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In addition, a number of articles and books came out of the project, including Ng Jun Ngai-ha's "Village education in transition: the case of Sheung Shui", and David Faure's "Sai Kung: The Making of the District and its Experience during World War II".25 Faure's book on the Eastern New Territories, based partly on these findings, appeared in 1986.26 The Project, both in the data collected and the interpretative writings arising from it, has significantly enhanced our understanding of traditional Chinese village life and the New Territories, elevating local history to new levels of sophistication. In particular, unlike the mainstream Chinese historians of a previous generation, Faure and others no longer look at the New Territories, or even South China, from the Great Tradition perspective, but tend to underline local culture and try to resolve the paradox between unity and diversity in Chinese culture.27
Institutional histories
Local history has also been enriched by a proliferation of institutional histories from the 1970s onwards by commercial and non-commercial institutions which were beginning to celebrate their 60th, 70th... 100th anniversaries. In the course of producing the story of these institutions, be they banks, schools, churches, temples, trading companies, charitable organizations, hospitals, even private medical practices and government organizations, much information about Hong Kong on a micro-level has been uncovered. In cases where documents are lacking, and especially when a more lively approach is required, old people associated with these institutions are interviewed, yielding extremely valuable data. It is amusing that so often, the institutions themselves have no idea what a wealth of materials is sitting in their back rooms until the commissioned author starts rummaging through them. Unfortunately, histories of institutions are not generally available to the public, but in most cases they will be supplied upon request.
Popularizing Local History: Museums and the Antiquities and Monuments Office
Until the 1970s, the study of local history really involved an exclusive group of scholars, albeit growing in numbers, holding dialogue among themselves. There was little public demand for local history, and very little access to it. However, from the 1970s, things began to change.