Lianbin Dai

Dr. Lianbin Dai is an Honorary Affiliate Lecturer in the Department of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia (UBC), part of the Faculty of Arts. He specializes in the cultural and social history of late imperial China (1368–1911). Before joining UBC, he held teaching and research positions at the University of Victoria, University of Alberta (2015–2017), Harvard University (2013–2014), and the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin (2012).

His research focuses on Neo-Confucian learning, knowledge culture, book culture, textual scholarship, and state-society interactions. Current projects include a study on Republican lay Buddhist Jiang Weinong (1872–1938) and his influence on Buddhist activism in Modern China, sponsored by the Kiang family and integrated into the FROGBEAR Initiative under Professor Jinhua Chen’s supervision.

Dr. Dai’s recent publications include articles on Kaifeng Jewry’s biculturalism in the Ming state and textual criticism practices in traditional China. He is co-editing Chinese Statecraft: Political Theory and Administrative Practice in Ming China (Cambridge University Press, 2025) and has a monograph under review titled Knowledge Culture in Late Imperial China: The Neo-Confucian Practicality of the Humanities.

His education includes a D.Phil. from the University of Oxford (2013), MA from UBC (2004), and BA from Nankai University (1992).