The HKBU Foundation records with deep sadness and sorrow the passing of Professor the Honourable Jao Tsung-I, GBM, Honorary Doctor of Letters (2012) of HKBU and Permanent Honorary Director of the HKBU Jao Tsung-I Academy of Sinology, on 6 February 2018. He was 105 years old.

Regarded as the world’s foremost sinologist, Professor Jao had devoted his life’s work to the study of Chinese and oriental civilisations. He had made profound contributions to nearly every field of traditional Chinese culture through his academic research that spanned eight decades.

A great self-taught academician, the scope of his scholarship extended from language, literature and culture to history and archaeology, including oracle bone inscriptions. With a great passion for scholastic pursuit, Professor Jao was a pioneer in research on Dunhuang manuscripts.

Professor Jao was a prolific writer who produced more than 900 scholarly articles. In addition to his revered intellectual achievements, he is noted for his proficiency in multiple languages, ranging from English and French to ancient languages such as Latin, Sanskrit and Pali, as well as his creativity which can be seen through his calligraphy, paintings, and compositions for the guqin, an ancient stringed instrument.

He had earned a world-class reputation in academic circles as a dual master of both scholarship and art, and an intermediary between East and West. In 1962, Professor Jao was awarded the Prix Stanislas Julien by Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres – known as the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in Western Sinology – from the Institut de France and in 2013 he became the first Asian sinologist to be named an associate foreign member of the Institut since its founding in 1663. Locally, he was presented the Hong Kong Arts Development Council Honorary Award and in 2000, he received the Grand Bauhinia Medal.

He had held academic posts in France, the United States and Japan, and had an instrumental role in cultivating numerous younger scholars. In 2013, Hong Kong Baptist University celebrated the inauguration of the Jao Tsung-I Academy of Sinology (HKBU JAS), the first institution of its kind in Hong Kong. The Academy, which aims at promoting classical Chinese studies and nurturing a new generation of sinologists, is an embodiment of Professor Jao’s scholarly ideals, imbuing tradition with new meaning to bridge cultures and share insights in the present. Professor Jao generously donated twelve sets of his fine works of art for auction in support of the Academy’s scholarly activities, teaching and research. 

The University community would like to convey our heartfelt condolences to Professor Jao’s family. He will be dearly missed and will always be remembered for his invaluable contribution to the University and to the understanding of Chinese culture around the world.