The Chinese University of Hong Kong — Motto, Emblem, Anthem and Colours

A line from the Analects, a phoenix glancing backwards, a grant of arms from the College of Arms in London in 1967, and a hymn borrowed from the tune of Cornell University's alma mater — CUHK has written its origins into its motto, emblem and anthem. This article traces the provenance and adoption of these symbols: the core marks were settled by a "University Emblem and Academic Dress Design Committee" around 1964; the coat of arms was formally granted by the College of Arms in London in 1967; and the anthem's lyrics were written by Chung Chi College lecturer Xie Fuya as early as 1952. For the brand refresh battle half a century later, in 2022, this article records only the factual skeleton (launch — withdrawal — restoration — audit cost); the full picture of online discussion and controversy around it is, per this archive's conventions, not covered in Module 00. For recent developments, see History.

---

# I. The Motto: 博文約禮 (Po Wen Yueh Li)

According to the CUHK Newsletter piece "Proposal Letter for the University Motto"^※, in late 1963 the Committee invited the Chinese departments of the three founding colleges each to submit a proposed motto. The phrase 博文約禮, devised by Pan Chung-kwei, head of New Asia College's Chinese department, was chosen on the grounds that it was "parallel in structure and harmonious in tone", and best captured the University's educational ideal of placing equal weight on moral and intellectual cultivation.

# Source: The Analects

The motto is a quotation from Confucius. The University's official page^※ cites The Analects, Book VI (Yong Ye):

「子曰：君子博学于文，约之以礼，亦可以弗畔矣夫。」 (The Master said: "The superior man, extensively studying all learning, and keeping himself under the restraint of the rules of propriety, may thus likewise not overstep what is right.")

The English rendering follows the classical translation of James Legge in his Four Books.

# Interpretation

• 博文 (extensive learning): to study broadly and range widely over all fields of knowledge.
• 约禮 (restraint through propriety): to observe the rules of propriety and discipline oneself with ritual.
• According to the CUHK website^※, the motto was chosen to signify "laying equal emphasis on the intellectual and moral aspects of education".

---

# II. The Emblem: The Regardant Phoenix and the Grant of Arms from the College of Arms

According to the CUHK Newsletter piece "CUHK's Coat of Arms"^※, the 1967 letters patent, issued jointly by three senior officers of the College of Arms — the Garter, Clarenceux, and Norroy & Ulster Kings of Arms — prescribed the use of a "feng reguardant counterchanged" (a phoenix regardant in counterchanged tinctures), in "or and purpure" (gold and purple). The full achievement also includes two chi lin (麒麟) as supporters, drawn in a chinoiserie style, though these are rarely displayed today. The roundel in the letters patent — a gold phoenix on purple — has served as the University emblem since its founding.

# 2.1 The Grant in Context: Hong Kong and the College of Arms

According to an article devoted to the heraldry of Hong Kong institutions, after the University was established, its Council formally petitioned the College of Arms in London for a grant of arms^※. The College, following the rules of British heraldry, designed for CUHK an achievement whose governing idea was "Chinese character": the phoenix and the chi lin are both auspicious mythical beasts of Chinese tradition, and the College rendered these purely Chinese cultural terms in the strict format and blazon of English heraldry — a visual exercise in "Chinese substance, Western form".

The same source notes that only two institutions of higher learning in Hong Kong have been formally granted arms by the College of Arms: CUHK and the University of Hong Kong^※. A formal grant from the College is thus a distinction rare among local universities — CUHK and HKU are the only two carrying this certification of the English heraldic tradition. According to publicly available information, the original 1967 letters patent are held in the CUHK University Gallery, where interested visitors may consult them.

---

# III. The Colours: Purple and Gold

According to the CUHK website, "Motto & Emblem"^※, the University colours are purple and gold:

The purple-and-gold pairing continues the "purpure / or" of the coat of arms (see above), forming the University's most instantly recognisable visual signature.

---

# IV. The Anthem: A Borrowed Tune and a Christian College's Lineage

CUHK's anthem system is unusual: the song was not commissioned "from on high" for a newly established comprehensive university, but inherited directly from the college-song tradition of Chung Chi College, one of the three founding colleges. It thus reflects, within the federal college system of CUHK's early history, the strand of Christian church-affiliated education.

# 4.1 The Lyrics: 1952, by Xie Fuya

According to publicly available records, the anthem's lyrics were written in 1952 — eleven years before CUHK itself was founded in 1963 — because they were originally the anthem of Chung Chi College. The words are by Xie Fuya (謝扶雅, 1892–1991), a former lecturer at Chung Chi. Xie was a noted Christian thinker and translator who taught for many years in the College's Department of Religion and Philosophy. The lyrics are meant to spur students to diligent study in the Christian spirit, echoing the motto 博文約禮, blending the Chinese and Western academic traditions, and dedicating its singers to the vocation of "nurturing talent and serving the world".

# 4.2 The Tune: "Annie Lisle", via Cornell University

The origin of the anthem's tune is the most unexpected element in the entire symbolic system. According to publicly available records, the melody comes from "Annie Lisle", a popular ballad written by H. S. Thompson in 1857. This American folk song, with its graceful melody, was widely popular on American campuses in the late nineteenth century, and a number of colleges set new words to it as their alma maters. The most famous adopter is Cornell University, which took up the tune in 1870, setting new words to create its alma mater, Far Above Cayuga's Waters.

Chung Chi College — and later CUHK — used the same melody, continuing broadly this Western university tradition of "borrowing a tune and writing new words". The tune reached Hong Kong through the network of Christian church colleges (Chung Chi's founding itself continued the tradition of several Christian universities in mainland China; see history.md). The result: when CUHK staff and students sing the anthem, the melody they sing is the same one Cornell staff and students sing across the Pacific. It is the most hidden but also the most delightful detail of East-West fusion in CUHK's symbolic system: the motto is drawn from the Analects; the emblem was designed by the College of Arms around a Chinese mythical beast; and the anthem's tune was borrowed from a nineteenth-century American ballad, passed on through Cornell. None of the three central symbols is anything but a product of Sino-Western blending.

# 4.3 College Anthems: A Tradition of Distinct "Sub-Anthems"

Beyond the University anthem, each of CUHK's colleges has its own motto, emblem and anthem, in keeping with the dual identity of the college system — "University and college" (see Section 3 of ../06-people/alumni-network-and-advancement.md). According to publicly available records:

• The New Asia College anthem was written by founding head Ch'ien Mu (钱穆) at the request of the second graduating class, with music composed by Huang Youdi (黄友棣); it was published on the back cover of the third issue of the New Asia College Bulletin in July 1953^※. The lyrics open with "山岩岩，海深深，地博厚，天高明，人之尊，心之靈……" ("Mountains rising, seas profound, earth vast and deep, heaven high and bright, the dignity of man, the spirit of the heart…"), and lines such as "手空空，無一物" ("with empty hands, nothing in them"), "艱險我奮進，困乏我多情" ("through peril I press on, in hardship my heart is full") and "珍重，珍重，這是我新亞精神" ("hold dear, hold dear, this is the New Asia spirit") are still recited today — a literary projection of the College's founding spirit in the face of hardship (for the Confucian masters who founded New Asia, see ../06-people/new-asia-confucian-masters.md).
• The Shaw College anthem was composed by Lin Shengxi (林声翕), with lyrics by Chen Jianai (陈佳鼐) and D. C. Lau (刘殿爵) — Lau being a celebrated translator of classical Chinese texts and a former Chair Professor in CUHK's Department of Chinese. His involvement in the Shaw College anthem is a concrete instance of the University's humanities scholars contributing to college cultural life.

For an in-depth archive of each college's anthem, motto and emblem, see the colleges module.

---

# V. Ceremonial Regalia and Visual Identity (Summary)

The University Mace (仪仗), like the coat of arms, belongs to the ceremonial symbols of the founding era. It is carried in by the mace-bearer at formal occasions such as congregation ceremonies, and is an indispensable ceremonial object in CUHK's major rituals. For the 60th anniversary (2023), an exhibition was held on "the origins of the Mace and the Coat of Arms" (CUHK Library 60th Anniversary exhibition page^※).

---

# VI. The 2022 Brand Refresh Controversy (Factual Skeleton Only)

In October 2022, on the eve of the 60th anniversary, the University launched a brand refresh, which included a simplified, colour-separated phoenix emblem, along with — per public reports — a new tagline, 「凝聚・締造無限」 ("Uniting. Creating the Infinite"), intended, in the University's account, to reflect the bond between CUHK and its many stakeholders and the shared conviction that people united can contribute to society. According to the CUHK Communications and Public Relations Office "Statement on CUHK brand refresh"^※, after criticism from alumni and the wider community, the University withdrew the new logo within a week and reverted to the old one.

• Factual skeleton: launch in Oct 2022 (new emblem + new tagline 「凝聚・締造無限」) → withdrawn within a week → old emblem restored.
• According to an investigative report^※, the rebrand cost approximately HK$4 million.

Per this archive's conventions: Module 00 records only the objective skeleton above; the online discussion and public comment surrounding the matter are not covered here.

# 6.1 Why the "Withdrawal Within a Week" Merits Recording

This episode earns its place in a file devoted to the motto, emblem, anthem and colours not because of its controversy but because, from the reverse angle, it confirms the "institutional weight" of the coat of arms described in Section II: the CUHK emblem is not a casually adjustable "brand asset" but a coat of arms bearing the specific historical and legal lineage of the 1967 grant from the College of Arms in London. The 2022 version sought to "simplify" that coat of arms in a modern design language; the pushback from alumni and the community reflected, in some measure, the considerable "unreadiness to change" that this visual system, born in the University's founding years, carries within CUHK's identity. That is why this archive records the 2022 controversy in the file on symbols, rather than treating it as a mere public-relations incident.

---