Date: 14:00, Sunday, December 26, 2010

Venue: Multifunctional Hall, 4th Floor, Shanghai Library

Lecturer: Mr. Bai Tongdong

Booking Code: 101209

With the heavy blow dealt by the Opium War, the Chinese started to lose confidence in their technologies, social systems and traditional cultures. Even the cultural conservatives feel sincerely convinced of the superiority of western systems and technologies. Now that the nation is witnessing a gradual recovery from a colonial past, what is expected from its rise? Professor Bai Tongdong from School of Philosophy, Fudan University, will present to us how the Confucianism deals with the challenges from liberal democracy and other western political concepts by explaining the proposition of Confucianists in the pre-Qin days of 'power of the people & government of the elites'. Other Confucian ideas would be analyzed as well including the interpretation of 'rights' and 'nationalism', which are expected to demonstrate the unique function and the conducive role of Confucianism towards modern political issues of the world.

About the Lecturer

Professor Bai Tongdong, born in 1970, earned a Bachelor's Degree in Nuclear Physics from Beijing University (1994), MSc Philosophy (1996), and Doctorate in Philosophy from Boston University (2004). He used to work as assistant professor in Xavier University (2003-2009) and associateprofessor (2009-2010), and is now professor with School of Philosophy in Fudan University. His major works include New Mission of the Old Nation: Political Philosophy of Classic Confucianism and The Real Tension: On EPR Paradox (a.k.a. Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Paradox).

How to Attend the Lectures

1. Tickets are available at the information desk since October 6, 2010.

2. Text Message Booking: readers could text "JZ(Blank)Booking Codes(Blank)Name" to 02153959993.

3. Website Booking: please register and log onto http://www.jiangzuo.org or http://www.library.sh.cn/jiang for booking. Please register 30 minutes in advance at the hall entrance after successful booking.