The Aspects of Mitogaku in the Cross-Cultural History of Japan-China

This book centers on the intellectual exchanges between Chinese and Japanese figures, focusing on cross-border intellectuals interactions in the East Asian maritime region from the 17th to the 20th century. (1) The academic development of Tokugawa Mitsukuni, the lord of Mito, and his interactions with Chinese scholars; (2) The scholarly influence and impact of Zhu Shunsui, who traveled through the Zhoushan Islands and Vietnam before settling in Nagasaki, Edo, and Mito; as well as Yinyuan Longqi (1592-1673) and Dokuryu Shoueki (1596-1672), who transplanted Obaku-shu Buddhism to Japan; and Zen master Toko Shin'etsu (1639–1696), who established the Soto Zen tradition in Mito, discussing their roles in the development of East Asian civilization (3) Analysis of the contents and significance of the Tokugawa Museum's archival materials and their publication. (4) Tachihara Suiken (1744–1823) and the Development of “Middle Mitogaku”. (5) A comparative analysis of the historical perspectives in “Honchō Tsugan” and “Dai Nihonshi”. (6) Finally, it aims to clarify the relationship between Mitogaku and modernization from the late Tokugawa period into the early modern era.

Shyu, Shing-Ching was born in Nantou County, Taiwan on 1956. Shyu obtained a bachelor's degree from Department of Eastern Languages, Soochow university, and an M.A. and Ph.D from Kyushu University, Japan, in 1986 and 1992, and received his Ronbun-Hakase from Kansai University, Japan, in 2012, respectively.

His research specialization includes the history of Sino-Japanese cultural exchanges, modern Sino-Japanese intellectual history, and Japanese cultural history, with a focus on the historical evolution of the “Mitogaku” in Japan. His studies examine the impact of cross-border exchanges of Sino-Japanese figures on early, mid, and late “Mitogaku”, and the implications of these interactions for the development of East Asian civilization.

Current positions:
Chair Professor / Contracted Visiting Professor, Department of Japanese Language and Culture, Soochow University; Adjunct Distinguished Chair Professor, Chinese Culture University. Adjunct Professor, Department of Japanese Language And Literature, National Taiwan Unlversity.

Past positions:
President, Chinese Culture University; Dean of the College of Foreign Languages, Chinese Culture University; Professor and Director, Department of Japanese Language And Literature, National Taiwan Unlversity. Director, Center for Japanese Studies, National Taiwan University; Visiting Professor, Tenri University; Research Fellow, Kyushu University and Kansai University; Foreign Researcher, The International Research Center for Japanese Studies (Nichibunken); Visiting Professor, The Institute for Research in Humanities (Jinbunken), Kyoto University; Contract Research Fellow, The Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities and the Social Sciences, National Taiwan University; Visiting Professor, Tsinghua University; Researcher, The Institute of East Asian International Relations, Waseda University, among others.