Bulletin Summer 1976

Q. Would you please tell us something about the work and aims of the ICS? A. Activities of the ICS include research, publication of the Journal of the Institute of Chinese Studies, seminars and public lectures ； and its Art Gallery mounts exhibitions of Chinese art and archaeology. It is hoped that through its activities the ICS may (i) contribute to knowledge and the world of learning; (ii) help to improve the University's undergraduate an d postgraduate programmes in Chinese culture ； and (iii) help to promote th e academic atmosphere of the University. Q. What is the greatest difficulty you have encountered in the operation of the ICS? A. Our major difficulty has been inadequacy of funds. The ICS operates on funds from the Government block grant and outside donations, which include (i) assistance provided within a certain period of time, such as the grants and donations from the Harvard- Yenching Institute, The Asia Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the Luce Foundation and (ii) endowment funds like the Wing Lun g Bank Foundation for the Promotion of Chinese Culture and the Lee Wong Lan Fong Memoria l Foundation, on whose income the ICS depends to a great extent for its publication funds. The best solution to our financial problem would be for the University to provide the ICS with more funds, which woul d make it possible to plan for the development of the Institute. In the early years of the University it is understandable tha t research funds did not have a very high priority ； but the time is now rapidly coming when it will be necessary to increase the research funds to the Institute if the Institude is to play its full part in the University. Q. Will you please tell us how research funds of the Institute are allocated? A. Funds of the ICS are used for research and publication purposes. Research of the Institute consists of individua l projects proposed by staff of the University. Selection of research projects for the award of research funds is done by the Executive Committee of the ICS on the academic merit and practicability of the projects. But projects to be financed by the Harvard- Yenching Grants need to be submitted for approval to the Harvard-Yenching Institute, which has its own criteria. Q. A glance at the research projects undertake n at the Institute gives us an impression of diversification; is there any specified scope or emphasis for the Institute's research ? A. Indeed our aim is to be diversified. Our research embraces Literature, Linguistics, History, Philosophy, Art History, Archaeology, Education, Sociology, etc., and covers both ancient and modern/contemporary periods. It has been remarked that too little research has been done at the ICS on the modern/contemporary periods. Actually, I've always held tha t Chinese culture should be viewed as a whole and equal emphasis should be put on the ancient and modern/contemporary periods. Q. I understand the Institute will soon be having full-time research fellows. A. The ICS has never had any full-time fellows and all the research and editorial work of the Institute is presently undertaken by staff of other units of the University, with which the Institute has maintained close liaison an d cooperaition. However, to step up our activities, we should on the one hand follow this tradition of enlisting the support of existing staff of the University, and on the other recruit some full- time research fellows. The University has just approved the establishment of four such posts at the Institute. Full-time fellows ma y be recruited (i) from among newly retired senior staff for a one-year term, during which they may complete their research project s already started, or (ii) from among young brilliant scholars with definite research plans, also for a one-year term, which may be renewed for another year. For the coming academic year, two newly retired teachers, (Professor Fa-kao Chou and Mr. Teh-chang Chang) have been appointed as full-time research fellows, and their research projects are "Supplements to An Etymological Dictionary of Ancient Chinese Bronze Inscriptions" and "A Study on Corruption of the Ch'ing Dynasty" respectively. The other two posts are still to be filled. It is hoped that the Institute may be able to find some young scholars who have just received their higher degree, preferably a Ph.D, and have an ardent interest in research. The appointment of such young scholars may serve another purpose: we may observe their performance, and if they are found to be highly capable and eloquent in both oral and written presentations, they may be