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encouraged seeing the important connection it has with the food supply of the Chinese, one of whose staple articles of food is salt fish.
The Salt Workers at Tai O after 1899
Lin states that the solar process of salt production was only introduced at Tai O when natives of Swabue, Haifong, north-east Kwangtung, were first engaged by the salt companies. Enquiries at Tai O indicate that this was apparently about a decade after the British took over the New Territories, since a retired foreman has told me that he came here when he was 18 years old to join his father. This was about 1910. His father had come to Tai O only two or three years previously from Po Mei Heung (*) about three hours walk from Swabue (). Father and son in turn were foreman at one of the salt-fields, and I am informed that all foremen in the Tai O pans since that time have been from that place. My informant was illiterate and it is very likely his father was too.
The father had been a salt worker all his life and his father before him. In fact, the whole village of Po Mei was apparently engaged in salt-production and must have been so employed for generations. This explains why one of the Tai O salt manufacturers thought of employing people from that area. They must have gradually displaced local workers using the leaching process of salt production since in 1940, when Lin wrote his article, it appears (from the estimate given in the first paragraph of his) that the major part of the salt-pans were used to produce salt by the solar or Swabue method. These "outside" workers usually went back to Swabue, at will or when they became too old to work. Even in 1962, when I collected information for these notes, there were only 8 or 9 retired salt workers living in Tai O.
Women came from Swabue to work as well as men. In 1962 I spoke to a woman, married to a salt worker, who had been in Tai O for 20-30 years; and to a young man of Swabue parentage, also a salt-worker, who had been born in Tai O, whilst his parents were working there. In 1962 a few families were still working some of the pans for themselves. Each consisted of a man, one or two women and a few children. In two of the
SALT MANUFACTURE IN HONG KONG
149
encouraged seeing the important connection it has with the food supply of the Chinese, one of whose staple articles of food is salt fish.
The Salt Workers at Tai O after 1899
Lin states that the solar process of salt production was only introduced at Tai O when natives of Swabue, Haifong, north-east Kwangtung, were first engaged by the salt companies. Enquiries at Tai O indicate that this was apparently about a decade after the British took over the New Territories, since a retired foreman has told me that he came here when he was 18 years old to join his father. This was about 1910. His father had come to Tai O only two or three years previously from Po Mei Heung (*) about three hours walk from Swabue (). Father and son in turn were foreman at one of the salt-fields, and I am informed that all foremen in the Tai O pans since that time have been from that place. My informant was illiterate and it is very likely his father was too.
The father had been a salt worker all his life and his father before him. In fact, the whole village of Po Mei was apparently engaged in salt-production and must have been so employed for generations. This explains why one of the Tai O salt manu- facturers thought of employing people from that area. They must have gradually displaced local workers using the leaching process of salt production since in 1940, when Lin wrote his article, it appears (from the estimate given in the first paragraph of his ) that the major part of the salt-pans were used to produce salt by the solar or Swabue method. These "outside" workers usually went back to Swabue, at will or when they became too old to work. Even in 1962, when I collected information for these notes, there were only 8 or 9 retired salt workers living in Tai O.
Women came from Swabue to work as well as men. In 1962 I spoke to a woman, married to a salt worker, who had been in Tai O for 20-30 years; and to a young man of Swabue parentage, also a salt-worker, who had been born in Tai O, whilst his parents were working there. In 1962 a few families were still working some of the pans for themselves. Each consisted of a man, one or two women and a few children. In two of the
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