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Professor Yuan Xingpei, renowned scholar from Beijing University, visited The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) at Cho Yiu Hall, CUHK, as the Jao Tsung-I Visiting Professor of the year. Professor Yuan presented a public lecture on the topic “The Possibilities and Limits of a Genre Lyrical Pictures From the Ming”. Professor Yuan took up the topic of shiyi hua (lyrical pictures) and introduced notable examples of the genre produced by ink painters and woodblock-print artists from the Ming era, hoping to arouse public interest in Professor the Honourable Jao Tsung-I’s prominent achievements in the field of art, and promote cross-disciplinary studies between literary history and history of painting in the academic field. The lecture attracted a full-house audience, Professor Jao Tsung-I, Wei Lun Honorary Professor of Fine Arts, Emeritus Professor of Chinese Language and Literature and Honorary Professor, Institute of Chinese Studies, CUHK, Dr Charles Yeung, donor of the Jao-Tsung-I Visiting Professorship Scheme and Chairman of GS Charity Foundation Limited, and Professor Joseph Sung, Vice-Chancellor and President, CUHK, inaugurated the public lecture.

About Professor Yuan

Professor Yuan Xingpei serves as Professor of the Department of Chinese Language and Literature, Director of the Faculty of Humanities, Dean of the Institute of Traditional Chinese Culture, Director of the International Academy for China Studies, and Editor-in-chief of Studies in Sinology at Peking University. Professor Yuan has held the posts of President of Central Institute of Chinese Culture and History, Vice-Chairman of China Democratic League, as well as a member of the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council. He was also a member of the Eighth and Ninth National Committees of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, and a member of the Tenth Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress.

About the Jao Tsung-I Visiting Professorship Scheme

Since its inception in 1963, CUHK has devoted itself to the modernization and promulgation of Chinese culture through studies in the humanities and social sciences.  Professor Jao Tsung-I is an advocate of sinology through his immense contribution in boosting the academic and cultural exchanges between China and the West. CUHK shares the same mission to inherit and promote Chinese culture. In 2013, CUHK set up the Visiting Professorship Scheme under the Institute of Chinese Studies and the University is truly honoured to have this Scheme named after Professor Jao Tsung-I.  Through this Scheme, a world-class scholar on Chinese cultural research is invited for academic research and scholarly exchange at the Institute of CUHK every year. It is hoped that the Jao Tsung-I Visiting Professor will be able to inspire the young generation and further promote Chinese culture. The sustainable development of the Scheme is made possible by the staunch support of GS Charity Foundation Limited, Bei Shan Tang, Mok Hing Yiu Charitable Foundation and Hong Kong Shun Lung Yan Chak Foundation. Professor Nils Göran David Malmqvist, leading Swedish sinologist, and Professor Léon Vandermeersch, renowned French sinologist, were named as Jao Tsung-I Visiting Professor in the past years.

Participated by over 160 alumni and friends, the I·CARE Alumni Talk entitled 'Life is a Marathon' was held on Saturday, 19 March 2016 at Cho Yiu Hall of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). Two distinguished scholars, Professor Joseph Sung, Vice-Chancellor and President of CUHK, and Professor Cheung Chan-fai, Adjunct Professor of the Department of Philosophy of CUHK, shared with the audience their views on the intrinsic meaning and values of life from multiple perspectives.

Professor Cheung Chan-fai explained the concept of 'Third Age' by taking reference to a book entitled Cato Maior de Senectute (On Old Age) written by renowned Roman philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero. 'Facing the problem of population ageing, the society shall provide more opportunities for the "Third Agers" to engage not only in leisure activities, but also scholarly exchange and academic research,' said Professor Cheung. 

Professor Joseph Sung shared his reflections from reading the book Being Mortal, written by American doctor and bestselling author Atul Gawande. 'The secrets of living a beautiful life is to stay healthy, live independently, and maintain good relationships and strong social network,' Professor Sung concluded.

The Alumni Talk is a part of the I·CARE Book Festival 2016. The I·CARE Book Festival is one of the signature events of the I·CARE Programme which aims to promote the culture of reading through a series of public lectures and book talks.

Review
'The Third Age' by Professor Cheung Chan-fai (presentation/video) 
'The Beauty of Life and Death' by Professor Joseph Sung (video)

About the I·CARE Book Festival
www4.cuhk.edu.hk/icare/index.php/en/projects/university-lecture-on-civility/137

Donate now to support the I·CARE Programme
www.cuhk.edu.hk/oia/icare/donatenow

Prof. Michael Sandel, Harvard's most famous professor, spoke at the Research Centre for Human Values (the Centre) at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) tonight. He received an ovation from a capacity audience of around 1,500 people.

The event saw the best-selling political philosopher deliver a rousing lecture entitled 'What Money Can't Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets', based on his New York Times bestselling book of the same name.

The event provoked unprecedented demand for tickets from students, academics and the public right across Hong Kong. The tickets were free and sold out in just a few hours, with additional lecture theatres having to be opened up across campus to host those who wanted to see the event live-streamed from the main auditorium.

Prof. Simon Haines, Director of the Centre and Chairman of the Department of English at CUHK says: "Tonight's event was electric. Prof. Sandel delivered a powerful, moving lecture that really brought home to everyone the huge importance of proper values reflection within the Hong Kong community and across the world. This is exactly what the Research Centre for Human Values, based at CUHK and funded by The Philomathia Foundation, was established to do. 

"We have been greatly looking forward to this event and it fulfilled all our expectations. Having thousands of people come to our campus on a Friday evening shows that the demand for values-based discussion in Hong Kong is at an all-time high. We are very much looking forward to bringing other high-profile speakers to the city as part of our programme at the Centre."

Tonight's event focused on Prof. Sandel's book What Money Can't Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets, which takes up one of the biggest ethical questions of our time: isn't there something wrong with a world in which everything is for sale? If so, how can we prevent market values from reaching into spheres of life where they don't belong: from becoming our ­only values? What are the moral limits of markets? 

Prof. Sandel challenged the audience with ethical dilemmas grounded in economics. For example: should we pay children to read books or to get good grades? Should we put a price on human life to decide how much pollution to allow? Is it ethical to pay people to test risky new drugs or to donate their organs?

One of Foreign Policy's Top 100 Global Thinkers, Prof. Sandel has been described as "the most relevant living philosopher," "a rock-star moralist" (Newsweek), and “the most famous teacher of philosophy in the world” (New Republic). 

Prof. Sandel's legendary course 'Justice' has enrolled over 15,000 students and was the first Harvard course to be made freely available online and on public television. It has been viewed by millions of people around the world, including in China, where China Newsweek named him in 2011 the "most influential foreign figure of the year." 

His earlier book, Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do?, has sold over 2 million copies worldwide and has been translated into 27 different languages The book relates the big questions of political philosophy to the most vexing issues of our time. 

About Michael Sandel 

Michael Sandel teaches political philosophy at Harvard University where he is the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government. His latest book, What Money Can't Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets, challenges us to rethink the role that money and markets should play in our lives. Reviewers have called it a "brilliant, indispensable book on the relationship between morality and economics," and "an eloquent argument for morality in public life." 

Described by the Guardian as "the man who is currently the most effective communicator of ideas in English," Sandel's books and online lectures have brought him "the kind of popularity usually reserved for Hollywood movie stars and NBA players." (China Daily) His recent lecture tours have taken him across five continents, packing such venues as St. Paul’s Cathedral (London), the Sydney Opera House (Australia), and an outdoor amphitheater in Seoul, Korea, where 14,000 people came to hear him speak. 

About The Research Centre for Human Values, CUHK 

Founded in 2009 with a generous donation from the Philomathia Foundation, the mission of the Research Centre for Human Values at The Chinese University of Hong Kong is to promote discussion, research and reflection on values and value conflicts as they present themselves across academic disciplines, in the wider Hong Kong community, and internationally. 
www.eng.cuhk.edu.hk/rchv/

Source: Communications and Public Relations Office, The Chinese University of Hong Kong