Taipei, Aug. 2 (CNA) Tang Prize laureate in Sinology Jessica Rawson called on people from different cultures to not prioritize their own interests over others so as to better understand each other and the world, in a lecture delivered in Taipei on Wednesday.
Rawson, a British art historian and honorary research associate at Oxford University'sSchool of Archaeology, was presented with the 2022 Tang Prize in Sinology for hercontributions to the study of Chinese art and archaeology on Tuesday.
Speaking about the journey that led to her becoming a sinologist which started withstudying Chinese, Rawson recalled in her acceptance speech on Tuesday that she wasconstantly told "not to bother" because China was far away and the language wasdiffi cult.
Rawson said that most of the world knows very little about China, its history, literature,material culture, and it is about time that they learned a lot more.
"I hope people don't tell others now that it's a waste of time to study Chinese. I've beentold that so many times, and it's really a wrong direction," she said.
Having visited China over 100 times, Rawson said she has been immensely fortunate totravel to many hidden places particularly over large areas in northern China, where mostEuropeans or Westerners never reach, thanks to the help of many Chinese archaeologistsand historians.
For people who live in the West, and who listen only to news, newsreels and so on, Chinaseems far away, said the 80-year-old fellow of the British Academy.
"It is very important that cultures and peoples of other lands learn about China andrecognize its enormous scope, its enormous history, and its many diff erentcharacteristics, its formidable language, its amazing literature, and its long, longhistory," Rawson said in her acceptance speech.
In Wednesday's lecture, Rawson used bronze banqueting vessels and golden belts to talkabout her views of how China formed its culture, and how it relates comparatively to theWestern world.
"A lot of art history, anthropology and understanding of China is based on Western ideas.And I want to suggest that we should look more closely at China and see how its viewsand ideas are constructed," Rawson said.
Rawson's lecture highlighted such environmental factors as climate, ecology, geographyand the geological dynamics that predetermined the matrix of China's civilization, saidDavid Wang (王德威), an Academia Sinica academician.
Rawson went on to talk about the human factors which enact or enable the possibility ofcontact and communication between people of diff erent continents, regions, areas,cultures and civilizations, said Wang, who serves as chairman of Tang Prize selectioncommittee for Sinology.
At a press conference, Rawson emphasized the importance of a comparative approach inresearching diff erent cultures to better understand the world as a whole.
Asked about Taiwan, Rawson said Taiwan has been an important player in thedistribution of jade from the north to the south, because the use of jade continuessouthwards to the Philippines, adding that she will be interested to see very early jadeartifacts when she visits the Southern Branch of the National Palace Museum later this think if we wanted to understand Taiwan better, we would also have to look deeper intothe Pacifi c," she said.
"I very much admire Taiwan for its role in the world. And I hope very much you continueas you are," Rawson said.
(By Shih Hsiu-chuan)
