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Macau Ricci Newsletter 14
English
No. 14 － January 2010
Pipe Organ Inaugural Concert
The formal inauguration of the Pipe Organ, manufactured by the Koenig Company, was held on October 6 at the St. Joseph Seminary Church. Around 100 distinguished guests from the government, the Diocese, the Jesuit community in Macau, the educational and cultural circles; Mr. & Mrs. Koenig, the manufacturer of the organ, and other audience attended the concert.
The performance started at 8.20 p.m. and lasted around one hour with applause and satisfaction from all the guests and the audience for the high quality performance by Prof. Fr. Philippe Charru, S.J.
Forums
On September 29, our Institute invited Ven. Guang Xing to be the speaker of our monthly Forum on the topic “Contemporary Chinese Buddhism: Doctrines and Practices”. Our Institute also invited Fr. Christian Cochini the author of the book “Guide to Buddhist Temples of China” which was launched at this occasion (English version). Both events attracted a good number of participants who enjoyed two presentations.
On October 12, a Forum was held to celebrate the launching of “Belief, History and the Individual in Modern Chinese Literary Culture” edited by Fr. Artur Wardega. The book with a selection of ten outstanding essays from the MRI 2007 Symposium was published by the Cambridge Scholars Publishing. An interview with Fr. Wardega was published at the following day in a Portuguese Newspapers “Ponto-Final” with a title in Portuguese as “Readings about a new Chinese humanism” from the book launched by Macau Ricci Institute on Chinese Modern Literature.
On November 4, our Institute held another Forum entitled “European Supranationalism – the Battle of spirit of Jean Monnet and vision of General de Gaulle”. Dr. Krzysztof Sliwinski, the speaker from Hong Kong Baptist University, made a good presentation of the topic.
On December 9, our Institute held the last Forum of the year entitled “Images of Macao in Hong Kong Cinema”, with Prof. Vivian Lee, who teaches Chinese cinema and modern Chinese literature at the City University of Hong Kong, as the speaker. Prof. Lee discussed the changing images of Macao in Hong Kong cinema and stressed its developments after 1997. She also brought some audio visuals which were shown during the Forum contributed to a good dialogue afterwards between the speaker and the audience.
Symposium
This year our International Symposium, “Education for New Times: Revisiting Pedagogical Models in the Jesuit Tradition” was held from November 25 to 27, an international symposium in commemoration of the fourth centenary of the death of Matteo Ricci, S.J.
Among the honorable guests were D. José Lai, Bishop of Macau, and Dr. Alexis Tam Chon Weng, Chief of Office of the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Fr. Provincial Louis Gendron, Fr. Alfred Deignan, Fr. Howard Lui, Fr. Artur Wardega and Fr. Luís Sequeira. The first session of the morning started with the welcome address by Fr. Wardega. Around 100 participants attended the ceremony and the first two sessions after which a group photo was taken at the entrance of the I.F.T. Restaurant.
During the sessions, the speakers presented good quality papers followed by commentaries and dialogues exchanged between the audience and the speakers.
The sessions were successful in the morning of the second day. A visit to the Ruins of the Madre de Deus College and to the Museum of Macao, coordinated by Dr. César Guillén-Nuñez was arranged after lunch for the Active Participants. After the dinner at the I.F.T. Restaurant, our Institute organized a “Trumpet & Pipe Organ Concert: Music from 18th to 20th Century” at the St. Joseph Seminary Church, excellently performed by two French musicians, Mr. David Rouault and Mr. Pierre Cambourian and the audience was delighted and satisfied with the program.
In the afternoon of the last day of the symposium, Prof. Stephan Kessler chaired the final panel, with Prof. Bai Limin, Prof. Li Tianggang, Prof. Bradley McLean, Prof Gary Menard, Prof. Martin Scroope and Prof. Anh Q. Tran, all of them have addressed their final commentaries and appreciation. At the end Fr. A. Wardega addressed the concluding speech thanking the speakers and participating scholars for their contribution to the 2009 Symposium.
A dinner offered by the Government Tourism Department held at the Macau Tower and closed our 3-day program.
神州交流 ― Chinese Cross Currents (CCC)
Two texts in the Thought & Humanism section of the first issue of the second half of the year (July, 6.3) made a discourse on the revival of Confucianism. Tang Wenming explains why today’s China is calling in Confucius. Complementing this analysis but focusing on the younger generations, Chen Xinhan, Professor at Shanghai University, reflects on the challenges that moral education is now facing in China.
This is followed by an interesting study on the “Cult of Dasheng”, a popular socio-cultural phenomena of the cyber world among expatriate Chinese post-graduate students. An essay on “solidarity” by Dominique Tyl from the Macau Ricci Institute, explores the origin of such a concept and is looking for its philosophical foundations. His essay pages helps to better understand a notion of solidarity that is more and more employed in the news dispatches and analysis of the mass media.
The final issue of the year (October 2009, 6.4) celebrates the second centennial of the birth of Charles Darwin. The first contribution of the Thought & Humanism section addresses itself to one aspect of the controversies that linger up to this time: does the notion of “creation” and more precisely the way it is presented in the Book of Genesis, Chapter 1, in the Bible, contradict the theory of evolution? As an answer to this question, Christopher Hart analyses the recent volume written by Andrew Parker under the title The Genesis Enigma. Parker shows that not only there is no contradiction, but on the contrary, there is a remarkable convergence. Going beyond controversies, in the second contribution of this section, François Euvé explores “the impact of Darwinian theory on western thought”. In the Editorial, Editor Yves Camus also reminds us that in the early twentieth century, the tentative explanation of evolution was understood as a struggle for life had been abusively applied by some Chinese milieus to the competition among nations towards modernisation. He finally looked forward to the coming of 2010, in which Matteo Ricci’s spirit and his legacy of friendship among cultures will be commemorated in the quatercentenary anniversary of his demise.
Researcher’s activities
Fr. Artur Wardega, Director of the MRI and Mr. Jerónimo Hung, Secrtary-General of the MRI, went to Kraków from August 26 through September 5, during which they visited the office and production division of the Wydawnictwo WAM (Publishing House), headed by Polish Jesuits, and the Library of the Wyzsza Szkola Filozoficzno-Pedagogiczna “Ignatianum” w Krakowie. They also paid visits to the Jagiellonian University in which they were received by Dr. Ewa Trojnar and Ph.D. Lukasz Gacek from Faculty of International Studies and Politics, Department of Middle East and Far East Studies, and by Dr. Bogdan Zemanek, Director of the Confucius Institute in Krakow. At the Ignatianum they met Dr. Józef Bremer SJ, Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy-Pedagogy, the Deputy Deans Dr. Tomasz Homa SJ and Dr. Stanislaw Lucarz SJ., Mr. Pavel Nowakowski, a PhD candidate, and other 10 Polish Jesuit scholastics.
Invited by Prof. Huang Zhuo Director of the Institute for Sinological Studies, Beijing Language & Culture University, Fr. Wardega went to Beijing on September 24 to participate in the 2009 International Symposium on “The Early European Missionaries Coming to China & Sinological Studies” held at the Beijing Language & Culture University, on September 26. Fr. Wardega presented a paper entitled “From Benedict of Poland, ofm., (Benedictus Polonus, 1200-1280) to Michael Boym, S.J., (1612-1659): The Early Polish Missionaries coming to China: Brief Historiography with special focus on Jan M. Smogulecki, S.J., (1610-1656)”. Some 50 scholars and researchers presented their papers during the event co-organized by the Institute, the Association for Culture & Education, Slovenia and the Department of Asian & African Studies of the University of Ljubljana.
During his stay in Beijing, Fr. Wardega paid a visit to Fr. Roberto M. Ribeiro, the Director of The Beijing Center, The International Student Center, with whom Fr. Wardega exchanged views on future collaboration between MRI and TBC.
On October 16-18, Fr. Wardega went to Hangzhou (Zhejiang) to participate in the International Conference on “Dialogue and Civilizations: Buddhist-Christian Encounter in 21 Century”, organized by Zhejiang University and The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He took this opportunity to present and launch the MRI book of Fr. Christian Cochini, S. J., “Guide to Buddhist Temples of China”. Our new colleague, Dr. Liu Jingjing, was also invited to present a paper in the same Conference entitled “明末清初天主教與禪宗的關係”. Dozens of scholars/researchers coming from different countries of the world, such as United Kingdom, U.S.A., Norway, Germany, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau and mostly Mainland China were present during the event, presenting outstanding papers.
On December 3-4, Fr. Wardega went to Arras, France and participated in the International Conference entitled “L’imaginaire de l’autre – Les missionnaires en Orient” held at the Artois University – Centre de recherché Textes et Cultures, Institut Confucius de l’Artois. He presented a paper entitled “From Benedict of Poland, ofm., (Benedictus Polonus, 1200-1280) to Michael Boym, S.J., (1612-1659); the Early Polish Missionaries coming to China: Brief Historiography with special focus on Jan M. Smogulecki, S.J., (1610-1656)”. As representatives of M.R.I., Prof. Antoni Üçerler, S.J. presented his paper “Jesuit debates on Race and ‘Reason of State’ in Sixteenth-Century Japan and China”, and Prof. António V. de Saldanha with his paper “Entrar com a sua para sair com a nossa: Ignatian persuasion and the origins of Jesuit accommodation in China and Japan”.
During his stay in Paris, Fr. Wardega had succeeded to invite Prof. Üçerler and Prof. Saldanha as active participants of the 2010 MRI International Symposium dedicated to the “Acta Pekinensia”. He also met Fr. Michel Masson, Director of l’Institut Ricci de Paris – Centre d’études chinoises, as regards to the share of support of Macau Ricci Institute given to a trip organized by him entitled: “Voyage en Chine ‘Sur les traces de Matteo Ricci S.J. (1552-1610)”, which will be held between September 14 and 23, 2010”.
Visits
On August 5, our Institute had the honour to receive Fr. Daniel Patrick Huang, Regional Assistant of the Curia Societatis Iesu from Rome. Fr. Howard Lui brought him to pay a short visit to Macau Ricci Institute. Fr. Huang was very delighted to know our past activities, our publications and achievements. In the name of MRI, Mr. J. Hung offered him a copy of our CCC-1.3 (recommended by Dr. César Guillén, who wrote an article about the relationship of the Philippines and Macau), a copy of MRIS-3 on Wu Li, a copy of Dr. Guillén’s book on and a copy of our latest book Belief, History and the Individual in Modern Chinese Literary Culture.
On the same day Mr. Hu Gongze from Translation Research Center, Fu Jen University, Taipei, paid a visit to the Library of our Institute and came back again for several times as he found good materials for his own research.
On September 11, two PhD candidates, Mr. Xiao Li, student of Prof. Thierry Meynard, and Mr. Jarosław Siudzinski, a lecturer of Adam Mickiewicz University, both of them participants of the project “Learning and Cultural Consciousness in China, the Past and Present” came to visit our Institute. Mr. Xiao and Mr. Siudzinski had found good materials in our Library for their own researches.
On September 14, Mr. Shimpei Chiba, a scholar from Japan introduced by the Bishop D. José Lai, came to visit the Library of our Institute. He is from the Kyoto University of Art and Design and his research field is relationship between Macau and Japan in the 16th and 17th centuries, especially on Christianity and the Jesuits. He was very delighted to find good materials in our Library for his own research.
On September 16, three Jesuit Procurators, Fr. Klaus Vathroder from Germany, Fr. Toni Kurmann from Switzerland and Fr. Hans Tschiggerl from Austria, together with Fr. Lee Hua from Hong Kong, came to visit Macau Ricci Institute.
On October 19, a delegation of 10 members from the Nagasaki Prefectural Assembly led by their Vice-Chairs, Mr. Kazuya Nakamura and Mr. Mitsuo Nomoto, came to visit the Macau Ricci Institute. Their objective was to seek more information about Macau’s churches registered on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
On November 23, Dr. Martin Montgomery, the newly appointed Chair of English Linguistics at Macau University paid a visit to our Institute.
On December 11, Dr. Manuel de Carvalho, General-Consul of Portugal in Macau, visited our Institute. The Management Committee as well as all the staff of MRI gave him a warm reception. A power-point presentation of our Institute was made by Fr. Wardega in terms of the history and development of our Institute since its beginning in 1999 as well as our activities and publications until 2009. Dr. Carvalho was very pleased and grateful for all the reception and detailed information about the work and mission of the Institute. Mr. J. Hung gave him also a brief introduction of our Library.
New Comers
On September 16, Anders Hansson came to the MRI and started to work as Chief Editor of MRI Publications. Previously he studied Chinese at the University of Stockholm and later also in Hong Kong. He holds an M.A. degree from the School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London) and a Ph. D. in History and East Asian Languages from Harvard University. He worked as translator/cultural attaché at the Swedish Embassy in Peking from 1971–73 he and then in the early 1980s as a ‘foreign expert’ in Peking in the early 1980s. In the 1990s he taught Chinese language and culture at the University of Edinburgh and from 2007 till 2009 he was editor of the translation journal “Renditions” published at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. His main research interest is Ming and Qing dynasty social history. His publications include “Chinese Outcasts: Discrimination and Emancipation in Late Imperial China” (1996) and “The Chinese at Play: Festivals, Games and Leisure” and “Chinese Concepts of Privacy” (both 2002), co-edited by him. He has also written on Chinese popular music from a social and political perspective.
On October 23 Liu Jingjing came to the MRI and started to work as the Assistant Researcher at the Macau Ricci Institute. Her B.A. (Fudan University) and M. Phi. (Fudan University) and Ph.D. (Chinese University of Hong Kong) are all in the area of religious studies. Her primary field of research is the history of Christianity in China (especially the encounter of cultures between Europe and China during 16-18 centuries). Her academic interests include: history of the Buddhism in China and inter-religious dialogue.
On November 3, Albert Wong, an MA holder in Sociology (SUNY Binghamton) and a BA holder in English Language and Literature (University of Macau), came and started to work as the MRI Academic Assistant.
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