Daniel Bell’s new book, Why Ancient Chinese Political Thought Matters: Four Dialogues on China’s Past, Present, and Future, has just been published by Princeton University Press. You can learn more about it here, and there is a review of it in the Financial Times here.
Category Archives: China
Application Open: 2-Week Visiting Programs at CUHK
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.
New Book: Fan, Between Shanshui and Landscape
Jiani Fan (范佳妮) has published a new book: 山水风景之间——中西诗画中的风景再现与美学 / Between Shanshui and Landscape: Toward a Comparative Aesthetics of Chinese and Western Poetry and Visual Arts (Beijing: SDX Joint Publishing Company (生活·读书·新知三联书店), April 2026).
The book focuses on Ancient Greek, Roman, Chinese, and modern French poetry and visual arts, and engages with aesthetic concepts such as Stimmung (mood/attunement), the Sublime, Ruins, and Emptiness (Vide), as well as their Chinese counterparts. A comparative journey across traditions and media.
Two Collaborative Learning (四海为学) Events This Week
Dear Colleagues,
Next week the 四海为学 Collaborative Learning Project will host two separate events:
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March 19th at 9:00am Beijing time: Louise Edwards speaking on “Childhood and Infancy in China” with a focus on gender issues.For details and the Zoom link please see our event page: https://www.sihaiweixue.org/louise-edwards-lecture
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March 20th at 9:30am Beijing time: Peter Hershock speaking on “AI and Agency: A Buddhist Perspective”.For details and the Zoom link please see our event page: https://www.sihaiweixue.org/peter-hershock-lecture
Conference: Ethics in Chinese Philosophy
The Division of Humanities in the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) is organizing the international conference, “Ethics in Chinese Philosophy,” bringing together presentations on various schools of thought within Chinese philosophy, including Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism, with a focus on their distinct ethical frameworks and contributions. The conference celebrates the 35th anniversary of HKUST. It addresses how traditional Chinese ethical theories can inform and address modern challenges. Please read more or access the conference booklet for further information. Continue reading →
Book available: Qiu and Bunin eds., Collected Papers of Four Conferences on Democracy, Rule of Law, Human Rights, Good Governance
Nicholas Bunin has shared with me that a new book has just been published: Qiu Renzong and Nicholas Bunnin, eds, Collected Papers of Four Conferences on Democracy, Rule of Law, Human Rights, Good Governance 《政治哲学各论》 (Beijing, privately published, 2025). The PDF of this book is available free of charge for any students, colleagues and institutions that might benefit from using the text for research, teaching, study, review, printing paper copies or library acquisition. Please contact Professor Bunin with any questions.
Confucian Web 《儒家网》 Top 10 Books of 2025
The website Confucian Web 《儒家网》 has published a list of their top 10 books (in two categories: academic and popular) from 2025, together with brief descriptions. Please read more to see the full list. Continue reading →
Conference: Utopias and Their Pursuit: A Comparative Study of the East and West
Major religions and spiritual traditions articulate their own visions of utopia, and these ideals have shaped the political and social foundations of their respective civilizations. The conference Utopias and Their Pursuit: A Comparative Study of the East and West seeks to explore utopian ideals and their practical manifestations by bringing Chinese and Western thought and historical experience into dialogue. Topics include philosophical and theological accounts and critiques of utopia; policies and historical events inspired by utopian visions; and the ways utopian ideas continue to influence contemporary global discourse. Please see the conference’s full program here. The online registration link can be accessed through scanning the QR codes in these two posters.
Controversy Surrounding Tu Wei-ming’s Remarks at HK Philosophy Forum
Earlier in August, an event called the “2025 香港哲學紫剂國際論壇 / 2025 Hong Kong Bauhinia International Philosophy Forum” was held in Hong Kong. Prof. Tu Wei-ming delivered a keynote address (on-line). Since then, there has been considerable controversy about the event — which did not prominently feature any Hong Kong-born philosophers — and about Tu’s remarks, which were broadly apolitical. In particular, this critical essay by Cheung Chan Fai 張燦輝, former chair of the CUHK Philosophy Department, and Lee Shui-Chuen 李瑞全 of National Central University’s Philosophy Department (and an important contemporary Confucian voice) has received a great deal of attention.
Roundtable on Radical Democracy in Chinese Thought at Univ. of Toronto
On September 5, there will be a “Roundtable on Radical Democracy in Chinese Thought” at the University of Toronto — details here, including free registration.
