Description

Based primarily on the book Piloted to Serve, Professor Chung will illustrate Modern Chinese history, particularly around 1900-1950, as witnessed by its contemporaries (participants of the Chinese Revolution, the post-revolution unrest and World War II).

Professor Chung’s maternal grandfather was a participant in the 1911 revolution, and her mother served as a nurse with the Flying Tigers, the US Army, and the China National Aviation Corporation.

Rebecca Chan Chung (1920-2011) was a US veteran of World War II with the Flying Tigers, US Army and China National Aviation Corporation. Her wartime work as a Nurse included flying over the Hump (the Himalayas), which was the strategic and dangerous route that linked China and the outside world after Japan had cut off the Burma Road. The book also covers the wartime experience of her husband, Leslie Wah-Leung Chung (1917-2009), a member of the Hong Kong Volunteer Defense Corps that was wounded in action in Hong Kong in Dec 1941 during the Japanese invasion. Furthermore, the book covers the experience of her father, Po-Yin Chan (1883-1965), a participant of the 1911 Chinese Revolution under Dr. Sun Yat-Sen and a Senator of Guangzhou after the Revolution. In addition, the book covers the history of Nursing in Hong Kong in 1920s-1970s. Since Rebecca’s great-grandfather Rev. Hok Chau was the first Chinese ordained minister of the Methodist Church in Southern China, the book also covers aspects of the history of Christianity in China and Hong Kong. Moreover, since Rebecca’s mother, Dr. Lee Sun Chau (1890-1979) was one of the first female Chinese doctors of Western Medicine in China, the book also covers aspects of the history of Western Medicine in China.