John Israel, "Gained in Translation: Perspectives on Liberalism, Censorship, and Generational Change in China"

Harvard University presents a discussion with John Israel on the "Lianda re" phenomenon, which opens a window to intellectual trends in present-day China.

John Israel returned recently from eight months in China. His book Lianda: A Chinese University in War and Revolution was published by Stanford University Press in 1998 and sold 500 copies in over ten years. In March 2012, the Chinese translation was published and sold 20,000 copies in a few months. Professor Israel will share his insights on why an academic institution of the 1940s is of such interest in China in the 21st century. The "Lianda re" phenomenon, or craze for the topic, opens a window to intellectual trends in present-day China.

John Israel is professor emeritus at the University of Virginia. He entered Harvard's Regional Studies: East Asia program in 1955, a classmate of Merle Goldman and Paul Cohen. In the preface to his first book, Lianda: A Chinese University in War and Revolution, he pays tribute to John K. Fairbank, who "alternately encouraged and cajoled me until my manuscript was complete."