HONG KONG BEFORE THE BRITISH
159
the conditions which reigned during that time were most undesirable. The text reads as follows;
Memorandum presented to the High Commissioner on the harmful practice of pearl fishing:-
"Wei Ying having seen that officials are being appointed to conduct the harmful practice of pearl fishing humbly presents his views on the subject for consideration.
"In Kwangtung province, Tung Kun District, there is a place called Mei Chu Ch'i which is not recorded in any text except by the Cabinet Secretary Ch'an Chün in the Annals of the Sung dynasty, who stated that in the 5th year 5th moon of T'ai Tsu of Sung (A.D. 965) the military post at Mei Chuan was abolished. A footnote states that Liu Chang (Emperor of the Southern Han dynasty) recruited 3,000 persons from the coastal region to gather pearls under the military post named Mei Chuan and that every year a great number were drowned. On account of this it was abolished.
"I note that when the false Emperor of the Southern Han dynasty, Liu Chen, usurped Kwangchow, the Sung Emperor in the 2nd moon of the 4th year of Hai Pao sent a general called Pan Mei and recaptured Kwangchow forcing Liu Chen to surrender, he then abolished the military post of Mei Chuan in the 5th moon of the 5th year. It was not that the Sung Emperor did not prize pearls but simply because of the harm to the country and people which made it imperative to stop the practice of fishing for them. If only expert divers could gather the pearls, why then was it necessary to organise a military post of 3,000? Because martial law was used to drive them to their death. Pearls are produced from oysters several fathoms beneath the sea and wherever there are oysters many water creatures and dangerous fish protect them. The method of gathering them is to tie stones onto a man and lower him into the sea so that he will sink quickly. Sometimes he gets pearls and sometimes not. When he suffocates he pulls the rope and a man in the boat hauls him up. If this is done a fraction too late the man dies. If he happens to meet dangerous sea creatures he cannot avoid their attacks. Besides out of one hundred oysters opened there are hardly one or two pearls
HONG KONG BEFORE THE BRITISH
159
the conditions which reigned during that time was most un- desirable. The text reads as follows;
Memorandum presented to the High Commissioner on the harmful practice of pearl fishing:-
"Wei Ying having seen that officials are being appointed to conduct the harmful practice of pearl fishing humbly presents his views on the subject for consideration.
"In Kwangtung province, Tung Kun District, there is a place called Mei Chủ Ch'i which is not recorded in any text except by the Cabinet Secretary Ch'an Chün in the Annals of the Sung dynasty, who stated that in the 5th year 5th moon of T'ai Tsu of Sung (A.D. 965) the military post at Mei Chuan was abolished. A footnote states that Liu Chang (Emperor of the Southern Han dynasty) recruited 3,000 persons from the coastal region to gather pearls under the military post named Mei Chuan and that every year a great number were drowned. On account of this it was abolished.
"I note that when the false Emperor of the Southern Han dynasty, Liu Chen, usurped Kwangchow, the Sung Emperor in the 2nd moon of the 4th year of Hai Pao sent a general called Pan Mei and recaptured Kwangchow forcing Liu Chen to surrender, he then abolished the military post of Mei Chuan in the 5th moon of the 5th year. It was not that the Sung Emperor did not prize pearls but simply because of the harm to the country and people which made it imperative to stop the practice of fishing for them. If only expert divers could gather the pearls, why then was it necessary to organise a military post of 3,000? Because martial law was used to drive them to their death. Pearls are produced from oysters several fathoms beneath the sea and wherever there are oysters many water creatures and dangerous fish protect them. The method of gathering them is to tie stones onto a man and lower him into the sea so that he will sink quickly. Sometimes he gets pearls and sometimes not. When he suffocates he pulls the rope and a man in the boat hauls him up. If this is done a fraction too late the man dies. If he happens to meet dangerous sea creatures he cannot avoid their attacks. Besides out of one hundred oysters opened there are hardly one or two pearls
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