Official
Publication of US-China Peoples Friendship Association, Chicago Chapter, www.uscpfa.org/chicago
Roger Noback, Chapter President and Editor,
630/762-8225, rogernoback@msn.com JANUARY 28, 2007
“The only way to have
a friend is to be one.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Scheduled venue, time, topic, and activity for the USCPFA January
28, 2007 meeting (avoids Bears game)
are 2-4 p.m. @ House of
Fortune Restaurant, 2407 S.
Wentworth Ave., Chinatown, Chicago
LET THE DRAGON AND ELEPHANT TANGO:
CHINA AND INDIA, OR CHINDIA
By Prof.
TAN CHUNG谭中,
Center for East Asian Studies, University of Chicago,
Academic Assoc. and
Emeritus
Fellow, Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi
No topic in China
is now considered more important than the prospects of institutionalized
collaboration between China
and India,
and no topic is more important today in international relations. No present speaker has greater qualifications
to address this topic than Prof. Tan, since both he and his father spent their
lives studying this subject (for decades before it rose to its current
preeminence) and maintained friendship with India’s most prominent statesmen
and intellectuals. Our speaker will
discuss the past, present and future of this relationship.
“The China-India neighborhood
is the god’s design.” This is the observation of Ji Xianlin, doyen of India studies in China. The portmanteau neologism “CHINDIA,” invented by India’s Commerce Minister, Jairam
Ramesh, fits this categorization. Born in the same Himalayan cradle, both the
Chinese and Indian civilizations share many commonalities. Buddhism marched
from India to China to become
one of the world’s most popular religions. Mahayanism is a “made in China” with
Indian investment. The Chindian interfacial strength
enabled China
to distinguish itself as the only, and extraordinary, political roof sheltering
1/6 to 1/3 of humanity in the last 20 centuries. The simultaneous rebirth of India (Republic) and China (People’s Republic) augurs
well for the revitalization of “vasudhaiva kutumbakam/天下一家”---the
world becoming one family. We Americans should welcome the dragon and elephant
tango.” FOR COURTESY AND INFORMATION, PLEASE ATTEND!
Speaker’s
BIO. Born 1929
in Malaysia, grew up in China, spent 45 years (1955-1999) in India mainly teaching Chinese language and
history (Delhi University
and Jawaharlal Nehru
University), Tan Chung is now Emeritus
Fellow of the Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi,
and Academic Associate of the Center for East Asian Studies, University of Chicago.
He has authored 9 books in English and 4 in Chinese with another one in the
offing. His new book (co-authored with Peking University Professor Geng
Yinzeng) India and China: Twenty Centuries of Civilizational Interaction and
Vibration, is Volume III, Part 6 of the encyclopedic series of History
of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization. Prof. Tan
Chung is the son of a renowned Chindian
scholar, Prof. Tan Yun-shan (1898-1983), old associate of Nobel Laureate poet
Rabindranath Tagore and Prime Minister Nehru. For seven odd decades the two Tan
generations have dedicated themselves to a single cause of “CHINDIA,” which is
the subject of this talk. REGISTER
AND SAVE THE DATES (See below and the chapter website)
CAAGC
CHINESE NEW YEAR CELEBRATION: Make Your Reservations Now (while avail.) for this Feb. 17, 2007 Gala Event through the
auspices of the USCPFA-Chicago Chapter by contacting Chapter member Helen Mui,
847.848.0083 (cell), helen_m_mui@yahoo.com, 209 Mystic Place, Vernon Hills, IL
60061 and sending her a check for $40 made out to the “USCPFA-Chicago
Chapter.” [Please note
zip code correction from earlier announcement.] This is the best and biggest Chinese New Year
Celebration in Chicagoland, with typically 1000 or so patrons and outstanding Entertainment Direct from China
(Only avail. to Chapter Members).
VISIT EXHIBIT of Master Beijing Painter and
Photographers from Beijing Federation of Literature & Art, which continues until
the end of February, 2007, at College
of DuPage Library, Glen
Ellyn: Ordinary Beijinger’s Life exhibit of
40+ photos and 10 Ink Paintings exhibit on the motif, FISH.
(Notice Encl.) Directions at www.cod.edu/Maps_Loc.htm
or Chapter Website; Hours? See www.cod.edu/library/
or call 630.942.2350).
Sarah Fraser, Nwern Prof.&Chair, Art Hist. Dept., delivers unique
3-D presentation on Dunhuang caves and Silk Road at Art Institute of
Chi. 1/11/07 at 6pm. DON’T MISS
IT! Mongolian TV editor lunch
on 1/19/07, Chi Press Club, Contact Harry Lepinske, IIT, 708.246.5556, lepinske@juno.com, $20 in advance.
PLEASE RENEW YOUR 2006 MEMBERSHIP ARRIVING
IN YOUR EMAIL AND MAIL.
The
regular monthly Chapter meeting includes a delicious traditional
Chinese multi-course meal, which begins at 2 pm; the hour long luncheon talk
(with Q&A) begins at 3 pm; and all this is only $15. Cfade12807FINALema