Shaw College: “Cultivate Virtue, Engage in Learning”, Sir Run Run Shaw, and the Fourth College

Tucked between the three founding colleges and the five newer ones, Shaw College occupies a singular position as CUHK’s “fourth college” — and it is also the largest among the nine by student population. Founded with a donation from the film and philanthropy magnate Sir Run Run Shaw, it was the first college deliberately built without independent teaching facilities — a design that perfectly embodied the post-1976 redefined role: teaching belongs to the University, while the college focuses on whole-person education. This piece surveys Shaw College’s origins, its naming and donation story, landmarks, contemporary daily life, and notable figures. Its motto is 「修德講學」 (“Cultivate virtue, engage in learning”). Situated on the western hillside overlooking Tolo Harbour, the college, from Kuo Mou Hall to the upcoming Mona Shaw Hall, is steadily moving towards housing nearly half its students.

This is an integrated profile of Shaw College, far more detailed than the Shaw section in the current volume overview, covering founding history alongside contemporary physical spaces, college general education, communal dining, and traditional events.

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# I. Overview

According to CUHK’s official ‘Our Colleges’ page^※, Shaw College was established in the “late 1980s” as The Chinese University of Hong Kong’s fourth constituent college, after the three founding colleges: Chung Chi, New Asia, and United. The college was founded with a donation from Sir Run Run Shaw, the film and philanthropy magnate, and named in his honour. Shaw College stands between the three founding colleges and the five newer ones; founded later than the original three but earlier than the post-2006 new colleges, it is often singled out as “the fourth college”.

According to Wikipedia: Shaw College^※, Shaw was CUHK’s first college established without independent teaching facilities — this arrangement precisely reflected the post-1976 reform that redefined the colleges’ role: teaching authority was centralised under the University, while colleges concentrated on general education, residential life, and whole-person education. Shaw College is located in the north-western part of the CUHK campus, facing Tolo Harbour, and enjoys one of the most expansive views among the nine colleges.

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# II. Founding History and Naming: Sir Run Run Shaw

# Sir Run Run Shaw and His Donation

According to Wikipedia: Shaw College^※, in May 1985, Sir Run Run Shaw pledged a donation of HK$110 million to CUHK to establish a new college. Sir Run Run was one of the founding figures of Hong Kong’s film and television industries (Shaw Brothers, TVB); in his later years, he was famed for his immense donations to education — the numerous “Run Run Shaw Buildings” and “Shaw Science and Technology Buildings” on campuses across mainland China and Hong Kong are a legacy of his philanthropy. Shaw College is his landmark imprint on CUHK.

# Legislative Establishment and First Cohort

According to Wikipedia, on 30 July 1986, the Legislative Council of Hong Kong formally passed the Shaw College Ordinance; in September 1988, the college admitted its first students. The foundation stone laying ceremony was held on 12 January 1987, officiated by Sir Run Run Shaw and the then Acting Governor of Hong Kong. For this reason, 12 January was later designated as the college’s Founder’s Day.

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# III. The College Motto: 「修德講學」 (Cultivate Virtue, Engage in Learning)

According to Wikipedia: Shaw College^※, the college motto is 「修德講學」 (“Cultivate virtue, engage in learning”), a phrase taken from the Analects of Confucius, “Shu Er”: 「德之不修，學之不講，聞義不能徙，不善不能改，是吾憂也。」(“The failure to cultivate virtue, the failure to engage in learning what I have learned, hearing what is right and being unable to follow it, and being unable to correct what is not good — these are my worries.”) Confucius paired “cultivating virtue” with “engaging in learning”, stressing that moral cultivation and scholarly pursuit must go hand in hand. Shaw College adopted this as its motto, hoping its students would advance equally in virtue and learning. It joins Chung Chi’s “In Pursuit of Excellence” (止於至善), United’s “Ming De Xin Min” (明德新民), and New Asia’s “Cheng Ming” (誠明) in forming a Confucian-classics-based lineage of mottos among CUHK’s founding and fourth colleges.

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# IV. The Western Hillside Architectural Ensemble

# Location and Layout

Shaw College is situated in the north-western part of the CUHK campus, bordering the Tai Po Tsai Stream and facing Tolo Harbour; according to English Wikipedia^※, its geographical coordinates are approximately 22°25′22″N 114°12′04″E. Compared with Chung Chi (south-east), New Asia (north), and United (south-west), Shaw occupies the campus’s most north-western corner. The walk from University Station is slightly longer, but the area enjoys an open vista, a quiet setting, and panoramic views of Tolo Harbour and Ma On Shan — making it a popular spot for campus photographs. According to the official facilities page^※, the college’s principal buildings are Wen Lan Tang, Kuo Mou Hall, Student Hostel II, Grace Tien Hall, Athena Hui Ming Hall, and the Lecture Theatre. The buildings are linked by mid-level walkways, with significant differences in elevation between them, forming a quintessential snapshot of CUHK’s “mountain city” topography.

# Wen Lan Tang: The College’s “Heart”

Wen Lan Tang is Shaw College’s integrated student activity and administrative hub, completed and opened concurrently with the first student hostel, Kuo Mou Hall. According to the official facilities page^※, Wen Lan Tang houses the College Dean of Students’ Office, the Lee Woo Sing Hong Kong History Resource Centre, the Fong Yim Fun Art Sustainability Gallery, computer/multimedia laboratories, multi-purpose activity rooms, a musical instrument rehearsal room, and piano rooms; the ground floor of the Lecture Theatre also accommodates the Ngok Chiu Art Gallery, used as a permanent arts and cultural exhibition space. The college’s daily administration, GESC course registration, and student society registration are all processed through Wen Lan Tang. “Wen Lan” (文瀾) alludes to “cultural waves”; the college has not offered an official separate etymology, but it accords with the college’s cultural stance of “cultivating virtue and engaging in learning”.

# Student Hostels: Kuo Mou Hall and Student Hostel II

Shaw College currently has two student hostels offering a total of 1,211 residential places^※ (as per the official introduction page, 2025/26 academic year figure):

Kuo Mou Hall was initially called “Student Hostel I” when it first opened and was officially named in 1998 after a donor in recognition of his contribution (completion dates vary slightly between sources: traditional Chinese Wikipedia records September 1989; English Wikipedia records September 1990). Its ground floor houses a multi-purpose indoor sports hall and the Fook Tsin Centre, and it sits right next to the college bus stop. The High Block of Student Hostel II was named “Yat Sen Hall” in 2010, funded by a donation from Dr. Lam Kin-chung and Dr. Ho Hau-wong to commemorate the centenary of the 1911 Revolution (2011) — “Yat Sen” (逸仙) being Sun Yat-sen’s courtesy name. According to English Wikipedia, the High Block provides 487 places and the Low Block 148; the two blocks are linked by an elevated pedestrian footbridge.

# Mona Shaw Hall: The Third Hostel Under Construction

Mona Shaw Hall is a third student hostel currently under construction at Shaw College. According to the official CUHK press release^※ (1 December 2022):

• Naming Origin: It is named after Mrs. Mona Fong Yick-wah, wife of Shaw College founder Sir Run Run Shaw, in recognition of her contributions to the college;
• Donation: The Shaw Foundation Hong Kong Limited donated HK$100 million to support the construction;
• Scale: It will provide approximately 300 residential places, built on the site of the former outdoor basketball courts, Alumni Trail, and barbecue area;
• Completion: The official press release stated the second quarter of 2025, while a Campus Development Office notice^※ recorded the second quarter of 2026. The figures differ slightly; the latest official notice (2026 Q2) should be taken as definitive.

Once Mona Shaw Hall is completed, the total number of residential places at Shaw College will increase from the current 1,211 to over 1,500^※. At that point, nearly half of the student body will have the opportunity to live in college accommodation.

# Ancillary Facilities: The Most Comprehensive Gym on Campus

According to the official facilities page^※ and the CUTSA College Handbook^※, Shaw College’s ancillary facilities are among the most complete in CUHK’s nine colleges, with the “most comprehensive gym equipment on the whole campus”. Daily catering is covered by Café Shaw (light meals) and the SeeYou@Shaw fusion restaurant (full meals). Sports facilities include an indoor multi-purpose sports hall, fitness room, dance room, squash courts, table tennis room, and an outdoor basketball court. For study, there is a 24-hour self-study centre (in Athena Hui Ming Hall), computer/multimedia laboratories, and a musical instrument rehearsal room. In 2023, the college completed the installation of a solar panel system, which the college officially states can generate about 314,700 kWh of clean electricity annually.

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# V. College General Education, Communal Dining, and Traditional Events

Though not a full-residence college, Shaw College’s residential community is very active. According to the CUTSA College Handbook^※, the college practises a “four-year-one-residence guarantee” — all undergraduates are guaranteed at least one chance at hostel accommodation within their four years, but annual residence is not compulsory. The current 1,211 residential places correspond to about 3,400 students, a roughly 36% residential ratio; this is projected to rise to roughly 44% after Mona Shaw Hall is completed. According to the official hostel life page^※, the college positions hostel living as “an experience, not just a place to live”, with resident tutors regularly organising inter-floor dinners, festive parties, cooking competitions, board game nights, and other activities.

# College General Education and Service-Learning

Shaw College General Education (GESC), which is independent of the University’s General Education programme, offers approximately 40 courses each academic year^※, covering the humanities, sciences, social sciences, business innovation, and globalisation-related topics. According to Shaw College’s official GE page^※, study requirements are split by matriculation year: starting from the 2025/26 academic year, new students must take one service-learning course (6 credits) plus one GE course; previously, new students had to take two GE or service-learning courses (totalling 6 credits). There are three service-learning courses: GESC1230 (Community Care), GESC2330 (Reduced Inequalities, aligned with UN SDG 10), and GESC2360 (Environmental Justice in Action).

# College-Specific GE: Appreciating Cantonese Opera

Beyond the GESC framework, Shaw offers a college-specific General Education course: “Appreciating Cantonese Opera”. According to the college’s official GE course page^※, this course was launched in the 2016/17 academic year. It combines lectures, guided visits to performance venues, and student activities involving performance, creative work, and research. The official aim is “to enhance students’ understanding of Chinese culture and aesthetics and to cultivate personal character”. Since 2022, Ms. Fong Yim Fun has sponsored a dedicated scholarship to promote sustainable practices in the arts; the “Fong Yim Fun Art Sustainability Gallery” inside Wen Lan Tang was named in her honour. Employing the traditional Lingnan art form as a medium, the Cantonese Opera course integrates moral cultivation and aesthetic education into the college’s GE programme, reflecting the spirit of the motto “cultivate virtue, engage in learning”.

# High Table Dinners and Communal Dining

The High Table Dinner is a local adaptation of the Oxbridge college communal dining tradition, where teachers and students share a formal meal together and listen to a guest speaker. Shaw College organises at least one each semester. According to the official High Table Dinner page^※, these dinners are a “non-formal educational activity of College General Education”, with guest speakers addressing topics such as community service, environmental protection, art and culture, mediation, and gastronomic appreciation. According to the official prospective students page^※, Shaw students are required to attend at least three college assemblies per semester; High Table Dinners can count toward this requirement — formally embedding “communal dining” into the GE assessment framework. Unlike fully residential, communal-dining colleges such as Morningside and S.H. Ho, Shaw uses the High Table Dinner as its institutional anchor, supplemented by informal hostel gatherings, without enforcing daily communal meals — an arrangement suited to its large scale of about 3,400 students.

# The Four Signature Activities

According to the official introduction page^※ and the official prospective students page^※, Shaw College holds four major signature college activities each year:

Among these, Shaw Lane is the most iconic. According to English Wikipedia^※, its predecessor was a joint hostel bazaar that evolved into a college-wide carnival, now the single-day college event with the highest participation rate across the year. Founder’s Day (12 January), commemorating the foundation stone ceremony in 1987, is Shaw’s annual headline event.

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# VI. Successive College Heads

According to Wikipedia, the first Head of Shaw College was Professor Chan Ka-lai (Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, 1987–1994); the first Chairman of the Board of Trustees was Professor Ma Lin (former CUHK Vice-Chancellor and President, 1987–2011). The heads who followed lead up to the current College Head, Professor Leung Yiu-kin (from 2020^※), who promotes a whole-person educational philosophy centred on “soul and conscience”. Professor Ma Lin brought his stature as former Vice-Chancellor and President to his role as Shaw’s first Board Chairman, giving the fledgling college a profound connection to the University’s heritage. Mr. Fung Siu-to, Chairman of the College Board of Trustees, remarked at the Mona Shaw Hall groundbreaking ceremony: “I look forward to the completion of Mona Shaw Hall, so that more Shaw College students can experience hostel life.”

Only neutral facts are recorded for living individuals; the list of successive College Heads follows official and authoritative sources.

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# VII. Unverified Anecdotes and Rumours (Low Credibility)

Credibility Warning: The content in this section consists largely of campus hearsay, word-of-mouth stories, or online forum anecdotes. These are not verified by authoritative historical sources and are of low credibility. They are supplied solely for cultural curiosity and should never be cited as historical fact. Subjective judgments about living persons are excluded from this site; the following anecdotes do not correspond to any real individual.

“Shaw Buildings Everywhere” Campus Banter

Because Sir Run Run Shaw donated numerous “Shaw Buildings” (逸夫樓) to universities across the mainland, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, it is common for Shaw College students to joke about “how many Shaw Buildings are there in the country?” or “we’re the genuine Shaw”. Note: Sir Run Run Shaw indeed funded buildings bearing the “Shaw” name at many universities in mainland China and Hong Kong, but the specific numbers and rankings of such buildings at each institution vary wildly in various folk counts and are mutually contradictory. Much of this is internet lore that has not been authoritatively verified; this site does not reproduce specific numbers and records it only as a piece of campus chatter.

Misreading “No Teaching Facilities = Inferior College”

A misreading occasionally encountered in casual conversation holds that Shaw’s lack of independent teaching facilities implies a lower status. Note: Shaw was founded after the 1976 reforms, under which colleges focused on general and whole-person education while teaching powers were centralised in the University. This was an institutional arrangement, not a reflection of status; the claim is a misinterpretation and of low credibility.

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