Faculty Profiles - ZÜRN Tobias Benedikt | The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Tobias Benedikt ZÜRN
陶全恩

PhD in Chinese Studies
University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2016

Assistant Professor
Division of Humanities

(852) 2358 7806
hmtzuern@ust.hk
Room 3343
Personal Web

Google Scholar

z1bWsG8AAAAJ

ORCID

0000-0002-8508-763X

ResearcherID

GFD-6867-2022

Scopus ID

57208124994

Research Interest Publications Projects Teaching Assignment RPG Supervision

Research Interest

Chinese literature
Zhuangzi
Literary theory and cultural criticism
Taoism
Religious studies
Media, visual and verbal culture

Publications

All Years 23 2026 3 2025 5 2024 5 2023 2 2022 2 2021 0 2020 6

2026 3

The Huainanzi and the Creation of Lao-Zhuang in the Western Han

Paper presented at Innovation in Daoist Traditions, Kowloon, Hong Kong
ZÜRN, Tobias Benedikt
Conference paper

The Huainanzi’s Intertextual Design as a Literary Strategy to Create a Cosmicized and Powerful Textual Embodiment of the Way

Paper presented at 26th biennial conference of the European Association for Chinese Studies (EACS 2026), Venice, Italy
ZÜRN, Tobias Benedikt
Conference paper

What is Chinese Philosophy? An Alternative Perspective

Paper presented at Book Symposium on Michael Beaney’s The Joy of Chinese Philosophy, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong
ZÜRN, Tobias Benedikt
Conference paper

2025 5

Reading Texts as Bodies: Object Agency in the Age of Human Empowerment

Method and Theory in the Study of Religion, v. 37, (2), p. 162-179
Zürn, Tobias Benedikt
Article

“Dehumanization: The Huainanzi’s Eradication of Identity and Selfhood as Necessary Means to Becoming a Sage”

Paper presented at The 5th Biennial Conference of the European Association for Chinese Philosophy, Reykjavík, Iceland
ZÜRN, Tobias Benedikt
Conference paper

Carnal Reading and the Dissection of Bodies in Hanshan Deqing’s (1546–1623) Buddhist Commentary on the Zhuangzi

Paper presented at 2025 Modern Language Association (MLA) Annual Convention (MLA 2025), New Orleans, United States
ZÜRN, Tobias Benedikt
Conference paper

Intertextuality as a Source for Reconstructing Pre-Commentarial Readings of Early Classics: The Huainanzi’s Vision of the Zhuangzi

Paper presented at Literary Forms and Epistemic Aims in Early Chinese Philosophical Texts, Zurich, Switzerland
ZÜRN, Tobias Benedikt
Conference paper

The Huainanzi as a Wheel: Ecclecticism

Paper presented at Contemplating the Figures of Ideas: Imageries, Metaphors, and Rhetoric in Premodern China, Tuen Mun, Hong Kong
ZÜRN, Tobias Benedikt
Conference paper

2024 5

Dehumanizer: The Huainanzi’s Practical Regime to Generate Formless, Inactive, and Unwise Rulers

Paper presented at 25th World Congress of Philosophy, Rome, Italy
ZÜRN, Tobias Benedikt
Conference paper

Re-Creating the Zhuangzi into a Political Tool: The Huainanzi’s Western Han Reading of the Proto-Daoist Classic

Paper presented at 25th Biennial Conference of the European Association of Chinese Studies (2024), Tallinn, Estonia
ZÜRN, Tobias Benedikt
Conference paper

Text/Bodies: The Huainanzi’s Construction as a Powerful Scripture of the Way

Paper presented at “The Waves that Follow: New Books in Chinese Philosophy” , Beijing, China
ZÜRN, Tobias Benedikt
Conference paper

The Butterfly Dream, Desires, and Regression Therapy: South Park’s ‘Insheeption'

Paper presented at Zhuangzi Month, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong
ZÜRN, Tobias Benedikt
Conference paper

Zhuangzi Comics

Paper presented at “Teaching Workshop: Chinese Philosophy and World Philosophy”, Beijing, China
ZÜRN, Tobias Benedikt
Conference paper

2023 2

The Practice of Erasing Traces in the Huainanzi

The Craft of Oblivion / State University of New York Press, 2023, p. 181-213
Zürn, Tobias Benedikt
Book chapter

Reconstructing the Huainanzi’s Western Han Reception of the Extant Zhuangzi

Paper presented at Zhuangzi Month, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong
ZÜRN, Tobias Benedikt
Conference paper

2022 2

Reception History and Early Chinese Classics

Religions, v. 13, (12), article number 1224
Zürn, Tobias Benedikt
Article

The Paradox of Being: Truth, Identity, and Images in Daoism [Book review]

History of Religions, v. 62, p. 362
Zürn, Tobias Benedikt
Article

2020 1

The Han Imaginaire of Writing as Weaving: Intertextuality and the Huainanzi 's Self-Fashioning as an Embodiment of the Way

Journal of Asian Studies, v. 79, (2), p. 367-402
Zürn, Tobias Benedikt
Article

2018 1

OVERGROWN COURTYARDS AND TILLED FIELDS: IMAGE-BASED DEBATES ON GOVERNANCE AND BODY POLITICS IN THE MENGZI, ZHUANGZI, AND HUAINANZI

Early China, v. 41, p. 297-332
Zürn, Tobias Benedikt
Article

2017 1

Yin-Yang

World Book Encyclopedia 2017 / World Book Inc., 2017,
Zürn, Tobias Benedikt
Book chapter

2016 2

The Resurrected Skeleton: From Zhuangzi to Lu Xun [Book review]

Journal of Chinese Religions, v. 44, p. 84-86
Zürn, Tobias Benedikt
Article

Seng Qixu 僧契虛

Tang Dynasty Tales: A Guided Reader Volume 2 / World Scientific Publishing Co., 2016, p. 365-424
Zhang, Du; Zürn, Tobias Benedikt
Book chapter

2015 1

The Huainanzi and Textual Production in Early China [Book review]

Daoism: Religion, History, and Society=道教研究學報 : 宗教, 歷史與社會, v. 7
Zürn, Tobias Benedikt
Article

Conference paper 3

The Huainanzi and the Creation of Lao-Zhuang in the Western Han

Paper presented at Innovation in Daoist Traditions, Kowloon, Hong Kong
ZÜRN, Tobias Benedikt

The Huainanzi’s Intertextual Design as a Literary Strategy to Create a Cosmicized and Powerful Textual Embodiment of the Way

Paper presented at 26th biennial conference of the European Association for Chinese Studies (EACS 2026), Venice, Italy
ZÜRN, Tobias Benedikt

What is Chinese Philosophy? An Alternative Perspective

Paper presented at Book Symposium on Michael Beaney’s The Joy of Chinese Philosophy, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong
ZÜRN, Tobias Benedikt

Article 1

Reading Texts as Bodies: Object Agency in the Age of Human Empowerment

Method and Theory in the Study of Religion, v. 37, (2), p. 162-179
Zürn, Tobias Benedikt

Conference paper 4

“Dehumanization: The Huainanzi’s Eradication of Identity and Selfhood as Necessary Means to Becoming a Sage”

Paper presented at The 5th Biennial Conference of the European Association for Chinese Philosophy, Reykjavík, Iceland
ZÜRN, Tobias Benedikt

Carnal Reading and the Dissection of Bodies in Hanshan Deqing’s (1546–1623) Buddhist Commentary on the Zhuangzi

Paper presented at 2025 Modern Language Association (MLA) Annual Convention (MLA 2025), New Orleans, United States
ZÜRN, Tobias Benedikt

Intertextuality as a Source for Reconstructing Pre-Commentarial Readings of Early Classics: The Huainanzi’s Vision of the Zhuangzi

Paper presented at Literary Forms and Epistemic Aims in Early Chinese Philosophical Texts, Zurich, Switzerland
ZÜRN, Tobias Benedikt

The Huainanzi as a Wheel: Ecclecticism

Paper presented at Contemplating the Figures of Ideas: Imageries, Metaphors, and Rhetoric in Premodern China, Tuen Mun, Hong Kong
ZÜRN, Tobias Benedikt

Conference paper 5

Dehumanizer: The Huainanzi’s Practical Regime to Generate Formless, Inactive, and Unwise Rulers

Paper presented at 25th World Congress of Philosophy, Rome, Italy
ZÜRN, Tobias Benedikt

Re-Creating the Zhuangzi into a Political Tool: The Huainanzi’s Western Han Reading of the Proto-Daoist Classic

Paper presented at 25th Biennial Conference of the European Association of Chinese Studies (2024), Tallinn, Estonia
ZÜRN, Tobias Benedikt

Text/Bodies: The Huainanzi’s Construction as a Powerful Scripture of the Way

Paper presented at “The Waves that Follow: New Books in Chinese Philosophy” , Beijing, China
ZÜRN, Tobias Benedikt

The Butterfly Dream, Desires, and Regression Therapy: South Park’s ‘Insheeption'

Paper presented at Zhuangzi Month, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong
ZÜRN, Tobias Benedikt

Zhuangzi Comics

Paper presented at “Teaching Workshop: Chinese Philosophy and World Philosophy”, Beijing, China
ZÜRN, Tobias Benedikt

Book chapter 1

The Practice of Erasing Traces in the Huainanzi

The Craft of Oblivion / State University of New York Press, 2023, p. 181-213
Zürn, Tobias Benedikt

Conference paper 1

Reconstructing the Huainanzi’s Western Han Reception of the Extant Zhuangzi

Paper presented at Zhuangzi Month, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong
ZÜRN, Tobias Benedikt

Article 2

Reception History and Early Chinese Classics

Religions, v. 13, (12), article number 1224
Zürn, Tobias Benedikt

The Paradox of Being: Truth, Identity, and Images in Daoism [Book review]

History of Religions, v. 62, p. 362
Zürn, Tobias Benedikt

Article 1

The Han Imaginaire of Writing as Weaving: Intertextuality and the Huainanzi 's Self-Fashioning as an Embodiment of the Way

Journal of Asian Studies, v. 79, (2), p. 367-402
Zürn, Tobias Benedikt

Article 1

OVERGROWN COURTYARDS AND TILLED FIELDS: IMAGE-BASED DEBATES ON GOVERNANCE AND BODY POLITICS IN THE MENGZI, ZHUANGZI, AND HUAINANZI

Early China, v. 41, p. 297-332
Zürn, Tobias Benedikt

Book chapter 1

Yin-Yang

World Book Encyclopedia 2017 / World Book Inc., 2017,
Zürn, Tobias Benedikt

Article 1

The Resurrected Skeleton: From Zhuangzi to Lu Xun [Book review]

Journal of Chinese Religions, v. 44, p. 84-86
Zürn, Tobias Benedikt

Book chapter 1

Seng Qixu 僧契虛

Tang Dynasty Tales: A Guided Reader Volume 2 / World Scientific Publishing Co., 2016, p. 365-424
Zhang, Du; Zürn, Tobias Benedikt

Article 1

The Huainanzi and Textual Production in Early China [Book review]

Daoism: Religion, History, and Society=道教研究學報 : 宗教, 歷史與社會, v. 7
Zürn, Tobias Benedikt

2020 1

The Han Imaginaire of Writing as Weaving: Intertextuality and the Huainanzi 's Self-Fashioning as an Embodiment of the Way

Journal of Asian Studies, v. 79, (2), p. 367-402
Zürn, Tobias Benedikt
Article

2018 1

OVERGROWN COURTYARDS AND TILLED FIELDS: IMAGE-BASED DEBATES ON GOVERNANCE AND BODY POLITICS IN THE MENGZI, ZHUANGZI, AND HUAINANZI

Early China, v. 41, p. 297-332
Zürn, Tobias Benedikt
Article

2017 1

Yin-Yang

World Book Encyclopedia 2017 / World Book Inc., 2017,
Zürn, Tobias Benedikt
Book chapter

2016 2

The Resurrected Skeleton: From Zhuangzi to Lu Xun [Book review]

Journal of Chinese Religions, v. 44, p. 84-86
Zürn, Tobias Benedikt
Article

Seng Qixu 僧契虛

Tang Dynasty Tales: A Guided Reader Volume 2 / World Scientific Publishing Co., 2016, p. 365-424
Zhang, Du; Zürn, Tobias Benedikt
Book chapter

2015 1

The Huainanzi and Textual Production in Early China [Book review]

Daoism: Religion, History, and Society=道教研究學報 : 宗教, 歷史與社會, v. 7
Zürn, Tobias Benedikt
Article

No Publications

Teaching Assignment

2026-27 Fall 1 2025-26 Summer 0 2025-26 Spring 1 2025-26 Winter 0 2025-26 Fall 2 2024-25 Summer 0

HUMA2401

Global Science Fiction: An Interdisciplinary Approach

HUMA4221

Chinese Classics and Their Reworking in Various Media Around the Globe

HUMA5301	The Zhuangzi and its Multimedia Reception in China and Beyond
SHSS4991	Capstone Project

No Teaching Assignments

Research Postgraduate (RPG) Supervision

From January 2023 to December 2026 (As of 10 September 2026)

Current RPGs

Doctor of Philosophy

LI, Langyixuan
Humanities

Master of Philosophy

HE, Xinyu
Humanities
ZHOU, Liping
Humanities

Projects

From January 2024 to December 2026

All Projects 1

No Projects.
Intertextuality as Cultural Texture: An Interdisciplinary Approach

互文性作為文化交織：一種跨學科方法 Leading

Germany / Hong Kong Joint Research Scheme
Project Team (HKUST)
ZÜRN Tobias Benedikt (Lead)
2026 -

Research Interest

Publications

2026 3

2025 5

2024 5

2023 2

2022 2

2020 1

2018 1

2017 1

2016 2

2015 1

Conference paper 3

Article 1

Conference paper 4

Conference paper 5

Book chapter 1

Conference paper 1

Article 2

Article 1

Article 1

Book chapter 1

Article 1

Book chapter 1

Article 1

2020 1

2018 1

2017 1

2016 2

2015 1

Teaching Assignment

Research Postgraduate (RPG) Supervision

From January 2023 to December 2026 (As of 10 September 2026)

Current RPGs

Projects

From January 2024 to December 2026

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