Mr. LAU Wing Kei Paul left the Department on 18 November 2020. The Department would like to extend its appreciation to Paul for his contributions to the Department.

Recapping the Academic Seminar “Beyond Treason and Collaboration: Accommodating Foreigners in the Hong Kong Region during the Opium War” conducted by Dr. Gary Chi-hung LUK on 12 November 2020

Dr. Gary Chi-hung LUK of the Department of Chinese Culture, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, was invited by the Department to deliver a lecture entitled “Beyond Treason and Collaboration: Accommodating Foreigners in the Hong Kong Region during the Opium War” on 12 November 2020.

Dr. LUK argued that the terms “collaborator” and “Han traitor” (Hanjian, 漢奸) were insufficient to explain how and why people in the Pearl River Delta traded with the British invaders during the Opium War. While “collaborator” was used by British people, “Han traitor” was more often used by modern Chinese, both words were loaded with anti-foreign nationalist or statist assumptions. Instead, Dr. LUK employed a bottom-up approach focusing on the ordinary people rather than political or economic factors. Though the British and the Qing official reports, maps, newspapers, drawings, and other sources, Dr. LUK looked at the traders in the ad-hoc markets popped up in Tungkoo Bay, Jishuimen, Jianshazui, and Longgu Islands during the wartime, whom were only subjected to the Qing naval control but free from social control systems like Baojia. Dr. LUK found out that these traders usually had a low economic and social status in Chinese society, without strong kin ties. Their trades with the British foreigners were an economic adaptive strategy necessary for survival. In fact, trading with foreigners had become an inseparable part of life for people living in the Pearl River Delta. This phenomenon could not be simply explained by the two terms “collaborator” and “Han traitor”.

Recapping the “Workshops for the Final-Year RPg Students 2020-21” held on 13 November 2020

The Division of History organised the “Workshops for the Final-Year RPg Students 2020-21”, which offered an interactive sharing platform for the Department’s research postgraduate students to exchange and discuss their research findings. Prof. CHEUNG Sui Wai, Division Head, delivered opening remarks to the research postgraduate students and heartened them to sustain their fighting spirit in learning, set and stick to the study goals, and keep on doing research every day. He also encouraged students to take advantage of their presentations and discussions to gain and expend their experience.

Recapping the Academic Seminar “Militias in Eighteenth-Century France and America: The Paradoxes of Relying on Citizen-Soldiers” conducted by Prof. Noah SHUSTERMAN on 13 November 2020

Workshops for the Final-Year RPg Students 2020-21

For enquiry, please call 3943 7448.

For teachers and students who have information to share with the Department,
please email your articles in both Chinese and English to chanfiona@cuhk.edu.hk by 4:00pm every Monday.