The Tang Research Foundation

The Tang Research Foundation (TRF) is a United States private foundation organized in 1991. The mission of the TRF is to provide support for first-class academic research on all aspects of traditional Chinese history and culture, focused mainly on the Tang dynasty era. This support is provided primarily for activities in China which would not otherwise be funded, although some significant grants have been made to US based institutions.

On an annual basis the TRF publishes Tang Research, the world's leading academic journal of scholarly research on all aspects of Tang dynasty society, history, archeology, and culture. It is a multi-disciplinary journal which publishes research from leading scholars in China, Japan, the United States, and Europe. In 2002 volume eight of Tang Research will be published. Tang Research is edited by Rong Xinjiang, Professor of History at Beijing University. The editorial principles supporting Tang Research have been explicated by Rong Xinjiang in his article "Tang Research" Editorial Policies and Other Objectives, published in Tang Dynasty History Research, 2000, volume 3 (in Chinese).

The TRF also publishes the series Selected Works on the Tang. This is an on-going series of volumes, each of which is a magnum opus work of a renowned Chinese scholar on topics related to Tang society, history, archeology, or culture. Each year anywhere from one to a maximum of three volumes are published. The works to be published are selected at the preceding year's Annual TRF Conference by a vote of the TRF Advisory Committee of senior Chinese scholars. To date, the following books have been published in this series (in chronological order):

Wang Yongxing - Research on Northwest Military Affairs of the Early Tang Dynasty
Zhou Yiliang, Zhao Heping - Research on Tang and Five Dynasties Letter-Writing Models
Zhang Zexian - Research on Tang Dynasty Industry and Commerce
Jiang Boqin - Dunhuang Art, Religion, and Ritual Music Culture
Hu Rulei - Essays on Sui, Tang, and Five Dynasties Social and Economic History
Chen Shangjun - Collected Investigations of Tang Dynasty Literature
Zhang Gong - The History of Han and Tang Buddhist Temple Culture (2 volumes)
Xie Siwei - Collected Essays on Bai Juyi
Hao Chunwen - The Social Life of Dunhuang Monks and Nuns in the Later Tang, Five Dynasties, and Early Song
Wu Yugui - Research on Relations Between the Turkish Kingdom and the Sui and Tang Dynasties
Shi Nianhai - Research on Tang Dynasty Historical Geography
Qi Dongfang - Research on Tang Dynasty Gold and Silver
Ikeda On - Collected Selection of Tang Research Papers
Dong Zhiqiao - Research on the Vocabulary of Ennin's "A Record of a Pilgrimage to China in Search of the Law"
Sun Jimin - A Beginning Exploration of Tang Dynasty Military Documents from Dunhuang and Turfan

On an annual basis the TRF convenes a conference of its Advisory Committee. This is a group of distinguished Chinese scholars from all parts of China who have been elected to the committee by a vote of their peers. Current members of the committee are:

Chen Shangjun Professor Fudan University Chinese Department
Fu Xuancong Professor, China Publishing Bureau
Ge Xiaoyin Professor, Beijing University Chinese Department
Ge Chengyong Professor, Northwest University
Han Wei Director, Shaanxi Archeological Institute
Hu Ji Professor, Shaanxi Normal University History Department
Jiang Boqin Professor, Zhongshan University History Department
Jin Weinuo Professor of Art History, Central Academy of Fine Arts
Li Bincheng Director Sui Tang Song Yuan Research, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Ma Shichang Professor, Beijing University Archeology Department
Qi Dongfang Professor, Beijing University History Department
Rong Xinjiang Professor, Beijing University History Department
Wang Bangwei Dean of Oriental Studies, Beijing University
Wang Binhua Xinjiang Archeology Institute
Wang Kefen Dance Research Institute, Arts Academy of China
Wang Xiaofu Professor, Beijing University History Department
Wang Yao Professor of Tibetology, Central Institute for National Minorities
Wu Zongguo Professor, Beijing University History Department
Xu Pingfang Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Zhang Gong Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Zhang Guogang Director, Nankai University History Department
Zheng Xuemeng Professor, Xiamen University History Department
Zhu Lei Professor, Wuhan University History Department

At each annual conference the TRF Advisory Committee and other selected Chinese scholars meet to discuss various aspects of Tang research, to comment in detail and vote on submissions for publication in the series Selected Works on the Tang, to hear presentations, to visit archeological sites and museums, and to make recommendations for TRF grants for the coming year. Each year the annual meeting is held in a different location. Examples of previous locations include Beijing, Xi'an, Luoyang, and Chengdu.

On an irregular basis the TRF supports projects of special importance to the study of traditional Chinese society, history, archeology, and culture. The scope of these projects must include the Tang dynasty, but may extend beyond it. Requirements for consideration are that the proposed project not have other possible sources of funds, that it be truly significant to the international study of traditional Chinese culture, that it be sponsored by a world renowned institution, and that it involve topflight scholars.

The most notable example was the sponsorship by the TRF in 1998 of the 100th Anniversary of Beijing University Conference on Traditional Chinese Culture. This conference was the largest and most significant gathering of scholars of traditional Chinese culture ever held. Over 300 scholars from around the world participated. As part of the funding, the TRF sponsored the publication of a series of four conference volumes covering philosophy, literature, history, and language. A further four conference volumes were published in 2000 covering additional research into archeology, history, language, and philosophy.

A second notable example was the sponsorship of the 1999 Silk Road archeological excavations at Dulan, Qinghai province. A third notable example was the TRF sponsorship of the 1997 International Academic Discussion Conference on Tang Research, and the publication of two books of papers from that conference.

On two occasions the TRF has made endowment grants to institutions in the United States. The TRF endowed the Harrie Vanderstappen Distinguished Service professorship chair in Chinese Art History at the University of Chicago, as well as accompanying grants for two conferences: Body and Face in Chinese Visual Culture (1998) and Ruins in Chinese Visual Culture (1997).

The TRF has also endowed funds for continuing research into Chinese art history at the Freer/Sackler National Museums of Asian Art in Washington, D.C.

The TRF has supported the publication of many other important scholarly works. Recent examples for which the TRF contributed funding are volume one and volume two of Between Han and Tang, published by the University of Chicago and the Cultural Relics Press in Beijing. The TRF has also funded the publication of many other useful but less significant works, including student publications in China, indices, and other research.

The activities of the TRF in China are managed by Luo Xin, Professor in the History Department of Beijing University. Luo Xin also serves as non-voting chair and secretary of the annual meeting of the TRF Advisory Committee.

The TRF maintains a Chinese language web site at www.tangrf.org. The web site includes information on TRF activities, information on recent work in the field of Tang dynasty studies, downloadable essays by Chinese scholars, indices of Tang Research and Selected Works on the Tang, searchable electronic versions of Tang dynasty source documents, and other selected material.