The Tang Center for Early China, a dedicated scholarly initiative, administers this annual pre-doctoral research grant to advance rigorous inquiry into early Chinese civilization. The award is designed to support a single Columbia University graduate student whose dissertation research necessitates fieldwork or archival work beyond New York City, thereby fostering direct engagement with primary materials and sites. The grant reflects the Center's commitment to foundational scholarship in a field that demands linguistic, archaeological, and historical precision. The selected recipient receives $4,000 to defray research-related expenses, as detailed in a required budget breakdown. The application process demands a comprehensive dossier: a ten-page double-spaced proposal articulating the project's significance and its contribution to the dissertation, a project timeline, a dissertation prospectus, curriculum vitae, official transcripts, and two letters of recommendation. This structure ensures that the jury evaluates both the intellectual merit of the project and the applicant's preparedness to execute it. The curatorial vision prioritizes research that directly enables the completion of the doctoral dissertation, with a clear preference for projects that promise tangible scholarly contributions. By requiring that the work be conducted outside New York City, the Center underscores the value of immersive, site-specific research in early Chinese studies. The grant is not merely a subsidy but a validation of the applicant's methodological rigor and the project's potential to deepen understanding of early Chinese civilization.