The University of Hong Kong(The Exterior of the Fung Ping Shan Building)

    Fung Ping-shan, a renowned Hong Kong entrepreneur and co-founder of The Bank of East Asia, Limited, was an enthusiastic supporter of Chinese education. In 1924, he began making generous donations to The University of Hong Kong (HKU). In 1929, he offered to donate 100,000 Hong Kong dollars to HKU for the establishment of a Chinese library. He subsequently increased his donation to finance the purchase of stationery, electric lights and fans, furniture, bookshelves, and more. Construction of the library began in 1931. It was named Fung Ping Shan Library in honour of his generous donation. The library was officially opened to the public in January 1934.
　　Fung Ping-shan passed away in 1931 before the completion of the Chinese library built with his donation. At the inauguration of the library, his son Fung Pingwah, spoke of his father’s expectations for the library: “My late father sponsored the establishment of thislibrary to serve two purposes. He hoped The University of Hong Kong would develop into an important centre in South China for collecting and preserving Chinese classic ancient books and that local Chinese would be encouraged to study the language, history and customs of our motherland. My father was confident that The University of Hong Kong would develop into an academic hub in South China, and he firmly believed that this Chinese library would fill an important gap in Hong Kong’s education system, facilitating the exchange amongst Eastern and Western cultural systems.”
　　The establishment of Fung Ping Shan Building bore testimony to the remarkable development of Chinese education and the School of Chinese of HKU. Not long after its establishment, in 1935, Professor Hsu Tishan, former professor of Yenching University, Peking University and Tsinghua University in Beijing, took office as head of the Chinese Department.
　　During the early years of Japanese Invasion, to protect invaluable manuscripts and rare books from being looted, Mainland scholars found ways to send the books to faraway places for preservation. Fung Ping Shan Library became a transit point or temporary repository for the books. Professor Hsu Ti-shan, head of the Chinese Department of HKU, and Chan Kwanpo, librarian of Fung Ping Shan Library made every effort to keep the holdings safe. Hsu and Chan acted as intermediaries and collected tens of thousands of invaluable rare books from the Mainland in the name of the library of HKU, contributing immensely to the preservation of Chinese classical texts. In 1942, Chan Kwan-po witnessed the Japanese forces seizing hundreds of cases of the holdings from the library. After the war, he searched relentlessly for the lost books and discovered that they were in the collection of the Imperial Library of the Empire of Japan. Following the extensive efforts by Chan Kwan-po and other parties, the invaluable collection was returned to the Mainland.
　　Opening Hours of University Museum and Art Gallery:
　　Tuesday to Saturday: 9:30am-6pm
　　Sunday: 1:00pm-6pm
　　Closed on Mondays, University/Public Holidays
　　All visitors to HKU campus should make an online reservation to visit the campus up to 14 days in advance. No registration is needed for entry on public holidays in Hong Kong,Saturdays, Sundays, or weekdays before 8am or after 6:30pm.
　　For updated information on tourist flow management and to make reservations, please visit HKU’s website: https://www.hku.hk/visitors/visiting-hku.html
　　For interior visits, please refer to the website of University Museum and Art Gallery:https://umag.hku.hk/tc/visit/
　　Tel: (852) 2241 5500

    General Enquiry: (852) 3917 2882

    The University of Hong Kong, Pok Fu Lam Road, Hong Kong.

Fung Ping Shan Building, The University of Hong Kong, 2022.©Antiquities and Monuments Office

Fung Ping Shan Library, circa the 1930s.©Wong Cho Tong HKU Collection

Fung Ping-shan (seated) with his sons Fung Ping-fan (left) and Fung Ping-wah (right).©University Archives of The University of Hong Kong

Chan Kwan-po, who worked ceaselessly to protect the rare books during the war, in front of the severely damaged HKU Main Building, circa 1945 or later.©University Archives of The University of Hong Kong