On April 1st, Professor Fan Xing delivered a lecture on the topic of romance at the WHU College of Chinese Language and Literature at the invitation of the Hongyi Lecture Series.
At the beginning, Professor Fan threw out a question to the audience: is there still romance in a stressful life? He inspired the audience to carefully consider how to understand romance and whether romance existed in Chinese traditional culture or not.
Professor Fan introducing a reference book
Professor Fan introduced the meaning of traditional social morals and wholehearted dedication to Chinese society regardless of reality’s constraints. The latter reflected the romantic feelings of a conventional scholar in ancient China. Examples are A Happy Excursion (Xiaoyaoyou) by Chuang Tzu, Invitation to Wine (Qiangjinjiu) by Li Bai and Asking Heaven (Tianwen) by Qu Yuan.
After reminiscing about traditional Chinese literature, Professor Fan talked about contemporary romantic literary works. Various representative works like Red Sorghum by Mo Yan and Wolf Totem by Jiang Rong were analyzed from three different perspectives, romance of wanderings, wilderness and commemorating revolutions. Finally, He concluded that the spirit of romance was a kind of national character, which has shaped the historical appearance of China.
Professor Fan’s presentation left the audience with deep thoughts and eagerness to hear more. The lecture ended up with heated discussions between the lecturer and the audience. In the end, representatives from the Wuhan University Graduate Students Union presented Professor Fan with a commemorative cup to show their gratitude.
A student asking a question about the paradox of romance
Hongyi Lecture, a brand activity hosted jointly by the Graduate Student Affairs Department of the WHU Party Committee and the WHU Committee of the Communist Youth League, and undertaken by the WHU Graduate Students Union, aims to promote academic exchange and advocate higher academic pursuits in WHU.
Photo from Wuhan University Graduate Student Union
Edited by Qin Zehao, Wei Yena, Luo Yuanyuan
