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  • The article analyzes the need for harmony as a transversal philosophical principle between the Confucian East and the Leibnizian West, taking as its starting point the approach already attempted by Leibniz to Confucian thought and the Yijing (易經). The author argues that, although they share a concern with the pacification of tensions and the integration of differences into a complementary whole, the traditions diverge above all in how they conceive the religious and metaphysical foundation of this harmony. Methodologically, the text proceeds through comparative reading and selective exegesis of passages from the Analects, articulating them with Leibnizian concepts concerning education, perspectival knowledge, and the “pre-established harmony” that guarantees harmonization among monads. As results, the article shows that, in Confucianism, harmony is not merely internal: it requires plurality, sociability, and the cultivation of moral virtues, which makes knowledge a communal exercise. In Leibniz’s case, each point of view would be an expression of a divine order, allowing a rational harmonization without the collapse of plurality. Finally, the author discusses the problem of Western theological translation, suggesting that Leibniz’s approach to Chinese religion requires conceptual mediations (notably via Neo-Confucianism).

  • The article analyzes the notion of "miscegenation" attributed to Benjamim Videira Pires, SJ, proposing that his work should be read less as a merely cultural synthesis and more as a pedagogical and hermeneutic endeavor of encounter between Christian and Confucian matrices in the context of Macau. The author argues that, for Pires, the Western–Chinese fusion operates through linguistic mediations and educational practices, in which translation, catechesis, and moral reflection function as devices of "transculturation." Methodologically, the study employs a critical-conceptual reading of the Jesuit's texts and their editorial and historiographical framing, articulating the philosophical and cultural categories mobilized throughout the reception of his thought. As findings, the article shows that "miscegenation" in Pires is expressed in a dual orientation: the valorization of dialogue between values and, simultaneously, the organization of a discourse of approximation that seeks to render differences communicable. It concludes that Benjamim Videira Pires's legacy contributes to understanding Macau as a space of continuous symbolic recomposition, where the bond between cultures is constructed through processes of teaching, translation, and ethical conciliation.

  • The article "Poetry in Macau (Creative Writing)" proposes an essayistic reflection, of a literary matrix, on how the Portuguese presence in Macau materializes not only in buildings and institutions, but also in poetic spaces and urban imaginaries. Starting from narrative itineraries through the city initiated in 2013, the author focuses on places such as the Jardim de São Francisco—associated with the transition between religious orders, barracks, and urban transformations—to discuss the fragility and persistence of Luso-Iberian cultural memory in the "Far East". The argument articulates local history, symbolic interpretation, and intertextual reading, resorting to the contrast between ordering practices (religious and military) and the lyrical dimension represented by poetry, with particular emphasis on Camões and, allusively, figures such as Camilo Pessanha. Methodologically, the text operates as creative writing with a critical function: wandering, descriptive detail, and the biographical problematization of the figure of the poet function as tools to think about exclusions, displacements, and cultural survivals. It concludes that poetry acts as a force of sustenance and reorganization of meaning, converting urban and political losses into symbolic continuity, albeit always "reduced to minimal expression".

  • The article provides a brief introduction to the concept of sinology, after which it considers some of the sinological areas privileged by the poet Camilo Pessanha. The first consists of the Poet's reflections on Chinese culture. The second addresses Pessanha's collecting inclination, and the third, the translations of Chinese poetry that he had the opportunity to undertake.

  • There is a unique teaching style of Chinese as a second language that we can find, among other sinologists, in Pedro Nolasco da Silva (1842–1912) and Luís Gonzaga Gomes (1907–1976). Pedro Nolasco da Silva was a Macanese and a famous Chinese–Portuguese interpreter, translator and teacher. He wrote many books for teaching. Among them, we find a grammar book and manuals of Chinese language. Nolasco da Silva taught Chinese using the method of translation that was, and still is, very important to understand, by comparison, not only the position of elements in a sentence, but also cultural influences.

  • This paper will focus on the intersection of knowledge systems in the 21

  • In the first part of the article, a brief presentation of the biography of Luís Vaz de Camões relating to Macao is undertaken, including the arguments for and against the poet's stay in the present Macao Special Administrative Region. In the second part, Camões's lyric poetry is approached from a philosophical standpoint in order to bring to light possible relations to be established with the principles of the major Chinese philosophies, both traditional and contemporary. In the third and final part, an attempt is made to establish relations between popular literature, Chinese philosophy, and Camões.

  • The article, written as an introduction to a special column on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), argues that the growing centrality of "healthy living" practices has fostered intercultural encounters and the revaluation of philosophies of the body and well-being, in which TCM occupies a central place. The introduction frames five academic contributions stemming from the Spring Conferences program organized by the Macau Scientific and Cultural Centre (2022), bringing together specialists from Portugal and China and reflecting, on the basis of diverse linguistic trajectories (especially Portuguese and English), on the theory, principles, and philosophical dimensions of TCM in a contemporary context. Methodologically, the texts mobilize interdisciplinary approaches: (1) a Sinological analysis of the construction of a "philosophy for health" in Macao, articulating emotional intelligence, studies on Luís Gonzaga Gomes, Leonel Barros, Cecília Jorge, and Beltrão Coelho, and the idea of a "silk road" of health; (2) the reinterpretation of François Jullien's philosophy of landscape, bringing together holistic experience, integrity, and connection through Qi; (3) the discussion of the integration of TCM within the framework of ICD-11/WHO, highlighting the crucial role of syndrome differentiation and the need for unified criteria; (4) a scientific-taxonomic synthesis on Panax species and the bioactive potential of ginsenosides, with a warning regarding the conservation of Panax notoginseng; (5) the presentation of a China–Portugal collaboration program (Scimat) for the circulation and consolidation of knowledge. The implicit conclusion is that TCM is reconfigured in the present by engaging in dialogue with education, health systems, scientific evidence, and transnational initiatives.

Last update from database: 9/11/26, 10:25 AM (UTC)

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