''Lecture Room'' is a Chinese television programme produced by

China Central Television China Central Television (CCTV) is a Chinese state- and political party-owned broadcaster controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Its 50 different channels broadcast a variety of programing to more than one billion viewers in six lan ...

(CCTV), in which scholars from various disciplines are invited to provide lectures. It was first broadcast on 9 July 2001 on

CCTV-10 CCTV-10 is the science and education focused channel of the China Central Television (CCTV) network in the People's Republic of China. Its schedule includes mostly local and imported documentaries, as well as educational studio productions. Pro ...

. In its early days, featured topics included biology, physics, economics, history and literature, and the lecturers were from around the world. Its focus has gradually changed, as recent programmes focus more on

Chinese history The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the ''Book of Documents'' (early chapter ...

and Chinese culture. The show's title is literally translated as ''The Hundred Schools of Thought Forum''. ''Lecture Room'' is only an English adaptation of its Chinese title.

Lecture series

Yi Zhongtian Yi Zhongtian (born 8 February 1947) is a Chinese writer and historian. He is also a professor and Ph.D. supervisor at the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at Xiamen University's School of Humanities. Life and career Yi's grandfather ...

, ''Influential Personalities of the Han dynasty''; ''Analysis of the Three Kingdoms'' (品三国) * Liu Xinwu, ''Liu Xinwu Exposes the Secrets of

Dream of Red Chamber ''Dream of the Red Chamber'' (''Honglou Meng'') or ''The Story of the Stone'' (''Shitou Ji'') is a novel composed by Cao Xueqin in the middle of the 18th century. One of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, it is known fo ...

'' I-IV (刘心武揭密红楼梦 1–4) *

Yan Chongnian Yan Chongnian is a Chinese historian. He was born in Penglai City, Shandong, China in 1934. He established Beijing Manchu Institute, the first academic institute focussed on the Manchu history. His publications include ''Biography of Yuan ...

, ''Emperors of the Qing dynasty'', ''The Fall of Ming and Rise of Qing'' *

Mao Peiqi Mao Peiqi (Chinese: 毛佩琦; Pinyin: ''Máo Pèiqí'') is a Chinese historian, expert in the history of the Ming Dynasty, a professor at the School of History, Renmin University of China. Mao became popular in China for his lectures on Ming's h ...

, ''Emperors of the Ming dynasty'' *

Wang Liqun Wang Liqun (; born 1945) is a Chinese historian and a professor in the School of Arts, Henan University. He is best known for conducting lecture series about Chinese history on the CCTV-10 television programme ''Lecture Room''. Life Wang was bor ...

, ''People in Han dynasty'' *

Meng Xianshi Meng Xianshi (Chinese: 孟宪实; Pinyin: ''Mèng Xiànshí''; born 1962) is a Chinese historian specialized in the history of Sui and Tang dynasties, an associate professor at Renmin University of China. Biography Meng Xianshi was born in Nehe ...

, '' Incident at Xuanwu Gate'' (玄武门之变) *

Yuan Tengfei Yuan Tengfei (; born February 8, 1972, in Beijing), is a historian, and was a history teacher in the People's Republic of China. His fans gave him the nickname "the most awesome history teacher in history" for his entertaining and comedic lectures, ...

, ''Vicissitudes of the Two Song Dynasties'', ''Sai Bei San Chao'' *

Meng Man Meng Man (; born 28 January 1975) is a Chinese scholar and a professor at the College of History and Culture, Minzu University of China. She is best known for conducting lecture series about Chinese literature on the CCTV-10 television programme ...

, ''History of the Tang dynasty and Wu Zetian''

Other notable lecturers and guest lecturers

* Bill Gates, entrepreneur (2003) *

Han Qide Han Qide (; born July 1945) is a Chinese physician and politician. Han is currently the chairman of the Jiusan Society and a member of the Chinese Communist Party. He was the Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Cong ...

, medical scientist * Stephen Hawking, physicist (2002) * Tsung-Dao Lee, physicist (2001, 2002) * Robert Mundell, economist (2003) *

Ouyang Ziyuan Ouyang Ziyuan (, born 9 October 1935) is a Chinese cosmochemist, geochemist and space advocate. He is a research professor at the Institute of Geochemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Asteroid 8919 Ouyangziyuan, discovered in 1996, was ...

, geochemist * Mary Poovey, writer (2002) *

Samuel C. C. Ting Samuel Chao Chung Ting (, born January 27, 1936) is a Chinese-American physicist who, with Burton Richter, received the Nobel Prize in 1976 for discovering the subatomic J/ψ particle. More recently he has been the principal investigator in res ...

, physicist (2001, 2002) * Wang Meng, writer (2003) *

Wu Guanzhong Wu Guanzhong (; 29 August 1919 – 25 June 2010) was a contemporary Chinese painter widely recognized as a founder of modern Chinese painting. He is considered to be one of the greatest contemporary Chinese painters. Wu's artworks display both ...

, artist (2001) *

Chen Ning Yang Yang Chen-Ning or Chen-Ning Yang (; born 1 October 1922), also known as C. N. Yang or by the English name Frank Yang, is a Chinese theoretical physicist who made significant contributions to statistical mechanics, integrable systems, gauge the ...

, physicist (2001, 2002) *

Ye Jiaying Florence Chia-ying Yeh (born July 1924), also known as Ye Jiaying (), Jialing (), and by her married name Chia-ying Yeh Chao, is a Chinese-born Canadian poet and sinologist. She was a scholar of classical Chinese poetry. She taught for twenty ...

, sinologist * Yu Dan, professor (2006, 2007) *

Yu Guangzhong Yu Kwang-chung, also romanised as Yu Guangzhong (; 21 October 1928 – 14 December 2017) was a Taiwanese writer, poet, educator and critic. Life Yu was born in 1928 in Nanking to Yu Chaoying and Sun Xiujun, but fled with his family during the ...

, writer (2002, 2003) *

Yu Qiuyu Yu Qiuyu (余秋雨 in Chinese) (born 23 August 1946) is a Chinese writer and scholar. Life Yu was born in Qiaotou Town (), Cixi County (formerly Yuyao County), Ningbo, Zhejiang Province on August 23, 1946. He finished his elementary school ...

, writer (2002, 2003) * Zhou Ruchang, writer

External links

''Lecture Room'' official website
{{CCTV shows China Central Television Chinese television shows 2001 Chinese television series debuts 2000s Chinese television series 2010s Chinese television series 2020s Chinese television series Mandarin-language television shows Lecture series