Commemoration of the 130th Anniversary of the Birth of Daoyang Lin cum Academic Symposium held at CUHK-Shenzhen

        Born in 1888 in Buji, Longgang district, Mr. Daoyang Lin is a famous modern forester, educator and soil and water conservation expert in China. He is also one of the founding pioneers of The Chinese University of Hong Kong. After obtaining his Master's Degree in Forestry from Yale University, he returned to China and dedicated his life to Chinese forestry. He participated in the formulation of the first Forest Law in China, and advocated to establish Chinese Arbor Day.

        As an educator, Mr. Daoyang Lin was a prominent practitioner of education in Hong Kong. He served as the second President of Chung Chi College from 1955 to 1960 and was one of the founders of The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He also served as the Head of the United College from 1960 to 1963. When CUHK was formally established, Mr. Lin, 75 years old, resigned as the Head of the United College, but continued to hold the honorary titles of Chung Chi College and Union College.

        In order to commemorate the contribution of Mr. Daoyang Lin to the development of China's forestry and The Chinese University of Hong Kong, a 2,400-square-meter memorial forest full of flowers and trees is built at CUHK-Shenzhen. A statue of Lin, created by the famous Chinese sculptor He Pan and his son Fang Pan, and inscribed by President Yangsheng Xu, was set up in the forest in memory of Daoyang Lin as a patriot, forestry-promoter and educator.

         Professor Yangsheng Xu, President of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, said, "I would like to take this opportunity to express my deep respect for Mr. Lin Daoyang for his contribution to the establishment of CUHK and its collegiate system, and his social responsibility as a scholar. I hope that all the teachers and students of CUHK-Shenzhen will work hard in Longgang, where Mr. Ling was born, and keep moving forward. "

        The collegiate system inherited from CUHK is one of the three major education characteristics of CUHK-Shenzhen inherited from CUHK. Under this system, every student will be assigned to a college to embrace distinctive college cultures.

           At the Symposium, nine experts from Nanjing Forestry University and Chinese Academy of Forestry gave talks on topics such as "Lin's thoughts on forestry and education", "Soil and Water Conservation", "Lin's connection with Qingdao's forestry garden construction", and "China's earliest forestry technology association".