The Center for Jiangnan Culture Studies

The Center for Jiangnan Culture Studies in Zhejiang is an academic and research institution earlier officially named as “Jiangnan Culture Studies” at home and abroad. It was approved as “Social Science Key Research Base in Zhejiang Province” by Zhejiang Social Science Planning Leading Group in March, 2006. Research Characters
The institution introduces literature, philosophy, history, art, sociology, geography, and other multi-disciplinary knowledge into Jiangnan geographical and cultural studies, and establishes three key research directions: Jiangnan literature and art, Jiangnan academic and literature, and Jiangnan cities and society. Based on the core of regional culture in Jiangnan, these three research directions explore the traditional sources and process of modernization of Jiangnan literature and art; reveal the individuality and the meaning of the times of Jiangnan literary and art; collect and collate ancient literature Jiangnan region, research the geographical generation and national significance of Jiangnan academic culture; explore the ancient and modern evolution of the Jiangnan urban development, and analysis of the significance of the inner spirit of the present social and cultural development in Jiangnan. The entire academic research is based on the geographical characters of Jiangnan culture and the overall view of Chinese culture; focuses on the vertical exploration of the ancient origins and horizontal comparison of region and space; emphasizes on the implication in the spirit of traditional culture and the interpretation and construction of the value and significance of contemporary culture. Research Team
The institution mainly absorbs internal and external researchers by project biding. There are a total of 50 full-time researchers, including 28 professors and 39 doctors, 22 of which are under 40. One was selected into the National New Century Talents Project of Ministry of Education, one in “151 Talent Project”, two in the first level, and six in the second level. There are also 6 provincial young college academic leaders. The research team is highly educated and younger. Meanwhile we hire 25 scholars who are rich in academic achievements at home and abroad as part-time researchers from Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Fudan University, East China Normal University and Japan's Gakushuin University. Research Achievements
It has been 4 years since the institution was established.  The full-time researchers are responsible for a major National Social Science Fund Project “The Related Literature and Study of Eastern Zhejiang School Chronicles”, and 13 general projects such as “Zhejiang New Writers Group and 20th Century Chinese Literature”, “Haining Zha's Family Literary Studies”, “Jiangnan Landscape and Generation of Chinese Aesthetic Culture”, “30 Years of Rural Reform and the Yangtze River Delta Regional Economic Transformation”, “Population and Ecological Changes of the Taihu Lake Basin and Social Impact Studies (1851-2005)”, “Cohort Study of Modern Shanghai Newspaper Man”, more than 80 provincial projects such as “Jiangnan Cultural Family Series”, “General History Series Research of Jiangnan Town”, “Jiangnan Cultural History”, “Humanistic Tradition and the Literary Modernization Process of Zhejiang”. The institution also undertakes Jinhua cultural engineering major project Lv Zuqian Complete Works, New Jinhua Series publishes 39 scholarly works and more than 70 papers in CSSCI and above; gets 15 provincial level awards among of which Professor Mei Xinlin’s Chinese Literature Geo-morphological Evolution won the second prize of outstanding scientific research in Humanities and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education, Professor Huang Linggeng’s literature results Lv Zuqian Complete Works was awarded as the first prize of “National Outstanding Ancient Books”, and the grand prize of “East China Ancient Excellent Book”. Research Goals
The main academic goal of the institution is striving to become the two “centers” and one “height”. It means that the institution will become to the academic center for Jiangnan culture studies through gathering research forces and carrying out a major collaborative research project; become to a documentation center for Jiangnan cultural studies through creating distinctive books and information center and “Jiangnan culture network”; create a high level academic research team of national academic competitiveness and influence and make it a talent height for Jiangnan Culture Studies through the effective integration of disciplines and academic innovation .