CfP: Towards ‘national rejuvenation’: Sun Yat-sen’s vision for China revisited

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Traveling lecture series “China in der Welt/China in the world” Kick-off conference

Host                   CCST, TU Berlin
Organizer          Contact person: Dr. Tania Becker (tania.becker[at]tu-berlin.de)
Location            TU Berlin, Hardenbergstraße 16-18, 10623 Berlin (HBS 005)
Language          English
Takes place       In Attendance
From – Until  March 07, 2025, 2-6 pm
Deadline           November 7, 2024


Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925), better known within the Chinese-speaking world as Sun Zhongshan, is one of the central figures in the transnational history of 20th century China. On both sides of the Taiwan Strait (and among communities of overseas Chinese), Sun has been honored as the founding father (guofu) of the Chinese Republic as well as a visionary and pioneer of China’s “national rejuvenation” (fuxing) based on international economic relations.

2025 is the 100th year following his death on March 12, 1925. On the occasion of this centenary, our CKN-Germany Kick-off conference for the VCdH traveling lecture series “China in the World” will explore the various dimensions of Sun’s contested legacy as linked to Chinese political, economic, and social developments from the Republican era until today.

We seek proposals for presentations (20-25 minutes) that (re)consider Sun Yatsen’s significance

  • as an intellectual pioneer projecting China’s future socio-economic order as perceived in mainland China and Taiwan.
  • as a visionary of Chinese future realities.
  • In terms of his political legacy/ for Mao Zedong and Xi Jinping;
  • from a transnational perspective, as compared to other contemporary “founding fathers” such as Wladimir Iljitsch Lenin (1870 – 1924), Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) or Kemal Atatürk (1881-1938).

The conference will be hosted at TU Berlin (Berlin, Germany) on March 7, 2025. Scholars who are interested in participating are invited to submit proposals in English to tania.becker[at]tu-berlin.de no later than Thursday, November 7th, 2024. Proposals should include a 300-word outline and a 150-word bio. While the focus of this conference is on historical scholarship, we warmly welcome submissions from other/ neighboring disciplines. Contributions focusing on Sun’s proposals for China’s national rejuvenation from a long-term perspective will receive priority consideration.

For invited speakers a travel allowance will be available.