I am happy to announce that the twelfth session of the Platform for Rising Scholars, held at Kyoto University on January 21st, 2018, was a success, with fifteen attendants, some of whom were visitors from other universities, and some of whom were graduate students currently studying at Kyoto University.

 

　In the first part of this session, Yuan Jingjing, a doctoral student at Beijing University, gave us a presentation on Jiang Yong’s Zhoulixue juou. Once the relative order of publication of four related books by this author had been established, it was possible to trace the development of Jiang’s thought in regards to the significance of the practice of kowtowing (dunshou). The views of Jiang on this matter were then compared to those put forward by a number of scholars from the Qianjia school. Yuan demonstrated how, while the Qianjia scholars had shaped their understanding of the kowtow by drawing upon classical studies (jingxue), history, and a wide range of other disciplines, Jiang Yong’s own views on the subject were taken almost exclusively from classical studies.

　 After Yuan’s presentation, the floor was opened to questions. During this time, the life and times of Jiang Yong were discussed in more detail, as was the methodology of scholarship employed throughout the Qing dynasty.

 

　The second part of our session began with a presentation by Wu Yuxing, who is currently a doctoral student at Kyoto University. After the presentation, attendants discussed the possible meaning of a poem by Ko’nan entitled “遊清雜詩次野口寧斎見送詩韵,” and preserved in Ko’nan shizon. This poem, which was composed in 1899, when Naitō Ko’nan went on his first trip to China, is a reply to a previous (now lost) poem sent by Noguchi Neisai. Ko’nan’s reply consists of a set of five poems, the settings of which may be reconstructed as follows: Poem no. 1 was composed shortly before arriving in China; poem no. 2 was composed while touring through Hebei Province; poem no. 3 describes the Thirteen Tombs of the Ming dynasty; poem no. 4 describes a scene in Nanjing; poem no. 5 describes a scene in Wuhan. Attendants discussed the chronology order and precise route of Ko’nan’s journey through China. This effort was made easier by the fact that the poems in Ko’nan shizon have been arranged in chronological order if composition. It was concluded that a more nuanced appreciation of these poems could be reached by means of consulting Ko’nan’s own travel diary, Ensan sosui.