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What more can a reviewer add? Perhaps to emphasize that an attempt has been made throughout to be and stay historical, and to let the pictures speak in a true harmony with the Introduction and captions, so that the readers can gain as much from the presentation as possible. The result is a work of lasting value.
But what we sorely need, of course, is a book of photographs by Chinese photographers of the period, ones which are free from the pressures and purposes of the state. I am not qualified to say what might be available of this kind, though I suspect this is probably asking for the impossible, and unattainable given the many constraints of the time. In lieu, substitutes from other segments of the visual arts from and about this epic period in the history of China and its people must be found. But one lives in hope.
JAMES HAYES
Xianggang lishi wenhua kaocha [Field Studies on History and Culture of Hong Kong]. The Hong Kong Institute for Promotion of Chinese Culture, ed. Hong Kong: Joint Publishing. 1993.
SIUMI MARIA TAM
DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY
CHINESE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG
This book is a collection of ten project reports that entered the "Award for Field Study Reports on History and Culture" competition between 1989 and 1991, organized by the HKIPCC. The book is divided into six sections in the following order: religion, archeological sites, historical events, occupations, festivals and civic life. The editor sets out to provide a comprehensive view of local history and culture research in terms of topic, field methods and presentation. All of the projects were undertaken by local secondary school students who chose the topic, designed the research and carried out the field investigations themselves. Although these are reports by teenagers, the standard of work produced is strikingly high. Much as the adjudicators have experienced (as indicated in Elizabeth Sinn's introduction and in the comments at the end of each report), I was pleasantly surprised by the insights coming from our teenage students, their ability in organizing and carrying out field research, and producing well-referenced reports. Many of the reports also include an
209
What more can a reviewer add? Perhaps to emphasize that an attempt has been made throughout to be and stay historical, and to let the pictures speak in a true harmony with the Introduction and captions, so that the readers can gain as much from the presentation as possible. The result is a work of lasting value.
But what we sorely need, of course, is a book of photographs by Chinese photographers of the period, ones which are free from the pressures and purposes of the state. I am not qualified to say what might be available of this kind, though I suspect this is probably asking for the impossible, and unattainable given the many constraints of the time. In lieu, substitutes from other segments of the visual arts from and about this epic period in the history of China and its people must be found. But one lives in hope.
JAMES HAYES
Xianggang lishi wenhua kaocha (Field Studies on History and Culture of Hong Kong]. The Hong Kong Institute for Promotion of Chinese Culture, ed. Hong Kong: Joint Publishing. 1993.
SIUMI MARIA TAM
DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY
CHINESE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG
This book is a collection of ten project reports that entered the "Award for Field Study Reports on History and Culture" competition between 1989 and 1991, organized by the HKIPCC. The book is divided into six sections in the following order: religion, archeological sites, historical events, occupations, festivals and civic life. The editor sets out to provide a comprehensive view of local history and culture research in terms of topic, field methods and presentation. All of the projects were undertaken by local secondary school students who chose the topic, designed the research and carried out the field investigations themselves. Although these are reports by teenagers, the standard of work produced is strikingly high. Much as the adjudicators have experienced (as indicated in Elizabeth Sinn's introduction and in the comments at the end of each report), [ was pleasantly surprised by the insights coming from our teenage students, their ability in organizing and carrying out field research, and producing well referenced reports. Many of the reports also include an
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