Newsletter No. 49

CUHK Newsletter No. 49 December 1993 THE CHINESE UNIVERSITY By ANY other NAME Would FARE AS WELL ？ On 2nd July 1963, Mr. E. B. Teesdale, the Colonial Secretary, wrote to inform the Hon. C. Y. Kwan., chairman of the Provisional Council of this university, that 'on the advice of [the Executive] Council, the Governor has decided that the name [of the new university] shall be The Chinese University of Hong Kong.' This name was, in fact, chosen by the Provisional Council for government endorsement. What other alternatives had been considered? Why was 'The Chinese University of Hong Kong' the best choice? At a time when several local institutions of higher learning are searching for new names to reflect their new university status, let us look at some of the suggestions put forward to founders of this university for consideration 30 years ago, and why they were not adopted. Absence of Specific Guidelines The first Fulton Commission which recommended the establishment of a new Chinese university did not go into the naming of the university at all. When the government finally announced its plans for the university in early 1963, therefore, a host of possible names were suggested by various parties and much discussion was generated in the local press about the best name to use. Some suggestions were inspired by geographical considerations; some were linked with the names of distinguished persons; others tried to reflect the new university's objectives, constitution, or cultural heritage. Geographical Names Kowloon University (九龍大學） The principal objection to this name was that while the university's administrative headquarters would be temporarily accommodated in offices in Kowloon, its permanent campus was to be found in the New Territories. Shatin University (沙田大學） The name in Chinese might suggest that the University was built on sand. The name in English was frequently mispronounced by foreigners. Nan Hai University (南海大學） The District of Nan Hai (南海郡）, which included the present-day Guangdong Province and the region where Hong Kong now stands, was set up by Qin Shi Huang di (秦始皇帝）, the first emperor to unify China in 221 BC. This name was considered unsuitable because 4