Professor Liu’s research focuses on the dynamic relationship between vernacular literature and religion in late imperial China. His current book project, The Way of Darkness and Light: Daoist Divine Women in Pre-Modern Chinese Fiction, takes an interdisciplinary approach to Chinese literature, religion, and gender studies, investigating how late imperial Chinese fiction and drama popularized Daoist goddess cults that would otherwise have been marginalized or forgotten. Before joining Rutgers, Dr. Liu taught several courses at Columbia University as a teaching scholar. In the same way that interdisciplinary insights enrich his research, one of his goals in teaching is to help students break down existing disciplinary and cultural boundaries.
Humanities
- Peng LIU
- Research Interests: Fiction and Drama in Late Imperial China, Chinese Buddhist Hagiographies, Daoist Magic
