The International Leader In The Field
The development of Chinese studies at UH was of global interest to the academic community. UH faculty published in Chinese media, and remained well known in Chinese academic circles. Major conferences held at UH were international events that drew global attention to UH excellence in Asian studies and related fields.
Examples of coverage of UH in Chinese media, 1920's-1930's
Trans-Pacific Educators Conference 聯太平洋教育會議, August 11-19, 1921
1921年8月，蔡元培率中国教育代表团到美国檀香山出席各国教育会。
East-West Philosophers’ Conference, June 26-August 4, 1939
China Press Sunday 1940, February, 11
Left: Professor Gregg Sinclair of the University of Hawai'i’s Oriental Institute shook hands with China’s great philosopher and Ambassador to the United States, Dr. Hu Shih, who was a frequent visitor to the campus
1949 Fourth East-West Philosophers Meeting
1959 East-West Philosophers Meeting
The Birth and History of the University of Hawai'i (1933)
In 1933 William Kwai Fong Yap published a bilingual book on the founding of UH, The Birth and History of the University of Hawai'i (Shanghai: Kwang Hsueh Publishing House, 1933). The work included Yap's recollections of his motivations for advocating for a university in Hawai'i, reprinted the text of Yap's petition to the Legislature and its signatories, and included other documents regarding the establishment of UH, including its early budget and degree requirements. US and Chinese public figures wrote congratulatory messages to Yap and thanked him for his support of UH. President Dean thanked him for establishing the Chinese Community Scholarship. Chinese leaders and intellectuals including Chiang Kai-shek and Hu Shi sent congratulatory calligraphy for the volume.
Above: cover and contents of the Chinese language portion of The Birth and History of the University of Hawai'i
Above, congratulatory messages to William Yap from (left to right) Nationalist Party leader and Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek (Jiang Zhongzheng 蔣中正, 1887-1975); diplomat and philosopher Hu Shih 胡適 (1891-1962); Chinese Minister of Finance Dr. H.H. Kung or Kung Hsiang-hsi 孔祥熙 (1881–1967)
Above, congratulatory messages (left to right): Zhang Boling 張伯苓 (1876–1951), co-founder of Nankai University; Chinese opera superstar Mei Lanfang 梅蘭芳 (1894-1961); and the "Christian General" Feng Yuxiang 冯玉祥 (1882–1948), Vice Premier of the Republic of China from 1928 to 1930.
Above: Congratulatory message to William Yap by C.T. Wang or Wang Zhengting 王正廷 (1882–1961), Foreign Minister, Minister of Finance, Minister of Justice and acting Premier in governments of the Republic of China in the 1920's. Wang's message reads jiao hong hai wai 教宏海外, "expand teaching overseas."
Below: Gregg Sinclair's 1939 message on the university's commitment to collegiality among faculty despite the advent of the Sino-Japanese War.
