Meeting Prof. Torbjörn Lodén in the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities in Stockholm. Born in 1947, Prof. Lodén was Professor of Chinese language and culture at Stockholm University 1990-2014.

This week, I travelled to Norway and Sweden to conduct oral history interviews with China experts there. This Nordic project can be considered an expansion of the project on Comparative Epistemology of China Studies, which has been conducted for more than a decade under the leadership of Prof. Chih-yu Shih. It documents the oral history of intellectuals who have played a significant role in shaping the development of sinology and China studies in Nordic countries, composing mainly of Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Iceland, which have not yet been surveyed. This comparative epistemological approach allows us to understand how our research and knowledge of China are constructed in different countries. Most potential interviewees are at the senior stage of their career or life. Not only does this project have academic significance, it also seeks to preserve the heritage of the disciplines of sinology and China studies.

Our team (composing of me and one talented student assistant) plans to finish at least 8 oral history interviews and have the transcriptions published on our website this year. In the following month, we will gradually present the oral history of these scholars. The first one will be the intellectual history of Prof. Juha Janhunen, who is a known figure in sinology and Altaic studies in Finland and in Scandinavia at large. So, stay tuned to our blog!

A less academic but yet poignant sharing of this project will be presented in my inaugural lecture at the University of Helsinki on May 25. This lecture is only about 20 minutes. You don’t want to miss it! 😉

The event is open for the public. The invitation to the inauguration will be published in issue No. 4/2016 of the Yliopisto magazine early May 2016. Yliopisto is for free and can be found everywhere on campus!