Li Ki-tong (1873-6 October 1943) () (formerly Li Po-lun) was a Hong Kong publisher and key financial backer of the revolutionary movement leading to the

Xinhai Revolution The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China. The revolution was the culmination of a d ...

which overthrew the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

of China.

Early life

Li was born in

Xinhui Xinhui, alternately romanized as Sunwui and also known as Kuixiang, is an urban district of Jiangmen in Guangdong, China. It grew from a separate city founded at the confluence of the Tan and West Rivers. It has a population of about 735,500, ...

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

, the third son of wealthy businessman Lei Sing () (1830–1900).

Publishing and wealth

Li's father was considered among Hong Kong's wealthiest Chinese, with vast landholdings. Consequently, Li became a substantial landholder, particularly in the New Territories, holding hundreds of acres in Castle Peak, Ha Pak Nai and Long Valley. Li was the primary financier for the ''China Daily'', founded to promote the revolution, published in Hong Kong from 1900 to 1911. He spent his entire fortune in support of the revolution and ultimately spent time in debtors' prison and was bankrupted.

Revolutionary

Li first met Dr

Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-sen (; also known by several other names; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925)Singtao daily. Saturday edition. 23 October 2010. section A18. Sun Yat-sen Xinhai revolution 100th anniversary edition . was a Chinese politician who serve ...

, as the latter passed through Hong Kong in June 1895, upon the introduction of revolutionary

Yeung Ku-wan Yeung Ku-wan (19 December 1861 – 11 January 1901) was a Chinese revolutionary of the late Qing dynasty. In 1890, Yeung started the Furen Literary Society in British Hong Kong to spread ideas of revolution against the Qing dynasty and to est ...

, co-founder of the forerunner to the

Revive China Society The Hsing Chung Hui (Hanyu Pinyin romanization: Xīngzhōnghuì), translated as the Revive China Society (興中會), the Society for Regenerating China, or the Proper China Society was founded by Sun Yat-sen on 24 November 1894 to forward th ...

, the

Furen Literary Society The Furen Literary Society, also known as the Chinese Patriotic Mutual Improvement Association, or the 'Furen Cultural Society Restoration Association (Foo Yan Man Ser Kwong Fook Hui)', was founded in Colonial Hong Kong in 1892. It was founded b ...

. He was an early member of the China Club, established by revolutionary firebrand

Tse Tsan-tai Tse Tsan-tai (; 16 May 1872 – 4 April 1938), courtesy name Sing-on (), art-named Hong-yu (), was an Australian Chinese revolutionary, active during the late Qing dynasty. Tse had an interest in designing airships but none were ever construct ...

in 1898, and in 1900 became a member of the Revive China Society. He later also became a member of Dr Sun's

Tongmenghui The Tongmenghui of China (or T'ung-meng Hui, variously translated as Chinese United League, United League, Chinese Revolutionary Alliance, Chinese Alliance, United Allegiance Society, ) was a secret society and underground resistance movement ...

(Chinese Revolutionary Alliance). Li owned the Red House on Castle Peak Farm and gave it over to the revolutionaries (including Feng Ziyou and Huang Xing) for military training and storage of materiel. He also operated a grocery store in the Central Market, whose proceeds went to support the revolution. In January 1903, Li provided the financial resources for

's failed uprising (the

Heavenly Kingdom of the Great Mingshun The Heavenly Kingdom of the Great Mingshun (), or the Shuntian Kingdom (), was an attempt by members of the Revive China Society to establish a Westernized constitutional monarchy with references to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in 1903, founders o ...

) in Guangzhou. From 1904 to 1906, he operated a school in Kowloon to promote revolutionary ideas and as a source of recruitment. In about 1910, Li provided land and resources for the erection of the fortified structure at No. 55

Ha Pak Nai Pak Nai () is a wetland area, partly mud-bank, surrounded by mountain ranges, in the Yuen Long District of Hong Kong facing Deep Bay (aka. Shenzhen Bay). Pak Nai makes up the coastline as Sheung Pak Nai () and Ha Pak Nai () geographically. Pak N ...

Yuen Long Yuen Long is a town in the western New Territories, Hong Kong. To its west lie Hung Shui Kiu (), Tin Shui Wai, Lau Fau Shan and Ha Tsuen, to the south Shap Pat Heung and Tai Tong, to the east Au Tau and Kam Tin (), and to the north Nam Sang W ...

, Hong Kong, for use by the members of the Revive China Society. Li died in 1943 in Chongqing, Sichuan, China, the wartime capital of the Republic of China.

References

{{reflist Ki-tong. Li Ki-tong. Li Ki-tong. Li Ki-tong. Li Ki-tong. Li 19th-century Chinese businesspeople 20th-century Chinese businesspeople