Global Times: Recommended bibliography for World China Studies Research released

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October 15, 2025 1:16 PM EDT

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BEIJING, Oct. 15, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Second World Conference on China Studies, held in Shanghai from Monday to Wednesday, explored the global significance and contemporary value of World China Studies as both the study of historical China and contemporary China from diverse academic perspectives. One of the major outcomes of the conference, the "Recommended Bibliography for World China Studies Research," was jointly released by Beijing Foreign Studies University, the National Library of China, the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, and Beijing Language and Culture University at the closing ceremony on Wednesday.

The compilation of this bibliography focuses tightly on the theme "Historical and Contemporary China: A Global Perspective." It selects 54 outstanding research works published over the past two decades that represent theoretical milestones in World China Studies.

Among these, 14 were by domestic scholars and 40 by overseas scholars from 16 countries, spanning nine languages. Covering four domains - historical, cultural, and archaeological studies; political, economic, and social studies; linguistic, literary, and artistic studies; and philosophical, religious, and ideological studies - the bibliography offers multi-dimensional and multi-faceted insights into China's past, present, and future for readers worldwide.

These 54 recommended works not only epitomize the current state of World China Studies but also demonstrate the thriving momentum of the field, leaving ample room for future exploration in this vast academic ocean.

Recommended Bibliography for World China Studies Research

Xi Jinping Thought - Through South African Eyes
Paul Zilungisele Tembe, South Africa, director, Centre for Transcultural Studies, South Africa
The work clearly explains China's positions on and solutions to global issues, and illustrates how South Africa and other African nations can benefit from China's success.

Just A Song: Chinese Lyrics from the Eleventh and Early Twelfth Centuries
Stephen Owen, US, professor emeritus, Harvard University
It employs the method of "close reading" and utilizes existing literary resources to reconstruct the cultural context, presenting the true state of Song Ci, a popular genre of Chinese literature in Song Dynasty (960-1279).

Confucian Role Ethics: A Vocabulary
Roger T. Ames, US, professor, University of Hawaii; vice president, International Confucian Association
This book systematically elaborates, from a comparative philosophical perspective, a Confucian ethical system centered on the concept of the "relationally constituted person," depicting the morals and ideals of a Confucian way of life.

On China
Henry Kissinger, US, former US secretary of state
Adopting a global perspective and international outlook, the author reinterprets China's past and future, analyzing and contextualizing its diplomatic traditions since the Opium War, and exploring the strategic mind-set of the Chinese people.

Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China
Ezra F. Vogel, US, former director of the Fairbank Center for East Asian Research at Harvard University
The book provides a comprehensive account of Deng Xiaoping's life and China's reform and opening-up. Hailed as a "monumental" piece in the study of Deng Xiaoping, the work is rigorous in analysis, clear in structure, distinct in perspective, and thought-provoking.

Die Chinesische Literatur im 20. Jahrhundert
Wolfgang Kubin, Germany, professor emeritus, University of Bonn
This book delineates the evolution of 20th-century Chinese literature from the perspective of intellectual history, revealing the tension between image and reality within modern Chinese literary culture.

Les Idéogrammes Chinois ou L'empire du Sens
Joël Bellassen, France, professor, National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations
This book fully demonstrates the immense charm of Chinese characters as an ideographic script, arising from its distant nature and unique characteristics.

Chinese Painting and Its Audiences
Craig Clunas, UK, professor emeritus of the History of Art, University of Oxford
This richly illustrated work explores how Chinese painting has been understood by diverse audiences over five centuries, from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) to the present. It elucidates the pivotal role played by viewers both within China and beyond in shaping this great artistic tradition.

The Making of the Modern Chinese State: 1600-1950
Huaiyin Li, US, professor, Department of History, University of Texas at Austin
This work comprehensively examines the formation of modern China from the 17th to the 20th centuries through the lens of global history, focusing on geopolitics, fiscal-military capacity, and political identity.

Un Mundo Made in China
Gustavo Alejandro Girado, Argentina, professor, National University of Lanús and University of Buenos Aires
The author reveals how the "Made in China" phenomenon has reshaped global industrial chains, trade patterns, and consumer culture. This deepening interdependence has more closely connected China with the rest of the world, making its rise an unstoppable force.

The Imperial Network in Ancient China: The Foundation of Sinitic Empire in Southern East Asia
Maxim Korolkov, Russia, assistant professor of Premodern Chinese History, Heidelberg University
This work examines the Qin (221BC-206BC) and Han (206BC-AD220) empires as its subject. Moving beyond the "conquest-unification" narrative, it proposes a novel "imperial network" perspective, offering fresh insights for the study of Qin and Han history, borderland governance, and the understanding of East Asia's political-economic landscape and globalization processes.

Post-Western World: How Emerging Powers Are Remaking Global Order
Oliver Stuenkel, Brazil, associate professor, School of International Relations, Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV), São Paulo
This book offers a refreshing interpretation of international politics and global affairs: Today's move toward a multipolar world is marked by the full rise of new powers, chief among them China's revival.

Buried Ideas: Legends of Abdication and Ideal Government in Early Chinese Bamboo-Slip Manuscripts
Sarah Allan

Neo-Confucianism in History
Peter K. Bol

On Their Own Terms: Science in China, 1550-1900
Benjamin A. Elman

The Price of Collapse: The Little Ice Age and the Fall of Ming China
Timothy Brook

Breaking with the Past: The Maritime Customs Service and the Global Origins of Modernity in China
Hans Van de Ven

The Chinese Dreamscape, 300 BCE-800 CE
Robert Ford Campany

Chinese Among Others: Emigration in Modern Times
Philip A. Kuhn

Western Perspectives on the People's Republic of China: Politics, Economy and Society
Colin Patrick Mackerras

The Jesuit Reading of Confucius: The First Complete Translation of the Lunyu (1687) Published in the West
Thierry Meynard

Chinese Elements in Persian Paintings
Nasrin Dastan

文化交渉学と言語接触：中国言語学における周縁からのアプローチ
内田庆市

Manifest in Words, Written on Paper: Producing and Circulating Poetry in Tang Dynasty China
Christopher M. B. Nugent

Guan Yu: The Religious Afterlife of a Failed Hero
Barend ter Haar

Les deux raisons de la pensée chinoise: divination et idéographie
Léon Vandermeersch

China in the World: Culture, Politics, and World Vision
Ban Wang

Renewal: The Chinese State and the New Global History
Wang Gungwu

등용문 : 중국의과거시험 1300 년
오금성

La raison des choses: Essai sur la Philosophie de Wang Fuzhi, 1619-1692
Jacques Gernet

The Crafting of 10,000 Things: Knowledge and Technology in Seventeenth Century China
Dagmar Schäfer

The Chinese Gazette in European Sources: Joining the Global Public in the Early and Mid-Qing Dynasty
Nicolas Standaert

1368: China and the Making of the Modern World
Ali Humayun Akhtar

Çin dili ve Çince dilbilgisi
Giray Fidan

現代中国の日本語教育史―大学専攻教育と教科書をめぐって
田中祐輔

Sogdians in China: An Archaeological and Art Historical Research Based on Tomb Finds and Historical Texts from the 3rd to the 10th Century AD
Patrick Wertmann

Revolutionary Bodies: Chinese Dance and the Socialist Legacy
Emily Wilcox

The Ideological Foundations of Qing Taxation: Belief Systems, Politics, and Institutions
Taisu Zhang

Chinese Grammatology: Script Revolution and Literary Modernity, 1916-1958
Yurou Zhong

衣装と生きる女性たち——ミャオ族の物質文化と母娘関係
佐藤若菜

当代国外中国学研究
何培忠

欧洲中国学
黄长著、孙越生、王祖望

欧美佛教学术史：西方的佛教形象与学术源流
李四龙

中国文学在法国：18 世纪至 20 世纪 80 年代
钱林森

从汉学到中国学：近代日本的中国研究
钱婉约

世界中国学导论
沈桂龙、周武等

法国重农学派学说的中国渊源
谈敏

客居美国的民国史家与美国汉学
吴原元