In addition to our seminars, public events, customized courses, and study programming, TBC often holds unique experiences open for the general public to register and attend. Check out the list below of upcoming programs for advancing your intercultural connection. All classes will be conducted in English unless otherwise specified.
Date: Friday, July 28, 2023
Time: 2:00pm – 4:00 pm
Cost: Free
Language: Chinese, with English slides
Address: Ningyuan Building 4F, University of International Business and Economics, No. 10 Huixindongjie, Chaoyang District, Beijing
北京市朝阳区惠新东街10号对外经济贸易大学宁远楼4层441间
Join The Beijing Center on a fascinating deep dive into Anglo-Chinese relations in the past. Dr. Liu Xin will be presenting information from her book, Anglo-Chinese Encounters Before the Opium War: A Tale of Two Empires over Two Centuries, and then be available for a Q&A session. A tour of The Beijing Center’s Anton Library for Chinese Studies, one of the largest collections of English-language Chinese-focused books in China that also houses rare books and cultural artifacts, will also be part of the event.
As representatives of farming and maritime civilizations, the exchanges and collisions between the two ancient empires in the past few centuries have left us a great deal of cultural heritage and precious wealth. This lecture focuses on the first letter written by Queen Elizabeth I to the Ming Dynasty Wanli Emperor in 1583. In the two centuries leading up to Palmerston’s letter to China’s prime minister in 1840, little-known stories between the two empires have been told, and new perspectives and historical documents have been used to restore some of the long-buried historical events.
Anglo-Chinese Encounters Before the Opium War: A Tale of Two Empires over Two Centuries was published in 2022 by Routledge. By comparing Chinese and British portraits, porcelain, tea, architecture, gardens, gifts, letters, etc., the author draws a mirror image of the two empires from imagination to understanding in the 17th to 19th centuries. From misunderstanding to collision, from communication and learning to self-understanding, this book interprets the evolution of the relationship between China and Britain in their respective eyes as the other and the other side, and the cultural reflection of looking back at the other side after arriving at the other side.
Dr. Liu has taught in China and Britain for 15 years each, and received her PhD in China’s Cultural Diplomacy from the University of Central Lancashire. Her research interests are multidisciplinary, including but not limited to public diplomacy, cultural studies, media and communication, and China’s relations with the West. She has been published in multiple journals such as Journal of Contemporary China and Asia Studies Review, and her previous book China’s Cultural Diplomacy: A Great Leap Outward? was published by Routledge in 2019.
Register for the lecture by submitting the form here. For questions, message us on WeChat or email us at [email protected].
时间：2023年7月28日（周五）14:00-16:00
地点：对外经济贸易大学宁远楼4层北京中国学中心安东图书馆
北京中国学中心将举办学术讲座，邀请刘欣博士介绍她的新书《Anglo-Chinese Encounters Before the Opium War: A Tale of Two Empires over Two Centuries》（彼岸的彼岸：穿越两个帝国的两个世纪），并设有问答环节。此次活动还包括参观北京中国学中心的安东图书馆，这是中国大陆英文版汉学书籍的最丰富图书馆，同时也藏有许多稀有书籍和文化珍品。
中英两个古老的帝国作为农耕文明和海洋文明的代表，在过去几个世纪中的交流碰撞为我们后世留下了大量的文化遗产和宝贵财富。本讲座聚焦自英女王伊丽莎白一世于1583年写给明朝万历皇帝的第一封信起，至1840年外相巴麦尊致中国宰相书为止的两个多世纪中，发生在两个帝国之间鲜为人知的故事，并采用新的视角和史料还原一些尘封已久的历史事件。
《Anglo-Chinese Encounters Before the Opium War: A Tale of Two Empires over Two Centuries》于2022年由劳特利奇出版社出版。作者曾在中英两国各执教15年，通过对照中英的画像、瓷器、茶叶、建筑、园林、礼品、书信等，以镜像对比的手法勾画出两个帝国在17-19世纪中从想象到认识，从误解到碰撞，从交流学习到重新自我认识的过程，解读中英在各自眼中互为他者和彼岸的关系演变，以及抵达彼岸后再回看此岸的文化反思。
刘欣博士在中央兰开夏大学（University of Central Lancashire）获得了中国文化外交博士学位。她的研究兴趣涵盖多个学科，包括但不限于公共外交、文化研究、媒体与通信，以及中国与西方的关系。她的研究成果已在《当代中国》和《亚洲研究评论》等多个期刊上发表。她的上一本书《China’s Cultural Diplomacy: A Great Leap Outward?》（中国的文化外交：向外跨越的一大步？）于2019年由劳特利奇出版社出版。
