2013-03-11

Shun Hing Group and CUHK Present the Lecture Series in Arts and Humanities Renowned Confucianism Scholar Prof. Tu Weiming Speaks on the Sense of Cultural Identity in the Global Chinese Community

To mark the 60th anniversary of the Shun Hing Group and the 50th anniversary of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) in 2013, the Shun Hing Lecture Series in Arts and Humanities has been established with a generous donation from the Shun Hing Group.  The lecture series aims at promoting cultural knowledge and scholarly pursuits in the arts and humanities. Distinguished scholars from four major areas, Music, Drama and Film, Literature and Art, as well as Philosophy and Thinking, will be invited to give public lectures. The first lecture of the series was presented by Prof. Tu Weiming, a world-renowned scholar in Confucianism on 'A Truly Meaningful "We" in Cultural China: How Is It Possible?' on 7 March on CUHK campus. The lecture attracted an audience of over 450, including CUHK staff and students, members of education and public sectors.

In his lecture, Professor Tu shared his views on the sense of cultural identity in the global Chinese Community. The Chinese in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and in the global community have endeavored to embrace and to advocate their precious culture, while building a strong sense of cultural identity. He hoped such a cultural identity could be established in a humanistic spirit of freedom, diversity, inclusiveness and self-reflection, and most important, incorporating a vision of communal, critical, rational and benevolent self-consciousness.

Since its establishment, CUHK has committed itself as much to teaching and academic research as to upholding the humanistic spirit. Through a wide selection of programmes on offer in general education, exchange and social services programmes, as well as different kinds of lectures and conferences. CUHK strives to encourage students and the public to improve their humanistic quality by thinking critically and appreciating different cultures and philosophies. The Shun Hing Lecture Series in Arts and Humanities launched by the Shun Hing Group and CUHK aims to inspire participants to understand and appreciate the art of living, to review their current state and explore the prospects, so that they become all-round global citizens with a strong sense of social responsibility and a heart to serve.

The Shun Hing Group has been a staunch supporter of CUHK since the 1960's. Over the years, major donations have been received to finance scholarships, exchange and training programmes at the University, as well as the Internet-based Robotics Inter-School Competition to nurture diverse and creative talents. Thanks to the generous support of Shun Hing Education and Charity Fund, Chair Professorship of Mathematics was set up at the Institute of Mathematical Sciences; various laboratories, Shun Hing Institute of Advanced Engineering, and William Mong Eye Centre of Tsinghua University & CUHK were also established for engineering and medical developments.

Biography of Prof. Tu Weiming
Prof. Tu Weiming, Director of the Institute for Advanced Humanistic Studies at Peking University and Research Professor at Harvard University, was born in Kunming in China. He received his Bachelor of Arts from Tunghai University in Taiwan in 1961, Master and Doctoral degrees from Harvard University in 1963 and 1968 respectively. Professor Tu taught Chinese intellectual history, philosophies of China, and Confucian humanism at Harvard University from 1981 to 2010. He was a visiting professor at Tunghai University in Taiwan, Princeton University in the United States, University of California at Berkeley, Peking University in China, Taiwan University, CUHK, and L'Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes in Paris. He also holds honorary professorships from Zhejiang, Sun Yat-sen and Renmin universities, and the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, all in China.

Professor Tu has been awarded honorary degrees at the universities of Lehigh, Michigan State (United States), Shandong (China), Tunghai (Taiwan), Lingnan (Hong Kong), King's College (London), Macau University, and Soka University (Japan). He was invited by the United Nations to be a Member of the Group of Eminent and International Advisors of Rahman University in Malaysia. Professor Tu is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the recipient of Lifelong Achievement Award by the American Humanist Society. He has authored nine books in Chinese and English, more than a hundred articles on the modern transformation of Confucian humanism, and a five-volume collection of his work in Chinese.

Video recap: http://www.cpr.cuhk.edu.hk/cutv/detail/289