Delegation Visit 2023
Visit of Professor Zhou Xian of the School of Arts, Nanjing University
On 28 April 2023, Zhou Xian of the School of Arts, Nanjing University, visited the Jao Tsung-I Academy of Sinology. In addition to viewing the Academy’s collection of calligraphy, paintings, and rare books, he also discussed future cooperation with Academy staff, the hosting of lectures on the fine arts and exhibitions, and a plan for student exchange, as well as putting forward valuable opinions regarding the Academy’s rare books on the history of art and their publication.
At present, Professor Zhou Xian is a senior professor of humanities and social sciences at Nanjing University, and his scholarly research focuses on fields that include aesthetics, artistic theory, literary theory, and cultural research. On this visit, he was accompanied by Professor Céline Yunya Song of the Department of Journalism of Hong Kong Baptist University. Professor Song and Professor Chen Zhi, Director of the Academy, had studied at Nanjing University and, together with Professor Zhou, are fellow alumni.
Representatives of the National Ministry of Education visit HKBU
Ms Liu Jin, Director of the Office of Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan Affairs and Director-General of the Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges; Mr Shu Gangbo, Deputy Director of the Office of Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan Affairs; and Ms Zhang Meng, Researcher of the National Ministry of Education, together with Mr Zheng Yue, Director of the China Education Exchange (Hong Kong) Centre, visited HKBU on the afternoon of 13 April, 2023.
HKBU representatives who attended the event included Dr Clement Chen, Chairman of the Council and the Court; Professor Alexander Wai, President and Vice-Chancellor; Professor Rick Wong, Interim Provost; Ms Christine Chow, Vice-President (Administration) and Secretary; Professor Chen Zhi, Director of the Jao Tsung-I Academy of Sinology; Dr Adam Craig Schwartz, Associate Director of the Jao Tsung-I Academy of Sinology; and Ms Jenny Li, Head of the Mainland Development Office.
Since its foundation, HKBU has consistently regarded the promotion and enhancement of Chinese culture as central to its mission and placed particular emphasis on research in the joint fields of Classical Chinese Studies and Sinology. After years of unstinting effort, a rich array of research outputs and teaching experience has been generated and assembled. Accompanied by Professor Chen Zhi, Director-General Liu Jin and the other representatives visited the Jao Tsung-I Academy of Sinology and expressed unreserved approval of its conservation, transmission, research, and promotion of Chinese classical texts.
In 2013, HKBU took the lead in establishing the largest and most visionary Academy of Sinology in Hong Kong—the Jao Tsung-I Academy of Sinology—and it was named after contemporary Master Sinologist Professor Jao Tsung-i, who was himself invited to take on the role as its permanent Honorary Director. Viewing Professor Jao Tsung-i’s lifetime devoted to scholarship, it is marked throughout by the consistent theme of a worldview grounded in reasonableness. The establishment of the Jao Tsung-I Academy of Sinology embodies inheritance, transmission, and a continuous unfolding of Professor Jao’s debt to the past, vision for the future, and profound understanding of both Chinese and Western thought. In these past ten years, the Academy has become an important forum for both Eastern and Western scholarly worlds.
Following their tour, Dr Clement Chen, Professor Alexander Wai, Professor Chen Zhi, Director-General Liu, and the other invited guests discussed in detail issues that included scholarly development, current research, and educational cooperation. They also visited the Dr and Mrs Hung Hin Shiu Museum of Chinese Medicine, the Dorothy Shen Wong News Studio, and a showcase of students’ work to learn more about HKBU’s teaching and research in the areas of Chinese medicine and communication studies.
(From left) Dr Adam Craig Schwartz, Professor Rick Wong, Ms Zhang Meng, Mr Shu Gangbo, Dr Clement Chen, Ms Liu Jin, Professor Alexander Wai, Ms Christine Chow, Professor Chen Zhi, Mr Zheng Yue and Ms Jenny Li.
