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The Jao Tsung-I Visiting Professor Public Lecture was held at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) on 17 March 2015. Renowned French sinologist Professor Léon Vandermeersch was invited to visit CUHK as the Jao Tsung-I Visiting Professor and deliver the Public Lecture titled “Memories of my relations with my Laoshi Jao Tsung-I”.

On the occasion of Professor Jao’s 100th birthday, CUHK is delighted to announce a generous pledge of HK$10 million from Dr Charles Yeung, Chairman of The Glorious Sun Holdings Limited and GS Charity Foundation Limited, in support of the “Jao Tsung-I Visiting Professorship Scheme”, as well as a series of talks and activities for the promotion of Chinese history and culture. Attended by over 100 participants, a cheque presentation ceremony was held at the beginning of the Public Lecture.

The Chinese University was truly honored to set up a visiting professorship scheme named after Professor Jao in 2013. Through the Scheme, a world-class scholar on Chinese cultural research will be invited to the Institute of Chinese Studies of CUHK as Jao Tsung-I Visiting Professor for academic research and scholarly exchange each year. It is believed that the Scheme will facilitate the promotion of Chinese culture and be able to inspire the young generation. The sustainable development of the Scheme is made possible by the staunch support of Dr Charles Yeung.

With the generous donation of HK$10 million from the Fung Sun Kwan Chinese Arts Foundation, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has established the new Centre for Chinese Classical Learning under the Faculty of Arts. The donation will be used to support the operation of the Centre in the first five years and for the promotion of Chinese classical learning and traditional Chinese values and virtues.

Participated by over 100 distinguished guests from the academic, religious, education and commercial sectors, the inauguration ceremony of the Centre was held on 3 March 2015 at Cho Yiu Hall of CUHK. The Ceremony was officiated by Mr Tsang Tak-sing, Secretary for Home Affairs of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), Ms Elsie Leung, Deputy Director of the HKSAR Basic Law Committee of Standing Committee of National People’s Congress, Mr Fung Sun-kwan, Chairman of the Fung Sun Kwan Chinese Arts Foundation, Mrs Fung Sun-kwan, Secretary-general of the Fung Sun Kwan Chinese Arts Foundation, Professor Joseph Sung, Vice-Chancellor and President of CUHK, Professor Leung Yuen-sang, Dean of the Faculty of Arts of CUHK, and Dr Tang Lap-kwong, Director of the Centre for Chinese Classical Learning. In addition, Professor Zhang Jian, Director of the Promotion Committee of the International Confucian Association, Professor Peng Lin, Director of the Research Center of Chinese Classics of Tsinghua University, and Professor Lee Chack-fan, Director of Jao Tsung-I Petite Ecole, were also invited to give speeches at the Ceremony.

Professor Joseph Sung expressed in his welcoming speech his heartfelt gratitude towards Mr Fung’s generous support to CUHK. “To realize our mission to achieve excellence in education, collaboration with philanthropists and friends of the University is of paramount importance. I am very pleased to witness the opening of this new Centre with many friends from academic, education, cultural and commercial sectors today. I look forward to partnering closely with all of you, so as to nurture more brilliant young leaders for the society,” said Professor Sung.     

Mr Tsang Tak-shing strongly believes that the establishment of the Centre is a timely response to the growing demands for Chinese classical education from the society. “The Home Affairs Bureau will support the development of the Centre, and identify ways to collaborate with Centre in launching programmes which can benefit to the society, in particular our young people,” said Mr Tsang.

“I would like to thank the HKSAR government, CUHK and many other organizations for their support towards the establishment of this new Centre. The Centre, I believe, is an important education hub for promoting the beauty of traditional Chinese culture and virtues, and facilitating whole-person development of students,” said Mr Fung Sun-kwan in his speech.

Ms Elsie Leung expressed her earnest congratulations on the establishment of the Centre. She added that the Centre is a significant platform to encourage the learning of Chinese classics.

The Centre for Chinese Classical Learning will regularly organize lectures and seminars on Chinese culture, and offer credit-bearing General Education courses for students. To promote Chinese classical learning to a wider population, other activities and programmes related to Chinese classics and traditional values will also be initiated by the Centre. The first academic activity of the Centre was a seminar on the development of Chinese classical learning in China, which was held right after the Inauguration Ceremony.

In collaboration with the Sixth Patriarch Monastery in Guangdong, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has recently established the new Center for the Study of Chan Buddhism and Human Civilization. The inauguration ceremony of the center was held on 13 February 2015. Participated by over 100 distinguished guests, the ceremony was officiated by Mr Xie Weimin, Inspector of the Department of Educational, Scientific and Technological Affairs of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), Ms Zheng Haiyan, Director of the Coordination Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR, and Ms Florence Hui, Under Secretary for Home Affairs of the HKSAR Government.

Through its Executive Committee of Buddhist Studies, the Sixth Patriarch Monastery has generously pledged a donation of HK$12.5 million in support of the establishment of the center. The donation will be used to recruit faculty members, conduct academic research, organize cultural activities, and support outstanding candidates to pursue postgraduate education in related fields. The newly established center aims to promote Buddhist studies, with a particular focus on Chan Buddhism, through organizing a wide range of academic and cultural activities, strengthening the collaboration with overseas academic partners, and nurturing talents in Buddhist education and research. 

Under the leadership of Ven. Da Yuan, the Sixth Patriarch Monastery has been putting extensive effort in promoting Chinese culture and virtues, as well as Buddhist studies and education. The Monastery has also established close rapport with many institutions in mainland China, such as Wuhan University and Jinan University. In partnership with CUHK, the Monastery aims to promote Buddhist education through a more systematic and internationalized approach. To realize the mission of promoting Chinese culture to a wider public around the world, the center will pursue interdisciplinary collaboration with the experts and professionals in Management, Psychology, Humanities and Philosophy. 

With the objective to strengthen the collaboration on Buddhist education and research, the Center for the Study of Chan Buddhism and Human Civilization has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies. A large-scale international academic symposium will be jointly organized by the two centers in October this year. The center is also planning to collaborate with world renowned Business Schools to organize courses on Chan Buddhism and Corporate Management.