Jan Karlach
Jan Karlach
QUALIFICATIONS
2021 PhD in Sociology, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China
2014 MA in Sinology, Charles University, Czech Republic
2010 BA in Sinology, Charles University, Czech Republic
PRINCIPAL RESEARCH INTERESTS
Animism; Anthropology in China; Cosmology; Creativity; Ecology and Environment; Ethnic Policies; Ethnicity; Ethnohistory; Genealogies; Indigenous Scholars; Innovation; Knowledge-making; Mythology; Native Chieftaincy; Placemaking; Regionality; Religion; Rhetoric; Ritual; Southwest China; Spatiotemporality; The Internet in China
RESEARCH PROFILE
I am a multidisciplinary researcher–ethnographer working at the intersection of Chinese Studies and anthropology. My academic and professional trajectory has taken me across Central Europe, China, and the United Kingdom. My research focuses on Southwest China and its neighbouring regions, with particular attention to Tibeto-Burman-speaking Yi communities—and especially the Nuosu of Liangshan. In collaboration with my research partners, I examine how their communities, anchored in their own cosmological frameworks, construct and negotiate both historical and contemporary ways of being in response to forms of Chinese state-led modernity. This work encompasses analyses of religious innovation, poverty alleviation initiatives, responses to climate change, patterns of migration, and the expansion of both physical and digital infrastructures, including those related to artificial intelligence.
Books
2026 Ritualists and Rhetoric: The Proliferation of Nuosu-Yi Cosmology in Southwest China. Leiden: Brill. (in production)
Journal Articles
2026 ‘Between Officialdom and Nativeness: Mutually Appropriating the State and the Nuosu-Yi Native Chieftain Clans in Southwest China’. Journal of Chinese History 中國歷史學刊 10(1): 131-165.
2025 ‘Mythogeographies of Anthropological Knowledge: Writing over the Lines and Footsteps of History in Southwest China’. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 31: 808-829.
2024 ‘Antropologie v socialistické Číně: Od ústřední úlohy při konstrukci národní identity po orámování globální Iniciativy pásmo a cesta’ (Anthropology in Socialist China: From Principal Role in National Identity Construction to Framing of the Global Belt and Road Initiative). Český časopis historický 122(2): 297-322. Co-authored with Ptáčková, Jarmila.
2023 ‘Smartphone as Ritual Fan: Poaching in Weixin-mediated (Cyber)space with Nuosu-Yi Ritualists of Liangshan, Southwest China’. Journal of Digital Social Research 5(4): 144-168.
2023 ‘Republikánská antropologie jako komunita praxe: Mezi politickou ideologií Kuomintangu a formováním národa pomocí etnografického výzkumu v jihozápadní Číně’ (Republican-era Anthropology as Community of Practice: Between the Political Ideology of Kuomintang and Nation-Making Through Ethnographic Research in Southwest China). Český lid 110(3): 349-369.
2023 ‘Hearths, Mythologies, and Livelihood Choices: Exploring Cultural Change under Poverty Alleviation with the Nuosu-Yi of Liangshan’. Modern China 49(5): 532-563.
2021 ‘“Vidět jako Strana”, periferie kyberprostoru a politika každodennosti: Jak se na síti v ČLR (ne)mluví o koronaviru’ (“Seeing like the Party”, Cyberspace Peripheries and Politics of Everyday: How People in PRC (Do Not) Talk About Covid-19 On-line). Nový Orient 75(1): 9-24. Co-authored with Ptáčková, Jarmila.
2016 ‘Jak klan Lili krotil Chladné hory – Historie místních vládců v Liangshanu od Mongolů až po “Novou Čínu”’ (How the Lili clan tamed the Cool Mountains. The history of Liangshan Native Headmen from the Mongols until the “New China” era). Nový Orient 71(3): 11-26.
2014 ‘Strategie ovládnutí barbarů – nepřímá správa jižní Číny a její vývoj’ (Strategy of Controlling Barbarians – Indirect Rule in Southern China and its Development). Nový Orient 69(3): 39-47.
Book Chapters
2025 ‘Against the Flattening of Ridges and Ravines: (Dis)locating Cultural Security Through Writing with the Yi of Southwest China’. In J. Ptáčková & O. Klimeš (eds.), Cultural Security in Contemporary China and Mongolia. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 227-249.
Translations
2021 ‘Surxsha bbapga’. In Z. Daňková & R. Kanócz (eds.), Mosty a řeka: sborník Jiřímu Michálkovi k 80. narozeninám (Bridges and the River: Collection for Jiří Michálek’s 80th birthday). Červený Kostelec: Pavel Mervart, 610. Translation of Václav Svoboda Plumlovský’s poem ‘Chudobín’ (Poor Village) from Czech to Modern Standard Yi language – translated together with Lama Itzot ꇁꂷꀀꊛ.
2019 ‘Zhongguo gudai shige’ 中国古代诗歌 (Chinese Ancient Poetry). Xiandai zhongwen xuekan 现代中文学刊 2018(1), 4–7. Translation of Jaroslav Průšek’s essay from Czech to Chinese – together with Chen Guoqiu 陈国球 (Leonard K. K. Chan).
Book Reviews
2023 Changing ethnicity – contemporary ethno-politics in China. Asian Ethnicity 24(1): 151-156.
Indigenous Texts
2019 Nuosu nyipsi hxotji tepyy ꆈꌠꑍꌋꉖꏢꄯꒉ (The Nuosu Book of Daykeeping). Latbbu Oprro: Oprro nipse go syr. Co-authored with Jjike Vysha and Ddisse Vuga.
Ongoing Projects and Grants
2023-now Cosmological Visionaries: Shamans, Scientists, and Climate Change at the Ethnic Borderlands of China and Russia. ERC, Synergy Grant (Grant No. 856543). Research Fellow of the China Team.
Past Projects and Grants
2020-2023 ‘Vyvažování zájmů: souvislosti národnostní a zahraniční politiky v soudobé Číně’ (Balancing the Interests: Correlations of Ethnic and Foreign Policy in Contemporary China). Fellowship of the Czech Academy of Sciences for Prospective Researchers – Lumina Quaeruntur. Investigators: Klimeš, Ondřej and Ptáčková, Jarmila. Výzkumný pracovník.
2016-2019 Hong Kong Research Grants Council’s ‘Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme’
2017 Hong Kong Research Grants Council ‘Postgraduate Students Conference / Seminar Grants’
2014-2015 Scholarship of Sichuan province 四川省政府奖学金 (study of Modern Standard Yi at Xichang University 西昌学院)
Invited Talks/Public Lectures/Roundtables
2026 Invited guest lecture ‘China’s Southwestern Borderlands: Indigeneity, Ecology and Geopolitics’ at Taiwan Corner of Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic (10 Apr).
2025 Invited talk ‘Seeking Plants in the Pavement Cracks: Innovating among Nuosu-Yi Ritualists in Urban Xichang’ at a roundtable titled ‘Rewilding, Ritual Innovation, and the Myth-Histories of Plants in Southwest China’, Kew Gardens, London, UK (10 Dec).
2025 Invited talk ‘Fluctuating Linguistic Landscape of Xichang: The Back-and-Forth Between Chinese and Nuosu-Yi Languages in Liangshan, Southwest China’ at workshop titled ‘Current approaches on the linguistic landscape: Case studies from Asia and Europe’, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany (27 Jun).
2025 Invited talk ‘Divination and Performative Failure: When Nuosu-Yi Rituals Go Wrong’ at a roundtable titled ‘Ingenuity in Divination: Creativity, Failure, and Hunting Signs in Southwest China’, School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography, Oxford University, UK (8 May).
2025 Invited contribution ‘Nuosu-Yi Purities as Localized Essences’ at a workshop titled ‘Experiencing Essence in Chinese Religions’, London School of Economics, UK (21-22 Jan).
2024 Invited co-keynote speech ‘Animistic Rituals or Scholarly Knowledge? Building Visions from Nuosu-Yi Scroll-Books’ at a workshop titled ‘Visions and Indigenous Scholarship in Inner and South-east Asia’, Masarykova Univerzita (Masaryk University), Brno, Czechia (17 Dec).
2024 Invited talk ‘Eco-infrastructural Revolution in Liangshan: People, Spirits, and Places on the Move’ at a roundtable titled ‘Cosmoecological Dilemmas: Science, Spirits, and Society in Southwest China’, Yunnan Daxue 云南大学 (Yunnan University), Kunming, China (7 Dec).
2024 Invited talk ‘Mythogeographies of Anthropological Wandering’ a roundtable titled ‘An Academic Forum on Cosmology, Imagination and Modernity in Societies in Southwest China’, Yunnan Minzu Daxue 云南民族大学 (Yunnan Minzu University), Kunming, China PR (7 Dec).
2024 Invited talk ‘Yi Cosmology and its Absorption of Science: On the Meeting of Local and Global Knowledges in Southwest China’ at a roundtable titled ‘Cosmological Visionaries and Anthropological Imagination in Southwest China’, Beijing Daxue 北京大学 (Peking University), China PR (10 Nov).
2024 Invited talk ‘Měnící se Čína: kultura, etnicita a ekologie na příkladu jihozápadní oblasti’ (China in Transformation: Culture, Ethnicity, and Ecology in the Southwestern Region). Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Prague, Czechia (19 Sept).
2024 Invited guest lecture ‘Ethnicity and Literature – The (Nuosu) Yi of Southwest China’ at University College Dublin, Ireland (2 Feb).
2024 Invited talk ‘“Science Scared the Ghosts and Spirits Away”: Mountain Worship, Catastrophe Prevention and Environmental Protection among the Nuosu-Yi of Liangshan’ at ‘Celebrating Sichuan: Diversity, Heritage, and Transformation’ seminar, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland (1 Feb).
2022 Invited public talk ‘Etnika čínského jihozápadu. Iové a jejich interakce s čínskou modernitou’ (Ethnic Groups of Southwest China. The Yi and Their Interaction with Chinese Modernity), Czech Academy of Sciences (Week of Science Lecture Series), Prague, Czechia (5 Nov).
2022 Invited public talk ‘Náhled pod ruce dělníků národnostní politiky. Jihozápadní Čína jakožto kolébka čínské antropologie’ (A glimpse under the hands of the workers of ethnic policy. Southwest China as the cradle of Chinese anthropology), Café Academia, The Oriental Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences (Centennary Lecture Series), Prague, Czechia (15 Mar).
Conference, Seminar, Summer School & Exhibition Organisation
2024 ‘Vital Signs: Another World is Possible’ at the Science Gallery London. 14 November 2024 to 17 May 2025. Exhibition of photographs, film, audial recordings, and storyboard materials from the ERC-funded ‘Cosmological Visionaries’ project, showcasing Nuosu visions of climate change. (Co-exhibitors Swancutt, Katherine –– Yueqi Zuoxi). Design of the interactive component.
2024 ‘Three Cosmological Visions of Climate Change: Mountain Spirits, Scientific Rewilding, and Sacred Forests in Southwest China’ seminar, Oriental Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, 2 Jul.
2021 ‘Redefining Ethnicity in the Uni-nationalizing China: Domestic and International Impact’ conference, Oriental Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, 12 Mar – co-organized with Klimeš, Ondřej; Ptáčková, Jarmila; Cabras, Giulia.
2017 ‘Urban Ethnography Summer School: Senses, Rhythms and Practices’ summer school,; The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Department of Applied Social Sciences, 22–26 Aug. Including a pop-up exhibition at Chancery Lane gallery co-curated with Bahroun, Allan.
Consultancy & Expert Statements
2021 ‘Hongkongské protesty očima Aj Wej-weje’ (Hong Kong protests through the eyes of Ai Weiwei). Debate in DOK.REVUE (28 Jun).
2021 ‘Člověk musí před vstupem do terénu vědět, kdo je, odkud vychází, a reflektovat své předpojatosti’ (Before entering the field, a person must know who he is, where he comes from, and reflect on his presuppositions). Interview for Souvislosti (March, no. 1: 38–55).
2021 ‘In China is armoede verleden tijd, zegt de Communistische Partij’ (In China, the poverty be-longs to the past, claims the Communist Party). Expert statement for de Volkskrant (1 Jan).
2020 ‘Stoletý cíl roku 2020 se naplnil, extrémně chudý Číňan už neexistuje. Tak pravila strana’ (The centenary goal of 2020 has been fulfilled, the extremely poor Chinese no longer exists. That's what the Party said). Interview for DeníkN (30 Dec).
2020 ‘Čína, porodnost a lidé coby čísla’ (China, fertility and people as numbers). Article for Lidové noviny (28 Jul).
2020 ‘[Zhongguo shaoshu minzu tuopin] zhuanti baodao di san ji: tuopin haishi chuancheng wenhua? Yizuren de liang nan [中国少数民族脱贫] 专题报道第三集：脱贫还是传承文化？ 彝族人的两难’ ([China’s Ethnic Minorities Poverty Alleviation] Special Report, Ep. 3: Poverty Alleviation or Cultural Inheritance? Dilemma of the Yi people). Interview for Radio Free Asia (18 Nov 2020).
2020 ‘Benefits of recovery elude China's poor’. Expert statement for The Straits Times (2 Nov 2020).
2020 ‘Inside China’s race to beat poverty’. Expert statement for Financial Times (26 Jun 2020).
Public Outreach
2023 ‘Obřadní písmo Šuejů a jeho každodennost’ (The Ritual Script of Shui People and Its Everyday-ness). Vesmír 2023(4): 228-234.
2022 ‘Živoucí galaxie zkušeností se světem hor: Kosmologie národnosti Yi’ (Living Galaxy of Experiences with Mountain Life: Cosmology of the Yi Nationality). Vesmír 2022(11): 700-704.
2022 ‘Oheň v životě Nuosuů z Chladných hor: koloběh jednání, jejich metafor a následných zastoupení’ (Fire in the life of the Nuosu from the Cool Mountains: Cycle of agency, its metaphors and subsequent representations). Analogon 96: 77-81.
2022 ‘Rituály, chytré telefony a každodenní život v Chladných horách: Kyberpytlačení jako neškodný projev etnicity?’ (Rituals, Smartphones, and Everyday Life in the Cool Mountains: Cyberpoaching as a Harmless Manifestation of Ethnicity?). Dějiny a současnost 2022(4): 34-36.
2019 ‘Karneval potomků orla a sněhu’ (Carnival of Descendants of Eagle and Snow). In A. Gintel (ed.), Zahrady pozemských radostí: Pohled z dějin výchovy v přírodě (Gardens of earthly joys: A view from the history of education in nature). Praha: Gasset, 276-283.
2016 ‘Svět Nuosuů’ (The World of the Nuosu). In Jidi Majia, Slova v plamenech (Words in Flames). Praha: Dauphin, 237-251. Apart from the afterword, I also contributed to a translation of the volume.
2012 Čína: Střípky z jižního Podnebesí (China: Fragments Collected in the Southern Celestial Realm). Praha: Gasset.
