T h i n k i n g
思
華
C h i n e s e

華
思
UCL March – May 2015
Background
Thinking Chinese is a collaborative project between the UCL History Department and Ming-Ai (London) Institute. This
series is the final exhibition and event of the British Chinese Workforce Heritage project. This ground-breaking three-year
Heritage Lottery Funded oral history project has collected interviews with over ninety British Chinese individuals and
during the conference the final project website will be launched featuring interviews, research articles, lesson plans and
archive materials. The project will then be archived with the London Metropolitan Archives.
Conference
UCL Main Quad, 31st March – 1st April 2015
The conference brings together academics, heritage professionals and community members to explore British Chinese
history and exchange of ideas and technologies as well as thinking about Chineseness, from UCL Eugenics, to modern and
historical representations of Chinese in the media, in the arts and by those with a Chinese heritage themselves.
Exhibition
Wilkins Building South Cloisters, 31st March – 12th May 2015
The exhibition and timeline will chart Chinese migration to the UK and showcase those Chinese that came here to study,
and went on to become leading figures in the arts and in the technological and professional development of China as well
as representations of Chineseness in Britain. This will be presented in UCL South Cloisters drawing out themes discussed
in the conference and featuring contributions from many researchers.
Day 1: 31st March 2015
09:30 – 10:00
Registration and Coffee
Conference Moderator: Rosa Kurowska, Ming-Ai (London) Institute
Opening Plenary: Chinese Community History
10:00
Introduction and Welcome, Prof Zheng Xiao Guo, UCL Vice Provost for China
10:05
Funding Chinese Heritage in the UK, Michael Murray, Heritage Lottery Fund
10:20
The British Chinese Workforce Heritage Project, Chungwen Li, Ming-Ai (London) Institute
10:40
Q&A
Panel A
Naval Connections
11:00
Beyond Translation: Yan Fu and the Inception of Chinese Modernity, Dr Kai Liu, Yanfu Foundation and University of
Greenwich
11:20
New Sea Lords: the Greenwich Fuzhou Meridian, Dr Vivienne Lo, UCL China Centre for Health and Humanity and
Dr Yijie Zhuang, UCL Archaeology
11:40
Q&A
12:00 – 12:20
Tea Break
Panel B
Military
12:20
British Chinese Armed Forces Heritage Project, Prof Jonathan Liu, Regent’s University London and Chungwen Li
12:30
China's Relationship with the West in the World Wars and its Legacy, Robert Fleming, National Army Museum
12:50
The Chinese Labour Corps in England during WW1, Rachel Hasted
13:10
Q&A
13:30 – 14:30
Lunch
14:30-16:15
Roundtable Discussion: Is traditional Chinese medicine really relevant?
Chair: Prof Therese Hesketh, UCL Institute for Global
Health
Prof David Colquhoun, UCL Pharmacology
Russell Keith
Dr Fanyi Meng, ATCM (Association of Traditional
Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture UK)
16:15 Closing Remarks
Dick Middleton, British Herbal Medicine Association
Dr Kaicun Zhao, Middlesex University (Chinese Herbal
Medicine)
Prof Volker Scheid, University of Westminster
Prof Adrian Renton, University of East London:
Institute for Health and Human Development
Day 2: 1st April 2015
09:00 – 09:15
Registration and Coffee
Conference Moderator: Rosa Kurowska, Ming-Ai (London) Institute
Opening Plenary: Chinese Food Culture
09:15
British Chinese Food Culture Project: Video-show
09:25
Dimsum Diplomacy, Dr Vivienne Lo, UCL History
Panel C
Representing ‘Chineseness’
09:40
Thinking Chinese Wallpaper: the Image of China in British Interiors, Emile de Bruijn, National Trust
09:50
Chinese Language Teachers and Regency Britain, Prof Tim Barrett, SOAS, University of London
10:10
Maidens and Mandarins: China on the Pantomime Stage, Dr Anne Witchard, University of Westminster
10:30
Q&A
10:40 – 10:50
Tea Break
Panel D
‘Chineseness’, Race and Eugenics
10:50
'Africa for the Chinese': A Response from Critical Eugenics at UCL, Dr Nathaniel Adam Tobias Coleman, UCL
Philosophy
11:10
Racial Miscegenation and the Chinese in Liverpool, Dr Leon Rocha, University of Liverpool
11:30
Staging China, Chinoiserie and the Racial Order., Dr Diana Yeh, University of Winchester
11:50
Being the Chinese Detective, David Yip
12:10
Q&A
12:20 – 13:00
Lunch
13:00 – 14:20
Breaking Our Silence: Voices from the Chinese Community
Chair: Prof Jonathan Liu, Regent’s University London
14:20
Closing Remarks
14:30 – 16:00
British Chinese Workforce Heritage Project Completion Ceremony &
Thinking Chinese Exhibition Private View, South Cloisters
Join us to celebrate the completion of the project and launch of the Thinking Chinese exhibition.