Editors’ Notes: The establishment of the College of Transcultural Studies in Beijing Normal University has taken a relatively long time in the preparation of the construction of discipline. During its preparation, Professor Yue Daiyun, Chinese pioneer in the transcultural studies and a group of well-known scholars home and abroad either write books or receive media interviews to express their ideas on the background, research subject, features of the subject and its scope in higher education. In the initial issue of the journal, we collect their ideas on the transcultural studies to share with readers. Our aim is to enhance the communication with counterparts to improve the construction of the excellent Chinese culture and encourage dialogues among world cultures.(Sources: People’s Daily, November 5, 2015, State Council Information Office of The People Republic of China, September 14, 2016, Series of Transcultural Studies published by Encyclopaedia of China Publishing House, 2016 – 2017， NW Journal of Ethnology,Vol.1,2017)

It is the duty of every modern man to promote dialogues, avoid conflicts, form new concepts of the universe and life, and participate in the construction of the communal ethics of the existence of the 21st century to bridge the gap between the elite and the mass. Transcultural theory and methodology lie in the frontier of such pioneer research.

Chinese culture is different from western culture. One can not explain the phenomenon of others in its own perspective. To interprete the features of Chinese culture, one has to understand it from the phenomenon in the Chinese culture.

The value of the BNU International Workshop of Transcultural Studies is that we can understand in what perspective foreign sinologists view Chinese culture so that we can provide related interpretation in our communication to accurately introduce the excellent Chinese culture. Without the dialogue, one can never know what others have in their mind, and what other countries would do and what we should do. There are two principles in the transcultural studies. One is to let the academic elites from other countries understand Chinese culture correctly, and the other is to draw proper conclusions from the transcultural studies.

A new world pattern arises in the 21st century with brand-new dimensions, and it is necessary to integrate the Chinese elements in it. China is embracing the world and exerting its influence on it while changing itself. It promotes the world while developing itself. Naturally, it is a process of transcultural communication when China transforms and encounters the integration with the world under the open policy. To foresee the direction of the communication, the question is whether the positive Chinese elements are sustainable. The answer depends on further understanding of Chinese culture and spirit, and the retrospection of the Chinese culture awareness in the globalization. Meanwhile, we understand that the starting point of the transcultural studies in China is the professional research of comparative literature and comparative culture; however, the research involves more disciplines such as history, philosophy, esthetics, political science, sociology, folkloristics, philology and the study of Chinese characters. The critical thinking concerns “the comprehension of the thoughts and actions of our times”, the ethical principles of local and global management. It includes both the new social collaborative strategy and the citizen responsibilities. Therefore, we need a new concept to conduct global, national and social management, which is “we live interdependently with other creatures in the world.”

There should be a warning in the research of historical literature when we conduct the transcultural studies, which is the awareness of “the closer, the further away”. With such alertness, one can be free from the distractions and go alone the right path with the guidance of the star.

The transcultural studies should be conducted in Chinese way. Most countries such as France, the USA, Russia and etc. are conducting the transcultural studies with specific features of their own. So far, we have not formed any schools in the transcultural studies in China, but it has to be done with Chinese features. When Professor Zhong Jingwen was alive, he put forward the notion of forming Chinese folkloristics. He said clearly and firmly that Chinese folkloristics should not be a branch of folkloristics of other countries. We need to pay close attention to the special features of China indeed. The starting point, subject and support in the transcultural studies should be our national culture.

There are three traditional liberal subjects involved in the BNU International Workshop of Transcultural Studies: Chinese folkloristics, studies of Chinese characters and Chinese philology, which all focus on the exploration of scientific methodology. Only with the right methodology can we convey the dialogues on a platform that promotes the academic standard of “maintaining the self and understanding the other” among thoughts and academy from different subjects and cultural backgrounds.

To construct the transcultural folkloristics can promote the visibility of advanced Chinese culture in the transcultural studies. It also helps with the two-way communication between the small amount of the elites and the ordinary peace-loving people from different countries so that both parties can participate in the construction of positive culture. People has long been the subject of the transcultural dialogues and communication. Scholars have to work closely with the ordinary people to conduct the transcultural dialogues equally to reach win-win results.

“Folklore” is a cultural concept broader than “religion” and other terminologies. It includes wedding ceremony, funeral, social organizations, and even economic activities. It can be safely said that folklore exists in every corner of the daily life. Religion also has folklore, same as economy.

The construction of the transcultural studies should have a guidance, which is to promote the advanced Chinese culture. Chinese culture has always been inclusive, attractive and thrilling. It has to be admitted that we have not done adequate research recently (or in the last 50 years). No matter in the material area or the spiritual area, our research capability needs improvement.

When we conduct the transcultural studies as Chinese, we should discuss other cultures in the Chinese perspective, such as Indian culture and European culture. The history of Indian culture is relatively long, and it has been at least 2000 years since the Chinese culture interacts with Indian culture first. The cultural interaction between China and India can be a model example: Both countries enjoy primitive civilizations and develop independently. However, they communicate closely and offer mutual cultural influence and encouragement in history till the present time. Both take distinct positions in the world. We need to do more research and reflection on the content of the interaction.

To conduct the transcultural artistic esthetic studies in the globalized cultural diversity, its significance is not just to look for the possibility to gain communication and recognization among different cultures, it is more important to search for the feasibility of equal dialogues and harmonious development under the condition that we admit the cultural differences.

It is a trial for Estonian folklorists to conduct a systematic international research in the relation between past and present, oral and literary, and the text production and reproduction, and then turn to the transcultural studies to break through the traditional folkloristic research model.

The development of science and technology time, information age and artificial intelligence time has gone beyond our imagination, and had great impacts on our lifestyle, which leads to the so-called “the mechanized human” or “the personized machine”. It is a profound issue that how they can give a spiritual impetus to the human development. It is a universal dilemma of how to reach the diverse cultural agreement in the present high-tech time. The transcultural studies can set up such a goal and gain overall achievements.

What is the transcultural studies? There has not been a matured transcultural studies theory so far, which requires us to explore further. First of all, we need to shoot an arrow. After we shoot the transcultural arrow, we do not know whether it will hit the target or not. But it is a whistling arrow to catch the attention of the public.