Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 2005

Citation Doctor o f Laws, honoris causa Dr. Lien Cha n D r. L i e n C h a n is an o u t s t a n d i n g statesman, a r e n o w n e d scholar, a n d c u r r e n t l y the h o n o r a r y c h a i r m a n of the K u om i n t a n g a n d the chairman of the Board of Directors of Lien Ch an F o u n d a t i o n for Peace a n d Development. H e has devoted h i ms e l f w h o l e h e a r t e d l y a n d selflessly to matters of the state over the decades, conducting himsel f w i t h the utmost rectitude, always p u t t i ng th e interest of the people at the forefront. H e is a m a n o f the highes t integrity, no t g i v en to c omp r om i s e s; a t the same t i me he is generous of heart a n d m i n d. H e has come to be a dm i r ed b o th at h ome a nd abroa d as an elder statesman of the first rank . L i e n Ch a n ' s f a m i l y came f r o m L o n g x i prefecture i n Z h a n g z h o u f u , Fujian p r o v i n c e. H i s forefathers m o v e d t o T a i w an at the t i me of Em p e r o r Ka n g x i , settling i n B i n gma y i n g, N i n g n a n f a ng of T a i n a n f u . I n 1895 the Q i n g G o v e r n m e nt ceded T a i w an a n d the P e n g h u Islands to Japan. M r . Lien Heng, the grandfathe r of L i e n Chan, was loathe to live u n d e r foreign rule, and took his f am i ly bac k to the mainland . Later i n his career M r . L i e n H e n g c omp l e t e d his masterpiece of a lifetime, A General History of Taiwan, an exhaustiv e s t u dy of the h i s t o ry of the place ove r 1,300 years, f r om the Sui a n d Tang Dynasties t o the Sino-Japanese Wa r of 1894-5. The author thus w r o t e i n the preface: ' A c o u n t ry m a y be a n n i h i l a t e d, b u t n ot its chronicles.' He wa s t r y i n g hard to drive h om e to generations of Taiwan people after h i m that t h e y s h o u ld not forget their o r i g i n s a n d the fact t h a t t h e y are Chinese. M r . L i e n Ch e n- tung, the son o f M r . L i en Heng, was a student i n J a p an at t h e t i m e , b u t w h e n t h e 9.18 I n c i d e n t o c c u r r ed h e w a s i n s t r u c t e d b y his father to r e t u r n to China, wh e re he was soon to meet, a n d later ma r r y , Miss Chao Lan-k'un, w h o c ame f r o m a n i l l u s t r i o us f a m i l y i n Shenyang an d a student at Yenching Universit y at the time. M r . L i e n H e n g d i e d i n Shanghai d u r i n g the w a r against Japanese aggression, a nd his last w o r d s we r e to n ame hi s f u t u r e grandson Lien Chan, w h i c h connotes a ceaseless a n d s e l f - s t r e n g t h e n i ng s p i r i t t o s u b d u e adversaries a n d attain victory. Tha t wa s h o w Dr. L i en Ch a n came to be named. The 62nd Congregation 3 3