Academic Report “Being the Lord: Chinese History from a Perspective of Relationship” by Xudong Hou

　　On November 20th, IWH invited Professor Xudong Hou, Chair of the History Department, Tsinghua University, to give a lecture entitled “Being the Lord: Chinese History from a Perspective of Relationship.” Professor Hou is an expert on Southern and Northern Dynasties of ancient Chinese history. In the report, he tried to follow the chronological sequence and utilized excavated texts to reconstruct the meaning of “being the lord” based on the relationship between individuals, as well as between people and events or objects. In this perspective, the meaning of “being the lord” could be both simplex and complex. Professor Hou’s research on the word “lord” provides a new method in the study of Chinese history.