The Reception of Montesquieu in Asia: How the Enlightenment Influenced China and Japan

This talk explores how Enlightenment ideas — especially those of Montesquieu — were received and interpreted in East Asia. Drawing on comparative intellectual history, Prof. Anne Cheng considers the ways in which concepts such as liberty, law, and despotism were translated and reimagined in Chinese and Japanese contexts. The lecture reflects themes from her current course at the Collège de France, focusing on the intercultural circulation of philosophical ideas.

Anne Cheng is Professor at the Collège de France, where she holds the Chair of Chinese Intellectual History. A leading figure in the study of classical and modern Chinese thought, she is the author of numerous works including Histoire de la pensée chinoise (1997), widely translated and used internationally. She is also a frequent commentator on cross-cultural philosophical exchange and a member of several European academies.