611
34.
KOWLOON, OLD CITY 2 (cont.)
It was arranged that the British flag should be hoisted over the New Territories on April 17, 1899, but on April 15 there were serious disturbances in the area, which were quelled by British troops and police, with some loss of life, and on May 16 as a punishment for resistance, Kowloon City was occupied, and Chinese jurisdiction was at an end.
"In the middle ages the Chinese authorities had never consented to the relinquishment of a city, as it was stated in the ancient Book of Law in the Royal Court that any Emperor who lost one city during his regime would be prohibited to enter the Royal Temple in the capital for an indefinite period, until that city had been recovered.
The deduction was that if an Emperor lost as much as a city he should be too ashamed to face his ancestors' spirits in the Temple, and such a punishment for the Emperor ensured the retention of all China's cities in the early treaties with foreign Powers regarding the granting of concessions or leasing of territories on the coast. It would seem that in their anxiety to preserve only the walled cities, the Chinese rulers did not see the much more important geographical and commercial value of the coastal territories."
It might be added that the decision to preserve the Sung Wong rock (known as Sung Wong Toi or Tong) was unanimously approved by the Legislative Council on August 15, 1898, after a most able speech advocating this step by the Hon. Mr. Ho Kai, afterwards Sir Kai Ho Kai.
The recent reference to the Lung Tsun pier at Kowloon City opposite the Kowloon City Police Station (see 18.7.33) omitted to mention the existence of a black slate tablet which gives a fairly full account of the causes leading to the building of this pier, in stone, probably on the site of an older landing place. The tablet, resting on a low stone stand and surrounded by four old cannon, is outside the police station, and not far from the pier. According to the Chinese characters on this tablet, the Lung Tsun pier, now used by the Hongkong-Kowloon City ferry, was built in 1873, "the twelfth year of the reign of the Emperor Tung Chi in the Ching Dynasty", and by general subscription of the Kowloon City kai fongs. On another part of the tablet it is recorded that the pier was almost demolished through lack of repair, and typhoons, and as a result of its bad state the kai fongs met in 1891, and $1,700 was secured through general subscription for the repairing of the pier. Over one hundred names of individuals and firms in Kowloon City were inscribed on the tablet, in which their generosity for assisting in rebuilding the pier is acknowledged.
The old cannon at Kowloon City, although they are now mere curios, must have been at one time effective means of defence for the Chinese living within the city wall. Although it is established on reliable authority that these cannon, together with two now on display outside the Water Police Station, were first discovered buried in the ground in Kowloon City, their origin is something of a puzzle. Actually, a number of these old guns were found after the British took over Kowloon City, but some of these were sold to old metal dealers, being made of bronze. During the disturbances in the late Eighties on the mainland, the British Navy was called upon to take action, and it is stated that some of the cannon were landed originally from the warships.
The four pieces to be seen now outside Kowloon City Police Station were removed from the native city about eight years ago, and transferred to the present site when the new police station was built facing the sea front. There are two more cannon of greater size, weighing about 1,500 lbs. each, still lying near the southern gate of the city wall, and they appear to be a much older type, probably used by the Manchu garrisons in the earliest days of British commerce with China.
"Bindihi" "In your reference to Kowloon City Pier, cannon, etc., you note that the Police Station is only eight years old and that the old police station stood further back on the old waterfront. It was still there until recently may be still. But how could there have been a pier on the site of the present pier near the Police Station? That is all reclamation, begun about 1918. The tablet has apparently been moved outward from the old Police Station or is preserved as the relic of an old pier whose site is now two or three blocks from the waterfront".
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Page 36
611
34.
KOWLOON, OLD CITY 2 (cont.)
It was arranged that the British flag should be hoisted over the New Territories on April 17, 1899, but on April 15 there were serious disturbances in the area, which were quelled by British troops and police, with some loss of life, and on May 16 as a punishment for resistance, Kowloon City was occupied, and Chinese jurisdiction was at an end.
"In the middle ages the Chinese authorities had never consented to the relinquishment of a city, as it was stated in the ancient Book of Law in the Royal Court that any Emperor who lost one city during his regime would be prohibited to enter the Royal Temple in the capital for an inde-
The deduction was that finite period, until that city had been recovered.
if an Emperor lost as much as a city he should be too ashamed to face his ancestors' spirits in the Temple, and such a punishment for the Emperor ensured the retention of all China's cities in the early treaties with foreign Powers regarding the granting of concessions or leasing of terri- tories on the coast. It would seem that in their anxiety to preserve only the walled cities, the Chinese rulers did not see the much more important geographical and commercial value of the coastal territories,"
It might be added that the decision to preserve the Sung Wong rock (known as Sung Wong Toi or Tong) was unanimously approved by the Legis- lative Council on August 15, 1898, after a most able speech advocating this step by the Hon. Mr. Ho Kai, afterwards Sir Kai Ho Kai.
The recent reference to the Lung Tsun pier at Kowloon City opposite the Kowloon City Police Station (see 18.7.33) omitted to mention the exis- tence of a black slate tablet which gives a fairly full account of the causes leading to the building of this pier, in stone, probably on the site of an older landing place. The tablet, resting on a low stone stand and surrounded by four old cannon, is outside the police station, and not far from the pier, According to the Chinese characters on this tablet, the Lung Tsun pier, now used by the Hongkong-Kowloon City ferry, was built in 1873, "the twelfth year of the reign of the Emperor Tung Chi in the Ching Dynasty", and by general subscription of the Kowloon City kai fongs. On another part of the tablet it is recorded that the pier was almost demolish- ed through lack of repair, and typhoons, and as a result of its bad state the kai fongs met in 1891, and $1,700 was secured through general subscription for the repairing of the pier. Over one hundred names of individuals and firms in Kowloon City were inscribed on the tablet, in which their genero- sity for assisting in rebuilding the pier is acknowledged.
The old cannon at Kowloon City, although they are now mere curios, must have been at one time effective means of defence for the Chinese liv- ing within the city wall. Although it is established on reliable authori- ty that these cannon, together with two now on display outside the Water Police Station, were first discovered buried in the ground in Kowloon City, their origin is something of a puzzle. Actually, a number of these old guns were found after the British took over Kowloon City, but some of these were sold to old metal dealers, being made of bronze. During the disturbances in the late Eighties on the mainland, the British Navy was called upon to take action, and it is stated that some of the cannon were landed originally from the warships.
The four pieces to be seen now outside Kowloon City Police Station were removed from the native city about eight years ago, and transferred to the present site when the new police station was built facing the sea front. There are two more cannon of greater size, weighing about 1,500 lbs. each, still lying near the southern gate of the city wall, and they appear to be a much older type, probably used by the Manchu garrisons in the earliest days of British commerce with China,
"Bindihi" "In your reference to Kowloon City Pier, cannon, etc., you note that the Police Station is only eight years old and that the old police station stood further back on the old waterfront. It was still there until recently may be still. But how could there have been a pier on the site of the present pier near the Police Station? That is all reclamation, begun about 1918. The tablet has apparently been moved outward from the old Police Station or is preserved as the relic of an old pier whose site is now two or three blocks from the waterfront".
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