This class will be delivered digitally using the online platform Zoom. To optimise the learning experience a maximum capacity has been set per group – so space is very limited!

‘The unique style of Chinese landscape painting was developed more than a thousand years ago, and has been honed to perfection by generations of master painters.’ Landscape, literally translated as ‘mountain and water’ (山水, shānshuǐ), is one of the most popular subjects in Chinese brush painting.

This 5 week course will start by introducing the history of Chinese landscape painting, before exploring the most common Chinese soft brush and ink techniques. Participants will have the option to select from a range of subjects demonstrated by the tutor.

Live demonstration will be provided during the class. There will be additional homework after each session and the tutor will also provide individual email feedback, including technical support to deal with relevant queries. This course is suitable for both beginners and advanced students.

The fee is £85 for this 7.5 hour course, running on Tuesday mornings between 10.00am – 11.30pm, from 19 January 2021. There is a concession rate of £75, which is offered only to full time students and UoE staff.

Please also allow up to £35 if you don’t have your own art materials. The tutor will provide guidance on purchasing the materials after registration. A minimum of five students are required to ensure the class goes ahead.

To secure one of the limited spaces on this course, please use the University’s ePay system.

This course will be led by Chi Zhang – an experienced instructor, shortlisted for ‘Sky Art Landscape Artist of the year 2015’, whose work has been projected across Edinburgh castle during the 2015 Military Tattoo. For more information and to see Chi’s work please visit http://www.chizhangartist.com.

Due to the outbreak of Covid-19, our administrative team is working from home. Please contact us by email info@confuciusinstitute.ac.uk.

Key Information

Course: Five week Chinese Brush Painting – landscape (Daytime)
Date & Time: Tuesdays from 19 January – 16 February 2021, 10:00-11:30am
Cost: £85 (£75/concessions)
Location: Online via Zoom

One to one tutorials and small group workshops can also be arranged. Please email info@confuciusinstitute.ac.uk for more info.

A Distant Exploration of Literary Writings and Historical Documents in Classical Chinese

Date and Time: 11 Nov, Wednesday, 2-3 pm

Speaker: Prof Chao-lin Liu, National Chengchi University, Taiwan

Chair: Dr Christopher Rosenmeier, University of Edinburgh

Zoom link for registration:

https://ed-ac-uk.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAqduCqpjsiHNO2QW8Fvp0ktYATr0H3MAuy

Abstract:

We design and employ software to analyze the contents of literary writings and historical documents. In the burgeoning stage of digital humanities in Taiwan, relatively simple yet interesting analysis of famous novels of Ming and Qing dynasties were used to stimulate the interests in digital humanities of the humanities researchers. Gradually, we move onto more practical analysis of the poetic works of the Tang and Song dynasties. Methods of text analysis assist us to look for useful information in historical documents in both classical and modern Chinese, and part of which represents our collaboration with the China Biographical Database Project of Harvard University. In recent years, we apply similar methods to analyze Taiwanese poems and local gazetteers. More recently, we extend our efforts to optical character recognition to digitise hard copies of classical Chinese texts. Aiming at achieving a more advanced level of algorithmic competence, we also explore the applicability of deep learning methods to the problems of word segmentation for classical Chinese poems and the problems of sentence splitting for historical documents that were also written in classical Chinese. We shall share selected experience in this brief presentation.

About the speaker:

Prof. Chao-lin Liu obtained his Ph.D. from the Institute of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan. His research focuses on data analysis and knowledge exploration, digital humanities, computational linguistics.  Now he is the Professor and Chairperson of the Department of Computer Science and the Associate Dean of the College of Science, National Chengchi University.  Prof. Liu is the incumbent president of the Taiwanese Association for Digital Humanity.

Please pre-register here:   

https://ed-ac-uk.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAqduCqpjsiHNO2QW8Fvp0ktYATr0H3MAuy

This lecture is hosted by Asian Studies & the University Library, University of Edinburgh, National Central Library of Taiwan and Centre for Chinese Studies, Taiwan. 

You are warmly invited to the next Asian Studies seminar, a roundtable discussion on the topic of “Chinese Science Fiction as World Literature.” The event will be taking place via Zoom on Wednesday 21 Oct, 2-4 pm (UK time). All are warmly welcome to join a discussion with the acclaimed authors and leading scholars in the field!

Abstract:

Following the global success of Liu Cixin’s The Three-Body Problem, contemporary Chinese science fiction has attracted much attention internationally, emerging as a cultural phenomenon in World Literature. 21st century Chinese science fiction authors are not only writing for their domestic readership, but also navigating a global cultural market and a transnational fan network. The fantastical, imaginative worlds of Chinese science fiction open up a unique window for understanding contemporary Chinese society, its past and future, as well as its position in the global world and even the universe.

This roundtable brings together acclaimed writers and prominent scholars for an engaging dialogue on the production and reception of Chinese science fiction, its historical dimensions, and the ways in which Chinese sci-fi informs debates on political, social, and cultural change around the globe.

Speakers:

Chen Qiufan 陈楸帆 is a science fiction writer, screenwriter, and columnist. He is the recipient of many literary awards, including the Gold Award for Best Novel at the 2013 Chinese Nebula Awards competition for his novel Waste Tide. English versions of his works have appeared in Clarkesworld, Pathlight, Lightspeed, as well as in anthologies of Chinese speculative fiction such as Invisible Planets and Broken Stars.

Gu Shi 顾适 is a science fiction writer and an urban planner. She won a Gold Award for Best Novella at the Chinese Nebula Awards competition in 2016, and her short story “Möbius Continuum” won a Galaxy Award for Best Short Story in 2017. Her works have been translated into English and feature in Clarkesworld, Broken Stars, and an anthology of Chinese speculative fiction edited by Ken Liu.

Dr Heather Inwood is University Lecturer in Modern and Contemporary Chinese Literature and Culture at the University of Cambridge. Her research has focused on interactions between media, literature and culture in contemporary China. She is the author of Verse Going Viral: China’s New Media Scenes (2014) and many academic essays. She has written Chinese-language columns for newspapers, websites and magazines in the UK and China.

Dr Nathaniel Isaacson is an Associate Professor of Modern Chinese literature and cultural studies at North Carolina State University. He is the author of Celestial Empire: the Emergence of Chinese Science Fiction (2017), and his essays on Chinese Science Fiction have appeared in Science Fiction Studies, and other journals and volumes. He is also the translator of Chinese science fiction by Hao Jingfang, Han Song, and others.

Discussant:

Professor Aaron Moore is Handa Chair of Japanese-Chinese Relations at the University of Edinburgh. He is a transnational and comparative social historian, and he is also conducting research on the long history of science writing and speculative fiction. He is the author of Bombing the City: Civilian Accounts of the Air War in Britain and Japan, 1939–1945 (2018), Writing War: Soldiers Record the Japanese Empire (2013), and many other essays.

Please pre-register here:

https://ed-ac-uk.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZApcuGtqTkjGtF8pVvtZ33nwb6RrMkqkTva

(Registration will close at 12 noon, 21 Oct.)

On behalf of Brittany Blankinship, PhD researcher, University of Edinburgh

We are a team of researchers looking at the effects of language learning on cognitive functions. As you’ll be learning a language, we’d like to invite you to participate in this research! We would also be happy to send you information about the results of the project after it is completed!
It’s a simple experiment in which you will be asked to respond to a series of sounds. We’ll also have you fill in a very short questionnaire about your language background and language attitudes and complete a short computer-based task. In total, it takes 20-30 minutes and will be carried out at the beginning and end of your course to see whether any changes have occurred.

All aspects of the research will be conduct online. Should you wish to participate, you will be sent an online link to a questionnaire and asked to schedule a short video call with a researcher to complete the experiment.

If you are interested in participating or would like to know more about this project, please get in touch with Clea at her email address c.r.strathmann@sms.ed.ac.uk. We would greatly appreciate it if you helped us understand how learning languages affects cognition!

You are warmly invited to the first of the Asian Studies Seminar Series events for this semester on Friday 2 October, 4-6pm (UK time), when we will be hosting a roundtable discussion on the topic of “Games and Gaming in the East Asian Studies Classroom.”

Abstract:

East Asia has been at the forefront of many developments in the gaming industry—currently one of the fastest growing industries in the world. From the design and production of consoles and games to the professionalization of e-sports and the social implications of gaming cultures, both positive and negative, East Asia has pioneered numerous global trends. As much as games can serve as a lens onto contemporary East Asian cultures and societies, however, they can also provide a pedagogical tool to inspire deeper engagement with historical texts and events as well as innovative methods for language learning.

This roundtable will examine how, as scholars and students of East Asia, we approach games and gaming in the classroom, with speakers sharing their own experiences of teaching about East Asia with and through games.

Speakers:

Barbara Wall, University of Copenhagen

Sarah Grossi, IT University Copenhagen

Leo Ching, Duke University

Yan Liu, Duke University

Registration: 

The roundtable will be hosted on zoom. All are welcome to attend, but please pre-register here for access to the event: https://ed-ac-uk.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJErde-rqjItHNF4j6ZKU_yDidfNeaPUW2mz

Music Talent all around the world, both professionals and armatures, are warmly invited to join this online video competition organised by Central Conservatory of Music (CCOM) in China.

This competition is designed for Chinese language learners to show case their music talent by recording a music performance piece featuring Chinese elements. There are three categories in this competition: Instrument, Vocal or Original Work.

Winners of the competition will have the opportunities to perform at an online concert and will be awarded a scholarship to attend “Chinese Music Culture” International Summer Camp in China. Accommodation and travel expenses in China during the summer camp will be covered and additional funding of international flight tickets will be on offer.

Technical requirements:

The video submission should be no longer than 5 minutes and it should be a continuous one take without any post-production editing. The video should be in MP4 format or other common formats.

Submission:

The video should be submitted to mtvc2020@126.com copying info@confuciusinstitute.ac.uk no later than 10th Oct 2020 (Beijing Time) with the following subject: Video Competition + Name of your work. You should also submit a photo and a brief introduction of yourself (no more than 300 words, in either Chinese or English) at the same time.

Due to the size of the video, we recommend you to use WeTransfer to send your work and self-introduction.

For further details of the competition, please visit: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/MYRagCWa4VTMPwfb6jczAQ

We look forward to receiving your submission in due time

Chinese Bridge is the biggest global Chinese language competition in the world with regional qualifier competitions running all over the world. The public performance tests the contestants on their Chinese language ability, knowledge of China, Chinese cultural skills and understanding. Contestants often showcase their skills in music, martial arts, or comedy chops. Winners at the UK competition will have the opportunity to join the global final with contestants all around the world.

The upcoming UK regional 19th “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition will take place on Saturday, 19th September 2020. It will run digitally this year due the Covid-19 pandemic. This opens up opportunities for people to observe the competition online. To register, please scan the QR code on the invitation below.

Edinburgh has a great track record from previous competitions.  This year Owen Wilson, an undergraduate student studying joint honours in Chinese and Spanish will represent University of Edinburgh in the competition. As part of the competition, Owen made a short video to introduce himself and his typical day under the lock-down.

Our friends at the Scotland China Education Network will be hosting Paola Subacchi to deliver her online lecture “Cooperation or competition — China in the post-Covid world economy”.

The event will be held via Zoom this Thursday, 10 September from 7pm.

Paola Subacchi is an economist, writer and commentator on the functioning and governance of the international financial and monetary system.

She is Professor of International Economics and Chair of the Advisory Board of the Global Policy Institute at Queen Mary University of London, a visiting professor at the University of Bologna, non-executive director of Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust PLC as well as the founder of Essential Economics Ltd.

She writes regularly on Project Syndicate and is the author of The Cost of Free Money: How Unfettered Capital Threatens Our Economic Future (Yale University Press, 2020) and The People’s Money: How China is building a global currency (Columbia University Press, 2017).

An Italian national, she studied at Università Bocconi in Milan and at the University of Oxford. She was awarded the honour Cavaliere della Stella d’Italia in 2016.

If you are interested in joining, please contact admin@scen.info for more information. 

The Confucius Institute for Scotland is seeking to appoint a full-time teaching fellow in Chinese. This is a fixed-term appointment, available until 1 August 2021.

For more information, and to apply, please click here and use Vacancy Reference: 053051

Closing Date: 5 October, at 5 pm.

The Edinburgh International Culture Summit is a biennial ministerial forum established in 2012 by the Edinburgh International Festival in a unique partnership with the British Council, Scottish Parliament and the Scottish and UK Governments.

The Confucius Institute for Scotland is delighted to be one of the supporters of this year’s Edinburgh International Culture Summit. The 2020 Special Edition will be launched from 22 August. For full programme and to book the summit webinars, please visit HERE

Asian Studies, part of the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures in the University of Edinburgh, seeks to appoint two Language Assistants in Chinese.

Check details for full time open-ended post HERE

Check details for full-time, fixed-term, 12 month post HERE

Celebrate Dragon Boat Festival with an evening of traditional Chinese music – enjoy the free online concert from home! 

Ricefield Arts’ Scotland-based performers will be showcasing traditional Chinese instruments, including guzheng, guqin, pipa, bamboo flute, erhu, as well as opera singing. You’ll hear songs from both China and Scotland, as well as learning more about the history of Chinese music and this unique cultural festival.

This joint Dragon Boat Festival celebration is organised by Ricefield Arts in partnership with Confucius Institute for Scotland and Scotland-China Association.This event is supported by Corra Foundation, as part of our Wellbeing project.

Event Details:

Date: Thursday 25 June

Time: 8-9pm

Please book your place via Eventbrite HERE.

The Music Confucius Institute (MCI) at the Royal Academy of Music in Denmark invites you to an online concert with traditional Chinese instruments.

The MCI musicians will display the colours of the Chinese sound universe by performing both Western and Chinese music on traditional Chinese instruments. The music will be both contemporary pieces and traditional music, from all over China – and will take you a trip to Denmark as well.

After the concert, you are invited to an online Zoom meeting, where you will meet the musicians to ask questions about the music, instruments, and Chinese culture.

Concert Information: 

Date: Sunday, 14 June
Time: 3pm (Paris time)
Duration : an hour + Q&A

Visit MCI facebook page for a live broadcast: https://www.facebook.com/MusicConfuciusInstitute/

If you have any concerns about the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, it may be helpful to know that the university’s FAQ pages continue to be the best place to obtain the most up-to-date information HERE

The Donghua Edinburgh Centre for Creative Industries (DECCI) – which is hosted by Edinburgh’s Confucius Institute and Donghua University’s Shanghai International College of Fashion and Innovation (SCF) – has won the China-Britain Business Council’s Innovators in Education award.

Watch below interview with our director Professor Natascha Gentz to learn more about the work DECCI does between Scotland and China.

The prize recognises a partnership which began as a joint programme of teaching and research at the Shanghai International College of Fashion (SCF). With the establishment of the DECCI in Edinburgh, a program of cultural activities for the wider community was rolled out, including an annual Fringe fashion show, a summer school programme and lecture series involving several thousand participants.

International partnership

The China-Scotland Business Awards, the only China-focused business awards in Scotland, are organised by the China-Britain Business Council. This year they were in partnership with Scottish Enterprise.

The awards celebrate the expanding trade and investment ties between Scotland and China.The judging panel said the Donghua Centre for Creative Industries showcased a novel approach to cross-cultural education, offering students in both countries the opportunity to engage and expand their own creative visions.

Edinburgh’s relationship with Donghua is longstanding. In 2014 the two institutions launched a joint education programme based in the SCF, part of Donghua University.

Fashion collaboration

Shanghai-based students studying Fashion Innovation or Fashion Interior Design have the chance to study at Edinburgh College of Art for the final two years of their programme.

In September 2016 the University signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Donghua University to establish DECCI.

The centre builds on both universities’ strengths in fashion design and creative industries. Professor Natascha Gentz, Assistant Principal (China) and Director of the DECCI received the award at the Annual CBBC Burns Supper with Juliette MacDonald, Dean International at SCF.

“We are extremely pleased that DECCI and SCF have won this award for innovation in education. In the past three years, our colleagues in the Confucius Institute for Scotland, Donghua University and Edinburgh College of Art have worked passionately together to produce a wide range of exciting educational and cultural programmes, as well as a joint research agenda on Shanghai fashion and sustainable fashion. I believe our partnership will grow from strength and strength through further innovation and closer collaboration with all partners.“ – Professor Natascha Gentz, Assistant Principal (China)

For the fifth year our Institute is supporting Hippfest – Scotland’s only festival dedicated to silent cinema with world-class music, red carpet glamour, and rarely-seen silent era films. Taking place in the retro surroundings of the Hippodrome, Bo’ness.

Saturday 21 March 2020: 16:00

A STRING OF PEARLS 

A social climbing, middle-class housewife cajoles her husband into borrowing an expensive necklace to wear at a party. Her ostentatious display succeeds in making a big impression but, on the night of the party, the necklace is stolen and her husband ends up embezzling funds to pay for the loss, triggering a downward spiral in their fortunes. Boasting some surprisingly lovely cinematic touches, and moody lighting, the film also offers a fascinating look at rich, Westernized life in 1920s Shanghai. The story is based on Guy de Maupassant’s short story The Necklace.

Visit HERE for full details of the progamme and to book your ticket.

We regret to inform you that in view of the current situation and out of solidarity with and concern for friends and colleagues in China it has been decided to cancel our Chinese New Year Celebration this Friday, 31 Jan.

Many of our friends, family, students and colleagues in the UK and China are currently unable to enjoy the Spring Festival as they would normally, be that due to travel restrictions or the cancellation of many large events. We therefore think it would be inappropriate to have a large celebration at our end.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Date: Wednesday 22 January

Time: 4-6pm

Venue: Project Room (1.06), 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh

“Has PRC Counter-Terrorism in Xinjiang Evolved into State Terror?”

Biography: 
Joanne Smith Finley is Senior Lecturer in Chinese Studies in the School of Modern Languages, Newcastle University, UK. Her research interests include evolving Uyghur identities in Xinjiang, China; strategies of symbolic resistance in Xinjiang; the gendering of ethno-politics in Xinjiang; gender in Xinjiang and the Uyghur diaspora in the context of Islamic revival; and PRC counter-terrorism as state terror in the era of mass internment. Her monograph The Art of Symbolic Resistance: Uyghur Identities and Uyghur-Han Relations in Contemporary Xinjiang (Brill Academic Publishing) was published in 2013. This is an ethnographic study of evolving Uyghur identities and ethnic relations over a period of 20 years (from the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union through the 1997 Ghulja disturbances and the 2009 Ürümchi riots to 2011). Dr Smith Finley is co-editor of two volumes: Situating the Uyghurs between China and Central Asia (Ashgate, 2007) and Language, Education and Uyghur Identity in Urban Xinjiang (Routledge, 2015), and Guest Editor of a Special Issue (2019) for Central Asian Survey, titled: ‘Securitization, Insecurity and Conflict in Contemporary Xinjiang’.

All Welcome! No booking required!

Upcoming Lecture:

“A Brief Cultural History of the Korean-Chinese Diaspora”

Date: Wednesday 29 January

Time: 4-6pm

Venue: Project Room (1.06), 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh

Chinese Visual Festival is returning to Scotland this January to celebrate Chinese New Year with a programme featuring the popular documentary Four Springs and three films noirs including the new release: The Wild Goose Lake by Diao Yinan, screened in partnership with MUBI.

Wrath of Silence 暴裂无声 (Glasgow)
Saturday 25th January, 18:00
Screening followed by drinks reception
https://www.cca-glasgow.com/programme/chinese-visual-festival-wrath-of-silence
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWd-EJx3q4w

Four Springs 四个春天 (Edinburgh)
Saturday 25th January, 19:00
Heart-warming documentary and box office success in China
https://www.summerhall.co.uk/event/chinese-visual-festival-four-springs-screening/
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/315786514

The White Goose Lake 南方车站的聚会 (Glasgow)
Sunday 26th January, 14:00
In competition at Cannes 2019
This film will screen in partnership with MUBI.
https://www.cca-glasgow.com/programme/chinese-visual-festival-the-wild-goose-lake
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oCq5oa8Wzg

Black Coal Thin Ice 白日焰火 (Glasgow)
Sunday 26th January, 17:00
Golden Bear 2014
https://www.cca-glasgow.com/programme/chinese-visual-festival-black-coal-thin-ice
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXm1XcjP13E

Full CVF Chinese New Year programme here:
http://chinesevisualfestival.org/headline/chinese-new-year-2020/

Discover the fascinating art of Chinese brush painting and try your hand at this expressive art form. This course is suitable for beginners or people who have painting experience but have never tried Chinese brush painting techniques before. No prior knowledge is necessary, you should simply be keen to learn and willing to hold a brush. All the materials used during the course will be provided.

Using Chinese soft brushes, ink and colors, you will be shown how to achieve wonderful animal paintings in freehand Xieyi style. Participants will have the option to select from a range of subjects demonstrated by the tutor, such as Crane, a mystical creature in China, Japan and other East Asian countries, is the symbol of longevity and good fortune, tiger symbolizes determination and strength and Giant panda, the black & white fur is also perfect for monochrome ink painting.

Students can anticipate completing at least one piece of Chinese painting artwork per class. Demonstration and plenty of personal attention will be provided during the class. This course is suitable for both beginners and advanced students.

The cost is £125 for the 12.5 hour course which runs Thursday mornings from 10.00am – 12.30pm from 5 March 2020. There is a concession rate of £100, which is offered only to full time students. The fee includes all materials. A minimum of five students are required to ensure the class goes ahead.

To secure your place on this enjoyable course please use the University’s ePay system or you can download this PDF Form which you will then need to complete and return to our office with a cheque made out to the University of Edinburgh for the appropriate amount. (Please note we are no longer accepting cash payment in our office)

This course will be led by Chi Zhang, experienced art tutor, shortlisted of ‘Sky Art Landscape Artist of the year 2015’. For more information and see Chi’s work please visit http://www.chizhangartist.com

If you have any questions please contact us on 0131 662 2180 or email info@confuciusinstitute.ac.uk

Key Information

Course: Five week Chinese Brush Painting – Xieyi style (Daytime)
Date + Time: Thursday Mornings: 5 March – 2 April, 10:00-12:30pm
Cost: £125 (£100) including all materials
Location: Confucius Institute for Scotland Campus, Abden House

One to one tutorials and small group workshops can also be arranged. Please email info@confuciusinstitute.ac.uk or call us on 0131 662 2180 to discuss further.