Professor CHENG Pei-kai, Founding Director and Professor of the Chinese Civilisation Centre, joined the City University of Hong Kong in July 1998. A cultural historian and poet, he previously taught history and directed the East Asian Studies programme at Pace University of New York. He has a PhD from Yale in European and Chinese intellectual history and literature, an MA from the University of Hawaii in History, and a BA from National Taiwan University in history and literature. His main research interest is the interaction of Chinese Cultural Aesthetics and material culture, with the emphasis on the cultural contexts of artistic creativity. The history of the material base for the development of an intangible cultural heritage is the main focus of his academic exploration, specifically on the economy of Kunqu and its modern predicament, tea and the evolution of Chinese cultural aesthetics, and Chinese export porcelain and maritime trade. In these diverse but interrelated areas, he has published and edited more than thirty books in addition to numerous articles and essays exploring into the essential issues concerning the changing nature of Chinese cultural aesthetics. Dr. FAN, Ka Wai began work at the Chinese Civilisation Centre, City University of Hong Kong in 1998 and now is an assistant Professor. Prior to joining the City University of Hong Kong, he was an assistant professor in the Institute of History at National Tsinghua University, Taiwan. Dr. Fan earned his PhD (1997) in history from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He has published extensively (articles, book chapters, encyclopedia entries, and reviews). He has published four books one in English (Routledge) and three in Chinese (Chinese University Press, Fudan University Press and Dongda Publishing House), and numerous articles appeared in international journals.
