For his first monograph, Sixiang Wang took on a monumental task: reframing diplomatic relations between the Chosŏn dynasty of Korea and neighboring Ming China from the 1250s through the 1640s.
His research, published in “Boundless Winds of Empire: Rhetoric and Ritual in Early Chosŏn Diplomacy with Ming China,” (Columbia University Press, 2023) revealed a story more nuanced than it appears on the surface.
Now, Wang, a UCLA associate professor of Asian languages and cultures, has been recognized for his innovative approach to the subject matter with the 2024 Hong Yung Lee Book Award in Korean Studies. The award has been presented annually by the UC Berkeley Center for Korean Studies since 2022.
Wang, who also is associate director of the UCLA CMRS Center for Early Global Studies, said the conventional thinking about Sino–Korean diplomacy has been that the Ming Empire set up tributary relations with its neighbors and Korea acted as a loyal vassal, following all of China’s rules.
“What is actually going on is something much more complicated,” he said. “If you look closely, you realize that it is actually a conversation going on in a shared, mutually understood code. If you can identify the references and the symbols, you’ll see there’s actually a complicated dialogue going on. My approach was to try to uncover that and see how it’s working.”
In announcing the award, the Center for Korean Studies praised Wang for his methodology — drawing from an extraordinarily wide range of source material ranging from poetry to court records, from travelogues to diplomatic memorials — and for how he presents his narrative.
“This is storytelling at its best, yet always in service to the author’s broader themes,” the announcement said. “With the astute use of sources, and nuanced approach to reading against the grain, Wang shows a bracing way of rethinking the centuries-long history of Sino–Korean relations.”
Read more on the UCLA Humanities website.
