Event Details

Join RASBJ for an online talk with Clive Harvey, author of Yang's War: A Forgotten Chinese Hero of World War One, moderated by Charlie Sampson.


WHAT: Author Clive Harvey discusses his work of historical fiction, Yang's War, with moderator Charlie Sampson, an RASBJ online event


WHEN: Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022 from 7:00-8:00 PM Beijing time.


MORE ABOUT THE EVENT

Members of the Chinese Labour Corps (CLC) are little known heroes of the First World War.Yang's War is a work of historical fiction inspired by real events and written in first-person from protagonist Yang's perspective. With his family burdened by business debts, Yang is forced by his father to face the horrors of wartime Europe in order to earn some income. Author Clive Harvey's debut novel brings vividly to life the story of how two Chinese labourers, Yang and his cousin Sheng, are wrenched from their homes in Shandong, scrubbed, shaven and herded onto ships and packed trains, then delivered by their nightmare voyage to the killing fields of Europe. The talk will be illustrated by photos of the Chinese Labour Corps from The W J Hawkins Collection courtesy of his grandson, John de Lucy. Harvey will discuss with moderator Charlie Sampson, a long-term China resident, how the book was inspired by true events and how he researched it, as well as what the story means to him personally.


HOW MUCH: This online event is free for members of RASBJ and of partner RAS branches; RMB 100 for non-members. Interested in becoming an RASBJ member? Please sign up at https://rasbj.org/membership/​


HOW TO JOIN THE EVENT: Please click "Register" or "I Will Attend" and follow the instructions. After successful registration you'll receive a confirmation email with a link to join the event. If you seem not to have received it, please check your spam folder. Members of partner RAS branches: Please register at least 48 hours in advance to allow time for membership verification. You will receive two emails from us, the first confirming receipt of your registration request and the second confirming your registration, with a link to join the event. Please check your spam folder to ensure you see all RASBJ emails.

Speakers

  • Clive Harvey (Speaker)

    Clive Harvey

    Speaker

    Clive Harvey is a professional musician based in UK, originally specialising in flamenco guitar, who has moved from writing film scores to the application of music scores to photography and sculpture--see more at “music4art.co.uk ”.

    He came across the story of The China Labour Corps 6 years ago , after seeing Chinese carvings on some beech trees beside a graveyard of The Western Front . He was appalled that this unthinkable dislocation of thousands of young men from the other side of the globe could have taken place with almost no historic acknowledgement.
    He wrote this debut novel with help from military historians and academics to promote awareness of the contribution and sacrifice of The China Labour Corps .

    Clive Harvey has written a musical dedication to the Chinese Labour Corps (CLC) also entitled “Yang’s War” as a film score and is exploring the involvement of a Chinese youth choir to add to the chorus and voice-over artist for narration.

    Listen to the score here: https://soundcloud.com/user-269055786/yangs-war-filmn-theme-clc-dedication

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  • Charlie Sampson (Moderator)

    Charlie Sampson

    Moderator

    Charlie Sampson has lived and worked in China for 20 years, working in advertising with Saatchi & Saatchi, and now lives in a courtyard in Qianliang Hutong which he bought and renovated in 2006 .

    Charlie is a neighbour of Clive in Kent and used his China connections to help arrange for Yang’s War to be translated and published in Chinese.

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