The Classics Book Club has been set up since the launch of the General Education (GE) Foundation Programme in 2012. It aims to promote classics reading to undergraduate students and the wider campus community at CUHK. During its early years, the Classics Book Club primarily focused on organizing book talks and reading groups on classical texts selected from the two courses of the GE Foundation Programme. The Classics Book Club has then evolved to cover a wide range of classics from different disciplines, ranging from philosophy, literature, social science to computer engineering, medical science, and natural science. While most book talks and reading groups examined issues in particular classical text, such as The Analects and Plato’s Symposium, some sessions surveyed key developments of a selected academic topic, such as contemporary astronomy, medieval magic, and flâneur in modern times, through reviewing prominent classical texts relating to the discipline. Speakers and moderators of talksand reading groups are usually members of the teaching team of the GE Foundation Programme.
Speaker: Dr. HOI Wan Heng Sandy
Moderator: Dr. YU Hiu Yan
Date: 31 / 10 / 2025 (Fri)
Time: 4 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Venue: Lee Hysan Atrium, Lo Kwee Seong Pavilion, CUHK Art Museum
In Cantonese
Synopsis
「那天稍後，在卡文迪什實驗室旁的鷹吧吃午餐時，向來愛說話的克里克忍不住告訴大家：『我們剛發現了生命的秘密！』」
1953年華生和克里克發現並提出了DNA的雙螺旋結構，二人因此獲得了1962年度的諾貝爾生理醫學獎。DNA儲存世代相傳的遺傳信息，掌握著生命本質的重要啟示。我們或許只記得二人就是「DNA之父」，但在遺傳學的探索過程中，還有哪些作出過貢獻而被遺忘的幕後功臣？
在華生的著作《DNA：生命的秘密》中，被揭示的「秘密」除了指遺傳密碼的結構和運作機制外，似乎也指DNA技術意想不到的用途—由基因改造食物，到了解遺傳疾病的機理、促成刑事調查的革命，至大幅修正了我們對於人類起源的看法。另一個「秘密」，更指從前無法想像DNA研究會衍生出的倫理和道德爭議。到底DNA這個密碼是怎樣影響著我們每一個人？
是次讀書會將帶領觀眾重回遺傳學發展史中的重要里程碑，由孟德爾的遺傳定律，到發現DNA結構，到人類基因圖譜的完成，探討科學發展帶給人類的影響和衝擊。
Registration
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Speaker: Dr. LI Chun Hong
Moderator: Dr. CHENG Wai Pang Damian
Date: 17 / 10 / 2025 (Fri)
Time: 4 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Venue: Lee Hysan Atrium, Lo Kwee Seong Pavilion, CUHK Art Museum
In Cantonese
Synopsis
學者大致同意《馬可福音》的成書年份不早於公元70年，其時羅馬帝國混亂、社會動盪，作者如何因應時局寫作和解讀耶穌的事蹟，同時又如何回應當時基督徒所面對的迫害？是次讀書會會從《馬可福音》的社會政治背景分析作者的寫作方法和目的，並深入分析部分篇章。
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Speaker: Dr. HUA Liyu
Moderator: Dr. HO Wai Ming
Date: 28 / 2 / 2025 (Fri)
Time: 4 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Venue: University Bookstore (YIA 1/F), CUHK
In English
Synopsis
The Heart Sutra is widely considered to be a fundamental canonical text in East Asian Buddhism, but its doctrines break away from the mainstream tradition, negating the values that shaped the early tradition. In this talk, we will focus on the doctrinal tension in Buddhism and explore how a Buddhist commentator reconciles this tension.
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Enquiry: gefp@cuhk.edu.hk
Speaker: Dr. JIANG Yuanqiu
Moderator: Dr. CHENG Wai Pang Damian
Date: 7 / 2 / 2025 (Fri)
Time: 4 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Venue: University Bookstore (YIA 1/F), CUHK
In Putonghua
Synopsis
關於“文”的重要性，《論語》給出了這樣的解釋：對於君子來說，“文猶質也，質猶文也。”而被孔子稱為“思無邪”的《詩經》應當也是君子“文”的素養的一部分。本次講座從文本互文性（intertextuality）的角度來討論《論語》對《詩經》的引用以及後世詩歌對《論語》的引用。由於文本的引用必然基於對於該文本的解讀，因此本次講座也會探討閱讀經典的方式與意義。
Registration
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Free admission, all are welcome.
Enquiry: gefp@cuhk.edu.hk
Speaker: Dr. LO Chun Yeung Edwin
Moderator: Dr. LEUNG Cheuk Hang
Date: 1 / 11 / 2024 (Fri)
Time: 4 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Venue: University Bookstore (YIA 1/F), CUHK
In Cantonese
Synopsis
阿里士多德對自然世界的解釋在西方世界影響巨大，流傳甚久，屹立近二千年，到十七世紀科學革命時期才被打破。他的自然理論包涵物理、天文、氣象及生物等題材，範圍廣闊卻又能統歸於一套中心理論，而其中的「四因說 」更是整個系統中的重要支柱。是次講座會以阿里士多德《物理學》及其他相關著作探討他如何以「因」來理解自然世界種種現象。
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Speaker: Dr. WONG Tung Tin
Moderator: Dr. LEUNG Cheuk Hang
Date: 18 / 10 / 2024 (Fri)
Time: 4 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Venue: University Bookstore (YIA 1/F), CUHK
In Cantonese
Synopsis
本講座探討三個議題。一是馬克思在《1844經濟學哲學手稿》當中所涉及到的異化問題；二是異化問題如何在當今社會中有什麽變化，尤其是在社交媒體盛行的當下；三是當代哲學家Guy Debord如何將異化問題擴張到「景觀社會」這個概念，來理解當今社交媒體所帶來的異化。
Registration
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Free admission, all are welcome.
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Speaker: Dr. SZETO Wai Man
Moderator: Dr. LEUNG Cheuk Hang
Date: 22 / 3 / 2024 (Fri)
Time: 4 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Venue: University Bookstore, CUHK (1/F, YIA)
In Cantonese
Synopsis
人工智能(AI)會否有創意？有人質疑AI缺乏真正的創意，只靠重複使用現存數據衍生「新作」。然而，網上流傳的AI創作示範卻又令人眼前一亮。本講將從音樂創作探討AI的創造力，先簡介AI作曲原理並與人類作曲過程比較，繼而介紹關於創意的著作，討論何謂創意──是力求推翻傳統，還是重新組合既有想法？我們將探討AI在音樂創作中的應用與限制，重新審視AI時代下的創意。
Registration
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Speaker: Dr. YEUNG Yang
Guests: Mr. Tang Kwok-hin and Ms. Lee Hoi-yin Joanna
Moderator: Dr. LEUNG Cheuk Hang
Date: 17 / 11 / 2023 (Fri)
Time: 4 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Venue: University Bookstore, CUHK (1/F, YIA)
In Cantonese and English
Synopsis
“Survivors of the twentieth century, we are all nostalgic for a time when we were not nostalgic. But there seems to be no way back.” As such, Svetlana Boym concludes her book The Future of Nostalgia. Is nostalgia about a past that is no longer, or a way to kindle imagination of the future? Is nostalgia a negative sentiment to be dismissed, or a long-distance romantic relationship? How does nostalgia tell us about our modern sense of time as compared to ancients’ sense of time? By way of Boym’s research on writers’ and artists’ longing for home in post-communist cities such as St. Petersburg, Moscow and Berlin, this book talk invites Hong Kong artist Tang Kwok-hin and art writer and critic Joanna Lee to reflect on artistic representations of longing in Hong Kong. Participants are welcome to bring a souvenir from their lives as props and prompts for the discussion on longing.
Registration
(The event has ended)
Free admission, all are welcome.
Enquiry: gefp@cuhk.edu.hk