Peace and Harmony – The Divine Spectra of China's Fragrant Harbour With Professor Paul Kan

The relationship between agarwood and the history of Hong Kong is intertwined. In the early days, Aquilaria sinensis trees were planted in Hong Kong and incense traders would make them into incense and export them to various provinces in China, Asia, even as far as Arabia. Hong Kong was actually an important port for incense trading. “Hong” means “incense” or “fragrant ” and “Kong” is “harbour”; thus Hong Kong literally means “Incense or Fragrant Harbour” in Chinese. It is with its production and trading of agarwood that Hong Kong has played an important role in global cultural interactions.

The exhibition “Peace and Harmony – The Divine Spectra of China's Fragrant Harbour, with 108 Aloes of Sacred Scripture and Related Artifacts” is staged as one of the programmes of the World Cultures Festival. On display are 108 agarwood artefacts relating to the theme “wisdom” including exquisite statues of Manjusri, Jambhalas, ritual implements in the Esoteric Buddhism and other relevant treasures.

Resource Person
We are delighted to present this special guided tour with collector and founder of the Imperial Museum, Professor Paul Kan. Professor Kan developed the world's first Chinese and multi-lingual wireless communication system in 1987 and is renowned as the “Father of Multi-lingual Messaging” for pioneering the wireless communication transmission technology in multiple languages. He has been making significant contributions to the information technology industry globally over 40 years and is the Founder and Chairman of Champion Technology Group which comprises Champion Technology Holdings (0092) and Kantone Holdings (1059), both of which are IT companies listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Professor Kan holds a Master's degree in Business Administration from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He also received academic awards which include Honorary Fellow of the Academy of Chinese Studies (2005) and Honorary Professor of Szent Istvan University in Budapest, Hungary (2011).

Professor Kan is dedicated to serving the community. In 1990, he set up the charity “A Better Tomorrow”, which has since contributed to community programs in education, arts, culture and religion. In 2005, he set up Chinese World Cultural Heritage Foundation and World Cultural Relics Protection Foundation to take over the increasing activities of the cultural heritage projects, which include the “Peace and Harmony” exhibition series.

Professor Kan's motto is “Integrity: my principle; Honesty: my foundation; Dedication: my value”. His work and efforts have been recognized globally.