RAS-1980 — Page 88

RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 All AI Reviewed

LEWIS M. CHERE

events of 1884. In this category would be Chinese language newspapers, the records of the court proceedings against the native newspapers and rioters, and whatever private records, diaries or papers which might have survived from that time. Because these materials are not available outside Hong Kong it is the purpose of this article to raise the question of what did happen in the Colony in 1884 in the hopes that those scholars who do have access to the winds of materials necessary to answer the question will be made aware of the importance of having those answers. Because a study of the question cannot help but advance understanding of Chinese history in the 1880's—not to mention the illumination it could provide for the history of Hong Kong itself—I have attempted to provide an outline here of what the question entails, and what little is known about it.

Hong Kong occupied a position in the events of the Sino-French War which was unique even for the ports of the China Coast. Unlike Treaty Ports such as Canton or Shanghai, Hong Kong was not even technically Chinese territory. Though Shanghai may have been effectively controlled by the representatives of the foreign community sitting on the city council, the city was still Chinese territory and the problems it experienced during the Sino-French War were largely due to that fact. Hong Kong was formally a possession of a neutral power. As such, most of its problems arising from the war were those which resulted from differing French, Chinese and British positions on the obligations of a neutral in an undeclared war. However, Hong Kong's overwhelming majority of Chinese residents, most of them adult male workers whose families were still living in their home villages in the Southern Provinces of China, presented a problem even more complex than those arising from the city's neutrality.

The reactions of those Chinese residents to the Sino-French conflict could be vital to an understanding of the development of nationalism in China. In Hong Kong the legendary influence of anti-foreign mandarins, which was so frequently blamed for anti-foreign feeling among the Chinese populations in the Treaty Ports, could only be indirectly applied—if at all. Even then many of the European accounts of what happened in the Colony in 1884 attempted to find outside influences, meaning the mandarins, to hold responsible for Hong Kong's troubles.

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56 LEWIS M. CHERE events of 1884. In this category would be Chinese language newspapers, the records of the court proceedings against the native newspapers and rioters, and whatever private records, diaries or papers which might have survived from that time. Because these materials are not available outside Hong Kong it is the purpose of this article to raise the question of what did happen in the Colony in 1884 in the hopes that those scholars who do have access to the winds of materials necessary to answer the question will be made aware of the importance of having those answers. Because a study of the question cannot help but advance understanding of Chinese history in the 1880's—not to mention the illumination it could provide for the history of Hong Kong itself—I have attempted to provide an outline here of what the question entails, and what little is known about it. Hong Kong occupied a position in the events of the Sino-French War which was unique even for the ports of the China Coast. Unlike Treaty Ports such as Canton or Shanghai, Hong Kong was not even technically Chinese territory. Though Shanghai may have been effectively controlled by the representatives of the foreign community sitting on the city council, the city was still Chinese territory and the problems it experienced during the Sino-French War were largely due to that fact. Hong Kong was formally a possession of a neutral power. As such, most of its problems arising from the war were those which resulted from differing French, Chinese and British positions on the obligations of a neutral in an undeclared war. However, Hong Kong's overwhelming majority of Chinese residents, most of them adult male workers whose families were still living in their home villages in the Southern Provinces of China, presented a problem even more complex than those arising from the city's neutrality. The reactions of those Chinese residents to the Sino-French conflict could be vital to an understanding of the development of nationalism in China. In Hong Kong the legendary influence of anti-foreign mandarins, which was so frequently blamed for anti-foreign feeling among the Chinese populations in the Treaty Ports, could only be indirectly applied—if at all. Even then many of the European accounts of what happened in the Colony in 1884 attempted to find outside influences, meaning the mandarins, to hold responsible for Hong Kong's troubles.

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56 LEWIS M. CHERE events of 1884. In this category would be Chinese language news- papers, the records of the court proceedings against the native news- papers and rioters, and whatever private records, diaries or papers which might have survived from that time. Because these materials are not available outside Hong Kong it is the purpose of this article to raise the question of what did happen in the Colony in 1884 in the hopes that those scholars who do have access to the winds of materials necessary to answer the cuestion will be made aware of the importance of having those answers. Because a study of the question cannot help but advance understanding of Chinese history in the 1880's-not to mention the illumination it could provide for the history of Hong Kong itself I have attempted to provide an outline here of what the question entails, and what little is known about it. Hong Kong occupied a position in the events of the Sino-French War which was unique even for the ports of the China Coast. Un- like Treaty Ports such as Canton or Shanghai, Hong Kong was not even technically Chinese territory. Though Shanghai may have been effectively controlled by the representatives of the foreign community sitting on the city council, the city was still Chinese territory and the problems it experienced during the Sino-French War were largely due to that fact. Hong Kong was formally a possession of a neutral power. As such, most of its problems arising from the war were those which resulted from differing French, Chinese and British positions on the obligations of a neutral in on undeclared war. However, Hong Kong's overwhelmnig majority of Chinese residents, most of them adult male workers whose families were still living in their home villages in the Southern Provinces of China,' presented a problem even more complex than those arising from the city's neutrality. The reactions of those Chinese residents to the Sino-French con- flict could be vital to an understanding of the development of na- tionalism in China. In Hong Kong the legendary influence of anti- foreign mandarins, which was so frequently blamed for anti-foreign feeling among the Chinese populations in the Treaty Ports, could only be indirectly applied-if at all. Even then many of the Euro- pean accounts of what happened in the Colony in 1884 attempted to find outside influences, meaning the mandarins, to hold respon- sible for Hong Kong's troubles.

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LEWIS M. CHERE

events of 1884. In this category would be Chinese language news- papers, the records of the court proceedings against the native news- papers and rioters, and whatever private records, diaries or papers which might have survived from that time. Because these materials are not available outside Hong Kong it is the purpose of this article to raise the question of what did happen in the Colony in 1884 in the hopes that those scholars who do have access to the winds of materials necessary to answer the cuestion will be made aware of the importance of having those answers. Because a study of the question cannot help but advance understanding of Chinese history in the 1880's-not to mention the illumination it could provide for the history of Hong Kong itself I have attempted to provide an outline here of what the question entails, and what little is known about it.

Hong Kong occupied a position in the events of the Sino-French War which was unique even for the ports of the China Coast. Un- like Treaty Ports such as Canton or Shanghai, Hong Kong was not even technically Chinese territory. Though Shanghai may have been effectively controlled by the representatives of the foreign community sitting on the city council, the city was still Chinese territory and the problems it experienced during the Sino-French War were largely due to that fact. Hong Kong was formally a possession of a neutral power. As such, most of its problems arising from the war were those which resulted from differing French, Chinese and British positions on the obligations of a neutral in on undeclared war. However, Hong Kong's overwhelmnig majority of Chinese residents, most of them adult male workers whose families were still living in their home villages in the Southern Provinces of China,' presented a problem even more complex than those arising from the city's neutrality.

The reactions of those Chinese residents to the Sino-French con- flict could be vital to an understanding of the development of na- tionalism in China. In Hong Kong the legendary influence of anti- foreign mandarins, which was so frequently blamed for anti-foreign feeling among the Chinese populations in the Treaty Ports, could only be indirectly applied-if at all. Even then many of the Euro- pean accounts of what happened in the Colony in 1884 attempted to find outside influences, meaning the mandarins, to hold respon- sible for Hong Kong's troubles.

RAS-1980 — Page 88

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