03:00 to 04:00
Level 1, 151 Castlereagh Street, Sydney, NSW, Australia
27-02-15
Co-presented with University of Sydney’s China Studies Centre as part of the 2015 Chinese New Year Festival.
China’s history is vast and sometimes intimidating. It stretches back many thousands of years, and often presents complexity and diversity. But this history can be understood better when we look at the voices and acts of some of the key players during it, the people who constitute this history. In this talk, Kerry Brown will outline the principles behind the Dictionary of Chinese Biography, an acclaimed story of China through over 100 key figures, and the role that they played in shaping China today. He will argue that even as China embraces hyper modernity, this history is never far away, shaping and informing the present
Professor Kerry Brown is Professor of Chinese Politics and Director of the China Studies Centre, University of Sydney and Team Leader of the Europe China Research and Advice Network (ECRAN) funded by the European Union.
He is an Associate Fellow of Chatham House, London and author of “Struggling Giant: China in the 21st Century” (2007), “The Rise of the Dragon: Chinese Inward and Outward Investment in the Reform Era” (2008), “Friends and Enemies: The Past, Present and Future of the Communist Party of China” (2009), “Ballot Box China” (2011), “China 2020” (2011), “Hu Jintao: China’s Silent Leader”. ‘The New Emperors: Power and the Princelings’ was published in 2014 and described by the Financial Times as ‘essential’. His ‘Lying Abroad for their Country’ will be published by Penguin in 2015. He is also editor of the Berkshire Dictionary of Chinese Biography.
