Lectures & Other Activities

The Sino-Humanitas Distinguished Scholar Lecture Series, organized by the The Mr. Simon Suen and Mrs. Mary Suen Sino-Humanitas Institute, has been held for over ten years. The series has invited more than twenty distinguished scholars in Chinese humanities from both within the region and abroad to deliver lectures at Hong Kong Baptist University. This time, we are honoured to invite Professor Zhangcan CHENG from Nanjing University to present a lecture themed “The Tongcheng Literary Tradition in the Mountains: An Examination of Stone Inscriptions at the Dragon God Temple, Linggu Temple, Zhongshan, Nanjing.” Event details are as follows.

Sino-Humanitas Distinguished Scholar Lecture: The Tongcheng Literary Tradition in the Mountains: An Examination of Stone Inscriptions at the Dragon God Temple, Linggu Temple, Zhongshan, Nanjing

Organiser: Mr. Simon Suen and Mrs. Mary Suen Sino-Humanitas Institute
Date: 2 March 2026, Monday
Time: 4:00 – 5:30 pm
Venue: Room CEC801, 8/F, Christian Education Centre, Ho Sin Hang Campus, Hong Kong Baptist University
Speaker: Professor Zhangcan CHENG (Zhicheng Distinguished Professor and Director of Institute of Chinese Classics, Nanjing University)
Language: Mandarin

About the speaker (in Chinese only):

程章燦，1963年生，北京大學歷史學學士（1983），南京大學文學博士（1989），2008年受聘教育部「長江學者」特聘教授。曾任南京大學圖書館館長、南京大學學位委員會委員、校務委員會委員，現任南京大學古典文獻研究所所長，文學院教授、博士生導師，南京大學學術委員會委員。兼任中宣部全國古籍整理出版規劃領導小組成員，教育部全國高校古籍整理研究工作委員會副主任、江蘇省文史館館員。主要研究興趣為中國古代文學、古典文獻學、江蘇與南京地方文化，主編《江蘇文庫文獻編》，出版「南京三書」。

Summary (in Chinese only):

程章燦教授以「山中的桐城文脉——鍾山靈谷寺龍神廟石刻考」為題，透過靈谷寺石刻考釋，揭示桐城派在南京的傳承歷程。講座聚焦八功德水池旁四塊石碑中的兩篇關鍵碑文：伍光瑜《禱雨紀異碑》與曾國藩《靈谷龍神廟碑記》。伍光瑜為姚鼐鍾山書院弟子，其碑文記載道光四年禱雨靈驗之事，撰於道光九年，體現桐城派「考據、義理、詞章」相結合的文章筆法。約四十年後，曾國藩於同治六年因旱災禱雨靈谷寺，應驗後重建龍神廟，並命幕僚吳汝綸代擬碑文。吳稿經曾國藩親自修改潤色，耗時四日方成，從「屢修屢廢」改為「屢興屢廢」等十三處異文，可見其對文章之重視。神位題名亦經幕府討論，從「西天阿耨八功德水龍神」定為「靈谷龍神」，強化儒家義理，體現從佛家到儒家、從城中到山中的文化滲透。曾國藩此文後被黎庶昌收入《續古文辭類纂》，完成經典化。兩碑串聯，見證桐城文脈在金陵從姚鼐到曾國藩、從書院到山林的百年綿延。

(Recorded by Fung Pui Yi, research postgraduate of the Institute)