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About this archive
One-sentence summary: HKU·WILD is an independent, unofficial archive of the wilder history of The University of Hong Kong (HKU) — collecting historical facts, figures, developments, and campus anecdotes; every claim is sourced, cross-verified across multiple rounds, and graded by the strength of the evidence. It focuses on Hong Kong's oldest tertiary institution※ (founded in 1911 under the University Ordinance and opening its doors in 1912※).
This page is the site-wide guide: first, how we work (methodology and anonymisation rules); then, a tour through the eighteen modules; and finally, a few flagship pieces to dive into.
I. Our remit, by tier of credibility
The site is organised into eighteen modules across three tiers, with decreasing reliability and increasingly stringent presentation rules:
- Reference area (00–12): Factual content verifiable against official primary sources or reliable secondary sources — institutional history, academics, research, campus, people, medicine, finances, internationalisation, etc. Every factual statement cites a source.
- Wild-history area (13–16): University governance struggles, student movements, campus legends, cross-border tensions, etc. Accounts from multiple sides are presented side-by-side, with statements attributed by strength of evidence; no adjudication is made. Disputed allegations are included only if corroborated by independent sources.
- Link directories (17–18): Folk rumours and highly sensitive disputed claims. Links only, no narrative — organised by theme, labelled by source type, and presented as bare URLs. Readers judge truth from falsehood for themselves.
II. Touring the eighteen modules
Main wild-history halls
- 13 · Governance & Reform — Governance structures, institutional reforms, power struggles, and the administration’s handling of crises (wild-history area)
- 14 · History of Student Movements — A general history of the student union and student social engagement (1912–2026): three deep-dive files on the fiery era, the 1989 solidarity movement, and the rise and fall of student organisations (wild-history area)
- 15 · Campus Lore, Anecdotes & Discourse — Campus legends and hall traditions; two deep-dive files on the student press and the history of speech on campus, with legends physically separated from evidenced entries (wild-history area)
- 16 · Mainland Students & Cross-Border Dynamics — The mainland Chinese student community, and cultural and linguistic frictions; multiple sources juxtaposed, no side is taken (wild-history area)
Academics & Research
- 01 · Academics — The ten faculties and their departments, undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, academic structure, and the common core curriculum
- 04 · Research — State Key Laboratories, InnoHK centres, landmark breakthroughs, named professorships, and technology transfer
- 11 · Medicine / Hospitals — The Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, dentistry, public health, and traditional Chinese medicine; teaching hospitals and the clinical network
Campus & Colleges
- 05 · Campus — Campus geography, building directory, transport links, sustainability, museums, and ecology
- 10 · Colleges / Halls — An overview of the hall system and the histories and traditions of individual halls (St. John’s, University Hall, Ricci, Lady Ho Tung, etc.)
- 07 · Student Life — Student organisations, hall traditions, sports and the "Big Two" rivalry, campus arts, and student media
Overview · People · University affairs
- 00 · Overview — Key facts, FAQ, headline figures, pre-foundation history, timeline, motto and crest, governance structure
- 03 · Rankings — Global composite and subject rankings, with year-on-year trends
- 02 · Admissions — Undergraduate admissions pathways, tuition fees and scholarships, graduate destinations
- 06 · People — Leading academics, notable alumni, biographical sketches, honorary degrees, and alumni networks
- 08 · Finances — Annual income, expenditure and reserves; the endowment fund and the philanthropic families behind named gifts
- 09 · Internationalisation — Global partnerships and exchanges, dual/joint degree programmes, the Greater Bay Area, and the university’s national role
- 12 · Miscellaneous — The university press and flagship publications, libraries and museums, academic journals, digital learning, and the Hong Kong higher-education landscape
Even wilder (low-reliability link directories)
⚠ The following two volumes are source-link directories only for folk rumours and disputed claims: no narrative is written, only links are listed. Content related to Hong Kong independence or violence is presented solely as links; readers judge truth from falsehood for themselves.
- 17 · Even Wilder University Policies — ⚠ Low-reliability source directory
- 18 · Even Wilder Student Movements — ⚠ Low-reliability source directory
III. Don’t know where to start? Try these flagship pieces first
If you are unsure where to begin, these longform articles are good entry points:
- HKU and Emerging Infectious Diseases: 1997 Avian Flu, 2003 SARS, and 2020 COVID-19 — The identification of the SARS coronavirus in 2003, tracing its origin to civet cats, the first known human case of H5N1, isolating the COVID-19 virus and developing a nasal-spray vaccine, and the WHO Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control.
- The Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine (Part I): The 1887 Hong Kong College of Medicine and Sun Yat-sen’s Student Years — From the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese in 1887 to the founding faculty of 1911, and Sun Yat-sen’s period of study; for the five-school structure and the 2006 naming, see Part II.
- Governance and Reform at HKU — Power, Autonomy, and Political Pressure — The 2015 Pro-Vice-Chancellor selection controversy (the Mr. Chan case), and the student storming of a Council meeting; multiple accounts are placed side-by-side with no adjudication.
- The Fiery Era — HKU Students and Social Movements in the 1970s — The Chinese Language Movement (1967 petition → 1974 Official Languages Ordinance), the Defend the Diaoyu Islands campaign (7 July 1971 Victoria Park rally), the anti-corruption push to catch Peter Godber, the Golden Jubilee affair, and the clash between the National Essence and Social factions.
- The HKU Virology and Microbiology Tradition: From Naming Pathogens to International Honours — SKLEID, HKU-Pasteur, the InnoHK virology centre, pathogens named ‘HKU’, and the 2021 Future Science Prize.
You can also browse the site another way: Browse · Timeline · Person Index; for site-wide sources, see the Consolidated Bibliography and Errata & Verification Report.
IV. How do we verify and anonymise information?
- Every claim must be sourced: Every piece of factual information carries a citation, anchored to the
sources[]field in each file’s frontmatter and the inline@[term](URL)annotations. Weak sources, solitary evidence, and conflicting accounts are always noted and placed side-by-side; we never extrapolate and never adjudicate. - De-sensitisation (anonymisation): Current senior leadership is referred to solely by title, never by name. Living named individuals in a contested context are anonymised as "Mr. [Surname]" or "Ms. [Surname]." Negative content about living named individuals for which no reliable source exists is excluded.
- Politically sensitive content: Issues involving high sensitivities such as Hong Kong independence, violence, or conflict are handled according to a defined protocol — listed as external links only, with no accompanying narrative, paraphrasing, or chronology (see the link directories for 17 and 18).
- Credibility tiering: All wild-history and rumour entries are labelled by the strength of their sources. Pure folk legend is physically isolated in rumour callouts and marked "folk hearsay, unverified."