On the afternoon of Dec. 9, the launch meeting on the Major Project of Guanzi Research was held in the conference room on the ninth floor of the Hongyuan Building at SDUT. BAI Yugang, Member of the Standing Committee of the Shandong Provincial Party Committee,Head of the Publicity Department of the Provincial Party Committee, and Secretary of the Provincial Education Work Committee, attended the ceremony and delivered a speech. Attendees also included WANG Zhimin, former Vice Chairman of the Shandong Provincial Committee of the CPPCC, Distinguished Senior Professor of Shandong Normal University, and Honorary Dean of the SDUT’s Qi Culture Research Institute; WANG Zhongjiang, former Executive Dean of the Institute for Advanced Humanistic Studies and Professor of the Department of Philosophy at Peking University; ZHENG Kai, Professor of the Department of Philosophy at Peking University; FANG Zhaohui, Professor of Department of History at Tsinghua University; CHEN Xia,Researcher of Institute of Philosophy atChinese Academy of Social Sciences; YANG Qingzhong, Dean of the School of Chinese Classics at Renmin University of China; Misha Tadd (USA), Director of the Center for Global Daoist Studies at Nankai University; SHEN Guilong,Director of the Institute of China Studies at Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences; FANG Yong,Dean of the Academy of Chinese Classics at East China Normal University; FU Yongjun, Director of the Research Center for Chinese Hermeneutics at Shandong University; JIANG Tao,Adjunct Professor of the International Sinological Research Center of Shandong University; LYU Wenming, Dean of the Qi and Lu Culture Research Institute at Shandong Normal University; LIU Haiming, Executive Dean of the Institute for Humanities and Economics at Shandong University of Finance and Economics; WANG Junlin, Dean of the Institute for the Study of Confucian Culture at Qufu Normal University, and other renowned experts and scholars. Also present were WEI Changmin, Deputy Head of the Publicity Department of the Provincial Party Committee and first-level Inspector; ZHANG Tonghai, Deputy Head of the Publicity Department of the Provincial Party Committee; LIN Heng, Member of the Standing Committee of Zibo Municipal Party Committee and Head of the Publicity Department, and SDUT leaders YU Hongbo, LI Yuxia, SU Shoubo, CHEN Jing. Heads of relevant departments from the Provincial Publicity Department and SDUT also participated in the meeting.
The meeting required the earnest implementation of the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speeches and instructions from his inspection tour of Shandong. It called for leveraging the Major Project of Guanzi Research to promote the creative transformation and innovative development (“Two Creations”) of Qi Culture, thereby contributing to building Shandong into a culturally strong province, building an independent knowledge system for Chinese philosophy and social sciences and promoting exchanges and mutual learning among world civilizations. The meeting emphasized to follow the principles and practical conditions of humanities and social sciences, and formulate a long-term plan for Guanzi research. It stressed the importance of adopting problem-oriented and practice-oriented approaches, and called for detailed textual annotations to address contemporary challenges. Furthermore, it emphasized to give prominence to the international perspective, enhance comparative studies, promote exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, and continuously elevate the influence of Chinese culture. It is essential to highlight the cross-boundary nature, strengthen the cross-field and cross-disciplinary research, comprehensively apply various research methods to improve both the depth and efficiency of research.It is important to advance the creative transformation and innovative development of Guanzi culture, enrich its literary and artistic expressions, strengthen the conservation and use of its heritage sites, and integrate Guanzi culture into daily life.
At the meeting, CAO Fengdelivered a presentation on the project’s significance, necessity, and research proposal. Mr. Cao is a professor of the School of Philosophy of Renmin University of China, Dean of Guanzi Research Institute, and Chief Expert of the Major Project of Guanzi Research. Participating experts and scholars shared their insights in turn, offering diverse perspectives on the Major Guanzi Research Project, contributing valuable insights and suggestions.
WANG Zhimin stated that the launch of the Major Project of Guanzi Research has grasped the key to the study of Qi culture. It served as a vivid practice by the Publicity Department of the Provincial Party Committee and the Party Committee of SDUT in carrying out the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s instruction on the “Two Creations” of fine traditional Chinese culture. It is necessary to focus on the study of Guanzi, strengthening textual interpretation and deeply exploring its contemporary and ideological value. He added that he would do his utmost to serve as an advisor and consultant, striving to develop this project into a high-level project, recognized by the national academic community for its significant role in the “Two Creations” of culture, and promote the continuous production of high-quality achievements in the research of Qi culture.
YU Hongbo, Secretary of the CPC SDUT Committee, presided over the meeting. He briefly introduced SDUT and reported on its work regarding Qi Culture research and the “Two Creations”. He stated that SDUT would earnestly implement the spirit of this meeting by further strengthening organizational leadership, improving working mechanisms, enhancing comprehensive support measures, and intensifying efforts to attract and cultivate talent. SDUT is committed to developing the Guanzi Research Institute, advancing the work on the Major Project of Guanzi Research, striving to continuously produce renowned scholars, masterpieces and significant achievements, and contribute more to building Shandong into a culturally strong province and the creation of a new benchmark for the “Two Creations” of fine traditional Chinese culture.