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zation, the other with the implications of marketing systems for social structure. Both are relevant to an understanding of the mid-nineteenth century militia movement and the resistance to British forces entering Hong Kong's New Territories at the end of the century.25 The remainder of this article will be devoted to a consideration of the two subjects.
The Mid-Nineteenth Century Militia Movement.
Wakeman, in his analysis of this subject, distinguishes three types of militia. The first comprised yung (勇), or braves, Yung were hired mercenaries who, when officially employed, were commanded by regular officers and tended to fight as closely supervised auxiliaries to the regular forces. Tung-kwan Hsien, Kwang-tung, had a particular reputation for producing such 'bare-sticks' and sent recruits to fight the British in both 1840 and 1899. The second type of militia were gentry-sponsored t'uan-lien (團練). They were raised at Government's request or by its authority and tended to be under close official supervision, although frequently retaining considerable independence of action in the field. The third type of militia, described by Wakeman as "genuine t'uan-lien”, might be more appropriately termed ‘local corps'26. Although their existence may have been sanctioned or countenanced by Imperial officials, they were frequently formed on local initiative and particularly during the later years of the nineteenth century were largely independent of government control. Subsequent discussion will be principally concerned with the second and third types of militia.
The t'uan-lien which assembled at Canton in 1840 were composite organizations. They came from the counties of Nan-hai, P'an-yü, Hsiang-shan, and Hsin-an and, in theory, were created by the implementation of the hu-ch'ou-ting (戶抽丁) system. This seems unlikely as the entire force was assembled within ten days. In fact, the hu-ch'ou-ting system had been "superimposed on preexisting local militia"27 An example is provided by the t'uan-lien (local corps) of San-yuan-li, which were “organized under 'banners' (旗), usually inscribed with the characters 'righteous people' (義民) and the name of the particular village
each of the t'uan-lien represented someone's own village. The irregulars tended to retreat or advance behind the banner of their particular town.... "28
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36
R. G. GROVES
zation, the other with the implications of marketing systems for social structure. Both are relevant to an understanding of the mid-nineteenth century militia movement and the resistance to British forces entering Hong Kong's New Territories at the end of the century.25 The remainder of this article will be devoted to a consideration of the two subjects.
The Mid-Nineteenth Century Militia Movement.
Wakeman, in his analysis of this subject, distinguishes three types of militia. The first comprised yung (9), or braves, Yung were hired mercenaries who, when officially employed, were com- manded by regular officers and tended to fight as closely super- vised auxiliaries to the regular forces. Tung-kwan Hsien, Kwang- tung, had a particular reputation for producing such 'bare-sticks' and sent recruits to fight the British in both 1840 and 1899. The second type of militia were gentry-sponsored t'uan-lien (1). They were raised at Government's request or by its authority and tended to be under close official supervision, although frequently retaining considerable independence of action in the field. The third type of militia, described by Wakeman as "genuine t'uan- lien”, might be more appropriately termed ‘local corps'26. Although their existence may have been sanctioned or countenanced by Imperial officials, they were frequently formed on local initiative and particularly during the later years of the nineteenth cen- tury were largely independent of government control. Sub- sequent discussion will be principally concerned with the second and third types of militia.
The t'uan-lien which assembled at Canton in 1840 were com- posite organizations. They came from the counties of Nan-hai, P'an-yü, Hsiang-shan, and Hsin-an and, in theory, were created by the implementation of the hu-ch'ou-ting (household levy) system. This seems unlikely as the entire force was assembled within ten days. In fact, the hu-ch'ou-ting system had been "superimposed on preexisting local militia
"27 An example is provided by the t'uan-lien (local corps) of San-yuan-li, which were “organized under 'banners' (ch'i), usually inscribed with the characters 'righteous people' (i-min) and the name of the particular village
cach of the t'uan-lien represented someone's own village. The irregulars tended to retreat or advance behind the banner of their particular town.... "28
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