Open Educational Resources | Pao Yue-kong Library, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

MOOC

Chinese Culture: Interaction

Owing to its rapid development in recent years, China has been in the spotlight of the international arena. While understanding modern China's economy, technology and politics is important, knowing its cultural roots and evolution is no less crucial for seeing a full picture of Chinese culture. This course introduces 5 interesting aspects of Chinese cultural exchange and interaction with other countries in history.
Key questions of the course:
(1) How did the Silk Road emerge in history? Who was Matteo Ricci? What happened in history regarding the Chinese cultural exchange of religions, arts and sports with the West?
(2) Where is Central Asia? What was Pax Mongolica? What role did silver play in the Saga of the Silk Road?
(3) What cultural exchanges occurred between Vietnam and China? How did Vietnam contribute to the introduction of Buddhism to China through the maritime Silk Road? Which of the Vietnamese princes served as a high-ranking official in the Chinese court of the Ming dynasty?
(4) How did China confront Western colonialism as a global trend in the early 20th century? Who was Sun Yat-sen? How did he connect China with the rest of the world? How did Pan-Asianism arise and go bankrupt?
(5) What is the relationship between rituals, ghosts and alcohol in China? What are the stories behind Chinese medicinal food, correlative cosmology and tea? How many major types of Chinese cuisine are there? What sorts of food were exchanged between China and other countries in history?

Subjects:: Chinese Studies and Area Studies
Keywords:: China Manners customs Politics culture Diplomatic relations
Resource Type:: MOOC

Video

Cheng Kok-kong's oral history interview

鄭國江訪談實錄乃《鄭國江詞作手稿特藏》之延伸，以訪談形式記錄手稿特藏背後的故事。特藏載有詞人鄭國江於香港理工大學圖書館進行的訪談錄影片段，令手稿特藏內容更加豐富充實。錄影片段以六個主題分類，包括「詞人緣起」、「創作靈感」、「詞作特色」、「勵志詞人」、「兒歌作品」和「鄭國江詞作手稿特藏」。讀者可對詞人鄭國江如何入行、部份作品背景、本地流行詞作文化、以至香港粵語流行曲的歷史有所了解。 The Cheng Kok-kong’s Oral History Interview project is an extension of the "Cheng Kok-kong’s Lyric Manuscript Collection" to recall the stories behind the lyric manuscripts. The project includes interview recordings with Mr. Cheng Kok-kong at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Library, and it aims at enriching the content of the Manuscript Collection. The interview recordings are divided in to six categories, including “Becoming a Lyricist”, “Creations and Inspirations”, “Characteristics of Lyrics”, “The Inspirational Lyricist”, “Songs for Children” and “Cheng Kok-kong’s Lyric Manuscript Collection”. The content of the recordings includes how Cheng had become a lyricist, background of some of his lyrics, lyric-writing culture of local pop music, and Cantopop history in Hong Kong.