I、Introduction

The 2018 Nishan Confucian Studies Summer Institute International Program offers teachers of Chinese history and culture an opportunity to spend a month at an established Confucian academy reading the Confucian classics with world-renowned experts Roger T. Ames, Chenshan Tian, and other distinguished comparative philosophy and Confucian scholars. The institutes were held annually in the summers of 2011 through 2017, for seven years totally, all of which were deemed to be memorable successes. Since its inception, this annual gathering has attracted the brightest teachers and the most committed students from around the world. In organizing the forthcoming Institute scheduled for the month of July, 2018, we again welcome international participants to read the Chinese classics at Nishan, the famed birthplace of Confucius. We invite all of those students and teachers who are intrigued by Chinese culture and Chinese thought and who seek a more profound appreciation of Chinese cosmology to join us on this unique educational and research journey.

The first decade of the 21^st century has witnessed the rise of China as a major force in the world’s economic and political order. For many, this phenomenon raises the important question of what influence will the relatively sudden emergence of this antique civilization exert on an ever-evolving world culture? Answering this question by anticipating the weight and measure of China’s growing impact on other world civilizations has become a serious academic concern. In order to understand and respond effectively to these world-shaping and complex developments in China and around the world, scholars must not only track the ongoing course of current affairs, but equally as important, they must become familiar with and sensitive to Chinese ways, and this means taking Chinese culture on its own terms. Our overarching purpose in offering this month-long summer program is to help our participants gain a clear understanding of the historical evolution of Chinese thought and culture through an in-depth examination of Chinese canonical texts and their interpretive contexts, and through a collaborative study of these works, to make the wisdom of this living tradition their own.

Historically, Western exegetes have read and interpreted Chinese philosophy through a decidedly Western cultural lens, and their theoretical methodology has been grounded in Western cultural assumptions. While Chinese culture has changed profoundly over the millennia, there are nevertheless persisting cosmological commitments that have given continuity and coherence to this ever-evolving tradition. Our challenge as students of these Chinese classics is to adopt a hermeneutical approach that will allow us to excavate the uncommon assumptions that give these philosophical texts their authority, and to appreciate the aesthetic and the structural differences through a careful reading of the canon.

Before beginning our journey into Chinese cosmology, we will need to clearly understand the contrast between classical Greek philosophy’s static and substantial metaphysical approach to human experience that is based on fixed principles and the more fluid and dynamic assumptions that have influenced a tradition in which the Book of Changes has always been revered as first among the Chinese classics. The 20^th century philosopher Tang Junyi takes the notion of “the inseparability of one and many” (yiduobufen guan 一多不分观) as one of the distinguishing propositions of Chinese natural cosmology—a way of thinking about phenomena that stands in stark contrast to the “One behind the many” model of a classical Greek idealism that is sustained by the notion of an unchanging eidos as defining of all natural types or species.

What is a human “being”? This was the perennial question raised by many of the ancient Greek philosophers, such as Plato in the Phaedo and Aristotle in De Anima. From the time of Pythagoras, the most persistent answer to this question was an ontological one: The “being” component of a human being is its unchanging, pure, and self-sufficient soul. The signature exhortation of Socrates, “know thyself,” was his charge to the individual to seek to know this unique and ideal soul that is complete and immutable in itself. From the ancient Greek perspective, each of us carries a soul from the time of our conception, and it is this soul that gives us the integrity and the continuity in being our own person throughout our lives.

In what way does a person become consummately human? This was the perennial Confucian question raised explicitly in all of the Four Books: in the Great Learning, in the Analects of Confucius, in the Mencius, and again in the Zhongyong. From the time of Confucius, the proper response to this question was a moral and aesthetic one, and was ultimately an expression of an individual’s human-centered religiousness.

According to Confucius, one becomes truly human by cultivating the diverse network of intrinsic and interpersonal relations that constitute one’s initial conditions and that locate the trajectory of one’s life force within family, community, and cosmos. The signature exhortation of the Confucian canon is “cultivate your person”— xiushen 修身. This is the ground of the Confucian project of becoming consummate as a person (ren 仁): it is to consciously enlarge, improve, and attempt to maximize those interdependent family, community, and cosmic roles and relationships that one lives on a daily basis. In this Confucian tradition, the cultivation of our humanity is not solitary but collective. We need each other because if there is only one person, there can be no persons. Becoming consummate in our conduct (人/仁) is an achievement that is necessarily shared. It is something that we must do together, or not at all. In this Confucian understanding of a relationally constituted person, we are uniquely one and pluralistically many at the same time—each of us is a uniquely focused person defined by a field of relations (一多不分). For Confucians, then, we are less autonomous human “beings” than we are an intersection of human “becomings.”

In pursuing an understanding of Chinese natural cosmology as the relevant interpretive context for this Confucian project we will strive to provide a language that will distinguish this worldview from the reductive, single-ordered, “One-behind-the-many” ontological model that grounds classical Greek metaphysical thinking. The notion that one can come to an “understanding” of the “many” by knowing retrospectively the foundational and causal ideal that lies behind them was an underlying principle of Greek metaphysics and was applied by the Greeks to human beings in claiming that one can come to an understanding of what makes us all uniquely human by subscribing to the concept of a discrete self or soul. In our exploration of Chinese cosmology, we will find that this ontological model is in contradistinction to the symbiotic and holistic focus-field model of order that is illustrated rather concisely in the organic, ecological sensibilities of the Great Learning 大學, the first of the Four Books that begins the Confucian project.

In addition, we will review China’s recent history and attempt to identify the nature of the forces that have contributed to the emergence of a dynamic contemporary society in China. By understanding the present in light of the past, we will seek to gain an informed assessment of China’s place in the modern world. We will attempt to identify global trends, and then to understand the dynamism of Chinese society within a larger international context. In addition to exploring the evolution of Chinese thought through an examination of canonical Chinese texts, it is important that students become familiar with the literature that deals with the historical role of China in world affairs.

The 2018 Nishan Confucian Studies Summer Institute International Program for Teachers of Chinese Culture was conceived, like its predecessors, as a uniquely “Confucian” setting for the instruction of Chinese and international teachers and students of Chinese culture, literature, history and philosophy. However, the content and the scope of the materials, as well as the collaborative and interactive teaching forums, are designed to accommodate both the advanced Chinese specialist and the newcomer to Chinese cultural interests. In the past, our Confucian Studies Summer Programs have attracted a wide range of students and teachers from a great many vocational and academic backgrounds with a wide range of expertise and experiences, and many of the new arrivals to Chinese culture have been the most enthusiastic. The program will entail readings in Chinese history and philosophy, but a basic familiarity with Chinese culture and classical texts is expected. It goes without saying that in the study of Chinese culture, Chinese language competence would be a great asset, but it is not a requirement of the program because all academic lectures and discussions will be in English. The goal of this month-long Summer Institute is to provide the participants with a knowledge of the Chinese classics and a comparative, hermeneutical approach to these texts that they can apply in their continuing studies of the Chinese canon and in their teaching of Confucianism and Chinese culture to their students. In order to accomplish this goal, we will undertake a careful and detailed reading of the primary canonical texts that will be sensitive to alternative world views and modalities of thinking, as well as to fundamental linguistic differences.

This month-long training program will be led by Professors Roger T.Ames (University of Hawaii) and Tian Chenshan (Beijing Foreign Studies University), with a special series of lectures delivered by Robin R.Wang (Loyola Marymount University), Hans-Georg Moeller (University of Macau), James Behuniak (Colby College), and Ian Sullivan (Seattle University). Our time together will be spent reading classical texts and contemporary commentaries, taking part in interactive seminars and discussion groups, joining with colleagues in cultural activities and events, and venturing out on a number of pre-planned field trips.

II、Past Events

1） July 1-31, 2011 – Nishan Birthplace of the Sage Academy 

Sponsors:Beijing Sihai Confucian Academy, Nishan Birthplace of the Sage Academy and Center for East-West Relations, Beijing Foreign Studies University

Faculty: Roger T. Ames, Henry Rosemont, and Chenshan Tian

Participants: 27 including 11 international members

2） June 9-July 3, 2012 – Nishan Birthplace of the Sage Academy 

Sponsors: Beijing Sihai Confucian Academy and Center for East-West Relations, Beijing Foreign Studies University

Faculty: Roger T. Ames, Sor-Hoon Tan, and Chenshan Tian

Participants: 23 including 8 international members

3） July 6-August 3, 2013 – Daxing International Conference Center, BFSU

Sponsors: Confucian Institute Headquarters/Hanban

Organizer: Center for East-West Relations and Office of Confucius Institutes, Beijing Foreign Studies University

Faculty: Roger T. Ames, James Hsiung, Chenshan Tian, Robin R. Wang, and Hans- Georg Moeller

Participants: 57 including 19 international members

4） July 18-28, 2014 – New Library, Beijing Foreign Studies University

 Sponsors: Confucian Institute Headquarters/Hanban

Organizer: Center for East-West Relations and Office of Confucius Institutes, Beijing Foreign Studies University

Faculty: Roger T. Ames, Chenshan Tian, Robin R. Wang, and Yanhua Zhang

Participants: 33 university teachers of Chinese language and culture

5） December 6-12, 2015 – Yifu-lou, Beijing Foreign Studies University

Sponsors: International Confucian Association

Organizer: Center for East-West Relations and Consortium for Chinese Studies and Intercultural Communication, Beijing Foreign Studies University

Faculty: Roger T. Ames, Chenshan Tian, Robin R. Wang, and Yanhua Zhang

Participants: 65 university teachers and students in National Leaning and English-language translation (including 6 international participants)

6）July 2-31, 2016 –Nishan Birthplace of the Sage Academy

Sponsors: International Confucian Association

Organizer: Center for East-West Relations and Consortium for Chinese Studies and Intercultural Communication, Beijing Foreign Studies University

Faculty: Roger T. Ames, Gu Zhengkun, Chenshan Tian, Li Chenyang, Robin Wang, Hans-Georg Moeller, Zhang Qi, Jimmy Behuniak, and Ian Sullivan

Participants: 21 including 10 international members

7） July 1-15, 2017 –Qufu Chinese Confucius Research Institute

 Sponsors: Qufu Chinese Confucius Research Institute

Organizer: Center for East-West Relations and Consortium for Chinese Studies and Intercultural Communication, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Bath Spa University & International Academy of Chinese Thought and Culture Center Collaboration

Faculty: Roger T. Ames, Chenshan Tian, Robin R. Wang, and Hans-Georg Moeller

Participants: 41 in total, including 23 international participants and 18 Chinese members

III、The Hosts, Co-sponsors and Co-organizers

Host Organizations:

International Confucian Association

The International Confucian Association (abbr. ICA) was jointly initiated by the academic societies of Confucianism in China, South Korea, Japan, the US, Germany, Singapore, Vietnam and the Chinese territories of Hong Kong and Taiwan, the ICA was officially established in Beijing on Oct.5, 1994. Registered under the Ministry of Civil Affairs in July, 1995, the ICA is an international academic institution with a legal personality based in Beijing, China. As an international academic and cultural organization, the ICA is a community of Confucian societies and scholars. With the purpose of “studying and carrying forward Confucian thought in order to push for the freedom and equality of mankind and the peaceful development and lasting prosperity of the world,” the ICA strives to unite Confucian societies, scholars and professionals to boost the study, dissemination, popularization and application of Confucianism in the international community. The specific work of the ICA includes: organizing international academic conferences and lectures; carrying out academic research; integrating academic information and resources; promoting the exchange of ideas and sharing experiences in the popularization of Confucianism; advancing education and faculty training in Confucianism; publishing academic works, periodicals and popular books; promoting friendly international exchanges and cooperation; raising funds for international Confucian studies; and exploring other undertakings conducive to the development of Confucianism. The organization structure of the ICA consists of the standing body, the decision-making body and the advisory body. Under the standing body are the Secretariat, the Academic Board, the Publicity and Publication Committee, the Committee of Education, Dissemination and Popularization, the Fund Management Council, the Committee of International Liaison, the Council of Confucianism and Enterprise Management and the Advisory Liaison Committee. The Congress is the highest decision-making body of the ICA; as a decision-making body, the Executive Board exercises decision-making rights when the Congress is not in session. The advisory body is made up of the Honorary Chairman, the Honorary President and the advisors.

The ICA is willing to build all-dimensional academic ties with Confucian societies in all countries and regions of the world, strengthen friendly cooperation and jointly carry out activities for the study, dissemination, popularization and application of Confucianism. We will be unremitting in advocating the practical application of Confucianism for self-cultivation and the improvement of morality and spirituality, for fostering sound family and social virtues, for building stronger state governance, for promoting national and social harmony, and for building a strong platform of exchanges in international affairs for the common development of all countries.

  Co-sponsors:

Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU)

Beijing Foreign Studies University, (abbreviated BFSU), was founded in 1941 as the Russian Language Team within the Third Branch of the Chinese People’s Anti-Japanese Military and Political College. Later, under the direction of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, it was renamed Yan’an Foreign Languages School. After the formation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the school was put under the direction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 1954, the school became Beijing Foreign Languages Institute, and then in 1959 it merged with the Beijing Russian Institute. In 1980, the Ministry of Education took over the management of the Institute, and in 1994 it was given its present-day name, Beijing Foreign Studies University. Located in the Haidian District of Beijing, BFSU has earned a reputation as one of China’s top universities, and it currently offers instruction in sixty-seven foreign languages, as well as undergraduate and graduate degrees in the various literatures and cultures. Over the past few decades, Beijing Foreign Studies University has recruited many distinguished foreign faculty, and its global standing continues to attract a growing number of international students to augment its large indigenous Chinese student population. At present, BFSU offers a wide range of programs in Chinese language and literature, political science, as well as degrees in Chinese law, journalism, management science, and many other academic disciplines. Over the past seventy-four years, more than 90,000 students have graduated from BFSU, including a talented group of Chinese students whose foreign language abilities have landed them employment in the Chinese foreign diplomatic service. Over the years, BFSU has contributed more than 400 ambassadors and above 1000 counselors to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gaining it a reputation in Chinese academic circles as the “Cradle for Diplomats.”

The World Consortium for Research into Confucian Cultures

In July, 2013, academic representatives from the world’s four traditional Confucian cultures—China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam—held a conference at Sungkyunkwan University in Korea where they agreed to establish a World Consortium for Research into Confucian Cultures. The inaugural meeting of this Consortium was held in October, 2014 at the East-West Center on the campus of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. This conference attracted top Confucian scholars from the foremost universities in the world. They met at the East-West Center in Honolulu where they discussed and debated the meaning and the value of Confucian culture as it is relevant to the newly emerging world order.

Co-organizers:

Center for East-West Relations (BFSU)

           The Center for East-West Relations (CEWR) was first established in 2008 under the egis of the School of International Relations and Diplomacy, and its head office is located on the East Campus of Beijing Foreign Studies University. The CEWR was founded as an innovative center for the promotion of constructive global dialogue and cooperative interactions between the East and the West. CEWR MISSION STATEMENT: Over the course of the 21st century, the populations of the world’s Eastern and Western nations are sure to encounter new and unique opportunities for growth and prosperity, but they will also need to face ominous challenges that have the potential to ferment serious discord and conflict. On all levels of cultural interaction--social, political, economic, environmental and scientific--the nations of the East and the West will have to contend with competing interests and goals. Therefore, these countries will need to come together to negotiate fair commerce and good relations through responsible and sensitive dialogue. The rapid advances in media technology over the past few decades have shrunken the world and have brought formerly remote and isolated regions of the world into close contact. The so-called information revolution has led to a growing international awareness of the profound diversity and complexity of the world’s cultures, thereby making mutual understanding and accommodation absolutely necessary to global peace. Recent history has taught us that the lack of knowledge and the absence of cultural tolerance in states and populations can transform contrasting and conflicting world-views into ethnocentrism and fundamentalism. The important lesson to be learned is that suspicion and distrust can quickly mutate into political, cultural, ethnic, religious, and racial conflict. The other side of this lesson is that if these differences are managed with wisdom and sensitivity, they can provide the inspiration necessary for a more varied, rich, resourceful and harmonious global community. The Center for East-West Relations is a leading sponsor of a number of events and programs that encourage cross-cultural understanding and respect. In addition to organizing the Confucian Studies Summer Institute, the Center also sponsors interdisciplinary conferences on philosophy, international relations, business, and political affairs, such as the WE Forum. In past years, the WE Forum’s conference titles have included the following themes: “Summit on Global Economic and Cultural Issues: The Global Financial Crisis and its Cultural Implications” (2009), “Confucian Scholarship in the 20th Century and the Renaissance of Eastern Civilizations” (2010), and “Confucianism and the Sinicization of Marxism” (2011). The Center for East-West Relations is also the founding institution of the Nishan Confucian Studies Summer Institute International Program for Teachers of Chinese Culture.

Association of Chinese Traditional Culture at Danyang

Founded in 2012, the Association of Chinese Traditional Culture at Danyang is a organization to promote social welfare approved by the Department of Civil Affairs and under the leadership of the Department of Information to perpetuate the transmission of traditional culture.

Since the establishment of the Association, under the careful guidance of experts at each level of leadership, and with adherence to the core values of socialism, it has taken as its mission to “promote canonical learning and the social values, pursue the virtues of personal cultivation, and support the public good (弘扬国学传善义，自我修养存善德，公益扶助行善). The Association with the Chinese classics as the primary resource is actively carrying out activities that transmit traditional culture to enrich the growth and learning experience within our schools, families, communities, and enterprises. Through voluntary participation and expert guidance, and with the generous support of enlightened business leaders committed to public welfare, the Association has aspired to the Danyang symbol of the small hand holding the big hand.

With respect to schooling, the association has built solid bases. In the early days of its founding, the Association established a close relationship with schools at various levels. The first step was to introduce a class in Ancient Chinese Studies at the 3^rd Middle School of Danyang during the opening ceremony of the National Studies Summer Camp and Winter Camp. After gaining some experience in establishing cooperative relations, and setting down its roots at the 3^rd Middle School of Danyang, the Association successively established a cooperative relations with the Danyang Experimental School, Danyang Red Phoenix Experimental Primary School, Danyang Kuangyaming Elementary School, and another eleven primary and secondary schools and rural adult education centers in Yanling, Danbei, and other rural villages, enabling the Association's Vice Director Unit to become a strong force in promoting traditional Chinese culture.

For teachers, the Association has initiated training of volunteers in the education of ancient Chinese studies. Because kindergarten, primary, and secondary school teachers among community members have the deepest understanding of the traditional culture, the Association has encouraged and then relied on them to take the lead in introducing traditional culture into the schools. In the various training activities, the Association takes full advantage of the strength of the teachers and the parents of the students in developing them to become cultural volunteers. We also organise teachers from both Danyang and regional places for workshops in which they study traditional culture together and increase their understanding of it. We galvanize the identity of the Association through Teacher’s Training Classes held annually in our summer camps. Once the teachers have completed their training, they are able to participate fully in the society and the schools in promoting traditional culture and extending its reach and influence. At present, school teachers, government workers, and social enthusiasts have already become the backbone of the Association’s volunteer team.

For the children, the Association has developed educational programs in Ancient Chinese Studies for youngsters. The Association of Chinese Traditional Culture at Danyang is grounded in traditional culture, the pursuit of moral excellence, and the promotion of core values at its three main elements. The launch of the Class of Ancient Chinese Studies was an excellent beginning, being welcomed by both students and teachers, and has now become the Association’s unique brand. Our teaching content uses Dizigui (弟子规) for personal discipline, and includes reciting the Book of Mencius (孟子)，the Classic of Family Reverence (孝经), the Sanzijing (三字经), the Qianziwen (千字文), the Daxue (大学) and the Analects of Confucius (论语), as well as reading the Liwengduiyun (笠翁对韵), the Taishangganyingpian (太上感应篇) and the Xinjing (心经), to combine stories in moral education, music, calligraphy, Baduanjin boxing and Xilao along with other courses. Up to the present, more than four hundred students and teachers have attended training in these classes in Ancient Chinese Studies.

For students, we have developed the activities held during the summer camps. We encourage the children in family reverence and social virtues, as well as awakening in them the personal resources for them to become responsible, law-abiding, and studious young people who have integrity and honesty, and who show respect to their parents and their teachers. We have held six National Studies Youth Summer Camps that range from 15 to 21 days and one National Studies Youth Winter Camp. The number of students, parents and teachers who have received training is in excess of 3000 people.

We have been invited to carry out our activities outside of Danyang. With energy and selflessness, our volunteers came together to assist Qingzhou in Shandong province ing holding the 1^st Public Welfare Ancient Chinese Studies Summer Camp. In 2014, a large-scale forum on Civic Morality was successfully held at the invitation of the Department of Information. In 2017, we were invited to Beijing to hold a Public Welfare Ancient Chinese Studies Summer Camp, and model for the event received the endorsement of the experts.

In undertaking this important mission, we have embraced our responsibility to continue the living civilization for our own time and place, and our work has received the attention of society and the support of the government. Appointed by the Danyang Cultural Committee, it has fallen to us, the Danyang Association of Chinese Traditional Culture, to take up the daily management and operations of the “Haorenxuandeguan” (好人宣德馆). Since taking up this task, we have relied on the Association’s volunteer resources and have taken advantage of the “Haorenxuandeguan” to determine the theme of the activities. We want to promote the spirit of the 19^th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, to promote civic virtue, and to raise the moral standards of the community. During the planning phase, it was determined to have different activies on a daily basis. “Haorenxuandeguan” held a reception for the visitors from schools, business enterprises, government leaders, and the public, and the contribution of Association volunteers was much praised. More recently the Association has entrusted by the Danyang Cultural Committee to take over the management of the volunteers  who run the popular book clubs (爱读书吧) in Danyang.

Over the past six years, our Association has promoted public interest in Ancient Chinese Studies. The Association’s model of voluntary service has been acknowledged at all levels of leadership and among academic experts, and has received the approval of parents and students, as well as approbation from the community. All elements of the Association in all of its parts, including its regulations, organisational structure, teacher teams, volunteer organisations, fiscal matters, and the evaluation of the society have benefitted from having sought verification from practice.

IV、The Main Speakers

Professor Roger T. Ames

Roger T. Ames is Distinguished Humanities Chair Professor at Peking University, a Berggruen Fellow, and a former Professor of Philosophy at the University of Hawai’i. He is the past editor of Philosophy East & West and the founding editor of China Review International. Ames has authored many interpretative studies of Chinese philosophy and culture: Thinking Through Confucius (1987), Anticipating China (1995), Thinking from the Han (1998), and Democracy of the Dead (1999) (all with David L. Hall), and most recently Confucian Role Ethics: A Vocabulary (2011). His publications also include translations of classical Chinese texts: the Sun-tzu: The Art of Warfare (1993); the Sun Pin: The Art of Warfare (1996) (with D.C. Lau); the Confucian Analects (1998) and the Classic of Family Reverence: The Xiaojing (2009) (both with Henry Rosemont), Focusing the Familiar: The Zhongyong (2001), and The Daodejing) (2003) (with David L. Hall). Almost all of his publications are now available in Chinese translation, including his philosophical translations of Chinese canonical texts. He has most recently been busy compiling the new Blackwell Sourcebook of Classical Chinese Philosophy, and with writing articles advocating a conversation between American pragmatism and Confucianism.

Professor Chenshan Tian

Chenshan Tian earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and he has lived, taught and given public lectures in Hawai’i, in North Dakota, and in China. Professor Tian started his teaching career in China at Beijing Foreign Studies University in 2005 and is currently the Director of the Center for East-West Relations, which operates under the egis of the School of International Relations and Diplomacy at BFSU. In October 2009, Dr. Tian was elected to the post of Director of the International Confucian Association. As a contemporary Chinese-American academic, Chenshan Tian specializes in comparative Western and Chinese political philosophy. Recently, his research has focused on exploring the differences between Eastern and Western world views, alternative ways of thinking, and different forms of scientific understanding. His book, Chinese Dialectics: From Yijing to Marxism, focuses on explaining the fundamental differences between Chinese and Western Marxism. This work makes the simple but profound observation that much of the history of Western thought, including scientific thought, has essentially been derived from, and limited by the Christian faith in a transcendent “God.” This model can be expanded to involve an ontology of Being and Nonbeing, a teleological order from beginning to end, and a plethora of dualisms, such as a final distinction between the natural world and human culture, time and space, mind and body, ontology and epistemology, and so on. Tian advocates an intellectual world derived from the Yijing, which seems much more in tune with the mysteries of organic life, with human behavior, and with the nature of material and energy inherent in quantum mechanics and in the relativity theories of modern physics. At Beijing Foreign Studies University, Dr. Tian teaches courses in “Political Thought and Theory,” “Chinese Government and Politics,” “Comparative Foreign Policy,” “American Politics,” “Modern Chinese Philosophy,” “Media and Politics,” “Comparative Chinese and Western Philosophy,” and “Modern Chinese History.”

Robin Wang 

Robin Wang is a Professor of Philosophy (Lifelong) at Loyala Marymount University, Director of Asia-Pacific Studies, Researcher at Stanford University's Center of Human Behavior Research, 2016-2017 and Current President of the Global Association of Asian and Comparative Philosophy. She recently finished a book e ntitled Yinyang: The Way of Heaven and Earth in Chinese Culture which was published by Cambridge University Press. She is the editor of Chinese Philosophy in an Era of Globalization and Images of Women in Chinese Thought and Culture: Writings from the Pre-Qin Period to the Song Dynasty, and she is co-editor of Internal Alchemy: Self, Society, and the Quest for Immortality and Reason and Insight: Western and Eastern Perspectives on the Pursuit of Moral Wisdom.

James Behuniak

James Behuniak is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Philosophy Department at Colby College where he teaches courses in Asian philosophy, American philosophy, and the Philosophy of Religion. He was recently a Fulbright Senior Scholar in residence in the Philosophy Department of the National Taiwan University (2014-2015), where he taught seminars in American and Comparative philosophy. He earned his M.A. in 1997 and his Ph.D. in Comparative Philosophy from the University of Hawai’i in 2002. His research focuses on the areas of pre-Qin Chinese and classical American philosophies. He is author of Mencius on Becoming Human (SUNY Press, 2005) and co-editor, with Roger T. Ames, of 孟子心性之學, Studies of Mencius on Feeling and Nature (Social Sciences Academic Press, Beijing, 2004). He has authored several articles in Chinese and Comparative philosophy for edited volumes and journals, such as Philosophy East and West, Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy, Journal of Chinese Philosophy, and Asian Philosophy.  His forthcoming work includes a study of the body and culture in Daoist philosophy, entitled “Animal Body Standpoints in the Zhuangzi,” and a projected two-volume work exploring the historical and philosophical relationship between the American philosopher John Dewey and Chinese thought.

V、Course Information

1. Course Arrangement:

1) 15^th July 2018: Student registration (Location: Jiangsu, Danyang City)

2) 16^th July 2018 Morning: Opening Ceremony (Location: Jiangsu, Danyang City)

3) 16^th to 20^th July 2018: International Confucianism and Chinese Culture Workshop (Class times: 9:00am to 11:30am; 2:00pm to 4:30pm; 7:00pm to 8:30pm), (Location: Jiangsu, Danyang City)

4) 21^st July 2018: Cultural Activities (Location: Jiangsu, Nanjing)

5) 22^nd to 24^th July 2018: International Confucianism and Chinese Culture Workshop (Location: Jiangsu, Danyang City)

6) 25^th to 26^th July 2018: International Confucianism and Chinese Culture Workshop (Location: Shandong, Qufu)

7) 27^th July 2018: Qufu Cultural Activities (Confucian Temple, Confucian Family Mansion, Tomb of Confucius) (Location: Shandong, Qufu)

8) 28^th July 2018: Closing ceremony at the Confucian Academy in Beijing, where the Certificate of Completion are awarded (Location: Beijing)

2.Class Schedule

(for reference only)

VI、Activities

（2）Cultural and artistic performance

（3）Calligraphy

(4) Traditional Chinese Medicine

（5）Other cultural experiences        

VII、Admission Information

1. Target Groups and Quota

a) Young teachers who are or intend to engage in research into cross Sino-Western culture and teaching.

b) Students who are or intend to engage in research into cross Sino-Western culture and teaching.

c) Workers who are or intend to engage in a career as a worker in the dissemination of Chinese traditional culture with the government or a Non-Government Organisation.

d) Personnel who are or intend to engage in international culture, economics and other fields of communication.

e) People who are interested in Chinese traditional culture.

f) Quota: Chinese and International Students each have a quota of 30 students; Students will be admitted according to the dates of receiving their application materials.

2.Important Dates：

Sign-up Deadline：1^st of June 2018

Period of Notification: 10^th to the 30^th of June 2018

Registration Date：15^th of July 2018

Duration of Couse：15^th to the 28^th of July 2018

3. Payment Standards：

1. National Students：(Including food, accommodation, living expenses, costs for teaching materials, etc)

· Admission Fee: ￥200

· Tuition Fee: ￥5000

2. International Students：(Including food, accommodation, living expenses, costs for teaching materials, etc)

· Admission Fee: $100

· Tuition Fee: $1000

4. Online Registration and Admission：

(1) Application

1）The application form for the Confucian Studies Summer Workshop of 2018 can be downloaded here:http://en.yiduobufen.com/index.php/index/down.html

2）Send the completed application form to the email address 1185123257@qq.com. Your email should be named “International Confucian Studies Summer Workshop of 2018 + [student’s name]”

(2) Make a payment scan（WeChat or Alipay）

(3) Admission

●All applicants please take note, the registration deadline is the 1st of June 2018, the organising committee will send an admission via email on the 30th of June 2018.

●Details on the specific locations, accommodation and other important matters will be on the admission notice.

●All admitted students please bring your identification documents to apply before the 15th of July 2018.

●Graduation requirements: A 5000 word thesis related to the topic on “the Vision of Sino-Western Mutual Understanding and the Export of Chinese Culture”.

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