Prof. Ying Zhang, Ph.D.

Ying Zhang is Professor of Chinese History at Leiden University. She is a historian of late medieval and early modern China (14–18th c.) and is interested in exploring the history of Chinese political institutions, literati culture, and gender and family. Her current research is focused on examining the intersection of bureaucracy, law, and society in the Ming dynasty. She is the author of Religion and Prison Art in Ming China (1368–1644) and Creative Environment, Creative Prisoners (Brill 2020).

Ying Zhang is a member of Prof. Dr. Julia Burkhardt’s CAS Research Group “Femicide: Interdisciplinary Approaches to a Global Historical Phenomenon”. She will be in Munich as a Visiting Fellow in January and June 2026.