The Institute of Chinese Studies (ICS) just launched the very first research repository focusing on Guangdong literati and gentry, namely the Digital Repository of Rare Books, Calligraphy, and Paintings of Guangdong Literati and Gentry from the Ming Dynasty to the Republican Era. This Repository collects and showcases valuable collections of Guangdong cultural legacies in the Art Museum, CUHK and the CUHK library. It also compiles and presents the profiles of 100 significant personalities by encapsulating studies of a wide range of textual and visual materials. Though digitization and visualization of collected data, the Repository introduces a new perspective to the study of Guangdong literati and gentry from the Ming to the Republican times, serving as an incentive for interdisciplinary research and an important educational platform for promoting the culture of Guangdong to the global audience. To celebrate such remarkable milestone of Chinese studies, the ICS hosted the three-day international conference on Lingnan Culture and the World in hybrid mode on 23–25 November, 2023.
The conference began with the launch ceremony of the Digital Repository. The officiating guests were Ms Lillian Kiang, Chief Executive Officer of Bei Shan Tang Foundation that have been generously supporting the development of the Repository over the past years; Professor Alan K.L. Chan, Provost of CUHK; Professor Max Tang, Dean of Faculty of Arts and Director of the Institute of Chinese Studies; Professor Josh Yiu, Director of Art Museum, CUHK; Ms Li Lai-fong, Associate University Librarian of CHUK; Professor LAI Chi Tim, Project Leader of the Repository and Executive Associate Director of the Institute of Chinese Studies. Professor Alan Chan, in his opening remarks, said the conference “unveils a fuller and clearer view of Lingnan culture which is of particular importance in Hong Kong.”
Professor Lai Chi Tim explained the objectives of initiating the research on Lingnan culture in his speech as he sees “an urge to establish an open-access digital database of Guangdong personalities and emphasize the values and importance of Guangdong culture.” The Repository, as well as the conference is also under the Collaborative Research Fund (CRF) project “Lingnan Culture and the World: Construction and Change in the Cultural Landscape of Cantonese Literati from the late Qing to the Republican era in China (1821–1949),” leading by Professor Lai along with eight other interdisciplinary scholars from CUHK and other universities in Hong Kong. “The CRF project aims for a breakthrough in uncovering a cluster of crucial Cantonese literati, whose thoughtful reception of the global knowledge and culture and re-examination of Chinese traditions shed new light on our understanding of the multifaceted Lingnan culture in the worldwide context,” said Professor Lai.
28 scholars in various field of Chinese studies, from leading institutions of Hong Kong Mainland China, Taiwan, Singapore, Australia, and the United States, gathered and delivered nine panel presentations and discussions. The group shared insights and research on a board range of topics on Lingnan culture, from literary traditions, translingual practice, Cantonese opera, linguistics, to Lingnan religions, scientific knowledge, material culture, and institutions. This conference attracted more than 800 online views from all over the world.
