Art Event

Guided tour – Tung Wah Museum

The guided tour will be led by student ambassadors of Tung Wah Museum.

About the Tung Wah Museum
Established in 1911, Tung Wah Museum was declared a monument by the Hong Kong Government on Nov 12, 2010 for its high historical value. The museum was formerly the Main Building of Kwong Wah Hospital and was a single-storey building at that time. In 1919, it was converted to a 2-storey building to ease the acute demand for hospital beds. Due to termite infestation to the timber roof structure, major repair works to the Main Hall were carried out in 1947. The stone tablet recording this restoration project is found on the façade. The entire old complex of Kwong Wah Hospital underwent a thorough reconstruction in 1958 with only the isolated Main Hall Building being reserved as a historical building. In 1970, the centenary year for Tung Wah, the then Board of Directors renamed it “Tung Wah Museum”, thus opening a new page for Tung Wah to collect its archives and valuable relics in a systematic manner.

Main Hall

The "ceremonial character" of the hall inside the building has a resemblance to those of the "Tze Tongs" (places where people housed the spirit-tablets of their ancestors) in the southern Chinese villages. The God of Shennong who is recognized as the discoverer of herbal medicine is enshrined in the centre of the hall. It symbolizes that the Group has started her charity work by upholding the mission of healing the sick with the provision of free medical services to the needy. The suanzhi wood furniture kept in the main hall has been used since 1911. Besides, the display of numerous plaques and couplets presented to Tung Wah shows the public's recognition of the Group's contributions to the society.

"Exhibition on the 130 Years of the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals"

Thematic Exhibition

The exhibition summarizes the history of Tung Wah and its development on medical, education and social welfare services as well as fund-raising activities since 1870. Most exhibits in the room were collected from the public through a donation campaign held in 1999. They include follow-up consultation cards in the 1950s, graduation certificates of Tung Wah's free schools in the 1930s, receipts of Tung Wah Coffin Home in the 1950s, donation receipts in the 1920s, etc. Supplemented with our own museum collection and archives or relics transferred from the service centres of the Group, the exhibition is a show-case for not only the growth of Tung Wah, but also the history of Hong Kong.

Exhibition Room II

Valuable archives of Tung Wah such as the Huamin Zhengwusi laixin bu for 1911 (a collection of letters from the Registrar General/Secretary for Chinese Affairs in the early colonial period) and the Rules and Regulations of Tung Wah Hospital are displayed. Both are precious manuscripts which have not been printed nor published before. Other relics and archives on display include Zhengxin lu (accounting journals recording the annual income and expenditure, names of donors and activities of the service centres of Tung Wah), the incense burners and statute of King Emperor Man-cheong which were the historical relics of Man Mo Temple, as well as souvenirs presented by external parties and donated by former Boards of Directors and Chairmen.