The theme of this Conference is “Understanding China.” In Chinese, the word “lí jiě 理解” (understanding) has since ancient times crystallized demands to cross cultural barriers and build bridges between Chinese wisdom and other traditions.

After the famous Buddhist monk of the Tang dynasty Xuanzang 玄奘 translated the Vimalakīrti Sūtra, Chinese have faced the question of how to interpret the classics of other lands. Some monks proposed that these Buddhist doctrines "could only be understood through principles; and must not be interpreted by past experiences," suggesting that even though foreign cultures are sometimes not accessible empirically, we can use the truth embodied in heaven and earth to comprehend them. This tells us that as early as the Tang Dynasty and its multi-cultural coexistence, the Chinese have realized the essence of communication and made it clear that “understanding” means “to understand through principles/logos” rather than merely resorting to one’s own experience. Later in Song Dynasty, Chinese scholars refined the idea and put forward the concept "li yi fen shu 理一分殊” (the principle is unitary, but its modes are diverse). In other words, there exists universal truth in the world, but at the same time that truth comes in many guises.

It is because of this kind of "understanding" derived from oriental wisdom that we have been using the plural form “sinologies” since the 5th World Conference on Sinology, which is intended to emphasize the plural implications of today's sinological studies. In the past decade, we have witnessed how plural sinologies can recognize the "other" and listen to each other, and witnessed a new paradigm of cultural dialogue in these conferences. This year’s Conference has five panels: Translation and Conversation in Sinology; Tradition and Modern Transition in Sinology; Sinologies and Interdisciplinary Studies; Developing Sinologies and Fostering Scholars; Overseas Sinologies and Chinese Scholarship. The design of the panels is an attempt to promote understanding from the perspective of world sinologies, to respect difference on the basis of understanding, and to seek peace and harmony in difference.

Understanding is the only way to harmony. In understanding the other, cultures can be renewed and transformed through self-reflection. The great Chinese writer of the 11th century Su Shi (苏轼) once returned home with a scoured pebble from the seaside and penned the famous verse: “I returned home with this stone, and thus I have the East Sea in my sleeve” (我持此石归, 袖中有东海). To bring a tiny stone home is to take the boundless East Sea home! This insightful verse reminds us that if you know how to understand and listen, you can feel the breath of the East Sea even if you are thousands of miles away. The stone is small, and the East Sea is vast. However, in the eyes of the philosopher who knows how to listen, the small stone actually contains the entire East China Sea. From this we understand that "inclusiveness" is not the accommodation of the mass of an object, but a capacious embrace of ancient wisdom, that enables mutual accommodation and communication.

The World Conference on Sinology has entered its second decade since 2007. In the past eleven years, the world economic, political and cultural situation has changed constantly. What has not changed is the responsibility and commitment of scholars attending the Conference to cross the boundaries of history, traditions, value systems and ethnic identities, and to promote understanding through dialogue. The purpose of the World Conference on Sinology is to manifest the "stones" of different traits represented in multiple civilizations, to anticipate the poet's vision "I return home with this stone, and thus I have the East Sea in my sleeve." It is through these different “stones” that we can understand diverse cultural matrices, understand the "East Sea" and understand the world as a community of shared future for all humanity.