Ulrich Theobald

Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Department of Chinese Studies, Faculty Member

Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Department of Chinese and Korean Studies, Faculty Member

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Senior Lecturer, Department of Chinese Studies

Academic Career
2016- Senior Lecturer, Department of Chinese and Korean Studies, University of Tübingen
2009 PhD Sinology, Faculty of Humanities, University of Tübingen
2003-2016 Lecturer, Department of Chinese and Korean Studies, Tübingen
2005-2016 Teacher, Leibniz College, Tübingen
2002 MBA International Marketing, University of Applied Sciences, Reutlingen
2000 MA Sinology, Faculty of Cultural Studies, University of Tübingen

Research Focus
Specializing in the economic, military, and administrative history of late imperial China Dr. Theobald’s research projects include an analysis of the Second Jinchuan Campaign (1771-1776): Economic, Social and Political Aspects of an Important Qing Period Border War (2013). This book is the most detailed study to date of the financing and supply arrangements of one of the great wars of the Qing dynasty. It was carried out as part of the international research project "Monies, Markets, and Finance in China and East Asia, 1600-1900", funded by the German Research Foundation.
One of his newer projects investigates the impact of the sale of offices between c. 1750 and 1912 on the employment structure of state examination graduates, with a shift to life-long modes of "on-the-job training". The project "Administrative Military Law in Late Imperial China: Accounting (Junxu zeli 軍需則例) and Production of Weapons and the Managing of Arsenals (Junqi zeli 軍器則例)" is one of just a few studies of zeli regulations for administrative purposes. At present a project on Jiang Fangzhen's 蔣方震 (1882-1938) book Caibing jihua shu 裁兵計畫書 (1923) is conducted. In this writing, published during the height of the warlord confrontations in northern China, Jiang brought forward suggestions for a regulated mode of disarmament and shortly described a federal system of autonomous "United Provinces" (liansheng zizhi 聯省自治).

Major Publications
Dr. Theobald is editor of the books Money in Asia (1200 -1900): Small Currencies in Social and Political Contexts (with Jane K. Leonard; Brill 2015) and Southwest China in Regional and Global Perspectives (c. 1600 - 1911): Metals, Transport, Trade and Society (with Cao Jin; Brill 2017), and author of War Finance and Logistics in Late Imperial China: A Study of the Second Jinchuan Campaign (Brill 2013) and several articles on monetary history, employment of civilians in the military, military pay and corruption, weights and measures, as well as on Chinese empresses, musical theory and the history of energy in traditional China. A book on the history of bibliography in China is in progress.

Other Activities
Ulrich Theobald is the editor of ChinaKnowledge.de, a widely known online encyclopaedia on Chinese history, literature and art, and author of the more than 3,000 articles found in it. Between 2014 and 2016 he was co-editor of the journal East Asian Science, Technology, and Medicine. He also developed a curriculum for the documentary Manchu language which he has been teaching since 2008.

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Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique / French National Centre for Scientific Research

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Arizona State University

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Sichuan University

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University of Oxford

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East China Normal University

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Universität Leipzig

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Culture of War - High and Popular

Theobald, Ulrich. 2025. “Culture of War - High and Popular.” In A Cultural History in the Age of Enlightenment, edited by Sascha Möbius, 103–126. London, etc.: Bloomsbury Academic. (A Cultural History of War. 4), 2025

The term "culture of war" describes the relationship between war, society, and thought, as milita... more The term "culture of war" describes the relationship between war, society, and thought, as military institutions and theories are shaped not only by political factors but also by intellectual, civilian, and literary developments. The framework of military culture may include a mission statement that defines the purpose of an army and legitimises its existence, an internal structure of the military that embodies norms and assumptions for this institution, and resources to ensure the military's survival and functioning (Wilson 2008: 17; Di Cosmo 2009: 4). Studies on the culture of war also consider how the dynamics of war have produced new cultural products in literature and art, the memorialisation of the dead, the intellectual traditions of commanders, the experiences and reactions of soldiers, or the specific memory products related to combat (Lee 2017; Leonhard 2008). Although not all of these aspects can be addressed in the present chapter, a balanced description of the most important elements may be possible. Undoubtedly, technological development contributed to the overseas expansion of some Western powers. Europeans benefited from a military culture that differed from that of their adversaries, characterised by post-feudal, non-personalised military command systems and philosophies, particularly through the application of 'reason' and science to address challenges (Black 1999: 208). From a global perspective, it is thus certainly worthwhile to compare certain aspects of the culture of war with those existing in the largest and most populous state of that era, the Qing empire in China. The concept of "military humanism" emerged as early as the Renaissance (Pichichero 2017: 7) but truly flourished during the Age of Enlightenment. Men were not merely seen as elements in a clash between princes or sovereign states but also as agents in their own right. Thinkers began to recognise sensibilité-the care for others-and an expression of noblesse de coeur as crucial for the cohesion of armies. Soldiers of all ranks were encouraged to cultivate piety, familiarity, camaraderie, community, and respect. In this manner, the ethics of courage and honour were somewhat "democratised" during this period (Pichichero 2017: 16).

Ulrich Theobald

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