As another school year begins at UW-Milwaukee, the College of Letters & Science is excited to formally welcome Xin Yu as a member of the faculty. He has spent the last two years as a visiting assistant professor in the 51ÁÔÆæ History Department, but was promoted and is now officially an assistant professor of history. Say hello if you see him on campus!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Xin Yu – Assistant Professor, History<\/strong> Research focus<\/strong>: Research discoveries: <\/strong> Favorite class to teach:<\/strong> Fun fact:<\/strong> As another school year begins at UW-Milwaukee, the College of Letters & Science is excited to formally welcome Xin Yu as a member of the faculty. He has spent the last two years as a visiting assistant professor in the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":785,"featured_media":30236,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[1648,1956],"tags":[1859],"class_list":["post-30235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-focus","category-in-focus-2025","tag-september"],"yoast_head":"\n
PhD 2022, Washington University in St. Louis<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I study China\u2019s history from the 1100s all the way to the 1900s. Right now, I\u00a0am wrapping up a book on family genealogies, similar to family trees but with far more stories, rules, and ambitions behind them.\u00a0I\u00a0am also diving into the world of\u00a0fengshui<\/em>, exploring it not just as superstition, but as a way people connect ideas, nature, and everyday life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I found that\u00a0family genealogies were often \u201ccreatively edited.\u201d In premodern China, people sometimes re-wrote their family histories to make their lineage look more impressive. They would even start centuries-long disputes simply because their genealogies did not agree with each other.\u00a0It\u00a0is a reminder that no historical document is completely neutral; there\u2019s always a human story and a bit of drama behind it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hist 376 Modern China!\u00a0Students usually come in wanting to understand what\u00a0is happening in China today, but they leave with a richer picture of the last 400 years that shaped it. We have such lively discussions that I rarely make it through all my slides\u2014students\u2019 questions often lead us into the best tangents. It\u00a0is the kind of class that makes me excited to walk into the room every semester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am a bit obsessed with fengshui.\u00a0In case it is unfamiliar, fengshui refers to the belief that the arrangement of space\u2014whether in the placement of furniture, the design of houses, or the positioning of natural features such as mountains, rivers, and even tombs\u2014can influence one\u2019s life and well-being. I love to rearrange my office furniture just to see if the \u201cenergy flow\u201d feels better (my colleagues have probably noticed the ever-changing layout). On weekends, I love heading to my favorite Milwaukee beaches\u2014Lion\u2019s Den, Doctor\u2019s Park, and Grant Park. It\u00a0is not just because they\u00a0are beautiful; each one has a stream that flows into the lake. I can\u2019t help but play with the little channels in the sand where the water meets the lake, imagining I\u00a0am \u201credirecting\u201d the energy and giving the place a new fengshui.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"