HKGS 2009

Term Paper
Name: Ho May Man
UID: 3035791866
Word Count: 3447

Understanding Lion Rock Spirit through Cantopop: Colonial and Post-Colonial Periods
(1970s - 2010s)
Introduction
Lion Rock Spirit, also known as the spirit of Hong Kong, reflects the diligent,
optimistic and unyielding characteristics of Hong Kong people. The idea came from the big
screen in the 1970s when Hong Kong people were suffering from poverty and in great need
of positive energy and beliefs to continue their living. ​The core essence of this spirit is that it
promises support among one another through thicks and thins, and that with a strong will,
everything is going to be fine. What is special about this idea in the context of globality
within and out of Hong Kong is that it is highly contagious, especially through music. In fact,
this spirit was first validated and consolidated by 70s Cantopop singer Roman Tam’s song,
Below the Lion Rock (In chinese: 獅子山下). The song has become a classic and household
name since then, given that its lyrics perfectly capture the Lion Rock Spirit. In the song, it
describes the Lion Rock Spirits as:
“There is always joy in life. And yet tears are inevitable. We all encounter one
another beneath the Lion Rock. After all, laughter is more than sorrow. [...] On
the same boat, we support one another under the Lion Rock. Overlook our
differences and hope for mutual understanding.” (Koo, 1979)
Better still, Lion Rock Spirit is a multifaceted conceptual belief which manifests on the level
of individual, work ethics, family values and more importantly political worldview. Added to
that, the spirit has evolved and fitted into different social contexts across the years, from the
emphasis of mutual support, persistence and diligence in the 70s and 80s to the pursuit of
dreams, ideals and freedom in the 90s. All of these qualities center around never giving up
and fighting against adversities through upholding strong will. In this paper, the progression
and spread of Lion Rock Spirit within and out of Hong Kong during the colonial period and
post-colonial period will be discussed with the aid of music, specifically Cantopop as well as
films. To better understand the matter, scholar papers will be used as literary review to
support my ideas.

Cantopop: The Origin of Lion Rock Spirit during Colonial Period

Lion Rock Spirit has progressed and evolved along the years, as the social contexts and
adversities which Hong Kong people faced were different in various eras. While the core
essence of the spirit remained the same, it morphed according to the rapidly changing
economic, social and political contexts in Hong Kong. That is why all of this music about
Lion Rock Spirit is so infectious that they remain in the mainstream media and people’s
consciousness for so many years. Indeed, Cantopop music is a reflective process of change
which shows Hong Kong people’s diverse, flexible and complex identities across the years.

In the 1970s, ''Below the Lion Rock'' was widely spread and deeply rooted in the hearts
of Hong Kong people. This song could be regarded as the initial artistic expression of Hong
Kong, which the Lion Rock Spirit was characterized positively by working hard,
self-reliance, perseverance and solidarity (Law, 2017). These elements were meant to
promote positive mindsets and to support Hong Kong people in overcoming the challenges
during the hard time, which could be regarded as key values with their importance to both
individual and community survival. The biggest wish of the general public is to have
sufficient food and a shelter to protect themselves. Hong Kong experienced an economic
boom during the 1970s and 1980s, which led to a significant number of job openings in the
community and chances for Hong Kong people to move to the middle or upper class. The
post-World War II upsurge of giving birth, which made up nearly half of the total population
of Hong Kong at the time (Ferret & Gobbi, 2019). Despite the competition among the
post-war generation was keen, the society lacked manpower and everyone was at the same
starting point with limited support from their families. They were all in an environment that is
relatively quite fair and no one was judged according to one's background but own abilities.
The quality of life for oneself and the family could finally be improved by working hard and
overcoming all kinds of obstacles (Law, 2017).

Even though Hong Kong has a long colonial history, Chinese cultural elements have
always existed in the spirit of Hong Kong, regardless of the willingness of the people. The
root of the Lion Rock spirit is Chinese culture, such as Confucianism that has influenced
Chinese for thousands of years, and the value of Hong Kong was basically an evolution of
Chinese culture (Law, 2017). It was insufficiently thorough and in-depth to comprehend
Hong Kong spirit apart from Chinese culture (Ip, 2003). Chinese immigrants or refugees
made up the majority of the population of Hong Kong, and Chinese cultural genes permeated
their veins. As a result, the deep structure of Hong Kong spirit contains elements of Chinese
culture. The essence of Lion Rock contains both the positive and negative aspects of Chinese
civilization. Whether on purpose or accidentally, they ignored this cultural connection.
Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism are the three main pillars of Chinese civilization,
notwithstanding its complexity, they are present in Hong Kong culture. With the dynasty's
support, Confucianism had taken the lead among the three and held a significant position.
Consequently, Confucianism has a particularly strong cultural influence on the Hong Kong
people.

Under the unique politics and economic setting of Hong Kong, the Confucianism that
defines the Hong Kong spirit was developed. The traditional Confucianism gradually evolved
into the secular Confucian culture which is more practical and has higher adaptability (Law,
2017). However, the Lion Rock Spirit was a kind of family and working values that were
influenced by the traditional Confucian values since the twentieth century (Law, 2017).
People with the spirit worked hard for the harmony of their families, which could be reflected
in different media like films and drama. As the core value of Confucianism is familism, the
interest of family overrides individuals (Law, 2017). The traditional Lion Rock Spirit
reflected such Chinese culture. Back in 1976 when the economic environment was poor, over
68,000 young children discontinued their education and many of them had started to work to
support their family. Still, they hold optimistic attitudes toward the challenges, and this was
the Lion Rock Spirit which was also referred to as a "can-do" attitude.

Beyond: The Spread of the Lion Rock Spirit

In the 1990s, Beyond, a rock band in Hong Kong, inherited the Lion Rock Spirit and
put emphasis on the pursuit of dreams and ideals. Indeed, in the lyrics of Beyond’s songs, the
idea of pursuing dreams and ideals in life comes through. In their song No Longer Hesitate
(In Chinese 不再猶豫) which was released in 1991 September in their album Deliberate, it
says:
“Who decides if I leave or stay, determine the universe in my heart? Just want to
wave at my dreams with both my bare hands. Asking how high the sky is, my
ambition deep in the heart is much higher than the sky. Have confidence that the
undefeated mentality could be upheld till I grow old. [...] Who has never
hesitated? Achieving dreams and ideals is not easy.” (Wong, 1991)
The song promotes the resilience and determination of the Lion Rock Spirit. As it explains
how challenges would hinder people, it also encourages them to go for their dreams and
uphold their undying spirit of ambition. While the song was very popular back in the 1990s, it
has continued to affect young people in even the recent decade.

From the 1990s to the present, the wealth gap in Hong Kong has become wider and
wider each year. Young people feel especially frustrated and hopeless, as they start to doubt
that working hard could help them achieve what they want. Young generations experienced
downward mobility in which they find it difficult to achieve better in their careers. While the
education level of the recent generations has improved, the housing price and prices of other
necessities have inflated tremendously. On the other hand, the younger generations are not
content with humdrum work routines and narrow spectrums of careers they are asked to do.
In fact, it is clear that Hong Kong is a city that promotes and adores elitism and lacks art or
other developments. Not until recently, there are not a lot of rooms for youngsters who want
to pursue a career other than the mainstream ones. Given all of these problems, young people
began to doubt the existence and realisticity of the Lion Rock Spirit.

Amidst such a difficult and self-doubting period, Beyond’s music has switched up the
tone of the original Lion Rock Spirit and gave young people new hope. Rather than working
like a donkey for corporations, the Lion Rock Spirit in Beyond’s music called for people to
pursue their dreams and do what they really like, whether it is music, art or any careers that
diverged from the mainstream elite careers. Indeed, the rise of Beyond and their music has
impacted people who were born in the 1980s and later drastically, and caused the fad of white
collars becoming band members in the 1990s.

Neo-Lion Rock Spirit: Beyond’s Resonance with Revolutionary Ideas and Localism
 Besides affecting local culture, Beyond’s kind of Lion Rock Spirit has also resonated
with cultures and revolutions outside of Hong Kong, and made an impact on other cultures.
In the 1990s, Beyond has written a lot of revolutionary songs that support the Black culture
and against racism. This could be Beyond’s response to not just the discrimination against
black people but also the Tiananmen Square protests and massacre happend in 1989, which
was several years prior of those songs. After this incident, Hong Kong started to become
more aware of injustice and their relationship with China. Especially when the handover of
Hong Kong to China was about to happen several years after this incident, Hong Kong people
became extremely wary of their future. Hence, these songs not only resonated with the black
culture but also Hong Kong people’s concern about the uncertainty and worries of the
handover in 1997. To demonstrate the effect, a song of strong Lion Rock Spirit called Amani
was written as a tribute to Nelson Mandela who was a South African apartheid activist and
the first president of South Africa. The lyrics in Beyond’s song Amani not only described the
struggle of African people but also instilled the everlasting Hong Kong Lion Rock Spirit, as it
says,
“Sky. There are birds flying in the sky, spreading their wings in panic. Piercing
though the sky, all they want is freedom. [...] I scream at the world ‘Amani
nakupenda nakupenda we we. Tuna take we we.” (Wong, 1991)
The song was a great way to show the world what Lion Rock Spirit was and how it
worked in other contexts and other parts of the world. Another song, Glorious Years has
an even greater effect as it later became a revolutionary song which influenced Hong
Kong people around the world. In Glorious Years, the lyrics describe the persistence
and the pursuit for a better life and dreams within the Lion Rock Spirit, as it says:
“In their life, there seems to be sighs and regrets. The meaning behind his dark
skin is to sacrifice his life in the conflict of colors. Years make the possessed
become lost. There is hope in the tiring eyes. Today, there are only empty shells
left to welcome glorious years, embracing freedom in winds and rains.”
In an interview, one of the band members, Wong Ka Keung mentioned that Nelson
Mandela heard the songs and was deeply touched when he was spending his last days at
the hospital. Other than that, similar to what I have mentioned, songs about justice then
became a huge topic of Beyond’s songs as it also connects to Hong Kong people’s
worries about the post-colonial life during the colonial period.

The music of Beyond has also created this localism and unique local identity
among Hong Kong people, as it speaks the mind of youngsters of different generations
who wish for autonomy and dreams (Lowe & Tsang, 2018). A much prominent example
would be the song Boundless Oceans, Vast Skies which continues to be popular after
almost 30 years of airing. This song was played during activist movements, such as the
Umbrella Movement in 2014, and the demonstrations and protests in 2019 (Lowe &
Tsang, 2018). It encourages Hong Kong people not to give up on their beliefs and bear
with whatever challenges that they are encountering. The song described how upholding
one’s ideals, beliefs and dreams is hard and a lonely path, but people of the same beliefs
will meet one day in a better future. This core value within Beyond’s songs could also
explain why it sustains across the years and continues to affect the younger generations
in Hong Kong.

Contradictions: Lion Rock Spirit Then and Now, Media and Reality

Since the 1990s, the disparity between the rich and the poor has become more serious
in Hong Kong, there has been a downward flow in both intergenerational or individual social
mobility (Law, 2017). Different from the old days, when people could gain fairly with their
efforts, the younger generation lacked opportunities for learning and promotion, even if they
had higher academic qualifications and richer knowledge. In the old days, many millionaires,
like Lee Ka Shing, succeeded due to their hard work. Back to the period, “Aberdeen”
benefited from the economic boom and the rapid immigrant wave to raise their social status
(Law, 2017). Not only having good promotional opportunities when they were young,
“Aberdeen”remained as the middle or upper class for a long period of time. It further
stagnated the path of the youngsters toward the upper level. Even in Hong Kong today, when
least newborns existed, there were still millions of people waiting for a single chance to move
upward (Law, 2017). Therefore, those born in the 1980s and 1990s could barely see a
promising future.

Facing the unaffordable land and property prices, the housing needs of young Hong
Kong people have not been met. According to the life quality index conducted by the Chinese
University of Hong Kong in 2015, a middle-class person needed to live without eating for 15
years, in order to save enough money for the cost of a 400-foot private house (Law, 2017).
After the return to Mainland China, Hong Kong encountered a series of incidents including
the Asian financial turmoil in 1997. Along with the poor economic environment, the health
crisis of SARS occurred in 2003 at the social level. All these incidents had a great impact on
the lives of Hong Kong people negatively, and Hong Kong people started to question the
ability of the government. Therefore, when the Hong Kong government intended to legislate
Article 23 of the Basic Law in 2003, over 500,000 people protested the legislation. Under
Article 23, any acts of treason, secession or even having the intention would be regarded as
violating the law. However, there is no clear standard of "treason" or how to define the
intention. Therefore, many of the citizens were charged with unclear accusation, the police
could freely arrest citizens as long as they believed the citizens were guilty by having the
intentions. The conflicts among citizens and police or the government made Hong Kong
people doubt if the government would act for their benefits. As Article 23 was introduced
under the instruction of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the majority of Hong Kong
people also have anxiety towards the rule of CCP. In terms of politics, the further action of
the 1 July Parade strengthened the identity of Hong Kong people and the discussion of Hong
Kong core values began to be a social agenda (Law, 2017).

Due to the undesirable social, political and economic environment, the youth of today
stop believing in themselves as the opportunities for better development is limited (Law,
2017). Different from the workplace that had vertical promotion ladders and relationships
were emphasized in the older generation, the younger generation needs to force themselves to
keep up with the most advanced knowledge and improve according to the dynamic
environment. As a result, the youngsters questioned the suitability and the level of credibility
of the Lion Rock Spirit nowadays. The youth believed that the possibility for grassroots to
move upward could barely be seen as the large conglomerates had blocked the way (Lai,
2017).

Although the Rock Lion Spirit is no longer agreed by the younger generation, its deep
influence on the older generation has caused the undesirable social trend, which many of the
people experienced in the 1980s when the spirit was greatly promoted. Under the influence of
Lion Rock Spirit, the older generation tended to stigmatize social support as they believed in
never giving up and life would be better as long as they put in enough effort (Lai, 2017). For
instance, many of the elderlies aged in 70 or 80 choose not to retire but instead work as
security guards or collect paper boxes. In their words, they were proud of supporting their
own lives. However, receiving help from others should not be regarded as something bad and
avoided. Back in the days, government officials used Lion Rock Spirit as a tool of
propaganda to send a message to the Chinese government, to reinforce the idea that Hong
Kong was harmonious and united. Worse still, in 2004, the government once again played the
song Below The Lion Rock on RTHK radio (Lai, 2017). That was to strengthen the effect of
Lion Rock Spirit in the mind and subconsciousness of Hong Kong people. In some sense, the
spirit was sort of used as an indoctrination or magical term to make the people appear the
way the government wanted them to be. Furthermore, the Lion Rock Spirit was promoted by
the government again in the post 2019 era, as the political environment was unstable. During
that period, a large scale of social movement existed, such as the Anti-Extradition Law
Amendment Bill Movement. It is believed to be a propaganda act to improve the image of the
Hong Kong government in the general public and also in a global lens by telling the public
that Hong Kong people should and are united under the control of the government. Therefore,
some say that Lion Rock Spirit was not so positive as it seems to be, but an ideology which
could be a double-bladed sword based on how it is used.
Conclusion

While the Lion Rock Spirit used to be merely one-sided and promotes this
straightforward persistence, diligence, and the belief of never giving up, Cantopop has
broadened the definition spanning across the colonial and post colonial period. Initially, Lion
Rock Spirit supported Hong Kong people through difficult times in the 1970s and 1980s
when the economy was recovering. Roman Tam’s song constructed the common practice,
spirit and belief of a whole generation. Nonetheless, a single spirit cannot stand all these
years without fitting into the social contexts through the changes of generations. After that,
Beyond’s music has enriched the values within Lion Rock Spirit and brought about an impact
to Chinese people around the globe as well as people of other countries such as South Africa.
In the 1990s, the Lion Rock Spirit evolved with the additional values of the pursuit of
freedom, dreams and ideals. This spirit later gave birth to localism and Neo-Lion Rock Spirit,
in which people spread their beliefs through Beyond’s music. However, the younger
generation had little trust in the Lion Rock Spirit due to the unstable economic and political
environment. Without the foreseeable future, it was hard for the youngsters to work hard for
their future. Moreover, the Lion Rock Spirit is no longer a pure value to strengthen the belief
and motivation to move up in the society, it is more likely to be used as a political ideology to
gain support for the government. On a positive note, music has undoubtedly transformed and
reinterpreted Lion Rock Spirit among youngsters in Hong Kong, and kept the spirit relevant
for different eras. The Hong Kong way in 2019 which was a protest against the
anti-extradition law is a great example of the reinforcement of freedom and liberty within the
neo-Lion Rock Spirit. The unity of the protest could be a result of the support of such a spirit.
It is believed that the new Lion Rock Spirit still exists nowadays, with different social issues
including the pandemic, Hong Kong people held a belief of not giving up and uniting to
overcome the situations.
 References

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