History of the University of Hong Kong, Part I — Pre-Founding, Inauguration, and Wartime Closure (1887–1945)

Module: 00 Overview · Sub-file: History The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is the oldest institution of higher learning in Hong Kong^※, founded in 1911 by the University Ordinance and opening its doors in 1912^※. This is the first part of our history of HKU, covering the period from the medical school's origins in 1887 through to the resumption of teaching after the war in 1945; the postwar reconstruction, the centenary, and recent developments are covered in the second part, history-2.md; for governance structure and successive vice-chancellors, see governance.md; for the story behind the University's motto, crest and anthem, see symbols.md; for Sun Yat-sen's 1923 address on his return to the University, see sun-yat-sen-1923-speech.md.

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# I. The first half-century in one paragraph

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# II. The medical root: the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese (1887)

The predecessor of HKU's medical faculty was the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, founded in 1887.

• Founded in 1887 by Patrick Manson, James Cantlie, Ho Kai and others^※, with links to the London Missionary Society^※; according to academic accounts, Manson served as the first dean^※. Full biographies of all three founders appear in ../06-people/faculty-and-leaders.md.
• The College was housed at the Alice Memorial Hospital, in the area around Hollywood Road and Arbuthnot Road.
• Renamed the Hong Kong College of Medicine in 1907^※; when HKU opened in 1912 the College was absorbed as its Faculty of Medicine^※.

# Sun Yat-sen and the College of Medicine

• Sun Yat-sen studied at the College from 1887 to 1892^※, its most celebrated early student.
• On 20 February 1923, Sun returned to HKU and addressed the University in the Great Hall (now Loke Yew Hall), declaring that "Hong Kong and the University of Hong Kong are the birthplace of my knowledge"^※. The full context and textual study of that speech can be found in sun-yat-sen-1923-speech.md.

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# III. The founding initiative: Sir Frederick Lugard (1908)

• Public records show that in 1908, the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Frederick Lugard, proposed establishing a university in Hong Kong at a graduation ceremony^※. Part of his argument was that if the opportunity were not seized, it would be left "to others".
• On 16 March 1910, Lugard laid the University's foundation stone^※.
• Lugard served as the University's first Chancellor (1911–1912)^※.

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# IV. Founding funds: Mody, Loke Yew and Swire

HKU's early years depended heavily on private donations, none more so than those of Sir Hormusjee Mody and Loke Yew.

Full biographies of Mody and the other founding figures (Ho Kai, Lam Woo, Robert Hotung) can be found in ../06-people/faculty-and-leaders.md.

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# V. The Ordinance, the name, and the opening (1911–1912)

# The name

The University was named The University of Hong Kong (香港大学) — named directly after the city, with no denominational or linguistic qualifier. This stands in contrast to The Chinese University of Hong Kong, founded in 1963 with "Chinese" in its name and an explicit cultural mission. From the outset, HKU defined itself as English-medium, serving both the Empire and the local Chinese elite.

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# VI. The men and faculties who opened the University: first Vice-Chancellor Eliot and the three founding faculties

# The first Vice-Chancellor: Sir Charles Eliot (1912–1918)

According to the list of HKU vice-chancellors^※, the University's first Vice-Chancellor was Sir Charles Eliot, in office from 17 March 1912 to August 1918. Eliot was a diplomat and scholar by background; as the University's "opening" Vice-Chancellor, he ran the institution in its formative years (the Main Building newly completed, the first 72 students enrolled), establishing the administrative and academic framework of the fledgling University.

# The three founding faculties: Arts, Engineering, Medicine (1912)

On 11 March 1912 HKU formally began instruction with the three faculties of Arts, Engineering and Medicine^※; the Faculty of Medicine inherited the Hong Kong College of Medicine founded in 1887, absorbed when the University opened; the distribution of the first 72 students (31 Engineering, 21 Medicine, 20 Arts)^※ corresponds exactly to the three-faculty opening.

Background note: the "Medicine, Engineering, Arts" opening corresponded precisely to the dual mission of the newly founded University — producing doctors and engineers (the practical professions) for the Empire and for the colony, while also providing a humane education. It was only with the later additions of Law (1969), Social Sciences, Education, Architecture and others that HKU grew into the comprehensive research university of today.

# Eliot Hall and May Hall: two heritage buildings named for the founding generation

Two early residences on the hillside of the main campus are named after "founding figures", and both are today declared monuments. Eliot Hall, completed in 1914 and named after the first Vice-Chancellor, Sir Charles Eliot^※, served originally as student accommodation and was used as a relief hospital during the Second World War. May Hall, completed in 1915 and named after the 15th Governor of Hong Kong and second Chancellor, Sir Francis Henry May^※, was the principal residence of staff and students during the war.

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# VII. The interwar years (1917–1940)

In this period HKU gradually expanded its disciplines and its student and staff numbers, and moved towards co-education.

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# VIII. Wartime closure and resumption (1941–1945)

When the Pacific War reached Hong Kong, instruction at HKU was interrupted — the only full closure in the University's history.

# The storm gathers: the Battle of Hong Kong, December 1941

According to the Wikipedia article on the Battle of Hong Kong^※, on 8 December 1941 (almost simultaneous with the attack on Pearl Harbor), Japanese forces crossed the Shenzhen River and attacked Hong Kong; after eighteen days of resistance by the defending forces, the colonial government surrendered on 25 December — "Black Christmas"^※, and Hong Kong entered the three-year, eight-month Japanese occupation (1941–1945).

In that eighteen-day battle, the University was no bystander: many residents of Hong Kong, including University staff and students, took part in the defence, in units such as the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps (HKVDC)^※, serving as infantry, artillery, engineers, and in field ambulance and nursing roles. The HKU campus at Pokfulam lies close to Queen Mary Hospital; during the fighting, University buildings were brought into use as part of an emergency relief hospital, helping Queen Mary Hospital cope with the wounded^※.

# Closure: the only full interruption

According to the Wikipedia article on HKU^※, with the Japanese invasion of 1941, the campus was damaged, and the University ceased operation until 1945. It is the only time since teaching began in 1912 that HKU has been forced to suspend all operations. During the occupation, campus facilities were put to other uses, and much of the library collection, equipment and archives was lost or damaged. Post-war reconstruction required a near-total renewal, from buildings and books to staff.

# The Medical Faculty's inland exile: the journey to "Free China"

The Medical Faculty is the most emblematic case of "surviving in exile" during the war. According to the Wikipedia article on HKU^※, during the occupation the Medical Faculty relocated to Chengdu, drawing on the resources of higher education institutions in mainland China to keep medical education going; the University as a whole (including the Medical Faculty) was closed from Christmas 1941 to mid-1945, with some students stranded or dispersed during the war studying as temporary students at mainland institutions to continue their courses.

Background note (per academic and official accounts): during the War of Resistance, large numbers of staff and students from South China universities moved inland to the "Great Rear" — Chengdu, Kunming, Chongqing and the surrounding region — to continue teaching; the HKU medical faculty's convergence with that migration is a microcosm of wartime Chinese higher education's determination to keep the lamp of learning burning. The detailed route, the host institutions and the transitional arrangements for staff and students are matters of archival record in the HKU Special Collections and the Medical Faculty's history; this article marks them "check against the faculty history archive".

# Resumption and wartime degrees

Hong Kong was liberated in August 1945, and HKU set about resuming classes at once. In the immediate post-war period, one practical difficulty stood out: how to recognise the academic progress of students dispersed by the war. According to published accounts, an Emergency Committee was established after the war to review the credentials and credits of wartime students, enabling those whose studies had been interrupted to complete their degrees. (The complete registers and numbers of wartime degrees are held in the HKU faculty histories and Special Collections; this article lists no figures, to avoid inaccuracy.)

This period marks the only time HKU has been forcibly shut down by an external power: since teaching began in 1912, the University has weathered financial hardship, social turmoil and political storms, yet its instruction never once ground to a halt as a whole — only the Japanese occupation of late 1941 brought the entire University, together with its students' union, library and laboratories, to a stop. This episode also bound the University's fate to that of the city: staff and students defended Hong Kong as volunteers, campus buildings were converted into relief hospitals, and students (Eileen Chang and Stanley Ho among them) were driven from their studies by war when they were a step short of graduation. HKU's closure was one facet of Hong Kong's collective suffering during those "three years and eight months", and the University's resumption moved in step with the city's reconstruction. For the post-war rebuilding, see the second part, history-2.md.

The scholarly monograph Dispersal and Renewal: Hong Kong University During the War Years (HKU Press) systematically documents the University's "dispersal and renewal" through the war years, and remains the key academic work on this period.

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# Unverified / to be checked

• The exact size of the first intake: the official "Giving" page and most accounts give 72 (31/21/20); the figure "71" occasionally appears in unofficial sources — this article follows the official figure of 72, with the breakdown noted.
• The legal details of the College of Medicine's absorption into the Medical Faculty (assets, and the item-by-item arrangements for staff and students): official accounts say simply "absorbed"; the detailed records are in the HKU Special Collections and the Medical Faculty's history, with in-depth treatment in ../11-medical-hospital/.
• The specific achievements of Eliot's term: this article records his tenure and role in the opening, per the succession lists; a detailed record of his achievements requires the early institutional histories of HKU.
• The exact number and register of wartime degrees: the official account says degrees were awarded via the Emergency Committee; the itemised register is in the HKU Special Collections, so this article states the mechanism only, without figures.
• The detailed route of the Medical Faculty's inland move, and the list of host institutions: the Wikipedia article on HKU records only "moved to Chengdu"; the deeper migration history is in the Medical Faculty's own archive.

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