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Brief History
July 2002 saw the official inauguration of the Institute of
Chinese Literature and Philosophy in Academia Sinica, after thirteen
years of "preparation." Dr. Chung Tsai-chun currently serves as its
Director.
In 1988, a proposal was made that Academia Sinica should
include an Institute of Chinese Literature and Philosophy. As a result,
a Preparatory Office of the Institute was set up and Dr. Wu Hung-i was
appointed Director in the ensuing year. Research fellows began their
appointments and work in August 1990. During its preparatory phase, Dr.
Tai Lian-chang succeeded Dr. Wu as Director in July 1992. Between 1997
and 2002, the Institute was led by Dr. Chung Tsai-chun, who served as
Acting Director. Dr. C. H. Wang joined the Institute and became its
Founding Director in 2002–2004. Dr. Wang Ayling served as its Acting
Director after Dr. Wang left office. In February 2006, Dr. Chung Tsai-chun
was appointed the second Director of the Institute.
Research Projects
The Institute now boasts twenty-eight well-selected research
fellows, devoted to the studies of classical and modern Chinese
literature, Chinese and comparative philosophy, and Confucian classics.
It comprises four major research initiatives, namely, Ming-Qing
literature, modern literature, Qing classical studies, and contemporary
Confucianism. The Institute encourages independent research by
colleagues, and at the same time, promotes teamwork by motivating
fellows with different strengths and interests to collaborate on various
research projects.
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Major Accomplishments
In the past sixteen years, thanks to the active participation
of its fellows, the Institute has undertaken such important projects as
ci poetry; Ming-Qing drama; the transmission and transformation of the
Ming-Qing literary canon; literature in historical dilemmas and crises;
the Chinese literati’s image of the self: construction and
transformation; literature and religion; literary theory and popular
culture in the mid-20th century; modern Taiwanese literature; Taiwanese
literature in world perspective; the formation of the Confucian canon;
hermeneutics and the Confucian tradition; Mencius studies; contemporary
Confucianism; Liu Jishan studies; religion and the 21st century Taiwan;
the Yangzhou School in the Qianlong and Jiaqing eras; late Qing
classical studies; Confucianism versus Taoism and Buddhism, and so
forth. International scholarly conferences and conventions were held to
make progressive developments of these projects and beyond.
The Institute is also committed to creating and sharing
digital databases for studies of ci poetry, classical drama, the Taoist
canon, and Confucian classics. It publishes two journals: Bulletin of
the Institute of Chinese Literature and Philosophy and Newsletter of the
Institute of Chinese Literature and Philosophy; the former has been
named one of the most respected journals by the National Science Council
of Taiwan for a few years now. The Institute’s specialized publications
include: "Chinese Literature and Philosophy Monographs," "Collected
Papers in Chinese Literature and Philosophy," "Series in Mencius
Studies," "Series in Research on Contemporary Confucianism," "Series in
Research on Confucian Classics," "Works of Contemporary Scholars in
Literature and Philosophy," "Series in Research on Ming-Qing
literature," "Series in Rare Ancient Books," "Series in Ancient Books
Edited," and "Series in Bibliography." To date we have published over
one hundred books, in close to two hundred volumes, in the above
categories.
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