[ { "id": 204254, "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-1961", "page_number": 22, "title": "RAS-1961", "content_text": "Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch\n\nRASHKB and author\n\nVol. 1 (1961)\n\nISSN 1991-7295\n\n19\n\nthe density of nesting birds is considerably less owing to the lack of suitable cover and nests are in any case difficult to find, there is a wide variety of nesting birds ranging from the great family of egrets and herons, with eight or nine species, through a list including the Black-eared Kite, White-bellied Sea-eagle, Francolin, Koel and Crow-Pheasant, drongos and mynahs, bulbuls and babblers down to the Tree-sparrow and Spotted Munia—altogether a large range.\n\nNow I shall discuss Hong Kong's birds in more detail, taking them roughly in the order of the new Check-List* so that gaps, especially in the case of rarities, may be filled in by reference to that book.\n\nThe Great Crested Grebe and the Little Grebe are both common winter visitors but are very localised. The favourite haunt of the former is Deep Bay, whilst up to forty of the latter may be observed on Tai Lam Chung Reservoir. They are rarely seen in breeding plumage and are consequently rather dull-looking. In Deep Bay, along with the Great Crested Grebe one may also see quite large numbers of cormorants, big black diving birds which feed voraciously on fish. An even larger companion of these two varieties in the same area is the Spotted-billed Pelican. Up to twenty of these enormous white birds may be seen, especially at low tide, during the coldest months.\n\nOne of the greatest attractions to bird-watchers in the Colony, particularly in June and July when there is little else to see, is the great variety of egrets and herons which visit and nest here. There are the small Yellow Bittern and Little Green Heron which may be seen in the mangroves on the edge of Deep Bay; the Great, Little, Swinhoe's and Cattle Pond Herons which nest widely in heronries throughout the northern New Territories; and the lonely Reef Egret which nests on Tung Lung Island, Waglan, and perhaps elsewhere in the southeastern part of the Colony. These birds are an ever-present source of delight with their fine plumage and graceful flight and movements. There are others in the same family, such as the Grey and Purple Herons, but they unfortunately are only visitors.\n\nDespite the abundance of water surrounding the Colony and a good deal of suitably marshy ground in the north-west, duck are by no means common, and apart from the Falcated Teal at the mouth of the Shum Chun River, and the Yellow-nib Duck and Teal in evening flight near Lok Ma Chau, very few can be expected. This is a pity, for duck are exciting birds to watch.\n\nAnnotated Check-List of the Birds of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, South China Morning Post Ltd., 1960.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1961.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/vd6724704", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 205334, "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-1967", "page_number": 96, "title": "RAS-1967", "content_text": "THE CHINA COASTERS\n\n89\n\non the outside passage, low-powered ships would have done little more than hold their own against the monsoon.\n\nOn the present day ships trading from Hong Kong around Far Eastern and South Pacific waters many of the old China coast customs still survive. The 'sew-sew' women, for instance, are now peculiar to Hong Kong alone, but used to flourish in Shanghai and Singapore in the old days. In groups of two or three these women board every ship soon after its arrival in Hong Kong to darn the socks and repair the clothes of the officers, and every officer soon after his arrival on the coast has his regular 'sew-sew' woman. They are middle-aged women, severely dressed in black with shining black hair strained back tightly in buns, and invariably sporting a few gold teeth. Whichever 'sew-sew' woman an officer employs on his first visit to Hong Kong usually remains his 'sew-sew' woman for the rest of his time on the coast, and no rival will ever try to solicit his custom. The 'sew-sew' women are scrupulously honest, and are allowed the complete run of the accommodation. They go into their client's cabin unattended, and ransack his drawers and wardrobe looking for clothes to mend, and when these have been collected, retire to a sunny corner of the deck to carry out the repairs. When they return with the clothes later, payment is the subject of shrill but good-natured bargaining.\n\nA similar system still operates in Hong Kong with regard to barbers, tailors, shoemakers, compradores, and others. The compradore in this connection is a petty trader, who deals in a wide variety of goods, from toilet materials and patent medicines to dubious literature. Either he or the tailor will also carry out miscellaneous commissions for their clients, such as posting letters and parcels and so on. An older institution than any of the above, however, were the flower boat girls. Like the 'sew-sew' women they were more common in Hong Kong than in the other ports and were an inheritance from the old days at Canton and Macao. When I returned to the coast twelve years after the end of the Pacific War, and after an absence of almost twenty years, I was pleased to find the 'sew-sew' women, barbers, tailors, and shoemakers plying their trades as busily as ever. The flower boat girls, however, had disappeared from the scene.\n\nPearl Buck, in her biography of her missionary father, Fighting Angel, London, Pan Books, 1964, pp. 84-85, has this to say of river steamers", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1967.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/0c488p70g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 206986, "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": 57, "title": "RAS-1974", "content_text": "ADVENTURERS IN HONG KONG \n\n51 \n\nboarded Huck Finn's raft on the Mississippi went by the names of the Duke of Bilgewater (Bridgewater) and the Dauphin. But a title not only helped to disarm potential sceptics but allowed an adventurer to secure credit, often a necessity for the realisation of his schemes. Mayréna, as we have seen, kept himself afloat for some time by the sale of bogus titles, decorations and honours. A title, as it were, gave the claimant a fake persona, a social mask or facade behind which the predator could lurk. In this century, however, a devaluation of titles has taken place coincident with the rise of meritocracy.\n\nPoor communications helped an adventurer of the impostor or swindler type, for if knowledge of his past leaked out too soon, this would undermine any claim to respectability and diminish confidence in his intentions. News flowed more sluggishly in the nineteenth century, though it was a period of great achievements in the development of a network of world-wide communications. In 1853 the P. and O. had established a regular mail service between Hong Kong and Calcutta, thus establishing fortnightly communications with England; in 1863 the French Messageries Maritimes opened a route to the East; telegraph connection with Manila was achieved in 1880, with Canton in 1882. Nevertheless, mail, newspapers, and reading matter of all kinds took time — usually a month — to reach Hong Kong from Europe, even at the end of the century. There was also no Interpol to flash news by telegraph or wireless about international swindlers, pretenders and other social pests. The Hong Kong public had to wait several weeks before Le Courrier d'Haiphong brought news of the accusations Father Guerlach had levelled against Mayréna. It was not until 24 December 1888, six weeks after his arrival in Hong Kong, that the general public acquired some knowledge of Mayréna's chicanery and general untrustworthiness.\n\nIt was not only the pursuit of adventure, of fame or fortune, that drew adventurers to alien shores. Some left their homelands to escape from the cultural constraints and legal bind of their own societies — an escape, as they saw it, into freedom, innocence and, its corollary, libertinage.57 Laurence Hope, the wife of Lieutenant-General M. H. Nicolson of the Bengal Army, in 1902 wrote:\n\nUpon the City Ramparts, lit up by sunset gleam,\n\nThe Blue eyes that conquer, meet the Darker eyes that dream,58", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1974.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 207493, "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-1975", "page_number": 261, "title": "RAS-1975", "content_text": "CAPTIVE SURGEON IN HONG KONG\n\n253\n\nour entitlement to vegetables for two days was 191.5 kilos while we received only 64.5 kilos.\n\nOn 6 June, which my diary remembered to record as Derby day, I have a note that we had had two small issues of meat one about 26 May and another a few days later. We minced the meat up so as to get it distributed throughout the rice as chow fan and through the vegetable in stews. We were collecting vegetable issues each day by hand from Argyle Street and our own gardens while being successfully cultivated were not producing enough to affect the main hospital diet though sick patients did profit. By now we were doing a good deal of gardening outside the wire.\n\nOn 7 June a note in my diary recorded for the first time that overnight two of our men on night duty had their dinners stolen. The empty containers later reappeared, having been taken by the guard sergeant.\n\nOn 8 June we had a welcome intake of Red Cross stores, the last receipts having come on 9 March. On this occasion we received 200 catties of beans (266 lbs); 100 catties wheat (133 lbs); 35 catties lard (47 lbs); 23 lbs peanut butter; 24 lbs preserved meat; 49 lbs cube sugar; 243 duck eggs and 20 bars of washing soap. This splendid intake allowed us to issue one half egg to each person in hospital.\n\nIt was on 9 June that Saito searched the hospital for three hours and took away for examination, he said, all case sheets for patients, all patients' records, operating books etc. that he could find. He also took documents relating to 27 Company R.A.M.C., together with some possessions taken from individuals. No one ever saw these again and I have recorded elsewhere how I got from Saito written acknowledgement of what he had done.\n\nOn 10 June a second working party of 20 men came from Sham Shui Po to make gardens near our cemetery in Kowloon.\n\nOn 20 June I asked for some less fit men from the first working party to be taken off work and returned to camp and I also gave Saito at his request a list of men fit for discharge. These numbered only six. At this time I have a curious note in my diary that I signified approval to Saito on behalf of the officers concerned for the Japanese to use the interest on our savings for the benefit of all. The Japanese request was conveyed in a letter in their own language which was explained to me orally by Saito through his interpreter. I must have understood the proposal at the time but", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1975.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j0995146d", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 207853, "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": 241, "title": "RAS-1976", "content_text": "226\n\nMAURICE FREEDMAN\n\nman with a parent to rebury and with the resources to back up his ambition will look far and wide in his search for a good site, not necessarily confining himself to the neighbourhood of his village. The poor cannot indulge themselves so; but they are unlikely in any case to reach the stage of looking for reburial sites, and the bones of their dead probably remain for ever in the urns where they were deposited after the first burial. There is no dearth of evidence that urns lie neglected for many years, at the end of their career spilling their contents on the ground. For the humble, geomantic burial plays a small role. Among the proud and the aspiring the hunt for the Dragon, a never-ending search for promotion and security, leads people in a competitive race over the hills, Fung shui in this context represents the right of individuals to outstrip their neighbours. (I have not gone into the details of burial. See B.D. Wilson, 'Chinese Burial Customs in Hong Kong', Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. I, 1961, pp. 115-123).\n\n60. Success which flows from fung shui raises a moral problem, for it is not a reward for merit. If the geomancer has done his job correctly Breaths will concentrate automatically, whether the descendants are good men or bad. Geomancy explains why some people succeed and others fail, even when they have the same advantages and appear to have the same chances, but, at least at first sight, it seems to obscure the role in success which may be played by moral worth. The problem is in fact raised in some of the fung shui stories current in the New Territories. They show that in reality the evil cannot expect to prosper by fung shui, however much they appear to benefit in the short run. The universe is a moral entity; principles of right laid up in Heaven are not to be denied by the workings of Earth. I heard one story in two different versions; here is a summary of its main points to illustrate the role of morality in fung shui. A poor duck-breeder one day observed a geomancer at work. The geomancer stuck a bamboo pole in the muddy duck-pond and left it there for the night. During the night it flowered. The duck-breeder stole it and replaced it with another bamboo pole to the surprise next morning of the geomancer who had expected to find it flowering. He tried again but once more was foiled by the wily duck-breeder, and so he was forced to abandon what he thought to have proved a magnificent fung shui. The duck-breeder, having stolen the knowledge of the site, ordered", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1976.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208311, "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-1978", "page_number": 35, "title": "RAS-1978", "content_text": "MILITARY EDUCATION IN CHINA, 1842-1895\n\n19\n\naltogether. But fears over tampering with inherited institutions and respect for ancestral precedent (tsu-tsung ch'eng-fa) prevented the tests from being either transformed or abandoned. Subsequent attempts to reform or abolish the system of military examinations, such as Shen Pao-chen's famous memorial of 1878, came to nothing.19 As late as 1898, we still find the throne ordering officials to determine what the policy of the imperial ancestors had been regarding military reform before taking concrete steps.20 Small wonder the prestigious civil service examinations also remained essentially unaltered throughout the nineteenth century.\n\nThere was, however, room for the reform of military education outside the examination system - particularly during the Taiping period. Not only did the Rebellion allow for the emergence of new civil and military leadership in China; it also resulted in the establishment of new-style military forces which placed comparatively heavy emphasis on military education. The yung-ying armies of Tseng Kuo-fan and others, for example, employed the highly effective training methods of the famous Ming general Ch'i Chi-kuang - techniques that had long since fallen into disuse. In addition to Confucian moral instruction, yung-ying armies received daily drill, which was all but unheard of in Banner and Green Standard forces. They practiced regularly with firearms, swords, knives, spears and other weapons, and were taught tactical formations such as Ch'i Chi-kuang's \"mandarin duck\" (yuan-yang) and the \"three powers\" (san-ts'ai).\n\nIt is true, of course, that officers received very little, if any, formal military training, since it was deemed sufficient that they be upright gentlemen (chün-tzu) who led by moral example. Moreover, we know that active involvement by officers in troop training was generally considered demeaning. But at least some lower level personnel in yung-ying staff organizations (ying-wu ch'u), and perhaps some high-level officers as well, were more knowledgeable about key aspects of military affairs - planning, command, field maneuvers, discipline, supply, communication and so forth - than the vast majority of their Banner or Green Standard counterparts.25\n\nAfter 1860, Western influences began to penetrate Chinese military forces. In the latter stages of the Ch'ing-Taiping War, the British and French took an active role in supporting the introduction of foreign-training to Chinese troops. Foreign-officered con-", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1978.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8g84t8593", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208457, "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-1978", "page_number": 181, "title": "RAS-1978", "content_text": "VILLAGE GOVERNMENT IN CHINA, 1933\n\n165\n\nany contingency of administration which faced the small and self-contained villages of the rural districts in which the great mass of the Chinese people dwelt.\n\nAuthor's note: On rereading this effort of an aspiring young Sinologue in Peking some 45 years ago, the author realizes how quaint it must seem today for the \"state of the art\" is far advanced since then, with a proliferation of on-the-ground studies of Chinese rural life done by sociologists and social anthropologists in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. They provide concrete information on village governance richer than all one could find in 1933, C.M.W., 15 October 1979.\n\nBIBLIOGRAPHY\n\nI. WORKS CITED IN THIS PAPER.\n\nAddison, James T.; Chinese Ancestor Worship: a Study of its Meaning and its Relations with Christianity. No place, Chung Hua Shen Kung Hui, 1925.\n\nAlabaster, Ernest; Notes and Commentaries on Chinese Criminal Law and Cognate Topics, London, Luzac, 1899,\n\nBazin; \"Recherches sur les Institutions Administratives et Municipales de la Chine\" (Journal Asiatique. 5th Series, vol. 3, 1854, p. 6-66; vol. 4, 1854, p. 249-348), (The two papers are differentiated by the Roman numerals I and II.)\n\nBishop, Carl W. Man from the Farthest Past. New York Smithsonian Institution, 1930. (Smithsonian Scientific Series, vol. 7.)\n\nBishop, C. W.; \"Prefatory Note on the Worship of Earth in Ancient China.\" (Excavation of a West Han Site. Shanghai, no pub., 1932, p. 1-20.)\n\nBishop, Carl W.; \"The Rise of Civilization in China with Reference to its Geographical Aspects\" (Geographical Review, Oct. 1932, p. 617-631.)\n\nBoulais, Guy; Manuel du Code Chinois. Shanghai, Imprimerie de la Mission Catholique, 1924. (Variétés Sinologiques 55.)\n\nBuck, John L.; Chinese Farm Economy; a Study of 2866 Farms in Seventeen Localities and Seven Provinces in China. Shanghai, Commercial Press, 1930.\n\nChen Huan-chang; The Economic Principles of Confucius and His School, 2 vols. New York, Columbia, 1911.\n\nChina National Government. The Civil Code of the Republic of China. Translated into English by Hsia, Ching-lin: Chow, James L. E.; Chang, Yukon, 2 vols. Shanghai, Kelly and Walsh, 1930-31. vol. 2.\n\nChina Year Book 1932. (Woodhead, H. G. W. Ed.) Shanghai, North-China, 1932.\n\nChinese Repository. See: \"Clanship Among the Chinese.\"", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1978.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8g84t8593", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211462, "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": 178, "title": "RAS-1988", "content_text": "154\n\nAh Wun, Ah Hoy, and Ah Seu, the latter two being our daily playmates. A cluster of Chinese homes bordered a large empty area behind our duplex and there Mother became acquainted with the Leong Chew's, the Chun Loy's and the Goo Dow's. For Mother, preparation to go to a friend's or to a party or to a Chinese opera meant getting gifts ready for the friend, dressing herself and us children in fine clothes, and hiring a hack to drive us there. An air of anticipation and excitement would prevail. Although we did not live far from the Red Light District in Iwilei, we had to commute by hack to visit a friend there.\n\nMother knew instinctively how to take care of us when we became ill. I was not a robust child. I do not recall ever being seen by a doctor when I was growing up. Father would describe our symptoms to a herbalist, who would then select certain herbs to be brewed as a drink for our ailments. I always resisted these concoctions, a conglomerate of twigs, leaves, seeds and, at times, even earthworms and cockroaches. In spite of much coaxing and scolding, I would continue to resist until someone would finally hold my nose while another would pour the brew into my mouth, thus forcing me to swallow. This often resulted in some vomiting, much to the annoyance of Mother, who, nevertheless, would reward me with one or two black dates that accompanied each dose of medicine. Before her conversion to Christianity, she also had superstitious practices as part of the cure. She would start a charcoal fire in a brazier, sprinkle some alum over it, and then swing me back and forth over the smoldering heat, pulling my ears one at a time and chanting over and over, \"Me Big not afraid! Little Pig afraid\"\n\nShe believed that this chant would send the evil spirit causing my illness to a pig. It worked!\n\nWhen I was about four, I became very ill with diarrhea, discharging so much blood that I was unable to walk from weakness. Mother asked Father to consult a doctor whose only advice was to let nature take its course. In desperation, Father went to an herbalist who prescribed a powder for diarrhea and a diet of rice and dried persimmons. This proved effective. It must have been near the Chinese New Year for I still recall the taste of preserved duck and salted duck eggs imported from China at that time of the year, which Mother served me with rice. When next I was hurting with a swollen gland in my right groin, Mother summoned a Chinese \"doctor\", who poured kerosene over it as it broke and drained.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1988.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211827, "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-1989", "page_number": 242, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "217\n\n2.3.1864 (Wedn)\n\nPerformance by the amateurs of the Royal Artillery.\n\nNo plays are mentioned in the announcement (NCH 27.2.1864).\n\n4.3.1864 (Fri)\n\nPerformance by Mrs. Greig: \"dramatic reading and English ballad music” with the cooperation of Mr. Marquis Chisholm, piano, and the Rhenish Band.\n\nN.N. (H)\n\nR: This was an evening at which the Herald predicted that \"ladies may without impropriety be present\". Mrs. GREIG had had “a most successful career in India and the colonies\" and it was the first time she had come to Shanghai (NCH 27.2.1864).\n\n28.3.1864 (Mon)\n\nT. KORNER: \"The Governess\" (“Die Gouvernante')\n\nT: Farce (1 act)\n\nA.F.F. Von KOTZEBUE: \"The Harvest at Home\"\n\nN.N.: Bullrick at Kroll\"\n\nC: Amateurs of His Prussian M.S. Gazelle\n\nTh: On board ship(?)\n\nN: It is not recorded in which language these pieces were played: titles and authors are those given by the Herald. Of Kotzebue's play I have not been able to find a German equivalent. HED, however, mentions some plays with the same title by British authors: Thomas Parry (1848) and Charles Dibdin (1787), as well as some by unknown playwrights.\n\nR: Perhaps in some fear, the Herald noted with a sigh of relief that \"the evening passed off without a single contretemps\" (NCH 2.4.1864). Curiously enough the only ship in port with the name \"Gazelle\" was a British merchantman which had arrived there from Hankow on the 22nd.\n\n30.3.1864 (Wedn)\n\nM.W.B. JERROLD: \"Cool as a Cucumber\" (1851)\n\nT: Farce (1 act)\n\nJ. KENNEY: \"Raising the Wind\" (1803)\n\nT: Farce (2 acts)\n\nJ.S. COYNER: \"Duck Hunting” (1862)\n\nT: Farce (1 act)\n\nC: Amateurs of the Shanghai Volunteer Corps\n\nF: Prologue, spoken by Commm. R.C. Antrobus\n\nTh: N.N. (H)\n\nN: First performance of the season\n\nR: After a brief period in which the actual names of resident-amateurs had been published, there was a reversion to the old practice of stage names, at least probably for most actors. A whole list was printed in the Herald (Messrs Talbot, De Jones, Robinson (were these latter two the same as those active in 1858?), Carnegie, Coke, Dolittle, Smith, Blister, Buttons, Bellingham and John; and Mesdemoiselles Olivia, Pipchin, Robinson and Sally), of whom only Mr. Talbot may have been genuine. As usual the female characters of the farces were played by men (\"prettier and more graceful amateur ladies than we have ever seen before\"), a generally horrid sight for the serious theatregoer. Not so for Shanghailanders for \"large numbers of residents who were desirous of obtaining admission were excluded for want of room” (NCH 2.4.1864). A detailed review had appeared in the Daily Shipping News of 31.3.1864, no longer available. Increasingly, instead of full reports, summaries from the daily edition were published until one has to resort entirely to the Daily News; of Survey).", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 215398, "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-2001", "page_number": 175, "title": "RAS-2001", "content_text": "124 \n\n“呈盧督頌詞”的中國象徵圖案 \n\n竹 : 在冬天仍然生長茁壯的長青植物, 因能耐寒而象徵長壽。 \n\nChinese symbolism in The Tribute \n\nBamboo : Evergreen and flourishes throughout the winter, an emblem of longevity owing to its durability. \n\n貔貅 : 象徵來與長齡, 據中華藥忠記記載 \n\nBar \n\n色白如銀, 吃它的術可得長壽和遐齡 \n\n獼猴桃 : 刺繡品中常見的圖案 紫微歡樂與愛情, 是中國的愛神 \n\nButterfly : A favourite theme for embroidery: an emblem of joy and conjugal felicity - the Chinese Cupid. \n\n菊花 : 當其他花卉在秋天凋謝時, 獨有菊花仍然盛開, 耐冷期不懼風霜。 \n\nChrysanthemum : Blooms in the autumn when all the other flowers have withered. Can withstand chilly weather and the autumn wind. \n\n鹿 : 象徵長壽, 因為人們相信牠的壽命很長, 是唯一可找到靈芝的動物。 \n\nDeer : Believed to be a very great age emblem of long life. The only animal which is able to find the fungus of immortality. \n\n龍 : 東方的龍是力量和善良的天才, 是四種有智慧的生物之一, 象徵警惕和守護, 也用在香港殖民地時期的紋章上。 \n\nDragon : The Eastern dragon is the genius of strength and goodness; one of the four intelligent creatures, emblem of vigilance and safeguard; a feature of the coat of arms of colonial Hong Kong \n\n翡翠鳥 : 根據古代傳說, 為了與海慎微型巢於海面, 在孵卵期能平息波浪, 因此有「平靜的日子」之說。 \n\nKingfisher : Halcyon : fabled by the ancients to build its nest on the surface of the sea and calm the troubled waves, during its incubation period; hence the phrase 'halcyon days'. \n\n靈芝 : 一種不朽的植物; 食用它可帶來不朽。 \n\nLing Zhi : An immond plant; brings immortality to those who eat it. \n\n龍 : 主宰百獸的雄偉動物, 象徵勇猛和精力充沛; 也是香港殖民地時期紋章的特色。 \n\nLon \n\nLotus : 蓮花是純潔和完美的象徵。 \n\nLotus : A symbol of purity and perfection. \n\n玉蘭 : 一種迎接春天的花卉。 \n\nMagnolia : A flower that welcomes the spring. \n\n鴛鴦 : 象徵幸福的夫妻和夫婦的忠貞。 \n\nMandarin duck : Symbol of a happy couple and conjugal fidelity.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2001.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 216026, "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": 325, "title": "RAS-2002", "content_text": "259\n\ntowns and villages of the region visiting their Chinese agents, taking orders for tobacco and sugar and checking sales and receipts, used Zhenjiang as one of their bases. They were known as 'sugar and tobacco travellers'.\n\nAn extract from the Shanghai Mercury in 1887 described Zhenjiang and its surroundings in the not untypical purple prose of the newspaper hack of the day:\n\nFew ports in China would seem to be better situated for trade than Chinkiang, a few perhaps have been more disappointing. The first glimpse of the port is eminently reassuring, as the fine bund, at the time of the year bosomed [sic] in trees, the conspicuous houses topped by the British Consulate, and the goodly array of hulks connected by handy bridges with the shore make a picture surpassed in our picturesqueness by none. The hum of traffic and the cry of coolies permeates the air; the familiar aspect of the Sikh policeman appears at the corners of the British concession; the concession roads are wide and well kept, and, what is unfortunately unusual in China, the enterprise of the foreign residents has succeeded in acquiring a system of good riding roads penetrating the country in all directions as far as from four to six miles from the central point.\n\nAt the first opening of the port it was assumed that, with the suppression of the Taiping rebellion, its unrivalled position would make it the centre of a large and increasing trade. The Inspector-General nursed it, and proclaimed it the natural rival of Shanghai, British consuls prophesied a direct trade on its own account with Europe, even the native authorities for a time seemed to have come out of their shell and lent it aid and counsel. One Taot'ai', to his honour, be it said, laying aside the prejudices of his class, re-introduced the art of silk cultivation, and the mulberry trees planted by his assistance have originated almost the only industry which remains in the neighbourhood. In spite, however, of all this flourish, Chinkiang remains a comparatively poor port...the British concession is but a small spot, a few hundred yards square, and on it is concentrated the entire trade of the place, native as well as foreign.\n\nAlthough Zhenjiang in reality was but a minor treaty port it was well-known to western expatriates in China during the 19th century as\n\n•", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2002.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 216478, "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-2003", "page_number": 237, "title": "RAS-2003", "content_text": "187\n\nShip \"Reigate\"\n\nat Sea\n\nSunday May 8th (1881)\n\nMy Dear Mother\n\nI am glad to tell you we have a fair wind at last and I now begin to write my voyage letter to you. It is a beautiful day so I have turned my bed out for an airing. We live very comfortable in our berth and get on very well together in the dog watches. We take it in turns to play. Wilson plays his fiddle and I my whistle so we pass the time away very pleasantly. Mr Ritchie [First Mate] has kindly been teaching me a good many things in the seamanship way and on Monday I am to go to him in my watch below in the afternoon and spend an hour at arithmetic. I have been wearing those old trousers and dungarees on weekdays and blue cloth suit on Sunday\n\nSunday 15th. Dear Mother, we have had a fine fair wind all this week and are on warmer weather. Now I am glad to tell you we are all quite well. I have been getting on very well at sea. Mr Ritchie has us in the cabin every other afternoon teaching us arithmetic. Yesterday night I stowed the mizzen royal for the first time on the voyage. This week we have been making boat covers and Father has been teaching us the way to sew. Father is very kind to me and Wilson and I get on very well together. We have finished nearly all our little store up. I have only one onion left. The steward has just brought us in a piece of plum pudding left from the cabin. We have not taken long to eat it. I am keeping a little log in the pocketbook Ada bought me.\n\nSunday 29th. Dear Mother, this week we have had doldrums and head winds yesterday night I went up to stow the mizzen Royal and in getting along the yard my belt unhooked and went flying overboard. It has been a great loss. This week I have washed all my dirty clothes. It is very hot now so I am wearing my duck trousers and a flannel shirt. We caught some bonitos yesterday and all had a good feed of fish\n\nSunday June 5th. Dear Mother, the weather has been very squally this week Last night it blowed hard and we reefed top sails for the first time. I got wet through three times during the night. It makes six times I have been wet through this week. I wished I was at home in bed last night.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2003.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2v242g390", "rank": 0 } ]