港史文本搜尋系統 Hong Kong in Texts search portal

2026-06-19 11:27:38 · Auto OCR Correction

Live

View comparison

AI Proofread

EUROPEAN WORKING CLASS IN 19TH CENTURY It is exceedingly difficult to assess the cultural impact of work- ing class Europeans on the Chinese population; there were strong, but not completely impenetrable, barriers between the two; each despised the other, the underdog European particularly so. Al- though the latter usually lived in Chinese quarters of the town, spoke pidgin English or a little Cantonese, and often lived with a Chinese woman, this did not make him necessarily feel less British. He was, it can be inferred, as jingoistic as his counterpart in Liver- pool or London, buoyed up at times by a sense of racial and national superiority. He did not belong to Chinese society and, it can be surmised, never wished to. He was more at ease with Por- tuguese and Eurasians; but his social contacts with them were often touchy, prickly, and patronising; for even the déclassé European knew he was a member of a dominant race. At the end of the century, Taipan and pong-paân were residen- tially segregated. A writer concluded that ‘between those who reside at the summit (of the Peak) and those who live in the peninsula of Kowloon there is as wide a gulf as that which divided Dives and Lazarus'.39 This 'gulf' was more than an expression of traditional English class attitudes: the European working class in Hong Kong was an anomaly in a colonial setting, a curious transplant from a more settled society. NOTES 1 Sir James Cantlie, 'Hong Kong' in the British Empire Series, vol. i, 1906, p. 514. 2 See, for example, 'Beachcombers and castaways' in H. E. Maude's Of Islands and Men: Studies in Pacific History, Melbourne, Oxford Uni- versity Press, 1968, pp. 134-177. 3 China Mail, June 8, 1888. 4J, W. Norton-Kyshe, The History of the Laws and Courts of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1898, vol. i, p. 279. 5 For details about John Lee consult the Report of the Commission to Enquire into the Working of 'The Contagious Diseases Ordinance, 1867', Hong Kong, 1879. 6 'Report on the Public Works Department', Hong Kong Sessional Papers 1902, p. 51. ?Lt. Col. G. J. Wolseley, Narrative of the War with China in 1860, London, 1862, p. 3. 8 John Stuart Thomson, The Chinese, London (1909), p. 30. 9 George Woodcock, The British in the Far East, London, 1969, p. 21.

Baseline (Original)

1 EUROPEAN WORKING CLASS IN 19TH CENTURY 111 It is exceedingly difficult to assess the cultural impact of work- ing class Europeans on the Chinese population; there were strong, but not completely impenetrable, barriers between the two; each despised the other, the underdog European particularly so. Al- though the latter usually lived in Chinese quarters of the town, spoke pidgin English or a little Cantonese, and often lived with a Chinese woman, this did not make him necessarily feel less British. He was, it can be inferred, as jingoistic as his counterpart in Liver- pool or London, buoyed up at times by a sense of racial and national superiority. He did not belong to Chinese society and, it can be surmised, never wished to. He was more at ease with Por- tuguese and Eurasians; but his social contacts with them were often touchy, prickly, and patronising; for even the déclassé European knew he was a member of a dominant race. At the end of the century, Taipan and pong-paân were residen- tially segregated. A writer concluded that ‘between those who reside at the summit (of the Peak) and those who live in the peninsula of Kowloon there is as wide a gulf as that which divided Dives and Lazarus'.39 This 'gulf' was more than an expression of traditional English class attitudes: the European working class in Hong Kong was an anomaly in a colonial setting, a curious transplant from a more settled society. NOTES 1 Sir James Cantlie, 'Hong Kong' in the British Empire Series, vol. i, 1906, p. 514. 2 See, for example, 'Beachcombers and castaways' in H. E. Maude's Of Islands and Men: Studies in Pacific History, Melbourne, Oxford Uni- versity Press, 1968, pp. 134-177. 3 China Mail, June 8, 1888. 4J, W. Norton-Kyshe, The History of the Laws and Courts of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1898, vol. i, p. 279. 5 For details about John Lee consult the Report of the Commission to Enquire into the Working of 'The Contagious Diseases Ordinance, 1867', Hong Kong, 1879. 6 'Report on the Public Works Department', Hong Kong Sessional Papers 1902, p. 51. ?Lt. Col. G. J. Wolseley, Narrative of the War with China in 1860, London, 1862, p. 3. 8 John Stuart Thomson, The Chinese, London (1909), p. 30. 9 George Woodcock, The British in the Far East, London, 1969, p. 21.

2026-05-12 20:32:35 · NVIDIA / meta/llama-4-maverick-17b-128e-instruct

View comparison

AI Proofread

# EUROPEAN WORKING CLASS IN 19TH CENTURY 111 It is exceedingly difficult to assess the cultural impact of working-class Europeans on the Chinese population; there were strong, but not completely impenetrable, barriers between the two; each despised the other, the underdog European particularly so. Although the latter usually lived in Chinese quarters of the town, spoke pidgin English or a little Cantonese, and often lived with a Chinese woman, this did not make him necessarily feel less British. He was, it can be inferred, as jingoistic as his counterpart in Liverpool or London, buoyed up at times by a sense of racial and national superiority. He did not belong to Chinese society and, it can be surmised, never wished to. He was more at ease with Portuguese and Eurasians; but his social contacts with them were often touchy, prickly, and patronising; for even the déclassé European knew he was a member of a dominant race. At the end of the century, Taipan and pong-paân were residentially segregated. A writer concluded that ‘between those who reside at the summit (of the Peak) and those who live in the peninsula of Kowloon there is as wide a gulf as that which divided Dives and Lazarus'.39 This 'gulf' was more than an expression of traditional English class attitudes: the European working class in Hong Kong was an anomaly in a colonial setting, a curious transplant from a more settled society. ## NOTES 1 Sir James Cantlie, 'Hong Kong' in the British Empire Series, vol. i, 1906, p. 514. 2 See, for example, 'Beachcombers and castaways' in H. E. Maude's Of Islands and Men: Studies in Pacific History, Melbourne, Oxford University Press, 1968, pp. 134-177. 3 China Mail, June 8, 1888. 4 J. W. Norton-Kyshe, The History of the Laws and Courts of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1898, vol. i, p. 279. 5 For details about John Lee consult the Report of the Commission to Enquire into the Working of 'The Contagious Diseases Ordinance, 1867', Hong Kong, 1879. 6 'Report on the Public Works Department', Hong Kong Sessional Papers 1902, p. 51. 7 Lt. Col. G. J. Wolseley, Narrative of the War with China in 1860, London, 1862, p. 3. 8 John Stuart Thomson, The Chinese, London (1909), p. 30. 9 George Woodcock, The British in the Far East, London, 1969, p. 21.

Baseline (Original)

1 EUROPEAN WORKING CLASS IN 19TH CENTURY 111 It is exceedingly difficult to assess the cultural impact of work- ing class Europeans on the Chinese population; there were strong, but not completely impenetrable, barriers between the two; each despised the other, the underdog European particularly so. Al- though the latter usually lived in Chinese quarters of the town, spoke pidgin English or a little Cantonese, and often lived with a Chinese woman, this did not make him necessarily feel less British. He was, it can be inferred, as jingoistic as his counterpart in Liver- pool or London, buoyed up at times by a sense of racial and national superiority. He did not belong to Chinese society and, it can be surmised, never wished to. He was more at ease with Por- tuguese and Eurasians; but his social contacts with them were often touchy, prickly, and patronising; for even the déclassé European knew he was a member of a dominant race. At the end of the century, Taipan and pong-paân were residen- tially segregated. A writer concluded that ‘between those who reside at the summit (of the Peak) and those who live in the peninsula of Kowloon there is as wide a gulf as that which divided Dives and Lazarus'.39 This 'gulf' was more than an expression of traditional English class attitudes: the European working class in Hong Kong was an anomaly in a colonial setting, a curious transplant from a more settled society. NOTES 1 Sir James Cantlie, 'Hong Kong' in the British Empire Series, vol. i, 1906, p. 514. 2 See, for example, 'Beachcombers and castaways' in H. E. Maude's Of Islands and Men: Studies in Pacific History, Melbourne, Oxford Uni- versity Press, 1968, pp. 134-177. 3 China Mail, June 8, 1888. 4J, W. Norton-Kyshe, The History of the Laws and Courts of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1898, vol. i, p. 279. 5 For details about John Lee consult the Report of the Commission to Enquire into the Working of 'The Contagious Diseases Ordinance, 1867', Hong Kong, 1879. 6 'Report on the Public Works Department', Hong Kong Sessional Papers 1902, p. 51. ?Lt. Col. G. J. Wolseley, Narrative of the War with China in 1860, London, 1862, p. 3. 8 John Stuart Thomson, The Chinese, London (1909), p. 30. 9 George Woodcock, The British in the Far East, London, 1969, p. 21.

2026-05-12 20:32:35 · Baseline

View content

1

EUROPEAN WORKING CLASS IN 19TH CENTURY

111

It is exceedingly difficult to assess the cultural impact of work- ing class Europeans on the Chinese population; there were strong, but not completely impenetrable, barriers between the two; each despised the other, the underdog European particularly so. Al- though the latter usually lived in Chinese quarters of the town, spoke pidgin English or a little Cantonese, and often lived with a Chinese woman, this did not make him necessarily feel less British. He was, it can be inferred, as jingoistic as his counterpart in Liver- pool or London, buoyed up at times by a sense of racial and national superiority. He did not belong to Chinese society and, it can be surmised, never wished to. He was more at ease with Por- tuguese and Eurasians; but his social contacts with them were often touchy, prickly, and patronising; for even the déclassé European knew he was a member of a dominant race.

At the end of the century, Taipan and pong-paân were residen- tially segregated. A writer concluded that ‘between those who reside at the summit (of the Peak) and those who live in the peninsula of Kowloon there is as wide a gulf as that which divided Dives and Lazarus'.39 This 'gulf' was more than an expression of traditional English class attitudes: the European working class in Hong Kong was an anomaly in a colonial setting, a curious transplant from a more settled society.

NOTES

1 Sir James Cantlie, 'Hong Kong' in the British Empire Series, vol. i, 1906, p. 514.

2 See, for example, 'Beachcombers and castaways' in H. E. Maude's Of Islands and Men: Studies in Pacific History, Melbourne, Oxford Uni- versity Press, 1968, pp. 134-177.

3 China Mail, June 8, 1888.

4J, W. Norton-Kyshe, The History of the Laws and Courts of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1898, vol. i, p. 279.

5 For details about John Lee consult the Report of the Commission to Enquire into the Working of 'The Contagious Diseases Ordinance, 1867', Hong Kong, 1879.

6 'Report on the Public Works Department', Hong Kong Sessional Papers 1902, p. 51.

?Lt. Col. G. J. Wolseley, Narrative of the War with China in 1860, London, 1862, p. 3.

8 John Stuart Thomson, The Chinese, London (1909), p. 30.

9 George Woodcock, The British in the Far East, London, 1969, p. 21.

RAS-1975 — Page 119

Edit History

Comments

Private Research Note