Tsinghua Ancient Chinese Literature Studies has long enjoyed a reputation of preciseness and broad-horizon. During the first half of the 20th century, Prof Wang Guowei, Chen Yinque, Wen Yiduo and Zhu Ziqing deployed research methods of “taking the evidence underground and the text on paper for mutual interpretation”, “taking the foreign texts of the past and the domestic classic works for reciprocal correction” and “taking the notion abroad and the materials already in existence for joint examination”. Thus a series of new academic fields were advocated and established, e.g. theatric historiography, cultural anthropology and complementary examination of poetics and history. The practices of the abovementioned scholars, has laid solid foundation for the construction of a discipline that not only excels in textual research, but also in cross-disciplinary studies and literary history studies.
There are 6 full and assistant professors in this subfield. Their major research interests are: first, ancient Chinese language style studies and literature communication; second, classic Chinese poetics and the studies of the literatures of poetics; third, studies of ancient Chinese literature and thoughts.
The academic features of this subfield lie in the following three aspects: first, its emphasis on the textual research of literatures; second, its insistence on multi-disciplinary comparative studies and its combination of literature, history and philosophy; third, its stress on the examination of long-term literary phenomenon as well as the overall rules of literary history.
Modern and Contemporary Chinese Literature Studies is one of the contemporary academic fields that Tsinghua participated in founding. Late 1920s, Professor Zhu Ziqing and Yang Zhensheng started a campaign of New Literature Studies. Professor Zhu Ziqing later offered courses in the History of New Literature. Furthermore, in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Professor Wang Yao wrote “Zhong guo xin wen xue shi gao” (The Historical Drafts of Chinese New Literature) which is considered to be the cornerstone of the discipline of the Chinese Contemporary Studies.
These practices help shaped a tradition of “Interpreting the modern”, complementary to the Tsinghua humanistic research tradition of “Interpreting the ancient”. It consummates the Tsinghua humanistic spirit of “being conversant with the ancient and modern, and versed in the Chinese and foreign”. Ever since the recuperation in 1985, the Chinese department has been striving to cultivate the discipline of the Contemporary Chinese Literature.
After two decades of endeavor, the Tsinghua Contemporary Chinese Studies has made solid achievements. In 2003, it was granted permission to offer doctorate program by the doctorate program revision committee with full score. At present, Tsinghua Contemporary Chinese Studies has 5 full professors and assistant professors. Tsinghua Contemporary Chinese Studies has become a significant research force, well-structured and academically creative.
The Department of Chinese Language and Literature of Tsinghua University have played significant role in the disciplinary construction of Literary Theory and Comparative Literature. Renowned scholars who have taught and researched in Tsinghua like Wang Guowei, Zhu Ziqing and Wen Yiduo etc, have all made pioneering contribution in both of the two fields. Their masterpieces are “Ren jian ci hua”, “Hong lou meng pinglun”, “Shen hua yu shi”, “Shi yan zhi bian” etc, which have already become classics of 20th century literature theory and comparative literature studies.
The research interests of this subfield mainly focus on comparative literature studies, East Asian Cultures and Literature as well as narrative theory of fiction. The major academic features of this subfield lie in its persistent position in regarding Chinese cultural tradition and literary experiences as a starting point, in reference to different world literatures, in concerning itself with the discussion of the fundamental literary theory, in combing studies of Chinese and western literary history.
Tsinghua University is the cradle of the contemporary Chinese linguistics. Eminent scholars like Professor Zhao Yuanren, Wang Li, Yang Shuda, Lǚ Shuxiang, have covered all major fiels of 20th century linguistics and have thus laid the fundamental structure of 20th century Chinese linguistics. After the 1985 recuperation, Tsinghua linguistics inherited the spirit of “being conversant with the ancient and modern, and versed in the Chinese and foreign”. Moreover, it has been exploring the possibility of “the versatility of both science and humanity”.
Tsinghua Linguistics and Applied Linguistics focuses its research on the following fields: 1. computational linguistics; 2. linguistic and cultural studies; 3. studies of teaching Chinese as a foreign language.
The academic features of this subfield are: first, its cross-disciplinary research vision guarantees the creativity of its research materials and methods; second, its combination of theoretical exploration and application, acutely announces the instructive role that theories ought to play in applied research; third, its concern of placing the research of classical Chinese language in the context of international academics.
