46 人物專訪 • EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW 澳大新語 • 2024 UMAGAZINE 30 林少陽教授的辦公室藏有逾千本中、日、英文歷史書和古籍 Prof Lin Shaoyang’s office is filled with over a thousand history books and classical texts in Chinese, Japanese, and English Europe and the Americas. The role of Macao is not only crucial for understanding Chinese history from the 16th century onwards, but also indispensable for studying the history of Japan in the 16th and 17th centuries.’ Prof Lin also examines the manifestation of ‘wen’ in international relations since the 16th century, and explores conflicts arising from the breakdown of orders grounded in ‘wen’, thereby tracing the evolution of ‘wen’ within the context of globalisation. He adds, ‘I am writing a book on Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s attempted invasion of Korea as a route to attack the Ming Dynasty. The research process involves consulting Chinese and Portuguese-language literature preserved in Macao.’ Reimagining a Transnational East Asian Tradition After moving to Macao, Prof Lin published his book Postwar and Postmodern Japan: Its Continuities and Discontinuities in August 2023. This is the first work in Chinese, Japanese, or English-language academia that systematically examines the relationship between Japanese intellectual thought after World War II and postmodernism. He is currently adapting the book into an English edition, with plans for a Chinese version to follow. Given the complex nature of Zhang Taiyan’s works, Prof Lin also aims to translate and adapt his research on Zhang into an English monograph, with the goal of introducing this influential thinker to Western scholars. As global history research continues to flourish, Prof Lin explains that he has long explored the relationship between East Asia’s concept of ‘wen’ and European thought from a global historical perspective. ‘I see myself as a scholar of comparative East Asian studies who aims to understand China and its neighbouring regions through a comparative lens. The deeper my research goes, the more I realise that solely replying on a nation-state framework to interpret China is narrow—even unacademic. Much like the Literary Chinese language, pre-Qin culture was a shared tradition across East Asia, yet this tradition was profoundly shaped by early globalisation since the 16th century. I hope to continue examining the significance of “wen” and to situate the traditional values of East Asian culture within today’s globalised world.’ intellectual history, presenting a fresh view distinct from traditional accounts of the 1911 Revolution (Xinhai Revolution). Exploring Macao and East Asian History in the Context of Globalisation In 2022, Prof Lin joined the UM’s Department of History as a Distinguished Professor and took on the role of Head of Academic Programmes and Publications at the UM Institute of Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, where he serves as editor-in-chief of South China Quarterly: Journal of University of Macau. ‘Macao has a connection to my research,’ he explains. ‘In recent years, I have been studying the wars from 1592 to early 1599, when Toyotomi Hideyoshi attempted to invade China in the Ming Dynasty through Korea. This historical episode was intricately connected with Macao. Without the interactions between emerging global trade networks following Europe’s Age of Exploration and the Ming Dynasty’s policy of integrating tribute with trade, the dynamic networks of international commerce would not have developed as they did. And without this backdrop, new urban centres like Amoy (Xiamen) and Macao would not have emerged.’ Prof Lin adds, ‘Macao served as a pivotal hub in global trade networks from the 16th century onwards, directly linking Japan’s Nagasaki with the Philippines, which was then a Spanish colony. Macao also indirectly connected
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