Exclusive interview with Wu Zhihua, the head of the Palace Museum in Hong Kong: To hold warmth and respect for Chinese history | News | History

In 1981, Wu Zhihua, who was still a freshman in the Department of History at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, took a two night green train ride and arrived at the Forbidden City in Beijing. "Chinese history is right in front of you, it's really shocking.".

In current internet slang, at that moment, the gears of fate began to rotate.

Shortly after graduating in 1985, Wu Zhihua entered the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of Hong Kong to work. With his participation and promotion, in 2007 and 2010, the National Treasure of the Forbidden City, "Along the River during the Qingming Festival," and its electronic dynamic version were exhibited in Hong Kong. In 2019, Wu Zhihua successfully applied for the position of director and resigned from his position as deputy director of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. He left the department for more than 30 years and became the first employee of the Palace Museum of Culture in Hong Kong.

"The latter half of my life was spent with the Forbidden City." He felt that perhaps it was fate - a person studying Chinese history was fortunate enough to have a "connection" with the largest ancient cultural and artistic museum in China. And what this job requires, as Mr. Qian Mu, the founding director of New Asia College, one of the predecessors of CUHK, said, is to "embrace warmth and respect" for Chinese history and culture.

Perhaps due to professional relationships, Wu Zhihua's team proposed an interview with Liberation Daily at 816 Yan'an Middle Road, so that they can visit Yan Tongchun's old residence together. Before leaving, he happily accepted a small gift from the newspaper - a set of three volumes of old photo books from the Liberation Daily. He held the bag and repeatedly thanked, saying "it's not heavy, it's not heavy" and "I want to take it back and read it carefully.".

The Palace Museum in Hong Kong: Telling Thick Stories in a Light and Light Way

The Hong Kong Palace Museum is located in the West Kowloon Cultural District, with a building resembling a cauldron, facing Victoria Harbour. Its golden appearance shines brightly in the sunlight. On July 3rd, it marks the first anniversary of the opening of the Palace Museum in Hong Kong. Over the past year, it has received nearly 1.3 million visitors, and the fifth batch of 51 precious cultural relics from the rotating exhibition of the Beijing Palace Museum were also unveiled on that day.

Liberation Daily · Shangguan News: What is the positioning of the Hong Kong Palace Museum of Culture compared to the Beijing and Taipei Palace Museum?

Wu Zhihua: We were thinking about this issue when we were planning to build it, hoping to achieve "unity and diversity, harmony but diversity". That is to say, the cultural core of each Forbidden City is consistent, but the way of expression is different between Hong Kong, Beijing, and Taipei.

"New" is our greatest advantage. The Beijing Palace Museum was established in 1925, the Taipei Palace Museum opened in 1965, while we only opened in July last year. Therefore, we hope that venue design and exhibition methods can better respond to the modern audience's requirements for museums. For example, we have arranged an exhibition titled "Purple Forbidden Day - Qing Dynasty Palace Life", introducing the details of Qing Dynasty imperial court life from morning to night. The audience may seem relaxed, but after relaxation, they will learn about our profound traditional culture.

At the same time, we also hope to "match" the temperament of the Hong Kong Palace Museum with that of the Hong Kong city - both traditional, cultural, and Chinese, as well as contemporary, artistic, and global. Through technological means, we can enhance the exhibition effect, strengthen our connection with overseas mainland museums, and promote exchanges between Chinese culture and global audiences. I heard a saying that the Palace Museum in Hong Kong is telling a heavy story in a light way.

Jiefang Daily · Shangguan News: This will put forward high requirements for the Palace Museum team.

Everyone has different academic and cultural backgrounds. When we curate an exhibition, it is more convenient to understand what audiences from different regions like, and then try to explain the culture of the Forbidden City in a way that they understand. Another point is that team members have connections with world-class museums, and when communicating with colleagues at home and abroad, there are less language barriers and cognitive differences, which will lower communication costs and facilitate faster progress of work.

However, the language choice during our museum meetings is a problem. I often speak Mandarin and English in combination now, but I use Cantonese less.

Liberation Daily News: Unlike most Hong Kong museums, the Forbidden City chooses to charge fees.

Wu Zhihua: The Palace Museum in Hong Kong belongs to the West Kowloon Cultural District and is not a government agency without financial support. We have to bear our own profits and losses. Charging is an important means of maintaining normal operations. Of course, the level of fees and whether the audience is willing to bear them need to be studied by us.

One year after its opening, we have 1.3 million spectators in attendance. I have observed carefully, and it may be due to payment. Most viewers watch very carefully and will visit for more than two hours. This gives me some thoughts. Watching a movie in Hong Kong costs over 100 yuan, and most people would be willing to pay 50 yuan for a ticket to the Forbidden City. However, the prerequisite is that we can provide high-level exhibitions, so that everyone will think the fees are reasonable.

Of course, I personally cannot accept visiting the Forbidden City without money. We cooperate with social organizations to give away tickets to low-income families and primary and secondary school students. We send out 120000 tickets per year, accounting for nearly 10% of the total number of tickets.

Liberation Daily · Shangkan News: What is the future development direction of the Hong Kong Palace Museum?

Wu Zhihua: I hope the exhibition level can be higher, making the Hong Kong Palace Museum an important platform for connecting the mainland and the world. In terms of communication with mainland China, on the one hand, it is the sharing and sharing of cultural relics resources. We have exchanges with peers such as the Forbidden City in Beijing and the Shanghai Museum; On the other hand, the audience is expanding to the Greater Bay Area and mainland China, with batches of mainland students visiting this summer.

From the perspective of international cooperation, we look forward to introducing more foreign cultures and arts into Hong Kong and mainland China. In the past, our exhibition mainly cooperated with European and American museums. In the future, we would like to cooperate with more countries, such as Central Asia on the "the Belt and Road", whose cultural history is also eye-catching and worthy of appreciation.

Hong Kong and the Forbidden City: Origins Starting from the 1940s

Over the past few decades, Hong Kong patriots have invested money and effort, and a large number of overseas treasures have been "returned" to the motherland through this. Cultural relics are not mentioned, history is remembered. Every "return" is gathering the hearts of the people and inspiring their strength, reminding the Chinese people to be vigilant and forge ahead at all times.

Liberation Daily · Shangguan News: The relationship between Hong Kong and the Forbidden City is far from starting from the Forbidden City in Hong Kong, and can even be traced back to the 1940s.

Wu Zhihua: At that time, due to various reasons, many cultural relics flowing out of the mainland were concentrated in Hong Kong. Some of them can return to the embrace of the motherland, which is inseparable from the efforts of Hong Kong collectors, intellectuals, and businessmen. Since the 1950s, many Hong Kong collectors have donated cultural relics collected from overseas to mainland museums free of charge through various channels, including the Forbidden City in Beijing and the Shanghai Museum. Behind this is the sentiment of the Hong Kong people towards their motherland.

Liberation Daily · Shangguan News: In 2007, the National Treasure of the Forbidden City, "Along the River during the Qingming Festival," was first exhibited abroad in Hong Kong.

Wu Zhihua: In 2006, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's return, we proposed to the Palace Museum in Beijing to exhibit the "Along the River during the Qingming Festival" in Hong Kong. We just have a try and see mentality and don't have much confidence. Unexpectedly, the Palace Museum supports our plan. In 2007, "Along the River during the Qingming Festival" was exhibited at the Hong Kong Museum of Art for over 40 days, attracting 100000 visitors.

During the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, I discussed the electronic dynamic version of "Along the River during the Qingming Festival" going to Hong Kong at the China Art Palace. That time we welcomed 920000 viewers and sold out all 10 yuan tickets. We stipulated that each audience member could only watch for one hour, and when the time was up, no one wanted to leave. I had to pull a rope to guide them out.

This series of activities allowed Hong Kong citizens to see traditional Chinese culture and sent an important message to the mainland - Hong Kong really loves the Forbidden City.

Liberation Daily News: Afterwards, there was a plan to build the Forbidden City in Hong Kong.

Wu Zhihua: In 2015, the then president of the Palace Museum in Beijing, Shan Jixiang, and the Secretary for Administration, Carrie Lam, discussed this idea, and I also participated in it. At that time, we thought, "This might just be a good idea.".

The difficulties are obvious: firstly, there have never been so many national treasures leaving the Forbidden City for a long time, and we also hope that the exhibits in Hong Kong can be constantly rotated; Secondly, national regulations have restrictions on the export of cultural relics. Chinese people all know the story of "national treasures moving south" and have a deep affection for the cultural relics of the Forbidden City. I am very pleased that the central government supports our proposal. In 2016, we announced the establishment of the Hong Kong Palace Museum, which officially opened last year.

Liberation Daily · Shangkan News: I heard that the initial curator could not be selected.

Wu Zhihua: Yes. Because of the word "Forbidden City", people have high expectations for museums, but also have high requirements for curators - not only to understand the Forbidden City and traditional culture, but also to understand operation and management, and be good at communicating with domestic and foreign museums, which is indeed not easy to become.

At that time, I was the Deputy Director of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of the Special Administrative Region Government, managing 14 public museums, 14 performing arts venues, two visual arts centers, the Hong Kong Film Archive, and 82 public libraries. I originally hoped to work in this position for a few more years until retirement, but my wife and Director Li Meichang of the Leisure and Cultural Services Bureau both supported me in applying for the position of director. After an interview, the West Kowloon Cultural District accepted my application.

Now it seems that this decision is right. In the past five years, I have learned a lot and contributed to the operation of the Hong Kong Palace Museum. More importantly, as a history major student, this is also a kind of responsibility.

The Generation of Hong Kong University Students: Seeking "Respecting Virtue and Seeking Learning"

There are various opinions about Qian Mu leaving the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1964. A thing may reveal a reason. Qian Mu insisted that HKUST should have a Chinese president, but the British authorities initially did not allow it. Qian Muyan said, "The dispute is a matter of principle." Fulton, a British man sent by the authorities to discuss, read Chinese books in Cantonese and sighed, "Your heart is like a stone, it cannot be turned.". What Qian Mu expects is that Chinese culture will no longer be underestimated in Hong Kong.

Liberation Daily · Shangguan News: One of the predecessors of CUHK was the New Asia College, where you studied in the History Department. Mr. Qian Mu is the founding president, who advocates for holding warmth and respect for Chinese history and culture.

Wu Zhihua: Historical research should be objective, but it cannot be without emotions. My research major is Chinese modern history, which is particularly evident. When Mr. Qian said these words, it happened to be a time when Chinese civilization was at its lowest point in history, with internal fragmentation and external powers surrounding it, facing the risk of national extinction. In the 1920s and 1930s, some people lacked confidence in the future of their country and attributed the accumulation of poverty and weakness to cultural traditions, saying they wanted to abandon tradition and learn from the West.

Mr. Qian strongly disagrees with this statement and believes in inheriting China's excellent traditional culture. Therefore, he wrote in the "Outline of National History": "Those who have a slight understanding of their own country's past history must be accompanied by a kind of warmth and respect for their own country's past history." This was a remarkable insight at the time, advocating for recognition of Chinese civilization and calling for the cultivation of the seeds of Chinese culture. This is also the cultural confidence advocated now.

Liberation Daily · Shangkan News: How does this spirit affect your generation?

Wu Zhihua: When I was studying in the 1980s, Hong Kong had already become commercialized. Many young people hope to become three "teachers" - lawyers, physicians, and engineers, and they believe that this kind of work is the only way to make money. But my classmates who study history with me don't have this idea, they all take history as our lifelong career.

On the first day of entering Xinya Academy, we sang the school song written by Mr. Qian, "I strive for difficulties, I am passionate when I am tired." We began to appreciate the spirit of Xinya's commitment to Chinese culture and also taught us how to face difficulties. Looking back at the hardships that our nation and country have suffered in the past, the difficulties we have personally experienced are truly insignificant.

Four years of undergraduate studies have had a significant impact on my life. Intellectuals should respect their moral character and seek knowledge from others. In addition to studying knowledge, they should also cultivate their moral character. At that time, we talked about our ideals and emotions towards society, the country, and personal values. Even during our spare time, we had sugar and water to drink and chatted, and the topic was inseparable from discussing life and national affairs, discussing how to better contribute to society.

We were relatively simple, idealistic, and not utilitarian at that time. Everyone thinks that students at Xinya Academy should behave like this.

Liberation Daily · Shangguan News: During that era, Hong Kong university students also advocated "closing society and recognizing ancestors".

Wu Zhihua: At that time, Hong Kong was still governed by the British government, and the values in society were mainly Western. In the 1970s and 1980s, some Hong Kong university students participated in the anti British struggle, and some of them were even arrested. The patriotism of our senior students has had a great impact on our generation. We have gradually realized the importance of "caring for society and recognizing our ancestors", which means "caring for society and understanding our motherland". We have established social work teams to understand and care about the living conditions of the lower class and ordinary families, and to introduce the development of the mainland to the citizens. I really enjoy this time.

At that time, our country began to reform and open up. I still remember in the early 1980s when traveling to mainland China, almost everyone wore liberation suits. At that time, Hong Kong was more modernized than the mainland, so we would think about how the motherland could develop and achieve the "four modernizations", and what contributions Hong Kong could make to it. It can be said that this aspect of thinking has continued to this day.

Hong Kong culture: is it still the former "cultural desert"?

The outline of the 14th Five Year Plan of the country proposes to support the development of a center for cultural and artistic exchanges between China and foreign countries in Hong Kong. After the Hong Kong switch, the Asian Film Awards, Hong Kong International Film and Television Exhibition, and Basel Art Exhibition came one after another, making Hong Kong once again the focus of international cultural and artistic activities.

Liberation Daily · Shangkan News: Does anyone still say that Hong Kong is a "cultural desert"?

Wu Zhihua: In the year when the Palace Museum opened in Hong Kong, 70% of the 1.3 million visitors were from Hong Kong, especially in the first six months when Hong Kong and mainland China did not clear customs, and most of the visitors came from the local area. The passion for culture in big families is genuine.

The term "cultural desert" can be traced back to the 1920s and 1930s when Mr. Lu Xun talked about this issue in Hong Kong. But time has passed and Hong Kong's cultural and artistic development level ranks among the top in Asia. We can attract artists from different regions and backgrounds to develop here and plan some high-level cultural and artistic activities.

I even believe that culture and art have become the driving force behind Hong Kong's economic and social development. In the past, tourists came to Hong Kong more for shopping and consumption, but after the epidemic, many people came to experience culture. Some tourists, as soon as they get off the West Kowloon High Speed Rail Station, will bring their luggage to the West Kowloon Cultural District to visit the Forbidden City, M+Visual Culture Museum, and more. I believe that Hong Kong will not only become a cultural desert in the future, but also a place where cultural resources gather.

Liberation Daily · Shangkan News: This supply of cultural resources has never been one-way.

Wu Zhihua: The most important issue is not whether we can provide enough cultural resources, but whether Hong Kong citizens are willing to accept the resources we provide and become a part of their lives. Especially young people, they will accept everything we offer, and some content they find very uninteresting.

The method needs to be innovative, which puts higher demands on us. Taking the Hong Kong Palace Museum as an example, holding an exhibition with a written explanation under the cultural relics is definitely not enough. Now many of our activities have left the museum, and we are planning the "Mobile Cultural Relics Hospital" activity. We will convert a car into a cultural relic restoration room and drive it to the school. Young people can participate in cultural relic restoration work with experts. Of course, we will definitely not let everyone repair the cultural relics of the Forbidden City, but rather some souvenirs.

Overall, museums are not only protectors of cultural relics, but also need to do more in cultural popularization and promoting social progress. Hong Kong and Shanghai can exchange and learn from each other in this regard.

Liberation Daily · Shangkan News: As a native Hong Kong person, what is the most favorite aspect of Hong Kong culture?

Wu Zhihua: I have lived in Hong Kong for 60 years and enjoy the openness and inclusiveness of the city, as well as having more choices. When I have free time, I would go to Shanghai Street in West Kowloon to stroll around, where I used to live when I was a child. I like cooking, there are many small restaurants and shops where I can buy a variety of ingredients and kitchenware. Shanghai Street is different from Central, with less mobility among residents. Many people have lived here for most of their lives, full of human touch and fireworks.

However, due to the rapid development of the city, some old houses and memories have disappeared, and we really want to preserve them. While walking forward, one should also look back and see the path they have taken. From an emotional perspective, old buildings, old shops, and old artifacts are the "landmarks" we have walked along the way and need to be cherished.

Of course, it's also possible that I'm getting older. Older people always look for their childhood feelings more often.

Character Photography: Dong Tianye