The Kau Yan Church of Sai Ying Pun
The Tsung Tsin Mission Hong Kong Kau Yan Church of Sai Ying Pun is just a stone’s throw away from the Chinese Rhenish Church. I was very much drawn to its architecture. I think it is even more beautiful than the Chinese Rhenish Church.
The History of the Tsung Tsin Mission Hong Kong Kau Yan Church
The Tsung Tsin Mission Hong Kong Kau Yan Church had a long history with its origin in the Basel Mission, which was a mission society of Germany and Switzerland. In 1847, the Mission sent Rev. Theodore Hamberg and Rev. Rudolf Lechler to Hong Kong. They saw the harvest in the Hakka and Chiu Chow-speaking population in Hong Kong and southern China. In 1851, they managed to set up a proper church in Sheung Wan and it was Hakka speaking. The year after in 1952, they founded a church in the current location in Sai Ying Pun. Then this building became “Sai Kok Lau.”
In 1924, the church leaders convened and established the Tsung Tsin Mission. It became one of the eight Lutheran bodies in the protestant tradition of Hong Kong. With this development there was no longer any formal relationship with the Basel Mission. In 1927, the congregation at Sai Ying Pung became fully self-governed and independently run. By this time, the Christian community that grew from the Basel Mission was already running schools and hospitals as their ministry.
In 1932, the current church building was rebuilt at the High Street location. It came to be known as Kau Yan Church (Saving Grace Church). As with most churches in Hong Kong, the Japanese Occupation years presented exceptional difficulties. When the Hong Kong Governor surrendered to the Japanese forces on Christmas Day of 1941, throngs of people, including of its own congregation and other believers and refugees, flooded to the church. There was word that the Japanese has picked the Kau Yan Church as the site for a military outpost in this area of Hong Kong. The church leaders gathered to discuss how to avoid this, and eventually negotiated with the Japanese, successfully averting this crisis. The Japanese then took over King’s College across the street for the said military outpost.
This year, the Tsung Tsin Mission Hong Kong Kau Yan Church celebrates 170 years of history.
The Architecture of the Tsung Tsin Kau Yan Church
The Sai Kok Lau underwent reconstruction, and since 1932 the current structure has stood testament to 90 years of dedication to the local Christian community. Its architecture is in the style of the Gothic Revival. According to the Wikipedia,
The (Gothic Revival) movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly serious and learned admirers of the neo-Gothic styles sought to revive medieval Gothic architecture, intending to complement or even supersede the neoclassical styles prevalent at the time. Gothic Revival draws upon features of medieval examples, including decorative patterns, finials, lancet windows, and hood moulds. By the middle of the 19th century, Gothic had become the preeminent architectural style in the Western world, only to fall out of fashion in the 1880s and early 1890s.
Gothic Revival architecture varied considerably in its faithfulness to both the ornamental style and principles of construction of its medieval original, sometimes amounting to little more than pointed window frames and touches of Gothic decoration on a building otherwise on a wholly 19th-century plan and using contemporary materials and construction methods, most notably in the use of iron and, after the 1880s, steel in ways never seen in medieval exemplars. (Wikipedia on Gothic Revival architecture)
As with all churches in Hong Kong, when commentators classify a structure to be of a given architectural style, the structure usually only shows very minimal features that meet the classification. They are simply not elaborate, century-long construction that crafts the structure as art. The churches of Hong Kong aim to serve foremost the purpose of giving a spiritual home for humble Christian communities.
In the case of the Tsung Tsin Hong Kong Kau Yan Church, the main features that are “gothic revival” are perhaps the pointed arch windows and the wide, slightly domed tops of its gateways. The clear usage of concrete as its main construction material reflects its roots as an early 20th century structure.
Because this church is actually open for public visit during non-service hours, I could take a look of the inside. The Chinese Rhenish Church, on the other hand, was closed to visitors.
The Tsung Tsin Mission of Hong Kong Kau Yan Church received the status of Grade 3 Historic Building in 1990. In 2011, it was recognized as a Grade 1 Historic Building.
How to Get There
The address for the Kau Yan Church is 97A High Street, Sai Ying Pun.
Sources
The Wikipedia on Tsung Tsin Mission of Hong Kong Kau Yan Church (Chin).
The Wikipedia on Tsung Tsin Mission of Hong Kong.
The Wikipedia on Gothic Revival Architecture.
The Tsung Tsin Mission of Hong Kong.
Official Website of the Tsung Tsin Mission Hong Kong Kau Yan Church, Brief History (Chin).
