- GAS Initiative
GAS Lecture Series
The Remarkable Commissioner Lin: An Old Tale Retold
| Date and Time | April 25, 2025 (Fri), 10:00-11:30 AM (JST) |
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| Venue | Conference Room 1 (304), Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, University of Tokyo Online (Zoom) |
| Title | The Remarkable Commissioner Lin: An Old Tale Retold |
| Speaker | David G. Atwill (Professor of History, New York University Shanghai) David G. Atwill is Dean of Arts and Sciences and Professor of History at New York University Shanghai. A historian of 19th and 20th China, Tibet and Islam in Asia, Dr. Atwill’s work examines the complex intersection of ethnicity, religion and politics. He has carried out oral and archival research across three continents in five languages, and the recipient of numerous fellowships, including the Wilson Center for Scholars, the Mellon Foundation, and twice served as a Fulbright scholar. Professor Atwill has published multiple monographs including The Panthay Rebellion: Islam, Ethnicity, the Dali Sultanate, 1856-73 (Verso 2023), and Islamic Shangri-La: Inter-Asian Relations and Lhasa’s Muslim Communities, 1600 to 1960 (University of California, 2018). His current research has focused on Lin Zexu, a Chinese imperial official largely known for his role in the Opium War (1839-42) to be published with Oxford University Press in 2026. |
| Discussant | Sebastian Veg, Professor, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, University of Tokyo |
| Chair | Pattajit Tangsinmunkong, Assistant Professor, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, University of Tokyo |
| Language | English |
This event is held both online and in-person and please register using the form below. Also, if you will join online, please finish registering for the Zoom link in Google form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScjH90z5E_RyNvx8MTE4kU-qnxMIElC3ZZFuR3vcQu-QexRng/viewform
The Remarkable Commissioner Lin Zexu: An Old Tale Retold Hand-picked by the emperor from among the empire’s best and brightest officials, Lin arrived in the southern coastal city of Guangzhou in March 1839 to serve as Imperial Commissioner on Opium Affairs. Within three months, he confiscated and destroyed nearly 3 million pounds of opium and by the end of the year persuaded the emperor to issue an edict renewing the ban on all opium trade and production in China. And yet most accounts suggest, Lin was “conservative,” “antagonistic,” and hopelessly unworldly. In this talk, Professor. Atwill (NYU Shanghai) explores the ways Lin’s tactics to end the opium trade, the ways the British attempted to justify their actions, and the manner in which Lin was unceremoniously banished to Xinjiang have often obscured and twisted the historical treatment of the man himself.
| Organizer: | GAS Initiative at Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia (IASA), University of Tokyo |
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| Contact: | gas[at]ioc.u-tokyo.ac.jp |