Kuang Ch'i ()

When Xavier School first opened in 1956, it was called Xavier School-Kuang Ch'i. Of course all of us know that the Chinese characters for "kuang chi" mean "Let your light shine!" (or "Luceat Lux!" the school's motto).

But very few of us know that Kuangchi is also the name of perhaps the most famous Chinese convert, Paul Hsu Kuangchi--or as his name is spelled in Han Yi Pin Yin, Xu Guangqi. Paul Xu Guangqi was a scholar and government official in Shanghai who was also a friend of the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci.

Naming our school after Paul Xu Guangqi shows the hopes of our founding fathers that all of us devote ourselves not only to scholarly work, but also to a truly Christian way of life.

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Resources
• Brittanica on HKC
• Mateo Ricci, SJ
• HKC's Memorial to
     Mateo Ricci
• HKC as a
      Mathematician