Dr Katherine Ngo
Lecturer in Ancient Chinese Literature
Background
Katherine teaches across foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, including:
- the Sinology (Foundation Certificate)
- the BA Sinology
- the BA Sinology (Humanistic Education)
- the MA Confucian Classical Studies
- the MA Chinese Buddhist Textual Studies.
Katherine is the Programme Manager for the BA Sinology (Humanistic Education) Honours programmes.
Katherine’s research interest is in the educational theories and practices of pre-modern Chinese children’s literature and Chinese canonical works. An integral part of this is making these ancient works accessible to a modern audience through translation and explication.
Specialist Subjects
- A Brief History of British Sinology
- Elementary Education in Late Imperial China
- Literature for Moral Instruction in Late Imperial China
- Four Books of Confucian Learning
- Translation of Confucian and Buddhist Literature
- Political Thought in the Essentials of Bringing about Order from Assembled Texts (Qunshu Zhiyao)
- Classical Chinese Texts in English
- Confucian Classical Studies
- History and Civilisation of China
Professional and/or Research Experience
Premodern Chinese children’s primers, traditional Chinese pedagogy, educational texts of late imperial China.
Qualifications
- PhD Cultural Studies, University of Wales Trinity Saint David (2022)
- Master of Arts Sinology, University of Wales Trinity Saint David (2018)
- Katherine’s postgraduate study was sponsored by full scholarships from the Chin Kung Multicultural Education Foundation (2017–2022).
- Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (First Class Honours), University of Tasmania, Australia (2010)
- Bachelor of Medical Science (First Class Honours) (2008)
Languages Spoken
Chinese, English
Professional Membership or Roles
Association for Moral Education
European Association for Chinese Studies
Early Career Researcher Network of the British Academy
Global Alliance for Values-based Education
Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding
She has served on the management board of the University’s Academy of Sinology since 2022
Academic Teaching
Link to Orcid Profile
Professional Publications
- Unlocking the Treasury: Elementary Learning for Boys in Qing China (Ann Arbor: Lever Press, 2025). Open access. https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.14506576
- Traditional Chinese Children’s Primers: A Sourcebook (Ann Arbor: Lever Press, 2025) Co-authored with Katherine Ngo. Open Access. https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.13081893.
- Collectanea of Ethical Exemplars (3 volumes) (in production).
Additional Information
“Mastering the Everyday: The Art of Living from the Confucian Tradition” lecture series. Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding. January 2025–April 2026.
Confucian Philosophy Masterclass for teachers of the Honours Programme at St David’s Sixth Form College, Cardiff. April 2023.
Sinology: Art of Living Seminars. Co-presented annual lectures. Academy of Sinology, University of Wales Trinity Saint David. Ongoing since 2022.
Confucian Philosophy Masterclass for teachers of the Honours Programme at St David’s Sixth Form College, Cardiff. April 2023.
Sinology: Art of Living Seminars. Co-presented annual lectures. Academy of Sinology, University of Wales Trinity Saint David. Ongoing since 2022.
Available to Supervise Doctoral Students
Yes