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The symposium on “Marco Polo and the Silk Road between the 10th and the 14thcentury” held at Beida
Nov 30, 2016

Peking University, November 19, 2016: Peking University International Association of China Studies (IACS), founded by PKU and Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban) in 1992, organized an international academic symposium on “Marco Polo and the Silk Road between the 10th and the 14th century” in Dayatang this morning. More than 30famous scholars from 8 countries attended the symposium.

The academic value of Marco Polo and the Silk Road between the10th and the 14thcentury was fully discussed and highly recognized at the symposium. Yuan Xingpei, director of IACS, hosted the opening ceremony and made an unforgettable speech. He briefly reviewed the Chinese academic history on this topic and applauded those great achievements made by all scholars. As he said, although the concept of Marco Polo and the Silk Road has been in China since 19th century, it is the dynamic research, combined with social movements, that makes it of great contemporary significance. Li Yansong, Vice president of Peking University, highly praised the positive function of those academic researches as well. It will be a remarkable opportunity, whichis regarded as perfectly coordinating with China’s“one belt, one road" strategy under the trend of globalization.

The research program was already very much internationalized from the very beginning. So far, there are more than 10 famous foreign experts participating in this program. Through the platform of the training base, they collectively cooperate with excellent Chinese researchers and they have already made remarkable academic achievements. This symposium has received more than 31 academic papers and abstracts in total, which covered the history of Marco Polo, the text framework, and the influence his work imposed on European geography. Coinciding with the route of Marco Polo, the Silk Road was comprehensively discussed in the symposium. Papers also focused on the connection between eastern and western worldsbetween the 10th and the 14th century when trade, migration, and cultural exchange thrived comprehensively.

The symposium lasted 2 days and achieved memorable success. Meanwhile, it’s especially impressive that those young researchers cultivated by the IACS made important contribution to the entire symposium. Many senior scholars, like Professor Hans Ulrich Vogel from the University of Tuebingen in Germany, and Professor Chirtopher P. Atwood from the University of Pennsylvania, highly praisedtheir excellent academic achievements.There is no doubt that sinology is still on the way, but it is heading fora bright future as well.

Written by: Su Lan
Edited by: Xu Liangdi
Source: PKU News(In Chinese)

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