The Pavilion of Harmony () is an architectural feature on the

New Asia College New Asia College is a List of the constituent colleges of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, constituent college of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, a public university in New Territories, Hong Kong. The College was founded in 1949 by a g ...

campus of

The Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public university, public research university in Sha Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong. Established in 1963 as a federation of three university college, collegesChung Chi College, New Asia Coll ...

(CUHK), located between the student dormitories Xuesi Hall and Chih Hsing Hall. It was constructed as a tribute to the founder of New Asia College, Chien Mu, and his 1996 philosophical work, ''The Theory of the Union of Man and Nature''. The

pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings; * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

was officially opened on 12 December 2003. It was donated by Dora Ng Tsung-lin, and designed by Freeman Chan Wai-kei from the CUHK Department of Architecture. The pavilion is featured on lists of

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

's top

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

spots and attracts many photo-takers, including tourists from

mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

, leading to complaints of disturbance from students living nearby.

Architecture

The unity of Heaven and humanity is a central concept in Confucian philosophy, which holds that the way of heaven and the way of humanity are interconnected. The location of the Pavilion of Harmony is thoughtfully chosen, as described by former head of

, , as "one clear pool, two trees half-embracing, not a traditional garden, but with modern artistic intent" (). The pavilion features a glass canopy and has bamboo trees planted on the side. Under the pavilion is a stone bench overlooking

Tolo Harbour Tolo Harbour (), or Tai Po Hoi (, historically ), is a sheltered harbour in northeast New Territories of Hong Kong. Geography Tide Cove, also known as Sha Tin Hoi, is to the south of the harbour, and Plover Cove, Three Fathoms Cove and T ...

. In front of the pavilion sits a crescent-shaped infinity pool with a large

banyan tree A banyan, also spelled banian ( ), is a Ficus, fig that develops accessory trunks from Aerial root#"Stranglers" (prop-root), adjacent prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely. This distinguishes banyans from other trees ...

planted next to it. The edge of the pool appears to merge with the landscape of Tolo Harbour, creating the effect of unity between water and sky, thus enhancing the concept of unity between heaven and humanity. The pavilion is connected to a walkway that has a long metal plaque. Engraved on the plaque is

calligraphy Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an e ...

of Chien Mu's ''The Theory of the Union of Man and Nature'' and the ''Seal of the Union of Man and Nature'', created respectively by Lee Wun-yoon and Vincent Tong Kam-tang, professors from the CUHK Department of Fine Arts.

References

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