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> where are the visiting professors from China teaching Westerners some of the great stories and value from 5000 years of Chinese history A great question, and

> where are the visiting professors from China teaching Westerners some of the great stories and value from 5000 years of Chinese history A great question, and I would love to take a class - even online - from a top Chinese professor on leading Chinese texts. I imagine part of the answer is that the reputations of and demand for American universities have been far beyond Chinese universities, though recently that's changing some. (That's not a criticism of people in China - it takes awhile to build those institutions and they are already moving pretty fast.)

Symbiote 3y ago
I thought one possibility might be SOAS, the School of Oriental and African Studies, part of the University of London. They have a visiting professor from Guizhou University, but his interest is politics: https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/news/soas-china-institute-welcomes-new-visiting-scholars-and-professorial-research-associate https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/news/soas-china-institute-welco... Their reader in modern Chinese culture and language is from China: https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/xiaoning-lu https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/xiaoning-lu https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/institutes-and-regional-centres/soas-china-institute/members-soas-china-institute https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/institutes-and-regional-centres...
- wolverine876 3y ago
  Thank you!
hnfong 3y ago
I suspect there's also the language barrier... If an institution in China invites a western scholar to teach the Iliad for example, they wouldn't insist the person teach it in Chinese. But I presume, when you said you wanted to take a class from a top Chinese professor on leading Chinese texts, that you would want English instruction, and that you'd prefer the material be translated from Classical Chinese to English? (Just knowing Mandarin isn't quite enough) But then, it's really hard to translate Classical Chinese to English. Even the longer important texts haven't been fully translated, eg. 史記 ("Records of the Grand Historian", which has kind of a similar standing as the Iliad in the West) is only partially translated AFAICT. Written Chinese is admittedly quite hard to learn given that you have to recognize the characters etc. Classical Chinese is even harder since there's nobody you can converse with. But if you know Mandarin, there's probably a huge amount of high quality stuff you can find online that satisfies what you want.
- nonrandomstring 3y ago
  You're absolutely right. That's the answer. I'm probably too old to learn languages of many of the cultures that interest me, much to my disadvantage. So what we get, as the sibling comment said, is an interpreted and outdated account through "liberal arts".
  - wolverine876 3y ago
    Speaking generally: learning those things is often the best thing you can do for your brain, and then you won't be so old anymore. I think people overestimate the effect of age on learning. Children spend years becoming fluent in their native language, and with little focus or study of it. I could learn a language faster. (Not an apples-apples comparison, obviously, because children's brains and behavior are so much different.)
    - nonrandomstring 3y ago
      > then you won't be so old anymore. haha, thanks for the encouragement. Project for my 6th decade Russian or Chinese,, still not sure :)

Symbiote 3y ago

I thought one possibility might be SOAS, the School of Oriental and African Studies, part of the University of London. They have a visiting professor from Guizhou University, but his interest is politics: https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/news/soas-china-institute-welcomes-new-visiting-scholars-and-professorial-research-associate https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/news/soas-china-institute-welco... Their reader in modern Chinese culture and language is from China: https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/xiaoning-lu https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/xiaoning-lu https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/institutes-and-regional-centres/soas-china-institute/members-soas-china-institute https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/institutes-and-regional-centres...

wolverine876 3y ago
Thank you!

hnfong 3y ago

I suspect there's also the language barrier... If an institution in China invites a western scholar to teach the Iliad for example, they wouldn't insist the person teach it in Chinese. But I presume, when you said you wanted to take a class from a top Chinese professor on leading Chinese texts, that you would want English instruction, and that you'd prefer the material be translated from Classical Chinese to English? (Just knowing Mandarin isn't quite enough) But then, it's really hard to translate Classical Chinese to English. Even the longer important texts haven't been fully translated, eg. 史記 ("Records of the Grand Historian", which has kind of a similar standing as the Iliad in the West) is only partially translated AFAICT. Written Chinese is admittedly quite hard to learn given that you have to recognize the characters etc. Classical Chinese is even harder since there's nobody you can converse with. But if you know Mandarin, there's probably a huge amount of high quality stuff you can find online that satisfies what you want.

nonrandomstring 3y ago
You're absolutely right. That's the answer. I'm probably too old to learn languages of many of the cultures that interest me, much to my disadvantage. So what we get, as the sibling comment said, is an interpreted and outdated account through "liberal arts".
- wolverine876 3y ago
  Speaking generally: learning those things is often the best thing you can do for your brain, and then you won't be so old anymore. I think people overestimate the effect of age on learning. Children spend years becoming fluent in their native language, and with little focus or study of it. I could learn a language faster. (Not an apples-apples comparison, obviously, because children's brains and behavior are so much different.)
  - nonrandomstring 3y ago
    > then you won't be so old anymore. haha, thanks for the encouragement. Project for my 6th decade Russian or Chinese,, still not sure :)