[ { "id": 206900, "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-1973", "page_number": 177, "title": "RAS-1973", "content_text": "BOOK REVIEWS\n\n171\n\nELIZABETH HALSON: PEKING OPERA, A SHORT GUIDE, Hong Kong University Press, London, New York, 1966, HK$20.\n\nI do not think that Elizabeth Halson has a background of sinological studies, but she has the advantage of having spent some time in Peking and she was obviously an avid theatre-goer. Judging from the contents of the book, she must have been there before 1963, as she describes only the traditional style of opera, which was banned in that year and has not been allowed to be performed since, whilst the book itself was published already in 1966. She must have learned Mandarin and spent a lot of time in and around the theatre, collecting material, talking to actors and anybody available who would give answers to her questions on opera. In her book she describes in a comprehensive way what she could grasp in such a short time, which might have been two years. This is naturally far too short a time for a foreigner to penetrate more than the surface of such a complex and abstract art as Peking Opera.\n\nIt seems, too, that she had not many books to rely on, neither Chinese nor European. It is obvious that she did not have the book on Peking Opera by A. C. Scott, The Classical Theatre of China, with which I shall compare it, because she does not use his material as a background, but starts again where he had to start. The difference is that Scott has been in China and Hong Kong for about 8 years, between 1947-1955 and that he has a profound knowledge of the Chinese language, the former society, the realities and the culture in general. Today he is considered an authority on Peking Opera, with many books on this subject to his credit.\n\nScott's book on Peking Opera is the most authoritative work yet to appear in any European language. When I first saw Miss Halson's book, I was not surprised to find the subject treated in the same way as in his book, because as a foreigner you are first led by your eyes, as western ears are mostly very slow to adapt to Chinese language and music.\n\nWhat distinguishes the Peking Opera from other forms is its complicated system of symbols, which are organized in rules for the appearance, movements and voices of the actors and for the sparse stage properties. Opera was the entertainment of the court, and therefore its society is reflected in it, its thinking and behaviour.\n\n* Published by Allen and Unwin, 1957.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1973.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 207311, "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": 79, "title": "RAS-1975", "content_text": "NOTES ON CHIUCHOW OPERA (MA)\n\nHELGA WERLE\n\nMs. Helga Werle, whose article on Chiuchow (in Mandarin Chao-chou) puppets appeared in the 1973 Journal, describes two typical plays of the Chiuchow opera, and gives background information about this particular regional theatre of China. Ed.\n\nIn urbanized Hong Kong today one can see a performance of Chiuchow Opera at City Hall or Lee theatre two or three times a year, but the traditional purpose of this opera is the shen-kung hsi—a performance to celebrate the birthday of a deity. Many areas of Hong Kong have their organized Chiuchow communities centred upon the temple of a certain deity.\n\nThe Chiuchows have innumerable deities, often completely different from the Cantonese. Some of those worshipped in Hong Kong with temples erected in their names are:\n\nLi-shan lao-mu\nT'ai-i chen-ren\nLi lao-ch'un 李老君\nCh'i t'in ta-sheng\nSan-shan kuo-wang\nSan t'ai-tze lao-yeh\nMu-ch'a Chin-ch'a and No-ch'a called the three princes \"san t'ai-tze\", the three sons of Li Ching 李靖\nHan Chung-kung\n\nTo ensure the prosperity of each temple community the birthday of its deity must be properly celebrated. The most outstanding members of the community are chosen to form the prestigious festival committee, which has the duty to collect the necessary amount of money (between 50 and 100,000 HK$) to organize a worthy celebration. And what could rejoice a god's heart more than the luxury of a series of opera performances? After the dates are decided with the consent of the deity involved a large space is booked with a Government office (usually a public playground),\n\nPlates 5-12 at rear of the volume illustrate this article.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1975.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j0995146d", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211472, "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": 188, "title": "RAS-1988", "content_text": "164\n\nfor being arrogant, did not accept Ruth, probably due to her discrimination against Mrs. Chang's programme. However, she accepted me, perhaps because I was considered uncontaminated and because Father was employed in a bank owned by \"white\" people. She made a poor choice because Ruth was by far the better student. Ruth then was accepted by Mrs. Creighton of Kauluwela School where she was placed directly in the third grade with Mrs. Bowman. Ruth stood out scholastically and was the pride of her teachers. She continued to do well in McKinley High School and won first prize and a gold medal upon graduation. Granted a Barbour scholarship at the University of Michigan, after a premedical programme at the University of Hawaii, she completed her academic medical studies and received a medical degree in 1929.\n\nAt Michigan Ruth met and became engaged to Herbert Kai Gee Wong of Hong Kong before he left to finish his medical studies at the University of Edinburgh. Unfortunately, Ruth sprained an ankle on a tour of a theatre during her last year of school and, even after surgery, was not able to walk normally or to accept an internship in a Philadelphia hospital. On her way back to Honolulu to recuperate, she spent a few days with me in Lincoln and some weeks with Dr. George S. Chan, a distant cousin, in Los Angeles. Being a herbalist, he tried unsuccessfully to heal the ankle with Chinese herbs. Once home she came under the care of Dr. Joseph Lam, family friend and schoolmate of Ruth's at Michigan. An injection of some new medication from Germany, administered by Dr. Mils Larsen, resulted in her death from septicemia on 6 June, 1932. Her three years of illness were a great strain on her and on the family. It was a great tragedy that such a brilliant woman was struck down just at the beginning of a promising career.\n\n―\n\nHelen was a very appealing child bright, sweet and smiling. During the Easter, Children's Day and Christmas services at the Kauluwela Mission, she was always asked to sing or perform. She attended Central Grammar School as I did and was a favourite of her teacher, Miss Padgett, and of the principal, Mrs. Sophie Overend, who had replaced Mrs. Carter. From there Helen went to McKinley High School, where, during her senior year, she was elected ROTC Sponsor for Company L. At the University of Hawaii, from which she graduated in three and a half years with a B.A. degree in Education, she was selected runner-up by movie star John Gilbert in a beauty contest among a group of", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1988.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211773, "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": 188, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "163\n\nconcert. Everything was conducted in a quiet gentlemenly manner so that we imagined ourselves in a drawing room more than in a theatre. There was no attempt at grandeur of display (...) which characterises too much the quasi musical taste of the day where the composition of the author is sacrificed frequently to the execution of the performer and the audience is led to think more of the latter than of the former**. \"The \"Shanghai Commercial Record\" reported in a similar laudatory way about the Annual Volunteer Concert on February 15, 1865: “We fancy few home concerts could show anything better; amateur concerts we are sure rarely could\".20\n\nHowever, about professional musicians, and those formed the majority of performers, the critic sometimes made no bones about his disapproval: speaking of a recital given by a Professor Shonbrun on the piano in March 1859, he was \"sorry to say we have no great opinion of his powers; the skill and artistic feeling which would be highly respectable in an Amateur reflect no especial credit on a professional player'\"; at the same time **the Amateurs who assisted Mr. Shonbrun did their share well and merit great praise\". Thus the line was drawn, at least by this particular reviewer.\n\nIII. The Companies\n\nA. Theatrical\n\n**21\n\nWriting about the theatrical companies that performed in Shanghai during the period 1850-1865, a distinction must be made between those that were got up from among the local residents, those that were initiated by the military garrison, and those that were of a professional, travelling nature.\n\nThe Local Companies\n\nOn November 15, 1866, it was proposed at a meeting of the Dramatic Corps of the Infantry and Rangers of the Shanghai Volunteers Corps that “a Dramatic Society be formed\",22 and hardly a month later the Shanghai Amateur Dramatic Corps was established on December 7.23 Its objects were stated to be \"the encouragement and maintenance of an amateur theatre in Shanghai; the maintenance of a theatrical library and the management of funds for theatrical purposes\". There were to be no honorary members but only those who were willing to be active", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211778, "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": 193, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "168\n\nso called Christy's Minstrels --- a famous group in the United States, yet it may be doubted severely whether it was the same one that visited Shanghai.\n\nEight years later, the first company to come down to Shanghai from Hong Kong, where they had also been playing, was the one led by a Mr. C.R. Faylor. On February 10 1864 Lytton's The Lady of Lyons was on the bill as the opening piece, but the Herald thought it a failure in consequence of \"that portion of the company which had been collected in Shanghai and pressed into service\". How this is to be understood is not quite clear. Did Faylor's company consist of only a few actors, who were to be supplemented by local worthies? But then, who else could they be but amateurs, the darlings of the foreign community? However this may be, on May 9 at an evening in which also the \"Royal Shanghai Ballet d'Action\" [so far for fancy names!] participated, the \"celebrated comedy Nature and Philosophy or Eighteen Years Labour Lost” was given. As members of the company were mentioned Mr. and Mrs. C.R. Faylor, Mr. and Mrs. E. Yeamans and Major Pegus. Amateurs almost always adopted stage names in order to hide their real identity, but with professional actors it may be assumed these names were real.\n\n45\n\nA more substantial contribution to the amusement of the Shanghai public was made by Lewis' Dramatic Company. It was of Australian origin and the \"musical director and manager\" was Charles Edouin. Other members of the group were Tilly Earl, Mrs. Gill, Lizzie Naylor, Jenny Nye, T. Andrews, Henry Birch, J.B. Creswick, W.B. Gill and nearly the whole Edouin (or, rather, Bryer) family: Julia, Rose, John and Willie. Rose (1844-1925) married G.B. Lewis and became later an actress at, among others, the Maidan Theatre in Calcutta. Her brother Willie (1846-1908; his real name was John Edward Bryer) first appeared in public when he was six; after the tour to Australia, India, China and Japan he played in Melbourne, California, New York and London.46 In 1862 the \"Lewis' Equestrian Australian Troupe\" had visited the port with \"six of the best horses ever landed in China**,** but in 1864 the company had turned to drama and from October 6 until their departure in December an eight week season provided an unprecedented shower of farces, burlesques and even some quality pieces like Sheridan's The Rivals and the prison scene from Shakespeare's King John (Act IV, sc. 1), in which the role of prince Arthur was played by an actress, Julia Edouin, who took \"the house by storm\".48 The success of the company was apparently so great that they returned in March of the following\n\n47", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211791, "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": 206, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "181\n\nof the Olympic Theatre or Royal Olympic Theatre which was located at the back of the Shanghai Club, in the southern part of the Settlement. It had a dress circle and there is even mention of a \"second circle\".\n\nI.\n\nFinally we come to the last of the godown theatres, the Lyceum Theatre which was stated to be situated at Peking Road (ex Consulate Road), 104 The proprietors were the big firm of Jardine, Matheson & Co which had a hong on the corner of the Bund and Peking Road, 105 This was the scene of the 1864-1865 and 1865-1866 seasons.\n\nJ.\n\nEvidently the existing situation was highly unsatisfactory. This was realised as early as 1852 when, at a Public Meeting on September 25, a Committee was formed at the instigation of the Shanghai Library that was looking for more appropriate accommodations. This Committee was to study the possibilities of “erecting a Building for an exchange and reading room\". 106 In December a prospectus was issued by the Committee in which it was suggested that in the so called \"Public Institution”, “a large room might be fitted for the Theatre, already under comparatively disadvantageous circumstances one of the most popular amusements we have\", All these plans came to nothing, however, so in 1864 an epilogue to a theatrical evening gave vent to feelings of discontent:\n\n* 107\n\nLadies and gentlemen, our course is run 'T is yours to gild our quickly setting sun For if upon your frowns that sun should set This theatre must be advertised \"To Let'. Shorn of its glory, prestige and renown Like our poor selves 't will be a mere godown. Not that the Drama in this wealthy port\n\nTo such an humble bounty pray be led And build a lasting structure in its stead\". 108\n\nApart from the inconvenience of securing a suitable godown every year, there was a great deal of capital loss involved. Each time a warehouse had to be fitted up at considerable cost (about 2,000 Taels in 1865; a Tael was worth approx. 6/7 in this period; in addition to the rent of Tls", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211804, "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": 219, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "194\n\n6.5.1852 (Thur)\n\nJ.M. MORTON: \"Attic Story\" (1842)\n\nT: Farce (1 act)\n\nR.B. PEAKS: \"The Haunted Inn\" (1828)\n\nT: Farce (2 act)\n\nC: Amateurs\n\nF: Music, i.a. selections from Mozart's “Le Nozze di Figaro\" and other operas. Epilogue.\n\nTh: New Theatre Royal (A)\n\nN: Last performance of the season\n\nR: Again there was a new drop scene. \"A View near Palermo, a very pleasing view of an Italian villa with the bay and hills in the background\". The pieces were \"well performed and excited much merriment, especially the mistakes of the Attic Story\" (NCH 8.5.1852).\n\n27.1.1853 (Thur)\n\nD. BOUCICAULT & C. MATHEWS: \"Used Up\" (1846)\n\nT: Comedietta (2 acts)\n\nG.A.A. BECKETT: \"The Turned Head\" (1834)\n\nT: Farce (1 act)\n\nC: Amateurs\n\nTh: Imperial Theatre (B)\n\nN: First performance of the season\n\nR: After not a little uncertainty about the state of affairs respecting the theatre, finally the management for the new season was laid in the hands of Horatio BUSKIN (a compound pseudonym: Horatio, from Hamlet; Buskin, the boot worn by Greek actors) who succeeded \"Doldrum\".\n\nFor a \"very good attendance graced by many of the beau sexe\" the evening \"came off with great éclat\" (NCH 22, 29.1.1853).\n\n23.3.1853 (Wedn)\n\nJ.M. MORTON: \"Betsey Baker\" (1851)\n\nT: Farce (1 act)\n\nW. BROUGH: \"Apartments\" (1851)\n\nT: Farce (1 act)\n\nC: Amateurs\n\nF: Prologue; comic songs\n\nTh: Imperial Theatre (B)\n\nR: In the presence of the British Superintendent of Trade and Governor of Hong Kong, Sir George Bonham, Betsey Baker turned out to be \"a most decided and palpable hit, received throughout with shouts of laughter and applause\". Bonham was in Shanghai on his way to Nanking which had been taken by the Taipings on March 19. The Rebellion had a profound effect on the foreign community and although the Taipings enjoyed for some time a lot of sympathy, on this occasion they were satirised in a **most original and witty Prologue**: \"The Manager appeared before the curtain, in a state of intense excitement, informing the audience of mutiny in the corps! Dreadful consequences!! No performance!!! What could be done!? Then arose such a \"Row and Bobbery\" [Bobbery: an Anglo-Indian word meaning 'noise, disturbance' - JH] led by those who were in the secret and poor Horatio BUSKIN could scarcely be heard amidst the crash of broken glass and was almost unable to face the shower of oranges aimed at his devoted head. An amiable conspirator elevating himself on a bench expressed most loudly and eloquently his indignation at this state of affairs; however, after a parley with the Manager, he proposed a compromise, and the curtain was drawn up exposing the corps evidently in a state of 'Rebellion'. Fortunately they would listen to reason and the 'refractory members' agreed to 'go on' for this occasion, and the Manager retired with...", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211810, "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": 225, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "200\n\nrash decision to marry the first that came\". Another actor who was to become a local Roscius. Mr. Phunago BRUSHWOOD, \"gave the somewhat unusual stage character of a double-faced farmer (Wurzel) all the selfish cunning and irritable tone which it needed\". Other parts were taken by Miss Polly DEXTER, Mr. HEAVISWELL, Mr. Jehoshaphat SNAKES and Mr. PLEADWELL (as the lawyer!).\n\nIn Box and Cox Messrs PROTEUS, BRUSHWOOD and Mrs. CLAY \"kept the audience in a roar\" (NCH 22.2.1857).\n\n3.3.1857 (Tue)\n\nDramatic readings from Charles Dickens by Mr. Benjamin SEARE. Th: C\n\n―\n\nR: In the Herald of February 28 it was announced that \"we are apprized by 'Circular' that an entertainment of a novel character in Shanghai, but one which has greatly attracted the fashionable and literary world elsewhere, will be given by Mr. Scare in the Hall of the Shanghai Theatre on Tuesday Evening next the 3rd prox. The subject - The Early Writings of Charles Dickens is a theme affording scope for great versatility of talent. (...) The Community are much indebted to Mr. Scare for his gratuitous offer of an evening's intellectual amusement to diversify and enliven the monotony of Shanghai life. The Circular notifies that the divertissement will commence at half past 8 & precisely, that no personal invitations will be issued and that a syllabus of the Lecture will be placed in each seat for the use and acceptance of its occupant”. Then, in the issue of March 7, a report was published: \"A large and select circle of residents had met in the New Theatre\". It became a kind of one man show by Mr. Seare, as the \"requirements of versatility and mimic power were most successfully supplied. (...) The lecturer was perfectly at home in each and all of the various characters as they turned up, passed from one to another with an ease that was admirable and portrayed each with a force of comic power which elicited much applause, and, to select the most appropriate compliment we can bestow, did justice to the author. All in all the audience was \"kept in a roar”. Mr. Seare concluded with some general remarks on the necessity of some recreation of this kind in a community so distant from home and so isolated and comprising at the same time so much intelligence and ability\" (NCH 7.3.1857). One wonders how Mr. Seare was able to give these lectures free of charge; had he been a touring artist that would of course have been impossible. But as it turns out he was a mercantile assistant in the employment of Gilman & Co (this according to the Shanghai Almanac for 1858). In May 1865 he gave another performance (see 27.5.1865). No further details are available about the programme, but no doubt the characters from The Pickwick Papers figured largely in it. Who, after all, can resist Mr. Pickwick, Mr. Jingle and Sam Weller? Dickens himself began readings from his own works one year later, in April 1858, in Britain and the United States.\n\n26.3.1857 (Thur)\n\nJ.B. BUCKSTONE: \"A Kiss in the Dark\" (1840)\n\nT: Farce (1 act)\n\nM.B.W. JERROLD: \"Cool as a Cucumber\" (1851)\n\nT: Farce (1 act)\n\nH. DANVERS: \"A Conjugal Lesson\" (1856)\n\nT: Farce (1 act)\n\nC: Amateurs\n\nTh: N.N. (CH\n\nR: In a witty mind \"The Man on the Bund\" informed us that \"by way of introduction there was a kiss — and in the dark too! — perhaps the sweetest kiss of all, administered with enviable gusto by Mr. SNAKES as Fathom. Mrs. Pettibone submitted to it with less indignation than the fact of her being so much respected led us to suppose. But then, it was to punish the odiously jealous Mr. Pettibone who would insist on making\n\nPage 225\n\nPage 226", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211825, "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": 240, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "215\n\nProgramme:\n\nC.M. Von WEBER: \"Der Freischütz\", overture; by Messrs Essex and Ewing, piano. Sir Henry BISHOP: \"Foresters sound the cheerful horn“ (glee). Heinrich PROCH (1809-1878): \"Within the grove's deep shadow\", a song by Mr. J.P. Tate, W.A. MOZART: String quartet No 7 by Messrs Tate and Howell (violin). Ewing (viola) and Essex (cello). William HORSLEY (1774-1858); \"By Celia's Arbour\" (glee), F. MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY: \"Andante, presto and allegro vivace\" (from?) by Messrs Essex and Howell. Ibidem: “Andante and finale\" (from?), by Messrs Essex and Howell, Sir Henry BISHOP: \"Sleep gentle lady\" (glee), William Vincent WALLACE (1813-1865); **The Bellringer\", a song by Mr. Essex, F. von FLOTOW: “Allessandro Stradella\", fantasia, by Messrs Essex and Howell, William HORSLEY: \"See the chariot at hand\", song, L. van BEETHOVEN: \"Egmont\", overture, played on two pianos by Messrs Essex and Ewing.\n\nTh: Theatre Royal (G)\n\nR: This was the first occasion on which the names of the amateur musicians who entertained the public were mentioned. Some can be traced in the **Shanghai Almanac for 1862”. others belonged to the military forces. Thus the names have come to us of the following gentlemen: H. Cope and E.C. Essex (both of Geo. Barnett & Co). D.A.C.G. Ewing. F.R. Gantwell (Silk broker), A.A. Hayes Jr (of Olyphant & Co), Howell, Inglis, J.M. Nixon (of Blain, Tate & Co). J. Priestley Tate (of Blain, Tate & Co; Municipal Council member 1861-1862) and J. Wheatly (of Reiss & Co). In general the Herald was very satisfied: \"It was pleasing to see the gentlemen who volunteered to throw aside for the nonce the cares of business and entertain con amore their less gifted fellow residents with a charming chamber concert. Everything was conducted in a quiet gentlemanly manner so that we imagined ourselves in a drawing room more than a theatre. There was no attempt at grandeur of display or extraordinary performance on special instruments which characterize too much the quasi-musical taste of the day where the composition of the author is sacrificed frequently to the execution of the performer and the audience is led to think more of the latter than the former\". These were rather stringent remarks for someone living in an area where very few opportunities arose to compare musical qualities of instrumentalists. Yet the argument of faithfulness to the author's or composer's intentions crops up from time to time and that was obviously regarded as important by the Herald. Unfortunately the acoustics of the theatre were not of the very best so that \"Mr. TATE's delicate tenor voice (in the song by Proch) could not fill the house sufficiently for all to hear the diminuendo passages of his beautiful voice\". (NCH 18.4.1863). The Lancashire Relief Fund had been established in order to help those in Britain who had become a victim of the stoppage of cotton imports from the Southern states of America (due to the Civil War), with the result that numerous labourers in the mills were laid off.\n\n29.4.1863 (Wedn)\n\nPerformances by the amateurs of the Royal Artillery.\n\nNo titles of plays were recorded.\n\nTh: Theatre Royal (G)\n\nR: In consequence of the \"great success\" a \"Second Fashionable Night” would be given on May 4th (NCH 2.5.1863).\n\n4.5.1863 (Thur)\n\nAs on 29.4.1863.\n\n1.8.1863 (Sat)\n\nThe last of a series of performances by Mr. Smythe's company. Soloists: Miss Amelia Bailey (singing) and Martin Simonsen (violin) Th. N.N. (H)\n\nPage 240\n\nPage 241", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211828, "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": 243, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "218\n\n1.4.1864 (Fri)\n\nR.B. BROUGH: \"Crinoline\" (1856)\n\nT: Farce (1 act)\n\nJ.M. MORTON: \"A Most Unwarrantable Intrusion\" (1849) T: Farce (1 act)\n\nN.N.: \"The Debut\"\n\nC: Messrs Shannon and Phillips with an amateur company\n\nTh: N.N. (H)\n\nR: Not too enthusiastically the Herald wrote that \"had Messrs PHILLIPS and SHANNON been better supported the performance would probably have proved a more decided success\". Must it be supposed that the amateurs were locals, who were otherwise so much lauded? (NCH 2.4.1864).\n\n4.4.1864 (Mon)\n\nRepeat of 30.3.1864,\n\n18.4.1864 (Mon)\n\nFirst performance by a Portuguese Amateur Dramatic Corps. TH: N.N.\n\nR: This first performance by a local Portuguese company was considered favourably: \"the arrangement of the costumes and acting were all good and amply rewarded a visit even by those who may not understand the Portuguese language\". (NCH 23.4.1864)\n\n25.4.1864 (Mon)\n\nJ. OXENFORD: \"Retained for the Defence\"\n\nT: Farce (1 act)\n\nC.S. CHELTNAM: \"A Lucky Escape\" (1861)\n\nT: Comic drama (1 act)\n\nT.J. WILLIAMS: \"On and Off\" (1861)\n\nT: Farce (1 act)\n\nC: Amateurs of the Shanghai Volunteer Corps\n\nTH: N.N. (H)\n\nN: Second performance of the season\n\nR: This second Volunteer Corps night drew a crowded house and the reporter was pleased to see that \"a majority of the lady residents were among the audience\", the more so as they \"by their presence contributed to inspire the performers with the desire to excel which led to such complete success\". No names were given in the review, but in A Lucky Escape “it would have required very sharp eyes to detect that the actress [who personated Louise] was, in fact, an actor\". Here the truth is finally revealed! In On and Off he/she took the part of Letitia equally well. (NCH 30.4.1864)\n\n9.5.1864 (Mon)\n\nN.N.: \"Nature and Philosophy or Eighteen Years' Labour Lost\"\n\n(The only piece with this title in HED is one that had its first night on 18.4.1876. However, Brown, \"A History of the New York Stage\", Vol. I, p. 235 mentions a performance of this play on June 1 1833).\n\nG. COLMAN Jr: \"Love Laughs at Locksmiths\" (1803)\n\nC: C.R. Faylor's travelling company\n\nF: Comic songs, dance, music\n\nTh: Olympic Theatre (H)\n\nR: Casts:\n\nNature and Philosophy:\n\nBrother Philip: Major Pegus\n\nRenaldo: C.R. Faylor\n\nEliza: Mrs. E. Yeamans\n\nGertrude: Mr. E. Yeamans", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211842, "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": 257, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "232\n\nnot heard before and of which the best that can be said is that they are decidedly original. They seemed an imitation of the noise of braying of donkeys, but still they elicited great applause from the gallery [which was generally not regarded as very complimentary JH] perhaps from a certain feeling of sympathy. An amateur played Weber's \"Aufforderung zum Tanz\" with a \"perfect feeling\". To conclude the evening Mme SIMONSEN sung the \"Valse de concert\" (composer unmentioned) in which \"she displayed her powers more than in any other piece she has sung\" (SCR 22.5.1865).\n\n24.5.1865 (Wedn)\n\nH. MAYHEW: \"The Wandering Minstrel“ (1834)\n\nT: Farce (1 act)\n\nJ.P. PLANCHE: \"The Knights of the Round Table” (1854)\n\nT: Drama (5 acts)\n\nC: Amateurs of the Shanghai Mounted Rangers\n\nF: Music by the Band of the 67th Regiment; prologue read by Capt. Markham\n\nTh: Lyceum Theatre (1)\n\n―\n\nR: In lieu of the old time favourites, Messrs Brushwood, Pickwick, Newcome and Mrs. Nesbit had come new faces. Most foreigners had not yet made Shanghai their permanent place of residence, so turnover in the theatre too was rather high. Tonight could be admired Mr. SMALLWEED who, in the Knights of the Round Table, as \"the blameless king shewed a keen appreciation of his part and while he delivered the burlesque passages with much humour, proved by the taste with which he pronounced the prophetic eulogium on the Queen of England that he need not necessarily confine himself to broad burlesque in order to gain well-merited applause\"; Mr. Edmund (also a member of the Amateur Burlesque Company) won golden opinions as Launcelot, whereas Mr. PEEKT as Merlin \"displayed much cleverness in personating feeble old men\". In The Wandering Minstrel \"Mr. R.T. Larff, better known to the theatrical world as Mr. Wynnge (did this mean that he had two stage names? JH) sustained the reputation he has already gained as a low comedian and makes us the less deplore the absence of the well known and inimitable Brushwood” (last recorded performance 10.5.1860). Of course the female roles were taken by men, which led, as it always does, to some ridiculous scenes: \"The company possesses great strength in the important particular of lady performers. The only drawback which, however, is immaterial in burlesque, lies in the great height and muscular development of the fair ones\". Yet Miss Mary MIDDLESEX \"bore away the palm for natural feminine get-up\" and \"nothing could excel the dash which Kate COVENTRY threw into the part of the vivandière\", (NCH 27.5.1865). That not all patrons were equally pleased became evident from the Shanghai Commercial Record (5.6.1865) when it wrote: \"an allusion which was considered too personal led to a corresponding in our columns\" (i.e. the \"Shanghai Recorder\" which to the great regret of all historians treating the history of foreign Shanghai can no longer be found). At the end of the evening a number of toasts were proposed, among others to \"Alabaster, to whose exertions much of the success of the company was due\". This was a reference to Chaloner Alabaster (1831-1890), the British vice-consul who was also active in the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. In conclusion the Herald reported that \"the arrangements were excellent and notwithstanding the warmth of the evening and the crowded state of the theatre, the air within the walls did not become oppressively hot. Punkahs were slung over the front seats and during the temporary pauses kept up a current of air\",\n\n27.5.1865 (Sat)\n\nPerformance by Mr. Benjamin Seare. Programme unknown (reading, etc)\n\nTh: Lyceum Theatre (1)\n\nR: Both the Herald and the Record agreed that Mr. SEARE \"is possessed of great talent\"", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211962, "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": 377, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "352\n\nF. Theatre\n\nAfter the seven-day rites period, the main paang was modified for use as the opera theatre. The raised area originally partitioned for the Taoist rites, puppet plays and the ancestral altar was converted into the opera stage. The ancestral tablet of Hung-Yi and the statue of Gwun-Yam were moved into the smaller paang for the general gods. The rest of the main paang became a raised audience seating area divided into left and right halves. The right half was for Bak-Bin and the left for the Naam-Bin. Here Bak-Bin included Ying Lung Wai. There was also a clear partition of each half into two sections. One section was for males and the other for females. Between the seating areas for Naam-Bin and Bak-Bin was a separate area, the front part of which was seating for guests, and the rear part of which was left empty, probably for standing audience.\n\n64\n\nIn the afternoon before the first opera performance, the rite of exorcism, Jai Baak-Fu, was performed by the opera players on the stage. To the accompaniment of percussion patterns played on large cymbals, gongs, and drums, a man in black fought with a yellow \"white tiger”. Although the opera troupe's ritual practice was to perform this ritual only at places where there had never been any theatrical performance before, the Dangs, for the sake of safety, made a special request and paid the troupe an additional fee to have the rite performed.\n\nThe allocation of theatre seats caused some conflicts among the villagers. I had been told that the seating was allocated on the morning of 24th December, and a chu was allocated seats according to its position in the jiu Memorial. A young man from Shui Tau told me that a fight almost broke out on account of the seating arrangements. There was hot disagreement between some youngsters of Wing Lung Wai on one side and those of Kat Hing Wai on the other. There were more than ten of these young villagers from each of the two villages who were quite ready to fight.\n\n65\n\nSome others solved their seating problems in a more peaceful manner. I learned about the case of a Kat Hing Wai family which was not one of the ritual representatives and had therefore been allocated seats very far from the stage. But the eldest son of the head of the family managed to purchase some seats for his parents to express his filial piety. Another Kat Hing Wai villager had asked him (the son) for a loan of a few", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 212080, "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-1990", "page_number": 22, "title": "RAS-1990", "content_text": "EDITOR'S NOTE\n\nThe Author of the article \"Thalia and Terpsichore on the Yangtze. A Survey of Foreign Theatre and Music in Shanghai 1850-1865” (Vol. 29, pages 158-251), Dr. J.H. Haan, has drawn to the Hon. Editor's attention a number of typographic and other errors in the Article as noted below.\n\nPage 174 line 9 176, 30\n\n181, 28-29\n\n182. footnote\n\n191, 22-23\n\n192, 34\n\n192, 44\n\n192, 50\n\n198, 37\n\n198, 41\n\n199, 5\n\n205, 28\n\n208, 7-9\n\n212, 26\n\n212, 36-41\n\n214, 38\n\nto read \"(see: Calendar. 13.2.1963, 73.1863, 26.3.1863)**\n\ndelete brackets\n\n\"To such a humble mansion should resort\n\nSo by your usual bounty pray be led\n\nAnd build a lasting structure in its stead.\"\n\nonit\n\n“Allardyce Nicoll: A History of English Drama. I also found useful: W.G. Adams A Dictionary of the Drama\n\n**L.L.D. and A.S.S.\n\n\"they have spared neither trouble\n\n**(1737)**\n\nFrench since 1817)**\n\n**1814-1894**\n\n\"composed expressly\n\n**H. Lille\" \n\n16.2.1859 (Wedn)\n\nT. MORTON: \"Sink or Swim\n\nT. Comedy (2 Acts).... \n\n**TR62**\n\namit\n\n\"considering the slender means and appliances at command. We specially observed the costumes of the male characters as being tasteful, rich.............\n\n216, 37\n\nomit \"*p.22\"\n\n221. 25\n\nadd **(Thurs)**\n\n222, 28\n\nomit brackets\n\n227, 46-228, 3\n\nomit\n\n228, 7\n\n**J. Kenney**\n\n233, 46\n\n235, 19\n\n235, 27\n\n235, 29\n\n235,40\n\n236, 45\n\n239, 31\n\n239, 36\n\n**10.1.1865**\n\n\"^2.6.1859. 8.10.1859, 23.3.1865\n\n**28.3.1860**\"\n\n**26.1.1852. 27.1.1852. 18.2.1857**\n\nfootnote to read 139.\n\n*^5.5.1858. 10.5.60\"\n\n27.5.1824\"\n\n**14.12.1865**\n\nxxi", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1990.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 212123, "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-1990", "page_number": 65, "title": "RAS-1990", "content_text": "42\n\ndisasters. the second is for those who died because of plague. The final reason is to thank the benevolent governors Wang Lai-ren and Zhou You-de of the beginning of the Qing dynasty. In my opinion, all these reasons can be integrated into the first one.\n\n(d) Chan Wing-hoi \"The Tangs of Kam Tin and their Jiu festival\", Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 29 (1989) 302-375, a rich and detailed account of the lineage, its temples and villages, and the festival which draws them together.\n\nDr. Faure gradually switched his interest to the Pearl River Delta while Prof. Tanaka, as I was told, is now looking at Sichuan province. Talk on publishing a book on Hong Kong Jiao festivals has been going on for years by members of the \"Research Circle of the Regional Society of Southern China''. In 1990, the editorial board of the society set up a schedule to compile a book focusing on the Jiao festival. It is expected that papers on various aspects will be completed by the end of April 1991. (Correspondence from the society dated 28.12.1990)\n\nSchipper, Kristofer M., \"The Written Memorial in Taoist Ceremonies\" in Wolf, Arthur P. (ed.) Religion and Ritual in Chinese Society (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1974), 324,\n\nFor example, according to Chan Wing-hoi, villagers of Shek O celebrated their 16th Jiao in 1986 (Chan, 78). The Dengs in Kam Tin claimed to have celebrated their Jiao since 1684 (Tanaka, 918).\n\nSee for instance Basel Mission Archives, doct. Al-6, No. 51 (1869), and doct. Al-7, No. 51 (1870) and Der Evangelische Heidenbote, July 1867, in which a missionary describes how he was forced to go to the Magistrate to get his support before he could avoid having to pay his share of the Jiao expenses. All these cases are from Hsin An County. The Sha Tin poem will, it is hoped, shortly be published by Dr. P.H. Hase.\n\nThese two series are part of the 15 series of historical documents collected by Dr. D. Faure and others in the New Territories. Copies of the collections are kept in the libraries of CUHK, Hong Kong University, Sha Tin Regional Council Library, and Institute of Oriental Culture, Tokyo University.\n\n31\n\nTanaka Chugoku no Sozoku to Engeki [Lineage and Theatre in China] (Tokyo Univ. Press 1985), 608. Jiao festivals celebrated by the powerful communities in Hong Kong like Kam Tin, Ha Tsuen, Lung Yeuk Tau etc., were all performed by the Zhengyi Taoist group, led first by the late Master Lin Pei and now by Master Chan Kau. Another Zhengyi Taoist group is led by Master Chan Wah. However, many Taoist priests work for both groups. There are also other Taoist groups who performed for the Jiao festivals, like a Cantonese group which performed for Ho Chung and a Heklo group for Cheung Chau. In 1983, four out of five Jiao festivals were performed by monastery Taoists. It is not clear whether it was because of tradition or out of economic reasons. A comparison of the two Taoist groups has yet to be made.\n\n14 Choi Chi-cheung **Sho matsuri no jinmei risuto ni mirareru shinzoku ban'i” [Kinship as seen in the name lists of Jiao festival] Bunka Jinnú Gaku 5 (1988): 131, table L. 35 **Shinshi men\" [Section of Believers] in Fanling Wenxian (Historical Literature of Fanling) vol. 8. This brief account records details of the arrangement of the Jiao area, including the contents of couplets, names of deities invited, location and direction of matshed stages, and the sacrifices prepared etc.. See n. 32 for the depositories of Fanling Wenxian.\n\n36 See (1972) Lin Chuan [Lam Tsuen] Xiang Taiping Qingjiao huiyi jilubu in Dapu [Tai Po] Wenzian [Historical Literature of Tai Po] vol. 1. (see n. 32 for depositories)\n\n37 Tanaka Issei's three books, all published by the Tokyo Univ. Press are: Chugoku Saishi Engeki Kenkyu [Ritual Theatres in China] (1981), Chugoku no Sozoku to Engeki [Lineage and Theatre in China) (1985), and Chugoku Kyoson Saishi Kenkyu: Chihogeki", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1990.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213162, "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-1993", "page_number": 230, "title": "RAS-1993", "content_text": "212\n\nIn 1914, the opium concession had been taken over by the Hong Kong Government and a policy for the discontinuance of the trade was pursued. But its use was not fully prohibited until after World War II,\n\nIt must be stressed that much of the information recorded in this short paper was by word of mouth. Over time facts can, of course, become distorted.\n\nHong Kong was affected directly but little by the First World War. 'But there were great celebrations, a two-day public holiday, a victory parade and a fireworks display (which cost HK$2,000) when it was over,' Mr. Lee told me.\n\n'We lived on the first floor of a three-storey building in Pottinger Street. There was a printing workshop on the ground floor.'\n\nAccording to Mr. Lee, his home was not far from the old Victoria Theatre, which stood in Pottinger Street. This was sometimes attended by Sir Francis May, the then Governor of Hong Kong (1912 to 1919). There were more street traders in those days, shouting out and advertising their wares.\n\nTo give a further idea of what Hong Kong was like in 1920, during World War One, the number of sedan chairs peaked at 1,215; whereas the number of rickshaws did not peak until 1924, with 3,411. In 1920, private cars numbered 351, up from 24 in 1914.\n\nI have always complimented Mr. Lee on his English. He, in turn, gives credit to his Chinese primary school teacher in Hong Kong. 'He was strict. But I learned my English grammar from him. Americans do not teach grammar,' he insists.\n\n‘I used to delight in taking a sentence to pieces and analysing it. We also studied the 'Four (Chinese) Books.'\n\nBecause his father, as a businessman in the fields of jewellery and cosmetics, spent 10 years in Australia as a young man, there was only one other child, Mr. Lee's elder sister. Mr. Lee's father was one of the two founders of the Sincere Department Store in Hong Kong. Father died at the age of 36, and filial Mr. Lee gives great credit to his mother, ‘a remarkably capable woman. She brought us up. I owe her a lot,' he told me.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1993.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213492, "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": 88, "title": "RAS-1995", "content_text": "56\n\nof the Pear Garden\" (T).\n\nThis Chinese version of Don Juan lived an absolute profligate life. In his later years, he lavished much of his love on a country-bred beauty called Yang Yu-huan (E) and neglected his State's affairs, which brought about his downfall. In 755 A.D., one of his trusted lieutenants named An Lu-shan (I), a half-Turk, half-Sogdian, revolted. The poor Emperor had to flee from Ch'ang An (E), his capital, with just a few escorts, including his immediate family and a few soldiers, heading for Szechwan (PTI). When the entourage arrived at a place called Ma Wei Po (5), the escorting soldiers refused to go any further and demanded that the Emperor get rid of the concubine Yang. The Emperor had to give in and act accordingly. At last, a general named Kwo Tzi-yı (97) put down the rebellion and restored peace to the land. The Emperor Xuan-zong lost his throne to his son.\n\nIf you ever go to Xian (1) in the Shaanxi Province, you will find a bathhouse called Hwa Ch'ing Chih (#) in the suburb where Yang Yu Huan used to bathe. The area has been restored and kept in good condition to this day.\n\nTaboos\n\nThere are many, many regulations and taboos in the Chinese theatrical circle, including the Peking Opera group. Some of these taboos help to keep smooth the running of the theatre as an orderly institution; otherwise, chaos would reign. For instance, the actors and actresses are not allowed to sit on the trunks of other performers. Once I had the privilege of visiting the backstage of a Peking Opera theatre. There were rows and rows of heavy trunks on the floor where the stage clothing was stored. Some of the actors or actresses were doing their make-up. Layers and layers of stage clothing were neatly folded and stacked in the trunks. There was order and neatness everywhere. Imagine, in the absence of taboo and regulations, what the situation would be. It could be a madhouse where everyone was fighting to have the right kind of clothing to go on the stage, and when they finished acting, they would just throw things around.\n\nI know one or two other taboos, of which everyone, yes everyone, has to observe, such as you should never utter the word “Geng\" \"E”", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1995.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/95941j25g", "rank": 0 } ]