February 8, 2018
Condolence Message on the Passing of Professor Emeritus Jao Tsung-I
Jao Tsung-I, a Hong Kong sinologist and professor emeritus at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, passed away on February 6, 2018, at the age of 100. SGI President Daisaku Ikeda sent a message on behalf of Soka Gakkai members throughout the world, offering his heartfelt condolences.
In his message, Mr. Ikeda paid tribute to Professor Jao’s illustrious life dedicated to scholarship for the happiness of others, hailing him as a “master of sinology” and a towering figure in literature and the arts.
Prof. Jao taught at the University of Hong Kong and later served as a visiting professor at institutions including Kyoto University, Yale University, École pratique des hautes études (EPHE) and Sorbonne University. He was also a renowned calligrapher, painter and poet. His contributions earned him the Prix Stanislas Julien from the Institut de France and Hong Kong’s highest honor, the Grand Bauhinia Medal.
Mr. Ikeda first met Prof. Jao in 1974 at Soka University in Tokyo, and they continued to deepen their friendship over more than four decades. In 2007, a “Jao Tsung-I Exhibition” was held at the Kansai International Culture Center in Kobe. In 2009, their dialogue was published under the title Bunka to geijutsu no tabiji (working title: “A Journey on the Path of Culture and the Arts”).
[Adapted from an article in the February 8, 2018, issue of the Seikyo Shimbun, Soka Gakkai, Japan]
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