A Brief Introduction to the Chinese Poetry Research Center of Anhui Normal University

The Chinese Poetry Research Center of Anhui Normal University was founded in 2000. It was ratified by Ministry of Education in March 2001as one of the key bases of humanities and social sciences research of the ten province-managed universities.

Since its establishment in 2000, our research center has made great achievements on literature research ( including historical and regional literature), theoretical study, poets and poems investigation and so on, in line with the principle of attaching equal importance to both literature research and theoretical study, paying attention to the belletristic essence of poetics, adhering to historical materialism, and absorbing multidisciplinary theoretical methods to advance conversion of the traditional poetics to modern one and serve regional social economic and cultural construction. Some important academic papers have been published such as “Some Questions about the Studies on Summoning the Spirit” , “Li Po and Yangtze River”, “Probing into the Doctrine of ‘Three Poets by the Surname Li’”, “The Influence of Fu Upon the Poetic Creation of Li Shangyin”, “On the Studies of Li Bai and Du Fu in the 20th Century and Their Difference”, “Zhang Yue, Zhang Jiuling and the Poetic Style in Kaiyuan Period”, “Emperor Xuanzong's Zeal for Taoism and Poetry Writing at the Zenith of the Tang Dynasty”, “Li Linfu and the Poetic Circles in the High Tang Period”, “On the Excellent Straightforward Style of Writing of Li Shangyin”, “A Criticism on the Writings and the Late Life of Wen Tingjun”, “On the Literary Characteristics of the Jin Dynasty”, and “On the Creative Works of the Southern Song Dynasty’s Literati who were on mission to the Jin Dynasty”. The Center also has had some books published. Those books have become quite influential. They are as follows: “A Compendium of the Works on the Songs of Chu”, “Poetics and Art in the Book of Songs and Li Sao”, “ Poetics and Philosophy of Wei and Jin Dynasties”, “ Style and Features of Tang Poetry”(revised and enlarged), “ Annalistic Annotations of Li Shangyin’s works”, “Collected Annotations of Li Shangyin’s Poetry”( revised and recomposed), “Corpus of Data on Li Shangyin”, “ Critical Biography of Li Shangyin”, “The History of Reception of Li Shangyin’s Poems”, “ Revisions and Annotations of Entire Tang Poetry” (co-authored), “The Art Realm is Endless----Hypotheses of Zong Baihua’s Aesthetic Ideology”, “The Outline of the Ci of Tang and Song Dynasties”, “Construction of the Ideology on the Ci in Late Qing Dynasty and Early Republic of China”, “A Study of the Poems of Pi Rixiu and Lu Guimeng”, “ Lives and Mentalities of the Men of Letters in the Late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties”, “A Study of the Dialectal Sounds in Central Shaanxi in the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties”, “ A Collection of Articles on Huang Tingjian”, “ A Study of the Literature of the Jin Dynasty”, “A Study of the Ci of the Jin and Yuan Dynasties”, “ Annotations of ‘Essays of Wang Ruoxu, a Survival of the Past Dynasty in HuNan’”, “A Study of Xu Xueyi’s Poetic Thoughts”, “ The Leading Tide of Chinese New Poetry”, “ An Outline of the Theories on Chinese New Poetry”, “ A Study of Chinese Poetics in the 20^th Century”, and “Anhui, a Province of Poetic Charm”. Reflecting the orientation of the methods and scope of the Center’s research, these academic achievements have made a contribution to the advancement of Chinese poetry research at the beginning of the century. The research series on Li Shangyin, represented by “ Annalistic Annotations of Li Shangyin’s Works” and “Collected annotations of Li Shangyin’s Poetry”( revised and recomposed), are the milestone achievements of the research center.

    In the past five years, our center has won the National Book Award once, two first prizes of the Best Achievements for National Ancient Books Collation, three first prizes, one secondary prize and four third prizes of the Best Achievements for Social Sciences in Anhui Province, one first prize of the Book Award in Anhui Province, and one first prize of the Best Achievements for Humanities and Social Sciences among universities and colleges in Anhui Province. After the establishment of our center, we have undertaken more than 30 research projects supported by administrations at provincial and ministerial level and above, seven of which are from the National Social Science Fund, seven from the Humanities and Social Science Program of the Ministry of Education and eight from the Committee of National Universities for the Classical Literature Studies.

Our staff have had tens of essays published in well-known domestic magazines such as Social Sciences in China, Literary Review, Literary Heritage, Literature and Art Studies, Literature and History, Journal of Chinese Literature and History, Journal of Peking University, Series in Literary Criticism, and Studies in Sinology. we have published Academic Book Series of the Chinese Poetry Research Center of Anhui Normal University and Appreciation Book Series of the Chinese Poetry Research Center of Anhui Normal University which include more than ten books. What’s more, more than 20 other publications have also come out.

Our center was developed from two institutes of Anhui Normal University ---the Institute of Ancient Books Collation and the Literary Institute. The Chinese major in our university boasts a long history of 80 years and is one of the earliest universities which were accredited to offering master’s degree. At present, our center has one doctoral program (Ancient Chinese Literature) and four master programs. Our staff form the mainstay of the subject field of Ancient Chinese Literature in Anhui Normal University, which is a key discipline at provincial level.

Our center includes five research offices, one reference room with about 200,000 paper books on Chinese poetry in it and a website named Chinese Poetry, the address of which is http://www.shixue.net. Among the five research offices, one specializes in poetry from the Pre-Qin Dynasty to the Six Dynasties; one specializes in poetry in Sui Dynasty and Tang Dynasty as well as modern poetry; another in contemporary poetry; still another in poetic theory and poetic reception history; and the last one in poetic language. We have founded an academic yearly periodical, named Studies in Chinese Poetry, in the form of books and five issues of it have been published by the Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House. Besides, we have set up a restricted publication, A Window to Poetry. Apart from these, we also run the special column of Chinese Poetry on the Journal of Anhui Normal University jointly with the editing office of the magazine,  and at the same time operate a large academic journal, Ancient Books Studies jointly with the Ancient Books Office of Anhui Province.

The Chinese Poetry Research Center of Anhui Normal University has a perfect academic echelon, which is a three-in-one combination of the old, the middle-aged and the young researchers with senior professional titles and high academic credentials. Our center has not only some experts on Tang Poetry like Mr. Liu Xuekai and Mr. Yu Shucheng, who enjoy a high reputation both at home and abroad, but also a few famous experts on Chu Ci like Prof. Pan Xiaolong. Besides, our center also has some young and energetic scholars, two of whom are specially hired Anhui Wanjiang Scholarship professors. At present, we have 16 full-time researchers (15 from Anhui Normal University and 1from another university), among whom there are 13 full professors, 2 associate professors and 7 doctors; we have 7 part-time researchers (1 from Anhui Normal University and 6 from some other schools), among whom there are 4 full professors , 2 associate professors and 3 doctors).

Our center has conducted wide-ranging academic exchanges. More than 10 academic symposiums, either international or national, have been held at our center, and quite a few scholars at home and abroad have been invited to stay for a certain period of time and do research at our center. The researchers of our center have also lectured or paid a visit for many times in the U.S.A, Australia, Germany, Italy, Thailand, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Our center emphasizes the combination of scientific research and teaching. Currently, the center has an enrollment of over 120 new students, including 20 PhD candidates, 1 post-doctoral student, and more than 100 postgraduates. More than 80 postgraduate students have attained a master’s degree from this center since 2001.

Our center engages Mr. Fu Xuancong, a famous scholar, as the Director of the Academic Committee, who is an ex-secretary-general of the Leading Group for Ancient Books Collation of the State Council, ex-senior-editor of Zhonghua Books Company, and president of the Society of  Literature of Tang Dynasty. The center hires Mr. Yu Shucheng as the Vice Director of the Academic Committee. Engaged as members of the Academic Committee are Prof. Mo Lifeng ( PhD. Advisor of the Chinese Department and the disciplinary leader of ancient Chinese literature of Nanjing University), Prof. Zhong Zhenzhen (PhD. Advisor of College of Literature and the disciplinary leader of ancient Chinese literature of Nanjing Normal University) and Prof. Deng Xiaojun (PhD. Advisor of College of Literature of Capital Normal University).

As a key base of humanities and social sciences research jointly established by Anhui Province and the Ministry of Education, the research center is trying to increase its strength. In the meantime, we also hope to strengthen academic exchange and cooperation with scholars at home and abroad. Welcome to our research center or its website. Let’s make joint efforts to revitalize the research of Chinese poetry and bring out the prosperity of poem writing.

The organizational structure of the Chinese Poetry Research Center of Anhui Normal University is as follows: Prof. & PhD. Advisor Yu Shucheng is Honorary Director, Prof. & PhD. Advisor Ding Fang is Director, Prof. & PhD. Advisor Hu Chuanzhi is Executive Deputy Director, and Prof. & PhD. Advisor Pan Xiaolong is Deputy Director.