This user has been editing Wikipedia for more than 15 years. |
This user participates in WikiProject East Asia. |
This user is a participant in WikiProject China. |
This user is a member of the Chinese military history task force of WikiProject Military history. |
This user is a participant in the Christianity in China work group |
This user participates in WikiProject Film. |
This user is a participant in WikiProject Religion. |
This user is a participant in WikiProject History. |
This user is a participant in WikiProject Novels. |
This user has published peer-reviewed articles in academic journals. |
This user is a participant in WikiProject United States. |
This user participates in WikiProject Books. |
This user participates in WikiProject Biography. |
This user is a participant of WikiProject Bibliographies. |
This user is a professional historian. |
This user is a participant in WikiProject Chinese history. |
This user is a member of the Association of Inclusionist Wikipedians.
The motto of the AIW is conservata veritate, which translates to "with the preserved truth". |
I am a long time student, teacher, and scholar of China who joined Wikipedia in 2006. I have published books, reviews, and articles in the field, as well as articles in some half dozen encyclopedias, including Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopedia of Asian-American History, Encyclopedia of Modern China (Scribners), and Berkshire Encyclopedia of China. I have lived in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Japan and traveled widely in mainland China and Asia. My graduate school training was in Modern China, but I have taught at universities in the United States and East Asia on topics covering the range of East Asian history, including Chinese and Japanese film.
The experiences which inspire me the most, however, are teaching undergraduates, working with secondary school teachers, and giving talks to the public. When I work on a Wikipedia article, I try to make it accessible to people like these rather than impressive to other professionals, who can look at the deeper references themselves. In any case, one great feature of Wikipedia is the nested or branched structure which encourages more and more detailed information in linked articles.
Many academic colleagues do not respect or trust Wikipedia, and I have to sympathize with them. Too many articles are rambling, unbalanced, unruly, or sourced with strange items.
The excitement is the smart and dedicated editors who spend care and vast energy. I enthusiastically support the Wikipedia spirit that gives no preference to "authorities." On the Internet, Nobody Knows That I'm a Dog -- or a senior in high school or a PhD. You have to prove your case. Often there is a challenging discussion in which I try to make my views known and convince people. If I can't, it's probably because: 1) I'm wrong. 2) I haven't thought through my points clearly enough to explain them convincingly, or 3) I need to give my fellow editors a little more time.
Although I have started well over one-hundred articles, most of my work has been to edit and develop existing articles One set of articles and edits deals with Americans who lived in China [1], scholars who wrote about China [2], and books about China. Another interest is Chinese literature, which intrigues me more and more.
Some observations:
Top ten contributors or ten or more substantive edits
* = articles created
Burning of books and burying of scholars
Chinese Maritime Customs Service
Chinese Industrial Cooperatives*
Diligent Work-Frugal Study Movement*
History of the Chinese Communist Party
History of the Republic of China
Military history of China before 1911
New Rural Reconstruction Movement *
Official Communications of the Chinese Empire*
Red Lanterns (Boxer Uprising)*
Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan
Rural Reconstruction Movement*
Sacred Edict of the Kangxi Emperor
Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War *
Bible translations into Chinese
Bianwen (transformation texts) *
A Brief History of Chinese Fiction *
How to Cook and Eat in Chinese *
Illustrious Words to Instruct the World
Napoleon's "China is a sleeping giant" quote*
Wen fu *
Oberlin Shansi Memorial Association
US–China Peoples Friendship Association*