Fan Zhang

Fan Zhang specializes in art and material culture of Early Medieval China (4th to the 6th century CE), with an emphasis on the transcultural interaction between East Asia, Central Asia, and Northeast Asia through and beyond the Silk Road network. Her research probes into the construction of identities in the process of cultural exchange, the cross-continental movement of objects and people, the entanglement between art, humans, and the environment, as well as the intersection between funerary art and Buddhist art.

Her current book project, A Center on the Border: Migration, Ethnicity, and Cosmopolitanism in Fifth-Century Chinese Art, focuses on visual and material remains associated with immigrants to Pingcheng, the capital of the Northern Wei dynasty. By examining mural paintings, architectural models, and artefacts excavated from tombs of immigrants, her book explores how those who were underrepresented in textual records used works of art to articulate their identities in a multi-ethnic society.

She is a core faculty member of Asian Studies Program and an affiliated faculty member of the Medieval and Early Modern Studies Program (MEMS) at Tulane. Her teaching encompasses a diverse range of subjects, including East Asian art, Silk Road studies, Chinese funerary art, Buddhist art, and women and gender. Her research has been funded by the Institute for Advanced Studies, Awards to Louisiana Artists and Scholars, the Asia-Pacific Center of Chinese Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and the International Center for Studies of Chinese Civilizations at Fudan University, among others.

Professor Zhang is on research leave from Fall 2025 to Fall 2026.

Publications

“Dipankara Stele in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Patronage, Provenance, and Politics.” Orientations vol. 55, no.1 (2024): 21–28.

“Silver Cup from Baekje Royal Mausoleum of King Muryeong and the Queen: Sino-Korean Cultural Interaction During the Fifth and Sixth Centuries從百濟武寧王及王后陵出土銅托銀盞看五至六世紀的中韓文化交流.” Asia-Pacific Art 亚太艺术 [Yatai Yishu] vol.4 (2024): 14–26. (In Chinese)

“Funerary Art in China. 1. Introduction; 3. Murals and Other Paintings.” Grove Art Online. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2024.

“Silver Handled Cup: Syncretism, Materiality, and Banquets in Northern Wei (386–5342CE) Art.” Artibus Asiae, Vol.82, No. 1 (2022): 5–26.

“Xianbei Zoomorphic Plaques: Art, Migration, and Human-Environment Entanglement.” Arts, Special Issue “The Zoomorphic Arts of Ancient Central Eurasia” 11 (2022): 129.

“Contextualizing Inkstone from Datong: Stationery and Writing Practice During the Northern Dynasties大同南郊遺址出土石雕方硯的情境化研究.” Palace Museum Journal故宮博物院院刊, No. 2 (2022):55–69. (In Chinese)

“Thirteenth-century Persian Lustre Bowl with Zodiac Signs from the Perspective of Art History.” Encyclopedia of the Global Middle Ages. London: Bloomsbury Academic, Bloomsbury Medieval Studies, 2021.

“Revisiting the Music-playing Image in Song Shaozu’s Tomb: Interaction Between Pingcheng and the Hexi Region During the Northern Wei Period宋紹祖墓奏樂圖再議——兼論北魏時期平城與河西地區的互動.” Dunhuang Research敦煌研究, No. 6 (2020): 48–57. (In Chinese)

“Things on the Move: Material Culture and Connectivity in Ancient China.” International Institute of Asian Studies Newsletter, No.86, Summer 2020.

“Chinese-Buddhist Encounter: Synthesis of Fuxi-Nüwa and the Cintamani in Early Medieval Chinese Art.” Asian Studies, Vol. 7, No. 2 (2019), 87–111.

“The Dotted Pattern: Visual Representation and Social Significance of Fur in East Asia.” In NMK 2015 Museum Network Fellowship Research Papers, 26–42. Seoul: National Museum of Korea Press, 2015.

“Silverware Across the Sea: Maritime Network and Artistic Exchange Between China and Korea During the Early Medieval Period.” In Materiality of Sino-Foreign Maritime Cultural Exchange, edited by Ward, S. Liu, Y. & Walker-Vadillo, V. Amsterdam: Brill, 2025. (Forthcoming)

“Banqueting in the Northern Wei: A Study on Hand Gestures, Wine Glass, and Grape Wine北魏宴飲的異域性: 以持杯手勢、酒杯與葡萄酒為例.”International Journal of Eurasian Studies 歐亞學刊 (Forthcoming).