This emotional, 1937 documentary image by William Lange shows a procession of wreath-bearing school cadets who are marching in Kowloon enroute to burying their master. The banner, being held aloft, clearly displays the name and title of one, Chan Wai Yuen, which, in a purely military context, might loosely be translated as Warrant Officer Chan – presumably the name of their recently deceased military instructor.
In the background there is a sign making reference to the King’s Theatre and the 1936 movie titled Gay Desperado. The Hong Kong press of the day indicates that this film was screened at the King’s Theatre during February 1937, and at Kowloon’s Majestic Theatre two months later.
This moving photographic image, captured by William Lange, is utilized to illustrate the patriotic feeling of the Chinese school children in the Colony. The image appears within William Lange’s article titled Hongkong in War Time, which was published, pp.218 & 219, in the Hongkong Number. The China Journal, vol XX1X, no.5, Shanghai, November 1938.
Comments
Re: Photo
Yes, the photo was taken in Kowloon.
In the background are the godowns and advertisement hoardings near Kowloon Star Ferry. The ground level of the godowns had shops with Chinese roofs that fronted the Star Ferry Bus Terminus.
As mentioned above, "The Gay Desperado" was screened at the King's Theatre between 16 and 18 February 1937.
Thank you Colleague “moddsey”
Thank you Colleague “moddsey” for your extremely informative COMMENT, and for those two Shows place(s) links. Now I can clearly identify the backdrop behind the parade of marchers. Your very useful input has brought the image to life for me, when I had previously even been unsure whether or not the scene had really been captured in Kowloon.
The students (cadets)…
The students (cadets) carrying the banner were from Tak Ming Middle School
Tak Ming Middle School cadets
Well spotted Colleague “David L”. Only after you have drawn my attention to it, can I now just make out, on the partially creased banner, the first four characters of 德明中書院 (Tak Ming Middle School).
According to the School Almanac (德明年曆), there were at this time (1937), two branches of the school located in Kowloon; one in Mong Kok, and the other in Kowloon City.
The military tinge much in evidence in the image is most probably, in part at least, due to the close association of prominent Cantonese General Chan Jai-tong (陳濟棠將軍) with the school.
Tak Ming Middle School
Thank you Essarem for your comment. The Tak Ming I know was located in Mong Kok during the 50's and 60's. Politically, the school was very pro-Kuomingtang.