Place names often reveal the histories not only of localities and their inhabitants but also of the languages in which they were coined. In the naming practices of Hong Kong villages, towns and streets, a variety of languages have been at work. Names revealing phonological, grammatical or semantic characteristics of languages other than Cantonese can be traced to early settlers like the Zhuang, Miao, She or migrants from other parts of China such as Hakka, Min and Wu speakers. British colonialization also left its imprint. While many western names were transliterated into Chinese, local appellations were also romanized according to different spelling systems, which captured contemporary linguistic features. In this project, Hong Kong place names recorded in maps and documents from the last two to three centuries will be systematically studied to delineate language evolution during the period, and the renaming of places will be analyzed within a socio-linguistic perspective.

晚宋时代，理学渐趋官学化，并且通过学校和科举等途径对晚宋文学产生了直接的影响。 理学家试图将文学纳入其理学系统中，重新建立文学正统；文学家则一方面接受理学的影响， 另一方面却试图捍卫文学自身的传统。这样在理学与文学之间就产生了紧张关系，两者既互相冲突， 也互相吸收，由此造成了晚宋文坛的新面貌。本项目拟在理学与文学关系的背景下，通过对晚宋创作团体、 文学创作及文学理论批评的研究，揭示晚宋文学的独特面貌及其对后世文学的影响。