In 1924, amidst the backdrop of the New Culture Movement in China, Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore embarked on a visit to China, traversing extensively throughout the country. His presence among Chinese intellectuals elicited fervent reactions and became a prominently highlighted chapter in the history of modern Sino-Indian cultural exchanges. Following the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, Premier Zhou Enlai expressed profound appreciation for Tagore’s contributions to literature and the cultural exchanges between China and India. Over the past century since Tagore’s visit to China, cultural exchanges between China and India have greatly increased, with scholarly discussions on Sino-Indian cultural exchange becoming increasingly comprehensive both domestically and internationally. Discussions pertaining to Sino-Indian cultural exchanges have delved deeper within academic circles, yielding a continuous stream of novel insights and achievements.

For over two millennia, China and the Indian subcontinent have shared a longstanding history of exchange in various fields including philosophy, religion, literature, art, economics, and trade. Amidst an unprecedented era of transformation and within the context of globalization, we are confronted with novel issues and challenges as we re-examine the historical trajectory and complex present state of cultural exchange between China and India. However, regardless of the tumultuous shifts in international politics, the cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries remain unstoppable. Therefore, there is considerable potential in conducting in-depth research from a cultural perspective and advancing foundational and prospective efforts to promote mutual learning and exchanges between the civilizations of China and countries in South Asia.

In light of this, the School of Foreign Languages, in collaboration with Research Center of Eastern Literature at Peking University and Center for Global Asia at New York University Shanghai, will jointly host the “A Hundred-Year Retrospective: An International Conference on Rabindranath Tagore’s Visit to China and the Unfolding of China-India Cultural Interactions” from May 17th to May 19th, 2024.