Béthanie and University Hall
INTRODUCING WESTERN IDEAS TO HONG KONG AND THE REGION
Béthanie and University Hall witnessed the arrival of Western ideas in Hong Kong. In 1875, the Society of Foreign Missions (La Société des Missions Étrangères de Paris; M.E.P.) built Béthanie as their first sanatorium in East Asia to treat missionaries suffering from tropical diseases, and as a base of the French Catholic missionary work in East Asia. Opposite to Béthanie is Douglas Castle, as the first Western building at Pokfulam, named after the Scottish businessman Douglas Lapraik. The Castle was built in 1861, for Lapraik’s residence and company headquarter. Pokfulam Police Station (demolished) was built next to the Castle in the same year. After Lapraik passed away, the French Mission acquired and renamed it as Nazareth Seminary in 1894. The building then went through major renovation with an addition of a building, which was the new home of Nazareth Press.
Both buildings were occupied by the Japanese Army during WWII. They are declared monuments and play an educational role now. In 1954, HKU acquired and renovated Nazareth House into a male dormitory – University Hall. In 2006, the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts completed the restorations of Béthanie. It is now the campus for the School of Film and Television.
Reminders:
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University Hall is a student residential hall and is not open to public. Visitors can register for a guided tour here: http://www.facebook.com/PukfulamVillage.org
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No elevator is available at University Hall.
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Béthanie is now the campus of HKAPA. Some facilities such as the theatre and studios are not open to public.
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Issues
The French Community in Hong Kong
Over the past hundred years, the University Hall and Béthanie have experienced historical transformations just as Hong Kong has. The development of these two buildings records and reflects the history of Hong Kong. In 1860, the Convention of Beijing was signed, and it allowed Catholic missionaries to propagate their faith in China. The French Mission sent their missionaries to Hong Kong as a base to spread Catholicism to China and other places in East Asia. The influx of foreign missionaries contributed substantially to China from various aspects, such as culture, science, technology and education. Many local people were converted to Catholicism at that time. Apart from religion, western modern ideas were also introduced to China.
It was not uncommon to find the Mission helping to set up schools and colleges. In Hong Kong, Father Delavay identified a plant in the Bauhinia genus on Mount Davis for the first time in 1888. The purple flower, Bauhinia Blakeana, was named after the then Governor Sir Henry Blake. Nazareth Press also published thousands of titles in around 30 Asian languages and dialects between 1894 and 1953. It was the biggest publisher in Asian Languages that published more than 3 millions copies of books.
LA CROIX dans LA TEMPTÊTE published by Nazareth Press in 1953.
Hall Culture and Redevelopment on Residential Halls
Lady Ho Tung Hall in the 1970s.
HKU is facing huge demand for student accommodation amid the expansion of tertiary education. The redevelopment of Lady Ho Tung Hall (LHT) exemplifies the conflict between development and the preservation of cultural heritage. LHT is the only female dormitory in HKU that was established in 1951. The original building was a 6-storey block with a dining hall and a grassland. The residents – Hotungnians – socialised and perpetuated hall social activities in these common areas, which in turns shaped and fostered fraternity among current students and alumni. The redevelopment plan did not retain the dining hall and the grassland, in which most current residents and alumni considered as a loss of precious memories and its unique hall traditions. An alumna Mabel Cheung produced the movie City of Glass in 1998 as a memoir of LHT. The new 19-floor tall building, however, greatly increased the number of residence places (404 in total). University Hall offers relatively less residence places and requires vast maintenance cost. There was a proposal to relocate it to another building to provide more residence places. Strong opposition was also received from alumni and current Castlers. What would be the best use of historic buildings?
The Revitalisation of Historic Buildings
In the last few years, Hong Kong debated on the appropriate use of historic buildings. Revitalisation is deemed to be one of the best ways to conserve historic buildings, protect the spirit of heritage and give it a new life. Both Douglas Castle and Béthanie are revitalised for educational purpose. Alternations of the buildings were made and new facilities were installed to fit the purpose. But the major features were retained. For instance, the University Hall ordered tiles from France to maintain its original aesthetic appeal. The architectural style of Béthanie was retained during revitalisation. HKAPA spent a few years to trace the missing components such as the 19 missing stained glass windows, the main altar and reredos and 12 statues above the altar. The revitalisation of historic buildings is very costly. In 2009, the government launched Financial Assistance for Maintenance Scheme to help finance the conservation of privately-owned graded historic buildings.
Douglas Castle is built in similar architectural style as other Scottish buildings in the Victorian times to showcase Douglas Lapraik’s Scottish root. The iconic architectural style is preserved.
Before (left) and after (middle) revitalisation of Béthanie.
This watercolour and gouache painting with Western style was drawn by an unknown Chinese artist. In 2012, Hongkong Post and La Poste jointly issued the stamp with Douglas Castle as background (top) to recognise the development of arts in Hong Kong and France.
Anonymous
Douglas Castle
Watercolour and gouache on paper
c. 1860
25 x 30 cm
Pokfulam facing High West in 1873. The building in the middle is Douglas Castle in its original shape. The building at the bottom is Pokfulam Police Station (demolished). The other smaller buildings are part of Douglas Castle, which controls the access to the “big house”.