The 8th World Conference on Sinology was held from November 5th to 6th at Renmin University of China (Suzhou Campus). Sinologists from home and abroad spoke highly of the role of the conference as a bridge to communicate Chinese and foreign cultures and promote exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations.
The World Conference on Sinology was jointly organized by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation of the Ministry of Education and Renmin University of China(RUC). More than 170 sinologists from more than 40 countries gathered together online and offline to conduct academic dialogues and exchanges under the theme "Understanding China: Connected Past and Shared Future."
Lin Shangli, President of RUC, Jing Wei, Deputy Director of the Center for Language Education and Cooperation, Ministry of Education, Zha Yingdong, Vice Mayor of Suzhou City, Hao Qingxin, Vice President of Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem (ELTE) University of Hungary, and Yang Huilin, Vice Chairman of the Council of the World Conference on Sinology, attended the opening ceremony. Du Peng, Chairman of the Council of the World Conference on Sinology, presided over the opening ceremony.
Lin Shangli said that since its inception in 2007, the World Conference on Sinology has developed into a window for communication to help the world better understand China and promote China to engage with the world. It has become an academic platform for traditional Sinology studies and contemporary China studies, and a link for mutual understanding, mutual interpretation and mutual inspiration.
Jing Wei said in her speech that the theme of this Conference, " Understanding China: Connected Past and Shared Future", effectively explains the profound connotation of global participation and achievement sharing in Sinology studies. In the future, the Center for Language Education and Cooperation will continue to cooperate with RUC to promote the World Conference on Sinology to become an eclectic dialogue platform, an interconnected growth platform, and an academic community platform that integrates China and foreign countries.
This conference held 9 keynote speeches, through panel discussion to present the rational thinking of Chinese and foreign experts and scholars on China and the world, the past and the future.
The conference also has 5 parallel forums, where experts and scholars conducted in-depth discussions on topics such as "Sinology and Sino-foreign Cultural Dialogue", "Sinology and the Translation and Introduction of Chinese Classics", "Overseas Sinology and Indigenous Scholarship", "China's Path from Multiple Perspectives" and "Sinology and Talent Cultivation".
The closing ceremony was held in the lecture hall of the Suzhou Campus library. Zheng Xinye, Vice President of RUC, attended, Chen Mo, Dean of the School of Chinese Studies and Cultural Exchange, presided over. Experts, scholars and student representatives in related fields attended.
In the conference, Chinese and foreign experts shared their insights and discussed the development of Sinology in order to promote exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations.
"I hope that more young Chinese scholars can visit Europe and build bridges for cultural exchanges between China and Europe. At the same time, I also hope that young scholars from Europe and even the world can come to China to try to understand what is happening here and share their understanding of China with the world.” “This is the shared future we are looking for”, said Zhong Mingdan, a professor of Sinology at the University of Leuven in Belgium.
Sima Yi, a professor at Yale Divinity School, believed that“ Sinologists use their own language to explain China to their own people, which to some extent plays a greater role than Chinese scholars. This means that Chinese ideas and concepts have been effectively spread in other countries. Currently, The development of Sinology around the world is in a period of transformation, and it is necessary to stimulate new vitality in Sinology research through the joint efforts of sinologists around the world."
An Lezhe, a professor at the Department of Philosophy at the University of Hawaii in the United States, said, "Understanding China is an urgent issue in today's era. Civilization dialogue allows us to shift our focus to values and cultures, which can promote us to carry out broader and more effective exchanges."
In the exchange and collision of ideas among the sinologists, forward-looking views emerged one after another, academic discussions were witty, and the brilliant academic feast won the applause of the audience.
