Bulletin Number Five 1985

A n Interviewwit hProfesso r Chen g Te-K'u Professor Cheng Te-K'un, Emeritus Professor of Fine Arts and Honorary Director of the Institute of Chinese Studies o f this University, i s a world-renowned archaeologist and educationalist. The most recen t honour bestowed upon hi m was his being elected a Corresponding Fellow of The British Academy. To enable readers o f the Chinese University Bulletin t o have a fuller picture of this prominent figure in the academic world, we have outlined below the academic activities of Professor Cheng over the years and conducted an interview with him. The academic activities of Professor Cheng may be roughly divided into seven stages. 1. 1926-30 A n undergraduate of Yenching University i n Peking ， Professor Cheng started as a pre-medical student but ended up as a student o f Chinese classics, majoring in philology, in the Department of Chinese literature, obtaining his BA degree in 1930. Professors Jung Keng and Ku Chieh-kang at Yenching drew his attention to Chinese antiquarian studies and directed him into research o n Chinese classics and archaeology. 2. 1930-33 He pursued postgraduate studies at his alma mater and obtained the degree o f MA in Chinese studies i n 1931. During that period, he joined an archaeological group headed by Professors Jung Keng and Ku Chieh-kang to visit historica l ruins in different provinces in North China, and participated in the archaeological fieldwork in Anyang organized by the Academia Sinica. He then joined the Harvard- Yenching Institute as a Research Fellow and conducted research on the Chinese classics ， Shan-hai-ching (山海經） and Shui-ching-chu (水經注）. He also studied to master connoisseurship i n Chinese antiques. His works published in the Yenching Journal were often met with favourable comments in the academic circles at home and abroad. His monograph A History of Chinese Mortuary Object, coauthored with Shen Wei- chun, was chosen for publication as the first volume of the Yenching Journal Monograph Series, and was listed as a reader in Chinese archaeology atWaseda University of Japan in the 1950s. 3. 1933-38 His time at Amoy University, where he taught Chinese history an d established a Museum of Chinese Culture, gave him a better understanding of the development of Chinese civilization. He went t o Szechwan later at the request o f the Harvard-Yenching Institute, and apart from teaching Chinese history at the West China Union University, he kept archaeological field activities and museum work as a sideline. 4. 1938-47 This stage began with a three- year postgraduate work in archaeology and anthropology at Harvard University, where he obtained his PhD degree in 1941. Upon graduation, he returned to the West China Unio n University as a Professor and Curator of the Museum of the University, and began t o specialize i n Szechwan archaeology. He started by reorganizing the Museum collection, which he used as 'native material' for class instruction. By the end of the war, a basic chronological sequence of Szechwan was established. His efforts were highly praised by S. Mizuno, an archaeologist in Kyoto, who called him the 'Father of Szechwan Archaeology'. 5. 1947-62 His works in Szechwan archaeology also caught the attention of the representative of the British Council in China who arranged to invite him to England in 1947. The political change in China prevented him from returning to Chengtu, Szechwan, in 1948, and he had to stay in Hong Kong. Two years later, Cambridge invited him back to England as a Lecturer in Far Eastern Art and Archaeology. Apart from his teaching duties, his firs t task was to conclude his activities i n West China which resulted i n the publication of Archaeological Studies in Szechwan. Meanwhile, the new materials unearthed b y the Chinese archaeologists i n the fieldbegan to appear in a steady stream. They were closely followed by Professor Cheng, who di d not hesitate t o commit himself to write the series on Archaeology in China. So far three volumes and a supplement have been published. The series was translated into Japanese by Professor Matsuzaka Hasukatsu of the Hiroshima University. 6. 1963-73 This period marked a number of additional activities i n assisting the organization of Chinese studies in Southeast Asia, especially at the University o f Malaya, Nanyang University and the University o f Singapore. Archaeological fieldworks and studies of art were also carried out in Borneo, which resulted in the publication of Archaeology in Sarawak, 7. 1974 - Returning from Cambridge, where h e was honoured a s Emeritus Reader i n Chinese Archaeology an d Emeritus Fellow o f Wolfson College i n 1974 ， Professor Cheng was RECENT DEVELOPMENTS 2 1