The AEARU Symposium on the Culture of Chinese Characters was proposed by Kyoto University president, Dr. Hiroshi Matsumoto, with the aim of examining the Chinese characters, which can be said to be the major cultural foundation of the East Asian region – the region in which all AEARU member institutions are located. The symposium will take a detailed look at the way in which Chinese characters have been employed by a vast number of people during the course of their long history, as well as examine their continued use today, and consider the role that they will play in the future of the East Asian region.

Chinese characters have been the driving force behind the development and expansion of Chinese civilization for thousands of years. From a very early period, surrounding countries received documents such as Confucian and Buddhist texts brought by emissaries from China, and advanced their own civilizations through the adaptation and adoption of the Chinese ideas contained therein.

Lacking a writing system of their own, the East Asian countries around China adapted Chinese characters as a method of writing their own languages. Various methods were employed to adapt the Chinese characters for use with the completely different language systems; however, the original literary writings of China were, until very recent times, recognized as the most orthodox written texts. Chinese characters were able to transcend the differences between the various languages and perform the role of an international writing system due to their ideographic nature. For example, regardless of their country, a person would understand that the character山meant “mountain,” even if they did not know its Chinese pronunciation.

Within this process of Chinese character-based cultural diffusion and development, we can find both the common, as well as the unique qualities of the various East Asian countries. There is no doubt that an examination of that process will provide us with valuable insights. This symposium does not aim to focus on Chinese characters as a mere writing system, but rather, as the word “culture” in the symposium’s title suggests, it aims to examine the role of the characters in a wider sense: as an axis around which scholarship, science and the arts in East Asia revolve.

Extended Organizing Committee

Representatives from AEARU member universities

Kyoto University
Akihiko AKAMATSU, Executive Vice-President for Student Affairs; Professor, Graduate School of Letters
Junichi MORI, Vice-President for International Relations; Director & Professor, The International Center
Tetsuji ATSUJI, Chairperson of Symposium Organizing Committee; Professor, Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies
Teruo TOKURA, Director, International Affairs Department

Nanjing University
Yang Dou ZHANG, Professor
Yulai ZHANG, Professor, Literature Institution

Osaka University
JianXiu PAN, Associate Professor, Center for International Education and Exchange

Peking University
Yang SHEN, Deputy Dean, Professor of Linguistics, Department of Chinese Language and Literature
Ying ZHANG, Program Officer, Office of International Relations

Seoul National University
Myung-Koo KANG, Professor, Department of Communication

Taiwan University
Tung SHEN, Dean, Office of International Affairs

Tohoku University
Shuichi TSUKAMOTO, International Affairs Division

Tsing Hua University (Hsinchu)
Kuan Yun HUANG, Assistant Professor, Chinese Literature Department

Organizing Committee

President, executive staff, and senior faculty of Kyoto University

Hiroshi MATSUMOTO, President, Kyoto University
Akihiko AKAMATSU, Executive Vice-President for Student Affairs; Professor, Graduate School of Letters
Yasuhiko TOMIDA, Dean, Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies
Akihiro SATO, Dean, Graduate School of Letters
Kenichi YOSHIKAWA, Dean, Graduate School of Science
Nagahiro MINATO, Dean, Graduate School of Medicine
Yoshimasa NAKAMURA, Dean, Graduate School of Informatics
Shigeki IWAI, Dean, Institute for Research in Humanities
Tetsuji ATSUJI, Professor, Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies
Junichi MORI, Vice-President for International Relations; Director & Professor, The International Center

Executive Committee

Tetsuji ATSUJI, Chairperson; Professor, Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies
Junichi MORI, Vice-Chairperson; Vice-President for International Relations; Director & Professor, The International Center
Akihiko AKAMATSU, Executive Vice-President for Student Affairs; Professor, Graduate School of Letters
Shigeki IWAI, Dean, Institute for Research in Humanities
Hideaki AOYAMA, Professor, Graduate School of Science
Hiroshi TOBE, Professor, Graduate School of Science
Makoto TAKETO, Professor, Graduate School of Medicine
Sadao KUROHASHI, Professor, Graduate School of Informatics
Teruo TOKURA, Director, International Affairs Department
Keiji NAKAYAMA, Head of Administration, Graduate School of Letters
Chiemi OKADA, Head of Administration, Institute for Research in Humanities

For inquiries, please contact:

The International Affairs Division, Kyoto University
E-mail: kanji2011@www.adm.kyoto-u.ac.jp