Introduction by Dr. Harlan Chambers (Fellow, Worldmaking Project) and Comments by Prof. Lee Yu-Ting (National Taiwan University) Talk summary: For the past decade or so, in his Reading the China Dream project, David Ownby has been reading and translating the work of Chinese intellectuals who publish in China and in Chinese, not dissidents, but not […]

Abstract: My work “victimhood nationalism” aims to illustrate competing memories of victimhood in the postwar Vergangenheitsbewältigung in the global memory space. I try to make a critical inquiry of the global memory formation with a focus on victimhood memories. The historical space in this study is not an individual nation but an intersection of the […]

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VG 3.101 18. Dec. (Monday), 16:15-17:45 Abstract: At the turn of the twentieth century, radical utopian communities were built all around the world. They served as retreats, but they simultaneously constituted hubs for activists, reformers, and revolutionaries to meet, share, and develop new ideas and practices of community and human existence. The project Radical Utopian […]

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4. Dec. (Monday), 17:15 - 18:45 Theologicum (Theol) 0.135 Abstract: The rise of history of emotions has been a recent development in historiography. In the field of Chinese studies, scholars such as Eugenia Lean, Haiyan Lee, Chen Li, and Zuo Ya have been writing about how emotions, feelings, and sentiments contributed to the formation and […]

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Abstract: Whether in a democratic or authoritarian society, it is not uncommon to explain academic currents by taking political and economic factors into consideration. However, the impetus in the intellectual realm itself shall never be disregarded. The recent development of Global History in China can be explained adequately by Chinese intellectuals’ persistent endeavor to stage […]

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Abstract: Snail sex, demanding deities, a cold case - everyday life in Taiwan holds the most unbelievable stories in store. Lung Ying-Tai compiled them in her novel “Under Kavulungan.” In conversation with Dominic Sachsenmaier and Monika Li, Taiwan's most famous author explores the complex answers to this question. Philosophical young adult novel, nature writing, nativist […]

Das Ostasiatische Seminar lädt alle Erstsemester für den 20. Oktober 2023 von 10:00-12:00 Uhr zu einer Informationsveranstaltung über unsere Bachelorstudiengänge in das Kulturwissenschaftliche Zentrum KWZ 2.601/ 2.739 ein. Da wir an diesem Tag bereits die Gruppeneinteilung für den Sprachunterricht vornehmen werden, wird die Teilnahme dringend empfohlen. Hier gelangen Sie zum Orientierungsphasen-Programm des Ostasiatischen Seminars. Hier […]

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The lecture will be in Chinese. Prof. Li is an expert among other topics on the history of Western China Studies and will address recent central questions of the development of China Studies in the West applying a global history perspective. Abstract: 德国汉学从一开始就不局限于某一领域，今天对它的历史梳理，也必然是在历史学、语文学、人类学、自然科学等其他学科的理论和方法的参与下进行，这同时也体现了德国汉学史研究的活力和多样性。李雪涛教授以德国汉学史为例，指出近年来汉学史研究的范式，已经从之前的“内部论”（internalist）或“谱系式”（genealogical）的历史思考方式，转变为了将汉学研究的现象、事件与进程置于“全球脉络”中予以分析，从而形成了一种真正的跨文化全球史研究。

Abstract: Institutional change in education and the cultivation of a qualified citizenry were two sides of the same coin of developing democratic education in modern China. At stake is to understand how democratic education filled a critical role in bridging the gap between democratic ideals and political realities. This lecture will focus on teachings of […]

13. July (Thursday), 18:15 - 19:45 VG 2.103 Overview: The two talks of this joint session interrogate processes of knowledge transfer between China, the United States, and Europe during the 1920s and 1930s. Focusing on two distinct organizations– the China Foundation (based in Shanghai and New York) and the League of Nations (based in Geneva) […]

Abstract: In 1770, with the purpose of presenting an unusual gift to his mother Empress Dowager Chongqing (1692-1777) for her eightieth birthday, Emperor Qianlong (1711-1799) ordered the imperial architectural department to construct a Buddhist compound named jile shijie or World of Utmost Pleasure on the northern shore of imperial Beihai Park next to the Forbidden […]

Abstract: Scholars of Asian studies have something of a love-hate relationship with Hegel; they love to cite him as the epitome of Eurocentrism, modernization theory and the legitimation of colonialism. Despite their prevalence, such criticisms overlook both the complexities of Hegel’s philosophy and the different ways in which Asian intellectuals attempted to turn Hegel on […]

Abstract: Based on the Analects and other texts related to Confucius in classical period and taken “cosmopolitanism,” a concept with long history in the Western tradition as a counterpart for comparison, this talk aims to probe the thought and practice of Confucius as a cosmopolitan and point out the feature and significance of the Confucian […]

6. July (Thursday), 18:15 - 19:45 VG 2.103 Abstract: The founding of the University Service Centre in Hong Kong in 1963 was a significant event in the development of China studies. Thanks to the city’s adjacency to mainland China and the Carnegie Corporation’s funding support, the Centre since its very beginning has become the “go-to” […]

22. June (Thursday), 18:15 - 19:45 VG 2.103 Abstract: As an epoch-making event in the history of the Chinese sci-fi film industry, The Wandering Earth boasts the extraordinary acting skills of cinema superstars and fabulous special effects. Instead of providing a description of the technical issues surrounding the film’s production, this paper looks at the […]

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On Monday, June 26th (2.00 pm – 7.15 pm), we will have an international workshop on New Civilizationisms. The program is attached and listed below. If you wish to attend, you need to register by Friday, June 23rd: https://forms.gle/wAPRRjLxWXqvQdt89 ----------------------------- HISTORICAL MEMORY AS AN ACT OF WORLDMAKING: Contextualizing New Civilizationalisms in the 21st Century June […]

Mittwoch, den 21. Juni 2023, 18 h c.t. KWZ 0.602 Abstract: Der Nachwuchslyriker Liao Yiwu kam nach dem 4. Juni 1989 wegen zweier Gedichte für vier Jahre ins Gefängnis, wo er sich vom Dichter zum (Zeit)Zeugen wandelte. Danach beruflich in Schwierigkeiten, begann er, in hunderten von Interviews den Außenseitern der VR-chinesischen Gesellschaft, unter ihnen die […]

8. June (Thursday), 18:15 - 19:45 VG 2.103 Abstract: "Changing Perceptions of World Order in Chinese Historiography: Three Phases of Development": This talk takes a longue-durée perspective to examine and analyze the modern Chinese conception of the world from the middle of the 19th century to the present. This perception has changed significantly over the […]

5. June, 17:15 - 18:45 ZHG 003 Abstract: In Xi Jinping’s China, national security, ideology and the political priorities of the Communist Party now play a much larger role in shaping China’s economic and business environment. The context is more politicized, more uncertain. China’s state media call this ‘Xiconomics’. Xi’s Dual Circulation Strategy marks out […]

1. June, 18:15 - 19:45 VG 2.103 Abstract: The definition of “The Great Qing Everlasting Unified” was frequently used in titles of general maps of the imperial realm in the beginning of the 19th century. It formally distinguishes one of the most widely known and impressive group of Chinese maps, the so-called Blue Maps and […]