Yuxuan Tay

Tay Yu Xuan (he/his) is a Ph.D. student in Buddhist Studies. He is broadly concerned with the relationship between the imperial states and various religious traditions in premodern China. His prior M.A. thesis focuses on the Buddhist means of political legitimation in imperial prefaces during the Tang dynasty (618–907). In his doctoral research, he aims to examine the origins and transformation of Buddhist rulership by Sinitic states from the 4th to the 5th century CE. He is also interested in researching various aspects of premodern Chinese history, including but not limited to political, gender studies, socio-cultural, and studies on Dunhuang manuscripts. Before joining UCLA, he received his M.A. in History from the National University of Singapore and a B.A. in History and Chinese Studies from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

In his free time, he plays the guqin and enjoys having ‘one more turn’ with Sid Meier’s Civilization and Crusader Kings. He also tweets about everything under the (academic) sun at @yuxuan_tay.