Hong Kong’s first maternity hospital for Chinese people and a 130-year-old temple that once sheltered the poor and needy are to be classified as official monuments.
The Antiquities Advisory Board decided on Thursday to designate the Main Building of the Old Tsan Yuk Maternity Hospital and Kwong Fook Tsz as declared monuments. To date, Hong Kong has 136 declared monuments across the city, including 58 in Hong Kong Island, and 64 in the New Territories.
The Main Building of the Old Tsan Yuk Maternity Hospital, located at 36A Western Street in Sai Ying Pun, was inaugurated in 1922. It was the first maternity hospital for Chinese women in Hong Kong, offering services to expectant mothers and newborns while also training midwives.
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The building, which stands four stories high and includes a basement, exemplifies the neo-classical architectural style blended with Chinese elements, featuring red brick facades, Tuscan columns, granite lintels, and couplets.
Between 1961 and 1971, the building was repurposed as a community center known as the Tsan Yuk Social Service Centre, and in 1973, it was renamed Western District Community Centre, which continues to serve the public to this day.
Kwong Fook Tsz, situated at 40 Tai Ping Shan Street in Sheung Wan and constructed in 1895, was primarily built to house ancestral tablets for immigrants from the Chinese mainland who had passed away in Hong Kong.
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It also served as a shelter that provided care and treatment for patients, the destitute, and the elderly without family support. Historically, no other existing temples in Hong Kong fulfilled the same functions.
The temples also contributed to the establishment of Tung Wah Hospital, initiating its charitable works that began in the mid-to-late 19th century. It witnessed the rise of the Chinese community and the development of the Sheung Wan area, holding significant historical importance.
Edward Yuen Siu-bun, a member of the Antiquities Advisory Board, said that in traditional Chinese society, women assisting in childbirth were not formally trained. The Old Tsan Yuk Maternity Hospital was the first maternity hospital for Chinese women in Hong Kong that trained midwives, reflecting the integration of Chinese and Western cultures in Hong Kong.
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Another member, Frankie Yeung Wai-shing, said that once the Old Tsan Yuk Maternity Hospital is declared a monument, the surrounding architectural complexes would likely become a new cultural tourism destination in Hong Kong.
Member Cheung Sui-wai remarked that anyone studying Hong Kong’s history would inevitably begin with Kwong Fook Tsz, given its profound historical significance.
The board’s recommendations will be submitted to Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn Hon-ho, who also supervises the city’s antiquities protection. Linn will designate the two historical buildings as declared monuments under the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance.
