Newsletter No. 27

No.27 February 1992 The House That Was Once a Home The tasteful little stone house that now accommodates the Chinese Music Archives will very soon see the departure of its existing tenant, who will move to the new Hui Yeung Shing Building in late February. In anticipation of this impending evacuation, the CUHK Newsletter tries to recapture the past of this two-storey building and make a sketch of its present leaving its future for the next tenant to portray. The Days as the Yung's Residence The small house was originally the residence of Chung Chi College's former president, Dr. Yung Chi-tung. To conjure up the last, we have specially invited Mrs. Yung to come back to her old home for a recollection of the days bygone. As Mrs. Yung recalls, there were garden plots to the front and back of the small house. The long narrow strip in front was the home for amaryllis, always heavy with blossoms. The lawn at the back had been trial beds for ginger and the 24 varieties of roses Dr. Yung brought back from England. Unfortunately, they ceased to flourish after a brief year of blossoming. Also behind the small house was a fish pond where a number of golden carp were kept. When they grew to a certain size, Dr. Yung would have them moved to the pond outside the College Chapel so that others could enjoy the sight of them. 'The layout is very much the same; save that the fireplace has been moved from the living room to the basement,' Mrs. Yung remarks, looking around the house which she left years ago. Upon closer scrutiny, Mrs. Yung beams with pleasant surprise as she notices that the old curtains and door locks have been left intact. Mrs. Yung describes the residence in the old days as an 'open house'. Visitors kept pouring in and the place was always full of gaiety and lively excitement. Among the guests were teachers, staff members and their families, students, and children from the nearby St. Christopher's Home. During traditional festivals or holidays, there would be gatherings and tea parties in the house. For some time, even Sunday school was held there. Frequent bridge parties were also held as Dr. Yung was a great fan of the card game. During the period when there was construction work going on all over the campus, tea receptions for University guests were usually arranged at the Yung's residence. Visitors came by invitation as well as by gatecrashing. The endless stream of visitors apparently confused the two dogs at the residence, which did not bother to utter a single bark when a burglar broke in one night and got off scot-free. The residence was indeed an 'open house'! 'The layout and design of the house is very practical,' says Mrs. Yung, 'but as a residence, it had two flaws: a few rooms caught the setting sun while the bathroom had insufficient daylight.' Today, the bathroom has been transform into an audio-visual room and inadequate illumination turns out to be an advantage. The Small House Changes Hands After the Yung's family had moved out in 1975 ， the University allocated the small house to the Music Department for use as the office of the Chinese Music Archives. Converting a residence into an office normally involves much reconstruct work. However, the Yung's residence was turned into the Chinese 6