Wan-yi Wu

Dr. Wan-yi Wu serves as Assistant Professor in the Department of Chinese Culture at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, where she has established herself as a leading expert in classical Chinese drama and theater history. Her research uniquely combines traditional scholarship with digital humanities methodologies to examine the evolution of Chinese theatrical traditions, particularly focusing on female theater and gender representation. After earning her doctorate, she has made significant contributions to understanding the development of female theater in Beijing during the early Republican period, earning the Best Paper Award in commemoration of Xu Fuguan for her groundbreaking work. Her research portfolio spans classical Chinese drama, theater history, and comparative studies of Japanese and Chinese classical drama, with particular emphasis on gender studies and women's roles in dramatic arts. Her current work explores the representation of female characters in classical Chinese drama from the late Qing to the early Republican period, utilizing innovative approaches that combine analysis of newspaper databases, record databases, and script collections. Through her teaching and research, she continues to illuminate the complex intersections of gender, performance, and cultural expression in Chinese theatrical traditions, while advancing the use of digital humanities approaches in traditional Chinese studies.