Lee Hysan or Lee Hy-san (1879 – 30 April 1928) was a Hong Kong businessman who was involved in the
opium
Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which i ...
trade and refinery, as well as land development in
British Hong Kong
Hong Kong was a colony and later a dependent territory of the British Empire from 1841 to 1997, apart from a period of occupation under the Japanese Empire from 1941 to 1945 during the Pacific War. The colonial period began with the Briti ...
during the early 1900s. He was nicknamed the ''Opium King'' in Hong Kong and Macau.
Early life
Lee was born in
Hawaii. Lee's father was Lee Leung-yik (), a businessman who was heavily involved in the opium business in Hong Kong and China. Lee's ancestral home was
Kaiping, China, and Lee Leung-yik immigrated and moved his family to the US during the
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...
at age 49 when immigration from
Qing-era China was illegal. After making a small fortune, the family left
San Francisco in 1896 and eventually relocated to
Xinhui,
Guangdong Province and then to
Hong Kong.
At age seventeen, after arriving in Hong Kong. Lee Hysan continued his studies at
Queen's College. Since he spoke English fluently, he later taught English at Queen's College, his alma mater.
Career
Lee's father achieved great wealth from the opium trade, and Lee inherited his father's business. Having amassed a great fortune from his successful opium business, Lee later participated in the fast-growing Hong Kong real estate market.
In 1923, he bought the
Jardine's Hill
Lee Gardens () is a hill south of East Point and west of Causeway Bay on the Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong, approximately the area between Percival Street, Hennessy Road and Leighton Road. It was also known as Jardine's Hill or East Point Hil ...
property, west of
Causeway Bay, from
Jardines for
HK$3.8 million. He initially wanted to build opium refinery facilities there, but owing to the global anti-opium movement, he changed his plan and developed the property as
Lee Garden
Lee Gardens () is a hill south of East Point and west of Causeway Bay on the Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong, approximately the area between Percival Street, Hennessy Road and Leighton Road. It was also known as Jardine's Hill or East Point Hill. ...
. It is approximately the area around
Lee Garden Road
Lee may refer to:
Name
Given name
* Lee (given name), a given name in English
Surname
* Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee:
** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname
** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese s ...
,
Lee Theatre,
Yun Ping Road Yun may refer to:
*Yǔn, Chinese name of Xionites, a nomadic tribe of Central Asia
*Yun (Chinese name) (云/雲), a Chinese family name
*Yun (ancient surname), an ancient Chinese surname
*Yeon, or Yun, Korean (or Dutch given name) family name
*Yun ...
and
Percival Street
Percival Street is a street in the East Point and Happy Valley, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. The street spans from Gloucester Road in the north to Leighton Road in the south. Between Hennessy Road and Leighton Road, the street is with a bra ...
.
Children
In March 1905, Lee's son
Richard Charles Lee was born in Hong Kong. In December 1924, Lee's son
Jung Kong Lee
Dr. Jung Kong Lee (; December 1924 – 31 January 1990) was a Hong Kong-born American-educated chemist and politician. He was member of the Hysan Lee family and a chemist at the University of Kansas. He was also a member of the Hong Kong Basic L ...
was also born in Hong Kong.
Death and legacy
On 30 April 1928, Lee was shot on a street in the
Central district in Hong Kong and died shortly after yelling for help. The assassination was possibly due to a growing public resentment of his opium business, which people believed had caused great harm to Chinese society. The assassin was never caught, despite his family offering a huge bounty.
At the time of his death, his estate was valued at HK$4.4 million. The present-day
Hysan Development Company
Hysan Development Company Limited is a Hong Kong property investment, management and development company that is listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. The company was formed in Hong Kong in 1923, when businessman Lee Hysan acquired plots of ...
has a
market capitalisation in excess of HK$20 billion.
Landmarks named after him
*
Lee Garden
Lee Gardens () is a hill south of East Point and west of Causeway Bay on the Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong, approximately the area between Percival Street, Hennessy Road and Leighton Road. It was also known as Jardine's Hill or East Point Hill. ...
**
Lee Garden One
Manulife Plaza, also known as Lee Garden One, is an office skyscraper in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. The triangular-shaped tower stands tall and contains 52 floors of office space. The building is currently the 16th tallest i ...
** Lee Garden Two
** Lee Garden Three
** Lee Garden Five
** Lee Garden Six
*
*
Hysan Place
*
Lee Hysan Hall in the
University of Hong Kong
* Lee Hysan Medical Library in the
University of Hong Kong, renamed as Yu Chun Keung Medical Library after moving
Lee Hysan Concert Hallin
Chinese University of Hong Kong
Doggerel
There was a popular doggerel in Hong Kong showing Lee's notoriety. The first characters of the first three lines sound (in
Cantonese) almost the same as Lee's name:
::利己害人 lei
6 gei
2 hoi
6 jan
4
::欺貧重富 hei
1 pan
4 zung
6 fu
3
::神憎鬼厭 san
4 zang
1 gwai
2 jim
3
::街知巷聞 gaai
1 zi
1 hong
6 man
4
Literal translation:
::''Benefiting oneself while harming others,''
::''Oppressing the poor while respecting the rich.''
::''Detested by the deities and disgusted by the ghosts,''
::''Known on the streets and heard on the alleys.''
Notable relatives
Many of Lee's descendants and other family members are notable in their own right:
*
Richard Charles Lee (利銘澤) (1905-1983)
- businessman, son of Lee Hysan
*
Vivienne Poy née Lee (利德蕙) - daughter of
Richard Charles Lee and a
Canadian Senator from 1998 to 2012
*
Harold Hsiao-Wo Lee (利孝和)
*
Jung Kong Lee
Dr. Jung Kong Lee (; December 1924 – 31 January 1990) was a Hong Kong-born American-educated chemist and politician. He was member of the Hysan Lee family and a chemist at the University of Kansas. He was also a member of the Hong Kong Basic L ...
(利榮康) - chemist, son of Lee Hysan
*
Lee Quo-wei (利國偉) - banker and educator, nephew of Lee Hysan
*
Peter Ting Chang Lee, JP (deceased) - former Chairman of
Hysan Development
Hysan Development Company Limited is a Hong Kong property investment, management and development company that is listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. The company was formed in Hong Kong in 1923, when businessman Lee Hysan acquired plots of ...
*
Michael Tze Hau Lee, BA, MBA - Managing Director, Hysan Development Company Limited
* Anthony Hsien Pin Lee, BA, MBA - non-managing director, Hysan Development Company Limited
* Chien Lee - non-executive director, Hysan Development Company Limited
* Dr. Deanna Ruth Tak Yung Rudgard, BA, MD - non-executive director, Hysan Development Company Limited
Further reading
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Hysan
Hong Kong businesspeople
1928 deaths
1879 births
Assassinated Hong Kong people
People murdered in Hong Kong
Businesspeople from Hawaii
Opium in China
Hawaii people of Chinese descent
1928 in Hong Kong
1928 crimes in Hong Kong
1928 murders in Asia
1920s murders in Hong Kong
Alumni of Queen's College, Hong Kong
American emigrants to China