New Perspectives on the Research of Chinese Culture

Professor CHENG Pei-kai, Founding Director and Professor of the Chinese Civilisation Centre, joined the City University of Hong Kong in July 1998. A cultural historian and poet, he previously taught history and directed the East Asian Studies programme at Pace University of New York. He has a PhD from Yale in European and Chinese intellectual history and literature, an MA from the University of Hawaii in History, and a BA from National Taiwan University in history and literature. His main research interest is the interaction of Chinese Cultural Aesthetics and material culture, with the emphasis on the cultural contexts of artistic creativity. The history of the material base for the development of an intangible cultural heritage is the main focus of his academic exploration, specifically on the economy of Kunqu and its modern predicament, tea and the evolution of Chinese cultural aesthetics, and Chinese export porcelain and maritime trade. In these diverse but interrelated areas, he has published and edited more than thirty books in addition to numerous articles and essays exploring into the essential issues concerning the changing nature of Chinese cultural aesthetics.

Dr. FAN, Ka Wai began work at the Chinese Civilisation Centre, City University of Hong Kong in 1998 and now is an assistant Professor. Prior to joining the City University of Hong Kong, he was an assistant professor in the Institute of History at National Tsinghua University, Taiwan. Dr. Fan earned his PhD (1997) in history from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He has published extensively (articles, book chapters, encyclopedia entries, and reviews). He has published four books one in English (Routledge) and three in Chinese (Chinese University Press, Fudan University Press and Dongda Publishing House), and numerous articles appeared in international journals.

Pavlovian Theory and the Scientification of Acupuncture in 1950s China; FAN Ka Wai.- History, Ideology and Ideological History-a Case Study of Chinese Chan Buddhism in the Tang Dynasty;  GE Zhaoguang.- On the Importance of Looking at the Oral Dimensions of Early Chinese Culture; Barend ter HAAR.- Exploration of Matteo Ricci's World Map; HUANG Shijian.- Music, Sound, and Site: A Case Study from Southern Song China (1127-1275); Joseph LAM.- A Site Cachment Analysis into Hong Kong's Neolithic Subsistence; LI Guo.-  Images of the Afterworld-a Comparative Study; POO Mu-chou.- Investigating the Meaning of Dhamma 'Fa'-with Chinese Samyuktagama as the Subject; WUT Tai Shing.- A Restart of Chinese Humanities Study; YU Yingshih.- Nature and Landscape in the Chinese Tradition; ZHANG Longxi.