UMAG Exhibition: Virtuous Heritage - Xu Family of Guangzhou with Humphrey Hui and Danny Hui

Date :
Saturday, 4 February 2012
Time :
10:30 - 12:00
Venue :
1/F, T.T. Tsui Building, University Museum and Art Gallery, HKU
Cost :
$120 Member, $180 Non-member, Free for student with valid ID
Note :
Optional lunch at Senior Common Room with Speaker afterward on share-cost basis

The exhibition, "Virtuous Heritage: Xu Family of Guangzhou – Mandarins, Revolutionaries, Educators and Scientists" narrates the political evolution of China through the individual histories of the Xu clan in Southern China and its influence from the Qing dynasty to modern China.

The Xu (Hui in Cantonese) family migrated from Chaozhou in eastern Guangdong to the provincial capital Guangzhou in the early 19th century. Generations of the Xu family flourished in an extensive private residential compound known as Xudi, parts of which still stand today. Beginning from the late Qing period and through the Republican era to the present, members of the Xu family have been influential in charting the destiny of the Chinese nation.

Members of the Xu clan have served in many capacities, including Qing mandarins of various ranks; the first generation of the Chinese diplomatic corps; revolutionary military commanders; a martyr general of the 7th Red Army; celebrated poets; the wife of a literary giant; as well as important educators and scientists through the successive episodes of the Opium War, the Taiping Rebellion, the Reform Movement of 1898, late-Qing Constitutional Monarchy, 1911 Revolution, Sino-Japanese War, up to the formation of a new China.

This guided tour will be led by Xu clan descendants, Humphrey K.F. Hui and his nephew, Danny Hui. A long-standing member of the Min Chiu Society, Humphrey is a collector and an international speaker on Chinese arts. His collection of snuff bottles and other art objects have been exhibited in museums in Hong Kong, Australia, and the United States. Danny has been the Secretary-General of Guangzhou Xudi, The Xu Clansmen’s Association since 2006. His business careers include President of United Media Group Limited from 1981-1998, Senior Vice President, Head of TV Production of Columbia TriStar Television Asia, and Chief Executive Officer of Super Television of Taiwan from 1998-1999. Together, Humphrey and Danny will share personal stories about their distinguished family and its legacies in the political evolution of modern China.