On 23 September 2026, Prof Chen Zhi, President of Beijing Normal–Hong Kong Baptist University (BNBU) and an internationally recognised scholar of Chinese literature, history and Sinology, delivered a President’s Talk titled “Searching for the Roots of Rhythm: Poetry, Bronze Inscriptions, and Yayue”, taking faculty and students on a journey into the origins of classical Chinese poetry and ritual music.
BNBU President Prof Chen Zhi
BNBU Academic Registrar Prof Li Jianhui hosts the lecture
Drawing on evidence from Western Zhou bronze inscriptions, The Book of Songs and historical materials on yayue (ritual music), Prof Chen revisited longstanding questions surrounding the origins of early Chinese poetry and the dating of the Zhou Hymns (Zhou Song) in The Book of Songs. By examining these sources together, he offered new perspectives on the development of rhymed bronze inscriptions and the four-character poetic form, tracing their roots to the ritual and musical culture of the Western Zhou period.
Towards the end of the talk, Prof Chen compared answers from four large language models on questions including poems and idiomatic expressions found in Western Zhou bronze inscriptions. While acknowledging AI's strengths, he highlighted its limitations in scholarly reasoning and in-depth textual research.
During the Q&A session, students asked about poetic expression and how to cultivate academic interests. Drawing on his own scholarly experience, Professor Chen encouraged students to follow their interests and pursue knowledge with dedication and rigour.
Students raise questions to the president during the Q&A session
The talk offered students a deeper perspective on the origins and development of Chinese literary and ritual traditions, while encouraging them to approach classical texts and cultural heritage with curiosity, critical thinking and a commitment to rigorous scholarship.
From MPRO
Photographer: Owen Li, Chen Caiwei
Editor: Cecilia Yu
