Source: Department of History
Written by: Liu Zhiwei
Translated by: Liang Wenjie

Recently, the paper entitled “Regional Identity and Ethnic Identity — Compilation of Chaozhou Zhi in the Period of the Republic of China” by Cai Xiangluan, an undergraduate enrolled in the Department of History in 2007, and the paper entitled “Seeing the Growth of the People’s Republic of China from Individual Life History” by Li Qing, an undergraduate enrolled in the Department of History in 2009, won the Excellent Paper Award of Te-Kong Tong Scholarship Fund issued by the Society of Oral History on Modern China.

Professor Te-Kong Tong is a pioneer and promoter of oral history on modern China. He enjoys high reputation in the academic field for his achievements in oral history such as The Memoirs of Li Tsung-jen, The Memoirs of V. K. Wellington Koo, An Autobiography: As Told by Hu Shih, and Unfinished Memoir of Zhang Xue-Liang’s Oral History. The Society of Oral History on Modern China was founded by Professor Tong and registered in New York in 1991. It is an academic non-profit organization with the aim of advocating, encouraging, promoting and conducting oral history research on modern China, and preserving, editing and publishing the data. In order to commemorate Professor Tong and his major contribution to modern history and oral history, the Society of Oral History on Modern China set up the Te-Kong Tong Scholarship Fund to reward excellent students involved in oral history and modern Chinese history projects.

In recent years, the Department of History at Sun Yat-sen University has been vigorously promoting oral history training and practice among undergraduate students. As an essential part of undergraduate practical teaching, it has achieved remarkable results. The two award-winning papers reflect the accomplishments of undergraduate practical teaching in the Department of History.