SUNY Press has just released a new volume entitled “The Craft of Oblivion: Forgetting and Memory in Ancient China” edited by Albert Galvany. It is an innovative volume that aims to study, for the first time, the intersections between forgetting and remembering in classical Chinese civilization. Drawing on perspectives from history, philosophy, literature, and religion, and examining both transmitted texts and excavated materials, the contributors to this volume analyze various ways of understanding oblivion and its fertile relations with memory in ancient China. Please click here (https://sunypress.edu/Books/T/The-Craft-of-Oblivion) to read more about the book or to purchase it.
Category Archives: China
Call for Applications: Exploring Perspectives on China-US Relations – 2023
This project is co-sponsored by the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies and the Johns Hopkins University-Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American Studies. It promotes in-person dialogue between Chinese and American scholars, including doctoral students, postdoctoral fellows, junior faculty members, think tank experts, as well as emerging leaders in various fields. More details on the program and the application are here.
The submission should include a current c.v. as well as a short (under 500 words) description of specific areas of interest and what the applicant hopes to contribute to such an exchange. The submission deadline is July 10th, 2023. Please email to xuxiaolan@siis.org.cn.
Israel, “The Trouble with Wang Yangming”
George Israel published a lovely on-line essay titled “The Trouble with Wang Yangming” a little over a year ago, but it remains highly relevant. If you are interested in all the enthusiasm about Wang in the contemporary PRC, or about Wang more generally, this is essential reading.
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/
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.
Chinese Culture Studies Program for Global Young Scholar 2023
Attached here find information concerning the 4th “Chinese Culture Studies Program for Global Young Scholar 2023” (The 8th BNU Philosophy Summer School) as well as its application form. To participate one must have a BA and be interested in Chinese philosophy or culture more generally. 40 young scholars will be admitted, and the brochure also discusses scholarships to cover travel and other expenses. Note that the deadline for applying is very soon (April 26)!
Confucian Web 《儒家网》 Top 10 Books of 2022
The website Confucian Web 《儒家网》 has published a list of their top 10 books from 2022, together with brief descriptions. Enjoy!
CLT2 on Deng Xiaomang Freely Available
The second double-issue of Chinese Literature and Thought Today (CLT2) has been published and the press is running a free access period of this issue till March 31, 2023. All contents of the issue can be viewed and downloaded on the Taylor & Francis website during this period:
https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/mcsp21/current?fbclid=IwAR2B6C7F6mIAHO89EKD0AtLDXZIGxUBHx0nEJuQDnWvorMZCeal9xMC3iFU
Chinese Literature and Thought Today (or CLT2) is a merger of Chinese Literature Today and Contemporary Chinese Thought. In this double issue, there is a section devoted to the thought and cultural criticism of Deng Xiaomang that is translated, and introduced by Jens Karlsson. Check it out!
New Book: The Future of China’s Past
SUNY Press has recently published a new book titled The Future of China’s Past: Reflections on the Meaning of China’s Rise by Albert Welter. This book examines how China’s traditional culture is being reinvented and manipulated for political purposes. Please click here for more information on the book.
Workshop on Jiwei Ci’s Political Philosophy
On February 6 (10:00-18:00 PT), there will be a hybrid workshop dedicated to Professor Jiwei Ci’s political philosophy at UC Berkeley. Scan the QR Code in the poster or use this link to register for Zoom participation:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfhG-aRrcDNOWEU7THIJlVlLI_AOHlAFm-rhEOSvmcq9oQsSw/viewform
Prof. Ci recently retired from the Department of Philosophy at HKU, where he had taught for decades. Throughout his career, he dedicates himself to the study of important theoretical questions about agency, morality, and democracy by reflecting upon key issues in contemporary China. His scholarship revolutionizes the way of theorizing Chinese politics through the lens of political theory and intellectual history.
