The Meridian Society promotes Chinese culture with the aim of fostering better understanding between people of Chinese origin and those from other ethnic backgrounds, both in the UK and worldwide.
子午社”致力于传播与推广中国文化，并以此来促进华人和来自英国及世界其它地区不同肤色和人种之间的相互理解与沟通
Events and Activities
We run a lively and diverse programme of events and activities to appeal to audiences of all ages, tastes and backgrounds, including people of Chinese origin who wish to learn more about their own cultural heritage, as well as members of the general public wishing to gain a deeper insight into China’s ancient civilisation and contemporary society. Regular activities include:
- talks on various aspects of Chinese culture
- educational programmes and arts workshops
- film screenings, exhibitions and cultural performances
- heritage projects
- dinner-debates
- social get-togethers at Chinese New Year and other Chinese festivals
- public displays and outdoor spectacles
- exclusive online content
Upcoming Events
Seventeen Thousand Chinese Manuscripts and a Dozen Printed Books – in collaboration with SOAS Library
Date: 19th November 2024
Venue: KLT, SOAS, University of London, 10 Thornhaugh Street London WC1H 0XG
Time: 6:00pm
The Meridian Society is delighted to present this event in association with SOAS Library.
For more information, click on the link or go to our events page.
The Meridian Society is arranging some exciting events for you to look forward to in the autumn and winter months. Details will be posted on our website and circulated to members and friends as dates and venues are confirmed, but here they are in a nutshell:
October 2024: Visit to ’A Silk Road Oasis: Life in Ancient Dunhuang’ exhibition at the British Library
The oasis of Dunhuang, at the edge of the Gobi Desert, was once a bustling town on the famous Silk Road connecting China and the Mediterranean. Discover the personal stories of those who lived, travelled through, worked, and worshipped here more than 1,000 years ago. Explore an astonishing time capsule that opens windows onto the intimate worlds of artists and scribes, merchants and fortune-tellers, diplomats, Buddhists and nuns.
Named “Blazing Beacon” after the watchtowers along its walls, Dunhuang was once a vital meeting point at the gateway to China. The routes that converged here ran through Constantinople in the West and Japan in the East. But there was more to this verdant oasis than trade. For over 1000 years, Dunhuang was also an important pilgrimage site, a cultural melting pot where ideas, technologies and art flowed freely.
This exhibition provides a rare glimpse into the ordinary lives of people long ago through the remarkable contents of the ‘Library Cave,’ part of the Buddhist cave complex of Mogao, where a wealth of manuscripts, documents and artworks remained sealed for nearly 900 years. Detailing life in and around Dunhuang during the first millennium CE, the documents include personal letters and wills encompassing multiple languages, faiths and cultures including Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism and Christianity; and span topics as diverse as literature, astronomy, medicine, politics and art.
Exhibition highlights include:
- The Diamond Sutra (868 CE), the world’s earliest complete printed book with a date, and one of the most influential Mahayana sutras in East Asia
- The Dunhuang star chart, the earliest known manuscript atlas of the night sky from any civilisation
- The Old Tibetan Annals, the earliest surviving historical document in Tibetan, giving a year-by-year account of the Tibetan empire between 641 and 764
- A manuscript fragment dating from the 9th century about the prophet Zoroaster or Zarathustra, nearly 400 years older than any other surviving Zoroastrian scripture.
November 2024: Commemorating the Chinese Labour Corps at the Cenotaph
December 2024: ‘Untold Stories of Asian Women in Historical Photography’ – talk by writer Elaine Chiew
January 2025: ‘Being Chinese’ – Panel discussion with members of the Chinese diaspora on Chinese Identity, at the British Library
January/February 2025: Chinese New Year Celebration – Celebrate the Year of the Snake with us over lunch and a film show
February 2025: Visit to ’Silk Roads’ exhibition at the British Museum. This is a complementary exhibition to the one at the British Library and features objects from the length and breadth of this famous trade route. A talk to accompany the visit will be confirmed nearer the time.
Camel caravans crossing desert dunes, merchants trading silks and spices at bazaars – these are the images that come to mind when we think of the Silk Roads. But the reality goes far beyond this.
Rather than a single trade route from East to West, the Silk Roads were made up of overlapping networks linking communities across Asia, Africa and Europe, from Japan to Britain, and from Scandinavia to Madagascar. This major exhibition unravels how the journeys of people, objects and ideas that formed the Silk Roads shaped cultures and histories.
The Silk Roads were in use for millennia, but this visually stunning show focuses on a defining period in their history, from about AD 500 to 1000. This time witnessed significant leaps in connectivity and the rise of universal religions that linked communities across continents.
Working with 29 national and international partners to present objects from many regions and cultures alongside those from the British Museum collection, the exhibition offers a unique chance to see objects from the length and breadth of the Silk Roads. From Indian garnets found in Suffolk to Iranian glass unearthed in Japan, they reveal the astonishing reach of these networks.
Highlight objects from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan that have never been seen in the UK before also underpin the importance of Central Asia to this continent-spanning story.
You’ll meet figures whose stories are entwined with the Silk Roads, including Willibald, an ingenious balsam smuggler from England, and a legendary Chinese princess who shared the secrets of silk farming with her new kingdom. Crossing deserts, mountains, rivers and seas, the Silk Roads tell a story of connection between cultures and continents, centuries before the formation of the globalised world we know today.
March 2025: ‘Robert Hart, Inspector of the Chinese Maritime Customs Service under the Qing Emperor’ – talk by Robin Masefield
Spotlight
A new addition to our website, Spotlight features interviews with
individuals talking about their life, work and experiences. If you would like to contribute to this page, please contact us.
For our first Spotlight we feature an online art exhibition of photographs by Yujie Gao who recently completed an online Master of Arts at The University of the Arts, London.
CLICK HERE to see more of her works and to read an interview conducted by George Harvey.
Remembering Francis Moll
It is with great sadness that we have to inform you of Francis Moll’s passing. Francis served as Trustee/Director of The Meridian Society from 2015 to 2021 and carried out his duties as Secretary with the greatest diligence and deepest sense of responsibility. Despite his physical disability, he valued his independence and would partake in every activity possible, joined all the society’s tours to China and trudged with us through the battlefields of the Somme to commemorate the Chinese Labour Corps. In his spare time, he kept a keen eye on the stock market and would gladly give novices a tip or two. Those of you who knew Francis will remember that he was always of a cheerful disposition and enjoyed a good chat with friends old and new. We will miss him sorely.
