Derek Bryan (diplomat)
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Herman Derek Bryan OBE (16 December 1910 – 17 September 2003) was a consular official, diplomat,
sinologist Sinology, or Chinese studies, is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of China primarily through Chinese philosophy, language, literature, culture and history and often refers to Western scholarship. Its origin "may be traced to the ex ...
, lecturer, writer, translator and editor.


Education

Derek Bryan was the son of a well-established dentist in
Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...
, Herman Bryan, the other children being three sisters. After attending
Gresham's School Gresham's School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent Day school, day and boarding school) in Holt, Norfolk, Holt, Norfolk, England, one of the top thirty International Bac ...
, Holt, from 1924 to 1929, he went up to Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. His lifelong diffidence regarding scholarly pursuits was already evident, but he finally settled on modern languages for his degree. At both Gresham's and Cambridge he was acquainted with Donald Maclean; one story he liked to tell was of looking up Maclean at the Foreign Office when later on home leave from China, with Maclean emerging to declare, "We have lost
Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ref ...
."


Career

After Cambridge, Bryan was again uncertain what to do, but was steered in the direction of taking the examinations for the Open Competition for the Civil Service. As he liked to tell it, he passed just high enough to be offered the last post going, a student-interpretership in the China branch of the Consular Service. Sailing for China in December 1932, a week before turning twenty-two, an active career followed taking in postings in various parts of China, including
Macao Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...
during part of the Japanese incursion. He acted as private secretary to the British Ambassador, Sir Archibald Clark-Kerr on a second posting in
Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Romanization, alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a Direct-administered municipalities of China, municipality in Southwes ...
in 1941, rising to be Chinese Secretary in the British Embassy in Peking. He was a fluent linguist and made many friends in progressive Chinese circles. In the Summer of 1936, when first posted in Chongqing, he joined a memorable walking expedition in Western Sichuan towards the Tibetan border in the company of
Julian Bell Julian Heward Bell (4 February 1908 – 18 July 1937) was an English poet, and the son of Clive and Vanessa Bell (who was the elder sister of Virginia Woolf). The writer Quentin Bell was his younger brother and the writer and painter Angelica ...
, Yeh Chun Chan ( Ye Junjian) and the geologist J. B. (Jack) Hanson-Lowe (who made a more extensive exploration of the region the following year). In 1943, he married Liao Hong-Ying (1905–1998), who was then working for the
British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...
in China. Liao had read chemistry at
Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, Ir ...
, coming into close contact with Dorothy Crowfoot (
Dorothy Hodgkin Dorothy Mary Crowfoot Hodgkin (née Crowfoot; 12 May 1910 – 29 July 1994) was a Nobel Prize-winning British chemist who advanced the technique of X-ray crystallography to determine the structure of biomolecules, which became essential fo ...
).
Joseph Needham Noel Joseph Terence Montgomery Needham (; 9 December 1900 – 24 March 1995) was a British biochemist, historian of science and sinologist known for his scientific research and writing on the history of Chinese science and technology, in ...
, then serving as British Scientific Adviser in China, recommended Bryan to Liao when she was due to visit Lanzhou where Bryan was consul. In the 1950s, Bryan and Liao were to accompany a delegation including Dorothy Hodgkin on, at that period, a rare visit to the People's Republic of China. It was also through Liao that Bryan came to be increasingly involved with the
Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...
; his administrative experience was especially appreciated by the Quaker Meeting in Norwich and he served a term as co-clerk of the Meeting. Bryan had, however, grown up in the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
, retaining a special affection for
Norwich Cathedral Norwich Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Norwich, Norfolk, dedicated to the Holy and Undivided Trinity. It is the cathedral church for the Church of England Diocese of Norwich and is one of the Norwich 12 heritage sites. The cathedral ...
. On finally moving back to Norwich, he was able to find expression for this again, together with an engagement with the St. Julian's Church, which was only a short distance from the Bryans' home on Southgate Lane. For Liao, it had been a visit to Jordans, coupled with the personal support of
Margery Fry __NOTOC__ Margery is a heavily buffered, lightly populated hamlet in the Reigate and Banstead district, in the English county of Surrey. It sits on the North Downs, is bordered by the London Orbital Motorway, at a lower altitude, and its predom ...
, who, as Principal, had admitted her to Somerville, that had first drawn her to the Quakers. The Bryans were married in Chengdu after the Quaker custom and stayed with Margery Fry on their first return as a couple from China. As Chinese Secretary, he helped to resolve the Yangtse Incident of April 1949, when the British warship HMS ''Amethyst'' was caught off-guard on Yangtze River behind the rapidly advancing lines of the
People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...
. While his assistant,
Edward Youde Sir Edward Youde (; Cantonese: ''Yau Tak''; 19 June 1924 – 5 December 1986) was a British administrator, diplomat and Sinologist. He served as Governor of Hong Kong between 20 May 1982 and his death on 5 December 1986. Early years Youde ...
, later to serve as Governor of Hong Kong, achieved popular recognition for cycling behind those lines to make contact with the ''Amethyst'', it was Bryan who was sent to take a lecture on gun-boat diplomacy from
Huang Hua Huang Hua (; ; January 25, 1913 – November 24, 2010) was a senior Communist Chinese revolutionary, politician, and diplomat. He served as Foreign Minister of China from 1976 to 1982, and concurrently as Vice Premier from 1980 to 1982. He was i ...
. Bryan was never a communist and would chuckle in recalling the blandishments of those who had encouraged him to join the Communist Party, only themselves to fall away, especially after 1956. Nevertheless, he was candid in his sympathies for the Chinese in the circumstances China faced, reflecting the practicality of the consular official, rather than the valiant discretion of the diplomat. While serving as the British Consul in
Peking } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
, he called for the admission of the
People's Republic People's republic is an official title, usually used by some currently or formerly communist or left-wing states. It is mainly associated with Soviet republic (system of government), soviet republics, socialist states following People's democracy ...
to the United Nations a generation before the Americans stopped vetoing it, and in 1951, during the
Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
, he said he approved of Mao's social reforms. Although Bryan had served in China almost continuously for eighteen years and was then the Foreign Office's most able sinologue, the early 1950s were a period of heightened political sensitivity and it was decided to offer Bryan the post of Commercial Attache in Lima, Peru. Bryan activated the early retirement provision, largely out of consideration for his wife. The move accelerated the careers of younger colleagues such as Youde, but also left confusion in the minds of those not familiar with the full story, clouding Bryan's standing with some (such as Youde's predecessor as Governor of Hong Kong,
Murray MacLehose Crawford Murray MacLehose, Baron MacLehose of Beoch, (; 16 October 1917 – 27 May 2000), was a British politician, diplomat and the 25th Governor of Hong Kong, from 1971 to 1982. He was the longest-serving governor of the colony, with four ...
). Bryan's initial plans, again reflecting his wife's inclinations, were to undertake research on Chinese literature back at Cambridge. But, chaffing again with scholarship, perhaps more particularly with his chosen topic, the writer
Lu Xun Zhou Shuren (25 September 1881 – 19 October 1936), better known by his pen name Lu Xun (or Lu Sun; ; Wade–Giles: Lu Hsün), was a Chinese writer, essayist, poet, and literary critic. He was a leading figure of modern Chinese literature. W ...
, he turned to more active organisational work, for instance, playing a leading role in the Britain-China Friendship Association. With
Joseph Needham Noel Joseph Terence Montgomery Needham (; 9 December 1900 – 24 March 1995) was a British biochemist, historian of science and sinologist known for his scientific research and writing on the history of Chinese science and technology, in ...
, who was by now concentrating on the history Chinese science, he established the Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding (SACU), which for some years provided the only way for the British to visit the People's Republic. Bryan and Liao also took to spending alternating periods in the UK and the PRC. In 1963, he began to teach Chinese at Holborn College, later part of the
University of Westminster , mottoeng = The Lord is our Strength , type = Public , established = 1838: Royal Polytechnic Institution 1891: Polytechnic-Regent Street 1970: Polytechnic of Central London 1992: University of Westminster , endowment = £5.1 million ...
. In 1974 he founded a degree course in modern Chinese there. Their base in China was in
Chengdu Chengdu (, ; Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively Romanization of Chi ...
. Bryan retired in 1978, moving back to
Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...
, his birthplace, from 1988. Bryan and Liao were often joined in Norwich by her biographer, Innes Herdan (née Jackson; note also
Chiang Yee Chiang Yee (; 19 May 1903 – 26 October 1977), self-styled as "The Silent Traveller" (哑行者), was a Chinese poet, author, painter and calligrapher. The success of ''The Silent Traveller: A Chinese Artist in Lakeland'' (1937) was followed by ...
), who had been with Liao at Wuhan University after their studies at Somerville College; Herdan continued this association with Bryan after Liao's death. Bryan developed conflicting health problems after a long-haul flight from Hong Kong on returning from being a guest in Peking for the fiftieth anniversary in 1999 of the establishment of the PRC. He suffered a stroke in 2002, from which he never fully recovered. In his will, he funded scholarships for graduate students from China at the
University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...
, continuing the hospitality he and Liao had commenced on return to Norwich in having Chinese students stay with them for extended periods. Under the guidance of Innes Herdan, the papers of Derek Bryan and Liao Hongying are now in the Special Collections library of the
School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury ar ...
, London (see the Archive Catalogue under PP MS 99). Bryan himself had intended all their books and papers to go to the Needham Research Institute, in Cambridge, honoring their close association, indeed their union on account of,
Joseph Needham Noel Joseph Terence Montgomery Needham (; 9 December 1900 – 24 March 1995) was a British biochemist, historian of science and sinologist known for his scientific research and writing on the history of Chinese science and technology, in ...
. Bryan was always somewhat inhibited in discussing his career, out of respect for the
Official Secrets Act An Official Secrets Act (OSA) is legislation that provides for the protection of state secrets and official information, mainly related to national security but in unrevised form (based on the UK Official Secrets Act 1911) can include all infor ...
. Nevertheless, at the time of his death, Bryan had been working up an extended biographical sketch, based on his diaries kept in spidery handwriting in a series of little black notebooks. This work appears to have been mislaid or otherwise lost, in contrast to his own scrupulous orderliness with papers throughout his working life. The last years were truly a great trial to someone who, not hitherto having known illness, had always administered their affairs with executive dispatch.


Editor

From 1963 to 1965, Bryan was the founding editor of Arts and Sciences in China, a journal of Chinese studies published in London. Among the members of the Editorial Board were
J. D. Bernal John Desmond Bernal (; 10 May 1901 – 15 September 1971) was an Irish scientist who pioneered the use of X-ray crystallography in molecular biology. He published extensively on the history of science. In addition, Bernal wrote popular boo ...
,
Sir William Empson Sir William Empson (27 September 1906 – 15 April 1984) was an English literary critic and poet, widely influential for his practice of closely reading literary works, a practice fundamental to New Criticism. His best-known work is his fir ...
,
Joseph Needham Noel Joseph Terence Montgomery Needham (; 9 December 1900 – 24 March 1995) was a British biochemist, historian of science and sinologist known for his scientific research and writing on the history of Chinese science and technology, in ...
,
Sir Herbert Read Sir Herbert Edward Read, (; 4 December 1893 – 12 June 1968) was an English art historian, poet, literary critic and philosopher, best known for numerous books on art, which included influential volumes on the role of art in education. Read ...
and
Arthur Waley Arthur David Waley (born Arthur David Schloss, 19 August 188927 June 1966) was an English orientalist and sinologist who achieved both popular and scholarly acclaim for his translations of Chinese and Japanese poetry. Among his honours were ...


Author

Bryan's published works include – *''The United Nations Need China'' (1958) *''China's Taiwan'' (Britain-China Friendship Association, London, 1959) *''The World Belongs to All'' (London, 1960, with Liao Hong Ying ) *''Li-po Chou's Great Changes in a Mountain Village'' (translator) (Foreign Languages Press, Peking, 1961) *''The Land and People of China'' (Macmillan, London, 1964) *''Cultural Restoration versus Cultural Revolution: A Traditional Cultural Perspective'' (Foreign Languages Press, Beijing, 1964) *''Let's Visit China'' (Macmillan Children's Books, 1983, with Liao Hong Ying)


Honours

*
Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
1951


Sources

* Antoniades, Irin
Innes Herdan: obituary
The Guardian, 18 June 2008. * Bryan, Dere

China Now, April 1975. * Bryan, Dere

China in Focus, Issue No. 8, 2000. * Gittings, Joh

The Guardian, 3 October 2003.


References

* Buchanan, Thomas (2001)
The Courage of Galileo: Joseph Needham and the `germ warfare' allegations in the Korean War
History(Historical Association), 86/284, 503–22, esp. fn. 36, 87, 90; the title adopts a phrase from a letter by Liao Hongying * Buchanan, Thomas (2012), East Wind: China and the British Left, 1925–1976, Oxford University Press. , * Coates, Patrick Devereux (1988), The China consuls: British consular officers, 1843–1943, Oxford University Press, esp. p. 541. * Debbage, Susan and Arrowsmith, Deborah (2012), Gildencroft: Let their lives speak, Moofix, esp. pp. 81–90, with photograph of gravestone, p. 89. * Ferry, Georgina (2000), Dorothy Hodgkin: a life, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, , * Herdan, (Estelle Muriel) Innes (1996), Liao Hongying: Fragments of a Life, Larks Press. , * Jackson, (Estelle Muriel) Innes (1938), China only yesterday, Faber and Faber. * Laurence, Patricia Ondek (2003), Lily Briscoe's Chinese eyes: Bloomsbury, Modernism, and China, Univ of South Carolina Press, esp. pp. 73–75. , * Winchester, Simon (2008), The Man Who Loved China, Harper Collins; published in the UK as Bomb, Book & Compass: Joseph Needham and the Great Secrets of China, Viking, esp. pp. 103, 105, 125, 142–143, 226. * Welland, Sasha Su-Ling (2008), A Thousand Miles of Dreams: The Journeys of Two Chinese Sisters, Rowman & Littlefield. , * Wright, Patrick (2010), Passport to Peking: A Very British Mission to Mao's China, Oxford University Press, esp. pp. 21, 74. , {{DEFAULTSORT:Bryan, Derek 1910 births 2003 deaths British sinologists China–United Kingdom relations British expatriates in China People educated at Gresham's School Writers from Norwich Alumni of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Academics of the University of Westminster British diplomats Officers of the Order of the British Empire