Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 2005

The 62n d Congregatio for th e Confermen t of Degree s f o c u s i ng o n the life a n d c u l t u re o f o r d i n a ry p e o p l e. H e b e l i e v es t h a t t h e a c t i o ns a n d wo r d s, th e thoughts a nd desires o f a c o mm o n person are i l l u s t r a t i v e o f d i f f e r e nt aspects o f the e n t i re c u l t u r a l g a m u t . W i t h o u t understanding the life of the c ommo n folk, i t w o u ld be d i f f i c u lt t og a i n a f u l v i e w o f the tapestry of Chinese culture, le t alone its true s p i r i t u al essence. P r o f . L i ' s t e a c h i n gs r e m a i n a n i n s p i r a t i o n for scholars t odate. In 1955, Prof. Li bega n w o r k in the Institut e o f E t h n o l o g y o ft h eA c a d e m i a S i n i c a i n Taiwan, b e c om i ng it s director i n1970. W h e n he r e t i r ed i n 1998, h i s a c h i e v eme n t s o f the past 43 years w o n u n a n i m o u s praise f r o m c o l l e a g u es b o t h i n s i d e a n d o u t s i de t h e i n s t i t u t e. H e received the highest academic h o n o u r i n 1984 w h e n he w as e l e c t ed a n academician. That same year , he accepted a n i n v i t a t i on t o j o in t h e f a c u l ty o f T s i ng H ua University to f o u n d the College of Huma n i t i es a n d Social Sciences. N a m i n g a college w i t h the h u m a n i t i e s a n d social sciences w as a n u n p r e c e d e n t ed m o v e i n the h i s t o ry o f university e d u c a t i o n. I n s i x years, Prof. L iestablished three d e p a r t me n t s a n d six research i n s t i t u t e s, b r i n g i n g a r e f r e s h i ng b r e a th o f humanities t oa campus k n o w n for its science a nd engineering orientation. I n1989, Prof. L i became p r e s i d e nt o f the C h i a ng C h i n g - k uo F o u n d a t i on f o r I n t e r n a t i o n a l S c h o l a r l y Exchange a n d , i n 2001, h ew a s a p p o i n t e d c h a i r m a n o f t h e B o a rd o f D i r e c t o r s. T h e C h i a n g C h i n g - k uo F o u n d a t i on was anothe r e x amp le o f Prof. L i 's a dm i n i s t r a t i v e talents a nd vision . He was responsible fo r setting u p the organization f r om d ay one and, u n d er hi s leadership a nd p l a n n i n g, th e f o u n d a t i o n has a c t i v e l y b r o u g h t S i n o l o g i c a l s t u d i e s t o t he i n t e r n a t i o n a l a r e n a. I t is n o w t h e m o st i m p o r t a n t o r g a n i z a t i o n i n t he w o r l d t h at p r omo t e s a n d a w a r d s i n - d e p t h research o n Chinese culture across the globe. Prof. L ihas received h o n o r a ry doctorate s f r o m the U n i v e r s i t y o fParis, Sorbonne-Paris IV, G r i f f i t h Un i v e r s i ty i nA u s t r a l i a a nd Tsin g H u a Un i v e r s i ty i n Taiwan; u n i v e r s i t y medals f r om the University of Heidelber g in Ge r ma ny a n d f r o m Ch a r l es U n i v e r s i t y i nt h e C z e ch R e p u b l i c ; a n d th e N a t i o n a l C u l t u r e A w a r d f r om the Executiv e Yuan o f Taiwan. A l l these awa r ds c o n f i rm th e h i g h status h eenjoys i n the academic w o r l d. Fo r m a n y years, Prof . L i has g i v e n s u p p o r t a n d e n c o u r a g eme nt o n m a n y f r o n ts t o T he Ch i n e se U n i v e r s i t y o f H o n g Ko n g . F r om 1996-2000, h e served on the A d v i s o r y B o a rd o f the I n s t i t u t e o f Chinese Studies at The Chinese Un i v e r s i t y a n d visited the Un i v e r s i t y m a n y times, offerin g valuable advice. Twice he came as an external examiner for the A n t h r o p o l o g y Department, where some of the professors we r e his o w n students. H i s contributions t othe academic developmen t o f The Chinese Un i v e r s i ty ar e i n d e e d many. It has b e en c l a i m ed t h a t t h e s t u d y o f a n t h r o p o l o g y is a l o n e ly enterprise. G o i ng deep i n to the c o u n t r y s i d e f o r investigations is more than physically challenging . For Prof. L i , f i e l d w o r k is t a x i n g a t t i m e s , b u t i t produces such a j oy that never fails t o b r i ng h i m b a c k t oi t . F i e l d w o rk i sa s o u r ce o f r e f r e s h m e n t , w i t h a l l t h e m a t e r i a lsa n d i n s p i r a t i on c o m i n g d i r e c t ly f r o m t h e real people. H o w e v er b r i e f each encounter is, h e a l wa ys comes o u t f r o m i tw i t h observations never noticed before. He enjoys being w i t h the v i l l a g e r s a n d s h a r i n g t h e i r lives. O n l y b y staying close t o w h at t h ey d o on the outside w o u l d h eg a i n a d e e p e r u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f wh a t they t h i nk on the inside. A n d , that understanding, once a c q u i r e d, i s t r u l y p r e c i o u s . O v e r the decades, Prof. L i has e s t a b l i s h ed i n d i g e n i z ed anthropologica l studies w i t h the h o pe o f b r e a k i ng the clash b e t we e n eastern and western cultura l studies, thereby escaping the traps o fstultified research o f the past. H e p r o p o s es n e w m e t h o ds a n d t h e o r i es w i t h w h i c h t o better u n d e r s t a n d the tru e nature o f o u r o w n c u l t u r e, a n d t ob u i l d a t h e o r e t i c a l m o d e l t h at ca n b ea p p l i e d t o c u l t u r es a n d behaviours o f diverse ethnic groups. Prof. L i is a ma n of w i s d om, blesse d w i t h the insights of a sage. M o r e i m p o r t a n t ly h e is a m a n o f benevolence, w i t h unequaled compassion a nd sincerity. M r . Chancellor, I n ow respectfully present Prof. L iY i h y u a n for the a w a rd o fthe degree o f Doctor of Social Science, honoris causa. Translated from the Chinese citation written by P r o f . Samuel Cheung (Prof. Li Yihyuan was not able to attend the congregation for personal reasons.) 3 2 Chinese University Bulletin Autumn • Winter 2005