Professor Lawrence Zhang received his PhD from Harvard University in History and East Asian Languages in 2010, and a BA from Oberlin College in economics and history in 2001. Prior to joining HKUST he has taught at Bowdoin College as an assistant professor and was a post-doctoral fellow at the Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Hong Kong. Professor Zhang was born and raised in Hong Kong.

Research Interests

Late imperial and modern Chinese history; social mobility in China; office purchase in China; history of tea in East Asia.

Representative Publications

“A Foreign Infusion: The Forgotten Legacy of Japanese chadō in Modern Chinese Tea Arts.” Gastronomica February 2016.

“The Legacy of Success: Office Purchase and State-Elite Relationship in Qing China.” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 73:2, (Dec 2013), pp. 259-97.