Dr Bo Xie

Bo Xie is an art historian who studies Daoist art, especially Chinese landscape paintings by Daoist artists.

Her other research field is the intellectual history of early medieval China, with a particular focus on the intellectual history as expressed in the symbolism of female from a religious perspective. 

Bo Xie received dual doctorate degree from Peking University and University of Pennsylvania. At both universities she specialized in the history of Daoist art and the intellectual history of early medieval China, respectively. Her research focuses on the intellectual and cultural history of early medieval China (pre-Tang Dynasty),  particularly in the aspects of art, philosophy, religion, and literature. Her approach emphasizes interdisciplinary perspectives.

She has been especially interested in the interaction between Daoist religious traditions and art history. In her first doctoral thesis, published in 2018),she proposed the concept of ‘the visualization of the Daoist Sacred Space’ which allowed for an original investigation of the spatial structure of Daoist landscape. Her current project, “The Ambivalence of Yin: The Transcendence of Females in Early Medieval China from the Perspectives of Religion and Literature,” which is being revised into a book manuscript, focuses on the multiple expressions of the female figure in early medieval Chinese transcendental practices, and explores the ambiguity in the symbol of yin (阴).

Through her collaboration with well-recognised Chinese artists in recent years, her research field has also expanded to issues in Chinese modern and contemporary sculptural art.

Daoist art history, early medieval Chinese intellectual history, and Chinese modern and contemporary sculptural practice.