Weekly News Collection

ACADEMIC EXCHANGES
CASS strengthens ties with its Vietnamese counterpart
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Nguyen Phu Trong, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee witnessed the signing of a cooperation agreement on academic exchanges between Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS) on Nov. 12. Signed by CASS President Wang Weiguang and VASS President Nguyen Quang Thuan, the agreement encourages research cooperation, exchange visit between scholars, joint symposiums and fostering young scholars. Cooperation agreement on academic exchanges between the two academies started in 1993. In the past two decades, fruitful achievements have been made under the framework of the agreement. Both at the crucial stage of reform and development, the two countries are facing precious historical opportunity in national development and further improving bilateral relations. This new cooperation agreement will provide intellectual support for deepening comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between the two nations.

URBAN CULTURE
B&R injects vitality into Shanghai urban culture
The Shanghai Global Cities Culture Forum was recently held in Shanghai. As socialism with Chinese characteristics enters the “New Era,” the “B&R” initiative has become an important platform for inclusive cooperation between China and countries in the world to share the benefits of development. Themed “B&R: New Space for Urban Development, New Motivation for Cultural Development,” the forum explored the relationship between the “B&R” initiative and the development of urban culture. Rong Yueming, director of the Institute of Literature at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said the “B&R” initiative not only endows Shanghai with a new important mission of playing a significant role in the initiative, but also brings new historical opportunities for innovating Shanghai urban culture. Shanghai should establish itself as a center for international cultural exchange, cultural innovation and commercial culture, said Yang Jianlong, director of the Center for Studies on Contemporary Shanghai Culture.

CHINESE LITERATURE
Shishuo Xinyu shows Eastern sense of humor
Compiled and edited by Liu Yiqing during the Southern and Northern Dynasties (420–589), the book A New Account of the Tales of the World (Shishuo Xinyu) contains some 1,130 historical anecdotes and character sketches of some 600 literati, musicians, and painters who lived in the Han and Wei–Jin periods. The first International Symposium on A New Account of the Tales of the World was recently held in Henan Province. Xiao Hong, a professor of Chinese literature from the University of Sydney in Australia, made comparative studies on the narrative techniques of humor between Chinese and Western literature. Unlike the malicious verbal attacks used by British sarcastic poets in the 18th century, the language used in Shishuo Xinyu was never so mean, nor was there any sarcastic discrimination against ordinary people or the weak, Xiao said. The humor was disseminated among the circle of the literati, which reflected the sense of humor of the literati community in the ancient East, Xiao said.

DIVERSE CULTURE
Cultural diversity irreversible
The diversification of cultural development and the process of globalization are irreversible, said Peng Qinglong, a professor of literature from Shanghai Jiao Tong University at the second International Symposium on Cultural Studies recently held in Shanghai. “We need to view the tension between cultures with a more inclusive attitude and jointly dedicate ourselves to the construction of a community with a shared destiny for humanity,” Peng said. The exchange of ideas on cultural diversity and globalization between scholars from China and abroad is of significant academic values, Peng said. As China is gradually approaching the center of global arena, Chinese scholars should provide their unique ideas on such issues as cultural diversity and globalization, contributing to the construction of the theory of a community with a shared destiny for humanity, he said.