Over the course of the twentieth century, the constant writing and rewriting of history reflect aspects of the changing conceptions of the “world” in China. Through various lenses – including but not limited to nation-states, empires, races, civilizations, cultures, and classes – Chinese historians both creatively imagined global time and space and actively negotiated China’s position in it. This conference will posit new questions about the formation of Chinese worldviews by focusing on historiography as its primary field of inquiry. It will investigate a variety of ways in which Chinese historians constructed and deconstructed temporal and spatial concepts such as “Asian,” “Asiatic,” and “China.” In that manner, the workshop will also establish an exchange between the field of China studies and global and transregional studies. A cohort of leading scholars from China, North America, and Europe have already committed their participation in this event, and Professor Ge Zhaoguang from Fudan University will deliver a key speech during the event.

The conference is jointly hosted by the Göttingen Department of East Asian Studies, the Center for Modern East Asian Studies and the Academic Confucius Institute. Outside sponsors: Volkswagen Foundation and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Here you may find the whole conference program!