NEWS

2023.09.04

【Report】The International Workshop on “The Evolution, Reception, and Sharing of Sinographic Culture in East Asia: Textual Analyses and Theoretical Studies.”

On July 30th (Sun.), the international workshop titled “The Evolution, Reception, and Sharing of Sinographic Culture in East Asia: Textual Analyses and Theoretical Studies” took place hosted by the Ritsumeikan Asia-Japan Research Institute (AJI).
The following eight speakers presented their research for the workshop.

・Dr. Chao Ling (Assistant Professor, Department of Chinese and History at the City University of Hong Kong)：
“Stones in the Female Hands: The Art and Reception of Han Yuesu’s 韓約素 Seal Engraving”

・Dr. Ke Tang (Associate Professor of Comparative Literature, School of English Studies, Shanghai International Studies University)：
“A Confucian Apology for Poetry in Early Modern China”

・Dr. Johann Noh (Research Professor, Institute for Sinographic Literatures and Philology, Korea University)：
“The Reception and Vernacularization of Zhuangzi in the Early Choson Period”

・Dr. Xu Liu (Ph.D. Candidate in Philosophy at Wuhan University and Yale University, Assistant Professor, Institute for East Asia Studies of Zhejiang Gongshang　University)：
“China as the Body: Ricci’s Cultural Translation for Hylomorphism”

・Dr.Yat Hong Lee (Instructor, Chinese Language Centre, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University)：
“Intellectual Reflections on the Rhythmic System of Wan Shu’s Cilu”

・Ms. Esme Wing Shan Chan (Ph.D. Candidate, SOAS, University of London)：
“The Historical Shifts and the Changes of Political Ideology behind the Compilation of the Illustration Guide to the Three Relations (Samgang haengsilto, 三綱行實圖) ”

・Mr. Changhee Lee (Ph.D. Candidate, Sino-Korean Literature, Korea University, South Korea)：
“Revisiting the First Translation of the Poetry of Du Fu (Tusionhae, 杜詩諺解): Production and Reception of Texts and Transnational Cultural Interactions in Choson Korea”

・Dr. Chunyu Jin (Senior Researcher, Ritsumeikan Asia-Japan Research Organization, Ritsumeikan University)：
“Cultural Transmission in the Chinese Character Culture Circle: A Case of the Reception and Recreation of Chinese Poetic Literature in Wakokubon Works of Saito Setsudo”

Dr. Chao Ling’s presentation introduced Han Yuesu, the first female sculptor of the Ming and Qing dynasties. He focused on exciting questions such as how individual creativity fits with the style of a particular art genre and how to define and construct personal characteristics as an artist if the artist consciously tries to meet the elements of a specific “brand.”

Dr. Ling delivering his presentation

Dr. Ke Tang’s presentation focused on The Original Poetry, written by Ye Sup (葉燮), a literary critic during the era of The Kangxi Emperor in the Qing dynasty. She addressed how the linguistic theory of literary criticism that had sprouted in China during the Qing dynasty matured with Ye Xie’s writing, which played an essential role in advancing Chinese poetics. The participants questioned the relationship between “Li” (理) and “Jǐng” (景) in poetics.

Dr. Ke Tang making her presentation

Dr. Johann Noh gave a presentation on the acceptance and indigenization of Zhuangzi’s classics in early Korea. Zhuangzi was enjoyed from early on in the literature of the Korean court. Other examples of indigenization of books were introduced, such as Zhuangzi juanzhai Kouyi (『莊子鬳齋口議』), Kuhae namhwa chinʾgyŏng (『句解南華眞經』), and Nanhua Zhenjing Damen Koujue (『南華眞經大文口訣』). The participants pose questions on Zhuangzi’s books translated into Japanese,『莊子鬳齋口議』, and 『荘子諺解』(Explanation of Xunzi proverb).

Dr. Noh delivering his presentation

Dr. Xu Liu’s presentation focused on Mateo Ricci's introduction to the concept of the soul and the mind-body relationship through Catholic cultural translation. Ricci employed this method in Chinese because he realized that the concept of divine salvation is almost absent from Confucian and Chinese thought. The participants asked questions mainly about the differences between Western and Chinese concepts of the soul.

Dr. Xu Liu delivering his presentation

Dr. Yat Hong Lee discussed how Wan Shu (万寿) paved the way for the orthodoxy of Ci in terms of ideological cohesion in Wan Shu’s Cilu (『詩律』) and developed his interpretation of Gafu (楽府) theory from the inheritance of classical style. Dr. Lee approached this question by looking at the reform of the governmental administration during the Six Dynasties and the influence of the musical department called Da Sheng Fu (大晟府) in the Song Dynasty. The participants, including those online, asked questions on the impact of Wan Shu’s Cilu on the Japanese Ci culture.

Dr. Yat Hong Lee talking about his research

Dr. Esme Wing Shan Chan made a presentation on the significance of the Illustrated Guide to the Three Relationships (『三綱行実図』Samgang haengsil) in ideological transmission. She analyzed how changing social and political contexts motivated the publication of Three Relationships and the impact of Chinese case books on the formation of the virtues of women. The participants posed several questions regarding the changes in the image of the female figure in the illustration that appeared in Three Relationships.

Dr. Esme Wing Shan Chan delivering her presentation

Mr. Changhee Lee focused on the newly translated work, Tusi ŏnhae (『杜詩諺解』), and he discussed the production and acceptance of Du Fu (杜甫)’s translated poetry texts and cultural exchanges. His presentation concluded that the indigenization of Tusi ŏnhae in Korea was created in a complex context and under the dynamic interplay of diverse elements. The participants asked about the introduction of Du Fu poetry to Korea and how it was received.

Mr. Changhee Lee made his presentation.

Dr. Chunyu Jin’s presentation focused on the process of transmission and publication of the Japanese book on Ci poetry, Kouseikyuushijun (『高青邱詩醇』, written by the scholar of Chinese classics Setsudo Saito (斎藤拙堂), from the perspective of the acceptance of Chinese classics and derivative works in Japan. The participants posed several questions regarding the past situation and reasons for publishing the Ming Chinese poetry anthologies in Japan.

Dr. Jin making her presentation (left side)

The workshop successfully captured the formation of Chinese character culture in East Asia from different periods, works, and cultural activities in specific places. In addition, despite the difficulty of communicating the meaning of Chinese classics in English and how they were read during their distribution, it was an opportunity for lively discussion among the participants.

The workshop was held on the campus of Ritsumeikan University in Osaka