On the afternoon of March 12nd, Jiyuan Haoren, the professor of the College of Literal Arts in Waseda University and the head of the Institute of Religious Culture in Japan, was appointed as the guest professor of the CFL and gave a lecture at the lecture hall in the College of Foreign Language. The lecture was jointly organized by the EACSC of the CFL in Nankai University and China Branch of International Conference on Comparative Culture in East Asia. The participants were Zou Yujie, secretary of the Party Committee of the College; Yan Guodong, president of the College; Wang Kai, vice president of the College; Han Lihong, the dean of Japanese Department; Liu Yuebing, the president of Japan Institute; and altogether over 100 students and teachers from the Japanese Department, Japan Institute and Tianjin Foreign Studies University. The opening ceremony was hosted by Liu Yuzhen, the chairman of China Branch of International Conference on Comparative Culture in East Asia and the professor of the Japanese Department.
Before the lecture, the leaders of the CFL was hobnobbing with Pro. Jiyuan in the conference room. Both Mrs. Zou and Pro. Yan extended their gratitude to Pro. Jiyuan for a visit to Nankai University on a warm spring day. And they hoped that the splendid lectures given by Pro. Jiyuan were a start for the long-term and friendly partnership.
“Nankai University is a renowned university with a long history. During the lecture, I’ve been aware of the friendly relation between the students and teachers and a motivated learning atmosphere. If possible, I’d like to share my academic research with the students.”Pro. Jiyuan responded.
The appointment ceremony was held at 4pm in the lecture hall of the CFL. Pro. Liu first gave a brief introduction to Pro. Jiyuan and his academic achievements, and then Pro. Yan granted him the letter of appointment and gave a speech. Pro. Yan said, “We are honored to invite Pro. Jiyuan as the guest professor of our college. Though withou the title ‘Family Professor’, we are still a family of one. I convince you that we will remain to be in a friendly relationship like a family.”
Pro. Jiyuan acknowledged the greeting, “ Nankai University has long ago been attached to Waseda University. Since 1984, following Peking University in 1982, we have set up university partnership with Nankai University--one of the four key universities that exchanged school programs in the 1980s. I do hope that I am considered as the bridge for the communication between the two schools.”Pro. Jiyuan gifted his new books “ Mount. Heng in Hunan and the Belief of Prince Shyotoku”( BENSEI.JP, June 2018 ) to The CFL.
Later, Pro. Jiyuan delivered a speech--“The Flying Dharma and Prince Shyotoku--An Explanation of the Stories about the Reincarnation in the Biography of Princes”--the second lecture on Buddhism and Japanese Culture. He first gave a brief introduction to the Prince Shyotoku and a detailed depiction of the stories and the geography of Mount. Heng with vivid pictures and intriguing language. Later, more attention was paid to Hui Si’s encounter (a monk in Northern and Southern Dynasty) with Dharma and the reincarnation among Hui Si, Dharma and Prince Shyotoku. At the end of the lecture, he showed his arguments about when to go on a pilgrimage for Buddhist scriptures
Pro. Jiyuan was greeted with warm applauds from students and teachers because of the vivid pictures, inspiring stories and a world-wide vision. The lecture was rewarding for students and teachers to broad the academic horizon and enlarge the knowledge. In the end, acknowledgement was again given to Pro. Jiyuan for the extraordinary lecture.
