Bulletin Number Two 1983

Conference on Modernization and Chinese Culture An international Conference on Modernization and Chinese Culture, jointly organized by the Faculty of Social Science and the Institute of Social Studies, was held from 7th to 11th March, 1983 on the University campus. In the opening address, Dr. Ma Lin, the Vice- Chancellor, said, 'We are here to discuss how we can integrate western social science with Chinese culture in terms of theoretical concepts and methodology. The Conference will help the development of social science itself on the one hand and the modernization of China on the other.' The Organizing Committee of the Conference consisted of Drs. Chiao Chien (Convener), Fanny M.C. Cheung, Ambrose Y.C. King, Kuan Hsin Chi, Lau Siu-kai, Rance P.L. Lee, Wang Sung-hsing, with Mr. Sin Kwok Kuen as its Secretary. The thirty-three participants included Professors Fei Xiao-tong and Ruey Yih-fu and other scholars from Mainland China, Taiwan, the United States, Singapore and Hong Kong. Over a hundred scholars attended the Conference as observers. The five-day Conference was held in fifteen sessions including a forum on 'Social Science: Its Present State and Future Development'. The Conference, for which preparatory work began more than a year ago, was a major breakthrough in many respects. Never before had so many Chinese sociologists been brought together from different parts of the world to exchange ideas on a topic which was of common concern to them. It was also an occasion on which three or four generations of Chinese social scientists gathered together for academic discussion, including the founders of modern Chinese sociology and anthropology — Professors Fei Xiao-tong and Ruey Yih-fu — their students and their students' students Commenting on the happy coincidence that the Conference was held amid the celebration of the University's twentieth anniversary, the Vice-Chancellor said, ‘It has been the goal of The Chinese University to integrate eastern and western cultures.... The Conference which was initiated and organized by our colleagues and held on our campus, testifies to the fact that both teachers and students of the University have been working hard towards this end.' Grants from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (New York) and the Ming Yu Foundation (Hong Kong) provided for the travelling expenses of most of the participants. Proceedings of the Conference will be published before long. NEWS 1