536. 王小良受聘为西北大儒学研究院院长

皇后区图书馆Laurelton分馆馆长、圣约翰大学兼职教授王小良博士日前被聘为中国西北大学现代学院新成立的“儒学在海外研究院”院长，王小良本人出席了在当地举行的受聘仪式。

 

王小良长期从事中华文明尤其是儒家思想对早期美国影响的研究，过去十多年来在中美两地学术界都受到越来越多的关注。去年他更受到包括北京外国语大学、西北大学、吉林师范大学以及国际儒学联合会的邀请回国讲学，所到之处受到热烈欢迎。

　　对于此次受聘担任国内儒学研究机构的领导职务，王小良表示，很高兴国内学术界也开始重视儒学在海外的传播和影响力，这与他多年来在美国所从事的儒学对早期美国影响的研究不谋而合，该领域的东西方学者如果能有更多交流，那无疑将极大地促进学术的发展，也有利于大家从不同角度重新审视儒学的价值。
　　王小良在当天仪式期间以儒学与美国的建立与发展为题，介绍了儒家思想为美洲殖民地独立提供的强有力支持，以及美国开国元勋们采用儒家道德哲学的积极因素帮助建立殖民地社会的新美德，以满足建立新国家的精神思想需求。
　　王小良还在当天仪式期间谈到了美国政治精英是如何借鉴儒家的文官考试制度，来推动美国的民主制度发展与完善，以及儒家思想是如何帮助美国建立合理的农业管理制度、乃至战胜经济危机的历史过程。

535. Dr. Dave Wang's Research in Northeast Asia

With this post I will show you some information concerning Dr. Dave Wang's research in South Korea and Japan.

 

534. Another University Uses Dr. Dave Wang''s Articles in Its Classroom

I have found that Dr. Dave Wang's academic papers have been used as teaching materials in American universities, including Johns Hopkins University. Recently I have noticed that Wayne State University has used Dr. Wang's papers in the course History 275 Chinese Civilization.

According to Wikipedia,

Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university located in Detroit, Michigan. Founded in 1868, WSU consists of 13 schools and colleges offering nearly 350 programs to more than 27,000 graduate and undergraduate students. Wayne State University is Michigan's third-largest university, one of the 100 largest universities in the United States, and ranked in the top 50 American public universities for research expenditures.

The WSU main campus encompasses 203 acres linking more than 100 education and research buildings in the heart of Detroit.

533. One More Language, This Time Korean

I have told readers that Dr. Dave Wang's publications of Chinese cultural influence on the founders of the United States, including Chinese, Danish, English, German, Italian and Japanese. Today I have found another language, Korean.

532 Johns Hopkins University Philosophy Course

I want also to point out that the positive attitudes of the founding fathers and other eminent colonists never darkened the existence of the negative opinions on China in North America. The negative opinions existed in the same time of the positive opinions represented by the founding fathers with great wisdom. However, in the formative period of American culture, the influence of negative attitudes never became a significant factor. Nevertheless, the remarkable story of the effort to draw nourishments from Chinese culture has served as an excellent case study of the creation of a new civilization by adopting selected positive elements from other cultures and assimilating the elements into the main culture. The colonists’ efforts have provided us with an ideal way of dealing with other civilizations.

531. China Through American Eyes

 Dr. Dave Wang's works was cited by Wenxian Zhang in his new book China Through American Eyes: Early Depictions of the Chinese People and Culture in the US Print Media. This book was published on February 20, 2018. 

My readers know that it is not usual for other prestigious authors who have quoted Dr. Dave Wang's examination on impact of Chinese civilization on the founders of the United States. This is the newest book I have found that this author cites Dr. Dave Wang's papers published by Virginia Review of Asian Studies. 

530 Pearl River in New York

There is a Pearl River in New York. However, the NY Pearl River is not a river but a town. How come a town was named after a name of a Chinese river. There are several explanations about its origin.  According to vikipedia, there are basically two explanations, including the first one, a town resident named Dr. Ves Bogert found small pearls in mussels that thrived in Muddy Brook, and  a lady suggested the name "Pearl River". The second account was that a resident wanted to enhance the local business image by renaming it Pearl River. Based on the fact that New York served as a trading center between China and the United States during the early period of the United States, it is reasonable to agree with the second account.