From the Classics to Literature and Religion in Traditional China

Taiwan Studies Lecture Series

Wednesday, May 20, 2015
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM
Charles E. Young Research Library, Main Conference Room
UCLA

The UCLA Asia Institute and the Dean of Humanities announce
the Taiwan Studies Lecture Series

What would be known as “classical learning” (jingxue 經學) emerged during the Western Han, when the imperial court decreed that five texts—Shi 詩 (Songs), Shu 書 (Documents), Li 禮 (Rites), Yi 易 (Changes), and Chunqiu 春秋 (Annals)—would form the basis for state-sponsored education. These are commonly referred to as the “Five Confucian Classics” (Wujing 五經). While other texts were added to this grouping of texts, just as other texts also came to bear the designation jing 經 (“classic”), the “Five Confucian Classics” would continue to inform philosophical, historical, literary, and religious traditions up to the modern period. 

To understand the role of the Five Classics in shaping the knowledge systems and cultural practices of traditional China, the Taiwan Studies Lectureship program is pleased to host two eminent scholars from Taiwan who have made significant contributions to the respective fields of literary studies and religious studies in China. Professor Yu-yu Cheng 鄭毓瑜 of the Department of Chinese Literature at National Taiwan University, will speak on the emergence of literary writing during the Western Han, and how the concept of the literary was bound up with the reading and interpretation of the Classics. Professor Mu-chou Poo 蒲慕州 of the Department of History at the Chinese University of Hong Kong will speak on the notion of the religious and its relationship to classical learning in the early and medieval periods, and how the formation of a classical canon served as a model for religious canons. This will be followed by a conversation with the audience moderated by Professor Jack Chen of the UCLA Asian Languages & Cultures department.

This lecture will be in Mandarin Chinese.

Sponsor(s): Asia Pacific Center, UCLA Dean of Humanities; Charles E. Young Research Library; Taipei Economic and Cultural Organization in Los Angeles