Kwan Sung-sing (29 August 1892 – 27 November 1960) was a Chinese construction engineer, architect, entrepreneur, founder of the architectural firm “Kwan, Chu and Yang Architects” () and a member of Hongmen. He was also an activist who promoted track and field sports in the Republic of China during the 1950s, and was thus hailed as "the father of track and field in Taiwan." He was born in Weihai, Shandong, Qing China.
Life
In Mainland China
Kwan Sung-sing was born in Weihaiwei on August 29, 1892. When he attended the Lingnan school (嶺南學校), he was heavily influenced by the school chancellor Chung Jung-hua (), who was a member of the revolutionary Tongmenghui. He cut off his queue—a sign of rebellion against the Qing dynasty. As a result, in 1907, Kwan's father, Dr. King Yin Kwan (), had to entrust his friend Wu Tingfang to take Kwan to study in the United States.
Kwan began his studies in the US at Dummer Academy. However, in 1908, he transferred to Phillips Academy Andover. During this time, Kwan was a member of the school's soccer team, serving as the captain. He was also a sprinter on the track team. Though a member of Andover Class of 1912, Kwan left the school in 1911 as a "non-returning middler", which was common at the time.
Later in 1911, Kwan attended St. John's University and was admitted to the Tsinghua School (now Tsinghua University). During his time at Tsinghua, he placed first both in the 1913 Far Eastern Games track and field 880 yard run and the Discus event. He also placed second in the one-mile relay. Kwan entered MIT in 1914 and received a bachelor's degree in architecture in 1917. In 1919, Kwan studied city management for another year at Harvard University.
In 1919, Kwan returned to his home country to forge a career. In 1920, he established an architecture firm named “Kwan, Chu & Yang Architects” in Tianjin. He was also an engineering counselor to Tianjin's police department and the chief architect at Beining Road (北甯路), Tianjin. He assisted in supervising the construction of the Peking Union Medical College. Kwan was also a member of the engineering branch of Nanjing’s capital construction committee. In 1928, he was involved in the process of categorizing the engineering schools of China, and he later became a fellow of the Chinese Engineering Society (中國營造學社).
In the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War, Kwan found himself stuck in Northern China. The Japanese asked that he lead the Public Constructions Department of the puppet Manchukuo government, but he declined and instead escaped to the city of Chongqing, which was still controlled by the Republic of China. During the war, he voluntarily assisted in the construction of the Jiangyin Defences (江陰防禦工程), located at a strategic position on the Yangtze. He was caught in multiple bombing raids by the Japanese air force, and his life was endangered on multiple occasions.
In 1937, the Genealogy of The Kwan Family of Fanyu, Guangdong (廣東番禺關氏家譜) was published. Kwan helped to edit the book.
In the 1940s, Kwan came to fame as a structural engineer in China. He was known alongside other engineers including Chen Chih () and Chao Shen (). Before the ROC government moved to Taiwan in 1949, Kwan, Chu and Yang Architects had branches located in Shanghai, Nanjing, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Shenyang and Hong Kong. The architecture firm had completed hundreds of projects, including Nanking Central Stadium (now the campus of Nanjing Sport Institute) in 1933, Nanking Central Hospital (now Nanjing General Hospital of People's Liberation Army) in 1934, the library of the University of Nanking in 1937, and the Central Bank in Caojiadu (漕家渡), Chongqing in 1940.
In Taiwan
Track and Field Proponent
In 1949, Kwan Sung-sing and his family moved to Taiwan with the intent of supporting track and field sports in the nation. From 1952 to 1957, he served as a Taiwan Provincial Games track and field starter. While he was serving as the starter, he brought his own cap gun and wore formal attire, which made him something of an attraction in the early Provincial Games and gained him the name “Guanlaoye” (, Sir Kwan) and the nickname “Guanfaling” (, Kwan the starter).
Kwan accompanied the ROC World Games delegation to Rome to participate in the 1960 Summer Olympics. After the event, he travelled to various European countries for leisure purposes, but when he returned to Hong Kong, he read a news article from Taipei forwarded by a foreign news agency, claiming that he and Yi kuo-jui () had travelled to Paris purely for fun. He found this to be quite a pity and responded to the reporter saying: "I would not do such a thing."