94
at the request of its Standing Committee of Vice Chancellors
and formed the Universities China Committee,
•
"The main purpose of the Committee was to invite eminent
Chinese to lecture in this country, and the first of these lect-
urers has been Dr. Hu Shih, a pioneer of the literary revolution
now in process in China, and commonly known there as 'the father
of the Chinese Renaissance, on account of the work which he has
done in making the vernacular available both for prose and poetry
in place of the old Chinese classical style.
"Dr. Hu Shih lectured in the British Universities during the
months of November and December, 1926, and visited London,
Cambridge, Belfast, Dublin, Oxford, Liverpool, Lanchester and
Birmingham. At each of these Universities the lectures met with
a warm welcome and the large numbers that taxed the various
halls to their utmost capacity are eloquent evidence of the value
of such work and also of its need".
III.
In addition to the series of lectures by Dr. Hu Shih, a few
lectures were also arranged in the Universities in the winter of
1927-28 by Dr. Sidney Wei, now of the Ministry of Education under
the Nanking Government. Professor Webster also lectured in China,
and while the Universities China Committee was not responsible for
sending him, it corresponded with one or two leading educationists
in China in the hope of securing openings for him to lecture in a
way similar to the courses given by Dr. Hu Shih and Dr.Sidney Wei.
In so far as has been possible with honorary officers who
have had to combine the work of the Committee with other engagė-
ments, a certain amount has been done in caring for the interests
of Chinese students in Great Britain. A letter has been sent to
&11