On the 5th International Symposium on Chinese Studies in Japan

Program Leader: Takayama Setsuya

On 28-29 March 2008 the 5th International Symposium on Chinese Learning in Japan was held at the auditorium and audiovisual classroom of the College of Liberal Arts at National Taiwan University. This symposium was co-hosted by the College of Liberal Arts, National Taiwan University; the Nishogakusha University 21st Century COE Program; the Program of East Asian Classics and Cultures at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, National Taiwan University; and the Institute of Chinese Literature and Philosophy at the Academia Sinica. The total number of participants, from speakers to translators, was 56, consisting of 27 from Taiwan, 17 from Japan, and one each from Korea, Belgium and Vietnam. In content too it covered many subjects, ranging from Sino-Japanese exchange to culture, thought, language and art, and I would like to pay wholehearted tribute to those who planned and organized a symposium which gathered together so many diverse researchers in one place.

Five members of the Nishogakusha University COE Program -- COE advisor Sato Tamotsu (commentator), COE visiting research fellow Ishizuka Harumichi (commentator and presenter), COE program leader Takayama Setsuya (presenter), COE research supervisor Sato Susumu (presenter), and COE research supervisor Sato Kazuki (presenter) -- were invited to attend, and COE research fellow Lan Hongyue attended as presentation coordinator and administrative assistant. In addition, COE program member Machi Senjuro and COE research fellow Kawabe Yutai attended independently. Other participants affiliated to the COE (overseas centre leaders) were Huang Chun-chieh (National Taiwan University), W. Vande Walle (Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium), and N. Thi Oanh (Institute of Sino-Nom Studies, Vietnam), and just in terms of numbers we could be said to have fulfilled our role as co-hosts of the symposium.

The program for the symposium was as follows.

27 March (Friday)

Arrival at accommodation (Fu-Hua International Cultural Hall, Taipei)

18.00: Welcome party, followed by colloquium

28 March (Saturday): Day 1 of symposium (at auditorium of College of Liberal Arts, National Taiwan University)

9.00: Opening ceremony, with speeches by College President Yeh Kuo-liang, University President Li Ssu-ch'ien, and COE advisor Sato Tamotsu

9.10-9.50: Lecture by Professor Lin Wen-yueh, "Professor Hiraoka Takeo's Po Chu-i"

10.00-17.50: Presentation of papers

Venue A: 3 commentators, 9 presenters

Venue B: 3 commentators, 8 presenters

29 March (Sunday): Day 2 of symposium (at auditorium of College of Liberal Arts, National Taiwan University)

9.00-15.10: Presentation of papers

Venue A: 3 commentators, 7 presenters

Venue B: 3 commentators, 7 presenters

15.20-30: Closing ceremony, with speeches by College President Yeh Kuo-liang and COE advisor Sato Tamotsu

Participants from the COE Program presented the following papers.

28 March

Ishizuka Harumichi, "Kanbun kundoku during the Tokugawa Period"

Lan Hongyue, "The Colour of the Hibiscus and White Snow: The Ming Guwenci School and Ogyu Sorai's Kobunjigaku"

29 March

Sato Kazuki, "Kanbun Works in the Modern Period: The Compilation of Official Histories and the Tokyo Hanjoki"

Takayama Setsuya, "Edo-Period Catalogues of Chinese Works: On the Acceptance of Chinese Works under the Rule of Regional Non-hereditary Daimyo"

Sato Susumu, "Fujiwara Seika's Understanding of the Confucian Classics and Its Transmission: On the Native Japanese Readings of Yan in the Shijing"

W. Vande Walle, "Contacts between Kanbun Studies and Dutch Learning in the Edo Period"

N. Thi Oanh, "Kanbun kundoku in Vietnam and Related Materials"

The time allotted to each paper was about 40 minutes, with about 20 minutes for the presentation and the remaining time for the commentator's summary and comments, and the enthusiasm of the participants was such that the allotted time was frequently exceeded. However, while perhaps unavoidable in terms of the timetable, it was difficult to gain an overall grasp of the symposium because it was divided between two venues. It would also have been desirable to have concluded with a general discussion covering interdisciplinary relations between different fields of research, the position of kanbun studies within Japan's Chinese learning as a whole, and so on.

At the colloquium on the 27th, College President Yeh Kuo-liang, taking into account future developments in this field of research, raised the question of joint use of resources, publication of research findings, scholarly exchange, and the establishment of networks and forums. These are all precisely goals of our COE Program too, and we exchanged views on the subject as I described in concrete terms how we have been tackling these issues. This could be said to have been a gathering that raised the possibilities for the expanding advancement of Chinese learning in Japan, including future joint research in conjunction with Kyoto University and Kansai University, which were also represented at the colloquium.

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Department of Japanese Kanbun Instruction and Research Program, Nishogakusha University