Sun Yat-sen museum sparks hopes for preservation revolution
The Sun Yat-sen Museum, which the government plans to open next year in the Kom Tong Hall in Mid-Levels, promises to be more than just an encounter with one of the great personalities of modern Chinese history.
Considering that the government has spent $53 million to buy the mansion, and will spend a further $91 million on renovations, the project has become a catalyst for debate about how to preserve Hong Kong's history and architecture, and how the city's arts and artefacts should be presented to the public.
The idea for the museum isn't new. 'We've been looking for a site since 1996, when a then-Urban Council member put forward the idea of building a museum for Sun,' says Joseph Ting Sun-pao, chief curator of the Hong Kong Museum of History. 'There were two options: to get a piece of land and construct a new building or to find an old building. The second one was much cheaper. But to find a building with the appropriate dignity is more than difficult. We'd been looking hard for a site in Central and Western District, the area where Dr Sun studied and organised the revolution. When Kom Tong Hall came up, it was just a perfect match.'
Kam Tong Hall is a stone's throw from Staunton Street, where Xing Zhong Hui (Revive China Society), the organisation Sun set up to overthrow the Qing government, was situated. It was built in 1914 by Ho Kom-tong, a Sun contemporary, philanthropist and feng shui master. It was sold after Ho's death in 1950. In 1959, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints bought it, and in 2002, decided to demolish it. This led to a campaign, led by some members of the District Council, to save the hall. A questionnaire showed that local residents wanted the hall to become a public library or a museum.
Although most of the museum will be dedicated to Sun, there'll be a room set aside for the colourful history of the mansion itself. One of the first structures in the territory to have been built with a steel frame and in-wall electrical wiring, the hall has beautiful fireplaces, art nouveau-style stained-glass windows, a winding staircase and classic feng shui design elements.
It also has links to Sun. 'Soong Ching-ling, the wife of Sun, once lived in 20 Seymour Road, next to the hall,' says Ting. 'Ho Kam-tong studied in the Government Central School and had been a schoolmate of Sun's.'
The book Ho Kam Tong, a Man for All Seasons mentions that one of Ho's concubines might have participated in Sun's 1911 revolution and Ho may have been a veiled participant, as well.
Plans for the Sun museum have sparked ideas for similar restoration projects in the area. 'As the former Central Police Station on Hollywood Road will be turned into a tourist attraction, the whole district could be promoted as a kind of old town centre,' says Kwok Ka-ki, a legislator and member of the Central and Western District Council. 'It can be like what many western cities have done, in which tourists can walk around and spend a whole day.'
Kenneth Tam Si-wai, of the Architectural Services Department agrees that the area could be developed as a tourist attraction, as long 'some characteristics of an old town centre are preserved. For example, there are many 100-year-old handmade boulder walls supporting the terraces. These cut-and-built terraces showcase a typical style of Hong Kong architecture, because it was necessary to create flatland on the slopes. The boulder wall on Conduit Road, with big trees, is a very beautiful wall. But many of these walls weren't well-preserved, such as the one in front of Kam Tong Hall. It was cemented and the whole wall was ruined.'
One criticism of the project, however, is that Hong Kong doesn't have enough Sun memorabilia to fill a mansion. In May, the Hong Kong Museum of History launched a collection campaign for artefacts. So far, a letter signed by Sun, some commemorative stamps issued in the US and other objects have been found.
'We don't expect to collect anything very special,' Esa Leung, curator of Hong Kong Museum of History says. 'We're a latecomer. Sun museums have been built in many places. We're planning to borrow items from museums and memorial halls in Guangzhou, Shanghai, Nanjing, Wuhan and Beijing.'
The museum has come under fire for its lack of a permanent collection and no provision of space for other art exhibitions. 'Building a Sun Yat-sen museum is having a political agenda,' says Oscar Ho, president of the International Art Critics Association (Hong Kong). 'There are not many things to exhibit. If the museum has to rely on loans, I wonder if it could get the best exhibits. If 95 per cent of exhibits are reproductions, that's a joke. The building is a historical one. It can be used as something related to history, like a photography museum, a toys museum or even a fashion museum.'
Still, the museum's supporters point to the need to pay tribute to Sun in some way, considering the amount of time he spent in Hong Kong. Sun pursued his studies in 1883 at the Diocesan Home. Later, he transferred to the Central College, now Queen's College and finally graduated at the Hong Kong College of Medicine, forerunner of the Medical School of the University of Hong Kong, in 1892. There, he developed his revolutionary concepts by reading western political and military tracts.
Hong Kong's deep harbour and ease of transportation helped the shipment of revolutionary arms and supplies, and aided the revolutionaries in organising political parties, recruiting new blood, and planning and supervising uprisings. The territory remained Sun's revolutionary base for 18 years between the establishment of the Xing Zhong Hui in 1894 and the founding of the Chinese Republic in 1912.
'Other than Hong Kong, all the places Sun lived have museums or commemorative halls about him,' Leung says. 'Hong Kong inspired him and all his new thoughts. All the old buildings Sun lived in have been demolished. With a building like Kom Tong Hall as the museum, we can have a better memorial for Sun's time here.'
