The Last Lesson II: A Memory Book for This Life, Looking Back at the Moment of Rupture

◤ "The Last Lecture" Series 2 · Warmly Released ◢

Lo Wing-sang, Fan Sin-piu, Hui Wai-hang, Gordon Mathews
Four Hong Kong intellectuals reflect on their academic journeys and thoughts:

Walking with the times
Learning together in the darkness

At a time of unavoidable rupture, planting seeds of memory for the future

Consciousness of decolonization, reflection on knowledge | Lo Wing-sang
In 2021, a document from the school unilaterally ended Lo Wing-sang's 28-year teaching career at the institution. Although he couldn't publicly deliver a final lecture, his critique of colonialism, anti-colonialism, and nationhood is far from over. Faced with a whirlpool of power and reality, one must live with integrity and sincerity.

Preserving the murmurs of the periphery | Fan Sin-piu
As a university professor, writer, literary researcher, and promoter, Fan Sin-piu looks back at the intertwining paths of his growth, teaching, research, and the changing Hong Kong society, reflecting on his identity and the Hong Kong he envisions. Understanding the ambiguities of the past is to gain a deeper understanding of the complex real world.

Resisting darkness with truth | Hui Wai-hang
Hui Wai-hang, author of "64 Questions," taught Chinese History for 17 years and also General Studies. When history education began to change its nature and General Studies became history, he felt he could no longer be a competent teacher and chose to leave. But leaving was the start of another journey; only by persisting in research and uncovering the truth can one continue to seek light in the darkness.

Making Hong Kong home, loving the world through thought | Gordon Mathews
From the US to Hong Kong, and then traveling between Hong Kong and Japan, anthropology opened up Gordon Mathews' journey of exploration, and Hong Kong became his beloved home. Mathews' classes were held at the university and also in the multicultural Chungking Mansions. He cares about global changes and every life in daily existence.

｜Shared Golden Quotes｜
"Hong Kong intellectuals must not only have the courage to say no to power, but also prevent themselves from getting lost in the vortex of cognitive warfare between empires, seriously respect history, and honestly confront the complex 'self-constitution' shaped 'between empires'." —Lo Wing-sang

"During that period, what I was most interested in studying were often those on the verge of being forgotten, incidental occurrences, and unchosen paths. These people and events seemed to remind me that Hong Kong's later appearance was not inevitable." —Fan Sin-piu

"Since true contemporary history is difficult to obtain in the classroom, Hongkongers today must read history well to help the next generation resist false history." —Hui Wai-hang

"Humans are the only creatures in the universe who can look up and gaze at the moon, clouds, lightning, sunrises, and sunsets—in this sense, we are the nerve endings of the universe. We live to love each other, and to be in awe of this world into which we are privileged to be born." —Gordon Mathews

Book Features

The last lecture is a farewell, but also a continuation; it is about looking to the future through memory.
In different eras, how did teachers deliver their "last lecture" before leaving their posts?
How can these fleeting glimpses of thought penetrate layers of barriers and reunite with readers in the future?

Fleurs des Lettres Publishing presents "The Last Lecture" series, compiling scholars' and teachers' reflections on their academic journeys and thoughts as they depart from the podium. This allows dialogues interrupted in the classroom to continue through our current reading and reflection.

This book is the second volume in the series, inviting four scholars who have taught in Hong Kong for many years to write their last lectures, offering profound reflections on education and scholarship:
▍Lo Wing-sang, cultural studies scholar, retired Associate Professor in the Department of Cultural Studies, Lingnan University
▍Fan Sin-piu, Hong Kong writer and scholar, retired Professor in the Department of Chinese Language and Literature, Chinese University of Hong Kong
▍Hui Wai-hang, secondary school teacher, formerly taught Chinese History and General Studies
▍Gordon Mathews, retired Professor in the Department of Anthropology, Chinese University of Hong Kong

Jointly Recommended with Emotion

Hsing Fu-seng (Research Fellow, Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica)
Leung Kai-chi (Visiting Assistant Research Fellow, Institute of Sociology, Academia Sinica)
Chan Cheuk-wai (Distinguished Research Fellow, Research Center for Humanities and Social Sciences, Academia Sinica)
Huang Ko-wu (Distinguished Research Fellow, Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica)
Huang Chung-yi (Professor, Department of Geography, National Taiwan University)
Huang Shu-mei (Professor, Graduate Institute of Building and Planning, National Taiwan University)
Liu Shao-hua (Anthropologist)

2025-12-03

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