Liu Yikun 刘弋鲲

Education

• Since 09 / 2021: PhD candidate, School of Foreign Languages, Peking University
• 07 / 2021: Master of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies (Advanced), The Australian National University
• 06 / 2018: Bachelor of Arts in Persian, Shanghai International Studies University

Research interests

• Interactions between China, Iran and Central Asia, especially in the 15-16th centuries
• Persian geographical and travel literature
• Persian manuscripts

Title: China in a 15-16th century Persianate perspective —— the transmission of geographical knowledge, its imperatives, pathways and later impact

This PhD thesis aims to explore the knowledge of China among communities in the 15-16th centuries which used Persian/Farsi a major language or at least used it in writing. It seeks to identify the factors that contributed to the formation and accumulation of their knowledge, by discussing the imperatives behind the interaction of the Persianate world with China, and with a closer look to the very process of their interaction. Also, this thesis wishes to discuss the impact that 15-16th century Persianate understandings of China caused in later centuries.