Professor John Y. Wong

DPhil (Oxon), F.R.Hist.S, FASSA, FAHA
Professor of Modern History
Postal address: c/o SOPHI Office A14, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia 2006
Location: Room 620, 6th floor, Brennan MacCallum Building (A18), Manning Road within the University campus

+61 2 9351 2856 (phone)
+61 2 9351 3918 (fax)

DX 1154

Professor Wong is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia as well as a Fellow of the Australia Academy of the Humanities. His life-long research on British imperialism is showcased in his Deadly Dreams: Opium, Imperialism, and the ‘Arrow’ War (1856-1860) in China (Cambridge hardback 1998, Paperback 2003 and 2008). An updated and greatly expanded Chinese version will be published in 2015.

His 'Limits of Naval Power: British Gunboat Diplomacy in China from the Nemesis to the Amethyst, 1839-1949', War and Society, v. 8, no. 2 (October 2000), pp. 93-120, is anthologised in Andrew Lambert (ed.), Naval History 1850-present (Aldershot, England; Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2007), vol. 1, pp. 13-40. (This anthology is part of a series entitled International Library of Essays on Military History, edited by Jeremy Black.)

His concern for China's fate will crystallise in his forthcoming four-volume tome on the founder of Modern China Sun Yatsen (1866-1925) in a rapidly Globalising world (1800-2024). This project is gradually built up on the basis of his independent studies, the latest of which being entitled Sun Yatsen before the Age of Thirty. Written in Chinese and published in Hong Kong at the height of the centennial celebrations in 2011 of the October 1911 Chinese National Revolution led by Sun Yatsen, it took China by storm. The influential Phoenix TV devoted the entire 8 minutes of a book-review program to it on 13 October 2011. Then feeling that he had not had enough of his say, the reviewer devoted another 8 minutes to it the next day. Chapter by chapter the reviewer pointed out how the book exposed the way orthodox Chinese historians had faked a Father of the Nation. Numerous Chinese-language bloggers relayed the review, probably as a silent protest against their drowning in fake milk, dying at the hands of fake doctors, feasting on fake birds-nests, etc,

The links to this two-part review are:

• Part 1
• Part 2

(Download Part 1, Part 2)

Despite all this, the censors granted permission for a Beijing edition of the book, which was published in March 2012. Not a word had been changed without Professor Wong’s permission - a sign of progress indeed - and Professor Wong used the opportunity to fine-tune his work further. The two editions made a total print run of 8,500.

At present, Professor Wong is writing a book tentatively entitled Sun Yatsen the Christian.

Books and articles

His books include:

The following are the publication details of some of the above. Those with (*) have been (or being) translated into Chinese. Those with (**) are written in Chinese:

1. 1976 * Yeh Ming-ch'en: Viceroy of Liang-Kuang (1852-8). Cambridge University Press, 1976 (xiv + 260 pp).

2. 1983 Anglo-Chinese Relations, 1839-1860: A Calendar of Chinese Documents in the British Foreign Office Records. Published for the British Academy by Oxford University Press, 1983 (xv + 398 pp).

3. 1986 * The Origins of An Heroic Image: Sun Yatsen in London, 1896-1897. Oxford University Press, 1986. (xxii + 330 pp).

4. 1998 * Deadly Dreams: Opium, Imperialism and the ‘Arrow’ War (1856-60) in China. Cambridge University Press, 1998 (xxvii + 542 pp).

5. 1998 ** The two Opium Wars and the Cession of Hong Kong. Taipei: Academia Historica, 1998 (iii + 574 pp).

6. 1998 ** The Truth about Sun Yatsen’s Kidnapping in London. Taipei: Lianjing, 1998 (vii + 315 pp).

7. 2005 ** Sun Yatsen and the British, 1883-1925. Taipei: Xuesheng shuju, 2005 (xi + 708 pp).

8. 2007 ** London and the Chinese Revolution: Exploring the London Origins of Sun Yatsen’s Three Principles, 1896-1897. Taipei: Lianjing, 2007 (xv + 598 pp).

9. 2011** Sun Yatsen before the Age of Thirty. Hong Kong: Chunghwa Book Company, 2011 (x +726 pp). The expanded and simplified Chinese character edition was published in Beijing by the Joint Publishing Company in April 2012.

10. In progress ** The Influence of Hong Kong on Sun Yatsen's Political Thinking

11. In progress A Rebel Nurtured: Sun Yatsen's British Education, 1866-1894

12. In progress A Change Achieved: Sun Yatsen's Old China, 1894-1911

13. In progress A Dream Shattered: Sun Yatsen's New China, 1912-1925

14. In progress A Vision Revived: Sun Yatsen's Future China, 1924-2024

In addition, Professor Wong has edited three books and published a total of fifty-one book-chapters and refereed articles in international journals.

Professor Wong has held visiting appointments at:

- The University of Cambridge

- Stanford University

- University of Hawaii

- Tokyo University

- Sun Yatsen University, Guangzhou

- Chengchi University, Taipei

- University of Hong Kong

- Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing

- Academia Sinica, Taipei

Every year, Professor Wong visits Europe, America and Asia regularly to collect the most up-to-date materials for both teaching and research.

Areas of teaching and research supervision

Professor Wong supervises research topics in the fields of:

- Modern and contemporary Chinese history (political, diplomatic, economic, military, social, legal, and cultural);
- International relations (Australia-China, America-China, Japan-China, Korea-China, Singapore-China, Vietnam-China, Africa-China, EU-China, Latin America-China, and Middle East–China relations);
- Imperialism (American, British, and Japanese);
- Colonialism (Hong Kong, Macao, Singapore, and Taiwan).

The honours and postgraduate seminars, which he teaches, include:

- Australia and the Afro-Asian World
- Democratisation in the Asia-Pacific
- Wealth and Power in Asia
- From Classical to Contemporary Confucianism
- 20th Century China.

His senior units of study include:

- HSTY2606 China in Crisis 1839-1911
- HSTY2621 China's Economy From Mao to Market
- HSTY2622 Opening China with Drugs and Cannon (This is research-led)
- HSTY2638 China's Wars 1921-present
- HSTY2639 Hong Kong: Spinning Gold Out of a Rock
- HSTY2640 Chinese Communism Rise and Transformation

Students should consult the University website to find out which of the above (and newly designed) seminars and senior units of study are being offered in any particular semester.