Bulletin Vol. 1 No. 1 Jun 1964

T H E C H I N E S E U N I V E R S I T Y O F H O N G K O N G V O L U M E O N E • J U N E 1 9 6 4 • N U M B E R O N E C O N T E N T S Page Feng—T h e Bird of the South .............................. 1 Basic Ideas of a University .............................. 1 Purple and Gold , University Colours ............ 3 Po Wen Yueh Li ......................................................... 3 Council, Boards and Committees ..................... 3 Comings and Goings ................................................ 5 College Reports ......................................................... 6 External Examiners ................................................ 7 University Administrative S t a f f .............................. 7 The Chronicler ......................................................... 10 Editor's Note ......................................................... 12 F E N G—TH E B IRD OF T H E SOUTH Th e traditional Chinese ‘Feng’, 'Bird of the South', was selected to be the emblem of the University by the Distinctive Marks and Ceremonial Dress Committee and subsequently approved by the University Council. T h e choice of ‘Feng’ was originally selected by Mr. M. F. Griffith, Inspector of Arts and Assistant to the Chief Inspector of the Education Department and a member of the DMCD Committee. ‘The choice of the Bird of the South, associated with the Four Directions (or 5 if the centre be included), offered the opportunity to make a bold and simple design, taken directly from ancient Chinese tradition', Mr. Griffith explained. ‘ The Committee were of one mind that the design must be truly heraldic, simple and furthermore, quite unlike that of any other institution in either education or other field s in Hong Kong. ‘ The Bird of the South was suggested and adopted because of its association in Han and later times with the Sou th, and a style of bird was sought among ancient Chinese bronzes, because of the marked symbolic and heraldic character of these designs, and because such things are intimately associated with the great intellectual and scholarly traditions of China, and they also imply that immense continuity for which the culture of China is so celebrated.' Mr. Griffith was also responsible for the final design of the arms of the University which has been submitted to the College of Arms, London, for a grant of Armorial Bearing. (The design can be seen on the cover of this bulletin.) BASIC IDEAS OF A UN IVERS ITY (The following are extracts of a talk given by the Vice- Chancellor on April 28’ 1964 at the Rotary Club of Hong Kong.) Th e Chinese University is composed of three foundation colleges, each being organized some years back by groups of scholars from the mainland but each with quite a different background of its own. Take the Chung Chi College which, at present, is the largest of the three. It was organized in 1949 by a group of college professors who used to teach in Christian uni- versities and colleges in China. The New Asia College was started by a group of scholars who used to teach in the national universities on the mainland. Th e United College is actually a merger of a number of small colleges organized also by scholars mainly from Kwangtung—colleges which were privately and locally financed. Elements of Chinese High Education So here you have three distinct elements of the Chinese high education which have been developed over the last half century—the Christian colleges, the national univer sities and colleges, and local colleges. Now the Chinese University of Hong Kong attempts to federalize them, to incorporate them into a university. This very idea of putting these three distinct elements of Chinese high education into one single institution is really something quite unique in the whole history of Chinese education. But the mere pertinent question is how we are going to do it? How is the university going to be developed? Well, at this stage, which is only about two and half months from the day I took office, it's still too early to say what the final shape of the University will be.