NOTES AND QUERIES
199
THE RURAL HISTORY PROJECT IN YUEN LONG DISTRICT, NEW TERRITORIES OF HONG KONG, 1973.
In 1973 Mr. John Kamm, a candidate for the A.M. at Harvard University's Regional Studies--East Asia Program, conducted field research in the N.T. The letter which follows explains how he cooperated with the District Office Yuen Long in a rural history project, and gives interesting details of how it was accomplished. The "Field Notes on the Social History and Feng-shui of Kam Tin” which follow the letter were one result of the project. The two “Essays on the Ch'ing Economy of Hsin-an, Kwangtung,” printed elsewhere in this issue of the Journal, are another. Hon Ed.
Mr. Patrick Williamson, J.P.,
District Officer,
Yuen Long District Office, New Territories Administration.
Dear Mr. Williamson,
I would like to take this opportunity to provide your office with a preliminary report on the Rural History Project. I also intend to include general thoughts on the advisability of expanding the current pilot project into a more-structured, government-sponsored operation of longer duration.
At our first meeting, on 31 May, we discussed the concern in Yuen Long District, shared by both Government and village leadership, over the deterioration of Chinese tradition and custom. One substantial portion of traditional culture, i.e. oral history, seemed threatened with especially rapid extinction. We decided to explore the possibility of setting up a summer project aimed at collecting and preserving the folk tradition of a specific area of Yuen Long District. Since I had been trained in social anthropology (having won University Scholar distinction in the structural analysis of Chinese myth and folk-tale), and since I was eager to begin field work in the New Territories, I readily accepted the offer of an unpaid attachment to your office.
Throughout the early weeks of June, the project gradually took shape and became a reality. Government showed interest in the idea, and approved the project. Scholars at both universities pro-
NOTES AND QUERIES
199
THE RURAL HISTORY PROJECT IN YUEN LONG DISTRICT, NEW TERRITORIES OF HONG KONG, 1973.
In 1973 Mr. John Kamm, a candidate for the A.M. at Harvard University's Regional Studies--East Asia Program, conducted field research in the N.T. The letter which follows explains how he cooperated with the District Office Yuen Long in a rural history project, and gives interesting details of how it was accomplished. The "Field Notes on the Social History and Feng-shui of Kam Tin” which follow the letter were one result of the project. The two “Essays on the Ch'ing Economy of Hsin-an, Kwangtung,” printed elsewhere in this issue of the Journal, are another. Hon Ed.
Mr. Patrick Williamson, J.P.,
District Officer,
Yuen Long District Office, New Territories Administration.
Dear Mr. Williamson,
I would like to take this opportunity to provide your office with a preliminary report on the Rural History Project. I also intend to include general thoughts on the advisability of expanding the current pilot project into a more-structured, government-sponsored operation of longer duration.
At our first meeting, on 31 May, we discussed the concern in Yuen Long District, shared by both Government and village leadership, over the deterioration of Chinese tradition and custom. One substantial portion of traditional culture, i.c. oral history, seemed threatened with especially rapid extinction. We decided to explore the possibility of setting up a summer project aimed at collecting and preserving the folk tradition of a specific area of Yuen Long District. Since I had been trained in social anthropology (having won University Scholar distinction in the structural analysis of Chinese myth and folk-tale), and since I was eager to begin field work in the New Territories, I readily accepted the offer of an un- paid attachment to your office.
Throughout the early weeks of June, the project gradually took shape and became a reality. Government showed interest in the idea, and approved the project. Scholars at both universities pro-
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