The Academic Role of Hong Kong in the Development of Chinese Culture, 1950s–70s

Abstract

For many people, ‘Hong Kong is a cultural desert’. However, we find that Hong Kong plays an important academic role and acts as a cultural bridge between China and Western countries, especially when China experiences unstable political, economic, social and cultural situations. The People’s Republic of China was established in 1949. During this time, numerous scholars fled China and selected Hong Kong as a ‘shelter’. Some decided to stay for good, whereas others viewed the territory as a stepping stone. Regardless of their reasons, their academic performance has significantly influenced Hong Kong. Two of the most famous scholars in this period were Luo Xianglin (羅香林 Lo Shan Lin) and Qian Mu (錢穆). Luo taught at the Department of Chinese of the University of Hong Kong. Qian was a faculty member at the New Asia College, which was one of the founding members of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. This study will examine the following issues: (i) why these two scholars selected Hong Kong, (ii) what role they played in the development of tertiary education with regard to Chinese studies in Hong Kong, (iii) how they developed the role of Hong Kong as a haven for the protection of Chinese culture and (iv) how Qian Mu developed New Asia College as a vehicle for spreading the ‘New’ Asian culture in the 1960s.