Posts written by Bill M. Mak

Campus of USTC

July was a very intensive teaching month for me. I was invited to teach two post-graduate courses for the Summer Semester as Visiting Professor at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC). The two courses are: 1. Introduction to the history of science and technology in ancient China (古代中國科技史入門); 2. Reading Ancient Indian Scientific Literature (古代印度科學文獻導讀). The first one was taught in English while the second in Chinese and Sanskrit. As each course is 40 hours, there were practically classes every day, both in the morning and afternoon. Although the number of students were less than 10 for each class, the Chinese students struck me as very hard-working and dedicated. Some were ambitious enough to do two courses together. The first course was essentially an introduction to Needham’s SCC. For many Mainland students, even at doctoral level, English reading and speaking remain a serious challenge. The students were asked to submit journals daily as a way to boost their English writing and understanding. The second course had an additional Sanskrit language component. I was very fortunate to have a student assistant, Mahāsiddha (許瑞成), to act as tutor to the students. In less than a month, the students went from being able to read basic devanāgarī to reciting a few verses in Sanskrit scientific texts. Quite an achievement, I must say! Notably, the two best Sanskrit students were not those who took both classes. Those who did were utterly exhausted by both the lectures and homework. During my stay at USTC in Hefei, I participated in a two-day conference called 會通論壇 organised by the Dept of History of Science. Professor Shi Yunli 石雲里教授, the Head of the Department, invited me to help to organise the conference next year, bringing in more participation from international scholars. The plan, so far, is to organise an international forum held consecutively in three cities — Quanzhou, Hefei and Xi’an. The first and last were the beginning of the Maritime and Land Silk Roads. It would be an exciting opportunity for scholars, including many from Cambridge and the ones who participated in the NRI–AIIT-FAMES workshop in 2021, as to continue our collaboration. It will be a great opportunity for them to meet their Chinese colleagues and to visit the Chinese archives and museums, as well as their custodians.

Mahāsiddha teaching introductory Sanskrit to postgraduate students at USTC

Students learning how to read and decipher Sanskrit astronomical texts

Learning about ancient Indian botanical tradition

Ayurveda in Sanskrit

Mahāsiddha captured a new student

Student presentation (2)

During my stay at USTC in Hefei, I participated in a two-day conference called 會通論壇 organised by the Dept of History of Science. Professor Shi Yunli 石雲里教授, the Head of the Department, invited me to help to organise the conference next year, bringing in more participation from international scholars. The plan, so far, is to organise an international forum held consecutively in three cities — Quanzhou, Hefei and Xi’an. The first and last were the beginning of the Maritime and Land Silk Roads. It would be an exciting opportunity for scholars, including many from Cambridge and the ones who participated in the NRI–AIIT-FAMES workshop in 2021, as to continue our collaboration. It will be a great opportunity for them to meet their Chinese colleagues and to visit the Chinese archives and museums, as well as their custodians.

Huitong Conference @ USTC

Astonishing artefacts in display at the Anhui Museum

Prof. Shi Yunli presenting his report on Korean astronomical instruments

李約瑟研究所前前院的水杉古樹 (2023)

2023年夏天，我在劍橋李約瑟研究所（NRI）參加了一個非常有趣的研討會。研討會的主題是「探索中國歷史中的感官世界」。研討會的主辦人是最近獲得了劍橋大學博士學位的方希博士（Dr. Flavia Xi Fang）。她在高奕睿教授（Prof. Imre Galambos）的指導下研究古代絲綢之路上的「香」。在李約瑟研究所工作期間，我因吳蕙儀博士的工作了解到弘立書院。她當時負責弘立書院的李約瑟研究所項目。吳博士激發了我對弘立書院的興趣，弘立書院的學生，究竟如何做到跨學科的研究？這類研究對大學生，甚至是學者來說，似乎難以勝任，因為大學的學習和研究都很專業，但同時亦有很大的局限性。2020年，我組織了一個題為 「中國、印度和伊朗——科學交流與文化接觸 」的跨學科研討會，出席的十多位學者，主要來自三個機構 — 李約瑟研究所、古印度與伊朗信託會（Ancient India and Iran Trust）以及劍橋大學亞洲與中東研究院。研討會原計劃於 2020 年9月舉行，由於因新冠疫情被逼推遲。在此感謝贊助商與多位學者支持，研討會於 2021 年 10 月 8-9 日成功舉辦。其中劍橋大學羅賓遜學院（我曾是該院的副院士，Bye-Fellow）、高奕睿教授和李所院長梅建軍給予了很大的幫助。方希博士同是研討會主持人，也是發言人，其報告內容取自其即將答辯的論文。2023年3月，高奕睿教授來港參加在香港科技大學舉辦的「李約瑟論壇」，是次大型學術活動由李約瑟科技與文明基金會（香港）策劃。作為籌備會會員之一，我藉此機會邀請高教授為弘立社群舉辦一場講座，主題為 「歸義軍時期敦煌學士郎」。這次劍橋工作坊，邀請我的正是方希博士，她跟另一位主辦者Avital Rom博士，同是高奕睿教授的博士生。

這次工作坊，筆者選題為「苦口良藥—古代中國『苦』的歷史」。收到邀請函時，原來的想法是簡單談一下天文學相關的話題。不過去年，不知為何，突然關注樹木和草本植物起來，書翻起來就停不了，最後無心插柳柳成蔭，就這樣進入了植物學的研究。當我在 A9 辦公室的書架上翻閱《中國之科學與文明》（SCC）第六卷第五分冊時，讀到古籍對草藥的描述，實在讓我著迷，其中對「苦」的描述亦讓我感到好奇。每週與單寧校長和其他中文老師的對話，讓我感受到中國人苦幹實幹（下苦功）的美德。我的論文探討了中國人對「苦」的理解的起源。「苦」既是一種治癒的味道，也是一種有意義、有品德的生活態度。在這篇論文中，我試圖從道家「無為」傳統和佛教的四諦中尋找答案，四諦以duḥkha為起點，漢譯一般為「苦」。

在劍橋期間，與眾多學者會面。一如既往，順路遊覽，參觀大英博物館和當地歷史名勝，增廣見聞。李約瑟研究所的東亞科技史藏書，也是這次劍橋之旅目標之一——完成我的著作！期間碰到了查永茂博士、弘立書院「書院中的書院」Diana和Sarah，他們正在為弘立書院的高年級學生開設課程。在離開英國前，我必須取回我在劍橋逗留期間陪伴我的古琴。中世紀教會史學者、羅賓遜學院院士Joan Greatrex博士把我的古琴放在她的櫃子裏已經一年了。她雖然已經九十多歲了，但仍然非常活躍。我還見到認識了幾十年，Joan Greatrex博士的兒子 — 渥太華大學古典學的Geoffrey Greatrex教授。90 年代，還是麥吉爾大學的語言學本科生的我與Geoffrey通過世界語相識。Geoffrey 現在是加拿大世界語協會的主席，在世界語學術圈子裡，非常活躍。2022 年 8 月，當我應邀出席蒙特利爾 105屆國際世界語大會（Universala Kongreso de Esperanto），在第 73 屆國際世界語大會大學 Internacia Kongresa Universitato (IKU) 上發表「絲綢之路科學」的演講時，Geoffrey 正是介紹我的主持。

A majestic-looking Chinese metasequoia with an interesting history in front of NRI (2023)

The 2023 summer begins with a very interesting workshop held in Cambridge, at the Needham Research Institute (NRI), where I was a Research Fellow prior to my joining of the ISF Academy in 2022. The workshop was titled “Body, Space, Spirit: The Sensorium in Chinese History”. The organiser was Dr. Flavia Xi Fang 方希 and Dr. Avital Rom. Flavia recently received her PhD degree for her research in ancient aromatics on the Silk Road under the supervision of Prof. Imre Galambos. There are some interesting connections here. While at NRI, I came to learn about the ISF Academy because of the works of Dr. Wu Huiyi 吳蕙儀, who was then the ISF Fellow at the institute as part of the ISF Shuyuan Program. Discussion with Huiyi sparked my interest in the kind of creative, transdisciplinary research that ISF students were capable of. Such kinds of research seem impossible for university students, or even scholars who are highly specialised but limited to their fields. Back in 2020, I organised a transdisciplinary workshop titled “China, India, and Iran – Scientific Exchange and Cultural Contact,” bringing together a dozen scholars from three organisations – NRI, Ancient India and Iran Trust (AIIT), and Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (FAMES) of the University of Cambridge. The workshop was planned for September, 2020, but had to be postponed due to the pandemic. Thanks to the support of the sponsors and many scholars, it was successfully held on October 8-9, 2021. From the University of Cambridge (see report on p.5 here). The main supporters were Robinson College, where I was a Bye Fellow, Prof. Galambos, Professor of Chinese at FAMES, and Prof. Mei Jianjun, Director of NRI. Flavia was recruited as a volunteer to assist on the organisation of the workshop. She also presented a paper based on her thesis, which she was about to defend. In March, 2023, Prof. Galambos took part in the “Needham Forum” which took place at HKUST and we took the opportunity to invite him to give a talk at ISF. The talk, titled “Students in Dunhuang during the Ninth and Tenth Centuries,” were well attended by teachers from both Primary and Secondary Schools, together with a handful of enthusiastic parents and students. Now, the one who invited me to join the Cambridge workshop was none other than Flavia herself. Both Flavia and Avital are students of Prof. Galambos.

“Sensorium” workshop at NRI

Bill Mak on “bitterness”

The topic I have chosen for the talk was “The Bitterness that is wholesome — The history of unsavoury herbs and foodstuff in medieval China.” Originally, I planned to speak on astronomy, a field that I was much more familiar with. Due to an unexpected shift of research interest, I have turned my research focus to herbs, trees, and plants in general. While ploughing through the sixth volume, part 5 of the Science and Civilisation in China (SCC) sitting on the bookshelf in my A9 office, I was struck by the Chinese obsession with bitter herbs or bitterness at large. Weekly conversation with Ms. Shan Ning, Principal of ISF Academy, Primary School, and other Chinese teachers gives me the impression of the Chinese faith in the virtue of hard, bitter work (xia ku gong 下苦功)! My paper was an exploration of the possible origin of this rather unique Chinese understanding of bitterness, both as a healing taste and a bitter take of meaningful, virtuous life! In the paper, I tried to look for answers both in the Taoist tradition of quietism and the FourNoble Truths in Buddhism, which begin with suffering (Skt. duḥkha), translated into Chinese always as bitterness (ku 苦)!

Bill Mak and Tim Barrett at NRI

Workshop dinner at St. John’s College, Cambridge

During my time in Cambridge, I was able to meet up with many scholars and colleagues, among whom, the always inspiring and humorous Prof. Tim Barrett, who is certainly not unfamiliar with many of my Hong Kong colleagues. Another senior scholar I enjoyed very much meeting with was Prof. Margaret Cone, scholar of Pali language and author of three massive volumes of the PTS Dictionary of Pali (up to Bh). Though I had always wanted to read some Pali texts with Margaret, every time we meet we ended up talking about something else, mostly about poetry, from John Dunne to the Tang poets. The visit to the British Museum and British Library was a great delight, as always. I was able to work on my book as well, benefiting from the wonderful library of the NRI. While I was there, I ran into my ISF colleagues, Malcolm, Diana, and Sarah, who were running the Oxbridge program for the advanced students of the ISF Shuyuan program. Before I left the UK, I had to retrieve my guqin which accompanied me during my sojourn in Cambridge. Dr. Joan Greatrex, scholar of Medieval Church history and also Fellow of the Robinson College, kept my guqin in her locker for over a year already. Joan, though in her 90s, was very active. I also met up with her son, Prof. Geoffrey Greatrex, Professor of Classics at the University of Ottawa. Geoffrey and I knew each other for decades through Esperanto since being a linguistics undergrad at McGill in the 90s. Geoffrey is in fact now the president of the Canadian Esperanto Association and is a very active in the Esperanto-speaking academic circle. When I was invited to deliver a lecture on the “Sciences of the Silk Road” at the 73rd Internacia Kongresa Universitato (IKU) during the 105a Universala Kongreso de Esperanto in Montreal, August 2022, Geoffrey was the host who introduced me!

Dunhuang scholars and researchers in Cambridge

Sharing my guqin music with my friends in Cambridge

Examining the strangely bound Sanskrit manuscript at the AIIT with Dr. Daniel Sheridan

My pragmatic, utilitarian Hong Kong friends may wonder what the usefulness of such meetings are other than just friendly chitchat and lots of beverage. One of the secrets of a successful career in research and academia in general is becoming part of a scholarly network. Not only is it useful to have friends among fellow scholars who know what you are doing because of peer review and career advancement, it is important to know what others are doing. Even when there are differences of opinions, it is vital to know what they are. In case multiple scholars are pursuing a “hot topic” simultaneously, communication is all the more important in order to have a division of labour and to avoid repeated work. Last but not least, I would appeal to the concept of uselessness once again. I did not think that my work would connect to those of other scholars through Esperanto. In my 2014 monograph dealing with my discovery of a Chinese translation of Dorotheus’ first-century astral text, the Italian scholar Prof. F. A. Pennacchietti who helped me with the Syriac content was known to me through Esperanto!

At present, I am completing my book project titled “Foreign Astronomy in China — From Six Dynasties to Northern Song”, to be published within this year with Routledge as part of the NRI monograph series. The project was delayed due to pandemic and other reasons. As an incentive, Prof. Cullen thought that the trustees would organise a trip to the Stonehenge after my book is published. A draft of the key chapters have been submitted to series editor and just some weeks ago I received the reviews of two reviewers. I couldn’t resist the beautiful English countryside during one of those rare beautiful summer days and I made a trip to the Stonehenge and to Bath before I returned to Asia.

Bill Mak @ Stonehenge