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The Dr Sun Yat-sen Museum will stage an exhibition titled "The Whampoa Military Academy: Modern China's Crucible for Military Talent" to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the academy, China's first modern military school. The exhibition will allow visitors to learn more about the history of the academy and the contribution of its instructors and cadets to modern Chinese history.
Running from tomorrow (August 29) until January 14 next year, the exhibition is jointly presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and the Guangdong Museum of Revolutionary History, and is organised by the Dr Sun Yat-sen Museum.
An opening ceremony for the exhibition was held today (August 28). Officiating at the ceremony were the Assistant Director (Heritage and Museums) of Leisure and Cultural Services, Dr Louis Ng; the Curator of the Guangdong Museum of Revolutionary History, Dr Yang Qi; the Secretary-General of the Alumni Association of the Guangdong Huangpu Military Academy, Mr Ding Wenzhen; and the Museum Director of the Hong Kong Museum of History, Ms Susanna Siu.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Dr Ng noted that the founding of the Whampoa Military Academy in 1924 was one of the major decisions made by Dr Sun Yat-sen to re-explore China's revolutionary road. The academy implemented an education policy that combined military and political theory, and its cadets made a significant impact and contribution in China's revolution and the Sino-Japanese War.
Hailed as a "Cradle for China's Army Commanders", the Whampoa Military Academy set out to nurture military and political talent and build a revolutionary army to help overthrow imperialism and wrest control of the warlords' power in China during the national revolution. Many instructors and cadets of the academy became political and military leaders of modern China including Chiang Kai-shek, Chen Cheng, Li Zongren, Zhou Enlai, Ye Jianying, Nie Rongzhen, Chen Kefei and Xu Xiangqian.
Instructors and cadets of the Whampoa Military Academy provided considerable support for the Guangdong Revolutionary Government, profoundly influencing China's modern political history as well as its military development. They took part in suppressing the rebellion instigated by the Guangzhou Merchants' Volunteer Corps in 1924 and from 1925 to 1926 they joined the Eastern Expedition against Chen Jiongming, helped the Nationalist Party unite Guangdong province and contributed greatly to the Northern Expedition that followed.
The exhibition will showcase more than 60 items drawn from the collections of the Guangdong Museum of Revolutionary History and the Hong Kong Museum of History, including invaluable historical documents, relics, historic images and academic documents and articles used by the academy's instructors and cadets. These exhibits reveal not only the origins, organisation, framework, and educational vision of the academy and its contributions in a number of battles in modern Chinese history, but also the difficult scholastic life of the instructors and cadets.
For exhibition details, please visit the Dr Sun Yat-sen Museum's website at hk.drsunyatsen.museum/en_US/web/sysm/exhibition/special_exh_the-whampoa-military-academy.html, or call 2367 6373.
Ends/Thursday, August 28, 2014
Issued at HKT 18:44
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