Upcoming Events
Professor ZHANG Longxi: John Webb and China in the Political Imaginary of Restoration England (2025/10/4)
From October, the Jao Tsung-I Academy of Sinology at HKBU will host a 15-lecture series titled “Encounters in the Old World, East and West: From a Transdisciplinary Perspective”. Emphasising cross-disciplinary, cross-border, and cross-era approaches, the series aims to foster academic and public interest in early East-West civilisational dialogue.
The lecture series is sponsored by the Eurasian Foundation (from Asia). The inaugural lecture was held at the Academy on 4 October, featuring Professor Zhang Longxi, Distinguished Li De Chair Professor of Peking University’s Yenching Academy, Xiaoxiang Chair Professor of Comparative Literature at Hunan Normal University, and Foreign Member of the Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities and the Academia Europaea. Professor Zhang delivered a lecture titled “John Webb and China in the Political Imaginary of the Restoration England,” chaired by Professor Adam Schwartz, Associate Director of the Jao Tsung-I Academy of Sinology. The event attracted over 100 attendees, including faculty, students, and scholars.
John Webb (1611–1672) was an English architect who wrote an essay contending that Chinese was Adam’s original language, created by God in the Garden of Eden. Professor Zhang’s lecture examined how John Webb regarded Chinese as the Adamic language, illustrating how 17th- and 18th-century China was perceived in European intellectual circles as a model of secular governance and rational polity. He also analysed the transformation of China’s image in Europe against the backdrop of 19th- and 20th-century colonialism and imperialism, reflecting on the profound implications of Sino-Western civilisational encounters.
Professor Wong Man-kong, Director of the Academy of Chinese, History, Religion, and Philosophy at HKBU, remarked that the inaugural lecture set a profound and inspiring tone for the series. He emphasised that it not only deepened the understanding of early Eurasian civilisational exchange but also provided valuable inspiration for interdisciplinary academic research, highlighting the enduring role of Hong Kong, China as a hub for Sino-Western cultural and academic dialogue.
Lecture Review:
HKBUtube: https://hkbutube.lib.hkbu.edu.hk/inner.php?id=BTS-101245
