Shandong, China - Perception of Shandong, January 14, 2019 Dressed in a standing collar Zhongshan suit, talking about Confucian culture, if you don't look at the appearance, the person in front of you is like a Confucian Chinese scholar, in fact, he is from Canada, he is the Shandong Provincial People's Friendship Messenger Daniel A. Bell.
Bell, an internationally renowned political scientist, holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from McGill University, a Master of Philosophy from Oxford University, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Oxford University, and has been engaged in teaching and research in Singapore, the United States, and Hong Kong. Before joining Shandong University, he was a professor and doctoral supervisor in the Department of Philosophy of Tsinghua University, teaching courses such as ethics and political science, and his famous work "Communitarianism and Its Critics" made him one of the world-renowned political theorists. He is currently the Dean of the School of Political Science and Public Administration of Shandong University.
In January 2017, Bei Tanning officially joined Shandong University and was appointed as the dean of the School of Political Science and Public Administration of Shandong University. As a scholar of Confucian culture, Pei Tanning admitted that he came to Shandong "with a great sense of belonging." Belltanin's early research direction was Western communitarianism, and he achieved great success in this field, and "Communitarianism and Its Critics" is one of his famous works. Later, Bell Tanning went to teach at the National University of Singapore, came into contact with Confucianism, and found that its ideas were similar to communitarianism in many ways, and were more profound and resourceful than communitarianism, so he turned to Confucianism and even Chinese philosophy. Shandong is the hometown of Confucius and Mengmeng, and has a unique advantage in the inheritance of China's excellent traditional culture, and the "Shan University School" is quite influential in the field of Confucian studies, which is the reason why Bei Danning chose to teach at Shandong University.
Born in Canada, studied in England, worked as a researcher in the United States, successively taught in Singapore, Hong Kong, Beijing, and now comes to Shandong, Bella ning experienced life under the influence of multiple cultures, he believes that Shandong has a strong sense of history, tradition and modernity coexist. Speaking of Shandong University, the experience of teaching at Tsinghua University for thirteen years makes Pei Tanning accustomed to comparing Shandong University with Tsinghua University, in his view, the students of Shandong University and Tsinghua University are very high, but the students of Shandong University are more diligent.
As a foreign scholar who has married a Chinese daughter-in-law, worked and lived in China for more than 20 years, and studies Confucianism, Pei Tanning always wants to completely integrate himself into Chinese culture, and often demands himself according to Confucian ideas.
All along, Bell Tanning has been committed to promoting Chinese Confucian culture to the outside world, hoping that more foreigners will understand Confucian culture. He has worked in foreign think tanks, hoping to let more foreigners learn Chinese political philosophy through his own efforts and build a bridge in cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries. After coming to Shandong University, Bei Tanning is also committed to giving students and teachers more opportunities to exchange abroad, although it has been affected by the epidemic and has been delayed. "I am also discussing the possibility of cooperation agreements with universities in Europe, India and North America to give our students and teachers more opportunities to go abroad. It will be a long process, but it's my responsibility. Belltanin said.