ENTRY PAGE

Forthcoming Events

TIGER HEAD, SNAKE TAILS – A TALK BY JONATHAN FENBY
preceded by book launch

Date: 30th May 2012 (Wednesday)
Time: 7.00 – 8.30 pm
Venue: To be confirmed

Jonathan Fenby is the author of Chiang Kai-shek and the China he Lost (2005), the Penguin History of Modern China - 1850-2009 (2009) amongst other books. He was a former editor of The Observer and South China Morning Post in Hong Kong.

The talk is at 7pm in Central London, venue to be confirmed later.

To book a place, please CLICK HERE

Free entry to talk for members of The Meridian Society and SACU

Entry fee to talk for non-members: £5 each

This talk will be preceded by book launch at Arthur Probsthain Bookshop:

Time: 6.00 - 6.30 pm.
Venue: 41 Great Russell Street, London WC1B (Opposite British Museum

An illustrated lecture by Dr Li Ruru on Modern Chinese Theatre, and a calligraphy demonstration by Mr Kam Sang Law of the Chinese Dragon and its symbolism and significance in Chinese Culture.

The Meridian Society, together with The Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding (SACU), are pleased to organise a lecture on Modern Chinese Theatre by Dr Li Ruru, an expert in the performance of Beijing Opera.

Dr Li Ruru will be talking on the playwright Cao Yu and the significance of his works in the development of modern Chinese literature. Cao Yu was the great pioneer of modern Chinese drama, author of the famous play, Thunderstorm, 1933.

This joint-event will be held on Saturday 28th April.

The lecture will be followed by a demonstration on Chinese Calligraphy by Kam Sang Law. Law will demonstrate how the character, 'dragon' is written in different styles and he will bring along objects which have the dragon as motif.

Programme of the Day:

12:15pm
Lecture by Dr Li Ruru

1:30pm
Lunch (with viewing of video clips on Chinese drama)

2:30pm
Calligraphy Demonstration by Kam Sang Law

3:30pm
Promotion of the Meridian Society tour, 'In the Steps of the Long March' (October 2012) and SACU/Meridian tour, 'In the Footsteps of Joseph Needham' scheduled for 2013.

Dr Li Ruru

Dr Li Ruru is a senior lecturer at Leeds University (where she obtained her PhD degree) and is the step-daughter of Cao Yu, the pioneer of modern Chinese drama. Cao Yu was the author of the famous play, 'Thunderstorm' in 1933. Dr Li published a book in 2010 entitled, 'The Soul of Beijing Opera: Theatrical Creativity in the Changing World.' She recently organised an exhibition of Cao Yu's work in cities around the UK and at SOAS.

Kam Sang Law

Kam Sang Law has been practising calligraphy for 27 years. He studied under renowned masters and has developed his own style. His work has been selected for many prestigious exhibitions in Hong Kong, where he was Vice President of the Jiazi Society of Calligraphy.

Date: 28 April 2012 (Saturday)

Time: 12:15pm

Venue: National Union of Journalists (NUJ)
308-312
Gray's Inn Road
London WC1X 8DP

Nearest tube station: King's Cross

Prices
For members of The Meridian Society, SACU, Asia House, RAS, Dimsum and Chopstick Club:
Admission without Chinese Lunch-box: Free

Admission with Chinese Lunch-box: £5 each

For Non-members:
Admission without Chinese Lunch-box: £5 each

Admission with Chinese Lunch-box: £12 each

Please make bookings before Wednesday 25th April by returning this BOOKING FORM to us

CHINA TOUR SEPTEMBER 2012

THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE LONG MARCH

Tour details now available.

footsteps

CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS (Word Doc)

CLICK HERE FOR BOOKING FORM

Hugo de Burgh: Through a Glass Darkly: China's Media: developments and dilemmas

Professor Hugo de Burgh is the Director of the China Media Centre and Professor of Journalism at Westminster University. After graduating in Chinese Studies and gaining his PhD at SOAS, he taught Chinese history at Edinburgh University.

Hugo de Burgh founded the CMC at Westminster University, and he organises conferences and academic exchanges with students, journalists and acadmics on the media from China. In 2007, Hugo spent 3 months as Visiting Professor at Qinghua University, Beijing.

His publications include 'China, Friend or Foe?' and 'China's Environment and China's Environmental Journalists'.

Iain Robertson. Contemporary Chinese Art: its innovations and extravagances

Iain Roberston is a lecturer in arts policy and management at City University. He is a member of The National Art Collections Fund and Association Internationale des Critique d'Art. He is an adviser to the Asia Art Archive and responsible for information on Asian art developments in London. His recent publication is: A New Art from Emerging Markets and his next publication is Understanding International Art Markets.

Nick Holdstock. The Tree That Bleeds: A Uighur town on the Edge.

Nick Holdstock lived and taught English in a small town, Yining, in Xinjiang Province in far west China during the early 2000s. He stayed there for three and a half years living amongst the local Uighur Moslem and Han Chinese, which he observed with a keen eye and through his camera lens. In July 2009, after his return to Britain, there were demonstrations and clashes between the Uighur and Han populations in the provincial capital of Urumqi, which were harshly suppressed by the authorities. Nick decided to investigate the background and details of these clashes, and went back to Xinjiang in March 2010 to collect information for his book, The Tree That Bleeds.

Julia Lovell. Chinese writers and their impact in the world

Julia Lovell will join others literary experts in discussing the role of Chinese writers from the period of literary renaissance in China (c. 1915-1925), in comparison and connection with the English modernist writers, particularly of the Bloomsbury Group, including Virgina Woolf.

Julia Lovell graduated in Chinese studies from Cambridge University and has written, amongst other books, a Penguin translation of the short stories of the pioneer of the Chinese literary movement, Lu Xun (The Real Story of Ah-Q, and Other Tales of China). Julia is presently teaching at Birkbeck College, and her other books include: The Politics of Cultural Capital: China's Quest for a Nobel Prize in Literature and The Great Wall: China Against the World 1000 BC-AD 2000. Her most recent publication is:The Opium War: Drugs, Dreams and the Making of China.

Dr Li Ruru

Dr Li Ru will be giving a talk on the playwright Cao Yu and the significance of his works in the development of modern Chinese literature.

Li Ruru is the step-daughter of Cao Yu, the great pioneer of modern Chinese drama, author of the famous play, Thunderstorm, 1933. She is an expert in and performer of Beijing Opera.

She is Senior Lecturer at Leeds University, from which she obtained her PhD.

She recently published: The Soul of Beijing Opera: Theatrical Creativity in the Changing World (2010)

She recently organised a series of exhibitions on Cao Yu and his works in various cities in the UK, including SOAS, London.