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Wo Hing means “harmony and prosperity” Wo = Peace and Harmony Hing = Prosperity
Our Mission
The Wo Hing Society is a long-established nonprofit corporation that serves to perpetuate and maintain the Chinese culture on Maui.
History
Celebrations
Celebrations
Early Chinese on Maui laid the groundwork for Maui's agriculture, infrastructure and business.
Celebrations
Celebrations
Celebrations
Wo Hing Society celebrated eight events, following the lunar calendar's festival cycle.
About the Wo Hing Society
For more than a century, the Wo Hing Society has served as a symbol of Chinese unity on Maui. Chinese male immigrants Chung Kung You and Chun Wa formed the society in Lahaina in the late 1800s as a way to maintain social and political ties with their kinsfolk and ancestral home.
“Wo” means “peace and harmony,” and “Hing” means “prosperity.” Formally registered in 1906, the organization provided community and support for its members from birth to death. The Maui News described it as a “mutual relief society.”
Early Wo Hing members contributed to construction of the society hall on Front Street in 1912, building a two-story Chinese Victorian style structure with wrap-around lanai, decorated with Chinese grills and engraved plaques. Upstairs contained a temple and altar for religious ceremonies, while downstairs served as the clubhouse. A cookhouse was later built in the backyard. An important center for daily social contact and support, the Wo Hing Society was always full of life.
The society hall was also full of revolutionary energy in the days of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, now known as the Father of Modern China. Supported by his brother Sun Mei, Dr. Sun Yat-Sen and his family lived on Maui while he worked to orchestrate the Xinhai Revolution of 1911 and eventually become first provisional president of the Republic of China.
In the 1940s, as Lahaina’s Chinese population decreased, so did society membership. Chinese agricultural workers began looking for opportunities in business or in Honolulu, and their descendants no longer wanted to follow the old ways. Without maintenance, the Society’s buildings began to show their age. They were close to collapse when Lahaina Restoration Foundation (LRF) contracted with Wo Hing Society in 1983 to restore the buildings.
The social hall was transformed into a museum and gift shop, and the cookhouse became a small theater, recently screening “Finding Sandalwood Mountain,” a documentary film shot in Hawai‘i and China telling the story of Hawai‘i’s Chinese families. Wo Hing Society members continued to use the facility for cultural activities, such as the Moon Festival.
In 1999, a discovery of historic society records—some from the late 1800s—sparked research projects with LRF which helped to revitalize the society. These ongoing projects aimed to inventory, translate and preserve 2,000 records and artifacts.
Although the buildings and most artifacts were lost in the August 2023 fires that devastated historic Lahaina Town, many of these records live on in digital format, providing a legacy of Chinese history in Lahaina and on Maui for future generations.
Preserve Chinese Hawaiian History and Stories for the World
Your support and contributions will enable us to meet our goals and fund our mission. We need to come together now to make sure our Museum and Temple have a bright future.
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On August 8, 2023 the Wo Hing Society Hall & Cookhouse burned down during the wildfires that swept through Lahaina Town. If you would like to donate, follow the link below.