Bulletin Winter 1976

PROFESSOR LI FANG-KUETS SPEECH Today I feel very much honoured by your invitation to participate in the Seventeenth Congregation of the University, and by the award of an honorary degree. This is a very special honour done to me, ensuring that I shall remember forever this happy occasion. Ever since the founding of The Chinese University, I have been interested in its development and progress, and in the building up of its beautiful campus. As a linguist and philologist, I am especially impressed by the contribution it has made in the area of Chinese linguistics, history, and culture in general. It has developed into one of the most important research institutions in Asia. Such an achievement in a comparatively short period is not an easy feat. I wish to take this opportunity to extend to you all my sincere congratulations. Any educational and research institution, however, cannot simply rest upon its laurels. It must strive to maintain constantly its academic standards and to explore new areas of learning. Because of my personal interest in Southeast Asia, I wish to say a few words about research in that area. Research on Southeast Asia Geographically Hong Kong occupies a key position. It is the commercial centre of Southeast Asia, and is also the stepping off place for overseas Chinese who travel back and forth in this area. Its importance does not lie only in its commercial relations with Southeast Asia, but involves also historical and cultural contacts. About ten years ago I heard there were some publications of Vietnamese geographical documents by The Chinese University of Hong Kong, concerning journeys between Siam and Vietnam, and that there was a special research section on Southeast Asia. I was very glad to hear of it at the time, and I shall be interested to discover what are the recent developments of this project. I myself have supervised a Thai student in the study of some Thai missions to China in the 17th and 18th centuries, involving both the study of Thai and Chinese documents. The study of international relations and contacts between the Southeast Asian nations on the basis of native documents is extremely rare. This part of their history is entirely overshadowed by the advance of European powers in recent centuries. It is almost axiomatic that if we want to understand a country and its people, we must first know its language and literature, before any serious study in depth can be made. Even if we confine ourselves to the Indo-Chinese peninsula, there are many nations and languages to be learnt. It is a formidable but necessary task to learn these languages so as to be able to utilize their documents for an in-depth study of their respective histories and cultures. There are in the world institutions which devote themselves specially to these studies. Among the most prestigious of these is the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. Its Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies has made significant contributions to linguistics and history. In Japan, among other centres, there are the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies and the Osaka University of Foreign Studies. In America there are also various centres established in different universities for Chinese, Japanese, and Southeast Asian Studies. I feel that it is fitting and proper that The Chinese University of Hong Kong take its rightful place among these centres for Southeast Asian Studies., I fully realize the difficulties involved in the task of language planning, in the selection of research areas, of teaching staff, and the provision of library facilities. All these are necessary to train first rate scholars for future research. I believe, however, that The Chinese University of Hong Kong has the academic standing to explore this area of learning, and I feel sure that its efforts will have the support of the government and the people of Hong Kong.