Year: 1952
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In 1952, three years after its establishment, New Asia College produced its first cohort of graduates. Yu Ying-shih (Literature and History/1952), who would become an eminent historian, was one of the three graduates forming the class of 1952.
To Yu Ying-shih, the time in New Asia was an unforgettable one in his life. Towards the end of 1949, Yu, then an undergraduate student at Yenching University in Beijing, spent his winter recess with his parents, who had settled in Hong Kong. Under his parents’ suggestion, Yu sought suspension from Yenching for a semester. His father then recommended him to enroll in New Asia College, which Mr. Ch’ien Mu had recently started. Upon admission, Yu was hesitant about the College’s standing and the prospects of its graduates, and he still thought his stay in Hong Kong was brief. His journey back to Beijing was interrupted by a train fault near Dongguan, Guangdong. At that point, Yu made a life-changing U-turn, settling in Hong Kong with his family and returning to New Asia College for study.
Yu Ying-shih was admitted to New Asia College in March 1950, and graduated in June 1952. At first, Yu still hoped to return to Yenching soon, and he was not keen on his study at New Asia. By autumn 1950, when Yu decided to settle in Hong Kong, he had begun to study under Mr. Ch’ien Mu. After schooltime, Yu read Mr. Ch’ien’s Outline of National History under the author’s guidance. His father, Professor Yu Hsieh–chung, was one of New Asia College’s early teachers. The Yu family had a close relationship with Mr. Ch’ien, often travelling together. Even after decades, both Mr. Ch’ien Mu and Yu Ying-shih could fondly recall one journey to Shek O. The only pity Yu had for his New Asia years was Mr. Ch’ien’s absence from his graduation ceremony, following injury during a lecture in Taipei.
Upon his graduation at New Asia College, Yu Ying-shih continued to study under Mr. Ch’ien Mu and became one of New Asia Institute of Advanced Chinese Studies’ first graduates. Under Mr. Ch’ien’s supervision, Yu completed research on the relationship between prominent clans and imperial politics in the Eastern Han dynasty. The teachings of Mr. Ch’ien, whom Yu regarded as his lifelong teacher, were crucial in fostering Yu’s academic career, as they never ceased correspondence and scholarly conversations all along.
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