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HONG KONG UNIVERSITY.
The Proposed Chinese School.
Prominent among the University's ambition is the
desire to found a School of Chinese. The idea of this
School if that it should not only teach Chinese Classics
and attempt the comparative study of Chinese history,
philosophy and law, but also be a place of Chinese inst-
ruction to Britishers who are going to work in China It
is incredible that the readjustment of China to the ex-
igencies of modern life, as one of the great powers of the
world, should involve a complete break with those traditions
of culture and civilization which have endured through
centuries and are the basis of her national character. It
was an integral part of the University's original conception
that this Chinese work should be one of its chief functions.
But the University's programme had to be curtailed for lack
of funds and Chinese studies were unfortunately practically
discontinued. In 1926 the Vice-Chancellor visited Malaya
and collected $40,000 from the Chinese there. With this a
beginning was made but the money has now all been spent.
Some money has since been raised from the Hong Kong Chinese,
but not enough to justify the University in making Chinese
studies a permanent part of its curriculum. The revenues
of the Government of Hong Kong are but gradually recovering