The Ninth Broadyard Workshop (博雅工作坊) of the Institute of Area Studies, Peking University (PKUIAS), titled “History and Literature in Classical Arabic,”was held at School of Foreign Languages, PKU, from June 28-29. Participants included experts and academics from home and abroad, as well as some teachers and students from PKU’s Department of Arabic Language and Culture of School of Foreign Languages.

Prof. Lin Fengmin, Director of the Department of Arabic Language and Culture of School of Foreign Languages, PKU, hosted the opening ceremony of the conference. Dr. Gaafar Karar Ahmed read a speech by Qatar’s ambassador to China, Sultan Salmeen Al-Mansouri, in which the ambassador reviewed the history of China-Arab cultural and literary exchanges and expressed his hopes that the workshop would be a great success and that the next workshop would be held at Qatar University.

Qian Chengdan, Director of PKUIAS, pointed out in his speech that the holding of the workshop is a sign of the increasingly enhanced exchanges and communication between China and Arabic-speaking countries. He reviewed the reasons for the establishment of PKUIAS and the activities and events that have been held since it was founded. He expressed his hopes that the activities and events could push forward cultural and academic communication between China and Arabic-speaking countries.

At the two-day conference, the conferees made speeches and had discussions focusing on topics including the depiction, characteristics, and creative foundations of Arabic traditional literature, images of China in ancient Arabic literature, and the status quo of the translation of ancient Arabic works. They also gave suggestions over the difficulties and challenges in the dissemination of ancient Arabic literature. Students from Arabic-speaking countries studying at Chinese universities also voiced their views.

The academics opined that cultural ties are the foundation for the economic ties between China and Arabic-speaking countries, and establishing economic ties cannot happen without firm cultural ties. The common cultural heritage of China and the Arabic-speaking nations throughout their history will play a proactive and positive role in the construction of “One Belt and One Road.” They expressed their view that, in the future, Chinese academics should have more communication and discussions over the translation and spreading of ancient Arabic works.