Newsletter No. 47

No.47 October 1993 CUHK Newsletter New Research Centre for Contemporary Chinese Culture The University recently approved the establishment of a Research Centre for Contemporary Chinese Culture under the Institute of Chinese Studies. The new centre will conduct and coordinate research in the following areas: (a) The historical development, in particular the structural transformation, of modern China. (b) The modernization of Chinese culture, including the interaction between traditional culture and modernization, Chinese nationalism, the Chinese Enlightenment; and the nature of modernity. (c) Comparative studies of modernization in China and other nations under the impact of the West. Mr. Gao Xing Jian, a well-known Beijing playwright now residing in Paris, will be the first visitor to the centre from 17th to 31st October 1993. During his visit, he will offer a series of seminars on modern drama, and together with Dr. Liu Xiaofeng, a research fellow of the centre, he will deliver the first Sin Wai K in Lecture on Contemporary Chinese Culture on Friday, 29th October. In spring 1994, Prof. Jin Guantao, another research fellow of the centre, and Prof. Leo Lee from Harvard will, respectively, deliver the second and third Sin Wai Kin Lectures. Other plans for 1994 and 1995 include a conference on 'Idealism and Modern China' and an international conference on 'Modernity and China' jointly organized with the Chinese Department of the University of Bonn. The centre has been financed by generous donations from Mr. Sin Wai Kin and an anonymous donor. It is also subsidized by University allocations and will try to solicit further external support in the form of private donations and research grants. APIB Helps to Train US Business Executives The University's Asia-Pacific Institute of Business (APIB) organized a week- long Asia Advanced Management Programme for 70 business executives from the United States last month. The programme was a component part of the Executive MBA Programme offered by the University of Southern California. With an aim to provide trainees with a better understanding of business operation in the Asia-Pacific region and China's economic development, the programme was conducted by academics from CUHK's Faculty of Business Administration and senior business executives from both Hong Kong and Guangzhou. Lectures, case studies and panel discussions were held from 6th to 11th September, and a field trip to two joint-venture factories in Guangzhou was organized to enable the trainees to obtain first-hand experience of Chinese-style management. Famous Academia in Sorbonne Honours Prof. Jao Tsung-i Prof. Jao Tsung-i, emeritus professor in Chinese language and literature, will be awarded an honorary doctorate in the human sciences by L' Éc ole Pratique des Hautes É tudes in Sorbonne, Paris, this November. The school boasts a history of 125 years and is one of the most famous institutions of higher learning on the Continent. It is as respected in France as Cambridge and Oxford are in the United Kingdom. To celebrate its 125th anniversary this year, the school has decided to confer honorary doctorates upon two distinguished individuals, and Prof. Jao will be the recipient of the first honorary degree in human sciences ever to be awarded by the school. Prof. Jao joined the University as reader in Chinese in 1973 and was promoted to professor rank in 1974. Upon his retirement in 1982, he was awarded the title of emeritus professor. Since then he has served as honorary professor of fine arts and honorary professor at the Institute of Chinese Studies. His scholarship in various areas of Chinese studies has won him international renown, and he is highly respected in the fields of ancient Chinese history, Dun Huang studies and oracle bone inscriptions. He is also an accomplished artist and calligraphist. 3