Events
Nov 22nd BL Dunhuang Exhibition Guided Tour
Exclusive Guided Tour + Curatorial Talk of the British Library’s New Exhibition: A Silk Road Oasis: Life in Ancient Dunhuang
Date: Friday 22nd of November 2024
Time: 4pm
Venue: The British Library (meet at the information desk, see instructions below)
Price: £8.00 for adults; £6.00 for senior (60+), student, registered unemployed, disabled, young person (18-26), and child (12-17); free for children under 11
Booking Details: Please email themeridiansociety@gmail.com to book a place and pay before Tuesday the 19th of November.
Places are limited to 20 and will be allocated on a first-come basis.
We are happy to announce that the British Library has agreed to offer an exclusive tour of their recent Dunhuang exhibition for the TMS members guided by the exhibition curators. 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.
Instructions for the day:
Please meet TMS group leader and the exhibition curator at the information desk in the British Library.
The curatorial talk will be offered at the entrance to the exhibition before the guided tour. So please be punctual.
Food and drinks are not allowed in the exhibition.
There is a free cloakroom and locker room for people to leave their belongings. If you are planning on putting things away kindly arrive with enough time to do that and meet the rest of the group at 4pm.
Photography is normally not allowed, however the items that you may take pictures of will be clearly labelled.
The British Library has step-free access
We look forward to seeing you there!
P.s. The Meridian Society will organise a separate tour and curatorial talk for the British Museum’s ‘Silk Roads’ exhibition which is running at the same time. Our event will be in February 2025 and announced early next year. Thanks!
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.
In 1900, tens of thousands of documents dating from the 4th to the 10th century were discovered by chance in a small cave near Dunhuang in China’s Gansu province.
The discovery provoked a race between foreign archaeologist/explorers in the first decades of the 20th century and opened up a field of study that remains current. Though the documents were 90% Buddhist and many written in Chinese, they included many in Tibetan, reflecting the power of the Tibetan empire in the area in the 9th century, and many in other scripts such as Sogdian.
They also reflected the extraordinary mix of religions that moved along the trade routes: Buddhism, Nestorian Christianity, Manichaeism, Zoroastrianism, and Judaism. Trade documents, tax documents, and fragments of the imperial census were all piled together for reasons not yet finally determined.
This fascinating topic will be explored in depth by Dr. Frances Wood, a renowned sinologist and former curator of the Chinese collections at the British Library. Dr. Wood will delve into the historical significance of the Dunhuang manuscripts, shedding light on their impact on our understanding of ancient trade routes, religious diversity, and cultural exchanges. The event will be chaired by Dr. Lars Laamann, lecturer at department of history and Centre of world Christianity, who will guide the discussion and facilitate a Q&A session with the audience.
Join us for an enlightening evening as we journey through the rich tapestry of history woven by these ancient documents and uncover the stories they hold.
About the speakers
Frances Wood worked as a library assistant in the Chinese section of SOAS Library from 1972 to 1977 when she moved to the British Library and looked after the Chinese section until retirement. Most activity during that time was devoted to raising money for the conservation and cataloguing of some 7000 Chinese manuscripts from Dunhuang and supporting the Chinese conservators and scholars who carried out the work. She has written a number of books on Chinese cultural history including The Silk Road: 2000 years in the heart of Asia (2002) and, with Mark Barnard, The Diamond Sutra: the story of the world’s earliest dated printed book (2010).
Lars Peter Laamann is Senior Lecturer at the School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London. His research interests include popular religions (incl. Christianity) during the Qing period and in Republican China, the history of medicine and drugs in modern China and the language, culture and history of the Manchus in Qing China.
IMAGING OF ASIAN WOMEN IN HISTORICAL PHOTOGRAPHY – in collaboration with SOAS Library
Date: 12th December 2024
Venue: KLT, SOAS, University of London, 10 Thornhaugh Street London WC1H 0XG
Time: 6:30pm
The Meridian Society is delighted to present this event in association with SOAS Library.
Author Elaine Chiew will discuss the academic research she conducted as an early historian into the self-imaging of Chinese women in early Singapore photography as a limited exercise of agency that formed the background of her novel The Light Between Us.
This event is chaired by Dr. Xiaoning Lu, Reader in Modern Chinese Culture and Language (SOAS).
The Light Between Us is a speculative epistolary star-crossed love story between a contemporary archivist and a 1920s Chinese photographer who were able toe exchange letters through a quantum entanglement that led to a connection that transcended time and space. Midwest Book Review (U.S.) called it ‘a unique and memorable novel that raises fiction up to an impressive level of literary excellence”. Bestselling author Charmaine Wilkerson said, “an unusual love story that explores the power of photography, the influence of colonialism and the magic of connection.”
The Time Traveler’s Wife meets Crazy Rich Asians in this speculative romance set against Singapore’s tumultuous past. Immersed in Southeast Asian history, time-travel, and an impossible love story, The Light Between Us is perfect for readers of literary historical fiction and modern romantasy fans alike.
At work one night, photography archivist Charlie Sze-Toh receives a misdirected letter from Wang Tian Wei, a 1920s colonial era Chinese photographer. Through a mysterious digital folder and photographic plates, a conversation is sparked, leading to a romance that spans lifetimes.
In his time, Tian Wei scours a turbulent Singapore for his missing friend, Aiko, leading him to the perfumed chambers of a Japanese brothel. Meanwhile, in the modern day, Charlie struggles against a family dynamic dominated by her stepmother, a manipulative matriarch who uses family secrets as bargaining chips. Communication starts to become difficult and Tian Wei’s letters are tinged by the increasing threat of Japanese Occupation. Will one last fate-defying letter from Charlie allow Tian Wei to keep their love alive?
Inspired by her research into Singaporean historical archives, Elaine Chiew weaves Chinese mythology and early 20th century colonial Singapore into this speculative epic.
About the speakers
Elaine Chiew is the author of The Light Between Us (longlisted for the Cheshire Novel Prize), The Heartsick Diaspora (recommended in the Guardian, The Singapore Straits Times, BookRiot, and Esquire SG) and compiler/editor of Cooked Up: Food Fiction From Around the World.
Her stories have won prizes, notably twice in the Bridport International Short Story Prize, and been anthologised in the U.S., UK and Asia, and also with BBC Radio 4 as well as in The Best Asian Short Stories 2021.
She mentors, teaches creative writing ad hoc, writes freelance and has worked as an independent researcher in the visual arts. She has an M.A. in Asian Art History from Goldsmiths London. In a former career, she was a U.S. trained attorney with a degree from Stanford and worked in New York, London and Hong Kong.
You can find more information on www.epchiew.com and find her on X @ChiewElaine and IG @authorepchiew.
Xiaoning Lu received her BA and MA in Chinese Literature and Language from Nanjing University and Fudan University respectively.
She then earned her PhD in Comparative Literature from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Prior to joining SOAS in 2010, she had taught cinema and cultural studies, modern Chinese literature and popular culture at Stony Brook University and Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich.
Xiaoning’s research focuses on the complex relationship between cultural production and state governance in modern China. She is the author of Moulding the Socialist Subject: Cinema and Chinese Modernity 1949-1966 (Brill, 2020) and co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of Communist Visual Cultures (OUP, 2020). Her writings on various aspects of Chinese socialist cinema and culture have appeared in journals and edited collections, including Journal of Chinese Cinemas, Journal of Contemporary China, Chinese Film Stars, Maoist Laughter, Surveillance in Asian Cinema: Under Eastern Eyes and Words and Their Stories: Essays on the Language of the Chinese Revolution. She was recently a recipient of a Leverhulme Research Fellowship through which she researched transnational film practices in the People’s Republic of China from 1949 to 1989.
Upcoming Events
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:
- 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.
- March 2025: ‘Robert Hart, Inspector of the Chinese Maritime Customs Service under the Qing Emperor’ – talk by Robin Masefield
NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
for the year 2024
Date: Saturday 27 th July 2024
Time: 2.30pm
Venue: To be advised
The Directors greatly value the engagement of all members in the governance of the Society
Business of the meeting:
To consider, and as thought fit, pass the following
1. report on the Annual General Meeting for the year 2023
2. receive the annual accounts of The Meridian Society for the year 2023
3. receive the Directors’ report on the past year’s activities
4. election and re-election of trustees/directors
5. future Events:-
Limehouse Chinatown project
Links with Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding and Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong
6. any other business
Please RSVP by email to themeridiansociety@gmail.com by the 20th of July.
By order of the Board of Directors
Annabel Goulding
Treasurer
Exclusive Out-of-hours Guided Tour of Science Museum’s new exhibition Zimingzhong 凝时聚珍: Clockwork Treasures from China’s Forbidden City
Time: 6pm, Thursday 9th of May 2024
Venue: Science Museum (meet at the the group entrance, see instructions below)
Price: Free (donations encouraged, see below)
Booking Details: Please email themeridiansociety@gmail.com to book a place before the 6th of May. Places are limited and will be allocated on a first-come basis.
In the 1700s, China’s emperors collected ornate clockwork automata known as zimingzhong and cherished them for their intricate design and technical innovation. Now, the Science Museum’s new exhibition Zimingzhong 凝时聚珍: Clockwork Treasures from China’s Forbidden City showcases a unique collection of 23 stunning pieces, on display in the UK together for the first time.
This exhibition invites you to discover the outward beauty and inner workings of these centuries-old timepieces, and their historic role in early cultural exchanges between Britain and China. Translating as “bells that ring themselves”, zimingzhong were far more than just clocks; they combined timekeeping with sophisticated musical technology and flamboyant aesthetics. Their designs incorporated motifs such as cranes and lotus flowers, expressing British perceptions of a Chinese culture that held powerful sway over the country’s imagination.
These opulent treasures will transport you to the Chinese trading port of Guangzhou and the home of the emperors in the Forbidden City for a fascinating insight into early trade between Britain and China, and a tour de force of artistry and spectacle.
The exhibition curators have kindly offered The Meridian Society members an exclusive guided out-of-hours tour of the exhibition at 6pm on Thursday 9th of May 2024. The places are limited so please make your booking by emailing as soon as possible.
The museum is operating a ‘Pay What You Can’ system for tickets. A donation for the museum would be greatly appreciated. Income from this exhibition will help support our future exhibitions and activities. At the end of the exhibition, there will be a donation station which accepts both cash and cards.
Instructions for the day:
– Please meet at the ‘Group Entrance’ to the Science Museum at 17:50 on 9 May. This can be found on Imperial College Road. Please see the attached map for details of where to find this. Our director Jocelyn Konrad-Lee will be waiting for you there.
– The guided tour will start from 18:00 before leaving the group to explore the Lates events as they wish from around 18:45 onwards. For details of the wider Lates event see here: https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/see-and-do/create-lates
– There is step-free access to the museum and gallery.
– There is no parking.
We look forward to seeing you there!
TMS China Tour 2024
Our planned dates are 11th-21st September 2024
Hi all,
After a long hiatus, our planned tours to China are now back! This year we’re planning an 11-day journey to Shanxi Province. Highlights from the tour include the Yungang Buddha Grottoes (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), the world’s tallest wooden pagoda, the Fenjiu distillery, the Datong Jinhuagong Palace National Mine Park, and the ancient towns of Qikou and Pingyao. Along the way, you’ll be tasting local food and delicacies like traditional Dahuicai, knife-cut noodles, Wantuan, and Liangpi, and staying in 3 star hotel accomodation.
For more details on the tour including an itinerary, please download the brochure here.
Pricing Details
Special Price for Meridian Society Members, SACU Members: £1,785 per person *
Price for Non-members: £1,830 per person *
*Please note: prices are based on confirmed bookings for a minimum of 10 persons by the deadline and cover all tour inclusions in a shared twin bedroom
Single room supplement: £190 per person
The deadline for booking and payment of the deposit is the 15 May 2024.
The deadline for final payment is the 17th of July 2024.
The price does not include flights to/from the start/end of the tour, visa fees, travel insurance outside China, drinks, personal expenses, unspecified meals, optional tours, or gratuities.
To confirm attendance on the tour, please download (click here) and fill in our booking form and email it to us at themeridiansociety@gmail.com.
We look forward to hearing from you!
We’ve spent a lot of time ensuring this tour will be a fantastic experience for everyone coming, and we’re looking forward to going ahead with it! Please, don’t be shy, and email us if you have any queries about the tour.
Chinese New Year 2024
Lunch + Film on Saturday 10th February
Celebrate the Year of the Dragon with us! 2024 is the Year of the Wood Dragon. In Chinese culture, wood represents vitality and creativity, while the dragon is related to success, intelligence and honour. This combination means that people born in the Year of the Wood Dragon are full of energy and drive. They dream of changing the world and are good at coming up with innovative ideas and implementing them.
This year, The Meridian Society will be starting the day off with lunch at Culture Grub, 84 The Cut, London SE1 8LW. There will be a variety of dishes, including vegetarian options. The restaurant is a short walk away from BFI Southbank, where the celebration continues!
Programme for the day:
12:00 Arrive at Culture Grub, 84 The Cut, London SE1 8LW for lunch at 12:30
15:10 Screening of ‘FATHER’ at NFT3, BFI Southbank, Belvedere Road, South Bank, London SE1 8XT. Please gather by the Ticket Office at 14:45 to collect your ticket (seats are not numbered).
We are delighted to announce that BFI Southbank will be showing the UK premiere of ‘FATHER’, a documentary feature directed by young Chinese filmmaker Deng Wei and produced by British Chinese documentary film director and producer Peng Wenlan. There will be a Q&A with Deng Wei and Peng Wenlan after the screening chaired by Chris Berry, Professor of Film Studies at King’s College London.
FATHER (90 mins, Chinese with English subtitles) captures the fraught relationship between the director’s father, a property developer, and his grandfather, a blind fortune-teller, as they negotiate past resentments and an uncertain future. The film has garnered several awards at international film festivals around the world.
Synopsis
Filmmaker Deng Wei’s grandfather Zuogui has been blind since the age of three, living most of his life as a fortune-teller to raise his family. He has grown increasingly embittered towards his son Donggu (Wei’s father), a property developer set on earning the respect not afforded him as a child. Although the signs portend failure for him, Donggu persists in his pursuit of money, exacerbating the discord between him and his father. “What must be, must be. Everything is determined by fate, not humans,” warns Zuogui. As the frail elderly man approaches the final chapter of his life, will fate forever keep father and son apart, or can it heal the very wounds it created between them?
As time is short and seats at BFI Southbank are limited, please make your reservation(s) indicating whether you want lunch, lunch + film show, or just film show by emailing. themeridiansociety@gmail.com. When booking the meal, please indicate if you are vegetarian, gluten intolerant or have other dietary requirements. Once your place has been confirmed, please send in payment immediately and no later than 26th January.
We hope to see you there!
CHINA’S HIDDEN CENTURY
Date: Friday 1st December, 2023
Time: 9:00-21:00
Venue: Djam Lecture Theatre, SOAS Main Building,10 Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG
The Meridian Society is delighted to present the above event in association with the Royal Asiatic Society, the Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding and the SOAS Chinese Culture Society.
Visitors to the exhibition CHINA’S HIDDEN CENTURY at the British Museum over the past months will no doubt have been astonished by the cultural creativity that emerged during the last hundred years of the Qing Dynasty despite the social, economic and political upheavals of the time. We are therefore very pleased to invite Jessica Harrison-Hall, the museum’s Head of China Section and the exhibition’s lead curator, to give a retrospective view of the exhibition.
Following the talk, Ms Harrison-Hall will be joined by Dr Lars Laamann, Senior Lecturer in the History of China at SOAS, and Dr Hwee-San Tan, Research Associate in Ethnomusicology at SOAS, for a panel discussion on this period of history.
The talk will be topped and tailed by performances of Qing court music performed by the SOAS Sizhu Ensemble.
The event is free, but donations are welcome and all proceeds will go to the SOAS Sizhu Ensemble to fund their trip to Portugal next year.
ase RSVP to themeridiansociety@gmail.com if you are planning to attend.
Out-of-hours Guided Tour of British Library’s ‘Chinese and British’ Exhibition
22nd of March 2023
British Library (meet at the main foyer entrance)
Free admission
The exhibition ‘Chinese and British’ at the British Library explores the long history British
Chinese communities and culture through photographs, manuscripts and interviews with those who have lived through it. The exhibition curators have kindly offered The Meridian Society members an exclusiveguided out-of-hours tour of the exhibition.
The places are limited, and therefore please make your booking as soon as possible.
Please email themeridiansociety@gmail.com to book a place. Places are limited and will be allocated on a first-come basis.
Sunday 5th February
Delicious dumplings and more on the eve of the Lantern Festival, followed by a screening at BFI Southbank of What about China? – an insightful visual diary of writer/filmmaker Trinh Minh-Ha’s visit to rural China in the 1990s.
Peng Wenlan in Conversation with TELLY LEUNG
followed by an evening at the theatre!
Allegiance has moved from Broadway to London! Based on the personal story of the legendary TV and film star George Takei (of Star Trek fame) and his internment in an American concentration camp during World War II, the musical is currently on at Charing Cross Theatre. (https://allegiancemusical.com
The Meridian Society is delighted to have the opportunity of inviting co-star Telly Leung, who plays the son of George’s character, to meet us in the middle of his busy schedule. Telly is an American actor, director, singer and songwriter and a strong campaigner for LGBTQ rights. Our society director Peng Wenlan will be holding a conversation with him about his career and ambitions and his role in the musical.
Open discussion: Mainstreaming ESEA British Theatremakers
Friday 3rd March, 2023
This session will be followed, as entertainment, by an evening play reading of This Is Not A True Story, presented by the student SOAS Chinese Culture Society, followed by an informal Q&A.
Hot on the heels of Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan’s moving speeches at the 2023 Golden Globe Awards, The Meridian Society and UK trade union for creative practitioners Equity will be collaborating on a roundtable discussion on the challenges facing actors of East Southeast Asian background in England
Later in the year
The Meridian Society will partner with the British Library to hold an afternoon of honest, humorous, and definitely heartwarming, presentations on Chinese
Identity with wellknown personalities.
Watch this space!
