Recapping the World History Seminar “Istanbul and Venice: The Politics of Information in the Early Modern City” on 18 March 2025

On 18 March 2025, Prof. Fillippo de Vivo from the University of Oxford was invited by the Centre for Comparative and Public History, Department of History to deliver an online lecture entitled “Istanbul and Venice: The Politics of Information in the Early Modern City”. Prof. de Vivo challenged the technological determinism among historians and the Weberian dichotomy of Muslim and Christian cities. By comparing the political, religious, and technological conditions in early modern Istanbul and Venice, he pointed out that despite their different political structures, both Venice and Istanbul demonstrated remarkably parallel approaches to information control, governmental secrecy, and social stratification in their handling of political information. Both cities developed sophisticated governmental information systems, including councils for decision-making (Venice’s Collegial and Istanbul’s Divan), extensive diplomatic networks, and complex systems for collecting and managing information. Both cities prioritized governmental secrecy and developed specialized archives and document management systems. Socially, both cities were multilingual, multi-faith metropolises ruled by elites who controlled political information, supported by networks of intelligence professionals and informers. Prof. de Vivo concluded that the defining development of the Early Modern Age was neither triumphant propaganda nor the rise of the press and unfettered public sphere, but the increasing competition for information amongst a plurality of different social and political groups.

Recapping the Public Lectures on History and Business in China 2024-25 Delivered by Prof. Elisabeth KÖLL on 20 March and 21 March 2025

With the support of the Eminence History Department Fund of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Department invited Prof. Elisabeth Köll, the William Payden Collegiate Chair, Department Chair and Professor of the Department of History, the University of Notre Dame, as the keynote speaker to deliver two public lectures for “The Public Lectures on History and Business in China 2024-25”.

The first lecture was held on 20 March at Cho Yiu Conference Hall in CUHK and moderated by Prof. PUK Wing Kin, with the theme “Credit, Loans, and Collateral: Informal Financial Institutions in Modern China from a Global Perspective”. Prof. Köll presented her ongoing research on the history of pawnshops in China, spanning from the imperial era to the contemporary period, from the perspectives of comparative and global history. Pawnshops, which served as a crucial form of informal finance globally, played a particularly significant role in shaping China’s credit and loan practices, especially from their heyday during the Qing dynasty onward. These institutions engaged in both profit-oriented and charitable activities across urban and rural areas. By comparing Chinese pawnshops with similar informal financial institutions in regions like East Asia, Europe, North America, and Latin America, Prof. Köll encouraged scholars to reassess the functioning of Chinese pawnshops throughout history. She emphasized that while these institutions never evolved into Western-style banking systems, they shared notable functional similarities with modern banks, such as providing credit and managing collateral.

The second lecture was held on 21 March at the Hong Kong Central Library and moderated by Prof. CHEUNG Sui Wai, entiltled “Who Needs a Bank Anyway? Going to the Pawnshop in Early 20th-Century China”. Prof. Köll examined the role of pawnshops in cities such as Guangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing, and Hong Kong during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, emphasizing their significance as informal financial hubs. She explained how these institutions offered credit against a wide range of collateral, from luxury goods to daily essentials, catering to diverse social groups. Prof. Köll also analysed the business networks, adaptability, and regulatory environment of pawnshops, drawing on examples from Hong Kong and mainland China to highlight their lasting impact on China’s economic landscape and modern informal finance.

Workshops for the First-Year RPg Students 2024-25

For enquiry, please call 3943 7448.

1st Annual Graduate Student International Colloquium

Our department is pleased to announce its 1st Annual Online Graduate Student International Colloquium. Themed “Trends, Issues, and Problems”, the event is organized by our graduate students for graduate students.

Providing a new platform for MA, MPhil, PhD, and recently graduated researchers to share their innovative research ideas and findings, the event also provides opportunity to engage in critical discussions regarding the current state of Southeast Asian and Chinese historical studies.

For more information, please visit our website: https://www.history.cuhk.edu.hk/newsarticle/agsic-1.

For teachers and students who have information to share with the Department, please email your articles in both Chinese and English to chanfiona@cuhk.edu.hk by 4:00pm every Monday.