248
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249
35
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CHINA REPORT
fellowships for teachers and scholars of recognised standing" and their monetary value was to be fixed at a higher rate than the scholarships, though the latter also were to be given solely to post-graduate students. The main difference, other than financial, between the scholarships and fellowships consisted in the fact that the scholarships were to be awarded to candidates who were successful in open competitive examinations, whereas the travelling fellowships were to go to persons selected from lists of names recommended to the Board of Trustees by heads of the Chinese institutions of higher learning.
We recognise the great importance of this question of how the fellowships recommended by us are to be awarded, and we are of opinion that appointments should be made not by examination but by selection. We recommend that the selection of Chinese candidates be placed in the hands of our corresponding sub-committee in China (this body will be discussed in a subsequent sub-section) and that the selection of candidates from Great Britain should rest with the Universities' China Committee.
**
Dr. L. K. Tao's observations on this subject deserve to be re- corded. It seems difficult," he says, to make any satisfactory suggestion regarding the selection of candidates. In view of the fact that there does not exist any institution in China that is well-qualified to discharge this important function, it is suggested that a Committee be formed in Great Britain consisting of professors and experts who shall consider applications from Chinese Candidates. The candidates should be required to send in their published works. If the originals are in Chinese they should present a translation or epitome in English. If such evidence of their qualifications is insufficient, further information could be secured from the Chinese universities or other institutions in which the candidates have done their work. The selection of candidates will no doubt be a delicate task, but the committee should have no great difficulty in carrying it out if they are furnished with full particulars regarding each candidate's academic record, the work already done by him, and the research project which he intends to take up in Great Britain.'
One of the fellowships might occasionally be awarded to a British subject for purposes of study in China, but only when a specially deserving or promising case is brought to the notice of the Universities' China Committee. There is at present a British student at a Chinese university who is making a special study of the economic aspects of the Taiping Rebellion. It is exceptional cases of this kind that we have in mind. In connection with this subject the following extract from a memorandum sent to the delegation by Mr. T. L. Yuan, Acting
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RECOMMENDATIONS BY THE DELEGATION
Director of the National Library and a member of the Executive Com- In it mittee of the Palace Museum at Peiping, will be of interest. he suggests that English editions of the catalogues of art treasures in the Palace Museum (formerly the Forbidden City) should be pre- pared by English scholars and art-critics who might be invited to China for the purpose :-
"When the Palace Museum has been open to the public for so many years, it is no longer necessary to dwell upon the richness of its collection of bronzes, jades, paintings, porcelains, etc. Although the Museum has been issuing illustrated catalogues and other publications giving reproductions of the art objects, the barrier of language has served to reduce their usefulness abroad. During the last decade, English scholars have contributed greatly to the study of Chinese art by the publication of carefully prepared catalogues of Chinese bronzes, porcelains, and paintings, the most distinguished being the magnificent Eumorfopoulos catalogues. It is felt that catalogues of the art treasures in the Palace Museum prepared on similar lines will eclipse all previous ones in import- ance. This is not to belittle the excellent catalogues we have now, but owing to the size and richness of the collections in the Forbidden City, catalogues of them can be made more representative of the history of Chinese art. The value of such catalogues to scholars will be incalculable. If the Committee feel interested in the matter and can secure the services of such specialists as Messrs. Binyon, Hobson, and Yetts, the undersigned will under- take to arrange with the Palace Museum to give them every facility that they may require during their study and preparation of the catalogues."
It need hardly be pointed out that if arrangements could be made (either in connection with our proposed Research Fellowships or otherwise) whereby distinguished English students of Chinese art such as those named by Mr. Yuan could be enabled to make an exhaustive study of the treasures of art that formerly belonged to the emperors of China, the advantages accruing therefrom to both countries and to the rest of the world would be far-reaching. A great stimulus would be given to the study and appreciation of Chinese art in England and other Western countries, and China would benefit by the enhanced prestige that she would gain by an increasing recog- nition, in Western lands, of the greatness of her artistic past. Chinese artists of the present day, who at present find little encouragement in their own country, might also succeed in demonstrating to the world that the aesthetic gifts of their race were still capable of being
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