HomeDate: 2026-09-30
Academia Sinica will once again participate in the 78th Frankfurt Book Fair, to be held from October 7 to 11, 2026. Having taken part in the fair since 2022, Academia Sinica will present a selection of 15 academic and popular science titles. Spanning geopolitics, historical memory, anthropology, classical studies, archaeology, biodiversity, and architecture, the collection is rooted in perspectives from Taiwan and showcases the breadth and depth of Academia Sinica’s research to an international audience.
Geopolitical Strategy and Island Memories
From East Asian strategic shifts to contemporary great-power competition, Taiwanese scholars offer distinctive perspectives on the changing realities and historical trajectories of great-power rivalry.
Published by Academia Sinica Press, Sino-American Relations under the Biden Administration, edited by Research Fellow Cheng-Yi Lin of the Institute of European and American Studies, examines regional strategy and Taiwan’s position amid great-power competition during the Biden administration.
Attack and Defense in North China: Re-evaluating Chiang Kai-shek’s Policy of “Internal Peace Before Foreign Resistance” (1932–1937), by Adjunct Research Fellow Tzu-chin Huang of the Institute of Modern History, reconstructs the policy deliberations and strategic calculations of the years preceding World War II, offering a substantial reinterpretation of modern East Asian history.
Oral history offers another means of revisiting the memories of East Asia. The Institute of Taiwan History presents Struggling in Adversity: Our Thorny Path, which records the life trajectories of victims of the White Terror and their family members, as well as Adjunct Research Fellow Hsueh-chi Hsu’s Things about Women: Life Stories of Elderly Females in Taiwan, which portrays older women’s continuing participation in society. In Family Business / Business Family: Hou Yu-li and Corporate Legacy of the Tainan Group, Adjunct Research Fellow Kuo-hsing Hsieh traces the development and intergenerational succession of postwar Taiwanese family businesses, exploring the development and legacy of local capital.
In addition, They Came from Manchuria: Japanese Oral Histories of Northeastern China, edited by Associate Research Fellow Chih-hung Lin of the Institute of Modern History, illuminates individual destinies in an age of upheaval through memories shaped by transnational movement.
Classics, Anthropology, and the Making of Knowledge
Taiwan stands at a crossroads where Austronesian cultures, East Asian Confucian traditions, modern Japanese culture, and contemporary European and American thought converge. Here, works from the past are continually reinterpreted, endowed with renewed relevance, and introduced to the world.
The Institute of Ethnology presents a new translation of Bunichi Sato’s A Study of Primitive Art among Taiwan’s Indigenous Communities, edited by Assistant Research Fellow Ming-Jen Wu of the Institute of Ethnology, alongside the third printing of retired Research Fellow Ying-kuei Huang’s The Path Towards “Civilization”, fourteen years after its initial publication.
The Institute of Ethnology further explores scholars’ intellectual journeys and the encounters between researchers and their interlocutors. In Ling Shun-sheng’s Anthropological Journey: From the Sungari River to the Pacific Ocean, retired Associate Research Fellow Tsui-Ping Ho retraces the pioneering travels of an early figure in the discipline. In Nüshu: Fieldwork and Life Narratives / He Yanxin—The Last Natural Inheritor, Research Fellow and Deputy Director Fei-Wen Liu draws on a profound fieldwork relationship to portray the resilience of a bearer of the Nüshu tradition, revealing a sincere encounter and dialogue between researcher and research participant.
Moving beyond established paradigms and authoritative interpretations, the Institute of Chinese Literature and Philosophy focuses on the dynamic processes through which knowledge is formed and interpreted. Research Fellow Lee-moi Pham’s The Words and the Way: Manuscript Perspectives on Canonical Exegesis reconsiders the formation and interpretation of classical texts through the study of bamboo and silk manuscripts.
Edited by Research Fellow Wei-fen Chen, Philosophies of Culture: Models, Concepts and Histories examines the models, concepts, and historical dimensions of cultural philosophy, exploring how thinkers in China, Japan, and Taiwan adapted and translated modern Western thought to construct their own frameworks of cultural philosophy.
In archaeology, the Institute of History and Philology presents Liangchengzhen: The Longshan Culture Site at Liangchengzhen in Rizhao, Shandong. Based on a manuscript left by Liu Yao (Yin Da) documenting the 1936 excavation, and collated and edited by retired Research Fellow Li Kuang-ti, Professor Luan Fengshi of Shandong University, and the Anyang Research Group, the volume brings important archaeological research on the Liangchengzhen site to publication.
Ecology, Science, and Architectural Heritage
The selection also extends to the natural sciences and the built environment.
The Biodiversity Research Center presents Follow Nature's Lead, edited by Associate Research Fellow Chih-Ming Hung of the Biodiversity Research Center. Bringing together research on terrestrial, marine, and microbial ecosystems, the volume explores ecological relationships and networks, covering topics such as peat moss, coral reefs, and deep-sea fish, and offers insights into the complexity of life and the interdependence of natural systems.
Meanwhile, Geometry and Light of Knowledge: Selected Buildings of Academia Sinica, compiled by the Department of General Affairs, Academia Sinica, and published by Academia Sinica Press, documents more than seven decades of architectural development at Academia Sinica. Featuring 30 representative campus buildings, the volume presents the institution’s evolving physical environment as a three-dimensional spatial chronicle of the development of scholarship in Taiwan.
All 15 titles will be featured at the Taiwan Pavilion and on the online rights platform. International publishers, rights agents, and scholars are invited to visit the stand, exchange ideas, and explore opportunities for translation, publication, and licensing partnerships.
78th Frankfurt Book Fair Information
Dates: October 7–11, 2026 (Wednesday–Sunday)
Venue: Messe Frankfurt, Hall 4.2, Booth F69 (Taiwan Pavilion)
Taiwan Pavilion Organizer: Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA)
Online Rights Platform: TAICCA IP Meetup Creative Content Matchmaking Platform
