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Exhibit Commemorates First International Conference on Dream of the Red Chamber
MADISON, Wis. – An exhibit on display in Memorial Library commemorates the thirtieth anniversary of the first International Conference on Dream of the Red Chamber, the eighteenth-century Chinese novel by Cao Xueqin. The inaugural conference was held at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, June 16–20, 1980. Eighty-eight scholars from the United States, China, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Canada, Japan, Singapore, and South Korea attended the conference.
The first international conference on the Dream of the Red Chamber was a milestone with three significant features: it was the first international conference on “redology” research; it was the first time an international conference focused on one novel; and it was believed to be the first time Chinese scholars were able to attend an international conference after the Cultural Revolution. As stated by the first conference’s sponsor and organizer Professor Chow Tse-tsung, the conference [was] “undoubtedly an unprecedented important event in the history of China and the world literature exchange.”
The exhibit in Memorial Library offers rich content, including a number of unpublished poems and other works by the artists who attended the conference. East Asian Studies Librarian Dianna Xu says she is deeply grateful to Professor Chow, his wife Nancy Wu, their daughters Lena and Genie for their generous donations. In the long process of preparing this exhibit, Ms. Xu has received much help from library staff members and faculty. “I have heard many favorable comments about the exhibit. Without so many people’s dedicated services and their phenomenal talents, there is no way we could have had such a commemorative exhibition.”
The exhibit, located in the lobby of Memorial Library, runs through April 9, 2011.
