Dr Yue Zhuang

Dr Yue Zhuang is an internationally recognised scholar in garden history and landscape studies, specialising in the dynamic artistic and cultural exchanges between China and Europe during the early modern period.

Supported by prestigious fellowships including the EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions and the Leverhulme Trust, she pioneers innovative research approaches, such as ‘entangled landscapes,’ which challenge traditional historiography and reveal deeper connections between East and West. This is showcased in Entangled Landscapes: Early Modern China and Europe, co-edited with Andrea Riemenschnitter (National University of Singapore Press, 2017) and many book chapters and peer-reviewed articles in journals like The Seventeenth Century and Studies in the History of Gardens and Designed Landscapes.

Another area of her research explores the meaning of gardens and designed landscapes from combined philosophical and cultural perspectives. Among many titles are: The Garden Retreat in Asia and Europe: Dwelling in a Torn World (Bloomsbury, 2025), co-edited with Alasdair Forbes and Michael Charlesworth; Imperial Arcadia: Architecture, Landscape, and the Funereal Imagination in 18th-century Britain (Routledge, forthcoming); and The Hermeneutical Tradition of Classical Chinese Gardens (in Chinese, co-authored with Wang Qiheng) (Tianjin, 2015).  

Dr Zhuang has wide interdisciplinary experience in PhD supervision. As Director of Postgraduate by Research in the last few years, she has made significant contributions to the PGR community. Dr Zhuang actively welcomes inquiries from prospective PhD students and early-career researchers interested in garden history, landscape studies and Chinese-European artistic and cultural exchange.

She is the Director of the Global China Research Centre.