The exhibition "The Beiyang Warlords: War and Politics" will open tomorrow (October 26) at the Dr Sun Yat-sen Museum. The exhibition will display about 100 invaluable relics to present the rise and development of the Beiyang warlords, as well as China's political development in the late Qing and early Republican periods.
The Beiyang warlords were among the extremely influential military and political powers in modern Chinese history beginning in 1895 with Yuan Shikai training soldiers in Xiaozhan, Tianjin. Over time, the Beiyang warlords headed by Yuan, powerful enough to influence the politics of the late Qing and early Republican periods, were formed. Following Yuan's death in 1916, the Beiyang warlords split into the Anhui, Zhili and Fengtian cliques. Each clique took turns to rule the north. The Beiyang warlords ceased to exist as a viable political force when the Northern Expedition of the Nationalist Party succeeded in 1928.
The exhibition will display a variety of valuable artefacts from the Tianjin Museum, as well as items from the collections of the Hong Kong Museum of History, the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals and collectors, allowing visitors to know more about this tumultuous period of political instability and conflicts among warlords.
Highlight exhibits include a contract for purchase of weapons from Mitsui & Co and Okura & Co of Japan, a letter from Yuan Shikai to his family, a date conversion table for the first year of Hongxian, an officer's sword decorated with nine lions, a plaque bearing the words "shan yu ren tong" (charity brings happiness to the giver) presented to Tung Wah Hospital by Feng Guozhang, the 1st Order of Golden Grain, and more.
Officiating at the opening ceremony today (October 25) were the Museum Director of the Hong Kong Museum of History, Ms Belinda Wong; the Vice-Director of the Tianjin Museum, Mr Yao Yang; the Chairman of the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, Mr Vinci Wong; and the Museum Expert Advisor, Dr Kwong Chi-man.
The exhibition will run until January 23 next year and admission is free. It is jointly presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and the Tianjin Museum, and organised by the Dr Sun Yat-sen Museum. For details of the exhibition, please visit the museum's website at hk.drsunyatsen.museum, or call 2367 6373.
The Dr Sun Yat-sen Museum is located at 7 Castle Road, Mid-Levels, Central.
Follow this news feed: East Asia