Kaijun Chen

Kaijun Chen is a Researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (MPIWG) in Berlin, specializing in the history of technology and literature of early modern China. He is affiliated with the Research Group China in the Global System of Science.

Education:

• PhD, Columbia University
• Visiting Fellow, Needham Research Institute, Cambridge
• Visiting Fellow, Academia Sinica, Taipei

Dr. Chen investigates the social and cultural history of handicraft in early modern China, with a primary focus on ceramic technology. His research examines epistemological frameworks underlying textualization, planning, and assessment in ceramic production. By integrating close reading of historical texts with material culture studies, he analyzes strategies in technological treatises, merchants' handbooks, and literary representations of craft. This work bridges history of science, material culture, and literary studies to reveal how technical knowledge was transmitted and culturally contextualized.

His interdisciplinary approach highlights the interplay between technological practice and socio-cultural expression in premodern China, emphasizing textual and visual documentation methods in artisanal knowledge systems.

At the MPIWG, Dr. Chen contributes to the Research Group China in the Global System of Science, which explores transnational integration of Chinese scientific traditions.