Raziskovalni program Azijski jeziki in kulture

Summer School on Li Zehou and Contemporary Chinese Thought

June 16 – 20 2022

Summer School Report

Author of the report: Maja Maria Kosec, University of Ljubljana

Originally planned as a conference celebrating Li Zehou's 90th birthday in 2020, the event commemorating Li Zehou's life and work was finally held as a Summer School on Li Zehou and Contemporary Chinese Thought from June 16-19, 2022. The Summer School was held at the Congress Hall of the University of Ljubljana in the Slovenian capital, and attended by world-renowned experts on Li Zehou as well as researchers and graduate students interested in his philosophy and contemporary Chinese thought. The Summer School was jointly organised by the Department of Asian Studies of the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana and the European Association of Chinese Philosophy (EACP). The Summer School consisted of four keynote lectures given by Professors Karl-Heinz Pohl of the University of Trier, Germany, Paul D'Ambrosio of East China Normal University, China, Robert A. Carleo III of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, China, and Rafal Banka of the University of Oxford, United Kingdom. Other presentations were made by Jana S. Rošker of the University of Ljubljana, and Geir Sigurðsson of the University of Iceland, at the roundtable titled Li Zehou in the Context of Contemporary Sinophone Philosophy and at the panel titled “Comparisons: Student's report and teacher's comments”, compiled from the presentation of Maja Maria Kosec, a doctoral student at the University of Ljubljana, and Professor Margus Ott of Tallinn University, Estonia.

The opening address, entitled “The Significance of Li Zehou's Ethics in Times of Global Crises”, was given by Professor Jana S. Rošker, the chief academic organizer of the Summer School. She began her speech on a personal note:

Last year, early in the morning of November third, I received a shocking message from my friend and colleague Li Chenyang. He wrote to me in an email that Professor Li Zehou, who was one of the most important philosophers of the contemporary world, had passed away that night. When I learned of his passing, and thus I was devastated. And of course, this great loss is not my own. Not only myself, but the whole world has lost a great thinker, a lucid theorist and an innovative philosopher.

Just like his philosophy, emphasized Professor Rošker, Li Zehou as a person was always completely open and curious, and it was precisely this attitude that the Summer School wanted to share with its participants. Li's philosophy, among other features, demonstrated that beauty is not just the ultimate realm of our human values, nor is it limited to the ultimate realm of humanness and humanity. It also offers autonomy and liberation from estrangement, Professor Rošker noted. Li's work emphasizes the idea that human beings possess freedom not only in the sense of free choice, but also in a broader and much more complex sense of such individual free will, which can be fully realized only through the full implementation of social responsibility and recognition of the significance of personal relationships. According to Li Zehou's theory of relationalism (guanxizhuyi 关系主义), what makes human beings human is this ethical nature of human relationships. Li's way of thinking points to a common human path, regardless of differences in individual preferences, cultures, languages, and traditions, as Professor Rošker noted. Li's work shows his deep appreciation for the complex, rich, and diverse intellectual heritage that Chinese culture can offer to the globalized world. His theory easily also applies to the current crises, such as severe environmental disasters, unequal distribution of resources, pandemics, and so on., global problems that should also be addressed within the larger framework of global cooperation and solidarity. These crises have shown, among other things, the importance of interpersonal empathy and solidarity, as well as a certain degree of self-discipline, says Professor Rošker. All of these are constitutive components of Li Zehou's relational ethics. Li Zehou has always strived to find a way to spread his thinking throughout the world. While he is now somewhat better known in the United States, he is still largely unknown in Europe. One of the reasons why Li Zehou's thought and especially his ethics deserve special attention from a European perspective is that, through the reception and transformation of Western sources, they have developed a transcultural potential that philosophy in Europe has yet to develop. Li Zehou's contributions to the new global ethics are of utmost importance, especially in today's world and particularly in Europe, which urgently needs new intercultural dialogs and transcultural solidarity, Jana Rošker concluded.

Wishing to allow the participants to experience some of the responsible freedom and openness of Li's critical mind, the summer school thus opened and began its programme. The first two lectures of the summer school were given by Professor Karl-Heinz Pohl, a now retired professor from Trier University, Germany. His field of research includes the Chinese history of ideas, the ethics and aesthetics of modern and pre-modern China, Chinese literary theory, and intercultural communication and dialogue between China and the West. His name is on numerous publications such as Cheng Pan-ch'iao (郑板桥): Poet, Painter and Calligrapher (1990), and Aesthetics and Literary Theory in China - From Tradition to Modernity (2006) (in German and Chinese translation: 卜松山 : 中国的美学和文学理论). He is the editor of works such as Chinese Thought in a Global Context: A Dialogue Between Chinese and Western Philosophical Approaches (1999), and Chinese Ethics in a Global Context: Moral Bases of Contemporary Societies (2002). Professor Pohl is also the translator of Tao Yuanming's (陶渊明) complete collection of poetry into German, Der Pfirsichblütenquell (The Peach Blossom Spring ) (1985), the German translation of Li Zehou's The Path of Beauty (美的历程), published as Der Weg des Schönen (1992), and the work China for Beginners (in German: China für Anfänger) (2008), which in Chinese translation reads as卜松山: 发现中国 - 传统与现代 (2016).

His first lecture, entitled “Western learning for Substance, Chinese Learning for Application - Li Zehou's Thought on Tradition and Modernity”, dealt with the issues of tradition and modernity in China. Professor Pohl offered participants an assessment of China's tradition in the context of its recent past and placed Li Zehou's thoughts in a historical context. Based on Li Zehou's essay “Random Thoughts on 'Western Learning for Substance, Chinese Learning for Application'” (漫说 "西体中用") (1987), the last essay in his influential collection On the Intellectual History of Modern China (中国现代思想史论), Professor Pohl explained the inversion of the well-known slogan of the Self-Strengthening Movement: "Chinese Learning for Substance, Western Learning for Application" (中学为体， 西学为用). The lecture was followed by a group debate among students focused on the following questions: What is essence for Li Zehou, and what is practical application? What does he consider to be a fruitful relationship between tradition and modernity in China? How does Li’s thought fit in the context of the various debates on Chinese culture from the late 19^th century until today? What is the relationship between Marxist thought, on the one hand, and traditional Chinese modes of thinking, on the other, in Li Zehou’s ideas? How “political” is Li Zehou’s thought as a historian?

The second lecture by Professor Pohl, entitled “Chinese Aesthetics and Li Zehou’s Major Contributions: ’The Path of Beauty’ and ‘The Chinese Aesthetic Tradition’”, offered an overview of the aesthetics in China, aesthetics – as an epistemic discipline, the role of aesthetics in modern China and Chinese aesthetics as a Chinese art of life. Professor Pohl here focused on Li Zehou's works The Path of Beauty (1981), and The Chinese Aesthetic Tradition (1988). The subsequent group debate focused on the following questions: What are the conceptual differences with regard to aesthetics in East and West? What is the role of aesthetics in the modern period of Chinese history? Are there any traditional ideas/elements in modern Chinese aesthetics? Marx or Confucius – what are the major influences on Li Zehou’s aesthetics? Is there a conceptual difference/development noticeable in Li Zehou’s two major works on aesthetics?

The following day's morning panel opened with a roundtable on Li Zehou in the context of contemporary Sinophone philosophy. The panel began with a presentation by Professor Jana S. Rošker entitled Li Zehou and the Taiwanese Modern Confucianism. Rošker, who holds a PhD from Vienna University is the founder of the Department of Asian Studies at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, where she is currently working as a Professor of Sinology and Research Counsellor. She is editor-in-chief of the international academic journal Asian Studies and of the academic book series Studia Humanitatis Asiatica published by Ljubljana University Press. She is also a member of honour of the EACP, which she founded. She is the author of 19 books published by distinguished national and international publishers, and over 200 book chapters and original academic articles published in high impact factor journals. Professor Rošker has received numerous academic honours, grants and awards.

In her talk “Li Zehou and the Taiwanese Modern Confucianism”, she addressed the significance of Li's work in the context of Sinophone philosophy in the second half of the 20^th century and compared what Li Zehou's approaches and theories have in common with those of modern Confucians and how they differ. Professor Rošker introduced the modern Confucian stream of thought (xin ruxue 新儒学) and its project of reviving traditional thought through new influences borrowed or derived from Western systems. In particular, she highlighted the members of the second generation of modern Confucians who emerged around the same time as Li and influenced him to some extent. Li disagreed with them in many respects, but what united them was their strong emphasis on Chinese history and tradition, with which they were all very familiar. This helped them interpret where China was at the time and where it might be headed in the future. They were both looking for a synthesis between Western and traditional Chinese thought, and were striving to develop ideas and values that could solve the social and political problems of a globalized world.

Professor Rošker's lecture was followed by a short debate and Professor Geir Sigurðsson's lecture entitled “Li Zehou and the Significance of Confucian Rituality”. Professor Sigurðsson studied philosophy and sociology in Iceland, Germany and Ireland until he did his PhD in comparative Chinese philosophy at the University of Hawaii under the guidance of Roger Ames. The topic of his PhD dissertation was Confucian ritual (li 礼), and later he expanded it into a book published with SUNY Press in 2015 entitled Confucian Propriety and Ritual Learning: A Philosophical Interpretation. He constructed the Chinese studies programme at the University of Iceland in 2007, and has been in charge of it ever since. He also founded the Northern Lights Confucius Institute in 2008 and was its director until 2012. Currently Professor Sigurðsson is the Head of the Faculty of Languages and Cultures as well as professor of Chinese studies and philosophy at University of Iceland, teaching in particular Chinese and Asian philosophy, modern Western philosophy, the history of ideas in Europe, but also history of China and courses on Chinese religions. Among his current projects are the philosophy of aging and a translation of Dalia Grinkeviciute‘s Lithuanians at the Laptev Sea.

The presentation by Professor Sigurðsson entitled “Li Zehou and the Significance of Confucian Rituality” was devoted to the topic of rituality in Confucianism and Chinese culture. As Professor Sigurðsson explained, Li Zehou looks at rituality from a more Mencian perspective, saying that it evolved from shamanism and in that sense is somehow religious. The religiosity we find in Confucian rituality is different and has to do with the sanctity of the social sphere and community building. In addition to Li Zehou's interpretation, the interpretations of Durkheim, J.M. Callery, Simon Leys, Zygmunt Bauman, and finally the Analects on rituality were also presented.

The roundtable discussion was followed by a panel entitled “Comparisons: student's report and teacher's comments”, in which Maja M. Kosec, a doctoral student at the University of Ljubljana, and a member of the EACP Board, presented part of her current research on the role and position of King Wen in the theories of Li Zehou and Xu Fuguan.

The founder of the Zhou Dynasty, King Wen embodied the role of a religious and political ruler at the turning point between the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, according to Xu Fuguan and Li Zehou. The lecture compared the reasons for the merging of these two roles and the impact this had on the further development of Chinese culture, as argued by Li and Xu. The many similarities in their understanding of this merged role are accompanied by their differing views on whether or not kings were also shamans (巫 wu). While Li considers King Wen to be one of the pioneers of the rationalization of shamanic practices, Xu sees him primarily as a symbol of the awakening of the humanistic spirit in China, the speaker concluded.

This presentation was followed by a talk by Professor Margus Ott, who received his PhD in philosophy from Tallinn University in 2014 with a project on complexity and evolution. He has been a research fellow in Austria, Taiwan, and China. He has translated books by Bergson, Deleuze, Spinoza, Leibniz, and Jullien into Estonian, and worked on comparative philosophy (Confucius, Mozi, Zhuangzi, Zhu Xi, Wang Yangming, Deleuze, Husserl, Deacon), as well as writing about comparative philosophy in general. Professor Ott is currently completing a book on Chinese philosophy and embodiment theory. His recent research, conducted as a researcher at Tallinn University, is on the Chinese Muslim thinkers Wang Daiyu and Liu Zhi.

In his lecture, Professor Ott introduced the concepts of interpenetration and juxtaposition in the sphere of thinking. Philosophical concepts, he explained, gather the interpenetrating nature between them and of course take into account other concepts. A concept that is referred to by the same linguistic term in the works of different philosophers falls into different constellations, which means that there is always some discrepancy between them. In comparative philosophy, there is a redistribution of these interpenetrating concepts, a resonance between these unfolding processes, and a melting of the actual forms. For comparative philosophy, historical and philological knowledge is useful, trying, of course, to avoid the influences that a culture or a language would prescribe.

The afternoon lecture was given by Professor Paul J. D'Ambrosio, who, after studying at Brock University and the National University of Ireland, became associate professor of Chinese philosophy at East China Normal University in Shanghai, China, a fellow of the Institute of Modern Chinese Thought and Culture, dean of the Centre for Intercultural Research, and co-director of the English-language MA and PhD programmes in Chinese philosophy. Professor D'Ambrosio is co-author (with Hans-Georg Moeller) of the book You and Your Profile (2021) and Genuine Pretending (2017), author of 真假之间 (Between Genuineness and Pretence) (2020), and editor (with Michael Sandel) of Encountering China (2018). He has also written more than 80 articles, chapters, and reviews, and is the translator of more than a dozen books on Chinese philosophy.

His lecture, titled “Harmony is Higher than Justice (和谐高于正 义)”, addressed Li Zehou's claim that the broader inclusiveness of harmony means that it represents a "higher" ethical understanding, albeit one that should be constructed on the foundations of "justice". In his lecture, Professor D'Ambrosio introduced Li's idea that harmony "involves transforming the people through virtue (education), whereas justice involves governing by law" (Li Zehou 2016, 1093), and that justice is "primarily a rational principle (理), whereas harmony involves the integration of emotionality and rationality (情理)" (Li Zehou 2016, 1069). In this, justice requires conformity to universal principles or laws that can only include a minimal consideration of complex emotions or human relationships. Harmony differs by focusing on the aspects that justice downplays. During his lecture, Professor D'Ambrosio also reviewed Li Zehou's key concepts and notions, such as "relationism" or "guanxism" ( 关系主义), the "two-morality theory" (liang de lun 两德论), emotional-rational structures (qingli jiegou 情理结构), rituals, customs, and social norms generated by emotions (li sheng yu qing礼生于情), "ritual" or "ritual limitations" (li 礼), "doctrines" (jing 经) and "measuring" (quan 权), "proper measure" or "degree" (du 度), and so on. The lecture was not only to show how what Li says works, but also to look at how it does not work. In the last part, Professor D'Ambrosio examined the relationship between Li and other authors, such as Plato, John Rawls, Michael Sandel, Roger Ames, and others. The lecture was divided into two parts, each followed by an open discussion between the students and professors.

The final day's morning lecture was given by Professor Robert A. Carleo III, who finished his M.Phil. on Chinese Philosophy at the Fudan University and obtained his PhD in Philosophy at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Professor Carleo currently works on comparative and Chinese philosophy, specializing in Confucian and liberal moral and political theory. He is program coordinator of the International Graduate Program in Chinese Philosophy at East China Normal University, where he is a fellow of the Center for Intercultural Research. His interests focus on questions of freedom, selfhood, and normativity, explored through transcultural paths of inquiry. He is co-editor, with Yong Huang, of Confucian Political Philosophy: Dialogues in the State of the Field (2021), and has translated and explicated major works by contemporary Chinese philosophers, including Li Zehou, Yang Guorong, and Chen Lai. His translation of Li Zehou's The Origins of Chinese Thought: From Shamanism and Ritual Regulations to Humaneness (2018), was awarded the Outstanding Academic Title of 2019 by the American Library Association's Choice magazine. The forthcoming volume The Humanist Ethics of Li Zehou (2023), which he edited and translated, collects Professor’s Li's final essays on moral theory.

Professor Carleo delivered a lecture entitled “Li Zehou’s Theory of Sedimentation, Morals, and Reason”, within which he outlined Li Zehou’s view of Confucian morality and its relation to reason and to rights and freedoms. Li conceives reason and morality as historically “sedimented” through lived and felt human experience, which in his opinion allows rational moral principles to be at once both relative and absolute. Li’s anthropohistorical ontology herein affirms both traditional Confucianism and modern liberal principles and offers an appealing alternative to the ways freedom and equality are endorsed. Professor Carleo calls this a “concrete humanist” ethics, in which reason and morals originate and evolve through actual human practice, sedimenting in collective common sense. Professor Carleo's lecture also elaborated on the topic of the “deep structures” of East Asian cultures – a topic of much contemporary debate. Elaborating on Li’s theory of two morals, Robert Carleo showed how it separates the deep structures of Confucianism from the modern individualist morality that values people as free and equal. As he says, this tells us that modern liberal principles should override but not replace traditional Confucian ethics. Li’s theory of reason, noted Carleo, thus underpins a powerful affirmation of liberal principles, and these components of Li Zehou’s thought when taken together highlight the gravity of his claim about the deep structures of Confucianism persisting in Chinese society. The lecture was followed by a discussion focused on the following key questions: Are East Asians “Confucian” these days? More specifically, do Confucian ideas and mores still shape the basic fabric of Chinese (and Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese) society and culture, or have they given way to individualist and capitalist values? Is reason universal, or does it change across historical periods, cultures, and even persons? What is the relation between emotion and reason? Do our feelings determine how we reason? (Maybe we just rationalize what we already like, want, and feel?) Or does our reason control our emotions? Is Confucianism merely an additional belief system and morality alongside, and to be subordinated to, modern liberal rights? Does Confucianism just offer one of many value systems and ways of life – i.e. Confucian, Christian, Buddhist, bohemian, greedy, boring – that we should be free to choose as long as we respect the rights of others?

The afternoon lecture, entitled “Li's Aesthetics in Contemporary and Interdisciplinary Aesthetics Research”, was given by Professor Rafal Banka, a Research Fellow at the Faculty of Philosophy at University of Oxford in England. He is the principal investigator of a European Research Council grant for the project "Mereological Reconstruction of the Metaphysical System in the Daodejing". His research areas include Chinese and Western comparative philosophies, in terms of metaphysics, aesthetics, and methodology. He has published in Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy, Journal of Chinese Philosophy, and Philosophy East and West, among others. His book Cognition and Practice: Li Zehou's Philosophical Aesthetics was published in July 2022.

Professor Banka's lecture addressed the question of how Li's aesthetics compares to contemporary research in the field. As Professor Banka noted, Li's aesthetic project is not only compatible with contemporary aesthetic research, but may also provide a form of its own contribution. Li's project, which is not based solely on aesthetic reflection, offers a different conceptual apparatus with high interdisciplinary potential. Li's aesthetics can be considered both a philosophy of art and a form of cognition. Li draws his inspirations from Confucius, Marx, and Kant. Confucius provides him with general intuitions based on the Book of Changes, and it also has a strong influence on Li's ethical project, elaborating on the emotions in human beings. The inspiration of Marx can be seen in Li's attitude toward immersion in society rather than moral personhood, in his conception of the constitution of the subject in the process of activities in historical time, and in his emphasis on the importance of human practise and the idea that man shapes things according to the laws of beauty. It also shows in his idea that free human practice conforms to an objective standard of beauty, and that the practice of shaping things in accordance with beauty is not necessarily artistic. Meanwhile, Kant's influence is evident in the ideas that the subject is a point of departure in philosophical construction, that aesthetics can be understood as a theory of sensuousness, that cognitive equipment is not innate, and that cognitive structures are not transcendental but of an anthropological and ontological character. Professor Banka's lecture also addressed Li's concept of “subjectality” as the foundation of cognitive aesthetics, a cognitive dimension of beauty and aesthetic experience, and finally Bence Nanay's and Wolfgang Welsch's conceptions of aesthetics. The lecture ended with a debate on the question of what does aesthetics as a discipline usually cover? Is including the theory of sensuous experience (and, what follows, a cognitive component) going beyond the limits of what is “naturally” aesthetics? Can beauty be built into aesthetics as a theory of sensuous experience? Can aesthetic experience be (clearly) distinguished from other forms of experience?

The summer school ended with a theatre performance entitled Becoming Human, written by Jana S. Rošker, and directed by Ryuzo Fukuhara. The performance presented the life and work of Li Zehou and took place in the Ljubljana Castle. As the script says:

Li Zehou was twelve years old when his father died. That year, as he wandered in the highlands, he was met by the astonishing sight of a meadow covered with splendidly blooming yellow mountain flowers. Overwhelmed by the beauty of the moment, he suddenly became aware of his own mortality. He wondered what meaning this beauty had, for it seemed meaningless, fleeting, and empty. Afterwards, young Li experienced a kind of existential crisis that led him to skip school for three days. After this decisive moment, his interests, which were already very broad, gradually focused on philosophical questions and later increasingly on aesthetics, and then on ethics« says the script.

The summer school ended with a cultural excursion, leaving the audience with a broad new knowledge of Li Zehou’s philosophy, and hopefully also with some of this openness of mind and the ability to look to the future with hope and positive commitment.

(English below)

Opis predlagane vsebine glede na stanje na področju predlaganih raziskav

Zaradi aktualnosti tematike bo programska skupina Azijski jeziki in kulture v letih 2020-2021 v načrtovane raziskave vključila dodatne vsebine, povezane s pandemijo COVID-19. Naš doprinos na tem področju se nam zdi izjemno relevanten in nujno potreben zato, ker je naša programska skupina edina v Sloveniji, ki raziskuje družbe in kulture Azije (predvsem Vzhodne Azije), in ki ima dostop do virov, napisanih v matičnih jezikih teh regij. Kot vemo, je epidemija izbruhnila prav na Kitajskem, ki predstavlja velik del (okr. 70%) predmeta naših raziskav; poleg tega se je najprej razširila po Vzhodni Aziji, ki predstavlja regijo, katero obravnava  preko 90% naših študij. Drugi osrednji razlog za vključevanje dodatnih vsebin je tudi v tem, da globalne izkušnje kažejo, da so bili ukrepi zajezitve pandemije in nadzora nad njenim širjenjem prav v Vzhodni Aziji izjemno učinkoviti. Zato je analiza metod in reakcij, povezanih s temi ukrepi, izjemno pomembna za bodoče strategije reševanja podobnih kriznih situacij na mednarodni ravni.

Nekateri pisci zagovarjajo stališče, da tiči razlog za to učinkovitost v »avtokratskih tradicijah vzhodnoazijskih družb« (gl. npr. Han 2020, 2). Vendar so tovrstna stališča redukcionistična, esencialistična in zavajajoča (gl. npr. Escobar 2020a, 3 in 2020b, 14), kar je posebej nevarno tudi zaradi tega, ker se pogosto pojavljajo v medijih, ki jih berejo široki krogi zahodnih populacij. Dejstvo, da so tovrstna stališča posplošujoča in zato napačna, nedvoumno izhaja iz vrste bolj poglobljenih in znanstveno utemeljenih raziskav, ki so delno nastale že v letih pred epidemijo COVID-19, delno pa v času njenega izbruha in sicer v avtorstvu samih azijskih raziskovalk in raziskovalcev. Te študije, ki so napisane v matičnih jezikih azijskih regij, obravnavajo sodobne azijske družbe in njihova kompleksna tradicionalna ozadja iz bolj diferenciranih kulturoloških (Hozuki 2010, Joo 2009, Hideo 1970), politoloških (Jang 2020, Cai 2020, Wang 2020, Ohkubo 2013), jezikoslovnih (Chen 2020, Fumimasa and Takagi 2016, Suzuki 2011), zgodovinskih (Li 1983, Nakajima 1982, Tatsukawa 1979), idejnih (Sakurai 2015, Xu 2020, Zhang in Wang 2020, Li 1994, Li, R. 2020, Lin 2020, Zhang 2003), socioloških (Doi 2014, Fujimura 2016, Ito 2006, Li, Y. 2020, Tang in Wang 2020) in antropoloških (Yang in Wang 2020, Zhiwang zaixian jiaoxue 2020, Chen 2020, Zheng 2020) vidikov. S pomočjo rezultatov zgoraj omenjenih študij in vrste drugih, sorodnih raziskav, je možno zgoraj navedeno površno, a dokaj razširjeno predpostavko utemeljeno ovreči, kar predstavlja tudi prvi in temeljni korak raziskovalnega dela naše programske skupine v okviru dodatnih vsebin, povezanih s pandemijo.  

Izhajajoč iz koherentnega poznavanja jezikovnih, kulturno-zgodovinskih in idejnih osnov azijskih družb, ki se med drugim kaže tudi v sposobnosti analize in interpretacije najvplivnejših klasičnih virov azijskih idejnih tradicij, kot na primer ponatisov staroveških virov v paliju (gl. Atthasālinī 1897, Buddhaghosa in Visuddhimagga 1975, Dhammasaṅgaṇi 2001, Vibhaṅga. 2003), ali vzhodnoazijskih virov, zapisanih v klasični kitajščini (gl. Ge Hong 1955, Wenbing Tiaobian 2000, Lunyu s.d., Mengzi s.d., Xunzi s.d., Han Feizi s.d., Shang Jun Shu s.d., itd.) bomo naše raziskave sodobnih azijskih družb in njihovih posebnosti v ukrepih in reakcijah na krizne situacije, ki jih je povzročila epidemija COVID-19, povezali in podkrepili z zgodovinskimi vidiki reakcij azijskih družb in kulturnih skupnosti na različne, predvsem epidemiološke krize in tradicionalne strategije njihovega reševanja. Pri tem se bomo naslonili na in nadgradili že obstoječe historiografske raziskave teh tematik (gl. Bretelle-Establet 2014, Burns 2000, Chao 2009, Cheng and Leung 2007, Hanson 2011, Gardner Nakamura 2006, Lee 2017, Liu 2014, Padilla 2009, itd.). V tem kontekstu se bomo osredotočili predvsem na klasične modele različnih etičnih sistemov, ki so prevladali v Aziji in sicer tako v območju indijske (gl. Harvey 2000, Karunadasa 2019, Keown 2001, Maithrimurthi 1999), kot tudi vzhodnoazijske kulture (Huang 2009, Jung 1996, Metzger 1991, Rice and Palmer 1993, Tu 1996 in 1998). V ta okvir bomo vključili tudi analizo obstoječih religioloških raziskav (kot npr. Fujiwara 2019, Introvigne 2020, idr.). Vsi ti segmenti, ki na različne načine in iz različnih vidikov obravnavajo idejne razsežnosti osrednje problematike dodatnih vsebin so pomembni, zato smo jih neposredno povezali tudi z našim osrednjim raziskovalnim vprašanjem, t.j. s problematiko dejanskih razlogov za večjo učinkovitost ukrepov prevzema nadzora nad epidemijami (Peckham 2016) v azijskih, zlasti vzhodnoazijskih družbah. Pri tem izhajamo iz hipoteze, po kateri je nadzor nad epidemičnimi razsežnostmi kritičnih družbenih situacij lažje kontrolirati in zajeziti v družbah, katerih idejna osnova ni povezana s prevlado individualizma (McCormick 1979), temveč je odnos med posameznikom in družbo komplementaren (Rosemont in Ames 2016) in je samorazumevanje posameznika tradicionalno opredeljeno s koncepti relacijskega (Wang 2016, Ames 2011), transformativnega (Tu 1985), integrativnega (Zhao in Yan 2008), soodvisnega ali kontekstualnega (Lai 2016) oziroma celostnega (Zhao 2009, Repetti 2016) sebstva.  

Osnovno ogrodje interdisciplinarnih pristopov, ki tvorijo temeljno metodološko zasnovo naše programske skupine, je hkrati osnovano na predpostavki, po kateri so vsi družbeni in kulturni pojavi tesno povezani s strukturami jezika in sovpadajočih miselnih vzorcev. Ta tesna zveza med jeziki in družbami oziroma kulturami obravnavanih regij se odraža v vrsti lingvističnih virov (Bekeš 2020, Bourdieu 1991, Fairclough 1989, Hart 2016, Hasan 2009, Aitchison in Lewis 2003, itd.), ki bodo tvorili osnovo nadaljnjega razvoja teoretskih razsežnosti različnih jezikoslovnih vidikov in obravnav boja proti epidemijah COVID-19.  

Pri svojem delu se bomo opirali tudi na vrsto dosedanjih izsledkov oz. publikacij članov in članic programske skupine, predvsem seveda na tiste, ki omogočajo poglobitev znanj, povezanih s pandemijo in družbenimi reakcijami nanjo iz vidikov kulturnih in nacionalnih identitet (Culiberg 2015), njihovih epistemoloških osnov (Rošker 2016) ter njihovih sodobnih transformacij (Rošker 2018a), tradicionalnih in sodobnih vzorcev prepoznavanja in reševanja konfliktov (Ditrich 2015) ter drugih kriznih situacij, ki lahko privedejo do etičnih oziroma moralnih dilem (Rošker 2018b, 2020a).  V tem kontekstu je pomembno tudi razumevanje specifičnih azijskih vzorcev obrednosti, ki predstavljajo kulturno ponotranjeno vezivo azijskih družb in sicer tako njenih civilnih (Vampelj 2019, Kang 2019), kot tudi religijskih (Delakorda 2016) segmentov. Pri slednjih je še posebej pomemben vidik preobrazbe verskih skupin in inštitucij v družbeno angažirane skupnosti, ki igrajo veliko vlogo pri reševanju kriz in katastrof, povezanih z naravnimi nesrečami in epidemijami (gl. Veselič 2016a, 2016b in 2019). V sklopu reakcij in ukrepov, povezanih z reševanjem kriznih družbenih situacij se bomo opirali na in nadgrajevali tudi naše dosedanje raziskave na področju korpusnega jezikoslovja (Petrovčič 2018) in angažirane umetnosti (Hrvatin 2018). Kot je pokazal ogromen spekter odmevnih sinoloških, japonoloških in koreanističnih raziskav na mednarodni ravni, pa igra osrednjo vlogo pri reševanju družbenih kriz v vzhodnoazijskem prostoru tudi etika njegove skupne konfucijanske dediščine. Na tem področju so članice in člani programske skupine doslej objavili že vrsto pomembnih raziskav (Culiberg 2016, Hmeljak 2017, Ogrizek 2017 in 2019, Rošker 2020b, Sernelj 2018 in 2019), ki jih bomo vsekakor razvijali še naprej, seveda zlasti skozi optiko ukrepov, strategij in reakcij, povezanih s pandemijo COVID-19.

Celotni spisek virov in literature, na katere se nanašajo reference gornjega opisa se nahaja tukaj.

Cilji raziskave: izvirnost in potencialni vpliv na razvoj novih raziskovalnih smeri

Kot že omenjeno, je primarni oz. uvodni cilj naših dodatnih raziskav v falzifikaciji površnih in posplošujočih, a hkrati zelo razširjenih in zaradi tega nevarnih predstav o avtokratsko pogojenih razlogih za učinkovitost azijskih ukrepov za zajezitev pandemije (gl. npr. Han 2020), saj tovrstna neutemeljena stališča krepijo evrocentrične in orientalistične predsodke, ki še vedno prevladujejo v mnogih segmentih evro-ameriških družb in so delno oz. latentno še vedno strukturno vraščeni v idejna ogrodja zahodnih kultur. Takšna stališča je potrebno ovreči, ker imajo destruktiven vpliv na mednarodne odnose in povečujejo tveganja za nastanek konfliktov. Po drugi strani želimo z izsledki našega raziskovalnega dela prispevati k izboljšanju strategij in zvišanju učinkovitosti ukrepov v kriznih situacijah znotraj evropskih družb – vključno s slovensko. Pri tem ne gre zgolj za informiranje o kratkoročnih političnih in gospodarskih potezah, temveč tudi za nudenje bolj poglobljenega znanja o družbenih, kulturnih idejnih in etičnih ozadij, ki v azijskih družbah igrajo veliko vlogo pri zajezitvi pandemije in reševanju drugih, primerljivih kriznih situacij. Pri tem gre predvsem za osvetlitev in sistematično obdelavo prej omenjenega razmerja med posameznikom in družbo in z njim povezanega samorazumevanja posameznika. V tem kontekstu načrtujemo izdelavo sistematske teorije, temelječe na hipotezi, da je v epidemičnih in drugih, z epidemijami primerljivih, kriznih situacijah pomembno, dojemati lastno sebstvo kot inherenten del družbene skupnosti. Na individualizmu temelječa razmerja med družbo in posameznikom, znotraj katerih je slednji dojet kot izoliran in samozadosten, so se namreč v mnogih primerih izkazala kot manj učinkovita v primerjavi s komplementarnimi razmerji med obema entitetama, saj lahko katastrofične situacije znotraj družb rešuje samo družba kot celota. Pri tem seveda nikakor ne bomo spregledali nevarnosti vladnih, državnih in drugih politično osnovanih zlorab kriznih situacij, ki lahko privedejo do kršitve zgodovinsko pridobljenih pravic, kamor sodijo npr. izkoriščanja kriznih razmer za zaostritev restriktivnih elementov zakonodaje ter trajnega omejevanja individualnih pravic in pravic manjšin oz. marginaliziranih skupnosti. V kontekstu azijskih družb bomo tovrstne mehanizme poskušali povezati s tradicionalnimi idejnimi in političnimi paradigmami, kakršne se kažejo, denimo, v sinitskih strujah klasičnega legalizma ali državno institucionaliziranega neo-konfucianizma. Podrobna raziskava tovrstnih negativnih strukturnih povezav, ki lahko privedejo do novih totalitarizmov, tvori v naši raziskovalni agendi pomemben del analize in teoretske zasnove možnih novih modelov globalne etike, ki vsekakor predstavlja teoretski izziv in izviren doprinos k sodobni transkulturni humanistiki.  

Člani/ce programske skupine smo že začeli s konkretnimi raziskavami, ki bodo privedle do zgoraj navedenih ciljev, kateri bodo – v skladu z našimi načrti – predstavljali pomembno osnovo za nadaljevanje raziskovalnega dela v obravnavanih kontekstih. Naši raziskovalni rezultati, ki bodo zagotovo prispevali k inovativnosti znanstvenega dela v okviru razvoja družboslovnih in humanističnih študij obravnavanih tematik in bodo hkrati predstavljali stabilno in teoretsko preverjeno osnovo za nadaljnji razvoj raziskav na tem področju bodo v letih 2020 in 2021 objavljeni v vrsti izvirnih znanstvenih člankov, samostojnih poglavij v zbornikih ter vsaj eni znanstveni monografiji.  Trenutno intenzivno pripravljamo zbornik z naslovom Izolirajmo virus, ne Azije! To skupinsko delo bo izšlo v prvi tretjini leta 2021 in bo predvidoma vsebovalo naslednje teme:

KULTURNA ZGODOVINA IN IDENTITETA

Luka Culiberg: Zgodovina bolezni na Japonskem in odziv japonske družbe na epidemije

Tinka Delakorda Kawashima: Ne-relacijska japonska družba in prakse pripadanja v času pandemije

Klara Hrvatin: Odziv japonskih umetnikov na koronavirus: Percepcija folklore jōkaija in njena popularizacija

Nataša Vampelj Suhadolnik: »Evropska kuga prihaja iz Kitajske«: slovenski mediji o yunnanski kugi konec 19. stoletja in njihov vpliv na formiranje stereotipnih odzivov v slovenskem prostoru

RELIGIJA IN IDEOLOGIJA

Maja Veselič: Vpliv verskih in kulturnih prepričanj na dojemanje in ravnanje v kriznih situacijah v LR Kitajski in na Tajvanu na primeru pandemije COVID-19

Nataša Visočnik Gerželj: Novo religijsko gibanje Shicheonji in kontroverznost v času epidemije

Byoung Yoong Kang: COVID 19 v Severni Koreji

IDEJNE IN FILOZOFSKE OSNOVE

Jana S. Rošker: Tradicionalna kitajska relacijska etika in organizacija družbe v kriznih časih virusnih epidemij

Tamara Ditrich: Etična izhodišča staroindijskih kognitivnih modelov: predstavitev problema strahu in pohlepa v Abhidhammi  

Helena Motoh: Razumevanje karantene v kitajskem kontekstu - pogledi filozofije prostora

JEZIK IN MEDIJI

Mateja Petrovčič: Korpusna raziskava dnevnih novic na temo COVID-19 v kitajskih medijih

Nagisa Moritoki Škof: Primerjalna korpusna analiza vsebine nagovorov voditeljev držav svojim državljanom v zvezi z epidemijo Covid-19: Japonska in Slovenija

Andrej Bekeš: Kontrastna analiza vladnih sporočil  Japonske glede epidemije COVID-19 in poročil v neodvisnih medijih

Irena Srdanovć: Humor na Japonskem v času krizne pandemije COVID-19

Kristina Hmeljak Sangawa: Kuga, vojna, poplava, kartanje - metafore bolezni in epidemije v besedišču japonskih medijev

Poleg tega v septembru 2021 načrtujemo tudi izdajo posebne tematske številke mednarodno odmevne znanstvene revije Asian Studies, ki izhaja na matičnem oddelku programske skupine in katere glavna in odgovorna urednica sta članici programske skupine. (Delovni naslov: COVID-19 Pandemic in Asia). Do konca leta 2021 bo vodja programa izdala tudi samostojno avtorsko monografijo na temo dodatnih vsebin, ki so predmet pričujoče prijave. Več članic in članov programske skupine pa bo izdalo članke v zvezi z dodatnimi vsebinami, povezanimi s pandemijo COVID-19 tudi pri drugih znanstvenih revijah in zbornikih. V letih 2020-21 bomo organizirali tudi dva mednarodna simpozija in eno mednarodno konferenco na temo pandemije COVID-19 v Aziji.

Metodologija

Krovna metodologija, ki jo pri svojem delu uporablja programska skupina, je metodologija medkulturnih oziroma transkulturnih raziskav na področju azijskih študij. Ta nujno vključuje tudi problematiko posredovanja paradigem, idej, institucij ter ostalih družbenih, političnih in kulturnih pojavnosti, ki izhajajo iz tradicij, ki se strukturno razlikujejo od evropskih. Takšno posredovanje znanj nujno vključuje tudi diskurzivno prevajanje. Pri tem ne gre zgolj za slovnično neoporečno posredovanje strogo jezikovnih vsebin, temveč̌ tudi za takšno, ki vključuje tolmačenja posamičnih besedilnih in govornih struktur, kategorij, konceptov in vrednot v različnih sociokulturnih kontekstih. Brez poglobljenega poznavanja epistemoloških in aksioloških različnosti, ki se kažejo v različnih tradicijah, lahko namreč pride do nesporazumov, ki so pogosto plod  diskrepance med enakim etimološko-funkcionalnim pojmovanjem določenega izraza na eni, in včasih popolnoma drugačnim dojemanjem istega izraza na ravni splošnega, družbeno veljavnega socialnega konteksta na drugi strani. Zato pomanjkanje poznavanja tovrstnih notranjih struktur azijskih tradicij, ki se kažejo na jezikovni, filozofski, politični in kulturni ravni, privede do kulturno pogojenih nesporazumov in napačne interpretacije pomembnih zgodovinskih, kulturnih, političnih, aksioloških in drugih družbenih pojavov. Članice in člani naše programske skupine vsi razpolagamo s tovrstnim poglobljenim poznavanjem azijskih družb, jezikov in kultur. Ker je naša skupina na širšem področju humanistike in družboslovja interdisciplinarno zasnovana, se naših raziskav lotevamo iz perspektive treh formalno in vsebinsko vzajemno ločenih sklopov, katerih posamične izsledke induktivno povezujemo v konsistentne teorije. Pri tem gre za a) kulturno-zgodovinski, b) filozofski in c) jezikoslovni sklop raziskav.

Ad a) Kar se tiče prvega segmenta, bodo raziskave, povezane z epidemijo, izvajale predvsem raziskovalke, ki delujejo na področju vzhodnoazijske antropologije in sociologije kulture. Trenutne raziskave na tem področju so namreč delno že osredotočene na socio-kulturne vidike elementarnih in tehničnih nesreč v Aziji, torej na vprašanja o tem, kako družbeni in kulturni dejavniki (v dosedanjih raziskavah konkretno religija ter verske inštitucije) vplivajo na pripravljenost in soočanje z množičnimi katastrofami ter obnovo po njih. Sem sodijo tudi raziskave humanitarne pomoči kot sredstva mednarodnih odnosov. Nadaljnji ključen družbeni vidik epidemij je tudi zgodovina rasnega in etničnega pripisovanja krivde za epidemije, ki so pogosto peljale k genocidom in drugim tragedijam.

Ad b) Kar se tiče filozofskega vidika, se bodo s pandemijo COVID-19 ukvarjale predvsem raziskovalke, ki delujejo na področju kitajske in azijske etike, vprašanj odnosa med družbo in posameznikom, tradicionalnega azijskega humanizma, relacijskega sebstva ter socialne kooperacije, pa tudi problemov, povezanih s ksenofobijo in rasizmom. V tem sklopu se bomo posvetili tudi raziskavam staroindijskih kognitivnih modelov in njihovega etičnega konteksta, ki so zelo drugačni od zahodnega diskurza. Osredotočili se bomo tudi na probleme strahu in pohlepa ter njune povezave s koncepti "identitete" in etike. Ti problemi so vselej aktualni, a v pandemiji toliko bolj očitni, zato se nam tukaj zastavlja vprašanje o tem, ali nam lahko staroindijski diskurz odpre možnosti razmisleka o strahu in pohlepu na zelo drugačen način in nam s tem nudi nove, inovativne možnosti delovanja.

Ad c) V jezikoslovnem segmentu se bomo s problematiko pandemije ukvarjali v sklopu korpusnega jezikoslovja, ki je že prej predstavljalo pomemben delež naših študij. Vse zgoraj omenjene zgodovinske, kulturne, politične in filozofske posebnosti azijskih regij so se namreč oblikovale v tesni zvezi z jezikovnimi posebnostmi obravnavanih regij. Zato je za pridobitev celostnega in koherentnega uvida v karakteristične elemente, ki opredeljujejo pojav COVID-19 v Aziji, izjemno pomemben tudi ta sklop raziskav. Tovrstnim raziskavam se bomo posvetili tudi skozi optiko podajanja informacij in izbire jezikovnih sredstev ter ideoloških funkcij jezika v azijskih družbah.

Časovni prikaz aktivnosti

COVID-19 and new models of cooperation and solidarity: Confucian role ethics as a social remedy in periods of crisis 

The 

COVID-19 pandemic has clearly shown that a global threat like the explosive spread of the COVID-19 virus can only be dealt with on the basis of interhuman and interpersonal solidarity. Besides, the Chinese and East Asian example of bringing the epidemics under control has been much more effective than similar strategies in most of the Euro-American regions. This investigation follows the presumption, according to which the reasons for this efficiency lie not only in different political systems of the areas in question, but are also connected to the traditional ethics which normatively prescribe large numbers of population certain, culturally specific modes of interaction. Thus, we aim to contrast the model of individual-based ethics, as has prevailed in Western societies, with the so-called relational ethics which has prevailed in Sinitic (i.e. most of the East Asian) traditions, especially the ones that were influenced by Confucian philosophy.

The starting point of this contrastive analysis will be the dominant notion of Self in both cultural regions. In the Western world, the pandemic period has clearly shown that the Enlightenment concepts of the autonomous human subject and humanism have lost credibility. They cannot function as a cohesive axiological force for contemporary globalized and highly differentiated societies. However, the ideas of subjectivity and humanism belong to the ideational foundations of modernization and represent an important part of the European intellectual legacy, which still serves as a basis for numerous legal and ideological paradigms underlying today’s societies. Thus, we need to revive and update key philosophical concepts of subjectivity, and adapt them to the requirements of the present age.

In order to do so, we propose to place the tradition of the European Enlightenment in a fruitful dialogue and a dialectical relationship with the intellectual heritages of Chinese culture. The pandemic crisis has clearly shown that such a synthesis of various humanistic traditions is not only possible, but also necessary. In this framework, the proposed research will focus on traditional and modern East Asian (especially Confucian) theories of personhood and investigate in which ways the Confucian notions of subjectivity and autonomy can contribute to a meaningful intercultural adaptation and revival of humanistic values, such as human dignity, and inter-human solidarity. In this regard, the research will focus upon the specific Confucian concept of the “relational Self” that is reflected in the models of the transformative, integrative or holistic subject.

The research aims to establish novel, intercultural applicable conceptualizations of the subject, and his/her role in small and large communities. In this way, the research aims to illuminate the global political and ethical significance of different ethical models through a contrastive analysis of different culturally conditioned concepts of personhood. It furthermore plans to elaborate new sources of intercultural education, and to provide theoretical groundworks for producing novel models of intersubjectivity, integration policies and decision-making systems that could be used in strategies for the solving of crises.

See bibliography.

Program

Vodja programa: Prof. dr. Jana Rošker, Univerza v Ljubljani

Raziskovalci

Culiberg Luka

Delakorda Kawashima Tinka

Ditrich Tamara

Hmeljak Sangawa Kristina

Lovrenčič Martina

Moritoki Škof Nagisa

Motoh Helena

Ogrizek Marko

Petrovčič Mateja

Sernelj Tea

Šopič Dean

Vampelj Suhadolnik Nataša

Veselič Maja

Visočnik Nataša

Zima Matej

Vodja programa

Prof. dr. Jana Rošker

Vodja programa

Prof. dr. Jana Rošker