RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1961 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/vd6724704 Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch RASHKB and author Vol. 1 (1961) ISSN 1991-7295 17 English was the most eminent. A new era in Sinology opened with Edouard Chavannes and Paul Pelliot at the turn of the century, by whom the pattern for present day studies was set. At this time too (1898) the Ecole Française d'Extrême-Orient was established in Indo-China, and the thorough and many-sided work of the French scholars in South-east Asia commenced, which included the superb achievement, still in progress, of the conservation of Angkor, Space does not permit to treat of the studies in Indonesia and Malaya, in Japan and Korea. But in closing mention must be made of two special subjects, which affect all countries: Buddhism and Oriental Art. It is hard to realize that there was a time when Buddhism was unknown to the West. The study of Buddhism commenced at the beginning of the nineteenth century with a young Hungarian scholar who set out for the East to find the origin of the Magyar race, which he rightly divined was connected with that of the Turks. His travels brought him to the Tibetan-Himalayan borderland, where he settled in the little village of Kanum in the Upper Sutlej valley to study Tibetan Buddhism. It is interesting to note that it was with the Tibetan branch of Buddhism that the study of Buddhism commenced. Later the great studies of the Sanskrit and Pali Canons began, and later still of the Chinese Canon, in which Japanese scholars have played a very great part. At the present time the Tibetan Canon and the mystic forms of Tibetan Buddhism are receiving great attention. The study of Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Persian, Tibetan and Cambodian art is now receiving great attention. The last century saw a beginning in all these directions. Through the fundamental books of the pioneers, the magnificent collections in museums, the improvements in modern photography, and the facilities in travel, the finest examples of oriental art are now open to all. Persian miniatures, Moghul architecture, Indian sculpture, Chinese porcelain, Japanese temples, Angkor Wat and Borobudur are now well known. But a final word must be said: he who would understand the East must be deeply religious. This does not refer to any particular church or sect of religion, but to the religious spirit diffused through all. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1968 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833948d 192 LIU, James J. Y. THE LIBRARY The Chinese knight-errant. London, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1967. LIU, Hsiang (NA) Le Lie-sien tchouan (* *(4): biographies légendaires des immortels taoïstes de l'antiquité. Traduit et annoté par Max Kaltenmark. Pekin, Centre d'études sinologiques, Université de Paris, 1953. LIU, Kwang-ching. Anglo-American steamship rivalry in China, 1862-1874. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard U. P., 1962, (Harvard East Asian studies, 8) LIU, Shih-shun (*) One hundred and one Chinese poems, with English translation and preface. Introd. by Edmund Blunden; foreword by John Cairncross. Hong Kong, University Press, 1967. MACKEY, Sean, ed. Symposium on the design of high buildings; proceedings of a meeting held in September 1961 as part of the Golden Jubilee Congress of the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, University Press, 1962. MARCHAL, H. Guide archéologique aux temples d'Angkor: Angkor Vat. Angkor Thom et les monuments du petit et du grand circuit. Paris, Van Oest, 1928. MARRINER, Sheila, and HYDE, Francis E. The Senior: John Samuel Swire, 1825-98; management in Far Eastern shipping trades. Liverpool, Liverpool U.P., 1967. MARTIN, Bernard. The strain of harmony: men and women in the history of China, London, Heinemann, 1948. MEDHURST, Walter Henry, A glance at the interior of China, obtained during a journey through the silk and green tea districts, taken in 1845. [Shanghai, 1849] This copy formerly belonged to the Canton Library and Reading Room, and is inscribed "W. C. Hunter, Hong Kong, January 29, 1852". ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 The Monuments of Vientiane and Luang Prabang Michael Smithies* The second international tour organized by the Royal Asiatic Society, Hong Kong Branch, went over the Chinese (Lunar) New Year 1974 to Laos. 41 members and their guests visited Vientiane and Luang Prabang from 23 to 27 January, flying directly between Hong Kong and the Laotian capital. Some persons on the tour went ahead to visit Chiengmai in Thailand or Vat Phu in southern Laos and joined up with the main group later. The attractions of the monuments of Vientiane, the administrative capital of the Kingdom of Laos, are slight in comparison to those in the royal capital of Luang Prabang. This is less a reflection of the religious fervour or artistic sensibility of the inhabitants of Vientiane, but a proof of the efficiency of the Siamese sack of the city in 1828 as a reprisal for Chao Anou's attempted attack on Bangkok two years previously and his subsequent alliance with Hué. Vientiane's position in relation to Luang Prabang is ambivalent. Luang Prabang was the original capital of the Kingdom of Lane Xang (a million elephants) which was founded in 1353 by Fa Ngum, the son of a Lao chief who had been in exile in Angkor. King Potisarat moved the capital to Vientiane in 1520 and it was from the more central position of the kingdom, which then included much of the territory now in northeast Thailand, that the most famous Lao monarch, Souligna Vongsa, ruled from 1637-1694. On his death, however, the kingdom split into three, not counting the semi-independent existence of Xieng Khouang in the northeast: Vientiane, in alliance with Burma and a vassal of Annam; Luang Prabang, which at first drew support from China and later Siam; and in the south Champassak, which drew ever closer to Siam. The devastation of Vientiane by the Siamese in 1828 and the elimination of the line of Vientiane left in the centre a power vacuum, which the... Mr. Smithies, at the time of this visit and report, Lecturer in French at the University of Hong Kong, was Secretary of the Hong Kong Branch 1972-73 and Councillor until his departure from the Colony in 1974. He organized and led this visit to Laos. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2001 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the Fall of Hong Kong) represent a programme of, on average, one lecture every three weeks. This is a splendid achievement, especially considering that the programme is administered, and mounted, on an entirely voluntary basis. My thanks, and admiration, for this marvellous programme go to our excellent Hon. Activities Co-ordinator, Mrs Valery Garrett and her hard-working Committee. Without them it would not be possible for me to be able to be as positive as I am on the work of the Society. Members who have suggestions for future talks are always very welcome to give their suggestions to Mrs. Garrett or to any other Councillor. In addition to the Lecture Programme, Mrs. Garrett and her Committee have also put together during this last year a very fine programme of visits: eight to locations in Hong Kong (including the two to the Central Library in Causeway Bay) and a further two to locations outside Hong Kong, that is, to Korea in September and to Bhutan in February. These ten visits represent a visit every 4½ weeks of the Society's year. Details are given in the Appendix to this Report. While it would be invidious of me to single out any of the talks or visits, I feel I nonetheless have to mention especially the Society's February 2002 visit to Bhutan. This is the first time the Society has visited Bhutan since 1980, and the tremendous success of this visit is due to the hard work put in to it by Dr. Brian Shaw (who also led the 1980 visit). I would like, on behalf of the Society at large, to thank Dr. Shaw most sincerely. I am glad to be able to report that the programme of lectures and visits has been agreed for the next six months, and sketched out for much of the following six months. The upcoming programme, I can promise, is just as exciting as the programme undertaken in the last year. Among the visits will be a major overseas visit to Phnom Penh and Angkor Wat, at the end of September and the beginning of October. Members interested in this visit should keep an eye open for further details in the upcoming Newsletter! The Journal and other Publications During the year, the Society reached a milestone. For the last xxii ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 參觀活動 除講座外,本會舉辦之本地及海外參觀活動,亦備受大眾讚賞。此等由專家策劃之遊訪,行程與一般旅遊大不相同。近期由本會安排之海外旅遊,包括不丹、西安、吳哥窟及胡志明市等。本地之參觀活動,多具民間色彩,如橫瀾島燈塔、廈村市、后海灣及粵劇後台風光等。此外,香港之戰時遺蹟、舊區遺痕、新界古物,以至博物館之展覽等,均在遊訪之列。此等活動,多由資深學者或導賞人士帶領講解。欲知最新參觀活動,請參閱本會網址www.royalasiaticsociety.org.hk. Visits In addition to frequent talks, the RAS is famous for its carefully researched visits to places off the beaten track. Recent overseas trips around the region were to Bhutan, Xian and Angkor Wat and Saigon. Closer to home, members enjoyed visits to Waglan Lighthouse, Ha Tsuen market town, Deep Bay and backstage at a Cantonese Opera. Several visits to the remains of war time batteries and forts in Hong Kong have been arranged, as well as walks around the villages and city back-streets of Hong Kong and guided tours of interesting museum exhibitions. These visits are all led by experts who have made a special study of the subject matter. Details of upcoming visits can be found on our web-site www.royalasiaticsociety.org.hk. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 Date 2002 April 13 May 4 May 18 June 1 August 10 August 31 November 23 2003 January 25 March 1 Local Visits Ha Tsuen Market Town, Deep Bay, led by Dr Patrick H. Hase (see also Lecture Programme) "Waglan Island Lighthouse, led by Dr Dan Waters & Tim Ko (see also Lecture Programme) Pak Sha O in Sai Kung Country Park, led by May Holdsworth & Dr Patrick H. Hase Ha Tsuen Market Town, Deep Bay, led by Dr Patrick H. Hase (Repeat Visit) Fing Ping Shan Museum, to visit the Da Qin – An Imperial Christian Site of the Tang Dynasty Exhibition led by Dr Martin Palmer (see also Lecture Programme) Roman Catholic Cathedral and Archives, led by Anna Kwong & Fr Louis Ha Visit to Ming Chi Sing Cantonese Opera Troupe: Backstage Visit, "The Sweet General", led by Stella Ma (see also Lecture Programme) Devil's Peak Fort, led by Lawrence Lai, assisted by Tim Ko (see also Lecture Programme) Hong Kong Museum of History, to visit the "War and Peace: Treasures of the Qin and Han Dynasties" Exhibition, led by Dr Joseph Ting Overseas Visits Date 2002 March 28-April 2 Xi'an, led by Dr Joseph Ting September 28-October 1 Angkor Wat, Cambodia & Saigon, Vietnam, led by Dr Patrick H. Hase 2003 January 30-February 13 Eastern Bhutan, led by Dr Brian Shaw xxxii ================================================================================