About

I specialize in classical Chinese literature of the Tang, Five Dynasties, and Northern Song eras. My particular interests include literary history and the emergence of new literary genres and styles in late medieval China; the sociology of literature; and the role of emotions in classical literature. My first book, Crafting a Collection: The Cultural Contexts and Poetic Practice of the Collection from among the Flowers (Huajian ji), published by the Harvard Asia Center, examined the emergence of the song lyric in a path-breaking anthology. My recent book, One Who Knows Me: Friendship and Literary Culture in Mid-Tang China, explores the literary performance of friendship in ninth-century China through a wide range of genres, including letters, prefaces, exchange poetry, and funerary texts. Other recent and forthcoming publications investigate emotions in medieval letters; the compilation of anthologies of Tang literature in the Northern Song; and the cultural influence of Tang dynasty anecdote collections. I’ve served as President of the T’ang Studies Society since 2011, and I am an editorial board member of the Library of Chinese Humanities Chinese-English translation series, published by De Gruyter. Before coming to Princeton, I taught at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, where I served both as Director of the Honors College (2007-2011) and as associate professor in the Dept. of Modern Languages, Linguistics, and Intercultural Communications (2007-2015), and at the University of Arizona (1999-2006). I’m currently working on a new book that traces the shaping of the Tang dynasty literary legacy during the Five Dynasties and Northern Song.

Education

PhD Indiana University (1998), MA Harvard University (1990), BA Washington University in St. Louis (1987)

Publications

One Who Knows Me: Friendship and Literary Culture in Mid-Tang China (Harvard Asia Center, 2015)

Crafting a Collection: The Cultural Context and Poetic Practice of the Collection from among the Flowers (Huajian ji) (Harvard Asia Center, 2006)

Blog Posts

    Memberships

    Association for Asian Studies, T’ang Studies Society (president), American Oriental Society, Modern Languages Association

    Anna Shields

    Profile picture of Anna Shields

    @ashields

    Active 4 years, 5 months ago