The Commemoration of the 15th Anniversary of Mr. Wang Yuanhua’s Death and the Symposium on the Publication of “Wang Yuanhua’s Collected Works”

The Commemoration of the 15th Anniversary of Mr. Wang Yuanhua’s Death and the Symposium on the Publication of “Wang Yuanhua’s Collected Works” were held at the Audio-Video Hall of Shanghai Museum of Social Sciences on April 20th, 2023.

Ren Xiaowen, a member of the Leading Party Group and Full-time Vice-chairman of the Shanghai Federation of Social Science Associations, regarded, in his speech, Mr. Wang Yuanhua as a grand master in the field of social sciences, who had devoted his life to scholarship, and observed,  “Although Mr. Wang Yuanhua has long passed away, his thoughts have never faded away.” Ren Xiaowen recognized that the great scholar’s academic attitude and his spirit of seeking the truth in spite of all adversity had set a notable example for today’s scholars.

To inspire the later generations with the academic thoughts and spirit of social science masters, the Shanghai Federation of Social Science Associations has actively built the Shanghai cultural brand of “Praising Masters”, commemorating and publicizing the ambitions of Shanghai social science masters to serve the country, their devotion to scholarship, capability to innovate and achievement of educating people in various forms.

Reading Hegel is Mr. Wang Yuanhua’s study record of Science of Logic and the first volume of Aesthetics by Hegel. “It is amazing that Mr. Wang Yuanhua grasped the criticism of intellectual thinking (namely, the thinking mode of either/or) in his study on Hegel,” said Zhang Rulun, a distinguished professor from Fudan University and the President of the Institute of Humanities, Shanghai Tech University.

Interpretation of Shakespeare’s Plays was translated by Mr. Wang Yuanhua and his wife Zhang Ke. When it comes to the relationship between Mr. Wang Yuanhua and Shakespeare, professor Yang Yang, Vice President of Shanghai Theatre Academy, said that for some years in the hardest period of Modern China, Mr. Wang Yuanhua and his wife Zhang Ke had been reading Shakespeare’s works together, which provided a glimpse of how drama and theatre have helped shape modern Chinese scholars.

Fu Jie, a distinguished professor from Ma Yifu College of Zhejiang University, recalled how Mr. Wang Yuanhua copied out the full text of Huang Kan’s Reading Notes on the Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons with “regular scripts in small characters”. “Nowadays, the technical means are developed, so it is very easy for us to obtain relevant information. The younger generation does not need to manually copy out Hegel as Mr. Wang Yuanhua did. They don’t need to copy out a full text word by word is definitely the closest reading. The dedication, devotion and diligence embodied therein is the most important legacy for scholars of the present and coming generations..”

“In his field, Mr. Wang Yuanhua knew all, both the ancient and the present, both the Chinese and the foreign. He embodied the depth and breadth of Shanghai culture,” said Chen Yinchi, a professor at the Department of Chinese Language and Literature of Fudan University and Curator of the Library of Fudan University, who stressed that people are the carriers of urban cultural spirit, and intangible ideas may exist longer than tangible buildings.

Hu Xiaoming, a tenured professor at East China Normal University and Curator of East China Normal University Library, said that Mr. Wang Yuanhua had paid much attention to the Wang Yuanhua Library on the campus of ECNU. Now, “19 Questions Raised by Mr. Wang Yuanhua” covering a whole wall of the library are still inspiring and thought-provoking works. These questions were summarized from the academic doubts that Mr. Wang had pondered on and explored in his later years. He had hoped that the later generations could follow in his footsteps to investigate the unsolved questions.

At the symposium, the Shanghai Social Science Development Research Center signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Wang Yuanhua Library of East China Normal University. The two parties will cooperate extensively in scholarship, publicity and promotion, and talent training.