The University presented the first prize of the 9th Dream of the Red Chamber Award to Taiwan novelist Mr. Kan Yao Ming for his novel Becoming Bunun at the prize presentation ceremony held on 25 November 2022, with Dr. Clement Chen, GBS, JP, Chairman of the Council and the Court of HKBU, and Professor Stuart Christie, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Arts as the officiating guests.

Mr. Kan expressed his gratitude upon receiving the Award at the Ceremony and expressed his pleasure in visiting Hong Kong in order to pay his respects to the grave of Australian Sergeant A.A. James, a real-life historical figure portrayed in Becoming Bunun (click here for his full address in Chinese). Following the Ceremony, Mr. Kan detailed aspects of his writer’s journey during the talk “Writers in Dialogue”.

With the generous sponsorship from Mr. Zhang Da Peng, President of Y. Cee Chemicals Ltd., HKBU’s Faculty of Arts has held the Dream of the Red Chamber Award biennially since 2006. The award aims to encourage the publication of excellent Chinese novels, recognise outstanding Chinese novels by writers from around the world, and enhance the standard of Chinese novel writing. The winner of the first prize receives HK$300,000 and a certificate, as well as a hand-made, blown-glass trophy created by Dr. Sunny Wang, Associate Professor of the Academy of Visual Arts at HKBU.