How did maritime connectivity reconfigure the cultural boundaries of medieval East Asia? What is the role of seafaring ports in object mobility? This talk focuses on the ports of Ningbo in China and Hakata in Japan to see how the interwoven networks of monks and merchants active along this Ningbo-Hakata axis facilitated the artistic production and the circulation of art and artifacts across territorial boundaries during the period from around 1050 to 1250 CE.

Hsueh-man Shen’s work is focused on the art and material culture of medieval China, and is mostly concerned with materiality and object mobility. She is author of a recent book entitled Authentic Replicas: Buddhist Art in Medieval China (2019). Interested in positioning China on the atlas of world art, she is currently working on a book manuscript, tentatively titled Art, Space, and Mobility, to explore how maritime connectivity reconfigured the cultural boundaries of East Asia during the long twelfth century.