《神州交流》Chinese Cross Currents

Editorial

Vol. 4, No. 1, January 2007

On January 20th 2007, Chinese Cross Currents passed the third anniversary of its beginning as a bilingual Chinese-English quarterly journal. Its focus has been on crossing streams of thought, social issues and cultural events in China and other contemporary worlds. Accordingly, the Editorial Committee thought that it was time to evaluate the efforts made from the start of the publication and to examine how, in the future, they can be still more fruitful.

In the past three years, each issue of the journal has had a special theme. These have tried to span some of the more pressing issues in our societies. ‘Spiritual quest in modernity' was the focus of the first issue (on Culture and Religion), which gave to the quarterly a kind of general orientation. It was to stress that the need for spiritual values in these times would not be overlooked. It was not meant to be exclusive of other aspects of modern life, be they in China or elsewhere, as the other following themes can testify: Literature and Society; Culture, Art and Society; Population Issues: The Chinese; Culture, Law and Order; Success and Values; Education and Society; Living in Harmony; Tourism and Culture; History and Memory; The Rural Majority; Psychoanalysis in China.

But for some of our readers, the Editorial Committee felt that the advantages of focusing on one main theme in each issue would be increased by offering some broader and contrasting perspectives on the expression of present day cultural life, particularly as far as cultural life in China is concerned. In so doing, the various expectations of the readers, who live in very diverse cultural milieus, would be better fulfilled. At the same time, the specificity and the research orientations of the Macau Ricci Institute would also, naturally, be enhanced.

In order to reach this goal, the Committee has deemed it necessary, without abandoning any scholarly and academic quality, to adapt Chinese Cross Currents to a broader and more varied format. Here are some of the tenets of this change in the editorial policy.

  • First of all, the main objective of Chinese Cross Currents is, as before, to give a platform to the expression of present Chinese cultural trends. That is why each issue will have one or two contributions that give a voice to some of these trends, no matter if they are related directly or indirectly to present day Chinese studies.

  • To broaden the platform just mentioned, each issue will comprise several sections relevant to various concerns of which the following categories have been selected: world, society, arts and letters, history and culture, thought and spirituality, debates and features, and reviews (books, films, plays, exhibitions, etc.). The content of some sections will vary, on an irregular basis, in order to widen or deepen the relevance of Chinese Cross Currents ' offerings.

  • These sections are meant to debate or reflect contrasting views, ideally having one contribution by a Chinese author and a second by a foreigner or vice versa. As before, both will appear in Chinese and in English.

  • Contributions that emphasise the humanities will have priority: Chinese and other traditions have fostered various human values that deserve to be presented through cultural exchange in order to be better known, which is in line with the spiritual and scientific traditions inherited by this Institute, which bears the name of Matteo Ricci.

  • Accordingly, the reviews section at the end of each issue will solicit scholarly and academic publications and will be open to the expression of literary, dramatic, musical or visual arts, early or modern, as they are presented to the general public.
The Editorial Committee is deeply aware that these new editorial policies will require a great deal of concentration and synergy. This is all the more true if we intend to provide some continuity and development throughout the four issues planned for each year. That is why active participation by readers and their valuable contributions will be welcome.

This Committee is, therefore, counting on concerned readers, scholars, experts and opinion makers to make this new endea2008-02-21f their research and observations, or to recommend possible authors for the various themes that our restructured publication could encompass in its future development.

The challenges are great, but the Committee remains confident, as in the previous years, that the envisioned goals are worth a common effort.

Yves Camus, Director