Both classical Chinese and Graeco-Roman cultures were marked by an intense focus on didactics; in other words, many of the foundational texts of these two traditions were centrally concerned with the instruction of their readers, especially in the moral virtues. This year, the Janus Project is bringing the comparative and connected didactic features of the classical Chinese and Graeco-Roman traditions to the fore, with a particular emphasis on early modern Latin written in or about East Asia. For example: the original Analects (論語) of Confucius aim to teach certain virtues; the Jesuit translation of the Analects in the Confucius Sinarum Philosophus (1687) aims not only to impart these virtues but also thereby to teach a European audience about Chinese philosophy and to strengthen the practice of European-Christian morals. Both the original ancient texts and the early modern Latin corpus generated from them were thus products of cultures deeply invested in moral education. How can wisdom be taught, found, or acquired? What must one do to be or become a virtuous person? What are the necessary ingredients for a happy life or society? How do texts address these questions through their literary form? And, from a modern scholar’s perspective, how easily do these questions and the answers given to them cross cultural and linguistic boundaries? The 2025 Janus Project Conference encourages scholars from a wide-range of specialisms, including but not limited to history, classics, philosophy, comparative literature, and East Asian studies, to join us in exploring these questions. Continue reading →
Author Archives: Jenny Zhao
Sino-Hellenic Network Easter Term Programme
We’re delighted to share the Sino-Hellenic Network Easter Term programme. Seminars take place in the Faculty of Classics in Cambridge and online, unless otherwise noted. All welcome.
Thursday 8 May, 11am – 12.30pm (Room 1.11, refreshments at 10.30am). Sign up for Zoom here
Cynthia Liu (University of Oxford): Greco-Roman and Chinese ‘Cosmopoetics’: Compared and Received
Chair: Tim Whitmarsh (University of Cambridge)
Wednesday 21 May, 3.30pm – 5.00pm. Online only, sign up here
Eric Hutton (The University of Utah): To China and Back: The Roundtrip Voyage of a Platonic Notion
Chair: Jingyi Jenny Zhao (Needham Research Institute/ University of Cambridge)
Thursday 5 June, 3.30pm – 5.00pm (Room R.01, refreshments at 3pm). Sign up for Zoom here
Jeremy Tanner (UCL): Style and the Development of Art Theory in Ancient Greece and Early Imperial China
Chair: Hajni Elias (University of Cambridge)
Tuesday 17 June, 11am – 12.30pm (Room 1.11, refreshments at 10.30am). Sign up for Zoom here
Beth Harper (The University of Hong Kong): Rocking the Lyric: Mountains, Crags and Divine Inspiration in Classical Chinese and Greco-Roman Poetics
Chair: Emily Gowers (University of Cambridge)
We are grateful to the Faculty of Classics at Cambridge for generously supporting the events. If you would like to be kept up to date with Network news, please sign up here. We look forward to seeing many of you, either in person or or online!
Forthcoming Sino-Hellenic Network events in March
Dear all,
We’re delighted to announce that the Sino-Hellenic Network will host two upcoming speaker events, generously supported by the Faculty of Classics in Cambridge. Both events will be in hybrid format. The in person events will take place in Room 1.11 in the Faculty of Classics, Cambridge, with refreshments half an hour before each talk commences, to allow Network members to get to know each other. All welcome, there is no need to register to attend in person. Zoom sign up information can be found below.
Thursday 6th March, 12.30-14.00 GMT (refreshments at 12.00)
Nathan Gilbert (University of Durham): Past, Present, Text, Other: Jesuit Orientalism and Chinese Philosophy
Chair: Lea Cantor (University of Cambridge)
Please register here if you would like to attend Dr Gilbert’s talk remotely.
Thursday 20th March, 11.00-12.30 GMT (refreshments at 10.30)
Richard King (University of Bern): “The Lord a Lord, the Minister a Minister”: Probing Virtues and Roles in Ancient China and Greece
Chair: Roel Sterckx (University of Cambridge)
Please register here if you would like to attend Prof. King’s talk remotely.
Continue reading →
Workshop: Humans and their Natural Environment: Astronomy and Agriculture in Early Chinese Excavated Manuscripts
We are pleased to announce the in-person workshop
Humans and their Natural Environment: Astronomy and Agriculture in Early Chinese Excavated Manuscripts
to be held at the Institute of Philosophy, University of Bern on June 29th – 30th, 2023.(https://www.philosophie.unibe.ch/news/astroagronomy/index_eng.html)
Body, Space, Spirit: The Sensorium in Chinese History
Posted on behalf of the organisers Flavia Xi Fang and Avital Rom
We are delighted to announce the in-person workshop,
Body, Space, Spirit: The Sensorium in Chinese History
to be hosted by the University of Cambridge and the Needham Research Institute.
Time: Thursday 22 June – Friday 23 June 2023,
Place: Needham Research Institute | 8 Sylvester Road, Cambridge CB3 9AF
All are welcome. Attendance is free of charge but pre-registration required as spaces are limited (see details below).
Sino-Hellenic Environmental Philosophy (online workshop)
We are pleased to announce the following online event to be held on 9-12th December, 2021. Full programme and registration are now available from the following website:
News: Sino-hellenic Environmental Philosophy – Institute of Philosophy (unibe.ch)
Online Workshop
SINO-HELLENIC ENVIRONMENTAL PHILOSOPHY
A Comparative Perspective on Environmental Thought
in Early China and Graeco-Roman Antiquity
Lloyd-Dan David Research Fellowship at the Needham Research Institute and Darwin College Cambridge
Closing date: Sunday 31st January 2021
Applications are invited for a three-year postdoctoral research fellowship to work on the Comparative Study of any aspect of Science and Civilization in the Ancient World (defined as down to 1000 AD). The successful applicant will be a member of the Needham Research Institute, a Research Fellow of Darwin College, and will be expected to play a full role in the intellectual life of the Institute and the College.
For full details, please consult the NRI website:
CALL FOR MANUSCRIPTS: The Hsu-Tang Library of Classical Chinese Literature
Stefan Vranka, Commissioning Editor at Oxford University Press, would like to alert interested parties to the following call for manuscripts (please note that the Oxford Chinese Thought series is focused on philosophical works while the new series is devoted to all of Chinese literature, broadly defined):
International Workshop: Warp, Woof, Wen / Phoneme, Pattern, Pun – Structural Approaches to Early Chinese Texts
Wolfgang Behr and Lisa Indraccolo from the University of Zurich would like to circulate the following notice:
The workshop titled “Warp, Woof, Wen / Phoneme, Pattern, Pun – Structural Approaches to Early Chinese Texts” is due to take place 12-14 April 2018 at the University of Zurich. It explores structural and phonological features of early Chinese texts, ranging from bronze inscriptions to manuscripts and received literature. More information, including the programme, is available at the following link to the conference webpage: http://www.aoi.uzh.ch/de/institut/events/conferences/warpwoofw.html
Due to limited seating, conference registration is required. Those interested in attending should send an email to Lisa Indraccolo (lisa.indraccolo@uzh.ch) by 1 April.
New Book: Ancient Greece and China Compared
A new volume titled Ancient Greece and China Compared was recently published by Cambridge University Press, edited by G. E. R. Lloyd and Jingyi Jenny Zhao. The title features fourteen essays that compare different aspects of ancient Greece and China from an interdisciplinary perspective, together with an introduction by G. E. R. Lloyd and an afterword by Michael Loewe. Those interested may like to access the book’s webpage on the CUP website here.
