Research Branding Project
“Promoting Research and Education on the Eastern ‘Way’ by Creating an Interdisciplinary Research Center for Chinese Studies and Calligraphy”
Project Overview
This is an attempt to suggest solutions to the various humanistic issues faced by modern society from the standpoint of the ideas and art contained in the Eastern “Way” and “calligraphy.” Since the foundation of this university, we have collected a bunch of Eastern intellectual resources such as Chinese books and works of calligraphy. We will develop digital archives of these materials for public reference, research and education. Making full use of them, we will conduct innovative research as an interdisciplinary research center for the Eastern “Way” and communicate our findings both domestically and internationally through our university-wide research institute. Through this, we aim to establish our brand as “a university that cultivates the Eastern Way.”
About the Research Theme
The university has continuously conducted cultural and humanities research and education on Asia centering on “Chinese studies and calligraphy” throughout its history. Additionally, as part of our future basic plan DAITO VISION 2023 in preparation for the university’s 100th anniversary, we are upholding “From Asia to the world: Persistently creating new value for multicultural coexistence” as the university motto in accordance with its founding spirit.
As we are celebrating the 95th anniversary this year, we have decided to engage in an education and research project based on the thought of the Eastern “Way” and the Eastern culture of “humanism” for the sake of “the establishment of moral principles based on Confucianism,” which is celebrated in our founding spirit, thereby developing our university-wide research support infrastructure that is centered on Asia. This will serve as the mainstay of the 100th anniversary project.
Since our “Chinese studies and calligraphy” research will be at the core and center of this project, we decided that the research theme will be “Promoting Research and Education on the Eastern ‘Way’ by Creating an Interdisciplinary Research Center for Chinese Studies and Calligraphy.”
Expected Research Outcomes
We are creating an interdisciplinary innovative research center on the thought of the Eastern “Way” and the Eastern culture of “humanism” by connecting mainly research findings from the humanities to the social and natural sciences. To do this, we are setting up 8 project teams from A to F, as shown below, to “create a foundation for academic, artistic, and cultural research on intellectual resources” in the form of Chinese books and calligraphy surrounding the “Way” and “calligraphy” as well as to “create and promote the interdisciplinary innovative research center.” We also conduct collaborative research between the two teams G “The Way of Business Administration” and H “The Science of Calligraphy.”
- A“The Digitization and Archivization of Chinese Books” team
Faculty of Letters (Department of Chinese Literature); Graduate School of Letters (Chinese Studies); Library; International Exchange Center
- B“The Digitization and Archivization of Calligraphic Works” team
Faculty of Letters (Department of Calligraphy); Graduate School of Letters (Calligraphy); Library; International Exchange Center
We are building digital archives of Chinese books and works of calligraphy. We have already published catalogs listing some of our collection, but a large part remains unpublished. We are taking full inventory and carefully checking the intellectual resources and are promoting use of them by teachers and researchers all over the world. We are also working together with other research and educational institutions in China, Taiwan, and other locations (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, China Academy of Art, National Taiwan University of Arts, etc.) to create an innovative research center for Chinese studies and calligraphy on the basis of digital archives.
- C“Promotion of the University’s History and Research” team
Daito Culture and History Reference Library; 100th Anniversary Project Preparation Committee
Through the survey and research of the activities and accomplishments of faculty members contributing to Chinese studies and calligraphy, we can renew our understanding of the university’s history. By clarifying what role the university has played in Chinese studies and calligraphy, we can contribute to teaching current and former students about the university’s history.
- D“Research on the ‘Way’” team
Faculty of Letters; Institute for Research in Humanities (Faculty of Letters)
We are building a foundation for our Chinese studies and calligraphy focusing on intellectual resources relating to the “Way” and “calligraphy” in order to explore the thought of the Eastern “Way” from the standpoint of Chinese aesthetics, thereby solidifying the university’s position as a leader in the fields of the “Way” and “calligraphy.”
- E“Securing Basic Decipherment Techniques and Stimulating Research Exchange in Oriental Studies” team
Institute for Oriental Studies
We are deciphering the primary sources of oriental studies and are publishing translations and commentaries. As such, we are securing a foundation in each field of research and are establishing ways of having dialog with others, thereby making academic contributions to more empirical research outcomes. Moreover, while supporting intercultural understanding in global society, we are training researchers in Japan and abroad as inheritors of Eastern culture as a way to stimulate research exchange.
- F“Creating a Database of the Collection of Rubbed Copies of Calligraphy” team
Institute for Calligraphy
We are creating a database of our collection of rubbed copies, which includes books donated by Uno Sesson (former professor at the university), Nishibayashi Shoichi (former professor at Atomi University), Takashima Kikujiro (former President of Oji Paper) and Sugimura Yuzo (former library director at the university). By building an integrated database, we are contributing to international research and education.
- G“Research on Business Administration and the ‘Way’ (The Way of Business Administration)” team
Faculty of Business Administration
Going beyond “Chinese studies and calligraphy” as academic disciplines and cultivation, we expand the research on the thought of the Eastern “Way” to the field of business administration and business ethics, exploring the use of Eastern thought in business management.
- H“Research on Calligraphy, Sports Science, and Health Science (The Science of Calligraphy)” team
Faculty of Sports and Health Science
Focusing on the crafts and techniques of calligraphy as “performing arts,” we employ kinesiological and physiological perspectives to scientifically analyze and examine the spiritual and sensory inner aspects that cannot be explicated with AI (artificial intelligence), as a way to help introduce ways to teach handwriting and calligraphy especially among elementary- and middle-school teachers who do not specialize in calligraphy.