History of Ta Teh Institute Exhibition

29 June - 3 October 2005
Main Lobby, 1/F
Free Admission

Jointly presented by the Leisure & Cultural Services Department, Hong Kong and the Guangzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture
Co-organized by the Hong Kong Museum of History, the Museum of Peasant Movement Institute and the Ta Teh Alumni Association

The Ta Teh Institute was a full-time arts college established by the Communist Party Committee of the Guangdong area and the patriots dwelling in Hong Kong during the Chinese Civil War. Situated at the Tuen Mun district, the school's name originated from a chapter of The Book of Rites: "wisdom, benevolence and courage are virtues shared by all." With the permission of the Hong Kong Education Department, the Ta Teh Institute started its schooling on 10 October 1946. Until the institute was banned on 23 February 1949, its operation had lasted for two years and four months. A handful of intellectuals, who gathered in Hong Kong during the second half of the 1940s, provided the institute with an unparalleled teaching staff, grooming some 800 promising young people for the country's service. Featuring around 50 artifacts and more than a hundred historical photographs, this exhibition will give the visitors a glimpse into the role of this school, characterized by its noted masters and students, in a chapter of Hong Kong's history.

On the east of the Castle Peak Road stood a pavilion of Fong Garden, which guarded the only path to the Ta Teh Institute.

Zhong Jingwen, Song Yunbin and Huang Yaomian (second to fourth from left), arts and history professors of the Ta Teh Institute on New Year's Eve in 1947.

The first graduates of the Commerce and Economics Department and the staff of the Ta Teh Institute. On the first row sat the President Chen Qiyuan and the department head Shen Zhiyuan, fourth and third from right respectively.