned by high-ranking court officials, these paintings served as visual strategies for constructing and projecting idealised identities within the competitive and hierarchical Ming bureaucracy, transcending mere aesthetic expression. Despite their circulation, these paintings have rarely been studied systematically for what they reveal about elite self-representation, political networking, and moral philosophy during a pivotal period in Chinese history.

The Bei Shan Tang Doctoral Thesis Grant was developed to support a new generation of scholars to conduct significant research that will broaden and deepen understanding of traditional Chinese art. The Grant supports outstanding final-year PhD candidates whose dissertation topic is pertinent to traditional Chinese art. Grant awardees are expected to engage in full-time thesis writing and complete their dissertation within the grant period. The maximum grant period is 12 months.