Where things are going
2016 Talks
Leadership’s Great Wall: Understanding and Bridging The Cultural Boundaries of Leadership in China
Organisations and individuals have typically focused on the boundless opportunities of the Chinese experience. More recently, many have tempered those visions with the reality of how different China is from their current context. However, is spite of the recognition of differences, most individuals and organisations still do not grasp the importance of understanding and bridging the historical and cultural divides of leadership differences between their context and the Chinese context.
Mr. Coker will highlight these differences and share his perspectives on addressing them based on his personal experiences of leading in China.
Noble Coker
"Confusion, Discovery, Gathering and Harmony: A Choreographic Message that Bridges the East and West"
Prof. Jiamin Huang will explain and demonstrate how communication and harmony between two very distinctive people can be achieved through gestures and dance. Come and witness a cross-cultural choreography and listen to the discoveries behind it.
Prof. Jiamin Huang
Dr. Tang Yuan Chu
(朱堂元)
"The Price of Low Parity and Late Child Birth that Modern Women Pay"
Evolution of the unique system of human reproduction, including keeping fecundity by frequent, regular ovulation and menstruation, is not without prices. One of the severe tradeoffs is the development of ovarian cancer, particularly the most prevalent and aggressive high-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC). A serial studies have unveiled the etiology of this major form of ovarian cancer. Long-term, overdriven of the reproductive system preparing for conception by incessant ovulation and menstruation period is the main culprit. Unfortunateltly, the physiological solutions given by the Mother Nature has been abandoned in modern women, especially in Chinese. Both pregnancy and breast-feeding provide long-term rest of ovulation and menstruation. The health price of the One Child Policy in China and the world-record-low birth rate in Taiwan is emerging.
Women's health is crucial to the health of our future generations. The oocyte provides an environment not only to nourish the developing embryo but also to determine the way of deciphering our genetic codes. Most importantly, this influence can be cross generations influencing the health and characters of our children and grandchildren. The traditionary Chinese wisdom of parental matchmaking and taboos in pregnant women may find a scientific support.
Dr. Peter Chan
Casey Williams
Dr. Caroline Kwok
尋 天 誌
IN SEARCH OF THE HEAVENLY EMPEROR:
Unveiling the Abrahamic Mysteries in Ancient China
(A documentary motion picture)
Contrary to popular beliefs, the original religion of the Chinese people was not Buddhism or Taoism. These came in millennia after the original faith. Rather, it was the worship of Shang Di (Heavenly Emperor) or Tian (Heaven), the monolithic deity that governed the heaven and the earth and the creator of all beings. Confucius called his worship the most important duty of the earthly king and a key in demonstrating the king’s legitimacy. Who was this deity that was so important to the Chinese of old? Why so few Chinese people know about him today? What is his relationship to other great religions in the world?
When the Jesuit missionaries first arrived in China in the 1600s, they recognized great similarities between the god of the Chinese people and the God of the Bible especially in the Abrahamic teachings of the Old Testament. The missionaries’ discoveries were supported even by some Confucius scholars. They were so well received throughout the kingdom that even the Emperor himself declared an edict to support Christianity throughout the kingdom. As much of the Old Testament was accepted by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, a connection to such beliefs will link the world’s oldest continuing civilization to the origin of the greatest faiths of humankind. What happened? What connections did the missionaries discovered? Can these connections stand the test of time and scientific examinations? How do those discoveries relate to the people today? Can the humankind really be related as one big family?
This movie takes us to the far corners of the world—from the remote outpost of the ancient Silk Road to the ruins of a lost people. It also brings together some of the brightest minds from the world’s most prestigious institutions of learning. It explores evidences in imperial rites, language, legends, archaeology, and scientific findings, painting a picture distinctively contradicting to popular beliefs. Knowing this picture will change our understanding of the world’s greatest religions and the most populous people on the planet…indeed the very concept of who we are!