{{Short description|Hong Kong educationalist}} '''Irene Cheng''', {{nee}} '''Hotung''', also known as '''Tsi-dsi Irene Ho''' (October 21, 1904 – February 17, 2007; {{Lang-zh|c=鄭何艾齡}}), was a [[Hong Kong]] educationalist. The first Chinese woman to graduate from the [[University of Hong Kong]], she went on to become the highest-ranking woman in the city's Education Department. Throughout her career, she also worked as an educator in [[mainland China]] and in the [[United States]].
== Early life and education == Irene Cheng was born Irene Hotung in 1904.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Kinsman|first=Michael|date=2007-03-04|title=Irene Cheng, 102, Hong Kong-born educator was a citizen of the world|url=https://alt.obituaries.narkive.com/iRyJP35f/irene-cheng-102-hong-kong-born-educator-was-a-citizen-of-the-world|access-date=2022-02-10|website=San Diego Union-Tribune}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news|last=Philipp|first=Joshua|date=2007-03-17|title=The Grand Life of Dr. Irene Cheng: She passes away at 102|work=The Epoch Times|url=https://asianresearch.org/articles/3012.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160803040156/https://asianresearch.org/articles/3012.html|archive-date=2016-08-03}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|last=Crawford|first=Barclay|date=2007-03-11|title=Irene Cheng, teacher and daughter of Hong Kong|url=https://www.scmp.com/article/584606/irene-cheng-teacher-and-daughter-hong-kong|access-date=2022-02-14|website=South China Morning Post|language=en}}</ref> She was the daughter of very wealthy Eurasian parents in [[Hong Kong]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /> Her father, [[Robert Hotung]], was a businessman and philanthropist known as the "grand old man of Hong Kong."<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Mok|first=Laramie|date=2020-06-30|title=Who was Sir Robert Hotung, great uncle of late casino king Stanley Ho?|url=https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/news-trends/article/3091050/who-was-sir-robert-hotung-great-uncle-late-casino-king|access-date=2022-02-10|website=South China Morning Post|language=en}}</ref> Her mother was Hotung's second "co-equal" wife, Clara Hotung.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite news|last=Dungan|first=Eloise|date=1975-02-06|title='98% unemployed, but 200% busy'|pages=27|work=The San Francisco Examiner}}</ref> Hers was the first non-white family to live in Hong Kong's elite [[Victoria Peak]] neighborhood.<ref name=":2" />
After studying at the [[Diocesan Girls' School]], in 1921 Cheng became one of the first women admitted to the [[University of Hong Kong]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> In 1925, she became the first Chinese woman to graduate from the university, earning a degree in [[English language|English]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HK18q3FW45oC|title=Growing with Hong Kong: The University and Its Graduates : the First 90 Years|date=2002-01-01|publisher=Hong Kong University Press|isbn=978-962-209-613-4|language=en}}</ref>
She then traveled to Britain to attend [[King's College London]], but her education there was cut short due to family responsibilities; however, she eventually completed a master's in education at [[Teachers College, Columbia University|Columbia University's Teachers College]] in 1929.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite book|last=Teng|first=Emma Jinhua|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-Z1uzIlau4YC|title=Eurasian: Mixed Identities in the United States, China, and Hong Kong, 1842–1943|date=2013-07-13|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-95700-8|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite book|last=Lee|first=Vicky|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CWLQAQAAQBAJ|title=Being Eurasian: Memories Across Racial Divides|date=2004-08-01|publisher=Hong Kong University Press|isbn=978-962-209-670-7|language=en}}</ref> She later attended the [[UCL Institute of Education|University of London, Institute of Education]], where she obtained a Ph.D. in 1936.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":5" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Catalogue record for Irene Cheung's Phd thesis from the Institute of Education, University of London, 1936 |url=https://ucl.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=alma990026910190204761&context=L&vid=44UCL_INST:UCL_VU2&lang=en&search_scope=UCLLibraryCatalogue&adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&tab=UCLLibraryCatalogue&query=any,contains,990026910190204761&offset=0 |website=UCL Library Services Explore |publisher=UCL |access-date=23 October 2024}}</ref> In between, she returned to China in the early 1930s to teach at [[Lingnan University]] in [[Guangzhou]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />
== Career == Throughout her career, Cheng focused her efforts on education, first in China and later in the United States.<ref name=":0" /> She was a strong proponent of bilingual and special education.<ref name=":3"/>
While studying in London in the 1930s she founded the Chung Hwa Club in London's East End district of [[Limehouse]], supporting the community of Chinese sailors and their mixed-heritage children. The club offered instruction in Chinese language and culture to the children, as well as non-academic activities and support to the whole community.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ho-Tung, I Irene (b 1904 d 2007) (Irene Ho Tung, later Irene Cheng) |url=https://archives.ucl.ac.uk/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=IE/STU/F/11/1 |access-date=2026-03-27 |website=UCL}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Law |first=Adrian |last2=Law |first2=Kam-yee |date=2025-10-10 |title=The Vicissitudes of London's Old Chinatown and Its Mass Cultural Myths |url=https://ccs.city/en/anthology-of-chinese-diasporas/the-vicissitudes-of-londons-old-chinatown-and-its-mass-cultural-myths |access-date=2026-03-27 |website=Loke Kok Kuen Chinese Cultural Legacy Research Trust |language=en}}</ref> After obtaining her Ph.D., she returned to China the year after and served on the staff of the Ministry of Education in [[Nanjing]].<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":6" /> In 1940, she married an engineer from Beijing, Cheng Hsiang-hsien, and they had a daughter. Two years into their marriage, her husband died.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":6" /> As was customary, Chang never remarried.<ref name=":1" />
In 1948 she went to Hong Kong and began working in the city's Education Department, eventually rising to become the highest-ranking female staff member there.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4" /> She also served on the executive board of the [[World Federation for Mental Health]] from 1956 to 1959.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />
Cheng retired from her position in the Education Department in 1961.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /> For her service as an education officer, she was named an officer of the [[Order of the British Empire]] that year.<ref name=":0" /> For a few years after her retirement from government, she served as principal of the Confucian Tai Shing School in Hong Kong's [[Wong Tai Sin, Hong Kong|Wong Tai Sin]].<ref name=":2" /> In 1967, she moved to the [[San Diego]] area to be closer to where her daughter and other relatives were living.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" />
Cheng wrote two memoirs chronicling her time in [[British Hong Kong]]: "Clara Ho Tung. A Hong Kong Lady: Her Family and Her Times" (1976), about her mother, and "Intercultural Reminiscences" (1997), an autobiography.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />
== Later years == In her retirement, Cheng continued her advocacy for educational opportunities, founding the Chung Hwa School, which taught Chinese culture, in San Diego in 1970.<ref name=":0" /> She also taught at the [[University of California, San Diego]], in this period, as well as teaching citizenship and other classes for immigrants to the United States.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" />
She died in 2007 at age 102.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" />
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{Hotung family}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheng, Irene}} [[Category:1904 births]] [[Category:2007 deaths]] [[Category:Hong Kong educators]] [[Category:Women educators]] [[Category:Hong Kong civil servants]] [[Category:Hong Kong women civil servants]] [[Category:Teachers College, Columbia University alumni]] [[Category:Ho family]] [[Category:Women in Hong Kong]] [[Category:Hong Kong people of Dutch-Jewish descent]] [[Category:Hong Kong emigrants to the United States]] [[Category:Educational administrators]] [[Category:Hong Kong women centenarians]] [[Category:Alumni of Diocesan Girls' School]]