This talk attempts to read Max Weber's treatise on Chinese Confucianism and Taoism, contained in his magnum opus Wirtschaftsethik der Weltreligionen, as a critique of a rationalism that Weber sees as the core component of Christian puritanism and as the foundational force for the rise of capitalism in Europe and America. This talk is cautious about understanding Weber's theoretical effort as a […]

摘要：互联网给中国语言生活带来的是“升级”还是“革命”？是“升级”，是交际方式的升级；是“革命”，是一场深刻的语言观的变革。互联网带来的这些变化，需要重新审视我们的价值观。 Is the internet “improving” or “revolutionizing” the Chinese language situation? If this change is considered as an “improvement”, it would be an “improvement” of the means of communication; if this change is considered as a “revolution”, it would be a profound change of our views of language. In conclusion, the changes brought about by […]

This talk will explore some less widely researched topics related to the learning and use of Hanzi and Pinyin in learners of Chinese as a Foreign Language. First, we will look at how the interword spacing conventions of CFL learners’ first languages affect their Chinese word awareness and their reading of Hanzi sentences and texts. […]

Sind manche Schriftsysteme besser als andere? Gibt es sinnvolle und verlässliche Kriterien zur Bewertung von Schriftsystemen? Vor dem Hintergrund dieser Fragen vergleicht dieser Vortrag die chinesische Schrift mit anderen Schriften. Ausgangpunkt ist das in der Überschrift zitierte Verdikt des deutschen Philosophen Georg Friedrich Hegel, das eine positive Beantwortung der Frage nach einer möglichen qualitativen Bewertung […]

Short Bio of the lecturer: QIN Yaqing is President and Professor of China Foreign Affairs University (CFAU) and Chancellor of China Diplomatic Academy, Executive Vice-president of China National Association for International Studies (CNAIS) and editor-in-chief of Foreign Affairs Review, the academic journal of CFAU and CNAIS. He was on the resource team for the UN […]