Welcome back. I want you to take a second and
picture the streets of modern day Beijing. Oh,
yeah. The neon lights, the massive crowds. Right.
The soaring skyscrapers, high speed rail, all
that cutting edge digital infrastructure. I mean,
it's a megacity, right? It's moving at a million
miles an hour straight into the future. Absolutely.
But and this is the crazy part hidden right in
the middle of. All that incredible modern momentum
is the echo of a completely different world.
A very old world. Exactly. A world of ancient
manuscripts, complex inflections, and the Roman
Empire. It turns out that classical Latin is
actually thriving right now in modern China.
It really is one of those concepts that just
forces you to stop and reevaluate all your assumptions
about how the world works. Because when you think
of classical languages, your mind usually defaults
straight to, you know, the old ivy -covered universities
of Europe. Oxford, Cambridge, places like that.
Right. But the geography of knowledge is constantly
shifting. And today's topic is just a perfect
example of how knowledge crosses borders in the
most unexpected and really intricate ways. And
that is our mission. for this deep dive. We're
looking at a stack of notes today centered around
an institution known as Latinita Sinica. We're
going to explore exactly how and why an ancient
European language has carved out this dedicated
official space in a university in Beijing. We
want to understand what this unique cultural
bridge actually looks like, who's building it,
and ultimately why a project like this fundamentally
matters to you. It's a fascinating bridge. It
really is. So if you're a language lover, a history
buff, or just someone who is insanely curious
about how completely different cultures intersect,
you are in the right place. Okay, let's unpack
this. So to start, I think we have to look at
the name itself and where it actually lives.
Latinita Sinica. Translated directly, it means
Chinese Latinity. Chinese Latinity. Right. Just
that phrase places two massive, historically
distinct cultural spheres side by side in a way
we really rarely see. And the center is housed
at the Beijing Foreign Studies University. Which
makes sense in a way, but also really doesn't.
Exactly. I mean, a foreign studies university
is by definition a gateway. It's an academic
space that's designed to bring the outside. world
into China and simultaneously project Chinese
understanding back out into the world. Sure.
But typically you'd expect to find departments
dedicated to modern spoken languages there. Yeah.
Commercial and diplomatic languages. English,
Spanish. Arabic, French. Right. Finding a center
wholly dedicated to Latin in that specific environment
is just such a striking contrast. It really is.
It's kind of like walking through a massive futuristic
tech hub. You open a random door and suddenly
you're standing inside a deeply quiet ancient
library filled with parchment. That's a great
way to picture it. And what makes this even more
compelling is the timeline. Because this isn't
some forgotten relic from the 19th century that
just managed to survive a bunch of bureaucratic
cuts over the years. Latinita Sinica was established
very recently. Very recently. Yeah, it was officially
founded in 2012. Which tells us a lot. It tells
us that this isn't about simply preserving a
dusty past. It represents an active, modern,
and highly deliberate interest. Yeah, 2012 is
basically yesterday. Right. In the grand sweeping
timeline of the Latin language, 2012 is a blink
of an eye. It shows a real 21st century decision
to invest serious resources, time, and academic
rigor into studying classical languages in China
today. They are building a foundation for the
future, not just looking backward. And the actual
scope of what they're doing there is incredibly
ambitious. They aren't just hosting like a casual
weekly reading group for enthusiasts. Oh, no,
it's way beyond that. They are actively building
the infrastructure for education by supporting
the actual learning and teaching of the Latin
language within China. They're promoting deep
academic research into Latin language and culture.
And they even offer various services related
to the Latin language to Chinese society at large.
It's a comprehensive approach. It is. But there
are two specific. research areas they focus on
that I think we really need to pause and examine.
The first is something called Latin Synology.
So let's break that down for a second. Synology
is the study of Chinese language, history, and
culture. So we add Latin modifier to that. Are
we basically talking about the study of historical
Latin texts that were written about China? Precisely.
That is exactly it. Because for centuries, early
European scholars, travelers, missionaries who
visited China, they wrote their observations,
their maps, their philosophical treatises in
Latin. Because that was the language of science
and academia at the time. Right. Latin was the
universal language of academia in Europe. So
if a modern Chinese scholar wants to fully understand
how the West first perceived, documented and
engaged with Chinese culture, they can't just
rely entirely on. modern English or French translations.
They lose too much context. Exactly. They have
to go back to the original source material. So
Latin Sinology is the process of Chinese scholars
using Latin to unlock historical perspectives
on their own country. Man, that is a phenomenal
academic loop. It really is. You have modern
Chinese students learning an ancient European
language to read what ancient Europeans wrote
about ancient China. It adds such a profound
layer of depth to historical research. It's incredibly
layered. And that ties directly into their other
major research focus, which honestly might be
even more complex. They are researching early
Latin to Chinese translation. Oh, yeah. This
is a huge undertaking. Untangling thousands of
years of linguistic translation sounds like the
work of a lifetime. What's fascinating here is
the sheer immense scholarly effort required to
bridge those two specific linguistic frameworks.
We aren't just talking about translating Spanish
to Italian. Right, where they're basically cousins.
Right, where the languages share a vast root
system, similar alphabets, and parallel cultural
histories. Latin and Chinese developed entirely
independently of one another on completely opposite
sides of the globe. Literally worlds apart. Worlds
apart. Latin is a heavily inflected language.
It relies on incredibly complex word endings
to convey grammatical meaning. Like who is doing
the action, who is receiving it, the tense, the
mood. Exactly. And it uses a phonetic alphabet.
Chinese, on the other hand, is tonal. It relies
heavily on strict word order for grammar and
uses a logographic writing system where intricate
characters represent words or concepts rather
than just sounds. So it's not just swapping vocabularies,
translating entirely different ways of organizing
human thought. That's the perfect way to phrase
it. You are taking a Roman language. that is
just obsessed with structural cases and grammatical
precision, and you're trying to map it onto a
Chinese system steeped in ancient holistic philosophies.
Yes. So when an early translator tried to take
a Roman concept like Virgis or Pietas words that
have deep, very specific connotations in ancient
Rome and find a Chinese character for it, they
had to choose a character that already carried
thousands of years of Confucian or Taoist baggage.
And that is exactly the monumental challenge
Latinita Seneca is studying. When they dedicate
themselves to studying these early translations,
they are untangling how the very first scholars
attempted to explain completely alien European
concepts using Chinese characters. It's mind
-blowing when you really think about it. It is
a masterclass in cultural decoding. And by acting
as the central hub for this incredibly specific
research, Laetitia Sinica becomes a vital reference
point. For everyone else. Exactly. Any institution
around the world that is interested in how Laetitia
Sinica Latin is perceived, taught, and historically
translated in China, now has a central official
academic address to look to. Which naturally
brings us to the people who are actually leading
a monumental task like that. Yeah. Because an
institution with such a heavy, complex mission
doesn't just run on autopilot. No, it definitely
doesn't. It requires visionary leadership to
keep this kind of niche academic pursuit thriving.
And the notes show two key figures driving this
initiative. You have the current director, Michelle
Ferrero, and one of the primary advisors for
the center, the Latinist Leopold Lieb. Their
involvement really highlights that this center
is drawing on specialized, dedicated expertise
to ensure the study of Latin in China meets the
absolute highest academic standards. Furthermore,
their leadership demonstrates that Latinita Sinica
is not operating in an isolated academic bubble,
because it would be very easy for a center like
this to simply keep to itself in Beijing. quietly
translating texts. But the documentation shows
they have actively built an impressive, robust,
global network. They have forged direct connections
with other major centers for the studies of classics
worldwide. Yeah, you'd think they might be operating
in a silo, but looking at their partnerships,
they are deeply plugged into Europe. Very deeply.
They're working directly with the European Center
for Humanistic Studies, known as Erasmus. And
even more notably, they have formed a strong
connection with the Pontificium Institutum Altioris
Latinitatis in Rome. The Pontifical Institute
of Higher Latinity. Right. That is a prestigious
Vatican -linked institution that is essentially
the global epicenter for the study of the Latin
language. Connecting Beijing straight to Rome
like that. So what does this all mean? It seems
to me this is entirely about validation. Oh,
validation is a key part of it. Absolutely. It
elevates the work from a local niche academic
interest into a globally recognized endeavor.
It does. And it creates a genuine functioning
two -way street of cultural and linguistic exchange.
When Latinita Sinica partners with historic European
institutions of that caliber, it proves that
the researchers and students in Beijing aren't
merely passive consumers of Latin history. They're
contributing. They are active, highly respected
participants in the global conversation about
classical languages. The scholars in Rome gained
the opportunity to learn from the deeply unique
cross -cultural perspectives of Chinese academics.
While the Chinese scholars secured Direct institutional
access to the historical heart of the language
they are dedicating their lives to study. I really
want you listening right now to just imagine
the logistical and cultural reality of organizing
that kind of cross -continental academic program.
It's a headache just thinking about it. Seriously.
You are dealing with different time zones, entirely
different academic calendars, vastly different
primary speaking languages, different cultural
norms, all trying to coordinate seamlessly around
a shared devotion to a language that hasn't been
spoken natively for over a millennium. It takes
an incredible amount of passion to make that
work. It really does. And that passion culminated
in a really massive milestone back in the summer
of 2014. That was a defining moment for the center's
international outreach. Yeah. During that summer,
Latinita Seneca. and the Pontifical Institute
in Rome joined forces to organize something completely
unprecedented. They put together the very first
summer Latin intensive course for Chinese students.
They physically brought the students from Beijing
to Italy for an immersive educational experience.
Just picture the profound impact of that trip
on a student. You have Chinese students traveling
all the way to Rome to engage in a rigorous,
intensive study of Latin. They are physically
walking the ancient cobblestone street. where
the language was actually born. They are looking
up and reading the original Latin inscriptions
carved into 2 ,000 -year -old monuments. But
they are processing all of that ancient European
history through the lens of their own modern
Chinese upbringing and education. That's wild.
It is an immersion experience that fundamentally
alters how a student perceives the world. They
didn't just pat themselves on the back after
2014 and call it a day. They have actually made
this intensive summer course an annual fixture.
Which is so important. They're consistently providing
these immersive opportunities year after year,
ensuring that new cohorts of students get to
experience that exact same geographical and linguistic
connection. Which is absolutely vital for true
language acquisition. An intensive summer course,
especially one set in a relevant... historical
location forces a student to live and breathe
the material. You can't escape it. Right. It
moves the language out of the theoretical realm
of a textbook exercise and turns it into a living,
breathing daily practice. You cannot passively
learn during an intensive immersion. You have
to actively inhabit the language. Okay. Speaking
of living and inhabiting the language, here's
where it gets really interesting. Okay. When
you think about the day -to -day reality of studying
an ancient classical language, you probably picture
quite Quiet, dimly lit library. Heavy dictionaries.
Exactly. People hunched over desks, translating
texts in total absolute silence. But the students
and faculty at Latinita Seneca have a completely
different, remarkably vibrant approach to bringing
this so -called dead language back to life. You
do. They aren't just reading the language in
silence. They're singing it. It is arguably one
of the most delightful and revealing details
about the culture they have built at the center.
Every single year, Latinita Seneca holds a dedicated
performance of Latin songs. And the repertoire
they choose is incredibly varied. They sing Godemus,
which is a very traditional, joyful, and upbeat
academic anthem. It's been belted out by university
students across Europe for centuries to celebrate
youth and student life. It's a classic. Yeah.
Then they sing Panis Angelicus, which is a deeply
historical, solemn, and reverent piece. And then
they perform the Latin version of the Anthem
of Europe. The performance aspect is so crucial
to understanding the underlying ethos of Latinita
Seneca. When you take a language out of the quiet
library and put it up on a stage, when you add
melody, rhythm, breath and communal voices, you
fundamentally change the relationship between
the student and the subject matter. It becomes
physical. Yes. Performing music transforms a
language from an abstract intellectual puzzle
into a deeply felt shared communal experience.
The students have to physically feel the ancient
words resonating in their chests and throats.
There is something inherently unifying about
a choir, regardless of the language being sung.
But we really need to zero in on that last song
on their set list. The Anthem of Europe. The
Anthem of Europe, sung in Latin by Chinese students.
In the middle of Beijing. If we connect this
to the bigger picture, the symbolism there is
absolutely staggering. It really is. Think about
what the anthem of Europe actually represents.
The decision by the European Union to use Latin
for their anthem was inherently a grand compromise.
How so? Well, Europe is home to dozens of distinct,
fiercely proud modern national languages. Choosing
French or German or English for the anthem would
have inevitably prioritized one modern nation's
culture over another. That makes sense. It would
cause a huge political headache. Exactly. So
they chose Latin. They chose a shared ancestral
language that belongs to everyone's collective
history but belongs to no one's present geopolitical
landscape. It represents unity precisely because
it transcends modern borders. And now you have
students at the Beijing Foreign Studies University,
thousands of miles away from Europe, singing
that exact anthem of unity in that exact ancient
language. It's beautiful. It takes a song meant
to unify a continent. and expands it to unify
across the globe. It is a profound demonstration
of globalism in its purest, most academic and
cultural form. It represents a shared human heritage
that utterly transcends modern political and
geographic boundaries. When those students in
Beijing sing that anthem, they are demonstrating
a beautiful truth. The history of human thought,
language and art does not exclusively belong
to the specific geographic area where it originated.
It belongs to everyone. It belongs to anyone,
anywhere who is willing. willing to put in the
time, the passion, and the academic rigor to
study it. It belongs to humanity as a whole.
It really reframes what a university department
can actually be. It's not just a place to memorize
vocabulary and earn a degree. It's a place to
actively, joyfully participate in a continuous
global human tradition. Absolutely. And they
make absolutely sure this ongoing participation
isn't just lost to the ether either. issues an
online periodical every single year that is entirely
dedicated to Latin studies in China. Documentation
is a critical piece of the academic puzzle here.
Publishing an annual online periodical ensures
that the ongoing cultural exchange we've been
discussing is actually preserved. Right. It's
not just a fleeting moment. Exactly. The complex
research on early Latin to Chinese translations,
the detailed notes from the summer intensive
courses in Rome, the latest developments in Latin
sonology. All of it is recorded. It creates a
permanent digital trail. It does. A trail for
future scholars to follow. It proves that Latinita
Seneca isn't just a temporary project. It is
actively, meticulously building a modern archive
of classical scholarship in Asia. So we have
covered some truly incredible ground today, pulling
all these intricate threads together. We started
with the foundation of Latinita Seneca back in
2012 at the Beijing Foreign Studies University,
establishing the completely unexpected home of
Chinese Latinity. We unpacked their incredibly
ambitious academic mission, moving from the foundational
support of basic education to tackling the immensely
complex, philosophically dense research of early
Latin to Chinese translations and Latin Sinology.
We highlighted the visionary leadership of figures
like Mikel Ferrero and Leopold Lieb. We also
explored how the center broke out of the local
academic bubble by forging strong, active, and
highly strategic partnerships with historic institutions,
most notably the Pontifical Institute of Higher
Latinity in Rome. We saw how those global partnerships
translated into... real -world, life -changing
experiences for the students, starting with that
milestone 2014 summer intensive immersion course
in Italy and continuing every year since. And,
of course, we talked about how they bring the
language to life through the physical communal
act of their annual musical performances, singing
Godemus, Panis Angelicus, and the deeply symbolic
Anthem of Europe. Proving that a so -called dead
language can still create a very vibrant, joyful
and unifying noise. It is an amazing, deeply
human journey from an ancient Roman manuscript
to a modern stage in Beijing. It really is. And
this is exactly why taking the time to understand
topics like this matters so much to you, the
listener. We live in an era characterized by
intense, relentless information overload. Oh,
completely. We are constantly bombarded with
breaking alerts, the latest digital apps, the
newest fleeting trends. deeply exhausting, and
it can sometimes make the world feel very small,
very segmented, and very stressed. Yeah, you
get tunnel vision. You do, but learning about
an institution like Latinita Sinica acts as a
necessary circuit breaker for that daily overload.
It is a brilliant, shining reminder that taking
the time to study the deep historical roots of
distant cultures actually enriches and expands
our own modern worldview. It gives us perspective.
It shows us that there is always more depth to
learn, and that humanity is wonderfully capable
of building academic and cultural bridges across
thousands of years and thousands of miles simply
for the pure joy of understanding one another
better. It makes the world feel vast, interconnected,
and full of hidden treasures again, which is
exactly the mission behind why we do these deep
dives in the first place. This raises an important
question, though. Something I want you to really
mull over long after this deep dive ends. Today,
we've seen how an ancient European language found
a passionate, dedicated, and officially supported
home in the very heart of modern China. It makes
you wonder what other hidden, seemingly impossible
intersections of history and culture are waiting
out there in the world for you to discover. Oh,
I love that. What other incredible combinations
of the ancient past and the cutting edge present
are hiding right under our noses, just waiting
for someone curious enough to look. That is a
perfect, expansive thought to leave on. Thank
you so much for taking the time to join us on
this deep dive into Latinita Seneca. We hope
it sparked a new sense of wonder for you today.
Keep questioning the world around you, keep exploring
those hidden intersections, and above all, keep
that curiosity alive. We will catch you next
time.