[
    {
        "id": 205198,
        "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": 154,
        "title": "RAS-1966",
        "content_text": "148\n\nBOOK REVIEWS\n\nAs he very aptly writes in the 'Author's Note', the book describes the voyage which \"starts in Hong Kong and ends there; the ports visited are those colonies in which I served: Bermuda, Jamaica, Nigeria and Fiji and the Western Pacific, as well, of course, as Hong Kong\". Even more appropriate for this review, however, is his comment: \"I did not keep a diary and I made no notes. For my story I have relied mainly on my memory which, at times, may be at fault, but only, I believe, on points of detail. I have recounted, and commented on, those happenings that remain foremost in my mind.\" The memory of the author is indeed faultless: he can remember all the trivials, but in doing so, he has left out (very painstakingly, it seems) the really important events that happened during his various tours of duty. In this connection, the subdivision of the chapters into Pre-War Days 1922-41, War Years 1942-45 and Post-War Hong Kong 1947-57, becomes extremely misleading. To cite only two examples of exclusion: the reunification of China (1926-28) and Jamaican attempts at self-government prior to and during his term of office. Perhaps most disappointing is the chapter which is burdened with the heading of 'Communist China'. The chapter indeed starts off with pomposity: \"On 1st October 1949, the Chinese communists declared themselves to be the lawful government of China. Why did China go communist? This is a question to which different answers are given. Some say, because China was betrayed... betrayed by whom?... the United States, the Kuomintang.\" But then, this is all there is to it. After a brief account of the 'history' of China's struggles since the days of the treaty ports, we are treated to a narration of 'incidents' (for example, the exploits of the HMS Amethyst and the Kashmir Princess) in fact, well-known events, which unfortunately provide no new information. It is only in the last chapter titled 'Retrospect', that we glimpse the author's own political viewpoint. He only superficially analyses the political situation in Asia and we conclude that he is anti-communist.\n\nTaking the book as a publishable autobiography, however, it becomes more satisfactory. We can perceive, reading somewhat between the lines, the mentality of a British civil servant, struggling from the lowest offices to the highest one in the Colonial Service. It is a picture of loyalty to one's country, diligence in one's duties and opportunism in one's promotions. In other words, it is the",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1966.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/bz60k0811",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 216055,
        "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": 354,
        "title": "RAS-2002",
        "content_text": "288\n\nconsul was nearly hit by a bullet that entered his office through the window. This same consul was involved during student protests later the same year when the police quarters were set alight and the students rampaged through the town intent on killing foreigners. He and his family were only saved by the timely arrival of Chinese soldiers, and escaped by river down to Shanghai.\n\nToday the Zhenjiang Museum occupies the former British Consulate at 85 Boxian Lu in Boxian Park at the heart of the old town. Amongst the items on display in the grounds is an anchor said to have been from H.M.S. Amethyst, the frigate of the British Yangtze Flotilla, which, after weeks of being blockaded, stuck on a sand bank, escaped downstream despite having been badly damaged by shell fire from the PLA [People's Liberation Army] during their thrust south across the River in 1948 to liberate China from the Nationalists under Chiang Kai-shek. British efforts to seek a diplomatic solution involved Edward Youde, a twenty-four-year-old third secretary at the Embassy, who volunteered to reach the senior PLA military officer at Yangzhou to seek a safe-conduct pass for the Amethyst to sail unmolested downstream back to Shanghai. He first had to obtain passes to permit him to cross the line between the Nationalists and the Communists. After several days of adventures and lengthy cross-country hikes, sometimes under fire, Youde reached the senior PLA officer and his request was forcibly rejected. His mission a failure, he returned, again amidst numerous adventures to report to his Ambassador in Nanjing. He later became better known as Sir Edward Youde, one of the last Governors of Hong Kong.\n\nChristian missionaries\n\nThere were Roman Catholic and Protestant missionaries, Anglicans and the 'faith missions', Baptists, Presbyterians and the Lutherans, and so on, as well as the individual evangelicals, zealous saviours of souls. The most important aspect of this work, though most would not see it in this light, was by setting an example, though this in no way belittled their social, medical and educational work. Medical missionaries, another dedicated breed, were an exception with their professional abilities being widely welcomed not only by Chinese but also by the Europeans within both treaty ports as well as in the remoter parts of China in which they lived and worked.",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2002.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278",
        "rank": 0
    }
]