Posts written by Bill M. Mak

Two upcoming online lectures by Dr. Bill Mak – “Aquilaria and Maritime Silk Road” and “Hindu Cemetery in Hong Kong”

1. Cambridge University, King’s College Silk Roads Programme
Title: Aquilaria and Exotic Aromatics on the Maritime Silk Roads
Speaker: Dr. Bill Mak
Date: 19 May 2023
Time: 6:00 pm (Hong Kong Time); 11:00 am (British Standard Time)
Description: The historical importance of the overland Silk Road connecting China, India, and other Eurasian cultures has generated much scholarly interest in the past century. On the other hand, that of the maritime routes requires further exploration, especially from a longue-durée perspective. This paper examines the role of the Maritime Silk Road connecting South China, Southeast Asia, India, and beyond from the first millennium CE, focusing on the case of aromatic trade, from which Hong Kong was named after. The spread of the exotic aromatics and the cultivation of a variety of species of Aquilaria across tropical and subtropical Asia demonstrate the robust and long-lasting connectivity between a number of Asian cultures from China to the far end of the Indian Ocean.
2. 2023 Congress meeting of Canadian South Asian Studies Association (CSASA)
Title: Hindu Cemetery in Hong Kong—An Unusual History and its Post-colonial Legacy
Speaker: Dr. Bill Mak
Date: 27/28 May 2023
Time: TBC
During the nineteenth century, South Asian communities are established rapidly across Southeast and East Asia as a result of Britain’s imperial expansion. Since Hong Kong became a crown colony of the British Empire in 1842, South Asians arrived in great number both in service to the colonial government as well as to seek commercial opportunities as individuals. South Asian immigrants of different ethnic backgrounds and religious affiliations soon took root on the Chinese soil, adopted local customs and the local Cantonese language while maintaining their unique identities; some throve to become prominent members of the local elite society by triangulating as trusted agents of the colonial government. Although most of these South Asian communities in Hong Kong date back to mid- to late nineteenth century and many of their forefathers arrived in Hong Kong earlier than most of the current Cantonese population, who migrated from the neighbouring Guangdong region or other parts of southern China only later in the twentieth century shortly before or after WWII, the South Asians remain perceived as foreigners by the Chinese locals. The postcolonial government continue to address issues such as inequality, diversity, and inclusivity in their policies. This paper focuses on the history of the nineteenth-century Hindu Cemetery in Hong Kong, an unusual arrangement in orthodox Hinduism, as a case study of the diasporic vicissitude of the South Asian communities in Hong Kong from the colonial period down to the present.

圓覺經考

2023-03-13 06.58.35

週末法會,精舍請來民國二十一年重刻大字《圓覺經》善本,父推薦,聞說值得“品味高”的行者細讀。何謂“品味高”,我沒有任何概念。今略作記。

按照《佛祖統記》的記載,《圓覺經》於唐高宗永徽六年(+655)譯出,譯者佛陀多羅,梵文Buddhatāra,華言“覺救”,北印罽賓人。漢傳佛教自唐末起,《圓覺經》一直廣為流傳,歷代祖師注疏也不少,為當今佛教徒恆常讀誦的經文之一。南懷瑾先生更認為此經屬於華嚴經的系統,一乘圓教,見性成佛,境界至善,而且文字最美。

經文內容大概如下:佛陀進入了神通大光明藏三昧,向十二菩薩以問答形式說法。第一文殊,如來因爲圓覺,果為真如涅槃。第二普賢,圓覺不可無修行。第三普眼,修奢摩他(止),關身心幻相,一切皆空等等。整體風格屬於中晚期大乘佛教經典,其中也包含了一些密宗的內容。

有學者認為《圓覺經》為公元八世紀作品,原因是其經文主要出自《楞嚴》,內容亦多受《大乘起信論》影響。梁任公吸收了日本學者佛教文獻學的觀點,認為此三經為“疑偽經”,即漢傳佛教中所謂“偽經”的問題。近年京都大學船山徹提出:”印度製造,中國組件“的看法,也有道理。像玄奘十六會《大般若經》,那爛陀寺的藏經閣也大概沒有這種編著,但內容不算疑偽。佛典種類繁多,過去祖師以判教形式疏理其中關係,而現代學者則以文獻歷史角度理解,見解各有特色。

我個人傾向以如實觀去理解每一件事物。先把表面的東西弄清楚,像版本、文字、校勘,文獻比對等,然後參考古人和其他學者見解,最後才作個人推測。一層一層,像把洋蔥拆開。像這部大字善本,本來就有很多值得注意的地方。

大家有沒有注意到那些小圈?字外右下角的一般是句號,字中下部的則是我們現在用的逗號(綠框標記)。至於那些與字很近,貼著四角的則是“聲點”,從左下角順時針算起,即漢語四聲平上去入。粵語分陰陽,前三聲化為六聲,加上三入聲,共九聲。像惡與樂兩字(紅框標記),右上角附上小圈,意思即是“去聲”,作動詞解。若名詞或形容詞的話則作“入聲”,需要把兩者區分開來。

20230313 440px-分四聲法 2023-03-13 08.54.40

 

不過,洋蔥最後還是要被吃掉的。所以我喜歡讀誦,而且要虛心讀誦,有時候會靈機一觸,想到一些新事。《圓覺經》還有什麼奧祕,留待日後繼續發現!

2023 History of Science Conference and Public Lectures in Hong Kong

The Needham Conference 2023 turns away from the traditional Needham’s so-called Grand Comparative Question “Why modern science developed in Europe but not in China?” which has been the subject of lively discussion and debate in many international forums over decades. Instead, it sets out to address his second, much under-explored, Grand Dialogical Question “Why and how did exchanges across multiple Eurasian civilisations lead to the birth and growth of modern science?”

The conference will be held at The HKUST Jockey Club Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) from 23 – 24 March 2023. With the theme “Needham’s Dialogical Vision: Understanding Science as a Multi-Civilizational Outcome”the two-day conference will bring together more than twenty leading scholars from across the world to address Needham’s dialogical question of how and why such exchanges across cultures came to enrich modern science today.

Program: CLICK here

Registration for in-person or online Zoom participation (23–24 March, 2023): CLICK here

Panels:

  • Historical Sociology in Dialogue (Panel 1)
  • Cosmologies in Dialogue (Panels (Panels 2 & 3)
  • Natural Sciences in Dialogue (Panels 4 & 5)
  • Medical Traditions in Dialogue (Panel 6)
  • Modes of Inquiry in Dialogue (Panel 7)

Three public lectures at the Hong Kong Palace Museum (25 March, 2023, 9:00 am)

1. The Process of Learning and Surpassing in the Advancement of Science and Civilizations

Professor LEE Chack Fan (Director of the HKU – Jao Tsung-I Petite Ecole)

2. Technologies of the Book in Dunhuang during the 9th and 10th Centuries Professor

Imre GALAMBOS (East Asian Studies, University of Cambridge)

3. Babylonian and Chinese Astronomy: Comparison, Circulation, and Dialogue

Professor John STEELE (Brown University)

If you would like to join the three lectures in person on 25 March, please register here or write to the Secretariat:

celine.lee@jnfschk.org / raymond.leung@jnfschk.org