Bulletin Number Five 1987

workshop on Pan Gu and Pan Hu The Department of Anthropology, in conjunction with the International Association for Yao Studies, organized a Workshop on Pan Gu and Pan Hu, on 1st and 2nd December, 1987. While Pan Gu is a common totem found among the Yao and She peoples of mainland China, Pan Hu is a creation god prominent in the mythology of the Yao, Miao, She, Han and other ethnic groups of southern China. Although there is in fact no relationship between the two, a certain confusion regarding the two has arisen in recent years, both in scholarly discussions and in folk practice. This was the reason the Department organized the workshop on the subject. Besides Hong Kong, 20 scholars from China, France, Australia, Japan and the United States also participated in this workshop. Dr. Chiao Chien, as Chairman of the Department of Anthropology and President of the International Association for Yao Studies, opened the meeting. This was followed by the reading of individual papers, as well as general discussions and debates. Although the emphasis was on dialogue and discussion, three formal papers were read. The first, 'Is Pan Hu Pan Gu?', was read by Dr. Jacques Lemoine, Director of the Centre for the Anthropology of South China and the Indochinese Peninsula in the French National Centre of Scientific Research. The second paper, on ‘Mural Paintings of Pan Gu in Szechuan during the Eastern Han Dynasty as Perceived by the Sung People', was delivered by Professor Jao Tsung-i, Honorary Professor of the Fine Arts Department in the University. The third paper, 'The Totemism of the She in Fujian' , was given jointly by Professor Chen Guoqiang, Associate Dean of the Graduate School, Xiamen University, and Mr. Zhou Li-fang, Secretary-General of the Fujian Federation of Social Sciences. Professor Rance Lee, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, hosted an official dinner reception for the participants on the evening of 1st December. Most of the participants, led by Dr. Chiao, visited Jiangyong County in the province of Hunan, at the invitation of the local government, to attend the Pan Wang festival of the Yao peoples. Modernism and Contemporary Chinese Literature An exciting new dimension was added to conventional scholarly conferences on literature last December (10th to 16th December, 1987 )， when a number o f creative writers as well as critics from the PRC and Taiwan joined local participants and overseas guests to discuss a wide range of topics to do with Modernism. The six major themes of the Conference were Modernism and History; Woman and Modernity; Critique's of Modernism; Models, Influences and Parallels; Sexuality, Textualit y and Culture; Writing, Criticism and Theory. Some of the liveliest exchanges occurred when academic scholar and creative writer tangled over what constitute some of the distinctively Chinese literary features of Modernism, to say nothing of how one might 'define' that ubiquitous but elusive term. Over fifty participants not only enjoyed the opportunity to discuss the different forms of Modernism as they have manifested themselves in China and the West, but also had the opportunity to 'meet the public' during several performances and activities organized along with the Conference. There was, for instance, a Novelists Panel featuring Wang Anyi (PRC), Li Ang (Taiwan), and Liu Suola (PRC); a Poetry Reading which included many local poets; a Horizonte performance of one of the participants' dramatic productions: ‘Gao Xingjian's Four Short Plays'; and a Panel Discussion on ‘Literature and the Performing Arts.' 7