Taiwan’s 2020 Tang Prize Laureate Wang Gungwu to Talk about the Many Faces of Sinology

TAIPEI, TAIWAN -�Media OutReach - 15 September 2020 - Given the span and complexity of Chinese
history, it is not surprising only a handful of people can have a comprehensive
knowledge of it. The Tang Prize Foundation and National Chengchi University
will co-host the 2020 Tang Prize Masters’ Forum for Sinology, scheduled to take
place from 2p.m. to 4p.m. (GMT+8), Taiwan time, on September 22, at the
University’s Art & Culture Centre. Prof. Wang Gungwu, 2020 Tang Prize
winner in Sinology and world authority on the study of the Chinese overseas,
will speak on the topic, “The High Road to Pluralist Sinology.”

 

Also
featured in this forum are Prof. Huang Chin-shing, vice president and
academician of Academia Sinica, Prof. Chen Kuo-tung, research fellow of
Academia Sinica’s Institute of History and Philology, and Prof. Yang Jui-sung,
professor and vice dean of National Chengchi University’s College of Liberal
Arts.

The
Tang Prize in Sinology recognizes the study of Sinology in its broadest sense,
which encompasses not only Chinese philology, linguistics, literature and art
but also Chinese thought and history. Erudite and perceptive, Prof. Wang spent
nearly four decades steeped in the research on the history of the Chinese
overseas, Sino-foreign relations, Southeast Asia, trade, as well as maritime
history. His works broke new ground in Chinese studies. Looking at China from
the periphery, he is able to provide unique insights about China’s changing
place in the world and come up with innovative interpretations of Sinology’s
important role in the modern society. It is for all these achievements that he
was awarded the 2020 Tang Prize in Sinology. In this forum, he will open a
discussion on the traditions of Sinology that also delves into the meaning
behind China studies in the new world order. He will begin by tracing its
evolution and contemporary developments before examining the newest trends and
exploring the continuity of such studies for the future. Prof. Wang will be
joined by distinguished scholars in a panel discussion to further examine and
understand the diverse values and future outlook of the field of Sinology. 

 

As
the old Chinese saying goes: “History is like a mirror, reflecting how an
empire rises and falls.” China’s growing influence in the 21^st
century reshaped the world order.

 

While
the Sino-US tensions keep mounting, the South China Sea has also become a
dangerous flashpoint. A deeper knowledge of China is therefore what citizens of
the world should strive to acquire. As the leading historian on Sino-Southeast
Asian relations, Prof. Wang developed a unique approach to understanding China,
filling the gap in Sinology created by the dominance of more conventional
narratives about China constructed out of either an internalist perspective or
China’s position in relation to the West. He scrutinizes China’s long and
complex history to offer people living in the contemporary era his original
views on modern China that are different from those emerging amid international
political conflicts.   

 

The
moderator and panelists for the forum are all eminent scholars in the fields of
Chinese history and philosophy. Prof. Huang Chin-shing specializes in Chinese
intellectual history, historiography and religious culture. Prof. Chen Kuo-tung
is an expert on the economic and maritime history of the Ming and Qing period.
His recent research centers on the advent of globalization over the past five
centuries. Prof. Yang Jui-sung serves as the vice dean of the College of
Liberal Arts and director of the office of Lo Chia-luen International Sinology
Chair. His main research includes late imperial and modern Chinese thought,
cultural history as well as psychohistory and historiography.

 

To
watch a 1-minute video about this year’s Masters’ Forums, please click on https://reurl.cc/d5xKr8. For more information about the
forum, please visit https://www.tang-prize.org/en/week.php?cat=94

 

About Tang Prize

Dr. Samuel
Yin, chairman of Ruentex Group, founded the Tang Prize in December of 2012 as
an extension of the supreme value his family placed on education. Harkening
back to the golden age of the Tang Dynasty in Chinese history, the Tang Prize
seeks to be an inspiring force for people working in all corners of the world.
For more information on the Tang Prize and its laureates, please visit www.tang-prize.org