Tu Haowen 凃皓文

Education:
B.A., Southwest University
M.A., National University of Singapore

Research interests:
Classical Chinese poetry (From Ming and Qing Dynasty to the 20th Century); Sinophone Classicism; Study of Sichuan's Culture

Self-Introduction:
I am a native of Chongqing and have studied in Singapore for the past three years. My research examines classical Chinese literature and culture from the late Ming–Qing period through the twentieth century. At NUS, exposure to Sinophone studies and locally grounded research frameworks has led me to bring contemporary Sinophone practice into dialogue with classical culture and with the literary traditions of my home region, the Upper Yangtze. I am currently investigating how women’s classical reading practices in Qing China shaped literary production.

Thesis Advisor: A/P Lam Lap

Thesis Title: Fengya in the Inner Chamber: Talented Women’s Book of Songs’ Reading and Their Literary Practice in Qing Dynasty (tentative)

Thesis Research Area:
My research explores how talented women of the Qing dynasty grounded their creative work in the authority of the Confucian classics—especially through their readings of the Book of Songs (Shijing)—to secure legitimacy and produce poetry that met mainstream literary expectations. At the same time, drawing on shijiao (the doctrine of poetry as moral instruction), they pursued subtle, covert forms of transgression rather than merely conforming to orthodox norms.