Newsletter No. 3174

中大通訊 CUHK Newsletter 劍橋助理校長來訪 Cambridge Deputy VC Visits CUHK 繼 中文大學代表團於今年2月訪問英國劍橋大學，劍橋大學助理校長兼沃 爾森學院院長Prof. Gordon Johnson及其夫人於3月20日回訪中大。中大 副校長鄭振耀教授、研究院院長黃永成教授及學術交流處主任范瑞欣女士帶領 他們遊覽校園，介紹中大最新發展。 P rof. Gordon Johnson, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge and President of Wolfson College, and Mrs. Johnson paid a return visit to CUHK on 20 March, following the visit by a CUHK delegation to Cambridge in February this year. Prof. Jack Cheng, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, CUHK, Prof. Wong Wing-shing, Dean of the Graduate School and Ms. Shally Fan, senior programme manager of the Office of Academic Links, introduced the University’s latest developments to the guests by means of presentations and a campus tour. 校長劉遵義教授（左）致送紀念品予Prof. Gordon Johnson CUHK Vice-Chancellor Prof. Lawrence J. Lau (left) presenting a souvenir to Prof. Gordon Johnson 他說：「這給我很大衝擊，更感慨的是身 為中國人，對自己的宗教文化不但認識 不多，還有時認為不值一提。追溯原因， 或許是晚清以來，中國學人講求西方科 學之風愈趨熾熱，當時大家都只看到道 教打齋、驅鬼的儀式，忽略了它在中國 傳統社會的文化角色，把道教矮化為迷 信、無知和下九流。 「晚清、五四運動後，中國學術界對道教 的研究出現斷層，研究路向亦轉由外國 學者主導。」因此，黎教授特地到日本京 都大學人文科學研究所，學習該所的道 教研究方法，以完成他六朝道教史和博 士畢業論文。1995年加入中大後，更開本 地院校道教研究與教學之先河，2006年 又力促中大成立道教文化研究中心，進 一步發展有關研究及大學課程。 研「道」近二十載，黎教授愈感道教是中 國文化的珍貴傳統，「道教最精彩之處， 是提供了一種人文精神的多元空間和廣闊 胸襟。道的世界是無名、無形、但包羅萬 有的，照顧不同人不同時間的生命需要， 服務的對象更不只限於善信。」 much revenue. From there, the Daoist communities extended their social service to educational and charity work, such as founding schools and setting up homes for the elderly. ‘It is not hard to see that most Hong Kongers still believe in the idea that the joy of the living hinges on peace in the underworld. Daoist funeral rituals have been a popular choice for a deceased family member. Daoist rituals help people to tackle many issues concerning life and death. Being the core of the Chinese religious worldview, Daoism is indeed a prized domain for the studies on the culture of Hong Kong.’ Road to Daoism Prof. Lai was not particularly interested in Daoism during his undergraduate years at the Chinese University. Being Chinese himself, he recounted how badly he had felt about his ignorance and indifference to Chinese religious culture when the prolific research done on Daoism by French and Japanese scholars was revealed to him during his postgraduate studies at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago. He said, ‘The view that Daoist ritual was superstitious and belonged to the lower strata of society had much to do with the headlong pursuit of western scientific knowledge during late-Qing China. Since then, the studies of Daoism declined in China, and research on Daoism had been done primarily by overseas scholars.’ In his quest to explore this indigenous religion in China, Prof. Lai completed his PhD thesis in Daoism in 1995 after enrolling at the Institute for Research in Humanities, Kyoto University in 1993– 94, which enabled him to master the research methodology for historical and textual Daoism. He pioneered Daoism as an independent study in academia when he started his professorship at CUHK in 1995. In 2006, he founded the Centre for the Studies of Daoist Culture with the objective of expanding the coverage of Daoist culture in research and in the University curriculum. Almost 20 years in the field, Prof. Lai has come to appreciate Daoism as an invaluable Chinese tradition. ‘The beauty of Daoism lies in its humanistic pluralism and all-embracing nature. The Dao is nameless and formless, yet it incorporates all. It provides services to those in need at different stages of life, whether or not they are Daoist followers.’ (接上頁) ( Continued ) 1950年代初香港道堂的科儀 Performance of ritual by Hong Kong Daoist temple in the 1950s 蓬瀛仙館的兜率宮，供奉太上道祖、呂純陽祖師及邱長春祖師。 The deities of the Most High Lord Lao, Patriarch Lüzu and Patriarch Qiu Changchun in the Daoist temple of Fung Ying Seen Koon at Fanling