This week is my last week working as a CCEPS Fellow. It has been my honor to work with Special Collections and the Asian Library of The Claremont Colleges Library. I have learned a lot while archiving the Ch’en Shou-yi Papers. Here, I must thank my supervisors and colleagues who always help and enlighten me. Sean guided me in the physical processing and intellectual organization of the Ch’en Shou-yi Papers. In addition, he was always patient to review my blog drafts each week. Xiuying taught me concepts in archival studies and inspired me to develop sensitivity to privacy and inclusive description, which I did not know about before accessing the archives. Thanks to their help, I now understand and have enjoyed the archival work every week.
Of course, I am sincerely grateful to the readers. Since I wrote the blogs every week beginning on February 8, I am glad to hear that quite a few researchers are paying closer attention to the Ch’en Shou-yi Papers and Asian Library collections. This week I begin labelling all the folders and double-checking the information I have input into the ArchivesSpace. During the upcoming Fall semester, I will give a presentation on my work, and I am looking forward to reading the collection finding aid, which will be published for public use in the near future.
This week when I was processing Ch’en Shou-yi’s materials, I found a governmental document, Directory of Chinese Scholars in America, 1961-1962, which was published by the Office of the Cultural Counselor, ROC Taiwan. As a Chinese scholar in the US, Ch’en received a copy with a gift note. The note disclosed some important information. First, Ch’en was not addressed as Doctor or Professor, but as a Committee Member, which meant that Ch’en must be a member of the committee in charge of the compilation of the directory. Second, Ch’en was asked to update the committee with the latest information of Chinese scholars in the US, indicating that Ch’en might have participated in gathering information about Chinese scholars in the US, or simply due to the fact that Ch’en had a wide academic circle. Indeed, from this document, we find many familiar names such as Chan Wing-tsit, Lin Yu-tang, and Chao Yen Ren that we introduced in the past weeks, making this document a useful index for Ch’en Shou-yi Papers.
First, this document listed Ch’en’s family and friends teaching at colleges. Ch’en’s two younger brothers, Chan, Shau-wing (陳受榮) and Chan, Stanley (陳受康) were scholars at Stanford University (p. 1) and Loyola University of Los Angeles (p. 2). Ch’en’s materials contain his correspondence with his brothers and an offprint written by Stanley Chan. Chan, Wing-tsit (陳 榮 捷 ) was Ch’en’s friend, fellow alumnus from Lingnan University, and colleague at the University of Hawaii. Chan and Ch’en established the Oriental Institute together (page 2). The Ch’en Shou-yi Papers include quite a few of Chan’s offprints, correspondence, and notes on Lingnan University. Liu, Wu-chi (柳無忌), professor at Indiana University (p. 52), focused on Chinese literature, especially modern Chinese writer and artist, Su Manshu (蘇曼殊). Liu was a friend of Ch’en and H. M. Lo (羅孝明), a Chinese scholar who also studied Su Manshu in Japan. Ch’en’s materials include correspondence among Ch’en, Liu, and Lo.
Second, this document listed Chinese studies scholars who benefited from Ch’en’s teaching or mentoring. Chu, Wen-Djang (朱文長), one of Ch’en’s students, was an instructor at Yale University (p. 20). Ch’en received Chu’s offprints of his latest worksand letters on Chu’s career in Singapore. Chuan, Han-sheng (全漢昇) was a visiting professor at University of Chicago (p. 20). Chuan was Ch’en’s student and became a well-known scholar for history of Chinese economics. Ch’en’s materials included Chuan’s offprints and handwritten notes on Ch’en’s lecture at Peking University.
Finally, this document listed some scholars who were not teaching or researching at colleges such as Ch’en’s old friends, Lin, Yu-tang (林語堂) and Yuan, T. L. (袁同禮). Both of them made contributions to modern Chinese literature and library science. The Ch’en Shou-yi Papers include Lin and Yuan’s photos, offprints, and correspondence. In addition, Chao, Yen Ren (趙元任), an important founder of modern Chinese linguistics, retired from University of California, Berkeley (page 6). Chao maintained a close relationship with Ch’en and Hu Shih. Chen’s materials preserve Chao’s correspondence and offprints.
This week I processed a small box full of Ch’en Shou-yi’s personal documents such as his diaries, to-do lists, address books, official documents, appointment letters, governmental forms, and materials on his family. Ch’en’s personal documents provide supplementary sources for research of contemporary Chinese scholars in the United States.
As a scholar, Ch’en collected many books for his research and for The Oriental Library (now Asian Library at The Claremont Colleges Library). This box preserves the receipts from various bookstores and presses in China such as The K’ai T’ung Bookstore (開通書社), Sui Ya Zhai (邃雅齋), Lai Xun Ge (來薰閣), and others. Due to Ch’en’s contributions to Chinese studies, Ch’en was appointed by colleges and institutes in both China and the United States. This box preserves Ch’en’s letters of appointment from Academia Sinica in Taiwan and Peking University China foundations, as well as governmental documents for travel and work like IRS taxation forms, and the entry forms to the US and Taiwan.
Among these materials, I was really impressed by the conversation notes between Ch’en and one of his Japanese friends, Katsuki Tamura (田村克喜) written during Ch’en’s visit to Japan. On four small notes, Ch’en and Tamura wrote simple Chinese characters to talk about Ch’en’s research topic, and Ch’en answered Tamura’s question on why he was not able to return to Mainland China because of the contemporary communism movements. At the time, Ch’en seemed unable to speak Japanese and Tamura did not speak English. Thanks to the same Chinese characters in both Chinese and Japanese, the two scholars successfully completed their conversation with pen and papers. With the same passion and friendship in research, language was no longer an obstacle for Ch’en to expand his social circle.
If we study modern Chinese history, Hu Shih (胡適) should be an inevitable name. As a scholar, Hu Shih introduced methodologies he learned in the United States to renovate modern Chinese history, philosophy, and literature studies. As a poet, Hu Shih wrote the first poem in modern vernacular Chinese (白話文), thereby affecting the reform of modern Chinese language. Hu, like most contemporary scholars, introduced democracy and science into China, trying to enlighten people and establish a liberal new China. As the representative of liberalist scholars, Hu and the founders of Chinese Communist Party, Chen Duxiu (or Ch’en Tu-hsiu, 陳獨秀) and Li Dazhao (or Li Ta-chao, 李大釗), participated in the New Culture Movement and May Fourth Movement to innovate Chinese culture and gain China’s independence. Mao Zedong (or Mao Tse-tung, 毛澤東) was Hu’s student. During World War II, Hu became a celebrated politician in Chiang Kai-shek’s administration and was appointed as the Chinese Ambassador to the United States. As a result, Hu maintained close relationships with both the liberal and conservative parties in China, not to mention numerous Chinese scholars including his lifetime friend, Ch’en Shou-yi. The Ch’en Shou-yi Papers has a box full of Hu Shih’s materials including Hu’s manuscripts, offprints, newspaper clippings, and cassette and recording tapes, all valuable materials to study Hu Shih.
Hu Shih’s works in Ch’en Shou-yi papers includes Hu’s research on ancient Chinese philosophy like The Development of The Logical Method in Ancient China (先秦名學史), Buddhist studies like A Third Tunhuang Text of the Discourses of the Monk Shen-Hui (神會和尚語錄的第三個敦煌寫本《南陽和尚問答雜徵義:劉澄集》), and history studies such as Hsüeh Tsan, The Han-Shu Commentator (注漢書的薛瓚). Hu Shih also left two handwritten manuscripts on Chinese classics like Ch’ing-hsi wen chi hsü pien (青溪文集續編), and a published book, The Chinese Renaissance, likely a gift to Ch’en because of the handwritten compliments. In addition to academic works on Chinese history, literature, and philosophy, Hu also published his comments on politics such as China in Stalin’s Grand Strategy, and My Former Student, Mao Tse-tung. Ch’en also collected the magazine, Free China, which was published by Hu after retreating to Taiwan in 1949, and materials on the China Institute (華美協進社), which Hu helped found.
Ch’en also preserved special types of materials, such as cassette tapes and recording tapes of Hu’s speeches and lectures on Chinese literature and domestic political situations. One recording tape recorded Hu’s speech at a dinner during his visit to The Claremont Colleges. In the end, Ch’en collected newspaper clippings on Hu Shih, especially those reports on Hu’s death and contemporary well-known scholars lamenting the death of Hu. Hu recommended Ch’en to teach at the University of Hawaii, thereby introducing Ch’en to the United States. Hu was not only Ch’en’s lifetime friend and colleague, but also Ch’en’s faithful comrade in the publicity of Chinese culture and liberalism.
This week I processed one of two boxes of Ch’en Shou-yi’s personal collections. I must admit that Ch’en’s historical collections in these two boxes should be the most interesting visual items during my processing work. In addition to offprints, notebooks, newspaper clippings, or magazine excerpts, materials from Ch’en’s personal collections, both textual or non-textual, provided visual evidence reflecting Ch’en’s scholarly and research interest.
The box I processed contained two categories. One category included textual materials on Chinese literature, history, and culture. The other category included textual and non-textual materials on Japanese art and religion. For the Chinese collections, I would like to introduce the wood block printed book on Yuan drama, which were popular in the Yuan Dynasty. The Yuan drama in Ch’en’s collection focus on plots and topics such as ancient warrior and generals’ bravery, ancient intellectuals’ romantic love, and the loyalty between emperors and their followers. Some history such as the brotherhood and comradeship between Liu Bei (劉備, 161-223 AD), the founding emperor of the Shu Han (蜀漢, 221-263 AD) Kingdom, and his generals, Guan Yu (關羽, ?-220 AD) and Zhang Fei (張飛, ?-221 AD), were adapted into various Chinese art forms due to the dramatic and legendary ending. Novels, paintings, manga, and even video games often chose this history to show that historical era. The Yuan drama in Ch’en’s collection I highlight below is titled “Yuan drama on Guan Yu’s bravery during a diplomatic mission,” and included two episodes that provide a good way to understand this Chinese cultural icon. In addition, ancient Chinese bank notes and imperial currency are also attractive because they are symbols of ancient Chinese finance. Although Ch’en himself did not specialize in the history of Chinese economics, he taught excellent students who contributed to this field such as the historian Han-Sheng Chuan (全漢昇). The bank notes and currency bills in Ch’en’s collection might help readers to understand the development of financial industry in ancient China.
As for Japanese collections, Ch’en collected a lot of religious items from Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines. Buddhism and Shinto were traditional Japanese religions, and Japanese people would often visit temples and shrines to pray for charms. The wooden and paper charms in this box were from different temples and shrines in Japan, and they recorded people’s wishes for various things such as traffic safety, fortune, family health, and peace and prosperity. In addition, this collection included other related religious items such as Suzunoo (鈴緒), a Japanese bell belt on cloth used for Shinto rituals. Ch’en also collected a lot of postcards and photos on Chinese and Japanese religious culture, and I will introduce these in the future.
In the past weeks we have introduced Ch’en Shou-yi’s academic circle with various global scholars, Ch’en’s academic contributions to Sino-US communication, and Ch’en’s successful education for the new generation American scholars on Asian studies. This week we would like to focus on Ch’en’s contributions to the development of Chinese studies on the West Coast of the United States, especially in California, by introducing different types of materials.
Generally, Ch’en’s contributions to the Chinese studies in the Western United States was a combined result from Ch’en’s long-term efforts and support from academic institutions and Rockefeller Foundation. First of all, the Rockefeller Foundation offered financial support to Ch’en’s Asian studies. Ch’en’s capability and hardworking nature won the Rockefeller Foundation’s admiration, which hoped Ch’en could stay in the US longer to complete more work on Asian studies. As we have introduced, in 1937, Ch’en went back to China but was stuck in Shanghai due to the breakout of the war. Therefore, Ch’en returned to the US and continued to the development of Asian studies with the help of the Rockefeller Foundation. Second, last week we presented Pomona College’s 5th president, Dr. Charles K. Edmunds, who provided administrative support to Ch’en and the founding of the Asian studies program at Pomona College. When Ch’en was teaching at the University of Hawaii, Ch’en maintained correspondence with contemporary scholars like John K. Fairbank, to discuss education on East Asian studies in the US. At Pomona College, Ch’en focused not only on education for his students and academic works for the society, but also collections for Asian studies. Ch’en was involved in securing the Todd Collection of Chinese bronzes to Pomona College. Also, due to the deep relationship between the faculty members in Lingnan University and Pomona College, Ch’en, as an alumnus, played an important role in collecting materials related to Lingnan University such as Dr. Edmunds’ slides, and facilitated the book procurement from China and Japan for the Oriental Library, the predecessor of Asian Library at the Honnold Library. In the end, Ch’en participated actively in various activities to present China to the American public. Newspapers, radios, and television programs became Ch’en’s stage to enlighten the public. In addition, Ch’en invited global scholars to give seminars in California. Apart from paper-based collections, Ch’en’s collection also preserves recording tapes of Hu Shih’s speech at the Claremont Colleges.
Ch’en left valuable legacy for the Asian studies in the Western United States. On the one hand, the Asian Library with its collections of rare books Ch’en donated or help to obtain, and the Department of Asian Languages and Literatures that Ch’en helped founded, became visible heritage. On the other hand, Ch’en’s passion for education and research with students and scholars, and his sense of duty for Asian cultures became invisible heritage for us to continue the development of Asian studies in the Western United States.
Lingnan University (嶺南大學) and its predecessor, Canton Christian College (嶺南學校) played important roles in Ch’en Shou-yi’s life. Ch’en and his brothers completed their undergraduate programs in Lingnan and Ch’en taught there before teaching in Peking and the US. Even though Ch’en never got a chance to return to his alma mater coming to the US during WWII, Lingnan still occupied his life with its alumni and faculty network. Many people we have introduced in the past weeks had deep relationships with Lingnan. Chan Wing-tsit (陳榮捷), Ch’en’s colleague at the University of Hawaii as well as lifetime friend, was an Lingnan alumnus. Dr. Clinton N. Laird (Chinese name: 梁敬敦), famous American chemist, served as a Lingnan faculty member with his wife and daughter, who were interned by the Japanese in Hong Kong during WWII. Lau Tai-chi (劉體志), Ch’en’s cousin, was also a Lingnan alumnus. Additionally, Lau’s father, another famous dentist like Lau, participated into the foundation of Lingnan. This week I processed Ch’en’s collections of photos and images, which recorded the history of Lingnan University and the glory of great Chinese and American figures who contributed to Lingnan.
The brochure, Canton Christian College (嶺南學校), was likely published between 1903 and 1927, because before 1903, Lingnan was called Christian College while after 1927, Lingnan was transformed into Lingnan University (hereinafter referred to as Lingnan). This brochure introduced the inception and development of Lingnan. Lingnan was established by American Presbyterian missionaries Rev. B. C. Henry and Dr. A. P. Happer in Canton City, Kwangtung (Guangdong) Province, in 1888. Due to financial conditions and unstable domestic situations, Lingnan was relocated to Macau and Hong Kong. This brochure also introduced some revolutionary figures such as Dr. Wing Kong Chung (鍾榮光), the dean and first Chinese president of Lingnan, and Dr. Charles K Edmunds (Chinese name: 晏文士), who became the president of Pomona College and invited Ch’en to teach there.
In 1911, Ch’en was admitted by Lingnan. In 1920, Chen taught at Lingnan after graduation. In 1925, Chen became an Associated Professor and travelled to University of Chicago to learn comparative literature. I think during this time, Ch’en maintained a deep relationship with Dr. Chung and Dr. Edmunds and witnessed their contributions. Dr. Chung raised funds among global Chinese diasporas and enhanced Chinese studies at Lingnan. Dr. Edmunds also accelerated a series of reforms at Pomona College such as supporting Ch’en to establish Asian studies after becoming the president of Pomona College. Lingnan was a missionary college, where many students, including Ch’en, attended to become Christians. Meanwhile, with the contributions of Dr. Chung and Dr. Edmunds, Lingnan preserved excellent Chinese studies and developed comprehensive subjects including science and physical education. Thanks to the diversity and tolerance of Lingnan, Ch’en was able to explore the communication of Christianism and Confucianism in his academic life. Lingnan also became a symbol of American missionary’s contributions to the Chinese modern education.
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 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 study his family and glimpse their life in the modern Chinese history.
Tak-yi (德儀) was Ch’en’s elder sister. Ch’en’s collection preserves her family’s letters to Ch’en 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. Thanks to Ch’en’s help from the United States, Tak-yi and her family were able to move to Hong Kong in 1937. Tak-yi’s 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, but luckily survived in Hong Kong. According to other governmental documents in Ch’en’s collections, Ch’en had completed his research in the US, and went back to China to continue his professor career 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.
Lau Tai-chi (劉體志) is Ch’en’s elder cousin and Lau also completed his undergraduate program at Canton Christian College (Lingnan University). Ch’en’s collections preserved correspondences from Lau. Some of the letters from Lau discussed academic issues and other letters talked about their family. Lau mentioned his daughter’s weddings, his life, and his viewpoints on politics. Lau and Ch’en had many common friends, and some of Ch’en’s friends left letters admiring Lau and his wife, Tai-lim (體濂).
There are also some other materials, such as greeting cards, in Ch’en’s collection that disclose the life of Ch’en’s family members in both China and the US. During this chaotic era, like many other Chinese people, Ch’en’s family experienced the fortunate and misfortunate life. Ch’en’s collections on his family provide valuable resources to study China during this era.
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.
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.
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.