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Taiwanese Philosophy and the Preservation of Confucian Tradition International Conference

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Taiwanese Philosophy and the Preservation of Confucian Tradition International Conference Taiwanese Philosophy and the Preservation of Confucian Tradition International Conference 17-18 October 2019 Chamber Hall of the University of Ljubljana Organized by: University of LjubljanaġİġEARL Ljubljana and Department of Asian Studies Center for Chinese Studies and National Central Library in Taiwan Taiwanese Philosophy and the Preservation of Confucian Tradition International Conference Statement of Purpose Although the philosophical currents in modern and contemporary Taiwan belong to the most influential and important streams of thought in contemporary East Asian theory, they are still unrecognized as specifically Taiwanese. The main reasons for the immense importance of Taiwanese philosophy for East Asia and the contemporary world are twofold. First, they can be found in its contributions to the preservation of traditional Chinese, especially Confucian thought. Secondly, its development of specific innovative philosophical approaches and systems profoundly influenced the theoretical discourses in the entire East Asian region. The philosophical currents in modern Taiwan were mainly developed during the second half of 20th century, in which the philosophical theory in mainland China was largely limited to the Sinization of Marxist thought. Hence, for many decades, Taiwanese philosophy represented the only driving force of developing, modernizing and upgrading traditional Chinese thought and its syntheses with Western thought. Hence, they soon also gained a wide spread popularity in most of the other East Asian societies that were traditionally influenced by classical Confucian thought, as for example Japan and South Korea. The conference, organized by Ljubljana University, the EARL in Ljubljana and the TRCCS at the National Central Library in Taipei under the academic leadership by Professor Jana S. Rošker, Ph.D., will bring together leading European and East Asian scholars investigating the thought of Taiwanese philosophers. It aims to introduce their work to the wider international academic public, and to discuss and exchange knowledge regarding their philosophical approaches, ideas and methods. It will furthermore also illuminate the political, social and ideological backgrounds of the specific Taiwanese philosophy. Given the fact that numerous Taiwanese philosophers belong to the pinnacle of contemporary theoretic achievements in the Chinese language area, and because there is still an almost complete lack of awareness of this fact in the European academic circles, the conference aims to clarify and to expose the following issues: x The role and the function of Taiwanese scholars in the preservation of the Chinese intellectual (especially Confucian, but also Daoist and Buddhist) tradition; x Taiwanese interpretations of Chinese philosophy; x Introductions of recent Taiwanese philosophy and its authors, including both the ones who lived and worked in the 2nd half of the 20th; x The formation of a recognizable position of recent Taiwanese intellectual streams in the contemporary discourses on philosophy and culture; x The analysis and explanation of common cultural conditioned threads in the Taiwanese philosophy – the relation between the specifically Taiwanese cultural elements and the theoretical and ideological approaches applied by Taiwanese philosophers. x Preservation of Confucian Tradition, Political, sociological and intellectual backgrounds x History and politics: the cross strait relations in the second half of the 20th century Welcome Speech: Distinguished guests, dear colleagues and friends! Welcome to this conference, which has been jointly organized by the Center for Chinese Studies at the National Central Library in Taipei, the EARL, and the Department of Asian Studies at the Faculty of Arts, Ljubljana University. The meeting is entitled Taiwanese Philosophy and the Preservation of Traditional Chinese Philosophy, and it promises to become a stimulating meeting, full of intriguing presentations and hot debates that will hopefully turn out to be not only interesting and informative, but also thought provoking and inspiring. This time, we have gathered in Ljubljana over 25 speakers from various European and Asian countries and we are proud to announce that most of them are well- known and internationally influential scholars in the field of Chinese philosophy. Therefore, we are proud and happy that they have accepted our invitation. The topic of today’ s conference deals with the Chinese philosophical tradition. Yet this philosophy did not originate in mainland China, and thus in some supposedly logical “center” of Chinese culture, but on its alleged “periphery”, namely on the beautiful island of Taiwan. The main reason for organizing this conference is to show the broader European academic audience that Taiwanese philosophers have played an important role in the development of modernp Chinese hilosophy, and especially in the second half of the 20th century. In contrast to the mainland, Taiwanese philosophy of that time had almost no connection with either Marxism or any of the many streams of post-Marxist philosophy. While theorists from the People’s Republic of China were mainly dealing with various forms, issues and innovations in the field of the Sinification of Marxism, those working on Taiwan devoted themselves to the exploration and adaptation of other forms of Western modernity, especially those deriving from Kant and German classical philosophy. They wanted to modernize their own (i.e. Chinese) traditions through the ideas of the European Enlightenment. While in the 1950s the Chinese conceptual tradition (in particular, Confucianism) fell into disrepair and was often prohibited,t osr at leas everely criticized, on the mainland, Taiwanese philosophers were constantly striving for its preservation and development. However, at issue was not only the preservation of tradition; in the second half of the 20th century, several complex and coherent philosophical systems emerged in Taiwan. The creation of these discourses is proof of the great creativity and innovativeness of many Taiwanese theorists. Here, it is particularly importa nt to highlight the Modern or New Confucianism and its most famous Taiwanese representative, Mou Zongsan. But in post-war Taiwan we can also witness many other forms of investigating and upgrading traditional Chinese thought. In this regard, the Neo-Daoist current and the Taiwanese Buddhist studies are certainly worth mentioning. Besides, modern Taiwanese philosophers have also enriched and advanced the originally Western medieval scholastic thought by establishing a specific school of the so-called Taiwanese Neo-Scholasticism, which was founded at the Fu-jen Catholic University. However, the rich palette of philosophical thought that emerged in Taiwan in the second half of the 20th centuryl cannot be imited to these few streams of thought. Therefore, the present conference includes and critically introduces many more currents, streams of thought and individual philosophers, who have decidedly contributed to the creative blossoming of modern Chinese philosophy. Therefore, this conference will doubtless show that Taiwanese philosophy can be seen as a bridge that links different discourses across time and space by illuminating and exposing various otherwise neglected traditions of Chinese philosophical thought. I also believe that it will show that this connective function and dialogical nature is precisely the greatest significance of contemporary Taiwanese philosophy, and I sincerely hope tha t it will raise awareness of this significance among the wider circles of European academia. And last, but not least, my sincere wish is also that this conference may serve, similar to Taiwanese philosophy, which is its subject matter, as a bridge connecting many different ideas, viewpoints and values. Hence, I delightedly declare the conference open for your participation in the hope that you will enjoy the event as much as we enjoyed imagining, organizing and looking forward to it. Thank you! Jana S. Rošker Taiwanese Philosophy and the Preservation of Confucian Tradition International Conference 17-18 October 2019 Chamber Hall of the University of Ljubljana (Kongresni trg 12, Ljubljana) Organized by: University of LjubljanaġİġEARL Ljubljana and Department of Asian Studies Center for Chinese Studies and National Central Library in Taiwan Thursday, October 17 9:30 Registration Opening Ceremony: Welcome remarks, books donation and group photo (Linkperson: Maja Kosec) 10:00–11:00 - Tanja Dmitrović, Vice Rector of the Ljubljana University - Tseng Shu-hsien, Director-General of the NCL - Zlatko âDELþ, General Director of EARL - Jana S. Rošker, Chief academic organizer Keynote Speech: Huang Kuan-min 11:00–12:00 Dissemination and Reterritorialization: Mou Zong-san, Tang Jun-yi, and the Renovation of Contemporary Confucian Philosophy 12:00–13:30 Lunch Panel 1 (Chamber Hall) The Great Master of Taiwanese Confucianism: Mou Zongsan Chair: Fabian Heubel - Ady Van den Stock: LifeġandġLearning,ġorġLearningġhowġtoġLive?ġRemarksġonġMouġZongsan’sġ 13:30–15:00 Autobiography at Fifty - Jana S. Rošker: AġPhilosophicalġRelationġbetweenġTaiwanġandġJapan:ġModelsġofġdialectical thought in Mou Zongsan’s and Nishida Kitaro’sġtheories - Tak Lap Yeung: Mou Zongsan’s appropriation of “transcendence” and “immanence” and his contributionġto the world philosophy 15:00–15:30 Coffee and tea break Panel 2 (Chamber Hall) Studies of Daoist Philosophy Chair: Jana S. Rošker - Fabian Heubel: Transcultural Potential. Reflections
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