Copyright © Robert H. N. Ho. All rights reserved.

Lady Clara Ho Tung

“I always feel my grandmother Clara, who was devoted to Buddhism, picked me out and maybe this is why I continue to do all this Buddhist-related work.”

- Grandson Robert H. N. Ho

 

1875

Clara Ching Yung Cheung , aka Lin Kok Cheung, is born in Hong Kong on 19 December to Tak Fai Cheung and Yeung Shi Cheung. One of Clara’s grandfathers is Thomas Lane, who founded Lane Crawford department store.

 

1880s

Brought up as a devout Buddhist and Confucian from an early age.

According to one of her daughters' memoirs, Clara starts primary school but stops going as she does not enjoy it. Moves to Shanghai where her father works for the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs. Father is subsequently transferred to Jiu Jiang.

 

1892

Father dies in Jiu Jiang. To help the grieving process, Clara teaches herself to read and write Chinese. She discovers the joys of learning and education becomes a life-long interest.

 

c.1893

Clara, her mother and brother return to Hong Kong and settle there with the help of Margaret Mak, Clara’s cousin.

 

1895

Marries Robert Ho Tung. Relationship arranged by Margaret, due to her inability to have children. The agreement is that Clara should be treated equally as a co-wife (ping tsai).

 

1896

Mother-in-law Madam Sze passes away.

 

1897

Clara’s first daughter Victoria Jubilee born. The child’s English name commemorates Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee celebrations the same year.

 

1898

First son Henry born. Twenty months later, the child dies of pneumonia, causing lasting sadness.

 

1899

Over the next 16 years, Clara bears eight more children: six daughters and two sons. Daisy (1899), Edward (1902), Eva (1903), Irene (1904), Robert (1906), Jean (1908), Grace (1910), and Florence (1915).

 

1900

Attends inaugural meeting of the Hong Kong campaign to stop foot-binding, with Margaret. Both had their feet bound as children.

 

1906

Moves to bungalows “Dunford” and “The Chalet” on the Peak to assist the children’s health. Robert Ho Tung sometimes stays at “The Neuk” nearby but mostly lives at Idlewild in Mid-Levels. The Ho family are the first non-Europeans to own property in the area.

 

1910

Clara, who has deep knowledge and skill in nursing and medicine, cares for her husband during a prolonged and serious digestive illness lasting over three years.

 

1912

Her beloved mother dies on 19 February.

 

1914

Several of the Ho children attend Diocesan Girls School. Clara believes in a good education for daughters as well as sons as this could not be taken away even if material gains were lost.

Suffers a severe throat condition, which she alleviates by chanting the name of the Amitabha Buddha. Her faith in Buddhism deepens.

 

1916

Begins her many expeditions to the sacred mountains of China and well-known Buddhist institutions.

 

1918

First daughter Victoria marries brilliant Eurasian lawyer M. K. Lo.

 

1921-22

Daughters Irene and Eva are among the first female undergraduates to enter the University of Hong Kong. Both later take postgraduate qualifications overseas. Eva becomes a medical doctor. Irene is an academic, educationalist and later writes a book on Clara’s life and her own intercultural memories.

 

1922

Starts to promote Buddhism in Hong Kong through arranging lecture series by eminent venerables.

As a devout Buddhist and thus an advocate of humane treatment for animals, Clara serves on the committee of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, formally set up in Hong Kong in 1921.

 

1923

Goes to Shanghai and northern China with her husband, who is trying to organise a peace conference round table with the various warlords.

 

1924

While studying in the UK, son Edward Sai Kim marries an Irish woman, Mordia O’Shea, without informing his family. Clara is caught between an angry husband and son. Later, Edward and Mordia move to Shanghai and adopt the family name Hotung. Clara sees her grandchildren when visiting the city.

Travels with son Robert Shai Lai (later father of Robert Hung Ngai) to Nanking, where he hopes to enroll in the well-known Baoding Military Academy. They find it has closed. Robert Shai Lai subsequently studies at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, in the UK.

 

1927

Embarks on an 18-month trip to the UK and Europe. Children Irene, Eva and Robert Shai Lai are all studying there at the time.

The construction of “The Falls” on the Peak is completed as Clara’s main residence.

 

1928

Called back to Hong Kong to attend son Robert Shai Lai’s wedding to Hesta Ki Fun Hung.

 

1929

Accompanies husband on another visit to northern China as he tries to rekindle peace negotiations as well as spur industrial development. During the visit, they stay with Young Marshal Zhang Xueliang, who later takes son Robert Shai Lai onto his military staff.

Goes on a pilgrimage to India and Burma with youngest daughter Florence.

 

1930

Inspired by visits to Dr Barnardo’s Homes in the UK to set up Po Kok Free School in Causeway Bay in Hong Kong, and another school by the same name in Macau, to assist girls born into poverty and to help more people understand Buddhism.

 

1931

Given HK$100,000 by Sir Robert in celebration of the Golden Wedding anniversary to Lady Margaret. Clara decides to use the money to build a landmark Buddhist temple on Hong Kong island.

 

1932

Founds Po Kok Buddhist Seminary for girls at Castle Peak in the New Territories.

Starts Light of Humankind Buddhist magazine for local and international readers.

Grandson Robert Hung Ngai born.

“I have memories of my grandmother Clara as every summer we used to live in Ho Tung Gardens (“The Falls”) on the Peak because it was cooler there. Lots of cousins would live up there then because it was vacation time.”

- Reminiscence of Robert H. N. Ho

 

Mid-1930s

Publishes Travelogue on Famous Mountains, recording her journeys to China’s sacred mountains. The book is written in Chinese over the course of a decade and a half, with the assistance of the family’s Chinese tutors.

Clara records her reminiscences in Reflections of Sixty Years, written by assistant Ling Chun Lam. The manuscript is lost during the Second World War.

 

1935

Tung Lin Kok Yuen Buddhist temple, built in Chinese and Western style and named for Robert Ho Tung and Clara, is completed in Happy Valley, where it remains today. Clara serves as Founding Superintendent.

“Clara was a devout Buddhist and built Tung Lin Kok Yuen on Shan Kwong Road. The temple has now been declared a heritage building.

“I would often accompany her to the chanting ceremonies that she frequented there. I do feel she had picked me out from all the cousins. But because of that I had to suffer all those ceremonies. Of course, I am a Buddhist now and appreciate them. But at the time I thought it was so boring! I had to sit there silently, listening to the rituals with nothing to do. I would try to sneak away. But, no! I was always told to sit there.”

- Reminiscence of Robert H. N. Ho

 

1937

Travels with husband to Nanking to meet Nationalist officials, including Chiang Kai-shek, after the Xian kidnapping incident, which has repercussions for their KMT army officer son Robert Shai Lai.

Becomes heavily involved in support activities and fund-raising in Hong Kong for China in the war against Japan together with wives of senior Chinese officials. Becomes Vice-Chairman of the New Life Association and Vice-President of the Hong Kong Chinese Women’s Relief Association.

 

1938

Dies on 5 January at the age of 62 as a result of an asthma/bronchial attack and exhaustion. People report seeing a light at the moment of her passing.

Large-scale public funeral organised on 10 January and thousands watch or participate in the procession. Clara is buried at Chiu Yuen Cemetery.

Clara leaves a will that donates most of her estate to Tung Lin Kok Yuen.

Commemorative Chinese gateway constructed at “The Falls”. The gateway lintel carries the words “Ho Tung Gardens”, the name by which the property is subsequently known.

“On the day she died, we were all up at Ho Tung Gardens. All the sons and daughters were there. My cousins and I were not allowed into her bedroom. Nevertheless, she said she wanted to see me. Just me, out of all the children.

“I went in. She couldn’t talk any more as she was on oxygen. But she waved to me, so I stood there. Everybody stood there. There was not much conversation. After a while, she indicated for me to leave. Then, 15 minutes later, she asked for me again. I went in, she waved to me, and I was led away. Shortly after that she died.

“Why do I say this to you? It is always in my mind that maybe she was giving me a mental sign that I should continue to do the Buddhist work. This is my interpretation anyway. The other cousins and my sister don’t care about this. I am the only one. The root of it is, I am thinking of my grandmother.”

- Reminiscence of Robert H. N. Ho

 

Sources

 

BOOKS

  • Irene Cheng, Clara Ho Tung, A Hong Kong Lady: Her Family and Her Times (1976)

  • Lily Hong Lee, A.D. Stefanowska, and Clara Wing Chung Ho, Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: The Qing Period 1644-1911 (1999)

  • Vicky Lee, Being Eurasian: Memories Across Racial Divides (2004)

  • Victor Zheng and Wong Siu Lun, Ho Tung: The Grand Old Man of Hong Kong, (2007) and Ho Shai Lai (2008)

 

NEWSPAPERS

  • South China Morning Post, “Colony Loses Prominent Social Worker” Jubilee Celebration”, 6 January 1938

 

ONLINE

 

INTERVIEWS

  • Mr Robert H. N. Ho, October 2015

 

 

 

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