We Are Saddened by the Passing of Dr Tao Tao Liu

 

We are saddened to announce that Dr Tao Tao Liu passed away on 31 December 2025. Dr Liu was the Faculty’s University Senior Lecturer in Modern Chinese from 1986-2009 and also Tutorial Fellow in Chinese at Wadham. Dr Liu specialised in the literary culture of the Republican era (1911-1949), but her wide-ranging knowledge of Chinese literature spanned the dynasties and she continued to teach a very popular course on Tang poetry even after her retirement.

 

Her publications include Town and Country in China: Identity and Perception, co-edited with David Faure (Palgrave, 2002); The Chinese Myths: A Guide to the Gods and Legends (Thames and Hudson, 2022); and an acclaimed translation of the Taiwanese author Li Qiao’s epic historical trilogy Wintry Night (Columbia University Press, 2001).

 

Dr Liu was a passionate and skilled teacher and mentor of students at all levels, who is fondly remembered by many graduates of the Chinese studies programme for her expertise, her kindness, and her unfailing good humour. She was also deeply committed to the academic communities of the Faculty and Wadham College and made very significant contributions to both throughout her long career at Oxford. The warm affection in which she is held is reflected in the College’s decision to hang a specially commissioned portrait of her in the Hall.