Time: 16:00, March 12
Venue: Room 302, the Library
Abstract:
The values associated with the Yin–Shang civilization once endowed Japanese culture with a background that was almost archetypal in nature. Taking the “Xia–Shang Ancient Route” as a point of departure—treated here as an empirically grounded hypothesis—this lecture outlines possible connections between early Chinese and Japanese antiquity. On this basis, it examines the distinctive historical development in Japan in which the principles of revering the divine and upholding martial valor (chongshen shangwu) and valuing profit and exalting power (chongli shangli) unfolded in succession. Japan’s tendencies toward rejecting the middle way, embracing militarized adventurism, and displaying excessive self-assertion may thus acquire new perspectives and interpretations.
Speaker:
Professor Han Dongyu. He received his BA and MA from Northeast Normal University, and his PhD and postdoctoral training from the University of Tokyo. He is currently a Distinguished Professor under the Ministry of Education’s Changjiang Scholars Program, President of the Chinese Association for Japanese History, and Vice President of the Chinese Historical Society.
His research focuses on Japanese history, East Asian intellectual history, and the history of international relations in East Asia. He has published several monographs, including From “Departing from Confucianism” to “Departing from Asia”: The Intellectual Process of “Decentralization” in Japan since the Early Modern Period; From “Seeking Investiture” to “Self-Investiture”: The Process of “Self-Centralization” in Japan since the Medieval Period; and From “Principle” (Daoli) to “Physical Principles” (Wuli): The Epistemological Transformation of “Turning the Way into Technique” in Early Modern Japan, among others.
He has also published numerous scholarly articles and led multiple research projects. His work has been awarded the First Prize of the Ministry of Education’s Outstanding Achievement Award in Humanities and Social Sciences in Higher Education at the 7th, 8th, and 9th editions.
Registration Link and Q&R Code:
https://wenjuan.shanghaitech.edu.cn/vm/ONPUPN6.aspx
