VIVIENNE CHOW VIVIENNE.CHOW@SCMP.COM
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 01 September, 2015, 9:38am
UPDATED : Tuesday, 01 September, 2015, 1:10pm
Soong Shu-kong holds an air force dagger with engraving, one of the artefacts at the exhibition. Photo: Jonathan Wong
Intellectuals must stand for truth and justice, said an architect whose collection of historical documents telling of the Chinese Nationalists’ role in fighting the Japanese during the second world war is exhibiting at a museum in Hong Kong.
“Today we are dealing with more and more people who want to twist Chinese history,” said Taiwan-based architect Soong Shu-kong.
“As intellectuals, we must maintain our conscience. Only slaves ignore the truth and kowtow to those in power.”
The 53-year-old collector explained his philosophy as he told stories relating to his collection of rare artefacts, documents and calligraphies featured in “Mountains Ablaze: The Republic and the Sino-Japanese War 1912-1946”, the second instalment of an exhibition series of Soong's collection on modern Chinese history.
The exhibition covers the period after Dr Sun Yat-sen overthrew the Qing dynasty during the 1911 revolution until the end of the second Sino-Japanese War, showing more than 300 pieces of artworks and artefacts.
Today we are dealing with more and more people who want to twist Chinese history
SOONG SHU-KONG
These include calligraphy by revolutionaries such as Sun’s comrade Huang Xing, Chen Xiao-bai and Zhang Renjie, the financier of the 1911 revolution.
“Hong Kong played a significant role as many of the revolutionaries met each other in the city,” Soong said. “But besides Dr Sun, many of these names are forgotten in Hong Kong.”
Important historical documents written by Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the Kuomintang government, and the US$20 million loan from the United States – the first loan to support the Chinese in their fight against the Japanese during the war – are on display.
READ MORE: Don't forget foreign war dead, says Hong Kong historian
The two-month exhibition also features promotional artworks and one of the daggers air force soldiers carried to kill themselves in case they were caught by enemies.
The exhibition opens on Wednesday, on the eve of the public holiday marking the 70th anniversary of Japan’s surrender, at the University Museum and Art Gallery at the University of Hong Kong. Soong said he had been very concerned about how history was being told over the years.
“Many of these stories are not told,” said the Hongkonger, who studied in Britain.
“These stories were not told during colonial times because they could induce nationalistic emotions. These stories aren’t told now because the Communist Party claims that they won the war when in fact they were attacking Nationalist soldiers.”
Soong grew up in an erudite family whose lineage can be traced to the Tang dynasty. He regards the lack of recognition of the Nationalists’ role in fighting the Japanese as unacceptable.
He said the Nationalist soldiers fought bravely during the war and millions gave their lives.
“They fought for the ideals heralded by Dr Sun,” Soong said. “They fought for China’s freedom and democracy.”
These stories aren’t told now because the Communist Party claims that they won the war when in fact they were attacking Nationalist soldiers
SOONG SHU-KONG
Spending two years tracking down 86 of the living soldiers in the region, Soong said he took their photos and signatures, which are on display in the exhibition. They were aged between 88 and 104, and many wrote down their army ranking and praised Sun’s ideals of building a democratic and free China.
Soong’s father Soong Hsun-leng – a close friend of shipping magnate Tung Chao-yung, father of Hong Kong’s first chief executive Tung Chee-hwa – was a loyal Nationalist. He never set foot in China after the Communists took over in 1949.
To Soong, his father was a great man and a role model. “He was consistent and did not compromise until the end,” he said.
He said he wanted to show an authentic version of history to the public through this exhibition.
“Hong Kong today is like returning to the barbarian times of the Qin dynasty. As literati, we must stand by the truth.” Soong said, referring to the times of Qin, China’s first imperial dynasty in 221 to 207 BC, where books were burnt and scholars were buried alive in order to suppress freedom and intellectuals.
“If everyone becomes opportunistic and kowtows to those in power, what’s the difference between us and [Chinese wartime traitor] Wang Jingwei?”
The exhibition runs from September 4 to November 15.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1854325/untold-stories-chinese-nationalists-fight-against
