CO129-538-1 Hong Kong University 31-12-1931 - 6-8-1932 — Page 238

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First Schedule to the Act. That purpose was "generally to

encourage closer intellectual co-operation and to promote

cultural relations between China and the United Kingdom."

345

We may perhaps be permitted to take this oppor-

tunity of recording our belief that an adequate case has been

made out for the conversion of the lectureship in Chinese Art

and Archaeology into a professorship. We therefore suggest

for the consideration of the Committee that the continuance of

the grant of £500 after the current academic year should be

made conditional on such a conversion being carried out, and

on the authorities of the School of Oriental Studies or of

London University providing an equal sum from its own or

other resources so that the emoluments of the post may be

raised to £1000. This is merely a suggestion which is put

forward for what it is worth, as we fully understand that the

question is not one on which our delegation was asked to advise.

There are other ways besides those already mention-

ed in which the Universities China Committee may perform valu-

able services in connection with the encouragement of Chinese

studies in England. The following extract from the memorandum

presented to the delegation by Mr T.L.Yuan, from which we have

already quoted, gives an example of how valuable work in this

direction may be accomplished at no great cost.

"The large collection of Tun Huang manuscripts in the

British Museum is very varied in nature, and contains much material of the utmost importance to students of sinology. But although it is a quarter of a century since Sir Aurel Stein transported them to London, the material is still not accessible to the public. Parts of the collection have indeed appe-red in publications issued in Japan and elsewhere, but these have only served to stimulate among scholars a greater interest which the British Museum, with its present funds, is probably unable to satisfy.

The cataluing of manuscripts, particularly such early ones, all of which must be laboriously identified, takes much time and energy. Although the matter is now in the very capable hands of Dr Lionel Giles, it is feared that single-handed it will take him quite some years to complete a systematic catalogue of such a large collection. If, as I understand it, the manuscripts will be accessible to the public anly after the publica- tion of the catalogue, it is evident that the prepara- tion of such a catalogue is of even greater urgency than under ordinary circumstances.