Litian Swen

About the Author

Litian Swen is a distinguished historian and author specializing in the intricate dynamics of early modern China and its global entanglements. With a PhD from Peking University, Swen has dedicated his career to unraveling the economic and cultural threads that wove the Qing Empire into the world stage. His seminal work, '康熙的红票：全球化中的清朝,' meticulously explores the role of red tickets—innovative financial instruments under Emperor Kangxi—in facilitating China's participation in global trade networks during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Drawing on archival sources from Beijing to Batavia, Swen illuminates how these mechanisms bridged imperial ambitions with emerging capitalist forces, challenging Eurocentric narratives of globalization. A professor at Tsinghua University, he continues to influence scholarly discourse through his incisive analyses and commitment to interdisciplinary approaches that blend history, economics, and anthropology.