From seed to harvest: a heritage trail of early christianity in Hong Kong

Abstract

In Hong Kong Cemetery, there are many stories of the prominent figures which are

said to be significant to the history of colonial Hong Kong. However, there are also

some quiet stories left yet to be told. Being a Christian, I have put my focus on those

people who died for the Christian belief. Not far away from the entrance, I am deeply

impressed and sympathetic to a story inscribed on a grave: Mrs. Henrietta Hall Shuck,

the first American female missionary to China, died young in 1844 when she was

only 27. What was the driving force pulling this young woman from the comfortable

home in America and bringing her to Hong Kong, and finally buried here? Is there

any reference left behind by her to let me know much about her life? Her story has

been in my mind for years if I can find much information on her life.

Every time when I take bus running along Caine Road and Bonham Road to the

University of Hong Kong, I see a splendid architecture sitting on a platform at the

junction of Bonham Road and Seymour Road, like a lighthouse guarding the area.

Afterwards, I know that it is called Church of Christ in China (CCC) Hop Yat Church.

Once when I walked along and came closer to the church building, I found a stone

plaque embedded on the fa?ade of the church, on which there were four Chinese

words: “To Tsai Hui Tong” (道濟會堂), which is “To Tsai Church” in English. The

first question came to my mind: why the plaque of another church was embedded on

the fa?ade of this church? Is there any story behind? What is the relationship between

this “To Tsai Church” and the existing CCC Hop Yat Church?

These questions finally converge on many of the “firsts”: Henrietta was not only the

first foreign female missionary to Hong Kong, but also sharing the other three “firsts”:

the first foreign female resided in Hong Kong, the first person started female

education in Hong Kong, and finally, the first foreign missionary died in Hong Kong.

For the To Tsai Church, it was also the first independent Chinese church in Hong

Kong.

These “firsts” imply that both Henrietta and To Tsai Church were in significant

positions in the early Christianity development in Hong Kong. Henrietta joined the

first foreign missionary to Hong Kong but died in Hong Kong like a seed; To Tsai

Church developed from the foreign missionary works and rooted itself in the local

Chinese community and finally came to harvest. All these pioneer stories lead to this

study: to work out a heritage trail on the footprints of Henrietta and To Tsai Church so

as to illustrate how the early Christianity developed in Hong Kong.

The dissertation is divided into three main parts. The first part, covered by Chapter 2,

describes the definition of heritage trail, and introduces the purposes of the heritage

trails by making reference to those in Hong Kong. Then, referring to our case of a

heritage trail in Christianity, discussion is focused on the nature of the religious

heritage trail with examples.

The second part, covered by Chapters 3, 4 and 5, gives a detailed description on the

history of how the Christian missionary reached China and then Hong Kong from the

time of Jesus until the British occupation of Hong Kong in 1841. Then, histories of

the missionary by Mrs. Henrietta Hall Shuck and the evolution of To Tsai Church to

CCC Hop Yat Church are discussed and the associated heritage sites are identified for

the design of heritage trail.

The third part, covered by Chapters 6 and 7, focuses on the heritage values of this

heritage trial, the justification for developing this trail and then the detailed design of

the trail.

The concluding chapter 8 describes the importance of a religious heritage trail in the

congested developed city like Central and Western District and also Hong Kong.

Re-examination of the hypothesis and the answers to the research questions are to be

illustrated. Finally, recommendations are suggested to find the possible ways to turn

the heritage trail into reality.