Dr Benson Tong of School of Arts and Social Sciences recognised for research work on sinology and creative writing

07 December 2023

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Dr Benson Tong Tsz-ben of the School of Arts and Social Science has recently received two paper awards in a row. The first one was a Young Scholar Award for his work presented at the 14th International Conference on Sinological Research of East Asia, titled “A Research and Analysis of the Biography Writing of Wang Anshi in Modern China and Its Historical Memories and Individual Consciousness”. Co-organised by the Sinological Research Society of East Asia, Shaanxi University of Technology, Shaanxi Normal University, Nagasaki University, the Department of Taiwanese Literature at Providence University and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Providence University, the conference was held on 4 November this year, bringing together 46 scholars from Japan, Canada, mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao. To encourage young scholars to publish outstanding research work and promote research and international exchange in sinology, a Young Scholar Award is presented at every edition of the conference.

This was closely followed by the good news that another article by Dr Tong, “Resources for Creativity from Chinese Classical Culture: A Discussion on the Creative Thinking and Creation Pattern of 'Old Tales Retold' and Revelations on the Development of Creative Writing”, won the Theory Award of Excellence from the He Jianming Prize for Chinese Creative Writing. The Prize was established with a donation from renowned writer and Nobel Prize in Literature nominee He Jianming and co-hosted by the China Creative Writing Research Institute of Shanghai University, the World Chinese Creative Writing Association and the Shanghai He Jianming Literature Research Institute. Aimed at encouraging outstanding creative writing work and promoting the development of creative writing in the country, the Prize recognises excellence in the areas of creative work, theory work and contributions to teaching through various awards.

Coming to its second edition, the Prize received more than 160 literary work and over 200 paper submissions this year. Dr Tong's achievement is a sign of recognition for HKMU in the field of creative writing.