From December 15 to 18, eight scholars from the University of Chicago and Israel gathered at Shandong University’s Jinan campus for the symposium titled “The Ideal of the Sage in Jewish and Chinese Thought and Culture”. This event, co-hosted by the Center for Judaic and Inter-Religious Studies at Shandong University, the Joyce Z. and Jacob Greenberg Center for Jewish Studies of the University of Chicago, and coordinated by the UChicago Center in Beijing, delved into the voluminous texts of classic literature, including the Hebrew Bible, Rabbinic literature, and traditional Chinese literary works.
During the symposium, distinguished scholars explored topics ranging from Confucian and Daoist perspectives on “sageliness” to the portrayal of wisdom and morality in Judaic traditions. Discussions included comparisons between the biblical Book of Proverbs and Confucian classics, as well as analyses of figures such as Moses and Sun Wukong (the Monkey King). Andrew Plaks, a renowned sinologist, compared the semantic divergence between Chinese and Hebrew notions of “sagliness” and shared his understanding of the “Sages” in the Doctrine of the Mean. These diverse perspectives highlighted shared themes of moral authority, wisdom, and transcendence across cultures.
In addition to the academic symposium, the event included a visit to the University of Chicago Center in Beijing where scholars engaged in discussions on future academic collaborations between the U.S. and China.
Supported by the Provost’s Global Faculty Awards (PGFA) at the University of Chicago, a program designed to foster the collaborative activities in key regions where the UChicago has strong engagement, the symposium has contributed to promoting Chinese studies and Jewish studies to the international academic forefront, promoting China’s profound traditional culture and new developments in exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations to the world.
