With my colleague Prof. Zheng Zhenman, Harvard graduate student Lang Chao, and a team of researchers from Xiamen University, I am working on a project to digitize and begin analysis of an extraordinary collection of historical documents dating back to the Ming dynasty.  These were found recently in the mountainous Yongtai region of Fujian province. 

View a short presentation about this research here:  https://ealc.fas.harvard.edu/michael-szonyi-idle-words-old-man-yongtai-studio

A brief introduction to the research, from The International Economy

About the publication of the first batch of materials

The images below show the location of the villages where the documents have been found, the state of the documents, and our team of graduate students working to digitize the materials