I am really happy to receive Li Xuemei’s card from Halifax! I am happy for her to find the first pro job that fits her interest. After Ian and Heather’s technical endeavour in digitization and systems, now Xuemei is settling in this new position at Saint Mary’s University.
Hard to believe 2009 is leaving us soon, but glad to see us growing. Wish all of you, in China, Colorado, Florida, McGill and Halifax a happy holiday season and a prosperous 2010!
I was invited by the History folks, and Anna forwarded me the primary sources that Prof. Van de Ven used for his article on Liao Chengzhi’s case. I was thrilled to see the hand-written letters from He Xiangning, Zhou Enlai and Sun Fo, and those used-to-be top secret telegram decoded archives. The Reading Group filled the bright CCR office. Discussing in person with 方教授, Prof. Brook, Alison and the graduate buddies was fascinating！ 不禁向这位剑桥学者请教大陆方面原始资料的挖掘情形。他解释了南方局1942年的案子在当年以及多年后的影响，中共中央档案馆应该有大量的文件，但并无解密迹象，连央视摄制组的人都无权光顾，更何况海外学人。
隔天方教授在亚洲研究所的演讲更有趣。他对中国海关史料的关注似乎出于他在南京大学的偶然发现。原来南大的民国史料如此丰富，他当年发现的成千上万的缩微胶卷是中国海关最早的原始资料，居然没有被整理过。类似的情况在国内可能还有，所以很多我们可以挖掘的史料，正如在北美的大量英文史料有关中国，却没有得到整理加工和数字化的优先权。可以做的事情实在是很多，可以当作爱好而并非工作来做。