和平紀念碑 The Cenotaph | 香港文化古蹟資源中心 Hong Kong Resource Centre for Heritage

November 13th, 2021

評級：法定古蹟

在摩天大廈之間，有個廣闊的草坪，聳立了一座莊嚴肅穆的和平紀念碑。

紀念碑於1923年豎立，其設計參考倫敦白廳的戰爭紀念碑，紀念碑的兩旁和頂部共有三個石花圈裝飾，以紀念死難者和軍人。碑上刻着「The Glorious Dead」和第一次世界大戰的年份。經歷二戰後，殖民地政府再於碑上刻上二戰年份和「英魂不朽　浩氣長存」，紀念死難者。

在香港主權移交以前，每年的重光紀念日（即紀念香港脫離日本佔領的日子），政府都會在紀念碑舉行紀念活動。時至今日，仍有團體會在每年十一月舉辦紀念儀式，到紀念碑前向英魂致送花圈和朗讀禱文。

粵語：

CACHe · 012C

國語：

CACHe · 012M

Grading: Declared Monument

Surrounded by the skyscrapers in Central, the Cenotaph stands solemnly on a wide and spacious lawn.

Erected in 1923, the Cenotaph is decorated by wreaths carved in stone on the top and its two sides. Resembling the war memorial in Whitehall of London, the Cenotaph commemorates soldiers and civilians who lost their lives in the First World War. The Cenotaph was initially inscribed with the words “The Glorious Dead” and the years of the First World War. The years of the Second World War were subsequently added after. And then in the 1980s, Chinese characters of the phrase “May their martyred souls be immortal, and their noble spirits endure” were craved to the Cenotaph, making it clear that the war memorial commemorates all who fell in the defense of Hong Kong.

Before the handover of Hong Kong to China, annual ceremonies were held by the government at the Cenotaph on Liberation Day to commemorate Hong Kong’s liberation from Japanese occupation in 1945. Till today, every November, some people still lay wreaths and offer prayers at the site to commemorate the event.