Dear colleagues and friends, Please join me in welcoming a new member to the SSYCDS listserv, Yuanyuan Duan. Below please find Yuanyuan's self-introduction. Welcome to our community! Yuanyuan Duan is a sixth-year Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Asian Studies at Cornell University. She examines the entangled history of Buddhism and kingship of the Dali kingdom (937-1254) in a transregional Buddhist context, with comparative reference to Tangut Xia and Nara-Heian Japan. Specifically, her dissertation project–“Diamond Power on the Move: Esoteric Buddhist Rituals and Kingship in Dali, 863-1424 CE”–explores the role of Esoteric Buddhist rites in constructing the royal power in the Dali kingdom and its lasting impact on the early Ming ideal of sacred rulership. Her broad research interest includes Esoteric bodily practices, ritual technology, multilingual textuality, China’s frontiers and empire-building in a long durée. As a native of Yunnan, she earned her MA from Fudan University in 2019 and her BA from Wuhan University in 2016 before coming to Cornell. Sincerely, Yiwen Li Secretary, Society for Song, Yuan, and Conquest Dynasties Studies Associate Professor of History, City University of Hong Kong -