Between Court and Workshop: Craft, Knowledge, and Production in the Ryukyu Islands

BuYun Chen
Assistant Professor
Department of History
Swarthmore College

For centuries, the Ryukyu islands occupied a central position as an entrepôt in the early modern world, facilitating the movement of goods between east Asia and southeast Asia. This talk explores how materials and practices circulated across the seas, the ways by which skills and techniques were mobilized in local systems of production, and the forms in which craft knowledge was systematized.

BuYun Chen is a historian who specializes in the history of textile production, fashion, and craft technology in premodern China. She is author of a recent book on the history of fashion during the Tang dynasty, titled Empire of Style: Silk and Fashion in Tang China (University of Washington Press). Her current research explores how the circulation of raw materials, finished goods, and technical knowledge between China, Japan, and Southeast Asia shaped local craft practices.