20.06.2025

Prof. Dr. HE Jun (Fudan University) Things and the self in the Book of Changes (Lecture in Chinese)

Monday, June 23, 2025 10-11:30 am, Seminarraum, China Centrum Tübingen (CCT), Hintere Grabenstr. 26,…

On June 23rd, Prof. HE Jun 何俊 (Fudan University) visited the China Centrum Tübingen (CCT) and delivered a lecture titled "Things and the Self in the Book of Changes" 《周易》中的物与自我 in Chinese. The event attracted around ten attendees , all of whom actively participated in the discussion. The atmosphere with scholars and students from different research and study areas was highly engaging and intellectually stimulating.

Prof. He explored philosophical concepts from the Book of Changes (Yijing), focusing on the relationship between objects ("things") and the self. His insights offered a profound perspective on classical Chinese thought, encouraging reflection and dialogue among the participants.

The audience's involvement was notable, with thoughtful questions and comments that enriched the conversation. The lecture provided a valuable opportunity for cross-cultural academic exchange and deepened the understanding of traditional Chinese philosophy and its application in modern life.

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The Book of Changes is a foundational work of Chinese philosophy. In it, both the self and things share a common material-energy basis, and they coexist in mutual presence and interrelation. According to the Book of Changes, things possess at least four layers of nature and characteristics: they exist as concrete entities, are typified, are structured, and hold ontological significance. These aspects can be in tension or even conflict with one another, but the I Ching sees them as capable of being fundamentally unified. The self gains its determinations through the observation of things; these determinations arise both from historical trajectories and from the phenomenal world, presenting a state of perpetual becoming. In this dual-sourced self-generation, the formation that arises from the phenomenal world holds more foundational significance. It reminds the self that, even when shaped by historical habits and inertia, it must know where to stop—it must be able to regularly return to the phenomenal world in its natural sense. Through this continual return, the self achieves a state of perpetual regeneration.

Prof. HE Jun mainly engaged in the research of Chinese philosophy and history of thought, is currently a Distinguished Professor of Fudan University and PhD supervisor of the School of Philosophy. He has served as vice president of Hangzhou Normal University, and dean and professor of the Hangzhou Normal University Guoxue institute; professor and doctoral supervisor of the Department of Philosophy at Hangzhou University and Zhejiang University. He is a visiting scholar at the Harvard-Yenching Institute, the Tsinghua Academy of Chinese Learning, and the Center for East Asian Confucianism Studies at National Taiwan University, and an overseas academic reviewer for major research fields at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan. His representative works include Western Studies and the Fission of Late Ming Thought (Shanghai, 1998, 2013), The Construction of Southern Song Confucianism (Shanghai, 2004, 2013), Things and Mind: The Spiritual Dimension of Zhejiang Studies (Beijing, 2013), and he has published academic papers in journals like Chinese Social Sciences, Xinhua Digest, Philosophical Studies, Historical Studies, etc. He is a member of the National Committee of Zhuzi Studies, the vice president of the National Zhuzi Society and the executive director of the Chinese Society for the History of Philosophy.