[ { "id": 208436, "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": 160, "title": "RAS-1978", "content_text": "144\n\nC. MARTIN WILBUR\n\nby the magistrate from the village elders, but dependent upon the good will of his constituents. The usual statement is that the people select one man to be Ti-pao, and this position is confirmed by the magistrate when he gives the incumbent the official seals for stamping all documents, deeds, sales, etc.\n\nBut the office has tended somewhat to degenerate. Remuneration attaches to it by way of surtaxes on all documents stamped, and by way of graft, which seems to be as much an integral part of the government of China as elsewhere. This money factor, and also because the position gives the holder a certain power and prestige over the villagers, causes it frequently to be secured merely by purchase, or be determined before the election by the most influential persons of the village. This tendency for the office to become a mere political monopoly indicates the apparent trend away from a pure democracy.\n\nSome writers speak of the Ti-pao as a very mean, and by his own right, a very unimportant individual. Tao says that the position is filled \"only by men of the lower classes.\" Meadows states that the station of the Ti-pao in society is below that of a respectable tradesman or master mechanic, and speaks of his alliance, for mutual profit with professional thieves and owners of gambling houses.3 In some cases the Ti-pao may actually be one of the village elders, and it is in such a position that he is often spoken of by Western writers quite favorably. There is a wide divergence of opinion here. The writer is inclined to the belief that in the village, especially in distinctly rural areas, the Ti-pao is more liable to be a respectable member of society than in the cities, but there is not a great deal of concrete evidence to support this view.\n\nIn his position as responsible functionary in the village the Ti-pao may handle many of the administrative duties spoken of above as the responsibility of the temple council. For example, Jamieson states that it is his duty to exercise a general supervision over all matters affecting the whole community such as the regulation of fairs, markets, and village festivals. Also he may call a public\n\n1 Morse, Hosea B.; The Trade and Administration of the Chinese Empire, p. 73.\n\n2 Leong and Tao; op. cit., p. 64. Werner adds that the incumbent was not necessarily a man of unscrupulous character, saying that the bad reputation so often given him by foreigners is probably due to the custom of squeezing. Werner, E. T. C.; China of the Chinese, p. 163,\n\n3 Meadows; op. cit., p. 120, 118, 119.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1978.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8g84t8593", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208446, "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": 170, "title": "RAS-1978", "content_text": "154\n\nC. MARTIN WILBUR\n\nto be influenced only by bribery. They did much to contribute to the evil name which Hsien government has enjoyed. There were other factors which contributed to poor government during the Ch'ing dynasty specifically. The breakdown of the examination system through corruption during much of the nineteenth century; the law which made an official a stranger in his district, often not understanding the problems of the people, and at times not even their local dialect; and the impermanency of office which led to an attempt to make as much money as possible against lean years — all these worked for corruption.\n\nBesides an attitude of avoidance on the part of the people, there has generally also been an indifference to the central government. Several factors may account for this. In the first place, for the mass of the people the real, day-by-day government was in the village. In case of flagrant law-breaking the government stepped in. Otherwise, only when it was very bad, or when taxes were excessive, did it become real. And on the whole the government was careful not to stir the people to acts of collective resentment. On the positive side, the great mass of the people, the peasantry, had no voice in political matters, even when these concerned their own district. When it is remembered how indifferent is the majority of the population in \"democratic\" countries about anything beyond purely local issues, this attitude on the part of the Chinese peasantry does not seem so strange.\n\nThis indifference can be illustrated by a comparison between the attitude toward law as it obtains in the West and in China. In America, for example, there seems to be an increasing dependence upon government to regulate the details of living; and morality often seems to be reduced to the mere observance of codified law. In China, on the contrary, the typical attitude seems to have been, from ancient times, that the law of the state was meant to apply only to those members of society to whom moral law could make no appeal, and who must, therefore, be subjected to force.1 The School of Law (群家), with an attitude toward law which is thoroughly Western, has been repudiated in China since the Han dynasty.\n\nIt is not understood that a thing may be right or wrong, merely because it is allowed or forbidden by government; everything is\n\n1 Hummel, Arthur W.; \"The Case Against Force in Chinese Philosophy\", p. 344.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1978.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8g84t8593", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 215714, "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": 13, "title": "RAS-2002", "content_text": "1861) is both a tour de force and riveting, to boot. Ch'ëa was the keeper of a temple at Poklo. He was visited in 1856 by two colporteurs from Hong Kong who left him with a bible. On reading it, he was almost immediately converted to Christianity and was later baptised in Hong Kong becoming, essentially, a disciple of James Legge. He returned to Poklo where he pursued his faith with great, if not excessive, zeal, becoming an object of suspicion and hatred in many quarters. In October 1861 he was seized by a local vigilante squad, tortured, ordered to renounce his faith - which he refused to do - and was ultimately beheaded.\n\nStephen Selby's interesting account of archery in China from the pre-Shang period to the end of the 19th century mirrors the excellent address that he recently gave to the Society.\n\nThe indefatigable Keith Stevens takes us on a voyage of discovery into the history of Zhenjiang. As always the illustrations are wonderful.\n\nAnd Dan Waters reminisces about Hong Kong in the post-War years.\n\nThere are a total of 18 NOTES AND QUERIES on a wide variety of subjects. Paul Bolding gives us some insights into the life of the intrepid Belgium aviator, Louis de San - who he ultimately met in 1988 with some interesting photographs. There is an amusing 1905 Christmas card from Arnold Graham - that great benefactor of the HKBRAS Library - and an account of the Library by our Hon. Librarian, Julia Chan. Peter Hansell discusses the famous clock maker Douglas Lapraik. Paul Harrison writes penetratingly on the highly unusual subject of restoring artefacts for display in Hong Kong's museums. Bob Horsnell continues his highly interesting pieces on old military installations. David Mahoney provides further insights into the Chinese Labour Corps in France during World War I. Martin Merz adds another follow up to Solomon's Bard's TEA AND OPIUM advising that Chinese and Indian teas are, essentially, the same (we live and learn!). Robert Nield's beautiful photographs of Bhutan which I messed up in Volume 41 are now reproduced in all their glory. I'll leave you to read The wrestling princes by Keith Stevens (a little suspense will do no harm). Peter Stuckey and Chris Bailey take us to St. John's (Shangchuan) Island to the southwest of Hong Kong where St. Francis Xavier died in 1552 (not, as I originally thought when skimming through the article,\n\niv", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2002.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 215724, "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": 23, "title": "RAS-2002", "content_text": "NOTES AND QUERIES\n\nGliding: How Louis de San beat the Asian duration and altitude records in Chungking, China, in 1940, from the Belgian journal Aviation, Volume 2, Number 14, March 1946, translation by Paul Bolding\n\n345\n\nPaul Bolding - More on Louis de San\n\n357\n\nArnold Graham's Shanghai Christmas card, 1905\n\nJulia Chan - The Library of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society\n\n361\n\n373\n\nJames Hayes - Afterthoughts on South China Village Culture, Oxford University Press, 2001\n\n385\n\n393\n\nbecame Kalekie drzewo\n\nPeter Hansell - The colourful Douglas Lapraik (1818-1869)\n\nPaul Harrison - Introducing the Conservation Section of the Hong Kong Government\n\nPeter Halliday - Adventures in publishing: How The Crippled Tree\n\n377\n\n381\n\n...\n\nRobert Horsnell - A note on the Japanese gun emplacement at Tathong Point, Tung Lung Chau.........\n\n399\n\nDavid Mahoney - More on THE CHINESE LABOUR CORPS IN FRANCE, 1917-1921: A new discovery\n\n....\n\n405\n\nDavid Mahoney - Yet more on THE CHINESE LABOUR CORPS IN FRANCE, 1917-1921 ....\n\n411\n\nMartin Merz - Yet more on TEA AND OPIUM\n\n413\n\nFebruary 2002...\n\nRobert Nield - Photographs from the HKBRAS' visit to Bhutan,\n\nKeith Stevens - The wrestling princes\n\n417\n\n431\n\nxiv", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2002.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 215727, "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": 26, "title": "RAS-2002", "content_text": "James Hayes, is a Past-President of HKBRAS and a former long standing member of Council (mouse1@bigpond.com).\n\nRobert Horsnell, is a former civil servant and a Volunteer (of research into and cataloguing of old Hong Kong buildings and monuments) of HKBRAS (argyho@netvigator.com)\n\nLawrence Lai, Daniel Ho and Leung Hing Fung, are, respectively, Reader, Associate Professor and Department Head of the Department of Real Estate and Construction, University of Hong Kong (wclai@hkusua.hku.hk).\n\nEve Lam, has been working in journalism in various capacities for the last nine years. Her current position is news sub-editor/anchor for TVB Pearl in Hong Kong. She holds a master's degree in Journalism from the University of Hong Kong and a bachelor's in Physical and Health Education from the University of Toronto.\n\nDavid Mahoney, is an active member of the Friends of HKBRAS in Great Britain.\n\nMartin Merz B.A.(Hons.), studied Chinese at Melbourne University. He continued studies in Taiwan, including a stint at the National Taiwan University Graduate School of History. He worked as a translator and interpreter in Taiwan for several years, acquiring a taste for Oolong tea along the way. He moved to Hong Kong in 1987 to set up a trading company.\n\nRobert Nield, is the Hon Treasurer and a Vice-President of HKBRAS (hiflyer@netvigator.com).\n\nAnne Ozorio, is an active member of the friends of HKBRAS in Great Britain.\n\nLauren Pfister, is an Associate Professor in the Religion and Philosophy Department\n\nas well as jointly appointed to teaching in the Humanities course at Hong Kong Baptist University. He has lived in Hong Kong with his family since 1987. Serving as Associate Editor for the Journal of Chinese Philosophy since 1997, he has continued to pursue research in 19th and 20th century Ruist philosophy, the history of sinology, as well as comparative philosophical and comparative religious studies. He serves also as an Associate Research Fellow of the Centre for Sino-Christian Research at Hong Kong Baptist University (feileren@net1.hkbu.edu.hk).\n\nStephen Selby, is the Director of Intellectual Property, Hong Kong Government (srselby@ipd.gov.hk).\n\nxvii", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2002.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 216180, "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": 479, "title": "RAS-2002", "content_text": "YET MORE ON TEA AND OPIUM\n\nMARTIN MERZ\n\n413\n\nNotes on tea\n\nIn his article on tea and opium Solomon Bard states that during his fateful embassy to China in the late 18th century Macartney 'was allowed to collect shoots of tea plant. These were later carefully transported to Bengal with samples of soil where they flourished and very likely gave rise to present Indian tea'. In his follow-up notes in Vol. 41 of the RAS Journal David Akers-Jones quotes a passage from Macartney's journal about the acquisition of tea plants with the express purpose of transporting them to Bengal 'where I have no doubt that by the spirit of patriotism of its Government an effective cultivation of this valuable shrub will be undertaken and pursued with success'. The plants were delivered to the East India Company's botanical gardens in Calcutta. Akers-Jones notes that some years later 'indigenous tea plants were discovered in Assam and it is tea from these which seems more like the tea we are now accustomed to drink. Whether there was any hybridisation between the two species I cannot say.'\n\nAlthough tea became hugely popular soon after it was introduced to England in the 17th century details about the tea plant and its manufacture into a beverage remained a mystery for over two hundred years. The price of tea rapidly came down from sixty shillings a pound in 1666 (Leiper p.21) to five shillings a pound in 1750 (Wild p.40), a trend which continued as imports increased dramatically as exorbitant taxes came down and more players entered the field. By 1888 tea imports reached over twenty million pounds a year, 'producing more revenue than the whole of India'. (Wild p.40) There was a desire to unravel the secret of tea and further reduce costs as the beverage evolved from a luxury item of the elite to become the national drink of England. But the merchants who purchased tea in Canton had no opportunity to visit tea plantations and learn about its manufacture; and they seemed to lack any curiosity as long as they could engage in their business. The trade continued as a black box transaction from which the finished product appeared.\n\nIn 1763 John Bell wrote, 'Both the green and bohea [black tea]", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2002.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278", "rank": 0 } ]