Register of the Rock J. Shih 石銳 papers
Finding aid prepared by Amanda Robb
Hoover Institution Library and Archives
© 2023
434 Galvez Mall
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003
hoover-library-archives@stanford.edu
Title: Rock J. Shih 石銳 papers
Date (inclusive): 1948-2013
Collection Number: 2021C65
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material: In Chinese and English
Physical Description:
5 manuscript boxes, 3 oversize boxes, digital media
(5.67 Linear Feet)
Abstract: The Rock J. Shih 石銳 papers (1948-2013) contain writings, correspondence, photographs, certificates, and memorabilia relating
to Shih's military career as a Signal Communication Officer and English translator for the Republic of China's army, as well
as materials related to his family and business career in Taiwan.
Creator:
Shih, Rock J.
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Access
Boxes 7-8 may
not be used without permission of
the Archivist. The remainder of the
collection is open for research;
materials must be requested in
advance via our reservation system.
If there are audiovisual or digital
media material in the collection,
they must be reformatted before
providing access.
Use
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquisition Information
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 2022.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], [Rock J. Shih 石銳 papers], [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Biographical Note
Rock J. Shih 石銳 (Shih Jui, Shi Rui) was born in Beijing in 1931. He joined the Nationalist Chinese Army Youth Corps in 1948
and fought during the Chinese Civil War (1945-1949) in North and Central China. Shih retreated with the Republic of China's
forces from Zhoushan Island to Taiwan in May 1950, resulting in limited contact with family in Mainland China until 1987 when
cross-straight communication was once again permitted. Shih retired from military service in 1972, and worked for foreign-owned
companies such as Philips Electronics in the private sector in Taiwan until he immigrated to Vancouver, Canada, in 1995.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection contains photographs, certificates, letters of appointment, medals, uniform badges, and ID cards relating to
Shih's military service from 1948-1972. He worked as a signal intelligence officer and English interpreter for the Republic
of China's army on the military base in Quemoy (Kinmen 金門，Jinmen 金门), and served with the United States Military Assistance
Advisory Group in Taiwan. The collection also contains personal correspondence and photographs with family and friends, materials
related to his civilian career in Taiwan in companies such as Philips Electronics, and a piece of Quemoy pottery dedicated
to his wife. It also contains two audio recordings of interviews between Shih and his family members living in Beijing and
Henan after the Taiwanese government allowed visits to China on humanitarian grounds in November 1987.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
China -- History -- Civil War, 1945-1949
Taiwan
Armed Forces
Zhongguo qing nian jun
United States. Military Assistance Advisory Group in Taiwan
box 1, folder 1
Aandahl, S.C. and Ruth
1965-1996
Scope and Contents
Shih's English teacher and pastor.
box 1, folder 2
Senese, Donald J.
1971-1990
box 1, folder 3-6
Family letters
1978-1997
Scope and Contents
Includes correspondence from Shih's siblings: Shih Jao 石釗 (Shi Zhao 石钊), Shih Chang-rong 石長榮, (Shi Changrong 石长荣), and Shih
Jun 石鈞(Shi Jun 石钧).
box 1, folder 7
Special Forces Advisory Team (SFAT)
1965-1972
box 1, folder 8-9
On Kinmen
1968-1983
Scope and Contents
Alternative place names: Kinmen 金門, Jinmen 金门, Quemoy.
box 1, folder 10
Barber, Robert K.
1971-1986
Biographical / Historical
Colonel Robert K. Barber was the Chief of the American Advisor Team of Kinmen, and had been the counter-part of the General
Commander of Kinmen Defense Headquarters.
Philips Electronics
1979-2003
box 1, folder 11
Hauber, F.M.
1979-2000
Biographical / Historical
F.M. Hauber acted as Quality Manager for Philips Electronics from 1979-2000.
box 1, folder 12-13
Marks, C.P.
1980-2003
Biographical / Historical
Plant Manager and Shih's mentor in Philips Electronics.
Photographs
1948-2001, undated
Processing Information
Titles in Chinese and English provided by donor, translations by archivist in brackets.
Military
1948-1995, undated
Photographic album
1948-1995, undated
Scope and Contents
Contains images of Shih and his classmates during military training for decipher training. Group photograph with Chiang Kai-shek.
box 5, envelope 1
With president Chiang Kai-Shek, page 1
1954 July
Scope and Contents
Photograph taken at Ye-liu, Taipei.
box 5, envelope 2
Chinese phonetic advance classmates at Taipei, page 2
1957
box 5, envelope 3
Young soldiers and myself, page 3
1948-1951
box 5, envelope 4
Deciphers and group leader, page 4
1959-1963
box 5, envelope 5
Comrades, page 5
1949-1952
box 5, envelope 6
Deciphers and the group leader, Hsin-chu, Taiwan, page 6
1959-1963
box 5, envelope 7
My role model- Mr. Oliver Yu, page 7
1952-1959
Biographical / Historical
Oliver Yu is a professor at San Jose State University.
box 5, envelope 9-11
Comrades, pages 9-11
1948-1963
box 5, envelope 12
Chorus competition of the Army- winner of the Armed Forces, page 12
1954-1955
box 5, envelope 13
Company and platoon leaders with comrades, page 13
1950-1952
box 5, envelope 14-17
Untitled, pages 14-17
undated
box 5, envelope 18
I am a sniper in the Army Team, Chung-Li, Taiwan, page 18
1956-1958
box 5, envelope 19
Elder Deciphers, page 19
1955-1958
box 5, envelope 20
Field exercise for signal communication, page 20
1959-1960
box 5, envelope 21-22
Deciphers' recreational activities, pages 21-22
1950-1959
box 5, envelope 23-24
Myself (Rock Shih), pages 22-24
1950s
box 5, envelope 25
Old deciphers, page 25
1968
box 5, envelope 26
Old soldiers, page 26
1957
box 6, folder 2
政治作戰學校譯電養成人員訓練第三期六中隊畢業四十周年師生聯誼會合影紀念 [Sixth Squadron graduating class of decipher trainees from the Political Warfare University
40th anniversary commemorative group photograph]
1995 March 20
Decipher Officers
1955-1995
box 5, folder 2
Training completion
1955 March 12
box 5, folder 2
10th graduation anniversary celebration
1965 March 14
box 5, folder 2
50th graduation anniversary celebration
1995 March 12-13
box 5, folder 3-4
Liaison Officer work as interpreter at Lungtan Base, Taoyuan, Taiwan
1964-1966
Guided Missile Group
1968, 1979
Scope and Contents
Located in Yang-mei, Taoyuan.
box 6, folder 1
石銳同志存念：黃福盛贈 [Commemorating Comrade Rock J. Shih: Presented by Huang Fusheng]
1968 April 20
box 5, folder 5
Guided Missile Group
1979
box 5, folder 6
Family reunion
1988, 1999
box 6, folder 2
Family holiday
1988 March 29
box 6, folder 1
企業經理人管理發展研討會紀念攝影 [Commemorative photograph of managers at management training seminar]
1974 September 7
box 6, folder 1
第二階段基層領班人吳管理概念訓練班第一樣次結訓留影於國泰人壽教育中心 The 1st Group of Philips B/F Management Concept Training Course II posted at Cathay Education
Center
1979 October 28
box 6, folder 1
羅德堡博士和各部門主管合影留念 Dr. Rodenburg with staff meeting members
1981 October 1
Biographical / Historical
Dr. Rodenburg worked for Philips Holland. This photograph is taken with staff meeting members of the Philips Chung-li Plant.
box 6, folder 2
Group photograph at Philips Electronics, Taiwan Ltd.
1979
Scope and Contents
Taken on the occasion of the Farewell Party for the Vice President, Philips Taiwan ltd.
box 6, folder 2
5th ASCOP, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.
1985 October 13-16
box 5, folder 7
Group photographs
1992-2001
Documents and certificates
1955-2013
Processing Information
Titles in Chinese provided by donor, translations by archivist in brackets.
box 3, folder 4
軍中獎狀、獎章及退位令
[Military awards, medals, and decrees of abdication]
1957-1973
box 3, folder 5
Military training certificates
1957-2007
box 3, folder 6
Personal certificates
1970-2013
box 3, folder 7
Career training certificates and awards
1986-2011
box 6, folder 3
中華民國企業經理名人錄的證書 [Certificate of 'Who's Who of Business Managers of the Republic of China']
1994 March 31
box 3, folder 8
軍中任職調職令 [Military postings and transfer orders]
1955-1973
Letters of appointment
1975-2001
box 3, folder 9
各類聘書 [Various letters of appointment]
1975-2000
box 6, folder 3
北京金盛怡科技有應公司的聘書 [Beijing Jinshengyi Technology Co., Ltd. letter of appointment]
2001 June 30
Printed media
1957-2000, undated
Processing Information
Titles taken from materials.
box 3, folder 10
Political speeches and newspaper clippings
1965-1971
box 3, folder 11
Career speeches and lecture handouts
1989-2000
box 4
藍星詩選： 叢刊第二輯、天鵝星座號 Lán xīng shī xuǎn: Cóngkān dì èr jí, tiān'é xīngzuò hào
1957 October 25
Scope and Contents
Donor-supplied English title: Magazine of Blue Star Selected Poems, Book II, with the title of Cygnus.
box 4
國音標準彙編第八版 Guó yīn biāozhǔn huìbiān dì bā bǎn
1958 October
Scope and Contents
Donor-supplied English title: The Standard Mandarin Pronounciation Compilation, 8th edition.
box 4
Common Expressions for Written Communications, The Officer's Language School 106-2
1959
box 4
國音字母第二式拼音法式 Guó yīn zìmǔ dì èr shì pīnyīn fàshì
1959 July
Scope and Contents
Cover offers non-standard romanization of title: Gwoin tzyhmuu dihellshyh pinin faashyh;
Donor-supplied English title: The 2nd Method of the Mandarin Character Pronunciation.
box 4
詩人之國 Shīrén zhī guó
1976 November
Scope and Contents
Contains signature; inserts removed and put in sleeve.
Author: Luo Lan 羅蘭, friend of Shih's and radio broadcaster in Taiwan;
Donor-supplied English title: The Poet's Country.
box 4
青年軍208師第二期同學通訊錄 Qīngnián jūn 208 shī dì èr qí tóngxué tōngxùn lù
1987 April 30
box 4
製造業推行前程規畫制度之研究：國立中興大學企業管理研究所碩士論文 Research on the Implementation of the Career Planning System in the Manufacturing Industry:
Master Thesis of the Institute of Enterprise Management, National Chung Hsing University
1991 June
box 4, folder 1
學生英語文摘 The Student's English Digest
1959 January-1967 October
Scope and Contents
Vol. IX No. 4 (January 1959), Vol. XII No. 11 (August 1962), Vol. XII No. 12 (September 1962), No. 148 (January 1963), No.
205 (October 1967).
box 4, folder 2
Handwritten notebook of Chinese and English vocabularies
undated
box 7
Military medals and pins
circa 1960
Conditions Governing Access
Box 7 may not
be used without permission of the
Archivist.
box 7
circa 1960
Conditions Governing Access
Box 7 may not
be used without permission of the
Archivist.
Processing Information
Materials were originally taped to blank pieces of paper, they were rehoused for preservation concerns; 11 pages total, numbered
by donor.
Scope and Contents
Military uniform badges, ID cards, Kinmen Defense Command Headquarters Visiting itinerary, pages 1-4.
box 5, folder 8
1970s-1990s
Processing Information
Materials were originally taped to blank pieces of paper, they were rehoused for preservation concerns; 11 pages total, numbered
by donor.
Scope and Contents
Photographic ID cards and business cards, pages 5-11.
box 8
Quemoy porcelain vase
1970 September 28
Conditions Governing Access
Box 8 may not
be used without permission of the
Archivist.
Scope and Contents
Alternative place names: Kinmen 金門, Jinmen 金门, Quemoy. Dedication on vase reads "To dear teacher wife with warmest love and
affection from Rock J. Shih".
Digital media
1980
Access
Digital materials are not available until processed. If interested in accessing these materials, please contact us for more
information.
Scope and Contents
Contains audio recordings that were originally on cassette tape when communication between Taiwan and China was not permitted.
According to Shih, he was unable to meet with relatives in Beijing or his elder brother in Henan. After a few years of writing
letters back and forth via his previous Quality Manager, Mr. F. M. Hauber from Singapore and Philips Holland, he wanted to
know how his family was doing more directly. Shih, his wife, son, and daughter all recorded some greetings for them and even
played piano for his parents. In return, he received an audio tape from his brothers and sisters in Beijing and Henan. Unfortunately,
his parents passed away before they could hear Shih's cassette recording.
box MC37
Audio recording of Shih's family in Taipei sent to relatives in Beijing and Henan
1980
Physical Description: 1 DVD optical disk
Scope and Contents
Audio recording of Shih's family in Taipei sent to his younger brother, Shih Jao 石釗 (Shi Zhao 石钊), in Beijing, and his elder
brother, Shih Jun 石鈞 (Shi Jun 石钧) in Henan. Optical disc labeled: "北京錄音"（來自台北親人).
box MC37
Audio recording of Shih's relatives in Beijing and Henan to Shih's family in Taipei
1980
Physical Description: 1 DVD optical disk
Scope and Contents
Audio recording of Shih's younger brother, Shih Jao 石釗 (Shi Zhao 石钊), in Beijing, and his elder brother, Shih Jun 石鈞 (Shi
Jun 石钧), in Henan, to Shih's family in Taipei. Optical disc labeled: "河南錄音".
