News Notes

NEWS NOTES First National Conference on Tang Poetry Held in Xian. The Chinese Department of Shanxi Normal University P1t\!) S~K recently played host to 170 Tang scholars from over 100 institutes throughout China in the First National Conference on Tang Poetry. The meeting took place in May 1982. Among the 88 papers presented were those by leading Tang scholars such as Chene Qianfan ~l1-tJllt, Chen Erdonvi- , I I ~ , Wu Diaogong * tA J ~ , Hu tzJ.:. ~ Guorui t i j ~J~~hu Wu tt fti1., and Jin Qihua ~ -bx.~. Professor ~ichael B. Fish of the University of Oregon also attended. * * * * Methods for Stud in Tang Literature 3Z ~ Iif, 6 founded ~n Xian. A joint conferen e--summoned y ~4senior scholars--on Tang literature also met last spring in Xian. Over 180 scholars from 100 different organizations attended. Following the establishment of a National Association, various questions--including the improvement of cooperation between scholars in different fields (literature and history, for example)--wer~discussed. Officers were elected--Professor Xiao Tifei ~~~qF(Shandong University) is the president; Cheng Qianfan (Nanjing University) is one of the vice-presidents. Mrs. An Qi Ge of the Chinese Department at Northwestern University \fu:iG~~is the secretary-general. * * * * Fifth Midwest Seminar on Chinese Arts' Focus on T'ang Culture. On November 5th and 6th (1982) scholars from several universities met at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for two days of formal lectures and informal discussions of T'ang culture. Professor Howard Wechsler (University of Illinois) was the keynote speaker: "The Politics of Jade and Silk: Ritual and Symbol in the Formation of the T'ang Dynasty." A panel on T'ang literature featured Professor Richard Bodman (St. Olaf College) on "Psychology and Satire in 'Ying-ying chuan,'" Professor Charles Hartman (SUNY-Albany) on "Han Yli(768-824) and the Buddhists: A Reassessment," and Professor Pauline 40 Yu (University of Minnesota) on "Turns and Terms in T'ang Poetics." * * * * Second Annual Meeting of the T'ang Studies Society. The second annual meeting will take place as a part of the Annual Association for Asian Studies Meeting in San Francisco next March. For further details seethe Program for the meeting. * * * * Results of Election for Board of Directors. Forty-two ballots were cast and Professors E. G. Pulleyblank, E. Schafer, and D. Twitchett were elected to the Board of Directors, T'ang Studies Society. 41 ...