ATES Silk Road Civilization Forum No.6

Background

Primers are texts that were specifically written for the purpose of being used by children or young adults on the way to acquiring literacy. Along with the dispersal of Chinese Classics to Korea, Japan, Vietnam and other neighboring countries, a large number of other texts, including primers went to these countries which continue to use the Chinese script until the modern period and inherited the Chinese written tradition. This presentation will focus on the Chinese Primers and their translations in the Silk Road region, and will discuss the trans-Eurasia cultural exchange related to the dispersal of Chinese Primers.

Title：Tools of Literacy: Chinese Primers along the Silk Road

Invited Speaker：Prof. Imre Galambos (Zhejiang University / University of Cambridge)

Date：15:00-17:00 (GMT+8), Apr. 26, 2024

Zoom ID：851 0712 6409 (Password 202404)

Bilibili ID：25398211

Biography of the Speaker

Prof. Imre Galambos is a specialist of medieval Chinese manuscripts from Dunhuang and other sites along the Silk Road. He received his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, with a dissertation on the structure of the Chinese script during the Warring States period. Following his graduation, he began working for the International Dunhuang Project at the British Library, where his research interests shifted to medieval manuscripts from Dunhuang, Turfan and Khara-khoto. In 2012, he began teaching pre-modern Chinese subjects at the University of Cambridge, eventually becoming Professor of Chinese. Following his early retirement from Cambridge last year, he was appointed Qiushi Chair Professor at Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, where he now teaches. His books include Orthography of Early Chinese Writing (2006); Manuscripts and Travellers (2012, co-authored with Sam van Schaik); Translating Chinese Tradition and Teaching Tangut Culture (2015); Dunhuang Manuscript Culture (2020).