24.10.2024

Lecture: WU Wanghai, "Moral Education and Forgery of Judicial Documents: the Society and Mentality Behind Lu Jiashu Pantu in the Late Qing Dynasty and Early Republic of China"

On Tuesday, 29 Oct 2024, WU Wanghai from Hunan University will hold a lecture (in Chinese) within the Colloquium History of Culture of China

Abstract During the Kangxi era of the Qing Dynasty, the renowned Neo-Confucian official Lu Longqi 陆陇其 (courtesy name Jiashu 稼书, 1630-1693) placed great emphasis on moral education. Thanks to his exceptional reputation both during his lifetime and posthumously, he was venerated from the Kangxi period through to the late Qing and early Republican era as a model official who prioritized moral governance. The Lu Jiashu Pandu 陆稼书判牍, which surfaced during the Republican era, was a fabricated product that catered to the period’s demand for such ideals. Both the origins and content of this text fail to substantiate its authenticity. The investigation into the authenticity of the Lu Jiashu Pandu, while aiming to separate the genuine from the false in Lu Longqi’s extant works, also reveals a broader societal mindset during the transition from late Qing to early Republican China. This period was marked by a tension between the traditional emphasis on moral governance embodied by model officials like Lu Longqi and the modern legal system’s focus on codified law. The exaggerated focus on tianli 天理 and moral politics during this time not only reinforced Lu Longqi’s image as a model official but also, to some extent, obscured or even caused the public to forget the crucial role that legal statutes played in the judicial processes of the Qing dynasty.

Bio Wu Wanghai 吴旺海 is a PhD candidate at Yuelu Academy 岳麓书院, Hunan University, and currently a visiting PhD student at the CSMC of Hamburg University. His research interests focus on the history of Chinese thought (particularly Neo-Confucianism and intellectual trends from the Qing dynasty to the Republican era), as well as the collation and interpretation of classical texts(primarily within the Confucian classics). His dissertation delves into the evolution of thought and scholarship during the Qing Dynasty, using cases studies to uncover the processes behind the formation of intellectual history in this period.

Tuesday, 29 Oct 2024, 16:00, in Room 62 (2nd floor), Wilhelmstr. 133
Zoom Link zoom.us/j/99615912636
Meeting-ID: 996 1591 2636
Kenncode: 675443