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From 10-11 May, 2025, the third “Jiangsu-Hong Kong-Macao” Forum on Classical Literature and Culture was successfully held at the University of Macau. This forum was organized by the Centre for Chinese History and Culture and the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at the University of Macau, in collaboration with the Jiangsu Ancient Literature Society, Nanjing University’s School of Literature, and the Department of Chinese and History at City University of Hong Kong. Experts, professors, and young scholars from various universities and academic institutions in Jiangsu, Hong Kong, and Macao gathered to engage in in-depth discussions on classic themes of Chinese ancient literature and culture.

The Jiangsu-Hong Kong-Macao Literary Forum was jointly initiated by scholars from the three regions, consistently adhering to the academic interest of fostering friendships through literature while embracing diversity. It serves as an important academic platform in the field of ancient literature. The first forum in Hong Kong discussed “Literature and Peace: Institutions and Literature in Han and Tang-Song Dynasties,” while the second forum in Nanjing explored “Classics and History in Chinese Ancient Literature.” This year’s forum in Macau focused on “Literary Ability and Classical Texts: The Sanitization and Canonization of Chinese Literature,” with academic collaboration continuing to deepen.

During the opening ceremony, Prof. Zhang Yan, Director of the Centre for History and Culture at the University of Macau, welcomed the attendees on behalf of the hosts. Prof. Zhang Jian, Associate Dean of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Macau, encouraged young scholars to inherit the humanistic concerns of literary classics and promote the future of Chinese scholarship. Prof. Xu Jie, President of the Jiangsu Ancient Literature Society, recited a poem, hoping that the meeting would create a new academic atmosphere that integrates tradition and innovation, gathers academic wisdom, and continues the legacy of literary traditions.

This forum featured five keynote speeches and two panel discussions, with discussants participating in each session. On the first day, the first keynote address interpreted the multiple aspects of classical texts, with four scholars discussing topics such as character evaluations in the “Analects,” innovative interpretations of Han dynasty calendars, comparisons of variant texts from the Han dynasty, and the influence of Buddhist scripture translations on regulated verse. The second keynote focused on the historical dialogue between literature and socio-cultural contexts, with six scholars exploring the multifaceted effects of literary creation on order construction, classic interpretation, and genre evolution.

In the afternoon, the third keynote address concentrated on the clash between social change and literary theory. Six scholars examined the construction of Ming dynasty poetry history, the “discourse on arts” trend, the interactions between scholars and merchants, and the “celebrity effect” related to lyricists, revealing the deep connections between social mechanisms and literary canonization and theoretical innovation. The fourth keynote address addressed the reconstruction of dimensions in meaning, literature, and history, with four scholars discussing the Neo-Confucian implications in “Peony Pavilion,” the canonization process of anti-Japanese wartime lyric collections, political metaphors in “Dream of the Red Chamber,” and the centennial evolution of traditional novels, presenting new interpretations in a cross-temporal context.

The first day concluded with presentations by doctoral students from the Department of Chinese at the University of Macau. The first group focused on the multidimensional interpretation of historical texts, examining Han dynasty poetic citations, the origins of poetic theory, the rituals of Liu-Song dynasty inspections, and the interplay between literary works and institutional and intellectual histories. The second group highlighted the literary landscape of cross-border flows, discussing literary writings of Ming-Qing immigrants in Guizhou, poetry and prose from overseas travels, cultural memories in operas, and sensory narratives in novels, revealing the rich cultural dimensions and text production mechanisms of literary creation across time and space.

On the second day, the fifth keynote showcased methodological breakthroughs in tradition and innovation. Six scholars discussed topics ranging from the meanings in the “I Ching,” poetics criticism, to the issue of “poetry history,” demonstrating the cross-domain tension between classic interpretation and digital humanities through the evolution of historical narratives, inscription version studies, and large language model experiments in poetics.

After in-depth discussions and intellectual exchanges, the forum concluded successfully. The closing ceremony was hosted by Professor Wang Sihao from the University of Macau, where Professor Xu Jie filled in a lyric lamenting the gathering of talents in Macau, stirring thoughts and preserving elegance, expressing hopes for academic inheritance and a new chapter in the future. Professor Zhang Jian echoed the opening remarks, encouraging young scholars to contemplate universal academic principles and take on the future of Chinese scholarship. We look forward to future “Su-Kong-Macau” forums on ancient literature and culture, working together to create new chapters in classical literary research.

澳門海星中學作為中國歷史文化推廣基地首批成員單位，長期以來與澳門大學中國歷史文化中心保持著緊密且富有成效的合作關係。為進一步鞏固合作紐帶，拓展未來合作空間，2025 年 5 月 8 日（週四）下午，澳門大學中國歷史文化中心副主任鄭寧人博士攜特級行政主任關小燕小姐、行政主任王經猛先生及行政助理唐可琪小姐一行，專程到訪海星中學，雙方圍繞文化活動策劃、教師素養提升、學生實踐教育等議題展開深入交流。

交流期間，海星中學黃彪校長提出與中心聯合策劃 “中華文化日”，計畫融入更多中國國粹文化元素，深化青少年傳統文化認知，但面臨經費與場地難題，盼雙方整合資源推進。黃校長同時強調教師素養提升的重要性，提議開展一線教師專項培訓，期望中心提供歷史文化課程以增強教學實力。此外，鄭寧人博士邀請海星中學參與 “紅色文化考察” 活動，結合抗戰勝利八十周年契機深化愛國主義教育，並提出多校聯辦考察方式，促進校際互動交流。

此次交流活動為海星中學與澳門大學中國歷史文化中心的合作注入了全新活力。雙方一致表示，未來將聚焦文化傳承與教育實踐兩大核心領域，持續深化在青少年文化培育工作上的合作，共同為弘揚中華優秀傳統文化、提升澳門青少年文化素養貢獻力量。

In an effort to preserve mother tongues, advocate for linguistic and cultural diversity, and cultivate students’ critical thinking, the Faculty of Arts and Humanities (FAH) at the University of Macau (UM) successfully held the UM Language and Culture Day on 26 March 2025. This year’s event continued the theme of ‘Value Your Own Language; Embrace Everyone’s Cultures’, creating a cross-border, multicultural exchange platform through three signature segments: a multicultural performance, language and culture workshops, and a knowledge treasure hunt. The CCHC and the UM Calligraphy Association took innovative calligraphy creation as the entry point to awaken the perception of mother tongues through immersive cultural experiences, attracting many teachers and students to participate together.

The Ink Dance and Book Fragrance Workshop, hosted by the CCHC at the Language and Culture Day, aimed to allow participants to deeply experience the charm of Chinese calligraphy. As a living fossil of the evolution of Chinese civilization, the inheritance and innovation of Chinese calligraphy are a vivid practice of linguistic and cultural conservation. In the calligraphy workshop, students actively used their imagination to integrate ancient scripts such as oracle bone script and seal script into light and shadow art on modern carriers like calligraphy screens. They also freely expressed themselves by writing poetry in cursive script on oil-paper umbrellas. Under the guidance of professionals, they created unique calligraphy handicrafts. The interplay of classical and modern elements in the flowing brushstrokes allowed participants to not only appreciate the beauty of the characters and the charm of the ink but also to experience the fluidity of Eastern philosophy.

The Language and Culture Day was not only a cultural feast interwoven with tradition and modernity but also a spiritual bond connecting the past and the future. As night fell, teachers and students strolled around the campus holding their own calligraphy moon lanterns. The warm yellow glow illuminated the smiling faces of people from different countries, resembling a miniature galaxy of civilizations—each mother tongue culture shining like a unique star, illuminating the common spiritual home of humanity.