Variants and Variance of Written ArtefactsCollaboration with National Taiwan University to be continued

5 November 2021

Photo: National Taiwan University

In close cooperation with CSMC, the National Taiwan University organised and hosted an international conference on ‘Variants/Variance – Text, Form and Material’, which took place from 23-24 October.

The two-day hybrid event provided an attempt at broadening the perspective on the notions of ‘variant’ and ‘variance’ in written artefacts, not only in terms of textual variants but also in terms of visual organisation and material features. Talks covered 3000 years of history, from Shang to Qing dynasty, and addressed a variety of written artefacts such as oracle-bone inscriptions, bronze inscriptions, seals, bamboo-strip manuscripts, paper manuscripts, calligraphy model books, and more.

Overall, researchers from seven countries participated in the conference, including Taiwan, China, Japan,  South Korea, the US, France, and Germany. Keynote speeches were delivered by Hsu Fu-Chang (Taipei) and Michael Friedrich (Hamburg), who also participated in a roundtable discussion on the future of and international cooperation in the study of manuscripts and manuscript cultures. From CSMC, Ondrej Skrabal, Thies Staack, and former member Zhenzhen Lu (now NYU) were also involved in the conference.

The connection between CSMC and NTU has existed since 2019, when a Taiwanese delegation visited Hamburg. Participants of the conference at NTU are currently exploring the possibility of further deepening the cooperation. Among other things, plans for a follow-up event in Hamburg next year are in the pipeline.