Dear Colleague,

I am writing to invite you to join our collaborative research projects.  As you may already know, the Institute for Advanced Humanistic Studies (IAHS) at Fudan University, Shanghai, China is expected to be operative. This IAHS has received generous financial and institutional supports from the National Ministry of Education and from Fudan University.

After several rounds of extensive discussion, we plan to launch several exciting collaborative research projects with international scholars at the Institute in the next few years.  These projects will be conducted around the following research foci:

(1) Viewing China from Bordering Countries. 
This topical area includes, but is not restricted to, such issues as (a) Korean (Choson) envoys （通信使）to Japan and Korean tributary envoys （朝贡使）to China; (b) Images of China portrayed in the historical literatures of India, Mongolia, Loochoo (琉球，Okinawa), Annam and other Southeast Asian countries; (c) Changes in Westerners’ images and understandings of China since the Great Geographic Discovery; (d) The vicissitude of scholarship beyond Han China, such as research into the history of Yuan Dynasty （蒙元史）in the 19th century, Northeast Asian historical geography research, and the discovery of Dun Huang (敦煌), scholarships on Manchurian, Mongolian, and Tibetan histories, as well as recent research on the relationships between China and other Asian countries.
 
(2) Understanding and Critiques of International Perspectives in Sinology.
This topical area includes, but is not restricted to  (a) Introducing the most current research conducted by the international sinology community; (b) Examining the “mainstream” sinology research projects conducted by European, North American, and Japanese sinologists, studying their theoretical origins, and their cultural and scholarly contexts of these research projects; (c) Critiquing the recent works published by the international sinology scholars – to create lively research characterized by dialogues, exchanges, and mutual understanding.

(3) Interwoven of Cultural History. 
This topical area involves such issues as (a) dialogues among Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and European and North American scholars with different research perspectives and diverse approaches; (b) Newly discovered data, literature, and other materials that provide evidence for the interface of different cultures in the human history; (c) Variations in developmental courses experienced by the same culture such as religions, arts, Literatures, and science and  thought in different geographic areas and by different culture in the same region in the faces of modernization ---- examples include Buddhism, Taoism, and Shinto in Japan, Korea, and China; experiences of Western missionaries in different regions, and legacy of the Dharmalaksana School （唯识宗）in modern Chinese history, its role in the revival of Esoterio Buddhism （密宗）and Shingon-shu (真言宗) in Japan.

(4) Images of China. 
This topical area includes, but is not restricted to, research into imagery materials and literary materials.  Examples includes (a) Establishment of a data bank for the imagery (e.g., pictures, paintings, photographs) materials; (b) the evolution of the images of China painted by western literature; (c) Images of China in Japanese and Korean literature; and (4) the mutual understanding between China and other countries through such literary materials.

You are known as an expert of the topical areas mentioned above.  I sincerely hope that you will share our scholarly interests in these topics and are willing to collaborate with us.  The specific mechanisms of collaboration can be discussed further.  I hope that you will seriously consider our invitation to visit our institute.

Sincerely,
Prof. Ge Zhaoguang
Dean of the National Institute for
Advanced Humanistic Studies at Fudan University