Dr. Sun Yat San Historical Trail

Organizer: Tourism Commission, in collaboration with Central and Western District Council and Leisure and Cultural Services Department

Artist Statement by Don Mak

Founded in 1895, The Hong Kong Headquarters of the Xing Zhong Hui ( Revive China Society) was originally located at 13 Staunton Street, Central, under the disguise of a commercial firm shop front signage Qian Heng Hang.

My work is aimed at revealing the true identity of Xing Zhong Hui (Revive China Society) , behind the “cover up” of Qian Heng Hang. The idea was executed with a piece of tempered glass, with dimensions: width 50 cm, height 90cm, and depth 5 cm, attached to a mental frame, secured on ground.

The front side of glass, facing towards the front street, would be given a title “Qian Heng Hang”, leaving a hint of information to stories behind; On the opposite side, facing towards the original site of Xing Zhong Hui, would be named as ” Xing Zhong Hui”, followed by a paragraph explaining the origin of Qian Heng Hang, well-known members of Xing Zhong Hui, profiles of this revolutionary group and the history of Guangzhou uprising. Audience standing at the opposite side of the street will be able to see ” Qian Heng Hang” only, since ” Xing Zhong Hui” should be perfectly concealed by the design of installation.

Kong Chinese. According to Eric S.Y. Tsui’s 《City-state: 12 Books to Unlock the Local History of Hong Kong 》, “ It was a time when Christianity not accepted among the Chinese community, where local Christians were outcasted from the mainstream society, which motivated them to breakthrough from traditions.”

With shared faith in Christianity, Sun Yat-Sen and his fellow revolutionary friends, such as Au Fung Chi, Sun’s Chinese teacher whom was a former Elder of To Tsai Church; Yeung Ku Wan, Zheng Shi Liang, Lu Hao Tung, Tang Yam-Nam, Chan Siu Bak, Wong Wing-Seung and Tse Tsan Tai were all Christians.

The salvation missions of Christian church are similar to Sun’s revolutionary ideals and push for advancement.

I would like to create a column-shaped installation, on the original site of To Tsai Church, located at 75 Hollywood Road, where nowadays it has a small path towards the Pak Tsk Lane Park. In the middle of columns, quoted text are selected from “Charity” and “Equality” chapters in Holy bible. With a special paper-folding feature, Sun’s calligraphy “Charity (博愛)” works would be facing towards Hollywood Road. The installation is a representation of how Sun’s pictured revolution as similar to the salvation mission of Christianity.