Translating China II

  • Project description
  • Project planning
  • Project news
We plan to translate the major works of Roger T. Ames (born 1947) and Henry Rosemont, Jr. (born 1936) on Comparative Philosophy and Confucianism into English. The reason for this is that existing Chinese translations have been made by translators who do not have a background in philosophy. Many mistakes in these earlier translations as well as misleading interpretations make it hard to understand their work at all. Our retranslations and new editions should solve these two big issues: (1) They should enable the Chinese readers to properly understand Roger T. Ames’ way of explaining his methodology of East-West Comparative Philosophy, which has been achieved and expressed by him in such a beneficial way and with unchallenged relevance for more than three decennia. (2) An even more important aspect is that our retranslations should provide the Chinese audience to learn to see the Chinese tradition of philosophy from the perspective of East-West Comparative Philosophy. It is of great historical significance to talk about traditional Chinese culture from this angle of a new kind of comparative standard in East-West discourse. For translating and publishing these works again, we therefore have gathered a group of distinguished scholars with a background in the field of East-West Comparative Philosophy. In our project, the appropriate method for translation will be used: In this regard, it is most important that our translators’ proficiency of translating and their mastery of the Western language here is mainly complemented by a thorough knowledge of the original Chinese methods of thinking.
+[Learn more]
For the time from March 8thto 12th, 2017, we plan a workshop to outline and impart the first important stages of this translation project. To start this, we have asked all of the participating translators to prepare a translation of an introductory text and a first chapter of the respective book which they will be responsible for translating, in advance. During the time of the stay in Qufu the translators will be working on improving their translations until they are satisfying. This will be contextualized by four lectures and instructions which will be given by Prof. Roger T. Ames. The respective topics of these four lectures are: 1) What Is Responsible Cultural Comparison? 2) What Are the Two Interpretive Contexts for Comparative Philosophic Hermeneutics? 3) Uncommon Assumptions of Confucianism and the Two Vocabularies for Comparison) 4) What Is Asymmetry Cultural Comparison?. Prof. Tian Chenshan田辰山, director of the Centre for East-West Relations at Beijing Foreign Studies University and central team member of China Confucius Research Institute’s “Roger Ames Distinguished Confucian Scholar Project” will twice held a course of lectures. The topics are as follows: 1) Why Is Cultural Exchange not Merely a Matter of Translation? 2) The Characteristics of Roger T. Ames Translation Works: Heavy Comparative Chinese-Western Philosophic Hermeneutics and Highly Selective Vocabulary Taking into Consideration of the Two Interpretive Contexts:“the one behind the many“(“一多二分”) in contrast to“the inseparability of the one and many”(“一多不分”). 3) Discussion on Examples of Retranslating Roger T. Ames’and Henry Rosemont, Jr.’s philosophical and comparative perspectives on the Confucian writings. The workshop provides the translators with a steady list of vocabulary for their translation work as well as the best possible way of translating the important concepts in Roger T. Ames’ and Henry Rosemont’s works. The initial workshop at the Confucius Research Institute in Qufu, Shandong will bring the Chinese class of translators together for the first time. The workshop will last for five days of intense work. In the end, the translator’s will be qualified and trained to fulfill their tasks and also to translate the deep thoughts of the authors, that means of the leading forces of international Chinese-Western Comparative Philosophy, sharing the great spirit of the “Great Family of Confucian Scholarship” of the Chinese Confucius Research Institute and distinguished Confucian scholar Roger T. Ames.
+[Learn more]

Translating China I

  • Project description
  • Project planning
  • Project news
China and Chinese culture—arguably the most antique and persistent cultural tradition in human history—is relatively unknown and often misunderstood outside of China. There is and continues to be a profound asymmetry in comparative studies. We enter a Chinese bookstore or a Chinese library, and all of the most recent world scholarship is being made available in accurate and accessible Chinese translations. We enter a European or American bookstore or library, and never mind recent Chinese scholarship, but even the monumental works of the greatest minds of Chinese philosophy and culture are absent. Such an asymmetry in available information is part of the reason why there are presently some 300,000 Chinese students studying in the United States and only 15,000 American students studying in China. Where do we begin in promoting real world literacy on Chinese philosophy and culture that will give China a place at the table in a generation in which the economic and political orders of the world have undergone a sea change? Will Chinese values and traditions be a resource in a changing world cultural order that will follow in its wake? In this regard, we plan to make a real difference. "Translating China" will bring together some of distinguished Western and Chinese experts on Chinese philosophy for a unique translation project that will address the aforementioned imbalances. One of two divisions of the translation project will be dedicated to the translation of some of the most important philosophical works of the following great Chinese thinkers into English: • 庞朴 (, 1928-2015): Pang Pu is one of the most renowned experts Confucian philosophy and culture and the winner of the 2010 Confucian Culture Prize. Unjustifiably, his name is not known by Western scholars. To start with, we are planning to translate《孔子文化奖学术精粹丛书:庞朴卷》into English. • 汤一介 (1927-2014): Tang Yijie, winner of the Confucius Culture Prize in 2011, is one of the most important voices in the contemporary Chinese philosophical discourse. He was a distinguished professor of Peking University and his work on traditional Chinese philosophy and culture is held in high esteem within the Chinese academy. He has been working as the director and chief expert in the《儒 藏 》编纂 中心, a project established by the Chinese government. To begin with, we would like to translate his 汤一介哲学(北京联合出版社)into English. • 李学勤 (born 1933): Li Xueqin is the most important Chinese historian, archaeologist, epigrapher of our times. A distinguished professor of Tsinghua University, he won the Confucius Culture Prize in 2013. He has served as Director of the Institute of History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Director of the Institute of Sinology of Tsinghua University, head of the Pre-Qin History Association of China, and Director of the Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project. We will translate his book 《孔子文化奖学术精粹丛书:李学勤卷》first. • 楼宇烈 (born 1934): Lou Yulie is presently one of the most important senior professors of Chinese philosophy. Still teaching at Peking University as a distinguished expert on Buddhism, Daoism and Confucianism, he has been a major figure in the university’s Eastern philosophy teaching and research section, the Research Institute for Religious Studies, and its Academic Committee. At first, we would like to translate《中国文化的根本精神》(中华书局,2016年 ). • 陈来 (born 1952): Chen Lai, a distinguished professor from Tsinghua University and winner of the Confucius Culture Prize in 2015, is one of the most prolific and respected Chinese philosophers of his generation. He has enormously enriched the understanding of Chinese philosophical traditions in their most fundamental and difficult aspects, and has laid basic foundations for future discourses in modern Chinese philosophy. We will begin with 2014《仁学本体论》。 • 牟钟鉴 (born 1939): Mou Zhongjian, a distinguished Zhongyang Minzu University professor who has been recognized with many national awards (amongst them the 2012 Confucius Culture Prize), has dived deeply into the ocean of Chinese philosophy and culture for more than 40 years. Being an exceptional and distinguished thinker as well as one of the most important figures in the revival and modernization of Confucian culture, we plan to translate his 儒学价值的新探索into English. • 郭齐勇 (born 1947): Guo Qiyong is one most renowned scholars of modern Confucianism. As a distinguished professor at the Institute of Philosophy and the School of Chinese Classics as well as helding many leading and higher positions in some of the most important Chinese commitees for philosophy, Chinese traditional culture and education, like, for example, being the director of the Research Centre for Confucius and Confucianism, he is considered as the leading and most innovative expert for the development of modern Confucianism. We are honored to translate his 《现当代新儒学思潮研究》.
+[Learn more]
We are especially pleased to have been able to engage a whole list of translators which reads like the international "Who is Who" of the current discourse on Chinese philosophy in the West and in China: Paul J. D'Ambrosio (East China Normal University), Bobby Carleo (The Chinese University of Hongkong), Daniel Bell (Tsinghua University and Shandong University), Andrew Lambert (The City University of New York), Jeanne Allen (McMaster University), Hans-Georg Moeller (University of Macau), Kirill Thompson (National Taiwan University), Martyna Świątczak (Fudan University), Chad Meyers (East China Normal University), Dan Sarafinas (Central South University of China), Asia Guzowska (University of Warsaw), Dimitra Amarantidou, (East China Normal University), Sharon Small (Beijing University), Stefano Gandolfo (Oxford University), Jana Rosker (University of Ljubljana), Christopher Ahn (Sunpress, NY). The first workshop which will bring together all of the translators, will be held at the Confucius Research Institute in Qufu from January 19thto 21st, 2017. It will be a great event and is of utmost importance to have a good start with the whole projects. The workshop will point the way to a successful future project. We expect the translation project to be a historical event in the development of a persistent Sino-Western discourse in philosophy in the 21stcentury. It will show the modern characteristics of the Chinese spirit which at the same time is rooted in the age-old traditions of the Chinese people and is embracing the future in a multipolar and multicultural world-civilization.
+[Learn more]

Translating China II

  • Project description
  • Project planning
  • Project news
We plan to translate the major works of Roger T. Ames (born 1947) and Henry Rosemont, Jr. (born 1936) on Comparative Philosophy and Confucianism into English. The reason for this is that existing Chinese translations have been made by translators who do not have a background in philosophy. Many mistakes in these earlier translations as well as misleading interpretations make it hard to understand their work at all. Our retranslations and new editions should solve these two big issues: (1) They should enable the Chinese readers to properly understand Roger T. Ames’ way of explaining his methodology of East-West Comparative Philosophy, which has been achieved and expressed by him in such a beneficial way and with unchallenged relevance for more than three decennia. (2) An even more important aspect is that our retranslations should provide the Chinese audience to learn to see the Chinese tradition of philosophy from the perspective of East-West Comparative Philosophy. It is of great historical significance to talk about traditional Chinese culture from this angle of a new kind of comparative standard in East-West discourse. For translating and publishing these works again, we therefore have gathered a group of distinguished scholars with a background in the field of East-West Comparative Philosophy. In our project, the appropriate method for translation will be used: In this regard, it is most important that our translators’ proficiency of translating and their mastery of the Western language here is mainly complemented by a thorough knowledge of the original Chinese methods of thinking.
+[Learn more]
For the time from March 8thto 12th, 2017, we plan a workshop to outline and impart the first important stages of this translation project. To start this, we have asked all of the participating translators to prepare a translation of an introductory text and a first chapter of the respective book which they will be responsible for translating, in advance. During the time of the stay in Qufu the translators will be working on improving their translations until they are satisfying. This will be contextualized by four lectures and instructions which will be given by Prof. Roger T. Ames. The respective topics of these four lectures are: 1) What Is Responsible Cultural Comparison? 2) What Are the Two Interpretive Contexts for Comparative Philosophic Hermeneutics? 3) Uncommon Assumptions of Confucianism and the Two Vocabularies for Comparison) 4) What Is Asymmetry Cultural Comparison?. Prof. Tian Chenshan田辰山, director of the Centre for East-West Relations at Beijing Foreign Studies University and central team member of China Confucius Research Institute’s “Roger Ames Distinguished Confucian Scholar Project” will twice held a course of lectures. The topics are as follows: 1) Why Is Cultural Exchange not Merely a Matter of Translation? 2) The Characteristics of Roger T. Ames Translation Works: Heavy Comparative Chinese-Western Philosophic Hermeneutics and Highly Selective Vocabulary Taking into Consideration of the Two Interpretive Contexts:“the one behind the many“(“一多二分”) in contrast to“the inseparability of the one and many”(“一多不分”). 3) Discussion on Examples of Retranslating Roger T. Ames’and Henry Rosemont, Jr.’s philosophical and comparative perspectives on the Confucian writings. The workshop provides the translators with a steady list of vocabulary for their translation work as well as the best possible way of translating the important concepts in Roger T. Ames’ and Henry Rosemont’s works. The initial workshop at the Confucius Research Institute in Qufu, Shandong will bring the Chinese class of translators together for the first time. The workshop will last for five days of intense work. In the end, the translator’s will be qualified and trained to fulfill their tasks and also to translate the deep thoughts of the authors, that means of the leading forces of international Chinese-Western Comparative Philosophy, sharing the great spirit of the “Great Family of Confucian Scholarship” of the Chinese Confucius Research Institute and distinguished Confucian scholar Roger T. Ames.
+[Learn more]

Translating China I

  • Project description
  • Project planning
  • Project news
China and Chinese culture—arguably the most antique and persistent cultural tradition in human history—is relatively unknown and often misunderstood outside of China. There is and continues to be a profound asymmetry in comparative studies. We enter a Chinese bookstore or a Chinese library, and all of the most recent world scholarship is being made available in accurate and accessible Chinese translations. We enter a European or American bookstore or library, and never mind recent Chinese scholarship, but even the monumental works of the greatest minds of Chinese philosophy and culture are absent. Such an asymmetry in available information is part of the reason why there are presently some 300,000 Chinese students studying in the United States and only 15,000 American students studying in China. Where do we begin in promoting real world literacy on Chinese philosophy and culture that will give China a place at the table in a generation in which the economic and political orders of the world have undergone a sea change? Will Chinese values and traditions be a resource in a changing world cultural order that will follow in its wake? In this regard, we plan to make a real difference. "Translating China" will bring together some of distinguished Western and Chinese experts on Chinese philosophy for a unique translation project that will address the aforementioned imbalances. One of two divisions of the translation project will be dedicated to the translation of some of the most important philosophical works of the following great Chinese thinkers into English: • 庞朴 (, 1928-2015): Pang Pu is one of the most renowned experts Confucian philosophy and culture and the winner of the 2010 Confucian Culture Prize. Unjustifiably, his name is not known by Western scholars. To start with, we are planning to translate《孔子文化奖学术精粹丛书:庞朴卷》into English. • 汤一介 (1927-2014): Tang Yijie, winner of the Confucius Culture Prize in 2011, is one of the most important voices in the contemporary Chinese philosophical discourse. He was a distinguished professor of Peking University and his work on traditional Chinese philosophy and culture is held in high esteem within the Chinese academy. He has been working as the director and chief expert in the《儒 藏 》编纂 中心, a project established by the Chinese government. To begin with, we would like to translate his 汤一介哲学(北京联合出版社)into English. • 李学勤 (born 1933): Li Xueqin is the most important Chinese historian, archaeologist, epigrapher of our times. A distinguished professor of Tsinghua University, he won the Confucius Culture Prize in 2013. He has served as Director of the Institute of History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Director of the Institute of Sinology of Tsinghua University, head of the Pre-Qin History Association of China, and Director of the Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project. We will translate his book 《孔子文化奖学术精粹丛书:李学勤卷》first. • 楼宇烈 (born 1934): Lou Yulie is presently one of the most important senior professors of Chinese philosophy. Still teaching at Peking University as a distinguished expert on Buddhism, Daoism and Confucianism, he has been a major figure in the university’s Eastern philosophy teaching and research section, the Research Institute for Religious Studies, and its Academic Committee. At first, we would like to translate《中国文化的根本精神》(中华书局,2016年 ). • 陈来 (born 1952): Chen Lai, a distinguished professor from Tsinghua University and winner of the Confucius Culture Prize in 2015, is one of the most prolific and respected Chinese philosophers of his generation. He has enormously enriched the understanding of Chinese philosophical traditions in their most fundamental and difficult aspects, and has laid basic foundations for future discourses in modern Chinese philosophy. We will begin with 2014《仁学本体论》。 • 牟钟鉴 (born 1939): Mou Zhongjian, a distinguished Zhongyang Minzu University professor who has been recognized with many national awards (amongst them the 2012 Confucius Culture Prize), has dived deeply into the ocean of Chinese philosophy and culture for more than 40 years. Being an exceptional and distinguished thinker as well as one of the most important figures in the revival and modernization of Confucian culture, we plan to translate his 儒学价值的新探索into English. • 郭齐勇 (born 1947): Guo Qiyong is one most renowned scholars of modern Confucianism. As a distinguished professor at the Institute of Philosophy and the School of Chinese Classics as well as helding many leading and higher positions in some of the most important Chinese commitees for philosophy, Chinese traditional culture and education, like, for example, being the director of the Research Centre for Confucius and Confucianism, he is considered as the leading and most innovative expert for the development of modern Confucianism. We are honored to translate his 《现当代新儒学思潮研究》.
+[Learn more]
We are especially pleased to have been able to engage a whole list of translators which reads like the international "Who is Who" of the current discourse on Chinese philosophy in the West and in China: Paul J. D'Ambrosio (East China Normal University), Bobby Carleo (The Chinese University of Hongkong), Daniel Bell (Tsinghua University and Shandong University), Andrew Lambert (The City University of New York), Jeanne Allen (McMaster University), Hans-Georg Moeller (University of Macau), Kirill Thompson (National Taiwan University), Martyna Świątczak (Fudan University), Chad Meyers (East China Normal University), Dan Sarafinas (Central South University of China), Asia Guzowska (University of Warsaw), Dimitra Amarantidou, (East China Normal University), Sharon Small (Beijing University), Stefano Gandolfo (Oxford University), Jana Rosker (University of Ljubljana), Christopher Ahn (Sunpress, NY). The first workshop which will bring together all of the translators, will be held at the Confucius Research Institute in Qufu from January 19thto 21st, 2017. It will be a great event and is of utmost importance to have a good start with the whole projects. The workshop will point the way to a successful future project. We expect the translation project to be a historical event in the development of a persistent Sino-Western discourse in philosophy in the 21stcentury. It will show the modern characteristics of the Chinese spirit which at the same time is rooted in the age-old traditions of the Chinese people and is embracing the future in a multipolar and multicultural world-civilization.
+[Learn more]

Roger T· Ames (Roger T.Ames)

Roger T. Ames was born in 1947 in Toronto, Canada. As a professor at the University of Hawaii, an advisor to Nishan Shengyuan Academy, Chairman of the World Association of Confucian Culture Studies and Vice Chairman of the International Confucian Association, he is an internationally famous expert in Sinology. He is a leading figure in Chinese & Western philosophy and is famous in China and abroad for his translation of books such as theAnalects of Confucius,Sun Tzu’s Art of War,Huainan Tzu andTao Te Ching He was the Chief Editor toPhilosophy of the Occident and Orientas well as theInternational Chinese Book Reviewand the author ofConfucian Philosophical Thinking,Thinking from the Han: Self, Truth, and Transcendence in Chinese and Western Culture,Anticipating China: Thinking Through the Narratives of Chinese and Western Culture,the Art of Rulership: A Study into Chinese Political ThoughtandDemocracy if the Dead: Dewey, Confucius and the Hope for Democracy in China. Roger T. Ames once received the guidance of Liu Dianjue and became proficient in classical Chinese, then to one of the most outstanding modern scholars of Classical Studies. In 2013, he was awarded the "Confucius Culture Award" by the 6th World Confucian Congress. Then he won the second "Huilin Prize Award" in 2016.…
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