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Taishan, Xinhui, and Kaiping. My next stop for fieldwork will be Australia, dubbed the “New Gold Mountain” in
those days, to reveal the final chapter of the gold-rush story in the mid 19th century. This is beyond the scope of the
original project though, and detailed findings and research outputs can only emerge after the official completion date

of the project. I may even need to continue writing for this project after retirement.

Another research project to be concluded after my retirement is the one on zishunü, which I had started upon
my return to Hong Kong after studying in the U.S.A., in response to the recent discourse of the “last generation of
zishunü.” As mentioned above, the scope of this project well exceeds the boundary of women’s history, traverses
even social and cultural history, and requires an integrated perspective of gender/women’s history. The GRF that I
applied for and was granted three years ago for the project entitled “The Last Generation of Spinsters in China:
Revisiting a Regional Tradition, Its Gendered Implications and Transnational Perspective” allowed me to work towards

a final conclusion to the study at this critical juncture. I was also able to go beyond studies of emigrant communities
in China and conducted fieldwork in host countries for overseas Chinese such as Singapore and Malaysia. Now aside
from reiterating that the project concerned has traversed the gender boundary and crossed the line between social
history and cultural history, I can further explore the extended significance of the zishu phenomenon from a transnational
perspective. I hope to link up individual experiences with the regional socio-cultural system and the larger context
of global migration, so as to publish the conclusive version of my research results under the title “Engendering the
History of Chinese Transnational Migration.”

3. Chinese Studies in Hong Kong and the Role of CUHK

The long years of my studies, teaching and research have taught me that there is no clear-cut line between world

history, Chinese history and local history. With geographical advantages and special favourable factors, Hong Kong
should shoulder the responsibility of the time, bridging the scholarly exploration of local and world studies through
Chinese studies. And CUHK should upkeep the established academic tradition of the studies of Chinese culture with
solid foundation and unique characteristics.

Chinese studies enjoyed the highest status at CUHK ever since the beginning of its establishment. The
University established the Institute of Chinese Studies (ICS) under the leadership of the founding Vice-Chancellor,
Prof. Li Choh-ming, who had placed utmost emphasis on Chinese culture. In the pioneering days, the Art Museum
and Archaeology and Art Studies were both highly acclaimed with impressive development to be followed later

by outstanding performance in studies of the Chinese language, Chinese ancient texts and translation. Both the
Department of Chinese and the Department of History had their top professors’ offices at ICS for leading research
projects, training postgraduate students and young scholars and exchanges with visiting scholars from all over the
world. In the 1990s, the publication of Twenty-First Century coupled with the well-established Journal of Chinese
Studies in exerting impact upon both local and the overseas academic circles, and yet each has ever maintained its

own unique features. The growth of the Centre for Chinese Archaeology and Art, and the founding of the Research
Centre for Contemporary Chinese Culture in recent years and its efforts in gathering scholars in the field of Chinese
studies all testify to the painstaking labour of ICS members in organising events and participation in various
activities.

ICS BULLETIN 2017 No. 3
10
www.ics.cuhk.edu.hk ©Institute of Chinese Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. All Rights Reserved.

ics_bulletin_2017_no3_printed.indd 10 10/10/2017 16:00:19