On December 12, 2016, the Yenching Academy of Peking University held the Opening Ceremony for the Symposium on “China and the World: Observation, Analysis, Prospect.” This Symposium brought together some of the best Chinese scholars in the humanities and distinguished scholars from the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Germany, Sweden, and Singapore, among other countries. This group of outstanding scholars gathered in order to conduct an intellectual dialogue based on each participant’s personal experience, observation, and analysis.
Professor Zhang Longxi, Chair Professor of Comparative Literature and Translation at the City University of Hong Kong and Distinguished Professor at the Yenching Academy, hosted the Opening Ceremony. Professor Lin Jianhua, President of Peking University, and Professor Yuan Ming, Dean of the Yenching Academy of Peking University, also gave remarks.
President Lin Jianhua expressed his welcome on behalf of Peking University. He mentioned that China, like the world at large, currently faces many challenges and opportunities. As the world’s second largest economic power, China has benefited from the process of globalization; at the same time, the world is also learning how China has changed and grown over the past several decades. The Yenching Academy embodies these new dynamics, President Lin said. Peking University founded the Yenching Academy three years ago to bring young scholars from different cultural backgrounds together, in the hope of providing a platform for cross-cultural exchange and international communication. In closing, he expressed his hope that the Symposium could provoke meaningful discussion about China and the country’s future.
Dean Yuan Ming also offered welcome remarks. As one of the conference conveners, she presented her gratitude to all the speakers on behalf of the Yenching Academy.She described the Yenching Academy of Peking University as a challenging and path-breaking program. As an interdisciplinary program, the Academy strives to contribute positively to a globalizing world. The Dean stressed the importance of innovation, “a new way of thinking” in academic research and cross-cultural communication. Dean Yuan also shared some of her reflections and insights on the importance of culture, and said she is looking forward to thinking and talking about the past, present, and future with all the scholars over the course of the Symposium.
Lastly, as the co-convener of Symposium, Professor Zhang Longxi expressed his welcome to all the speakers and his appreciation for their support. He noted thevarious uncertainties facing China and the world today, and said that China has been actively searching for solutions alongside many other countries. Finding the answers to these far-reaching questions requires international conversations. This is also one of the reasons for initiating this symposium, he said.
The symposium on “China and the World: Observation, Analysis, Prospect” will be held from December 12 to 14, 2016. A complete list of speakers and their topics can be found below.
Panel One:
Chair: Professor Krishan Kumar, University of Virginia
l Topic 1: “Causes of Conflict in the Twenty-first Century” by Professor Sir Adam Roberts, University of Oxford
l Topic 2: “Rebalancing China’s Old World” by Professor Wang Gungwu,National University of Singapore
l Topic 3: “Global Security Challenges We Face in New Era of Globalization” by Professor He Yafei, Yenching Academy of Peking University
Panel Two:
Chair: Professor Dr. Alfred Hornung, University of Mainz
l Topic 1: “The Deep Sense of Dialogue: Concerns on Various Academic Contexts” by Professor Deng Xiaonan, Peking University
l Topic 2: “China and the West: What Can We Learn from Max Weber’s Account and How Far Do We Need to Adapt It to Present Conditions?” by Professor Krishan Kumar, University of Virginia
Panel Three:
Chair: Professor He Yafei, Yenching Academy of Peking University
l Topic 1: “From Great State to Great Power: China’s Progress in the World” by Professor Timothy Brook, University of British Columbia
l Topic 2: “Imagining an Empire under Heaven: Looking at China and its Neighbors from Li Gonglin’s Painting of Foreign Embassies from All Corners of the World” by Professor Ge Zhaoguang, Fudan University
Panel Four:
Chair: Professor Deng Xiaonan, Peking University
l Topic 1: “Confucius and America: The Moral Constitution of Statecraft” by Professor Dr. Alfred Hornung, University of Mainz
l Topic 2: “New Cultural Landscape in the International Relations” by Professor Yuan Ming, Yenching Academy of Peking University
l Topic 3: “Diversity of Values and Conservation of Nature” by Professor Lü Zhi, Peking University
Panel Five:
Chair: Professor Timothy Brook, University of British Columbia
l Topic 1: “Rethinking Chinese Modernity in the Age of Globalization: Between East and West” by Professor Xu Xin, Cornell University
l Topic 2: “Family Businesses at A Crossroad: Succession, Modernization and Globalization” by Professor Jin Li, Peking University
Panel Six:
Chair: Professor Torbjörn Lodén, University of Stockholm
l Topic 1: “Globalizing the Study of Chinese History in the Early 21st Century: Challenges, Possibilities and Limitations” by Professor Lu Yang, Peking University
l Topic 2: “The Writing of Literary History in the Context of World Literature” by Professor Dai Yan, Fudan University
Panel Seven:
Chair: Professor Ge Zhaoguang, Fudan University
l Topic 1: “Chinese Culture in the Modern Globalized World” byProfessor Torbjörn Lodén, University of Stockholm
l Topic 2: “Between Official Learning and Private Learning—Whither the Humanities?” by Professor Chen Pingyuan, Peking University
l Topic 3: “Rethinking the Humanistic Values of Education for our Time” byProfessor Zhang Longxi, City University of Hong Kong and Yenching Academy of Peking University
