Over 220 Sinologists from around the globe are attending the three-day World Sinology Convention, which began yesterday. The convention is jointly organized by the Ministry of Education's Chinese Language Council and the Renmin University of China.

The convention will seek expert opinions in investigating how the study of Chinese culture can help bridge cultural gaps in an ever-changing world. Its findings will go toward fostering Chinese language studies around the world, State Councilor Chen Zhili said at the opening ceremony yesterday, particularly at the 140 Confucius Institutes that exist in 52 countries and regions.

Xu Lin, Chinese Language Council's director, also revealed that the State Council's Office of Academic Degrees Committee had decided to create a Master's degree in Chinese language international education in several universities. Graduates from this program will then be sent to work in Confucius Institutes abroad.

The assembled sinologists will analyze whether China will retain its traditions, and whether Chinese traditional way of thinking could help lessen the clash of civilizations, Helwig Schmidt-Glintzer, a professor at the Munich University in Germany said at yesterday's session.

Famous mainland scholars such as Tang Yijie, Pang Pu, Liu Mengxi and Le Daiyun will be in attendance to carry out in-depth exchanges with foreign guests.

The theme of the convention is "Dialogue of Civilizations and a Harmonious World," which will be sub-divided into five parts for experts to discuss: "Sinology study as a dialogue of civilizations," "changes of China's image in the field of Sinology," "Chinese traditional culture: interpretation and influence," "Sinologists" and "history of Sinology." Domestic Sinologists will discuss the topics of "20th century's Chinese literature in the eye of Sinologists," and "Sinology's self-estimation" among others.

Yesterday's ceremony also saw the launch of the Sinology Reserch Center and the Renmin University's Research Institute for the International Promotion of the Chinese Language. 

(China Daily, China.org.cn, March 27, 2007)