̽»¨Ö±²¥

‘In the fields of Shennong’ was given by Professor Roel Sterckx who becomes the first Joseph Needham Professor of Chinese History, Science, and Civilization.

Professor Sterckx is a scholar of early Chinese culture, continuing a tradition that began in Cambridge 120 years ago when the first Chinese Chair at the ̽»¨Ö±²¥ was founded.

His main areas of interest include early Chinese thought and religion, the cultural history from the Shang to the Han dynasties, classical Chinese philology and early Chinese literature.

He was introduced, in front of a full lecture theatre of invited guests, by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alison Richard, who thanked the donors who have made possible the endowment of the Professorship in perpetuity.Ìý

̽»¨Ö±²¥Chair has been endowed with a gift of £1.25 million from the East Asian History of Science Foundation Hong Kong.

This gift has been supplemented by £750,000 from an £8 million Trinity College donation to the ̽»¨Ö±²¥â€™s 800th Anniversary Campaign, which supports professorships in the Schools of Arts and Humanities and Humanities and Social Sciences.
Ìý

These gifts provide for the retitling and funding in perpetuity of the ̽»¨Ö±²¥â€™s Professorship of Chinese which was held by Professor Sterckx.
Ìý

ÌýProfessor David McMullen,ÌýEmeritus Professor of Chinese,ÌýthenÌýspoke of JosephÌýNeedham, the great Cambridge biochemist and sinologist of the 20th Century, best known for his research on the science and civilisation of ancient China.
.Ìý
Professor Sterckx'Ìýlecture explored how some deeply embedded assumptions about China as a historically continuous and unified civilisation have overshadowed our understanding of some of its complexities.Ìý

In Chinese mythology Shennong, literally ‘divine farmer’, was the father of Chinese agriculture and Chinese herbal medicine, a legendary emperor who taught his people how to cultivate grains as food, so as to avoid killing animals.

̽»¨Ö±²¥classical age of Confucius (551-479 BC) and the centuries stretching into the early empires of Qin and Han dynasties were central to the socio-political and intellectual development of China.

This period, when China gradually evolved from a confederacy of feudal states into a unified empire, witnessed the emergence of its classical canon, its masters of philosophy, the birth of its popular and anecdotal literature, and the development of historiography, law and administrative record keeping.

Fascinating new developments are taking place in our understanding of this formative period in China’s past. Yet equally fascinating is the persistence of some scholarly myths it has inspired.
Ìý

These include the image of traditional China as a land of farmers living in harmony with their natural environment, and of China as an enduringly cohesive polity united by a unified script and language.
Ìý

̽»¨Ö±²¥Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alison Richard, will be making a four-day official visit to Beijing next week to celebrate 120 years of partnership between Cambridge and China. She will be meeting senior Chinese Government figures and partner universities, signing historic agreements with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and appearing on China Central Television’s premier interview programme, Top Talk.

She will be giving a press conference at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Beijing on Wednesday 8 October at 5pm.

To view the inaugural lecture visit the link above right - it may take a few seconds to load.
Ìý