The Symposium on History and Translation and the Young Scholars’ Forum on Translation and Knowledge Exchange took place at Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) on Dec 13 and 14.

The events were held to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the university’s School of History (Institute for Global History).

The Symposium on History and Translation and the Young Scholars’ Forum on Translation and Knowledge Exchange take place at BFSU on Dec 13 and 14. [Photo/bfsu.edu.cn]

Li Xuetao, dean of the school, delivered a keynote speech at the celebration. Participants explored topics including history and translation, knowledge transfer and exchange, utilization of foreign historical materials, as well as the inclusiveness and universality of global history.

To mark the occasion, Shanxi Jinzhiyuan Mural Museum donated replicas of statues and murals from the Yingxian Wooden Pagoda, a national key cultural relics protection site, to the school, while renowned calligrapher Liu Chan presented a calligraphic piece of verse from Gu Yanwu, a great thinker who lived in the late Ming (1368-1644) and early Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. 

Scholars from the Institute of World History at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Peking University, Peking University Health Science Center, Renmin University of China, Fudan University, and other domestic and international institutions attended the seminars.

The School of History at BFSU traces its roots to the World History Teaching and Research Office, which was established in 1960. The office conducted teaching and research on world history, with a particular focus on the history of Sino-foreign relations.

The Institute for Global History was founded in 2014 to study world history and Chinese history since the Age of Discovery. In 2017, the School of History was set up, merging with the Institute for Global History to engage in world, Chinese and global history teaching and research.

The school currently comprises three teaching and research offices: world history, Chinese history and the history of Sino-foreign relations. It offers undergraduate programs in world history and foreign languages and foreign history, a first-tier academic master’s program in world history and admits doctoral students majoring in global history and China.

The school also manages platforms such as the database on the history of Chinese students abroad, the modern conceptual history research platform, the global China studies literature platform and the modern Chinese documents database.

Its publications include Chinese Journal of Global History, Asia and the World and Journal of Cultural Interaction in East Asia.