44 人物專訪 • EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW 澳大新語 • 2024 UMAGAZINE 30 a master’s degree at Jilin University. While his roommate was in the Philosophy Department and Prof Lin was studying literature, he felt increasingly sceptical of the rigid boundaries within ‘literature’ as a discipline. His interests spanned literature, history, and philosophy, with his research taking on an intellectual history focus. Exploring the Intellectual History of Japan Prof Lin furthered his education at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Tokyo (UTokyo), where he later taught for many years. ‘Post-war Japanese society was profoundly affected by American culture, yet intellectuals looked to French and German thought, viewing America’s influence as embedded within Japan’s own state power structure,’ he reflects. His mentor, Prof Yoichi Komori, was one of these intellectuals. A leading figure among Japan’s anti-establishment thinkers, Prof Komori adopted a broad view of ‘literature’ as a lens through which to study Japan’s modern history. Prof Lin recalls the frequent in-depth discussions with prominent Japanese intellectuals like Komori during his years studying and teaching in Japan. For an intellectual historian, he notes, this experience was akin to anthropological fieldwork—an invaluable asset for his research. ‘The discussions also inspired me to explore the relationship between “wen” in East Asian traditions and intellectual life.’ Prof Lin regards ‘wen’ as a kind of ‘religion’ without God for intellectuals in the Sinitic sphere, and his research on Japanese thought focuses on the late 17th to early 18th-century Edo period and post-war 20th-century Japan. Wen: An Encompassing Concept Prof Lin describes himself as a typical scholar of modern intellectual history, although his definition of ‘modern’ starts in the late 16th century, in contrast to the conventional interpretation. His fascination with the East Asian concept of ‘wen’ dates back to his early academic years, initially sparked by his perplexity over its decline in the modern era—a focus of his doctoral dissertation. ‘The concept of “wen” traces back to the pre-Qin era. For example, The Analects is rich with discussions of “wen”, covering what we would now refer to as literature, history, philosophy, and language. The early 6th-century work Wen Xin Diao Long (The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons) even described the natural world—mountains, rivers, flora, and fauna—as where the shelves are packed with over a thousand volumes in Chinese, Japanese, and English, Prof Lin reflects, ‘My parents were both secondary school teachers. They had an exceptional ability to recognise potential in their students and encouraged me to pursue the humanities from an early age.’ In 1977, the National College Entrance Examination (gaokao) was reinstated in mainland China. Prof Lin took the exam in 1979 at the age of 15. Shortly before the exam day, he came across a Chinese-Japanese dictionary. ‘I noticed the use of Chinese characters, which are known as “kanji”, in the Japanese language and became very curious about it. This curiosity sparked my interest in studying Japan. China and Japan are both part of the Sinitic sphere, sharing a cultural foundation yet remaining distinct. I began to wonder: beyond the conflicts we often heard about, what other connections existed between the two nations throughout history?’ This question led him to begin learning Japanese, intertwining his curiosity about Japan with reflections on China. ‘I view East Asia as a unified sphere. My research about China and Japan has always begun from an East Asian framework that transcends national borders. Of course, this East Asia is also situated within the broader context of global history,’ Prof Lin explains. An Academic Journey From Xiamen to Tokyo Prof Lin went on to study in the Department of Foreign Languages at Xiamen University (formerly called Amoy University), where he was taught by Hideo Mori, a University of Tsukuba graduate and scholar of pre-Qin Chinese philosophy. The late Prof Mori was dedicated to teaching. He invited Prof Lin and a few other top students to participate in discussions at his home every week, giving them an early taste of master’s-level academic training in their fourth year of undergraduate studies. ‘I had been sceptical of the rigid structure of academic disciplines during my university years. Driven by intense curiosity, I learned Japanese within a year or two. With Prof Mori’s guidance, I began exploring East Asian history and culture in my third and fourth years, without being affected by the constraints of conventional academic boundaries. My rapid academic progress owes much to Prof Mori’s mentorship, for which I remain grateful to this day.’ By this time, Prof Lin had been committed to pursuing an academic career. He went on to pursue
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NzM0NzM2