IN MEMORIAM ANTHONY HULSEW (1910-1993)

On 16 December 1993, the nestor of Dutch Sinology, Professor A.F.P. Hulsew‚,
passed away at Romont, Switzerland, where he had settled after his retirement
from the Chair of Chinese Language and Literature at Leiden University. He
suffered from a fatal heart attack at the age of eighty-four. It was the
abrupt conclusion of a life of devoted, hardworking scholarship which he had
sustained till the very end; to those among his disciples who had the
privilege of knowing him well, it also means a great personal loss. For to
them, Tony Hulsew‚ has not only been a respected teacher but also, in later
years, a valued senior colleague and a dear friend.

Anthony Francois Paulus Hulsew‚ was born of Dutch parents in 1910 in Berlin,
where he also received part of his primary education; it may well be that
those early years spent in a nurturing bilingual environment laid the basis
for his remarkable fluency in no less than six languages. On completion of his
secondary education, he passed an examination organized by the Dutch Colonial
Office. In that competitive examination leading to an appointment in the civil
service of the Netherlands Indies, he performed exceptionally in one of the
subjects 'East Asian Affairs', which led him to take up the study of Chinese
at Leiden University in 1928. There, he received a thorough training in
Classical Chinese from the renowned sinologist, Professor J.J.L. Duyvendak.
In addition, he followed courses in Japanese and the Amoy dialect, the
language spoken by most members of the Chinese minority in the Indies. After
his 'Candidaats' Exam at Leiden (1931), he spent three years in Beijing and
Kyoto, immersing himself in the study of Chinese and Japanese as well as
keenly observing the colourful life in the 'old Peking'- of which he cherished
so many dear memories - and in the less friendly environment of pre-war Japan.

Tony Hulsew‚'s career, as a colonial officer serving at the Bureau of East
Asian Affairs in Batavia (present-day Jakarta) which began in 1935, was
interrupted by the Japanese occupation - dark years which he spent in
Singapore. In 1946, he and his family returned to the Netherlands where, to
his deligthed surprise, he was appointed a lecturer in Chinese; an appointment
in which Duyvendak was instrumental.

For several years, he had been deeply interested in the early history of
Chinese law, notably of the Tang period. Due to Duyvendak's endeavor to
stimulate Han studies at Leiden, Hulsew‚ shifted his attention to that earlier
and still less explored phase of Chinese legal history, which eventually
culminated in his pioneering work, Remnants of Han Law (1955; his Ph.D.
thesis). In 1956, Hulsew‚ became the successor to Duyvendak, who had passed
away the previous year, as Professor of Chinese and Director of the
Sinological Institute. For twenty years till his retirement in 1975, he
fulfilled both functions in an exemplary manner. 

It is impossible to do justice to Hulsew‚'s manifold achievements in these few
lines. One of his most outstanding qualities was his modesty: he always
claimed to be no more than a patient worker, a solid, somewhat old-fashioned
philologist. His colleagues knew better. With his passing, Western Sinology
has lost one of its foremost scholars, and no doubt the most outstanding
authority on early Chinese law.

To the very end, Tony Hulsew‚ has remained active as a scholar: witness the
monumental study Remnants of Qin Law which was published in 1985, and a spate
of articles and reviews. But above all, he has remained a true friend and
teacher, maintaining frequent contact through correspondence with his
colleagues and former pupils. They will cherish his memory with respect and
affection.

January 1994                                             Erik Zrcher