Harvard and Yenching to Unite in Chinese Cultural Analysis

The most complete study and interpretation of Chinese culture ever undertaken will be entered into by Harvard University in conjunction with Yenching University, of Peking, China, as the result of a $2,000,000 endowment for this purpose made by the Estate of the late Charles Martin Hall, of Niagara Falls, it was revealed yesterday in an official statement by Dean G. H. Chase '96 of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

The step is hailed as of great significance in promoting friendly relations between the United States and China. President J. Leighton Stuart, of Yenching University, here on a visit, predicts that the organization in general supervision of the work, called the Harvard Yenching Institute of Chinese Studies, will become "a strong factor in cementing the friendship between the United States and China, which is of such critical importance in the political future of the whole Pacific basin. The Chinese themselves have recently been awakened to a new interest in their national culture. A better understanding of this culture by the outside world is of basic importance in dealing constructively with problems involving China."

Work to Begin Next Autumn

Work at Harvard will begin next fall, and it is planned to add to the University Faculty some of the most distinguished sinologists that can be secured. Primary emphasis will be on the study of the Chinese language as a necessary instrument in getting first-hand knowledge of Chinese history and civilization. Together with American students learning the language there will also be Chinese students at work learning occidental methods of scholarly research.

Yenching University, better known as Peking University, principally supported by American benefactions, has a strong staff of Chinese on its Faculty and an established place in Chinese life. Situated just outside the city of Peking, it offers the student of Sinology unusual opportunity for direct contact with his materials. Courses at Yenching and Harvard will be so correlated that work done at either University will count toward advanced degrees.

Chinese Language Emphasized

Professor C. H. Moore '89, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, has reported a growing interest in Asiatic subjects. "We have long been looking forward to an extension of our work in Chinese," he said recently. "The language must be emphasized because it is the key which unlocks the history, literature, and philosophy of the nation."

The directors of the Harvard Yenching Institute of Chinese Studies are Dean, G. H. Chase '96 and Professor J. H. Woods '87, representing Harvard, Dr. J. L. Barton, G. C. Barber, and Dr. E. M. North, representing Yenching: and R. W. Boyden '85, Dean W. B. Donham '98, and R. S. Green '91, representing the Hall Estate. The late Professor A. C. Coolidge '87 had also been named a director for Harvard. His successor has not yet been appointed "Mr. Boyden is the chairman of the board.