Translating Chinese Philosophy
“Translating” means quite literally “carrying across”—that is, “to remove from one place to another.” The questions are: to what extent have we—both Chinese and Western scholars—been successful in understanding the Chinese philosophical narrative and then “carrying it across” into the Western academy? For Western scholars the problem is striving with imagination to take this tradition on its own terms, and for Chinese scholars, it is having a language and framework for communicating their own understanding of Chinese philosophy to a Western audience. It is in our best effort to take Chinese philosophy on its own terms then, that we must begin from an interpretive context that gives voice to the tradition's own indigenous presuppositions and its own evolving self-understanding.
Speaker
Roger T. Ames
Humanities Chair Professor, Peking University
Co-Chair, Academic Advisory Council, Berggruen Research Center, Peking University
Ames is the former editor-in-chief of Philosophy East & West and founding editor of China Review International. He has authored several influential works on Chinese philosophy, including Thinking Through Confucius (1987) and Human Becomings: Theorizing Persons for Confucian Role Ethics (2020). His translations of Chinese classics include The Art of Warfare (1993), The Confucian Analects (1998), and The Daodejing (2003). His work has been widely translated into Chinese, including his recent Sourcebook in Classical Confucian Philosophy (2022).
Commentators
CHENG Lesong
Dean and Professor, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Peking University
Cheng’s research focuses on early Daoist thought, the history of Daoist ideas, and intellectual history during the Han Dynasty. Adopting a perspective that views religion in terms of faith, he employs methods in textual and intellectual history to analyze Daoist classics within their ancient cultural contexts, thereby contributing to an academic understanding of Daoism in Chinese cultural history. Cheng earned his PhD in Culture and Religion from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2006.
Martin Powers
Professor, School of Arts, Peking University
Powers has been highly acclaimed as a sinologist and historian of art both in China and abroad. He early on developed a profound interest in Chinese culture and art, publishing four monographs, two of them having won the Levenson Prize for best book in pre-1900 Chinese Studies. He has also edited or co-edited three volumes, and has published more than 50 articles on a wide range of topics. In addition, he designed the educational website chinamirror.net, which provides source materials on Chinese history for advanced high school and college teachers. He has participated in more than 110 scholarly conferences and projects and mentored more than 30 Ph.D. students. He has been instrumental in promoting greater appreciation and understanding of Chinese culture in the West and has contributed to the international standing of the field of Chinese Art History.
About The Berggruen Institute
About The Berggruen Institute
About The Berggruen Institute
About The Berggruen Institute
About The Berggruen Institute
About The Berggruen Institute
About The Berggruen Institute
About The Berggruen Institute
About The Berggruen Institute
About The Berggruen Institute
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