Historic Lāhainā museum lost in fires hopes to continue celebrating Chinese heritage hawaiipublicradio.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from hawaiipublicradio.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
LAHAINA As bustling everyday activities carried on in Lahaina, Dr. Busaba Yip, cultural director and docent of Wo Hing Museum on Front Street, welcomed Prof
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The Kwock Hing Society Temple still stands since being built in 1907 in Keokea, however, the building is showing major signs of age and needs repair. The temple has been a place for traditional celebrations, Chinese rituals, and education for generations. Photos courtesy Sarah Shim
A 114-year-old Keokea temple that’s hosted Chinese cultural celebrations for generations is in dire need of repair.
The Kwock Hing Society Temple has long been a place to celebrate Chinese rituals and traditions, share history and remember those who came before, but has only undergone minor fixes over its history in Upcountry.
The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photos
First photo: Even the statue of Dr. Sun Yat-sen is masked for a group photo Saturday at Kwock Hing Society Building in Keokea. The Year of the Ox was celebrated at the building, which dates back to 1907, as part of a sandalwood tree planting project by the Rotary Club of Maui. Dr. Sun, known as the Father of the Republic of China, lived in the area while organizing the overthrow of the Manchu regime that ruled China. Following his side’s victory, he was elected the Republic’s first president in 1912.
Second photo: A string of 10,000 firecrackers burns Saturday during the Chinese New Year event at the Kwock Hing Society Building.
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While most of us are familiar with the ongoing relationship between Native Hawaiians and the white sailors, missionaries and later the sugar barons, the story of Chinese immigrants to Hawaii is sometimes overlooked.
The Chinese were among the first nonindigenous settlers to the islands. Some of the sailors in 1778 who accompanied Capt. James Cook were Chinese. By 1790, a group of Chinese men settled in the islands and were living under the reign of Kamehameha the Great. They married Hawaiian women. Their children were some of the first interracial families in the islands.
As capitalism took hold in the nineteenth century, Chinese merchants, farmers and settlers continued to immigrate. Many of the settlers came from the Pearl River Delta, not far from cities like Hong Kong and Macau, near the ocean and further upriver at the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton).