【29th Talk】Asst. Prof. Dr. En Li: “Betting on the Civil Service Examinations: The Lottery in Late Qing China”
Upcoming Event
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Introduction |
The twenty-nineth talk of the “Tan Lark Sye Lecture Series” will take place soon. This talk features Dr. Li En from The University of Texas at Dallas as main speaker. Dr. Li will deliver a presentation on the topic of the Weixing, or “surname guessing.” It was a highly organized lottery practice in China wherein money was bet on the surnames of which candidates would pass the civil and military examinations. For centuries, up until 1905, the examination system was the primary means by which the Chinese state selected new officials from all over the empire and a way for commoners to climb the social ladder. How was betting on the examinations possible and why did it matter? Opening with a weixing-related examination scandal in 1885, En Li reconstructs the inner mechanisms of weixing and other lottery games in the southern province of Guangdong. By placing the history of the lottery in a larger context, the speaker traces a series of institutional revenue innovations surrounding lottery regulation from the 1850s to the early 1900s, and depicts an expansive community created by the lottery with cultural and informational channels stretching among Guangdong, Southeast Asia, and North America. This research sheds light on a new reality that emerged during the final decades of China’s last imperial dynasty, with a nuanced understanding of competitions, strategic thinking by lottery players and public officials seeking to maximize revenues, and a global network of players. |
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Speaker |
Dr. Li En (Assistant Professor, Department of History, The University of Texas at Dallas) Dr. Li En holds a Ph.D. in History from Washington University in St. Louis and is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of History at The University of Texas at Dallas. His research interests focus on the social and cultural history of modern and contemporary China. He is the author of Betting on the Civil Service Examinations: The Lottery in Late Qing China (Harvard University Asia Center, 2023). In 2021, he was awarded the College of Arts and Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award at Drake University. Due to frequent inquiries from students about the rules of the ancient Chinese board game Shengguan Tu (a game related to the imperial examination system), Dr. Li is working on a book that will enable students in the U.S. to play Shengguan Tu and learn about the Chinese civil service system in the classroom. In his personal life, Dr. Li is also an enthusiast of Hawaiian dance. After performances, he often gets asked whether he is from Hawaii, which leaves him somewhat embarrassed. As a result, he is currently writing a book tracing the history of Hawaiian dance in China, starting from its introduction in 1920, noting that four generations of Chinese Hawaiian dancers have never been to Hawaii. |
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Moderator |
Dr. Lew Siew Boon (Assistant Professor at the International Education College of New Era University College) Dr. Lew received her PhD from the National University of Singapore and is currently an Assistant Professor at the Institute of International Education, New Era University College, as well as the Head of the International Academic Exchange Office. Her main research interests include folklore and folk culture, and the history of Chinese communities in Singapore and Malaysia. She has published several works, including Discovering the Goddess of Mercy in Swee Nyet Temple of Pulai, Kelantan and Hakka in China and Southeast Asia: Cross-Regional Field Work and Essays (co-authored). She has also published more than 20 academic papers. |
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Information |
Date: 29 May 2024 (Wednesday) |
Trailer (Video)
Lecture Postscript
The 29th session of the "Tan Lark Sye Lecture Series," organized by the Institute of International Education, New Era University College (IIE, NEUC) and the Tan Lark Sye Institute, was held on 29 May. The guest speakers for this event was Asst. Prof. Dr. En Li from the Department of History at the University of Texas at Dallas. It was attended by more than 110 people.
Dr. Li graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a degree in History and is currently an Assistant Professor in the History Department at The University of Texas at Dallas. Her research interests focus on the social and cultural history of modern China. She is the author of Betting on the Civil Service Examinations: The Lottery in Late Qing China (Harvard University Asia Center, 2023). In 2021, she received the Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award from the College of Arts and Sciences at Drake University.
This lecture was titled “Betting on the Civil Service Examinations: The Lottery in Late Qing China”. “Wei Xing” was a highly organized gambling activity in 19th-century China, where players bet on the surnames of scholars participating in the imperial civil service exams. The imperial examination system, which began in the Tang Dynasty and ended around 1905, was the primary means for selecting new officials. Dr. Li explained the betting process of "Wei Xing" and placed the history of lotteries within the broader context of late Qing China. She outlined how a civic community centered around lotteries developed, with the lottery also serving as a link between regions such as Guangdong and Chinese immigrants in Southeast Asia and North America. Through this lens of exams and gambling, the lecture provided a fresh perspective on late Qing society. The event was moderated by Assistant Professor Dr. Lew Siew Boon from NEUC. It received enthusiastic feedback, with the audience actively participating in the Q&A session and eagerly engaging in discussions.
