Dr LAM Chuen Pan, Chinese Language Centre

Foreign Lands and Homeland: Spatial Writing and Metaphorical Emotional in Pan Feisheng's ‘Hai Shan Ci’. The spatial experience and spiritual sustenance of Qing Dynasty literature. New Asia Institute of Advanced Chinese Studies, Hong Kong, 2 December 2023.

Abstract
Following the Opium War, the Qing Dynasty was forced to open its doors, resulting in a massive influx of Western elements into China. Simultaneously, many scholars and poets had the opportunity to venture abroad due to various circumstances. While the exotic landscapes and life experiences undoubtedly provided new inspirations for their creations, the emergence of powerful and prosperous foreign nations inevitably led to reflections on the old and declining state of their homeland. Moreover, the question of how to use traditional literary forms to describe the new world also posed a challenge. During the Guangxu Era, a Guangdong poet Pan Feisheng was employed by the Seminar für Orientalische Sprachen at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Berlin in Germany. During his three-year stay, he completed a collection of Ci-poetry titled "Hai Shan Ci". This lecture will use this collection as an example to interpret the descriptions of foreign lands, the longing for the homeland, and the integration of new materials and traditional literary forms in Pan's Ci-poetries.