HKU Bulletin February 2013 (Vol. 14 No. 2)

Books The book corrects both. Dr Sun Yat-sen was a licentiate of the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, which was founded in 1887. And while it is true that HKU’s founder Sir Frederick Lugard did not want a Faculty of Arts because he feared it might inspire insurrection and radicalism within the student body, the local Chinese community insisted on establishing an Arts Faculty. Another problem was the mammoth task of gathering information on the University, much of which came from abroad – the Colonial Office and the School of Oriental and African Studies archives in London, plus other material in Russia, Germany, the US and even in Australia – and then condensing it all into a book. “There was so much we didn’t know, including information in our own archives,” says Dr Cunich. “As we approached the deadline, the sheer size of the text was a problem.” A decision had to be taken on whether to cut much of the text or go to two volumes – that second volume, covering the second half of the century, is currently being written. Instrument of Empire Having gone through so much material, Dr Cunich feels that one of the most important discoveries has been the light that has been shed on the very early years and the role that HKU played in imperial policy in China. “The idea that HKU was somehow going to be an instrument of Empire that would help the British establish good relations with China was central to the University’s role,” he says. “The intention was to do this through cultural imperialism and HKU became more and more the centre of that policy.” While founder Sir Frederick Lugard held this view back in 1911 when HKU was established, London only really agreed with it in the 1930s when China was at war with Japan and Britain was trying to help China, while at the same time competing with the Americans. “They saw HKU as one of the ways to get a foot in the door,” says Dr Cunich. The name of Lugard recurs frequently throughout the book. While this is unsurprising at the start, few have realised until now how long his influence continued. He left Hong Kong in 1912 but continued to support the University until his death in 1948. Dr Cunich interviewed Lugard’s great niece who said he considered the University his greatest achievement. That interview would also bring to light the original architectural drawings of the Main Building that were used on the cover of the book. “It was a great coup to get the original drawings back as we thought they had been lost.” Dr Cunich has been a historian with HKU for the past 20 years, but he says that writing this book threw up many new discoveries and became an inspirational experience. “Meeting such fascinating people and hearing their extraordinary stories has been very inspiring – far more so than I originally expected,” he says. “The reason I dedicated the book to the students in the War years is because their stories are exceptional – in any time or place these are stories that are legendary.” M The reason I dedicated the book to the students in the War years is because their stories are exceptional – in any time or place these are stories that are legendary. ü ý & + ý þ ' : ÿ 6LU )UHGHULFN /XJDUG &KDQFHOORU ± 'U 3HWHU &XQLFK DW WKH +.8 /LEUDULHV &HQWHQDU\ %RRN 7DON )RUJLQJ D +.8 ,GHQWLW\ ± 45 The University of Hong Kong Bulletin Feburary 2013 The University of Hong Kong Bulletin www.hku.hk/publications/bulletin.html Published by the University of Hong Kong The Bulletin is the University magazine that features our latest activities, events and plans. It aims to keep the local and international community informed of new breakthroughs in a wide range of disciplines initiated by members of the University. Editorial Team Chief Editor: Katherine Ma, Director of Communications Managing Editor: Shirley Yeung, Publications Manager Assistant Editor: Yu Nga-wing Writers: Kelvin Au, Teri Fitsell, Kathy Griffin, Stuart Wolfendale Design and production: Seedland International Limited Contribution and Feedback With special thanks to staff and students who kindly contributed their time and their photographs to The Bulletin . We welcome contributions of content for publication. Items should include the author’s name and University contact details. Please direct contributions, comments or suggestions to the Communications and Public Affairs Office at bulletin@hku.hk for consideration. Care for the Environment While our publication is printed on environmentally friendly paper, we urge you to share your copy with friends and colleagues, and help reduce our carbon footprint. Alternatively, you may choose to unsubscribe at bulletin@hku.hk, and read The Bulletin online at www.hku.hk/publications/bulletin.html