News

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.

Biomedical engineering technologies are pushing forward the advancement of clinical care and benefiting patients at large. To facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration between the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has recently established the Chow Yuk Ho Technology Centre for Innovative Medicine (the Centre). The opening ceremony was held today (30 January), officiated by Ms. Therese P.F. Chow, Solicitor, Notary Public and China Appointed Attesting Officer; Miss Janet Wong, Commissioner for Innovation and Technology; Prof. Joseph J.Y. Sung, Vice-Chancellor and President, CUHK; Prof. Fanny M.C. Cheung and Prof. T.F. Fok, Pro-Vice-Chancellors and Vice-Presidents, CUHK; Prof. Francis K.L. Chan, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, CUHK; Prof. Irwin K.C. King, Associate Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, CUHK; and Prof. Philip W.Y. Chiu, Director of the Chow Yuk Ho Technology Centre for Innovative Medicine, CUHK. Over 100 guests from the medical and engineering fields were present.

Several outcomes of revolutionary research by the Faculty of Medicine have been put into clinical practice to improve care for patients. For example, the “Eagle Claw”, an endoscopic suturing device capable of performing suture plication inside the gastrointestinal lumen, can reduce surgical risk induced by invasive surgical procedure; and the diagnostic services for fetal Down syndrome based on the technology of non-invasive prenatal diagnosis using the plasma of pregnant women have been available in the US, Europe, mainland China and many other regions around the world since 2011. 

To further sustain innovative research in biomedical engineering focusing on clinical application, the Centre serves as a platform for engineers and clinicians from the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Medicine to encourage academic exchange and collaboration. 

In his welcome address, Prof. Joseph JY Sung stated, “CUHK has leading strengths in the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Medicine, with strong track records in biomedical engineering as well as clinical researches. Through interdisciplinary collaboration between the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Medicine, the Chow Yuk Ho Technology Centre for Innovative Medicine aims to serve as a platform for engineers and clinicians to work together in enhancing knowledge transfer of innovative technologies into clinical practice for the benefit of our patients. ” 

Miss Janet Wong agreed the establishment of the Centre is a brave and much needed move, “Convergence and cooperation of different scientific disciplines have become far more critical than ever before to generate innovation and transform the scenes of new technology development and medical practices - a philosophy much agreed by the Hong Kong Government.” 

“The Centre focuses on three research areas in biomedical engineering – Robotics, Imaging and Biosensing, including nano-robotics, innovative neuro-imaging and non-invasive medical monitoring,” Prof. Philip W.Y. Chiu further elaborated, “We aim to transfer various innovative technologies into clinical equipment and practice, so as to enable a more effective and up-to-date treatment for patients in need.” 

The establishment of the Centre is made possible by the generous donation from Ms Therese P.F. Chow, in memory of her father, Mr. Chow Yuk Ho, his philanthropic efforts and in recognition of the contributions and achievement in medical sciences and academic development of Prof. Joseph J.Y. Sung. 

At the initial stage, the Centre consists of a basic research laboratory and an animal research laboratory to facilitate important basic researches between the two Faculties, as well as preclinical experiments and tests. For more information about the Centre, please e-mail to tcim@cuhk.edu.hk.