Department of Chinese Thought and Culture

e-mail:	chph(at)l.u-tokyo.ac.jp *Replace (at) with @.
Tel:	03-5841-3746

The Department of Chinese Thought and Culture focuses on teaching and researching the culture of thought in China and related regions (including Japan and the Korean Peninsula). Broadly, the study of ideology and culture is the study of all the activities that humans have engaged in. It includes thought, philosophy, religion, music, science and technology, and academic exchange. In this department, for example, research is being conducted on Chinese classics such as “The Analects” and “Laozi” and their commentaries, Taoist practices and theories of kingship, philology, history of Christian missionary work, music, astronomy, and other topics. By tackling these diverse research themes, we continue to clarify how our way of thinking and culture have been formed, not only in the culture of Chinese thought but also in the cultural sphere of Chinese characters, which includes Japan.

Teaching staff

Jie CHEN (Professor), Literature, History of Cultural Interaction

Research fields:	Classical Literature, History of Cultural Exchange Between China and Japan
Courses taught:	In lectures on classical literature, students learn the history of the formation, dissemination, and transmission of classical literature, and discover empirical research methods based on literary sources through exercises such as bibliographic research and book solving. The class on the history of cultural exchange reveals exchanges between the literati of China and Japan in the modern era based on a close reading of original documents.

Research fields:

Classical Literature, History of Cultural Exchange Between China and Japan

Courses taught:

In lectures on classical literature, students learn the history of the formation, dissemination, and transmission of classical literature, and discover empirical research methods based on literary sources through exercises such as bibliographic research and book solving. The class on the history of cultural exchange reveals exchanges between the literati of China and Japan in the modern era based on a close reading of original documents.

Yutaka YOKOTE (Professor), History of Thought

Research fields:	History of Taoism, History of medicine, History of martial arts
Courses taught:	The lectures outline the formation and development of the three religions of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism and their mutual influence on each other. Readings focus on traditional commentaries on representative texts by Daoists and in Daoism, such as the “Laozi” and “Zhuangzi.”

Ayumu HIRASAWA (Research Associate)

Research fields:	History of Chinese Thought