Humanities

From nomadic looms to global collectors, Afghan war rugs chart the region’s turbulent history through an age-old weaving tradition. Incorporating weapons, maps, and political imagery into familiar motifs, these rugs reflect shifting political realities, the ingenuity of Baloch weavers, and the influence of a rapidly commercialised market.

Lingnan University will confer honorary doctoral degrees on six distinguished individuals in recognition of their outstanding achievements and valuable contributions to humanity. They are Dr Fok Chun-wan, SBS, JP, a well-known patriotic businessman; Dr Li Ning, an entrepreneur; The Hon Liao Cheung-kong Martin, GBM, GBS, JP, Chairman of The Hong Kong Jockey Club; Prof Tao Tang, an academic leader; Prof Wang Anyi, one of the very best writers in the contemporary literary scene; and Mr Donnie Yen, an international action star.

Using mobile phone traces, transit data, and spatial modelling, SUTD researchers produced one of Singapore’s most detailed district-level maps of transport emissions that offers new insights into how urban form shapes daily mobility.

Three Lingnan University students, He Shiwei, Lu Beian, and Xing Zixuan, stood out in the 2025 Study Hong Kong 10 Outstanding International Students in Hong Kong Selection, and received HK$3,000 scholarships at the ceremony on 14 December.

From Jesuit apothecaries in Goa to royal treasuries in Europe, Goa stones were sought-after remedies and status objects in the seventeenth century. Discover how these artificial bezoars were made, traded, and treasured across continents.

Lingnan University will confer four honorary fellowships, recognising the outstanding professional achievements and valuable contributions to the community and the education sector of the distinguished recipients, Mr Chan Chun-ying, BBS, JP; The Hon Ip Kwok-him, GBM, GBS, JP; Mr Lam Tin-fuk, GBS, JP; and Mr Ng Leung-sing, SBS, JP, whose biographies follow:

Known as chattra, koda, godugu, sesath and hti in several Indian, Sri Lankan and Burmese languages, the ceremonial parasol has remained a symbol of divinity and political authority across South and Southeast Asia. Discover some of its earliest depictions and read about its making and use today.

As Japan moves closer to becoming the first nation to allow research on human embryos created from lab-grown sperm and eggs, a leading bioethicist at Hiroshima University has cautioned against the widening gap between rapid scientific advances and slower pace of ethical and societal deliberation.

Dr Rodrigo emphasized that AI in education must be grounded in culture—responsive to students’ lived experiences, classroom realities, and national contexts.

New study argues standard forms of consent for cell donations would not be appropriate for this line of research

The campus of Lingnan University became a whirlwind journey across continents as the Office of Global Education (OGE) and Office of Student Affairs (OSA) successfully hosted International Day 2025 “Around the World” recently, a dynamic celebration of cultural diversity that brought the globe to the doorstep and drew over 800 participants, marking a remarkable 60 per cent increase in attendance.

The Asia-Pacific Institute of Ageing Studies (APIAS) at Lingnan University celebrated its "Life Story and Epitaph" project with an opening ceremony for the Epitaph Exhibition on 10 October 2025. The event brought together nearly 70 participants included older adults from three community centres in Tuen Mun and Kowloon City, Lingnan University students, and members of the public.

In 2022, Bangladeshi architecture firm Sthapotik designed a mausoleum for the influential 20th-century Uwaisi pir (saint), Shah Muhammad Mohshin Khan. Located in Manikganj, approximately 54 kilometres from Dhaka, this building stands out as a most unconventional interpretation of the traditional dargah, or Sufi tomb.

The Lingnan University Institute for Advanced Study (LUIAS) held a ceremony on campus today, 15 October, to confer the title of Senior Lingnan Scholar on Prof Xu Zidong, former Professor and Head of the Department of Chinese at Lingnan University, in recognition of his important contributions to modern Chinese literature. Prof Xu gave a talk entitled “The Beginning of Modern Chinese Literature”, sharing insights from his latest publication, The Collected Works of Xu Zidong with students and faculty, and exploring key issues in modern Chinese literature. The lecture provided a platform for cultural dialogue and exchange, and was attended by about 700 students, faculty, and bibliophiles.

Ateneo de Manila University and Science Communicators Philippines explored how scientific knowledge can be better shared, understood, and applied for the public good.

Lingnan University held a flag-raising ceremony to celebrate the 76th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

Lingnan University was commissioned to conduct a Hong Kong School Children Happiness Annual Survey in 2012. In 2017/18 this annual study was augmented by including a survey on life education in schools. Since 2023, the Lingnan team was joined by the Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine of the University of Hong Kong, the Department of Paediatrics of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong Paediatric Society. The 2024/2025 study began with an invitation sent to all Hong Kong’s subvented schools in March 2023. We enlisted a total of 10 primary schools and 8 secondary schools in this study, covering 1752 primary school students, 1982 secondary school students, and 116 teachers.

Chimeric, half-human, half-animal figures of stone guard the doorways of many historic and contemporary temples across the world. Read more about these powerful entities and how they were crucial to the evolution of Hindu and Buddhist practices in southern India.

Japanese scholars submit a nuanced view linking diverse disability experiences

The CREW Intelligent Wheelchair Control System, developed by the Humanitarian Technology team of the Lingnan Entrepreneurship Initiative (LEI) of Lingnan University, won the “Top 10 Technological Innovation Award” at the “Shenzhen International Intelligent Elderly Care Industry Expo ‘Industrial Bank Cup’ The First Shenzhen Health & Elderly Care Robotics Competition”.

To encourage new students to explore and take part in all the different aspects of university life, Lingnan held a key orientation activity, its Campus Life Carnival, last night, 4 September. Over a thousand new students visited the 40 stands set up by student societies, university teams and units encouraged new students to join, gave advice, and explained Lingnan’s many extracurricular activities.

In the East Indian Ocean, the indigenous inhabitants of Nicobar carved fearsome figurines called hantakoi to fight off malevolent spirits. These totemic scare-devils, represented in both human and zoomorphic form, reveal the ways in which the people of Nicobar engaged with other dwellers of the Indian Ocean world.

The five-day 12th South-South Forum on Sustainability, hosted by the Chinese Institute of Hong Kong and co-organised by the Centre for Cultural Research and Development of Lingnan University, the Global University for Sustainability, the Centre for Film Studies and Cultural Studies of Peking University, and the Tsinghua Institute for Advanced Study in Humanities and Social Sciences of Tsinghua University, and coordinated locally by the Shangyou County People’s Government, is currently being held in Shangyou County, Ganzhou City, Jiangxi Province, China, the first time the Forum has taken place in Jiangxi.

Curate the Curious, an annual exhibition curated by 36 students of the Master of Arts in Curating and Art History (MACAH) at Lingnan University, will be held from 1-10 August. Introducing a new-generation curatorial perspective, the exhibition presents the hidden stories behind more than 50 paintings, sculptures, videos, and new media art by over 30 well-known artists from Mainland China and Hong Kong. The six curiosity-driven themes are designed to inspire audiences to embark on their own journey of artistic discovery and dialogue. Admission is free.

The Horizon Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Research (JHSSR) proudly announces the release of its Special ASAIHL Edition – Volume 7(S), August 2025, themed “University’s Role in Advancing Climate Crisis Reduction.” This commemorative edition captures the pioneering spirit of Southeast Asian academia in addressing one of the 21st century’s most urgent global challenges—climate change. Curated from the prestigious 2024 ASAIHL Conference, hosted by Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia (Nov 19–22, 2024), this issue brings together a diverse body of scholarly contributions from researchers, policymakers, and educators across ASEAN and beyond. It marks a significant milestone in the academic community’s mission to inspire sustainable education, ethical leadership, and climate-responsive innovation.

An early 19th-century miniature painting depicts a late-night tryst between two lovers, under the storm clouds of twilight skies. Created in western India’s Mewar court atelier, by the master painter Chokha, this image reveals layers of meaning.

With the release of the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) results on 16 July, Lingnan University is rolling out a series of admissions support initiatives to assist this year’s candidates in selecting their undergraduate programmes. In addition to expanding its personalised support services, the University is also launching a wide range of new scholarships for the 2025/26 academic year, including seven rounds of online one-on-one JUPAS consultation sessions which started in May. These initiatives will help students make informed choices before finalising their JUPAS selections.

To encourage more young people to learn about and appreciate the Chinese culture, Lingnan University has mounted an exhibition, which opened today, 10 July, entitled “The Art of Ho Wing-cheong and Collaborative Painting with Lingnan Students” at its off-campus learning hub Lingnan@WestKowloon, where the painting “The Spring Blossoms”, a collaborative creation by Mr Ho Wing-cheong, the renowned Lingnan School painter, President of the Hong Kong Art Instructors Association, and Senior Instructor of the Lingnan School of Painting, and 20 Lingnan University students from different academic backgrounds, is shown for the first time. About 40 paintings by Mr Ho are on display, and the exhibition aims to encourage young people and the wider community to understand and relate to Chinese culture. The public can register online to visit the exhibition. There is no entrance charge.

Lingnan University in Hong Kong held a flag-raising ceremony to celebrate the 28th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).

In 1938, archaeologists discovered an ivory statuette of a goddess in the ruins of the Roman city of Pompeii, which was buried under ash for thousands of years after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE. Who was this goddess — Lakshmi, the Hindu deity of wealth and prosperity or Venus, the Roman goddess of beauty — and why was she in Pompeii?