January Wednesday 27th
Chinese Year of the Tiger and Symbolism Associated
with New Year by Anita Tatlow
February Looking at Ireland from China
by
Dr Jerusha McCormack
March Wednesday 24th
Looking at Chinese Characters by
David Judge
A block of Chinese characters is a featureless jumble to most Western people.
This talk aims to change that a bit for the audience.
At the end, they should be able to recognise a few often-seen characters,
and know about the building-blocks that recur in many; to distinguish
Chinese from Japanese, Mainland from Taiwan;
and be aware of the steps in using a Chinese dictionary. April The Cuisine of South-East China by Sarah Leahy
Sarah, Secretary of the United Arts Club where we meet,
spent two years living as an expat in Hong Kong. Working for
an international money brokerage firm enabled her to travel
around Asia and mainland China. Sarah has a fascination
with South-East China, its people and Chinese cuisine, to
which she will introduce us!
Dublin 2.
(very near Baggot
Street)
This venue is very convenient . It is right beside Baggot Street,
and a five-minute walk from Leeson Street or Mount Street, so it is well served by buses.
Parking is abundant and free (after 7.00 p.m., which is ideal for our meetings at 8.00 p.m.).
Monday 15th
Chinese New Year Dinner
7 Sandford Road,
Ranelagh,
Dublin 6
at 7.15 p.m.
Numbers are limited so early booking is advisable.
Wednesday 24th
We regret that the advertised talk by Clifford Coonan
has been cancelled, due to an unexpected and unavoidable change in his travel plans.
However, we are very fortunate that Dr Jerusha McCormack has most
kindly agreed, at very short notice, to speak to us instead.
The subject of this talk, which
Dr McCormack
gave in Beijing last May (this will be the first opportunity to hear it outside China),
is “Looking at Ireland from China”; it describes how being in China
changes the way we Irish see ourselves. It includes references to Robert Hart, a most trusted
Northern Irish administrator of the 19th century.
Jerusha McCormack is a Visiting Professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University. Members will remember
the outstanding talk "Five Key Words for Unlocking Chinese Culture" which she gave to the Society
in April 2007.
Members will be very interested to know that, in addition to the series of talks, mentioned
BELOW ,
which she and John G Blair
(also Visiting Professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University) are presenting
in the Chester Beatty Library (NB the first one is on Thursday 11 February at
1.10 pm!), she will be giving a talk in the National Library
as part of the "Year of the Tiger" New Year celebrations. The talk is
entitled “W.B. Yeats: The Poem on the Mountain”, and is
about a mysterious gift which the poet received from China. It will be
on Wednesday the 17th February at 7pm. Details can be found
HERE.
There will be some historical background, some computer animations,
and at least one Joke: David hopes to make the talk both entertaining and interesting.
(Of course, he may fail miserably in this endeavour, and members are earnestly advised
to bring a crossword, Sudoku, knitting, or the like, as a precaution.)
Wednesday 28th
Xiaolongbao