Introduction

Society for Cultural Interaction in East Asia The 10th. General Assembly and The 10th. Annual Meeting 2018 “Maritime East Asia — Network, Exchanges, and
Mobilities”

  • [Date]   May 12 (Saturday), May 13 (Sunday), 2018
  • [place]  City University of Hong Kong, Joseph Lee Hall (LT-3505), 3/F, Li Dak Sum Yip Yio Chin Academic Building
  • [Proceeding Submission] Please see details here
  • [Accommodation]  Please see details here
  • [Map] http://www6.cityu.edu.hk/wayfinder/en/Venue/LT-3505/
  • [Annual Meeting PDF]  available in English, Chinese (Traditonal), Chinese (Simplified), Japanese, and Korean
  • [Program PDF]  available in English, Chinese (Traditonal), Chinese (Simplified), Japanese, and Korean

Confucianism, Chinese characters and Buddhism all certainly represented important factors in the configuration process of East Asian culture. However, oceans and seas also played an important role in the exchange of ideas and beliefs, along with the transport of people and goods; without them, exchanges and interactions in the entire East Asian world would have unquestionably been sluggish and reduced.

It is true that traditional China was a land empire, but in the first years of the Ming dynasty, it already had enough strength to develop itself on the seas. In the end, though, China opted for the order on land it was already familiar with, giving up interest in oceans and seas. Nevertheless, beyond official policies, the entire Chinese maritime space had already become a fertile ground for merchant ships, fishing vessels, and pirates and immigrants as well. Some scholars even believe that China was actually an overlord in all East Asia’s seas as early as before the entry of Western imperialism in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Besides China, countries such as Japan and Korea even more considered oceans and seas an important pillar of development. Before the middle of the 19th century, these East Asian countries had already established denser ties of competition and cooperation based on oceans and seas. After the middle of the 19th century, they analogously received the baptism of Western ideas; under the gradual intervention of Western forces, they each developed different models of cultural exchanges and interactions.

During this conference, we will discuss themes under a Maritime East Asia perspective, such as material culture, immigration and identification, production and diffusion of knowledge, and port cities. We firmly believe that Maritime East Asia is an academic field worth further exploring and expanding. Some research subjects we are familiar and unfamiliar with will surely reveal a completely new aspect under this perspective.

The Chinese Civilisation Centre and the Department of Chinese and History of the City University of Hong Kong are sincerely looking forward to the participation of scholars and young researchers at such an important meeting.

Theme this Year

Maritime East Asia — Network, Exchanges, and
Mobilities

Panel Themes

1. Transportation Networks and Goods Flow
2. Hong Kong from the Perspectives of East Asia
3. Immigration and Cultural Identification
4. Cultural Production and Reproduction
5. Religious Beliefs and rites
6. Diffusion and Production of Knowledge
7. Modern Translation in East Asia
8. Formation of Modern Keywords in East Asia
9. The Cold War and the East Asian Order
10. Port Cities

Meeting Schedule

Arrival: May 11, 2018 (Friday)
Annual Meeting: May 12-13, 2018 (Saturday and Sunday)
Departure: May 14, 2018 (Monday)

Application Schedule and Announcement of Selections

The meeting will take the form of keynote addresses, individual panel sessions, individual presentations, and papers by PhD candidates. We encourage Society members to refer to the separate list of panel sessions to decide which one to join. Each panel will be allotted one hour and forty minutes, and will have one moderator and one to two commentators. Presenters may also serve as moderators or commentators. Please submit the application form and an abstract (not more than 400 characters) if you wish to participate.

docApplication form (docx) English, Chinese (Traditional), Chinese (Simplified), Japanese, Korean

Deadline for application submission is January 16, 2018. We will send out formal invitations at a later date.

Expenses

All participants who are not invited guests are responsible for their own roundtrip transportation and lodging expenses. Conference participation is 500HKD for full members and 300HKD for student members. Please pay in cash (Hong Kong Dollar) on site.

To Apply for Participation, Contact:

The Organizing Committee for the 10th Annual Meeting of the Society for Cultural Interaction in East Asia (sciea2018@outlook.com)

Head organizer:
Li Hsiao-ti, Vice-President (Professor, City University of Hong Kong)

Auxiliary organizers:
Li Xuetao, President, (Professor, Beijing Foreign Studies University)
Uchida Keiichi, Vice-President (Professor, Faculty of Foreign Languages, Kansai University)
Fujita Takao, Councilor (Professor, Faculty of Literature, Kansai University)
Tao De-min, Councilor (Professor, Faculty of Literature, Kansai University)
Ching May-Bo (Professor, Department of Chinese and History, CityU of HK)
Chan Hok-yin (Associate Professor, Department of Chinese and History, CityU of HK)
Cheung Wai-kwan (Senior Tutor, Chinese Civilisation Centre, CityU of HK)

Secretary:
Shen Guowei, Secretary General (Professor, Faculty of Foreign Languages, Kansai University)
Winnie K.F. Lee (Secretariat, City University of Hong Kong)