Peter Hing, VHS 1906  First Chinese-Canadian Grad in BC

by John Adams, VHS 1967

(Excerpt from John’s new book, Chinese Victoria: A Long and Difficult Journey)

Peter Hing (伍籍磐)

Peter Hing was born in Guantian (官田), Taishan County, China, in 1884 and moved to Victoria in May 1897 where his father, Reverend Ng Mon Hing (Wu Wenqing 伍文慶),[1] was a Presbyterian missionary. On arrival, the thirteen-year-old was registered as Ng Tuk Pun (Wu Jipan伍籍磐)[2], but adopted Peter as his Christian name and Hing as his surname. Hing was an Anglicized version of his family name (Ng in Cantonese, sometimes written Eng in English), and coincidentally his father’s first name.[3]

He attended Boys’ Central School where he was recognized for his proficiency in essay writing in 1901 and then Victoria High School where he contributed three essays to the first issues of The Camosun, the high school’s magazine.[4] He graduated in 1906, the first Chinese to complete high school in the city. At that time Vic High was located on Fernwood Road between Fort and Yates Streets, now the site of Central Middle School.

Peter then went to McGill University in Montreal. As the first Chinese student there, he later admitted that he felt he was looked upon “as a kind of curiosity” and even as “a sort of inferior being.” However, his classmates soon discovered otherwise, and treated him with “affection, respect and esteem.”[5]

During the summer of 1908 he worked for the Chinese Daily Newspaper Publishing Co. in Vancouver and served as secretary of the Anti-Opium League.[6] He returned to McGill and took part in many university activities, playing quarterback on the Law ’09 football team, and placing second in his class when he graduated in 1909, the first Chinese to graduate from McGill.[7]

On completing his studies at McGill, he returned for a visit to British Columbia and was present at the opening of the Chinese Public School in Victoria in August 1909. [See images below.) In September he went to New York City where he enrolled in graduate studies in law and political science at Columbia University.

Following graduation from Columbia in June 1910, he returned briefly to Victoria before going to San Francisco in the fall to take passage back to China.

In November 1911, immediately after the Xinhai Revolution, Peter Hing and a group of other young men who had received university educations in North America or Europe were appointed to positions in the Guangdong Military Government. Hing became the deputy minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and then the chief judge of the Superior Court of Guangdong, a position he held until he ran afoul of President Yuan Shi Kai after the Second Revolution broke out in 1913.

He then went into business, serving as president of several mining companies, as a director of insurance and real estate companies and a large department store. In 1918 when Sun Yat-sen formed his government in Guangzhou, Peter Hing became head of the Department of Justice. At the same time, he was the managing director of the English-language Canton Times and assisted Vancouver entrepreneur Thomas MacInnes in obtaining the franchise for the Kwongtung Tramway Company to build and operate a tramway system in Guangzhou. Members of the Provincial Assembly of Guangdong criticized him for managing private commercial ventures while serving as a civil servant, which was contrary to government regulations.[8] In 1920 he travelled to North America, including a visit to Victoria, to purchase equipment for the tramway company.[9]

In 1915 Peter married Hawaii-born Jiang Fuzhen (a.k.a. Lillian Kong), a graduate of Honolulu High School and the University of California, who was described as “one of the ardent workers for the reform of South China.”[10] In 1920 Peter’s father, Rev. Ng Mon Hing, returned to stay in China and was living in Guangzhou with his son when he died in 1921.[11]

During the 1920s Peter Hing remained active in the Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang) and took part in reunions of the Returned Students’ Club in Guangzhou. As late as 1938 he also owned a hotel in the city. His date and place of death are subjects of further research but it is believed Peter Hing moved to Hong Kong in his later years.[12]

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[1] Cantonese: Ng Mon Hing; Pinyin: Wu Wuqing; traditional: 伍文慶; simplified: 伍文庆.

[2] Cantonese (from Head Tax): Ng Tuk Pun; Cantonese (Jyutping): Ng Zik Pun; Pinyin: Wu Jipan; traditional and simplified: 伍籍磐. Thanks to Lily Chow for advice on Peter Hing’s Chinese name. Verification of Chinese characters from Yeung Wing Yu, “Guangzhou, 1800–1925: The Urban Evolution of a Chinese Provincial Capital” PhD diss., University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1999, pp. 241 and 378.

[3] Chinese Head Tax Register, serial number 24285. He arrived in May 1897, but was not registered until July 9. As a student and the son of a Christian clergyman, Peter Hing was exempt from paying the $50 head tax.

[4] Peter L. Smith, Come Give a Cheer, p. 35.

[5] Victoria Times, May 16, 1909, p, 10.

[6] Peter Hing to W. L. Mackenzie King, May 29, 1908, cited in William Lyon Mackenzie King, Report on the Need for the Suppression of the Opium Traffic in Canada, Ottawa: King’s Printer, 1908.

[7] Colonist, May 2, 1909, p. 7; May 13, 1909, p. 15; May 30, 1909, p. 11. Thanks to the staff at McGill University Archives for confirming that Peter Hing attended McGill from 1906 to 1909 and graduated in law.

[8] Yeung Wing Yu, “Guangzhou, 1800–1925: The Urban Evolution of a Chinese Provincial Capital” PhD diss., University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 247.

[9] Peter Hing arrived in Victoria on Feb. 9, 1920 aboard SS Empress of Asia.

[10] Colonist, Jan. 19, 1915, p. 6.

[11] Mona-Margaret Pon, “Ng Mon Hing”, Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. XV.

[12] McGill News, vol. 1, no. 2 (March 1920), p. 27; Colonist, Feb. 10, 1920, p. 17.

 

From the Vic High Archives and Museum

We’re thrilled to have John’s article on the website. His long-awaited book, Chinese Victoria: A Long and Difficult Journey, is considered a definitive work and is available at Victoria bookstores and from his website – Discover the Past Walking Tours | Ghostly Walks & History Tours in Victoria. Peter Hing’s essays are the lead articles in the February 1906 Camosun, and the May 1906 Camosun – available on the Camosuns page of this website. John’s research is extremely thorough, and though there were other Chinese-Canadian students in the province, John believes Peter was the first to graduate from a BC high school. We also extend a big thank you to John for making a donation for a commemorative plaque in Peter’s name in the Vic High Auditorium.

 1909 Opening of Victoria’s Chinese Public School 

Peter did not attend the school but was present at the opening and gave a speech. John believes, though not 100% certain, that Peter Hing is the young man in the middle of the second row wearing the top hat. At any rate, he was definitely in attendance that day.