SUNG WONG TOI
SUNG WONG TOI, or Terrace of the Sung Emperor, was originally situated on the western shore of Kowloon Bay. The small mount there was known as the Sacred Hill, and on its summit there was a great rock. During the Yuan Dynasty the three characters "Sung Wong Toi" were engraved horizontally upon the western face of this rock. Later a further seven characters were added vertically, recording that repairs had been carried out in 1807 A.D., in the Ting Mau year of the Ching Emperor Ka Hing.
In 1915, Professor Lai Chai-hei (Better known as Lai Chi-hsi) of the University of Hong Kong appealed to the Hong Kong Government to reserve forever this area and this Terrace. Mr. Li Sui-kam, a leading Hong Kong citizen, lent his support and paid for the erection of an encircling stone balustrade. When the Japanese armed forces occupied Hong Kong in 1941-5 and enlarged the airport, they blasted the great rock which broke into three. One part retained the original inscription intact.
After the liberation in 1945, the Hong Kong Government held to its former desire to preserve this ancient monument. A park was created to the south-west of the airfield, about three hundred feet from the site of the original Sung Wong Toi, and the inscribed rock was dressed and placed within that park. This, too, fulfilled a public wish.
Research has shown that, during the Ming and Ching Dynasties, this area was a part of the San On District under the jurisdiction of the Prefecture of Kwong Chow. During the Sung Dynasty, this area was part of the Tung Kwun District of the same prefecture, and was known as Kwun Foo Cheung.
When the Sung Emperor Tuen Chung ascended to the throne in Foo Chow, the armies of the Mongols pressed upon him and he fled by sea to Chuen Chow, thence to Chiu Chow and Kap Tsz Mun in Wai Chow. At the beginning of the second year of his reign (1277), the Emperor entered Kwong Chow territory. Thence, in the second moon, he sailed to Mui Wai. In the fourth moon, he landed here at Kwun Foo Cheung and set up his temporary palace near the place now known as the Sung Wong Toi. Some say that the Emperor Tuen Chung from time to time took his rest in a space beneath the great rock, and this legend is given as the reason for the name "Sung Wong Toi".
In the sixth moon of the same year, the Emperor moved to Kwu Tap, and in the ninth moon, to Tsin Wan, which is now known as Tsuen Wan. In the eleventh moon, the Mongol armies attacked, and the Emperor sailed away to Sau Shan, thus having camped in Kowloon for about ten months.
Throughout the Sung Dynasty, foreign invasions frequently occurred in almost every year. There was war against not only the Tangut, but also in turn the invading Khitan, Nüchen, and Mongols. At the close of the Sung Dynasty, the Emperor himself had to flee and seek refuge by the shores of the sea, from where he endeavoured to secure the restoration of his Empire. But this mound and this spot commemorate one of the last portions of Sung territory on which the Emperor stood.
The character "Wong" on the great rock should be that for "Emperor" and not the character for "King". The mistake was first made in the Yuan (Mongol) official history of the Sung Dynasty, where it was recorded that there were two Kings. Now this park is called the "Garden of the Sung Emperor's Terrace" and the road before it is named the "Sung Emperor's Terrace Road". This use of the title "Emperor" is correct.
When the Emperor Tuen Chung fled to the South, many of his clansmen followed him. Later they scattered and settled in various districts. The ancestral records of the Chiu clan confirm this.
It is said that, to the south-west of the Sung Wong Toi, there was once a villaged called "The Two King's Palace", which was so named because of the Emperor Tuen Chung and his brother, Wai Wong Ping, who succeeded him, visited that village together. To the north, there was the tomb of the Lady Kam. It is recorded that the Princess of Chun, daughter of the Queen Mother Yeung, was drowned nearby and a golden image of her was buried in that tomb. To the north-west is the Temple of Hau Wong. A tablet erected by Mr. Chan Pak-to of Tung Kwun District puts forward the theory that Yeung Leung-chit, brother of the Queen Mother, was buried at this spot and that the local people built the temple in memory of his loyalty. There is also a stone called the "Armchair Stone" near Yau Sin Ngam on the White Crane Mountain. A story tells how the Emperor occasionally established his court there, using the stone as his temporary throne. All these legends connected with the history of the Sung Wong Toi, are recorded here to facilitate further research.
In 1957, during the winter of the Ting Mau year, Mr. Kan Yau-man of San Wui composed the original Chinese text of this record, which was inscribed by Mr. Chiu Chiu of Toi Shan for engraving. The Chiu Clansmen's Association of Hong Kong, besides publishing a special book in commemoration of this historic spot, assisted in selecting the stone and supervising the preparation of these memorial tablets.
— Erected by the Government of Hong Kong, 1959.