Haiyi Zhou

  

Volume 10 | Issue II | June 2026

Shenzhen Middle School ’27

Shenzhen, China

  

I encountered Dutch literature for the first time in a classroom presentation on playwright Joost van Vondel during my exchange in the Netherlands. Realizing that I knew little about the literary tradition here, I briefly researched Vondel and was surprised to discover that he had written Zungchin, one of the earliest European tragedies with a Chinese setting. It felt somehow surreal, as I had written about the same event—the collapse of the Ming dynasty—two years earlier in a research paper. There was a sense of connection about studying abroad in the Netherlands and unexpectedly rediscovering a piece of Chinese history in seventeenth-century Dutch tragedy. My essay focuses on how the Ming’s collapse and the emperor’s suicide were transformed as they traveled across languages and cultures. Comparing Jesuit chronicles and Vondel’s tragedy within an Orientalism framework, I explored how both the historical events and figures were reshaped through religious and gendered lenses. More broadly, I am interested in how narratives are constructed and what those constructions reveal. I’m grateful to The Schola for the opportunity to refine and share my work. Outside of academics, I write fan fiction and historical fiction, passions that perhaps explain why I love reinterpretation and retelling. I also enjoy badminton and playing the piano.