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The following is issued on behalf of the Provisional Urban Council:
With a view to explore the endeavours made in China in the past century striving for strength and prosperity, a large scale exhibition entitled "Rise of Modern China: A Century of Self-Determination" will be staged at the Special Exhibition Gallery of the Hong Kong Museum of History from September 16 to November 21, 1999.
Jointly presented by the Provisional Urban Council and the National Museum of Modern Chinese History, the exhibition was opened today (Wednesday) by the Chief Executive of the HKSAR, the Honourable Tung Chee-hwa; the Director of Xinhua News Agency (Hong Kong Branch), Mr Jiang Enzhu; the Minister of Culture of the People's Republic of China, Mr Sun Jiazheng, and the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China in the HKSAR, Mr Ma Yuzhen.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Chairman of the Provisional Urban Council (PUC) Dr Ronald Leung Ding-bong said that the Council pursued an active programme of promoting Chinese history and culture.
"The exhibition has been timed to tie in with the 50th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Now that Hong Kong has reunified with our motherland for over two years, it is important that the people of Hong Kong, the younger generation in particular, could acquire better knowledge and understanding of the transformation that China had undergone in the last hundred years," Dr Leung said.
"The year 1999 also marks the end of the century and the imminent arrival of the new millennium. There is a saying that 'past events are our teachers in the future'. Given the close kinship that binds Hong Kong to China, an understanding of China's history will serve as a guide in the search for our future direction," he said.
"Hong Kong played a part in many of the events which took place in China in the last hundred years. For example, Hong Kong was one of the places where Dr Sun Yat-sen masterminded a series of uprisings with the view to overthrow the Qing dynasty; the East River Column Corps of guerrillas conducted underground activities in the New Territories during the War of Resistance against Japan; Hong Kong's economic developments were set in motion by China's reforms and open-door policy.
"All these demonstrate that Hong Kong is an inalienable part of China's historical development. To understand Hong Kong we must place it in the context of Chinese history," Dr Leung added.
He noted that the "Rise of Modern China" was another major exhibition following "National Treasures: Gems of Chinese Cultural Relics" in 1997 and "Heavenly Creations: Gems of Ancient Chinese Inventions" in 1998.
Also officiating at today's ceremony were the Director of National Museum of Modern Chinese History, Ms Xia Yanyue; the Director of Urban Services, Mrs Rita Lau Ng Wai-lan; the Chairman of the PUC's Museums Select Committee, Mr Mok Ying-fan, and the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Chinese History and Culture Educational Foundation for Youth, Miss Annie Wu Suk-ching.
Sponsored by the Chinese History and Culture Educational Foundation for Youth, the "Rise of Modern China" exhibition is also a "Spotlight Hong Kong" event supported by the Hong Kong Tourist Association.
The exhibition features 180 significant historical objects. Highlights include the microscopic lens used by Sun Yat-sen when he was a medical student, the original manuscript of the "Twenty-one Demands" with Yuan Shikai's handwritten comments, the banner used by the Beijing University students during the May Fourth Movement, the robe worn by the Chinese judge at the international military tribunal in Tokyo after World War II, the loudspeaker used by Mao Zedong to proclaim the founding of the People's Republic of China at Tiananmen and the wreckage of Lin Biao's aeroplane.
More than 200 historical photographs will also be on display, most of which have never been shown in Hong Kong.
The exhibition gallery is divided into nine sections, namely: "A Nation on the Verge of Subjugation", "The Revolution of 1911", "The May Fourth Movement", "Co-operation between Nationalists and Communists", "Internal Strife and External Humiliation", "The Eight-year War of Resistance", "Inauguration of the People's Republic of China", "The Tortuous Road" and "Reform Programme and Open Policy".
An interactive computer corner has also been set up in the gallery for the "Election for the Most Influential Person in the 20th Century China". Members of the public are welcome to cast their votes from 20 significant Chinese personalities.
To complement the exhibition, a Book Fair on "Rise of Modern China", jointly organised by the Museum of History and the Commercial Press, will be mounted in the Museum during the exhibition period to provide a booklist of Chinese history.
The Museum will launch a series of educational and extension activities. These include display board design competition, essay writing competition, historical diorama model-making competition, historical radio play competition and quiz on modern Chinese history.
The Museum will also produce Hong Kong's first CD-ROM on modern Chinese history to be used as an interactive teaching kit for Chinese history. The CD-ROM will be available for sale in around October.
The Museum is located at 100 Chatham Road South (near the Science Museum, Tsim Sha Tsui East). The special opening hours for the exhibition are from 10 am to 7 pm daily and from 1 pm to 7 pm on Sundays and public holidays. The Museum closes on every Friday. On National Day (October 1, Friday), the Museum's special opening hours are from 1 pm to 7 pm.
Admission fee for the exhibition is $10, with half-price concessions for senior citizens, people with disabilities and full-time students. Admission on Wednesdays is free.
For enquiries, please call 2724 9042 during office hours or visit the Museum's website at http://www.usd.gov.hk/hkmh/
End/Wednesday, September 15, 1999
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