On Monday, July 14th, 2014, Northeast Asia Center of Seoul National University Asia Center has invited Xu, Jilin, a chair professor of history at East China Normal University, who is also known as one of the leading public intellectuals of China, for colloquium.

The colloquium, titled “The Trends of Socio-political Thoughts in Contemporary China,” was held to assure the ideological foundation of political changes in modern China by understanding the historical trends of social-political thoughts in China. The presentation was conducted in Chinese, and consecutive interpreting was provided.

Professor Xu, Jilin (born in Shanghai, China, in 1957), is a prominent historian of modern Chinese thought. Xu is known as a liberal intellectual in Korea. In China, he has gained the public attention by his commentary on the Taiwan’s Presidential election of 2004. Xu’s research on speculating the changing points in the discourse of Chinese intellectual is highly recognized.
Xu has been selected as one of the 50 public intellectuals of China by <Southern People Weekly> in 2004. His publication, The History of 20^th Century Chinese Intellectuals was awarded the first prize of China National Library Book Award, the Wenjin Book Award, in 2005. Xu is the vice president of the Contemporary Chinese Thought and Culture Research Institute. He is also a member of Shanghai’s Social Science Association Committee, and a councilor of the Academy of Chinese History (PRC).

In his latest translated publication in Korea, How Enlightenment was Reborn, Xu criticizes China’s rapid growth as a mere realization of the rich and powerful nations from the mid-19th century. Xu questions China’s ability to become a great nation of morals. He believes that the competitive power in the modern world arises from the discourse power in a strong civil society. Xu offers various suggestions on how China could become a great nation of morals and asserts the importance of the formation and the restoration of the “public intellectuals.” In The History of 20^th Century Chinese Intellectuals, the changes in the power and roles of the public intellectuals are explained. Xu discusses the historical situation of the traditional Chinese scholar-gentry as the former public intellectuals, and the newly established modern meaning of public intellectuals in contemporary Chinese intellectuals’ society.

The recent trends of China’s intellectual society related to the “Oxford Consensus 2013” was also covered in the colloquium. The modern Chinese intellectuals’ political thoughts can be divided into three groups, the new liberals, the new left, and the contemporary new Confucian. With the rise of new political leaders of the young generation since around the time of the 18th National Congress of the Communist party of China, the three major political thoughts has gone through a serious divisions within the groups, and unexpected associations between the three has formed. Chinese scholars of various ideologies and Christian intellects has signed a statement of commitment to work together in the “Oxford Consensus 2013,” held last summer. The statement not only highlighted the divisions within each groups, but the importance of consensus building. It was agreed that the future of China should not depend on the power of a certain party, but on the political foundation that is based on the harmony of all the parties.

(Related article: http://sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/18/full-text-of-the-oxford-consensus-2013/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0)

The colloquium has attracted a larger crowd than expected. Many students and scholars showed interest in the lecture by Xu, Jilin. As the heated atmosphere fulfilled the room, Xu conducted the presentation covering various topics. The audience paid close attention the speech, listening tentatively.

The Northeast Asia Center of Seoul National University Asia Center, the host of the event, runs various research on the four main powers surrounding the Korean peninsula, the United States, China, Japan, and Russia. The analysis of overlapping inter-relations of Korean peninsula and the four powers, and the necessary research to establish a peaceful order in the future are the main research objectives of the Northeast Asia Center. Current research programs includes a study on the Cold War and the Post-Cold War of Northeast Asia, a study on the cooperation and community theory of Northeast Asia, and a study on the Cross-Strait relations and South-North relations. Various perspectives, including political, military, economic, social and cultural perspectives are taken into account on these studies to conduct an interdisciplinary research.

(Northeast Asia Center Webpage: http://snuac.snu.ac.kr/neasnuac/)

Title: The Trends of Socio-political Thoughts in Contemporary China(当代中国的社会政治思潮)

Speaker: Xu, Jilin, Professor at ECNU (许纪霖, 华东师范大学)

Date: Monday, July 7^th, 2014. 2pm-5pm.

Place: Seoul National University Asia Center. Room #406