In the 1950's, the number of people coming to Hongkong from the Chinese mainland increased rapidly. Though Hongkong was a colonial society (or perhaps because of it), a group of scholars led by historian Chien Mu believed that it was essential to establish an institute of higher education which took the needs of Chinese into consideration. For the Hongkong educational community the founding of the school was extremely meaningful.
原來在五○年代時期，大陸來港人士日增，以錢穆為首的一批知識分子認為，香港雖為殖民社會，但面對愈來愈多的移民人口，成立一所以中國人需要為考量的高等學府實屬必要，創立大學的構想因此而起。