OLD BRITISH KOWLOON
123
shores away from the villages and forming small clannish communities".
For this description he was indignantly taken to task by later writers13 but since this is the contemporary estimate of an experienced person it should not be set altogether on one side, especially as this was a period during which Hakkas were generally on the move. His case is perhaps strengthened by a contemporary statement of the low ebb of education among the estimated 10,000 Hakkas then living in the San On district. At that time Rev. Ph. Winnes of the Basel Mission wrote:14
"Popular education in this district... is generally speaking in a deplorable state as regards the Hakkas. We may find small villages in which scarcely one person is to be found who can read and write. Then in those places where schools are to be found the local people cannot derive much benefit from them on account of their poverty".
If an accurate statement of the position, this is consistent inter alia with recent settlement on the part of many of the 10,000.
I wish now to turn my attention to some Hakka villages in the centre of Old Kowloon. These are the villages of Mong Kok (*) and Ho Man Tin (††) which, with other smaller settlements, occupied the hilly area in the centre of the peninsula.15 These villages disappeared in the face of urban development in the opening decades of the 20th century but sufficient material is available to give an account of them, thanks to the longevity of some of their former inhabitants16 and to published source material.
These villages may be described as multi-clan settlements; that is to say, they were inhabited by families of more than one shing () or name. For instance by 1897 Mong Kok seems to have been inhabited by families of seven names, though one of them nearly outnumbered all the others put together.
Their population was then between 200-300 persons each.17 In Ho Man Tin families of six names together made up the village. All these persons were described to me as Hakkas. However, my enquiries about marriages to the third generation above my informants show that these local Hakkas were of mixed blood. Marriages of Hakka men with Punti women and vice versa were
OLD BRITISH KOWLOON
123
shores away from the villages and forming small clannish communities".
For this description he was indignantly taken to task by later writers13 but since this is the contemporary estimate of an experienced person it should not be set altogether on one side, especially as this was a period during which Hakkas were generally on the move. His case is perhaps strengthened by a contemporary statement of the low ebb of education among the estimated 10,000 Hakkas then living in the San On district. At that time Rev. Ph. Winnes of the Basel Mission wrote: 14
"Popular education in this district... is generally speaking in a deplorable state as regards the Hakkas. We may find small villages in which scarcely one person is to be found who can read and write. Then in those places where schools are to be found the local people cannot derive much benefit from them on account of their poverty ".
If an accurate statement of the position, this is consistent inter alia with recent settlement on the part of many of the 10,000.
I wish now to turn my attention to some Hakka villages in the centre of Old Kowloon. These are the
These are the villages of Mong Kok ( * ) and Ho Man Tin (††) which, with other smaller settlements, occupied the hilly area in the centre of the peninsula.15 These villages disappeared in the face of urban development in the opening decades of the 20th century but sufficient material is available to give an account of them, thanks to the longevity of some of their former inhabitants16 and to published source material,
These villages may be described as multi-clan settlements; that is to say, they were inhabited by families of more than one shing () or name. For instance by 1897 Mong Kok seems to have been inhabited by families of seven names, though one of them nearly outnumbered all the others put together.
Their population was then between 200-300 persons each.17 In Ho Man Tin families of six names together made up the village. All these persons were described to me as Hakkas. However, my enquiries about marriages to the third generation above my informants show that these local Hakkas were of mixed blood. Marriages of Hakka men with Punti women and vice versa were
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.