royal asiatic society china - newsletter...experiences with chinese hermits that inspired his book...

ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY CHINA – NEWSLETTER VOL 4 NO 11 – DECEMBER 2013

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The Society provides a forum for the development and expression of interests and expertise from within the local community, and from around the globe, to inspire and to enrich cultural life in Shanghai and

beyond.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

DECEMBER 2013

LECTURES & WEEKENDERS

Tues 10th – Dr Sheena Burnell – The Allure

of the Lotus: Bound Feet as a Social and

Historical Metaphor

Sat 14th – Dr Sheena Burnell – Halcyon

Days: Kingfisher Feather Jewellery and

Hair Ornaments from the Qing Dynasty

FOCUS GROUPS

Book Club: Mon 16th – Ma Jian ‘Red Dust’

Film Club: Sun 15th – ‘Shanghai Gesture’

Study Group: Mon 9th

Ad Hoc Study Group: Wed 4th – Sylvie

Levey: ‘Shanghai Waiting for Paradise’

Art Group: Sun 8th – Surrealism in Art

FORTHCOMING

21st Jan 2014 – Lecture: Photographer Liz

Hingley will present her book ‘Shanghai’,

published during Paris Photo 2013 by Be-

Poles as part of the Portraits De Villes

collection

Full updates and events at www.royalasiaticsociety.org.cn

The end of the calendar year is always a time of change at the Royal Asiatic Society China, with the Annual General Meeting

welcoming the new Council and bidding farewell to

the old. Now that December has arrived, we are sad to say goodbye to former president Katy Gow,

and welcome her successor, Nenad Djordjevic.

This photograph was taken during the handover, at which Katy gave Nenad the Qing Dynasty brush pot that is traditionally kept by the RAS President.

More details about the AGM can be found in the coming pages.

Season’s Greetings, and welcome to the December issue of the RAS

newsletter!

As 2013 draws to a close, we look forward to another month of lectures, weekenders

and focus groups. Find out more in the coming pages, and meet our new 2013-2014 Council, voted in at our AGM.

Royal Asiatic Society China - Newsletter


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LETTER FROM OUR PRESIDENT Dear Members and Friends,

It is a great honour and responsibility to be a new President of RAS China in

Shanghai. Thank you all for giving me this opportunity.

It is also a privilege to keep the “ceramic calligraphy brush holder”, as it has become a symbol of presidency of RAS (Judith Kolbas had passed it to Peter

Hibbard and in return he passed it to Katy Gow).

As the fourth keeper of the "ceramic calligraphy brush holder” (why don't we

give it a zippier name?), I have a responsibility to continue the great work of

all of our dear presidents.

Now we have a strong organisation thanks to Peter Hibbard’s commitment

and determination and Katy’s great organisational skills and dedication.

I would like to thank Katy Gow for all that she has done over the past years.

I am very happy to hear that she will continue with her help.

I would also like to extend thanks both to all of the previous and the new

RAS Council members. They all have made great and generous contributions to the Society and I am happy to see that they look forward to continuing the

remarkable work that the RAS has done so far in China.

Today we see RAS as a splendid and well-organised association, with the Beijing chapter, library, four strong pillars and six agile focus groups thanks

to the great contributions made by all of our members.

The next phase will be particularly significant for us all, as it falls under the

"170 years of open port" jubilee. Actually, we are all honoured to continue the

tradition of our great forerunners, the humble and noble seekers of knowledge

who found their way to create, in this

ever-busy city of Shanghai, the Royal Asiatic Society as their temple of peace

and wisdom.

We need to cooperate closely to keep up the great work and I am looking forward

to it.

Best wishes,

Nenad Djordjevic


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SHANGHAI:

NOVEMBER HAPPENINGS & DECEMBER NEWS

In terms of events, November was one of the busiest months we’ve had for a long time in the RAS Programme. Due to several excellent speakers passing through Shanghai, we made space in the

schedule for some extra lectures. We started off on November 4th with a special Book Club

event for Bill Porter, in which he spoke about the experiences with Chinese hermits that inspired his book ‘Road to Heaven’. Due to popular demand, we switched locations from our regular Book Club spot (Glo London) to the Apartment.

On November 5th we welcomed Betty

Grebenschikoff to speak about her early life in Shanghai in the Jewish quarter. Her very moving story forms the narrative of her book ‘Once My

Name was Sara’.

On November 6th we collaborated with online fashion platform Xinlelu.com to screen Porter Erisman’s documentary ‘Crocodile

in the Yangtze’ about his time working with Alibaba founder Jack Ma. We ended the busy week on Saturday November 9th with an RAS Weekender & M Literary Salon featuring Nicolas Grevot on Taiwanese

Aborigines. On Tuesday 12th November we went back to one of our favourite venues, the Tavern at the Radisson Xingguo, for a lecture by Barnaby Powell entitled ‘2018: China Goes Critical’ – inspired by

his recent book of the same name.

Upcoming events for December include a pair of lectures from Dr Sheena Burnell.

The first of which, on December 10th,

will focus on foot-binding as a social and historical metaphor, while

the Weekender/M Salon on the 14th will cover Qing dynasty hair accessories and kingfisher feather pins. On Saturday

7th, we will take a walk around Jiading District’s historic sites led by Kate Baker, author of ‘Beyond the Concessions’.

Upcoming events for December include a pair of lectures from Dr Sheena Burnell. The first of which, on December 10th, will focus on foot-binding as a social and historical metaphor, while the Weekender/M Salon on the 14th will

cover Qing dynasty hair accessories and kingfisher feather pins. On Saturday 14th, we will take a

walk around Jiading District’s historic sites led by Kate Baker, author of ‘Beyond the Concessions’.

Find out what our Focus Groups are up to on page 8 of this newsletter.

Sign up for lectures and weekenders either at [email protected] or by replying to the mail-outs.

I look forward to seeing you at our events this month!

- Susie Gordon (Hon Programme Director)


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RAS Lecture

Tuesday 10th December, 7pm

Tavern at the Radisson Xingguo

Dr Sheena Burnell

The Allure of the Lotus – Bound Feet as a

Social and Historical Metaphor

RAS Weekender

Saturday 14th November, 4pm

Glamour Bar

Dr Sheena Burnell

Halcyon Days – Kingfisher Feather Jewellery

and Hair Ornaments from the Qing Dynasty

Full details of our events can be found at: www.royalasiaticsociety.org.cn

To book a place, please email [email protected] with the name of the lecture in the subject box.

RAS Weekender Walk

Saturday 14th December, 10am

Kate Baker: Jiading Old Town

Kate Baker, author of "Beyond the

Concessions: Six Walks Exploring

Shanghai's Other Districts" will lead us

through the Confucius Temple, Imperial

Examination Museum, and Huilongtan Park,

weather permitting.

Prosperous in the thirteenth century,

Jiading was a commercial town rich with

trade in cotton and other goods. The

literary class produced many Imperial

Examination scholars who in turn enriched

the town with culture in the form of

classical gardens, bamboo carving,

painting, calligraphy, and poetry. A

gracious restoration of the town's historical

relics began in the 1980s and continues to this day.

Lunch will be served at the Jiading Hotel. Bookings are essential as spaces are limited.

LECTURES & WEEKENDERS


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ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY CHINA

6th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

ANNUAL REVIEW 2012-2013 – President Mrs Katy Gow

The original aims of the NCBRAS founded in 1857 are very much in evidence today. As a learned society, our foundations are built on four main pillars: The Journal, The Monographs, The Library and The Programme. This year, all four have been strengthened here in Shanghai and expanded China-wide with the launch of the Beijing Chapter and I am delighted that Vice President, Alan Babington-Smith, is with us this evening. Sadly, our Suzhou activities came to an end this spring, when Vice President Bill Dodson stood down. We are sincerely grateful to Bill for the two years he spent running the Chapter.

We also said Bon Voyage to Peter Hibbard in May and he sends his very best wishes to you all. Peter is

continuing with the RAS China Heritage Project, with a view to including this on our website in due

course. Through the tremendous efforts of Honorary Journal Editor, Lindsay Shen, the second edition of THE RAS China JOURNAL Vol. 75 No 1, was published this summer. Comprising 20 articles and 17 book reviews, this Journal

covers a broad range of subjects and we are indebted to Lindsay and publisher Graham Earnshaw for bringing this

issue to fruition, thus carrying on the fine tradition of encouraging new scholarship. Grateful thanks are due to the authors, reviewers, members of the Editorial Advisory Board and those who helped to put this issue together

through the various stages of collation and proofing.

I am very pleased to inform you that we now have a new Honorary Journal Editor, Dr Neil Schmid, who was co-opted to Council in September and will be standing for election tonight. This is especially good

news for RAS China, since Neil will be our first elected Beijing Member to Council. Neil has just sent out

a “Call for Articles”, so plans are now in hand for the next Journal edition.

I can report that the RAS China MONOGRAPH Series numbers 3 and 4 are at the proofing stage, (Andrew Field Mu Shiying: China’s Lost Modernist and Diana Yeh The Happy Hsiungs). These will be published early next year. Numbers 5 and 6 by Shelly Bryant and Edward Dennison are scheduled for 2014/15 and we have two more titles beyond that. Special thanks to Paul French and Christopher Munn

at Hong Kong University Press, for driving forward this series and also to Lynn Pan and Anne Witchard for contributing in an advisory capacity. RAS China continues to sponsor the series to the tune of 18,000 RMB per issue for numbers 1-6 and then 22,000 RMB per issue thereafter. For this subvention, RAS China receives 150 copies of each monograph and we encourage sales through our membership, so that we might recoup our outlay. Paul French has now left China, but thankfully is willing to continue

as Monograph Series Editor.

RAS China LIBRARY has moved to a larger room, thanks to the Sino British College, for providing the space, which can now house our ever expanding collection. Honorary

Librarian Ed Allen spent a great deal of time during the summer sorting and moving, as well as ordering books and

equipment. With the assistance of Kyle Pulsifer, Matt Smith, William Ma, Didier Pujol, Ian Crawford, Anja Thomsen, Sandy Strand and of course Tess Johnston, our library is really taking shape and will also double up as an event space. Liz and Brendan Jennings have kindly brought back ordered books from the UK, which greatly speeds up

delivery. Larger book donations this year include those from Tess Johnston, Paul French, Jeronia Muntaner and Bill Savadove. We are also grateful to InterfaceFLOR once again, for donating the carpet tiles. Further acquisitions are being planned and a “Sponsor-a-library-chair” idea is being considered.


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The Shanghai PROGRAMME has enjoyed 14 Lectures, 10 Weekenders 4 Walks, 1 Trip and 1 Social event. There

could have been more, but we ran out of steam. It was a tough year in so much as it was difficult to fill the

Honorary Programme Director role which had become vacant following the untimely death of Michelle Blumenthal last year. This meant that I had to do it, on the basis of “no programme – no RAS”. However, my task was made easier by the fact that the Focus Groups were gaining momentum and offered extra activities: the

Book Club (Convenor Sandy Strand), the Film Club (Convenor Linda Johnson), and the Chinese Modern History Study Group (Convenor Katie Baker) provided our members with specialist friendly discussion groups. Linda Ferguson has now taken over the History Study Group and Katie Baker is providing a new Ad Hoc Study Group looking at other documentary films and subjects. A fifth focus group also launched this month, the Art Focus Group with Convenor Julie Chun. So we feel we are providing our members with a wide variety of interest groups and lectures. The good news is that Susie Gordon has

now agreed to take on the role of Hon Programme Director, having been co-opted to this role in

September and standing for election this evening. Susie has also recently revamped the Newsletter and is now producing this too.

Thank you to our venue hosts for their much welcomed support: Sino British College, The Tavern at Radisson Blu Xingguo, Melange Oasis, Chai Living, Glo London, The Apartment, and our new

partnership with M’s Literary Salon at The Glamour Bar. Also to The Shanghai International Literary Festival and the Beijing Literary Festival for including us in their programme.

Lecture and Weekender audiences this year have ranged from 8 to 128. Walks and Trips are always over-subscribed with a waiting list, and the Focus Groups each have a strong following. We do urge our members to RSVP to avoid disappointment, especially when there is limited space available. We have

had some very nice feedback from members and guests stating how much they have enjoyed ‘discovering’ RAS and attending events. To date, we have had no problems finding speakers. The problem more often lies in finding the time to organise and stage the events. Members are very good at passing on suggestions or alerting us to visiting scholars. We have been very fortunate in having some distinguished authors and academics present to us this year, whilst visiting Shanghai. In

arranging such activities we do endeavour to avoid schedule clashes. Eternal thanks to the events

management team without whom there would be no programme: Susie Gordon, Jennifer Wen, Wendy Stockley, Liz Jennings, Lynn Fawcett, Sandy Strand, Katie Baker, Linda Johnson, Linda Ferguson, John O’Breza and Julie Chun.

SPEAKERS, contributors and sponsors this year have included: Duncan Hewitt, Lynn Pan, Victor Zatsepine, Ian Gow, Bill Dodson, Yat-Ming Loo, Anne Witchard, Lindsay Shen, Susie Gordon, Shelly

Bryant, Paul French, Vince Ungvary, Sven Serrano, Betty Barr, Liz Barron, Da Zheng, Peter Hibbard, Michael Humphries, David Porter, Benjamin Elman, HS Liu, Greg Leck, Julie Chun, Liliane Willens, Betty Grebenschikoff, Porter Erisman, Jillian Xin, Nicolas Grevot, Barnaby Powell, Olga and John Hawkes, Bill Porter and Barry Colman. Not forgetting Coca Cola for supplying soft drinks for our events here at SBC. All have been most generous in supporting RAS China – thank you.

BEIJING CHAPTER: In March this year I, together with Peter Hibbard and Susie Gordon, attended the Beijing Literary Festival, where RAS monograph author Anne Witchard was speaking. Paul French had been in talks with Alan Babington-Smith and others to see if there was sufficient interest in starting a Chapter in Beijing, The Beijing Lit Fest event was the perfect occasion to test the water and from this,

the Beijing Chapter began it’s gestation. Alan informed the group that Beijing Chapter now has 50 members, he admitted that it was a huge an effort to set up this type of organization and thanked KG for her support. Katy expressed her thanks to Alan and asked him to convey, all good wishes to the Beijing members.

RAS China Membership now includes 172 Shanghai members and approximately 50 Beijing

members. Thank you to Wendy Stockley for taking care of our Membership records for almost three years. The system was reviewed during the summer and Linda Ferguson now maintains our database. We continue to operate a rolling membership system and now issue plastic membership cards. This a good time to reiterate that our organisation is run entirely by its members for its members and we are most grateful to all our supporters for their contributions.


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RAS Council: I have already thanked many people who have been key to the smooth running of RAS China. However, there are always many others who are not so visible: Hon Secretary Patricia Lambert; Hon Treasurer Peter MacInnis, who was co-opted to Council this year when our previous Hon Treasurer, Simon Drakeford left China; Alexandra Hendrickson for communicating our event notices; Lynn Fawcett

for maintaining our website and e-mail systems; Ian Crawford for publicity, Peter Harris and a special mention for Neale McGoldrick, a great contributor attending many RAS events, who also left China this summer

Three Vice Presidents: Jan Flohr - having served four years as Hon Treasurer and one

year as VP – thank you for five years of continuous service. Jan will not be standing again this time. Mike Nethercott – who stood down earlier in the year because of overseas travel commitments. Having been involved

from the beginning, Mike has always been extremely supportive. Tess Johnston – who

can always be relied upon for wise counsel. It was Tess who nominated me to this position two years ago – a rather scary prospect at the time, but one I accepted nevertheless.

It has been an honour and a privilege for me to serve as your President. I’ve had both a wonderful time and a challenging time, but always an interesting and thought-provoking experience through which I have learned a great deal about China, met some fascinating people, and made some great

friends. I am extremely happy and thankful to Nenad for agreeing to be nominated as your next President, this is indeed great news for RAS China. I demit office with a good slate of Council Nominations and will be pleased to continue my support as appropriate.

My penultimate word is for my husband Ian, without whom I would not be here in Shanghai. Your encouragement and support has been vital for me to take on this role and be part of this historical society. Thank you. My final word is to all our members and especially those gathered here this

evening. Thank you for sharing this remarkable journey with me. I shall never forget it.

BUT… before we wrap up, we have business to conduct and so I will now hand over to our Honorary Treasurer, Peter MacInnis.

2013 FINANCIAL REPORT – Honorary Treasurer Mr Peter MacInnis

2013 Year End Accounts adopted by show of hands + e-votes

2014 Budget adopted by show of hands + e-votes

Resolution on Membership Revenue adopted by show of hands + e-votes

E-votes:

Yes to accounts 13

Yes to Budget 11 plus 2 Abstentions

Yes to Levy 13

2013-2014 ELECTION OF OFFICERS and COUNCIL MEMBERS

RAS Council - Nominations

ALL NOMINATIONS were approved by show of hands + e-vote 13


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RAS Book Club 7pm Monday 16th

at Glo London (VIP Room) 1 Wulumuqi Lu, near Dongping Lu

乌鲁木齐路 1 号, 近东平路

‘Red Dust’ – Ma Jian

Members - 70 RMB, Guests 100 RMB Includes a selected drink

RSVP is essential as space is limited

[email protected]

Convenor: Sandy Strand

RAS Film Club 6.30pm Sunday 215th

at CHAI Living Gallery 370 Beisuzhou Lu, near Henan Lu

北苏州路 370 号，近河南路

Shanghai Gesture

(1941)

Suggested donation: members 20 RMB – guests 50 RMB

RSVP is essential as space is limited [email protected]

Convenor: Linda Johnson

RAS Art Focus 2pm Sunday 8th at Art Plus Shanghai,

370 Beisuzhou Lu, near Henan Lu

北苏州路 370 号，近河南路

Exploring Surrealism in Art

In-house art historian Julie Chun will provide an introductory lecture on the art historical significance of

Surrealism and explain how it contrasts with Dada. Then the platform will be turned over to Nial O’Connor, an

Australian illustrator working and residing in Shanghai. He will discuss how his art explores contemporary surrealism

through urbanism in China.

Suggested donation: members 20 RMB – guests 50 RMB

RSVP is essential as space is limited [email protected]

Convenor: Julie Chun

FOCUS GROUP MEETINGS

RAS Ad Hoc Study Group 7pm for 7.15pm

Wednesday 4th at The Apartment, 47 Yongfu Lu, near Fuxing Xi Lu

永福路 47 号，复兴西路路

Sylvie Levey

Shanghai Waiting for Paradise

After November’s schedule shift, we are pleased to welcome Sylvie Levey to the December programme instead. The French journalist,

filmmaker, and Sinologist will introduce her film "Shanghai Waiting for Paradise". The 92-minute

documentary filmed over a five-year period

portrays the lives of a three generational family living under one roof as they await the demolition

of their home before Expo 2010.

Suggested donation:

members - 20 RMB, guests – 50 RMB

[email protected]

Convenor: Kate Baker


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RAS LIBRARY

RAS Library - Directions

The Sino-British College, USST 1195 Fuxing Zhong Lu,

near Shaanxi Lu Shanghai, 200031 PRC

上海市复兴中路1195号

上海理工大学中英国际学院

Enter the main gate and turn right towards the SBC Learning and Resource Centre Building with the white balcony. The RAS Library is situated on the first floor upstairs. At the top of the

stairs turn right and go to the end of the corridor.

DECEMBER

Opening Hours

Wednesday: 4th, 11th, 18th (2pm – 5pm)

Saturday: 7th, 14th, 21st (2pm – 5pm)

Some of our events will also take place

in the library or a nearby Lecture Room

Members may borrow two books Refundable Deposit: 500 RMB (cash)

Hon Librarian: Ed Allen

E-mail:

[email protected]

RAS Study Group 7pm for 7.15pm

Monday 9th at Melange Oasis, Jiashan Market, 550 Shaanxi Nan Lu,

No. 37, Building D

陕西南路 550 号，近嘉善路

The Fall and Rise of

China December 9th - Lecture 9: The Birth of Chinese Communism 1917 - 1925 & Lecture 10: Chiang,

Mao and Civil War 1926 - 1934

Suggested donation:

members - 20 RMB, guests – 50 RMB

[email protected]

Convenor: Linda Ferguson

Full details of our events can be found at: www.royalasiaticsociety.org.cn

To book a place, please email the relevant Focus Group.

FOCUS GROUP MEETINGS FOCUS GROUP NEWS

Despite the unrelenting drizzle on the morning of November 10th, twenty-six RAS members came together at the Rockbund Art Museum for the inaugural Art Focus event led by Julie Chun. We

were treated to an object-by-object tour of the exhibition by Daniel Ho, editor of Randian Online.


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RAS CHINA – BEIJING

Further details from Vice President Alan Babington-Smith

E-mail: [email protected]

Website: www.rasbj.org

RAS BEIJING The northwest winds blustering through Beijing’s boulevards would make brass monkeys of

us all if it weren’t for the firing up of a series of RAS events here in the capital.

With Christmas on the way we look forward to ending the year on a high note with our

December 4 Expanding Horizons event with Steven Schwankert who will talk us through his

recent book Poseidon: China’s Secret Salvage of Britain’s Lost Submarine. Many thanks to

RAS Beijing committee member Matthew Hu of the Prince’s Charity Trust for facilitating our

use of the Shijia Hutong Museum for this great event. More can be learnt of this wonderful

piece of Beijing heritage from this November 15 piece from the Wall Street Journal featuring

our very own Alan Babington-Smith.

For those in need of some relief from the claustrophobic confines of a sunken submarine then

our evening with Isabel Crook, Gail Hershatter and Emily Honig will be just the ticket. In

association with the Beijing Bookworm, Isabel will be reading from her book ‘Prosperity’s

Predicament: Identity, Reform and Resistance in Rural Wartime China’. We look forward to

seeing you there on December 17 at half past seven.

The RAS Beijing would like to say a

hearty Xiexie! and Zaijian! to Abi Howell

and Kevin Saric (pictured left). Abi and

Kevin did a capital job of running the RAS

Beijing’s membership and have now set

off on their travels and returning to the

UK. We would also like to say Beijing

Huanying Nin! to Deedy Zhao who will

now take charge of issues of

membership.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and an

Asiatic New Year!

Fergus Naughton

(RASBJ Communications)


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RAS China Monograph Series 3

Hong Kong University Press

COMING 2014

Mu Shiying China's Lost Modernist: New Translations and an Appreciation

Andrew David Field

When the avant-garde writer Mu Shiying was assassinated in 1940, China lost one of its greatest modernist writers while Shanghai lost its most detailed chronicler of its demi-monde nightlife. As Andrew David Field argues, Mu Shiying advanced modern Chinese writing beyond the vernacular

expression of May 4 giants Lu Xun and Lao She to even more starkly reveal the alienation of the cosmopolitan-capitalist city of Shanghai, trapped between the forces of civilization and barbarism.

Each of these five short stories focuses on the author's key obsessions: the pleasurable yet anxiety-ridden social and sexual relationships of the modern city and the decadent maelstrom of consumption and leisure in Shanghai epitomized by the dance hall and the nightclub. This study places his writings

squarely within the framework of Shanghai's social and cultural nightscapes.

"Better than that of any other writer, Mu Shiying's fiction encapsulates the cosmopolitan life of 1930s Shanghai (with its foreign concessions, cinemas, cafes and cabarets) that underlay modernist Chinese writing. Andrew Field's book is exciting not only because it is a new appreciation of this writer but because, through its translations of Mu's stories, it reveals the extent to which Shanghai-based writing was inspired by the styles of international modernism." - Lynn Pan, author of Shanghai Style and Old

Shanghai: Gangsters in Paradise.

RAS China Monograph Series 4

COMING 2014

The Happy Hsiungs Performing China and the struggle

for Modernity

Diana Yeh

‘Try Something Different. Something Really Chinese’ The Happy Hsiungs recovers the lost histories of Shih-I and Dymia Hsiung, two once highly visible, but now largely forgotten Chinese writers in Britain, who sought to represent China and Chineseness to the

rest of the world. Shih-I shot to worldwide fame with his play Lady Precious Stream in the 1930s and became known as the first-ever Chinese stage director to work in the West End and on Broadway. Dymia was the first Chinese woman in Britain to publish a fictional autobiography in English in the 1950s. Through exhaustive research and fieldwork among surviving family members and friends, Diana Yeh traces the Hsiungs’ lives from their childhood in Qing dynasty China and youth amid the radical May 4th era to Britain and the USA, where they became highly celebrated figures, rubbing shoulders

with George Bernard Shaw, James M. Barrie, H.G. Wells, Pearl Buck, Lin Yu Tang, Anna May Wong and Paul Robeson among others. Though fêted as ‘The Happy Hsiungs’, their lives ultimately highlight a

bitter struggle in attempts to become modern. “Thanks to the phenomenal success of his play Lady Precious Stream, Shih-I Hsiung was a household name in the US and UK during the 1930s. The Happy Hsiungs tells the story of how Hsiung and his

writer wife, Dymia, came to be feted across three continents, enjoying celebrity as part of a global cultural elite that included George Bernard Shaw, J. M. Barrie, H.G. Wells, Pearl Buck, Anna May Wong, Paul Robeson, Lin Yu Tang, and Chiang Yee. Yeh explores their role in representing China and

Chineseness to the rest of the world forcing us to rethink our vision of the British Chinese as invisible and insular, with little social, cultural or political impact on wider society.” —Dr Anne Witchard, University of Westminster and author of Lao She in London and Thomas Burke’s Dark Chinoiserie.


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RAS China - Monograph Series 1 & 2 with Hong Kong University Press

Both Lao She in London by Anne Witchard and Knowledge is Pleasure by Lindsay Shen are

now available on Amazon Kindle.

Hard copies are available for purchase at RAS events and during library opening hours. To

reserve your copies email [email protected] putting “Monographs” in the

subject box.

RAS CHINA JOURNAL 2013

(Vol 75 No 1)

Now published!

Our most recent journal includes a wealth of articles including peer reviewed work by Paul Hansen, Ian Gow, Paul French and Tess Johnston, as well as

essays by Jeffrey Wasserstrom and Peter Hibbard, plus book reviews of Décadence Mandchoue and

Midnight in Peking.

RAS members receive one free copy available for

collection at RAS events and the RAS Library. Further copies are available at 80 RMB.

Special thanks go to all contributors and to

Earnshaw Publishers, for their support in delivering this issue.

mailto:[email protected]://www.amazon.com/Lao-London-China-Shanghai-ebook/dp/B00993KZFE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1350273552&sr=8-2&keywords=lao+she+in+Londonhttp://www.amazon.com/Knowledge-Pleasure-Florence-Ayscough-ebook/dp/B009RP6LXE/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1350525471&sr=1-1&keywords=knowledge+is+pleasure


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President: Nenad Djordjevic

Vice President: Tess Johnston

Honorary Secretary: Patricia Lambert

Honorary Treasurer: Peter MacInnis

Honorary Journal Editor: Neil Schmid

Honorary Librarian: Ed Allen

Honorary Programme Director: Susie Gordon

Council Members: Alexandra Hendrickson, Liz Jennings, Ian Crawford, Peter Harris, Duncan Hewitt, Sandy Strand, Katie Baker, Marissa Peacock

Ex Officio: Vice-President Beijing Chapter - Alan Babington-Smith

Ex Officio: Past President - Katy Gow

RAS China Monograph Series Editor: Paul French

Honorary President: Mr Brian Davidson, HM Consul General, British Consulate Shanghai

HON VICE PRESIDENTS

Carma Elliot CMG OBE, Professor Liu Wei

PAST PRESIDENTS

2007-2011 – Peter Hibbard MBE

RAS Council Members 2013 - 2014

We extend heartfelt thanks to our recent sponsors:


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PROFESSION: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

AREAS OF INTEREST and EXPERTISE: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

WOULD YOU be willing to help with RAS matters? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .

SIGNED: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DATE: . . . . . .

MEMBERSHIP CATEGORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . FEE PAID. . . . .RMB

RECEIVED BY: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ON BEHALF OF RAS

MEMBERSHIP FEES

Residing in China:

Individual 500 RMB Joint 800 RMB Student 150 RMB Friend 1,500 RMB Patron 10,000+ RMB

Residing Overseas: Individual 350 RMB

MEMBERSHIP ELIGIBILITY Any foreign passport holder interested in Asian culture and in promoting the aims of the

Society may apply for membership. (PRC law prohibits us from admitting Chinese nationals.)

The Society operates a rolling membership system – membership is valid for one year

from the date of registration. Payments are only possible in cash – please remit your fee and completed form to a Council member at

one of our events.

[email protected]

royal asiatic society china - newsletter...experiences with chinese hermits that inspired his book...

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