Roel Sterckx shows us that to understand China today we must learn to think Chinese.

Never before has Chinese culture been so physically, digitally, economically or aesthetically present in everyday Western life. But how much do we really know about its origins and key beliefs ? How did the ancient Chinese think about the world ?

Sterckx looks at China's world of ideas and examines questions of leadership, social order, death, nature, and more. He reveals how these ideas shape contemporary China, from table manners at a traditional banquet, to the Chinese obsession with education and family, to the rhetoric of political leaders and the nation's grand strategy. The ancient Chinese have shaped the thinking of a civilization that is now influencing our own.


ABOUT The Speaker

roel Sterckx is a Flemish-British sinologist and anthropologist. Among the foremost experts in Chinese thought, he is Professor of Chinese History, Science, and Civilization at Cambridge University, and a fellow of Clare College. He has held previous posts at National Taiwan University, Wolfson College Oxford, and University of Arizona. He has authored several books on Chinese thought and ancient China, looking at philosophy, literature, history and food culture - helping us to understand the core ideas of Chinese civilisation.


GOOD Reads

chinese Thought: From Confucius to Cook Ding (), Ways of Heaven: an Introduction to Chinese Thought (), Food, Sacrifice, and Sagehood in Early China (), Of Tripod and Palate: Food, Politics, and Religion in Traditional China ().


*Please note that a Covid Safe Ticket is now required in order to attend this event.*