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                Studies (WACS) - Seal

WACS

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                of Chinese Studies (WACS) - Header

World Association for Chinese Studies




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Register HERE for the
8th World Conference of Chinese Studies, focusing on literature, humanities, digitalization, globalization, media design and on post-pandemic Chinese society in transition
July, 20-22, 2024 in Poznan and Prague (Invitation Letter,
Email contact)

請4月30日前這 裏在綫注冊參加2024年7月20-22日于波蘭和捷克舉辦第 八届世界漢學论坛 (下載邀請函, 通過電 子郵件聯系).

之前论坛论文集可在书店购买。

Abstracts and Proceedings of the previous conferences are available in bookstores.
Selections have been published in journals and the Association's E-Journal. Report of the 2019 conference by participant Li Jun.

 Website of the last conference, the 7th World Conference of Chinese Studies 2023 - 第七届世界漢學论坛網頁

 Website of the 2nd last conference, the 6th World Conference of Chinese Studies 2022 - 第六届世界漢學论坛網頁

The annual meetings of the World Association for Chinese Studies every August gather 100 to 150 speakers at two places in Europe and one place in China. One of the two places in Europe is a sinological institute at a university - in 2023 the Oriental Studies Institute at Adam Mickiewic University Poznan/Poland -, the other a host in a European capital. In 2022 and 2023 it is both Berlin, after Vienna, Paris, London and Brussels the years before. The meetings breath a unique spirit, bringing Chinese and international scholars together in discussions, showing different approaches and attitudes like in a magnifying glass. The experience for both, mainland Chinese scholars and international scholars is rewarding. Several young Chinese scholars, reflecting on their participation in recent years, called the variety of critical perspectives life changing.

The idea arose from the desire to save Chinese and American colleagues half the flight distance so that they do not have to spend half a day each time to meet in the USA or in China. It also saves energy costs and reduces pollution. In addition, such a meeting in the summer in Europe has the very special charm of exploring the old world: Some scholars extend their stay to enjoy a visit to different places in Europe. Scheduling in August enables US colleagues to combine their participation with a summer vacation and Chinese colleagues to take a deep breath before the start of the semester.

每年8月,世界漢學研究協會在歐洲的兩座城市和中國的一座城市舉辦年會,聚集來自歐洲、美國、台灣、澳大利 亞、日本、韓國、大陸等等國家和地區的100至150位學者。歐洲會場之一是一所大學的漢學係——2023 年是波蘭波茲南亞當-米凱維奇大學的東方研究所,另一會場是歐洲某國的首府作為東道主。在維也納、巴黎、倫 敦和布魯塞爾之後,2022年和2023年都是由柏林擔任東道主。這些會議具有獨特的精神,將中國和國際學 者聚集在一起進行討論,就像在放大鏡中展示不同的想法和態度。對於中國大陸學者和國際學者來說,這種經歷具 有不同尋常的意義。幾位年輕的中國學者在回顧他們近年來的參與經歷時,都表示各種批判性的觀點改變了他們的 生活。
歐洲作為論壇主要舉辦地的想法,是考慮到為中國和美國的同事節省一半的飛行距離,這樣他們就不必每次花半天 時間在美國或在中國見面,這也節省了能源成本,減少污染。此外,這種在歐洲夏季舉行的會議,具有探索古老世 界的非凡魅力。一些學者延長逗留時間,享受在歐洲不同地方的訪問和交流。安排在8月,可以讓美國的同事將參 加會議和暑假結合起來,也可以讓中國的同事對新學期有一番短暫但深遠的思索。

English name: World Association for Chinese Studies e.V.
Chinese name: 世界汉学研究会
Inaugural meeting: September 24, 2016 online
Date of Registration: Court registration certificate states: “Bylaws of Association October 26, 2016. Registration approval completed January 16, 2017”.
Place of registration: Bochum, Germany

Mission
The purpose of this Association is to foster academic dialogue and exchange among sinologists from all over the world, e.g. on international academic forums, cooperation in international research projects, publication of research results and promotion of the development of Sinology / Chinese Studies in the world. The principles are: evidence-based research ('respect for facts'), quality assurance, academic freedom, and internationalization. The purpose is to enlarge the cooperation within Chinese Studies and with other disciplines, to enhance its quality, and to disseminate its findings more comprehensively into the world. Global Chinese Studies shall be enhanced and be better integrated with domestic Chinese Studies (guoxue). Guidelines: Inclusiveness, tolerance, innovation, and multi-disciplinary cross-border communication are the fundamental guidelines of the World Association for Chinese Studies. Nature: It is both a platform for academic exchange and a classroom for Chinese Studies.

Association information
1. Officers 2022-2026 as (re-)elected on August 12, 2022 by the General Assembly: (Board) President: Prof. (HNU) Dr. Martin Woesler (legal representative, from October 26, 2016 on, first elected on August 19, 2017 by the General Assembly); Vice President: Professor Dr. Daniel A. Fried, Alberta University; General Secretary: Professor Dr. Sam Crane, Williams College; Treasurer: Professor Dr. Richard Trappl; Board Member: Assistant Professor Dr. Tiffany Tsai, The Citadel).
Former Board Members 2018-2022: Vice President and Secretary: Prof. Dr. Richard Trappl (elected on August 21, 2018, by the General Assembly), Vice President and Cashier: Dr. Thomas Weyrauch (accepted the invitation by the President on September 25, 2018). 2. Honorary Presidents: Prof. Dr. Dr. Harro von Senger from Switzerland (accepted the invitation by the President on August 18, 2017). Shang Wei from the United States, Edward L. Shaughnessy from Frances, Helwig Schmidt-Glintzer from Germany, and Louise P. Edwards, Kam Louie from Australia, Oldřich Král from the Czech Republic (died in 2018), Marián Gálik from Slovakia, Rao Zongyi from Hong Kong (died in 2017), Ye Jiaying
from Canada etc.
3. Management Board:
3.1. Presidents of National Associations for Chinese Studies: Alena Pavlova (Russia), Yevhenii Hobova (Ukraine), Martin Woesler (Germany), Rommel Banlaoi (Philippines)
3.2. Xu Jianping (China), Prof. Dr. Karl-Heinz Pohl, Dr. Yu Hong, Professor Zhou Wenye, You Tianwei.
Note: Former management committee (from August 19, 2017 to September 24, 2018): Mu Zhai (also known as Wang Hong), Park Jae-Woo, Wang Zhaopeng. The service term of these former management committee members has ended on September 24, 2018. So far, the names and logos of the "World Sinology Research Association" used by the former management committee members in WeChat group and WeChat electronic journals are invalid and illegal. Their usage of titles like "Director-General, Chairman, Executive President, Managing President" are also invalid and illegal, the Bylaws do not allow these titles or positions.
4. General Assembly: The number of members who participated in the general meeting on August 19, 2017: 108, the number of participants in the general elections: 66. Election results: Martin Woesler was elected as president;
Peter Wai-Ming Cheng, Li Xiaohong, Mu Zhai, Park Jae-Woo and Wang Zhaopeng were elected as members of the management committee. The total number of people participating in the association's different WeChat groups is about 2,000 scholars.
5. World Conference of Chinese Studies: An annual “World Conference of Chinese Studies” is held in Europe every August (Europe is located geographically between the United States and China) and publishes conference proceedings. The first Annual Conference was held in Germany from August 19 to 20, 2017, the second in August 18-22, 2018 in Germany and Vienna, Austria, and the third session in August 24-27, 2019 in Germany and Paris, France.
6. Website: http://china-studies.com.
7. The Association's journal is "Han-Xue", the electronic version (some content) is free. Publication of conference papers.
8. The Association's official WeChat group is: weixin://jump/mainframe/6095254884@chatroom. (Remark: You can ask in this WeChat group, if another WeChat group using the name "World Association for Chinese Studies" is official too.)

History of the Association
The World Association for Chinese Studies e.V. was established on October 26, 2016 (including the Bylaws), registered in the Bochum City Court of Germany (Registration No. 4778), and the German North Rhine-Westphalia Tax Office certified the non-profit organization (Tax No.: 350/5702/8186). The Registration was certified for use in China by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs with certification number 10467.5, legalized by the China Consulate in Düsseldorf, Germany, with certification number A5055685. The World Conference for Chinese Studies is held in Europe every August. From August 18th to 19th, 2017, the first World Conference for Chinese Studies and the first General Meeting were held at the University of Witten, Germany. Elections were held at the General Assembly, all 66 members participating in the election elected President Martin Woesler, and the President of the Management Board (Mu Zhai), the Vice Chairmans of the Management Board (Peter Wai-Ming Cheng, Li Xiaohong, Park Jae-Woo, Wang Zhaopeng) etc. In August 2018, a cooperation agreement was signed with the president of the University of Witten, Germany. In August 2018, Richard Trappl (Vice President, Secretary) was elected at the Special General Assembly in Vienna, Austria. In August 2018, the Board decided to cancel the registration process for the Macao chapter of "The World Association for Chinese Studies (Macao, Research Society)". In September 2018, the Board met at the Bochum court in Germany and decided that Mu Zhai, Park Zaiyu and Wang Zhaopeng would not continue to serve as members of the management board any more. Thomas Weyrauch was appointed as vice president and cashier.


On September 24, 2016, the World Association of Chinese Studies (WACS) was founded in an Inaugural Ceremony and live broadcasted to 36 countries.

As an international organization with famous scholars from China and Harvard scholar Stephen Owen and French Léon Vandermeersch as Vice Chairmen, the World Association for Chinese Studies keeps the balance between the necessary support from and cooperation with China, which is its object and field of study, on the one hand, and the independency necessary to carry out critical research on an international level on the other hand.

The founding member Zhai Mu from Jilin University explains why the Association did not use Chinese terms like [Zhong]guoxue (Sinology) for its name, but the English term "Chinese Studies": “Chinese studies is carried out all over the world, it is not just a Chinese thing any more and our Association will be internationally oriented.” At the General Assembly 2017 in Witten/Germany, the German Martin Woesler was elected President, the Swiss Harro von Senger Honorary President. At the General Assembly Vienna/Austria 2018, Richard Trappl was elected Vice President (Secretary) and shortly after Thomas Weyrauch was elected Vice President (Treasurer).

WACS has been registered in August 2016 as a non-profit Association in the USA and in December 2016 in Germany/Europe and establishes in its Bylaws the freedom and independence of research and teaching as a core principle. The Ceremony was attended by 163 representatives from 36 countries, live broadcasted on the WhatsApp comparable chat service “WeChat” and covered by Chinese media.

Since 2003, the Chinese government through its ‘Han’-Office sponsors the export of Chinese culture and language with Confucius Institutes, with sponsorship of Meetings like one of the European Association of Chinese Studies, with scholarships and since recently with the Great Congress of Chinese Studies held annually in Beijing. All of these government-sponsored initiatives are questioned regarding its independency. WACS now puts independency top, specifically rejecting any ideological or political influence. However, as symbolized in its emblem “peace”, it is a purely academic association and does neither seek confrontation nor pocketing.

WACS also wants to help combine the efforts of national Associations of Chinese Studies by establishing a longterm-oriented umbrella Association, offering institutional membership to all existing associations in the field and striving for strategic partnerships with established organizations like the Association of Asian Studies and others.

Among the Vice Directors there are US based Edward L. Shaughnessy and Shang Wei as well as French Antoine Gournay. The list of directors from Western countries contains famous sinologists like Helwig Schmidt-Glintzer, Louise P. Edwards, Kam Louie, Oldřich Král and Marián Gálik. Among the (honorary) board members we find Richard Trappl (Austria) and Harro von Senger (Switzerland). Among the Chinese honorary board members there are Rao Zongyi, Ye Jiaying, Jin Xuezhu.

 



http://china-studies.com


Back to main page. Links: 3rd European Hongloumeng Conference 2015 欧洲第三届《红楼梦》国际学术研讨会, cooperation projects with Chinese universities: Southwest Jiaotong University, Nanking University.