International Graduate Lectures in Sinology, NCCU

近代初期台灣與東亞海洋史/Early Modern Taiwan and East Asia Sea This course takes Taiwan as its focal point and the ocean as a medium through which it connects to the wider world. From the perspectives of ethnic relations and geographical environment, it examines issues of continuity and integrity in Taiwan’s history, exploring the development of early modern Taiwan within a global context. In addition to the primary instructor, Professor Ong Chia-yin, the course also features guest lecturers including Dr. Lin Yi-fan and Professor Douglas Fix, with Professor Fix delivering his lectures online. Alongside classroom instruction, students will engage in textual reading and interpretation, with a primary emphasis on Chinese-language sources, supplemented by additional Western-language materials.

近代東亞文明新秩序與人權/New Civilizational Order in Modern East Asia and Human Rights Since the mid-nineteenth century, East Asia has faced mounting challenges from Western powers. Both the Qing Empire and Japan were compelled to accelerate reforms in order to adapt to the emerging international order. In this course, leading scholars will analyze, from multiple perspectives, how East Asian countries interacted with Western nations and navigated their own relations of competition and cooperation. Particular attention will also be given to how East Asia’s traditional political, economic, cultural, and social systems responded to the new global order. By situating these developments within a broad historical framework, students will gain a deeper understanding of current international issues—such as the U.S.–China trade war—and critically engage with the complexities of global relations.

近代中國與周邊：翻譯及國制/Modern China and its Neighbors: Translation and State Systems This course is co-taught by Professor Takashi Okamoto of Kyoto Prefectural University and Associate Professor Keiko Hakoda of Kyoto Women’s University. It focuses on China’s foreign relations and key translation concepts during the Ming, Qing, and Republican periods. By examining the specific terminology that reflected the concepts of each era, the course seeks to deepen understanding of China’s relations with neighboring countries, while clarifying the conceptual distinctions and overlaps between terms such as “China,” “vassal state,” “dependency,” “sovereignty,” and “arbitration.” Through this approach, students will gain insight into the institutional frameworks that shaped China’s interactions with its neighbors from the Ming dynasty onward.

古代東亞民俗、文學與文獻/Ancient East Asia folklore, literature and document This course is jointly taught by Professor Ming-Chang Yang (Department of Chinese Literature, National Chengchi University), Professor Yasushi Arami (Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Hiroshima University), Professor Jun-cheol Lim (Department of Chinese Literature, Korea University), and Professor Kuei-ju Lin (Department of Chinese Literature, NCCU). The course focuses on the transmission, transformation, and exchange of literature, folklore, and texts within the East Asian Sinographic cultural sphere from the Sui-Tang period onward. More specifically, it examines how, from the fifth and sixth centuries—when the Sinographic cultural sphere began to take shape—through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, classical Chinese served as a medium of circulation and interaction across literature, folklore, and textual traditions in China, Japan, and Korea. Professor Yang and Professor Arami will concentrate on Sino-Japanese literature and folk beliefs before the fourteenth century, while Professor Lim and Professor Lin will focus on Sino-Korean and Sino-Japanese literary and publishing culture from the fourteenth century onward. Given the continuing severity of the global pandemic, lectures by overseas scholars will be conducted online, while faculty from this institution will primarily teach in person (with adjustments as necessary depending on the domestic situation). To enhance the immediacy of both online and in-person instruction, the six units of the course will be accompanied by photographs, charts, and video materials relating to East Asian Sinographic literature, folklore, and textual traditions. This approach aims to help graduate students absorb the intensive content more effectively, deepen their understanding of cultural circulation and interaction within the Sinographic sphere, and further develop perspectives for research in this field. The six thematic units of the course are as follows: Legends of Historical Figures and Folk Beliefs in Ancient China and Japan This unit explores how legends recorded in Chinese classical texts—such as historical biographies, miscellaneous accounts, Buddhist biographies, and tales of the strange—gradually evolved from their origins into broader cultural narratives. Examples include legends surrounding the Southern Dynasties monk Baozhi, the Tang writer Bai Juyi, and the famed Indian physician Jivaka, and their connections to folk beliefs in ancient China and Japan. Japanese Buddhist Literary Texts Focusing on The Lotus Sutra and its profound influence on Japan, this lecture examines records from the Nihon Shoki of Prince Shōtoku’s lectures, his commentary (Hokke Gisho, 615 CE), and later works such as Zennen’s Great Japanese Collection of Lotus Sutra Miracles, Nichien’s Hokke Genki, Naiki Hoin’s Japanese Lotus Sutra Miracles, and Chigen’s Lotus Sutra Miracles. Dunhuang Literature and Japanese Setsuwa Literature Centered on the Zhongjing Yaoji Jin Zang Lun, this unit investigates its influence on Japanese setsuwa works. Its impact is evident in early manuscripts of Nihon Ryōiki, as well as in Konjaku Monogatari. The text also shaped the development of Chinese Tang-dynasty storytelling genres such as sermons, transformation texts, and origin tales. The Publication of Tao Yuanming’s Collected Works and Self-Elegies in Joseon Korea This lecture examines the reception of Tao Yuanming in Korea by analyzing the publication history of his collected works and their influence on the development of self-elegy poetry in the Joseon dynasty. Song-Yuan Classified Anthologies and the Early Joseon Pungso Gwibeom This unit explores the characteristics of the Joseon anthology Pungso Gwibeom within the broader East Asian tradition of categorizing poetic themes. It also examines classification methods in Chinese works such as Categorized and Annotated Poems of Li Bai, highlighting how classification practices shaped Korean literary compilations. Chinese Strange Tales and Japanese Edo Literature Focusing on Jiandeng Xinhua and Liaozhai Zhiyi, this lecture analyzes how these works influenced the Japanese tradition of ghost tales. It explores how Japanese adaptations not only imitated but also innovated upon these texts, engaging with them from religious, moral, and artistic perspectives to reveal both cultural negotiation and divergent interpretations of life.

中國古典思想及其當代意義/Early Chinese Thought and Its Contemporary Significance For Chinese classical thought to remain a living tradition, it must continually reflect upon and develop its contemporary significance, engaging in dialogue with other fields of thought. Such reflection on the intellectual tradition is not only crucial for researchers but also essential for those of us living in a world profoundly shaped by Chinese culture, as it cultivates intellectual depth, self-awareness, and broader perspectives. This course focuses primarily on pre-Qin Confucian and Daoist thought, introducing key doctrines and distinctive features of Chinese classical ethical and political philosophy. Through dialogue with leading scholars from Taiwan and abroad, the course also encourages critical reflection on the modern significance of these classical ideas.

中國的傳統與現代/Chinese tradition and modernity

醫療、身體與近代東亞文明/Medicine, Body and Modern East Asian Civilization

中國社會文化史/Social and Cultural History of China