Pioneering Paulines

David Faure enrolled at St. Paul’s College in 1957. He was the president of the Students’ Association and the head prefect, and graduated from sixth form in 1966. A historian, Faure specialises in South China studies. He has lectured at Indiana University and at the University of Oxford, and he currently teaches history at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Selected works include China and Capitalism (2006) and Emperor and Ancestor (2007).

Faure is an advocate of historical anthropology in writing, which emphasises fieldwork and oral history; Faure’s works incorporate expanses of carvings, genealogy books, and oral interviews to build a more complete picture of China’s past, reflective of its socio-economic complexity. For Faure, sources provide only half the picture; only through conversation and participation can history’s impact on people be understood.

In his College years, Faure co-founded the Arts Association Journal. Originally intended to hone his writing, the journal received favourable reviews and sales continued growing; this allowed him a glimpse into the world of publishing, an experience he remains fond of to this day. The College’s liberal atmosphere and teachers’ encouragement to research and create provided solid foundations for Faure’s academic career.

科大衛一九五七年入讀聖保羅書院，曾任學生會會長及總學生長，一九六六年高六畢業。科氏爲歷史學家，專硏華南歷史，曾於美國印弟安納大學和英國牛津大學任敎，現於香港中文大學授敎，代表作包括《近代中國商業的發展》（二〇一〇年簡體中文初版）及《皇帝和祖宗》（二〇〇九年簡體中文初版，二〇一七年繁體中文初版）。

硏究方面，科氏提倡使用歷史人類學之方式，着重實地硏究及口述史。其著作經過詳細考證碑刻、族譜、口述資料等而成，更能反映中國歷史社會經濟之複雜互動。於科氏而言，文獻只爲歷史一小部份，要透過與當事人對話，參與其中，才得以明瞭。

就讀聖保羅期間，科氏曾與同學創立《Arts Association Journal》月報，本來只用以訓練自身寫作能力， 但備受好評使銷售良好，其後擴大刊物規模，初嘗出版過程之趣味。書院風氣自由，老師鼓勵學生寫作，自行探索、創作，爲科氏日後學術生涯打下穩健基礎。