Updates to the POCP Website for August 2019

29 August 2019

1. New pics have been uploaded for: PEK1902; and MAC2011, the III/37 Casavant organ at Church of São Lazaro, Macau (these photos were taken by Prof. Urrows at the time of the dedication of the organ.) Some formatting changes to the text on earlier (pre-1949) instruments in the Census have started, and there are further changes/clarifications to details on FCW1915.

2. The HKAGO Summer Organ Academy (SOA): The Hong Kong Chapter of the American Guild of Organists held its second Summer Organ Academy, a camp-like, six-day event for young organists, between 11 and 16 August (https://agohk.org/2019/05/20/summer-organ-academy-2019/). The final concert was given on 18 August on the Rieger organ at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKG1986). A number of the functioning pipe organs in the territory were visited by the students and teachers as well, with opportunities to learn about the differences between them, and open console time. A couple of photos (from the HKAGO website) of the week follow at the bottom of this page. The Project is committed to supporting educational programs such as the SOA. If any visitors to the site have information about similar events in China, please contact us to let us know, and we may include the information in a future Update.

3. The Project is sad to note the passing on 1 August of Prof. R.G. (Gary) Tiedemann (1941-2019), of Shandong University (山东大学), Jinan, PRC, and formerly on staff at the School of Oriental and Asian Studies (SOAS) at the University of London.

Prof. Tiedemann was a giant in the world of China and Christianity studies, and an authority on the Boxer Uprising of 1900. He was a distinguished author, a great personal resource for countless China scholars, and was consulted on many occasions during the writing of Keys to the Kingdom. Without his vast knowledge of many obscure people, places, and events, and his willingness to share his expertise, the historical side of Chapter 4 would be much diminished. He will be greatly missed by everyone connected to The Project. An obituary posted to his website can be found here:

https://rgtiedemann.com/2019/08/05/professor-r-g-tiedemann-1941-2019/

4. New book about Fr. Sigismondo Meinardi: as mentioned in an earlier update, a new edition of the letters of Sigismondo Meinardi OAD has been published in Italy. Fr. Meinardi built an elaborate mechanical box organ during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor, listed in the Census as PEK1741.

The link for (free) download of the entire book is: https://www.comune.druento.to.it/it-it/vivere-il-comune/rubriche/il-mondo-di-sigismondo-1880-1-20bf3a4b322e734557081b008ab49bae

The book is described by the publishers as follows:

Assessorato alla Cultura del Comune di Druento, ed. Il mondo di Sigismondo. Un druentino nella Cina del XVIII secolo. Lettere dell’agostiniano scalzo Padre Sigismondo Meinardi da S. Nicola. Druento & Venaria Reale (Torino): Comune di Druento – Tipografia Commerciale, 2019, 248 pages, local publication, no ISBN.

This is a reset and slightly revised edition of 75 “Turinese letters” in Italian, first printed in a limited edition in 1964 (Sigismondo Meinardi da San Nicola OAD. Epistolario. Parte prima. Lettere originali inviate a Torino. Roma: Edizioni di «Vinculum» – Rivista interna dello Studentato Teologico di Gesù e Maria dei PP. Agostiniani Scalzi, 1964), with some additional essays. These letters were sent to his family and his superiors in Turin by Meinardi (1713-1767, Xi Chengyuan 席澄源), a missionary in Beijing and a clockmaker for the Qianlong emperor.

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