Dr. Sun Yat-sen Museum
Encyclopedia
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
. It is located in Kom Tong Hall , at 7 Castle Road, Central
Central, Hong Kong
Central is the central business district of Hong Kong. It is located in Central and Western District, on the north shore of Hong Kong Island, across Victoria Harbour from Tsim Sha Tsui, the southernmost point of Kowloon Peninsula...
. After the preparation work undertaken by the Hong Kong Museum of History, the museum was opened on December 12, 2006, so as to commemorate the 140th birthday of the influential Chinese
History of China
Chinese civilization originated in various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys in the Neolithic era, but the Yellow River is said to be the Cradle of Chinese Civilization. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest...
statesman.
Introduction
Dr Sun Yat-senSun Yat-sen
Sun Yat-sen was a Chinese doctor, revolutionary and political leader. As the foremost pioneer of Nationalist China, Sun is frequently referred to as the "Father of the Nation" , a view agreed upon by both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China...
received worldwide reputation as a great revolutionary and his epoch-making career was inseparable from Hong Kong, where he attended schools and nurtured his revolutionary ideas.
From the establishment of the Xing Zhong Hui (Revive China Society) in 1894 to the founding of the Chinese Republic in 1912, Dr Sun kept using Hong Kong as a base of his revolutionary campaign.
His activities mainly focused in the Central and Western District, including the College of Medicine for Chinese at 81 Hollywood Road
Hollywood Road
Hollywood Road is a street in Central and Sheung Wan, on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong.Hollywood Road is filled with trinket and antique shops of all sorts: from Chinese furniture to porcelain ware, from Buddha sculptures to Tibetan rugs, from Japanese netsukes to Coromandel screens, from Ming...
where Dr Sun received his tertiary education, and Qian Heng Hang at 13 Staunton Street
Staunton Street
Staunton Street is a street in Central and Sheung Wan, on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. Together with the upper section of Elgin Street, it is the heart of the Soho entertainment area, featuring a number of restaurants, bars and shops...
where he set up the headquarters of the Xing Zhong Hui.
As the district records Dr Sun's activities and covers the Sun Yat-sen Historical Trail, the Hong Kong SAR Government selected and acquired Kom Tong Hall at 7 Castle Road as the venue of the proposed Dr Sun Yat-sen Museum.
History of Kom Tong Hall
Kom Tong Hall is a historic building at Mid Levels, Central. It was accorded a Grade II historic building status in 1990 by the Antiquities Advisory Board (AAB). It was later declared a monumentDeclared monuments of Hong Kong
Declared monuments of Hong Kong are places, structures or buildings legally declared to be "protected". In Hong Kong, declaring a monument requires consulting the Antiquities Advisory Board, the approval of the Chief Executive as well as the publication of the notice in government gazette.As of 12...
.
The Hall was built in 1914. It was named after the former owner of the Mansion, Ho Kom-tong, who was a younger brother of the prominent philanthropist Sir Robert Ho Tung. The Ho family is the first Chinese family permitted to live in the Mid Levels in the early colonial period.
In 1960, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased the building. The Church used the Hall for worship services and other local Church activities as well as for administration of its Asia-area humanitarian, building and other programs. As a result of Church growth, locally and throughout Asia over the last four decades, the Church’s headquarters were moved out of Kom Tong Hall and into a much larger new 14-story building on Gloucester Road
Gloucester Road, Hong Kong
Gloucester Road is a major road in Hong Kong. It is in the north of Wan Chai and East Point on Hong Kong Island. It connects to Harcourt Road at its western end and it ends east along west side of Victoria Park. It forms part of Hong Kong's Route 4 and connects to the Island Eastern Corridor via...
in Wan Chai
Wan Chai
Wan Chai is a metropolitan area situated at the western part of the Wan Chai District on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. Its other boundaries are Canal Road to the east, Arsenal Street to the west and Bowen Road to the south. The area north of Gloucester Road is often called...
, Hong Kong.
The Church no longer had need for the building and was looking to sell the property. It soon became apparent that a vacant lot would yield a far higher amount than if the property were sold intact, and the Church considered demolishing the building. In fact, in October 2002, the Church actually submitted an application for a demolition permit to the Building Authority. However, after hearing concerns raised by friends in the community, and a series of negotiations with the Hong Kong Government, Church officials reached a consensus in selling the property intact and preserving the building.
After the Government completed the purchase in 2004, efforts began immediately to covert the 92-year-old historic mansion into a museum honoring Chinese revolutionary figure Dr Sun Yat-Sen. The converted museum was officially opened on 12 December 2006.
As a sign of appreciation from the government to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Dr Patrick Ho, Secretary for Home Affairs, arranged for the baptismal font to be preserved as a reminder to museum visitors of the Church’s 44-year part in the building’s history. In addition, a plaque on the front of the building displays the following:
“The Kom Tong Hall was the Hong Kong Headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1960 to 2004. It was well preserved, leaving behind a cultural legacy that has been made available to the people of Hong Kong.”
The retrofitted Hall has been made compatible with the Sun Yat-sen Historical Trail in its vicinity and lets the general public reminisce the activities of Dr Sun and his revolutionary comrades in their heyday.
Relationship between Dr Sun and Kom Tong Hall
Dr Sun had not set foot at Kom Tong Hall throughout his life, but he was related to Ho Kom Tong, the original owner of the premises, in other ways.Both were born in 1866 and were the graduates of the Central School, the present Queen's College
Queen's College, Hong Kong
Queen's College , initially named The Government Central School in 1862, later renamed as Victoria College in 1889, is a sixth form college for boys with a secondary school attached. It was the first public secondary school founded in Hong Kong by the British colonial government...
, in 1886. Being schoolmates, it was not surprising that Dr Sun and Ho Kom Tong were acquaintances. Ho's elder brother, Sir Robert Ho Tung
Robert Hotung
Sir Robert Ho Tung Bosman, KBE , better known as Sir Robert Hotung, was an influential Eurasian businessman and philanthropist in British Hong Kong. It has often been claimed that he was the "first Chinese person to be allowed to live on Victoria Peak" in 1906, two years after the enactment of the...
, even rendered support towards Dr Sun's revolutionary activities.
Ironically though, Ho Kom Tong was in fact, like his elder brother Sir Robert Ho Tung before him, a compradore of Jardine Matheson. The firm had once dominated the opium trade and whose director, William Jardine
William Jardine (surgeon)
William Jardine was a Scottish physician and merchant. He co-founded the Hong Kong conglomerate Jardine, Matheson and Company. From 1841 to 1843, he was Member of Parliament for Ashburton as a Whig....
, had been instrumental in the British Parliament launching the Opium War against China. The firm had given up opium in the 1860s due to its declining profitability, which was well before Ho Kom Tong became involved with the firm. However, Jardine Matheson was still very much a symbol of British commercial penetration into China in an era of high imperial ambition. Jardine's involvement, for instance, in the Kowloon-Canton Railway
Kowloon-Canton Railway
The Kowloon–Canton Railway refers to a railway network in Hong Kong which is now combined with the MTR railway system, comprising rapid transit services, a light rail system and feeder bus routes within Hong Kong, and intercity passenger and freight train services to the rest of China...
, a project designed to bring Canton
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
into Britain's sphere of influence, was very much at cross purposes with the nationalist ideals of Dr Sun, who very much wanted to maintain the territorial integrity of China.
When Dr Sun left Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
for Guangzhou
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
via Hong Kong, he called at Ho Tung's house on 18 February 1923. Two days later, Dr Sun was accompanied by Ho Tung to Loke Yew Hall at the University of Hong Kong, where he was warmly received by the representatives of the University, including Ho Sai Kim, son of Ho Tung and Chairman of the University's student union. Ho Sai Kim even sat beside Dr Sun while a group photograph was taken after the function.
Given the close relations between Ho's family and Dr Sun Yat-sen, Kom Tong Hall is inevitably one of the most suitable venues for the setting up of a Dr Sun Museum.
Architecture
At this three-storey premises, the facade of the top two floors is supported by the Greek-style granite columns surrounding the curved balconies.Inside the premises are two flights of staircases, with the one at the front for use by the Ho's family and the one at the back for mui tsai, literally maids. Being a typical Edwardian classical building, Kom Tong Hall is majestic and magnificent, and is among the very few surviving structures in Hong Kong, dating back to the early 20th century. The stained-glass windows, veranda wall tiles and staircase railings are all preserved intact.
Relics and artifacts on display
Relics and artifacts on display include Guan Jingliang's marriage certificate bearing Dr Sun's name as a witness, and a seal of "Long Live the Republic of China".Other important relics include accessories from Dr Sun's early years, an announcement of the election results of his provisional presidency, the imperial edict of Emperor Xuantong's abdication, and Dr Sun's inscription to Huang Xing.
Several items are being showcased for the first time in years, such as Dr Sun's answer sheet for an examination in the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, a dinner menu from the college's graduation ceremony, and a reply to Dr Sun from the banished Hong Kong Colonial Secretary Stewart Lockhart.
Other facilities
The museum has an exhibition and lecture hall, reading room, video rooms, interactive study rooms and an activity room. It also provides audio guides, school lectures, educational DVDs and travelling exhibition panels.The museum also offers electronic guides in Mandarin
Standard Mandarin
Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Chinese, also known as Mandarin or Putonghua, is the official language of the People's Republic of China and Republic of China , and is one of the four official languages of Singapore....
, Cantonese
Standard Cantonese
Cantonese, or Standard Cantonese, is a language that originated in the vicinity of Canton in southern China, and is often regarded as the prestige dialect of Yue Chinese....
, and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
.