The Hong Kong mythical figure

Lo Ting

Lo Ting is one of the few local mythological figures in Hong Kong, a half-man and half-fish. There are not many records of Lo Ting in ancient texts, the earliest one can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty (618–907), it stated that the Lo Tings has lived in Hong Kong’s Lantau Island since the Eastern Jin dynasty (AD 411). When the 1997 Handover of Hong Kong, Oscar Ho Hing Kay, the exhibition director of the Hong Kong Arts Center, curated Lo Ting exhibitions for three consecutive years, namely "Hong Kong Incarnated—Museum 97: History‧Community‧Individual" in 1997, "Hong Kong Reincarnated - New Lo Ting Archaeological Find Exhibition" in 1998, and "​​Lo Ting: New Discovery on 1197 Massacre" in 1999.

The exhibition invited a group of academics, art, and cultural practitioners to jointly recreate Hong Kong's ancestral history. The purpose was to regain the dominance of the interpretation of Hong Kong people's history by writing the story of Lo Ting when China and Britain were trying to define the history of Hong Kong. And they aimed to establish a metaphor of self-cultural identity - to use Lo Ting, a marginalized animal state that is neither human nor fish, neither one nor the other, to compare with the reality of Hong Kong people. [1]

Although the immediate cultural repercussions of Lo Ting exhibitions were less dramatic, unexpectedly ten years later, Lo Ting started to appear in the local cultural works one after another. For example, since 2014, Theater Horizon has made several dramas with the theme of Lo Ting. In 2016, three critics pointed out that the main actress in Stephen Chow's film "The Mermaid" is Lo Ting, and in 2018, Fruit Chan's film "Three Husbands" pointed out that the main actress is a descendant of Lo Ting; visual artists such as Clara Cheung, Ellen Pau, Lam Tung Pang, etc., also have created artworks related to Lo Ting at recent years. [2]

This research will document the details of Lo Ting exhibitions organized by the Hong Kong Arts Centre from 1997 to 1999.

Date: June 23 to July 12, 1997
Address: Pao Galleries, 4&5/F, 2-4/F, Atrium, Hong Kong Arts Centre

background–

Hong Kong artist, curator, and scholar Oscar Ho Hing Kay (b.1956) returned to Hong Kong in 1984 after living in North America for nearly ten years [3]. He was the Exhibition Director of the Hong Kong Arts Centre from 1988 to 2001 (2000 - 2001 as Curatorial Director) [4]. After the June 4th Incident in 1989, which triggered a wave of emigration of Hong Kong residents, Oscar Ho described: "The whole city was in a state of panic. Those who left or did not want to leave were eager to encourage and cultivate a sense of identity with Hong Kong as their home."[5] In 1991, he launched the ‘Hong Kong Culture Series’ exhibitions, trying to highlight the unique culture of Hong Kong. He found that the research on local culture and collection of materials were extremely inadequate, but in the end, he still chose history as the starting point for discussing the identity of local culture, including organizing exhibitions of painter Li Tiefu, "Southern Calendar Poster King" Kwan Wai Nung, photographer Yau Leung and other artists in early hong kong, to get rid the negative stereotype that Hong Kong is a cultural desert.

On the eve of the 1997 Handover of Hong Kong, Oscar Ho often felt that he was living in an unreal world[6]. On the one hand, the British and Chinese governments kept accusing each other of lying and each issued a "truth" statement. On the other hand, the Chinese government invited Chinese scholars to rewrite the history of Hong Kong, as if the history that Hong Kong people had known under British colonial rule was false. [7] Oscar Ho couldn't help but question: "Who has the right and power to choose and write history? Could history be written according to the general public’s perspective rather than that of an “academic expert”?" Therefore, in the period between Hong Kong was handed back to China in 1997, Oscar Ho curated an exhibition “Hong Kong Incarnated—Museum 97: History‧Community‧Individual" that blurs the lines between real and fake.

"It was the night before the 1997 Handover of Hong Kong, which took place across the road at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre."[8]

The exhibition is divided into four parts[8]:

1. The Prelude:
Ninety-seven local practitioners create small works that responded to the Handover. In the center was a small temple with a door that said, “You’re On Your Own—Good Luck!

2. Individual:
Three art practitioners converse with the residents of Sham Shui Po and understand their perspectives on the Handover. This was because most of the opinions that we had been hearing about the Handover were from the elite and the middle class. Therefore, the exhibition aimed at showcasing some of the viewpoints from the grassroots community. Among them, May Fung and Sze Yuen visited an elderly female shoemaker living in Sham Shui Po. [4]

3. Community:
It was originally set up to collect items for a Hong Kong Memorial Hall in the year 2047. It invited the general public to lend items they believed to be memorable and representative of Hong Kong, to be placed in a time capsule after the exhibition closed, and be displayed again fifty years later. Other than typical Hong Kong citizens, celebrities such as Emily Lau and Anthony Wong also lent items for the exhibition, creating a simple and fragmented impression of colonial Hong Kong. However, as they couldn’t find a place to bury the time capsule, though they had to return the items after the show closed, the exhibition was still able to feature items that represented our different recollections of the city.

4. History:
If “Individual” was related to the present, and “Community” extended it to the future, then “History” was the core, as both the present and the future were rooted in history. And Lo Ting was its centerpiece.

Lo Ting——

Why choose Lo Ting?

Oscar Ho explained in his book ‘Deconstruct and Edit: Oscar Ho on the Art of Curating’ [9]:

"After searching far and wide for years for a local mythological figure, one was still yet to be found (though there are quite a few local ghost stories—after years of knowing each other, Yasi and I organized a “Ghost Culture Festival”). It was only by accident that I found a fully Hong Kong mythological figure. Its name was Lo Ting.

Lo Ting was half-man, half-fish, and was a strange creature that traveled between land and sea. It hailed from Daxi Mountain (modern-day Lantau Island) and was mentioned here and there in historical and regional chronicles in Guangdong. What was intriguing about Lo Ting was not only that it was the only local mythological creature I knew, but also that it was neither fish nor man. Being “in-between,” Lo Ting was able to survive and roam between two different worlds, the embodiment of a typical Hong Konger. Having to flee to Hong Kong, and turn this unfamiliar place into a home is the manifestation of a Hong Konger’s experience. So I conceived an exhibition about the past, present, and future of Hong Kong’s history, titled Hong Kong Incarnated: History, Community, Individual, which opened at Hong Kong Arts Centre on 30 June 1997."

．Historical records about Lo Ting:

(1) “Records of the Unusualness in Lingnan” (Lingbiao LuYi, 嶺表錄異), written by Liu Xun, Tang Dynasty (618–907 AD) [10]:： "Lo Ting, who fled to the islands and lives wildly there, eats mussels and uses shells to build walls."

(2)"Book of Benefiting Diseases in the Country of the World"(TianXia JunGuo LiBing Shu 天下郡國利病書), written by Gu Yanwu, Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD):

“The Jin thief Lo Ting was defeated and entered Guang, and his subordinates escaped to the island by the boat. After a long time, they had no food and cloth, and their children and grandchildren were all naked. They were called the Lo Tings. They went fishing and could survive in the water by staying three to four months, and they turned into fish.”

General idea: Lo Ting, also known as Lu Yu, was a subordinate of Lu Xun, a rebel general in the late Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420 AD). After Lu Xun's rebellion failed, he tried to capture Guangzhou in 411 AD but failed, and finally committed suicide by jumping into the sea. Lu Xun's subordinates fled to the island and made a living by fishing. The Lo Tings could stay in the water for three to four months, and their look was similar to that of fish.

(3) “New Discourse on Guangdong” (Guangdong Xin Yu 廣東新語), written by Qu Dajun, Qing Dynasty (1636-1911 AD)

General idea: Lo Ting, a mermaid race in Lantau Island, looks like a human, with a body length of six to seven feet (about 182-213cm), a tail, and a hairy back. It can live on both land and water.

(4) “Collected narratives from Lingnan” (Lingnan Cong Shu, 嶺南叢述), written by Deng Chun, (4), Qing Dynasty (1636-1911 AD)

General idea: Lantau Island is home to the Lo Tings, also known as Lu Yu, who is said to be subordinate to Lu Xun, a rebel general of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. The Lo-tings fish soft-shelled turtles for food and also trade fish with fishermen in exchange for rice.

Lo Ting's creations in the exhibition:

1. Compiling the story of Lo Ting

(1) Lo Ting's origin

The article "The Story of Lo Ting" was printed in the exhibition catalog. It describes Lo Ting's origin, appearance features, life habits, and deeds in about 1400 words.

“A long time ago there was a fish called Lo, living around the Lantau Island area. After absorbing the spiritual energy of the universe, they became human. Their success was envied by the sea god and they were cursed to live forever a rootless life. They remained half human half fish until the famous monk Pei Tao positioned many spiritual rocks all over the region to release them from the curse during the early part of the 4th Century. They became fully human on the condition that they should never go beyond their territory. In many history books, these people are called ‘Lo Ting’. At around 400 A.D., a ‘Lo Ting’ named Lo Dun led a rebellion against the oppressive regime of the Jun dynasty and moved North as far as Guangzhou. However, leaving their territory, his soldiers turned back to half human half fish and were unable to fight. Lo Dun was killed and his followers fled back to Lantau Island and its surrounding areas, living in extreme poverty. For those Lo Ting who stayed, they remained human and were ancestors of the Tanka people.”

Oscar Ho said since there are few historical materials about Lo Ting, he came up with a strategy[14], firstly, he invited cultural scholars such as Dung Kai Cheung and Leung Man Tao to conceive a hong kong history with Lo Ting as the main theme, and then extended to the history of the long-oppressed Hong Kong Tankas people. Oscar Ho said: "The history of Hong Kong they compiled was not fiction, it may be more authentic than the 'historical facts' in historical books. Just like many ancient civilizations started with myths, myths are of course not historical facts, but they often express some cultural features through metaphors, and even enduring truths. For example, Lo Ting is an animal that lived on the edge of China and traveled between water and land. Isn’t this a practical metaphor for Hong Kong’s cultural identity?”

(2) The relationship between Lo Ting and the Tanka people

The Tankas or boat people (also known as the Dan Family), who have traditionally lived on junks on the coast, are one of the original residents of Hong Kong. The exhibition particularly emphasizes the marriages between Lo Ting and the Tankas.

In another article in the exhibition catalog, the sociologist Hung Ho Fung also directly cites the historical event "1197 the fisher-people of Daxishan Island rebelled" (also known as the Lantau Massacre)[15] as "1197 Lantau Lo Ting Massacre". The article directly pointed out that "The ancient Tanka in Lantau was also known as Lu Ting, and it said that they were the offsprings of the suppressed rebels in a millennium uprising between A.D. 399 and 412".

Oscar Ho explained that the relationship between Lo Ting and the Tankas was constructed to tie in with the second half of the exhibition that the Tankas had been discriminated against and oppressed by the Chinese and the British, to illustrate the tragic fate of the Hong Kong people[16]. At the same time, because the exhibition is mixed with some “historical facts”, such as the historical data on the oppression of the Tankas, make the metaphor seems real in a certain way[7].

2. The works of the artists

Oscar Ho then invited artists to create works based on Lo Ting's story outline, combined with their imagination, including the creation of Lo Ting sculptures, Lo Ting epitaphs, etc., to strengthen the authenticity of Lo Ting's story.

3. Emulating museums to challenge authority

Although the exhibition was named the "1997 Museum", the exhibition venue was the Hong Kong Arts Centre, and most of the works on display were artists' creations. Is this an art exhibition? Or is it a historical exhibition? Oscar Ho did not deny that he deliberately confused the participants, and even tried to imitate the exhibition mode of a traditional history museum in the design of the exhibition venue."Even the less convincing 'antiquities' are made real because of the museum-like installation."[17]

The purpose of Oscar Ho's exhibition technique is to challenge the fake authority of art museums or cultural institutions, thereby questioning "Who has the right and power to choose and write history? Must history be listed chronologically the way dynastic and monarchic wars were recorded? Could we record histories the way we do with mythologies, through the use of metaphors? Could history be written according to the general public’s perspective rather than that of an “academic expert”? A lot of history is also developed from poetry and mythology. Lo Ting’s exhibition not only wanted to return the power of writing history to the general public, but also because the method of writing history was limited to a certain authoritative structure, research methods, and vocabulary, and could only be written by experts.”[17]

Date: June 20 to July 14, 1998
Address: Experimental Gallery and Pao Galleries, Hong Kong Arts Centre

A year later, the Hong Kong Arts Center held another exhibition of Lo Ting, and it was a themed exhibition with Lo Ting as the only main theme, and Lo Ting's creations were more comprehensive and complete. First of all, there are 28 pages of the exhibition catalog, which records in detail the chronology of the historical events of the Lo Tings, the songs of ancestor worship, and even a series of archaeological discoveries.

On the acknowledgment page of the catalog, the artists, scholars, and cultural practitioners participating in the exhibition are called Lo Ting Research Association or Friends of Lo Ting, or members of the 20th team of the Archaeological Excavation Department of the South China Sea Division of the Institute of Ancient History.

Since artist Ha Bik Chuen (1925–2009) also recorded and collected the materials of the Lo Ting exhibition, Mickey Lee, the collection assistant of the Asia Art Archive, described the Lo Ting exhibition as follows when interpreting Ha’s collection: “When I looked into these lanyards and the lists of the association, it seems to me Oscar was more like an artist creating work instead of curating a show. He was not just a curator of the show. Participating artists in this show are called "members" of the association instead of "artists," so it can be read as a play on the power of the curator and the creativity of the curator. ”[4]

In addition to the text, the exhibition also created many utensils and cultural relics used by the Lo Tings when they lived on Lantau Island in the past, creating the historical traces that Lo Ting existed in the past, including

- Shell ash kilns and fragments of cultural relics unearthed; - Using animal muscle tissue to make water-resistant clothing; - Remnants of architectural ruins; - Cave paintings found at the Lantau archaeological site; etc.

Date: August 20 - September 18, 1999
Address: Experimental Gallery, Hong Kong Arts Centre

The Lo Ting exhibition held in the third year further interpreted Lo Ting as the ancestor of the Hong Kong people, and "according to the latest archaeological findings, this exhibition exhibits the surprising discovery of the 1197 Lantau massacre."[18]

However, the research team can barely find relevant information on the third Lo Ting exhibition on the Internet. Oscar Ho also said that the Lo Ting exhibition was originally planned to be held for five years, to see if the myth could become deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and finally become real. However, after the opening of the Lo Ting exhibition in the first year, except for a small group of people, the public and the media seemed uninterested, Lo Ting exhibition in the second year was still indifferent, so the exhibition in the third year has been greatly reduced due to lack of fundings. Therefore, in the end, he also felt disheartened and decided to give up.

However, after more than ten years, there have been creations or discussions related to Lo Ting in the local arts and culture circles. Some representative works are listed below:

1. TVB "Hong Kong Mystery Case" Episode 18 - "In Search of Lo Ting Footprints" (2011)
2. Hong Kong Vomic’s video: "The Legend of Hong Kong Mermaid: Lo Ting" (2014)
3. Theater Horizon’s "Lo Ting" (2014),
4. Theater Horizon’s "Century-old Dreams of a Fishing Harbour" Episode I (2014)
5. Stephen Chow's “The Mermaid” (2016)
-Note: three local and mainland critics[18] argued that the main character in Stephen Chow‘s film The Mermaid was modeled after Lo Ting, but the film official has not responded.
6. Theater Horizon’s "Century-old Dreams of a Fishing Harbour" Episode II: Nightmare (2016)
7. Theater Horizon’s "Century-old Dreams of a Fishing Harbour" Episode III: The Awakening(2018)
8. Theater Horizon’s "Century-old Dreams of a Fishing Harbour" Last Episode (2019)
9. Fruit Chan’s “Three Husbands” (2018)
-Note: The official has never directly stated that the female lead of "Three Husbands" is a descendant of Lo Ting. However, the legend of Lo Ting was mentioned in the movie, and the female lead is closely related to water and fish, which is reminiscent. Local media asked Fruit Chan[20], and he did not deny the relationship between Lo Ting and the female lead.
10. Ellen Pau’s work “I don't have time to deal with fear” (2018), video
11. Lam Tung Pang’s "Image-coated" (2019), video installation, size variable
12. Clara Cheung "Lo Ting in Front of Hong Kong Border Scenery" (2019)

13. TVB "Our Unwinding Ethos" Episodes 11-13 - "Lo Ting Murdering case" (2019)
14. ViuTV Travel Show "Land of Gods" Episode 5 - "Hong Kong - Lo Ting Fishman" (2019)
15. Asia Art Archive "Portals, Stories, and Other Journeys" exhibition (2021)
16. Hong Kong Maritime Museum's "Maritime Crossroads: Millenia of Global Trade in Hong Kong" exhibition (2021)
-Introduction: Themed on the maritime history of Hong Kong, a total of 250 exhibits are on display, including cultural relics unearthed from ancient wells in the Song and Yuan Dynasties. The exhibition starts with the "Lo Ting" mermaid statue, which refers to the legend that "Lo Ting" is a descendant of Lo Xun who fled to Lantau Island, bringing out the origin of Hong Kong people and the sea.
-Interestingly, Libby Chan, the assistant director (curatorial and collections) of the Hong Kong Maritime Museum, told the media at the time[21] that she hoped “to bring out a powerful story of Hong Kong’s maritime history through real historical facts and archaeological exhibits.” Does this mean that the Maritime Museum agrees with Lo Ting as a "true historical fact"?

The story of Lo Ting was first mentioned by Oscar Ho during the 1997 Handover of Hong Kong. After three years of themed exhibitions, it was silent for a while, and it was not taken seriously by the local art and culture circles until nearly 10 years after. After 24 years of development, no matter whether the original myth is true or false, or whether it has been successfully turned into reality, it can be seen from this research that Lo Ting has lived out his own life due to the imagination and creation of different Hong Kong people, and has become a unique local mythological character.