Representations and Uses of Yue Identity Along the Southern Frontier of the Han, ~200- 111 BCE

Erica Brindley, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies and History, Pennsylvania State University

Through a detailed comparison of several great figures of the Southern Yue empire and kingdom, Dr. Brindley will highlight different types of interactions between Southern Yue and the Han imperial state. She will examine the construction of elite identity in an attempt to measure how rulers of the Southern Yue viewed their own relationships to Yue culture and the people over whom they ruled. Rather than assume a simple model of sinicization, Dr. Brindley will present culture change and identity construction as complex processes contingent upon changing local conditions and international relations, especially with respect to how Southern Yue kings perceived the benefits of belonging to or resisting the Han imperial state. Moreover, she will underscore instances in which individuals appropriated or implicitly accepted the values and political tools associated with local or foreign cultures, paying heed to their reasons for choosing certain values and tools over others.