Bulletin Number Two 1987

Conference on China and Europe: 16th—18th Centuries The mutual fascination between China and Europe during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries characterizes this first phase o f cultural contacts between the two worlds. A large number o f European missionaries, notably Jesuits, and merchants came to this part o f the world in the seventeenth century and brought back reports o f a fascinating and immensely wealthy China. A period o f fascination w ith anything Chinese thus followed and nearly all the great minds in Europe commented on China or even wrestled w ith Confucian ideas filtered into Europe. The vogue reached its height in the eighteenth century, repre sented by artistic as well as intellectual sinophilism: great philosophical and literary names, such as Leibniz, Voltaire, Pope and Rousseau were all asso­ ciated w ith the fashion. China was almost considered a model o f rationality and enlightened government for Europe to imitate. On this side o f the world, besides Christianity, the missionaries also brought astronomy, mathematics and pragmatic technologies to China. For over two centuries, they charmed the Chinese people, and some leading intellectuals were impressed enough to become Christians. S till more were attracted to the scientific achievements o f the West, and the introduction of them obviously revolutionized Chinese way of thinking on heavenly and earthly subjects. Until today, the Chinese people s till generally think that the period o f introduction o f Western knowledge, though 'unfortunately' accompanied by Christianity, was a meaningful one. Cultural interchange was not high in the agenda at least for the Chinese since 1949 and historical studies o f this period therefore declined. In the West, great scholars such as Donald Lach continued to publish important works, but fewer and fewer histor ians seemed to feel encouraged or competent enough to go into the field. Thanks to the increasingly open policy o f the Chinese government, however, it has now become easier for scholars in and out o f China to resume the study o f this period o f mutual fascina tion and to redefine its contemporary significance. In view o f the recent developments and w ith the encouragement and support o f Goethe Institut, the Office o f International Studies Programmes (OISP) o f this University, to celebrate the tenth anniversary o f its Asian Studies Programme, organized an inter national conference on the subject. Indeed, what better way to commemorate the tenth anniversary than to hold such an international conference to dis cuss the values and implications o f cultural exchange which the Office is entrusted to carry out! A total o f twenty-six scholars from all over the world attended the Conference: they included Jonathan D. Spence (Yale), Wolfgang Franke (formerly Hamburg, now at Zhongshan), Guliano Bertuccioli (Rome), Lothar Ledderose (Heidelburg), Nakayama Shigeru (Tokyo) and He Zhaowu (Tsinghua). The twenty-four papers presented are divided into five general areas: (1) historical background: recent studies especially in relating the late Ming history w ith the world-wide price and commerical revolutions are reported by William Atwell. Other papers deal w ith silk trade (Chuan Han-sheng) and Ming intellectuals (Chiu Ling-yeung). (2) Christianity and its impact in China: papers range from the en­ 12 NEWS