Field of Research:

The ecology and economy of urban water supply: the history of Hangzhou and the West Lake from the Song to the Ming dynasties as seen from micro and macro historical perspectives.

Fields of Teaching and Research Interests:

• Economic and social history with a focus on the Tang, Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties.
• Environmental history.
• Agriculture, water engineering and management, and spatial economics.
• Regional and local history with a focus on China’s southeast, southwest, and northwest.
• Cultural history and cultural anthropology.
• Buddhism, China under Indian and Central Asian influences.

Biography:

Magister Artium (1982) and doctorate (1985) in Chinese, Indian, and Mongolian Studies at Munich University (LMU). Diploma in Geography and National Economy (1986) at Munich Technical University (TUM). Habilitation and venia legendi in Chinese Studies (1994) at Wuerzburg University. Since 2000 extraordinary professor at Wuerzburg University. Since 2021 DFG-research project at Munich University (LMU).