February 2023

GCA Life Fellow Korean Sociologist Professor HAN Sang-Jin engaged in a series of influential academic activities and projects in Beijing and London in 2016, 2017, and 2023. These activities ranged from in-depth field visits to high-level international dialogues, reflecting Professor Han’s contributions to promoting global academic exchange and cultural understanding. This blog will showcase his efforts in strengthening international cooperation and promoting academic sharing between China and the international community, and reveal the hidden strings that were pulled by Professor Li Qiang (1949-2023).

 

In early January, during her trip to Seoul, GCA’s President, Professor Xiangqun Chang, met with GCA Life Fellow Korean sociologist Professor HAN Sang-Jin from Seoul National University, and his wife, Professor Shim Young-Hee from Hanyang University (left photo above), at Dongmyeong. Professor Han, who is also the Chairman of the Joongmin Foundation for Social Theory (JMF) and the Europe–Asia Research Network (EARN). During the COVID-19 pandemic, Professor Han led a research project that conducted three rounds of global survey questionnaires related to COVID-19 and citizens’ lives, covering 33 metropolitan cities in the world.

Professor Shim made suggestions for places of interest that they normally recommended to their academic guests, such as Gyeongbokgung Palace, the Folk Museum, Bukchon Hanok Village, Insadong, and other places. Professor Han immediately arranged for his PhD student, Jiang Meishan (second from the right in the top right photo), to accompany Professor Chang during her visit to Seoul. The photos in the top right and bottom are of Bukchon Hanok Village and Namsangol Hanok Village.

Professor reminisced about their productive field visit to the Qinghe Community (top row of photos) in Beijing in October 2016, alongside Professor Martin Albrow, Founding and Past Honorary President of the Global China Academy (GCA). This visit was organized by the GCA Council’s former Chinese Chair, Professor Li Qiang (1949–2023), who was then the Dean of the School of Social Sciences at Tsinghua University and President of the Chinese Sociological Association. The group photo at the bottom right was taken after Professor Martin Albrow’s lecture. Professor Chang was to Professor Albrow’s left, Professor Li was to his right, and Professor Han was to Professor Li’s left. The title of Albrow’s lecture was ‘The Challenge of Transculturality for the USA and China’, which was published in China’s Role in a Shared Human Future: Towards Theory for Global Leadership, by Martin Albrow and published by Global Century Press, London, in 2018.

At the 4th Global China Dialogue ‘the Belt and the Road: Transcultural Cooperation for Shared Goals’ in 2017, Professor Han presented a paper titled ‘A Cosmopolitan Interpretation of Fei Xiaotong’s Study of Chinese Culture: How Companies Can Work for the Cultural Project of the Belt and Road’ at Panel III, ‘What are the theoretical and legal bases of the B&R?’ The plenary panelists from left to right in the top right photo are: Dr Linda Yueh CBE, Fellow in Economics at St. Edmund Hall, Oxford University, and Adjunct Professor of Economics at London Business School; Dr Xiaobai Shen, Senior Lecturer in International and Chinese Business at the University of Edinburgh Business School; Dr Yuka Kobayashi, Lecturer in China and International Politics, SOAS, University of London; Professor Han; Professor Jiaming Sun, Professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at Texas A&M University-Commerce, USA; and Dr Tan Khee Giap, Co-Director of the Asia Competitiveness Institute (ACI) and Associate Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore (Panel Chair). The photos in the bottom row from left to right show Professor Xiangqun Chang in conversation with Professor Han at the British Academy during the Dialogue, and with Professor Han and Professor Shim at King’s College London at the Post-Dialogue workshop: Chinese for Social Science (CSS) at King’s College London on December 2. The second photo from the left in the bottom right features Professor Ann Lee, an adjunct professor at New York University, an internationally recognized leading authority on China’s economic relations, and the CEO of Coteri, USA, jointed the conversation.

While in London, Professor Han and Professor Shim conducted an interview with Professor Lord Anthony Giddens, their third interview with Giddens over the past three decades. These interviews were all published in Confucianism and Reflexive Modernity (2019). From the book title and the author’s name, people might assume it was written by Chinese, especially since the concept of ‘modernization’ has been a keyword in social sciences discourse in China, whereas the world has been using globalization in different forms. Professor Han said that his work was influenced by Giddens’s two early books, The Consequences of Modernity (1990) and Modernity and Self-Identity (1991), and by Ulrich Beck’s books on risk, such as Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity (1992) and Reflexive Modernization (1994).  
Han’s book critiques the Asian Value Debate paradigm and advocates for a balance between individual empowerment and community flourishing within the framework of a global risk society, from an enlightened post-Confucianism perspective.

During the meeting in Seoul, Professor Chang told Professor Han that she would visit China in April. Professor Han also planned to visit China in April. They agreed in principle that they should meet again at Tsinghua University if their schedules allowed. On the morning of April 20th, Professor Han and Professor Chang joined a meeting at the Department of Sociology, Tsinghua University. Dr ZHENG Lu chaired the meeting. He is the Deputy Head and Associate Professor of the Department of Sociology and the ‘Rong’ Professor of Data Sciences at Tsinghua University. From left to right in the top right photo are: Dr ZHENG Lu, Professor Chang, Professor LI Qiang, Professor Han, Dr ZHANG Yizhang from the Department of Sociology, and Dr CHEN Yulin from the School of Architecture. In this photo, everyone clenched their fists, a gesture suggested by Professor Han, to express a determination to collaborate among the three parties. This sentiment was echoed in his video greetings at the GCA’s founding ceremony, as presented by Professor LI Qiang (click here to watch). Shortly afterwards, Professor Li waved goodbye to everyone, and Dr Zhao accompanied him as they disappeared from our sight (in the two bottom photos)—a farewell that became eternal……

Note: The photos and text below were updated following Professor Li Qiang’s passing in December 2023.

On 12 December, Professor Xiangqun Chang shared the aforementioned memorial webpage with Professor Han Sang-jin of Sociology from Seoul National University. Immediately, Professor Han set up a small altar at his home to honour the memory of Professor Li Qiang, placing a bunch of white chrysanthemums in front to symbolize his distant remembrance. Furthermore, he held a funeral parlor open all day on Saturday at his institute on the December 16 when LI Qiang’s farewell ceremony was held in Babaoshan, Beijing. He also forwarded us his memorial article written in English. The Chinese-translated version has been published on the Tsinghua University website. The photo on the bottom right, showing the farewell ceremony hall for Li Qiang, was received from Professor Han Sang-jin. This gesture of remembrance and respect from colleagues and friends underscores the profound impact Professor Li had on those around him.

Professor Xiangqun Chang’s reflections on conversations with Professor HAN Sang-Jin, from Seoul to Beijing and then to London, alongside the commemorative gestures in memory of Professor Li Qiang, weave a tapestry of academic solidarity, respect, and mutual learning. The enduring legacy of scholars like Professor Li Qiang, remembered through acts of remembrance and the continuing dialogue among academics, echoes the spirit of global collaboration and intellectual curiosity that defines the Global China Academy. These narratives, captured in photographs, lectures, and shared memories, continue to inspire and guide the path toward a more interconnected and understanding global academic community.

• Click here to view the page ‘Global China Academy’s President Professor Xiangqun Chang’s Academic Activities in Beijing,18-20 April 2023’.
• Click here to view the page ‘The Chinese Chair of the Global China Aacademy Council, Professor LI Qiang, passed away on the 12 December, 2023’.
• Click here to watch a video of Professor LI Qiang’s greeting for the launch of the Global China Academy as an academy at the 7th Global China Dialogue, on December 10th, 2021, at the British Academy.
• Click here to visit the GCA news & Blog section.