Akademik

(Guoxue yanjiuyuan)

The Research Institute for National Studies is a transdisciplinary entity, originally founded as the Research Centre of Traditional Chinese Culture (Zhongguo chuantong wenhua yanjiu zhongxin) by Peking University in 1992. In 2001, it was renamed. Placed under the patronage of well-known scholars like Ji Xianlin and Zhang Dainian, it has been financially supported by well-known personalities, such as the writers Nan Huaijin and Jin Yong. The Institute bases itself on the resources of four departments of Peking University (Philosophy, History, Literature and Archaeology) in order to foster transdisciplinarity in the academic world of Chinese studies and promote traditional culture to a broader audience.

Between 1995 and 1998, such educational and social roles were realized through the production of television programmes.

A weekly series in 150 episodes, The Light of Chinese Civilization (Zhonghua wenming zhi guang), enjoyed a nationwide broadcast and reached a large audience. Collections of books have been published as well, in order to highlight key features of Chinese culture or civilization. On the academic front, the Institute publishes a bi-annual review, Studies in Sinology (Guoxue yanjiu), and organizes symposia (in 1998 an international meeting on sinological research was held) and scholarly exchanges (in 1997 fifty students and professors from Taiwan came to Peking University). It has also created the first transdisciplinary doctoral programme.

See also: Academy of Chinese Culture; Liu Dong; National Studies