The Centre for China Studies was pleased to host Assistant Professor Sijia Yao from Soka University of America on December 11, 2025, for a seminar titled “Bodily Pain in Contemporary Chinese Love Cinema.” Moderated by the Director Prof. Carole Hang-fung Hoyan, this talk was Prof. Yao’s transitional research project since the last publication, “Cosmopolitan Love: Utopian Vision in D. H. Lawrence and Eileen Chang” (2023). Drawing on the contemporary Chinese love film “Teeth of Love” (2007), Prof. Yao unveiled how bodily pain simultaneously symbolizes the state violence against romantic love in Socialist China and an opportunity for insights into intimate relationships.
Prof. Yao’s analysis invited in-depth discussions among participants on relevant subjects, such as “Scar Literature”, the notion of illness, cinematography, and gender perspective in films and TV dramas. We thank Prof. Yao and all attendees for contributing to lively academic exchanges.
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Group photo #1 (from left to right):
– Mr. Shentao Zhuang (BA student), Dr. William Moriarty (Lecturer), Prof. Carole Hoyan (Director and Professor), Prof. Sijia Yao (Speaker), Dr. Yunwen Gao (Lecturer), Ms. Jiawen Wu (MPhil student), Mr. Xu Hua (PhD student)
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