Fields of Interest
Biography
Liyao Chen's research cuts across the borders of linguistics, writing studies, and philology. He is particularly interested in the borrowing, adaptation, and application of Chinese writing in non-Chinese languages as well as the circulation and reception of Chinese-language texts in the East Asian "Sinographic Cosmopolis," the premodern cultural and literary community bound by the shared Sinographic script and a group of canonical texts.
His dissertation examines the relationship and interaction between Sinographic writing and the Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese languages from two major perspectives: (1). how these native languages are inscribed with the Sinographic script; (2). how Chinese-language texts are processed in these native languages. The first perspective deals with the techniques of script adaptation and character use in these languages in general and in specific texts. The second perspective focuses on the reading and glossing traditions aimed to facilitate the understanding of Chinese-language texts in these native languages. Overall, he hopes to present a panoramic view of the history of Sinographic writing in premodern East Asia.