2026 The Inaugural World Young Sinologists Summer Institute – Lecture Series

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Lecture 1: Michael FRIEDRICH 傅敏怡 (University of Hamburg, Germany 德國漢堡大學): Continental European Sinology: Subject and Method | 歐洲大陸漢學:對象與方法

Following an upsurge in the 1980s, traditional Sinology appears to be declining in recent years, giving way to Chinese Studies. The talk will briefly address the history of European Sinology and then outline recent developments. The main part will be devoted to the question what exactly the subject matter of Sinology is and its relationship to other academic fields, with special attention payed to problems of method.

繼1980年代的蓬勃發展之後,傳統漢學研究近年來似乎日漸式微,逐漸讓位於所謂中國研究。本次講座將簡要回顧歐洲漢學史,繼而概述近期發展態勢。主體部分將聚焦於漢學研究的具體對象及其與其他學術領域的關聯,尤其著重探討方法論層面的問題。


Lecture 2: DENG Xiaonan 鄧小南 (Peking University 北京大學): Toward a “Living” Institutional History: The Case of the Bureaucratic System of the Song Dynasty | 走向“活”的制度史:以宋代官僚制度史為例

TBA 待上傳


Lecture 3: DONG Qiang 董強 (Peking University 北京大學) : My Views on the Translation and Dissemination of Tang Poetry | 唐詩翻譯與傳播之我見

TBA 待上傳


Lecture 4: Barend TER HAAR 田海 (University of Hamburg, Germany 德國漢堡大學/Peking University 北京大學): The Divine Soldiers (shenbing 神兵) or Boxers and Buddhism in 1900: A New Look at Their Posters and Amulets | 神兵或義和團(1900)與佛教:其海報與護符再窺

We do not usually see the Boxer rebellion as a Buddhist event. I certainly will not start to claim that it was, since the participants (and those who suppressed them, on the Chinese side) had a broad repertoire of religious and cultural sources. The biggest problem in making any kind of analysis is our lack of sources on what the participants actually believed, since the oral history researchers of the late 1950 and 1960s showed little interest (at least not in the published materials that I have seen) in these sources. They operated on the dubious assumption that the participants had been inspired by “secret societies” such as the northern Chinese Eight Trigram groups. Nonetheless, we do possess a number of proclamations that were made by participants (or so we assume) and more recently I have come across several sets of talismans which draw amongst others on Buddhist sources of inspiration. In my talk I will analyse both the problematic Western concept of “Buddhism” (invented in 1791 and current since the 1820s) and the way in which it blinds us to Buddhist aspects of the Boxer events.

吾人素不以義和團運動為佛教事件。余亦無意倡為斯說之先聲,蓋其參與者(及其中方之彈壓者)所資取者,乃多元而龐雜之宗教與文化資源也。然則欲為析論,其最大窒礙,在於參與者實際信仰之資料殊為闕如。此蓋由二十世紀五○年代末至六○年代之口述史研究者,於此類問題興趣寡薄(至少就余所見之已刊材料而言,誠然如此)。彼輩往往據一未必可信之假設,謂參與者受「秘密結社」所啟發,如華北之「八卦教」諸團體是也。雖然,今猶存若干據稱出於參與者之告示(或至少被視為然者),而近來余復得數組符籙,其間頗有取資於佛教傳統者。是故於此報告中,余將申論西方所謂「佛教」此一問題叢生之概念(其名創於1791年,而自1820年代以降漸行於世),並探其如何蔽人耳目,使吾人忽略該事件中所蘊含之佛教面向焉。


Lecture 5: Imre GALAMBOS 高奕睿 (University of Cambridge, UK 英國劍橋大學/Zhejiang University 浙江大學): These Terms of Ours: Continuity in Sinology | 吾人此世:漢學之延續

Like any discipline or area of research, the study of China has its own developmental trajectory, from Jesuit scientists to Protestant lexicographers and translators to secular scholars and professors. The growth of the field has been in many ways cumulative: it has consistently sought to move forward and explore new territories while simultaneously building on the work of those who came before. This presentation examines the phenomenon of continuity in Sinology through the interpretation of specific terms and concepts. It argues that, over time, the field has accumulated a body of terminological jargon that is transmitted across generations, often without sufficient critical reflection on the validity of technical terms.

如同任何一門學科或研究領域,中國研究自有其發展脈絡:從耶穌會士之科學研究者,到新教辭書編纂者與翻譯家,再到世俗體制下之學者與教授,其間遞嬗有序。此一領域之成長,在多重意義上乃層累而進:既不斷開拓新境、探求新域,同時亦承繼前人之積累與成果。本講座即藉由對若干關鍵術語與概念之詮釋,檢視漢學(Sinology)中「延續性」之現象。本講主張,隨時間推移,該領域逐漸積累出一套術語性行話,並在世代之間傳承流布,然對其技術性用語之有效性與妥適性,往往未經充分而嚴謹之反思。


Lecture 6: XIA Xiaohong 夏曉虹 (Peking University 北京大學): New Perspectives in the Study of Women in the Late Qing Dynasty | 晚清女性研究的新視野

TBA 待上傳


Lecture 7: CHEN Pingyuan 陳平原 (Peking University 北京大學): Humanistic Studies in the Age of Artificial Intelligence | AI時代的人文學

TBA 待上傳


Lecture 8: YANG Lihua 楊立華 (Peking University 北京大學): The Spirit of Traditional Chinese Philosophy: The Great Yi and the Creation after Creation | 中國傳統哲學的精神:大易與生生

TBA 待上傳


Lecture 9: YAN Haiying 顏海英 (Peking University 北京大學): The Ancient Egyptian Artifacts Collected in China: The Horse Culture of China and Egypt | 中國收藏的古埃及文物——中國與埃及的馬文化

TBA 待上傳


Lecture 10: Imre HAMAR 郝清新 (Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary 匈牙利羅蘭大學): Chinese Interpretation of the Avatamsaka Sutra | 中國對《華嚴經》的闡釋

This presentation explores how the Avatamsaka Sutra (Buddhāvataṃsaka-sūtra) was interpreted and transformed within the intellectual and religious environment of medieval China. Rather than treating the sutra as a fixed Indian text, Chinese Buddhist thinkers approached it through a dynamic exegetical process that reshaped its meaning and function. The talk focuses on the Huayan school, for which the Avatamsaka Sutra was regarded as the Buddha’s most complete and profound teaching, and on the role of commentary as a primary medium of interpretation.

Special attention is given to Chengguan (738–839), the fourth patriarch of the Huayan school, whose extensive commentaries played a decisive role in systematizing Huayan doctrine. By combining detailed textual analysis with structural interpretation (kepan), Chengguan revealed the inner coherence of the sutra and situated it within the broader framework of Buddhist teachings. His method illustrates how Chinese exegetes transformed a complex scripture into a comprehensive vision of reality, practice, and enlightenment.

The presentation also examines how Chinese intellectual traditions influenced the interpretation of the Avatamsaka Sutra. Huayan commentators did not hesitate to draw on Confucian and Daoist concepts and textual references in order to clarify Buddhist ideas for a Chinese audience, while at the same time maintaining the doctrinal superiority of Buddhism.

Finally, the talk addresses the Huayan understanding of key doctrinal themes, especially the concept of “one-mind,” as interpreted under the influence of the Awakening of Faith in Mahāyāna. This reinterpretation enabled Huayan thinkers to articulate a distinctly Chinese vision of the interpenetration of absolute truth and phenomenal reality, linking philosophical insight with religious practice.

本次報告探討《華嚴經》(Buddhāvataṃsaka-sūtra)如何在中古中國之思想與宗教語境中被詮釋與轉化。與其將此經典視為一部固定不變的印度文本,中國佛教思想家乃透過一種動態的詮釋過程,重塑其意義與功能,使之在新的文化脈絡中獲得再生。

報告重點聚焦於華嚴宗。對華嚴宗而言,《華嚴經》被尊為佛陀最圓滿、最深奧之教法,而「註疏」則成為詮釋與建構義理的主要媒介。透過註解活動,經典不僅被理解,更被體系化、哲學化。

其中,特別關注華嚴宗第四祖澄觀(738–839)。其宏富而周密之疏鈔著作,對華嚴教義之系統化發揮了 निर्ण定性作用。澄觀結合細密之文本分析與科判(教相判釋)的結構性詮解,揭示經文內在之條理與整體連貫性,並將之安置於整體佛教教法之架構之中。其方法生動展現了中國詮釋家如何將一部結構宏闊、義理繁複之經典,轉化為涵攝宇宙實相、修行實踐與覺悟境界之完整圖像。

此外,報告亦考察中國思想傳統對《華嚴經》詮釋所產生之影響。華嚴註疏家往往援引儒家與道家之概念與典籍,以闡明佛教義理,使之更易為中國士人所理解;同時,他們仍堅持佛法於教理層面的圓融與優越地位,從而在會通與區辨之間取得微妙平衡。

最後,本報告將討論華嚴宗對若干核心教義之理解,尤以「一心」觀念為中心,並探析其在《大乘起信論》思想影響下之詮釋轉向。此種再詮釋,使華嚴思想得以呈現出一種鮮明的中國式宇宙觀:真如與萬象相即相入,理與事圓融無礙,哲學洞見與宗教實踐相互貫通。