Introduction
The inaugural publication of the Department of Chinese Literature, National Chengchi University, took place in June 2004. This journal was described as “young but with a long history” in its initial editorial report. The story behind this is because the journal is the successor of Journal of Chinese Arts, which began in January 1968 and underwent a name change in 2004. Journal of Chinese Arts published 56 issues over a span of 36 years. Since its renaming, the Bulletin of the Department of Chinese Literature has been published for nearly 20 years, releasing two issues per year. Considering the collective history of this journal, it is already an academic publication with a history of nearly a century.
In Gao’s inaugural preface in Journal of Chinese Arts, he highlighted the essence of culture being rooted in academia, and the achievements of academia encompassed textual criticism, ethical principles, humanistic pragmatism, and literary composition. Through integrating these four elements, truth, goodness, and beauty can be fully realized. Gao also emphasized the importance of comprehensive learning and its application, citing Xunzi’s “Exhortation to Learning.” These remarks reflect the publishing purpose of Journal of Chinese Arts, which has been carried on by the Bulletin of the Department of Chinese Literature. In the prologue of Bulletin of the Department of Chinese Literature, Wang expressed the need to adapt to changing social and academic trends by revamping and renaming the journal from Journal of Chinese Arts to Bulletin of the Department of Chinese Literature. This update aims to provide a progressive and identifiable platform for Sinology research, upholding the enduring goal of pursuing comprehensive and refined knowledge in Chinese academia for over sixty years.
The journal consists of three sections: “Featured Articles,” “Special Article Column,” and “General Papers,” and welcomes submissions from scholars worldwide. All submissions undergo anonymous review by at least two expert scholars, including both internal and external reviewers. Since its first publication in June 2004, the journal has simultaneously been published in electronic format. It is now available for download and access in various electronic journal databases, such as Airiti Library(www.airitilibrary.com), Hyread(https://www.hyread.com.tw), TOAJ (https://toaj.stpi.narl.org.tw), LawData (https://www.lawdata.com.tw), NCL Taiwan Periodical Literature(https://tpl.ncl.edu.tw/NclService/), Taiwan Citation Index – Humanities and Social Sciences (https://tci.ncl.edu.tw), and Taiwan Journals Search (https://p.udpweb.com/soc). In addition, the journal is archived in NCCU Institutional Repository (https://nccur.lib.nccu.edu.tw). Scholars, colleagues, and enthusiasts are encouraged to make use of these resources. As for Journal of Chinese Arts, due to the challenges in obtaining authorizations under different historical context, it is currently not available for online browsing. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.
The website revamp was driven by technological advancements. The original website, established in 2011, no longer met the present requirements. Given the shift from Internet Explorer to Edge, the prevalent use of smartphones and tablets for web access, and notable improvements in search engine capabilities, it was imperative to ensure our scholarly research reaches a wider academic audience and maximizes our societal impact. In the middle of 2022, the chief editor and executive editors initiated discussions to facilitate the application for the Research Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (RIHSS)’s “Digital Dissemination of Academic Journals Subsidies”, which was also successfully approved. At the beginning of 2023, the construction of the new website had just begun when personnel changes and a multitude of tasks emerged. Fortunately, with the assistance of editorial assistants Zhu Yixuan and Huang Jingwei, as well as graphic designer Li Bingzhen, the new website for the journal was successfully completed as scheduled. We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to the Humanities and Social Sciences (RIHSS), Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan, as well as all the supporters who have contributed to the growth and prosperity of our journal.
The Bulletin of the Department of Chinese Literature
National Chengchi University Editors, Jun 2023,
in Bai Nian Building
