Peking University, Apr. 15, 2011: Renowned Chinese American designer and painter Hu Hongshu donated the manuscript of Zhu Jiahua’s chronicle to Peking University Library.
Hu Hongshu’s father, Hu Songping once was the secretary to two prestigious figures in Chinese modern and contemporary history—Hu Shi and Zhu Jiahua. Last week, Hu Hongshu, together with his wife Zhang Qiudi, came to PKU with the purpose of donating the valuable manuscript of Zhu Jiahua’s chronicle to its library.
Zhu Jiahua was once president of Sun Yat-sen University, minister of education of the Republic of China, and president of the Academia Sinica. Besides, he was hired as a PKU professor twice. In 1917, Zhu first came to PKU as the earliest professor to teach German as the second foreign language. In 1924, he was again hired by the Department of Geology and was also appointed as dean of the German Department.
(From left to right: Zhang Hongyang, Zhu Qiang, Qian Chengdan, Liu Wei, Hu Hongshu, Mrs. Hu, Nie Hua)
Zhu Jiahua’s manuscript will throw a new light upon relative studies and researches. During Zhu Jiahua’s tenure at the ROC Ministry of Education and Academia Sinica, Hu Songping worked as his secretary. When they stayed in Taiwan, Hu visited Zhu’s house every week to record Zhu’s oral account of his memoir. Therefore, the donated manuscript was abundant in quantity and of high quality. It is a truthful and reliable material of Zhu’s life.
Hu Hongshu is a famous designer and painter in America, and was the former dean of the Department of Art at University of Iowa. In the donation ceremony, Hu also offered three of his artistic works, and delivered a wonderful academic lecture on design. Zhu Qiang, university librarian at PKU, presented the replica of PKU Library’s rare edition of Peach Blossom Fan as a gift in return.
Written by: Yan Binghan
Edited by: Chen Miaojuan
Source: PKU News (Chinese)
