ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY NEWSLETTER HONG KONG E-mail: [email protected] Tel: + (852) 2234 5011 Fax: + (852) 2234 5039 GPO Box 3864, Hong Kong www.royalasiaticsociety.org.hk http://www.facebook.com/RoyalAsiaticSocietyHongKong Twitter: RASHK 1959 September 2019 Photo Courtesy: Martin Merz Xiqu Centre of West Kowloon Cultural District 西九文化區東側的戲曲中心 Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong | 2019 Contents MESSAGE FROM YOUR VICE PRESIDENT 3 FUTURE ACTIVITIES Tue, 10 Sep 2019 Lecture Interpreting Chart 1696, Views – Hong Kong Island & Vicinity, 1847: 4 Lt Leopold George Heath RN of HMS Iris, March 1846 Thu, 19 Sep, 2019 Local Visit The Mills & CHAT Guided Tour 5 Tue, 24 Sep 2019 Lecture Trees of Hong Kong – the Art & the Science 6 Wed, 9 Oct 2019 Lecture Austronesian Asia - Hub of Global Commerce 8 Sat, 26 Oct 2019 Local Visit Po Leung Kuk Museum Guided Tour 9 Fri, 8 Nov 2019 Lecture George Chinnery - Friends, Fictions & Finances 11 RECENT ACTIVITIES Thu, 18 Jul 2019 Xiqu Centre Guided Tour 12 Sat, 10 Aug 2019 A History of the World in 100 Objects from the British Museum 13 OF GENERAL INTEREST Fri, 21 Jun, 2019 Curry Tiffin Lunch 14 17-23 Jul 2019 Hong Kong Book Fair 30th Edition 15 Sun, 11 Aug 2019 Hong Kong Victory Day Commemoration Ceremony 2019 16 St. John’s Cathedral Shop 17 2019 Membership Renewal 17 PUBLICATIONS 19 CONTACT DETAILS 20 Cover Photo: RASHK members & guests inside the Xiqu Centre during their visit on Thu. 18 Jul 2019. 2 Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong | 2019 Message from your Vice President, Helen Tinsley Welcome to this September 2019 issue of the RASHK Newsletter. As all of you will be aware, Hong Kong is experiencing very troubled times and hitting global headlines, with a long hot ‘summer of discontent’ and no clear endgame in sight at present. There have been numerous expert commentaries on the background leading to the current situation, hot debate on the issues raised and the role of social media in a rapidly swirling communication environment. You will all have your own opinions. Let us hope, over time, that wise and cool heads will prevail for a successful outcome. Much of the activity related to the recent social unrest has been rather localized and we continued with our limited summer programme of events, also the planning of activities for the months leading up to the end of this year and beyond. There were two well attended and successful visits in July and August to the newly opened Xiqu Centre for Chinese Opera and the major travelling exhibition ‘A History of the World in 100 Objects’ from the British Museum at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum. Please take a look at what else has been happening over the summer. We were very happy to meet up with Paul Bolding and Kirsty Norman of ‘Friends of RASHK’ who were visiting Hong Kong from London and whom some of our Council and Activities Committee members had the chance to meet and exchange views over a curry lunch in June. They extend a warm welcome to RASHK members who may be visiting London and would like to attend their events. In July, books from the RAS Hong Kong Study Series were on display in the HKU and City U booths at the very busy recent Hong Kong Book Fair. Mike Broom kindly represented RASHK at the August annual wreath laying ceremony at City Hall organized by the Hong Kong Prisoners of War Association to celebrate the end of Pacific War. And finally, our membership database is in the process of an upgrade following an IT project which has been going on over the summer, hoping to make future administration of the database easier and more efficient, with big thanks to Connie Carmichael for overseeing this initiative. We have been busy preparing a rich and varied programme of events over the coming few months for our members, with information about September and October activities to be seen later on in this Newsletter and on our website. We look forward to your feedback on the programme and seeing many of you there. Helen Tinsley RASHK Vice President and Activities Coordinator August 2019 3 Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong | 2019 Future Activities LECTURE Interpreting Chart 1696, Views – Hong Kong Island and Vicinity, 1847: Lt Leopold George Heath RN of HMS Iris, March 1846 Tue • 10 Sep 2019 Image courtesy of J.J. Heath-Caldwell 1696-Views, Hong Kong Island and vicinity, a sheet of images issued by the British Admiralty in 1847, has three images that together form a 360-degree panorama of Victoria Harbour as it was in 1846. Drawn by Lt Leopold George Heath, the gunnery lieutenant of HMS Iris the views are one of the best-known images of early Hong Kong. In this talk Stephen Davies will relate the images to the eight watercolour originals from which they were engraved, explain where the views were drawn from and analyse what they show. He will also talk about the history of the sheet of views, how long they were in production, how many different versions - or states as they are called - there seem to have been and the near impossibility of accurately dating most of them. The Speaker Stephen Davies, a Briton with family connections to Hong Kong that go back to the mid-1920s, served in the Royal Navy and Royal Marines (1963-67), briefly designed atlases and taught sailing and mountaineering before falling off a cliff and having to be screwed back together (1967-68). After university in Wales and London (1968-74) he taught political theory at the University of Hong Kong (1974-89). From 1990-2003 he and his partner sailed 50,000 miles visiting 27 countries in their 38’ sailing sloop; useful background for a maritime historian. He was appointed the first Museum Director of the Hong Kong Maritime Museum in 2005 finally leaving to return to academia in 2013. A published maritime historian, focused on Asian Seas and the interactions between the western and traditional Asian maritime worlds, he works with the Department of Real Estate and Construction, of which he is an Honorary Professor, and is an Honorary Fellow of the University’s Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences at HKU and on heritage lighthouses in HK, Macau, Taiwan, China and SE Asia with a team at the City University of Hong Kong. He is also Hon. Editor of the Journal of the Royal 4 Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong | 2019 Future Activities Asiatic Society Hong Kong. His most recent books are Coasting Past: The last of South China coastal trading junks photographed by William Heering (Hong Kong Maritime Museum 2013) and East sails west: the voyage of the Keying, 1846-1855 (Hong Kong University Press 2014). ‘Strong to Save: Maritime mission in Hong Kong from Whampoa Reach to the Mariners’ Club’ was published by City University Press of Hong Kong in July 2017. He is now working on ‘Transport to another world: the life and times of HMS Tamar 1863-2015’. He continues as a yachting journalist, active yachtsman and occasional TV presenter, and works with museums and heritage interests in China, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong. Programme Speaker: Stephen Davies Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2019 Time: Reception desk opens 6:30 p.m.; talk starts at 7:00 p.m. Venue: Café 8 at Pier 8, Hong Kong Maritime Museum, Central Admission: RAS Members $150; Non-members $200 including snacks and a complimentary drink - please advise of any special dietary needs. Booking: Please email <[email protected]> in advance to reserve your place and pay at the door. ****** LOCAL VISIT The Mills & Centre for Heritage, Art & Textile (CHAT) Guided Tours 南豐沙廠暨六廠紡織文化藝術館（CHAT 六廠）導賞團 Thu • 19 Sep 2019 ‘Unsung Hero’ monolithic portrait created by celebrated Portuguese artist Alexandre Farto, internationally known under the alias Vhils; (Photo credit: http://www.themills.com.hk/en/) The Mills is a landmark revitalization project by Nan Fung Group, a celebration of shared industrial legacy with Hong Kong, and a step towards a future of applied creativity and innovation. Hong Kong’s rich history of enterprise has its roots in the booming manufacturing era of the 1950s. It was during that time Nan Fung Textiles was founded and grew to become a cornerstone of the territory’s dominant textile industry. In the years since, Nan Fung Group has transformed itself into one of the largest privately held organizations in Hong Kong, well regarded in the areas of property development, investment services, and social values. 5 Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong | 2019 Future Activities Announced in 2014 by Nan Fung Group on its 60th anniversary, The Mills project aims to transform and revitalize the company’s former textile factories into a destination for innovation, culture and learning. The project was inspired by the desire to reinvent the way we think about development in Hong Kong - to honour history while building the future. In addition to being the origin of Nan Fung Textiles, the district has unique history and culture of its own. Home to a large number of families and young professionals, Tsuen Wan enjoys a fast growing and vibrant community. The Speaker English-speaking docent of The Mills and CHAT. Programme Docent: English-speaking Docent, The Mills and CHAT Date: Thu, 19 Sep 2019 Assembly Time: 14:15 Tour Starts: 14:30 Venue: The Mills, 45 Pak Tin Par Street, Tsuen Wan, N.T. Admission: RAS Members $100; Non-Members / Guests $150 Booking: Please email <[email protected]> in advance to reserve your place and pay on entry.