Lecturer and PhD candidate at the Department of Chinese Studies, University of Tübingen.

Academic Career
Studies

• 2020-2023 Ph.D. student at Heidelberg Centre of Transcultural Studies
• 2019 M.A. in Transcultural Studies, University of Heidelberg
• 2015 B.A. in History, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou

Research

• 2019  Student assistant in the project "Early Chinese Periodicals Online", University of Heidelberg and Academia Sinica Digital Centre
• 2014-15 Research assistant in the research project “From Canton to Guangzhou, Urban Renewal and Spacial Politics in a south China City”, HKIHSS, University of Hong Kong

Teaching

• WS 24/25 Reading Class “Healing through Reading: Themes and Genres of Medical Texts”
• SoSe 24 Übung “Schriftsprache der Gegenwart”
• WS 23/24 Übung “Introduction to the Chinese Language and Sinology”
• WS 21/22, WS 22/23 Tutorial "Basic Research Skills"
• WS 18/19 Tutorial "Introduction to Transcultural Studies"

Research Focus
Zheng Xinyu's research interests revolve around history of science, technology and medicine and intellectual history. Her doctoral dissertation examines how the theory of Phases and Influences (yunqi 運氣) draws macrocosmic and microcosmic knowledge together in the field of medicine. It sets out to study the discourses of the system per se, as well as how, under the epistemic crisis, physicians updated the model with innovations and new applications. By analyzing medical writings, ranging from monographs to primers and situating them into concrete social and intellectual contexts, the research aims to reveal the intricacy of knowledge making in Late Imperial China.