Page 76 - JOURNAL OF LIBRARY SCIENCE IN CHINA 2015 Vol. 41

Jianxin GU, Fang TIAN & Lei SHI / Research on Hong Fanwu’s remarkable contribution to the modern library cause of China 075

library summer workshop at Southeast University, compiling handouts and giving the lecture
by himself. There was two hours course per day. More than 80 students participated in the
program and practiced in Mengfang Library. Hong held another summer workshop in 1924. In
April 1925, after the first annual meeting of the Chinese Library Association, Hong took charge
of matters concerning library summer school and short-term training classes, setting four courses
including Summary of Library Scholarship, School Library, Children’s Library and Classification.
Students would visit libraries outside school in addition to classroom teaching and practicing
in library. The examination scores were comprehensively evaluated by experiments, class
notes and visiting reports, and qualified students could get diploma (“The procedure of Library
Association of China’s summer school on Library Science”, 1925). In the summer of 1926, Hong
hosted a library summer school again, inviting Liu Guojun, Zhu Jiazhi and Wang Yunwu to
teach cataloguing principles and indexing system as well as teaching courses himself like library
administration, book purchasing methods, school library and methods of using library. Among
more than 20 graduated students, He Rizhang became Director of National Chengchi University
Library afterwards, and Huang Jingwan acted as Director of Shanghai Guangzhi Circulation
Library.
In the late 1920s, Hong worked at Anhui Province Department of Education. Anhui Library
Director Hu Yimou, who studied in Japan in his early years, was of great attainment in sinology,
but unfamiliar with Library Science. Hong helped Hu learn library organization and management,
and trained staff in his spare time. As a result, Anhui library went on the right track quickly and
became the provincial model (Cheng & Z. Q. Yu, 2000).

3.2 Dedicating to the cause, guiding and supporting futurity

Hong Fanwu had solid expertise and great foresight as well as practical and realistic attitude,
and he was an excellent library scientist and educator. The most estimable thing was his single-
mindedness and loyalty to librarianship. As a leader, he was amiable and always played an
exemplary role. He was also a diligent and conscientious librarian as well as a humble and genuine
mentor. The former President of Central University, President of Tsinghua Luo Jialun assessed that
Hong had loyalty to librarianship and protected books and cultural relics during the period of Anti-
Japanese War. Meanwhile, his justice and comradeship inspired colleagues.
At the end of 1946, Hong Fanwu finished the hard work of moving Central University Library
back to Nanjing, and devoted to restructuring the library buildings, collating materials and
preparing to open stacks. During that time he was invited to Taiwan to give lectures by President
of Taiwan University Lu Zhihong and the Education Minister of Taiwan Province Xu Keshi. On
December 7th, 1948, Hong Fanwu wrote in the letter sent to his son Hong Yuqing who worked in
Taiwan “I could not get rid of this duty, since it’s undesirable for a gentleman running away from