Newsletter No. 321

第321期 2008年8月19日 No. 321 19 August 2008 (Continued) A Dream Come True Compiling a history of the PRC has been a plan of RC4 since its inception as the study of contemporary Chinese history is one of its missions. However, the materialization of the idea requires more than passion. Some prerequisites have to be met, such as more extensive exchange with mainland Chinese scholars, and availability of experts familiar with the archival approach of historical studies. Conditions were ripe in the year 2000 when Prof. Jin came to know a dozen archivist-historians who were experts on contemporary Chinese history. PRC History covers the period from 1949 to 1981. Why 1981? Prof. Jin was a key participant in the Chinese Enlightenment Movement in the '80s. It is unthinkable that he would leave out the history of this dynamic and electrifying movement. ‘It’s because we don’t have access to relevant archives,’ explained Prof. Jin, ‘Most of the archives of that period of history are unavailable to us. So we set the cut-off point at 1981.’ In the past, when researchers wanted to find a comprehen- sive book on contemporary Chinese history for reference, they turned to The Cambridge History of China: The People’s Republic . Prof. Jin and his collaborators showed that Chinese scholars are capable of producing a detailed and objective history of the PRC. No wonder world- renowned historian Prof. Yu Ying-shih hailed it as ‘a long-awaited achievement for the historical community’. He added, ‘It is the grandest and most detailed history of the People’s Republic of China.... Any of its volumes is on a par with the best historical writing in the world.’ Despite the applause from the distinguished historian, Prof. Jin is still not totally satisfied with the work, ‘We wanted to achieve two objectives. The first was to write it faithfully with an archival approach. This objective has been achieved. The second was to engage in a dialogue with Western academia, to comment on Western perspectives, and to achieve a breakthrough in historiography. This objective seems to have fallen flat.’ A Never-Retired Humanist After retiring from the University, Prof. Jin will continue his studies of Chinese intellectual history. He stressed, ‘As an intellectual and academic, I’ll never retire.’ When asked about his happiest moment in these years, Prof. Jin answered, ‘The happiest thing is to be able to work with my bright colleagues. I’ve never seen such a dedicated team elsewhere.’ Prof. Jin’s subordinates never call him Prof. Jin but call him ‘Old Jin’, which is a familiar way of addressing a close friend in Chinese. This is testimony to their good rapport. Prof. Jin sees humanism as the core of a university. ‘Without humanism, no matter how big, how pro- fessional, or how internationalized a university is, it is still deficient in something. One of our goals of publishing PRC History is to promote CUHK’s humanism.’ Historiography: Official vs. Private Chinese historiography can be divided into two categories in terms of the identity of the history writers: official and private. The existence of historical officials can be traced back to the dawn of Chinese recorded history. In A.D. 593, the then emperor of the Sui dynasty issued an edict to ban non-official history writing. During the Tang dynasty (A.D. 618–907), a state historiographical office was set up to compile historical records. This kind of bureaucratic apparatus had existed ever since throughout the remainder of China’s dynastic era. In republican China, an office called Academia Historica was established to compile national history. However, in parallel with the official efforts to write history, history writing by private individuals has never ceased. Though their resources could not rival their official counterparts, private individuals enjoy a greater freedom in terms of perspectives when producing their own versions of history. Ouyang Xiu’s Xin Wudai Shi (The New History of the Five Dynasties), published in the Tang dynasty, is a typical commendable example. 香港教育研究所專題研究報告 Occasional Papers 【學校教育改革系列】之45 《香港幼稚園的組織學習能力》 彭新強、潘淑儀 該書探討香港學前教育如何在不同的 變革中全面發展優質教育，並了解現 今學前教育機構的組織學習能力及 「學習型組織」在業界的發展現況。 此外，亦探討香港學前教育機構是否 已具備有利建立「學習型組織」的 重要因素和條件，以及在推行「學習 型組織」時遇到的困難。 出版：香港教育研究所 國際統一書碼：978-962-8908-21-9 平裝本 32頁，20港元 The Organizational Learning Capacity of Kindergartens in Hong Kong Co-authored by Pang Sun-keung Nicholas and Poon Shuk-yee, the occasional paper published in Chinese under the School Education Reform Series examines the transformation of local preschools into learning organizations, and the challenges they encounter. Published by the Hong Kong Institute of Educational Research ISBN 978-962-8908-21-9 Paperback, 32pp, HK$20 《鎔秦鑄漢出新姿：陳語山書畫篆刻集》 此圖錄收錄二十世紀香港書畫篆刻家陳語山（1904– 1987）的畫作五十項、書法二十八項及篆刻約三百方，圖 文並茂，是研究及欣賞陳氏藝術的重要參考圖籍。 出版：香港中文大學文物館 國際統一書碼：978-962-7101-88-8 平裝，187頁（158彩版），200港元 / 26美元 The Art of Chan Yu San: Painting, Calligraphy and Seal Engraving (in Chinese) An Art Museum exhibition catalogue on the art of Chan Yu San (1904–1987), a twentieth century artist of Hong Kong. Assembled are 50 paintings, 28 pieces of calligraphy and around 300 seals. The fully illustrated catalogue is an indispensable reference for the appreciation on the art of Chan Yu Shan. Published by the Art Museum, CUHK ISBN 978-962-7101-88-8 Paperback, 187pp, 158 colour plate HK$200/US$26 《語文求真》 康寶文 萬波 張詠梅 主編 該書輯錄了由二十一位中大中文系學者撰寫的八十八篇專 文，從生活話題或語言現象入手，討論粵語、普通話以及 中文書面語的問題，範圍廣涉，富於知識性、啟發性和可讀 性。文章包括〈甚麼是中國話〉、〈茶餐廳常見錯別字〉、 〈談廣告中的同音字〉等，值 得青少年學生、教育工作者、 文字工作者，以及對中國語文 感興趣的人士參考。 出版：三聯書店 國際統一書碼：978-962-04- 2742-8，304頁，65港元 A collection of 88 articles written in Chinese by 21 faculty members of the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at CUHK. They explore issues on Cantonese, Putonghua and the written Chinese language in terms of everyday usage and linguistic phenomena. Published by Joint Publishing ISBN 978-962-04-2742-8 Paperback, 304pp, HK$65