Welcome Back!

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year holiday!

Course Enrolments

Term 2, 2024-25 commences today. Students who wish to change their course enrolment for Term 2 are reminded to do so via the CUSIS during the following specified add/drop periods:

Undergraduate programme: Between 8:30pm on 13 January 2025 and 8:30pm on 19 January 2025
Postgraduate programmes: Between 10am on 6 January 2025 and 5:30pm on 20 January 2025

History of the Community Isolation Facility at Penny’s Bay

With the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, the community isolation facility at Penny’s Bay officially closed on 1 March 2023. Set up in July 2020, the centre initially provided mandatory quarantine for people who had close contacts with confirmed COVID-19 patients and later served as an isolation facility for the confirmed patients themselves, accommodating over 270,000 individuals in total. In 2024, the Department of History at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, with the assistance of the Civil Engineering and Development Department, conducted a study of Penny’s Bay and interviewed Mr. Bok Kwok-ming, the former Head of Civil Engineering Office who contributed to the construction of the community isolation facility, preserving valuable records of this period in history.

Recapping the World History Seminar “Slavery and Unfreedom in Byzantine Thought on the Household” on 20 November 2024

Prof. Nathan LEIDHOLM, from the Program in Cultures, Civilizations, and Ideas at Bilkent University, was invited by the Centre for Comparative and Public History to deliver a lecture entitled “Slavery and Unfreedom in Byzantine Thought on the Household” on 20 November 2024. The speaker explored the connection between slavery, kinship, and the Byzantine household. He examined how enslaved people were conceptually integrated into family structures by Byzantine thinkers, despite their legal exclusion from kinship rights. Prof. LEIDHOLM emphasized the role of enslaved individuals in household management and marriage, highlighting how the language of kinship often mirrored that of slavery. He also discussed the idea of “unfreedom,” showing how both slavery and marriage were seen as forms of control within Byzantine thought. One key example was the practice of quasi-marriage, where enslaved people were forced into relationships arranged by their masters, which reflected broader social dynamics of power and subordination. The lecture provided new insights into the social and legal dynamics of medieval Byzantine families, with a focus on how slavery influenced the concept of household and kinship.

Recapping the New Book Talk “Discovered but Forgotten: The Maldives in Chinese History, C. 1100-1620” on 22 November 2024

The New Book Talk “Discovered but Forgotten: The Maldives in Chinese History, C. 1100-1620” was held on 22 November 2024.

Based on textual sources, Chinese and Jesuit cartographic works, and archaeological findings, Prof. YANG Bin explored the connection between China and the Maldives. He also demonstrated how the Maldives, a small Indian Ocean archipelago far away from the Celestial Dynasty, shaped Chinese empire-building from a global history and interdisciplinary perspective. Forty participants joined the talk.

Recapping the “Award Presentation Ceremony for Oral History Research Competition” on 30 November 2024

To encourage secondary school students to cultivate their interest in studying contemporary Chinese and Hong Kong history through oral history interviews, our Department and the Curriculum Development Institute of Education Bureau co-organized the Oral History Research Competition “Telling Stories of People Around”, with Chinese reform in the 1980s as the focus. The Award Presentation Ceremony was successfully concluded on 30 November 2024. Dr. CHAN Pik Wa, the Principal Assistant Secretary (Curriculum Development) was invited to officiate at the opening ceremony and deliver the opening speech. Following the ceremony, the award winners of the competition went to Tai O to explore its rich cultural heritage and history.

Recapping the MACPH Distinguished Alumni Lecture Series “Reflections on Hong Kong Land and Housing Prices – A Centennial History of Hong Kong Real Estate” on 14 December 2024

Mr. Donald CHOI was invited by the MACPH to deliver a lecture entitled “Reflections on Hong Kong Land and Housing Prices – A Centennial History of Hong Kong Real Estate” on 14 December 2024. As the first lecture in the Distinguished Alumni Lecture Series, the speaker examined the complex historical factors behind today’s high property prices from the unique perspective of a developer. He focused on the land auction system, land ownership, and supply issues from the colonial era to the present. The speaker pointed out that the British colonial government and the HKSAR government developed similar approaches in land policy, as both use leases, ownership rights, and taxation to regulate land prices. In this sense, the speaker urged participants to reflect if the high level of property prices is a new problem or a historical issue. Also, the speaker stated that this land management approach imposes significant costs on real estate developers. Since real estate developers must bear high cost in land sales and construction, it is not easy to keep property prices low. As the speaker remarked at the beginning of the lecture, studying history is about preparing for a new future. This lecture undoubtedly prompted participants to reflect on the various possibilities for transforming Hong Kong’s real estate landscape in the future.

MACPH Distinguished Alumni Lecture Series

All lectures will be conducted in Cantonese.

Organizers: Department of History; M.A. Programme in Comparative and Public History; The Alumni Association of Master of Arts in Comparative and Public History
Enquiry: 3943 8659

World History Seminar (2024-25)

Organizers: Centre for Comparative and Public History, Department of History, CUHK
Enquiry: 3943 8541

For teachers and students who have information to share with the Department, please email your articles in both Chinese and English to chanfiona@cuhk.edu.hk by 4:00pm every Monday.