Film Screening and Discussion: Mr. Deng Goes to Washington
CGIS South, Tsai Auditorium (S010) 1730 Cambridge St, Cambridge, MA, United StatesMr. Deng Goes to Washington tells the story of Deng Xiaoping’s, China’s paramount leader, historic visit to the United States in 1979 that changed the trajectory of world history. This dramatic story is told through first-hand experiences of those people from both countries who made the normalization of relations possible–politicians, diplomats, and one former U.S. […]
The Master Branches Out: Images of Confucius in Contemporary China
CGIS Knafel K262 1737 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA, United StatesAs Confucius (551-479 BCE) has returned to political favor in recent years, his image has become ubiquitous in mainland China and increasingly used abroad to symbolize Chinese culture. Represented in a great variety of media, both traditional and modern, depictions of the ancient teacher serve new purposes and address a much wider audience than ever […]
Film Screening: “Song of the Reed”
In 1998, the Taiwan Women’s Rescue Foundation (TWRF) made a groundbreaking documentary that revealed the existence of Taiwanese comfort women. More than 15 years later, the same organization filmed a second documentary, Song of the Reed. Following the later years of six former comfort women, Song of the Reed focuses on the therapy that the […]
Can China Back Down? Crisis De-escalation in the Shadow of Popular Opposition
Speaker: Professor Alastair Iain Johnston, Governor James Albert Noe and Linda Noe Laine Professor of China in World Affairs, Government Department, Harvard University Critical Issues Confronting China Seminar Series; co-sponsored by the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies and the Harvard University Asia Center
The First World War and the Idea of “China”
CGIS Knafel, K050 1737 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA, United StatesThis lecture will focus on the meaning of the First World War to China and China's role in the Great War. It will pay special attention to the issue how the Great War and its aftermath provided a momentum for the Chinese and the world to think about the ideas of China and Chineseness. Most importantly, this talk will explain why and how the Chinese seized the Great […]
South China Sea: Hague and Aftermath
Boston University School of Education Auditorium 2 Silber Way, Boston, MA, United StatesSpeakers: Andrew Loewenstein, Partner, Foley Hoag Peter Dutton, Naval War College Michael McDevitt, CNA Strategic Studies Taylor Fravel, MIT
To Ransom Destiny: The Daoist Search for Deliverance in Medieval China
CGIS Knafel K262 1737 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA, United StatesFranciscus Verellen a former director of the Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient (2004-2014), where he also holds the chair in History of Daoism and currently serves as head of the EFEO Hong Kong Center.
Inventing Nana Hsu: Creativity in Academic Writing
Room 212 2 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA, United StatesIn the fall of 1948, a young woman in Shanghai left behind her high school Chinese literature textbook just as Communist forces made their way into the city and the Nationalists beat a hasty retreat to Taiwan. That textbook then moldered on some dank and dingy shelf for more than sixty years, with a mysterious […]
The Historical Geographic Background of the Silk Road
Fong Auditorium, Boylston Hall Boylston Hall, Cambridge, MA, United StatesSpeaker: Ge Jianxiong, Professor of the Institute of Historical Geography, Fudan University, as well as the Librarian of Fudan University.
The Mining Industry, Caravan Transportation and Ethnic Mobilization in southwest China from the 17th to 19th Century
Speaker: Prof. Ma Jianxiong (Hong Kong U. of Science and Technology; HYI Visiting Scholar) Chair/discussant: Prof. Michael Szonyi (Director, Harvard University Fairbank Center) Harvard-Yenching Institute Lunchtime Talk This talk will review the history of silver and copper mines on the borderland between Yunnan and Burma, in particular the social organization of miners in remote mountainous […]
Working with Looted Manuscripts: A Vindication of the Peking University Han Bamboo Strips
Over the last two decades, remarkable collections of Warring States, Qin and Han manuscripts have been purchased on the behalf of major academic institutions in China, offering exciting new materials that have the potential to dramatically impact the study of early China. By the same token, these collections also present a great risk to our […]
The World of Universities in the 21st Century – Two Case Studies: UC-Berkeley & Hong Kong University
Lower Level Library, Robinson Hall 35 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA, United StatesWilliam Kirby, Spangler Family Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School; T. M. Chang Professor of China Studies, Harvard University Commentators: Charles S. Maier, Leverett Saltonstall Professor of History, Harvard University Sugata Bose, Gardiner Professor of Oceanic History, Harvard University Aniket De, PhD Candidate in History, Harvard University