The December 2021 issue of Chinese Studies will be a special issue entitled “The Negotiations, Divisions and Conjoinings of the Three Teachings” and guest-edited by Hsi-San Lai 賴錫三, professor at the Department of Chinese Literature, National Sun Yat-sen University. Papers may be submitted in either Chinese or English. Submissions in Chinese should not exceed 25,000 characters, and those in English should not exceed 30 pages. Length and style should follow the “Guide for Submissions to Chinese Studies” and “Chinese Studies Stylesheet.”

Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism have served as three central doctrines of Chinese culture, and despite each possessing their own distinguishing features and systems, the “three teachings” have undergone incessant dialectal evolution following historical shifts, a phenomenon characterized by mutual boundary crossing and co-mingling. Situated in the “in between” of doctrines lies the diverse possibilities of “plural forms” of thought. Whether being in competition, operating in mutual harmony, applying geyi  格義 (categorizing or matching concepts), bringing about transformations, differentiating similarities and differences, or possessing bypasses and convergences, the manner of their interactions differs and allows for a multitude of developments. This form of boundary crossing and co-mingling of philosophical différance and proliferation has perhaps evolved into an interwoven state out of competition, or has feasibly become expansive and concordant due to responding to the times. Within the transformative processes brought about by a separation and/or coming together, the “in between” of teachings inevitably produces phenomena brimming with overlap and amalgamations, and the ambiguities of references to one another within the “in between” are precisely the both confounding and alluring paradoxical phenomena produced by “the negotiations, divisions and conjoinings of the three teachings.” This special issue invites scholars to explore any relationship between two or all of the “three teachings” from any historical period or topic, such as notions of ontology during the Wei and Jin dynasties, Buddhism in the Sui and Tang dynasties, or Song-Ming neo-Confucianism, so as to introduce new dialogues concerning Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism. Interested scholars may freely approach their topic from any perspective, including but not limited to the negotiations, arguments, or similarities and differences between the “three teachings,” and may consider multiple angles to depict the variety of relationships found within the “in between” as well as the images of these philosophical negotiations. In this way, this special issue anticipates that by highlighting the interwoven nature of the “three teachings,” their continued and largely unbroken logic and contexts will receive the nuanced attention deserved.

     The deadline for submissions to this issue is Fed. 28, 2021. Please send submissions to us by e-mail at chinesestudies@ncl.edu.tw or by the online manuscript submission website at Please click this link