Gabe van Beijeren Bergen en Henegouwen

Gabe van Beijeren is lecturer at the Leiden Institute for Area Studies at Leiden University, where he teaches courses in Classical Chinese and on Chinese history, philosophy, and religion. His research focuses on Tang history, in particular the structuring of Tang historical texts as narratives and the rhetorical effects of narratives. Together with Hilde De Weerdt and Glen Dudbridge he edited The Essentials of Governance (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021).

Dion Stevers (BA Student)

In my presentation, I will discuss the surprising relationship between Albert Camus' philosophy of the absurd in The Myth of Sisyphus on the one hand, and the Liezi’s Daoist world of thought on the other. I will set the two side by side not only to compare their philosophies, but also to bring their philosophical worlds into dialogue. What insights do the Liezi and Camus bring us together? I will discuss one fundamental theme that connects the Liezi and The Myth: the fallibility of human reasoning. Both works ask the same question: how can we create ideas knowing none of them is inscrutable or even close to the truth? It turns out, we can't, not without contradicting ourselves. Both The Myth and the Liezi give us a way to think about this paradox, only to discard it shortly thereafter. Doing so, they demonstrate one way of staying true to the boundaries of our limited reasoning: we have to be able to contradict ourselves.

Matthijs Verzijden (MA Student)

In this presentation, I investigate san²⁴go²⁴ ‘mountain songs’, an oral tradition of the Hakka, a linguistic, cultural, and maybe ethnic group living in the south-east of China, in Taiwan, and in the diaspora. Through the analysis of several recordings of four of these mountain songs from Meinong, Taiwan, I investigate the general properties of this oral tradition as for content, form, music, and performance. Building on this, I connect the oral tradition to its sociocultural context, as well as to other similar oral traditions around, most important the Wu shan’ge traditions. Finally, I use these findings to make claims about the (non-)uniqueness of this tradition and the (non-)uniqueness of Hakka culture in general.

Milou Zhao (MA Student)

My presentation will focus on filial piety, xiao which is one of the main themes of Confucianism. During my research I discussed this topic with young second generation Chinese immigrants and compared their view on xiao with young Dutch natives. During this presentation I will discuss the following themes: ancestor worship, the expectations some parents have of their children, communication between family members and ideas about taking care of their parents when they will get older. The results of my research will show in what way the differences and agreements affect the relationships these persons have with their parents.

Prof. dr. M. van Crevel

Maghiel van Crevel is professor of Chinese language and literature at Leiden University. A specialist of contemporary poetry, he has published a dozen books in English, Dutch, and Chinese, including scholarly monographs and edited volumes, literary translations, and language textbooks. His research draws on extensive fieldwork undertaken since the early 1990s. See, for instance, the long essay “Walk on the Wild Side: Snapshots of the Chinese Poetry Scene” (2017), downloadable at the MCLC Resource Center. (Photographer: Nora Uitterlinden)

Anke Benak (MA Student)

In China, the term "leftover women" is used to describe highly educated, successful and single women in their twenties. Popular media depict these women as selfish and picky. In existing literature the role of the Chinese media and state in creating this image is often discussed. But how does this image influence the younger generation of Chinese women? By conducting in-depth interviews with young Chinese women, my research aims to create an understanding of their opinion about "leftover women" and how their life is influenced by the image of "leftover women".

Yung Lin (PhD Candidate)

Has Public Diplomacy in East Asia Become a Solution to this Region’s Conflict? – An Answer from the Comparative Perspective between China and Taiwan in the last two decades (2000 - 2020).

Since 1989, when APEC was founded, the political regional integration in East Asia has been growing and fostered the demand for a more stable and cooperative political environment in the last two decades. Consequently, East Asian countries exerted soft power and public diplomatic strategy to pursue rapprochement. However, China’s rise to power in the last two decades has been disrupting the power distribution in East Asia. A reformation of power leads to induce more conflicts. Hence, this research examines in the last two decades how have public diplomacy strategies in East Asia become a conflict resolution.

Yaora van Wijland (MA Student)

Heritage tourism and return journeys: place and identity construction in Chinese adoptees.

When adoptees grow up, some become interested in their birth country and some do not. There are several options if an adoptee wants to make the personal and collective reconnection to the motherland, such as taking language courses and return journeys. In my research, I focus on return journeys. Semi-structured interviews with Chinese-Dutch adoptees offer insight into how these tours have impacted them and how they may have changed their perspective of place, identity and belonging.