A Heritage of Chinese Medicine — Lui Seng Chun in Hong Kong

The Lui Seng Chun building stands testament to a century-long entrepreneurship in Hong Kong and a prominent family history. Designed by foreign architect W. H. Bourne in 1929, the beautiful structure expressed the style of the Chinese eclectic with carefully crafted and designed western elements. At the time construction completed in 1931, it stood at a location that overlooked what was then the shipping and logistics hub of Kowloon, close to the pier. This location was also selected because it was right next to the warehouse that the Hong Kong Government allocated to Lui’s shipping business. The original owner of Lui Seng Chun was Lui Leung (1863-1944), a businessman with hometown in Toishan, Guangdong. He came to Hong Kong in the 1920s. His main business was a shipping and logistics fleet and foreign trade. His trading company Man Sun Loong was known as a Kam Shan Chong (a trader with San Francisco). Besides his shipping business, Lui Leung also ran a Chinese herbal bonesetter shop. Originally his intention was to provide care for his own workers that were injured on the job. It became a well-reputed Chinese medicine shop in Hong Kong, as the shop produced its own brand of bonesetting teet tah rub. This side business was what eventually defined the modern restoration and reinterpretation of this heritage building. Lui Leung had three wives and the Lui family lived in Lui Seng Chun, each fong (one wife and her own children) would take up one floor. In the few decades between 1931 and the 1970s, Lui and his own family lived here. They moved out in the 1970s, and the building was let out for commercial shops. For some time too their relatives from China lived there. By the 1980s, the building was left completely vacant. The people in the neighborhood thought it was a haunted house – in such poor condition that rats bred in the building. During the Japanese Occupation years, Lui could no longer run his Chinese medicine shop. The Japanese took over this building and used it as a storage and supplies station. This explained the reason why there were flagpoles on the rooftop. Those flagpoles were built by the Japanese and flew the Japanese flag during those years. This historical fact also explains why in the title deed of the building there were Japanese segments. The title deed is on display at Lui Seng Chun. Since 2012, the building has served as the community Chinese healthcare clinic for the School of Chinese Medicine of the Baptist University. There are free guided tours offered to members of the public at the Lui Seng Chun building, run by the staff of Baptist University. The tour was very thorough and went through all aspects of culture, society, history and architecture. #luisengchun #chinesemedicine #baptistuniversity #hongkonghistory #hongkongheritage #toishan #citydaytours#china