World War I and China

18 Sep 2014

Confucius Institute’s Free Public Talks on China 2014 looks at war marking its centenary

2014 marks the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War One, a war which significantly reshaped the world in the 20th century.

Dr Jenny Clegg, from the University of Central Lancashire, will discuss the Chinese Labour Corps in France as part of the Confucius Institute’s Free Public Talks on China 2014.

Her talk aims to explore this wartime encounter between China and the West, focusing on the much neglected part played by Chinese Labour Corps at the Western front. What were the circumstances which brought these workers to France? And what of their experiences in a foreign land and the knowledge of the West that they brought back when they were repatriated? What influences did these have in the shaping of China’s emerging national consciousness, and its search for a distinctive modernity?

The free talk will be held on Wednesday 24 September, 1–2pm, at The Kanaris Theatre, Manchester Museum, Oxford Road, M13 9PL.