316
BOOK REVIEWS
At the same time, however, it is possible to push this thesis too far, and to postulate a society formed of distinct island communities formed essentially on a cultural basis and only temporarily, and warily, in amity with other ethnic groups. Blake, it seems to me, does begin to move towards this position in some places. There are differences, for instance, between Hakka and Punti, but they are less significant, in most circumstances, than the factors which link them together as "the indigenous" and set them apart from "the outsiders". On the other hand, there are factors linking land Hoklo and sea Hoklo, but they are, on the whole, less significant than the deep social and economic divides set between land and sea people. In a book such as this it is surely strange that there is no discussion of the concept of indigenousness, and no study on the effects of time on the concept of social separateness.
of social separateness. Is a Chaochiu immigrant of just one or two years residence not socially distinct from one with 30 years residence? Certainly in some other New Territories areas the long resident outsider is regarded by the indigenous and by himself as representing a natural ally to the indigenous, even, on some matters, as against his own more recently arrived ethnic brothers. Other factors, such as the relative social status of land owners (indigenous and long resident outsiders) as against tenants (newcomer outsiders) and landless men (boat people and Hoklo labourers), and the differing relationships of each group to the Government, also need fuller discussion to flesh out and clarify the basic thesis. Ethnic groups and their interactions are of great importance in the social structure of the area, but they are not the sole or even, perhaps, the most important factor; historical, social, economic and other factors cannot be forgotten.
On matters of detail there are also some points which seem a little uncertain. To call the Tanka "Cantonese Boat People" rather than "Cantonese Speaking Boat People" is in itself to assume a good deal: to go on to assume that many (most, if near the sea) Cantonese villages in the New Territories descend from Tanka who had settled on land is to assume far more than is justified without far more discussion than is given. And to assume without discussion that all groups whose history in the