Bulletin Number Four 1984

New Asia in a Historical and Developmental Perspective by Ambrose Y.C. King (1) Any organic organization is at the same time historical and developmental. New Asia College was established w ith a mission to preserve and promote Chinese culture and was modelled on the private academy o f the Sung Dynasty. Over the thirty-four years o f its establishment, New Asia has undergone a number o f transformations. It became a constituent College o f The Chinese University o f Hong Kong in 1963 and its educational objectives have been incorporated into the long-term goal o f the University. The College has developed so quickly that it is now many times its original size and scale. During the different stages o f development, it has assumed different roles, but its value-orientation has remained the same and has always been cherished by its staff and students. Therefore, New Asia is historical as well as developmental. (2) What is the function o f a College in the new University structure? Apart from playing its 'historical' role in a basically integrated modem university, what 'developmental' role should it play? These are the questions to which New Asia staff and students should address themselves. Modem universities are becoming more specialized in their programmes, bigger in their size and more complex in their organization, and The Chinese University is no exception. The explosion o f knowledge and the society's increasing demand for university education obviously account for such changes. As the objectives and activities o f the university become more diversified, its organization becomes more bureaucratized. Such a university may then be characterized as an 'urbanized' community in which interpersonal relations, other than those among staff and students o f the same department, tend to be superficial. Dr. Clark Kerr, former President o f the University o f California and a Council member o f this University, labels today's university as a 'm u lti versity', and compares it to a ‘city' . However, in multiversities, the traditional image and function o f a university as a place for scholars, old and young, to devote themselves all day to the pursuit o f knowledge are gradually changing. In the face o f such changes, many modem universities are consciously or unconsciously striving to set up smaller units in the big ‘city' . In The Chinese University, Colleges as close-knit staff-student communities have been in existence ever since its inception, so it is only natural for us to develop our College into a 'vigorous cultural and intellectual community'. I f the University is a ‘city' ， then the College may be likened to one o f its towns. While the University is mainly concerned w ith the provision o f specialized programmes by its Departments, the Colleges, which have no Departments under them, are only responsible for the provision o f a living environment where teachers and students o f the same College may get together for academic discussions and share w ith one another their experiences and knowledge. The various activities such as talks, seminars, concerts, athletic meets organized by the Colleges are in a way a 'hidden curriculum' which enriches the students' life and broadens their intellectual horizon. The Colleges also provide the venue for teachers o f diversified disciplines to meet and chat, through which views would be exchanged, interactions promoted, and mutual understanding improved, thereby minimizing the undesirable compartmentalization and fragmentation o f knowledge. Eventually an organic community o f scholars would emerge w ithin the College. Based on this assumption and conviction, New Asia College, besides providing students w ith hostels like Chih Hsing Hall, Xuesi Hall and Grace Tien Hall, also set up student activity rooms like Yali Room and Qi You Room. For the staff, we have the staff common room (Yun Chi Hsien) and the Faculty Reading Room, which help to foster an esprit de corps and a sense o f identity. (3) Adopting ‘New Asia' as its name underlines not only an aspiration to inherit the Chinese cultural legacy, but also a noble mission to promote Chinese culture. China is one o f the oldest countries in Asia, whose Confucian tradition has taken root in many a country in East Asia, and it is worth noting that the tremendous economic growth o f today's East Asian countries is attributable to a great extent to the influence o f Confucian values. It is anticipated that Asia w ill play an increasingly important role in future world affairs and cultural development ， and although we are aware o f the lim ited influence o f New Asia, we w ill still aspire to make our own contribution. We 11 RECENT DEVELOPMENTS