Introduction of the Jao Tsung-I Academy
Overview
Jao Tsung-I Academy is one of the first projects under the Hong Kong Government’s Revitalizing Historic Buildings through Partnership Scheme of the Development Bureau of the HKSAR Government. The Government funded the initial restoration in partnership with the Hong Kong Institute for Promotion of Chinese Culture (HKIPCC), HKIPCC, a non-governmental organization (NGO), is directly solely responsible for the daily operation of the Academy on a self-financed basis. It is named in honour of Professor Jao Tsung-I, a renowned scholar of Chinese culture.
History
The Academy is located on a leafy hillside in Lai Chi Kok, an oasis nestled between the buildings of modern Hong Kong. It’s most recent life was as a psychiatric rehabilitation centre. Further back in the past, before the reclamation of the area around Mei Foo and Lai Chi Kok, the site was right next to the sea. In the late 19th century, the government of the Qing dynasty set up a customs station at this location. In the early 20th century, the British built dwellings for Chinese Labourers, leaving behind the earliest buildings on the site. Subsequently, the passage of time meant that the compound went through many phases of repair work and renovation, having successively served as a quarantine station, a prison, a hospital for infectious diseases, and a psychiatric rehabilitation centre. Though it has served different roles and performed different functions at different times, the complex has been able to adapt to whatever society needed at that time.
Research Study and Heritage Interpretation of Historic Relics in Jao Tsung-I Academy
Operational Organization: Hong Kong Institute for Promotion of Chinese Culture
The Hong Kong Institute for Promotion of Chinese Culture (HKIPCC) was established in 1985, and registered as a charity in Hong Kong. Aiming at advocating, introducing, and enhancing Chinese culture, and in the spirit of promoting cultural exchange between different regions, HKIPCC has organised over a thousand events in the visual arts, performing arts, academic research, ethnic culture, folk art, and history study tours. These events have included such as talks, exhibitions, courses, workshops, seminars, inter-school competitions, video-sharing sessions, docent service for visitors, field trips, and cultural tours. Through these multidimensional activities, HKIPCC has endeavoured to further its objective of cultural promotion, emphasizing both the academic and the popular aspects.
Subsequently, HKIPCC was selected to participate in the “Revitalising Historic Buildings Through Partnership Scheme” of the Development Bureau of the HKSAR Government. It was tasked with the revitalisation of the site of the former Lai Chi Kok Hospital to give the renovated structures a new life for the promotion of Chinese culture. On 30 December 2009, the HKSAR Government announced that the revitalised site would be renamed the “Jao Tsung-I Academy”.
To find out more about the HKIPCC, please visit: www.hkipcc.org.hk