Spring 2008 news

In the summer of 2007, the Fairbank Center officially changed its name to the John King Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, a change reflecting more accurately the focus of research conducted by the majority of Center scholars. The Center’s original name, with the inclusion of East Asian research, reflected the earliest decades when the Center sponsored research on East Asia as a whole. But since the establishment of the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies in 1973 and the Korea Institute in 1981, the Fairbank Center’s mission has concentrated on China, with additional support for Vietnamese studies.

To complement the Center’s new name, it was thought proper that a new seal be created as a symbol and design element for the Center Web site, gifts, and official correspondence. The Center commissioned Chen I-chin 陳怡靜 of the Ho Gallery of the Calligraphic Arts Foundation 河創時書法藝術基金會 in Taipei to create the seal. Ms. Chen was highly recommended by our associate in research Prof. Bai Qianshen 白謙慎, a noted calligrapher and art historian and Associate Professor of Asian Art History at Boston University.

The Ho Gallery was established in 1995 by Ho Guo-ching 何國慶, a noted Taiwanese philanthropist and collector, whose goal was to encourage an interest in Chinese calligraphy and related traditional arts among young people, whom he felt were overly absorbed in the world of electronics. To accomplish this, the Calligraphic Arts Foundation has organized many calligraphic exhibitions in cooperation with museums in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, and symposia have been held in Taipei, Hangzhou, and Beijing.

Ms. Chen has received recognition both for the excellence of her calligraphy and for her seal carving and has bested older and more experienced calligraphers in competitions held in Taiwan.

The Center’s new seal is nearly one square inch in size and includes all thirteen characters in the Center’s Chinese name, 哈佛大學費正清中國研究中心. The seal is carved in the “iron thread style” popular for official occasions during the Yuan dynasty. Carving lines both thin and balanced yet visually pleasing is a challenging task, and Ms. Chen’s skill can be seen in the elegant seal she has produced for the Center.

Chen I-chin of the Ho Gallery of the
Calligraphic Arts Foundation, who carved
the Center’s new seal, with Fairbank Center
Programs Officer Wenhao Tien