A Glimpse of Ch’en Family via Ch’en’s Correspondence  

Disclaimer: This post contains images of historical documents, some of which include perspectives and language reflecting the time in which they were written. The Claremont Colleges Library does not endorse all the views expressed in these documents.

This week I input some correspondences between Ch’en and his family members. In the past weeks we have introduced Ch’en Shou-yi’s academic contributions and social relationships. This week I would like to briefly introduce part of Ch’en’s family. Ch’en’s brothers like Stanley H. Chan (陳受康) were also famous scholars and left works in Ch’en’s collections of academic offprints. In order to study Chen Li (or Chan Lai, 陳澧), the brother of Ch’en Shou-yi’s great grandfather as well as the leader of Lingnan intellectuals, Ch’en studied his clan and left some family trees. Thanks to Ch’en’s research and correspondence, we are able to realize his family and glimpse their life in the chaotic modern Chinese history. 

Ch’en’s Family Tree 1, Ch’en’s brothers and sister are included

Tak-yi (德儀) was Ch’en’s elder sister who was married to Shuchong (or Shuzhong, 叔重). Ch’en’s collection preserves her family’s letters to Ch’en. Although those letters don’t have a date, they were likely written in 1937, when Ch’en and his wife were stuck in Shanghai due to the Japanese invasion. In a letter from Tak-yi to Ch’en, Tak-yi described her frightening experience during a Japanese airstrike in Canton. Her husband, Shu Chong, a law consultant, wrote to Ch’en to express his despair over the endless war. Thanks to Ch’en’s help from the United States, Tak-yi and her family were able to move to Hong Kong in 1937. They were safe temporarily, but had to struggle for survival. Although Tak-yi and Shu Chong accepted higher education, they did not have good job opportunities, and thereby relied on Ch’en’s financial assistance. Their children, Ch’en’s niece and nephew, were grateful to Ch’en, and felt worried about Ch’en’s situation in Shanghai. The children suffered through Japanese airstrikes and skin disease, but  luckily survived in Hong Kong. According to other governmental documents in Ch’en’s collections, Ch’en went back to China to accept his professor position in Peiping (now Beijing). However, due to the breakout of the Japanese invasion, Ch’en and his wife were stuck in Shanghai, and they had to return to the United States while searching for a job on an American campus. The war changed Ch’en and his family completely.

Left: Tak-yi’s letter to Ch’en on the Japanese airstrike; Middle: Shuchong’s letter to Ch’en on his despair over the war; Right: Tak-yi and Shuchong’s letter to Ch’en on their gratitude for Ch’en’s help
Left two images: Letter from Ch’en’s nephew; Right: Letter from Ch’en’s niece

Lau Tai-chi (劉體志) is Ch’en’s elder cousin as well as a famous photographer and dentist. Lau’s father contributed to the founding of Lingnan University, where Ch’en’s family and Lau’s family completed their undergraduate programs. Lau’s two daughters had different destinies according to Lau’s letters to Ch’en. In 1963, Lau’s elder daughter, Hei-lun (希麟) after a long and difficult affection experience, became engaged for marriage with a man. Although Lau complained of this sudden engagement, he chose to respect his daughter’s choice. In 1972, Lau wrote to Ch’en and Ch’en’s younger brother for suggestions on his young daughter Hei-yin (希賢), who was suspected of having a mental disorder because she always insisted that she had been besieged and suppressed by communists in Hong Kong. Lau even considered severing all ties with her.   

Ch’en’s Family Tree 2, Ch’en’s cousin Lau Tai-chi and his family are included
Left: Letter from Lau Tai-chi in 1953, on her elder daughter’s engagement; Right: Letter from Lau in 1972, on her younger daughter’s worrying behavior

There are no more files in Ch’en’s collection to disclose the final destiny of Ch’en’s family members. The fortunate and misfortunate life of Ch’en’s family was the epitome of a chaotic Chinese modern history full of warfare and political movements.  

Harvey Mudd College Diary

This week I looked through 2 binders titled “The Harvey Mudd College Diary” and found out a bit more about Harvey Mudd College’s beginnings. As expected, establishing a new college is not a simple thing. George Wickes, one of the original founding members of the college, documented the highs and lows of the first three years of the college. Today I want to share some excerpts from the diary.

September 20, 1957

“This morning we all had a sense that Harvey Mudd College had at last come into being… In the afternoon the College trustees made it official with a tour of inspection. Although the dust had not yet settled, they seemed as pleased with it as we are.”

September 26, 1957

“This date should go down in history as marking the formal opening of Harvey Mudd College… President Platt then turned to the future of Harvey Mudd College, inviting all present to look back from the vantage point of the year 2000 and consider what we might behold. Thus he brought it home to us that the responsibility is ours: ‘The future of Harvey Mudd College is what we make of it.'”

October 4, 1957

“We ran head-on into the solid realities of building a new college this afternoon at faculty meeting when we began to consider plans for a science building and to peer into the future generally. How many students shall we admit, how many dorms shall we build, how many classrooms and labs will we need?

October 8, 1957

“General alarm as Bill Davenport reported at faculty meeting that some of our students are discouraged about their studies, a few to the point of being panic-stricken, one even ready to bolt. Probably they suffer only from a routine case of freshman blues, but without upperclassmen to diagnose their ailment, they are understandably demoralized.”

May 20, 1958

“Already we’re beginning to celebrate anniversaries. It seems hard to believe, but a year ago we first gathered as a faculty to plan what we were going to do. Claremont was strange to us then, the college illusory, without students or buildings, the whole week rather unreal as we met briefly and exchanged ideas, only to disperse again our several ways.”

Though these are only a few pieces from a few diary entries, it shows that so much time, effort, and patience goes into something of this scale.

More next week!

Nicole

Ch’en Shou-yi, A Bridge Connecting China and The United States cultures 

Disclaimer: This post contains images of historical documents, some of which include perspectives and language reflecting the time in which they were written. The Claremont Colleges Library does not endorse all the views expressed in these documents.

This week I processed Ch’en Shou-yi’s correspondences. As we know, Ch’en was so professional at West-East exchange that he also transplanted his academic perspective to analysis of contemporary politics. As a result, in this box of Ch’en’s correspondence, I found many invitations from different organizations to invite Ch’en to introduce and analyze China. Ch’en was not only a mere scholar on campus, but also was an active participant in social activities to introduce Chinese culture, study Chinese domestic situations, and explore better ways to teach Chinese language and related Chinese studies. 

In the past weeks we have introduced the connections between Ch’en and global scholars who focus on Chinese studies. Due to Ch’en’s success in Chinese studies on American campuses, scholars in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore wrote to Ch’en for suggestions and experiences in Chinese education. Ch’en’s contribution and influence in education fields also led him to be attractive to public audiences, who were eager to better understand China from a distance. On the one hand, many Chinese associations in the US such as China Institute in America, invited Ch’en for speeches not only for introducing Chinese culture, but also for drawing public attention on the Japanese invasion in China. Ch’en’s friends like famous Chinese writer Lin Yutang, and scholar Hu Shih, were important members or even founders of such associations, and thereby played important roles in introducing Ch’en to the public. On the other hand, American people were also passionate to understand China during the Cold War, and eager to review the failure of American diplomatic strategy in China with the victory of Chinese communists. Although Ch’en had his own political stance, he tried to introduce China vividly to the public from his perspective of Chinese culture, and reviewed the moral crisis and culture suppression in political movements. By studying the participations of Ch’en in various governmental and non-governmental organizations, scholars may uncover Ch’en’s social network in the United States, and understand how Ch’en became a bridge to maintain the cultural communication of China and the United States. 

Left: Invitation from China Institute in America; Middle: Ch’en’s lecture on Chinese culture at China Institute in America; Right: A brief introduction of Ch’en Shou-yi on the back of a lecture pamphlet
Left: Invitation from The Library of International Relations; Middle: Invitation from The East and West Association; Right: Pamphlet on a radio discussion in which Ch’en participated
A pamphlet on Ch’en’s Lectures

Japan: Two Sides in Ch’en Shou-yi Collections

Disclaimer: This post contains images of historical documents, some of which include perspectives and language reflecting the time in which they were written. The Claremont Colleges Library does not endorse all the views expressed in these documents.

In the past weeks we have introduced Ch’en Shou-yi’s contributions to the East-West exchange. As for the East civilizations, China is not Ch’en’s only one research topic. Actually, Chen did comprehensive research on other East Asian countries like Korea and Japan. This week I processed booklets, which were collected by Ch’en, and I was impressed by the many booklets on Japan. On the one hand, the booklets published from 1930s to 1940s reflected Japanese military aggression and expansion. On the other hand, the booklets published after WWII reflected the reconstruction and development of Japan and Japanese culture.

When the Second Sino-Japan War (China calls it Anti-Japanese War in these booklets) broke out in 1937, governmental and non-governmental agencies published  many booklets to disclose the war crimes of Japanese invaders, report on the suffering of refugees, and appeal to the world for aid.  For example, in 1933, The Intelligence and Publicity Department published a bulletin on the Japanese military aggression in Shanghai. In 1937, Chinese scholars Jen Tai (任泰) and Shuhsi Hsü (徐淑希) wrote several Information Bulletin to discuss the Japanese aggressive expansion policy in North China and related Sino-Japanese Crisis. In 1938, the China Information Committee, an official ministry of information of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), published a series of booklets reflecting the Japanese invasion and propaganda in China. In a booklet Pictorial Evidence of Japanese Atrocities, the China Information Committee even attached pictures of  executions by the Japanese military. In 1938, The Press Bureau of The Chinese Delegation published booklets criticizing the uselessness of the League of Nations in the Japanese invasion. Non-governmental agencies like Manchuria Refugees’ Relief Association exposed Japanese brutalities in Manchuria in a booklet. In addition, Ch’en collected booklets written and published by non-Chinese. Facts of The China Trouble was published by the contemporary Japanese Chamber of Commerce, trying to find excuses for Japanese aggression. The Sino-Japanese Issue Series contains some issues written by foreign reporters like (Mrs. Paul D.) Mary Fine Twinem, S. Lautenschlager, Rev. E. Stanley Jones, D.D., recording their witness of Japanese aggression in China. Additionally, as we introduced last week, Dr. Clinton N. Laird published his Life In A Japanese Internment Camp in 1943, introducing his family captured by Japanese invaders in Hong Kong. Chinese Americans also organized United China Relief to save Chinese refugees. After visiting China and talking to suffering people, United China Relief published What Li Wen Saw, to appeal to the American people for refugee relief.   

(Left: Life in A Japanese Internment Camp; Right: The Sino-Japanese Crisis

After WWII, Ch’en got an opportunity to visit Japan, and collected booklets reflecting Japanese religion and culture, especially on famous Japanese Buddhist temples like 熊野寺 (Kumano Temple) and 西光寺 (Saikou Temple). Japan: A Packet for Teachers contains a series of booklets on Japanese culture and history published by the Japan Society. In 1957, Japanese Prime Minister Kishi visited the US, and Ch’en collected the booklet published by Consulate General of Japan. At that time, the US and Japan had been allies and Japan was recovering rapidly form the war. As a Chinese American scholar, Ch’en paid attention to the suffering people of his homeland. With the end of the war, he finally focused on his interest in culture and history, and even had the opportunity to visit Japan in person. Booklets on Japan in Ch’en’s collections reflected two sides of Japan: the war provoked by aggressive Japanese invaders led Japan to the verge of destruction while peace made Japanese culture prosperous. 

(Japanese scenery: Hirosaki Castle in cherry blossom time) 
(Japanese Prime Minister Kishi and his family; The boy on the left was the young Prime Minister Shinzo Abe) 

Jean Platt Appreciation

Hi everyone!

Since today is International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, I wanted to highlight and honor Jean Platt. Jean Ferguson Platt was born in 1922 in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. She attended Miami University in Ohio and graduated with a degree in mathematics in 1943, and afterward worked for the Polaroid Company as a technician. A few years later, in 1946, she married Joseph Platt and together they had two daughters.

In 1956, when Joseph Platt agreed to become the President of Harvey Mudd, the Platt family all moved to Claremont, California, to start a new life. As I have been looking through files these past few weeks, I found that Jean became active in many organizations, such as the Red Cross, Girl Scouts of America, the United Church of Christ, Campus Women, and the ARCS Foundation. She was also skilled in silver crafting and would gift a silver piece for Harvey Mudd College students when they married.

Jean established herself as an incredible wife, mother, and community member. She and Joseph were an intelligent and motivated team, and together, they created a meaningful impact on both Harvey Mudd College, and the city of Claremont.

I won’t be here next week for Spring Break, but I look forward to picking up where I left off again next time!

Nicole

The Glory of Scholars and Students in WWII

Disclaimer: This post contains images of historical documents, some of which include perspectives and language reflecting the time in which they were written. The Claremont Colleges Library does not endorse all the views expressed in these documents.

Newspapers, magazines, and other paper publications are important primary sources. As an outstanding historian, Ch’en Shou-yi preserved valuable publications. Two weeks ago, I briefly introduced Ch’en’s offprints, and this week I processed newspapers and magazine clippings, which Ch’en collected. Ch’en’s newspaper clippings and magazine excerpts dated from the 1910s to 1970s, covering many mainstream newspaper and magazine presses in both China and the United States such as the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Ta-Kung-Pao (大公報), Wen Wei Po (文匯報), and Shun Pao (申報). Ch’en had comprehensive interests in Chinese literature, history, linguistics, art, and education. In addition, Ch’en paid attention to contemporary global politics from the 1911 Revolution in China to the Cold War situations. I am impressed by some newspaper clippings on the news during the WWII because I found the participation and contributions of faculty, staff, and students from Lingnan University in Canton, China, and The Claremont Colleges.  

Dr. Clinton N. Laird was a chemist and the dean of Lingnan University, which was Ch’en Shou-yi’s alma mater. Mrs. Laird, a missionary nurse, also worked for Lingnan University, and was detained by Japanese invaders in Hong Kong after the breakout of the Pacific War in 1941. Some of Ch’en Shou-yi’s newspaper clippings focus on Mrs. Laird and other American citizens detained in Hong Kong, who were later released due to the pressure from American government. Dr. Laird wrote works such as Life in A Japanese Internment Camp and the Lairds participated actively in various public speeches to disclose the brutality of Japanese fascists and encourage American patriots to fight against fascists. (Ch’en Shou-yi’s booklets collections preserved related materials and I will introduce these in the future weeks). Ch’en’s newspaper clippings also describe Dr. Laird’s daughter, Miss Catherine Laird, who was born in Canton, China, and was able to speak Japanese. Having experienced Japanese invasion, Miss Laird fearlessly served the war work. In addition, Dr. Charlotte Gower, a female Professor of Anthropologists at Lingnan University, joined the United States Marines and became Capt. Charlotte Gower. After being released by Japanese troops as a POW, Capt. Gower told the public the life as a captive.  

Students from The Claremont Colleges also contributed to a great extent during WWII. James H. (Jimmy) Howard was an alumnus of Pomona College. After graduation, he joined the AVG (American Volunteer Group) led by Colonel Claire L. Chennault, to fight against Japanese Army Air Force. The AVG, nicknamed the Flying Tigers, became famous for their campaigns in China and Southeast Asia. Laurence G. Thompson, whom I introduced two weeks ago, was another Claremont Colleges student and studied under Ch’en Shou-yi. Dr. Thompson was born in Shandong Province, China and got his Ph.D. from Claremont Graduate School (now Claremont Graduate University). During the WWII, Dr. Thompson served in the U.S. Marine Corps as a Japanese-language interpreter, and fought in the South Pacific. After WWII Dr. Thompson was well-known for his contributions to East Asian studies.  

Scholars and students always have passion for the justice, empathy, and brotherhood for mankind. Ch’en’s newspaper and magazine collections recorded their contributions. Their sacrifice and glory should always be remembered.  

Reports from The New York Times on American citizens interned by Japanese troops in Hong Kong.
Left: Reports on Pomona College Alumnus, Jimmy Howard joined AVF; Right: The Laird’s contributions to the war work.

Starting the Harvey Mudd College Series

After wrapping up the majority of Joseph Platt’s biographic boxes, I have taken this week to adjust to the files relating to Harvey Mudd College. Trying to figure out the best way to take on this portion of the collection has been challenging, yet exciting. Platt became Harvey Mudd College’s first president in 1957, and remained as president until 1976. He then went on to become the president of the Claremont University Consortium, and returned to Harvey Mudd College in 1981.

Mixed in with these documents, I also found some of the organizations he was a part of such as the National Energy Foundation Board, the Southwest Museum, Cosmos Club, the World Affairs Council, and the National Research Council. The folders contained an abundance of correspondence, annual reports, meeting minutes, and articles. Once again, Platt shows us how busy he was. Finally, I also discovered that Platt had earned his pilot’s license in 1945. Although this is from much earlier in his life, I was surprised to find his license and certificates.

More next week!

Nicole

Ch’en Shou-yi’s Research Materials

This week I input Ch’en Shou-yi’s research materials into the ArchivesSpace system. In the three boxes full of handwritten and typed notes, Ch’en Shou-yi left his comprehensive research and acute insights. Based on my rough observation, 76 folders of Ch’en Shou-yi’s research materials focused on his lifetime research topic: The West-East cultural communication, which referred to the cultural contact between the West represented by Europe and the United States, and the East represented by China. Ch’en’s notebooks contained numerous fields such as Chinese and European history, literature, archaeology, religion studies, culture studies, philosophy, and even language learnings like Russian. Many notes express Ch’en’s mature ideas because they were used finally in Ch’en’s published works.

This week I input Ch’en Shou-yi’s research materials into the ArchivesSpace system. In the three boxes full of handwritten and typed notes, Ch’en Shou-yi left his comprehensive research and acute insights. Based on my rough observation, 76 folders of Ch’en Shou-yi’s research materials focused on his lifetime research topic: The West-East cultural communication, which referred to the cultural contact between the West represented by Europe and the United States, and the East represented by China. Ch’en’s notebooks contained numerous fields such as Chinese and European history, literature, archaeology, religion studies, culture studies, philosophy, and even language learnings like Russian. Many notes express Ch’en’s mature ideas because they were used finally in Ch’en’s published works.

Chen’s handwritten and typed notes, and pasted excerpts on Chinese traditional poetry. (Left: English translation of a poem on Chinese ancient peasant; Right: two poems written in Ming Dynasty on seeing friends off)
Ch’en’s handwritten notes on Japanese learning
Ch’en’s handwritten and pasted excerpts note cards on book reviews.

Draft, Publish, Repeat

This week I processed more of Platt’s writings, travel files, and some of his documents from the Claremont School of Theology’s Ancient Biblical Manuscript Collection (ABMC). The ABMC files included board meeting notes and minutes, photographs of biblical manuscripts, and newspaper clippings of global events related to Theology.

Last week, I had mentioned Platt’s “Mesonic Atoms” and thought it would be good to share an example of his drafts and final product. These examples are not all from the same chapter, yet they still show Platt’s writing process. As a graduate student, I found his writing methods encouraging. As the semester progresses and due dates approach, drafting is part of my daily routine. In academia, we are all in the same boat of drafting until we are ready to share our work.

Chapter 1 Draft
Chapter 2 Draft
Example of a published chapter

I am currently wrapping up the biography portion of Joseph Platt’s collection, and am ready to dive into the Harvey Mudd College Collection next week!

Nicole

Ch’en Shou-yi’s Academic Circle via His Collections of Offprints

This week I input two boxes of offprints, booklets, and other academic publications written by Ch’en Shou-yi and other scholars into the online archive. As a scholar who studied the East-West exchange, Ch’en’s collections of academic works covered history, literature, archaeology, religion, and linguistic on China. Most of the academic works were written in English and Chinese, and published from 1870s to 1970s. These offprints and other academic publications crossing one century preserved research values apart from the contents.  

First, according to the publication date, I can imagine scholars in different eras had different research focuses. From 1871 to 1920, most offprints, excerpts, and other academic works were written by Christian intellectuals, who were also priests in China. Christian intellectuals studied Chinese language such as the Mandarin romanization, philosophy such as Confucianism, and Chinese culture and tradition like the festivals, trying to understand China and better introduce Christianity. After the Chinese Civil War in 1949, publications in Taiwan and on Taiwan became prosperous. Many scholars explored the history of Taiwan in diaspora history and global communication, and reviewed the ideologies and revolutions in modern China. Maybe these works reflect the Chinese intellectuals’ focus with the Kuomintang retreated to Taiwan.  

Second, if we link many of those authors with Ch’en’s correspondence, which I will post in the future weeks, we can clearly see the friendship between Ch’en and those authors, who are famous modern Chinese intellectuals. I made a rough statistic to recover Ch’en’s academic circle. I have input 196 academic works written by 101 authors. 4 authors stayed in China Mainland such as Luo Changpei (羅常培), one of the founders of Chinese linguistic. 1/3 of the authors including Ch’en Shou-yi came to the United States and became Chinese-American scholars such as Yuen Ren Chao (趙元任), another founder of Chinese linguistic, Chan Wing-tsit (陳榮捷), Ch’en Shou-yi’s alumnae in Lingnan University and colleague in University of Hawaii as well as famous historian, Wu Hsiang-hsiang (吳相湘), historian focusing on biography research, and Tung-Li Yuan (袁同禮), father of Chinese library studies. 1/10 of the authors went to Taiwan, making contributions to the Taiwan colleges and Academia Sinica, including Han-sheng Chuan (全漢昇), historian of the history of Chinese economics, Li Chi (李濟), father of Chinese archaeology, T. F. Tsiang (蔣廷黻), historian and Chinese ambassador in the US, and Yao Ts’ung-wu (姚從吾), historian and Ch’en’s colleague in Peking University. The other global scholars came from the Netherlands, Japan, France, and the United States, contributing insights to Chinese studies.  

In the end, the compliments and comments written by the authors also provided valuable information to recover Ch’en’s academic circle. Ch’en’s younger brother, Stanley H. Chan (陳受康), a law scholar, contributed one article on law. Nine scholars viewed Ch’en as a faithful friend including Chan Wing-tsit (陳榮捷), who sent Ch’en 12 papers. Almost 20 authors were Ch’en’s students, who also maintained correspondence with Ch’en. Wen-Djang Chu (朱文長) in Singapore, Wang Teh-chao (王德昭) in Hong Kong, Laurence G. Thompson (譚維理) in California, were not only outstanding scholars, but also improved Chinese studies teaching after consulting with their teacher, Ch’en.   

Ch’en Shou-yi’s student Wang Teh-chao’s handwritten compliments: “To Shou-yi, my teacher, please correct it. With compliments of Wang Teh-chao, your student. (受頤吾師教正 受業王德昭敬呈).” 
Ch’en’s friend Yuan Tung-li’s handwritten compliments: “To Shou-yi, my brother, please correct it. (受颐吾兄 教正.)” 
Ch’en Shou-yi’s student Laurence G. Thompson’s handwritten compliments: “To Shou-yi, my teacher, please correct it. With compliments of Laurence G. Thompson, your student. (陳老師請指教 弟子 維理.).” 
Ch’en Shou-yi’s friend and colleague, Chan Wing-tsit’s handwritten notes: “To Shou-yi, my brother, Haeger is your colleague, so I think I should send you one copy. With best wishes from H. M. Loh (A Chinese scholar in Japan). Compliments of Wing-tsit. (頤兄,兄既是Haeger同事,弟以爲當寄兄一份。孝明問候。榮捷)”