The 2023 HEHE Civilization Forum Successfully Held in Singapore

On September 8, 2023, the International Confucian Association (ICA), the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU), and Singapore China Association jointly held the 2023 HEHE Civilization Forumin Singapore. The forum has attracted participants from Singapore, France, the USA, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, China and other countries and regions to conduct exchanges on the theme of “Diversity of Civilization and Modernization”. Prof. Zhang Zhaoguo, Vice President of SJTU, delivered an address at the forum’s opening ceremony.

As one of the organizers of the 2023 HEHE Civilization Forum, the School of Humanities at SJTU completed the preparatory work for the forum under the guidance of ICA and the International Affairs Division of SJTU. Three teams of five staff members, seven student volunteers and five scholars successively went to Singapore to organize and attend the forum.

During the forum, Prof. Wang Ning, Dean of the School of Humanities at SJTU, delivered a keynote speech entitled “Reconstructing New Confucianism and Chinese-style Modernization”.

In the first panel themed “Confluence and Symbiosis of Diverse Civilizations”, Prof. Guan Zengjian from the School of Humanities at SJTU delivered a speech entitled “Weights and Measures in Ancient Chinese Society”, and Prof. Zhou Bin from the School of Humanities at SJTU gave a speech entitled “Contemporary Dissemination of Chinese Calligraphy and Mutual Learning of Civilizations”. The first and second sessions of the panel were respectively moderated by Prof. Li Yushang, Head of the Department of History of the School of Humanities at SJTU, and Prof. Duh Bau-Ruei from the School of Humanities at SJTU.

In the second panel themed “The Future of Asian Civilizations and Youth”, addresses were successively delivered in the first session by Ms. Zhang Nanqing, Ms. Wang Yixia, Ms. Yan Mei Yip, Ms. Chiuya Kao and others. The second session of the panel was moderated by Prof. Liu Jialin, Head of the Department of Chinese Language and Literature of the School of Humanities at SJTU, and Assistant Prof. Zhang Xiaoqiao from the School of Education at SJTU expressed her ideas from her personal experience and management experience.

During the closing ceremony, Prof. Duh Bau-Ruei and Prof. Liu Jialin respectively made concluding remarks on the two panels as representatives.

The “HEHE Civilization Forum” is an international cultural exchange platform founded by the International Confucian Association and has been held for four consecutive times. This year, the forum has received widespread attention from both domestic and overseas media.

Written by ICA and Zhang Yihan

Photo by ICA and Chen Cheng

Edited by Zhang Yihan