Alien Books

We have carefully selected a collection of 20 exquisite paintings and calligraphy by Prof. Jao Tsung-i, accompanied by 50 cherished photographs captured during his worldwide travels. These features Prof Jao’s interpretations of landscapes from different corners of the world, including his large-scale paintings depiction well-know sites in Hong Kong, China, and overseas. We can observe how he exceptionally reflected the distinct character of each place and represented it using the traditional Chinese medium of ink and brush as well as Western painting style. As the old saying goes, “It is better to travel ten thousand miles than to read ten thousand books”. While achieving one of these is already incredibly challenging, Prof. Jao not only traversed thousands of miles, surpassing the accomplishments of both ancient masters and numerous contemporary painters.

Grounded in a desire to bring back to life rare items from the University of Hong Kong’s Fung Ping Shan Library that are entwined within the world of music and to place them in a context of books and images in American, British, and other Asian collections, Chinese Music in Print views the library as a repository not of information but of artifact, and then uses these artifacts as a means for generating scholarly narrative. It begins by assessing seminal texts in the Confucian canon set against the delicacy of the concubine and amanuensis Shen Cai’s calligraphy and poetry. Confucianism was itself a crucial aspect of courtly life, and an exploration of its ritual is the book’s second theme. Vernacular genres of opera and song are represented in the third chapter, while the Great Sage returns in the fourth for an exploration of the repertoire and richness of his favourite instrument, the qin. The final chapter ends the journey with discussion of the legacy of generations of Europeans who

2023年，香港中文大學迎來六十周年校慶。值此重要時刻，當反思大學使命—「結合傳統與現代，融會中國與西方」的歷史意蘊與時代價值。大學圖書館藉此難得機會，舉辦紀念展覽，展示館藏中日益豐富的西方漢學珍本。 本圖錄記錄了展出的藏書，並一一簡述概況，涵蓋從十五至十九世紀中葉的書籍、地圖和手稿。珍藏之中不乏最優秀的早期漢學著作。其中許多作品均由利瑪竇、湯若望等知名耶穌會教士撰寫，他們縱然人數不多，但在深入接觸近代早期中國社會與文化的過程中，一手創立了近代漢學，留下了近距離觀察中國的珍貴記錄。隨著這些傳教士的著作傳回歐洲，關於中國的歐洲書籍愈加準確詳細，歐洲人對中國的了解也與日俱增。本圖錄透過豐富的圖像，以及細緻的介紹和描述，呈現出一幅生動的早期歷史圖景，展現西方對中國持久而深入的興趣和理解，以及中西淵源的交疊與關聯。透過本圖錄，讀者亦可藉此思索如何更好地「結合傳統與現代，融會中國與西方」。 In 2023, The Chinese University of Hong Kong celebrates the sixtieth anniversary of its foundation. This occasion provides a moment for reflection on the historical and contemporary meanings of the university’s mission “to combine tradition with modernity and to bring together China and the West.” To this end, the celebrations include an exhibition of the University Library’s burgeoning collection of Western rare books about China, which is recorded and contextualized in this catalogue. This splendid volume features books, maps, and manuscripts from the fifteenth to the mid-ni

微觀世界裏的中華人民共和國史城市史研究必讀之作美國城市史學會最佳著作獎「想要完全了解一個城市，就需要深入它的最底層，考察社會生活的最基本單位。茶館作為微觀世界，為我們提供了觀察社會、文化和政治轉型的理想視角。」——王笛每個城市都有自己獨特的公共空間，如同一個「微觀世界」，由此出發，我們得以重新觸摸和審視一個城市的歷史與記憶。微觀史名家、澳門大學歷史系講座教授王笛以二十年精深研究，為此提供了出色的示範。茶館是成都傳統文化與日常生活的一部分，當地人習慣在那裏打麻 將、約會、看戲、讀書、算命、掏耳朵，以及自由地爭論大大小小的政治和社會問題。在20世紀下半葉，茶館這個微觀世界經歷了前所未有的 劇烈變遷，本書對這一過程進行了細密考察，探討了中國城市社會與社 會主義政治演變之間的廣泛聯繫：國家權力怎樣改造公共生活？國家文化與地方文化有著怎樣的搏弈？人們又是如何重新佔領城市空間？因「對中國和全球城市史的研究作出重要貢獻」，本書榮獲美國城市史學會（The Urban History Association ）2018–2019年度最佳著作獎。 --------------------------------本書的魅力在於從小的城市空間展示出大的政治變遷，這樣，成都茶館成為了一個微觀世界，由此可觀察毛澤東時代的中國社會以及改革開放後的公共生活和經濟發展。本書不僅對中國和全球城市史的研究作出重要貢獻，而且有助於我們進一步理解非西方語境下的市民社會和公共領域這樣的重大問題。美國城市史學會「最佳著作獎」頒獎詞本書展示了敏銳的思想、廣博的知識，以及把抽象觀念與檔案和文化資料高超地結合在一起的能力。要理解毛澤東時代以及改革開放後的中國政治和文化變遷，本書將是必讀之作。《歷史新書評論》（History: Reviews of New Books）本書展示了1950 年以後成都公共生活的變化，為讀者提供大量生動的細節，描述了茶館業主、顧客、藝人、算命先生、掏耳匠等不同人群與國家權力的關係。這部精細的研究著作，為現代中國史、城市研究、文化人類學和休閒社會學的學者們提供了新的材料和見解。《跨學科歷史雜誌》（Journal of Interdisciplinary History）