New Bilingual “Journal of Confucian Studies”

Journal of Confucian Studies (Chinese Thought and Culture Review)

The State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT) has recently approved to launch the Journal of Confucian Studies (Chinese Thought and Culture Review) and the Confucian Academy Press, devoted to the preservation and promotion of traditional Chinese culture. The Journal of Confucian Studies is the world’s only Chinese-English bilingual scholarly journal with the aim of promoting Chinese culture and conducting conversations among world civilizations. The Journal of Confucian Studies will be officially launched on August 1, 2014, at the 24th National Book Expo, co-held by SAPPRFT and People’s Government of Guizhou Province.

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Lecture tomorrow at Oxford

Reminder of the following paper to be delivered at the Interdisciplinary Workshop for Manuscript and Text Culture (WMTC) at The Queen’s College, University of Oxford

Please note the change of rooms.

Wednesday 11 June: Maria Khayutina (Munich University): Writing Agents in Early China (ca. 11-8 cc BCE): Secretaries and Makers of Slabs

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Reflections on Middle Period China Conference

A major, three-day conference on China’s “Middle Period” (800-1400) just concluded at Harvard. It featured an unusual format, designed to spur more cross-disciplinary conversation than is usual, as well as to handle the large number of papers and participants who were present. I believe there were something approaching 200 folks there, from graduate students to senior scholars. The titles, abstracts, and a range of on-line comments are all available here: http://www.middleperiodchina2014.org.

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Next Rutgers Workshop: Call for Proposals

Unlike the first two Rutgers Workshops (the speakers at which were all invited), we are adopting a different approach for the third Workshop, which will take place in the spring of 2016 (not 2015). With this amount of lead-time, we are aiming to find scholars whose work in Chinese philosophy engages directly with that of a scholar working in contemporary non-Chinese philosophy, and to build the workshop’s program from such pairs of scholars, in direct conversation with one another. Our expectation is this will enable more substantial two-way philosophical dialogue. Please read the formal Call for Proposals that follows!

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June 4 and a Talk on Chinese Democracy in Taipei

Today is June 4, the 25 anniversary of the army crackdown that ended the student-led popular demonstrations in China and left hundreds, if not thousands, dead. If you happen to be in Taipei today, you might be interested in a talk that, though not directly, addresses the question of how to understand and evaluate June 4. David Lorenzo (National Chengchi University, Taiwan) will speak about “Conceptions of Democracy on Taiwan and the Chinese mainland”. The talk will begin at 13.30, in the Department of Philosophy, 70 Linhsi Road, Shihlin, Taipei. The talk is open to the general public.

New overview of Daoism

Komjathy, Louis. 2014. Daoism: A Guide for the Perplexed. New York: Bloomsbury Academic. 250 pages.

According to Lydia Kohn: A different, yet very successful approach to Daoism by topic rather than chronology or lineage, this consists of nine chapters: Tradition, Community, Identity, View, Personhood, Practice, Experience, Place, and Modernity. Highly insightful, meticulously researched, the book is extremely well written and combines a strong historical understanding with a deep involvement in contemporary practice. It opens Daoism in a new and amazing way.

New book on Early 20th Century Thought

Xiaoqun Xu, Cosmopolitanism, Nationalism, and Individualism in Modern China: The Chenbao Fukan and the New Culture Era, 1918-1928. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2014. Pp.255. ISBN 978-0-7391-8914-6.

The book analyzes aspects of intellectual life and cultural practices in the New Culture era of modern China by examining an influcential newspaper supplement published in Beijing during 1918-1928, along with other contemporary sources. It highlights a key intellectual-moral paradox in Chinese disourses between cosmopolitanism as an idealistic aspiration and nationalism as a practical imparative, both in complext relationship to indivudialism, and in constant negotiations between Chinese tradition and Western culture in the making of Chinese modernity. It argues for a re-consideration and re-appreciation of the New Culture era in modern Chinese history, as the issues treated in the book remain relevant to China and the world today.

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