Inside Peking University - Public Lecture on 'Shengren'

WESTERN 'China Studies', and by this I mean the army of scholars dedicated to the Westernization of Chinese history and thought, steals its victim’s ideas, buries its socio-cultural originality under sophisticated layers of biblical and philosophical European translations and interpretations. China is not alone. Foreign ideas and thoughts everywhere are quickly translatedor re-named in order to claim ‘Deutungshoheit’ – a German words meaning "having the sovereignty over the definition of thought."

In contemporary ‘China studies’ 99% of its scholars are what I call 'language imperialists'. It is plainly their best career option, and there is no blaming them for that. To be true, most of the sinologists describe China in Western terms, using European categories and taxonomies. Good examples are “democracy,” “human rights,” “freedom,” religion,” “philosophy,” and infinite more.

As a result of language imperialism the China that you were told is essential Chinese-free. This is good for the West, so, naturally, Western scholars are rewarded with Western fellowships, academic chairs, publishing contracts, prizes, awards, and numerous other academic distinctions and accolades. In other words: they are celebrated in their cultural circle like conquerors.

"The East-Asian shengren have been misjudged by Western scholars for over 350 years and conveniently translated as “philosophers” or “saints”, which is wrong. The shengren are above philosophy and beyond religion. It is time to revive an old Asian tradition." (Shengren, 2011)

Foreign history is thus slowly digested into the ‘Story of the Victorious’. Foreign taxonomies are discontinued, foreign words are shunned, and foreign categories are erased and purposely omitted. It doesn't have to be this way forever. Seeing cultural originality as a form of copyright, and looking at vocabularies as a (natural) resource of this culture, China could easily promote its own names, titles, and brands.

Image credits: The Institute for Advanced Humanistic Studies, Peking University - The Future of Global Language and The Rise of Chinese Terminologies, Oct 2013

What's the Global Language?

Pattberg on Global Language and The End of Translation, Beijing 2013

What's the Global Language?

"The true 'global language' would be radically different from today's English (or any other major language); it would need to adopt the originality and the tens of thousands of words provided by humankind's other language traditions on top of it." -- T. Pattberg, The East-West Dichotomy (2013), Foreign Language Press, Beijing

I'm so excited to begin offering more public talks on 'Global language' and the 'End of translation' this winter 2013/2014, and I can't wait to expand the universe of Chinese (and other non-European) concepts and terminologies during my stay in Japan (and, hopefully, a brief excursion to the US).

Meanwhile, check out the new edition of The East-West Dichotomy (2013) available soon in book stores in China, university libraries, and in global online stores. I still have some free author copies, just send me an email at pattberg 'at' pku.edu.cn. Best!

Thorsten Pattberg and Frank Sieren - Vertrauen Wagen (Peking University Conference)

Thorsten Pattbergwith Frank Sieren, Bestselling Author, Journalist, and Political Commentator

PEKING UNIVERSITY - I have been frequenting Beijing since 2003 –lived, studied, and created here- but never met in person who is possibly the Number One of all German “China-Experts”: Frank Sieren. Mr. Sieren is best known for his close relation to former German chancellor Helmut Schmidt who is a known "Friend of China" and who met many of China’s most influential leaders, including the great dictator Mao Zedong himself. Sieren and Schmidt produced very influential books, articles, and interviews. As a result, Frank Sieren became a superstar in all things related to China in the German-speaking world (his books became bestsellers in Germany and have been translated into Chinese), and a famed public speaker and moderator on Sino-German relations –political and cultural. He lives in China –in Beijing, mainly- for almost two decades now. Not always easy, I guess –the air quality, the traffic jams, the party dictatorship- but as the expat saying goes: Someone’s got to do it! Best of luck! [GO TO FRANK SIEREN'S WEBSITE]

Thorsten Pattberg with Ashis Nandy, Famed Indian Sociologist and Public Intellectual

Thorsten Pattberg with Ashis Nandy, famed Indian sociologist and public intellectual

BEIJING - Described as the champion of India’s lower classesand promoter of human rights, justice, and equality in an India that is notoriously plagued by corruption, caste, and almost unbearable income inequality, letting alone political chaos. Ashis Nandy is one of the leading figures of post-colonial studies in India, and known for his bold, controversial, and fearless critique of the establishment. Recently, Nandy is engaging in the Dialogue among Civilizations with China, and joined the Institute for Advanced Humanistic Studies of Peking University at the Deng Feng Forum in Henan province entitled: Chinese Civilization and World Civilization.

[The Nandy Affair/The New Yorker] [A Conversation withNandy/New York Times]

Thorsten Pattberg with Tampalawela Dhammaratana, UNESCO Consultant, Division for Philosophy and Ethics

Dr. Tampalawela Dhammaratana, a Buddhist grandmaster and Frenchand Sri Lankan national, lives in Paris and embarked on a life-long journey for the promotion of Buddhism in the world. He is currently the Director of Buddhist Links at UNESCO headquarters in Paris.

It’s Zhongguo Meng, stupid! (Interview, Shanghai Daily)

"Salaries in China are still too low, so most employees tend to stay close to the mother lode, like little children. Many feel “wu nai” – helpless. This inhibits their creativity and drive for self-actualization." 

Yao Minji (Emily Yao) from Shanghai Daily sits down with Thorsten Pattberg from Peking University to discuss the Chinese Dream. Dr. Pattberg argues that Chinese key concepts should not be translated, and explains why, in his view, the Zhongguo Meng is very different from the American Dream.(July 2013)

READ FULL UNABRIDGED INTERVIEW HERE

Add wushu, shengren, junzi and zhongguo meng to the global language!

DO NOT translate Chinese key terminologies!". This is true for kungfu, wushu, shengren, junzi, and... the zhongguo meng. Thorsten Pattberg, a disciple of Ji Xianlin, Gu Zhengkun, and Tu Weiming from Peking University explains why the correct names and the language of origin matter for inclusion into World History... a field that to this day is literally Chinese-free. [...] One day in June 2013; IAHS, Peking University.

Shanghai Daily - The Chinese dream (by Emily Yao)

Thanks for quoting goes to Emily Yao from Shanghai Daily: "It's not about a definition, but more about universality," Thorsten Pattberg, a doctor of letters and research fellow at Peking University, said of Xi's concept. "You, I and everyone have dreams. The question becomes: Can you fulfill your dreams in China and not elsewhere?" (July 30, 2013)

Pattberg with famed journalist Frank Ching in Beijing, July 2013

Certainly one of the most thought-provoking and entertaining talks I've heard at Peking University this year, also because it wasn't the usual propaganda work (the speaker is ethnic Chinese, but a naturalized American citizen). Frank Ching, famed journalist [Wall Street Journal, New York Times, the list is long] talked about Chinese nationalism, nationality, and the identity crisis of overseas Chinese. [The event took place in a little classroom, not one of the halls, letting alone one of the big auditoriums.] There are so many brilliant observations in his talk (read the transcript here), and the one that resonates best with my experience was the fact that China officially holds onto "all descendants of its people who emigrated overseas and claims them as its own." This, of course, makes all ethnic Chinese in the US potential spies, and most of the people of Singapore "foreigners in their own country." Chilling.

German Confucianism at Peking University

THIS PLACE is where I work, eat, sleep - 24/7. It’s a little building on PKU campus, close to the great lake. I got a gym card for daily shower. It’s the reclusive life of a junzi, no?

Anyways, it is here where I found inspiration for my essays on 'Shengren,' 'The End of Translation,' 'Vocab Wars,' 'Language Imperialism,' and 'Lingualism' which have been syndicated in East Asia's media, by circulation alone, millions of copies. [GO TO WEBSITE]

Thorsten Pattberg and Francis Xavier Clooney

The director of the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard University, Prof. Francis X. Clooney, today visited our IAHS. I remember well reading Prof. Clooney's masterpieces 'Divine Mother, Blessed Mother' during my formative years in Edinburgh, and his 'Comparative Theology' during my time at Harvard. [VISIT HIS TALK AT PKU] [BACK TO MAIN]

Peking University - Rise of the junzi

Peking University - Rise of the junzi

PKU is the mother lode of Chinese education, and Confucianism (rujia) wants to cultivate the 'junzi' - the ideal scholar. At the Institute for Advanced Humanistic Studies, Pattberg explains how an old tradition is on the march again. [BACK TO MAIN]

Professor Tu Weiming Master Confucianist Funny Magic Card

This rare Professor Tu Weiming Magic Card is adorable: Make the world a more humane place, or simply steamroll your opponent with an army of your Confucian Junzi creature tokens: 

Summon the legendary cottage The Institute for Advanced Humanistic Studies. It let's your disciples fly:

Art Work sent in by MyaTold. [BACK TO MAIN].

How to Promote Chinese (or any other) Culture to the World

SOME LANGUAGES are weaker than others when it comes to adaption, survival, and - eventually - dominating others. [READ BLOG AT BIG THINK]

China is not the only modern nation that rose to become a superpower, but it is the first that doesn't have an alphabet.

The letters Chinauses for phonetic transcription today – called 'pinyin' – had been imported from the West. Originally, the Chinese characters' pronunciation had to be memorized from the go-get. There are some 45,000 of them!

So unless the world is switching into rote learning mode any time soon, which is unlikely because English with its 26 letters is so much more lucid, how could the Chinese language neverthelessinfluence the way people all over the world think (and act)?

The solution is simple but takes guts to implement: Stop translating Chinese key terminologies. Here's why: READ IT AT SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST.

Thorsten Pattberg and Iranian Gholamreza Aavani in Beijing

"For the perfect mystic, a person that made this spiritual journey, God is never absent, never has been absent, once he reached there." – Gholamreza Aavani is a leading Islamic philosopher, historian of the Persian intellectual tradition, and the former head of the Iranian Academyfor Philosophy.

Prof. Aavani accepted the invitation of Tu Weiming to conduct research and teaching at PKU during spring term 2013. (IAHS, Peking University, April 3, 2013).

Pattberg Pattberg and Ezra Vogel, April 2013

"We have always felt Harvard has a special relationship with Beida." Ezra Vogel - author of Japan as Number One and Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China - at Peking University, April 21, 2013, The Institute for Advanced Humanistic Studies (IAHS). Host: Tu Weiming.

Pattberg Interview in Istanbul

Pattberg on 'Building Bridges Gateway' program by Gökalp Barlan, Oktar Babuna, Ahmet B. Sezgin in Istanbul, Turkey. (March 26, 2013). Topics discussed are: globalization, cultural diversity, the rise of China, faith and brotherhood, Islam and the West, Turkey and the European Union, global language, and intercultural dialogue.

Pattberg on Building Bridges Gateway with Oktar Babuna

Pattberg on Building Bridges Gateway with Ahmet B. Sezgin

Pattberg on Building Bridges Gateway with Gökalp Barlan

Thorsten Pattberg with William McBride

Thorsten Pattberg with William McBride, President of the International Federation of Philosophical Societies, FISP. The 23rd World Congress of Philosophy will be held August 4-10, 2013 in Athens.

Pattberg with William McBride in Beijing, March 2013

Pattberg in Iran, 2012

On invitation of the Center for International Scientific Studies & Collaboration (CISSC), I visited five major cities and cultural centers in Iran - Tehran, Kermanshah, Zahedan, Qom, and Isfahan - and gave public talks at four key universities. (Nov 30 - Dec 08, 2012)

At Alzahra University in Tehran (CISSC)

Pattberg at The University of Sistan and Baluchestan in Kermanshah, Iran

Pattberg in Razi University in Zahedan, Iran

T Pattberg and A Torkamanzehi - Campus Visit, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Iran

Visit to the Grand Library of Ayatollah al-Uzma Marashi Najafi in the Holy City of Qom, Iran

Touching the tome of Ayatollah al-Uzma Marashi Najafi in the City of Qom in Iran

At the House of Imam Khomeini

The Frontiers of Language Imperialism

Thorsten Pattberg: What is Language Imperialism and How Cultures should compete for their Terminologies; Interview on Corbett Report by James Corbett.

TOKYO/BEIJING - In this exclusive interview we will talk about: Shengren, Wenming, Junzi, Daxue, Emperors, Deutungshoheit, and many more foreign concepts and terminology, and how translation of a foreign culture is the destruction of that culture.

I argue that academic imperialism is wide-spread and that the majority of Western scholars deliberately employ Western biblical and philosophical terminologies for original Eastern concepts, thus making the latter unrecognizable, distorting those countries' socio-cultural originality: China, in Western history books, becomes a China without Chinese and so on.

I have written extensively and consistently about this topic, for example in Asia Times, Global Research, China Daily, German Times, Korea Herald, and Japan Times.

James Corbett in Japan

James Corbett is an investigative journalist, activist, and the host and producer of the Corbett Report based in Japan.