Shanghai Library Lectures’ Zhang Peiheng Lecture Series Launches a New Topic: “China in Extraterritorial Documents”

On April 21, 2013, The "Shanghai Library Lectures", the Ancient Books Collation Institute of the Fudan University and Zhang Peiheng Academic Fund jointly launched “China in Extraterritorial Documents”, a new lecture series. This series has invited five well-known scholars in the field both at home and abroad to present to the public an image of China that is both familiar and unfamiliar, in the form of popular lectures, so that people can have a better view of our own cultural traditions, reflect on the peaceful coexistence with other countries in the new world patterns, and look forward to the future development of China. This shows that the Shanghai Library Lectures has made another innovation and achieved a new enhancement from “knowledge services" to "wisdom nevigation” on the occasion of its 35th anniversary.

The so-called "extra-territorial documents" are traditional documetns written in Chinese in other countries. Due to historical reasons, in the pre-modern period, China's neighboring countries influenced by the Chinese culture often collected documents written in Chinese. A considerable amount of such documents are historical records related to China. In Europe, due to the effort of missionaries in China, there are also many such texts and and image resources.

The first lecture is given by Professor Zhang Bowei, director of the Oversea Chinese Documents Research Institute, Nanjing University. His topic is “China in the Chinese Documents in Korea”, and he will describe what the Koreans regarded as “Chinese foreignness” with objective materials, and reveals the complex factors resulting in the Korean view on the “Chinese foreignness”. He will discuss the Confucian idea that it is by culture that the Chinese are set apart, not by race. This has become one of the basic ideas of the Confucian philosophy, and one of the idea adopted by the countries covered by the Chinese culture.

On May 5, Professor Chen Zhenghong from the Institute of Ancient Books Collation, Fudan University, will give a lecture on "China in the Vienamese Travel Records”. He will focus on the travel records, collected poems and maps left by the Vietnamese envoys to China, when they were sent regularly to Beijing to have an audience with the Emperor of China, in the traditional tributary system in East Asia. There are also documents covering the life of people at various levels, from the emperor to the boatmen, revealing the traditional China from another point of view.

On May 12, Professor Mei Qianli from the Department of Philosophy, Zhongshan University will give a lecture on "China in the European Missionary Documents”. One of the main activities of European missionaries in China was to write a variety of documents to Europeans: letters to their relatives, reports to church leaders, and books to intellectuals. From these rich documents, we can understand the China in which they had a long-term residence, and reflect on China from their perspectives.

On May 19, Professor Shao Yiping from the Chinese Department of the Fudan University will give a lecture on “China in Japanese Documents’. The lectures is based on existing Chinese documents in Japan and through the China-related historical materials, tries to discover China reflected in these documents, from the historical and cultural background, the Sino-Japanese cultural exchange and the influence of Chinese literature, and helps us understand the history and close relationship between China and Japan.

On May 26, Han Jiegen, a senior editor from the Fudan University Press will give a lecture on “China in the Ryukyu Kingdom”. He will discuss how the Ryukyu Kingdom sent emissary tribute to China on a regular basis prior to its annexation by Japan in 1879. The Kingdom of Ryukyu sent students to study in the Beijing Imperial College or Fujian. During these visits, the envoys and students wrote numerous diaries and poems. The lecturer will give an introduction to the image of China in the Ming and Qing Dynasties from the Ryukyu perspectives, based on the Chinese documents in the Ryukyu Kingdom.