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Friday, December 15, 1995 - 19:30

Video: Forbidden City - The Great Within

Last month, American and Asian audiences were riveted to the Discovery Channel for an extraordinary film on the Forbidden City. Now this documentary special comes home to Beijing. "Forbidden City" recreates for the first time the life and history of the Imperial Palace. In honour of the Palace Museum's 70th anniversary, producers were given unprecedented access to Gugong's 240 acres of palaces, temples, gardens, schools, theatres and residences, as well as its historical archives. Focusing on the last 150 years of imperial rule, "Forbidden City" seeks to capture the mystique and the highly...
Tuesday, December 12, 1995 - 19:30

The I-Ching or Book of Changes

Richard Hardiman, Scholar

Some members will remember China scholar Richard Hardiman as an old friend of BIS from his presentation of Shadow Puppets. Now he will present, from twenty years' work, insights into the I-Ching (pinyin: Yijing). The I-Ching was one of the Five Classics, part of the syllabus taught by Confucius. It is a book of divination based on eight trigrams that can be combined to make 64 hexagrams, each with name and explanatory text. Mr. Hardinman will examine the Book of Changes as the essence of Daoism, look at the development of trigrams and hexagrams and explore a relationship to the Hebrew...
Tuesday, November 21, 1995 - 19:30

Learning about Ourselves from Ancient Encyclopaediae

Prof. Liang Congjie,

President, Friends of Nature

Professor Liang Congjie is now active as President of Friends of Nature, a Chinese NGO working towards sustainable development in a responsible environment. But before entering this field, Professor Liang made a long study of the compilation and presentation of encyclopaediae in China and the West. He found more in those great reference tomes than ready information. There are also cultural clues to what binds and separates us.
Saturday, November 18, 1995 - 10:00

Outing: Courtyard Houses

Michael Crook

Last spring, BIS was delighted to have Mr Deng Youmei introduce us to the characteristics of and regulations governing the building of siheyuan, the courtyard houses that, although found elsewhere, are synonymous with Beijing. The lecture was followed by two separate tours led by Michael Crook, who grew up in Beijing, to visit siheyuan in the western parts of the city where scholars and officials made their homes. Michael has kindly agreed to lead a third tour of siheyuan, this time to the “less desirable” eastern part of the city, where those engaged in business tended to locate.
Tuesday, November 14, 1995 - 19:30

Wushu

Mr. Ren Shouting, National Wushu Adjudicator;

Master of Wushu Culture and Practice

The rapidly flashing feet and fists of the widely popular Kongfu movies, the serene, flowing movements of Taijiquan and the concentrated bodily control required by Qigong, all are part of the broad range of Chinese martial arts known as wushu. National Wushu Adjudicator and Master of Wushu Culture and Practice, Mr. Ren Shouting, has kindly agreed to talk to us about the development of wushu and its role in traditional and modern life. A serious student and practitioner of wushu, Mr. Ren, whose book entitled "The Ba Guan Method for Training the Body" was first published in 1994 and re-...
Friday, November 10, 1995 - 10:00

Outing: Beijing Opera School

Professor Yu Qilong

Surely we mean a Saturday outing? No: Friday is a school day and BIS music and spectacle fans will visit the cradle of Peking Opera. The school, through its carefully selected students and apprentices will display some of the training for this ancient art. They will demonstrate makeup application and exhibit some of their richly detailed costumes. Accompanying us will be BIS Honorary Member Professor Yu Qilong.
Saturday, October 28, 1995 - 10:00

Outing: Centre for Endangered Animals

Bring out the animal in you… join the BIS on our first outing to the Beijing Centre for Breeding and Taming Endangered Animals, recently opened to the public in Daxing County (a little over an hour's drive outside the city). The Centre covers an area of 17 hectares and focuses on research, rehabilitation, reproduction and protection of more than 30 species of rare, endangered and peculiar animals. We will be taken on a tour of the park by Mr. Guo Geng, the Centre's senior ecologist and primate expert.
Tuesday, October 17, 1995 - 19:30

Old China Hands

Panel: Betty Chandler; David Crook;

Joan Hinton; Ruth Weiss

“Old China Hands” – the very concept suggests adventures, experiences and insights that those of us who have come to China recently can generally only wonder about. But now BIS members have the rare opportunity to share these adventures, experiences and insights when some long-term residents of China join us for a panel discussion about their lives here. Who are they? Why did they come? Why did they stay? How have they managed to deal with the vicissitudes of life in China? Come and let them tell you their stories.
Saturday, October 14, 1995 - 10:00

Outing: The Russian Embassy in Beijing

Minister-Counsellor Anton Vassiliev

In the northeast curve of the Second Ring Road – following the Old City Wall we must always recall - between Dongzhimen and the Lama Temple is China's most historically distinguished Embassy. A century and half before other European powers negotiated and battered representation into the Imperial Capital, the Russians had established an Orthodox Church and Ecclesiastical Mission. The whole enterprise began in 1689 and, in a poignant summary, “unlike most foreign missions in modern Chinese history, was connected with a war that China managed to win”. Minister- Counsellor Anton Vassiliev has...
Thursday, October 12, 1995 - 19:30

Ming and Qing Embroideries

Prof. Wang Yarong, Institute of History,

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

Professor Wang Yarong of the Institute of History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences has again kindly consented to give BIS members a talk on Ming and Qing embroideries. A specialist in the history of textiles, embroidery, dyes, weaving and fashion, Professor Wang is also working hard to ensure that this ancient art does not die out. She will bring with her authentic reproductions exquisitely worked to illustrate her talk.
Thursday, September 28, 1995 - 19:30

Cizhou Pottery

Prof. Zhou Shulan, Associate Professor of Sculpture,

Central Academy of Art and Design

The Cizhou kilns were established as early as the 10th century and become the model for the kilns of the Song dynasty. This traditional art form still flourishes in its original locations of Pengcheng and Handan in Hebei province. It is regarded as the most representative porcelain of the North, like the “Jingde” of the South. Professor Zhou Shulan, Associate Professor of Sculpture at the Central Academy of Art and Design, will give us a talk explaining the historical and technical background of this historic porcelain. Exquisite pieces will also be exhibited for BIS members’ admiration....
Saturday, September 23, 1995 - 19:30

Outing: Peking Man

Prof. Wu Xinzhi, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology

and Paleoanthropology

Our first excursion of the new season will take us to the site of Peking Man, near Zhoukoudian, about 50km southwest of Beijing. As a follow-up to his 22 June lecture, Professor Wu Xinzhi, the renowned paleontologist who has devoted much of his life to the study of this subject, will lead us through the site, the museum and caves.
Wednesday, September 20, 1995 - 19:30

Film: Raise the Red Lantern

Directed by Zhang Yimou

BIS starts the new season with an old – not very old (1990) – favorite film. The director is the renowned “Fifth Generation” Chinese filmmaker, Zhang Yimou, and his transcended star is Gong Li. She plays Songlian, a crisply-attired schoolgirl on the cusp of modernizing China. Her feet, but not her future, are unbound. The story unfolds in a sumptuously filmed display of the conflicts between old and new, male and female, rich and poor, empowered and dependent. The alluring red lanterns bring us into her story and same time as they seal her fate.
Thursday, June 29, 1995 - 19:30

Chinese Kites

Prof. Wang Qinian

Before we all take off for the summer vacation, let's enjoy the final event by learning everything about Chinese kites. Professor Wang Qinian, Director of the Beijing Society of Aeronautics and Astronautics, who is also an official state referee for aero models, is an expert on Chinese kites. Having been invited to France and Greece to speak specifically about Chinese kites, as well as having published books about kites, Professor Wang certainly has a log of information to share with BIS. Professor Wang will show us his personal precious kite collection and will end with demonstration of...
Thursday, June 22, 1995 - 19:30

Peking Man

Prof. Wu Xinzhi,

Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology

The Peking Man site, located at the foot of the Western Mountains, near the village of Zhoukoudian approximately fifty kilometers southwest of Beijing, has become world renowned for its high archeological value in understanding the origin of man and his culture. BIS is pleased to welcome the renowned Professor Wu Xinzhi from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology to present a lecture, demonstrated with slides, on Peking Man – its background, present situations/problems, on-going activities and projects.
Saturday, June 17, 1995 - 10:00

Outing: Jin Dynasty Watergate Museum and Buddhist Temple Fayuan

Prof. Wu Menglin;

Michael Crook

On this outing, two of BIS's most energetic and resourceful friends, Professor Wu Menglin and Michael Crook, will guide us on two unrelated, but equally interesting tours. The first stop is the newly excavated Watergate built during the Jin Dynasty of the 12th century. Located at Youanmenwei. It is one of the best preserved old watergates still existing in China. We will hear about the historical background and the special architectural features of this watergate. The small museum there also exhibits valuable unearthed cultural relics from the same period, giving us a more complete...
Thursday, June 8, 1995 - 19:30

A Childhood in China

Stapleton Roy, Ambassador

Born in Nanjing and raised in Chengdu, Stapleton Roy might seem the obvious choice as Ambassador of the United States to China. Yet when he left China to go to school and university in 1950, he never expected to return. Early State Department assignments were in Soviet affairs, and he served tours of duty in places like Moscow, Bangkok and Singapore. Still the connection with China, forged by growing up with parents who were education missionaries, remained vital. In time for the opening of relations between China and US, Ambassador Roy had converted childhood Chinese to elegant fluency in...
Saturday, June 3, 1995 - 10:00

Outing: Beijing's Jesuit Sites

Mr. Jorge Morbey Ramos Pereira,

Portuguese Embassy

With the discovery of a new sea route, the Society of Jesus had the opportunity to Christianize the East. Francis Xavier made converts in Japan, but died in 1552 just before reaching China. Twenty years later, an Italian Jesuit left Lisbon with forty-one missionaries. Their goal was to learn Chinese – “to ‘Sinicize’ themselves rather than to ‘Portugalize’ the converts” (Immanuel C.Y. Hou, quoting G.H. Dunne, SJ). They worked to establish their credibility and then Father Matteo Ricci arrived in the Imperial capital in 1601. The great period of Jesuit influence in mathematics, astronomy,...
Saturday, May 27, 1995 - 10:00

Outing: Baiyunguan: White Cloud Temple, Daoism in Beijing

Michael Saso

To keep the spirit of Dao, we'll spend a late spring morning at the White Cloud Temple, a spiritual oasis in Beijing's southwest. The temple's origins go back to the Tang dynasty (618-907) but the Baiyunguan become a major centre of Daoism in Northern China in the Yuan era when Emperor Shizu (Kublai Khan 1260-93) appointed a Shandong priest to the position of “National Teacher”. The Baiyunguan, as we will see it, was rebuilt in the strongly-stated Qing architectural style but with decorative elements that are specifically Daoist. We will be guided by a temple priest and, if his schedule...
Tuesday, May 23, 1995 - 19:30

The Way - Daoism

Sandrine Branet-Jailly

Shaping traditional Chinese thought along with Confucianism was Daoism, described in part as a philosophy of retreat and withdrawal by thinkers appalled by warfare, instability and death. Daoists turned away from power, status and wealth and urged people to find the Dao, the way to fit harmoniously into nature's cosmic design. Although a Daoist saying is “The one who knows does not speak and the one who speaks does not know”. We will hear from a contemporary scholar who speaks and knows. Ms. Sandrine Branet-Jailly will share with us her extensive research on Daoist texts, practices and...
Tuesday, May 16, 1995 - 19:30

Rong Bao Zhai Gallery

Mr. Zheng Mao Ta

Mr. Zheng Mao Ta from the Rong Bao Zhai Gallery will tell us about the gallery's 300-year old history. This gallery has been described as “a painter's clubs, a bridge between painters and connoisseurs, a framing shop, a publishing house, an art museum and more”. He will also show us Rong Bao Zhai's speciality which is the watercolour woodblock printing method of reproducing painting. This is why the paintings from the Tang dynasty survive. He will bring about ten painting for us to look at, some of which took eight years to produce and for which 1,667 wood blocks were carved.
Saturday, May 13, 1995 - 19:30

Outing: Siheyuan: Courtyard Houses

Michael Crook

Siheyuan raised the eternally fascinating question of what was life like behind that decorative gate, within those high walls? Thanks to Michael Crook, BIS members can penetrate the enigma. For this tour, Michael has selected three courtyard homes in Haidian District where he found “more nice ones than I thought”. He has selected one large, one medium and one small and one of these, he declares, is “truly exquisite”.
Thursday, May 4, 1995 - 19:30

Yungang and Longmen

Prof. Tang Chi, Archaeologist

Although the Dunhuang Caves are popular because of the Silk Road, the Yungang Grottoes in Shanxi Province, which house more than 51,000 stone Buddhist statues, also illustrate in great detail the influences from Central Asia. Professor Tang Chi, a prominent Chinese archaeologist, will speak to BIS about the historical and archaeological background of the Yungang Grottoes as well as the invaluable artistic aspects of these stone carvings. He will also tell us about the recent success in restoring the long-lost “heads” of two damaged Buddhist statues in Longmen. Professor Tang will...
Saturday, April 29, 1995 - 19:30

Photographs of Old Shanghai

Tess Johnston, Author;

Deke Erh, Photographer

We have the rare privilege this month to welcome Tess Johnston, a long time resident of Shanghai, and author of three richly illustrated books on Western architecture in Shanghai: A Last Look at Western Architecture in Old Shanghai (1993), Near to Heaven: Western Architecture in Old Summer Resorts (1995), and soon to be released Western Churches in Shanghai. She will be accompanied by Deke Erh, the photographer who recorded the stunning illustrations in her books. Ms. Johnston will present a selection of slides from all three of her books, accompanied by...
Saturday, April 22, 1995 - 10:00

Outing: Emperor Qianlong's Military Towers

In Qianlong 11 (1747), news of a rebellion in western Sichuan reached Beijing and an imperial army was sent to quell it. The army fought for three years without success, primarily because of a system of defensive towers the rebels had constructed. Captives were brought to Beijing and ordered to build similar towers in the Western Hills so that the imperial forces could train on them. While that rebellion ended in a negotiated settlement, Qianlong urged his troops to continue training on the towers, and a permanent training camp was established in the area. Thirty years later, Qianlong's...
Tuesday, April 4, 1995 - 19:30

Cycling Across the Silk Route: Xian to Kashgar and Beyond

Mrs. Anne Mustoe,

Classicist, Travel Writer

Mrs. Anne Mustoe is a travel writer with a difference! A classicist by training, she ran a specialist travel business with her husband for a number of years. Widowed, she became headmistress of a leading English boarding school, but retired early to cycle solo around the world. She recounted her adventures in a successful book and then went on to write other travel books. She arrives in Beijing in early April to begin her new adventure of cycling across the Silk Route from Xian to Anatolia. She has agreed to come and share her plans and some of her adventures with BIS.
Friday, March 24, 1995 - 19:30

Chinese Calligraphy and Painting

Prof. Yu Qilong;

Yu Danqing

To bring the month to a close, BIS is delighted to offer a second gala anniversary event, featuring a distinguished artist who was one of the very first speakers ever to address BIS, almost exactly 14 years ago. Professor Yu Qilong, famous for his bold and beautiful calligraphy, has been invited for the second time by the Hilton Hotel to mount an exhibition in their upstairs atrium. With him will be his niece, Ms. Yu Danqing, rapidly becoming well known for her sensitive flower paintings. Professor Yu and Yu Danqing most recently presented their works in Japan, where they saw BIS stalwarts...
Thursday, March 16, 1995 - 19:30

Beijing Courtyard Houses (siheyuan)

Deng Youmei

BIS is presenting a two-part series on siheyuan, the traditional courtyard house which is rapidly disappearing in Beijing as the city modernizes. Mr. Deng Youmei, who last fall spoke to BIS about snuff-bottles, has kindly agreed to return to discuss with us the characteristics of and regulations governing the siheyuan of Beijing. He will also share some stories of life in a siheyuan.
Thursday, March 9, 1995 - 19:30

Chinese Shadow Puppets

Zhao Sutong

Mr. Zhao Sutong is a sculptor, whose work is displayed in Beijing. He collects traditional Chinese furniture, and, according to on admirer, has an “extraordinary” collection of antique beds. But for BIS, Mr. Zhao will demonstrate his third love: Chinese shadow puppets. Whether shadow puppets came to China from India as a tool for spreading Buddhism (first century AD), or whether, as legend has it, they originated here during the reign of the Western Han Emperor Wudi (156-87 BC), is uncertain; however, their use in storytelling in China over almost two millenia is not in dispute. After...
Thursday, March 2, 1995 - 19:30

Romance of the Three Kingdoms - The TV Series

BIS was founded in the winter of 1981, and to mark our fourteenth anniversary, we are sponsoring two very special events this month. The first will provide BIS members a rare opportunity to peek behind the scenes and meet and talk with the director, producers, and actors of the highly regarded television series, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and to see some of the beautiful costumes and props used in making the series. The historical narrative, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, is one of the four major masterpieces of classical Chinese literature. This epic work, complied in the...
Thursday, February 23, 1995 - 19:30

Xieyi Style Chinese Painting

Mr. Xue Shiqi,

Beijing Research Centre for Traditional Chinese Painting

Mr. Xue Shiqi is one of the outstanding artists of Beijing's Research Centre for Traditional Chinese Painting. Originally from Zhejiang province, Mr. Xue graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 1961 and is now a senior Professor and artist at the Beijing Institute of Arts and Crafts. In 1966, he married the granddaughter of Qi Baishi, renowned for his development of a style of painting exhibiting both simplicity and vigour. Through twenty years of nurturing in that artistic family, he has inherited and developed the Qi school of painting. He excels in the Xieyi style, which is...
Thursday, February 16, 1995 - 19:30

Qing Dynasty Furniture

Mr. Tian Jiaqing

As we browse through local flea markets, we often come across unique designs in antique furniture, and frequently come away dissatisfied by the inadequate information dealers provide. BIS is honored to present Mr. Tian Jiaqing, one of China's foremost young scholars of classical Chinese furniture to repeat a presentation he gave at a recent international symposium in Hong Kong. Mr. Tian will introduce the point system he developed to evaluate antique Chinese furniture. He considers seven basic factors: the furniture's design, rareness the material used, the date of manufacture, structure...
Thursday, February 9, 1995 - 19:30

Marvels of Chinese Sculpture during the Qin and Han Dyansties

Professor Tan Chi, Beijing Institute of Fine Arts

We are honored to have Professor Tan Chi from the Beijing Institute of Fine Arts present a lecture on a little-known topic: sculpture from the Qin and Han Dynasties, 221 B.C. to 220 A.D. Professor Tang will give a talk, illustrated with approximately 40 slides, on representative tomb sculptures, landscape sculptures, memorials and the earliest Buddhist sculptures in China.
Saturday, February 4, 1995 - 10:00

Outing: Chinese New Year in Tianjin

On January 31, Chinese people will celebrate Spring Festival, the most important holiday of the Chinese year. BIS begins the Year of the Boar with an excursion to Tianjin, where people still enjoy traditional ways of celebrating this festival and where famous Yang Liu Qing New Year paintings can be found. As arranged by Anna Budura, in cooperation with the indefatigable Mrs. Wu Menglin, we will visit the temple fair at the Temple of the Goddess of the Sea, protector of sailors, and wander along Wenhua Jie (Culture Street), where New Year paintings can be bought. After a light lunch, we...
Tuesday, January 24, 1995 - 19:30

Musical Evening: Ancient Plucked, Bowed, and Wind Instruments

Zhao Ben

To help set the mood for the Spring Festival and for a rare chance to hear and learn about ancient Chinese music, BIS is honored to present the esteemed musician, Mr. Zhao Ben. From the tender age of eight, Zhao Ben developed a keen interest in music, but above all, his main passion was for the ancient plucked, bowed and wind instruments of his country. After years of dedication and practice, Mr. Zhao has become an accomplished performer and lecturer and is very enthusiastic about fostering cultural exchange. He studied English and Japanese so that he, himself, could express and expound on...
Saturday, January 21, 1995 - 10:00

Outing: History of Chinese Fans and Fan Painting

Yan Huang Museum

Chinese fans, so delicatedly decorated with miniature paintings and calligraphy by painstakingly patient artists, have long attracted attention and curiosity. Therefore, BIS has invited Mrs. Chen Jin, a graduate from the Beijing University Museology Department and a specialist in this specific art form, to talk to us. Mrs. Chen Jin kindly agreed to trace the history of fans and fan painting in China, beginning with the Han Dynasty and focusing particularly on the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Fans and fan paintings became a specific art form of traditional Chinese paintings made by the literati...
Thursday, January 12, 1995 - 19:30

The Great Wall: Its History, Old and New

Prof. Dong Yaohui,

University for Minorities

On this occasion, BIS has the honor to present Professor Dong Yaohui, vice secretary general of the Great Wall Association, and professor at the University for Minorities. So many of us have visited the Great Wall often and taken such pleasure in the vastness of this winding, crenelated edifice. But how many of us know that the first section of the Great Wall was built in 656 BC? And how many of us know its subsequent 2,500 history, during which the wall went through cycles of development, decay, and then redevelopment, until it finally reached its zenith under the Ming Dynasty? Through...