This volume addresses the need to investigate how humanities in universities issues, almost exclusively drawn from Western contexts under the banner of the ever-popular “crisis in the
humanities,” play out in Chinese contexts—those of Hong Kong, Taiwan, and mainland China—in which the humanities may have different social and pedagogical roles. A consideration of contemporary
Chinese contexts will enable people to moderate, and perhaps even refute, claims made in the recent (re)readings of the humanities. Exploring new perspectives arising from an examination of the
humanities in Chinese, this volume aims neither to establish a position of polarity, which would pit Western contexts against Chinese ones, as has recently been done by Jin Li’s book, Cultural
Foundations of Learning: East and West, nor to argue for universal sameness. Rather, the goal is to find nuanced correspondences and differences between these various contexts, so that there is
a greater understanding of the specificities of Chinese contexts. This will help shed light not only the contexts in question, but also potentially on how to rearticulate the importance of the
humanities in Western contexts, creating an intercultural dialogue focused on the humanities. As universities around the world strive to move the Eastern and Western traditions of learning
closer together, it is important that we explore these locations of potential cultural exchange.
