Ryan Choi
Thesis title: Collaborationism in Wartime Hong Kong: The Cultural Production of Hanjian (Traitors) under Japanese Occupation, 1941–1945
PhD supervisors:
Background
Ryan Choi is a PhD candidate in Chinese Studies. Prior to arriving at the University of Edinburgh, he completed his master's degree in Chinese Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. He holds dual bachelor’s degrees from the University of Hong Kong, where he was awarded the Ho Chuk Ping Prize and the Poon Siu Poon Prize in Chinese Literature. During his undergraduate studies, he participated in exchange programmes at Fudan University in 2016 and at Harvard College through the Harvard Undergraduates in Asia Program (HUAP) in 2017.
In 2024, Ryan was a visiting scholar at the Hong Kong History Centre, University of Bristol. He is currently a research affiliate with the ‘TRAMEVIC: Transnational War-time Memories in East Asian Visual Culture’ project at the University of Valencia.
Qualifications
MA, Chinese Studies, SOAS University of London, 2020.
BA & BEd, Chinese and Language Education, University of Hong Kong, 2019.
Responsibilities & affiliations
Member of the British Association for Chinese Studies (BACS)
Member of the European Association for Chinese Studies (EACS)
Member of the Spanish Association of East Asian Studies (Asociación Española de Estudios de Asia Oriental, AEEAO)
Undergraduate teaching
Tutor in Modern East Asian History B
Tutor in Modern China in Literature and Film B
Current research interests
Ryan Choi's research examines the notion of hanjian (漢奸) primarily within the framework of the Japanese occupation of East Asian regions, specifically Hong Kong, as well as its legacy in the post-war period following Japan’s surrender. His current research focuses on the textual and visual materials produced by Hong Kong’s cultural collaborators, such as Ye Lingfeng and Lu Mengshu, who oversaw major publications during the occupation. He conducts primary source research in Chinese and Japanese.Past research interests
Ryan Choi’s previous research interests have centred on the study of Sinophone literature, with a particular focus on modern and contemporary writings from Hong Kong and Taiwan.Current project grants
2024–2026 PhD Research Grant, 'TRAMEVIC: Transnational War-time Memories in East Asian Visual Culture', Valencia Research Council & University of Valencia (Ref. CIGE/2023/066)
Past project grants
2024 Visiting Scholar Scheme, Hong Kong History Centre at University of Bristol
Papers delivered
‘Rethinking the Man-Eaters of Twentieth-Century East Asia: Literary Cannibalism as a Decolonisation Strategy', IV Congress of the Spanish Association of East Asian Studies, University of Granada, 4-6 June 2025 (accpeted).
‘From Sakura to Crap: Lu Mengshu's Kuso Realism and the Unmasking of Occupied Hong Kong’, British Postgraduate Network for Chinese Studies Annual Conference, University of York, 5 June 2024.
〈日占香港時期文學的合作通敵：論葉靈鳳《書淫艷異錄》〉，第三十屆「金聲研討會」，台灣：國立中央大學，2023 年10 月21 日。(‘Collaboration and Collusion: A Study of Ye Lingfeng's Bibliophile’s Records of the Erotic and the Strange‘, National Central University, Taiwan, 21 October 2023.)
'Collaborationist Literature in Wartime Hong Kong: Ye Lingfeng’s Role as a Literary Producer under Japanese Occupation (1941–1945)', British Association for Chinese Studies Annual Conference, King’s College London, 8 September 2023.