--By Chen Jue, Professor of the Institute of History & Department of Chinese Literature of Taiwan Tsinghua University

For more than one century since the Opium Wars, the Chinese have dreamt of holding their own, in terms of politics, economy, culture and academia, as a respected nation. This historical context has acted as momentum for realization of this dream in the 21st century. The author believes that the appearance of New Sinology in around 2010 is a reflection of such momentum in the academic and cultural arena, or to put it more broadly, New Sinology constitutes the Chinese Dream in cultural and academic circles.

Many reporters have asked me when the popular term New Sinology was first coined. I generally explain its origins as follows: at the end of the first decade of the new millennium, in around 2010, people on the Chinese mainland, Taiwan and Australia put forward different versions of New Sinology. These pioneers comprised two groups, one of academics and the other of politicians. This is testimony to the dynamism of New Sinology, and signifies its profound impact in the new millennium. To my knowledge, Li Xueqin of Beijing Tsinghua University first mentioned the term at a press conference, in his speech titled "The Era of Great Discovery Calls for New Sinology," which was published in China Education Daily. According to Mr. Li, as we are now, "at a time of rediscovering Chinese classics and we can on that basis have a new Sinology." On April 23, 2010, then Prime Minister of Australia Kevin Rudd delivered a speech at Australian National University titled "The Roles that Australia and China Play in the World." Rudd proposed establishing a New Sinology Study Base in Australian National University to research on the rise of China. He shortly after wrote a well-received article on the topic that was published on April 28 in The Wall Street Journal. It should also be pointed out that, five years earlier, Geremie Barmé of Australian National University wrote an essay titled New Sinology that was published in the Chinese Studies Association of Australia Newsletter, although it did not draw much attention from academia. Perhaps it was not the right time. I focused on the term New Sinology and began to study its essence in early 2010, as I was about to head the Paradigm Shift of Sinology two-year cooperative research program. It was then that I realized that New Sinology would be one of the fruits of the program. Therefore, when I signed the contract in March 2010 as honorary research fellow at the Jao Tsung-I Academy of the University of Hong Kong, I asked Mr. Jao to write the three characters for New Sinology for me with a brush pen. This precious work of calligraphy appeared on my academic blogs in early April 2010. I decided to use it as the logo for the New Sinology Forum held in 2011 as part of the Paradigm Shift of Sinology program. Mr. Jao cautioned me, however, that the term New Sinology might cause confusion in the debate on Sinology and Neo-Confucianism in the history of thought. He hence hoped that his calligraphy would not appear on the New Sinology Forum posters. His calligraphic work is nevertheless an important memento of my studies on New Sinology.

My study of New Sinology began simultaneously with that on the paradigm shift of Sinology. I proposed in an essay four years ago that there have been three paradigm shifts of Sinology. My argument is that Sinology is a study that has stood to the test of time. During several centuries of development, two paradigm shifts have emerged. The first started in the first half of the 19th century, signifying the paradigm shift from Missionary Sinology to Academic Sinology in Europe. The second appeared in the mid-20th century after WWII, signifying the paradigm shift from Oriental Studies in Europe to Regional Studies in the U.S. Chinese Studies overseas was a product of the second paradigm shift. As part of Oriental Studies, Sinology mainly focused on studies of the Chinese classics. Later on, as part of East Asian Studies, Chinese Studies moved on to studies of modern China. The world has undergone groundbreaking changes since entering the 21st century. With the popularity of the broader-sense Sinology globally, it is fast moving from the western world to the Chinese-speaking world. Perhaps in another 15 or 20 years, the center of Sinological studies will make its way from Europe and the U.S.back to East Asia, leading to a third paradigm shift of Sinology - one that will perhaps see equal input in both Chinese and in western languages, in view of the fact that the paradigm shift is closely associated with language and ways of thinking.

I also mentioned in my essay that the third paradigm shift of Sinology is at present still a "trend projection." But it nonetheless matters. In the past, as for both Sinology and Chinese Studies, it was westerners that studied China. With the rise of the Asia-Pacific Region in recent years, the center of this subject has now shifted from Europe and America to the Chinese-speaking world of the Pacific Region and East Asia. Lectures and talks in the mainstream academic realm of the past were given solely in English. In the future, we might use Chinese, or at least make Chinese one of the main working languages. The third paradigm shift that will soon take place marks only the beginning of these academic studies. Many important questions remain and merit further research. I have written on my opinions and given talks in many prestigious universities in the Chinese-speaking world that have been recorded as academic videos by the Chaoxing Company. Their purpose is to generate more discussions in the academic arena. I plan to write a book on these three paradigm shifts that will take the form of a history of New Sinology.

The huge momentum of the Chinese Dream will enable it to permeate all corners and reveal its true nature. We can see that, in the Sinological field, the third paradigm shift of Sinology and the birth of New Sinology can be interpreted as the Chinese Dream. Tsinghua University has a long history of Sinology studies. More than one hundred years ago, during the early days of the newly-founded Tsinghua University, numerous figures emerged in this field, notably the "Four Mentors." Nowadays, the two Tsinghua Universities across Taiwan Strait have become one academic community. The joint study plan between the two sides on the history of sinology has shifted from "paradigm shifts of sinology" to "New Sinology", showing the two aspects of this common academic community - complementarity and co-existence. This book will focus on the studies of the Chinese Dream in New Sinology first illustrated by the research partnership between the two Tsinghua Universities across the Taiwan Strait.

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