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Tuesday, December 15, 1998 - 19:30

Performance: Chinese Shadow Puppets

Director Cui Yongping, Beijing Shadow Play Troupe

Director Cui Yongping of the Beijing Shadow Play Troupe and troupe members will demonstrate and perform episodes from the very well known Chinese novel – Journey to the West. Not only will the audience be able to enjoy the show, but also they will be able to have a behind the stage view of the puppeteers in action. In addition, Susan Yeh will describe the history and the characters from the Journey to the West. This event is appropriate for all ages.
Thursday, December 10, 1998 - 19:30

Interview with Photographer Eva Siao

Eva Siao, Photographer

Photographer Eva Siao was 23 years old when she met Chinese writer and political emigrant Emi Siao in 1934 in the Soviet Union. He was a Communist and actively involved in the Chinese revolution; she was a German Jew with a Western bourgeois background. From the day they met, her life changed forever. They married and soon embarked on an historical journey that took Eva through the heart of the Chinese revolution, beginning with a stay in the caves in Yanan from 1940 to 1943. Beijing has been her home since 1949. Through her photographs and work for the World Peace Council, she has...
Tuesday, November 24, 1998 - 19:30

Ye Weili: A Personal Recollection of the Cultural Revolution

Professor Ye Weili

Professor Ye Weili was a high school student in Beijing in 1966, the year the Cultural Revolution broke out. Her school was the best girl's middle school in Beijing and was very involved in the early Cultural Revolution events. She was sent to the countryside and has maintained contact with the peasant community that welcomed her as a teenager. Following her stint in the countryside, Professor Ye moved to a new life, first as a student and subsequently as a professor in the U.S. where she now teaches Chinese history. Professor Ye will discuss her personal experiences during the Cultural...
Thursday, November 19, 1998 - 19:30

The Classical Tradition of Chinese Sculpture

Mrs. Ann Paludan, Author

Mrs. Ann Paludan, the author of "The Imperial Ming Tombs", will talk to BIS about the development of a classical tradition in stone sculpture, which pre-dated and then co-existed with the better known Buddhist tradition. Based on the results of personal research, she will use slides to show stone statuaries from different parts of China dating from the Han dynasty onward.
Thursday, November 12, 1998 - 19:30

The History and Practice of Daoism in China

Professor Wang Ka, Deputy Director, Division of Taoist Studies, Institute of World Religions, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

Professor Wang Ka is the Deputy Director of the Division of Taoist Studies at the Institute of World Religions of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. In his lecture, he will give a basic introduction to the history, culture, origin, beliefs and practice of Taoism in China. Taoism is one of the three philosophies and cultures of ancient China with a history of 2000 years. The religious beliefs of Taoism have had an important influence on the life and customs of Chinese people. The practice of Taoism has also had an impact on ancient Chinese science, technology and medicine and it still...
Saturday, November 7, 1998 - 09:00

Outing: Tian Yi Mu, the Eunuch's Tomb

Song Jinglun

Song Jinglun, a friend of BIS, with Michael Crook as interpreter, will take us on an adventure outing to a eunuch's tomb in western Shijingshan District. When the last eunuch, Sun Yaoting, died in 1996, eunuchs disappeared forever. The tomb we will visit is that of Tian Yi, a palace eunuch of the Ming Dynasty and the tombs of five other eunuchs who asked to be buried close to him because they so admired his character. Tian Yi was born in 1534 and was castrated when 8 years old and taken to work in the Forbidden City as a eunuch. He was favoured as a court eunuch by three emperors,...
Thursday, November 5, 1998 - 19:30

The Healing Art of Reflexology

Professor Hang Xiongwen, Former Diplomat, Embassy of the People's Republic of China, London and Vienna

Professor Hang Xiongwen, who was formerly a diplomat in the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in both London and Vienna, will deliver a lecture with slides about the 1000 years of the history of Reflexology. He will also be covering the current uses of this diagnostic and healing method in certain illnesses.
Saturday, October 31, 1998 - 10:00

Outing: The Great Wall at Dezhenyu

William Lindesay

William Lindesay has walked 2,470 km of the Great Wall and recorded his experiences in the book "Alone on the Great Wall." He is immersed in Great Wall studies to further a systemic and scholarly review of Great Wall history. He has recently published a set of panoramic postcards and a short photo essay depicting the wilderness nature of Beijing's Great Wall mountain country. Mr. Lindesay will take BIS members approximately 80 km north of Beijing to Dezhenyu. This section of first class wall offers good panoramas and several unique archaeological and architectural featrues from the late...
Thursday, October 22, 1998 - 19:30

The Great Wall

Li Shaobai, Photographer,

Editor, "Bridge"

Li Shaobai has photographed many of China's great cultural treasures. His “Rarely Seen Photos of the Great Wall” provides an overview with detailed shots of the Wall. Mr. Li will talk about various sections of the Wall and what he discovered as he moved from the eastern to the western ends of the Wall. Mr. Li, currently Chairman of the Board of China Esperanto Press, formerly worked as a photographer and editor at “Bridge”. He is on the Board of the two journals “China Photo” and “Photography and Cinematography”. He held a personal retrospective showing of his photographs called “...
Thursday, October 15, 1998 - 19:30

An Introduction to Traditional Chinese Medicine

Mr. Manuel Rodriguez

After long business experience in Europe, Mr. Manual Rodriguez was attracted to the study of traditional Chinese medicine through Chinese philosophy and came to Beijing to study Medicine. He has now finished this course and will talk to BIS about traditional Chinese Medicine: its philosophical and cultural roots, its characteristics and its therapeutic applications in acupuncture, pharmacopoeia, dietetics and qi gong. He will address how this scientific medicine, which in some instances can more effective than western medicine, addresses the patient as a total being not just curing an...
Saturday, October 10, 1998 - 10:00

Outing: The Legendary Gardens of Peking University

Dr. Diane Oberchain, Visiting Professor of Religion,

Peking University

Professor Diane B. Obenchain, who received her Ph.D. at Harvard University in the field of Comparative History of Religion, with a specialization in Chinese religious traditions, is a visiting Professor of Religion at Peking University. She has taught in the University's Department of Philosophy on a regular basis since 1988. She is currently preparing publications on Confucian thought, on spirituality in Chinese art, also on the historical geography of the Peking University Campus garden with Professor Hou Renzhi, the eminent geographer and city planner of Peking. After a brief...
Thursday, October 8, 1998 - 19:30

Evolution of Buddhist Art: Dunhuang & the Silk Road

Prof. Shuang Situ

Professor Shuang Situ, a professor of both history and art, a BIS favourite speaker, will take us again on the Silk Road, this time on the theme of the introduction of Buddhism in the first Century AD and the subsequent evolution of Buddhist art in ancient China. The Dunhuang sanctuaries, located at the starting post of the Silk Road, represent the integration of Buddhist architecture, painting and sculpture.
Thursday, September 24, 1998 - 19:30

Feng Shui

Chen Zeng Bi, Retired Professor,

Central Academy of Technology and Art

Literally translated as “wind and water”, feng shui is the Chinese art of placement, of balancing and enhancing the environment. It has become a household word in many parts of Asia. Mr Chen Zeng Bi, a retired professor of the Central Academy of Technology and Art, will speak on the theoretical and historical background of this old Chinese practice. Using slides, Prof. Chen will also talk about the impact of Feng Shui on traditional Chinese architecture and furniture as well as its practical applications in modern day lives.
Saturday, September 19, 1998 - 10:00

Outing: Walk Around the Former Legation Quarter

Professor Yu Qilong; Mr. Casier

Professor Yu Qilong, a long time friend of B.I.S., and Mr Casier, Director of The Belgian Bank (Gererale de Banque), will conduct a walk around the former so-called “Legation Quarter”, a fast disappearing section of the Chinese capital. The “Legation Quarter”, that progressively took shape after the 1860 Convention of Peking at the south-east corner of the Forbidden City, was profoundly remodelled after the 1900 Boxer Rebellion. It became a walled and well-defended foreign city within the larger Chinese city. After the establishment of the P.C.R. in 1949, the wall was dismantled and...
Tuesday, September 15, 1998 - 19:30

Chinese Martial Arts: a Western Perspective

Derrick Cope

Derrick Cope is a young American who has devoted nine years to studying the various forms of martial arts. His training has taken him to many teachers and places, including the famous Shaolin temple in Henan Province. He is currently running a school of martial arts in Beijing. Chinese martial arts are traditionally divided into the “inner” and “outer” schools. On this occasion, Derrick will explain and demonstrate the difference in the various styles and will provide an opportunity for audience participation.
Thursday, September 10, 1998 - 19:30

The Guqin: Gem of the Chinese Musical Culture

Dominique Dreyer, Swiss diplomat;

Performance by Li Xianting, Professor of Guqin,

Central Conservatory of Music (Beijing)

The Guqin, a seven-string zither, is the most classical musical instrument in China and has a history of more than two thousand years. It is probably one of the oldest musical instruments still in use today and represents a fascinating aspect of Chinese musical culture. On this evening there will be an introduction by Dominique Dreyer, a Swiss diplomat with a long-standing interest for this instrument, and a performance by Prof. Li Xianting, currently professor of Guqin at the Central Conservatory of Music (Beijing). Prof. Li is universally recognised as one of the top Guqin players today...
Tuesday, June 16, 1998 - 19:30

The Manchus and the Qing Dynasty

Prof. Yan Chongnian, Academy of Social Sciences

Professor Yan Chongnian of the Academy of Social Science in Beijing is a director of Manchuology and also the Director of The Manchu Society. He is a well known researcher and scholar who has written 22 books. He will share his knowledge on the history of the Manchus – the ancient origins of this nationality and their environment, their traditions, behaviors and their influence on the Chinese.
Saturday, June 13, 1998 - 10:00

Outing: N.E.P.A. - China Environmental and Sustainable Development Reference and Research Centre

Mr. John D. Liu, Director

We will visit the National Environment Protection Agency Building - China Environment and Sustainable Development Reference and Research Centre where the director, Mr. John D. Liu, will show us the film library, bookstore, multimedia and teleconferencing facilities, scholar exchange program and the computer data bases. He will give us a talk on the projects for environment protection now in hand and a video on the environmental problems facing China and their possible solutions.
Thursday, June 4, 1998 - 19:30

Avant Garde Chinese Art

Mr. Huang Du, Art Critic, Editor

We are all familiar with, and appreciative of, traditional Chinese painting. However, at the opposite end of the Chinese art spectrum is the innovative work produced by young Chinese artists of the 90’s. While receiving little publicity here, this art is currently being appreciated and judged alongside Western contemporary art and, in many cases, has taken the art world by storm. Mr. Huang Du who is a young independent curator (non-commercial), art critic and art magazine editor will talk and show slides on Avant Garde Chinese art and artists practicing both inside and outside China.
Thursday, May 21, 1998 - 19:30

Manichaeism in China

Dr. Ralph Kauz

The Tang dynasty was characterized by the exchange with foreign cultures. Along the Silk Road not only did exotic wares arrive in the Middle Kingdom, but also, some outlandish religions, one of which being the widely unknown religion, “Manichaeism.” Manichaeism was a true world religion spreading in the first millennium from its place of origin in Mesopotamia to the Western Mediterranean and to China's Eastern coast. Dr. Ralph Kauz will give a talk about the history of this religion in China until its disappearance in 1600. He will show slides of the religion's last shrines in Turfan and...
Thursday, May 14, 1998 - 19:30

Intercultural Aspects of Communication (and Miscommunication)

Prof. Ron Scollen, English Department,

City University of Hong Kong

Have you ever been frustrated trying to communicate with someone of another culture even though you both spoke the same language? Professor Ron Scollen, Professor in the English Department at City University of Hong Kong, will discuss how intellectual aspects of communication frequently lead to misunderstandings. Professor Scollen's research in many countries, including Hong Kong, Beijing and Finland, has found that cultural differences in expectations about communication can lead to misinterpretations of the attitudes and intentions of others.
Thursday, May 7, 1998 - 19:30

Chinese Clay Figurines of Tianjin

Prof. Zhang Chang, Professor of Sculpture,

Central Academy of Arts and Crafts

Professor Zhang Chang is Professor of Sculpture at the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts and a fourth generation artist of the famous Zhang Family of clay sculptors of Tianjin. He will give us an illustrated overview of the history of the family's art and the methods used over the centuries to create the unique Clay Figurine Zhang style of sculpted figures.
Tuesday, May 5, 1998 - 19:30

Liao and Jin Dynasty Buddhist Relics in Beijing

Virginia Anami, Scholar;

Kosima Weber Liu, Photographer

Virginia Anami (former Committee Member) and Kosima Weber Liu share more than five years of exploring Beijing history. Ginny is a scholar of East Asian history and has resided twice in Beijing. Kosima, a professional photographer, has been living in Beijing since 1984. Their talk will focus on their experiences of finding the Buddhist sites from the Liao and Jin dynasties when the Qidan (Khithan) peoples (Liao, 916-1125) and the Jurcheds (Jin, 1115-1234) made the Beijing area their capital. Accompanied by slides from some of their photographs on exhibition at the Liao City Wall Museum (May...
Tuesday, April 28, 1998 - 19:30

Round Table: Three Contemporary Chinese Writers

Mo Yan; Wang Shuo; Yu Hua

On this occasion BIS members will have the opportunity to meet three contemporary Chinese writers who have achieved international recognition, Mo Yan, Wang Shuo and Yu Hua. Their books have been highly acclaimed and several of their titles have been made into very successful films. Mo Yan belongs to the generation of the "young intellectuals," the driving force of the 80s, who were the former red guards. Among his best known books is Red Sorghum. Wang Shuo grew up in the cultural revolution but belongs to the generation after. Somewhat of a rebel, he is very popular among young...
Thursday, April 23, 1998 - 19:30

Yuan Porcelain

Prof. Li Zhi Yen, Beijing University

Pottery belongs to all mankind but porcelain is China's invention. From AD 1279 to 1368, the so-called Yuan Dynasty, China was for the first time entirely ruled by foreigners – the Mongols. During this time, the Silk Road, China's only land communication with the outside world, was open on all fronts and trade with the West was encouraged. This helped stimulate the development of the ceramic industry in China. Professor Li Zhi Yen of Beijing University and Vice President of the Chinese Ceramics Association, who did such an excellent presentation on Song porcelain last February, will this...
Thursday, April 16, 1998 - 19:30

A View of Ancient Chinese Architecture

Prof. Tao Zhong Zhen,

Member, Chinese Professors of Architecture and City Planning

Professor Tao Zhong Zhen is a member of the Chinese Professors of Architecture and City Planning. In his lecture he will discuss the different characteristics of Chinese architecture during the Tang, Liao and Song Dynasties. Professor Tao has written many books and articles on these subjects. He is also a member of the National Cultural Relics Bureau, Conservation and Restoration Department. His restoration works include the temples of Putuo Shan, Ming Tombs, Dong Ling and Xi Ling of the Qing Dynasty. He has also conducted research on Ancient Urban Planning in Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia,...
Thursday, April 9, 1998 - 19:30

The Love of Jadeware

Wan Jun, Curator of Jewels,

China Guardian Auctions Company

“There is a price for gold but no price for jade”, according to a Chinese proverb. Jadeware is often described as “worth a string of towns” because King Zhao of Qin was once willing to trade 15 towns in exchange for the famous Ho's round jade. How is it that jade is so valuable? Wan Jun, Curator for Jewels from the China Guardian Auctions Company, has consented to return and give our members a unique “hands-on” opportunity to experience both jadeite and nephrite carvings from their auction collection.
Thursday, March 26, 1998 - 19:30

Buddhism and Zen

Mr. Tsai Zhi Zhung, Cartoonist

The acclaimed cartoonist Mr. Tsai Zhi Zhung is considered to be the pioneer in the art of visualizing Chinese literature and philosophy by the way of comics. Among the more than 100 titles of books Mr. Tsai has published, 25 of them are about ancient Chinese thinkers and the rest are based on historical and literary classics. Many of his books have been translated into Japanese, Korean, Thai, English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, etc. and have been published in more than 30 countries.
Saturday, March 14, 1998 - 10:00

Outing: Beijing Courtyard Houses

Michael Crook

Michael Crook, who grew up in Beijing and is a long-term supporter of BIS, has kindly agreed to once again lead a tour to three Hutongs in the eastern parts of Beijing: Shi Jia Hutong, Dongsi Bei Liu Tiao, and Fuxue Hutong (Prefectorial School). In each Hutong we will visit one or more courtyard houses and Michael will talk on their architectural features and share some stories of the people who lived there.
Thursday, March 5, 1998 - 19:30

The Last Colonies - Western Architecture in China's Southern Treaty Ports

Tess Johnston, Historian;

Deke Erh, Photographer

Tess Johnston and Deke Erh will present their colorful and fast-paced program with slides from the fifth and concluding volume of the Lost Empires series on China's treaty ports. Tess Johnston, a resident of Shanghai for fourteen years, will cover the five original treaty ports forced open in 1842 by the British under the Treaty of Nanking at the conclusion of the First Opium War: Amoy, Canton, Foochow, Ningpo and Shanghai, plus the later southern port of Swatow. The fifith volume ends with a port city that was once the gem of the British colonial empire, Hong Kong. Teaming up with...
Thursday, February 26, 1998 - 19:30

Walking into the Sea of Death

Prof. Qi Dongfang, Beijing University

Prof. Qi Dongfang of Beijing University will lecture on the Niya Ruins (3 AD). First discovered by Aurel Stein in 1901, the site is situated in the southern part of the Taklamakan Desert in Xinjiang Automonous Region. A thorough excavation of this 140 square meter site took place in 1995 under the sponsorship of UNESCO. The excavation produced many significant finds, some of which were displayed in the History Museum late last year.
Thursday, February 19, 1998 - 19:30

Song Porcelain

Prof. Li Zhi Yen, Beijing University;

Vice President, Chinese Ceramics Association

China has long been known throughout the world as the home of porcelain. During AD 960 - 1279, the personal passion of the Song Emperors for fine arts moved the manufacture of porcelain to one of its highest levels of proficiency. During that time, a wide variety of porcelain making techniques were developed and in turn, several famous types of ware were produced. In addition to a lecture illustrated with slides, Prof. Li Zhi Yen of Beijing University and Vice President of the Chinese Ceramics Association, will also bring us porcelain fragments from Song kilns for "hands on" experience....
Thursday, January 15, 1998 - 19:30

Tang Dynasty Poetry

Freda Murck, Ph.D., Chinese Art and Archaeology, Princeton University

We have the rare privelege this month to have Freda Murck, an art historian specializing in the relationship between Chinese painting and poetry. She has a Ph.D. in Chinese Art and Archaeology from Princeton University and worked for twelve years in the Asian Art Department at the Metropolitan Museum in New York City. Using some of the best loved poems - many of which your Chinese friends and colleagues can recite - this lecture will examine the variety of subjects that poets addressed, from drunken banquets and insomnia to rebellion and romantic love. Dr. Murck will explain why these...