Personal Statement

Applicant: Zhang Lei  Applied Program: Sinology / Chinese Philosophy

In my undergraduate program, I specialized in English for International Trade, a specialty which is extremely popular in the present-day China as China becomes increasingly integrated into the international trade with its accession into the WTO. If I had continued to make efforts in this field, I could have been assured of an economically advantageous life. It is highly probable that I could turn into a very wealthy person. However, for my graduate program, I made a decision that could prove utterly incomprehensible to the majority of my practical-minded compatriots—I switched to sinology. This is a specialty forbidding to most people for its tediousness in academic research and for its sureness of leading its researchers into financial plight. My choice for this specialty is by no means motivated by sudden whims, nor by any exterior considerations, but out of a love for its own sake. Many of my former classmates and friends vowed that I would feel remorse for this “incomprehensible” decision. By now, three years have passed. Far from being remorseful, I have grown increasingly committed to this discipline under its enchantment. More than that, I am willing to pursue sinology as my lifelong career not merely out of academic interest, but for the ideal of promoting the academic discipline about this ancient Oriental country.

With my graduate education, I have developed a comprehensive and systematic understanding of Chinese culture in general and Chinese philosophy in particular, allowing me to experience the erudition behind sinology. As an important component of the history of human thought, much of the Chinese ancient philosophical wisdom is still to be unraveled by modern scholarship. Many important courses in my Master’s program, such as the Four Books of Chinese Classics, and The Book of Changes (I-Ching), have always held me in great fascination for their profound philosophical truth. Despite its speculative nature, Chinese philosophy is closely aligned with the real world and the real life, imparting to people who are interest in it the proper knowledge of coping with life and inspiring people to be optimistic and benevolent. In particular, Chinese ancient sages have taught me how to seek what is worthwhile and eternal and to be indifferent to the secular and the materialistic. Those inspirations have endowed me with the determination to immerse myself in learning and academic research.

Nevertheless, a nationalistic perspective in dealing with sinology is dangerous. It is necessary that Chinese scholars in sinology interact and exchange with their overseas counterparts. It is important for Chinese scholars to understand sinology within the larger framework of world philosophy, to put it into an international context, and to examine its new role in contributing to human civilization under new historical circumstances. Those are the major problems that Chinese philosophy faces. Just as a Chinese axiom says “It is impossible to know how the Lushan Mountain actually looks because the beholder himself is in the mountain itself (meaning “a proper understanding of an issue is often gained from a distance)”, it is inadequate to study them simply from a Chinese perspective. Therefore, I have decided to go abroad to study sinology from a different perspective on one hand and to examine how Chinese philosophy can interact with, enrich and be enriched by other philosophies in the world.

An academic exchange two years ago left me with an indelible impression. My supervisor and I provided receptions to a group of teachers and students of sinology from Duke University,  During this 3-month exchange program, my responsibility was to help them look up research materials in the library. My discussions with them enabled me to realize some of the essential differences between Chinese philosophy and Western philosophy. I was especially impressed by the Western philosophy’s strict emphasis on rigorous logic in carrying out philosophical speculations. If some of the Western research methodologies can be introduced into sinology, sinology research is bound to be much more fruitful. This reinforced my determination to seek further studies abroad. It is true that China has its relative advantages in sinology research such as the abundance of materials. But this stage of my academic development, the paramount problem is to search for new methodologies and perspectives, and most importantly, the international experiences. The United States, with its absolutely liberal academic thoughts and concepts and research atmosphere, naturally comes on top of my priorities in selecting my target university.

Four years ago, I had the idea of seeking an overseas education and for this purpose I have been making serious preparations. Even though I was not very fond of the specialty (English for International Trade) I studied in my undergraduate program, I still managed to achieve scholastic excellence in my coursework. I am particularly indebted to my philosophy teacher who initiated me into the field of sinology with his in-depth analysis of the critical conditions of sinology and its necessity for new methodologies. Therefore, when I started my formal trainings in this field as a graduate student, my diligent devotion to it naturally guaranteed my excellence in academic performance. I achieved A’s in most of the courses and my performance in the specialty-related courses is especially outstanding. My genuine love for this subject has ensured my absolute diligence.

As one of the top-ranking universities in liberal arts and humanities, Peking University of China has provided me with the first-rate research conditions and rigorous academic trainings. I have developed relatively strong research abilities and my extensive reading in both Chinese and Western philosophy has laid a solid foundation for me to undertake fruitful researches across different philosophical traditions. Most importantly, I have learned to be skeptical and discriminating in evaluating different schools of thought and not to follow blindly the established viewpoints. I believe that I have mastered some basic research methodologies and my special talent in writing has enabled me to win many first-class and second-class prizes in various writing contests. Over the past two years since the completion of my Master’s program, I have been working as vice editor-in-chief at Hope Publishing House where I have edited an 80-volume serial collection Biographies Chinese Philosophical Thinkers . Now we are preparing to edit its twin collection Biographies of World Philosophical Thinkers .

The University of # # # enjoys an unparalleled academic reputation in the world, with strong faculty, research facilities, large amounts of research material and a lively and liberal academic climate. All those factors will definitely contribute to the academic success of any ambitious student. An education at such a university will make it possible for me to ascend onto higher levels of scholarship by endowing me with wholly novel perspectives and other academic input. My ultimate objective is to bring about a creative fusion between the Eastern and Western philosophical traditions that may lead to some unique research findings.

Essentially, the philosophical legacies left to us by both Chinese and Western thinkers are the spiritual powers that have sustained the survival and the existence of the humans as individuals, as races and as countries. Compared with those noble minds, I feel rather insignificant. But at least I should create some meaning for my existence and I see my existence meaningful only in being able to add up to the understanding of the noble thoughts of those great minds. As an ordinary person, I will undertake this mission with determination and commitment.