Overview
Zhihong Chen was trained in three countries and in three different fields: She received her BA in German Language and Linguistics from Beijing Foreign Language College, and her first MA in International Studies from Beijing Normal University. She then received her second MA and Dr. Phil. in International History and Sinology from Cologne University in Germany. She also completed an MS. Ed in College Teaching concentrating on Chinese language teaching at SIU in the US.
She has maintained an active research, writing, and translation agenda. In 2000, She published her book Die China-Mission Michail Borodins bis zum Tod Sun Yatsens - Ein Beitrag zur sowjetischen Chinapolitik in den Jahren 1923-1925 (Mikhail Borodin's China Mission up to the Death of Sun Yat-sen: A Study of Soviet Policy toward China, 1923-1925) in Germany. With the support of multi-archival and multi-source research, she is working on a comprehensive study on Borodin's mission in China (1923-1927) in both English and Chinese languages. In addition, she has published a Chinese-English bilingual book on studies of real-world business cases entitled When China meets the World: Bilingual Business-Finance Cases (by Oxford University Press, 2019), an accomplishment of her efforts at developing the instructional materials for the Business Chinese teaching in the past decade at Cornell.
Her current teaching duties fall in three areas: "Reading and Viewing Modern China" is designed to teach graduate students and qualified undergraduate how to conduct Chinese language research on topics of Modern Chinese History; "Business Chinese in Global Context" (parts I and II), joint-listed with Johnson Graduate School of Management (JGSM) as MBA courses under International Management, aims to help students, including those from the professional schools, develop oral, written and socio-linguistic skills they will need to function successfully in their future careers; and "Readings in Chinese History and Business Culture" is designed to further improve students' Chinese proficiency in a business history and transcultural context and is especially helpful for the CAPS majors/minors and any other students who will need to prepare themselves well for their study in China.
Courses offered in Fall 2024:
NBA6150 (cross-college joint-listed with CHIN 3309/5509): Business Chinese in Global Context I
https://apps.johnson.cornell.edu/johnsonclasslist/
CAPS 4406 (cross-listed with CHIN 4406/6606): Readings in Chinese History and Business Culture
http://caps.cornell.edu/courses
Research Focus
- Modern Chinese History
- Sino-Soviet Relations in the 1920s
- Chinese Foreign Policy
- Chinese Business Language and Culture
- Chinese Business Case Studies
Publications
Books and Articles:
- "Revisiting the China-Mission of Mikhail Borodin,1923-1927: In Light of New Chinese and Russian Documentations," The Chinese Historical Review (by Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, a fully refereed and vigorously edited journal of history and social sciences), Volume 30, Number 1, May 2023, pp.1-16. *This has been the most read article in the issue. To read it, please click on the title of the article or click on the publisher's link below:
- https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/TNYWPDIISNKZ6RWZJFRR/full?target=10.1080/1547402X.2023.2191359
• When China Meets the World: Bilingual Business-Finance Cases, Oxford University Press, 2019, 251 pp.
To see the table of contents and preview the preface click on the following link of the publisher's page:
https://www.oupchina.com.hk/en/general-interest/humanities/business-finance
To access the book reviews, listen to the audio files of the book or get the purchase info click on the following link:
https://wp.nyu.edu/chinameetstheworld/
· “Philip Kuhn and Origins of the Modern Chinese State,” co-authored with Chen Jian, Kaifang Shidai (Open Time, a leading intellectual forum in China), no. 7, 2012, pp. 140-158.
· “Mikhail Borodin,” in Linsun Cheng, Kerry Brown et al. eds. Berkshire Encyclopedia of China, Gt Barrington, MA: Berkshire Publishing Group, LLC, 2009, pp. 192-193.
· “A New Point of Departure in Business Chinese Teaching,” American Review of China Studies, vol. 5, no. 12 (Spring and Fall 2004), pp. 109-117.
· Die China-Mission Michail Borodins bis zum Tod Sun Yatsens – Ein Beitrag zur sowjetischen Chinapolitik in den Jahren 1923-1925 (Mikhail Borodin’s China Mission up to the Death of Sun Yat-sen: A Study of Soviet Policy toward China, 1923-1925), Hamburg, Muenster and London: Lit Verlag, 2000, 323 pp.
Translated Books and Documents
From English to Chinese:
- A Classic-Chinese version of Origins of the Modern Chinese State, by Philip A. Kuhn (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2002), co-trans. with Chen Jian, published by Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press of Hong Kong, 2014, 231 pp., with a "Translators’ Preface to the Hong Kong Edition.” (*This is also a more complete version as several places that were deleted or altered because of “political reasons” in the mainland China version have been restored in this version.)
- A simplified version of Origins of the Modern Chinese State, by Philip A. Kuhn (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2002), co-trans. with CHEN Jian, simplified version published by Beijing: Sanlian Shudian (DSX Joint Publishing, one of the most well-known publishers in China), 2013, 150 pp.
After the translated book’s publication, it has won the following recognitions and awards:
1) Nominated as one of the five “Best Translations of the Year” by Phoenix Network.
2) Nominated as one of the five “Most Influential Books” in Social Science and History by Xinhua Network.
- “Vietnam’s Place in the Transformation of the Cold War: Some Reflections on the Domino Theory,” by Fredrik Logevall, in Lengzhan guoji shi yanjiu (Cold War International History Studies, Beijing: Shijie zhishi) XI (Summer 2011), pp. 1-17.
- “The Chinese Communist ‘Liberation’ of Tibet, 1949-1951,” by Chen Jian, in Zhou Jierong (Jeremy Brown)、Bi Kewei (Paul G. Pickowicz) eds. Shengli de Kunjing: Zhonghua renmin gongheguo de zuichu suiyue (Dilemmas of Victory: Early Years of People’s Republic of China) (Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 2011), pp. 137-164.
- “Cornell and China – Building on a Century of Collaboration”, co-trans. with Chen Jian and others. NY: Cornell University Press, October 2007, 32 pp.
- “How Did the Cold War End?” By Melvyn P. Leffler, co-translator. Guoji lengzhan shi yanjiu (Cold War International History Studies, Shanghai, China), vol. 2 (Spring 2006), pp. 108-116.
- “How Did the Cold War begin?” By Melvyn P. Leffler, co-translator. Guoji lengzhan shi yanjiu (Cold War International History Studies, Shanghai, China), vol. 1 (Fall 2004), pp. 103-112.
- Cold War and Revolution: American-Soviet Rivalry and the Origins of the Chinese Civil War, by Odd Arne Westad (New York: Columbia University Press, 1993). Co-trans. with Chen Jian. Guilin: Guangxi Normal University Press, 2002, 248 pp.
From Chinese to English:
· Translator of 60 documents from Chinese to English which have been published on the website of Digital Archive International History Declassified by Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (with notation of "Translated by Chen Zhihong), for example:
1) Minutes, Chairman Mao Zedong’s first meeting with Nehru, October 19, 1954
Source: Chinese Foreign Ministry Archive, 204-00007-01
2) Minute, Chairman Mao Zedong’s conversation with Nehru at the banquet hosted by Indian ambassador, October 21, 1954
Source: Chinese Foreign Ministry Archive, 204-00008-01
3) Minutes, Chairman Mao Zedong’s second meeting with Nehru, October 23, 1954
Source: Chinese Foreign Ministry Archive, 204-00007-15 (1)
4) Minutes, Chairman Mao Zedong’s third meeting with Nehru, October 26, 1954
Source: Chinese Foreign Ministry Archive, 204-000017-(1)
· “China and the Geneva Conference of 1954: Documents form Chinese Foreign Ministry Archives,” translator of 58 documents, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars: Cold War International History Project Bulletin, no. 16, Fall 2007/Winter 2008.
From Chinese to German:
· “Tritzki und die Probleme der Chinesischen Revolution,” in Th. Bergmann and G. Schaefer eds., Leo Trotzki: Kritiker und Verteidiger der Sowjetgesellschaft, Mainz, 1993.
· “Die Grosse Proletarische Kulturrevolution,” in Lexikon des Sozialismus, Berlin: Berlin Free University Press, 1991.
· “Stand und Probleme der Bucharin-Forschung in der VR China,” in Th. Bergmann and G. Schaefer eds., "Liebling der Partei”: Bucharin, Theoretiker des Sozialismus, Hamburg, 1989.
