There will be series of online lectures about “Origins of Chinese and Mesopotamia History-Writing”, to be held from Oct 16 to Oct 30, 2021. The lecture series aim to explore the similarities and differences in early history-writing practices of ancient China and Mesopotamia through free discussion.
Dr. Yegor Grebnev from The Research Centre for History and Culture (RCHC), BNU Zhuhai, will highlight how history-writing served to promote the interests of different groups of ancient Chinese elites. Professor Wang Xianhua from Shanghai International Studies University will discuss Sumerian concept of time and history. Professor Han Ziqi from RCHC will host the lectures. Please click the link to sign up and get the lecture materials: https://historywriting.org
The presentations will be given in English, but the slides will be bilingual, and automated Chinese translation will be available for those who prefer to follow the presentations in Chinese. The questions during the Q&A session will be accepted in both English and Chinese.
Title 1: The ruler, the adviser and the scribe: negotiation of foundational history in early China
Speaker: Dr. Yegor Grebnev (The Research Centre for History and Culture, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai)
Time：8 p.m. Saturday, Oct 16, 2021
Tencent Meetings ID: given after signing up
Abstract: Through a study of a chapter from the Shang Shu (Venerated Scriptures) as well as two texts from the recently discovered Tsinghua manuscripts, this talk aims to highlight how history-writing served to promote the interests of different groups of ancient Chinese elites.
Biography of speaker: Dr. Yegor Grebnev received his PhD in Oriental Studies at Oxford University in 2017. He served as a junior Fellow at Merton College, Oxford from 2016 to 2019. From August 2019 to July 2021, he was a Junior Fellow at Southern University of Science and Technology. Currently, he is a Distinguished Associate Research Fellow at RCHC.
Title 2 : The historian and the Sumerian gods or the Babylonian regime of historicity
Speaker: Professor Wang Xianhua (Shanghai International Studies University)
Time：9 p.m. Saturday, Oct 16, 2021
Tencent Meetings ID: given after signing up
Abstract: The Sumerian Idea of History as a topic of research had unfortunately faded away from scholarly attention for several decades. This talk brings up this old question by examining the early Mesopotamian concept of time and history through a comparative lens.
Biography of speaker: Professor Wang Xianhua received his bachelor's degree in history and a master's degree in religion from Peking University, and a master's degree in Biblical studies from The Hebrew University of Israel, and a doctor's degree in Assyriology from the University of Cambridge. He was a professor at the School of History and Culture of Sichuan University, and is now a professor and doctoral supervisor at Shanghai International Studies University. He has written “The Metamorphosis of Enlil in Early Mesopotamia” and many other articles.
The lecture series are jointly held by The Research Centre for History and Culture, Beijing Normal University at Zhuhai, Society of Fellows in the Liberal Arts, SUSTech and SISU Institute for the Global History of Civilizations.