THE OLD POPULAR CULTURE OF CHINA AND ITS CONTRIBUTION
TO STABILITY IN TSUEN WAN
James W. HAYES*
Introduction
This article is aimed at investigating the very marked social stability which was so clear a feature of Tsuen Wan society in the early post-War years. What were the factors which, in the virtual absence of external controls, enabled so many people to live for so long in an orderly and peaceful manner in unhygienic and sometimes unsafe conditions in hillside squatter huts and urban hovels, or in the over-crowded conditions of the early resettlement estates? What was it that the incoming squatters shared with the indigenous villagers which allowed both groups to run their affairs so peacefully and effectively, and with so little external pressure or assistance? Finally, what were the roots of the generally co-operative attitude towards removal and relocation upheavals which were essential for development of the Tsuen Wan New Town, and a prerequisite of steady progress with construction and modernisation, but nonetheless always traumatic for those affected?
PART ONE: The Influence of the Past
As I see them, the answers to the questions posed above lie in the Chinese character; but more specifically in some leading features of the traditional upbringing and education.
That traditional upbringing and education was deeply rooted in a reverence for the past, and for the moral standards which the heroes of the past were believed to exemplify. This reverence was invariably noted by those Westerners with a familiarity with the Chinese countryside and a rapport with its inhabitants, as the following statements from the 1940s show:
* The author was District Officer and Town Manager, Tsuen Wan from 1975 to 1982. He has recently completed a book about the growth and development of this, Hong Kong's first New Town, which is expected to be published by Oxford University Press, Hong Kong, in mid-1993, under the title Transformation: a Century of Tsuen Wan and its People. (Editor),
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THE OLD POPULAR CULTURE OF CHINA AND ITS CONTRIBUTION
TO STABILITY IN TSUEN WAN
James W. HAYES*
Introduction
This article is aimed at investigating the very marked social stability which was so clear a feature of Tsuen Wan society in the early post- War years. What were the factors which, in the virtual absence of external controls, enabled so many people to live for so long in an orderly and peaceful manner in unhygienic and sometimes unsafe conditions in hillside squatter huts and urban hovels, or in the over-crowded conditions of the early resettlement estates? What was it that the incoming squatters shared with the indigenous villagers which allowed both groups to run their affairs so peacefully and effectively, and with so little external pressure or assistance? Finally, what were the roots of the generally co- operative attitude towards removal and relocation upheavals which were essential for development of the Tsuen Wan New Town, and a prerequisite of steady progress with construction and modernisation, but nonetheless always traumatic for those affected?
PART ONE: The Influence of the Past
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As I see them, the answers to the questions posed above lie in the Chinese character; but more specifically in some leading features of the traditional upbringing and education.
That traditional upbringing and education was deeply rooted in a reverence for the past, and for the moral standards which the heroes. of the past were believed to exemplify. This reverence was invariably noted by those Westerners with a familiarity with the Chinese countryside and a rapport with its inhabitants, as the following statements from the 1940s show:
* The author was District Officer and Town Manager, Tsuen Wan from 1975 to 1982. He has recently completed a book about the growth and development of this, Hong Kong's first New Town, which is expected to be published by Oxford University Press, Hong Kong. in mid 1993, under the title Transformation: a Century of Tsuen Wan and its People. (Editor),
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