Bulletin Winter 1988

International Symposium on Hong Kong Literature An international symposium on Hong Kong literature took place from 5th to 8th December, 1988 on the campus, held to celebrate both the 25th anniversary o f the University and the 40th anniversary o f the Joint Publishing (H.K.) Co. Ltd. The symposium, jo in tly organized by the two institutions, was officially opened by Professor Charles K. Kao, vice-chancellor o f the University, and Ms. Dong Xiu-yu, general manager and editor-in-chief o f the Joint Publishing Ltd. In an opening address, the Vice-Chancellor paid tribute to local devotees o f literary creation and said that their work has helped much to promote local interest in literature since the fifties. These people not only persevered to produce their creative writings but also edited and published journals and periodicals that have since played an important part in enabling the literary exchange between both sides o f the Strait. Ms. Dong in her address said that the symposium would carry the academic spirit o f seriousness and intentness in the studies o f literature, which local researchers have already demonstrated. She believed that the conference would give impetus to the creation and research o f Hong Kong literature in the coming years. Some seventy scholars were invited to attend the conference to discuss on the theme o f 'Hong Kong Literature since 1949'. A total o f fo rty papers, sixteen from scholars in mainland China, three from Taiwan, five from overseas, and sixteen from local participants, were presented in the symposium. International Conference on Chinese-western Comparative Literature The fifth in the series o f the international conference on Chinese-Western comparative literature organized by the Comparative literature Research Unit o f the University, in the form o f a symposium on ‘East Meets West: Comparative Literature Strategies for the Nineties', took place from 15th to 17th Decem ber, 1988 at the University. An international conference o f comparatists interested in examining the problems o f comparative literature from a Chinese perspective, the symposium's immediate and practical purpose was to discuss and assess contemporary trends in comparative literature studies. The symposium was conducted in six sessions comprising various areas for discussion: comparative literature as academic discipline — recent trends in the China context; Chinese and Western approaches to comparative literature; comparative literature and literary history; comparative literature and literary theory; comparative literature and other disciplines; and comparative literature and its future. These areas are specific but not overly-specialized, so that it en abled each participant to have an opportunity to ad dress as an individual some o f the larger issues. Some th irty scholars from Hong Kong, Japan, Mainland China, Taiwan, and the United States attended the conference. International workshop and Symposium on Therapeutic Endoscopy The University and the Hong Kong Society o f Digestive Endoscopy jo in tly organized the Third International Workshop and Symposium on Thera peutic Endoscopy at the Prince o f Wales Hospital from 14th to 17th December, 1988. Attended by over 100 specialists in gastroenterology from all over the world, the workshop and symposium was also one o f the academic events in commemorating the 25th anniversary o f the University. Doctors from the Prince o f Wales Hospital to gether w ith leaders in the field o f endoscopy from the United States, England and Japan demonstrated a wide range o f new techniques including endoscopic sphincterotomy and the removal o f bile duct stones, endoscopic stenting for malignant biliary strictures, injection sclerotherapy for bleeding oesophageal varices, laser treatment for oesophageal tumours, endoscopic haemostasis for bleeding ulcers and colonoscopic polypectomy. Fibreoptic endoscopy is a major technique on the frontiers o f gastroenterology. In the past decade major breakthroughs in endoscopy have been made and it can now be used for treatment rather than diagnosis. Conditions that needed surgery in the past can now be treated w ith endoscopy, w ith much less suffering on the part o f the patient. The University established a Combined Endoscopy Unit at the Prince o f Wales Hospital in 1984 ， which has since made major contributions to the development o f therapeutic endoscopy. Several new methods o f endoscopic therapy, applicable to 15