Category: events

Open House at the Confucius Campus 19 Sept: Free Shuttle Service

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CATCH THE Complimentary Shuttle service!

A shuttle minibus service will run from outside the University Gift Shop to the Confucius Campus every 15 minutes from 2.15pm till 4pm.  A return service will run from 3pm till 5pm.  Please wait by the lampost with the Information Poster and bus timetable which will be in place on Monday.

At the Campus you will have the chance to explore the beautiful campus, visit some of the buildings and follow our exploration/activity map. Make sure you round off your visit with delicious Chinese dumplings.

For more information on the reasons for our celebration please read on.

EXPANSION and a celebration

A decade on from the signing of the agreement to set up the Confucius Institute for Scotland, we will mark our 10th Anniversary on 19 Sept 2016 when we expand from one building into three on our expanded Confucius Campus.

Your Invitation

Whether you want to just come along to see the new campus, take part by learning some Tai Chi poses, be introduced to a range of Chinese musical instruments, try your hand at calligraphy – or simply take a selfie with the Panda mascots – you will be most welcome.  Our teachers will also be offering some taster Chinese language sessions as well.

Of course no celebration would be complete without food so please come and enjoy some delicious Chinese dumplings which will be on offer throughout the afternoon.

As this is an open invite and a family friendly event, please feel free to bring along family /friends and please do help us to spread the word!

More information on the expansion is below.

Confucius Institute for Scotland Campus

Nos 79 & 81 Dalkeith Road, formerly the location of the University’s day care nursery, has for the last year been undergoing a quiet refurbishment to create additional learning and collaboration spaces for Institute students, visiting staff and various academic and cultural partners.

No 79
Confucius Campus North, 79 Dalkeith Road

With six fully provisioned teaching rooms, a post-graduate study room, research library and staff offices the expansion will mean most classes take place in the Dalkeith Road buildings at No 79 (North) and No 81 (South).

Fortunately  Institute staff and students can move easily between Abden House and the two refurbished buildings via the garden entrance to numbers 79 + 81 Dalkeith Road which back onto the University car park just outside the main gates of Abden!

Click here to see Confucius Campus map.

Getting to the Confucius Campus

Lothian buses no 2,14, 30 and 33 from the city stop directly outside no 79 Dalkeith Road which is the North Building of our Campus. This is in additional to the complimentary shuttle service running for the afternoon.

Chinese Arts & Cultural Festival Sun 14th August

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Sunday 14th August is the date for this one day celebration of Chinese Arts & Culture at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre Venue 150 when the Drama Club from the Institute’s University Partner, Fudan University in Shanghai, will open the programme.

Chinese Arts and Cultural Festival Morning Programme

10.00-11.00
RIchard II –  Fudan University Drama Club (in Chinese)

11.00-12.00
Puppet Show – by Shanghai Theatre Academy

Noon – lucky draw

Chinese Arts and Cultural Festival AFTERNOON Programme

14.00-15.30
Performance by the Experimental High School, Beijing Normal University

15.30-17.30
Peking Opera from Hubei Provincial Peking Opera Theatre

Chinese Arts & Culture FestivalOrganised by the Scotland China Chamber of Commerce, this one day celebration offers a Morning Programme and an Afternoon Programme as well as an Arts and Craft Exhibition. The opportunity for hands-on cultural activities will also be on offer.

For more information please visit the SCCC website page.

To book tickets for the morning please link to the Fringe website here

To book tickets for the afternoon please link to the Fringe website here.

 

Chinese Independent Doc. Films Xu Xing 26-27 May

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Xu Xing: History, Memory & Legacy
Tracing Vestiges of the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-1976)

This year our second programme of truly remarkable cutting-edge, independent, documentary filmmaking from China including screenings of films rarely shown & with the opportunity for discussions with the director features the award winning novelist and film maker Xu Xing.

Download the Full Programme here

My Chronicle of the Cultural Revolution

In 1972, Xu Xing wrote the first love letter of his life and sent it to a girl in school, whose parents had been sent to the countryside. Not knowing, what to do with it, she showed the anonymous letter to her teacher. Xu Xing was identified as author through his handwriting, and was detained…

In this autobiographical piece, Xu Xing tells the story of his own experiences of the Cultural Revolution by tracing his personal encounters of the past in contemporary China.

Thurs 26th May, 2016 17.30–19.00 David Hume Tower, Lower Ground Floor, LG 11
My Chronicle of the Cultural Revolution, 80 min.
A drinks reception will follow the showing and Q&A

Criminal Records

In 2011, Xu Xing accidentally came across registration documents of prisoners, who were detained as active counter-revolutionaries during the Cultural Revolution. Unlike most other political prisoners of the time, these were all peasants, and from the same region in Zhejiang. So Xu Xing started his journey to find these people to discover their stories both as prisoners and their later lives.

Frid 27th May, 2016 17.00–19.30 David Hume Tower, Lower Ground Floor, LG 11
Criminal Records, 120 min.
A drinks reception will follow the showing and Q&A

BIOGRAPHY

Xu XingXu Xing, born 1956 in Beijing, started his career as a novelist and writer. His publication Variation Without a Theme won him accolades at the Beijing University Art Festival and international acclaim and awards such as the Tucholsky Prize for Foreign Literature (Pen International) and “Order of the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres” from the French Ministry of Culture for his translated work.

He has held fellowships and author-in-residence positions in Germany, France and the US. After turning to filmmaking, his documentaries were selected for film festivals garnering awards from Korea and the Awards Forum for Independent Documentary (AIF). His work has been widely shown in the US at Harvard, Yale & Columbia, and in Europe at Berlin, Rome & Aix-en-Provence a.o.

After each screening there will be a Q&A session with the director Xu Xing followed by more informal conversations during the drinks receptions

As seat numbers are restricted, please email info@confuciusinstitute.ac.uk to book your place to attend either or both evenings.

Fudan University credit bearing summer camp 4-15 July 2016

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Shanghai’s Fudan University’s School of Economics is offer a two week credit bearing summer camp on Chinese Economy and Society.  Designed for students who wish to acquire comprehensive knowledge of China in the fields of economy, business and society the course comprises thirty-two 90 minute lectures delivered by top scholars from Fudan University, Shanghai Jiao-tong University, and Shanghai University of Finance and Economics (SHUFE).  Attendees will also take part in three company tours. The dates of the course are 4-15 July 2016 .

The application fee is 400RMB with a tuition charge of 10,000RMB inclusive of all programme activities plus lunch and coffee breaks on lecture days.A range of accommodation is on offer with prices ranging from around 100RMB to 300RMB per day.

Full details of the programme can be seen here via this flier SOE SUMMER CAMP.  Additionally you can review this Chinese Economy Society @ SOE FUDAN ppt.

CPD-Teaching Chinese in Scotland 2016

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This free one day event for all involved or interested in the teaching of Chinese follows  saw a 50% increase in the number of registration for the successful 2015 conference rising from 94 to 142.

Taking place on Friday 24 June 2016 at 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh, the Second Annual Conference on Chinese Language Teaching in Scotland was jointly organised by the Confucius Institute for Scotland and Asian Studies in the University of Edinburgh.

Among the topics were teaching Chinese to primary school pupils and effective methods to help students learn Chinese characters.

Today, there is a growing interest in learning Chinese in schools and demand for Mandarin is rising in the business community and universities.

“We are sure those who attended picked up a lot of new ideas for more effective ways of learning and the teaching of Chinese,” said Professor Natascha Gentz, Director of the Confucius Institute for Scotland, which is celebrating 10 years of culture, education and business links.

Professor Gentz, who is also Assistant Principal (China) at the university, added: “We hope that the conference can contribute to the further expansion and successful development of Mandarin as one of the suite of modern languages in Scotland.”

Please download a conference programme for further details of the workshops and speakers.

Zheng He-When the Dragon Ships Came Thurs 9 June 19.00

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The Confucius Institute for Scotland in the University of Edinburgh, in association with SCEN, is delighted to bring to Edinburgh this award winning show from Karin Schäfer of Figuren Theatre blending puppetry, video and animation.

Tickets for the public show at 7pm on 9th June will be on sale from 6.30pm at the venue- Central Hall, West Tollcross. Advance ticket sales are available via the Queens Hall box office

With two free shows for school groups running at 10.30 and 13.00 the excitement about this show is building.  But for those not in school there is still an opportunity to see the show in a ticketed evening performance at 19.00- read on!

Zheng He

Zheng He-When the Dragon Ships Came relates the tale of the fantastic journeys of this famous Chinese explorer who with his fleet of more than 300 enormous ‘dragon ships’ sailed via Indonesia, India, and the Arabian Coast to Africa – almost 100 years before Columbus set sail for America. While every child in China knows the story of Zheng He’s travels, here, his adventures remain largely unknown.

Zheng He Tea

This production has won many plaudits for its innovative set design which features interaction between the screen and the action on stage. The animated films, video clips, shadow images and masks form a constantly changing visual narrative while the multi-lingual audio and musical score ensure that audience members are fully engaged by the production

Click here to see a short video extract.

Zheng He Screen

The evening show is open to the public and will take place from 7pm-8pm in Central Hall, West Tollcross, EH3 9PB.

Doors will open at 6.30pm.  There is no age restriction on this production but age 7+ is recommended.

Tickets are £5 per single ticket or £15 for a family of 4
(2 adults+ 2 x 12yrs or under OR 1 adult + 3 x 12yrs or under).

Bookings for this event at Tollcross Central Hall is through the Queen’s Hall Box office.You can book in any of the following ways

Online: 24hrs a day at www.thequeenshall.net

By telephone:   (0131) 668 2019.
Telephone bookings operate from 10am – 5pm Monday to Saturday.  Credit & debit card bookings are accepted along with customer enquiries on the above number.

In person: The Box Office is open from 10am – 5pm Monday to Saturday on non-concert evenings, or until 15 minutes after the start of a Queen’s Hall performance.

By post: Postal bookings are accepted with cheques made  payable to “The Queen’s Hall Box Office”. Postal bookings should be sent to The Queen’s Hall Box Office, Clerk Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9JG.

By fax:  Bookings can be accepted by fax if card details for payment are included. The fax number for the Queen’s Hall is: (0131) 668 2656.

Schools which wish to send a group of students (not necessarily students studying Mandarin) should in the first instance call us on 0131 662 2180 or email info@confuciusinstitute.ac.uk.

Asian Studies Seminar Series 2nd March

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The second of the three Chinese Studies Research Seminars will take place on Wednesday, March 2nd 2016 in David Hume Tower, LG.08 from 17.00-19.00

Dr Sabrina Yu (Newcastle University)
Going Back to the Hometown: A New Root-searching Movement in Contemporary Chinese Independent Cinema

It has been critically recognised that there was a root-searching movement in the 1980s in China, immediately after the Cultural Revolution, firstly in literature, then in film, exemplified by some Fifth Generation Directors’ works. This paper aims to outline a new root-searching movement emerging in Chinese independent films in the past ten years or so.

It will scrutinise this new trend within its social, cultural and filmic context in contemporary China. The speaker will argue that this new root-searching movement is different from the previous one in that root-searching is not just a subject matter or a nostalgic sentiment, but also manifested as new film aesthetics and fresh approaches to filmmaking, which have been subtly changing the landscape of contemporary Chinese cinema. This new trend will also be discussed in relation to the challenges that independent filmmaking in current China is facing, such as the lack of financial support, the restrictions on exhibition and distribution and the scarcity of audience.

Third Talk 16th March 2016

The third talk of the series this semester will take place on March 16th and will be given by Dr Liang Hongling (University of Glasgow) on “The Enlightenment, Sino-French Institute and Tel Quel: Looking at Three Moments in Sino-French Knowledge Dynamics”.

Chinese New Year celebrations for Year of the Monkey

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As the Year of the Monkey approaches celebrations are being planned around the world. This 15 day festival starts with the new moon on the first day of the lunar month and ends 15 days later with the Full Moon.  In China, the festival is really all about family but with such a large diaspora the Chinese community will come together in a variety of ways and places to mark this, the largest of all the Chinese festivals.  You can read about some of the traditions of this 15 day period here and here.

Closer to home, Universities, Confucius Institutes, community groups and civic society are planning a range of celebrations to mark the arrival of the Year of the Monkey.

  • The University of Edinburgh will celebrate the Lunar New Year in the Debating Hall of Teviot Row Students Union on 4 February from 18.00-20.00.
  • From noon till 4pm on Platform 2 at Waverley Station on Friday 5th February drop by to try out a range of Chinese crafts, get a temporary tattoo, create your own Chinese lantern and if you are lucky, catch a lion dance or a rendition of a Chinese love song.
  • On Saturday 6th February the quadrangle of Edinburgh City Chambers will reverberate to the sounds of both Scottish bagpipes and Chinese Drums as the Lord Provost’s Chinese New Year celebrations kick off at noon. Following on from the Pipes and Drums of George Watson’s College, both a Dragon and Lion dance will take place in the quad before invited guests head into the City Chambers for more entertainment and a reception.
  • Our own Institute will host its annual Chinese New Year party in Abden House on Friday 12th from 18.00-20.00 featuring games, crafts, prizes, karaoke and of course a taste of delicious jiaoazi. In the quieter corners there’s a chance to try out some Chinese crafts, Chinese Chess or even Mah-jong.  And if we are lucky with the weather the evening will end in the garden with the release of some Chinese Sky Lanterns. Booking essential.
  • 12th February is also the date when Glasgow’s Confucius Institute welcomes in the New Year at Hunter Halls in an evening of celebration of traditional Chinese culture.
  • Tuesday 23 Feb will see Heriot-Watt students and guests will mark the Chinese New Year with a concert featuring the Heriot-Watt Chamber choir and musicians from Tianjin University of Finance and Economics.

But if there are no tickets left or you don’t feel like heading out into whichever storm may be raging,curl up on Sunday 7th Feb from noon till 4pm when you can watch a live stream of the China’s most popular evening of TV – China Central Television’s Spring Festival Gala.  Running from 8pm till midnight Beijing time, viewers here should be able to watch or simply search for CCTV Spring Festival Gala live stream.

Distinguished Lecture Prof Qin Hui, Tsinghua, 10 Feb 6pm

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Join us for the opening lecture in our 2016 Distinguished Lecture Series when prominent public intellectual Prof Qin Hui of Tsinghua University will consider “Chinese Culture and its Modernisation”.

Confucian Values and British Constitutional Monarchy:
Historical Routes of China’s Modernization

When “cultural differences” and “civilizational clashes” are popular discourses in our intellectual thinking today, it is hard to imagine Confucian values have any affinity with Western democratic values and institutions. When Chinese Confucian scholar/officials first encountered the West in the latter half of the 19th century, however, they identified Western institutions such as the British Constitutional Monarchy as very much representing Confucian values—in its true and authentic sense.

This lecture will highlight the enthusiastic embrace of Western democratic principles by a host of late Qing Confucian scholar/officials, from the first Chinese ambassador to Britain, Guo Songtao (1818-1891) to Zhang Shusheng (1824-1884), a powerful Qing official whose will was for China to adopt Western democratic policy as the “foundation” for a Confucian state. This group saw, for instance, the “loyalty” people expressed towards the Queen or King was most sincere precisely because the monarch was detached from power. Indeed, the decency of the British Constitutional Monarchy ignited the dormant “ancient Confucianism” in these late Qing Confucian scholar/officials who allied themselves with Western democratic practice to fight against the age-old enemy of Confucianism: the notorious and cruel dictator the First Emperor of Qin (260-210 BC).

But there was also a strong force in modern Chinese history that yearned for the wealth and power of the nation through a modern-day First Emperor facilitated by an alliance of the traditional “Legalist” thought and radical authoritarian ideology from the West. Confucianism, in this instance, was a notable exception.

Prof Qin HuiProfessor Qin Hui 秦晖 is Professor of History at Tsinghua University, China. His research has covered several fields in economic history, social history and the history of ideas. He has published more than twenty books including Fields and Garden Poetry and Rhapsodies (田园诗与狂想曲), Ten Treatises on Tradition (传统十论), Out of the Imperial System (走出帝制), Common Baseline (共同的底线), Issues and Isms (问题与主义), Revelations from South Africa (南非的启示

Please note that this talk will take place in Chinese.

Wednesday 10th February 2016
18.00-19.30
Lecture Room 2, University of Edinburgh Business School, 29 Buccleuch Place, EH8 9JS

ALL WELCOME, NO BOOKING REQUIRED

Chinese Studies Seminar Series 27 Jan 16

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This semester there are three Chinese Studies seminars planned the first of which will take on Wed 27th January

January 27 17:00-19.00
Dr Marjorie Dryburgh (University of Sheffield)
Visual Histories of a Northern City: In Search of a People’s Past

This talk will take place in the University of Edinburgh 50 George Square, Lecture RoomG.02.

The second talk of this semester is outlined below.  Further info on venue and time will be confirmed nearer the date.

Wednesday, March 2  Time and Venue TBC
Dr Sabrina Yu (Newcastle University)
Going Back to the Hometown: A New Root-searching Movement in Contemporary Chinese Independent Cinema

It has been critically recognised that there was a root-searching movement in the 1980s in China, immediately after the Cultural Revolution, firstly in literature, then in film, exemplified by some Fifth Generation Directors’ works. This paper aims to outline a new root-searching movement emerging in Chinese independent films in the past ten years or so. It will scrutinise this new trend within its social, cultural and filmic context in contemporary China. I argue that this new root-searching movement is different from the previous one in that root-searching is not just a subject matter or a nostalgic sentiment, but also manifested as new film aesthetics and fresh approaches to filmmaking, which have been subtly changing the landscape of contemporary Chinese cinema. This new trend will also be discussed in relation to the challenges that independent filmmaking in current China is facing, such as the lack of financial support, the restrictions on exhibition and distribution and the scarcity of audience.

The venue and time for the  final talk in this semester’s Chinese Studies  seminar series will take place on Wednesday, March 16.   It will be given by Dr Liang Hongling (University of Glasgow) on “The Enlightenment, Sino-French Institute and Tel Quel: Looking at Three Moments in Sino-French Knowledge Dynamics”.

Edinburgh International Asia Conference 5 Feb 2016

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Scotland’s first ever student-led Asia conference will take place on Friday February 5th 2016 at the University of Edinburgh’s Playfair Library. Registration is from 09.00 and the day will finish with a drinks reception from 17.30-18.30.

The conference theme “Will the 21st Century belong to Asia – Pioneer your future in Asia” will see up to 200 student delegates, contemplating a career in Asia, meet with professionals from a wide range of organisations. Students and businesses are invited to register via the EIAC website. Any business which wishes to send a representative can receive a sponsored place.  Please simply send us an email to info@confuciusinstitute.ac.uk giving us the name of the representative, their position and the company name and we will provide you with a booking code to use when registering on the site.

Keynote Speakers will be Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary and Lord Stephen Green, formerly Minister of State for Trade and Investment and Group Chairman of HSBC.  Guest speakers are the Principal of the University of Edinburgh, Sir Timothy O’Shea and Consul General of the PRC in Edinburgh, Mr Pan Xinchun.

In addition to the above there will be a number of workshops offered by businesses including:

Stewart Investors
Goldman Sachs
DLA Piper
Skyscanner
China-Britain Business Council
JET Programme
RioTinto
Scottish Government
Financial Times
LeapFrogInvestment
CRCC Asia
CGIF
Trust Fund of Asian Development Bank

The organisers and sponsors are keen to attract a wide range of businesses to attend the event to take advantage of the opportunity to engage and connect with Scotland’s most ambitious international students from across the globe.

The fundamental goal for the event is to launch an Asia-focused community aimed at fostering relationships between students and businesses.

For more information please download EIACprogramme-11,  visit the EIAC website.

This event has been sponsored by the University of Edinburgh, The Scottish Government and the Confucius Institute for Scotland.

One Belt, One Road: Briefing Session, Report, & Webinar

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On Wed 9 December in Glasgow, China Britain Business Council will run a briefing event focusing on opportunities for businesses related to the One Belt One Road initiative, launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013.

The programme will present the key findings of a report into this initiative to improve and create new trade routes, links and business opportunities with China, which will pass through over 60 countries along the way, through Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Jeff Astle, CBBC’s Executive Director, and Nathan Blunt from the FCO, will lead the session along with panellists from companies which are actively involved. Initial opportunities exist in infrastructure development, financial and professional services, advanced manufacturing and transport, agriculture, energy and resources, logistics, construction and master planning, as well as regionally in ports, tourism and environmental industries.

If you are unable to attend the event but would like to either download the report or take part in a webinair session you can do so by clicking here.

 

Calligraphy Competition-Scottish Heat Tues 1st Dec 2015 6pm

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The Confucius Institute for Scotland is pleased to be hosting the Scotland heat of a global Chinese Calligraphy Contest being organised by Sinolingua. Taking place at the in the Institute at Abden House on Tuesday 1st December from 6pm, the competition is open to all non-native speakers of Chinese.

calligraphy

Many students enjoy learning Chinese characters. Some students take this enjoyment further by studying Chinese calligraphy while others start with an aesthetic enjoyment of the form. Whichever is the case for you, join us to take part in the heat. All participants will receive a beautiful calligraphy gift set and Chinese refreshments will be on offer during the evening. If successful you can progress to the next stage and might even be the winner of a return flight to China!

The theme of the competition is ‘Chinese Calligraphy-an art of global appeal‘.

Programme for Tues 1st December

Confucius Institute for Scotland calligraphy teacher Chi Zhang will give a short lecture and demonstration before contestants take up their brushes. Contestants can choose which script to use and there is no limit on the content, number of words, signature etc. All materials will be provided.

All contestants attending on 1st Dec will receive a beautiful calligraphy gift set and Chinese refreshments will be available on the evening.

Competition Process

Representatives of SinoLingua (sponsors of the global competition) will take photos of each completed work while a video describing the creation of the work will also be made. Completed work will be uploaded to the Mass Selection website. There, following on from the judging, selected artwork will progress to the second round and hopefully to the Finals with the chance to win the top prize of a round-trip flight to China.

To arrange to take part or if you have any questions please email Chi Zhang.

This competition is organised by SinoLingua.  For more info please visit the competition website http://calligraphy.teachpal.com

Fudan University Discovery Day:29 Oct 1pm-3.30pm

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Partner of the Confucius Institute for Scotland, Fudan University is based in one of China’s most vibrant cities – Shanghai.

Find out more about Fudan University – and its network of Confucius Institutes – by dropping into the Project Room at 50 George Square on Thursday 29th October 1.00-3.30pm.  And join us for a special distinguished lecture from Fudan’s Prof Shen Dingli at 6pm.  Read on for more details.

FUDAN UNIVERSITY

Fudan University, based in the vibrant city of Shanghai is one of China’s leading Universities. Founded in 1905 Fudan University is composed of four campuses and has over 30,000 students.

In 2006 Fudan University was partnered with the University of Edinburgh as the Chinese partner in the about to be established Confucius Institute for Scotland. Since this time each year Fudan University sends teaching staff to the Institute to develop the Chinese language skills of the Institute and University students.

In addition Fudan also has partnerships with the Confucius Institutes in Auckland, Sydney, Hamburg, Frankfurt, and Nottingham Universities.

Exhibition

Drop in to the Project Room 1.06 in 50 George Square to chat through opportunities to study abroad for a semester or more. A number of University of Edinburgh students are currently studying at Fudan under joint programmes.   In addition each year there are a number of scholarship opportunities offered by various bodies to he University of Edinburgh and to the Confucius Institute network. Check these out by speaking to the exhibitors from Fudan University, Auckland University’s Confucius Institute, Hamburg University’s Confucius Institute, Nottingham University Confucius Institute and the Confucius Institute for Scotland here in the University of Edinburgh.

Entertainment

Take a seat and enjoy a cup of Chinese tea and a cookie while listening to the evocative sound of the Pipa and the Bamboo Flute. You will also have the chance to watch various forms of martial arts – and perhaps even try these out for yourself at an informal workshop.

Evening Lecture

Our Distinguished Lecture speaker from Fudan is Prof Shen Dingli, deputy dean of the Institute of International Studies. His talk entitled “China’s Peaceful Rice: Challenges & Opportunities” will consider how China’s rise is changing the balance of power in a number of fields – with its ambitions continuing to divide its critics. Join us at 6pm in the Project Room for this fascinating talk

All welcome!

“China & Europe”Lord Stephen Green:15th Oct

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Join us on Thursday 15th October when Lord Stephen Green, former chair of HSBC, will deliver a talk with the intriguing title “China and Europe, from Confucius and Aristotle till now: Old Histories, New Understandings”.

What do China and Europe have in common? And what sets them apart? In this fascinating talk Lord Stephen Green fleshes out the tensions and misunderstandings between these two strikingly different cultures, from Confucius to Aristotle to the present day. China’s economic might globally is deeply intertwined to its fascinating cultural fabric – and an enlightening lens to understanding where this global giant stands today. For Europe these are soul-searching times, as it enters the 21st century trying to re-define its common identity and getting its voice heard in a world of emerging great powers.

Lord Stephen Green

Stephen GreenLord Green has a career spanning nearly five decades in the banking industry and politics and is a published author of books covering topics as diverse as Christianity and capitalism, and the rise of Germany as an economic powerhouse. His latest title looks at European identity, and the role it can play in a 21st century of emerging global giants.

Lord Green was made a life peer in 2010 and served as Minister of State for Trade and Investment from 2011–2013. He has held senior roles in McKinsey & Co Inc, HSBC and HSBC Group. He was Chairman of HSBC from 2006–2010. He now chairs the Natural History Museum as well as a number of other charities.

Venue: University of Edinburgh Business School, 29 Buccleuch Place, EH8 9JS
Time:  6pm-8pm
Booking: to secure your place for this lecture please register via this Eventbrite link.

This talk is part of the 2015 Confucius Institute for Scotland Business Lecture Series and is organised in partnership with the University of Edinburgh’s Busines School.

Military Ethics ConferenceSat 31 Oct 2015

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A unique public day long conference on Chinese and Western Approaches to Military Ethics: Ethics Education, Decision Making and Scholastic Traditions will run at the Confucius Institute for Scotland in the University of Edinburgh on Saturday 31 October 2015.

Military Ethics Conference

The conference is an open event for which registration is required.  The programme for this can be downloaded here as a Military Ethics Conference Programme

Approaches to military ethics are undergoing review in Chinese and Western academies, faced with common or comparable problems: changes within the armed forces and within society; new educational, technological and professional demands placed on the military; and developing debates over the relationship between contemporary ethical initiatives and the intellectual resources offered by historic Chinese and Western just war theories.

Expanding contact through international missions, particularly for peacekeeping purposes, has lent further impetus to the drive for greater mutual understanding within both military and diplomatic institutions.

The academic literature comparing Chinese and Western approaches stretches from works suggesting great similarities to essays focused on perceived differences, historical, conceptual, political, and strategic.

This conference will bring Chinese, British, American and other academics together with non-academic interlocutors with specialist interests in comparing approaches to military ethics and to professional ethics education.

Please see the downloadable PDF for full details. To register please use this Eventbrite booking link.

 

 

Confucius Institute Day George Square 24 Sept

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Drop into our Chinese pop-up Tea House to enjoy a taste of China in George Square on Thursday 24th Sept.  Look out for the red & white tent on the corner of George Square near David Hume Tower. 

A full day programme of performances and workshops is arranged including music, dance, calligraphy, and kungfu as well as numerous activities.

CI day

  • Try our takeaway Chinese language menu
  • Have your phone  ready for a selfie with the cute Panda couple
  • Enjoy some delicious Chinese tea
  • Check out the Kung Fu and Dance performances from the visiting performers from CUPES- Beijing’s Capital University of Physical Education and Sport

There’s lots more to enjoy from a free Chinese “tattoo” to the chance to make your own windmill as well as trying out some our Kung Fu and Chinese dance moves in our lunchtime workshop sessions.

Running from 10 am till 5.30pm on Thursday 24th September drop in for 5 minutes or 50 minutes as suits your schedule – all are welcome!

Chinese teaching in schools

This is the second Confucius Institute Day organised by the Confucius Institute for Scotland. Last year our Pop Up Chinese Tea House was placed on the Mound at Princes Street and some thousands of people (and over 60 volunteers) came along to enjoy the event.

Shanghai Theatre Academy: Chinese Opera & Folk Music

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Heriot-Watt University is the venue for an evening of Chinese dance, music and opera on Saturday 26th September from 6-8pm. 

Performances will feature Beijing and Kungqu Opera as well as Folk Music. Highlights will include a Beijing opera solo dance using silk ribbons ‘Celestial Maid Scattering Flowers‘ and from the Kungqu Opera tradition ‘Borrowing Fan’ which features acrobatics accompanied by a gong and drum and a Pipa solo “Xiang Yu, the Conqueror, Unloaded the Armor” using a four stringed Chinese lute.

This performance is jointly sponsored by Hanban and the Scottish Confucius Institute for Business and Communication (SCIBC).

Tickets are available at no charge but booking is essential.  To book a place please register by 25 September at this link

Click here for further information on Shanghai Theatre Academy
Click here for further information on SCIBC

Calligraphy at Edinburgh Castle

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Calligraphy students from the Confucius Institute for Scotland’s classes, can this year see the work of their class tutor, artist Chi Zhang, projected onto the walls of Edinburgh Castle.

Augmenting the China presence at this year’s Tattoo were members of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army along with dancers and dragons. Topping it all was a stunning projection of Chi’s originally calligraphy.

calligraphy

For those who do not yet read Chinese this translates as
‘Edinburgh Military Tattoo Welcomes Friends from China’.

This projection, onto the already stunning backdrop of Edinburgh Castle, was warmly applauded especially by the many Chinese present in the audience.

To find out more about calligraphy please click here and to enrol in one of Chi Zhang’s classes please click here.

Memory, Gender and Change in China: Symposium 11 Sept ’15

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This day long symposium is organised by WAGnet (Women and Gender in Chinese Studies network) and will take place on Friday 11th September 2015 at the Confucius Institute for Scotland.

Memory, Gender and Change in China

The outline programme for the day is shown at the bottom of this page or you can download the WAGNet Symposium Programme. To listen to a podcast record of the day please click here.

Symposium Themes from Speakers

  • New wave feminism
  • LGBT communities
  • Campaigns against violence against women
  • Dating and violence
  • Reproductive cultures
  • Technologies of intimacy
  • Politics of photographic representation of the female body
  • Socialist masculinities
  • Men’s role in family planning and contraception
  • Transnational feminist organizing

PROGRAMME SCHEDULE

Programme overview Titles and Participants
0900-0915
Welcome and introduction		 Welcome from the Confucius Institute for Scotland

Introduction to the day: Dr Sophia Woodman, University of Edinburgh
0915-1030
Keynote Address		 Prof. Harriet Zurndorfer, Leiden University                    Men, Women, Money and Morality:  Gender and the Development of China’s Sexual Economy
1030-1100 Tea/Coffee Break
1100-1230Panel 1:
Tradition and change		 Moderator: Prof. Fiona Moore, Royal Holloway, University of London

Speakers: Dr. Alison Hardie, University of Leeds
Dr. Wu Shengqing, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Dr. Xuelei Huang, University of Edinburgh
Dr. Francesca Bray, University of Edinburgh
1230-1330 Lunch
1330-1500Panel 2:
Socialist heritage and contemporary resonances		 Moderator: Prof. Francesca Bray

Speakers: Dr. Wang Xiangxian, Tianjin Normal University
Prof. Fiona Moore
Dr. Wang Xiying, Beijing Normal University
Dr. Derek Hird, University of Westminster
1500-1530 Tea/Coffee Break
1530-1700Panel 3:
From global to local: reflections 20 years after the UN Fourth World Conference on Women		 Moderator: Dr. Xuelei Huang

Speakers: Feng Yuan, Media Monitor Network for Women & Shantou University
Dr. Robin Runge, George Washington University Law School
Dr. Wei Wei, East China Normal University
Dr. Sophia Woodman
1715-1815 Networking reception

Please note that the organizers intend that this Symposium generate a broad conversation on related themes, so participants are welcome to bring their own concerns and questions, as well as responding to what the speakers have to say.

SPEAKER BIOGS

Francesca Bray is a historian and anthropologist of science, technology and medicine in China and elsewhere. One special focus of her research is gender regimes, another is agriculture, food and identity. Her most recent books are Technology, gender and history in imperial China: great transformations reconsidered (Routledge, 2013), and Rice: global networks and new histories (Cambridge, 2015).

Feng Yuan has been working on gender and women’s rights issues in China since the mid-1980s. From 1986-2006, she worked as a journalist, and from the 1990s on co-founded several women’s NGOs, including Media Monitor for Women Network (1996-), Anti Domestic Violence Network/Beijing Fanbao (2000-2014) and Equality (2014-). She is also a guest professor at the Center for Women’s Studies at Shantou University.

Alison Hardie has just retired as Senior Lecturer in Chinese Studies at the University of Leeds, and remains a researcher with the White Rose East Asia Centre.Her research interest is the cultural history of the late Ming; she has written on women’s use of gardens at that time. She has recently completed a monograph on the poet, playwright and politician Ruan Dacheng, and is now working on political drama in the Ming-Qing transition

Derek Hird is a Senior Lecturer in Chinese Studies at the University of Westminster. His research focuses on men and masculinities in China.His research focuses on men and masculinities in China. He has written on topics such as white-collar men, androgyny and domestic violence, and is currently researching the experiences of transmigrant Chinese men in London. He is the co-author of Men and Masculinities in Contemporary China (Brill 2013).

Huang Xuelei is Chancellor’s Fellow at the University of Edinburgh. Her research interests include early Chinese cinema, social and cultural history of late Qing and Republican China.Her research interests include early Chinese cinema, social and cultural history of late Qing and Republican China. Her publications include Shanghai Filmmaking: Crossing Borders, Connecting to the Globe, 1922-1938 (Brill 2014) and several essays in Modern Chinese Literature and Culture, Twentieth-Century China, etc.

Fiona Moore is Professor in Business Anthropology at Royal Holloway, University of London. Her research interests include gender and ethnic diversity in multinational corporations and cross-cultural management.She is currently conducting a study of Taiwanese professional networks in Toronto.

Robin Runge is an Associate Professorial Lecturer in Law at The George Washington University Law School where she has taught Public Interest Lawyering and Domestic Violence Law since 2004, including in the clinical education program. Since 2007, Professor Runge has worked with civil society organizations and the judiciary in China to develop curricula and conduct trainings for Chinese lawyers and judges on domestic violence, and has consulted on local, regional and national policies and laws to respond to domestic violence in China. In 2014, she co-authored a report containing recommendations for China regarding its national anti-domestic violence law.

Wang Xiangxian is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Tianjin Normal University.Her research interests focus on gender and family planning, domestic violence, fatherhood and masculinity and feminist history. She is the author of several books including Introduction to the Second Sex (Tianjin People’s Press, 2010), Intimate Violence: A Case of 1,015 University Students (Tianjin People’s Press, 2009) and Gender in Everyday Life (Tianjin People’s Press, 2009). She has been active in organizing campaigns against intimate violence on campus.

Xiying Wang is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Development and Public Policy at Beijing Normal University. Her major research interests include gender studies, feminist theory and human sexualities, qualitative research methods, gender-based violence, sex education, and women living with HIV/AIDs.

Wei Wei is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the School of Social Development, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China. His research focuses are LGBT communities and movements, urban queer spaces, Chinese masculinities and HIV/AIDS prevention. He is the author of two Chinese books: Going Public: The Production and Transformation of Queer Spaces in Chengdu, China (2012) and Queering Chinese Society: Urban Space, Popular Culture and Social Policy (2015).

Sophia Woodman is a Chancellor’s Fellow at the University of Edinburgh’s School of Social and Political Science. Her research interests include citizenship, human rights and social movements in contemporary China, with a focus on the every day politics of citizens, including the gendered character of citizenship. A publication on these themes is Law, translation and voice: the transformation of a struggle for social justice in a Chinese village, published in Critical Asian Studies in 2011.

Harriet T. Zurndorfer is an Affiliated Fellow of the Leiden Institute for Area Studies in the Faculty of Humanities, Leiden University in the Netherlands where she has worked since 1978. She is founder, and editor-in-chief of the journal Nan Nü: Men, Women and Gender in China. She has been a Visiting Fellow at All Souls College (Oxford), Visiting Professor at the Sorbonne, and a participant in the London School of Economics-sponsored project Global Economic History Network (2003-06), and is currently researching a book on Chinese women’s inequality in the post-socialist era.

This symposium and the preceding two days of workshops are sponsored by the Confucius Institute for Scotland, the Universities China Committee in London and Women and Gender in Chinese Studies Network (WAGNet).

To register for the public symposium please click here.