''Below the Lion Rock'' () is a

TV show A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...

about the lives of

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

citizens. It was broadcast five times, each forming its own series, from 1972 to 1979, 1984 to 1988, 1990, 1992 to 1995, 2006, 2014 to 2020. Each series was a collection of unrelated stories produced by the

RTHK Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) is the public broadcasting service in Hong Kong. GOW, the predecessor to RTHK, was established in 1928 as the first broadcasting service in Hong Kong. As a government department under the Commerce and Econom ...

, and depicted the life stories of different social strata set against backgrounds that are today part of Hong Kong history, such as the Shek Kip Mei Fire that burnt down the slums, and the early immigrants from

Mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...

. The stories showed the perceptions people had on the society back in those times. It was a very emotionally moving series and was thus highly successful in ratings. In the early 1970s, the show focused on one character "Uncle Tak" (德叔) portrayed by veteran Cantonese actor Leung Meng (良鳴) and his family moving into a new flat, it was only later the producers started producing collections of unrelated stories. Directors of the series including several renowned Hong Kong directors such as

Ann Hui Ann Hui On-wah, (; born 23 May 1947) is a film director, producer, screenwriter and actress from Hong Kong who is one of the most critically acclaimed filmmakers of the Hong Kong New Wave. She is known for her films about social issues in Hon ...

Allen Fong Allen Fong Yuk-ping (方育平) (born July 10, 1947) is a film director and one of the leaders of the Hong Kong New Wave of the late 1970s and early 1980s. His cinematic style is highly influenced by Italian neorealism. He also usually uses persona ...

and

Derek Yee Derek Yee Tung-sing () is a film producer, director and a former Shaw Brothers actor from Hong Kong. Early life Yee was born Yee Tung-sing in Hong Kong on 28 December 1957, the son of Yee Kwong (爾光), a film producer from Tientsin (Tianjin), ...

. Originally, the show was filmed in black and white, and each episode lasted only 15 minutes. It was later expanded to 30 minutes per episode. Starting 1978, each episode lasted 60 minutes. In May 2006, a new season comprising 10 episodes started to air on

TVB Jade TVB Jade (), or simply Jade, is a Hong Kong Cantonese-language free-to-air television channel owned and operated by Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) as its flagship service, alongside its sister network, the English-language TVB Pearl. Bro ...

Song

''Below the Lion Rock'' show has a theme song which shares the same name as the TV show itself. It was composed in 1979 by

Joseph Koo Joseph Koo Kar-Fai, MBE, GBS (born 3 February 1933), is a Hong Kong composer, who is considered one of the most respected composers in Hong Kong. He used the pen name Moran (莫然) for Mandarin songs early in his career. Early life Koo has ...

, text written by

Wong Jim James Wong Jim (; 18 March 1941 – 24 November 2004, also known as "霑叔" or "Uncle Jim") was a Cantopop lyricist and songwriter based primarily in Hong Kong. Beginning from the 1960s, he was the lyricist for over 2,000 songs, collaborating ...

, arranged by Joseph Koo and Choi Tak Choi, and sung by

Roman Tam Roman Tam Pak-sin (; 12 February 1945– 18 October 2002), known professionally by his stage name Law Man (), was a Hong Kong singer. He is regarded as the "Grand Godfather of Cantopop". Career Born in Baise, Guangxi, China, with family root ...

for the opening theme song of the TV show. Parts of the series were repeated on the ATV Home Channel after the lyrics of this song were recited by Anthony Leung, the then financial secretary when ending his budget report in April 2002. This action immediately caused commotion, especially among older generations who nostalgized the series. In October of the same year, Tam died, his song standing as a part of his legacy in

Cantopop Cantopop (a contraction of "Cantonese pop music") or HK-pop (short for "Hong Kong pop music") is a genre of pop music written in standard Chinese and sung in Cantonese. Cantopop is also used to refer to the cultural context of its production ...

music. On November 19, 2002,

Zhu Rongji Zhu Rongji (; IPA: ; born 23 October 1928) is a retired Chinese politician who served as Premier of the People's Republic of China from 1998 to 2003 and CCP Politburo Standing Committee member from 1992 to 2002 along with the Chinese Communist ...

visited Hong Kong and used part of the lyrics in his speech addressing the public. After this, ''Below the Lion Rock'' song was played on many government occasions. Some consider this song

's unofficial anthem.

External links

DVD websiteOfficial Website
Asia Television original programming TVB original programming {{HongKong-tv-stub

Song

See also

External links