Welcome to
Kuan-yen Liu WEBSITE
Dr. Kuan-yen Liu is serving as a Lecturer in the School of Humanities and Social Science at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHKSZ). Prior to his current position, he served as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in the Interdisciplinary Humanities Center and a Lecturer in the Comparative Literature Program, both at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB).
Dr. Liu’s research deals with the questions concerning epistemology, philosophy of science and political philosophy in Late-Qing (1840-1911) Chinese thought and translation with an emphasis on the interactions of the traditions of Pre-Qin Philosophy (pre-221 BC), Song-Ming Confucianism (Neo-Confucianism in 960-1279 and 1368-1644) and Qing Thought (1644-1911) with Western biology, philosophy and socio-political theory. His study of Late-Qing thought and Chinese philosophy has resulted in three peer-reviewed research-based book chapters in the edited volumes published by Routledge and Springer in 2020 as well as several conference presentations at first-rate universities in China, Hong Kong, Europe and America. He also gave invited lectures on Chinese philosophy and Late-Qing thought at the Philosophy Department of National Taiwan University and the Chinese Department of Yuan Ze University. Besides, the outcome of his research on the science and philosophy of Victorian evolutionism was presented at the conferences held by the University of Toronto, UC Berkeley, and the North American Victorian Studies Association.
Dr. Liu received his Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he specialized in Victorian Thought and Literature, Late-Qing Chinese Thought and Literature, and Philosophy of Biology. During his doctoral study, his research projects concerning Yan Fu’s Chinese philosophical transformation of British Darwinism won the prestigious research grants of “Taiwanese Ministry of Education Fellowship for Studying Abroad” and “Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange’s Fellowship for Dissertation Writing” (declined). Prior to his doctoral study, he earned his B.A. with a double major in English Literature and Philosophy as well as minors in History and Chinese Literature from National Chengchi University (Taiwan), where he received solid multi-disciplinary training in Western and Chinese philosophy, thought and literature across departments.
At the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Dr. Kuan-yen Liu teaches courses on “History of Chinese Philosophy” and “History and Philosophy of Biology” in the Philosophy Minor Program. Besides, in the Division of General Education, he teaches university core-curriculum courses on “In Dialogue with Humanity” and “In Dialogue with Nature” (courses on “Western and Chinese Classics” and “History and Philosophy of Science”) and elective courses on Western and Chinese literature (poetry and science fiction). At the University of California, Santa Barbara, as Pre-Doctoral Instructor and Lecturer, he previously designed and taught his own four courses on (1) Long-Nineteenth-Century European Thought and Literature, (2) Buddhist and Daoist Thought and Literature, (3) Major Works of Classical Chinese Literature, and (4) Modern Chinese and Sinophone Literature in the Comparative Literature Program.
Besides, having been immersed in traditional Chinese culture since childhood, Dr. Liu excels in the calligraphy styles of Northern-Wei Stele (386-534) and Zhao Zhiqian (1829-1884) and serves as the faculty advisor of the Nan-lu (South-Dew) student club for Chinese calligraphy at CUHK(SZ). He has also published his creative works of classical Chinese poetry and prose in Chien-Kun Poetry Quarterly, a journal of classical and modern Chinese poetry in Taiwan.
Description of Recent Publications on Chinese Philosophy, Late-Qing Thought, and Comparative Philosophy of Biology:
https://hss.cuhk.edu.cn/en/article/677
Ph.D. Dissertation
The Animal-Human Analogy and the Order of Things: A Comparative Study of Victorian British and Late-Qing Chinese Darwinism(s). Comparative Literature. University of California, Santa Barbara. March 2016.
M. A. Thesis
Zoology, Physiology and the Philosophy of Mind: Darwin’s and Huxley's Biology and Victorian Literature. Comparative Literature. University of California, Santa Barbara. Spring 2010.
Award-Winning Doctoral Research Projects:
1. Pre-Doctoral Fellowship. Interdisciplinary Humanities Center, UCSB. Research Project: “The Animal-Human Analogy and the Order of Things: A Comparative Study of Victorian British and Late-Qing Chinese Darwinism.” 2014.
2. Taiwanese Ministry of Education Fellowship for Studying Abroad (台灣教育部留學獎學金). Research Project: “The Cultural Translation of Darwinism in Late-Qing China: A Comparative Philosophical Study of the Intersection between Biology and Chinese Philosophy.” 2013.
3. Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange’s Fellowship for Dissertation Writing (蔣經國國際學術交流基金會博士論文獎學金). Research Project: “The Cultural Translation of Darwinism in Late-Qing China: An Intersection between Biology and Chinese Philosophy.”2013. (Declined)
Peer-Reviewed Publications
1. “Yan Fu’s Xunzian-Confucian Translation of Thomas Huxley’s Evolution and Ethics,” in Asian Religious Responses to Darwinism—Modern Evolutionary Theories in Middle Eastern, South Asian, and East Asian Cultural Contexts (Sophia Studies in Cross-cultural Philosophy of Traditions and Cultures). Ed. Mackenzie Brown. Cham: Springer, 2020. p. 257-286. https://link.springer.com/
2. “Yan Fu’s Daoist Reinterpretation of Evolutionism,” in Asian Religious Responses to Darwinism—Modern Evolutionary Theories in Middle Eastern, South Asian, and East Asian Cultural Contexts (Sophia Studies in Cross-cultural Philosophy of Traditions and Cultures). Ed. Mackenzie Brown. Cham: Springer, 2020. p. 287-318. https://link.springer.com/
3. “Late-Qing Translation (1840-1911) and the Political Activism of Chinese Evolutionism,” in The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Activism. Ed. Rebecca Ruth Gould and Kayvan Tahmasebian. London: Routledge 2020. p. 439-460.
(Official Website: https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-Handbook-of-Translation-and-Activism-1st-Edition/Gould-Tahmasebian/p/book/9781138555686#toc; Abstract: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781315149660/chapters/10.4324/9781315149660-27).
Published Award-Winning Papers
1. 〈「共產烏托邦」政治神話的反思：論李銳《無風之樹》〉，《陳百年先生學術論文獎論文集〈五〉》。台北: 政治大學文學院，2005。頁221-256
“Reflection and Stricture on the Communist Utopia in China: On Li Rui’s Trees without Wind” (written in Chinese), in Collection of Award-winning Research Papers in the Chen Bai-nian Prize: V. Taipei: The College of Liberal Arts, National Chengchi University, 2005. P. 221-256.
2. 〈從宋玉《九辯》文人悲秋傳統論王維、杜甫與李商隱的秋日書寫〉，《陳百年先生學術論文獎論文集〈五〉》。台北: 政治大學文學院，2005。頁 25-49
“The Transformation of Song Yu’s Narrative of Lament-Inspired-by-Autumn in Tang Poetry: From ‘Jiu Bian’ to the Poems of Wang Wei, Du Fu and Li Shangyin” (written in Chinese), in Collection of Award-winning Research Papers in the Chen Bai-nian Prize: V. Taipei: The College of Liberal Arts, National Chengchi University, 2005. P. 25-49.
Conference Presentations
I. Conference: Victorian Darwinism & History and Philosophy of Biology
1. “From Boundary-Narrowing to Boundary-Breaking: Analogical Argumentation and the ‘Evidence’ of the Decent of Man from Animals in Darwin’s and Huxley’s Evolutionary Biology.” The North American Victorian Studies Association Conference. Pasadena, CA. Oct 23-27, 2013.
2. “Herbert Spencer and Thomas Huxley’s Debate over the Applicability of Biology to Sociology: Is/Ought Problem and the Victorian Context.” The 40th Pacific Coast Conference on British Studies. University of California, Berkeley. Mar 3-5, 2013.
3. “The Intersection between Biology and Philosophy of the Mind: Darwin’s Dialogic Response to Hume’s ‘Of the Reason of Animals.’” The 59th Mid-West Conference on British Studies. The University of Toronto. Oct 12-14, 2012.
II. Conference: Chinese Philosophy and Late-Qing Thought
4. “How are ‘Darwinian Challenges' Revisited and Reinterpreted through Xunzian-Confucianism and Daoism in Yan Fu’s Acceptance of Victorian Evolutionism?” (presented on the book panel “Darwinism in Asia: Panel Discussion of the Book Asian Religious Responses to Darwinism.” The 2020 Virtue Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion. November 30-December 10, 2020.
5. “Reinterpretations of Buddhism in Thomas Huxley’s Evolution and Ethics and Yan Fu’s Tianyan lun: Mind, Self-Restraint and Society" (conference paper written in English and presented in Chinese). The 10th International Conference on Classical Chinese Texts and Culture (第十屆中國古文獻與傳統文化國際學術研討會). Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Oct 11-12, 2019.
6. “Yan Fu’s Neo-Confucian Translation of Huxley’s Ethical Discourse of ‘Self-Restraint’ into a Nationalist Discourse of ‘Zhisi’ (Controlling the Private) in Tianyan lun” (conference paper written in English and presented in Chinese). The 9th International Conference on Classical Chinese Texts and Culture (第九屆中國古文獻與傳統文化國際學術研討會). Beijing Normal University. Oct 13-14, 2018.
7. “Cultural Translation/Appropriation of Darwinism in Chinese Revolutionary Manifestos—Zou Rong’s The Revolutionary Army and Sun Yat-sen’s Three Principles of the People.” The 17th Annual Harvard East Asia Society Graduate Student Conference. Harvard University. Feb 21-23, 2014.
8. “From Empiricism to the Philosophy of Dao: A Comparative Study of the Animal-Human Analogy in British and Chinese Darwinism.” Interdisciplinary Humanities Center, UCSB. Nov 5, 2013.
9. “Li Chunsheng’s Criticism of Darwinism and Yan Fu’s Tianyan lun: Philosophical Conflict and the Identity Dilemma of Taiwanese.” The 19th Annual Conference of North American Taiwan Studies Association. UCSB. June 21-22, 2013.
10. “Animal-Human Analogy as an Expression of Nationalist Sentiments in Late-Qing Poetry: The Cross-Cultural Interaction of Darwinism with Chinese Philosophy and Classical Chinese Poetics.” The 16th Annual Harvard East Asia Society Graduate Student Conference. Harvard University. Feb 22-24, 2013.
11. “Cultural Encounter of Chinese Philosophy with Western Science and Philosophy: Yan Fu’s Transformation of Spencer’s Synthetic Philosophy,” in Globalization and Glocalization in China: Proceedings of the Leiden University Graduate Conference. Leiden: Stichting Shilin, 2012. P. 251-286. Conference Date: Sep 6-7, 2011.
12. 〈從「權力/知識」與「下層結構」論中西學「體用之辨」〉，《傳統與現代: 華人青年哲學會議論文集》。北京：北大哲學系，2010。(“Power/Knowledge and Infrastructure: Rethinking Zhang Zhidong’s Idea of ‘Chinese Essence and Western Practice,’” in Tradition and Modernity: Proceedings of Philosophy Conference for Young Chinese Scholars. Beijing: The Philosophy Department of Peking University, 2010. P. 244-256. Conference Date: Sep 11-12, 2010.
III. Conference: Other Fields
13. “Freudian Question and Cartesian Framework in Eric R. Kandel’s Neuroscientific Study of ‘Consciousness’ and ‘Unconsciousness.’” The 1st Sun Yat-sen University Workshop on Science and Philosophy for Young Scholars—The Phenomenon of the Mind in the Contemporary Language of Cognition (第一屆中山大學科學與哲學青年學者工作坊—當代認知語境下的心理表徵). Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou. Sep 15-16, 2018.
14. “The Narrative of Science Fiction and Detective Fiction in He Xi’s Darwin’s Trap: The Problems of Evolution, Ethics and Emotions in the Age of Technological Advancement”（〈何夕《達爾文陷阱》短篇小說集中的科幻手法與偵探敘事：科技發展下的「進化」、「倫理」與「情感」問題〉）. Conference on the Situation of Chinese Literature and the Change in Science Fiction in the Age of Technology (科技時代的中國文學狀況和科幻文學變革學術研討會). Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen. June 8-9, 2018.
Academic Talks
1. 〈严复《天演论》对赫胥黎《进化与伦理》之「荀学式」翻译〉。台湾大学哲学系。2020年11月9日。
“Yan Fu’s Xunzian-Confucian Translation of Thomas Huxley’s Evolution and Ethics in Tianyan lun.” Philosophy Department, National Taiwan University. Nov 9, 2020.
2. 〈世界读书日：如何阅读哲学巨擘劳思光先生《新编中国哲学史》？〉。香港中文学(深圳)图书馆。2020年4月23日。
“World Book Day: How to Read Academic Guru Lao Sze-kwang’s New Edition of the History of Chinese Philosophy?”. The University Library of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen. April 23, 2020.
3. 〈中西交织的学术系谱：严复思想与翻译中的先秦子学与宋代理学〉。台湾元智大学中国语文学系。2019年6月3日。
“Intertwined Western and Chinese Intellectual Thoughts: Pre-Qin Philosophy and Song Confucianism in Yan Fu’s Thought and Translation.” The Department of Chinese Literature and Linguistics. Yuan Ze University, Taiwan. June 3, 2019.
4. “The Animal-Human Boundary in Victorian Science, Socio-Political Thought and Science Fiction” (in English). Society of Fellows in Liberal Arts. Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China 南方科技大学「人文社会科学荣誉学会」, April 26, 2019.
5. 〈跨学科人文视野与英文学术写作〉。香港中文大学(深圳) 祥波书院。2019年4月20日。
“Interdisciplinary Humanities and English Academic Writing.” The Harmonia College. The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen. April 20, 2019.
6. “The Boundary-Crossing Interaction of Chinese Calligraphy with Classical Philosophy and Contemporary Art” (in English). Stanford-CUHKSZ Synergy. The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen. Sep 12, 2018.
Creative Writing (Classical Chinese Prose and Poetry)
1. 〈鲁句践〉与 〈李鸿章二首〉，选入《乾坤诗刊二十周年诗选》（2016)。页 123-124
“Lu Goujian” and “Li Hongzhang: Two Poems,” collected in Twenty-Year Collection of Chien Kun Poetry Quarterly (2016): P 123-124.
2. 〈送张、常、丘诸君〉五首，《乾坤诗刊》76 期 (冬季号2015)。页31
“Send Friends Off” (five poems), Chien Kun Poetry Quarterly 76 (Winter 2015). P 31.
3. 〈甲午战争六首〉，《乾坤诗刊》72 期 (冬季号2014)。页 28
“The War in the Jia-Wu Year: Six Poems,” Chien Kun Poetry Quarterly 72 (Winter 2014). P 28.
4. 〈无锡才女〉，《乾坤诗刊》69期 (春季号2014)。页 21
“A Versatile Girl from Wuxi,” Chien Kun Poetry Quarterly 69 (Spring 2014). P 21.
5. 〈咏荆轲六首并后记〉， 《乾坤诗刊》68 期 (冬季号2013)。页 29-30
“Praise of Jing Ke: Six Poems and an Epilogue.” Chien Kun Poetry Quarterly 68 (Winter 2013). P 29-30.
6. 〈浩气堂诗文集〉(含十二首古典诗)，《明德青年》（明德国中校刊）二十期 (1999)。 页76-81
“Haoqi Tang Collection of Poetry and Prose” (including twelve classical Chinese poems), in The Youth of the Mingde Junior High School 20 (1999): P 76-81.
