[ { "id": 204503, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1962", "page_number": 135, "title": "RAS-1962", "content_text": "120\n\nCOLINA LUPTON\n\nargued that any reform in the constitution, especially one which permitted elections, would immediately be exploited by the Communist regime in China, seizing the opportunity to infiltrate its own supporters into positions of power and using political meetings to stir up trouble. While it is true that the economy has hitherto flourished because of Hong Kong's exceptionally stable conditions, the government should remember, as Mr. Luard points out, that it has an unequalled opportunity for disseminating the ideals of western culture, of which democracy is one, on the very shores of China. Too much should not be sacrificed to material prosperity. Yet despite all the criticisms which could be made, the fact remains, as Mr. Luard says, that \"it has proved a more fertile and more stable meeting ground of East and West than almost any other city of the world\". And whatever its political driving force, it is one of the finest examples existing of the speedy and successful development of a non-Marxist economy, which alone should provide some food for thought for the pragmatic Chinese over the border.\n\nAs to the future, Mr. Luard predicts that Britain and China will almost inevitably find themselves in conflict in both South East Asia and Hong Kong, since the new China expects to expand to the borders reached in its historic periods of greatness. Not everyone agrees that China's plans stretch only thus far; many close observers of the scene might think that China has territorial designs on South East Asia at the least—an area which in the past she has held in fee but not actually settled (if the Overseas Chinese are excluded). And today China is trying to extend her influence as far afield as Africa and Latin America. Nor is it Britain's interests only which are affected; not only the whole of the west, but also the neutrals have an interest in preserving the status quo in these areas. In this context particularly to speak of British interests in isolation from the rest of the world gives the book a false emphasis.\n\nBut when Mr. Luard deals with the future of British policy—as he does in a highly practical manner—this is avoided, partly because he discusses subjects which are specifically British concerns, trade and economic relations with Communist China and the future of Hong Kong, and partly because he conceives British policy as it truly should be in these days of her declining power—as a matter for giving advice and bringing influence to bear.\n\nPage 135\n\nPage 136", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1962.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9s166f47f", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 204672, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1963", "page_number": 153, "title": "RAS-1963", "content_text": "BOOK REVIEWS\n\n137\n\nIt is therefore a delight to read such a work as Mr. Cranmer-Byng's An Embassy to China. Produced by an historian, and one moreover who combines integrity with an uncommon knowledge of the East, this book is indispensable to an understanding today of the problems that East and West have inherited in their dealings with one another.\n\nThe main body of the book consists of the Journal kept by Lord Macartney on his embassy to the Emperor Ch'ien-lung in 1793. He describes his journey to Peking, beyond the Great Wall to Jehol, and back by the Grand Canal and by river to Canton. There follow a series of \"observations\", compiled by Macartney from his own shrewd judgment and from data supplied by members of his entourage, on subjects such as the Manners, Religion, Government, Population, Arts and Sciences, Language etc. of China under the Ch'ing Dynasty.\n\nThe first 58 pages of the book contain an Introduction by the editor, in which he comments on early Anglo-Chinese relations, paints a brief biographical picture of Lord Macartney, and discusses the embassy, the manner of its reception, and its results. The final pages of the Introduction lead up to the Journal itself, its style, content and the method used by the diarist in compiling such a detailed account of his mission - an account written by a professional diplomat, skilled at seeing behind the facade, patient in negotiation, lucid in recollection and description.\n\nLooking back today from our vantage point in time nearly two hundred years later, it is easy to see that Macartney was given an impossible task. Remote in her geographical isolation and sublimely ignorant of world affairs, China had sealed herself for centuries in a false cocoon of imagined cultural superiority. The eighteenth century was both too late and too early for any European power to overcome the supreme complacency of the Imperial Court and Government. From the mid-sixteen hundreds onwards, Western nations, notably the Dutch, the Russians and the Portuguese had sent embassies to China, but all had failed.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1963.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/4m90m091v", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 204850, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1964", "page_number": 153, "title": "RAS-1964", "content_text": "128\n\nBOOK REVIEWS\n\nGEORGE CHINNERY 1774-1852, ARTIST OF THE CHINA COAST. By Henry and Sidney Berry-Hill. 61 pages text, bibliography, and 76 pages of black and white photographs. F. Lewis, Publishers, Ltd., England. Price U.K. 10 Guineas, U.S. $30.00.\n\nThe various phases of the artist's life - early years, the English and Irish periods, the sojourn in India, and the final years in South China are described. The 76 plates of photographs comprise 154 subjects.\n\nSince the Arts Council exhibition of 1957 in England and Scotland, there is renewed interest in Chinnery. As information about him is frequently fragmentary, there is definite need for a comprehensive biography. However, enthusiasts and scholars will be disappointed by this book. The approach is lyrical and romantic instead of factual, authoritative, and scholarly.\n\nIt is all very well to quote the inscription on the silver palette presented to Chinnery by the Artists of Dublin (even though this information appears in Plate 1), but why describe it as “measures 16 inches across and was made by one of the leading silversmiths” when actual measurements, hallmark, date letter, and silversmith mark are all known and recorded.1\n\nTo claim Chinnery painted unsigned oils of sporting scenes2 in India on the sole basis of a label admittedly dated at least eight years after he left Dacca, strains imagination to the bursting point. Those who know what Chinnery sketched and painted in India and China - houses, temples, people, domestic animals — all placid scenes - will find it difficult, if not impossible, to accept this attribution.\n\nThe false alarm of Mrs. Chinnery's prospective arrival in China, amusingly described by W. C. Hunter, intimate friend...\n\n1 Arts Council Catalogue 1957 15\" x 13\", Dublin hallmark, date letter \"E\" (for 1801), and silversmith mark \"R.W.” (for Richard Whitford).\n\n2 Page 25, Plates 18 and 19.\n\n* Page 268, W. C. Hunter Bits of Old China,", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1964.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qz20zx09r", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 205152, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1966", "page_number": 108, "title": "RAS-1966", "content_text": "The Hanlin Academy\n\n103\n\nFrom 1647 onwards, probationers were required to study either the Manchu language or the Chinese Classics. The number of probationers taking the Manchu course, however, declined as time went on. In the reign of Yung-cheng, only about fifteen scholars were ordered to read the Manchu course, the rest, about forty, took the Chinese course.9 In the next reign (Ch'ien-lung), the aggregate number of probationers studying the Manchu course was about ten each year, and even this small number would sometimes be reduced, as those who took long sick leaves would change to study the Chinese course after their return.10\n\nThe qualification for taking up the Manchu course was physical rather than literary. Only the young and the good-looking with a pleasant voice were selected. Presumably, the reason for such a choice is that probationers studying the Manchu course would have more contacts with the Emperor and senior officials than the others. They were the persons likely to be selected as masters of ceremony in official ceremonies. In the pursuit of the course, the probationers would be called upon to study the \"History of the Liao dynasty, the Chin dynasty, and the Yüan dynasty\" (Liao Chin Yüan shih), \"the Sacred Edicts of the Emperor Hung-wu, the first Emperor of the Ming dynasty\" (Hung-wu pao-hsün), the \"Daily Exposition of the Meaning of the Book of Great Learning\" (Ta-hsüeh yen-i jih-chiang) and the \"Commentaries of the Four Books\" (Szu-shu chieh-i).11\n\n12\n\nProbationers doing research work on the Chinese texts took lessons in Chinese Classics, history and poetry. Together with those reading the Manchu language, they had to sit for a final examination after three years of study. Probationers studying the Manchu course were tested on their ability to translate from Chinese to Manchu and vice versa, whereas those reading the Chinese Classics were each ordered to compose a poem of set form or a piece of irregular verse and to write an argumentative discussion or an eight-legged essay.13\n\nNotice that the final examination of the probationers laid emphasis on the literary skill of writing essays and poems rather than on administrative knowledge. This was because of the need to distinguish \"real\" from \"false\" talent among the candidates. Themes on administrative problems, useful though they might be in testing the practical knowledge of candidates when they were original,", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1966.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/bz60k0811", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 206056, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1970", "page_number": 136, "title": "RAS-1970", "content_text": "A BRITISH WARTIME CHART SHOWING HONG KONG\n\n131\n\nThe name \"Iron River\" given to the present-day Hebe Haven may be related to the fact that Ma On Shan to the north has iron-ore (Magnetite) deposits on its south western side. It would seem to indicate that the deposits were known in the eighteenth century, if not worked.\n\nMers (Mirs) Bay is shown as being very small. A number of soundings near the entrance indicate the visit of a ship, so the error in its size and shape would seem to be yet another indication of poor visibility causing errors in observation.\n\nSuggested Identification of Place Names\n\n(Alphabetical Order)\n\n \n Botoe Is.\n East Brother (Siu Mo To)\n \n \n Cape Lintin and Bay\n South West Point and Deep Bay\n \n \n Castle Land\n Nam Tau Peninsula\n \n \n Chang Cheou Is.\n Cheung Chau\n \n \n Chin-falo\n Tsing Yi Island\n \n \n Co-chee\n Ma Wan Island\n \n \n Co-long\n Kowloon City\n \n \n False Hook\n Wong Chuk Kok (on Lamma Island)\n \n \n Fan-Chin-Cheou or He-ong-kong\n Hong Kong\n \n \n Furado or Poo Toy\n Po Toi Island (N.B. Fury Rocks, 1 Sea Mile to N.E. on modern charts)\n \n \n Hay-tae-man Bay\n Tai Shan Bay\n \n \n Ichou\n Chi Chau\n \n \n I of Gatto\n Shek Wu Chau\n \n \n Iron Point\n Fat Tau Point\n \n \n Keyzers Hook\n Fan Lau Point\n \n \n Lammon\n Lamma Island (Nam A Island)\n \n \n Lang Shitoe or Chato Id.\n Lafsami\n \n \n Lantoe or Magpyes Island\n Lantao Island\n \n \n Lantoe Bay\n Bay at Sham Tseng\n \n \n Lentua\n Lantao Island-Peninsula north of Cheung Chau\n \n \n Lintin\n Lintin\n \n \n Lon-ko\n Lung Kwu Chau", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1970.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ww72j0241", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 207106, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1974", "page_number": 177, "title": "RAS-1974", "content_text": "LEGENDS & STORIES OF THE NEW TERRITORIES\n\n171\n\nTang Leung Sz passed Kung Shaang degree in the 38th year of Maan Lik♬ of Ming dynasty, A.D. 1610, and held the office of Fan-to.\n\nTang Yue Cheung took his Sau-t'soi✯✯ degree in the 2nd year of Yung Ching of Ts'ing dynasty A.D. 1724 and in the following year became a Lam Shang. In the first year of Kin-lung✯✯ A.D. 1736 he passed Kui Yan, second in the list of successful candidates, but just failed to pass the Wui Shi examination the following year. However, his name was put on the Ming T'ung Pong list and he was appointed as Hok-ching of Tak Hing Chau in Kwangtung province.\n\nTang Yue Cheung's name in the San On Record book is among the “Heung Yin\" or \"village worthies,\" and it is said there that:— Tang Yue Cheung was a scholar of a very kind and honest nature. He was very \"taan-chik”✯✯ (\"to wear the heart upon the sleeve for daws to peck at\") and his knowledge of learning was very wide. In all his dealings with his friends he was sincere and faithful, and as a Hok-ching he was very diligent. Once some of his students fell out with the authorities, and found themselves faced with a false accusation, but were too afraid to defend themselves. Tang, however, at once entered into the dispute, and through his clear-headedness kept his students out of trouble. In the 17th year of K'in Lung A.D. 1752 Tang was called to the capital to attend an examination, but he died there, and Fung Shing Sau (a Hon Lam graduate) wrote the epitaph \"for his name lives for ever,” to be carved on his grave.\n\nTang Man Wai was the only Tsun-sz come from the New Territories, and his name is recorded in the San On book under the column devoted to hang yee \"men of high repute.\" He was left fatherless at an early age, and had to work with the fishermen and wood-cutters in great poverty, to earn money to support himself and his mother. But all the while he was a scholar at heart and in his spare time he read his books and people said that he could be heard continually humming his lessons on the road, as he carried wood or worked with the fishermen. His uncle Tang Chan Ng, a Lam Shang, helped him, and his success in later years was greatly due to the old man's teaching. In the 14th year of Shun Chi A.D. 1657, Ts'ing dynasty, he passed his Kui Yan degree, but later failed for Tsun Sz and so returned to Kam T'in where he passed twenty years or more, living as a hermit.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1974.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 207748, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1976", "page_number": 136, "title": "RAS-1976", "content_text": "NOTES ON FRIENDS AND RELATIVES OF TAIPING LEADERS 121\n\ncared for by friends of the family, and his wife and children fled to her parents' home. Tsin-kau tried to make a living by travelling about the area between Macao and Canton offering his services as a fung-shui expert. After a time, he moved east to the districts of Kuei-shan and Po-lo. After more than a year, he ventured to return to his home district. Here he met up with Hung Jen-kan. The two of them, accompanied perhaps by other friends and relatives, came down to Hong Kong hoping that they could from here find a way to join Hung Hsiu-ch'uan at Nanking, the capital of the Taiping Kingdom. As Hakkas, they sought out the missionaries of the Basel Society, which had devoted itself to work among this dialect group. Jen-kan met the Rev. Theodore Hamberg for a second time at Pu-kit in Hsin-an District. Here he received further instruction in preparation for baptism and was baptized on 20 September, 1853. Hamberg reports six baptisms on this date. The first was \"Fung or Hung, from Faheen, aged 31 years, teacher and doctor”, of whom he remarks that he was a relative and youthful friend of Hung Hsiu-ch'uan, the Taiping Wang. Four others were members of the Kong family of Lilong, and the sixth was \"Fung Tet-schin, from Thatipun, aged 31 years, schoolteacher\".\n\nLi Tsin-kau did not remain at Pukak with Jen-kan but continued on to Hong Kong with two friends Khi-sem and A-kap. Here they were welcomed by the missionaries and taken on as inquirers to receive instruction. The Rev. Rudolph Lechler had come down from his station in the country to await the arrival from Germany of his fiancé. He assisted Hamberg in the instruction of the new arrivals. The basis of the instruction was the Lutheran catechism. In the light of it, Li Tsin-kau confessed he previously had held a distorted view of the Christian faith. He had understood, under the influence of Hung Hsiu-ch'uan, \"the discourses concerning the power of God and false idols, but had no understanding of sin and forgiveness through Christ\". His prayer had been patterned after a form taught by Hsiu-ch'uan. After three months instruction, he was baptized by Hamberg, although on the urging of Hung Jen-kan, he had some years previous been baptized by Hung Hsiu-ch'uan.\n\nThe Day-book of the Rev. Lechler in the Archives of the Basel Missionary Society under date of 28th February, 1854, has the entry of the baptism of four who were instructed by Hamberg at Hong Kong: \"Li Khi Lim, from Tseang ye, Li Hin Long, from Tseang ye, Li Chin Kau, from Tseang ye, and Fun Shen Fong from Tung...", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1976.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208207, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1977", "page_number": 246, "title": "RAS-1977", "content_text": "230\n\nNOTES AND QUERIES\n\nLiang-ssu-ma (梁司馬) each in command of 25 soldiers, all under the command of a Centurion (Tsu-chiang † †). (5) Chien Chiang, the Chekiang literatus, never joined up with the Taipings, but later enlisted in Lei I-hsien's (†) headquarters in 1853 near Yang-chow. He was shortly afterwards executed by Lei after proposing the Li-kin system of taxation. (6) Lo Ta-kang at the beginning of the uprising was appointed a Chun-Shuai (軍帥) and never appointed Wang (king) or Great General.\n\n(7) There were no other two Los each with title of Wang and Assistant General,\n\n(8) Yang Hsiu-ch'ing was East King (東王), not Assistant Councillor. He was the number two man in the Tai-Ping-Tien-Kuo next only to the Heavenly King, while Feng Yun-Shan was the number four in rank.\n\n(9) The Taiping forces were organized into five main armies, Central, Front, Rear, Left and Right, and was not divided into left and right wings.\n\n(10) Concerning religious faith, the deserter knew nothing about the distinguishing features of Taiping Christianity, but reechoed a superficial doctrinization very vaguely recalled from Gützlaff's teaching.\n\nFor general references to the above historical facts, see my book The Taiping Revolutionary Movement (New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 1973) relevant chapters.\n\nThus, it can easily be seen that this ex-member of Gützlaff's Chinese Union, aside from being ignorant of Feng's death, did not know the personnel, itinerary, enrolment numbers, titles, organizational structure, and the Christian religion of the Taipings. In other words, we may reasonably presume that he had never joined up with the Taipings. But his return to Hong Kong with such a false report in 1853 did create a sensation, and provided a seemingly firm ground for general belief in the fable of Feng's relation with Gützlaff. Even the editor of the Register proclaimed \"it worthy of credit\". Readers generally still ignorant of Taiping affairs of course, took both the account and the connection as bona-fide fact. Clarke states (p. 164) that the first Anglican Bishop of Victoria, George Smith, publicized being informed by a Union Member that Tien-Teh-Wang and Feng Yun-Shan were identical and that Feng had been a member of the Union. He also consulted with Robert", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1977.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208208, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1977", "page_number": 247, "title": "RAS-1977", "content_text": "# NOTES AND QUERIES\n\n231\n\nNeumann who was supervising the Union after Gützlaff's death. Eventually, Neumann made a statement that there was no doubt that Feng had been in Hong Kong with Gützlaff in 1848 (by letter dated May 1854) but without mentioning baptism. These two instances only prove the strong influence of the false report.\n\nEven if Feng had paid a brief visit to Gützlaff in Hong Kong in 1848, after failing to see Hung at home, it is difficult to believe that he was baptized by Gützlaff; in as much as he could not afford to stay long enough for the necessary schooling under Gützlaff, whilst on Gützlaff's part he could not baptize a stranger after one or two interviews with him. Moreover, Feng had by then founded the Society of God-Worshippers for over two years with a membership of about 3000 whom he himself had baptized and it seems unlikely that he would condescend to be baptized by Gützlaff and join his Union which had less members than his own Society. Absolutely there was no need for the baptism by Gützlaff. Moreover, Gützlaff was usually very methodical in keeping a record of the name, address, etc of every person whom he had baptized. A double checking on the list that Carl T. Smith found in the detailed reports that Gützlaff sent back to Germany showed that Feng Yun-shan's name was not there. This list consists of all the persons he had baptized from 1840 through 1848 to 1850. Even Clarke stated in a seminar held in the University of Hong Kong some years ago that all he could find in Gützlaff's private archive was the baptism of a school teacher on a certain date. It cannot be taken for granted that this teacher, without his name being mentioned, was Feng.\n\nLast but not least, the silence of Hung Jen-kan and Hamberg on Feng's having visited Gützlaff should not be passed over lightly. Jen-kan, so closely associated with Feng, must have known such an important event had Feng made the visit. Hamberg, being an assistant of Gützlaff in the Union must also have known of the event. Yet, Gützlaff's name was not mentioned in Hamberg's book The Visions of Hung-Siu-tshuen and Origin of the Kwang-Si Insurrections (1854) which was based on Jen-kan's information. It simply narrates that Feng waited in the village for Hung Hsiu-ch'üan's eventual return. This silence should not be interpreted as an intentional negligence of something to Gützlaff's credit, but should be highly and appropriately regarded as strong negative evidence.\n\nHong Kong, 1978.\n\nJEN YU-WEN", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1977.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209721, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1982", "page_number": 378, "title": "RAS-1982", "content_text": "356\n\nBOOK REVIEWS\n\nconfusing intermixing of columns is an unfortunate example of false economy.\n\nMy last few negative comments are directed against purely mechanical aspects of Sagart's monograph. In sum I consider them minor by comparison with the strong plus values I put on the work as a whole. He has made a genuine contribution to our growing body of data on Chinese dialects and this is much more important than the negative suggestions I have made concerning format. No one should do further work in Hakka without touching base with Sagart's study.\n\nJOHN MCCOY\n\nScience in Traditional China: A Comparative Perspective. Joseph Needham, Hong Kong: The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press, 1981, x+131pp., appendix 2pp.\n\nIn this volume Dr. Needham extensively compares the various scientific approaches of China, India, Persia, Arabia, Israel and the West. In the \"Introduction\", he observes that the Chinese mind was too algebraic (rather than geometrical) to accept Indian Vaiseshika theories about atoms. In this I think he is correct, but I would like to comment on his remark that the philosophy of China has always been an organic materialism. China Mainland scholars always exaggerate the status of dialectical materialism in Chinese thought, while Taiwan professors overstress the significance of subjective idealism in the Chinese history of ideas at the cost of neglecting creative materialists like Wang T'ing-hsiang# of the Ming dynasty. Fortunately, I received my education in Hong Kong and the U.S. and so have avoided having political prejudices projected onto\n\nonto philosophy. Needham, however, seems to be overwhelmed by the Mainland bias.\n\nWestern scholars tend to liken the Chinese organicism of the Book of Changes (B), Hua-yen Buddhism and Neo-Confucianism to the organicism of Leibniz and Whitehead. However, organicism may be combined with both idealism and materialism, which in fact run in parallel throughout Chinese history.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1982.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210705, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1986", "page_number": 56, "title": "RAS-1986", "content_text": "39\n\none else. The general expectation was that May and Francis would be treated in the same way. However, whereas May was awarded the C.M.G., Francis was merely offered an inkstand. The discrepancy was made all the more apparent by the fact that inkstands were also awarded to a number of junior officials.\n\nOn 22 May 1895 the Governor wrote to Francis \"By the direction of the Marquess of Ripon I have great pleasure in forwarding to you the accompanying handsome inkstand. You will find engraved on it the following inscription: 'Presented by the Hong Kong Government with the approval of Her Majesty's Government to J.J. Francis Esq., Q.C., Chairman of the Permanent Committee of the Sanitary Board, in recognition of services rendered during the epidemic of bubonic plague at Hong Kong in 1894'. For those services you have already been thanked by me, and also by the Secretary of State for the Colonies. In again expressing my appreciation of the work which you then performed so willingly and so ably it only remains for me now to ask you to accept this inkstand from the Government of Hong Kong as a slight recognition of your disinterested and valuable labours during the epidemic of 1894\". Francis replied in a letter dated 27th May which he made public. After reviewing the work of the Permanent Committee and his part in it he said that the Public Committee felt that a medal or piece of plate, however valuable, was no sufficient acknowledgement for his services and in the circumstances it was impossible for him to accept the inkstand. He was perfectly satisfied with the thanks of the community and the Governor and Secretary of State and would have sufficient memorial of the plague year in the gold medal to be presented by his fellow citizens and in the state of his fee book. He would have been highly gratified if he had been honoured in the same way as May but the gift of an inkstand was so ludicrously inadequate to the services he had rendered that he could only conclude that the Secretary of State was under a false impression as to their nature. It was usual in England, or at least always had been, to award the honours of the campaign to the leader. He had done his work freely and voluntarily and without a thought, at the time, of anything beyond serving the colony but he now had a duty to speak out in justice to the Public Committee.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211017, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1987", "page_number": 79, "title": "RAS-1987", "content_text": "54\n\nIn addition to the vocabulary one might expect in these sections (like “Plaintiff”, “Judge”, “Barrister at law”, “Fine”, “Reprimand”, etc.), one discovers “Sly brothel”, “Registered prostitute”, “Utter false money”, “Branded”, “Put in the cangue”, “Squeezing the ankles”, “Strangled (to death)”, and “Slap the mouth”.\n\nIn many of the sections of this part of the book, Mok Man Cheung is able to demonstrate considerable expertise in the special or technical vocabulary of different crafts, trades, businesses, and professions. \"Silks and Cloths\" (p. 110f.), \"Timbers” (p. 130f.), “Bamboo and Rattan Wares” (p. 134f.), “Iron Wear” [sic] (p. 135f.), \"Vessels and Boats”, “Building Contractor's Terms” (p. 149f.), “Wood Work” (p. 154f.), and the special \"Tallyman's Vocabulary\" are all examples of a practical acquaintance with the fields or conscientious research. There are, however, other sections of the book where, with a similar sense of confidence and authority, Mok Man Cheung actually betrays his lack of familiarity either with the content or with the precise idiom used. In the second section of “Short Sentences”, for example, Mok Man Cheung ranges from such idiomatic expressions as “He got tight” and \"all squared up\" to near misses like \"The real with the false got mixed up” and “He is pulling your legs”. Even the accuracy of local information is wanting in some places, though this, again, could be the fault of slipshod copy editing or careless proof reading. Under “Roads, Streets and Public Offices in Hongkong”, for example, a reader would have been puzzled to find, right next to Bowen Road and Kennedy Road, a certain \"Mac Donald Road”, presumably in error for MacDonnell Road.\n\n17\n\nThe tone of the model letters which Mok Man Cheung offers his readers is invariably formal and respectful, even if the matter is one of reminding a client to pay his bills. The nearest Mok Man Cheung gets to expressing irritation is in the brief note at the top of p. 427:\n\nDear Sir,\n\nI have been to your office and have wasted nearly half an hour to see you, so pardon me for not staying any longer.\n\nYours faithfully,\n\nA. King.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1987.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211542, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1988", "page_number": 259, "title": "RAS-1988", "content_text": "235\n\nvarious heads, including causation and factors leading to the development of such large fleets, whether the pirates were rebels or only another form of Chinese bandit (using the later 19th century North China Nien Rebellion on land for purposes of comparison), and suggesting that overcoming the pirate menace was not, in the end, a good thing for Ch'ing government or its coastal forces, owing to its contributing to the false sense of security and sufficiency that was to be shattered by the encounters with Western forces thirty years on.\n\nThere are useful appendices giving information on a small number of pirates' social backgrounds (for voluntary pirates), on the “Pirates' Declaration” of 1809 posted in Macao and Canton, on Pirate Junks, on the Pirate Surrender Document of 1810, and on Chinese Weights and Measures. The Notes at pp. 179-213 contain much extra material.\n\nProfessor Murray has given us a readable and fascinating account of a colourful period, and an insight into a group of persons who brought fear, suffering and violent death to many people.\n\nThere appears to me to have been no particular socio-economic or political reason that would either justify or extenuate the activities of these pests. The times no harder nor the government more inept or corrupt than the norm, on land or at sea, although the beneficial results of a long period of stability and prosperity were beginning to be offset by increased pressure of population. As the author says, piracy was a part of life in the \"Water World”. In the Hong Kong Region, this was true up to and after the British took over the New Territories in 1899: see pp. 26-31 of my book The Rural Communities of Hong Kong, Studies and Themes (Hong Kong, Oxford University Press, 1983). In the late 18th century, as Dr. Murray states, it just so happened that larger than usual groups of pirates on the Sino-Vietnamese coast were encouraged by contesting rivalries over the Vietnamese throne, and that above average leadership was available.\n\nThe book resulted from a doctoral thesis. Dr. Murray has done a good job. Her industriousness is evident, and she has opened up a fascinating subject with asides on other major themes. If I can voice a personal \"moan\", it is about something for which she herself is not really responsible. I refer to the deplorable habit of giving Cantonese place", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1988.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213489, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1995", "page_number": 85, "title": "RAS-1995", "content_text": "53\n\ntied. For the novice, or a less experienced, this can cause the wearer to faint. I have seen amateurs have their hats fall to the ground while on the stage, much to the amusement of the audience and dismay of the actor.\n\nIn the light of these anomalies, you would ask why people still choose this career. This is attributed mainly to poverty. The young boys, on joining the school, already burned their bridges behind them because they cannot go back and tell their parents the hardship they have experienced and become a burden to the family.\n\nIn spite of all these difficulties, quite a few do reach the top, like Di Mei Lan-tang and many others, who enjoyed international fame during their lives.\n\nThe Social Position of the Theatrical People in China\n\nUnder the feudal system in China, previous to the 1911 Revolution, the scholars class dominated, while the theatrical people were placed on the lowest rung of the social ladder, along with the barber, prostitute, worker in the bathhouse, and the cook. Their position in society was slightly better than the “untouchable” class in India. It is well known that in the Ch'ing Dynasty, candidates to the Imperial Examination, or any other literary examinations, must report the names and occupations of their ancestors for three generations from great grandfather down to the father. These applications had to be counter-signed by the Chairman of the Neighborhood Board of the district in which the candidate lived. They must state that none of these had ever worked in the five categories of trades listed above. False declaration would nullify the application and the applicant would never be allowed to sit again. What the punishment would be if detection occurred after success in examination is not known. The Imperial Examination was abolished in 1904.\n\nAnother reason why people looked down on the theatrical people was because they were regarded, more or less, as homosexually inclined. Strange to say, in a Confucian society like China, homosexuality, like foot binding, was never condemned as unforgivable sin, as in the Western world. I guess that many of the actors had to compromise if they wanted to stick to their careers.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1995.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/95941j25g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 215966, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-2002", "page_number": 265, "title": "RAS-2002", "content_text": "199\n\nto justify any kind of violence against that \"other\" as a form of cultural and social self-preservation. \"Foreign demons\" were constructs of a political discourse which played on the common people's fears, even to the point of instituting extensive studies in teratology (the study of monstrous forms of animals and plants) as a way of explaining the foreign \"things.\"\n\n39 In taking a \"China-centred approach\" to studying the implications of Ch'ea's Christian conversion, these factors should be explored in two areas: the teratologisation of Jesus and the whiplash of an earlier imperial racism expressed in Manchurian campaigns against any intellectuals who strongly supported Hàn cultural motifs.\n\n40\n\n41\n\nIn a rare picture of the transmogrification of \"foreign teachings\" in order to mark them out for vilification and destruction, Paul Cohen has illustrated how one Qing scholar, Tián Xingshu (1837-1877), produced a blistering lampoon of Christianity in publicly displayed placards during the 1860s. The \"Lord Jesus\" (Zhu Yésu) was depicted in cartoon-like caricatures as the \"Pig Jesus\" (Ju Yésu), worshipped by \"foreign devils\" in bizarre and salacious rites. Christian \"devils\" are depicted as cannibalizing unsuspecting children and religious seekers, using their religious rites as a cover-up for the most immoral and inhumane forms of treatment that a Chinese person could imagine. Near the end of his book, Bixié jìshí (The Truth about Records of Exorcising Evil Spirits12), Tián depicts a righteous mandarin ordering the \"shooting of Pig [Jesus] and the beheading of the Goats [foreigners].\" But this is not the end. Following long traditions found in many Chinese Buddhist or Daoist temple reliefs, Tián capsulizes the defamation by illustrating the terrible purgatorial punishments deserved by the \"Pig Incarnate\" (jujing) in some lower level of Chinese hells. Any partially literate and sensitive Chinese citizen would obviously want to be rid of such a terrible menace to their own society. How could any Chinese person, convinced that these claims were false and purposefully misleading derisions, seek to redirect mobs angered by these putative evils of \"foreign torturers\"743\n\nYet an even deeper level of antagonism and racism had been instigated from the highest imperial offices during the 17th and", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2002.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278", "rank": 0 } ]