J. S. Lee Memorial Fellowship Programme

What We Do
The J. S. Lee Memorial Fellowship Programme (the “Programme”) was established in 2008 by Bei Shan Tang Foundation (the “Foundation”) in memory of its founder, Dr. Lee Jung Sen. The Programme aims:

to promote international exchange of scholarship and museum practice for the development of traditional Chinese art; and
to contribute to the professional development and enhancement of Chinese art historians and museum professionals through supporting research, training and collaborative projects at museums and art institutions around the world.

Whom We Support
The Programme supports outstanding and promising museum professionals and scholars in the field of Chinese art and culture to conduct research or gain curatorial and museum experience through fellowship attachments (the “Fellowship”) at foreign museums and academic institutions for a period of 4 to 12 months on a full-time basis. Past projects supported by the Programme covered topics of Chinese art history study, curatorship, archaeology, conservation, museum management, museum education, and more.

Whom We Work With
The Programme currently has 61 participating institutions (the “Institutions”) around the world and, in the past 15 years, has provided exchange, training and enhancement opportunities for 71 scholars and museum professionals.

What We Cover
The Programme covers the costs of round-trip air tickets, visa application, medical insurance, accommodation, as well as living expenses.

Dr. Lee Jung Sen

Dr. J. S. Lee (1915-2007) is the Founder of the Bei Shan Tang Foundation and a distinguished philanthropist in Hong Kong who valued the importance of arts to society and the need to nurture cultural developments.

Dr. Lee was born in Hong Kong in 1915, the son of prominent businessman Lee Hysan. Dr. Lee’s solid foundation in traditional Chinese studies and his education in China cultivated a great interest in Chinese art, and he became an avid collector of all genres of antiques. He was a major benefactor of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and played an instrumental role in the building of its Institute of Chinese Studies and the Art Museum in the 1970s. In 1985, he founded Bei Shan Tang Foundation to institutionalise his efforts to promote Chinese art and culture. The Foundation has been a longtime supporter of initiatives in the field of Chinese art at many universities, research institutions, museums, and cultural organizations around the world since its inception. In addition, the Foundation has also provided financial support to many students to pursue their studies in the Chinese arts and culture field.

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Bei Shan Tang Foundation

Bei Shan Tang Foundation was founded in 1985 by Dr. J. S. Lee to institutionalise his efforts to promote Chinese art and culture, with a tax-exempt charitable (Section 88) status. Along with its original mission to promote Chinese art and culture, the Foundation now also dedicates a significant part of its resources to support educational initiatives.

Vision and Mission in Chinese Art and Culture
Vision – To enhance everyone’s understanding and appreciation of Chinese culture
Mission – To advance scholarship in the field of Chinese art and culture

Strategic Priorities in Chinese Art and Culture

To encourage the scholarly research and preservation of traditional Chinese art in both academic and museum sectors
To support capacity building of Chinese art historians and museum professionals for Hong Kong and beyond
To further scholarly research of Chinese art by leveraging Bei Shan Tang’s collection

Recent Major Initiatives in Chinese Art and Culture

Forum for Curators of Chinese Art, which brings together Chinese art curators, museum professionals, and art historians in the global network of Bei Shan Tang Foundation with the goal of facilitating knowledge exchange and catalysing museum collaborations
Bei Shan Tang Doctoral Thesis Grant, which supports final-year PhD candidates to engage in full-time thesis writing
Museum Professional Exchange Programme organized by Art Museum, the Chinese University of Hong Kong and sponsored by the Foundation
Grants and financial support for research projects, exhibitions, conferences, publications, education initiatives in relation to Chinese art and culture organized by museums, universities, schools and NGOs
Financial assistance to students for pursuing graduate studies and postgraduate research in Chinese art and history

About Us