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housed the main Library, and the Fung Ping Shan Chinese Library and Tang Chi Ngong School of Chinese Studies. Even after the Japanese surrender in 1945, some looting persisted, adding to the tasks of rehabilitation with which the University was faced in 1946. Fortunately the libraries suffered least. The University Library, including the Morrison Collection and the Hankow Library, was intact with the exception of a number of books dealing with the Pacific area. The Fung Ping Shan Chinese Library also remained almost intact, and of three private collections housed in the Fung Ping Shan Library for safe-keeping two still remained whole while the third, belonging to the National University of Peking, was removed by the Japanese but has now been recovered in part and restored to the National University. No less serious than the material damage suffered by the University was the grievous loss sustained by the teaching staff. During hostili- ties one member of the staff was killed and one seriously wounded. The years of the occupation also took a heavy toll, three Professors, the University Treasurer and two Lecturers losing their lives.
Very soon after the Japanese occupation two European members of the University staff succeeded in escaping to Free China where they were able to render assistance to the many students who had also made their way there from Hong Kong. Arrangements were made for over 200 to continue and com- plete their studies in Chinese universities. In this connection
it is gratifying to be able to record that Lingnan University which had succeeded in establishing itself in a temporary campus in Free China, did not overlook the hospitality previ- ously accorded to its students in refuge in Hong Kong and offered to many Hong Kong students shelter and the opport- unity to pursue their studies. In recognition of this assistance the Hong Kong Government recently voted the sum of HK$20,000 to assist the rehabilitation of Lingnan University.
Early in 1946 the Secretary of State for the Colonies appointed a Committee, established by Order in Council under the title of the University of Hong Kong Provisional Powers Committee, to deal in London with the liquidating of the University's obligations to its staff and to purchase supplies and equipment for an early reopening. The powers of this Committee were similar to those of the Council. Supplies were obtained but the scarcity of shipping space caused serious delay. On December 31st, 1945, the Secretary of State appointed a Committee to advise on the future of the University, both immediate and more distant. The terms of
reference were:
(a) whether or not the University of Hong Kong, as such, should continue to exist and if so the policy which should govern its resuscitation and
(b) the steps necessary to re-start such of the work hitherto undertaken by the University as is essential
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