February 27, 2012

Last Friday 24 February 2012 the presentation of the Outstanding Student Awards for Semester A 2011/12 was held at the Chinese Civilisation Centre. At the end of every semester teachers nominate students who excel in their studies of Chinese civilisation, based on the results of classroom participation, online discussion and final papers.

In his speech Professor Cheng Pei-kai, Director of the Chinese Civilisation Centre, congratulated the winners of the award and praised them for their accomplishment because the standard for nomination is set very high and only a small percentage of students has the chance to get the award.  Professor Cheng also emphasized that, whether students like it or not, the study of Chinese civilisation is very important for their development.

Usually all the recipients are Chinese students of Chinese courses, but now for the first time in the history of the award, a student from the English session was among the winners. Miss Shirin Leung [see photo], a law student, was praised for her active participation in class and the high academic quality of her final paper.

For more details, please see the CCIV website.

Written by: Audrey

October 14, 2011

This afternoon the ceremony for the outstanding student awards (2010/11 Semester B and Summer Course) was held at the Chinese Civilization Centre. The awards were presented by Professor Zhou Zhenhe and Professor Cheng Pei-kai. In his speech Professor Cheng Pei-kai stressed that the recipients of this award represent the top students in Chinese civilization.

Apart from the certificates, students also received a copy of the catalogue of the works by renowned calligrapher Zhang Sen. Professor Cheng expressed hope that the art of calligraphy would encourage the students to reflect on their own handwriting especially in this electronic age. The example that Professor Cheng gave was those with beautiful handwriting will have an edge: you can impress your girl or boyfriend with a personal handwritten message.

The list of names of students who won the awards can be found on the website of the CCIV (in Chinese).

Written by: Audrey

October 7, 2011

An ad in the newspaper announced that the ‘Prehistoric Story Room’ officially opened on 3 October 2011. Located in the lobby of the Bank of China Tower, 1 Garden Road, the Prehistoric Story Room is an extension of the Hong Kong Geopark and has on display valuable fossils from Hong Kong.

As explained on the website of the Prehistoric Story Room, the themes of the exhibition are: the origin of life, fossil stars—Trilobites, beautiful jewels—Cephalopods, lords of the prehistoric oceans—Fish, a whole new world—Plants, stars of the prehistoric story—Dinosaurs and the mystery of dinosaurs and birds—Archaeopteryx.

Situated in the heart of Central, the aim of the story room is no doubt to reach out to the public to learn more about the evolutionary history of our planet. Admission is free and the story room is open from 9 am to 6 pm every day except Tuesdays. More information is available on the Geopark website: www.geopark.gov.hk.

Written by: Audrey

May 31, 2011

The conference on Chinese ceramics over the weekend was a great success. Some excellent presentations were given on topics ranging from the finds of shipwrecks and the naval routes of the European traders, to the dating of the export porcelain and reports on the excavations of regional sites.

The invited speakers speaking either in English or Putonghua were especially grateful for the simultaneous interpretation which colleagues from the Department of Chinese, Translation and Linguistics, the City University of Hong Kong, provided. This was crucial to make communication and exchange between Chinese and foreign scholars possible.

Translation and interpretation is very important in this field because Chinese scholars mainly publish in Chinese on the study of porcelain from the production and export angle, while the articles by Western scholars focus on the distribution and consumption side. Often either side has no access to articles because they do not know the language.

With translators and interpreters at hand it is possible to combine all efforts so as to gain a much broader overview of the process of Chinese ceramics, from the kilns in China to the dinner tables in Europe.

Written by: Audrey

December 22, 2008

Wandering inside the CityU Gallery that holds the exhibition on prehistoric rock carvings in Hong Kong and nearby places these days has reminded me of an afternoon stroll at the Big Wave Bay about four years ago. At the time, I only had one goal in mind – to search for the rock carving there, the replica of which is now housed at the pre-historic section of the Hong Kong Museum of History. Archaeology is one discipline which I often have a sense of novelty towards it, because the artefacts that are unearthed in modern era often give me an insight into what the ancient times were like.  Always heard stories about how pre-historic human-beings were buried, how the various patterns of carving or pottery differ in their meanings and denote a particular period to which they belong, and perhaps it’s the reason which I feel would be great if I could see the “real” carving myself.

(more…)

Written by: hiuylee