October 9, 2026

Early China Seminar Lecture Series

The seminar will be in a hybrid mode. Remote attendees will be able to access seminar presentations online via Zoom. The Q&A sessions, however, will only be available to those who attend in person.

Title: “Manufacturing Early China (MERCH): A Multi-disciplinary Investigation into the Rise, Development and Impacts of Mass Production in Early China”
Speaker: Roderick Campbell, New York University
Time: October 9, 2026 (4:30-6:30 PM EST)
Venue: 403 Kent Hall and Zoom

**Please use the ‘Request Pre-circulated Paper’ link to RSVP by October 3 . All visitors without a CUID are required to receive pre-authorization to gain access to Morningside campus as per guidelines of Columbia Morningside campus access. Attendees must present a government-issued ID with their name matching exactly the name registered for the event, along with an one-time QR code (via email), for entry.

While it is widely accepted among scholars of Early China that mass production characterized several industries, or at least parts of them by the end of the first millennium BCE, this fact has not been accorded the historical importance it deserves. Among economic historians, mass production is widely recognized to have played a role in sweeping economic, political and social changes but is also seen as strictly a modern, post-Industrial Revolution phenomenon. If mass-production did exist in Early China it is reasonable to expect that it had a potentially large impact on economic, political and social developments. The MERCH project will explore these issues. Why did mass production arise in the first place? How did it develop over time? What were its economic, social and political impacts? This talk will sketch out the fundamental questions, approaches and potential sources of the MERCH project.