Bulletin Number Three 1984

in Imperial China as well as the second reprint of Chinese Couplets, The following year Mr. Lai published his Things Chinese and accepted the concurrent appointment to the Directorship of the University's Publications Office (now The Chinese University Press). Mr. Lai stayed at the helm of the Publications Office until 1976. Wearing more than one hat was nothing new to Mr. Lai, having been the President of the Rotary Club of Hong Kong Island West. This scholarly Justice of the Peace was also a member of the Hong Kong Government's Public Service Commission and the prestigeous Chinese Language Committee. He still serves as the Chairman of the Hong Kong Translation Society and as an executive member of the International Congress for University Adult Education. A lesser mortal might be content to rest on such laurels. Being what he is, Mr. Lai continues to keep himself up-to-date on education, art and literature as he continues to delve into the Chinese classics, a vast repository of human wisdom. Mr. Lai's 'gift of enthusiasm and gift of exactness' that the late Professor Edmund Blunden detected in his maiden publication, Selected Chinese Sayings (1960), has mellowed over the years. Having written four volumes, he carried on. Between 1972 and now, Mr. Lai has added to his credit thirty-four more volumes, and again in impeccable English. Mr. Liu Ts'un-yan's comment on The Eight Immortals (1972) applies to all Mr. Lai's renditions, I should say. Let me quote him, ‘ . . . exactly what the average reader sought: a concise work of fascinating narrations in good English, a combination of good literary taste with a thorough background knowledge, without however the unnecessary pedantry.' This quotation explains very neatly the appeal of Mr. Lai's works. But, very modestly, Mr. Lai said that he had merely been paying tribute to Chinese art and culture. Anyone who has read Mr. Lai's works would be impressed as much by the gems of wisdom, so simply couched, as by the wealth of beautiful illustrations. The various aspects of Chinese life, thought and traditions come alive in proverbs, poems and anecdotes hand-picked by Mr. Lai. For example, in Chinese Food for Thought (1978) Li Yu says, 'Nothing is more symbolic of the Chinese intellect than chopsticks. They represent the unity of duality, the practical application of Yin and Yang, the pristine demonstration of human skill, from which all latter- day technology sprang.' Would that not help us use our chopsticks with a little more reverence from now on? And while we eat, let us savour what Huang T'ing-chien (1050-1110 A.D.) has to say in the same book, 'In order to cultivate a right attitude, one must first avoid three types of faults: to be greedy for something palatable, to shun what is unpalatable and to be oblivious of the sources of what one eats.' Mr. Lai's choice of materials for all his renditions certainly bears out this point very well. My own favourite gem is found in A Chinese Book of Friendship (1973 )， and if you would read on, you would get a glimpse of it here, 'Friendship can be maintained because of two things: interest and perception . . . it is better to have an abundance of perception than an abundance of interest.' Again, in A Chinese Book of Friendship, Wang Hsi-chih's famous lines in the 'Orchid Pavilion Preface' ptly reflects Mr. Lai's mood on many an occasion. ‘Whenever I read the ancients and consider the causes of joy and sorrow ， I conclude that they were moved by the same situations as we are today... . Time and circumstance may change but the things which affect our moods and passions remain the same. When people look back on us in the future, will they not be moved by this writing !' Mr. Lai's most productive years were 1973, 1976 and 1978. 1973 is memorable because his Ch’i Pai Shih and Chinese Calligraphy were both published by the University of Washington Press, which subsequently published two more of Mr. Lai's works, namely Three Contemporary Chinese Painters (1975) and Chinese Seals (1976). In 1978 and 1979, the Chung Wall Book Company published the Chinese editions of Chinese Calligraphy and Chinese Seals. Mr. Lai's research into the Chinese mind has indeed made available to us writings and illustrations which would otherwise never see the light of day. Avid readers of Mr. Lai's works might be delighted to hear that he will soon serve the University in a new capacity, that of Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Chinese Studies. At Table, a book on the culture of Chinese food, due to be released by the Oxford University Press this October, will certainly, we hope, not be Mr. Lai's last attempt to help us understand the world's oldest civilization. The most noteworthy characteristic of this prolific writer on things Chinese is that he practises what he preaches. Specializing in the 'running script', Mr. Lai is a calligrapher of high standing. His calligraphy graces the study of many a connoisseur. Mr. Lai is also in great demand as an expert witness in Chinese hand-writing as well as in translation between Chinese and English. Would such an active scholar ever retire? —R. Dai 22 PROFILES