Dear all,
The academic activities titled Wen as the Vehicle of the Dao : What Is Wen? will be hosted at 9:00 on Saturday, March 21th, in Room N301, North SCA Building. Welcome!
Abstract:In recent years, scholarly discussions on the continuity of Chinese civilisation have become increasingly vibrant. At the heart of these debates lies a fundamental question: by what means are civilisation and culture sustained and transmitted over time? The classical dictum “wen yi zai dao” (文以载道, “wen as the vehicle of the Dao”) has long provided a foundational answer within the Chinese intellectual tradition. Yet in a modern context, how wen should be understood remains in need of further theoretical clarification. Of particular interest is how this concept may enter into dialogue with related notions in Western intellectual traditions under conditions of globalisation and intensified cross-cultural exchange. Does there exist, within Western languages and scholarly discourses, a concept that can meaningfully correspond to wen? And if so, how might such correspondences—or tensions—be articulated?
In response to these questions, which bear directly on the transmission of Chinese culture and the construction of theoretical frameworks for its study, the Institute of Humanities at ShanghaiTech University will host an interdisciplinary lecture series entitled “Wen as the Vehicle of the Dao”: What Is Wen? on 21March 2026. Renowned scholars from China and abroad will be invited to examine, from multiple disciplinary perspectives, the concept of wen in Chinese cultural traditions, its historical transformations, and its contemporary significance. In addition, a workshop will be organised alongside the lecture series, bringing together scholars from within and beyond ShanghaiTech to engage in focused thematic discussions.
Registration Link and Q&R Code:https://wenjuan.shanghaitech.edu.cn/vm/e10N22E.aspx
