Known as the Nobel Prize for Asia, the Tang Prize released this year’s list of laureates.

This year’s Tang Prize in Sinology went to US Professor William Theodore de Bary for his pioneering contributions in Confucian studies. “Recognized for establishing the field of Neo-Confucianism in the West, US Professor de Bary is indeed a leading authority in the field of Sinology,” the Tang Prize website noted.

Professor Arthur H. Rosenfeld became this year’s first recipient of the Tang Prize in Sustainable Development on Saturday as “The Godfather of Energy Efficiency.”

The Tang Prize in Biopharmaceutical Sciences was awarded to joint recipients including French microbiologist Dr. Emmanuelle Charpentier, US Professor Dr. Jennifer A. Doudna and Chinese American bioengineer Dr. Zhang Feng, for the development of the CRISPR/Cas9 platform as a breakthrough genome editing platform that promises to revolutionize biomedical research and disease treatment.

For the prize in rule of law, the recipient is Canadian Madame Justice Louise Arbour, who has been awarded for “her enduring contributions to international criminal justice and the protection of human rights, to promoting peace, justice and security at home and abroad, and for working within the law to expand the frontiers of freedom for all.”

Founded in 2012 and named after the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the Tang Prize offered its first group of awards in 2014, touting prize money in each category of NT$40 million ($1.24 million).

The Tang Prize was founded by Samuel Yin, chairman of the Ruentex Group and an adjunct professor at the National Taiwan University.

The Tang Prize Foundation commissioned Academia Sinica, the foremost Taiwan-based academic research institute, to organize a selection committee, which then invites individuals and institutions deemed eligible to nominate candidates. Three finalists are chosen by the committee and the Board of Directors of the Foundation decides the prizewinner after reviewing the list of finalists and detailed reports, according to the website.