New Book: The Islamic-Confucian Synthesis in China

Lexington Books has recently published an edited volume, The Islamic-Confucian Synthesis, edited byZongping Sha and Shuchen Xiang. The volume contains five essays translated into English from Chinese on the topic of the indigenization of Islamic thought. It introduces to an international audience the hybridization of traditions throughout the millennia of Chinese history. Click here for more information on the book!

Visting Program: CUHK Research Centre

The 2-week visiting programs organized by the Research Centre for Chinese Philosophy and Culture at the Department of Philosophy of the Chinese University of Hong Kong are now open for application. The program is meant to promote exchanges with scholars from around the world by providing financial assistance for visiting scholars to conduct research. To apply for the program you must be a scholar, postdoctoral fellow, or a PhD student from the field of Chinese Philosophy. Please read below for more information about the application or click here to visit the website to apply.

Application Deadline: June 15th, 2023

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New Book: The Lost Texts of Confucius’ Grandson

The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press has recently published Kuan-yun Huang’s new book The Lost Texts of Confucius’ Grandson. Huang utilizes the Guodian manuscripts from the fourth century BCE to carefully explicate what the manuscripts teach us about fate, moral cultivation, familial love, obligation, and many other principles that brought order to the Warring States kingdoms. See here to read more about the book.

New Book: Late Classical Chinese Thought by Chris Fraser

From Google Play:
“Chris Fraser presents a rich and broad-ranging study of the culminating period of classical Chinese philosophy, the third century BC. He offers novel and informative perspectives on Confucianism, Daoism, Mohism, Legalism, and other movements in early Chinese thought while also delving into neglected texts such as the Guanzi, Lu’s Annals, and the Zhuangzi ‘outer’ chapters, restoring them to their prominent place in the history of philosophy. Fraser organizes the history of Chinese thought topically, devoting separate chapters to metaphysics and metaethics, political philosophy, ethics, moral psychology, epistemology, and philosophy of language and logic. Focused specifically on the last century of the Warring States era, arguably the most vibrant, diverse period of philosophical discourse in Chinese history, the discussion covers the shared concerns, rival doctrines, and competing criticisms presented in third-century BC sources. Fraser explicates the distinctive issues, conceptual frameworks, and background assumptions of classical Chinese thought. He aims to introduce the philosophical discourse of early China to a broad audience, including readers with no prior familiarity with the material. At the same time, the thematic treatment and incisive interpretations of individual texts will be of interest to students and specialists in the field.”

Oxford University Press

New works by Daniel Bell

Daniel Bell (Law, University of Hong Kong) has three recent publications that may be of interest to blog readers:

The Dean of Shandong: Confessions of a Minor Bureaucrat at a Chinese University (Princeton University Press, March 2023) (https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691247120/the-dean-of-shandong)

Special issue of The China Review on Chinese identity. Here is the table of contents and introduction free online: https://cup.cuhk.edu.hk/image/catalog/journal/jpreview/CR23.2__1-11.pdf

Co-edited with Amitav Acharya, Rajeev Bhargava, Yan Xuetong. Bridging Two Worlds: Comparing Classical Political Thought and Statecraft in India and China (University of California Press, Jan. 2023). Free online version available here:
https://luminosoa.org/site/books/e/10.1525/luminos.135/

Summer Program: SDCF 2023

The Sinoloigcial Development Charitable Foundation is excited to announce that they will be running the 8th Greater China Region Summer Program in Chinese Studies for 2023. They will be conducting the program both in person and with an online viewing option, with participation from both scholars and key opinion leaders. They hope to accommodate up to 20 scholars and KOLs for this summer and admission. Admission with be done on a rolling first come first serve. These activities done by SDCF aim to further worldwide awareness and knowledge of Chinese culture and civilization. Please click here for more information on dates and application deadlines.

Scholar membership deadline: Monday 8th May 2023
Viewer membership deadline: Friday 30th June 2023

Deborah Sommer lecture Thursday May 4th

Tomorrow, May 4th, at 9 p.m. Beijing time the 四海为学 “Collaborative Learning” Project will host Deborah Sommer. Prof. Sommer will discuss different images of Confucius, including statues and paintings, in China and the West. For more details about Prof. Sommer’s talk, including the Zoom link, please go to: https://www.sihaiweixue.org/deborah-sommer-lecture

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The Nature and Future of Cosmopolitanism Blog

The U.S.-China Research Group on Cosmopolitanism consists of nine scholars from the United States and the Chinese cultural sphere who are pursuing a structured exploration of theoretical and practical problems related to cosmopolitanism. In particular, we are looking to draw upon Chinese philosophical traditions in order to explore alternative understandings of the nature and future of cosmopolitanism. Each member of the group has composed a short reflection describing her or his initial thoughts on the topic, which are presented in a blog at the bottom of our web page:

https://uschinadialogue.georgetown.edu/topics/research-group-cosmopolitanism

Members have further developed their short reflections into more substantial accounts and will present these at a meeting at the University of Hong Kong on 5-6 May 2023. These will be made available once they have been further revised and refined.