Dr Christopher J Foster

Dr Christopher J Foster specializes in the intellectual history of China, focusing primarily on canonization processes and primary education. Chris received his A.B. from Dartmouth College, and both his A.M. and Ph.D. from Harvard University. His dissertation, "Study of the Cang Jie pian: Past and Present,” introduces the Cang Jie pian 蒼頡篇 – a foundational primary education work – and discusses the role it played in the spread of literacy during the Western Han period. His British Academy Postdoctoral project examines the use of native Chinese classical exegesis in the medieval Buddhist Yiqiejing yinyi 一切經音義 glossaries. Other interests include pre-modern Chinese manuscript culture; textual forgery and concepts of authenticity in East Asia (both in antiquity and today); the archaeology of the Han frontier; and on the lighter side, collecting fake Chinese Harry Potter books.