Posted: February 6th, 2018 | No Comments »
Sunday, 11th February 2018
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Long Museum West Bund
Contemporary Sculpture in China
Speaker: Julie Chun, Art Historian
In order to better appreciate contemporary sculpture, we need to develop a historical understanding of the conditions in which sculpture emerged in China. This month’s Art Focus museum talk will be led by RAS China’s Art Historian Julie Chun. A brief introduction will attempt to set the context as we view, discuss and engage with the contemporary sculptures in the solo retrospective Through No One’s Eyes But My Own by the female artist Xiang Jing that presents a survey of her 17 years of artistic output. By departing from the conventional notion of the “female beauty†that have defined depictions of women’s faces and bodies by male artists, how is Xiang Jing able to subvert the canon through her personal interpretation and expression? Moreover, we will consider how contemporary artists are attempting to overturn the different facets of the ingrained paradigm to set new directions for the genre of sculpture in the platform of global art.
About the artist Xiang Jing
Xiang Jing is a Beijing-based Chinese female artist who works primarily in creating contemporary sculpture. She graduated from the Department of Sculpture at the China Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing in 1995. As an established artist, Xiang Jing has exhibited in numerous solo and group shows internationally and her sculptures are collected by both private museums and public foundations. Her unconventional depictions of female bodies have incurred criticism and controversy, yet she maintains a practice that articulates her profound artistic independence as she seeks for personal truths.
For more information about the artist, please see: http://www.xiangjingart.com/en/index.php?m=list&a=index&id=5
Note: Due to the nature of nude content, this Art Focus event is not suitable for those under the age of 17.
RSVP: artgroup@royalasiaticsociety.org.cn
ENTRANCE: Members: 50 RMB Non-members: 100 RMB
VENUE: Long Museum West Bund; 3398 Longteng Da Dao, near Fenglin Lu (Metro: Line 7 or 12, Middle Longhua Road) Shanghai
Posted: February 2nd, 2018 | No Comments »
24 CHINA SOLAR ADVENTURES
by Dominic Johnson-Hill
WHAT: 24 CHINA SOLAR ADVENTURES by Dominic Johnson-Hill
WHEN: FEB 10, Sat., 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
WHERE: CROSSBOUNDARIES, #4 N. Gongti Road, Bldg 10, Sanlitun (between 1949 and Bookworm; go up the red brick steps just above Homeplate). (detailed map and directions below)
HOW MUCH: RASBJ MEMBERS RMB 40, others (including guests of members) RMB 80 — advance payment required. All walk-ins on Feb 10, including members, pay RMB 100 so long as space is available. Apologies if the event becomes fully booked.
NOTE: RASBJ members have priority for reserving 2 places each until the end of Monday, Feb. 5. All requests for reservations will be handled in order of receipt of your email. Successful applications will be notified, with details for payment which is required in advance.
RSVP: email communications.ras.bj@gmail.com and write “24†in subject header.
ABOUT THE EVENT: Dominic Johnson-Hill is engaged on an epic adventure, hosting a Xinhua television program which explains the traditional Chinese 24 solar terms. About 3000 years ago the Chinese mapped the movements of the sun to create the 24 solar terms which guide farming activities and reflect shifts in climate, agricultural production and other aspects of rural life. Today they remain a big part of Chinese culture. Dominic is visiting 24 sites around China — from the far north to the mountains of Guangxi to the deserts of the Northwest — exploring how these terms are ingrained in Chinese culture and history. He’ll share stories and pictures showing how the 24 solar terms are celebrated in today’s China.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER Dominic Johnson-Hill has lived in China since 1993 and is the Creative director and founder of Beijing Creative Brand Plastered 8, as well as a TV personality and presenter of Fox TV shows “Vintage Hunter†and “The Seasons of Chinaâ€.
ABOUT CROSSBOUNDARIES Crossboundaries is an architecture and design studio providing unique solutions deriving from local cultural knowledge and transnational expertise.
Posted: January 31st, 2018 | No Comments »
I’ve blogged a lot in the last few years on the history, the men and the role of the Chinese Labour Corps (CLC) in World War One, the force of workers recruited by the British government in World War One to free troops for front line duty by performing support work and manual labour (just use the search box to see previous posts). I also noted that the Imperial War Museum republished the memoirs of 2nd Lieutenant Daryl Klein, a British officer with the CLC. His memoirs were published under the rather un-PC title With the Chinks. Like many other British officers assigned to the CLC Klein was already an old China Hand having worked in the country and spoke Chinese. Klein is also interesting in that he was involved in the recruitment of the Chinese corps members in Weihai, accompanied them to Europe and served with them in France.
Of course Klein survived the war and returned to Peking to work and here’s his entry in the 1922 Peking Who’s Who working for Dunlop in China and his book acknowledged.
Posted: January 30th, 2018 | No Comments »
Apologies for self-promotion, but perhaps of interest to China Rhyming readers – a short piece by me in Foreign Policy on the role of the all-girl Moranbong Band in Kim’s North Korea, at the Winter Olympics (possibly) and in the peace and reunification talks generally….click here…
North Korea’s all-female Moranbong Band perform in Pyongyang on May 11, 2016. / AFP / Ed Jones (Photo credit should read ED JONES/AFP/Getty Images)
Posted: January 29th, 2018 | No Comments »
A short piece I wrote for the Los Angeles Review of Books China Channel wishing au revoir to the Astor House Hotel and remembering some of its characters and literary moments….click here…
Posted: January 26th, 2018 | No Comments »
The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society China publishes original research articles of up to 10,000 words on topics on Chinese culture and society, past and present, with a focus on Mainland China. All articles, including peer-reviewed, must be original and previously unpublished, and make a contribution to the field. The Journal also publishes timely reviews of books on all aspects of Chinese history, culture and society. The Journal’s publication frequency is once annually in print and online.
The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society China is a continuation of the original scholarly publication of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, the Journal of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, published 1858 – 1948, and recommenced in 2010. The Journal proudly maintains the level of academic standards and innovative research that marked its standing as the preeminent Western sinological journal in China for nearly a hundred years.
– All articles should be written in Word format for our editorial panel to open, read and edit. The font should be Times New Roman, 12 point. The title of your article should be in bold at the beginning of the file, but not enclosed in quote marks. Bold is also used for headings and subheadings (which should also be in Times New Roman, 12 point) in the article. Articles should be 8,000 to 10, 000 words, and must not exceed the 10,000 maximum word count, which includes notes and references – but does not include the author bio and abstract. (For shorter articles, please receive pre-approval from our editorial panel.) Book reviews are to be between 1,000 to 3,000 words and must not exceed 3,000 maximum word count.
– Please use the Chicago Manual of Style, but articles must be submitted in British English. Pagination should be on the top right corner.
– All articles must include an abstract of up to 250 words.
– Images: You may submit colour images, which will be available for online version only. In print, the images will appear in black and white. All images need a resolution of at least 300 dpi. All images should be supplied independently of the article, not embedded into the text itself, in jpeg format. The files should be clearly labelled and an indication given as to where they should be placed in the text. Images sent in as e-mail attachments should accordingly be in greyscale. The image should always be accompanied by a suitable caption. The following is the agreed style for captions: Figure 1: Caption here. Please note the colon after the number and the terminating full point, even if the caption is not a full sentence. It is the responsibility of the author to secure image permission rights and present the consent letter in the submission.
– The copyright consent form giving us your permission to publish your article must accompany your submission. Please obtain the RAS China copyright consent form after your article is pre-authorized for publication.
– Please include author’s bio of up to 50 words with an email address. Do not include CV or self-portrait photo. If a bio is not submitted, it will not be printed.
– Articles submitted to the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society should be original and not under consideration by any other publication, unless pre-authorized by our editorial panel. If the article is a reprint, it is the sole responsibility of the author to obtain all permissions including text, images and present necessary consent forms with the submission.
Please ensure that your manuscripts meet these requirements. Also, be advised that the RAS Journal is a non-profit publication and does not provide writer’s fee.
Submission deadlines:
– Abstract submission for pre-authorization: 20 January to 30 March 2018 – Manuscript submission final deadline: 1 May 2018 
Projected publication timeframe: Late August 2018 
 Please send inquiries and abstract to the Journal’s Honorary Editor, Julie Chun: editor@royalasiaticsociety.org.cn
Posted: January 25th, 2018 | No Comments »
1937 advertisements in the British press for Ceylon winter breaks…cold January in London makes it very attractive – then and now….
