The formal history of IEAS at the Zhejiang Gongshang University dates back to August 1989, with the establishment of Japanese Cultural Research Center (JCRC) at the Hangzhou University. Through the merger of Zhejiang University merged with Hangzhou University in September 1998, JCRC was re-organized as the Japanese Cultural Research Institute at the Zhejiang University. Beginning in August 2004, skeleton faculty members were deployed from Zhejinag University to the Japanese Cultural Research Institute (JCRI) at the Zhejiang Gongshang University.

Not long after its inception as the Institute of East Asian Cultural Studies (IEACS) at the Zhejiang Gongshang University in February 2011, it distinguished itself as a key research center. IEAS is now a distinctive stand-alone research organization which had evolved separately from the JCRI at the Zhejiang Gongshang University that laid the foundations of the university's distinction in Japanese studies. Within its first three years of operation, IEACS was renamed Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS) at the Zhejiang Gongshang University on 23 December 2013 for developing new multi-and inter-disciplinary research clusters focusing on international relations, economic development and trade in the East Asia as well as straddling boundaries of different academic disciplines. This academic excellence hitherto culminated in the establishment of IEAS as a new institute-level organization. These scholarship and resources are supplemented by its own museum and information center.

Institute Profile

By conducting cutting-edge international-class research and by fostering an open academic environment for East Asian-oriented intellectual communication, IEAS is at the forefront of vibrant academic conversations that create intellectual community in Zhejiang Province. As an institute in one of China's most dynamic region, IEAS has an excellent track record of providing think tank services to Zhejiang Province. The cultural heritage projects of Jing Shan Buddhist Culture and Ningbo Sea Silk Road are examples. In recognition of our faculty and degree program of national class quality, Qiu Junping awarded four stars to our East Asian curriculum and ranked it second among the twenty-eight research institutes of similar curriculum in China in 2013-2014. 

IEAS comprises the following three academic units for advancing collaborative and interdisciplinary research on East Asia:

a. Distinguished Research Base for Humanities (designated by Zhejiang Gongshang University in October 2010)

b. Overseas Japanese Research Institute with Key Support of Japan Foundation (designated by Japan Foundation in April 2006)

c. Key Research Base for Philosophy and Social Science in Zhejiang Province (designated by the Leading Unit for the Planning and Development of Philosophy and Social Sciences in Zhejiang Province in April 2014)

IEAS is also an internal common thread linking three research institutes for sustaining academic excellence and promoting transcultural and transnational understanding, namely, Japanese Cultural Research Institute, Institute of Korean Studies and Book Road Research Institute. Academic units for research also provide essential support for the high quality of postgraduate education offered at IEAS. Research-related seminars, lectures and meetings are held on campus, through which the master students of IEAS have the opportunity to meet IEAS professors and the prominent scholars from other universities in Japan or overseas. The  Institute members’ main areas of research and categories of master students under their supervisions are :

WANG Yong (Professor): Current research focusing on the East Asian relationship in Sui and Tong Dynasties ; supervising postgraduate students’ researches on Japanese language and literature, literary translation of Japanese, and Asian languages and literature.

CHEN Xiaofa (Professor): Main research interest in the East Asian relationship in the Ming dynasty; supervising postgraduate students’ researches on literary translation of Japanese, and Asian languages and literature.

JIN Jun (Assistant Professor): Main research interest in the history of East Asian thought; supervising postgraduate students’ researches on literary translation of Japanese, and Asian languages and literature.

ZHANG Xinpeng (Assistant Professor): Main research area in the East Asian traditional culture; supervising postgraduate research on Asian languages and literature.