January 27, 2012

In Chinese communities all around the world, people are celebrating Chinese New Year. It is goodbye to the rabbit and welcome to the dragon. In many places lion dance troupes have been hired to perform the rituals and dances to chase away evil spirits and to bring in luck and prosperity.

At my place downstairs there was just such performance on day three with two lions, a Big Head Buddha, the Deity of Fortune, and the cymbalists. Dancing, plucking the greens and distributing the sweets were part of the celebration, accompanied by music. They went all over the compound, stopping at each building to make sure that luck and prosperity was brought to each and everyone.

The plucking of greens, caiqing in Chinese, is a ritual where one of the lions reaches high up and snaps at the vegetables dangling above the entrance. Back on all fours, it then ejects pieces of the vegetables, or cai in Chinese which is homophone to the word for fortune.

On behalf of the Centre I wish you all a happy and prosperous new year!

Written by: Audrey

January 20, 2012

Landscape paintings by artist Peng Ximing (1908-2002) will be on display at the exhibition ‘Inspired by Antiquity: In the Style of the Song and Yuan Masters’ next month. Mr Chan Hou Seng, Director of the Macao Museum of Art, Professor Roderick S. W. Wong, Vice President of Development and External Relations (CityU) and Professor Cheng Pei-kai, Director of the Chinese Civilisation Centre (CityU) will officiate at the opening ceremony to be held on Friday 10 February 2012 at 5:30pm.

For biographical information on Peng Ximing, I found an entry in Modern Chinese artists: a biographical dictionary (2006) by Michael Sullivan which reads: ‘Peng Ximing (彭襲明) (Pang Chap-ming, b. 1908, native of Xunyang, Jiangsu province). Guohua painter. Graduated from Shanghai Meizhuan. During WWII in Sichuan, where he knew Zhang Daqian. 1950 moved to Hong Kong, where he taught in Dept. of Fine Art, Chinese College, and Dept. of Fine Art, New Asia College. Eccentric landscapist inspired by Qing dynasty masters Shitao and Shiqi.’

And according to Transcendental Vision: Paintings by Peng Ximing, Peng was a ‘hermit-literati artist’, whose major artistic goal was ‘expressing the inherent resonance in landscapes.’ Reflected in his paintings are the landscapes of China which he roamed about in his youth, and the scenic sights of the New Territories and outlying islands, after he settled in Hong Kong.

The paintings have a very traditional Chinese depiction of nature, beautiful mountains in clouds and trees in mist which—if you stand too close to the canvas—may look like a random mix of dots and lines but is actually an ingenious composition. Experience the paintings in person and visit the CityU Gallery at the 6th floor of the Amenities Building, City University of Hong Kong. The exhibition runs from 11 February till 18 March 2012, open daily from 10 am to 7 pm.

Written by: Audrey

January 13, 2012

Volume 2, no. 1, of Chinese Literature Today (CLT) has come out. CLT, which is published at the University of Oklahoma, features both original literary works and scholarly essays, poetry, short stories, novel excerpts, book reviews (of titles in English and Chinese), interviews, and visual arts. To promote the journal, the Deputy Editor in Chief, Professor Jonathan Stalling posted an announcement on the MCLC list to invite all to sign up for a free issue. All you have to do is visit the CLT website  and fill out the form. When I received my digital copy (free print copies are only for US citizens) I had to register with Zinio to get access to the magazine.

Listed in the table of contents are: Li Ang’s short story ‘Beef Noodles’ and a conversation between ‘Bright’ and ‘Dark’ Li Ang, an excerpt from Sandalwood Death—Mo Yan’s new novel, featured scholar and translator Howard Goldblatt: an overview of his career and a self-interview, the shifting landscapes of contemporary Chinese photography, Luo Qing and Che Qianzi: the rebirth of China’s painter-poets, travelling poetry and the presence of soul: new poems and an interview with Wang Jiaxin. On the cover of the issue is the work ‘Moon 2’ by Chinese artist Chen Nong, depicting an astronaut on the moon amidst the terracotta warriors.

Access via Zinio makes it easy to read whenever convenient; texts and illustrations are clear and in full colour. The issue is quite substantial and I have not yet read all, but I would highly recommend it to all (Chinese) art and literature aficionados.

Written by: Audrey

January 6, 2012

In about two weeks’ time the Department of Chinese, Translation and Linguistics, City University of Hong Kong, will host the ‘International Conference on Cross-cultural Studies: China and the World’. As the list of topics shows the talks are on a broad range of cultural aspects, from literature and film to history and philosophy, and are presented by Western and Asian scholars from all over the world.

It is a pity though that on the website there is only a poster with the titles of the papers and the names of the presenters. There is no description of the aim or background of the conference nor does the link work. Although it says ‘all are welcome’, there is no detailed programme available. Instead anyone interested must send an email first.

A few hours ago, I sent them an email for the programme but so far no response yet. For those interested, you may visit the CTL website at www.ctl.cityu.edu.hk.

Written by: Audrey