Bulletin Number Two 1987

Only the donations are not made in the names of their respective companies but under their own names. You will find, Mr. Chancellor, that such per sonal generosity has also marked the philanthropic benefaction of Mr. Leung Kau Kui. In the last thirty years, he has supported the establishment of numerous primary schools ， one secondary college, a health clinic and a home for the aged. He has also donated a sizeable sum towards the Library of our sister univer sity and contributed generously towards the con struction of a new academic building on our campus. Outside of Hong Kong, Mr. Leung has supported the development of St. Hugh's College, Oxford and Zhongshan University in Guangzhou. In his native district Shunde xian, he has made generous donations towards a county hall, a hospital, a secondary school, a primary school, a library and a number of silkworm nurseries. Mr. Chancellor, for his contribution to our business community, for his abiding interest in helping the young, the old and the sick, I have the honour to present Leung Kau Kui, banker, businessman and philanthropist, for the award of the degree of Doctor of Social Science, honoris causa. Address by Dr. Samuel C.C. Ting Mr. Chancellor, Mr. Vice-Chancellor, distinguished guests, and friends: In classical Chinese education, The Four Books (around 400 B.C.) was considered to be the most important work. The Great Learning, one of The Four Books, defines personal education, at its basic level, as 'the investigation of things' and 'the extension of knowledge', the latter being a corollary of the former. This is indeed a most apt description of the development of modern learning, which has its foundation in hands-on studies, or what people today call experiments. However, ‘the investigation of things for the extension of knowledge' in its actual sense was set at a discount in traditional Chinese education. This may be attributed to the fact that traditional education aimed not so much at the discovery of new knowledge as at maintaining the established social order. It is explicitly said in The Great Learning that the investi­ gation of things and the extension of knowledge are means by which one may achieve sincerity in thought, rectify the mind, develop a cultivated personality, build a harmonious home, get acountry well-governed, and eventually realize the highest Confucian ideal of a well-ordered world. Consequently, the real signifi cance of ‘investigating things for the extension of knowledge' was lost, and nobody could tell what it meant. Everyone here, I believe, has heard of Wang Yang-ming (1472-1528), a great Confucian scholar of the Ming Dynasty, whose philosophy very well represents the traditional Confucian attitude towards practical experiments. Wang one day resolved to follow the instructions set out in The Great Learning, starting with ‘the investigation of things'. He decided on the bamboos in his garden as the object of his Investigation'. So he took a chair to the garden and, sitting squarely before the bamboos, racked his brains for seven whole days. His ‘investigation ， resulted in nothing more than a headache. Very evidently, he mistook the investigation of external objects for the investigation of one's inner self. This was a palpable and almost impossible mistake which appears at once surprising and deplorable to the modern man. The views held by Wang are however under standable when considered in the social context of his time. For one traditional Confucian belief was that there was in this world a never-changing truth, originating from the heart of a ‘sage' ， who upon dis covery of this truth would impart it to the man in the street. It was thus believed that the principles con tained in the classics could be 'applied to the four seas, and handed down to thousands of generations'. Experience tells us that such a belief is simply not appropriate for our modern world. As one engaged in scientific research, I feel I can talk more knowingly about science. I will there fore begin with a discussion of the importance of an experimental spirit in the scientific field. The history of scientific development illustrates clearly that new knowledge may be acquired only through field studies and experiments, and not through introspection or pure philosophical talks. Experimental procedures consist not in passive observation, but in active, planned investigations. For instance, to examine the properties of the bamboo, one has to plant it for the special purpose of studying how it grows. One also has to cut o ff its leaves for examination under the microscope. Knowledge cannot be acquired with the hands idle. 8 NEWS