# Publications Download 18 citations download- [BibTeX](/bibcite/export?pager_style=standard_pager&number_of_items=20&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters=&&&format=bibtex) - [EndNote X3 XML](/bibcite/export?pager_style=standard_pager&number_of_items=20&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters=&&&format=endnote8) - [EndNote 7 XML](/bibcite/export?pager_style=standard_pager&number_of_items=20&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters=&&&format=endnote7) - [Endnote tagged](/bibcite/export?pager_style=standard_pager&number_of_items=20&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters=&&&format=tagged) - [Marc](/bibcite/export?pager_style=standard_pager&number_of_items=20&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters=&&&format=marc) - [PubMedId](/bibcite/export?pager_style=standard_pager&number_of_items=20&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters=&&&format=pubmed_id) - [RIS](/bibcite/export?pager_style=standard_pager&number_of_items=20&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters=&&&format=ris) ### Forthcoming Thomas Kelly. “[Writing Evanescence: Pan Zhiheng’s Essays on Acting](/publications/writing-evanescence-pan-zhihengs-essays-acting)”. In The Sensorium of the Early Modern Chinese Text, edited by Suyoung Son, Pieter Keulemans, and Ariel Fox. Ithaca: Cornell University Press Thomas Kelly. “[Writing Evanescence: Pan Zhiheng’s Essays on Acting](/publications/writing-evanescence-pan-zhihengs-essays-acting)”. In The Sensorium of the Early Modern Chinese Text, edited by Suyoung Son, Pieter Keulemans, and Ariel Fox. Ithaca: Cornell University Press Thomas Kelly. “[Pu Songling’s Things](/publications/pu-songlings-things)”. In Approaches to Teaching Liaozhai, edited by Rania Huntington and Roland Altenburger. Modern Language Association of America Thomas Kelly. “[Pu Songling’s Things](/publications/pu-songlings-things)”. In Approaches to Teaching Liaozhai, edited by Rania Huntington and Roland Altenburger. Modern Language Association of America 2026. [物与铭：早期现代中国的书写与物质性 ](/publication/wuyumingzaoqixiandaizhongguodeshuxieyuwuzhixing). Nanjing: Jiangsu renmin chubanshe 江苏人民出版社 2026. [物与铭：早期现代中国的书写与物质性 ](/publication/wuyumingzaoqixiandaizhongguodeshuxieyuwuzhixing). Nanjing: Jiangsu renmin chubanshe 江苏人民出版社 ### 2026 2026. “[The Forger’s Creed: Reinventing Art History in Early Modern China, by J.P. Park](https://brill.com/view/journals/tpao/112/1-2/article-p247_9.xml)”. T’oung Pao, 112, 1-2, Pp. 3 2026. “[The Forger’s Creed: Reinventing Art History in Early Modern China, by J.P. Park](https://brill.com/view/journals/tpao/112/1-2/article-p247_9.xml)”. T’oung Pao, 112, 1-2, Pp. 3 Thomas Kelly. 2026. “[Distance: The Story of the Western Wing and Early Modern Chinese Media Landscapes](/publication/distance-story-western-wing-and-early-modern-chinese-media-landscapes)”. In A Cultural History of Media in the Renaissance, edited by Helen Smith, 3:Pp. 23. London: Bloomsbury Thomas Kelly. 2026. “[Distance: The Story of the Western Wing and Early Modern Chinese Media Landscapes](/publication/distance-story-western-wing-and-early-modern-chinese-media-landscapes)”. In A Cultural History of Media in the Renaissance, edited by Helen Smith, 3:Pp. 23. London: Bloomsbury ### 2025 Thomas Kelly. 2025. “[The Unfinished Manuscript: A Poetics of Incompletion in the Ming-Qing Transition ](https://brill.com/view/journals/tpao/111/5-6/article-p690_5.xml)”. T’oung Pao, 111, 5-6, Pp. 59 Thomas Kelly. 2025. “[The Unfinished Manuscript: A Poetics of Incompletion in the Ming-Qing Transition ](https://brill.com/view/journals/tpao/111/5-6/article-p690_5.xml)”. T’oung Pao, 111, 5-6, Pp. 59 - add\_circle do\_not\_disturb\_on Abstract What makes a manuscript unfinished? Qian Qianyi’s 錢謙益(1582–1664) *Collection of My Own Roast* (*Wu zhi ji* 吾炙集) reveals the significance of the “unfinished book” (*wei wan zhi shu* 未完之書) as a concept in Qing literature. I show how readers approached the... Thomas Kelly. 2025. “[Affective Impressions in Biographies of Seal Carvers](https://www.paragonbook.com/pages/books/45935/jeehee-hong-wu-hung/affect-and-materiality)”. In Materiality and Affect: Emotion in Chinese Art, edited by Wu Hung and Jeehee Hong. Chicago: Art Media Resources Thomas Kelly. 2025. “[Affective Impressions in Biographies of Seal Carvers](https://www.paragonbook.com/pages/books/45935/jeehee-hong-wu-hung/affect-and-materiality)”. In Materiality and Affect: Emotion in Chinese Art, edited by Wu Hung and Jeehee Hong. Chicago: Art Media Resources Thomas Kelly. 2025. “[Book Burning and Early Modern Chinese Literature: The Case of Dong Tuo (1620–1686)](/publication/book-burning-and-early-modern-chinese-literature-case-dong-tuo-1620-1686)”. Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews, 47 Thomas Kelly. 2025. “[Book Burning and Early Modern Chinese Literature: The Case of Dong Tuo (1620–1686)](/publication/book-burning-and-early-modern-chinese-literature-case-dong-tuo-1620-1686)”. Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews, 47 - add\_circle do\_not\_disturb\_on Abstract - [ picture\_as\_pdfBook Burning (2025).pdf](/sites/g/files/omnuum3411/files/2026-03/2.03_Book%20Burning%20%282025%29%20%281%29.pdf) How might the deliberate destruction of writing be understood as an act of literary expression? Amid the upheavals of the Ming-Qing transition, prominent Chinese writers set fire to their manuscripts (together with their inkstones, brushes, and wooden... - [ picture\_as\_pdfBook Burning (2025).pdf](/sites/g/files/omnuum3411/files/2026-03/2.03_Book%20Burning%20%282025%29%20%281%29.pdf) ### 2024 Thomas Kelly. 2024. “[The Substance of Fiction: Literary Objects in China, 1550–1775, Written by Sophie Volpp](https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/732570)”. The Sixteenth Century Journal: The Journal of Early Modern Studies, 55, 3/4, Pp. 4 Thomas Kelly. 2024. “[The Substance of Fiction: Literary Objects in China, 1550–1775, Written by Sophie Volpp](https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/732570)”. The Sixteenth Century Journal: The Journal of Early Modern Studies, 55, 3/4, Pp. 4 Thomas Kelly. 2024. “[The Crying Statue in Early Qing Drama](https://read.dukeupress.edu/jclc/article-abstract/11/1/115/388346/The-Crying-Statue-in-Early-Qing-Drama?redirectedFrom=fulltext)”. Journal of Chinese Literature and Culture, 11, 1, Pp. 115–147 Thomas Kelly. 2024. “[The Crying Statue in Early Qing Drama](https://read.dukeupress.edu/jclc/article-abstract/11/1/115/388346/The-Crying-Statue-in-Early-Qing-Drama?redirectedFrom=fulltext)”. Journal of Chinese Literature and Culture, 11, 1, Pp. 115–147 - add\_circle do\_not\_disturb\_on Abstract - [ picture\_as\_pdfkelly\_crying\_statue.pdf](/sites/g/files/omnuum3411/files/tpkelly/files/kelly_crying_statue.pdf) Should the theatrical fantasy of a statue coming to life involve an actor performing the role of a thing, or a prop taking the place of a human? Proceeding from contests between Hong Sheng 洪昇 (1645–1704) and acting troupes over the staging of the “Crying... - [ picture\_as\_pdfkelly\_crying\_statue.pdf](/sites/g/files/omnuum3411/files/tpkelly/files/kelly_crying_statue.pdf) ### 2023 Thomas Kelly. 2023. [The Inscription of Things: Writing and Materiality in Early Modern China](https://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-inscription-of-things/9780231209632), Pp. 368. New York: Columbia University Press Thomas Kelly. 2023. [The Inscription of Things: Writing and Materiality in Early Modern China](https://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-inscription-of-things/9780231209632), Pp. 368. New York: Columbia University Press - add\_circle do\_not\_disturb\_on Abstract Why would an inkstone have a poem inscribed on it? Early modern Chinese writers did not limit themselves to working with brushes and ink, and their texts were not confined to woodblock-printed books or the boundaries of the paper page. Poets carved lines... Thomas Kelly. 2023. “[Impressions of Loss: Writing and Memory in Biographies of Seal Carvers](https://www1.ihp.sinica.edu.tw/storage/publish5L/03_Asia_36.1,_Kelly_NEWJune16-compressed.pdf)”. Asia Major, 36, 1, Pp. 1-52 Thomas Kelly. 2023. “[Impressions of Loss: Writing and Memory in Biographies of Seal Carvers](https://www1.ihp.sinica.edu.tw/storage/publish5L/03_Asia_36.1,_Kelly_NEWJune16-compressed.pdf)”. Asia Major, 36, 1, Pp. 1-52 - add\_circle do\_not\_disturb\_on Abstract - [ picture\_as\_pdf03\_asia\_36.1\_kelly.pdf](/sites/g/files/omnuum3411/files/tpkelly/files/03_asia_36.1_kelly_newjune16.pdf) This essay reconsiders the literary significance of Zhou Lianggong’s 周亮工 (1612–1672) *Yinren zhuan* 印人傳 (Biographies of Seal Carvers; 1673), not as an anthology of “biographies” but as a sophisticated effort to use seals as conceptual tools with which to... - [ picture\_as\_pdf03\_asia\_36.1\_kelly.pdf](/sites/g/files/omnuum3411/files/tpkelly/files/03_asia_36.1_kelly_newjune16.pdf) ### 2021 Thomas Kelly. 2021. “[The Inscription of Remnant Things: Zhang Dai’s ’Twenty-Eight Friends’](https://muse.jhu.edu/article/796765/pdf)”. Late Imperial China, 42, 1, Pp. 1-43 Thomas Kelly. 2021. “[The Inscription of Remnant Things: Zhang Dai’s ’Twenty-Eight Friends’](https://muse.jhu.edu/article/796765/pdf)”. Late Imperial China, 42, 1, Pp. 1-43 - add\_circle do\_not\_disturb\_on Abstract - [ picture\_as\_pdfinscription\_of\_remnant\_th...](/sites/g/files/omnuum3411/files/tpkelly/files/tk-inscription_of_remnant_things.pdf) This essay investigates literary approaches to objects in the wake of dynastic transition by examining Zhang Dai’s (1597–1684?) inscriptions on his family’s possessions. Zhang exploits the formal conventions of inscription (*ming*)—“praise” and “admonition”... - [ picture\_as\_pdfinscription\_of\_remnant\_th...](/sites/g/files/omnuum3411/files/tpkelly/files/tk-inscription_of_remnant_things.pdf) Thomas Kelly. 2021. “[Riddles in Jin Ping Mei ](https://doi.org/10.1215/23290048-9299671)”. Journal of Chinese Literature and Culture, 8, 2, Pp. 341–370 Thomas Kelly. 2021. “[Riddles in Jin Ping Mei ](https://doi.org/10.1215/23290048-9299671)”. Journal of Chinese Literature and Culture, 8, 2, Pp. 341–370 - add\_circle do\_not\_disturb\_on Abstract - [ picture\_as\_pdfriddles\_in\_jin\_ping\_mei.p...](/sites/g/files/omnuum3411/files/tpkelly/files/kelly_riddles_in_jin_ping_mei.pdf) Jin Ping Mei cihua 金瓶梅詞話 (Plum in the Golden Vase) displays an unprecedented interest in breaking apart and reassembling the components of words. This essay asks where the Cihua edition's fascination with character manipulation (a procedure the author... - [ picture\_as\_pdfriddles\_in\_jin\_ping\_mei.p...](/sites/g/files/omnuum3411/files/tpkelly/files/kelly_riddles_in_jin_ping_mei.pdf) ### 2020 Thomas Kelly. 2020. “[The Death of an Artisan: Su Shi and Ink Making](https://muse.jhu.edu/article/835992)”. Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 80, 2, Pp. 315–346 Thomas Kelly. 2020. “[The Death of an Artisan: Su Shi and Ink Making](https://muse.jhu.edu/article/835992)”. Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 80, 2, Pp. 315–346 - add\_circle do\_not\_disturb\_on Abstract - [ picture\_as\_pdf04\_80.2\_kelly.pdf](/sites/g/files/omnuum3411/files/tpkelly/files/04_80.2_kelly.pdf) Su Shi’s endorsement of an enigmatic artisan named Pan Gu as “the Ink Immortal” adumbrates the Chinese cultural valorization of ink production during and after the Song period. I parse the poet’s two-part effort to transform ink making into a legitimate... - [ picture\_as\_pdf04\_80.2\_kelly.pdf](/sites/g/files/omnuum3411/files/tpkelly/files/04_80.2_kelly.pdf) ### 2019 Thomas Kelly. 2019. “[Paper Trails: Fang Yongbin and the Material Culture of Calligraphy](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-chinese-history/article/abs/paper-trails-fang-yongbin-and-the-material-culture-of-calligraphy/D8B3BCF77D6AAFB3A23303D192EA05D2)”. Journal of Chinese History (Special Issue: History of Material Culture), 3, 2, Pp. 325–362 Thomas Kelly. 2019. “[Paper Trails: Fang Yongbin and the Material Culture of Calligraphy](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-chinese-history/article/abs/paper-trails-fang-yongbin-and-the-material-culture-of-calligraphy/D8B3BCF77D6AAFB3A23303D192EA05D2)”. Journal of Chinese History (Special Issue: History of Material Culture), 3, 2, Pp. 325–362 ### 2018 Thomas Kelly. 2018. “[Design by the Book: Chinese Ritual Objects and the Sanli Tu, Written by François Louis](https://brill.com/view/journals/eaps/8/1/article-p99_99.xml?language=fr)”. East Asian Publishing and Society , 8, 1, Pp. 99–103 Thomas Kelly. 2018. “[Design by the Book: Chinese Ritual Objects and the Sanli Tu, Written by François Louis](https://brill.com/view/journals/eaps/8/1/article-p99_99.xml?language=fr)”. East Asian Publishing and Society , 8, 1, Pp. 99–103 ### 2013 Thomas Kelly. 2013. “[Putting on a Play in an Underworld Courtroom: The ‘Mingpan’ (Infernal Judgment) Scene in Tang Xianzu’s Mudan Ting (Peony Pavilion)](https://muse.jhu.edu/article/749228/pdf)”. CHINOPERL: Journal of Chinese Oral and Performing Literature , 32, 2, Pp. 131–155 Thomas Kelly. 2013. “[Putting on a Play in an Underworld Courtroom: The ‘Mingpan’ (Infernal Judgment) Scene in Tang Xianzu’s Mudan Ting (Peony Pavilion)](https://muse.jhu.edu/article/749228/pdf)”. CHINOPERL: Journal of Chinese Oral and Performing Literature , 32, 2, Pp. 131–155 - [ picture\_as\_pdfputting\_on\_a\_play\_in\_an\_u...](/sites/g/files/omnuum3411/files/tpkelly/files/putting_on_a_play_in_an_underworld_court.pdf) - [ picture\_as\_pdfputting\_on\_a\_play\_in\_an\_u...](/sites/g/files/omnuum3411/files/tpkelly/files/putting_on_a_play_in_an_underworld_court.pdf)