The Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong 香港東方陶瓷學會

28/10/2026

OCS was honored to host Prof Craig Clunas for a lecture on the Ming Dynasty imperial family, in which he challenged the details as recorded in the official history by presenting images and text that suggested at the very least, missing information. Details can be found in his recently published book "Sons of Heaven: Family and Dynasty in Ming China".

Thanks to members and friends for attending and participating in the very engaged Q&A, including the one dubbed a "hit and run"!

We are also grateful to the speaker, who gave not one, but three different lectures in Hong Kong, all made possible by the generous support of the Susan Chen Foundation, whose founder and executives joined us for this special evening.

29/09/2026

The 2nd Susan Chen Foundation Lecture: The Imperial Family in Ming China: Image and Text by Prof Craig Clunas

Date: Wednesday 21st October 2026
Location: Hong Kong Club
Registration: 18:30
Lecture: 19:00
Dinner: 20:00
Lecture only: (Free) Public
Lecture & Dinner*: $1000 Members; $1100 Non-members

Please register: Link in bio

The Oriental Ceramic Society is honoured to announce the second Susan Chen Foundation Lecture, The Imperial Family in Ming China: Image and Text, delivered by the eminent art historian of China, Professor Craig Clunas. The focus of his talk will be his most recent research on the history of the Ming imperial family.

Craig Clunas is Professor Emeritus of the History of Art, University of Oxford, and the author of over a dozen books on Chinese art and culture, with a particular focus on the Ming period. They include, Superfluous Things: Material Culture and Social Status in China (1991), Empire of Great Brightness: Visual and Material Cultures in Ming China, 1368-1644 (2007), and Chinese Painting and its Audiences (2017). His most recent book is Sons of Heaven: Family and Dynasty in Ming China (Reaktion Books, 2026). A Fellow of the British Academy, he has lectured internationally and curated several exhibitions including Ming: 50 Years that Changed China at the British Museum in 2014.

With the generous support of the Susan Chen Foundation, the Oriental Ceramic Society is able to present this lecture for free. We urge you to reserve your seat early to avoid disappointment.

25/09/2026

The International Symposium on Imperial Workshops of the Qing Court: Objects and Archives (7–8 October 2026) is co-organised by the Art Museum of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Art Museum of CUHK) and the Hong Kong Palace Museum.

Event page: https://www.artmuseum.cuhk.edu.hk/en/training/current/detail/404

Date: 7 October, 2026 (WED)
Time: 9:00 – 18:30 (Onsite registration starts at 8:15)
Onsite Participation: The Hong Kong Jockey Club Auditorium, LG/F, Hong Kong Palace Museum, West Kowloon Cultural District, 8 Museum Drive, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Online Participation: Zoom and WeChat

Date: 8 October, 2026 (THU)
Time: 9:00 - 18:30 (Onsite registration starts at 08:30)
Onsite Participation: G/F, Lo Kwee Seong Pavilion, Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong
Online Participation: Zoom and WeChat

Registration for Onsite Participation^: https://cloud.itsc.cuhk.edu.hk/webform/view.php?id=13739972
Registration for Online Participation: Zoom(https://cuhk.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_zEK7TxNKTNOCTAcGxSWCeg) or WeChat (https://online.flippingbook.com/view/984463744/)

^In-person places are limited and subject to confirmation by email.

23/09/2026

17/09/2026

AGM Lecture by Prof Roger King: The Age of Transformation: Chinese Porcelain in the 13th–15th Centuries from the Jinglexuan Collection

Date: Monday 28th September 2026
Registration: 6:00pm
AGM: 6:30 pm
Lecture: 7:00 pm
Dinner*: 8:00 pm
The Hong Kong Club
Lecture only: $200 Members; $250 Non-members
Lecture & Dinner: $1,250 Members; $1,350 Non-members

*: Please note that dinner reservations can only be confirmed upon payment and will be closed 4 days prior to the event. Please contact us to reserve a place.

Please register: https://orientalceramics.org.hk/event/agm-lectureby-prof-roger-king/

The OCS is delighted to announce that this year’s AGM Lecture will be delivered by Prof. Roger King.

Professor King’s lecture will focus on his collection of approximately 120 ceramics spanning the late Song (960–1279), Yuan (1271–1368), and early Ming (1368–1644) dynasties. Throughout the lecture, some of the most important items will be showcased, including recent acquisitions—particularly blue-and-white and copper-red pieces. The discussion will also trace how the collection was first started back in the 1980s, as well as address some of the challenges faced by the speaker in building the collection.

Prof. Roger King has been a collector for nearly 40 years. He is Senior Advisor and Founding Director of the Roger King Center for Asian Family Business and Family Office at HKUST Business School, and is a world-leading expert in Family Business, Family Office, Entrepreneurship, and Corporate and Family Governance. Before his current role, he had a distinguished career spanning naval service, corporate leadership, and public advisory roles, including serving as a former US naval officer, Non-Executive Director of Orient Overseas (International) Limited, President of the Harvard School Association of Hong Kong, and Standing Committee Member of the Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.

Credits: Dish, Jingdezhen Ware, With Underglaze-Blue Decoration, Yuan Dynasty 14th Century, 46.7cm Diameter. Jinglexuan Collection

17/07/2026

Thanks to Dr Nicole Chiang and the Hong Kong Palace Museum for a fascinating tour of the newly opened exhibition "The Forbidden City and the World"!

The many beautiful and sometimes surprising items on display highlight the role that the imperial palace played in the interactions that China had with foreign cultures. Many of the arts we recognize today as "Chinese" were first imported: from the materials used, technologies adapted, and motifs that were included. The wide range of media includes ceramics, glass, various enamel wares, lacquerware, gold, textiles woven with peacock and kingfisher feathers, jade and more!

Dr Chiang's explanations about how all these came to be in the imperial palace opened a window into the history of increasing globalization in late imperial China.

Thanks to all OCS members and friends for joining us!

09/07/2026

Thanks to all who made possible this truly enjoyable double-event day at CUHK Art Museum.

The morning started with an enlightening lecture on the history and artistry of zisha and its inextricable relationship to tea by the ceramic artist Dr Gao Zhenyu. Stunning examples of his work were on display in the lobby area.

In the afternoon, we had the great pleasure of being guided through the exhibition of Qianlong era treasures from the Huaihaitang collection, from paintings and calligraphy to textiles, glass, etchings, jades, lacquerware, and of course ceramics, all at the level of excellence you expect only from the Qianlong era. As fascinating were the records from imperial archives that curator Dr Tong Yu dug up that give insights and specific dates to these items, also helpfully highlighted on the walls of the display cases. We were also graced with the presence of director Josh Yiu and the collector Anthony Cheung, each sharing their knowledge to enrich our experience. Many thanks for such a wonderful tour! It's definitely worth a return visit for lingering over each stupendous work.

15/06/2026

4 July 2026 – Art Museum Artist-in-Residence Programme Public Lecture & Guided Viewing at CUHK
Date: Saturday 4 July 2026
Registration: 10:15–10:30am
Public Lecture: 10:30am–12:00pm
Lunch: 12:00-1:00pm***
Guided Viewing: 1:00-2:00pm
Place: Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong* **

Please register: link in bio

The Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong is delighted to announce a lecture by Dr Gao Zhenyu, followed by a guided viewing of ‘The Qianlong Emperor: A Legacy in Art, The Huaihaitang Collection’ with curator Dr. Tong Yu, at the Art Museum of The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Lecture Zisha: A Craft Born for Tea
In this lecture Dr Gao will share the craft, creativity, and inheritance of zisha art, and the relationship between zisha and Chinese tea culture.

Please kindly note that the lecture will be delivered in Mandarin.

Guided Viewing of ‘The Qianlong Emperor: A Legacy in Art, The Huaihaitang Collection’
This exhibition features over 150 works selected from the Huaihaitang Collection, nearly half of which have been generously donated to the CUHK Art Museum for research and teaching purposes.

* ** ***: please kindly refer to our website for details.

11/06/2026

Back in March, we have had the pleasure to have Dr Wang Guanyu, from the Art Museum, CUHK, to give our members a guided viewing of her exhibition, “Yuan Blue and White: New Discoveries from Jingdezhen”.

Jointly organized by the Art Museum of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Institute, this exhibition focuses on Yuan blue-and-white porcelain and highlights the archaeological discoveries from Jingdezhen over the years, including the most recently unearthed ceramic specimens from 2023 and 2024, supplemented by collections from the Art Museum and the Hong Kong Museum of Art.

Apart from the history of the blue and white wares, as shown in our images, the conservationists have taken great pains to reimagine how shards would have looked if the pieces were to be found altogether. This shows how technology and history meet in our current time.

21/05/2026

Many thanks to Dr Nicole Chiang, of the Hong Kong Palace Museum, for sharing her groundbreaking research on the Qing "imperial art collection", challenging us to re-consider each of those three words in this concept as we now understand it. And, what a great crowd that showed up for her lecture, following up with great questions!

Many of you asked where you could find her book "Emperor Qianlong's Hidden Treasures"; it is currently available at the website of Hong Kong University Press.