Chinese research

Chinese Studies at the University of Leeds has a proud legacy dating back to 1963 with visionary scholar Professor Owen Lattimore. From a bold new venture, it has grown into one of the world’s most respected centres for the study of China and Chinese-speaking regions, past and present.

Today, we are a vibrant, multi-disciplinary community where language, culture, and society come together. At the heart of our work is a global team of scholars and postgraduate researchers, whose diverse perspectives and experience enrich teaching and research. Chinese language has always been central to our work, guiding contextually rich, language-based research that explores the creativity, diversity, and complexity of China and the wider Sinophone world.

Our research is organised around three interconnected themes:

• Language, Literature, and Cultural Expression – exploring Chinese voices, creativity, and imagination through fiction, translation, cinema, and popular culture.
• Belief, Society, and Civic Life – examining how values, politics, religion, and social practices shape Chinese thought, community, and development.
• Communities, Heritage, and Cultural Continuities – highlighting oral traditions, ethnic and diaspora experiences and cultural practices that connect China’s past and present.

At Leeds, we aim to understand China in all its richness and complexity, producing knowledge that resonates locally and globally.