[ { "id": 204463, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1962", "page_number": 95, "title": "RAS-1962", "content_text": "84 \n\n+ \n\n+ \n\nJ. W. HAYES \n\nor to a general council, made up of representatives of the different Tung. \n\nEach council of the Tung contains representatives of the villages which make up the Tung. In addition to a council of a Tung there is a general council for the whole of the Tung Lo or Eastern Section, which is practically that portion of the district of San On contained in the map attached to the Convention. This general council is styled the Tung Ping Kuk or Council of Peace for the Eastern Section. It has its council chamber at the market town of Sham Chun, which is regarded as the centre of the Eastern Section. If the decision of the council of the Tung, or of the General Council is not regarded as satisfactory, an appeal lies to the magistrate of the district.24 \n\nVillages must occasionally have made their own rules. There is an interesting survival of these written on a wooden board which hangs in one of the side rooms of the Yeung Hau Wong temple at Tung Chung on Lantau Island, which is dated in the third moon of the nineteenth year of the Kwong Shui reign (1893). The text refers to the passing of the good old days and lays down measures to deal with offenders. For stealing crops, cutting down pine and bamboo trees, for letting pigs or buffaloes graze on other people's fields, there were fines in cash \n\na proportion of which went to the person who caught the culprit. He was to be escorted to the Heung council office, and should he refuse to pay after a hearing there, he was to be taken \n\nbefore the magistrate. It was drawn up by the Tung Chung Hap Heung or all the villages of the Tung Chung \n\n東涌合鄉 valley. \n\nA few words on the elders and gentry may be appropriate here. An elder was an older villager whose character, influence, and senior generation in the clan entitled him to a say in its affairs. He was more to the fore in the remoter villages of the district, which were generally the poorer ones, and could not afford to support literati, as they are sometimes styled, which is what the gentry really were in the Chinese context. These were persons of considerable influence who came generally from the larger, richer villages of the plains, which had one or more village schools where the elements of a classical education could be obtained. In course of time, by dint of hard study at home or in Canton, the cleverer among the local scholars, after successful", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1962.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9s166f47f", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 204467, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1962", "page_number": 99, "title": "RAS-1962", "content_text": "88 \n\nJ. W. HAYES \n\n36 \n\nDisturbances apart, the common people preferred to be left to themselves. They rarely had anything to do with the magistrate and his followers and preferred it that way. The magistrate, in his turn, was glad to leave routine affairs to the local tribunals. The price paid for these attitudes was the prevalence of crime. Poor communications were no help. The magistrate was often rendered powerless by unrest and disturbances of all kinds. Robberies and descents on shore by pirate gangs could take place with impunity since, even if help came, it invariably arrived far too late. Crime might eventually be punished but it was seldom prevented. No one would inform on disturbers of the peace for fear of reprisals or being entangled in the meshes of the law. Commenting on coastal piracy in 1897 Consul Brenan wrote, \"The boat people never attempt to effect an arrest; there would probably be bloodshed and they would then be involved in judicial proceedings almost as unpleasant for themselves as for the pirates. They are thankful enough if they can get rid of their dangerous passengers, and persuade them to go off and try their fortune elsewhere\"** \n\nHowever, it is only fair to state that the people of the district were also apt to create trouble among themselves, especially when circumstances conspired to make life difficult as in the dry season. This was especially true of the more closely populated agricultural areas, with villages in close proximity to each other, often sharing the same water supply for their fields and personal needs. The volatile Cantonese temperament is not suited to a cautious settlement of complicated personal problems: it is easier by far to fly off the handle and strike an attitude than to sit down and think. Hence difficult situations often were made intolerable by proximity and a quick temper, and clan fights were not uncommon, especially in the Yuen Long area. Hostilities between southern villages were well known at the time.** A tablet in the Tin Hau temple at Miu Kong, Tsuen Wan, refers to the death of seventeen male villagers by armed conflict between this village and Shing Mun Pat Heung in three years of intermit-tent strife which began in 1861. To these disturbances between the Punti villagers can be added a general antipathy between Hakka and Punti which sometimes erupted into violence and was still smouldering after the Hakka rebellion thirty years before.\"\" \n\n38", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1962.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9s166f47f", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 204658, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1963", "page_number": 139, "title": "RAS-1963", "content_text": "NAVIGATION ON THE YANGTSE \n\n125 \n\nand enthusiasm of Captain Cornell Plant who occupies the place of honour next to Archibald Little in the history of Upper Yangtse navigation. Little met Plant in London when the Pioneer was nearing completion, and infected Plant (whose previous experience of river work had been command of a paddle steamer on the Euphrates) with his enthusiasm for the Upper Yangtse. Plant took over the Pioneer and commanded her on her early voyages, and the Upper River fascinated him as it had Little. After the Pioneer was taken over by the Royal Navy, Plant built himself a large houseboat and traded successfully between Ichang and Chungking for several years, studying the Upper River in its varying moods and seasons. In 1907 he persuaded a group of Chinese merchants and officials in Chungking to make a further attempt to establish a regular steamer service, and the Szechuen Steam Navigation was formed, 40% of the capital coming from official sources. Their first ship, the Shuting, was built by Thorneycroft at Southampton under Plant's supervision, and he commanded her on her first voyage in 1908, and for the first five years of her successful operations.16 The Szechuen Steam Navigation Company's Shuting was soon followed by the China Navigation Company's Shutung, and both ships maintained a regular service between Ichang and Chungking, except for the three winter months — January to March — of low water. Both the Shutung and the Shuting were about 115 feet long with a draft of 3 feet, and both towed a float alongside for both passengers and cargo. If the current was too strong at any of the gorges or rapids the steamer went ahead on her own, tied up at the head, and then pulled the float up after her. Sometimes the steamer half steamed and half pulled herself up by her windlass. For this reason the Upper River steamers had very powerful windlasses and capstans, but even with this help there were some rapids it was impossible to overcome without further help. Then gangs of coolies called trackers, were employed, and there were villages at certain places whose sole raison d'être was to supply these trackers. The first steamer to go up the whole distance from Ichang to Chungking solely under her own power was the Szechuen Steam Navigation \n\n10 Plant joined the Chinese Maritime Customs in 1913 as River Inspector for the Upper River, which post he held at his death in Hong Kong in 1921. He is buried in Happy Valley alongside his wife. See his Glimpses of the Yangtse Gorges, 2nd edn., (Kelly and Walsh, 1936) which contains some interesting photographs.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1963.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/4m90m091v", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 204798, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1964", "page_number": 101, "title": "RAS-1964", "content_text": "PENG CHAU\n\n89\n\ncoastal and riverine areas of Kwangtung were always receiving the unwelcome attention of pirates and robber gangs, right up to the end of the nineteenth century and well into the present one. The Taiping rebellion occupied the middle years of the century and, though it does not seem to have caused much bloodshed in the San On district, the large-scale struggle between Hakkas and Puntis in the parts of the province west of the Delta must have increased mutual antipathy between the two groups elsewhere. The Opium War and the War of 1857-60 saw increased foreign activity in Hong Kong waters. There were therefore both internal and external dangers to be expected on a small island settlement like Peng Chau at this time.\n\nInternally there was probably less trouble than there was potential. There are no recollections of fighting between the various groups of settlers on the island, though the Hoklos, who are generally credited with a more turbulent disposition than the Cantonese and Hakkas, perhaps in most cases having fewer possessions to make them cautious, sometimes fought among themselves.51 The Cantonese shops in the main street were ever fearful of robbery and violence and until ten years ago one could see the last of the protective gates known as ... There were three of them, barred every night, one at each end of Wing On Street and a third at the entrance to a large lane which left the main street at right angles and led to the Hakka settlement. Within living memory one or more watchmen were employed at night by the Kaifong and collected contributions from shops according to their size. These night defences were erected as much to keep out bandits and robbers coming from the sea as thieves or dissatisfied elements from within the island. There was, as Mr. CHUNG recalls, a small military post on the island in the late nineteenth century, but this would scarcely deter would-be assailants, especially if they were numerous and well-armed, and there can be little doubt that the first farmers and shopkeepers lived in genuine fear of such assaults. There are sufficient instances of violence from neighbouring places at various times to show that such fears were fully justified3½ and an isolated town like Peng Chau would have offered better prospects for pillage than a lonely village of farmers.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1964.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qz20zx09r", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 204802, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1964", "page_number": 105, "title": "RAS-1964", "content_text": "FENG CHAU\n\n93\n\n26 Dated the thirteenth day of the sixth Moon of the 8th year of Kuang Hsü (27th July 1882).\n\n27 Other examples of local tax-lords are quoted in note 12 of my Cheung Chau article. For an interesting instance from another part of the New Territories see Appendix II to the Report on the New Territory for the year 1900, Hong Kong Government Gazette, vol. XLVII (1901), pp. 1403-4, where a claim by members of a branch of the TANG family of Kam Tin to ownership of the whole island of Ts'ing I was investigated by a member of the Land Court. He wrote \"I have taken special pains to go thoroughly into this case because it seems a very typical example of the curious and unwarrantable pretensions to the ownership of very large tracts of country which are perhaps the most striking feature in the economy of what we call the New Territory.\" Like the TANGS, the CHANS may have owned part but claimed, or aimed to control, the whole.\n\n28 It is interesting that the earliest grave known on the island has a tablet dated Chien Lung fifteenth year (1749) and that the person buried there is a CHAN Yiu Hong & and the person responsible for erecting the tablet (no relationship is given) CHAN Hing Sin. These men may conceivably have had something to do with the CHAN Yan Hop and Yee Ka Tongs. The grave is unlikely to be that of a fisherman and most likely to be that of someone who was living on Peng Chau at the time of his death. Not everyone is provided with a formal grave, and therefore he was probably a person of some consequence. Also, at the time of the land settlement, various persons named CHAN who were not local villagers but belonged to Peng Chau and Nam Tau (BCL) owned land on the Lantau coast opposite Peng Chau. One of them was the CHAN Yan Hop Tong of Nam Tau. This land may represent the remains of larger holdings left over from an earlier period but mostly sold or mortgaged by 1899, or else not recognised by the Land Court during the re-registration of titles, as being \"not compatible with the principles of British administration\" as happened with some other tax-lord land in the New Territories—see note 12 to my Cheung Chau article.\n\n29 Peng Chau M.S.\n\n30 BCL.\n\n31 BCL, Lantau coast.\n\n32 A lucky day of the first winter month of the year of Tao Kuang (1834),\n\n33 BCL.\n\n34 BCL.\n\n35 BCL.\n\n36 Peng Chau M.S.\n\n37 At the 1911 census (see note 7 above) the population of these villages was Nei Kwu Chau 78, Tai Pak 52, and Yee Pak 59. There were also families living in hamlets at Nim Shue Wan, Cheung Sha Lan, Hai Tei Wan, Hung Shui, Kau Shat Wan and Man Kok, but they are not listed in the Census.\n\n38 There is conflicting evidence about the prosperity of the area in the second half of the century. The decline of population on the Lantau coast opposite Peng Chau has been noted. This is more noticeable elsewhere on Lantau, where some of the more important villages can be shown to have\n\nPage 105\n\nPage 106", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1964.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qz20zx09r", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 204933, "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-1965", "page_number": 41, "title": "RAS-1965", "content_text": "34\n\n―\n\nSIR JOHN BOWRING\n\non the water, and never have or dream of any shelter other than the roof, and who seldom tread except on the deck or boards of their sampans,\n\nshow to what an extent the land is crowded, and how inadequate it is to maintain the cumberers of the soil. In the city of Canton alone it is estimated that 300,000 persons dwell upon the surface of the river: the boats, sometimes twenty or thirty deep, cover some miles, and have their wants supplied by ambulatory salesmen, who wend their way through every accessible passage. Of this vast population some dwell in decorated river boats used for every purpose of license and festivity — for theatres, for concerts — for feasts, for gambling — for lust, for solitary and social recreations: some craft are employed in conveying goods and passengers, and are in a state of constant activity; others are moored, and their owners are engaged as servants or labourers on shore. Indeed their pursuits are probably nearly as various as those of the land population. The immense variety of boats which are found in Chinese waters has never been adequately described. Some are of enormous size, and are used as magazines for salt or rice; others have all domestic accommodations, and are employed for the transfer of whole families, with all their domestic attendants and accommodations, from one place to another; some, called centipedes, from their being supposed to have 100 rowers, convey with extraordinary rapidity the more valuable cargoes from the inner warehouses to the foreign shipping in the ports. All these, from the huge and cumbrous junks, which remind one of Noah's ark, and which represent the rude and coarse constructions of the remotest ages, to the fragile planks upon which a solitary leper hangs upon the outskirts of society — boats of every form and applied to every purpose, exhibit an incalculable amount of population, which may be called amphibious, if not aquatic.\n\n―T\n\nNot only are land and water crowded with Chinese, but many dwell on artificial islands which float upon the lakes, islands with gardens and houses raised upon the rafters which the occupiers have bound together, and on which they cultivate what is needful for the supply of life's daily wants. They have their poultry and their vegetables for use, their flowers and their scrolls for ornament — their household gods for protection and worship.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1965.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s752cj653", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 205075, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1966", "page_number": 31, "title": "RAS-1966", "content_text": "26\n\nT\n\nHUGH D. R. BAKER\n\nThe five clans bear the surnames Tang2, Hau3, Pang, Liu,5 and Man. The Tangs were the first of the five to settle in the area as far as is known, coming in at the beginning of the Northern Sung Dynasty, probably in 973 A.D.,8 giving them a history of some thousand years of settlement. Their first village (and still one of their largest) was Kam Tin. Other major villages which are occupied by members of the Tang Clan are those of Ping Shan,10 Ha Tsuen,11 Tai Po Tau2 and Lung Kwat Tau,13 while these few names by no means complete the list.\n\nThe Haus arrived towards the end of the twelfth century in the Southern Sung Dynasty.14 Their first settlement was at Ho Sheung Heung,15 the lineage later segmenting to form three branch-villages at Yin Kong,16 Kam Tsin17 and Ping Kong,18 Spatially there is quite a distance between these four villages, and while they still recognise that they are kin, recognise obligations of mutual aid, and appear to hold certain property in common, they are politically four distinct units under four leaderships, each of which is divorced from the others, so that they must be considered a clan. They themselves call the group either the 4 (Hau Clan) or the 5 (Hau Alliance).\n\nThe Pangs claim to have arrived during the Sung Dynasty also, and are said to be in their twentieth generation at the moment. Freedman has pointed out that \"poverty postponed marriage\",19 and the Pangs were poor, so that we may allow thirty-five years per generation of this lineage, which would in fact date their arrival in the last years of the Sung Dynasty. The lineage village is called Fan Ling.?\n\n20\n\nThe Lius of Sheung Shui have a history of approximately 630 years, their first ancestor arriving from Fukien Province towards the end of the Yuan Dynasty.22 They have not lost any branches through hiving-off, and the entire lineage still lives together in the one village-cluster.\n\nThe Mans have two large groups of villages. The first is at San Tin, the second at Tai Hang.24 Each of these village groups is a separate lineage, separated by a great distance, apparently owning no property in common, and each under separate leadership. The two lineages together are spoken of as the ✯ (the Man Clan).\n\nPage 26\n\n...\n\nPage 20", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1966.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/bz60k0811", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 205076, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1966", "page_number": 32, "title": "RAS-1966", "content_text": "The Five Great Clans\n\nII\n\n27\n\nAll these five clans have histories of gradual migration from the North downwards, the movement taking centuries in some cases. The Tang Clan's genealogies show that in the Sung Dynasty their ancestors moved down into Kwangtung Province from Kian Prefecture25 in Kiangsi Province.26 The Hau genealogy records that they moved down from Pun Yue27 in the Sung Dynasty, but does not say when and whence they moved to Pun Yue.28 The Pangs probably came from Kiangsi at the end of the Sung Dynasty.29 The Lius journeyed southwards from Kiangsi to Fukien in the Sung Dynasty, worked their way down through Fukien, and came to Kwangtung Province in the Yuan Dynasty. The Mans came from Kiangsi to Po On30 in the Sung Dynasty, and then moved to their present villages during the Yuan and Ming Dynasties.32\n\nAll are Cantonese (Punti33), though one of them at least has a tradition of Hakka34 origin.35 Exactly when and why this lineage should have changed from Hakka customs and speech to Punti is of course impossible to say, and it was probably only a gradual change, but it seems reasonable on two scores that, once large and wealthy, the lineage should change. Firstly, the common path to perpetuation and expansion of wealth and influence was the production of scholars and officials; and in the Sanon District Hakka examination candidates were discriminated against under a quota system whereby eight Punti candidates were allowed to pass the Prefectural Examination in Canton compared with only two Hakka.36 This proportion may be set against the figures of village numbers given by Krone—579 Punti and 275 Hakka.37 Secondly, the other large and influential clans of the area were Punti, and it would be easier in the spheres of communications and bride-finding and bride-giving for a lineage with pretensions to be Punti-oriented rather than Hakka.\n\nIII\n\nWith the help of an agricultural map of the New Territories it is possible to discover the relative values of the land which these clans acquired, and to compare this information with the", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1966.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/bz60k0811", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 205077, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1966", "page_number": 33, "title": "RAS-1966", "content_text": "28\n\nHUGH D. R. BAKER\n\npoint in history at which the clans arrived, and with their subsequent development. Grant gives some maps plotting the regions of land of various qualities, dividing the land into categories according to the number of catties of paddy per dau chung per crop it can produce.38 Best quality land produces 300 catties and upwards per dau chung, and then he grades the qualities down in units of 50 to 150 catties per dau chung, the lowest category of production worth his recording.\n\nThe region of the New Territories which has the largest area of double-cropping land is the Kam Tin Valley, settled largely by the earliest comers to the district—the Tangs. The land is not all of the best quality, about two-thirds falling into the category of moderate productivity (200–250 catties per dau chung),40 but for sheer size, with good water supply, it is the best region of the New Territories. In the early thirteenth century the lineage segmented, one branch hiving off to the Ping Shan area, where again was a large region of paddy-growing land, double-cropping with moderate productivity,42 fairly well watered, and close enough to the parent village to be within the range of easy communications. Three generations later another branch hived from Kam Tin and established itself in Ha Tsuen.43 I have no information as to the quality of the soil in the area (though from Grant it would seem that productivity might not be very high44), but there is a large quantity of land. The Tangs thus secured to their near-exclusive possession the whole of the agricultural land in the Southwestern corner of the New Territories. When later other groups hived off to found villages on the Eastern side of the New Territories at Lung Kwat Tau in about 1368 A.D.,45 and at Tai Po Tau perhaps two generations earlier,47 they were less fortunate. Not only were they out of the immediate power sphere of the Tang Clan but they moved into an area where other clans were already settled or in the process of settling.\n\nThe Hau48, who were the next of the clans to arrive, settled in an area which was well watered but rather too low-lying to be safe against flood. They appear to have had little power, and after an initial period of growth, when they founded several new villages,49 seem to have lost all impetus. Their land is of good quality, but when they expanded to Ping Kong,50 Kam Tsin,51 and Yin Kong,52 they did so along a line of poorer quality soil,53 arguing perhaps prior settlement in the nearby rich Sheung Shui", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1966.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/bz60k0811", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 205078, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1966", "page_number": 34, "title": "RAS-1966", "content_text": "The Five Great Clans\n\n29\n\narea by a group at least as strong as they, a point which will be taken up later.\n\nThe Pangs of Fanling were also on the fringes of the Sheung Shui area, and also were unable to settle on this better land, though they apparently arrived shortly after the Hau's. Their land is of moderate quality, though a little of it is in the 250-300 catty range,54 and the Pangs were poor, as remarked earlier. Recently the 'vegetable-growing revolution' began on this lineage's land,55 communications being excellent, so that, being on the direct line of exit from the Mainland, the area was soon picked out by the immigrants for settlement and farming. One result of this revolution has been a sudden rise in the income and standard of living of the Pangs, an indication of their growing influence being their entering of a candidate in 1964 for the high-prestige position of Chairman of the Heung Yee Kuk.56 At the same time the Pangs display an ultra-conservative attitude in respect of feng shui57 and religion. I am not in a position to say whether this conservatism is of long standing, or whether it has been strengthened since the change in their economic conditions. It is interesting, however, that their response to rising standards of living contrasts markedly with that of the Lius, whose rejection of feng shui tenets appears to be as whole-hearted as is the Fanling tenaciousness.\n\nThe Lius were the fourth of the clans to arrive. Their history is fairly well documented and throws an interesting light on the process by which they acquired probably the largest area of first-quality land outside the Tangs' holdings.59 The first ancestor was an itinerant tinker who disappeared from the area after founding a family there. Within four generations the family was scattered all round the Sheung Shui area in small settlements, the best land being occupied by the Kan60 lineage. By the seventh generation the Lius had greatly increased in numbers. A geomancer61 was amongst them, and he suggested that they should all come together to found a village, for \"he knew that it was not good policy to live in so many places, and feared that being scattered they would be unable to retain their close contacts and unable to maintain their mutual protection and aid\".62 Then, says the genealogy, \"the whole lineage lived together completely in accordance with the wishes of the geomancers\".63 This bland explanation of history does not explain how the Kans were persuaded to vacate their", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1966.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/bz60k0811", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 205079, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1966", "page_number": 35, "title": "RAS-1966", "content_text": "30\n\nHUGH D. R. BAKER\n\nvillage and lands and move over to the village of Tsung Pak Long64 in the inferior land area already partly occupied by the Haus. Nor is it possible now to discover what it was that enabled the Lius after only seven generations to drive out the Kans, while neither the Pangs nor the Haus had done so after a much longer period of settlement.\n\nThe Mans were the last of the five to settle. The lineage of Tai Hang secured the lower end of the fertile valley of Lam Tsuen, and with double-cropping, mostly above-average land, were well off.65\n\nThe Mans of San Tin settled in an area of marginal land, with access to some quantity of poor quality land recently risen from the sea, which would grow one crop of brackish-water paddy.66 There is reason to suppose that the area of this land has increased considerably since they settled there,67 enabling the lineage to support a large number of members and expand without segmentation to any great extent.\n\nThus the five clans occupied the majority of first-class land in the area. The possession of good land in quantity was one of the only ways perhaps in which a lineage of this area could rise to power, either on a local or a national basis. The best land of the New Territories was, and still mostly is, in the possession of these five clans, and certainly in the local situation it was these five clans which wielded power. The present-day situation plays down rather than emphasises the power which they formerly held; much of their land for instance being rented out to other lineages, so that the actual area of five-clan settlement is not a guide to the amount of land which they in fact own, while many of their old holdings have been allowed to lapse of recent years. The most powerful of all, and the wealthiest of all, was the Tang Clan, the clan which had settled on the most fertile and rewarding land. The rising of land from the sea near the Man village of San Tin, while not making the Mans wealthy, enabled them to support a large populace, which in turn led to their rise to a position of some power through sheer weight of numbers early in the last century. The acquisition of the Sheung Shui land enabled the Lius to expand as one undivided lineage. Shifts in land values have produced changes in wealth, as is particularly exemplified by the Pangs and their holdings of land which has turned out to be", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1966.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/bz60k0811", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 205080, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1966", "page_number": 36, "title": "RAS-1966", "content_text": "The Five Great Clans\n\n31\n\nhighly desirable vegetable land. Shifts in land values have also affected the balance of wealth within any one lineage, and have produced interesting differences in ritual practices between lineage branches. In Sheung Shui, for example, land to the southeast of the village has greatly increased in value due to the rise there of Shek Wu market.68 Land to the northwest of the village, on the other hand, has declined in value for several reasons. One branch of the lineage, whose land holdings are mainly to the northwest and which has no land on the Shek Wu market side, has been forced to dispense with certain annual feasts through lack of income.\n\nIV\n\nControlling large areas of land, and having power, the five clans and their settlements were natural communications centres and foci of rural interest, and they were able to maintain and increase their wealth and influence by setting up markets under their control. The market of Shek Wu Hui, mentioned above, was established on Liu land. Yuen Long Kau Hui, until displaced by the new market known simply as Yuen Long, was owned by the Tangs. The market of Tai Po Kau Hui70 was owned and controlled by the Tang lineages of Tai Po Tau and Lung Kwat Tau,71 while the new Tai Po market was a joint venture by many clans, amongst whom were the Mans of Tai Hang72 and the Pangs of Fan Ling.\n\nThese markets were held on regular schedules based on the lunar calendar. Thus, Yuen Long kept to a 3-6-9 schedule, meaning that markets were held there on the 3rd, 6th, and 9th; 13th, 16th, and 19th; 23rd, 26th, and 29th days of the lunar month. Tai Po new market also worked the 3-6-9 system, while Shek Wu Hui maintained a 1-4-7 schedule.73 The controlling clans received an income in various ways, chief of which was through their charging a fee for the weighing of goods sold in the markets, all scales being retained by them, or hired out by them to private individuals at a high rent.74\n\nNo other large markets were controlled by members of the Five Clans,75 though each of their larger villages appears to have small daily markets meeting for the exchange and sale of perish-", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1966.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/bz60k0811", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 205081, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1966", "page_number": 37, "title": "RAS-1966", "content_text": "32\n\nHUGH D. R. BAKER\n\nable foodstuffs. On a more speculative level, however, it is worthy of note that relics of an old market called Kak Chun Hui7% are still turned up by the plough near Hang Tau Tsuen.\" Apparently this market disappeared some 300 years ago, possibly with the original rise of Shek Wu Hui. It is close to the Hau villages of Ho Sheung Heung and Yin Kong, and may have been controlled by them, in which case its demise may have been the result of rivalry between the Haus and the Lius. Obviously, with high rents coming in from markets, the two clans would have had reason to try to monopolise local buying and selling.\n\nIn general, land-holdings may be equated with wealth. The possession of wealth meant changes in the life of a lineage. The leadership based on the age-hierarchy tended to lose its importance when there were wealthy men in the village, and this seems to have been the case in the five clans. With unequal wealth in a lineage, one or two men must be thrown up who are clearly richer than the rest, and it was these men who assumed unofficial leadership in the group. This situation has been dealt with at some length before and need not be gone into here:78 but it is worth stating that at the present time the leadership in lineage villages is of exactly the same kind. The age-hierarchy leadership still exists formally, but the actual leadership rests with men who are educated, and wealthy and powerful in their own right—though now they are dignified with an official title, 'Village Representative',79 by the British Government.\n\nA wealthy lineage could afford to educate its sons, and in nearly all of the villages of the five clans tutorial schools were run. Frequently these would be held in the ancestral halls, but some villages had special school-rooms-cum-libraries built, and these survive to the present day in Fan Ling, Kam Tin, Tai Po Tau, Lung Kwat Tau and several other places. Education was a means to consolidate wealth, for it was through education that men could enter official life up the steep path of the examination system. A scholar-official was in a position not only to make money, but also to advance the interests of his kin through his contacts with other officials. All the five clans have produced scholars, some of whom became officials, the Tangs being particularly noteworthy in this respect—a fact which accords well with their having superior wealth. During recent years the clans have", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1966.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/bz60k0811", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 205082, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1966", "page_number": 38, "title": "RAS-1966", "content_text": "The Five Great Clans\n\n33\n\ntried to retain and modernise this tradition by building modern schools for their children and teaching a curriculum equal to that in the cities of Victoria and Kowloon. The Tangs of Kam Tin and the Lius operated schools with a modern curriculum at least as early as the 1930s, and have since installed them in modern buildings. Other modern schools may be seen at Ho Sheung Heung, Kam Tsin, Tai Po Tau, and San Tin. Usually, the schools have been built on lineage initiative and money, with the Government meeting a proportion of the cost. Boards of Governors are generally composed of lineage members only, though teaching staff may be drawn from any surnames.\n\nBut far from consolidating the position of the clans, as education did in the old days, the new education has cut off the young men (and the young women) from their lineages by educating them up to a level where they are employable only in the city, where they quickly learn to renounce village values and the lineage way of life. Some of the older men recognise the danger which this constitutes to the lineage system, and they try hard to reconcile the modern education with old values, striving to keep the young people based on the village even if facing towards the city. The Lius have recently initiated the practice of sending all their school-children to take part in the worship of the First Ancestor's grave on the 9th of the 9th month,80 a practice which certainly would not have been permitted in the past.\n\nAncestor worship in its manifestations above the level of the family was and is on a larger scale in the five clans than in smaller clans. The five own large ancestral halls (often as large as three M) for the corporate worship of their founding ancestors, and most of their villages have more than one hall, often as many as three or four, each one serving as the focal point for a branch or sub-branch of the lineage. Comparatively few lineages or clans outside the five have ancestral halls of any size; in many, a converted house does duty as the hall, while perhaps no other lineage is able to boast of more than one hall. Wealth again is the factor which enables the five to build and maintain halls.\n\nAll of these clans observe ancestral rites on a large scale and at great expense. The major ceremony of the year is Chung Yeung, on and around the 9th day of the 9th month, when the grave of the founding ancestor is worshipped. Since these graves", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1966.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/bz60k0811", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 205083, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1966", "page_number": 39, "title": "RAS-1966", "content_text": "34\n\nHUGH D. R. BAKER\n\nare usually situated at some distance from the villages; in some cases up to several miles away. It becomes an opportunity for the clans to display their wealth and numbers in public. The first and most important of the graves of the Tang Clan is on a hill behind the new, large, industrial town of Tsuen Wan,82 and the Tangs always turn out in their thousands at Chung Yeung, going to the grave in fleets of lorries, cars, and buses. The Lius' First Ancestor is buried behind the Hau village of Kam Tsin, and the Lius march round the Hau village in great numbers on their way to the grave. On the second day of Chung Yeung, the Lius go to the grave of their Second Ancestor, which takes them past the Pang village of Fan Ling and the Tang village of Lung Kwat Tau. The procession is always large, and banners and ceremonial foods are conspicuously displayed. The major clans are remarkable for the large number of ancestors which they worship on this and other occasions, some branches having a ceremony and feast nearly every day for several weeks at Chung Yeung as their various ancestors are worshipped. The cost of these ceremonies is very high, and is quite beyond the reach of smaller lineages and clans. The money comes in as rent from the fields with which the ancestral halls and other segments of the lineage are endowed. The proportion of lineage-controlled land which is owned by the lineage itself and by its segments (as opposed to that owned by individual members of the lineage) may be very high indeed, often well over 50 per cent.83 Thus, not only do the lineages control vast areas of land, but they also actually corporately own much of it, and have high incomes from which to finance ceremonies, public works, etc. Again, land is important.\n\nBeing wealthy, the clans needed to resort to some form of protection from thieves. Each of the villages of the clans organised and ran its own village watch system.84 I am not sure whether the system was identical in each of the villages, but one practice was to allow lineage members to tender to the ancestral hall for the position of watchman. Those who tendered most were allowed to take the positions, the number of watchmen being pre-determined. These men recouped themselves by charging individual villagers for the property they were protecting according to a fixed rate (so much for a field of paddy, so much for a field of sweet potatoes, so much for a buffalo, etc.). If a buffalo were stolen or some other property made away with, it was the responsibility...", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1966.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/bz60k0811", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 205086, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1966", "page_number": 42, "title": "RAS-1966", "content_text": "THE FIVE GREAT CLANS\n\n37\n\nMainland livestock. Rice cannot be grown to compete with the Mainland and Thailand. The vegetable revolution did not come early enough to alleviate the situation, and still has not spread wide enough to provide an answer. The clans one by one were forced to look elsewhere for income, and one after another began to send men overseas. While I have no figures to prove my point, it is clear that the order in which they succumbed to this process is in inverse order of wealth. In other words, the first to start sending people overseas were the Mans of San Tin, while the last were the Tangs of Kam Tin. The process of modernisation and rebuilding of villages throughout the New Territories shows the pattern in pictorial form. Some of what were previously poor, small villages are almost completely rebuilt now with a more modern style of house and many modern amenities. Then come the Mans of San Tin, whose large village is perhaps approaching one-quarter rebuilt with money earned overseas; and lastly comes Kam Tin, where the rebuilding has only recently started,\n\n97\n\nV\n\nMany writers on and observers of Southeastern Chinese society have drawn attention to the constant rivalry and feuding between clans in the area, and the New Territories have been no exception to this. In the past, and to a lesser extent now, the five clans have been rivals for power and influence in the area, the animosity between them at times breaking out into open warfare; but while rivalry and bad blood was the norm between the clans, they did draw together and cooperate when faced with danger from outside or with some other form of external stimulus. Two major historical examples of cooperation between the clans can be cited.\n\nIn 1662, the first year of the K'ang Hsi reign,99 all inhabitants of a wide strip of land on the Southeastern seaboard of China were ordered to move inland as part of a scorched earth policy formulated to help control pirate forces. All the five clans were involved in this evacuation, and it was not until seven years later in 1669—that they were allowed to return, and then only through the intercession and memorialisation of the throne of two high officials of the Kwangtung provincial administration, Chau Yau-tak and Wong Loi-yam.100 As thanks offerings to these two", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1966.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/bz60k0811", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 205087, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1966", "page_number": 43, "title": "RAS-1966", "content_text": "38\n\nHUGH D. R. BAKER\n\nmen temples were built and dedicated to them in many parts of the effected area. In the New Territories there were three such temples - one at Sha Tau Kok,10 one built by the Kam Tin lineage of the Tang Clan,102 and a third in the market town of Shek Wu Hui known as the Chau Wong Yee Yuen,103 which was built by the five clans and endowed by them with land for its upkeep. It was not the five clans as clans which did this, but rather lineages of the five clans which came together and each purchased a share in the temple.104 The Man Clan took two shares in the temple, one purchased by each of the two lineages; as was the case with the eastern Tangs.105 The Pangs, Hau* and Lius each had one share. Not only was land purchased and a temple106 built with this money, but also a ferry boat was bought to assist all members of the five clans to cross the Sham Chun River107 to get to the large market town of Sham Chun, with which all had dealings. The share-holding lineages took part in an annual feast at which the business of the temple was discussed, the feast being paid for out of temple funds. As might be expected, however, the history of this temple association has not all been peaceful, and recently a major dispute has arisen, three members108 claiming complete control of the funds to the exclusion of the others.109 The matter quickly escalated to a point where both sides hired lawyers and placed vituperative advertisements in the Colony's newspapers. Eventually, after three years of argument, it was settled in 1963.\n\nThe second example of cooperation between the clans is of the army which they raised between them to oppose the arrival of the British when they took control of the New Territories in 1899. Under the leadership of literati of the Tang Clan, working from the ancestral hall of the Ha Tsuen lineage,110 they mustered men, arms and supplies in quantity and attacked the British at their landing point in Tai Po. Unfortunately they lacked training and could do no more than fight an ignominious retreat back over the hills. Some records of the organisation of this force are still available through documents captured by the British at the time, and it is obvious that all the planning was done by and communications established at the level of the literati of the five clans. It seems that these men kept up some kind of informal contact, and there is mention of an organisation called the Tung P'ing Kuk112 in the first British reports on the area, which was said\n\n*Hau is the correct spelling, not \"Haus\". I've made the correction. \nPlease let me know if you need further assistance.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1966.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/bz60k0811", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 205088, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1966", "page_number": 44, "title": "RAS-1966", "content_text": "THE FIVE GREAT CLANS\n\n39\n\nto be a semi-official assembly of these very people. I have found only flimsy evidence that this did exist,113 but certainly the literati had contacts one with another, and when any two of the clans were in dispute, literati from a third clan appear to have been called in as arbitrators.\n\nDisputes were common, and all the clans were involved at one time or another. Alliances were made between clans against others, and sometimes smaller lineages from outside the five would be brought in. Causes of dispute were often trivial, setting aflame long-standing smouldering antagonisms between clans. Small incidents could very quickly escalate into full-scale battles. Frequently little was achieved by the disputes, and fights were stopped without either side gaining an advantage; but there must have been times when the fighting represented a serious attempt on the part of one clan to alter the balance of power or to establish a new relationship with another clan. Being wealthy and large, the five could always command arms and men, and, furthermore, by making use of the network of contacts to which their literati had the key, they could bring in on their side even more forces from the outside sphere, and perhaps even from Government. Smaller lineages could command neither wealth, nor arms, nor man-power, nor outside help based on literati-contacts, and as a consequence their disputes were of a much less serious nature. As one of the great clans 'face' (prestige) became important, and escalation resulted easily from minor incidents involving clan members.\n\nIt might be illuminating if I closed this brief discussion of the clans with a few examples of some of the disputes which took place between them, giving in a little more detail two instances which are particularly illustrative.\n\nThe Tangs, being the largest and most wealthy of the clans, were the most feared and there were many alliances against them. They were, however, split internally, and there is a history of fighting within the clan between different lineages, and particularly between the two large lineages of Ha Tsuen and Ping Shan. The Mans of Tai Hang joined with many other small lineages and villages and with the Pangs against the Tangs of Tai Po Tau and Lung Kwat Tau to set up the new market of Tai Po. Many small Hakka lineages formed the Pat Heung14 alliance against the Tangs of Kam Tin.15 The Lius were apparently associated with the", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1966.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/bz60k0811", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 205089, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1966", "page_number": 45, "title": "RAS-1966", "content_text": "HUGH D. R. BAKER \n\nPat Heung in this. The Pangs ran a bitter feud with the Lius over many years, there being a story that a mud rampart was raised between the areas of influence of the two lineages, serving the purposes both of defence and delineation. The Mans of San Tin had battles with the Hau Clan and also with many smaller lineages in their area of the New Territories. The Haus fought the Mans, the Lius and the Pangs at various times.\n\nAs an example of a quarrel deliberately picked and a battle sought in order to change the status quo, we can cite the case of the Mans fighting the Haus in the last century. The Mans of San Tin were numerous but poor, and for many years (up until the Japanese occupation in fact) they resorted to terrorism in the neighbourhood, running a 'protection racket', whereby in return for payment of an annual fee from the weaker villages they guaranteed that the villages would be patrolled and guarded against attack from bandits and thieves. The Hau village of Ping Kong had been paying this fee, but at one stage felt strong enough to dispense with the 'protection'. They sent the Man fee-collectors away empty-handed, knowing that there would be a battle. The Mans raised a large army from their village and descended on Ping Kong under their leader, a notorious fighter with an unsavoury nickname. The Haus of Ping Kong's sister village, Kam Tsin, had sent reinforcements for the defence of the walled village. On arrival outside the walls, the Mans had the misfortune to see their leader shot dead, and immediately lost heart for the battle. They contented themselves with destroying Ping Kong's ancestral hall, which was several hundred yards from the village. There were two results from this episode. Firstly, the Haus have not paid protection money to the Mans since that day; and secondly, the ancestral hall was rebuilt inside the walls of the village, a unique instance in the New Territories as far as I know.116\n\nAs an example of escalation and the lengths to which an inter-clan dispute could go, there is the case of the Haus versus the Lius in the late nineteenth century. A Liu and a Hau farmer quarrelled over an irrigation matter (a very common cause of trouble), came to blows, and within a short time were backed up by the entire Liu lineage on one side and the entire Hau Clan on the other. No armies were sent out, but the Lius locked themselves\n\nPage 45\n\nPage 46", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1966.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/bz60k0811", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 205091, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1966", "page_number": 47, "title": "RAS-1966", "content_text": "42\n\nHUGH D. R. BAKER\n\nNOTES\n\nThis article is based on the lecture delivered to the Society on 1st March, 1965. The material has, however, undergone rewriting, augmentation and excision, firstly for the purposes of a paper read to the Anthropology Colloquium of Cornell University in April 1965, and secondly to suit it for publication in this Journal. When the original lecture was given, I began by pointing out that I could give no more than an outline of the history and conditions of settlement and life of the Five Clans, and that much more work would have to be done on this topic before concrete conclusions could be drawn. I must stress again the tentative and sketchy nature of this article, offering it rather as an inducement to others to continue investigations than as a satisfactory piece of research.\n\nMany statements made are unsubstantiated by footnotes, and it should be understood that in these cases I have drawn the material from oral sources and from my own observations during a residence of eighteen months in a village of one of the Five Clans. Chinese names and terms have been romanised according to their pronunciation in Cantonese.\n\n1 Maurice Freedman, Lineage Organisation in Southeastern China, London, 1958; Preface,\n\n2\n\n3\n\n4.\n\n6 X.\n\n7 *, A.D. 960-1127.\n\n8 寶安錦田鄧氏族譜、“干開寶六年宦遊入廣.........遂即遷居于寶安\n\n9. See Sung Hok-pang's articles in the Hong Kong Naturalist, Vols. VI and VII, \"Legends and Stories of the New Territories\", Parts III and IV, \"Kam Tin\", for a detailed account of the founding of this village. Strictly speaking, Kam Tin is an area rather than a village, but I shall refer to it as a village.\n\nThe population is given as 2,150 in A Gazetteer of Place Names in Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories, Hong Kong, 1960. Population figures given below are also taken from this source, but they must be taken as a rough guide only, the Introduction to the Gazetteer warning that \"the statistics are based on an unofficial census in 1955\". Furthermore, the intervening decade has seen many changes in distribution and size of the population. In some cases the total population for one village is not given, and I have had to add together figures from component villages, which I may have selected too arbitrarily for accuracy.\n\n10. Population 2,760.\n\n11. Population 2,840.\n\n12 AЯ. Population 660 including Tai Po Tau Lo Wai ✰ƒ¤★¤,\n\n13 ★★A, also known as Lung Yeuk Tau. The name is that of a group of villages, an area; but I shall refer to this group as a village. Population 2,605, but only a small proportion are Tangs.\n\n14 $*, A.D. 1127-1279.\n\n15 ML, but frequently pronounced Wo Sheung Heung, and sometimes written #. Population 580.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1966.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/bz60k0811", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 205093, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1966", "page_number": 49, "title": "RAS-1966", "content_text": "44\n\nHUGH D. R. BAKER\n\n42 Grant, op. cit., figs, VI(k), (l), (m), (n).\n\n43 ###. Notes on the third generation.\n\n+\n\n44 Grant, op. cit., figs. VI(m) and (n).\n\n45 **#. Notes on the sixth generation, where the move is said to have been made \"at the end of the Yuan Dynasty\".\n\n46 Ibid., Notes on the third generation.\n\n47 Grant, op. cit., figs. VI(o) and (p) show a perhaps exaggerated picture of the paucity of land around Lung Kwat Tau, since part of the Tangs' area of influence is not shown. Figs. VI(e) and (f) show a no less meagre amount of agricultural land around Tai Po Tau. It must be stressed that geographical and political accident have combined to change the situation greatly in both these areas in recent years, so that Grant's findings do not demonstrate the true historical picture.\n\n+\n\n48 ******, Notes on the founding ancestor. He was born in A.D. 1023 and died in 1085, but the date when he moved to Ho Sheung Heung is not recorded.\n\n49 Ibid., Notes on the fourth generation, shows that the expansion occurred in the fifth generation, which we can infer from the data to have been in the mid-12th century. I cannot locate the places mentioned, and, unless they have since disappeared entirely, we must assume that they are not situated in the New Territories, or that they are names for internal divisions in Ho Sheung Heung itself. Without having been able to check on these assumptions, I would incline to the last.\n\n50 Ibid., Notes on the thirteenth generation. This village was founded in the seventeenth generation (possibly mid-16th century, but it is difficult to arrive at even an approximate date) by a man who moved from one of the original expansion villages discussed in note 49 above.\n\n51 Ibid., This village has the same first ancestor as Ping Kong, whence he moved on after some years.\n\n52 Ibid., Notes on the twelfth generation. The village was founded in the last years of the Chien-lung reign period (A.D. 1736-1795).\n\n53 Grant, op. cit., figs. VI(o) and (p) show the land surrounding only Ping Kong of these four villages. It is of no better than average productivity (200 catties), and is not a very large acreage.\n\n54 Ibid., figs. VI(o) and (p).\n\n55 Ibid., The same figures show the extent to which vegetable-farming has taken over the land in this area.\n\nSee also \"Changes in Agricultural Land Use in Hong Kong\", by C. T. Wong, in S. G. Davis, Land Use Problems in Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1964.\n\n56. The 'Rural Consultative Council', which represents New Territories interests to Government. An explanation of its structure and objectives may be found in S. S. Hsueh, Government and Administration of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1962, pp. 84ff.\n\n57 Bk. 'Wind and Water'. For a short but unsympathetic explanation of this belief see J. Dyer Ball, Things Chinese, London, 1904, pp. 312f.\n\n58 廖氏族譜, section headed 韩考座代进移節略,\n\n59 Grant, op. cit., figs. VI(o) and (p).\n\n60 M.\n\n+\n\n61 feng shui hsien sheng (Mandarin pronunciation).\n\n62 ****, section as in note 58.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1966.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/bz60k0811", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 205095, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1966", "page_number": 51, "title": "RAS-1966", "content_text": "46\n\nHUGH D. R. BAKER\n\nto \"Mui Tsai in Hong Kong\", the Report of the Committee appointed by the Governor, in Hong Kong Sessional Papers 1935.- \"The most careful inquiry shews that no male children are bought and sold here as slaves or servants. and confirms the statements in the Blue-book that 'Boys are sold to be sons. not slaves' and 'that no such thing as a slave-boy exists in Hong Kong\". It might too with truth have been added 'nor in Canton' \". The 1935 Report itself concludes that \"there is no evidence of slavery among Chinese males”. \n\n90 ***.\n\n91 蒙養學校.\n\n92 *.\n\n93 It is tempting to link this Sai Man surname with the original name of Kam Tin - Sham Lei - and to postulate a history of enslavement by 岑里 the Tangs of the original inhabitants. There is no evidence to support such a theory, however, and it must be put down to coincidence.\n\n94 趟。\n\n95 Anyway, since the vegetable-growers are mainly immigrants, indigenous men were freed from the land and looked elsewhere for income in addition to the rents from these fields.\n\n96 Perhaps the village of Tai Tau Leng ★★ may be taken as an example.\n\n97 See for instance Freedman, op. cit.; Hu Hsien-chin, The Common Descent Group in China and its Functions, New York, 1948; Arthur H. Smith, Village Life in China, New York, 1899; Lena E. Johnston, China and her Peoples, London, 1923; and many others.\n\n98. A.D. 1662-1723.\n\n99 For more details see Lo Hsiang-lin, Hong Kong and its External Communications before 1842, Hong Kong, 1963, (Chinese version 1960), chapter VI.\n\n100 Governor-General of Kwangtung and Kwangsi, and *, Governor of Kwangtung. For details see the Hsin-an Hsien-chih B of 1819; also Lo Hsiang-lin, op. cit., chapter VI.\n\n101 I have not seen this temple, and believe it to be on the mainland side of the border which runs through the town.\n\n102 It has become very much a part of village life, accommodating a school; while on the ten-yearly occasions of Kam Tin's Ta-chiu Festival it is the physical focus of the ceremonies, and also has importance in that Chau and Wong are the 'patron saints' of the festival,\n\n103 周王二院.\n\n104 In fact, it was only the Tang Clan which was not wholly involved in the venture---those of its lineages on the West side of the New Territories not being included. The whole of each of the other four clans took part.\n\n105 That is the Tangs of Tai Po Tau and Lung Kwat Tau.\n\n106 Burned down in the fire of 1954, and not yet rebuilt.\n\n107 深圳河.\n\n108 The Tangs of Lung Kwat Tau, the Haus and the Lius.\n\n109 The Tangs of Tai Po Tau, the Pangs, and the Mans of San Tin and Tai Hang.\n\n110 J. W. Hayes, op. cit., note 52.\n\n111 \"Despatches and other papers relating to the extension of the Colony of Hong Kong\", in Hong Kong Sessional Papers, 1899.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1966.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/bz60k0811", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 205320, "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": 82, "title": "RAS-1967", "content_text": "EXPANSION AND EXTENSION IN HAKKA SOCIETY\n\n75\n\nVaillant 1920, p. 85. Leaving this discussion open, there is still reason to assume that both the disturbances in Kwangtung and the Hakka expansion to the south were correlated with a search for new areas for resettlement.\n\n28 'A dreadful internecine strife, in which 150,000 at least, perished, took place between the Hakkas and Pún-téis in the south-western districts of the Canton province, from A.D. 1864 to 1866, and arms and even armed steamers, were procured from Hong Kong by both parties. Ball 1925, p. 282.\n\nA Hong Kong resident reports that the Peninsula of Kowloon presented for several days in August, 1862, the novel aspect of an animated battlefield, as the Punti inhabitants of the neighbouring villages were engaged in a bloody warfare with Hakka settlers at Tsimshatsui.\" Eitel 1895, p. 380. See also n. 27.\n\n29 \"Every year is marked unfortunately by an increasing influx of unattached and often undesirable characters from Chinese Territory, most Hakkas from the Wai Chau and Hing Ning District. It is impossible to keep track of the movements of these persons, and many of them are tempted by their opportunity of acquiring unlawful gains by means of robbery, kidnapping, 'White pigeon', and kindred offenses. It is hoped that these undesirable additions to the population will be considerably curtailed before long.\" New Territories Report 1917, p. J2.\n\n30 The quarry-men are nearly all Hakkas from Kweishin, who settle at the quarries until they have made some money and then return home.\" New Territories Report 1899-1912, p. 55.\n\n31 This type of extension might also have served as reconnaissance for a future settlement of a permanent kind. The following note from the New Territories could be interpreted in this direction:\n\nIn the 24th year of the reign of the Emperor Kwong Shu, which was 1897, there came to the Land of the Jumping Dragon a Hakka by the name of Kong Tai Kuen. Up to that time none but Tangs had lived there. Kong rented a house and became a tenant-farmer. He recommended two of his relations to come along also, but they stayed only three years and then returned to the Kong ancestral village at Li Long north of the Shum Chun river, while Kong Tai Kuen gave up farming in the Jumping Dragon Land and moved to Fan Ling, Ingrams 1952, p. 162.\n\n32 I use the word 'sojourner' in a freer sense than Paul Siu, to whom the term implies a stranger 'who spends many years of his lifetime in a foreign country without being assimilated by it;' Siu 1952, p. 34. My term signifies a person who temporarily lives geographically separated from the locality constituting his main focus of social interest.\n\n33 SCPH 1965; Hong Kong 1964, p. 30. Apart from going abroad, some young men from Plum Grove Village and Big Stream Village work as police constables in Sha Tin and Kowloon. One man from Grass Field Village works in a textile factory in Kwun Tong, New Kowloon,\n\n34 This is confirmed by other sources. For instance, the New Territories Report 1900 remarks upon the fact that 'Hakka women work as hard, if not harder, than their men,' (p. 269). An observant traveller noticed that in Mei Hsien in Kwangtung, the Hakka district where both people in Big Stream Village and Grass Field Village had their clan foci.\n\n'it seems to be mainly the women who do the hard work. They do not bind their feet. The women are strong and erect, though excessive toil begun too early in life may account in part for their tendency to be undersized... the women do all", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1967.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/0c488p70g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 205327, "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": 89, "title": "RAS-1967", "content_text": "82\n\nA. D. BLUE\n\nAs I have said, stowaways and private cargo of this kind were considered legitimate 'pidgin'. Many snug villas on the south coast of England and the Clyde coast of Scotland owe their origin to legitimate 'pidgin' and 'squeeze'. Opium, drugs, and arms and ammunition came into a different category, however, and Europeans involved in this kind of 'pidgin' were usually acting under duress. Any unsolved murder, suicide, or disappearance of a European officer invariably gave rise to lurid rumours of entanglement with unscrupulous opium gangs.\n\nI once found a dozen or so small flat tins, like sardine cans, tucked away among some clothes in a rarely used drawer in my cabin. I was new on the coast at the time, and pleasantly thrilled when told that it was opium. I was advised that the best thing to do was to throw it over the side, and the outcome was that the messroom boy disappeared at the next port. My only other experience of opium was its sickly sweet smell, which I used to encounter when going along the 'tween decks at night. There were always a few groups of passengers there indulging in a mild session of opium smoking. Even today, some forty years later, any similar smell takes me back to the dimly lit 'tween decks of the Antung, Kwangtung, or Kiangsu, and revives all my old memories of the China coast.\n\n'China coasters' were run on the compradore system in those days, a maritime analogy to the system common in much of Sino-Western commerce ashore in the ports. Under this system the deck passenger accommodation was hired from the owners by a Chinese compradore, who carried his own staff to look after the deck passengers.\n\nThe compradore was also in charge of the cargo, for which in turn he was paid by the owners, and his staff which looked after the deck passengers when at sea acted as stevedores and tallymen in port. The compradore was responsible for stolen or damaged cargo, and insured himself against this, often through the owners acting in their capacity as insurance brokers. The chief steward and his staff looked after the captain, officers, and saloon passengers; while the bosun and Number One Fireman each catered for his own department. The compradore was a responsible Chinese business man, with influential connections at all the ports at which his ship called, and a great part of the ship's success depended on him. Harmonious relations between the captain and the compradore, therefore, were", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1967.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/0c488p70g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 205343, "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": 105, "title": "RAS-1967", "content_text": "98 \n\nJAMES HAYES \n\nof the population of Lantau Island and when the Hakkas in this part of Kwangtung were generally considered to have been under the general domination of Cantonese.12 In passing, I am inclined to think that this point has been over-stressed. \n\nSecondly, it is interesting that all three came from villages and not from the market town. One would have expected that its shopkeepers and tradesmen would, in the aggregate, have been better off than most villagers and that a place which had a population anything from ten to twenty times larger than those of the neighbouring villages ought to have provided more pupils and hence a superior type of teacher; resulting in better-educated boys who were more qualified to become local leaders.13 \n\nHowever, and thirdly, their importance must be assessed against the realities of the social and geographic background of Lantau at this time. There were no wealthy, numerous powerful clans on the island to compare with those living in the mainland area of the present New Territories. The Cheungs were very small fry by comparison with the Tangs of Yuen Long district.14 Apart from the shopkeepers in the market town, some of whom were themselves villagers or were of village descent, the rest of the land population of Lantau were peasant small-holders few of whom seem to have owned more than one or two acres of land and were intent upon making a living from the soil.15 Communications were restricted to village tracks over difficult country or to boat travel round the coast, usually by village rowing boat. The terrain hindered social, economic and political intercourse between the penny-packet group of villages and could only be spanned by energetic leadership, motivated by private interest and backed by personal visitation. Another factor which increases the impact these men made on their communities is what I am convinced, from my later experience must have been the ignorance and massive superstition of most village people at this time.16 Easily paralysed by fear and indecision in times of danger, and harassed by doubt and incapacity when there were important issues to decide, the quality of leadership possessed by the few is high-lighted by the condition of the many. \n\nIt is not surprising, then, that men of the calibre of the three I have mentioned appear to have handled everything in their sphere of influence. Old men living today still remember the Hakka Cheung Kwong-chuen very clearly and state, with great \n\nPage 105\n\nPage 106", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1967.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/0c488p70g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 205380, "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": 142, "title": "RAS-1967", "content_text": "A NOTICE OF THE SANON DISTRICT\n\n135\n\nthree rows of houses, one behind the other. The centre one contains the principal tablets of the ancestors. Separate tablets commemorate the names and titles of the graduates and officers, which the clan has at different times produced.\n\nThe second class are the Tangs, which belong to families who set up in them their private tablets of their ancestors. They are much smaller, consisting of only one edifice, with two small out-houses, but they are neatly decorated according to the Chinese taste.\n\nThe Temples\n\nare in general inferior in size and beauty to the ancestral halls. The largest, most elegant, and most renowned is that of Chick-wan, which is dedicated to \"Teen-hau\" — the Queen of Heaven. The building may be seen from the entrance of Deep Bay. Imperial officers sent on a mission to Siam or Cochin-china, were in the habit of worshipping at this temple before starting, and if they returned safely from their perilous voyage, endowed the temple with rich offerings. By these means spacious buildings were gradually erected, and about six Taouist priests are supported on the income derived from the possessions of the temple. No Chinese vessel passes this way, without making some offering to \"the Queen of Heaven.\"\n\nSecond to this temple is the one in Man-chau, near San-keaou, which is also dedicated to the same goddess.\n\nThe most popular idols to which temples are erected in Sanon, are \"Teen-hao\" — the Queen of Heaven; \"Quan-yin\" — the Goddess of Mercy; \"Kwan-tai\" — the God of War; and \"Pak-tai\" — the God of the North.\n\nIn Sai-heong there is a considerable temple dedicated to a man who was once a high official at Canton. The following is the history of his apotheosis: The Emperor Kanghi once gave orders that the people should retire from the sea-shore, and settle some miles further in the interior, so that the pirates would be unable to carry on their depredations. This man interceded with the Emperor, and succeeded in getting the decree repealed. Out of gratitude to him, numerous temples were erected along the coast, in which he is worshipped.\n\nAltars are erected before the villages, in the fields, under green trees, and upon the hills, and are dedicated to the worship of the tutelary deities. They are the Gods of Land and Grain,", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1967.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/0c488p70g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 205507, "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-1968", "page_number": 49, "title": "RAS-1968", "content_text": "44\n\n# THE HANKOW STEAMER TEA RACES\n\nT. J. LINDSAY*\n\nClipper ships, with their vast spread of canvas, racing home with the season's China teas have earned the admiration of artists and the narrative skill of many authors. But the steamer tea races from Hankow have attracted much less attention. Endurance of the crews aloft in clippers catches the imagination more than the endurance of the stokehold gangs, and the development of reliable and fast ocean-going steamers is not as picturesque a subject as that of the sailing ship.\n\nNevertheless, at the time, the annual steamer tea race from Hankow caused excitement enough in Far Eastern waters. Although steamers also sailed laden with tea from Foochow and from Japan, it was the race from the centre of China, with the first hazardous leg down the Yangtsze to Woosung, that held the public interest. Until 1869, when the Suez Canal was opened, the Clipper ship could hold its own with the steamer service to China via the Cape. But the much shorter route afforded by Suez, which cut across the wind routes and so was suitable only for steamers, meant the end of sailing vessels in the high-value cargo eastern trade.\n\nThe steamer tea races resulted in a reduction of transit time from Hankow to London from sixty-one days in 1870 to thirty-one days in 1883 (see Table I), although in later years a few more days were added to the passage. The account of the races in the following pages covers the eleven-year period from 1877 to 1887.\n\nEvery year in the beginning of May came Hankow's short period of excitement and glory. The tea buyers from Shanghai and England, the chuszes,† arrived to pit their wits against the Chinese\n\nMr. Lindsay joined Butterfield and Swire in Shanghai in 1933. He studied Chinese in Peking in 1934, served in Shanghai and Tsingtao, and was interned in Shanghai during the Pacific War. He was transferred to the firm's Hong Kong office in 1949 and was Staff Manager until he retired in 1966. He was a Councillor and Hon. Treasurer of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society until his retirement, and is M.A.\n\n† The newspapers use chaszes without characters. Matthews Dictionary gives ch'a shih (*) as the name for tea-tasters. The tea-taster was usually the tea-buyer, so perhaps the phrase \"tea-merchant\" would best cover it.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1968.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833948d", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 205584, "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-1968", "page_number": 126, "title": "RAS-1968", "content_text": "CAPITALISM AND THE CHINESE PEASANT\n\n121\n\nless far than one might suppose from the superficial — though very striking changes in the material standard and style of living. This is especially true of the political and economic spheres. To say, as Potter does in describing the activities of one particularly wealthy individual, that \"in the New Territories at present, political power is easily translated into wealth\" is to oversimplify a complex symbiotic relationship between economic and political power scarcely a new thing in Chinese society. Further consideration of the ways in which different types of peasant society are integrated would have raised some fascinating questions on the particular case of “depeasantization” in the Chinese context. Just how much difference has the great increase in wealth made? Has it, perhaps, intensified patterns of behaviour that were already present? Potter describes the same, or another, wealthy personage as being constantly attended by three or four close business and political associates, almost all of whose entertainment expenses he pays: what is the nature of the relationship between these men? And how does it differ from the analogous ones described in the Chinese novels comedies of manners which could offer new insights to the anthropologist of traditional China?\n\nUnfortunately, Potter lacked time and opportunity thoroughly to investigate the Hop Yick Company, a most interesting organisation in the local market town of Yuen Long. Skinner's work on the integration of whole marketing areas is very relevant to the New Territories, and it would be useful to have more detail on the articulation, past and present, of Yuen Long market with the surrounding villages.* One among many important questions raised, but perhaps insufficiently discussed, by Potter concerns the entry of outside capital into a market which previously derived its livelihood exclusively from its function as a focus for the economic and political activity of the surrounding district: what\n\nA small point of fact (p. 170): the Hop Yick Company did not evolve from a market organisation controlled by a Kam Tin lineage group, interesting though such a development would have been. It was formed when the other groups of villages in the Yuen Long marketing area became tired of the domination of the old market by the Tangs of Kam Tin. These groups (yeuk or heung) found themselves with the capital and the political integration necessary to throw off the Tangs' control, and to form a new market on the doorstep of the old. (Cf. Hong Kong Administrative Reports, 1917, J.2: \"The new market at Un Long proved its utility and incidentally took much of the life out of the old market, where several bankruptcies had to be registered\") Kam Tin was excluded from the foundation of the new market.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1968.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833948d", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 205585, "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-1968", "page_number": 127, "title": "RAS-1968", "content_text": "122\n\nH. G. H. NELSON\n\nwas the effect of this development on the relationships within the old marketing area? It might be noted here that the modern system of communications in the New Territories has, necessarily, been laid down with little reference to the pre-existing marketing structure of the southern part of San On county. To what extent have these and other modern developments—such as the formation of the Heung Yee Kuk* - contributed to the overall integration of marketing areas which previously had little or no contact with each other? Has Kowloon replaced Yuen Long and Taipo as the stage on which local leaders perform to their audience?\n\nNo less striking than the change in the standard of living and the range of activities of the local \"Big Men\", is the rise in the income of farmers in Ping Shan. But although the improvement in their returns from agriculture is clearly demonstrated, one is again tempted to ask if this is not a case of plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. Those who maintain that the lineage was a vehicle for class exploitation have a strong case, and it is possible to take Potter's data as evidence that this still is so. Traditional Chinese society was relatively highly differentiated, but the range of differentiation possible in a semi-subsistence economy is limited: although the farmers' income has risen so dramatically, one can still ask whether their position has improved or worsened in relation to that of other sections of the rural population. Are the rich Tangs growing richer, while their poorer kinsmen - in fact, or in their own estimation, become relatively poorer?\n\nIn Ping Shan, now as in the past, the farmers come from the poorer branches of the lineage†; the members of the richer branches can afford not to be farmers. For the most part, then, farmers have to rent their land from corporations to which they do not belong, and they therefore get no dividend on the rents they pay. Since there is no reason to suppose that the distribution of ancestral land in Ping Shan was untypical, so far as the rich and long-established lineage is concerned, the material presented by Potter in his chapter IV \"The Ownership and Management of Property\"\n\n* See the Laws of Hong Kong, revised edition 1964, Cap. 1097 for the Ordinance establishing the Heung Yee Kuk (#) as a statutory body \"to provide for the establishment and functions of an advisory and consultative body for the New Territories and for purposes connected therewith\". Ed.\n\n† The sample used for the Farm Survey consisted of 42 farms operated by punti men, and 3 by refugee vegetable growers, (v. p. 62)", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1968.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833948d", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 205586, "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-1968", "page_number": 128, "title": "RAS-1968", "content_text": "CAPITALISM AND THE CHINESE PEASANT\n\n123\n\nthrows new light on the structure of the powerful lineage in traditional China. A mere 7% of the land held by the Tangs in Ping Shan was in individual hands; the remaining 93% was ancestral land, i.e. land incorporated in the name of a particular ancestor, the income from which is reserved for the exclusive benefit of that ancestor's patrilineal descendants. As the largest private holding was just under 4 acres, private landlordism may be dismissed as insignificant. The distribution of ancestral land is best described by an adaptation of one of Potter's own diagrams:\n\nB Ас\n\nA\n\nE\n\nF\n\nAD\n\nApproximately 4/5 of all the ancestral land is in the name of ancestor D., and is therefore reserved for the benefit of the descendants of E., F., and G.: while almost 1/2 of the total is in the name of ancestor G., its proceeds being reserved to the Six Families which make up his branch. The remaining 1/10 of the ancestral land is distributed in small parcels over the rest of the lineage. Thus, if there are no private landlords in Ping Shan, there is concentration of landholdings, and landlordism on a major scale. Although Potter is at pains to show that the arrival of Western industry and commerce neither initiated nor stimulated the concentration of landholdings in the hands of absentee landlords, he does not stress that the rural economy, in itself, never produced sufficient surpluses to permit the accumulation of wealth on anything approaching this scale; many Chinese proverbs testify to the difficulty of making more than a bare living from agriculture -- while tradi-", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1968.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833948d", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 205740, "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-1969", "page_number": 46, "title": "RAS-1969", "content_text": "40 \n\nR. G. GROVES \n\nmediate marketing systems schedules are so distributed that one of the possibilities is normally monopolized by the intermediate market. Such a distribution may ... be taken as circumstantial evidence of the systematic genuineness of a given cluster of markets.\"44 \n\nThe marketing areas were not equally endowed with arable land. This was reflected not only in the size of the populations supported, but also in the types of political association formed and the extent of lineage organization. Three local lineages in the Yuen Long marketing area played a particularly active part in the resistance movement. These were the Tang (Mandarin: Teng) lineages of Ping Shan, Ha Tsuen, and Kam Tin. The Tangs of Kam Tin owned the land upon which the original Yuen Long market had been built. San Tin, within the Sham Chun standard marketing area, was the home of a lineage of the Man (Mandarin: Wen) clan. At Sheung Shui, near Shek Wu Hui, was the Liu (Mandarin: Liao) lineage, which owned the land upon which this market was built.45 There were two further Tang lineages at Lung Yeuk Tau and Tai Po Tau, near the Tai Po markets. The five Tang lineages comprised a higher-order lineage. The Tangs of Lung Yeuk Tau had founded the original Tai Po market and owned the land upon which it was built. The Man lineage of Tai Hang was the chief rival to the political and economic ascendency of the Tai Po Tangs. In 1893 the Mans succeeded in uniting over seventy villages in an association known as the Ts'at Yeuk (seven Yüeh).46 The association established a new market at Tai Po which rapidly supplanted the original one. \n\nThese lineages owned some of the best agricultural land in the territory. Their walled and moated villages occupied strategic positions throughout the area, dominating not only the most productive land, but also the major footpath systems. The warlike architecture of the villages suggests the social ingredients which derive from the control of basic agrarian resources; wealth, numbers, complex kinship organization, political influence, and parochial military prowess. \n\nIt remains to consider the indigenous system of “local government\" described by Stewart Lockhart. \"If a person is arrested by a village constable, he is taken before the gentry and elders of the village, who assemble in a place specially appointed for the pur-", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1969.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 205744, "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-1969", "page_number": 50, "title": "RAS-1969", "content_text": "44\n\nR. G. GROVES\n\nthat one could not bear to think of them.\"55 These apprehensions represent the core of arguments which were developed and embellished as the campaign to mount the resistance movement continued. They reached their highest point in a petition sent to the San On Magistrate some two weeks later. This alleged that, in an effort to control cholera, the Hong Kong Sanitary Board murdered Chinese who were ill by poisoning them with arsenic and then burned their houses down. The inflammatory potentialities of these charges — which appear to have been widely believed — are obvious. They were used frequently by leaders of the resistance in subsequent weeks.\n\nAs requested, leaders of the various districts within the Yuen Long marketing area assembled the next day at Yuen Long market. Pat Heung, Shap Pat Heung, and Kam Tin were each represented by four people. Ping Shan sent six representatives, Ha Tsuen three, and Tun Mun (Castle Peak), one. Of the twenty-two people who attended the meeting, thirteen were members of one or another of the three Tang lineages. Once again, a decision was taken in favour of resistance, although not without disagreement. Two days later, on 31st March, leaders from throughout the area convened again at Yuen Long. The previous decision to resist was reaffirmed and letters were sent to leaders within the Sheung U Division, asking them to attend a general meeting at Yuen Long the next day.56\n\nOn 1st April leaders from the northern part of the Sheung U Division made their way to Yuen Long. In addition to the Yuen Long leaders, representatives of the following Sheung U lineages were present: Liu (Sheung Shui), Pang (Mandarin: P’eng, Fan Leng), Tang (Tai Po Tau), and Man (San Tin). The ensuing meeting was characterised by long and heated debate. It ended with a decision to offer resistance on an inter-divisional basis. Whatever the others did, the Tangs were clearly determined that the occupation would be opposed. While the Yuen Long meeting was in progress a copy of a placard issued by the Yuk-on Hin (\"wish for peace\" library) of Ping Shan reached the Governor in Hong Kong. Its message was direct and to the point:\n\nWe hate the English barbarians, who are about to enter our boundaries and take our land, and will cause us endless evil. Day and night we fear the approaching", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1969.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 205753, "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-1969", "page_number": 59, "title": "RAS-1969", "content_text": "MILITIA, MARKET AND LINEAGE\n\n53\n\nlocal recruits. The venture was rumoured to be the work of the Ming Lan Tong, a literary society of Tung-kuan city. Additional credence was given to the reports when it was learned that some officers of the Tong were members of the Hsin-an Tang clan. Police on patrol in the New Territory also noted that women were leaving their villages. By 10th May the exodus had reached major proportions.\n\nIt was evident that the Sham Chun river was not a defensible frontier and that the best way to forestall attack was to occupy the area from which it was to be launched. On 16th May two columns, numbering 1500 men in all, landed from Deep Bay and Mirs Bay and marched on Sham Chun. That evening the Union Jack was hoisted over Sham Chun market, to the accompaniment of a 21-gun salute. A proclamation was issued declaring that Sham Chun was British territory and that the Viceroy had no further jurisdiction in the district. There had been no resistance and no sign of forces massing to attack the New Territory.\n\nThe occupation of Sham Chun was confined to an area within five miles of the Sham Chun river, including Sha Tau, Sham Chun, and the road between them. Neither civil nor military jurisdiction were extended further. However, in the hinterland the occupation of Sham Chun and the proclamation which accompanied it were interpreted as a prelude to the occupation of the entire district. In particular, the Tangs of Pan T'in feared a punitive expedition against themselves.\n\nMuch of the information about subsequent events comes from one source. The Rev. Martin Schaub* of the Basel Mission had a station at Li Long, near Pan T'in, in the north of the district. Rev. Schaub wrote periodically to the officer commanding at Sham Chun and his letters convey a vivid impression of the activity precipitated by the occupation. Late in May he wrote that the leaders of Pan T'in had asked the larger villages to help in resisting the British. He said money was being collected and that armed men were making their way toward Pan T'in.\n\n* The printed documents call him \"Hart\", but this must be in error for Rev. Martin Schaub of the Basel Mission. A photograph and brief biography are given at pp. 16, 438 of Marshall Broomhall, The Chinese Empire: a General and Missionary Survey, London, [1907]. Perhaps hand-writing was responsible for the wrong transcription into the printed documents, Ed.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1969.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 205756, "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-1969", "page_number": 62, "title": "RAS-1969", "content_text": "56 \n\nR. G. GROVES \n\nKinship ties played a large part in the organization of the resistance. In the Yuen Long area, leadership and probably manpower were overwhelmingly supplied by the three Tang lineages of Ping Shan, Ha Tsuen, and Kam Tin. In the Shek Wu Hui district, it was a matter of cooperation between a number of lineages of roughly equal status. At Tai Po, the Man lineage of Tai Hang provided leadership, within the Ts'at Yeuk, for a large number of smaller lineages. Ties of clanship enabled the Tangs of Yuen Long to enlist the help of the Tangs of Pan T'in. They, in turn, received support from agnates living in Tung-kuan City. \n\nThe Tang higher-order lineage of the New Territory did not act as a unified lineage during the resistance movement. The leaders of Ping Shan, Ha Tsuen, and Kam Tin were concerned, first and foremost, to consolidate plans for resistance within the Yuen Long area. Leaders of the Tang lineages of Lung Yeuk Tau and Tai Po Tau only subsequently became formally involved with preparations for resistance, along with other leaders from their respective marketing areas. The leaders of the three Yuen Long lineages carefully coordinated their plans. There is no evidence that representatives of Lung Yeuk Tau and Tai Po Tau were similarly consulted. Moreover, the Lung Yeuk Tau settlement, along with others in the Shek Wu Hui area, was threatened with attack by the Tangs of Yuen Long. \n\nThere is insufficient evidence to materially advance the discussion concerning the relationship between hsiang and marketing areas. However, the data strongly suggest that, for the purposes of resistance, the highest order of effective inter-lineage cooperation among the Tangs of the New Territory was achieved within the Yuen Long marketing community. There is also the possibility that long- or short-standing disputes between the various local lineages of the Tang higher-order lineage inhibited their cooperation across the boundaries of marketing areas during the resistance movement. But this would not necessarily weaken the argument that the standard marketing community was the optimum unit for inter-lineage cooperation. \n\nWakeman, in his discussion of militia, has stressed the importance of gentry leadership. The documents concerning the resistance name 63 people as active in the movement, in that they: (i) took part in the meetings which organized it; and/or, (ii) acted", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1969.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 205991, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1970", "page_number": 71, "title": "RAS-1970", "content_text": "66\n\nCOLONEL V. R. BURKHARDT\n\nyellowish cream with two rows of largish black spots. Emergence took place so quickly after this observation that the stage could not be figured.\n\nThe insect, on emergence, hangs head down, forewings slightly separated and the long tails limp and crumpled. In fifteen minutes the expanding fluid has done its work, the tails are stiff and straight, and the butterfly opens the forewings for drying. If disturbed it attempts a short flight within half an hour of its first appearance. The males were fairly active in the breeding cage to which they had been transferred on pupation, and sought the side of the light. When released on a wooded hillside as dusk was approaching, they did not fly far, but settled with outspread wings on a nearby bush. Only one had a tail damaged in transit but, in nature, many of them are seen tailless, and they are hard to net in undamaged condition.\n\nAs Lamproptera curius was fully out on 9th June, and again reached its peak on 20th July, it would appear that at the most favourable period of the year the cycle is just under six weeks. In spring and autumn it is probably extended to two months, and the butterfly may be expected to be on the wing from February in a mild winter to the end of November, or beginning of December which usually heralds the first cold winds from Siberia.\n\nImago. Wing span male: 36 mm. female 40 mm.\n\nForewing: both sexes pointed and very straight along the outer margin. Transparent with a black frame about 2 mm broad, with seven well-defined black veins from apex to tornus. The basal area black fringed with white which covers about half the hyaline area which is interrupted by a triangle of black from the leading edge (costal margin) to the last but one vein from the tornus.\n\nHind wings: upper part black crossed by a vertical white stripe continuous with the white on the upper wing. There is a tuft of white hairs on the base of the wing. The lower part of the wing, which is markedly elongated, is spangled with white dots, the inner edge being stepped and covered with reddish-brown hairs. The tails are 25 mm in length, and are black fringed with silvery white ending in a white tag.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1970.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ww72j0241", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 206087, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1970", "page_number": 167, "title": "RAS-1970", "content_text": "162 \n\nS. F. BALFOUR \n\nbefore it reached the coast line the Tang clan acquired considerable influence all over the semi-independent regions of South-east Kwangtung. They became feudal overlords of the populations and, as long as they could, helped to govern the territories they controlled for the Sung Emperors. When the Sungs were finally overcome and the Tartars reached the coast, their rôle became more that of farmers concerned in opening new areas to cultivation. They were pressed more closely into our region, and their political influence declined, although their cultural influence, absorbing as it did all the aboriginal elements and changing them into the Chinese mould, was potent and lasting.\n\nThe only source of the accounts of the Tang migration is in the family genealogy which was compiled in the Ming dynasty. It is based on authentic family records and although it contradicts itself in certain particulars, especially in dates, it must be regarded as an exact account. According to this genealogy the first ancestor of the local branch was Tang Han Fei who held an official post under the Sung dynasty in Kiangsi province. A preface to the genealogy says that he visited Kwangtung province but admits that it is not clear whether he reached this region or not. His great grandson Tang Fu Hsieh is considered the founder of the local branch. This man was a scholar who passed the public examination either in A.D. 1069 or 985 according to different versions. He, too, held an official post in Kiangsi and on retirement settled at Kam T'in, a fertile area north of the T'un Mun Valley. He brought from Kiangsi the bones of his forefathers which were buried in selected sites. The graves still exist and are particularly venerated by the Tangs.\n\nIt was Tang Fu Hsieh who carved the inscription which commemorates Han Yü on the summit of Mount Tun Mun and he also founded a school and a library at Kam T'in. His sons and his grandsons, however, did not stay there. They migrated further north into Tung Kun district where they founded houses which exist to this day. Owing to the presence of the family tombs, Kam T'in remained the property of the family and was probably visited every year, although they did not actually reside there. Three generations after Tang Fu Hsieh, five of his descendants, known as the \"five Yuans\" from their first names, made a division of the whole family properties which by then extended all over", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1970.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ww72j0241", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 206088, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1970", "page_number": 168, "title": "RAS-1970", "content_text": "HONG KONG BEFORE THE BRITISH\n\n163\n\nTung Kun district, Heung Shan, and Kwangsi. Two brothers of the eldest branch remained in Tung Kun, of their cousins one received lands in P'ing Shan next to Kam T'in and another Tang Yuan Liang succeeded to Kam T'in and to a place called Lung Yeuk T'au in our region, besides lands at Tung Kun,\n\nThis Tang Yuan Liang led the spacious life that might be expected of a man of widely extended property. He is buried in Tung Kun, but his family lived in Kam T'in and he himself was appointed an official in Kiangsi, near to the original home of his ancestors. His power over all this area was the greater because the Sung dynasty during his time was hard pressed by the Tartars. Tang Yuan Liang had established a kind of outpost in Kiangsi behind which he and his family governed a more or less independent region, officially loyal to the Sung dynasty, but in reality ready to take advantage of its misfortunes.\n\nIn 1127 the Emperor's family was captured, but one daughter of the royal house escaped as far as Tang Yuan Liang's outposts, where she was taken charge of and sent half captive half refugee to Kam T'in where she married Yuan Liang's son. When the Tartars were driven back, her father became the Emperor Kao Tsung of Sung. He recognised the marriage, received the princess and her husband Tssŭ Ming at the capital, and gave him an official title. The family received a large dowry, tax collecting rights and the monopoly of the ferries in Tung Kun district.\n\nThe four main centres of the Tang clan at present are Kam T'in, Ping Shan, Lung Yeuk T'au and Ha Tsün. We have already mentioned that one of the \"five Yuans\" received lands in P'ing Shan. The present Tangs of P'ing Shan are descended from him and are therefore probably the eldest branch in direct descent. The settlement at Lung Yeuk Tau also dates from one of the “five Yuans\", that of Ha Tsün appears to be much later though directly descended from the great grandson of Tssŭ Ming and the princess, a man called Shou Tsu who lived in the Yuan dynasty and appears to have been the first of the Tangs to settle permanently at Kam T'in, instead of in Tung Kun district where his ancestors had lived. These four centres can be seen on the attached map (See T'ien Hsia, Vol. XI, No. 4).*\n\nIt will be noticed that they contain many adjacent walled villages due chiefly to the fact that their houses\n\n*Plate 16 at end of this volume.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1970.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ww72j0241", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 206089, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1970", "page_number": 169, "title": "RAS-1970", "content_text": "164\n\nS. F. BALFOUR\n\nbecame too old to live in and were abandoned by the richer members of the family, who built new ones elsewhere. This alone shows how prolific the Tang family were, but it is not the only sign of their overwhelming influence in our region. In almost every fertile valley including Lantau and Hong Kong islands, there has at one time or another been a settlement of Tang peasants and the inference that I have drawn is that they undertook the deforestation of these regions.\n\nThere appears to be only one other landholding family with a record that goes back to Sung times. This is the clan of Hou17 who live near to Lung Yeuk Tau in several walled villages. Their family record shows that they came from Pun Yu or Canton in the year 1026 but gives no notice of their migration to Canton from the north. They have always been a humble family in comparison to the Tangs, although intermarriage between them has been very frequent, and their family book contains no references to any connection with government. What is striking about the early history of the Tang family is the kind of feudal power which they exercised. No doubt at the same time in other parts of South China influential families were occupying land and spreading branches in all directions. It requires a study of their family books to make a complete picture of the influx of peasant population into South China.\n\nVII. THE SUNG EMPERORS\n\nThe story of the journey of the last Sung Emperors through this region must be recounted not only for its sentimental value, but also because it really marks an epoch in the history of the population. It was owing to the pressure of the Mongols from the north that the Tang family migrated, but when the same pressure spread south right to the coast, the migration into sparsely inhabited places became even more frequent, and it is also very likely that the large armies of Sung when they were dispersed settled down as agriculturalists.\n\nThe journey of the last two kings of Sung began when the Emperor Kung Ti was taken prisoner with his court at Hangchow. The two boys who were known as Yi Wong and Wei Wong were\n\n17.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1970.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ww72j0241", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 206265, "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-1971", "page_number": 82, "title": "RAS-1971", "content_text": "76\n\nCARL T. SMITH\n\nTam Tso (Achoy) gave $50. Then there are thirteen contributions of $10 each. Of these six are from compradores, and an equal number from merchants. The remaining contributor in this particular group was a government servant, the overseer of the coolie gangs of the Surveyor General's Department.\n\n(5) In April, 1861, The Friend of China published a list entitled, \"A Public Declaration of the Shop Keepers of Hong Kong, stating that when Mr. Caldwell managed the Proprietorship of the Chinese here, the people of Hong Kong were at rest, but he resigned his office. They now present their petition to the Governor asking him to retain Mr. Caldwell\". It has sixteen names of firms as the chief petitioners. Beside seven of them are given the names of the head of the firm. Five of these are found on the 1859 list.\n\n(6) In January, 1868, The Hong Kong Daily Press published forty-two names of individuals and firms who submitted a petition to the House of Commons against the imposition of a Military Contribution upon Hong Kong.\n\n(7) In 1872, The Chinese Chronicle and Directory gives the names of the eleven members of the Kai Fong or \"Joss House Committee, as well as the thirteen members of the Tung Wah Hospital Committee. This was the organizing committee of 1869 which remained in office until the Hospital was formally opened in 1872, when a new committee was elected. The Directory also lists a General Committee for the Hospital. This too had thirteen members.\n\n(8) On 1 April, 1871, a memorial presented to Henry Charles Caldwell upon his departure from the Colony by the Chinese community, which was published in the Chinese section of The China Mail and signed by thirty-two of the most prominent Chinese, serves as a check against the Tung Wah and Kai Fong Directors.\n\n(9) In May, 1872, The China Mail contains the names of thirty Chinese who called upon the Governor on behalf of the Chinese community. This delegation was composed of seven compradores, fourteen merchants, two journalists, one contractor and two government servants.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1971.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 206630, "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-1972", "page_number": 178, "title": "RAS-1972", "content_text": "172\n\nKEITH STEVENS\n\nT'ai sui is worshipped to avert calamities and appears on altars individually; although in Cantonese, Shanghainese and possibly in other areas, he is usually to be seen in groups of sixty images, often each with the dates for which they are responsible marked on their base or above their heads. In some areas of China he is said to be also a Member of the Ministry of Thunder, which is the premier Celestial Ministry in the spirit world. No Cantonese devotee of T'ai Sui with whom this has been discussed appears to have heard of Yin Ch'iao; whereas Fukienese and Chinese of the Yangtse will know him as Marshal Yin rather than T'ai Sui. In some eastern and south-eastern parts of China T'ai Sui was referred to as the God of Spring.\n\nT'ai Sui was listed in Ch'ing Dynasty regulations in the seventeenth century A.D. to receive official worship as a second-rank deity.\n\nThe words T'ai Sui mean the \"Great Year\", the Jupiter Year, the twelve-year sidereal period which the planet takes to travel around the sun. This figure of 12 is extended to include the 12 hours (each of 120 minutes) of the Chinese day, the twelve months of the year, and the 12 constellations of the zodiac which are believed in North China to be all ruled over by this key star, Jupiter.\n\nConfusing though it may seem, the actual Ministry of Time is itself called T'ai Sui. Depending upon which part of China you are in, it consists of either sixty or one hundred and twenty officials who rule the hours, days and months.\n\nThe Story of Yin Ch'iao\n\nGeneral Yin Ch'iao was the eldest son of the evil King Chou of Shang. He is depicted in the Deification of the Gods as both a good human and an evil, very ugly deity with a face as blue as indigo, and with long protruding fangs. He is also referred to in another famous novel of the same era, the Hsi Yu Chi (The Travels to the West) as blue-faced with ugly protruding teeth. T'ai Sui, according to the Feng Shen Yen I (The Deification of the Gods) was\n\n1 In order to calculate a person's horoscope by the traditional Chinese method, the two characters for the hour, day, month and year on which he was born and which govern his fate forever, are required. These four pairs of eight characters comprise one from each of two sets: one set of 12 called Branches, the other of 10 called Stems. These combinations of characters produce a cycle of 60, the cycle of Cathay, which are 120 binomial terms.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1972.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gm80qf99h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 206638, "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-1972", "page_number": 186, "title": "RAS-1972", "content_text": "180\n\nKEITH STEVENS\n\nIf the image of T'ai Sui wears shoes, claimed a Fukienese temple keeper, a drought is presaged, and if without, floods are expected; but if one foot is shod and the other is bare, then balanced weather will be the lot of the region. Images of T'ai Sui with one bare foot have been seen in temples in Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok.\n\nVariations from the basic characteristics\n\nThe youth holding a scroll or plaque of split bamboo is depicted seated, except in a very few sightings where he stands. In the sixty-year cycle of Chinese deities, each year is ruled by a particular image of that year, who is called the “T'ai Sui of the present year\" and the scroll has one of the following inscriptions on it:\n\nTang Nien T'ai Sui (††★★). Liu Nien T'ai Sui (*) Chih Nien T'ai Sui (††✯✯) or Chia Nien T'ai Sui (P‡★A)\n\nYin Ch'iao as a fierce general often has three eyes and six arms, wears armour, and a Taoist crown on a bald head, and has fierce, almost vertical, eyebrows. He holds in five of his hands two discs, one with the character for the sun and the other with the character for the moon, a large ring, a fly whisk, whilst his sixth hand rests on his left knee.\n\nIn Foochow, in the temple of the City Guardian, one of the side altars was devoted to T'ai Sui. His image was dressed in yellow garments, he had a black beard and a necklace of skulls about his hand. The skull necklace, according to Hodous, is a symbol of his authority over the lives of men. Beside him on his left is a trio of small images a foot high representing the present year, last year and next year. Also on either side of him, are the twelve images representing the twelve months or branches and pictures of the twenty-four seasons.\n\nIn only two sightings, one in Penang and one in Singapore, had he a blue face, fierce fangs, was standing, dressed in armour, and carried a mace in each of his hands. One of these images of T'ai Sui, labelled the Great Year of the Moon (A) was one of the twenty-four Celestial Generals (A) who range down each side of some temples. (Plate 17)", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1972.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gm80qf99h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 206642, "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-1972", "page_number": 190, "title": "RAS-1972", "content_text": "184\n\nd.\n\nKEITH STEVENS\n\nAn image in the form of Yin Ch'iao; with six arms, a blue face covered in spots like warts; two fangs, two banners, a bell, two swords and one arrow.\n\nPossible Misidentifications\n\nThe images of Yin Ch'iao/T'ai Sui can be confused with several deities who have similar characteristics. These are:\n\na. One version of the Fukienese god of actors, Tien T’o Yuan Shuai (*), is a standing general with a sword in his right hand and a hand bell in his left. He has or should have, however, a pink face, and his usual identifying characteristic, a crab painted over his mouth or his forehead.\n\nb. In a Singapore Foochow clan temple of the Hsu (✯) family there is a seated general in armour, with a blue face and fangs, called Liu Chin Sheng Ho (Hr). He holds an axe in each hand and is prayed to for the good health of the clan and for the rapid recovery of the sick.\n\nc. Pu Tu Kung (#2) who releases souls from the Under-world during the seventh lunar month, is often shown as blue-faced and with two fang-like teeth showing. Normally, however, he does not carry anything in his two hands.\n\nd. One of the two attendants of Fa Chu Kung (✯È2) is a general with a sword raised in his left hand and a handbell held in his right. He wears a tiger's head hat and is called Hu Ye (A). He has a pink face and a black beard.\n\nAn image of the Golden Youth (✯✯), one of the assistants to Kuan Yin, could be mistaken under certain conditions with the manifestations of T'ai Sui as a seated youth with the scroll. The Golden Youth has a similar seated pose, the same style head and hair but normally holds a fly whisk in the right hand. If this is lost the image looks at first glance like a T'ai Sui without a scroll.\n\nThe Indian Buddhist deity of death, Mara, could understandably be mistaken for T'ai Sui, Mara (A) in his Chinese form normally has a greenish hue, has a frightful face with two tusk-like teeth, holds a bell in his right hand, but has bare feet, is bare to the waist and wears a fur skirt. He is usually accompanied by two demon attendants, one black and one white, who are the Yamen runners, the Wu Ch'ang Kuei (❀❀Ą), who collect the souls of", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1972.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gm80qf99h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 206770, "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": 47, "title": "RAS-1973", "content_text": "The Kam Tin Gates\n\nPeter Wesley-Smith*\n\nBehind the parked tourist buses at Kam Tin, behind the blue-rinsed American ladies and the orderly rows of Japanese camera-clickers and the outstretched palms of Hakka crones, the adventurous visitor will find a plaque on the Kat Hing Wai wall telling the story of the famous pair of gates which adorn the entrance. It is the purpose of this brief article to amplify the few facts engraved on the plaque.1\n\nKam Tin is the principal settlement of the New Territories Tangs and consists of several separate villages. Kat Hing Wai is the oldest: built in the 15th century it has been reasonably well preserved and is now a major tourist attraction.2 The road from Shek Wu Hui to Yuen Long separates it from Tai Hong Wai, a sister village whose walls have been partly demolished and which boasts no gates.\n\nThe Hong Kong Government knew little about neighbouring San On in June 1898, when a large slice of the Chinese county was transferred on lease to Great Britain. J. H. Stewart Lockhart was therefore temporarily relieved of his duties as Colonial Secretary and Registrar General and sent on a fact-finding tour as Special Commissioner. During August 1898 he visited various parts of the area and in general was given an \"excellent reception\" by the inhabitants; but the villagers at Kam Tin were less polite. Unimpressed by the sight of the first steamer ever to navigate their river, they drove away the Commission's chairs and carriers and refused to provide replacements. The elders did not deign to present themselves. A journalist of the time reported that 1,000 villagers, \"preceded by vigorously beaten gongs\", gave a rousing welcome, \"but in place of chin-chins and flowers they came with cries of 'ta' and 'foreign devils.'\" Nothing is said here of the rotten eggs that emphasized these cries, but the gates of the village were closed and the Commission could not enter. According to a journal kept of the trip the gates were opened after \"a clear explanation\" by Stewart\n\nMr. Wesley-Smith is LL.B., B.A., (Adelaide) and Lecturer in Law at the University of Hong Kong. He is currently Editor of the Hong Kong Law Journal.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1973.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 206771, "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": 48, "title": "RAS-1973", "content_text": "42\n\nPETER WESLEY SMITH\n\nLockhart, A contemporary newspaper, however, revealed the true nature of the explanation: 75 marines and two Maxim guns.7\n\nThe Special Commissioner was appalled by the discourtesy of the villagers. They were reported to the Viceroy at Canton, who was to \"deal with the matter in a proper manner\", and a deputation from Kam Tin was obliged to apologize in Hong Kong.\n\nSuch punishment failed to impress the inhabitants with the error of being disrespectful to British officials, for when occupation of the New Territories commenced in April 1899 the Tangs of Kam Tin were foremost in organization of the resistance movement. Again, therefore, stern reprimands were required, this time by the use of gunpowder. On April 18 a party of sappers from the Hong Kong Regiment blew down the walls flanking the gates of both Kat Hing Wai and Tai Hong Wai, and a few days later the villagers themselves, as an act of submission, carried the two pairs of gates to Flag Staff Hill (Tai Po).10 There they were admired by Governor Sir Henry Blake who, wrote Stewart Lockhart, “instructed me to forward to him a pair of gates from Kam Tin\". This was duly done in May, though the villagers had to be reminded to send in a socket.12\n\nThe two sets of handsome gates were both defective, one wing of each having suffered from the back-scratching of generations of itchy Kam Tin pigs.13 The remaining gates in good condition were combined to make a pair and were appropriated by Blake for \"Myrtle Grove\", his home in the Irish county of Youghal.\n\nIn 1924 the residents of Kam Tin petitioned for the return of the gates. They were supported by the District Officer (North), who referred to the gates as objects \"of pride to the inhabitants on account of their workmanship and antiquity”, and the Assistant Superintendent of Police (New Territories) recalled their whereabouts. His wife had formerly been maid and companion to Blake's daughters, and she remembered seeing the gates at Myrtle Grove in 1902. Stewart Lockhart, then retired after serving for many years at Wei Hai Wei, was asked to approach Lady Blake for their recovery.1 His mission was successful, but when the gates arrived back in Hong Kong the Tai Hong Wai villagers recognised their half and claimed possession. Long negotiations ensued between elders of the two villages, and eventually, reports O'Dwyer, \"the amount of face that would be gained for the whole clan by their erection as a", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1973.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 206798, "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": 75, "title": "RAS-1973", "content_text": "PERSIANS, ARABS IN T'ANG CHINA\n\n69\n\nshould be well-treated.48 The Emperor based his policies on the principle of 't'ien-hsia pai-ch'uan kuei ta-hai' 天下百川歸大海 (all rivers in the empire enter the sea), and accepted everyone from different parts of the world, either to pay tribute to or to trade with China.\n\nThere is no doubt that Persians, Arabs, Turks, Japanese and others did enjoy their stay in China; and it is also an undeniable fact that T'ang emperors wished to befriend these foreigners. It is equally true that in such a highly Sino-centric society as the T'ang period, nobody felt that such a process of assimilation was untraditional or against the theory of Sino-centrism. In T'ang times, such a social pattern was a reality, not a myth, and its spirit may serve as a model for the future.\n\nNOTES\n\n* I wish to express my appreciation to Professor Woodbridge Bingham of the University of California, Berkeley (Visiting Professor in Chinese History, Centre of Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong 1970-71) for reading an earlier version of this paper, weeding out mistakes and suggesting improvements.\n\nAbbreviations used in the footnotes:\n\nCTS Chiu T'ang-shu\n\nHTS Hsin T'ang-shu\n\nTCTC Tzu-chih t'ung-chien\n\n1 In T'ang time, Islamic followers used to call the Chinese Tamghai, Tomghaj, Tonghaj, Tangas, Tubgao or Tapkao. Some historians believe that these were transliterations of T'ao-hua-shih. However, Kuwabara Jitsuzō suggested that these were derived from T'ang-chia-tzu. Cf. J. Kuwabara 'On P'u Shou-keng', Memoirs of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko 2:1-79 (Tokyo, 1928), 7:1-104 (Tokyo, 1935). See also Chinese translation of this, with additional notes by Ch'en Yü-ching, P'u Shou-keng k'ao (Peking, 1954), pp. 103-109.\n\n2 Edward O. Reischauer and J. K. Fairbank, East Asia: The Great Tradition (London, 1958), p. 155.\n\n3 See Lo Hsiang-lin, T'ang-tai wen-hua shih (Taipei, 1963), pp. 54-87.\n\n4 Hsiang Tai, T'ang-tai Ch'ang-an hsi-yü wen-ming (Peking, 1957), pp. 24-25.\n\n5 Edward H. Schafer, The Golden Peaches of Samarkand: A Study of T'ang Exotics (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1963), pp. 10-11. I must express my thankfulness to Professor Schafer's opus magnum; I have fully made use of Professor Schafer's work.\n\n6 See Chiu Ling-yeong, Superintendents of Customs in Canton during the Tang and Sung Dynasties (unpublished M.A. thesis, University of Hong Kong, 1963), Chapters 5 and 6.\n\nPage 75\n\nPage 76", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1973.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 206841, "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": 118, "title": "RAS-1973", "content_text": "112\n\nSUNG HOK-P'ANG\n\nland, distributed in various parts of the mainland, and on the island, having fields in Kowloon, Ch'eung Sha Wan (*) Kw'an Taai Lo (###) (where the city of Victoria now stands) Causeway Bay, Pokfulum and Aberdeen. He immediately promised to give one thousand piculs. When Yau Tai K'in heard of it he thought there must be some mistake, but the officer said, “At first I also thought he made a mistake, so I asked him again, and he said quite plainly, one thousand piculs!” So Yau T'ai K'in was very pleased, and he at once went off to visit Tang Yuen Fan, who said, “My rice is quite ready in the granary.” The magistrate sent off word to the \"Yamen\" to have junks sent to collect the rice, and on the day it was collected the river was so covered with the junks that the water could not be seen, and all the people gathered to watch shouted for joy. Yau remained with Tang several days and spent much time walking about the country admiring the scenery. He was much impressed by the fine buildings, open fields and pleasant woods, and exclaimed, “Why should the village have such a name? Sham T'in, it should be called Kam T'in instead!” The villagers were delighted with the new name, and it has remained till the present day.\n\nThe name, however, now embraces quite a large collection of villages each with its own name, but most of the villagers still belong to the Tang family and the name of Ch'an has disappeared. There are a certain number of people with other surnames to be found among the Tangs, but they have come in from other places at different times and are not really native to the place in the same way as the Tangs are. A new village which goes by the name of San Ts'uen (††††) new village, has been built very recently for the Cheng (*) family who had to move from the Shing Moon (M¶) district when the reservoir was started.\n\nThe only trace of the old Ch'an T'in village that remains is the temple known as Hung Shing Kung (g) in Shui Pin Ts'uen (k). This temple which was built by the Tangs is known in the village as the Big Temple although small, because formerly it was merely a shrine and was enlarged to its present size at a later date. The exact date of the temple is not known. Some say it was built when the first Tang came to Kwai Kok Shaan; others, that it was built first as a small shrine in the time of Shing Fa (✯ft) A.D. 1465-1487 of Ming dynasty when the Tang family built the village", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1973.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 206843, "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": 120, "title": "RAS-1973", "content_text": "114 \n\nSUNG HOK-P’ANG \n\nto Kam T'in he was much taken by it, considering the people were more friendly and honest than those of his own country, and it was said that he came to live there in the 6th year of Hoi Po (HT) A.D. 973 of Sung dynasty. During the 8th year of Shing Fa (APC) A.D. 1472 of Ming dynasty when the Kam T'in people revised their family tree, they added a note which cast doubt on the veracity of this, and instead they were inclined to believe that Tang Foo (#) the great grandson of Tang Hon Fat was really the first to come to Kam Tin, and that he transferred the bones of his father, grandfather and great-grandfather to Kwangtung from Kiangsi. Be that as it may, and although there is no actual proof that one or other was the original Tang to settle in Kwangtung, Tang Hon Fat remains a \"first ancestor\" as his is the oldest Tang grave near Kam T'in. It can be found at Ah Kai Shaan (Y), Waang Chau (H) village.\n\nSix generations after Tang Hon Fat there were two brothers, Kwai (3) and Sui (). Kwai had two sons called Yuen Ying (* ) and Yuen Hei (†), both of whom left Kam T’in and founded branches of the family elsewhere. Sui had three sons, Yuen Ching (元祯), Yuen Leung (元亮) and Yuen Woh (元和). The first and last of these also left for other districts but Yuen Leung remained behind, and the Tangs in Kam T’in to-day are his direct descendants. These five cousins were known as the \"Five Yuens\", and after their death their descendants who by then were scattered in various parts of China built an Ancestral Hall, common to all the Yuens, called To Hing T'ong (*). It is at the South gate of the district city of Tung Koon (✯✯), on the Kowloon-Canton railway not far from Sheklung (). In the hall Tang Hon Fat has been given premier place, but the \"Five Yuens\" are venerated in the same way as he and Tang Yue are, as being \"first ancestors”.\n\nAs mentioned before, Tang Foo, the great grandson of Tang Hon Fat is said to have found the sites for the graves of his father, grandfather and great-grandfather, himself. They were all acknowledged as being lucky places by the \"fung shui\" men, who were, of course, consulted. That of Tang Hon Fat is called Yuk Nui Paai T'ong (£#*) jade girl reverence; and his son's grave which is on Yuen Long Hill (₪), is called Kam Chung Fau Tei () gold bell cover ground. The grave of Tang Foo's father is called Poon Yuet Chiu T'aam (#AM) half moon shine lake,\n\nPage 120\n\nPage 121", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1973.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 206853, "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": 130, "title": "RAS-1973", "content_text": "124 \n\nSUNG HOK-P’ANG \n\n1. Red raw rice cooked and shining scale fish, \n\n2. Farmers' simple good fare delicious and lasting. \n\nThe grave has two names Sz Tsz Kwan K’au ($*$*£*), Lion playing ball; and Ts'o Mei Shui Chue (44), long grass hanging down pearl. When Lai Paak Shiu was having the grave built he put a brass tablet behind the stone one, with the following words on it. \"Three hundred years hence, an ignorant young man named So (#), who knows nothing about \"fung shui”, will want to alter the way this grave faces. If he is allowed to alter it, not only will the Tang family have trouble, but So himself will have bad luck”. The existence of the tablet was unknown until the prophecy on it came true. Three hundred years later when the Tangs were having a period of bad luck and unsuccess, they decided that something was wrong with the \"fung shui\" of the princess' grave. They consulted a young man named So, and at his instigation started to alter the position of the grave. When the stone tablet was removed, the brass one was revealed and in terror So advised them to leave the grave alone. \n\nIn the 50th year of Hong Hei (R) of Ts'ing dynasty, A.D. 1711, the Tang family were repairing the grave when they discovered several sham tombs underneath the ground. This was the custom in ancient China when burying royalty, as by this means it was hoped to prevent their enemies from desecrating the real tomb. The oldest stone tablet that we can find to-day, was put up in the 19th year of Shing Fa (A) of Ming dynasty, A.D. 1483, which gave the dates of the birth and death of the princess. In this tablet was also found the statement that the grave was first made in the 6th year of Shun Yau (*) of Sung dynasty, A.D. 1246, but there is no record of the first stone tablet nor any of the tablets erected before A.D. 1483. After the general repairing of the grave in A.D. 1712 a new stone was erected, but as the dates on the previous one were not considered to be correct, none were written on the stone. \n\nThe princess' husband Tang Tsz Ming was received with honour by the Emperor and had the title of Shui Yuen Kwan Ma (✯✯ #) bestowed on him. It was the custom in China to give the title Kwan Ma to the husband of a prince's daughter. Tang Tsz Ming's grave was made on a little hill called Fat Au Leng ( ##₪) # ). It can easily be seen to this day almost opposite the Au Tau Police Station on the other side of the road to Sheung Shui. It has recently", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1973.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 206854, "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": 131, "title": "RAS-1973", "content_text": "LEGENDS & STORIES OF THE NEW TERRITORIES: KAM TIN\n\n125\n\nbeen repaired and colour-washed in red and white. For a long time this grave was lost, much to the sorrow of Tsz Ming's descendants. In the 33rd year of Hong Hei (R) of Ts'ing dynasty, A.D. 1694, Tang Lui Taan (12) of Ha Ts'uen (†) happening to read the old history of Tung Kwun came across this passage. \"Tang Tsz Ming's grave is in Kau To (A) on Fat Au Leng Shaan. It is now called Ng To (£) of San On district.\" Lui Taan reported this to a relation, Tang Ng Shaang (£) who immediately collected a party of Kam T'in men to go out to the hill and find it. They found a grave there, but on it was a stone stating that it belonged to Tang Maan Lei (£) a cousin of Tsz Ming and the first ancestor of the Ping Shaan family of Tangs. The Kam T'in men were preparing to go away disappointed, when Ng Shaang discovered another and much older stone nearby with the characters almost obliterated. He took the tea he had brought to drink, carefully washed the stone with it and found the following on it ẞ and part of the two characters Kwan # and Ma which were in Tsz Ming's title. After consultation it was decided to dig up the grave and a sham tomb with bricks inside it of a very old style were found exactly the same as in the princess' grave. At last they found the real tomb itself and Tsz Ming's bone-pot could be seen through a hole in the top. So the Kam T'in men were very glad indeed, and to show their gratitude every year about the third month, at the Ts'ing Ming () festival of worshipping at the graves of their ancestors, the Kam T'in people always presented Ng Shaang with some roast pork taken from the offerings for the husband of the princess.\n\n[3]\n\nDuring the Sung dynasty the titles of She Yan (4A) or Siu She (J) were used to address young men of high rank. As the four sons of Tang Tsz Ming and the Princess were the nephews of the Emperor they received the title of Kwok She (4) which means \"Kingdom's young men.\" The eldest, Lam (*) was known as Taai Kwok She, the others Kei (2) Waai (†) and Tsz (†) were called Yee, Saam and Se Kwok She respectively. It is the custom in Kam Tin even now for the young people to address their fathers as \"She\" instead of “Ah Dae\" (E) the Cantonese equivalent to \"Daddy.\"", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1973.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 206988, "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": 59, "title": "RAS-1974", "content_text": "ADVENTURERS IN HONG KONG\n\n53\n\nNOTES\n\n1 Sir William Des Voeux, My Colonial Service, 2 vols., London 1903. Sir Frederick Lugard, Governor of Hong Kong 1907-1912, also found that 'entertaining was an essential part of governing. Hong Kong Government House was used as a high-class hotel, restaurant and sports club by many of the hundreds of passengers who left their ships to write their names in the Governor's book...socially more exacting were the many distinguished foreigners and Eastern potentates-Chinese and Japanese princes, Indian Rajahs, the Governor of the neighbouring Portuguese Macao, foreign admirals who had to be visited in their warships and later entertained in turn at Government House; ambassadors en route to or from Tokyo or Peking, and many lesser functionaries.' See Margery Perham, Lugard, vol. 2, London, 1960, p. 289.\n\n2 My Colonial Service, vol. 2, p. 234. Sir William Des Voeux (1834-1909) was Governor of Hong Kong from 1887 to 1891, in which year he retired from the colonial service.\n\n3 14 November, 1888.\n\n4 15 November, 1888.\n\n5 16 November, 1888.\n\n6 22 November, 1888.\n\n7 William Van Driesche was the third generation of his family to serve the Morèses. The children used to call him Mr. Willie.\n\n8 There are several photographs of Morès in Donald Dresden, The Marquis de Morès: Emperor of the Bad Lands, Norman, Oklahoma, 1970, and in Charles Droulers, Le Marquis de Morès 1858-1896, Paris, 1932. Morès was six-feet tall, lithe, ramrod-straight, muscular, with a needle-pointed waxed black moustache. He looked every inch a d'Artagnan.\n\n9 Richard Manca, Duke of Vallombrosa, born 1834, married the daughter of the Duke Des Cars, conqueror of Algeria. He had three children, of whom Morès was the eldest.\n\n10 Op. cit., vol. 2, p. 234.\n\n11 Ibid., p. 235.\n\n12 Ibid., p. 235.\n\n13 The Hong Kong Daily Press, 24 November, 1888. The Governor was accompanied on his trip by his wife, young daughter, and James Russell, the Chief Justice. The Colonial Secretary, Frederick Stewart, administered the government in Des Voeux's absence.\n\n14 The China Mail (1845-1911) was edited by George Murray Bain from 1879 until 1908(?).\n\n15 It is not surprising that Des Voeux took a great interest in his betters since promotion in the colonial service in the nineteenth century depended to a large degree on knowing people in high places.\n\n16 No full-scale study of Mayréna has been published as yet; the best book is probably Jean Marquet, Un Aventurier du XIXe siècle: Marie Jer, roi des Sedangs, 1888-1890. Hanoi, 1927; but Maurice Soulié, Marie Jer, roi des Sédangs, 1888-1890, Paris 1927, is amusing though really une vie romancée. The most penetrating essay on Mayréna is that by Marcel Ner, 'Marie Ier, roi des Sedangs: essai sur la psychologie de l'aventure”, Extrême-Asie, Revue Indochinoise (Hanoi), no. 21, March 1928, pp. 397-407 and no. 22, April 1928, pp. 491-498. There are many references to Mayréna", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1974.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 206989, "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": 60, "title": "RAS-1974", "content_text": "54\n\nH. J. LETHBRIDGE\n\nin André Malraux, Antimémoires. Paris, 1967, pp. 375-473. There is a short biography in Roman d'Amat and R. Limouzin-Lamothe, eds., Dictionnaire de Biographie Française, Paris, 1965.\n\n17 Souvenirs de Cochinchine par Ch. David de Mayréna, Capitaine d'État-Major, Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur... Toulon, J. Laurent, 1871.\n\n18 See Marcel Ner, 'Marie Ier Roi des Sedangs', Bulletin de l'École Française d'Extrême-Orient (Hanoi), Vol. 27, 1927, p. 316.\n\n19 Ibid., p. 333.\n\n20 Ahnaja, Mayréna's consort, died of tuberculosis in late 1888. She had followed Mayréna from Saigon but they were never legally married.\n\n21 There are many studies of Morès, but most are written from a French nationalist point of view: see, for example, Baron Charles de Donos, Morès: Sa vie, sa mort, Paris, 1899; Auguste Pavy, L'Expédition de Morès, Paris 1897; Félicien Pascal, L'Assassinat de Morès, un crime d'État, Paris, 1902; Jules Delahaye, Les Assassins et les vengeurs de Morès, 3 vols., Paris, 1905-1907; Pierre Frondaie, L'Assassinat du marquis de Morès, Paris, 1934. Of great interest are chapters on Morès in Maurice Barrès, Scènes et doctrines du nationalisme, Paris, 1902, and in Georges Bernanos, La Grande peur des bien-pensants, Paris, 1931. For details on the family see Almanach de Gotha, Gotha, 1890, pp. 390-91. Robert F. Byrnes, Antisemitism in Modern France, vol. 1, New Brunswick, NJ., 1950, contains many illuminating insights into Morès' political career. The most modern study is Donald Dresden's The Marquis de Morès: Emperor of the Bad Lands, 1970, which is particularly good on Morès's adventures in the Far West.\n\n22 One of his fellow cadets was Philippe Pétain (1856-1951), who later became the head of the Vichy Government. Another was the saintly Charles de Foucauld (1858-1916), a missionary in the Sahara.\n\n23 His full name is given in the New York Times Obituary Index as Louis A. von Baron Hoffmann. He died in 1909. His daughter's name, Medora, was probably taken from Byron's poem 'The Corsair'.\n\n24 See Russell Reid, 'The De Morès Historical Site', North Dakota Historical Quarterly, vol. 8, 1941, pp. 272-83. In 1963 Louis Vallombrosa, the Marquis' eldest son, presented the château and the surrounding grounds to the State of North Dakota.\n\n25 See Maurice Soulié, Marie Ier, roi des Sédangs, 1888-1890, Paris, 1927, pp. 122-6. Mlle Dahlberg was supposed to be studying Siamese monuments in Bangkok but she was probably in the pay of the Germans who had recently discovered an interest in the region. Her brother was ostensibly a trader at Haiphong but really engaged in the smuggling of contraband goods.\n\n26 A tour of the East was often a risky venture. Many companies went broke and singers and actresses left penniless and hence vulnerable as a consequence. See, for example, Conrad's novel Victory and Somerset Maugham's story 'Flotsam and Jetsam' for fictional but accurate accounts of the lives of distressed European actresses in the East.\n\n27 Robert Fraser-Smith founded the Hong Kong Telegraph in 1881. He was also its editor and publisher until his death in 1895. The paper was edited from 6 Pedder's Hill and Fraser-Smith employed a staff of about four Europeans, usually Scotsmen, as reporters. As J. S. Thomson in The Chinese (London, 1909) writes: \"The newspapers of the Treaty Ports are generally set up by the Macaense (sic) and edited by Scotchmen\". Fraser-Smith was constantly involved in libel actions and in 1890 was sentenced to six months imprisonment for libelling J. Minhinett, a foreman in the Public Works Department, by suggesting he had committed rape. He did\n\nPage 60\n\nPage 61", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1974.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 207023, "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": 94, "title": "RAS-1974", "content_text": "88\n\nG. J. BELL\n\nhis death also carried his last paper on this subject (and one on atmospheric electricity).\n\nWhen receiving weather reports by radio from ships near the central regions of typhoons he noticed (1925) that radio communication was relatively undisturbed by atmospherics—the crackles and bangs due to lightning discharges. This point was not really appreciated by others until the post-war years when it was found that tropical cyclones could not be reliably tracked with equipment designed to locate lightning flashes (sferics equipment). Some typhoons do contain thunderstorms—they can be almost continuous in the eye wall—but others have none. The reasons for this variable behaviour have not yet been adequately explained.\n\nDuring the war years Fr Gherzi noticed coincidences between certain characteristics of the ionosphere and the air mass prevailing around the sounding station. He considered that the events were not unrelated and went on to use the association as an aid to weather forecasting (1946, 1950). Unfortunately, the matter has proved more complicated than Fr Gherzi implies in his papers and the method has not been adopted for general use.\n\nINTERNATIONAL METEOROLOGICAL INTERESTS\n\nIn the Annual Report of the Director, Royal Observatory, Hong Kong for 1927, Mr Claxton wrote: 'Father Gherzi of the Zikawei Observatory, after patient experiments and with the utmost goodwill, has recently inaugurated a short-wave broadcast service by which we obtained at 9 hr 45 min the 6 hr observations from seven stations from the Yangsi and North China. The thanks of all concerned are due to Fr Gherzi for these valuable observations'. By personally receiving the Morse signals from ships and other countries Fr Gherzi helped to maintain good communication standards in the region; he would send terse, admonitory notes to wireless operators or meteorological services who did not follow good practices or keep to schedules. His Observatory was represented at the very first regional meeting of Directors of weather services which was held at Hong Kong in 1930 to decide on codes for signalling tropical cyclones and transmitting weather reports. Subsequently, in April 1934, Fr Gherzi and Mr Jeffries, Director of the Royal Observatory, Hong Kong travelled to Manila together to decide, with the Director of the Manila Observatory Fr M. Selga, on standardised storm warning procedures. Fr Gherzi also attended the", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1974.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 207060, "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": 131, "title": "RAS-1974", "content_text": "The Hong Kong Region\n\n125\n\nthe inhabitants were less fortunate and had either to flee into the hills or stay to oppose or meet the pirates' demands. Walls were built or repaired, and a defence by desperate men of even these not very imposing defences might help to stave off an attack. Village refuges, into which cattle and livestock, valuables, women and children and old people were put, were also utilised. One of these places existed at Shek Pik, but was already in ruins by about 1900.1 Most villages kept arms and even cannon available for use up to 1899 and some of these remain to this day.2\n\nNonetheless, the villagers' position was pitiful in the event of attack, and their attitude towards pirates was probably too often similar to that recorded by Commander Vansittart of H.M.S. Bittern from the River Min in March, 1855:\n\n+ miserably poor boats followed the Brig begging assistance; one Village sent me a well drawn up petition; another a present of waste paper and Joss-stick; fishermen, and passage boats, small Traders, all telling the same pitiable story; landing on Hootow, I was quickly surrounded by Peasantry; desiring the Interpreter to ask them why so many fine looking fellows permitted strangers to molest them; they declared it was useless to resist Pirates, and so whenever Pirates came the villagers hid themselves and cried.\n\nThis extract, quoted from Miss Fox's book,3 shows how Chinese on land and sea suffered at the hands of their less scrupulous fellow countrymen.\n\nThings were no better on the sea at the end of the century. L. C. Arlington of the Chinese Maritime Customs, who spent six years 1893-1899 in charge of the Customs station at Cheung Chau, says;\n\n'as well as other numerous islands forming the Ladrones, [it] was the rendezvous of pirates, who kept all of us on the qui vive, foreigners and natives alike. Gangs of pirates would get together and attack the villages, even in broad daylight, and after looting and killing, escape either to Macau or Hong Kong, where they disposed of their booty. The Customs Officers had many tussles and narrow escapes from these pests of the sea.\n\n1 The elders told me about it after I had come across a reference to it as a place name in an old deed of sale of fields in the valley.\n\n2 R. L. Ozorio, personal communication on the village armoury of Kak Tin, Shatin Valley, 1973. These arms were, of course, sometimes used against other villages.\n\n3 Fox, p. 130.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1974.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 207096, "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": 167, "title": "RAS-1974", "content_text": "LEGENDS & STORIES OF THE NEW TERRITORIES\n\n161\n\nAnother ancestral hall, built by the Tang family was less fortunate. The story goes that in the 1st year of Ka Hing (✯✯) A.D. 1796 of Ts'ing dynasty, the sons of Tang Yue Cheung (**) decided to build an ancestral hall worthy to house the tablet of their illustrious ancestress, the princess. So they built a house of “kak muk” (**) in T’aai Họng (✯✯✯) village, and in shape the house was like a king's palace. At that time the district magistrate of Sun On was a man nicknamed “Hungry Bug\" on account of his habit of collecting \"squeeze\" wherever he could. When he heard of the new building being erected in Kam T'in, and how magnificent it was, he scented a chance to make money. So he sent a message to the Tangs to say he would like to inspect their new acquisition.\n\nThe Tangs were much dismayed; being familiar with the character of their district officer they knew quite well the object of his visit, they did not want to pull down the house yet its very existence was an indication of their wealth and prosperity. In the village of Lung Kwat T'au (#) where the villagers are Tangs too, being descendants of the first son of the princess, there was a portrait of the princess and the Tangs of Kam T'in borrowed it and hung it up in the entrance of the hall. When the district officer saw it he was filled with awe, and hastily made obeisance to it. He was so impressed that he dared not demand money from the descendants of so distinguished a lady, and after making a show of being pleased he stayed one night, and then took his departure.\n\nEventually the picture had to be returned to its rightful owners, and the Kam T’in men fearing further trouble, pulled the hall down, but the foundation stones, overgrown with weeds and grass can still be seen.\n\nThe legends of Kam T'in are curiously mixed up with tales of buried treasure. One story tells how at the end of the Ming dynasty the Tangs wished to build an ancestral hall for the tablet of their eleventh ancestor, Tang Kwong Yue ( ). Tang Ping Yee (*) (a grandson of Tang Kwong Yue) and eight of Tang Ping Yee's cousins chose what was, according to one \"Fung shui\" man, a very lucky day to put up the central beam of the house, but a few days later they found that the beam was putting forth shoots. The people considered this to be a bad omen, so they consulted a more reliable fortune-teller, who declared that the day had been a lucky day, but for building boats, not houses! The people at once pulled down the beam, the time happened to be the season of the dragon boat festival, and the villages decided to make the discarded", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1974.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 207097, "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": 168, "title": "RAS-1974", "content_text": "162 \n\nSUNG HOK-PANG \n\nbeam into a new dragon boat. When it was launched into the water, a strange thing happened. The boat flew up into the air, and immediately a great quantity of treasure, gold, silver and precious stones fell into the boat from the sky. When it was full the boat came down to the water, and the people were able to empty it. Then it flew into the air again, and came down again with fresh supplies of treasure. This happened many times until there were untold riches for the Tangs. A few years later, they chose another lucky day and erected a new beam and the hall was completed and given the name Loi Shing Tong1. It still exists in Shui T'au Village2, on the left-hand side of Hung Shing Kung (plate 20, figure I. H.K.N., VI, Nos. 3 and 4. “Hung Shing Kung,—the oldest temple in old Ch'an T'in.\") under the name of Ts'z T'ong Tsai (small ancestral hall).3 \n\nThen followed many years of prosperity for Kam T'in until times of trouble came to all the countryside and the family had to abandon the village temporarily on account of bandits. Before leaving Kam T'in, however, they buried there what remained of the treasure. This story was handed down from generation to generation more as legend than true fact. During the Ham Fung4 (咸豐) years, 1851-1861, of Ts'ing dynasty, a man called Tang Paak Luk (鄧伯祿) of Kam Hing Wai (錦慶圍) farmed the land where the treasure was supposed to be buried. One day he sent a labourer, Ch'an A Faat (陳亞發) to work in the particular field, and in the evening Ch'an returned to the farmer's house with a gold rope which he declared he had dug up. Everyone was very pleased at first, but gradually it appeared that bad luck had come with the rope. The farm beasts began to sicken, many died and then the farmer's family became ill. So the rope was re-buried without more ado, and prosperity was at once restored to Tang Paak Luk. \n\nAnother story is of a very poor farmer who at a different time rented the same ground. One day he dug up a brick that shone brightly in the sun. As he examined it, thinking it must be silver, he carelessly dropped it on his foot, and broke his big toe. Being too poor to pay for a doctor or even to buy curatives, the farmer gave the brick to his wife to break up, and they found that it was without doubt real silver. So the wife was able to buy medicine and consult a doctor with the aid of the brick, but it was not until all the brick \n\n1 Plate 31 at rear of this Volume.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1974.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 207117, "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": 188, "title": "RAS-1974", "content_text": "182\n\nSUNG HOK-PANG\n\nTak (£), A.D. 1513, of Ming dynasty, because there is evidence that after that year the direction of the grave was altered. The grave was repaired in the 12th year of Kin Lung, A.D. 1744, of Ts'ing dynasty, and the inscription on the tablet was composed by Tang Yue Cheung (§§#), a noted Kam T'in scholar.\n\nTang Wan Kuk is supposed to have owned the whole of Hong Kong island, and his great, great grandsons Tang Shing Ngok (# *) and Tang Yuen Fan (1) both very rich men during the Maan Lik period (A.D. 1573-1620) of Ming dynasty, appeared to have shared the island between them, three-quarters belonging to the former, and the rest to the latter. There seems to have been some rivalry between these two gentlemen, and a story often repeated by Kam T'in villagers to-day, tells how when Tang Shing Ngok built a big hall in Shui T'au village, Tang Yuen Fan's youngsters were filled with admiration. Tang Yuen Fan exclaimed, \"Don't waste your time admiring it, but let us do the same thing.\" So he started building a hall equally big and grand, and at the present time Tang Shing Ngok's hall is no longer to be seen, but the old ruins of Tang Yuen Fan's still remain.\n\nTang Shing Ngok's grave was in Sheung To (E✯), now Hung Heung Lo temple (#), Wong Nai Ch'ung (✯✯✯). It was repaired in the 16th year of Kin Lung, A.D. 1751 and the name of the grave was Maau Yee Sai Min (#✯6) \"the cat washes its face.\" The people of early times called it Tsau Ma Hoi Kung (ŁSH) \"to draw the bow to shoot at a galloping horse.\" T'o Shi (A), the wife of Tang Shing Ngok, was buried in Kai Lung Wan (#), her grave being repaired in the 14th year of Kin Lung, A.D. 1749. Both the inscriptions of these graves are still visible.\n\nDuring the Ming dynasty Hong Kong island was known as Ch'ek Ch'ue Shaan (1) \"red pillar hill,” (Stanley is still called Chek Ch'ue), and it was under that name that the island was referred to in the records of the lands owned by the Tangs. Even in the map contained in the San On Record book, published as late as the 24th year of Ka Hing A.D. 1819, of Ts'ing dynasty, the island is called Chek Chue Shaan. The land owned by the Tangs amounted to several tens of “King” (4) (one \"king\" equalled one hundred Chinese acres) and was mentioned under different localities, the names of which are familiar to us now, such as Taai T'aam (✯✯), Wong Nai Ch'ung (✯✯), K'wan Taai Lo (***) “skirt string", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1974.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 207118, "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": 189, "title": "RAS-1974", "content_text": "LEGENDS & STORIES OF THE NEW TERRITORIES\n\n183\n\nroad,” now Victoria city, and So Kwun Po (7). From the fact that these references occurred in the Leung Ch'aak (##) or Register Book of Tung Kwun district, one may judge that the land was owned by the Tangs before the 1st year of Maan Lik, A.D. 1525, as after that the San On district was formed.\n\nTo the East of Shui Mei village there is an ancestral Hall called Mau King T'ong (N). It was built by the descendants of Tang Chan (1) Tang Yui (*) and Tang Kuen (#) the three younger brothers of Tang Yam (3) the father of Tang Tsing Lok. When the descendants of Tang Yam completed the building of Sz Shing Tong, the descendants of the three younger brothers felt it was a disgrace that there were no ancestral halls for their respective ancestors. However they were far from being rich, so they decided to combine together and build one hall under the leadership of Tang Man Wai (4X4), who was a man of rank and a descendant of Tang Chan. On the top of the front door they carved the characters §; › §¡› ✯ ✯✯ “Chan, Yui, Kuen, the three Ancestors Hall,\" and on a signboard the three big characters ✯✯ Mau King Tong, were written by Ts'oi Hok Yuen (4) a scholar of San On, and hung in the hall in the 22nd year of Ka Hing, A.D. 1817, of Ts'ing dynasty.\n\nThe reason why the name Mau King Tong was chosen was on account of the old story \"Tin Shi King fa fook mau” ( # A#*M*) “the Judas-tree of T'in family again becomes luxuriant.\" The story is as follows:--\n\nT'in Chan (₪) and his two younger brothers T'in Hing (w A) and T'in Kwong (□), natives of Chiu Shing district (#K) of Shantung, during the Hon dynasty, decided to divide their family property between them. Among other things, they owned a Tsz King (**), judas tree, and the evening before the dividing up was to take place they found to their surprise that the tree was withered. This upset T'in Chan's feelings very much, he sighed and said to his younger brothers, \"The different branches of the tree come from one root; now that they have heard that they are to be divided up, they have become melancholy and look sorrowful. Now we brothers are human beings, but although we have separate bodies we all came from the same parents, so why should we divide the family property and live separately? Do we not feel ashamed in seeing the appearance of this tree?\" Then the younger brothers were moved by this, and they never mentioned the idea of dividing the family property", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1974.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 207119, "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": 190, "title": "RAS-1974", "content_text": "184 \n\nSUNG HOK-PANG \n\nagain, and the judas tree revived, and soon it was covered with blossoms and looked a beautiful sight. \n\nFrom this story the three Tangs had learnt a lesson, and realizing that any one branch of the family was unable to build a hall alone, they combined together and completed one hall, naming it Mau King T'ong \"The luxuriant judas-tree Hall.” Although there is no record of the year that the hall was completed, the following is what is known of its history. The building was started by Tang Mau Wai, who passed the Tsun Sz degree in the 24th year of Hong Hei, A.D. 1685. The hall was rebuilt by Tang Shiu Chau (RA) who passed Sui Kung A† degree in the 1st year of Kin Lung, A.D. 1736; and was repaired twice, first by Tang Hei Sui (###) who passed Yan Kung Shaang in the 21st year of Ka Hing, A.D. 1816, and secondly by Tang Ming Shiu (*) a Lam Shaang during the To Kwong period (the 1st year of To Kwong was A.D. 1821.) \n\nThe T'in Hau Temple (A) Queen of Heaven Temple, in Shui Mei village, was first built during the Hong Hei period (A.D. 1662-1722) of Ts'ing dynasty and possesses a fine bell of 180 catties in weight which was presented by Tang Ch'un Fooi (**) a Kung Shaang in the 10th year of Kin Lung, A.D. 1745. It is said that the tone of the bell is very clear and can be heard from ten Chinese miles away. The Kam T'in people say that one of the past Governors of Hong Kong heard about it and visited Kam T’in to try the bell, which he agreed was as beautiful as reported. For a long time the temple was in a bad state of repair, and the bell had to be kept in a private house where those wishing to, were allowed to see it. Lately the temple has been repaired and the bell re-instated in it; also an incense burner that was presented by Tang Yiu King (*) and his son Tang Chan Suen (**) in the 11th year of Kin Lung A.D. 1746, \n\nKwong Yue T'ong (***) in Taai Hong village is the ancestral hall of Tang Man Wai, who was the only man to pass the Tsun Sz degree in the New Territories (See H.K.N. IV. p. 106). The building is quite a large one, and the ancestral fund belonging to this hall is a very large sum and is considered the richest in the New Territories. For many years $100 was given each year to each family of Tang Man Wai's descendants for their New Year expenses.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1974.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 207426, "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": 194, "title": "RAS-1975", "content_text": "186\n\nDONALD C. BOWIE\n\nto grow vegetables. Their rice ration for example was 600 G. against our 480 G., but by constant working on the Japanese using this example to reinforce my arguments over the preceding year or two I got authority to raise our staff rations also to 600 G. of rice. By this time it was much easier for me to use special advocacy because fewer patients needed extra food and the raising of staff working rations created no resentment. Of course the size of the rice ration issued rarely reached the quantity authorised by the Japanese. The shortage arose because none of our supposed 100 kg. sacks of rice ever reached this level, due possibly to pilfering or to a slovenly method of filling the sacks. We always therefore had to limit our issues to the amounts we thought we could afford, taking into account the stocks we had in store and the expected date of the next delivery. In Kowloon in 1945 I authorised the issue of rice for cooking at the full rate permitted by the Japanese without regard to our stocks. By that time I felt myself to be in a stronger position with them but as a result we practically ran out of rice stocks, a state of affairs which alarmed the hospital and earned for the quartermaster and myself a slapping from our Japanese doctor. We did in fact receive further supplies before our cupboard was completely bare. By hammering away at the subject we were eventually in 1945 allowed to take on the 100 kg. rice sacks at 96 kgs., but deliveries, like those of other foodstuffs continued to be made at intervals which were not always regular.\n\nDeliveries of Japanese Rations.\n\nThe irregular deliveries of rations caused us much worry on many occasions, but I must say that when we were getting anxious our Japanese guards seemed also to be worried and we would have them coming up to our cookhouse to find out for themselves whether we had been given rations when they had not. Our greatest worry was about rice, for so long as we had rice we could at least assuage the worst pangs of hunger. The quality of the rice varied, though once the art of cooking it without the advantage of a fully equipped kitchen was mastered it was only occasionally that we had to put up with a soggy mess. The art of producing a dry rice in which the grains remain crisply separated is, contrary to what many so-called experts say, quite a simple matter in a household kitchen, but in our conditions our cooks took some time to acquire this skill and they", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1975.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j0995146d", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 207617, "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": 5, "title": "RAS-1976", "content_text": "165\n\nOriginally, many Sai Kung villagers owned their land only indirectly. In a system of multiple ownership, the Lius of Sheung Shui and the Tangs of Lung Yeuk Tau, as registered land-owners, collected rent in many places in Sai Kung. Sai Kung villagers who paid rent to them nonetheless held their right to the land in perpetuity, and the registered land-owners merely paid the tax and kept the balance from the rent. When the land was registered by the Hong Kong Government, the Lius and the Tangs lost their tax collection rights, and the Crown Rent that was collected by the Hong Kong Government was usually smaller than the former rent that had been paid. For many villagers, then, this must have meant an increase in income.12\n\nElderly villagers in Sai Kung still remember the \"taxlords\". Eighty-seven year old Mr. Wong of Tam Wat had heard of the \"great red hats\", and Mr. Lam Kaap Shau of Tai Long of the \"Koreans\" who came here to collect the tax. Mr. Cheung Kau of Ping Tun had heard of the Sheung Shui people collecting rent here, and elderly Mr. Cheung of Tai Po Tsai (near Tai Mong Tsai) of the Lius and the Tangs doing so. Mr. Cheng Yung of Uk Tau called them the \"Heung Shui Lo\", and knew that they collected rent in his village in his grandfather's days, while Mr. Yau T'aam Shang of Wong Keng Tei actually saw his father among a group of villagers who drove out the rent-collectors from Sheung Shui after the villagers started to pay Crown Rent directly to the Hong Kong Government.13\n\nYet another influence that affected some villages, although it left no impact on Sai Kung District as a whole (except in the field of education), was the introduction of Christianity. As early as 1861, a Roman Catholic priest had reached Wun Yiu in Tai Po. In 1873, the records of the Roman Catholic Church noted that a priest from Sai Kung visited the San On magistrate. In the 1870's, Sai Kung was noted as one of three centres of the Church in the New Territories, the Sai Kung church being responsible not only for the eastern New Territories but also for Wai Chau and Hoi Fung. By 1934-35, Roman Catholic communities were established in Sai Kung Market, Yim Tin Tsai, Wong Mo Ying, Pak Tam Chung, Long Ke, Leung Shuen Wan, and Kei Ling Ha. There were also converts in the 1930's", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1976.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 207687, "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": 75, "title": "RAS-1976", "content_text": "60\n\nDOUGLAS W. SPARKS\n\nexception to this is the rivalry between ethnic gangs and more organized criminal groups in the area, who are competing for territory and access to the local market in illegal gambling, extortion and narcotics.\n\nThere are various kinds of formal and informal associations within the estate, including several estate-wide associations as well as several ethnic associations. The most active and organized associations within the estate are the two registered Teochiu religious associations and another informal, unregistered Teochiu association. There is one informal Hoi Luk Fung religious association and one Cantonese association which is the least active of the ethnic associations. The primary functions of these ethnic organizations are the organization of ritual and the maintenance of small temples within the local area. Separation between ethnic groups is expressed in competition in the performance of particular religious festivals. This article will not consider the internal organization and dynamics of these ethnic organizations.\n\nThe Teochiu segment of the estate population was resettled from squatter settlements in Tsuen Wan and Kowloon. Prior to resettlement, Teochiu in a particular squatter settlement were likely to be from the same village in China or from nearby villages and were involved in very dense kinship and friendship networks. A majority of Teochiu who were resettled into the housing estate are from one of the Teochiu districts in China and a very large portion are from a small number of villages in this district. This is due to the resettlement of certain squatter settlements, many of which were in Lower Kwai Chung, which contained high concentrations of Teochiu from that district. Most of the members of the Teochiu associations in the estate are from a small number of villages in this district, and these associations may be seen as extensions of social networks developed in squatter areas into the realm of ritual organization. Some of the most active members are from a single village which has over 400 “descendants” residing in this and nearby estates. The social and ritualistic core of this transplanted village is one extended family with over 40 members living in the estate studied. This pattern is by no means unique to this estate; other resettlement estates in Hong Kong have high concentrations of Teochiu from particular districts. This \"same village\" density is the basis for the organizational strength and ethnic solidarity of Teochiu in Hong Kong.\n\nPage 75\n\nPage 76", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1976.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208032, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1977", "page_number": 71, "title": "RAS-1977", "content_text": "TWO ESSAYS ON THE CH’ING ECONOMY OF HSIN-AN, KWANGTUNG\n\nJOHN THOMAS Kamm*\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\nThe British Crown Colony of Hong Kong was carved, in three successive steps, from the Chinese county of Hsin-An (新安). These essays represent attempts to reconstruct modes of economic activity which prevailed in this remote county during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This reconstruction will eventually serve as the groundwork on which an analysis of mercantile capitalism, in terms of its impact on local Chinese social structure, will be built.\n\nIn the first year of Wan-Li (1573), Hsin-An Hsien was formed from the division of Tung-Kuan Hsien (東莞縣) into two jurisdictions. Except for a brief period during the reign of the Kang-Hsi Emperor, the county remained one of the fourteen counties of the Kwangchow Prefecture throughout Ch'ing. As with most other magistracies in rural imperial China, Hsin-An was characterized by a high degree of self-government. The magistrate seldom intervened in local affairs, and relied heavily on the indigenous social order for the day-to-day administration of the countryside.\n\nThe dominant stratum of the local hierarchical order consisted principally of landlord-gentry patrilineal descent groups, commonly referred to as great clans (大族). Of these clans, the Tangs (鄧) and especially that branch of the clan which resided in Kam Tin (錦田) -- were probably best representative. Much of the data presented was collected during field work into the social history and oral tradition of this Punti \"power brokerage.\"\n\n*\n\nMr. Kamm states, The essays were written in fulfillment of seminar requirements for an A.M. at Harvard University's Regional Studies-East Asia program. The work is based largely on research undertaken in the New Territories (including a brief stint as coordinator of an NTA-Yuen Long \"oral history\" project in Kam Tin) and in the archives of the Public Records Office, Hong Kong. Writing and editing was supervised by Professor Yang Lien-Sheng of Harvard during late 1974.\n\nNOTES\n\nThe cession of Hong Kong Island was ratified by the Treaty of Nanking (1842). The Kowloon peninsula was added in 1860. Britain obtained the New Territories (on a 99-year lease) in 1898.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1977.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208037, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1977", "page_number": 76, "title": "RAS-1977", "content_text": "60\n\nJ. T. KAMM\n\nexercise of ownership, and are contented to do nothing further than to receive a yearly rent. They can sell this right of receiving rent, but the land is otherwise under the absolute control of the cultivators, who often sell their perpetual leases.\n\nThe landlord is called the owner of the \"T'i Kwat\" (note: Cantonese equivalent for t’i k’u), which may be termed the right of receiving rent. The tenant is said to possess the T'i P'i, or right of cultivation. Constant lawsuits result from this double ownership and the contending interests which it necessarily involves16\n\nTo summarize, perpetual lease in Hsin-An was characterized by the division of land into two values, surface-value, which corresponded to cultivation-value, and subsurface-value, which corresponded to rent-value. Landlords held rights over the rent-value, conceptualized locally as t'ien-ku-chuan (†), while tenants held title to the cultivation-value, or t'ien-p’i-ch’üan (✯✯). The process by which rent-value became separated from cultivation-value, i.e. the process of its primary accumulation, becomes manifest in an examination of the social and economic evolution of the county following the resettlement during the early 18th-century.\n\nOf the several kin groups displaced by the Kang-Hsi evacuation, the Tangs were among the least adversely affected. This was so for two reasons: 1) the proximity of the Hsin-An Tangs to several Tang settlements in Tung-Kuan,17 and 2) close relationships between Tang gentry and local officialdom.18 Not only were the Tangs able to keep abreast of developments while residing in a secure base not far from the evacuated county, moreover, the evacuation had the unintended result of increasing clan solidarity. In this regard, the establishment of the Tu-Ch'ing Tang (**)- the largest order ancestral trust uniting the clan, was most significant:\n\nTang Pao-sheng (£), a chin-shih of the Ch'ing Dynasty, had the intention of constructing an ancestral temple, but his plans were not realized. An official, Tang Hsu-chou (✯✯✯), seeing that the five branches of his clan resided in different places far from one another, decided to fulfill Pao-sheng's wishes. After choosing a beautiful site at Chiu-Ch'iao (**), Tung-Kuan, the clan gathered together to construct a great temple. At each winter sacrifice (), the male descendents of the various branches would assemble and encourage each other to", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1977.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208038, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1977", "page_number": 77, "title": "RAS-1977", "content_text": "TWO ESSAYS ON THE CH'ING ECONOMY OF HSIN-AN\n\n61\n\nabide by the clan regulations, thereby consoling the souls of their ancestors.\n\nAfter the passage of time, the temple became dilapidated. In the 47th year of Kang-Hsi, Tang Shih-chieh and others repaired the temple. ... It was then decided to hold two sacrifices each year, to be handled in rotation by the five branches of the clan. The rents from ancestral lands in Hsin-An were to be collected in the current year and kept for use at the spring sacrifice of the following year. Similarly, the rent collected from ancestral land in Tung-Kuan was collected one year prior to its use for expenses of the winter sacrifice.19\n\nThough the origins of Tang ancestral holdings date to Sung and Ming times,20 all land was evidently subject to re-registration after issuance of the edict which permitted the villagers to return. The following account of Tang lands on Hong Kong appears in the Hsiang-Kang Teng-Ch'u-shui-mau Ts'ung-ch'eng:\n\nIn the first year of Kang Hsi, the villages were abandoned and the fields were left fallow in accordance with the imperial order. In the 8th year, the villagers returned.\n\nIn the 10th year of Kang Hsi, Tang Tien-lu began recultivating his land. The various plots of land, called Ch'ek Ch'ue Shan, Fok Tam, Wang Lik, Yim Tin, Tai Low, Har Lok, and Chi Lung, totalled 368.75925 mow.\n\nIn the 23rd year of Kang Hsi, Tang Tien-lu also recultivated plots of land at Fok Tam, Tai Tam, Wong Lik, Hong Kong, Tai Low, Har Lok and Chi Lung. The total area amounted to 332.16 mow.\n\nIn the 30th year of Kang Hsi, Tang Tien-lu's son, Tzu-yung, re-cultivated plots of land, situated at Kong Chi Ling, Wang Ts'ung, and Sung Muk Kong, totalling 102.7 mow.\n\nBesides the above mentioned, there are several other plots of land the details of which are unclear.21\n\nThough the Tangs themselves never cultivated the land, holdings were consistently registered as \"acquired through cultivation.\"22\n\n* In Cantonese.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1977.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208039, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1977", "page_number": 78, "title": "RAS-1977", "content_text": "62\n\nJ. T. KAMM\n\nThat is, the Tangs, as well as the other large landholding clans, first established rights over cultivation-value; their claims to ownership rested primarily on their identity as \"first-cultivators.\"23\n\nThe priority of cultivation-value is best revealed by a brief examination of tax assessment in Hsin-An. Land has traditionally been classified according to its production potential. At the time of British occupation, first class land (甲) yielded two crops of paddy annually, or one crop of sugarcane. Second class land (乙⺕) was capable of producing one crop of rice, or one crop of sugarcane. Third class land (丙) \"was generally devoted to the cultivation of peanuts, sweet potatoes, millet and other hardy crops.\"24 This classification scheme was recognized by the Hsin-An Magistrate in 1582, a mere nine years after the creation of the county. Different rates were fixed according to whether the land was considered to be first, second, or third class land.25\n\nThus, by the time of the great Hakka influx, little cultivatable land was available in the county. The landlords, who often lived miles away from their fields, were eager to take on tenants, and offered the migrants “reasonable rents.” Rent-value was assessed by a simple extension of the tax assessment value; i.e., rent-value was extracted from an already established cultivation-value.26\n\nOnce fixed, tax-rates and rent-rates seldom, if ever, changed. The tax-rates listed for the three classes of land in the Hsin-An Hsien-chih, which had been in force for decades prior to the publication of the gazetteer in 1819, were quoted in the petitions concerning the Tang holdings in Hong Kong, written in 1842. Similarly, there is strong evidence to suggest that landlords were generally powerless to impose greater rent-burdens, and, as we shall see, were occasionally forced to lighten the rent.27 Rent-values were often stated in all bills of sale between landlords.\n\nThe increasing alienation of rent-value from cultivation-value was reflected in the inability of landlords to locate their plots of land when called upon to present evidence to the Land Court. Furthermore, there were often significant disparities between the market-prices of the \"skin\" and the \"bones.\"28 Tenants were occasionally able to manipulate the system to their own advantage:\n\nFor generations, landowners have been content to collect their rents without ever having taken the trouble to enquire into the", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1977.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208040, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1977", "page_number": 79, "title": "RAS-1977", "content_text": "TWO ESSAYS ON THE CH'ING ECONOMY OF HSIN-AN\n\n63\n\nland itself, which has been left entirely under the control of the tenants. These tenants have changed from time to time; sub-leased the land; sold the right of cultivation or mortgaged that right, without consulting the landowners, who were quite satisfied so long as the rent was regularly paid. It has often happened that some crafty tenant has asked his landlord to reduce his rent, giving as an excuse that it was impossible to make the land pay unless the rent were reduced, and that if the reduction were not agreed to the tenant must give up the land. The landlord, who has inherited the land without knowing any particulars concerning it, is practically at the mercy of his tenant, and is constrained to comply since it is impossible for him to take over possession of the land which in many cases is far removed from his own village or district. Besides, tenants generally form a \"ring,\" agreeing among themselves that no other person shall be allowed to take over cultivation from the peasant in occupation. It is easy to see how such farming rings are able to boycott the landlords. In fact, it is not an unusual proceeding for tenants, taking advantage of the ignorance of their landlords, to make an absolute sale of a part of the land, the part retained being sufficient to pay the rent.29\n\nAt the time of the cession of Hong Kong Island, the tenant economy of Hsin-An was in equilibrium. The landlords enjoyed a steady income based on the collection of rent; rent was typically paid in kind, thereby enabling the landlords to capitalize on the rising price of rice.30 The tenants, on the other hand, were free to extend the surface area under cultivation without being liable to extra rent payments. (It must be remembered, of course, that landlords were similarly exempt from extra tax payments on the extended surface area.) When the British occupied Hong Kong Island, they found slightly less than 1500 mow under cultivation, of which 1000 were devoted to paddy cultivation. The Tangs, in petitions to various officials, were able to show claim to slightly more than 1100 mow from which they collected rent-values.31 A more extreme example is offered by the Tsing Yi estate. The Tangs laid claim to the whole island and the surrounding fisheries. In evidence to the Land Court, they cited rent payments of 40 piculs (A) on 36 mow leased to perpetual tenants. The crown rent, levied by the British, would have amounted to $7.50. The sur-", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1977.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208041, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1977", "page_number": 80, "title": "RAS-1977", "content_text": "64\n\nJ. T. KAMM\n\nveyors, however, found well over 1000 mou under cultivation, roughly valued at 228.10 crown rent. At the current price of $2.30 per picul, the Tang's rent-value equalled $92.00. The British administrators were of the opinion that the 40 piculs rent was indeed in respect of all cultivation on the island, and hence the Tangs should be held responsible for \"encroachments.\" As can be imagined, the Tangs eventually lost interest in pursuing the claim.32\n\nThe landlord-tenant equilibrium was maintained by social organizations ready to defend the respective positions. On the one side were aligned the tenant rings, or alliances, while on the other, the clan increasingly came to defend landlord interests.33 To this end, a \"managerial elite,\" well-versed in the details of ancestral estates, rose within the clan. Evidence from the Tang petitions suggests that the Hong Kong estates were managed by a committee of four wu-sheng (military graduates of the first degree, in this case probably purchased-degree holders) on behalf of fifteen lineal descendants of the original “cultivator.\" The military gentry, who were not mentioned in the tax registers (and hence, probably not listed on the ancestral rent rolls), managed the fields for a fee. This managerial structure also prevailed on the Tsing Yi estates. Clementi, in a communication to the Colonial Secretary, writes:\n\nI have seen Tang Kwai Yui of Kam Tin, a military fau tsoi who is manager on behalf of the descendants of Tang Kou Nam for the land in question. He says that the first ancestor of the clan is Tang Kou Nam, and that after his time the clan divided into two branches:-(1) Tang Yi Kwok, and (2) Tang Lun Tai; “both branches have descendants still alive; they are both settled at Kam Tin. We are all British subjects. Both branches have a share in the land. I am manager of both branches. I have been manager for two years. I remain manager so long as I give satisfaction. I have no business. I live on the rent I collect. I have property of my own at Kam Tin,34\n\nClans and rings constituted bounded groups within which the circulation of rent-values and cultivation-values, respectively, ideally took place. Circulation of values was effected by two means: \n\n1) succession, and 2) sale. By definition, the perpetual leasee was succeeded by his male lineal descendants. Division of cultivation-value, in the event of more than one son, often", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1977.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208043, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1977", "page_number": 82, "title": "RAS-1977", "content_text": "66\n\nJ. T. KAMM\n\nFinally, a word on economic development. Equilibrium in the tenancy system in no way implied stagnation in the economy. We have already noted the benefits which tenants derived by extending the surface value. The clans, restricted in the amount of rent-value collected, expanded economically into two areas, regulation of trade and monopolization of tax collection. It was at the level of periodic marketing that the landlord clans \"reasserted control” over the tenants' surplus; moreover, the landlords were able to extract increasingly large amounts of revenue, as taxes, while both trade and agricultural production increased. In this way, perpetual tenancy gave impetus to the rise of taxlordism, which we shall consider in the next essay.\n\nNOTES\n\n1 Hugh Baker, Sheung Shui, A Chinese Lineage Village, p 8.\n\n2 See, for instance, the Kwang Tung Nung Yeh Kai-K’uang Tiao-ch'a-pao-kao Shu Hsuan-pien (*), Vol. I, p 185.\n\n3 Hung ch'i represented officially recognized ownership of land. Pai ch'i (é) denoted unregistered ownership, mortgage, and the like. Tenants might possess pai ch'i, or they might not.\n\n4 It is very difficult to give a realistic estimate of the amount of land worked by tenants in the early nineteenth century. Existing records (including Government CSO reports, sessional papers and cadastral surveys) suggest a very high degree of tenancy. A survey taken by Potter in 1960 indicates a tenancy rate of 83% in Ping Shan (); this coincides with my observations in Kam Tin.\n\n5 Extension of the Boundaries of the Colony, p 52.\n\n6 In the first tally of cultivated land conducted at the beginning of the Ch'ing Dynasty, 4039.567656 mow of land were liable to the payment of taxes. By 1819, this amount had shrunk to a total of 3815.94836965 mow. (Hsin-An Hsien-chih, ch'uan 8). Lockhart, in the Extension papers, writes of the land registers: \"The land registers of the district, which ought to be a reliable guide, are worse than useless, as they contain not more than half of the land under cultivation.\" (p.48).\n\n7 See Tung-Kuan Hsien-chih (*), ch'uan 39, for an account of the problems raised by this situation. In the early years of British administration, officers were often informed by cultivators that plots of 3rd class land (see below) were exempt from tax in certain areas.\n\n8 Kwang-chow Fu-chih ( ), ch'uan 4:46b-47a.\n\n9 Hsin-An Hsien-chih, ch'uan 2.\n\n10 James Hayes, \"Old British Kowloon\", Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society Vol. 6, 1966, gives some data on Kowloon. The Hakka Tangs of Pat Heung apparently arrived in the neighborhood of Kam Tin during the migration years.\n\n11 Wan Lo, “Communal Strife in Mid-19th Century Kwangtung” Papers on China from the Regional Studies Seminar, p 93. See also N.B. Dennys (ed), The Treaty Ports of China and Japan (1867), pp 20-22.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1977.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208044, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1977", "page_number": 83, "title": "RAS-1977", "content_text": "TWO ESSAYS ON THE CH'ING ECONOMY OF HSIN-AN\n\n67\n\n12 Lockhart lists 255 villages occupied by Hakkas, with a total population of 36,070 in the Tung Lo in 1898. Assuming a population of 250,000 for the total district in 1900, Hsin-An probably had a Hakka population of around 90,000.\n\n13 Rawski's bibliography in Agricultural Change and the Peasant Economy of South China offers the most complete listing of works bearing on perpetual tenancy.\n\np. 64.\n\n14 CSO280/04 Extension. See note 4, Essay 2.\n\n15 Hsu T'ien-tai, Fu Chien Wen Hua (福建文化), Vol. 1, No. 1, (1941),\n\n16 Correspondence Respecting Affairs of China, March 1898-September 1900. \"Report on the New Territory at Hong Kong,\" (Presented to both Houses of Parliament, November 1900) p. 19.\n\n17 The Shih Chien T'ang Chia P'u (世鑑堂家譜), a collection of genealogies from Kam Tin, gives the following settlements of lineal descendants in Tung Kuan: Chuh Yuan (竹園), Yen Tien (燕田), Fu Lung (福龍), Huai Te (懷德), Shih Ching (石井), Tu Kao (土高), and Ping Hu (平湖).\n\n18 \"These clans gain their local influence, not through numbers alone, but owing to the fact that certain of their numbers have official rank, gained through competitive examinations, or obtained by purchase, which keeps them in touch with the Magistrate and even higher officials.\" Correspondence Respecting Affairs of China ibid., p. 20. The Shih Chien T'ang Chia P'u records that, from Cheng Hua (Ming Dynasty) to Tao Kwang (Ch'ing Dynasty)—that is, from roughly 1470-1820—fourteen Kam Tin Tangs passed the state examination. Several of these became office holders. Another indicator of gentry connections with officialdom was the construction, in Kam Tin, of a temple (祠堂) dedicated to the two officials (Chou Yu-te (周有德) and Wang Lai-jen (王來任)) who petitioned the Emperor, on behalf of the inhabitants of the coastal areas, to allow resettlement.\n\n19 Introduction to the Nan Yang Tang Shih Tsu P'u (南陽堂世族譜), compiled by the Ping Shan Tangs.\n\n20 Sung Hok-P'ang, in his articles on the Kam Tin Tangs in the Hong Kong Naturalist, claims to have seen references to Tang lands on Hong Kong in the Land Register (土地冊) of Tung Kuan. \"One may judge that the land was owned by the Tangs before the first year of Maan Lik, AD 1525, (sic) as after that the San On District was formed” (Vol. VIII, nos. 3 and 4).\n\n21 HKTCSMTC, \"Details of Cultivated Land” (耕地詳情).\n\n22 ibid.\n\n23 The landlord clans were often referred to by the British as \"first cultivators.\" See, for instance, CSO3172/1915 cited in the essay on tax-lordism.\n\n24 Correspondence Respecting Affairs in China, ibid., p. 16.\n\n25 Hsin-An Hsien-chih, ch'uan 8.\n\n26 In this regard, note the high degree of correlation among the different \"tax-burdens\" in Table II. One is tempted to speculate that a native formula for the conversion of rent rates from tax-rates existed.\n\n27 In the 1934 edition of the Chung-Kuo Ch'ing-chi Nien-chien (中國經濟年鑑), chapter 7 (Chinese Tenancy Systems), contains the following description of the Fen Chih Chih (分種制) system, a form of perpetual lease found in the East River counties of the Kwangchow Prefecture: \"This", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1977.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208045, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1977", "page_number": 84, "title": "RAS-1977", "content_text": "68\n\nJ. T. KAMM\n\nsystem of land distribution had its origins several centuries ago. At the time when the land was distributed, the tenant paid the landlord a certain sum; this sum represented the rent which the tenant thereafter handed over each year. The landlord could not increase the rent, nor could the tenant refuse to pay it. Furthermore, the landlord could not investigate his tenants in order to take back the land.” (G236).\n\n28 Data from the land memorials, which register sales of subsurface values, indicate that a one-mow plot of land seldom exceeded 6 taels during the late 18th century. As we shall see later in the text, these prices necessarily remained constant into the 19th century. In the Hong Kong Almanack and Directory for 1846, we learn that the tenants valued each mow of rice paddy at $40.00 (1 tael = 1.11 Mexican dollars in 1846). Granted that tenants made good profits from the sale of land, still this example tends to illustrate the great potential disparity between the two values. (Hong Kong Almanack and Directory for 1846, Note on the Island of Hong Kong by A. R. Johnston; written in 1843).\n\n29 Correspondence Respecting Affairs in China, ibid., p 7.\n\n30 CSO306/1899 Extension; \"With reference to the petition of Tang Yung Ping and others they naturally, at present, prefer the old feudal system of payment of rent in kind.\"\n\n31 HKTCSMTC: Hong Kong Almanack, “Note on the Island of HK”.\n\n32 CSO150/1901 gives a detailed account of these negotiations.\n\n33 In general, the maintenance of perpetual tenancy systems presupposes the existence of communal landownership. The British found over 25% of all lots held in clan names in 1898; later Chinese sources place the estimate at 30%. These figures are probably not reliable for the earlier part of the century. The Tangs, as we have seen, held landlord rights over all of Hong Kong Island. They similarly held over 60% of the territory in Kowloon ceded to Britain in 1860, Land in North Kowloon was lost by \"fraudulent sale” in 1898 (CSO2982/1898). Other clans, besides the Tangs, apparently lost sizable tracts as “individual initiative” replaced clan solidarity throughout the period,\n\n34 CSO150/1901.\n\n35 CSO109/1902.\n\n36 Nan Yang Tang Shih Tsu P'u, \"Notes on Land Tax.\"\n\n37 Correspondence Respecting Affairs in China, ibid., p 18.\n\nESSAY II: TAXLORDISM\n\nThe peasants and gentry of Hsin-An witnessed two concrete manifestations of the growing power of foreign countries in China during the waning years of the nineteenth century. In April 1887, the Kowloon Customs House of the Imperial Maritime Customs was established under provisions of the Anglo-Chinese Opium Agreement of September 1886. As was the case with all customs houses established during the era, supervision of the revenue stations was entrusted to a European career officer in Sir Robert Hart's service, J. McLeavy Brown. A great expansion in customs activity", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1977.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208053, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1977", "page_number": 92, "title": "RAS-1977", "content_text": "76\n\nJ. T. KAMM\n\nTaxlordism first came to the attention of the British in an intelligent report filed with the Colonial Secretary nearly eight months prior to the occupation of the leased area. The document, essentially an analysis of potential unrest in the neighborhood of Kam Tin and Sham Chun, sheds light on the politics of the lease at the local level. Addressing himself to the question of possible resistance in Un Long Tung (*), the author remarks:\n\n+ + +\n\nenquiries proved that the people of the markets and towns were glad to see England get the place. But the villagers were very much displeased, especially those of Kam Tin village, owing to the fact that, though the owners in the neighborhood of Kam Tin hold deeds, they have to pay tax to the said village. If England got the place, it is feared that the benefit will be deprived of (sic).... It is like the way the (Chinese) Government charges taxes.23\n\nThe report proved to be prophetic, for it was the gentry of Un Long Tung, specifically those of the Tang villages and their dependencies, which mounted the most effective and prolonged resistance to the occupation. The same reasons were invariably set forth in petitions from captured “ringleaders:” Among the wealthy villages, there was considerable apprehension over substantial and drastic changes in the tax structure, while among the smaller villages, leaders cited the coercion and bullying of the larger gentry villages.24\n\nTaxlordism was so widespread that an enterprising land officer suggested, in 1902, that the Colonial Government utilize the taxlords \"to get the taxes for us as they did for the Chinese Government.”25 When existing tensions ruled this out, a plan was formulated to eliminate the institution by granting unclaimed tracts of crown land to those who could establish “taxlord claims.” Initial optimism over a rapid settlement evaporated, however, as taxlords attempted to establish rights over huge tracts of land. The largest claims were unquestionably in Un Long Tung, where the Kam Tin Tangs laid claim to taxlord status over the whole of Pat Heung (A) and Shap Pat Heung (+A+),26\n\nThe \"taxlord claims\" proved to be the thorniest problem faced by British colonial administrators charged with the rationalization of revenue collection. The plan by which taxlords were to be compensated for rights \"not compatible with the principles of British", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1977.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208054, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1977", "page_number": 93, "title": "RAS-1977", "content_text": "TWO ESSAYS ON THE CH'ING ECONOMY OF HSIN-AN\n\n77\n\nadministration\" was first implemented in the Sheung Yu Tung (**). The Land Court recognized the status of fourteen tax-lords, and granted them a total of 252.33 acres of unclaimed crown land. The taxlords, however, were in no hurry to select the land, and it was only after considerable prodding (over a period of several months) that they made their choices. The problems which arose over the plots selected were to plague district officers for years. Information regarding potentially profitable land was secured from bribed government clerks, with the result that speculation on railway land became rampant. Another problem arose when taxlords staked claims to \"fung shui\" groves and proceeded to extort and blackmail neighboring villages by threatening to chop down the trees for firewood. As a result, taxlord schedules for the tung were not completed till August, 1909; references to taxlord claims crop up in CSO reports well into the 1920's.20\n\nBy the time the Land Court got around to hearing the Un Long claims, little sympathy existed in the colonial service for the compensation plan. It is not surprising, then, that the Tang claims were dismissed as invalid, a decision which elders in the neighborhood still relate to the fact that the Tangs led the resistance. Official records regarding this decision have apparently been lost;29 thus, our only data on the nature of taxlordism refer to Sheung Yu Tung.*\n\nThe most complete account of the taxlord settlement is provided in CSO6269 of 1909. Of the fourteen taxlords compensated throughout the tung, nine are dealt with in this file, which was compiled over the period 1904-1910. The table below summarizes these nine settlements.\n\nTable II: Taxlord Settlements, Sheung Yu Tung\n\nTaxlord\nAmount granted\nLocated in:\n\nTang Yung Peng\n45.0 acres\nFan Ling\n\nLiu Yin Yu\n13.0 acres\nMan Lai Ngam\n\nMan Fung Chi\n9.5 acres\n\nTang Yui Shan\n16.0 acres\n\nPang Shin Han\n65.0 acres\nFan Ling, Hau Yeuk Fan Ling\n\n9.0 acres\n\n60.0 acres\nHo Sheung, Lam Tsun Luk Yeuk\n\n11.0 acres\nHau Chak Wing Hang Chung Hin\n\n4.8 acres\nMan Cham Tsum\n\n*The claims by Tangs over Tsing Yi Island were originally labelled.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1977.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208055, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1977", "page_number": 94, "title": "RAS-1977", "content_text": "J \n\n78 \n\nJ. T. KAMM \n\nIt is interesting to note that each of the five great clans (§ Tang (鄧), Hau (侯), Pang (彭), Liu (廖), and Man (文) — are represented on the schedule.30 Of these, the Tangs clearly have the greatest share. Another point, which is less obvious from the scanty data presented above, is that the taxlords only chose land within the boundaries of the tung itself, even though plots existed in Un Long Tung considerably closer, and hence easier to manage, than the plots chosen. This seemingly minor point leads us into an examination of the political and economic foundations of the tung. \n\nThe standard \"primary source\" on the nature of tung is Lockhart's description of “Local Government in the Villages\" contained in his report on the Extension of the Colony of Hong Kong.31 On the basis of this report, which heavily stresses the judicial functions performed by the chu (Cantonese: Kuk) which oversee the tung, Acting Governor Black recommended the appointment of “a commissioner or a Resident, possessing knowledge of the Chinese” who \"should govern somewhat in the present Chinese system, i.e., the village elders to rule the villages, which grouped according to topographical limits, form a tung having a council composed of representatives from the village elders.\"32 \n\nConsiderable confusion exists over the precise nature of tung and chu. Lockhart clearly overestimated the political-judicial power of the Tung Ping Kuk (東平局), a mistake which would have proven costly had not the British possessed superior firepower in the Pat Heung Valley. Having won the support of this chu, Lockhart believed that the gentry of the various “divisions” would follow suit. He was to discover later that the gentry of Un Long Tung had convened another chu, the Tai Ping Kung Kuk (太平公局) which financed, and to some extent coordinated, the local revolt; in so doing, they effectively dismantled the Tung Ping Kuk by summoning Tung-Kuan clansmen to occupy Sham Chun.33 \n\nIn most of the counties of the Kwangchow Prefecture, chu formed the basis of local self-government throughout the troubled nineteenth century. One of the best descriptions of these organizations is to be found in Kang Yu-wei (康有為)'s chapter on self-government.... \"taxlord claims,\" but, since the inhabitants could not produce title to the land, the Tangs were recognized as \"chief landlords.\" CSO8551 in 1903. One taxlord was recognized in Sha Tau Kok (Li Tung-chung) and one on Lantao (Wong Kwok-shi). Little is known concerning these cases, except that the latter status was granted out of compassion.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1977.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208058, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1977", "page_number": 97, "title": "RAS-1977", "content_text": "TWO ESSAYS ON THE CH'ING ECONOMY OF HSIN-AN\n\n81\n\nbuyers and sellers of commodities and to effect a transaction between them.” By the late 1920's, \"its importance to the Hopei provincial finance was only second to that of the land tax.\" It is difficult to weigh the relative importances of the various taxes in Hsin-An, but we do have figures on the revenue collected on trade between local markets in November 1911, which indicate a relatively low volume of local trade (see Imperial Maritime Customs, 1902-1911, Volume II, p.156). Also, refer to Appendix II, which Lockhart credits as a reliable source. The Tangs of Kam Tin and Lung Kwat Tau (A) were apparently farmed the monopolies of collecting market taxes in Un Long Kau Hui (±##4) and Tai Po Kau Hui (£# #). The Tongs who oversaw the markets in turn \"sub-leased\" the brokerages to traders, merchants, and shop-owners.\n\n4 The CSO files held in the Government Archives of Hong Kong constitute one of the richest stores of first-hand knowledge about local political economy and society in Hsin-An during the period 1890-1910. I am very grateful to Mr. Ian Diamond, Government Archivist, and his staff for their assistance in helping with my research.\n\n5 C. M. Chang, op. cit., pp. 826-828.\n\n6 Lien-sheng Yang, \"Buddhist Monasteries and Four Money-Raising Institutions in Chinese History,\" in his Studies in Chinese Institutional History, pp. 198-199n.\n\n7 Yeh-chien Wang draws heavily on the Ts'ai-cheng Shuo-ming-shu for his research on the land tax in China (Land Taxation in Imperial China, 1750-1911). On the basis of the material presented in this paper, Hsin-An conforms to his general thesis of the declining relative importance of the land tax throughout late Ch'ing.\n\n8 Correspondence Respecting the Extension of the Boundaries of the Colony (hereafter Extension Papers), p. 60.\n\n9 For a fuller discussion of li-chia, see Kung-chuan Hsiao's Rural China, Imperial Control in the Nineteenth Century, pp. 84-143.\n\n10 The annual rotation of these positions (44) constituted the primary mechanism whereby the local magistrate attempted to maintain some measure of centralized power by restricting the excesses of local magnates.\n\n11 Hsiang-kang Teng-ch'u-shui-mau Ts'ung-ch'eng (44¥Æ#*# Z), p. 2: \"All together the cultivated land measured 8 ch'ing 3 mau 6 fen 1 li 9 hau 2 ssu 5 hu (i.e., 803.61925 mau) and was registered under the name of Tang Tin-luk, 6th tu, 7th p'i, 2nd chia. In addition, Tang Chi-cheung and others had purchased from Ho Ch'iu-ping and others plots of land at Wong Nei Chung... having a total area of 1 ch'ing 89 mau registered in Tung-Kuan under the name of Tang Chi-fu of the 2nd tụ, 18th p'i, last chia.\" The formula is often repeated in the land memorials held at the Land Office of the Registrar General in Hong Kong.\n\n12 Kwangchow Fu-chih (1759), ch'uan 4: 43a-b, 46b.\n\n13 Hsin-An Hsien-chih (1819), ch'uan 2.\n\n14 Kwangtung T'u-shuo, Hsin-An Hsien-t'u.\n\n15 Krone, \"A Notice of the Sunon District\", originally published in the Transactions of the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 6:5, 41-105. This quote, as all the others, is from the reprinted copy in the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society V: p. 119.\n\n16 Tung-Kuan Hsien-chih (1797), 10:10b-11.\n\n17 Lockhart, in the Correspondence Respecting the Affairs in China, writes: \"Small villages and hamlets often place themselves under the protection of large and influential clans to which they refer all complaints and from which they expect assistance in case of attack, robbery, and", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1977.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208060, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1977", "page_number": 99, "title": "RAS-1977", "content_text": "TWO ESSAYS ON THE CH'ING ECONOMY OF HSIN-AN\n\n83\n\ninto Tung or Divisions. Each council of a Tung contains representatives of the villages which make up the Tung. In addition to a council of a Tung there is a general council for the whole of the Tung Lo or Eastern Section, which is practically that portion of the district of San On contained in the map attached to the Convention. This general council is styled the Tung Ping Kuk or Council of Peace for the Eastern Section. It has its council chamber at the market town of Sham Chun, which is regarded as the centre of the Eastern Section.\n\nIf the decision of the council of the Tung or of the General Council is not regarded as satisfactory, an appeal lies to the magistrate of the district.\" (pp. 55-56, Extension Papers.).\n\n32 Extension Papers, p. 34.\n\n33 Ibid., p. 174.\n\n34 K'ang Nan-hai Kuan-chih I (***T**), pp. 15-16.\n\n35 Philip A. Kuhn, Rebellion and its Enemies in Late Imperial China, pp. 91-92.\n\n36 K'ang Nan-hai, op. cit., p. 15.\n\n37 Other evidence which supports this hypothesis is drawn from the fact that the production and distribution of agricultural produce within the tung tends to be regulated by specific and unique processes. Hence, the tau chung (#), or local measures for payment of rent in kind, differs from tung to tung. Lockhart, in his Report on the New Territory at Hong Kong (Presented to both Houses of Parliament, November, 1900), relates the problems encountered in rationalizing land tenure: \"But even this tau varies in different localities. The Kun Tau, or Chinese official standard measure of 10 shing, is adopted at Tai Po, in the Sheung Yu District, and at Shat'aukok. The Ts'ong Tau, or grain measure of 11 shing, is used throughout the Un Long District. The Ts'in Tau of 8 shing is employed in the Ts'un Wan (ed. previously Kowloon District) and some other Districts. (p. 6). Moreover, the schedules of periodic markets within tung tend to complement each other, while they often clash with the schedules of markets in a neighboring tung.\n\n38 See petition from Tung Wo Kuk (\"i.e., the Committee appointed to deal with the affairs of the Shataukok Division\"). pp. 318-320.\n\n39 In a rough translation of a pamphlet obtained by the German missionary Schaub in Tung-Kuan, local gentry propose a strategy for obtaining funds for fighting the British: \"It is the best plan that the six confederations (six market places) keep together as we hear. But the outlay for the soldiers should not be collected by an extraordinary field tax. It is not right that the various confederations should pay the costs.... We should use the usual field tax. Let first the six confederations come together and ask our Government for help. Will the soldiers not come to help us, then let us ask the Mandarin for the present not to collect the field tax, that we can use the money to meet the barbarians. This would not be rebellious. Afterwards in peaceful times, we could pay our duties to the Government. (Extension Papers, p. 347.) See also, K'ang Nan-hai, op cit., p. 15.\n\n40 CSO433 in 1899,\n\n41 The British often experienced great difficulty in distinguishing landlords from taxlords, especially since members of large, gentry clans like the Tangs were one and the same. In a memorandum on the work of the Land Court, Lockhart writes: \"The most serious matter of all, however, is the stand taken by the farmers against the clans, their former landlords.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1977.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208160, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1977", "page_number": 199, "title": "RAS-1977", "content_text": "NOTES AND QUERIES\n\nThe five graves may be summed up chronologically as follows:\n\n(1) TANG Hon-fat\n\n(2) TANG Kun\n\n(3) TANG Yuk\n\n(4) TANG Fu-hip\n\n(5) TANG Wai-kap\n\nHong Kong, Nov. 1976\n\n183\n\n(Yuk Nui Pai Tong) near Wang Chau.\n\nYuen Long.\n\n(Kam Chung Fook Fo) on a small hill\n\nbehind Pok Oi Hospital.\n\n(Pun Yuet Chiu Tam) Tsuen Wan on\n\nCastle Peak Road.\n\n(Sin Yan Tai Tso) near Wang Chau,\n\nYuen Long.\n\n(Wu Lei Kuo Shui) near Au Tau cross-\n\nroads.\n\nDAVID LIU\n\nACCOUNT OF THE VISIT\n\nOn Saturday, 11th December, 1976 some thirty members of the Society visited the five main graves of the Tang family of Kam Tin and other old established villages in the New Territories (see the programme notes above).\n\nWe first visited grave No. 3 in Tsuen Wan which is located on a small hill that was bought by the family in 1927 to protect the grave in the face of various encroachments. In addition to the grave, there exist two round granite pillars (similar to those at graves 1 and 4 but without their lion-dog tops). These are situated each at a distance of 132 feet and angles of 125 and 217 degrees from the centre of the grave, as measured standing at the main table with the compass pointing north.* Lower down, a little off the main road there is also part of an entrance, built of inscribed rectangular granite pillars, erected in the 4 year which the Tang elders say is, in this case, 1894.\n\nMr. Peplow was Land Bailiff, Southern District at the time the Tangs purchased the land in 1927, and his account,† quoting from a silk scroll given to him by one of the Tangs, is as follows:\n\n† S. H. Peplow Hong Kong About and Around (Hong Kong Commercial Press 1930) pp. 148-149.\n\n* I have since learned from the Tangs that the two pillars stood further to the front of the grave, nearer the former shore line, and that they were moved to their present location when the first Castle Peak motor road was constructed about 1917-1919.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1977.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208162, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1977", "page_number": 201, "title": "RAS-1977", "content_text": "NOTES AND QUERIES \n\n185 \n\ndogs. We observed those at the first but actually visited those at the second, which were close to our path back to Wang Chau. The first of these sites is particularly well placed and the outlook and general air of peace and perpetuity on a most beautiful sunny winter day were unforgettable. Alas for permanence! Though not itself in danger, the land to the rear of the second grave is threatened by a plan to establish a borrow area for development projects requiring soft fill. This would cut into the hills and remove features that are considered by the Tangs to threaten the good geomantic qualities of the grave. Consequently, a number of the persons who had earlier met us at Kam Tin were waiting there patiently to explain the position to us, obviously hoping for our support, and several members of the party walked with them to the ridge behind to see the land and hear their views, as courtesy required. \n\nAll told, this visit was a memorable one. The Society is most grateful to the elders of the Tang family for their courtesy, hospitality and assistance with the day's arrangements. \n\nHong Kong, 1978. \n\nJAMES HAYES \n\nGrave No. 3 is Plate 50 of LO Hsiang-lin and others' Hong Kong and its External Communications before 1842 (Chinese version, 1959) and Plate 35 of the English version (1963). Grave No. 5 is at Plates 51-53 of the Chinese version and Plates 36-37 of the English. \n\nROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY VISIT TO TSUEN WAN SATURDAY, 10TH DEC., 1977 \n\n‘A VILLAGE WAR' \n\nA. NOTE ON THE VISIT \n\nIn the 1860's, an ill-natured three-year struggle took place between villagers of Shing Mun, where the Jubilee Reservoir now is, and of Tsuen Wan. A good deal of damage was caused on each side, and many lives were lost. Fortunately, the descendants of the combatants are still living in this area, and it is possible to reconstruct the details of the struggle and to view some interesting relics", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1977.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208177, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1977", "page_number": 216, "title": "RAS-1977", "content_text": "200\n\nNOTES AND QUERIES\n\nvided useful suggestions concerning possible lines of enquiry; their assistance promised to complement the substantial resources Government placed at our disposal. Most significant of all was the enthusiasm displayed by the village representatives and elders of Kam Tin. The Kam Tin area, populated chiefly by members of the Tang clan, has a long and rich history; we decided, therefore, to concentrate our efforts in this area. On 25 June, Government hired Chan Sin-wai, a fourth-year history student at Chinese University and longtime resident of Kam Tin, to assist in carrying out the project. Another unpaid co-worker, Chen Ka-won, a graduate of C.U.H.K. and a resident of Ping Shan, joined the project in late July.\n\nAn examination of available knowledge and questions of methodology absorbed the next few days. A field headquarters was established in Ng Ka Tsuen, and the long process of “introduction” was begun. On 11 July, Mr. Paul Wong, liaison officer attached to your Office, arranged a meeting of interested elders from the Tang villages of Kam Tin. During the meeting, we explained the goals of the project, and their warm reception assured us of every cooperation.\n\nThe success of this \"mass meeting\" prompted a series of formal interviews which have been taking place over the last six weeks and will continue into September. We have interviewed nearly twenty-five elders possessing knowledge of Kam Tin's history and traditions. Several have proved to be exceptionally valuable informants, and closer, more \"informal\" relationships have developed.\n\nWe have made a number of tape recordings of important tales ranging over a variety of topics. One collection of stories centers around the resistance by the Tangs to British occupation. We are especially hopeful that these tales and personal remembrances will shed light on the events of 1898-99 and subsequent land disputes, and will lead to the solution of certain perplexing questions regarding land tenure and rural class structure (the 'Sai Man' question).\n\nWe have been granted access to clan and fong genealogies, and have received permission to make photo-copies. Documents, paintings, and plaques dating from Ming and Ch'ing have also come to light. Field trips were undertaken to every village in the Kam Tin area, and we have been guided through the major temples, tsz tong, and graves of historical interest.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1977.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208180, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1977", "page_number": 219, "title": "RAS-1977", "content_text": "NOTES AND QUERIES\n\n203\n\nor as it was known prior to 1587, Sham Tin (), was the recognized source of all branches and sub-branches of the Tangs. This clan, which eventually settled and dominated large sections of San On (**) and Tung Kwun () counties of the Canton prefecture, established Kam Tin as the \"administrative center\" of the unofficial government of the Yuen Long Tung(A).\n\n2. To be more precise, Kam Tin can be regarded as the heung ha (F) of the male agnatic descendants of the first, third and fourth fong \"hived off\" the central trunk originating with TANG Hung-yi (**—more below).\n\n3. It is not surprising, then, that the researcher finds himself confronted with a long and rich social history consisting of a corpus of written and oral tales. Nor is it surprising that, in attempting to bring to, or impose on this corpus an “alien” order, the researcher finds himself grappling with a number of theoretical problems which question the very foundations of Chinese anthropology and local history. I will illustrate this last point with an example.\n\n4. The very notion \"clan\" has been, and to a large extent still is, defined with reference to a \"founding ancestor\" (hoi chuk cho (M **)). That is, a clan is treated as a corporate group whose membership is regulated by the fact of agnatic descent from a \"common founding ancestor.\" Maurice Freedman, whose early works tend to confirm this basic assumption, departs from this view in his 1966 volume on lineages entitled Chinese Lineage and Society: Fukien and Kwangtung. In this work, he stresses joint ownership of a common estate, rather than “demonstrated descent,” as the defining characteristic of \"higher-order\" lineages, Freedman's new term for the older, more established (hence vague) term “clan”. \"The difference,\" he writes \"between a system of physically dispersed segments of a single corporation and a network of historically—or at any rate genealogically-related but independent lineages turns upon the maintenance of common property and the ritual obligations and privileges entailed in that property.\"* According to Freedman, both corporate lineages and \"non-corporate\" clans exist in China, and demonstrated descent from a single, common founding ancestor is crucial to neither.\n\n5. I might add that this is, at least implicitly, the view adopted by the New Territories Administration (N.T.A.). Clans are defined\n\n* Freedman op cit: 21.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1977.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208181, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1977", "page_number": 220, "title": "RAS-1977", "content_text": "204\n\nNOTES AND QUERIES\n\nas \"land-holding corporations\" and are treated as such, descent data being regarded essentially as secondary particulars.\n\n6. Although the implications of this statement for the general theory of unilineal descent groups have largely been ignored, the observation is borne out by a study of the ethnographic and historical data concerning the Kam Tin Tangs. The elders classify no fewer than four ancestors as hoi chuk cho, and, according to them, honor all four with essentially the same ritual obligations. These ancestors [1) Tang Hon Fat (**), 2) Tang Foo (##), 3) Tang Yuen Leung (*), 4) Tang Hung Yee (###)] are central pivots around which much of the oral and written history revolve; yet, as an investigation of the genealogy (##) kept by the elders reveals, long spells of \"historical time\" and interrupted residence separate them one from another, a disturbing fact which has, in the past, generated considerable debate on their individual legitimacies.\n\n7. Sung Hok Pang* mentions a debate, recorded in an early Kam Tin genealogy during the Shing Fa () years of the Ming dynasty, concerning whether Tang Hon Fat ever actually visited Kam Tin at all. Elders maintain that this debate is still very much alive.\n\n8. The debate concerning the founding of Sham Tin, i.e., whether Tang Hon Fat or Tang Foo founded the Tang settlement, is perhaps understandable when we realize the striking similarities in the biographies of the two men. Tang Hon Fat settled, it is said, in the vicinity of Sham Tin at a place called Kwai Kok Shan (± A L), some time towards the end of the tenth century A.D. There is speculation that he constructed the Hung Shing Kung (†), a temple still intact in Pak Pin (at) Village. He was a government officer, shing mo long (#4), from Kiangsi (31), Kat Shui Yuen (##), Pak Sha Tsuen village (#). The Nam Yeung Tang genealogy (✯✯✯✯✯), held by the Ping Shan Tangs, credits him with being the first settler. The Kam Tin Tangs disagree, placing most of the credit on his great-grandson, Tang Foo.\n\n9. Tang Foo was also a high official of the Sung Dynasty (holder of the chin shih (+) degree and county magistrate of Yeung Chun (**)). He, too, is supposed to have settled at Kwai...\n\nSee Mr. Kamm's Essay I, f.n. 20 and Essay II, f.n. 21.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1977.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208182, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1977", "page_number": 221, "title": "RAS-1977", "content_text": "NOTES AND QUERIES \n\n205 \n\nKok Shan. In general, the significance of Tang Foo is two-fold: 1) by establishing a famous school or study (Lik Ying Tsai #) near Kam Tin, he linked his name with scholarly achievement in San On and Canton, 2) by recognizing the qualities of the area's Fung-shui (風水) and locating his ancestors' graves accordingly, he assured future benefits for his descendents. \n\n10. With reference to the former point, Tang expansion was undoubtedly assisted by the largely fictive \"kinship\" bonds established within the scholarly civil-service tradition. \n\n11. It will be noted that in the two accounts of Fung-shui appended to these notes,* the landmarks recognized by Tang Foo correspond generally to the boundaries of territory claimed by the Kam Tin— Ping Shan- Ha Tsuen Tangs. Also notice the conflicting tales recorded by Sung and O'Dwyer,† particularly concerning whether Tang Foo was an official prior to examining the Fung-shui. An excellent example of how oral \"tales” contradict orthodox doctrine. \n\n12. There is considerable doubt that, after Tang Foo, the Tangs continued to be a force in Sham Tin; but, two generations later, ancestors reappear, and with them mention, for the first time, of the popular territorial division of Kam Tin. Two cousins (grandchildren of Tang Foo), Kwai (#) and Sui (*) settled respectively in Nam Pin (南邊) and Pak Pin (北邊) Villages. \n\n13. The dispersal of their children, known as 'the Five Yuen (五遠)' is the first major migration or fission of the Tangs from Sham Tin. The descendents of the Five Yuen considered together form the highest order grouping of the Tang clan. \n\nKwai (癸) gave birth to Yuen-hei (元喜) who settled in Tung Kwun City (東莞縣城) and Pak Wai (北圍), and Yuen-ying (元英) who settled in Fuk Lung (福隆) of Tung Kwun county. \n\nSui (遂) gave birth to Yuen-ching (元貞) who remained in San On, establishing the branch of the clan at Ping Shan (坪山), Yuen-leung (元亮) who remained in Sham Tin, and Yuen-woh (元禾) who moved to Wai Tak (懷德) of Tung Kwun. \n\nThese together made up the five great branches of the Tung Kwun San On Tangs. In the K'ang Hsi years of Ch'ing, their descendents established the To Hing Tong (蹈興堂), which built\n\n* pp. 214-216. Only one has been printed. \n\n† K. O'Dwyer, \"Kam Tin, Memories and Legends\" The Rock (a Hong Kong Catholic Journal) April 1940.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1977.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208183, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1977", "page_number": 222, "title": "RAS-1977", "content_text": "206\n\nNOTES AND QUERIES\n\na temple outside Tung Kwun city whose upkeep and ritual observances were financed by large joint landed estates.\n\n14. Yeung-leung's son, Tsz-ming (8) was married off, albeit unwittingly, to a princess of the Sung Dynasty. I have little to add here that Sung and O'Dwyer do not mention, but I believe it is important to stress that this tale (popularly known as the Wong Ku (*) story) served the important function, at least prior to the 1930's, of defining Tangs relative to outsiders (the powers-that-be) and locals (especially surrounding great and small lineages).\n\n14. a. The San On gazetteer (a rare copy of which exists in the Fung Ping Shan Library of Hong Kong University), compiled in 1819, gives the tale in complete detail.\n\n14. b. The Rev. Krone's \"A Notice of the Sanon District,\" published in the Transactions of the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1859, contains the following passage:\n\n\"The inhabitants of a pretty little village on Deep Bay called “Kam-Tin”... also trace their origin up to the Sung dynasty. A high mandarin, they say, of the name of Tung, came to San On from the interior of China, and was so much pleased with the county around Deep Bay, that he settled down and made himself very popular, by giving gratuitous instruction. The grandson of this man having done some meritorious service to the State, the emperor Ko-tsung of the Sung dynasty, gave him his daughter in marriage.'\n\n14. c. It will also be noted that the plaque commemorating the return of the iron gates to Kat Hing Wai makes especial reference to the tale. Several elders of neighboring villages, when asked why the Tangs were so powerful as to be able to concentrate five wais (walled villages) in the district, cited this imperial kinship link.\n\n15. The second major migratory movement of the Tangs occurred during the generation of Wong Ku's sons.\n\nLam (*) settled at Lung Kwat Tau (##), Kei (*) settled in Tung Kwun at Shek Tseng &✯✯, Wai (*) established the Tang branch-settlement at Tai Po Tau (†). Chi (#) remained in Sham Tin. [Chi's grandson Chu-on (₫) established the Ha Tsuen lineage-village.]\n\n* Reprinted in JHKBRAS 7(1967). See p.134.\n\n† See P. Wesley-Smith's article in JHKBRAS 13, 1973: 41-44.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1977.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208184, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1977", "page_number": 223, "title": "RAS-1977", "content_text": "NOTES AND QUERIES\n\n207\n\n16. The fourth generation of Sham Tin Tangs after Chi witness the events of the two brothers Hung-chih (*) and Hung-yi (*). The Hung Yi Kung tale is, of course, highlighted by the marriage between Hung Yi and an adopted daughter of the rich businessman Chan. One of the most interesting finds of the project was the ascendancy of this tale to a position of dominance, at least at the oral level.\n\n16. a. Several \"native\" reasons are given for this ascendancy. The head nun of the Ling Wan Tsz (†††) maintains that the Wong woman was really Hung-yi's mother, and that it was she who established the temple from which countless blessings have been distributed [this corresponds well with the current \"official\" Kam Tin history at para 20 below]. All scholastic achievements of the Tangs have been attributed to the virtues of the Wong woman.\n\n16. b. Mr. Tang Ying-kai, one of the prominent younger men, attributes the popularity of this tale to the fact that it establishes an \"intimate\" relationship between the first and fourth fongs. [For it was the first son of Hung-yi who offered a son to Wong to raise, initiating the fourth fong.]\n\n16. c. The key to the mystery of why this tale is dominant is somehow related to the evermore blurred Hakka/Punti distinction. The surrounding settlements are predominantly Hakka, and all Hakka villages in Stewart Lockhart's original 'census' are in the Un Long (=Yuen Long) Division and in the vicinity of Kam Tin. [The 1966 census for San Tin, Kam Tin and Pat Heung gives the Punti (Cantonese) population as 10,600 and the Hakka population as 13,000. This is a surprisingly large figure.] The oral tradition of these Hakka communities, in particular their “tales of origin” show striking structural similarities to the Hung-yi tale.\n\n17. The Hung-yi tale contains two references to a local marriage custom known as \"yap nao\" (x), adoption of a male into a family for the purposes of marriage or perpetuation of the line. There are specific Tang prohibitions against this custom mentioned in the genealogy, as it is considered ‘demeaning\"—a custom practised by \"sai chuk” or “sai man”—so it is all the more surprising to find arrangements of this nature in the tale. The Ngs and Wongs of Sha Po Tsuen claim a similar relationship to each other.\n\n* Report by Mr. Stewart Lockhart on the Extension of the Colony of Hong Kong in Eastern No. 66, Colonial Office, London, 1900.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1977.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208185, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1977", "page_number": 224, "title": "RAS-1977", "content_text": "208 \n\nNOTES AND QUERIES \n\nas that which obtains between the first and fourth fong of Kam Tin, in that the Ngs (4) originated from an adopted Wong (#). 18. The Hakka Tangs of Wang Toi Shan (1) have a tale of origin remarkably similar to the Hung-yi tale. A Ping Shan Tang, they say, while on a business trip to the north, met with hard times and married a Hakka concubine (or mui chai unclear). After siring a number of children, the Tang businessman died. The Hakka woman, carrying his ashes and children, returned to Ping Shan. Unfortunately for her, the Ping Shan Tangs refused to recognize the “legitimate\" Punti/Tang status of the boy children; but rather than return to the northern districts, she decided to settle down near Kam Tin, and thereafter founded the Wang Toi Shan settlements. Due to her fortitude, virtue, etc. the Hakka Tangs have prospered.\n\n19. Some debate exists over whether the Hakka Tangs and Punti Tangs \"belong\" to the same clan [to my knowledge, they share in no common estate]. This debate often takes the form of one of two questions: are the Kam Tin Tangs \"really\" Hakka? or are the Wang Toi Shan Tangs \"really\" Punti? One of the predictions to come out of this project is that Kam Tin Tangs will increasingly ally themselves with Hakka local groups, both politically (to the detriment of remaining \"higher-order lineage\" ties) and culturally (in that they will increasingly attribute to themselves Hakka characteristics).\n\n20. Hypothesis: There has occurred a shift in dominance at the level of superstructure from one founding myth (Wong Ku) to another (Hung-yi Kung). This shift, which has taken place over the last few decades, reflects a shift at the economic/political base of the New Territories (esp. Yuen Long district) between polar structures A and B.\n\n20. a. Structure A. Essentially the \"large-clan\"/higher-order lineage type. Lineages \"collapse\" into single, legal and social personalities, and assume great power over the formulas of exchange (women: in terms of marriage alliance, and goods: in terms of markets and tax systems). This structure, which is essentially hierarchical and feudalistic (in that it attempts to usurp power from the local tentacles of central government), is best represented by the Tangs prior to the economic/social revolution begun in 1898, and drawn to a close by the events of the 1930's.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1977.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208186, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1977", "page_number": 225, "title": "RAS-1977", "content_text": "NOTES AND QUERIES \n\n209 \n\n20. b. Structure B. An organic/alliance model which stresses relationships of an egalitarian, contractual nature. Power is not usurped, but \"won\" through cooperation/conflict of equals. This structure, represented prior to 1898 by the Tung (董) system [especially the Tai Ping Kuk (太平局) of Sham Chun] has become the dominant polar type of the modern New Territories (examples: The Yuen Long Hop Yick Co. and The Tai Po Yeuk alliances, which dominate local markets to the exclusion of the Tangs; these alliances only become possible with the cooperation of Hakka and Punti, great clan and small clan alike.). \n\n20. c. Both these structures (ideal types) existed as systems of unofficial control in Southern San On prior to British occupation. \n\n21. The period dating from the beginning of Suen Tak (宣德) to the end of Sing Fa (成化) reigns of the Ming Dynasty, roughly from 1426-1487 A.D., was a period of great prosperity and expansion for the Kam Tin Tangs. \n\n21. a. During this period, the Tangs moved out of their \"neighborhood\" of Sham Tin and took over complete dominance of the settlement. We can think of the settlement at this time as being a multi-lineage settlement, with at least three surnames present, Tangs, Lais (黎) and Shams (沈). The Tangs apparently drove out the Lais (turning them into \"sai chuk\") and enslaved the Shams (as \"sai-man\"). How they accomplished this is related in the Lai vs. Tang tale transcribed and appended below.* \n\n21. b. The members of the 2nd fong (descendants of Hung-yi's 2nd son) constructed Ying Lung Wai (應龍圍), and from this wai they controlled the access to the Pat Heung (八鄉) valley and eventually established Yuen Long Old Market. \n\n21. c. The building of Ling Wan Tsz (靈雲寺) at the head of Pat Heung valley can be viewed as part of the general process of expansion by which the Tangs gained control of the entire valley [that area now included in Demarcation Districts nos. 103, 106, 107, 109, 113]. A Tong (堂) was established to finance the upkeep of the temple, to which the Kam Tin Tangs contributed up to the early years of the Republic. The nuns continue to perform important \n\n* Not available. \n\n† Demarcation Districts are survey districts, the sheets and registers pertaining thereto being kept in the District Land Offices of the New Territories Administration. \n\nPage 225\n\nPage 226", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1977.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208187, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1977", "page_number": 226, "title": "RAS-1977", "content_text": "210\n\nNOTES AND QUERIES\n\nritual obligations for Kam Tin, officiating at the Kam Tin ta chiu ceremonies.\n\n21. d. The changing of the name of Sham Tin to Kam Tin dates from 1587. We collected a variant of the tale related by Sung. In this account, the magistrate never leaves San On at all, but is moved to praise the delicious quality of their rice. Hence, the name Kam Tin. In general, this tale illustrates the extent of the wealth and power of the Tangs, and their intimate relationship with the local magistracy.\n\n22. Expansion out of the Pat Heung basin into neighboring heung of Yuen Long Valley, Kowloon Peninsula and Hong Kong Island continued throughout the early years of the 16th century. Sung (p. 205) notes that the appropriation of Hong Kong island was completed by the Wan Li reign of Ming Dynasty (app: 1573-1620), as references exist in the Tung Kwun Leung Chak (ĦM) of that date. Our own evidence (see San On Land Dispute below)* suggests an even later date. In any case, the oft-made assertion that Tang land holdings steadily decreased from large Sung grants is clearly in error.\n\n23. The period coinciding with the fall of Ming and the establishment of Ch'ing [especially the K'ang Hsi reign] although devastating in its consequences for most of the lineages of the present day New Territories (southern San On), left untouched—indeed enhanced—the basis of Tang power in the area.\n\n23. a. Sung spends quite a bit of time (as does O'Dwyer) on the tales surrounding Tang Man-wai (*)† This man was a large landowner and eminent scholar who is remembered for 1) his relationship with the rebel Lei Man-wing (‡✯✯), 2) the building of Tai Hong Wai (✯✯✯) dating from 1647-1656, and 3) the establishment, in his pen-name (*) of the Tong which financed and operated the Yuen Long Old Market. It is clear that, throughout the imperial era, whenever the central government was threatened or weakened by rebellion, the Kam Tin Tangs accommodated and shared power with rebel forces. [The extent to which this fact justifies its characterization by surrounding lineages as a \"bandit clan\" remains in doubt.]\n\n23. b. As Hugh Baker notes in Sheung Shui A Chinese Lineage\n\n* See paras 24-29 below.\n\n† JHKBRAS 14 (1974): 172 - 174.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1977.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208188, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1977", "page_number": 227, "title": "RAS-1977", "content_text": "NOTES AND QUERIES \n\n211 \n\nVillage, p. 41, the K'ang Hsi evacuation \"may well have helped the Liao lineage to consolidate its position as a major power and landowner in the area.\" This undoubtedly extends to the Tangs as well, though for quite different reason. The Liaos increased their local power by means of the formation of a Hakka/Punti alliance to finance the local school built to honor the two official Chou Yu-te () and Wang Loi-jen (). The Kam Tin Tangs also participated in the \"deification campaign\" (The two officials petitioned the emperor to allow the re-population of the coastal strip), and similarly constructed the school, the ruins of which are still to be seen in Pak Wai Tsuen. However, the school was never given official recognition [i.e. it was not listed, with the other schools, in the gazetteer], perhaps because of, again, the \"special relationship” enjoyed by the Tangs and San On magistrates. The Tangs claim that these officials were eventually to suffer at the hands of the imperial government because of their loyalty to the Tang family! [I have been unable to verify this, though I expect that it is true. How else can one explain the subsequent favors bestowed on the Tangs immediately after their (at least implicit) support of the Cheung Ta-yuk and Lei Man-wing rebellions?] \n\n23. c. The To Hing Tong () was constructed in 1707 by the five branches of the Tangs residing in San On and Tung Kwun. This followed shortly after the re-location of the Tangs in San On. The large number of Tang settlements in Tung Kwun no doubt facilitated the smooth re-location into Kam Tin, Ha Tsuen, Ping Shan, Tai Po Tau and Lung Kwat Tau. Several tales concerning this relocation are still told, some of which cast doubt on the existing theory that there was a total evacuation. The ceremonies held twice yearly at the To Hing Tong (continued into the early years of the Republic) served greatly to consolidate the consciousness of Tang unity. \n\n24. By far the most popular topics of conversation among Tang elders concern the nature and extent of their land holdings prior to 1898, and how subsequent events stripped them of much of these estates. It is probably impossible for us now to reconstruct, from records available, the exact amount and number of their holdings. However, some evidence exists: \n\n* After the Evacuation of the Coast 1662-69 by the Ch'ing authorities to deny supplies and assistance to Ming loyalists on Taiwan.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1977.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208189, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1977", "page_number": 228, "title": "RAS-1977", "content_text": "212\n\nNOTES AND QUERIES\n\n24. a. Several tales contain information regarding land tenure. For instance, an elder of the 3rd Fong who related the Tang Hei-sui () tale (see Sung p. 253), mentioned that members of the Tso () established after his death each received 100 Tam Kuk each year till 1898, indicating extensive holdings.\n\n24. b. As mentioned above, the Kam Tin Tangs virtually owned the Pat Heung Valley (even the suspect Cadastral Surveys confirm this).* They also possessed land around Yuen Long and further south, Shun Fung Wai (). Ancestral land on Hong Kong Island totalled approximately 1000 Chinese acres, and clan land (shared among the five fongs) in Kowloon was extensive (200 acres in Cheung Sha Wan alone).\n\n25. Land was either communally or privately owned. The former (\"communal ownership\") is divided into a number of categories, the most important of which are Tso () and Tong (). Tong land is appropriated in the literary name of an ancestor (hence early confusion of Tongs as literary clubs). Unlike Tso, the joint holders need not be descendents of a common ancestor. Hence, while Tso land exhibits \"vertical solidarity\" within a fong across class boundaries, Tong land establishes horizontal ties across fong within class boundaries.\n\n26. For the uses to which ancestral land is put, see the material from the Nam Yeung genealogy and the section on Land Tenure (\"varieties of Tenure\") reproduced from the Hong Kong Government Gazette, No. 26, 28 April 1900. I would here simply like to add two further uses of ancestral land: 1) defence funding and 2) financing ritual ceremonies. On the former, see Enclosure 7, no. 172 from Extension of the Boundaries. [I add here what might appear superfluous; ancestral land increases in direct proportion to the distance from Kam Tin. Private holdings predominate within the heung itself]\n\n27. As we have seen, the Kam Tin Tangs acted as \"unofficial\" government of a large section of San On county. One of the essential elements to this system of control was their status as tax-lords. The former is thus explained in Cecil Clementi's report on his work in the New Territories in 1905-1906: \"On the recommen-\n\n“Suspect\" because they do not always reflect the pre-1898 situation: owing to decisions about ownership made by the New Territories Land Court.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1977.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208190, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1977", "page_number": 229, "title": "RAS-1977", "content_text": "NOTES AND QUERIES\n\n213\n\ndation of the Land Court, the Governor decided that 14 elders of the Northern District should be compensated for certain \"tax-lord\" rights claimed by them to have existed before the convention, but not compatible with the principles of British administration, by the grant of 252.33 acres of Crown land in the Northern District, to be selected by each \"tax-lord\" in proportion to the value of the right claimed by him.\" Also, see Enclosure 7, no. 172 mentioned above, to the effect that Kam Tin collected taxes in the Pat Heung Valley on land it didn't own. Much more is to be learned on this tax-lord system; I expect to glean more information from the records of the debate before the Land Court, 1904, which may be contained in the CSO reports.*\n\n28. The Tangs of Kam Tin existed as a power often beyond the reach of the local magistracy. There is evidence of widespread non-payment of land-taxes and squeeze. On the former point, see the San On Letters appended below. Squeeze was collected primarily from the Tai Ping Kuk and similar organizations of Structure B type. The Tangs of Kam Tin were apparently not members of this Sham Chun group [see Petition to Lockhart in Extension Papers.] Also, note Sung's tale regarding the use of the Wong Ku relationship in the successful refusal to paying squeeze, the major source of revenue in San On county.\n\n29. In summary, then, the Tangs were land-lords and tax-lords who existed and operated as a power unto themselves, dominating the local scene and ignoring the tendons of local government whenever possible.\n\n30. Two statements regarding the status of sai-man (*R,): “We give them cows, we give them houses, we even give them women”. Also, \"When the bridal procession passed through Kam Tin on its way to Pat Heung or Sap Pat Heung, the bride and groom were forced to descend and kow-tow.\" There is general agreement among Tangs and non-Tangs in the Kam Tin area that sai-man and sai-chuk (clans \"with same name\") were constantly reminded of their \"place\".\n\n31. We uncovered a great deal of smouldering resentment and bitterness in Kam Tin, directed against the Ha Tsuen and Ping Shan branches of the clan. One tale concerns a \"war\" with Ping Shan over tax-collection rights in the vicinity of Shun Fung Wai.\n\n* Kept in the Public Records Office, Hong Kong.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1977.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208191, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1977", "page_number": 230, "title": "RAS-1977", "content_text": "214\n\nNOTES AND QUERIES\n\n[This is perhaps the feud Lockhart mentions on page 51 of his Report.] There is also the case of the Ha Tsuen Tang who sold the Cheung Sha Wan clan land [see appendices]. The first murder case heard in the New Territories is thought to have some connection with this dispute. Tang Cheung, a Ha Tsuen Tang, was captured during the resistance and \"executed\" for posting British petitions. This event, in turn, is cited by Kam Tin Tangs as further evidence of treason on the part of their clan brothers.\n\n32. One question that came up was the relationship between the local Tangs and the Tung Kwun Tangs. We have assembled a great deal of documentary evidence which illustrates the broad range of defense activities performed by braves from Tung Kwun (Intelligence reports at the time of the resistance estimate over 1000 braves from Tung Kwun were stationed in Yuen Long). Behind a nunnery near Sha Po (9), a well-kept grave bears witness to the memory of those troops killed in the fighting who were buried secretly by the Kam Tin Tangs. The nuns still perform ta chiu ceremonies for their spirits, at intervals of 10 years.\n\n33. A biography of Ng Ki-Cheung, or Ng Sing-chi ({✯✯) would illuminate the transitional period 1898-1930. On the one hand he is considered, by the Sha Po villagers, as being \"The Hero of the New Territories,” a literatus (Sau Tsoi) who led the revolt of 1898 against the British and, in later years, against Tang efforts to reassert land rights. His name figures prominently in the Extension Papers, in which he is implicated in the Tang Cheung murders and other related resistance events. His confession is particularly interesting, as it implicates many Tangs in the crime. He received a sentence of life-imprisonment, which was later commuted \"to still the hearts of the loyal natives.\"\n\n34. The 1930's were particularly eventful years in and around Kam Tin. The Chengs (i) moved in, after being relocated due to the building of the Shing Mun Reservoir at Tsuen Wan by the Hong Kong Government. The villas (1) built in Pat Heung with Overseas Chinese and Warlord support, became nuclei for non-Tang settlements unbound by the traditional system.* The last tax-revolt against the Tangs was successfully carried out by Sha Po villagers, an event which coincided with the disappearance of sai-man and mui-chai.\n\ne.g. Ng Ka Tsuen immediately south of Kam Tin which is populated by descendants and relatives of a wealthy Overseas Chinese.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1977.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208284, "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": 8, "title": "RAS-1978", "content_text": "187\n\nto Mr. Chan T'aai of Tseung Kwan O, they demanded protection money from the villagers. Eight to ten people would come in a gang, armed with guns. The village elders had to collect money from every one to pay them. Mr. Lei Yun Shau remembered that about twenty days after the Japanese had passed through, bandits attacked his native village of Man Yee Wan. At the time, he operated a ferry boat between his village and Sai Kung Market, and the bandits spared his house. Just outside Sai Kung, in Wong Chuk Long, Mr. Wan Yau was robbed of over ten piculs of grain the first time the bandits came. Thereafter he hid most of his food reserve on the hillside, and his pigs in a damaged kiln. Even then, the bandits found the pigs. Mr. Chan Shing of Tai Long remembered that the bandits came every several days, demanding food and money. All their grain was taken, and the villagers survived on roots and leaves. Fortunately, in 1942, there was a brushfire over Chinese New Year, and afterwards the hillside was overgrown with wild lilies. The villagers gathered them for food. The lilies were bitter, but some of this bitterness could be leached out by covering them with ash and salt before they were cooked. These lilies were the villagers' principal diet that winter. In spring, when they were ready to farm, the only seeds they could find were the small amounts that some people had managed to hide on the hillside. By mid-1942, they were so starved that they harvested the rice before it ripened, ground the grain to flour and used it for cakes. In April, when the bandits came again, there was literally nothing that they found worth taking away.71\n\nSome bandits were local people, but most had come over from Sha Yue Ch'ung and Wai Chau. Mr. Chan T'aai of Tseung Kwan O believed that the gangs that looted his village had their hideout on Junk Island. Mr. Lei Yun Shau was once captured by the bandits, while he was transporting rice between Sai Kung and Man Yee Wan, and was taken to Leung Shuen Wan.\n\nHe was finally released on the intervention of another bandit, who knew Mr. Lei, and who considered that the local ferries should not be disturbed. Mr. Lei's mother was extremely upset to learn that he had been captured, and might have helped also to arrange his release. Finally, the sum of eight hundred dollars was paid to the bandits.72", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1978.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8g84t8593", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208347, "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": 71, "title": "RAS-1978", "content_text": "IS FACE THE SAME AS LI? \n\n55\n\nflexible, li is rigid and unyielding, and so societies interested in the same results—or what appears to be the same results, avidly turn to the cultivation of subtle techniques for manipulating face, leaving the narrow path of li to fanatics and moral people.\n\nThat is perhaps, incidentally, why Confucianism bears such strong marks of pride and not so much the marks of a shame sanction. Even its shame is based on pride. The most valued disposition in a Confucian man is his pride, or 'self-pride'. Literary history, biographies of scholars, officials and poets as well as evidence in daily contact with them leaves little room for doubt. This pride is not the same as face, because it involves severe self-criticism and an ideal self-image which is in operation not only when someone is looking, but even when no one is looking except oneself, and oneself is always looking. This ideal self-image rests on pride: the conviction that it is superior, that it hangs upon nothing except one's aspirations. To be superior one has to be superior to someone, and Confucian men have not pitched themselves only against foreigners or 'barbarians' but the ordinary people—the 'small people'—they live among. The small people are afraid of punishment, of public censure, of being shamed, but the superior man is afraid of not reaching his high ideal. The superior man judges himself not by the approval of his community but by the traditional ideal set by Confucius and in the sacred books of ancient sages. He is ashamed to see himself fall short of that ideal, but that he should adhere to that ideal stems from pride, from his aspiration to be a true elite.\n\nParallel in a Guilt-saintliness System\n\nIs there a parallel to the subterfuge relation between li and face in a guilt-saintliness system such as Catholicism? We have good reason to expect people to resort to subterfuges when hard-to-attain or unattainable goals are pressed upon them. Catholicism certainly presses upon its adherents the extremely high aspiration of saintliness such as expressed in 'You should be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect' on the one hand, and on the other of a scrupulous conscience able to detect the smallest sin and bring on the deepest feeling of guilt. The propagated lives of canonized saints act as the models constantly exhorting one to combine both and bring them to the very highest standards. It is easy enough to see the subterfuge, which is to take upon extravagant acts of piety rather", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1978.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8g84t8593", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208893, "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-1980", "page_number": 55, "title": "RAS-1980", "content_text": "CHINESE MONASTERIES, TEMPLES, SHRINES, ALTARS\n\n27\n\nthan not they were allowed to remain unscathed by the demolition gangs. This was how the apparent plethora of Chaozhou temples was explained by a Chaozhou policeman.\n\nTemple Management and Staffing, and Hong Kong Government Controls\n\nUntil the gazetting of the Hong Kong Government Chinese Temples Ordinance of the 27th April, 1928,* required all temples to be registered, temples were managed by individuals, by groups or organizations and quite often devotees were exploited. A section of the Home Affairs Department of the Hong Kong Government keeps records of property, listed under temples and shrines, private institutions, houses converted into special temples and guild properties.\n\nIn some temples in Hong Kong which come directly under Hong Kong Government control the keeper's post was tendered out periodically, with the highest bidder having the right to sell joss sticks, candles and paper offerings, and to perform rites and ceremonies for devotees for a fee. This was discontinued in 1967 when the Government began employing its own temple managers. Such managers are now employed at seventeen temples throughout Hong Kong.\n\nMany temples are under public control, managed by neighbourhood community committees, by religious groups or by a larger group such as the Tung Wah Hospital Group, with detailed regulations to control the duties of the temple keeper (Si Ju**). The Tung Wah Group runs seven temples and receives a considerable charitable income from, amongst others, the Wongtaisin Temple in North Kowloon. Some temples are managed by private individuals, and a few of the monasteries and temples are private, run for the religious benefit of the small number of occupants. These latter do not encourage visitors though the residents will courteously welcome the occasional one or two. A few of the private Buddhist\n\n*(\"To suppress and prevent abuse in the management of Chinese Temples\"). Although enacted in 1928 it has been revised periodically.\n\n+This practice followed that long adopted by many bodies or communities owning temples, especially in towns. Hon. Editor.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1980.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/kh04md207", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209138, "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-1981", "page_number": 41, "title": "RAS-1981", "content_text": "ANOTHER LOOK AT LAND AND LINEAGE IN THE N T, c 1900\n\n—\n\n27\n\nall\n\ntoo, multiple rights in land became negotiable. Thus, by the end of the Ch'ing period, in the places where this system existed, the revenue right, the cultivation right, and sometimes the tenancy right could be bought and sold, or mortgaged (as well as inherited), and, since mortgage could be assigned, might be transferred yet another step or two. The economic and social significance of these developments in late imperial China awaits full investigation.\n\nUnder what circumstances did such a system come into being? I believe I have identified five kinds of circumstances. There may be many more. In one case, where a frontier is to be opened or devastated lands reclaimed, patents may be given to an entrepreneur to make the necessary arrangements. He may then recruit persons to do the work, giving them a perpetual lease to cultivate the land subject only to their paying him an annual rent on a perpetual basis. In this way, both entrepreneurship (which sometimes included partial financing of reclamation) and the actual labour of opening the land, are given their rewards. Such was the most common origin of the multi-tiered tenure system in Ch'ing Taiwan; but as far as I know these circumstances never applied to the New Territories of Hong Kong.\n\nIn a second case, local power sometimes extending beyond the purely local to become influence in higher places was the basis of such an arrangement. In this case, clans or individuals who arrived early in a given region, claimed the best lands for themselves, and, in time, perhaps produced degree holders who exercised influence, or through armed forces asserted their local power, would then claim what amounted to \"protection money\" from other landowners in their region. Again, the result was the same: a right to part of the produce of the land. But in this case, there seems to have been little sense of responsibility for paying the tax and, indeed, the arrangement, based on power rather than documented land rights, might not have been recognized by the Chinese government if ever brought to notice. We are most familiar with this form of revenue claim from reports of the activities of the Tangs of Kam Tin just prior to the British assumption of sovereignty over the New Territories.\n\nIn a third case, on a frontier where there were non-Chinese aboriginal peoples, treaties might be made with the latter in which Chinese settlement and land rights were allowed subject to the perpetual payment of fees to the aboriginal claimants. In Taiwan, where this situation existed, such a fee was called \"barbarian\" rent, or \"barbarian\" revenue (fan ta-tsu).", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1981.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ff36bt18m", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209141, "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-1981", "page_number": 44, "title": "RAS-1981", "content_text": "30\n\nEDGAR WICK BERG\n\n-\n\nclaims were not settled by the British administration until 1908. Despite the wide prevalence of revenue-claiming practices and institutions, the British recognized only those revenue rights that could be documented. Thus, the raw power and somewhat less raw influence of the Tangs of Kam Tin which underlay their revenue claims, and which the Pat Heung region, at least, had but recently thrown off by force, was not recognized. Only in the fifth circumstances and sometimes the fourth where a perpetual lease document, or perhaps a satisfactory sale document could be produced, were such rights recognized. It is of interest to note that despite the wide prevalence of multiple \"ownership\" noted by early British land officers, only the claims of about 40 \"taxlords\" were sufficiently documented to be recognized, and the land involved amounted to only about 200 acres, in a total New Territories cultivated acreage estimated at 40,000 acres. Those whose claims were so recognized were awarded lands as full owners elsewhere in the New Territories, and the multiple-\"ownership\" system was thus retired.\n\nIt is interesting to note the similarities and differences between the New Territories and Taiwan on these points. In 1900, north Taiwan was 100 to 150 years past the frontier age which had shaped its multi-tiered land system. But by 1900, fewer than 50 percent of the cultivated lands in the north had such arrangements, and when the Japanese put an end to the system in 1905, they were actually following through on an attempt that had been made in the 1880s, under Chinese rule, by Governor Liu Ming-ch'üan to end the multiple \"ownership” system. This is not the place for extensive comparisons, but we may observe in passing that the much greater prevalence of the multi-tiered system in the New Territories in 1900 as compared to Taiwan at the same time may be a result of the much greater importance of clans here than there.\n\nII. The rate of tenancy.\n\n-\n\nHere we are speaking, properly, in terms of a multi-tiered system, of subtenancy: not the taxlord-\"owner\" relationship, to use the early British terms, but the relationship between the \"owner\" and the tenant under him - the man who actually cultivated the land. Much less has been written about tenancy at this level than at the upper-level of taxlord to \"owner\". Understandably, the British interest in 1900 was primarily in determining a single owner who would be responsible for paying the tax. Owners were asked the names of their", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1981.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ff36bt18m", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209148, "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-1981", "page_number": 51, "title": "RAS-1981", "content_text": "ANOTHER LOOK AT LAND AND LINEAGE IN THE N T. c. 1900\n\n37\n\nnames!\n\nMy point of departure is Hugh Baker's essay on the \"Five Great Clans of the New Territories\". I can hardly hold Baker responsible for what my imagination has done with the material and the views he presented. I can only give him credit for stimulating me to think about the history of the New Territories as, looked at in one way, a history of a few major clans competing for influence over territory. Territorial influence, as I understand it, might have been exercised through overlordship, of the kind the Tangs of Kam Tin held in the Pat Heung region; or control of markets (there were some well-known instances of this); or actual land ownership (in the sense of ownership of the right of cultivation or occupancy, whether by clan trusts or by individual members of the clan); or by possession of mortgages over a significant proportion of the land. It is the last two of these – land ownership and mortgage holdings that I shall examine.\n\nBaker did not argue that all of the land in the New Territories was occupied by the great clans. Indeed, it has been generally observed for many years now that there were two types of area, with reference to lineage in the New Territories: one, the lineage stronghold, was dominated by a single lineage; the other was an area where there was no dominant lineage. Whenever the relationship between the two kinds of areas had been discussed it has been either in terms of the kind of overlordship of Tang over Pat Heung that I have mentioned above or else with reference to the existence of subordinate villages within the sphere of the dominant lineage. This last phenomenon, that of the so-called ha-tsai (more commonly referred to as \"ha-fu\" or subordinate villages), has been discussed by Potter for the Ping Shan area and by Watson for the San Tin area. So far I have found no evidence of its existence in the part of the Pat Heung I am studying.\n\nMy objective in choosing for study the area from Kam Tin eastward to the end of the Kam Tin Basin was to see what I could learn about the extent of Kam Tin power as expressed in land and mortgage ownership as one moves away from the stronghold of Kam Tin itself. Since none of the other “Five Great Clans\" owned land or otherwise exercised influence in this region it seemed to me that any limits on Tang land-owning power or expansion would not, therefore, be the result of countervailing power expressed by another major clan. Such limitations, if any, might be the result of local resistance of some sort, or merely the result of distance from Kam Tin. With this in mind, I have examined land and mortgage ownership, house ownership and evidences of the existence and strength of local clans, temples, schools and community", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1981.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ff36bt18m", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209149, "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-1981", "page_number": 52, "title": "RAS-1981", "content_text": "38\n\nEDGAR WICKBERG\n\nhalls to see what I could learn about Tang influence on the one hand and local solidarities and influence on the other.\n\nI expected to find a pattern of declining Tang landholdings as one moved away from Kam Tin towards the east end of the Basin. In fact, what I found was solid owned-holdings and mortgage holdings by the Kam Tin Tangs in the area immediately to the east of the lineage stronghold itself, but a complete drop-off thereafter: no Kam Tin Tang holdings beyond a mile or two east of Kam Tin. Instead, what is most noticeable is the widespread land ownership influence of a different set of Tangs - the Hakka Tangs of Wang Toi Shan, a large village of several hamlets in the Northeastern portion of the Pat Heung area. Indeed, it is Wang Toi Shan ownership that follows my presumed pattern of solidity nearby trailing off to smaller amounts over distance. Wang Toi Shan people owned lands at considerable distances from their village well beyond their ability to walk to them and cultivate them themselves and right up to the area where Kam Tin Tang ownership began. Interestingly enough, Wang Toi Shan Tang holdings were mostly those of clan trusts. Where the lands were near to Wang Toi Shan itself, they were both individually-owned and clan-owned; more distant lands were almost all clan-owned. Parenthetically, this seems to resemble an observation made by J. T. Kamm about the holdings of the Kam Tin Tangs: that their individual holdings were close by and their clan holdings were often distant.\n\nThe Tangs of Wang Toi Shan may or may not be related in some way to the Tangs of Kam Tin. The Wang Toi Shan Tangs were Hakkas, of course, and the Kam Tin Tangs are usually thought of as Punti. But there is a Kam Tin tradition that someone of the Punti Tang branches of Ping Shan or Ha Tsuen married a Hakka woman of Waichow and that her male offspring settled in Wang Toi Shan, thereby founding the Tang name and fortune there. And the genealogy of the Hakka Tangs of Shui Lau Tin, who claim affiliation with the Wong Toi Shan Tangs, shows some possible links between themselves and the Kam Tin Tangs. The Wang Toi Shan Tangs with whom I have spoken deny kinship, but their genealogy appears to show a common place of origin in North China with the Kam Tin Tangs. Lo Hsiang-lin, however, finds no modern connection.\n\nV. Localities\n\nLet us look individually at the villages in the area east of Kam Tin, starting with Sheung Tsuen village, the farthest away at the east end", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1981.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ff36bt18m", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209150, "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-1981", "page_number": 53, "title": "RAS-1981", "content_text": "ANOTHER LOOK AT LAND AND UNEAGE IN THE N T. c 1900\n\n39\n\nof the Kam Tin Basin. Sheung Tsuen was a large Punti village of several hamlets. Although no single lineage was dominant, the Lais owned almost 30 percent of the land in the area of the village. The Hakka Tangs of Wang Toi Shan village, not far to the north of Sheung Tsuen, owned an equal amount of land. Among the Wang Toi Shan Tangs there was only one individual owner of note; all the rest of their land was corporately owned. Another 25 percent of the land was owned by individuals and corporations of three Sheung Tsuen surnames: Tsang, Cheung and Tse. Thus 55 percent of the cultivated land was owned by four local surnames, and 30 percent by the Tangs of Wang Toi Shan, considered, it appears, as outsiders but near neighbours. Of 62 Sheung Tsuen-based corporations owning land in the area, 34 were either exclusively Lai organizations or ones with a Lai as trustee. More than half of the lineage trusts were those of the Lais. But there were 22 land-owning lineage trusts belonging to the Tangs of Wang Toi Shan, only a few less than the 28 of the Lais. As for house ownership, it is impossible to be precise, because the house records for this area are incomplete, or seem to be. From what is available, it appears that Lai house ownership was in proportion to their land ownership, but that the Tangs of Wang Toi Shan owned few houses. Associations of all kinds, judging by the ownership record, flourished in Sheung Tsuen. I was struck by not only the number of lineage organizations, temples and the like, but other associations as well—devoted, for example, to education, mutual benefit, and, perhaps, investment. There was also, in this area as elsewhere in the Pat Heung, a branch of the Tong Yick Tong, the community organization for the Pat Heung as a whole.\n\nThe next village to the west, Lin Fa Tei, was also large — perhaps, 700 persons in 1900. No surname could be called predominant, although one surname (Lei) owned about 22 percent of the cultivated land. None of the other four leading local surnames owned more than 15 percent, and the total of the holdings of these five local surnames was about 60 percent of the cultivated land in this area. House ownerships roughly followed the pattern of land ownership. Although there were lineage schools and religious associations and temples, there were few lineage trusts (10–15) and not a great deal of corporate land. Although only 60 per cent of the lands around the village were owned by the five leading surname groups of the village, there was not a great deal of outside ownership. The Tangs of Wang Toi Shan owned some land, but most of the remainder was scattered among various minor surnames of Lin Fa Tei.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1981.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ff36bt18m", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209151, "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-1981", "page_number": 54, "title": "RAS-1981", "content_text": "40\n\nEDGAR WICKBERG\n\nThe small Hakka village of Shui Lau Tin was quite different. This was essentially a two-lineage village. The Tsois was the more numerous and owned most of the houses. But the one Tang lineage was quite prosperous as were many of the Tsois. Yet, while the largest landowners among both Tsois and Tangs owned much of their lands away from the village, and more to the west near Yuen Kong, other lineages and other villages owned land right up to the walls, so to speak, of Shui Lau Tin. Without tracing the affiliations of each of these surname groups it would be difficult to classify Shui Lau Tin in any typology of New Territories lineage villages.\n\nFinally, the large village of Yuen Kong, a mixed Hakka-Punti village nearest to Kam Tin of any I have looked at. Here, the Leung surname was preeminent, since Leungs owned almost 30 percent of the houses in the village, twice as many as any other of the major surnames of the village, and they also owned 26 percent of the cultivated land in the village area. There were seven lineage trusts - one for each of the major surnames and five religious associations. 75 percent of the cultivated land around the village was locally-owned, but there were important enclaves of ownership by the Kam Tin Tangs, the Wang Toi Shan Tangs, and individuals from Shui Lau Tin, Lin Fa Tei and Sheung Tsuen.\n\nHaving surveyed the area in this way, I find myself puzzled by what appears to have been an absence of Kam Tin influence east of Kam Tin, other than in the way we know about: that is, the earlier overlordship. Is it possible they never held land in the Pat Heung other than within a mile or two of their own gates? To the west of Kam Tin there were Tang branches, large-scale land ownership, market control, and overlordship over ha-lu. It would seem that the Kam Tin Tangs expanded to the west, but not much to the east. If so, why? Surely, the Pat Heung, a fertile area, was attractive.\n\nI can think of some possibilities. One might be united local opposition. We know that, strong though they are, Tang branches could be successfully opposed when several groups united. The Pat Heung opposition to overlordship discussed above is one instance; the Taipo Market case is another. Was there a united Pat Heung organization well before 1900 and well before the opposition to Tang overlordship, perhaps centering on the Tong Yick Tong, or something like it, that could prevent sales of land to Kam Tin? A second possibility: were there, perhaps, village-level agreements not to sell land to Kam Tin, but rather, if one must sell, to sell to another surname in the", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1981.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ff36bt18m", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209152, "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-1981", "page_number": 55, "title": "RAS-1981", "content_text": "ANOTHER LOOK AT LAND AND LINEAGE IN THE N. T. © 1900\n\n41\n\nvillage or nearby? What relevance to Kam Tin is there, if any, to the modest expansion of the Hakka Tangs of Wang Toi Shan, such that they owned 150–200 acres spread over a wide part of the Pat Heung?\n\nThis last point raises the question of how surname influence of non-\"great\" clans was extended; or, to put it another way, the nature of the territorial history of non-dominant lineages. Granting the limitations of the material we are using, a few preliminary observations may be made. It appears that the Tangs of Wang Toi Shan may have acquired lands through mortgage or purchase by their clan trusts, as well as by individual acquisition. It is striking that although their lands nearest to their home base are either individually owned or corporately owned, those most distant are almost invariably owned by lineage trusts. It is of further interest that of the 44 major landholding individuals in the area I have studied, only one of them was Wang Toi Shan Tang. Wang Toi Shan Tang land, wherever it was found, was likely to be clan land. The 'Kam Tin Tangs' lands in the Pat Heung, by contrast, do not include any distant holdings at least not in this part of the Pat Heung. And, unlike the Wang Toi Shan Tangs, whose corporate organizations made mortgage loans to other surnames, the Kam Tin Tangs, according to the record of 1905, were mortgaging property only among themselves.\n\nVI. Conclusion\n\nTo briefly summarize the paper: I think that the tenure system in the New Territories ca. 1900 was broadly similar to that found in other parts of South China at the same time. The rate of tenancy, measured in tenant-cultivated land, may have been about 50 percent or slightly higher. A typical farm might range in size from one to three acres, perhaps half of it owned by the farmer and the other half rented. An ordinary farm family might derive its income from several sources and occupations, and we can apply no easy and exclusive analytical categories, such as \"tenants\", \"labourers\", etc. Clan influence over territory might be exercised through a clan's ability to collect rents as an overlord or super-claimant on the land; or through its control of a market; or through its land ownership. A federation of less powerful clans might reduce its power as a revenue claimant or a market controller. Whether there were any such federations that checked its expansion of land ownership remains to be seen.\n\nTwo types of locality in the New Territories are presented in most analyses. The \"lineage stronghold” type is dominated by a single", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1981.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ff36bt18m", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209660, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1982", "page_number": 317, "title": "RAS-1982", "content_text": "NOTES AND QUERIES \n\n295 \n\nstyled a kung shoh (ABT) with a 'lock-up' for offenders. They were located in some old houses with small windows, near the Tin Hau temple and inside the wall. According to elders born in the 1880s, the village had watchmen when they were young, even though there was still a moat round the village at that time, albeit used as a fishpond. A new office was built above the main entrance of the village in 1949, perhaps because the old was by then, and earlier, let to tenants. A list of the subscribers hangs in the office.\n\nThe village had street lighting supplied by a public utility company requested and paid for by the office. It had had this amenity even before the war, from about 1930, and got it before it got a piped water supply.\n\nAt the time of my enquiries, the village still employed watchmen, despite the small size of the enclosure. This was so not simply because it was a customary practice, but also because of the presence of many outsiders, in the village and the adjoining squatter areas. It was reported that there were 106 houses in the village, some of them occupied by several families. There were then said to be some 300 families in residence. About a hundred were outsiders, post-war arrivals who were mostly renting and sharing premises.\n\nThere was at some times only one watchman, but two or three at others, dependent upon the need, and also upon how much money was available to pay for their services. They were supposed to be village people, though this condition was loosely interpreted, and was usually fulfilled by at least ten years' residence. The longest serving watchman was then Ah Lung, aged over 50, who had served continuously for twenty years since the Second World War. Ah Chong had 8 or 9 years' service. Two others were mentioned, by then retired, one of whom had served for ten years just after the war and the other for just four, (1958---62). The pay was never high. In 1967 the watchmen were paid $350 per month.\n\nI interviewed one old watchman, born in the village about 1906-07. At the time of the Tung Tau squatter village fire in 1951 he was unemployed, so he became a watchman at nearby", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1982.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209694, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1982", "page_number": 351, "title": "RAS-1982", "content_text": "BOOK REVIEWS\n\n329\n\nAugustus K. K. Siu and Anthony K. K. Siu, Studies on Chinese Genealogies and the History of the Hong Kong Region, Fung Chin Institute, Hong Kong, 1982.\n\nThis book consists of eleven essays on the Hong Kong region (Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, the New Territories, and neighbouring areas). Four of them deal with genealogies, six principally with the history of the New Territories, and the last with boat people's songs. The central theme is that genealogies are valuable source materials for writing the history of this area, and this theme is illustrated with numerous examples.\n\nThere should be no dispute on the central theme: the question is how to put it into practice. The essay on migration into the Hong Kong region (chapter 5), despite the misleading reference in the title to all immigrant lineages as \"guest lineages\", is a useful example. In this essay, the authors list the time periods during which fifty-three surname groups first settled here from evidence recorded in their genealogies. The Tangs of Kam Tin, Lung Yeuk Tau, etc., and the P'aangs of Fan Ling came at the end of the Sung dynasty, the Lams of Shek Po Tsuen, and the Lius of Wu Kai Sha came in the Ming, and so on. The list is a useful first approximation, but obviously much more needs to be done.\n\nAnother interesting essay (chapter 4) describes ten historical “events” recorded in the genealogies. They include the marriage of the Sung princess to the ancestor of the Tangs, several famines and piratical attacks, the coastal evacuation from 1662 to 1668, the establishment of Tai Po New Market, the burial of a Chinese Christian at a Protestant cemetery on Hong Kong Island in 1854, the establishment of charity schools by philanthropist Fung Ping Shan, and flooding in Tsuen Wan in 1954. Similar \"events\" are discussed in greater detail in four other chapters (6, 8, 9 and 10), i.e., the establishment of the \"five great clans\" of the New Territories, the legend often referred to as \"letting go of the wooden goose\", the experience of the Southern Sung court in Kowloon, and the Tsuen Wan village feud of 1862 to 1864. Quite a few of these events have been discussed by other authors, notably Lo Hsiang-lin and James Hayes.\n\nThese later chapters make use of stone tablets and oral", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1982.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209965, "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-1983", "page_number": 224, "title": "RAS-1983", "content_text": "202\n\nAN IMPERIAL CHINESE BANNER PRESERVED IN KENDAL, ENGLAND\n\nP. BRUCE\n\nA unique memento of the First China War is slowly disintegrating in an English parish church due to lack of money to restore it.*\n\nThe war led to the establishment of Hong Kong and one of the British regiments which took part was the 55th (Westmoreland). At the second taking of Chusan, on October 1, 1841, the regiment seized an Imperial Chinese banner. Today it hangs, alongside the disbanded regiment's colours, in a glass case to the left side of the altar of Kendal Parish Church. This banner was the only Imperial Chinese banner seized by British troops during the First China War.\n\nThe vicar of Kendal, and the Border Regiment, which includes the old 55th in its genealogy, are well aware of the urgent need for the banner to receive conservation treatment. The problem is, as ever, money. Estimates of the cost of restoring the banner range somewhere around £2,000 and neither the church nor the regiment can offer any immediate hope of it being raised.\n\nThe episode in which the flag was taken is described in a verse history of the campaign prepared some years afterwards for the 55th. After 20 years service a soldier named Duell had gained a commission. He was given the honour of bearing the regimental colours that autumn day:\n\n\"Ensign Duell holds up our Colour, then falls, shot through the breast.\n\nThat morn had seen the ambition of a life fulfilled.\n\nAn honour borne but for a day, the day that he was killed. For twenty years or more he had well and faithful served, Winning his way, step by step, to a Commission well deserved. And when his name appeared in the previous night's Gazette, All wished him, health, long life, success, to wear his epaulette;\n\n* See plate 11.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1983.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209966, "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-1983", "page_number": 225, "title": "RAS-1983", "content_text": "203\n\nAnd like a brave and gallant soul he pleaded for the honour, To carry in the coming fight the Regimental Colour. Into his willing hands they gave the sacred trust;\n\nThat night the Colour still remained, but, he was as the dust. As Colour Serjeant Davison took the colour from the dead, Another well-aimed shot takes off the gilt spear-head. The first upon the hill was the gallant Lieutenant Butler, Who attacked, and took a Flag from a Chinese soldier; The Standard-bearer falls but we preserve the trophy, In Kendal Church it now hangs up, a record of our glory.\"\n\nThe colours, which fluttered in Hong Kong when the regiment was stationed here after the hostilities are also in urgent need of conservation.\n\nModern viewpoints have assessments of glory or otherwise which differ from those of the 1840s. But the banner in Kendal church is unique and it would be a tragedy if it were allowed to disintegrate. Lt. Colonel Ralph May, Curator of the Regimental Museum of the Border Regiment and Kings Own Royal Border Regiment, Queen Mary's Tower, The Castle, Carlisle, would be delighted to hear of any offers of help in preservation. Given the uniqueness of the banner and the circumstances of its seizure, is it too much to hope that the money to permit that preservation might be found in Hong Kong?\n\nNOTE\n\n1 The action in which the 55th gained the Imperial banner, and in which Ensign Duell was killed is described also in The Border Magazine, September 1955, pp. 178-179, and in the Historical Account of the 34th and 55th Regiments (publ. in the 1870s) pp. 78-79 (information by courtesy of The Curator, The Regimental Museum of the Border Regiment and the Kings Own Border Regiment).\n\nPage 225\n\nPage 226", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1983.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210163, "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-1984", "page_number": 134, "title": "RAS-1984", "content_text": "113\n\nproduce from the sea near the present Aberdeen Country Club. Some villagers operated stake nets lowered by windlass into the sea from a rocky headland, and others used lines catching fish like nai mang (鯺鏝) to make a sweet congee. The old lady's mother, born about 1860, planted hemp and made it into string used for tying and mending clothes until she was sixty years of age. The village people also grew a kind of rush (cheung po) (菖蒲) when she was young, using it as a charm to hang over their doorways, especially in the fifth moon, in the manner reported in old works on China.2\n\n25\n\n-\n\nThe stake nets were an especially favoured form of fishing in local waters. One can see a few surviving sites round the southern coast of Hong Kong island to this day. In the Tangs' time as sub-soil owners\n\nsee below they may have leased sites to local persons, as they were doing in the New Territories in 1899. It is also of interest that no less than 13 sites on the south side of Hong Kong island were leased out by another absentee landlord family of scholar gentry, the Wongs (王) of Nam Tau (南頭) and Cheung Chau, as shown in maps in their printed genealogy issued in the 1860s. People walked far to secure a livelihood in those days. One of the persons interviewed in the investigations into the murder of two British officers near Stanley in 1849, was a villager of Little Hong Kong who had a hut and operated a stakenet on the point where Stanley Fort now stands.\n\n26\n\n27\n\nHowever, farming was the principal occupation. The Little Hong Kong fields can be seen on the Hong Kong Government's first survey sheet for the area, whilst the extent of the Wong Nai Chung fields can be gauged by the race course at Happy Valley which was built over them.28 Rice was favoured because there was a plentiful supply of stream water available that only required damming, leading and terracing, albeit by dint of hard labour, to provide fertile land that would support two crops of rice yearly. An account of harvest time in one of the Hong Kong villages appeared in one of the numbers of the Illustrated London News for 1858.\n\n\"On the 1st of November (1857) I took a walk with a friend into the interior of Hong Kong and saw the process of rice-harvesting, beneath a bright, hot sun, the entire village popu-", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1984.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/5h73wh572", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210171, "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-1984", "page_number": 142, "title": "RAS-1984", "content_text": "121\n\nBritish ignorance of their position under Chinese law and practice, and incoming Chinese settlers' disregard of it. In 1858, their land at Tsim Sha Tsui, on account of its proximity to Hong Kong and its fine position on the harbour, was being occupied for all manner of business by persons who gave no thought to paying rent to the Tangs. They caused a public notice to be prepared, which found its way in translation into the English language paper the Friend of China on 24th July 1858. This was two years before this part of Kowloon was first leased, then ceded, to Britain in the course of the year 1860. The printed version was as follows:\n\n\"Tung Wing-Fook-Tong [sic] of the Sun On district, was formerly sole proprietor of the Island of Hong Kong, and of the hills and coast of the North Side of the Harbour under the general name of Tsin Shat-Choy\n\nLately Tung Wing-Fook-Tong petitioned the Magistrate of Sun-On to examine Tung's claim to Tsin Shat-Choy and the Magistrate issued a proclamation declaring that Tung Wing-Fook-Tong is the real owner of the Property.\n\n51\n\nThe editor of the newspaper was not sympathetic, being downright sceptical of the Tung (Tang) claims to Hong Kong:\n\n\"As to his having been a Lord of this Isle, as well as of Tsim-shat-choy,\" he wrote, \"in a word, we do not believe a word of it\".\n\nIndeed, he went further, dismissing the unfortunate Tangs as being 'mythical as the Hong Kong agents for Holloway's pills' 52\n\nYet the fact remains that the Chinese records corroborate the Tang family's claims to Hong Kong and much else, and their exchanges with the various Chinese authorities at the district, prefectural and provincial level in the 1840s reveal some essential characteristics both as to their own situation as owners of Hong Kong and as to the mind and operation of the imperial bureaucracy. The Tangs were essentially absentee owners, entitled through the registered ownership to be regarded as the true owners of the sub-soil and eligible to exact a rent charge from tenants on it.\"3 The officials with whom they dealt in the course of pressing their", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1984.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/5h73wh572", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210172, "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-1984", "page_number": 143, "title": "RAS-1984", "content_text": "122\n\nJAMES HAYES\n\nclaims, besides being initially ignorant of their position, were as sceptical and cautious as can be expected. Ultimately, however, they were quite prepared to find precedents for a solution after confirming the situation, leisurely, and to their own satisfaction.\n\nThe exchange began with a petition dated 8th day of the 4th lunar month of Tao Kuang 21st year (28 May 1841) to the magistrate of Hsin-an district:\n\n\"We inherited from our forefathers the taxable lands in the following places [named severally]. There are official registration records in respect of our ownership of the aforesaid lands which are collectively known as Kwan Tai Lo (#) of Hong Kong Island (). These areas have previously been leased to farmers Pang Shun-yau () and Chow Ah-yau (A) for cultivation. The situation had always been peaceful and quiet until they came to us and complained of forcible occupation of the lands around Kwan Tai Lo area by English barbarians () whose ships were anchored in the neighbouring bay. These barbarians destroyed their crops to make way for roads and built huts on the unploughed fields. Knowing the fierce and violent nature of these barbarians, our tenant-farmers dared not negotiate with them.\n\nWe depend on the rents collected to pay our tax and support our families. Now that we have been robbed of our vital resources, where are we to turn to for our livelihood? Faced with such stringent circumstances, we feel obliged to bring the case to your attention. Should we be exempted from the payment of land tax for the ravaged areas or are we to join forces to expel the barbarians? We should be most grateful if you would give us advice on this urgent matter at your earliest convenience.\"54\n\nOfficial instructions, presumably to a subordinate, were given as follows:\n\n\"With reference to the case of the Tangs, please furnish us with a full account of the individual areas, the amounts of tax payable and the names of the registered owners of the forcibly", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1984.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/5h73wh572", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210173, "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-1984", "page_number": 144, "title": "RAS-1984", "content_text": "123\n\noccupied lands. We shall carry out investigation of the case when the barbarians are somewhat pacified. Advice on the proper course of action to be taken will then be sought from the higher authorities.'\n\nThus far the complaint was against the English barbarians. But two years later, in another petition to the district magistrate dated 28th day of the fifth moon of Tao Kuang 23rd year (25 June 1843) there entered a new aspect, the behaviour of the Tangs' tenants on the land in question. The petitioner wrote,\n\n\"It happened that the treacherous barbarians have usurped these lands for building purposes and the crops in the area are destroyed. Following this the dishonest tenant Yip Shin-tak (#) and others made use of this chance and declared their own the field behind the houses at Wong Nei Chung, which was the same piece of land leased to them [by the Tangs], and sold it to the English barbarians. Thus my land was usurped and sold. I have lost this piece of land, together with the rent and grain that I should receive from my tenants. I have reported this case to the former magistrate begging him to defer my payment of taxes, and he had granted permission to investigate my case. I also beg your excellency to order the arrest of the treacherous tenant Yip Shin-tak and help me to recover my land.”56\n\nThe authorities were sceptical of this charge against the Tangs' tenants and commented in reply:\n\n\"You do not seem to have considered the fact that when these barbarians were making troubles on your land, they would not possibly be willing to pay for it. This is not logical. Moreover, we have checked the various letters you sent to the officials concerned, and in them you have never mentioned this Yip Shin-tak case, but had said only that the English barbarians have usurped your land for building purposes. Now you have added this new plaint, your intention is indeed dubious. This will not be permitted. Enclosed are the deeds and bills you have submitted.\"57", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1984.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/5h73wh572", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210174, "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-1984", "page_number": 145, "title": "RAS-1984", "content_text": "124\n\n58\n\nJAMES HAYES\n\nNearly a year later, the case still unsettled, four of the Tangs' tenants from Little Hong Kong and ten from Wong Nei Chung and Soo Kon Po were listed as refusing to pay rent in another petition of 23rd of the 4th moon of Tao Kuang 24th year (8th June 1844).** Perhaps there were others, given the Tangs' limited knowledge of their tenants they had cultivated the land from father to son since settling at Wong Nei Chung and elsewhere in the eighteenth century or before9— and the added difficulties of the island having passed under British rule.\n\nHaving dressed down the Tangs, the authorities were not pleased with the tenants' behaviour either. After complaining of the insufficient information and proof of ownership given to him, the magistrate went on:\n\n\"On the other hand, it is said that the tenant Wong Wah and others had refused to pay the rents and grain that are their due. Moreover, they had gone as far as to make up a pretext to usurp the land and, not satisfied with even that, had reported to the foreign officials untruths against their own landlords. They are the emperor's subjects: that they could willingly subject themselves to these barbarians is really a case of utter obduracy and obtuseness. We have lately found out that Yip Shin-tak and others had refused to pay rents and this case has been reported to the [Chinese] officials at Kowloon. The said Kowloon officers would arrest all tenants concerned and if necessary, might discuss the case with the English barbarians. Further steps might be taken as the situation requires.\n\n160\n\nUltimately, the provincial authorities to whom the case was sent for decision realized that there was no putting back the clock. It was concluded that\n\n\"since the English barbarians who had been granted permission by His Imperial Majesty to stay in Hong Kong built quarters on the plots of land owned by the petitioner Tang Chi-cheung (*), it was impossible for him to carry on farming there [sic]. It was suggested that the land tax thereof should be exempted in accordance with the precedent set by the Magistrate of Pun Yue county (K) when houses", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1984.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/5h73wh572", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210175, "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-1984", "page_number": 146, "title": "RAS-1984", "content_text": "125\n\nowned by local people were demolished for the construction of a fortress; also that investigation should be made as to whether there were other land taxes, apart from those of Tang Chi-cheung, which had not been paid.\n\n+61\n\nThis decision was passed to the British Plenipotentiary, Sir John Davis, in a communication from \"Hwang, Treasurer of Kwang-tung\" towards the end of this same 24th year of Tao Kuang, to the effect that\n\n\"as the said Tang's fields are situated within the jurisdiction of Hong Kong the Chinese high officials consider it not proper to exact the [land] tax from Tang, because Hong Kong is made a possession of your Honourable Country.\n\nThe Tang clan's tenants on perpetual leases were thus freed of their payments to the sub-soil owner, and held land on payment of Crown Rent to the Hong Kong government thereafter. I have given the story only as it is contained in the Tang family records; but as expressed on the tenants' side and handled by the Hong Kong authorities, it is elaborated in official British papers contained in the Public Records Office, London.63\n\n64\n\nThe Tangs' claims to be the sub-soil owners cannot have been exclusive; or else there had, by one means or another, been inroads into their rights over the years. Very few Chinese land papers indeed seem to have survived from Hong Kong island from before 1841, but among them is a red deed issued in 1797 to a resident of one of the Chai Wan villages.** The nature of a red deed is such that it is either an initial direct grant of the sub-soil or the official recognition of a transfer from the person previously registered as the taxpayer of the land in question. Also, and as mentioned above, the Wong family of Nam Tau and Cheung Chau leased out 13 fishing stations on the south side of Hong Kong to local people: a right which would usually have gone with ownership of the sub-soil or would have been appropriated by its owner.\n\n65\n\nI turn now to the boat people of Hong Kong, for it is certain that the local population before 1841 comprised boat families as well as villagers. The Tanka or boat people of South China have long", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1984.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/5h73wh572", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210189, "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-1984", "page_number": 160, "title": "RAS-1984", "content_text": "139\n\n58\n\nPetition dated 23rd day of 4th lunar month, Tao Kuang 24th year i.e. 8th June 1844.\n\n59\n\n60\n\nSee notes 19-20 above and relevant text.\n\nResponse or comment, presumably again by the District Magistrate, following the petition of 8th June 1844.\n\n61 Instruction dated sometime in Tao Kuang 24th year, but date and originator not clear to me.\n\n62\n\nCommunication dated 15th day of 11th month, Tao Kuang 24th Year, i.e. 24th December 1844 (from Series CO129/7/9807, p. 326). See also Mayers, Dennys and King, op cit., p. 57.\n\n64\n\nPublic Records Series CO129 and FO233.\n\nCopies of this deed, together with a few other papers from Chai Wan, belonging to Mr Law Wan-yeung(c) of Chai Wan, are available in the Public Records Office of Hong Kong.\n\n65 See note 26 for the Wong holdings. The Tangs leased out similar properties on Tsing Yi Island in the present New Territories, where they apparently did hold the sole rights to the sub-soil up to 1899.\n\n66\n\nSee the account given in J.W. Hayes The Hong Kong Region op cit, p 32 and in J.W. Hayes The Rural Communities of Hong Kong op. cit., pp. 34-37 and 244-246.\n\n67 For accounts of these places see chapters 2 and 3 of J.W. Hayes The Hong Kong Region, op. cit.\n\n6. See J.W. Hayes The Rural Communities of Hong Kong, op. cit., pp 68-9 and relevant notes on p. 254.\n\n69 See the information on settlement in north-west Kowloon and Tsuen Wan in J.W. Hayes The Rural Communities of Hong Kong, op. cit., chapters 5 and 7.\n\n70 Kuo Fei(部) Yueh Ta Chi 與天記三十三政事類渗防廣東沿潮閣\n\n71 This is perhaps misleading and more information is required. The list of places where land was claimed to be in the private ownership of the Tangs, with dates of purchases and names of sellers is given in a petition to the Hsin-an District Magistrate dated 18th day of the 10th moon in Tao Kuang 24th year, i.e. 25 November 1844. This shows that part of those Hong Kong lands registered in the Tung-kwun district yamen, presumably before 1573, had been purchased by the Tangs from another family in the Ch'ien-lung reign, and therefore cannot be used to show Tang ownership in or before the Ming dynasty, although they do suggest that the lands were cultivated and of value in the Ming. Nor do we know whether land registered in what later became Hsin-an had earlier been registered in the Tung-kwun yamen but with the relevant registers transferred to the new district yamen in 1573.\n\n72 For the dates of these temples, and especially for the items mentioned in the Table, see 陸鴻基, 吳偏霞霞, 合编, “香港伸銘彝術 op. cit. (D. Faure, B. Luk, A. Ng, The Historical Inscriptions of Hong Kong), passim.\n\nI\n\n71 See J.W. Hayes The Hong Kong Region op. cit. chapter 7.\n\n74\n\n**\n\nA.R. Johnston “Note on the Island of Hong Kong” in London Geographical Journal, XIV, reprinted in the Hong Kong Almanack and Directory, 1846,\n\n75 Endacott, op cit., p. 59\n\n76 E.J. Eitel, Europe in China op. cit. p. 215.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1984.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/5h73wh572", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210673, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1986", "page_number": 24, "title": "RAS-1986", "content_text": "Ignoring the anxiety of rural cadres, gangs of adventurous youths drifted into the county capital to work in the construction and transportation enterprises. Enterprise managers who sensed that they were soon to be responsible for their own profits and losses were quite willing to employ these youths because they were considered physically stronger, more compliant, and cheaper than city workers.\n\nCommune enterprises were swept by the winds of change that affected the entire Pearl River Delta. Revived market orientations caused less efficient small-scale rural enterprises to go under. Young workers who used to be envied for their choiced employment were left to fend for themselves. The commune factory where Liang had worked was facing grave economic troubles. The manager started to lend idle machinery to other enterprises while seeking various kinds of overseas contracts to keep his workers employed. As a model technician and a former Party Youth League member, respected by his peers and groomed by the commune cadres as the factory's future promise, Liang was particularly disturbed by the situation. Though political relaxation meant maneuverability for some, livelihood in general became more insecure.\n\nWith the belief that the government was opening up in earnest, overseas entrepreneurs began to invest in the delta. County officials as well as cadres in Liang's commune were quite eager to seek overseas contracts to counter the negative effect of their declining control in the collective economy. Through the efforts of both sides, the images of Hong Kong and Macao changed from being corrupt capitalist havens to resource centres for China's modernization. Overseas connections were no longer stigmatised but sought after by foreign trade officials.\n\nOne day in 1979, officials in the county capital unexpectedly gave out application forms at street corners; residents in the county who had relatives in Macao were allowed to apply for emigration. A semi-alien world suddenly opened up. Apprehensive but intensely curious, Liang took a form home to his parents. His application for emigration shocked the commune officials and his friends, though they understood why he wanted to leave.\n\nPage 7", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210678, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1986", "page_number": 29, "title": "RAS-1986", "content_text": "12\n\nHELEN E. SIU\n\nDecember 1980,\" 80 percent of the menial jobs in restaurants were given to the \"green stamp aliens.\" They were also taking short-term work in construction sites which were dangerous and shunned by local workers. Out of 165 work-related deaths from January 1979 to August 1980, 70 percent were immigrants who had come to Hong Kong for fewer than three years. Many work-related injuries occurred within the first six months of immigration. Not only were recent immigrants getting the most undesirable jobs, but also they were systematically paid less than local workers. 18 Public opinion was blunt: these people should be grateful that they were here; if they did not like their treatment, they should go back to China where they belonged; Hong Kong had its hands full already.\n\nIn a word, the recent immigrants had become the scapegoat for social ills connected with political uncertainty and economic panic faced by a population defensive of what it had gained. The media played up the image of “Ah Chan,” the ignorant and vulnerable “mainland boy.\" Social gossip generated a prejudiced view that most of the young aliens were lazy because they were fed with \"socialist\" education. The same survey (1982) shows that 51 percent of the respondents considered recent immigrants to have problems in learning their jobs and that they were not able to match the efficiency of Hong Kong workers. At a more personal level, over 50 percent of them were unwilling to share living space with these immigrants and 45 percent expressed their reluctance to choose them as spouses. Furthermore, prejudice built around the impression that the immigrants were political activists fleeing political prosecution and were therefore potential trouble-makers. The public soaked in the daily newspaper accounts of the activities of \"the Canton Boys,\" gangs formed by recent illegal immigrants. They were described as overly bold and brutal in conducting their business. In October 1984, a court case concerning a series of jewellery robberies confirmed the fears of the general public. Two of the leaders of a new immigrant gang had actually recruited 'mercenaries' from China to conduct the robberies. The Hong Kong police had a difficult time tracing these criminals because they stayed in Hong Kong only for a short time, and were shielded by underground networks that extended well beyond Hong Kong's social and political boundaries. A movie\n\n19", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210893, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1986", "page_number": 244, "title": "RAS-1986", "content_text": "227\n\nThe whole matter was one that was not really for public discussion and the chairman suggested it be dealt with by the Standing Committee of the chamber. After some discussion this mode of dealing with the matter was approved.\n\nHo A-mei may have been a little bold in speaking up at his first meeting of the Chamber of Commerce, but he was not one to shrink from expressing his opinions. His outspokenness received the approval of the press, which in its comments on the emigration resolution said: \"It was a novelty that it was put forward, not without ability, fluency and clearness by a Chinaman. The fact is reassuring, as an indication of the interest in public events which is being developed amongst the Chinese.\"\n\nHo A-mei, as \"a Chinaman,\" was to speak out about public questions on many other occasions.\n\nHO DABBLES IN THE REALTY BUSINESS\n\nHo A-mei's link with the distant past of Hongkong was a housing scheme he was promoting in 1895. The scheme was financed by the wealthy Li Sing family of Hongkong. They had purchased through a Hongkong-based company, Fuk Tin, the remaining rights of the Tang clan in the area between Laichikok and Shamshuipo. There are also references to the Fung Fuk and Tin Fuk firms in connection with the deal.\n\nThe Tang's claim to the land extended back many centuries, most likely to the Sung dynasty, when members of the family first came into the region. There is well-substantiated evidence that the family once owned Hongkong Island, British Kowloon, much of New Kowloon, Tsing Yi Island and a substantial part of the New Territories.\n\nThe original grant had been broken up through the centuries. It was divided among various branches of the clan, portions had been sold outright to others, certain tracts had been perpetually leased with the Tangs retaining their right to annual payments.\n\nThe Tang family received no compensation for their claim for", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211311, "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": 27, "title": "RAS-1988", "content_text": "3\n\nduring the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the Sino-Vietnamese water world was a region further linked by the dynamics of a covert, illegal, but highly utilitarian exchange: the iron of China for the rice of Vietnam. The rice surpluses of Vietnam were important to the burgeoning Cantonese population no longer able to feed itself, but Vietnamese law forbade the exportation of rice. At the same time the Chinese were barred from exporting the iron so greatly desired across the border that Vietnamese officials often waived their own regulations for Chinese junks that brought it in by reducing or eliminating the customary port duties. Because each country needed products from the other and open trade was not possible, a well-established smuggling operation, in which the line between smuggling and piracy was often very thin, resulted.\n\nFinally, there was at all times within the water world a pool of potential pirates. Most numerous among them were the fishermen who almost always had trouble making ends meet, merchants and petty traders whose businesses had failed, outlaws, whose last recourse in fleeing from justice was the sea, and other ne'er-do-wells whom Wei Yuan indiscriminately labelled as \"scum of the coast\". In short, these were the flotsam of the earth, who, after having been pushed off the land, found themselves in desperate straits at the water's edge.\n\nTheir combined energies gave rise to the petty piracy of part-time fishermen-pirates that flourished along the Sino-Vietnamese border for centuries. Petty piracy was a small-scale affair consisting of limited groups of between ten and thirty men who possessed at most a single junk or two. Although such gangs might come together and disperse several times in the course of their activities, each functioned as a single, independent unit whose members were simultaneously connected to no other groups. Survival was their goal and their tactics consisted of sporadic raids and hit and run attacks.\n\nWas there then some kind of ecological or environmental crisis which can account for the dramatic upsurge in Chinese piracy at the end of the eighteenth century? The answer appears to be \"no\", for although ecology can explain why piracy persisted within the water world for centuries, there seems to be no major environmental crisis that can provide a single-handed explanation for the growth of piracy. The overall", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1988.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211312, "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": 28, "title": "RAS-1988", "content_text": "social, demographic and economic situation of the late Ch'ien-lung and Chia-ch'ing periods led to an intensification of petty piracy as more and more gangs came into being, but not to any transformation of the phenomenon to a large scale or higher level of organization.\n\nThus we must next ask whether the growth in piracy was owing to outside patronage or support as was often the case with piracy throughout the rest of the world. In the first instance, the answer is \"yes\", for the immediate growth of piracy in China can be traced to the Tayson Rebellion in Vietnam and the creation of a privateer fleet by the Quang Trung Emperor (Nguyen Quang Trung). As a result of Tayson patronage, pirates, no longer forced to spend all of their energy on survival, could turn their attention to organization which became larger, more complex, and more permanent.\n\nWhereas pirate gangs of the pre-Tayson era had consisted of a score of men and a couple of vessels, by 1796 associations of a hundred men, and a dozen junks were not uncommon. Hierarchies comprised of patron-client relationships extending two, and sometimes even three, layers gradually appeared, and asylum in Vietnam allowed pirate leaders extraordinary opportunities for getting acquainted and cooperating in joint ventures. In creating privateers, the Tayson legalized piracy and thus radically transformed the status of its underworld practitioners who were instantly elevated from \"scourges of the sea\" to sailors in the king's navy. The result was a significant escalation in the scale of piracy.\n\nHowever, the heyday of the Tayson was short and their dethronement in 1802 left the Chinese pirates bereft once more of either a base or patronage. No longer were their activities regarded as \"legitimate” in any sense of the word and never would they be so again, yet, patronage notwithstanding, the pirates had come under Tayson sponsorship nowhere close to what would ultimately become their maximum growth. Thus, the Tayson era can be viewed as a kind of transition phase which allowed petty pirates to take the first and most crucial step in their own transformation. Yet, the period of the pirates' greatest strength still lay ahead and it came, not while they were allied to the Vietnamese, but rather after they had been forced out on their own into a hostile world in which they were regarded as the proverbial \"enemies of all mankind”.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1988.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211334, "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": 50, "title": "RAS-1988", "content_text": "26\n\nThe kidnappers were daring in their raids. By early 1859 Chinese from all walks of life were increasingly being carried off by Chinese gangs working for foreign coolie agents. The Chinese community was so alarmed that it simultaneously petitioned the allied authorities to stop the kidnappings as well as taking matters into its own hands. In April local merchants petitioned the British to take action. That same month local Chinese, having captured several kidnappers, murdered them.\" Consul Alcock described the situation:\n\nThe acts of violence and fraud connected with the coolie trade at this port... have already reached such a pitch of atrocity that a general feeling of alarm spread through the population accompanied by a degree of excitement and popular indignation which rendered it no longer possible or safe for any authority interested in the peace of the place to remain inactive.5\"\n\n5\n\nAlcock's last sentence provides the principal clue to the allied commissioners' dilemma. Somewhere around 60,000 to 70,000 people had been carried off in recent years, but until recently that had principally been a Chinese concern. But since January of the previous year, Canton had been under allied administration and now any agitation caused by the kidnappers would necessarily impact negatively on the European ability to continue the occupation. In short, it was now their problem. And if simple insecurity was not enough to get them to move against the kidnappers, class concerns added an additional incentive, for it was understood that the randomly selected victims were often from the Chinese upper classes, which the British found more “civilized” than many other groups.\n\n60\n\nIf it was imperative that the illegal kidnapping stop, nevertheless, it was true as well that, with the ever-increasing demand for labour in the New World, the Europeans were committed to finding a more acceptable means of recruiting Chinese contract labour. The next months would thus see a two-part effort; on the one hand to suppress the kidnapping while on the other hand to regularize coolie emigration in a fashion that was acceptable to the local Chinese yet which did not compromise the outflow of Chinese labourers.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1988.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211517, "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": 234, "title": "RAS-1988", "content_text": "210\n\nof the ground, so that they can rise up with the balloon in due course: these youths have to light the fuses at just the right moment when the balloon takes off (see plate 6).\n\nOnce the balloon is fully erect, the oil-soaked ball is set alight and fixed to the centre of the wire struts at the rim. The balloon is pulled down to the ground and held down by as many of the village youths as possible, to maximise the heating effect of the very ardent fire produced by the oil-soaked ball (see plate 7).\n\nLighting of the old peanut oil ball was not always easy, and often took some time; the modern diesel soaked balls are much easier to light. In either case, once lit, the balloon soon begins to glow like a huge lantern, and the whole balloon quickly starts to strain upwards. The young men of the village try to restrain the balloon until the whole surface of the oil-ball was well alight, to ensure that the balloon flies upwards quickly and directly, with no dangerous lurches to the side where village buildings and crops stand ready to be set on fire. Usually, the balloon's lift is, however, so great that the young men are unable to restrain it for more than a few seconds. This is the most dangerous time, as the risks of the balloon catching fire at this stage are high: about half, in fact, fail and collapse in flame in this stage. If they don't burn out, the lift is great enough to carry the balloon up to a height of several thousand feet: balloons will cross the mountains of the New Territories with little problem. Ideally, the night for flying a balloon should be still and windless, so that the balloon goes straight up and hangs like a great lantern over the village, only drifting off slowly (see plate 8). A well-made balloon with a peanut oil-ball would burn, the villagers state, throughout the night and into the following day. Certainly, within the last 3 years, the author has seen balloons still hanging two or three hundred feet above the ground well into the morning after the Mid Autumn Festival. Diesel fired balloons burn out quicker, and tend to drift back to earth after an hour or so.\n\nThe villagers are and were aware of the fire-risks inherent in these balloons. The danger was when the balloon came back to earth still burning rather than staying in mid-air until the oil burnt out and the balloon drifted, dead, slowly back to earth. If the balloon was not restrained for the first few seconds after it was lit, or if the paper dome\n\n!\n\n!", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1988.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211569, "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": 286, "title": "RAS-1988", "content_text": "DAVID FAURE'S REJOINDER:\n\nThere is much in this review that I dislike how can Chun take me to task, on the one hand, for dabbling in Anthropology, and on the other hand, conclude that I think “local history can be understood simply by looking at events and personages as they take place on the ground”?\n\nHowever, let me answer the several criticisms that I think touch on some of the major issues. First, Chun thinks I do not have a salient criticism of Freedman's thesis. Let me reiterate that much as we have learnt from Freedman, I found him wanting for not being able to incorporate village religion into his lineage framework, and for being sloppy in his use of terms such as \"local lineage\", \"higher-level lineage\" and \"clan\". I think my argument for the importance of \"settlement rights\" salvages his concept of the \"local lineage\".\n\nSecond, Chun does not present here accurately my argument concerning the grandiose freestanding ancestral halls built in the official style. I do not argue that there was a \"period\" of the \"Five Great Clans” not even in the eastern portion of the New Territories. I think the linkage of lineage groups across settlement, and the adoption of a code of conduct that included the compilation of written genealogies and that was consistent with officially prescribed standards, took root as a change in style that began in the sixteenth century and gradually worked its way from the richer and more powerful lineages to the poorer ones. This process took fully three centuries, and during this period different territorial groups dominated different parts of the eastern New Territories. In a nutshell, Lung Yeuk Tau (Tang surname) was overlord of all this area, with minor concessions to the Haus of Hung Leng and Ho Sheung Heung, up to the end of the Ming dynasty, The Lius of Sheung Shui sprang into prominence in the early Qing, nibbling into former Tang terrain, while possibly some time in the eighteenth century, the Hung Leng Haus lost their holdings. Of the other two surnames in the “Five”, the Fan Ling P'aangs did not achieve prominence until the nineteenth century, and while the Tai Hang Mans were taken into account by Lung Yeuk Tau, Sheung Shui and Ho Sheung Heung when the Po Tak Tz Old Alliance was formed in the early Qing (possibly eighteenth century), its influence declined subsequently until it became a party of the Kau Yeuk, along with the P'aangs, that founded Tai Po new market in the late nineteenth century. This history notwithstanding, my argument is quite simply that the ancestral worship one sees the villagers practise", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1988.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211591, "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": 6, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "CONTENTS\n\nPRESIDENT'S REPORT\n\nHON. TREASURER'S REPORT\n\nHON. LIBRARIAN'S REPORT\n\nARTICLES:\n\nDan Waters\n\nLIBRARIES\n\n138 1937. vii\n\nAR\n\nIn the Steps of Lu Pan: Reminiscences of Building in Hong Kong\n\nK.J.P. Lowe\n\nHong Kong, 26 January 1841: Hoisting the Flag Revisited\n\nKeith Stevens\n\nThe Jade Emperor and his Family, Yu Huang Ta Ti\n\nKeith Stevens - Fukienese Wang Yeh (Ong Ya [Hokkien])\n\nP.H. Munro-Faure\n\nThe Kiukiang Incident of 1927\n\nA.D. Blackburn\n\nHong Kong, December 1941 July 1942\n\nChan Ka-yan\n\nJoss Stick Manufacturing: A Study of a Traditional Industry in Hong Kong\n\nP.H. Hase\n\nCheung Shan Kwu Tsz, An Old Buddhist Nunnery in the New Territories and its Place in Local Society\n\nJ.H. Haan\n\nThalia and Terpsichore on The Yangtze, Survey of Foreign Theatre and Music in Shanghai 1850-1865\n\nFred Dagenais\n\nJohn Fryer's Early Years in China: I. Diary of His Voyage to Hong Kong\n\nChan Wing-hoi\n\nThe Dangs of Kam Tin and Their Jiu Festival\n\nxxi\n\nxxiii\n\n8\n\n18\n\n34\n\n61\n\n77\n\n94\n\n121\n\n158\n\n252\n\n302\n\nNOTES AND QUERIES:\n\nE. Sinn\n\nNotes on the Robert Hart Papers at the University of Hong Kong Library\n\n376\n\nP.H. Hase\n\nA Song from Sha Tau Kok on the 1911 Revolution\n\n382\n\nP.H. Hase\n\nThe Mutual Defence Alliance (Yeuk) of the New Territories\n\n384\n\nP.H. Hase - More on The Man the Emperor Decapitated\n\n388\n\nIssei Tanaka\n\nThe White Tiger\n\n389\n\nKeith Stevens - British Chinese Labour Corps Labourers Buried in England\n\n390\n\nAnthony Siu Kwok-kin\n\nThe History of Hong Kong: From A Village to A City\n\n391\n\nAnthony Siu Kwok-kin\n\nHistorical Records\n\nAnthony Siu Kwok-kin\n\nBOOK REVIEWS\n\nTai Yu Shan from Chinese\n\n394\n\nA Tung Lo Wan\n\n399\n\n400\n\nV", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211659, "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": 74, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "49\n\nCommander [Ta T'ing Yeh]) wearing court dress in the style of a high official with a scholar's wing cap and carrying a penbrush and scroll, some twenty-seven uniformed 'braves' (so-called from the character on their chest) and a further sixteen minions bearing flags, umbrellas and the usual paraphernalia of a mandarin's court, together with a horse and its groom. Some of the foot soldiers are portrayed as humans whilst others are demons with fierce striped faces, fangs and also bumps like incipient horns on the forehead of the domed bald heads. The Wang Yeh boat nearby in another room of the same temple, a very large model junk, is tied up alongside a 'quay' on which stands a group consisting of the Fleet Comptroller whose image is almost identical with that of the general but is only attended by three to four aides carrying umbrellas and a flag. The sailors and marines aboard the junk are represented by different, vividly portrayed personnel, some with weapons both ancient and modern, others simply being members of the crew. The captain is seated on his bridge dressed in Ch'ing robes, the whole consisting of some thirty miniature images.\n\nIt is of interest to note that Wang Yeh armies are frequently colocated with the Five Generals (Wu Ying, lit. Five Camps). These consist of carved heads of five specific deities unconnected with the Wang Yeh, but whose role is to protect the village or locale from predatory demons. Occasionally referred to as The Generals of the Five Directions, (one of which is 'centre') they are portrayed by five heads mounted on metal skewers standing in racks on secondary altars in temples, and are used by spirit mediums to pierce their cheeks during seances.\n\nAlthough Pestilence Wang Yeh images are not readily recognisable as such, identification is helped by their colocation with large model junks (beware though; Ma Tsu, the patron deity of sailors also has model junks in her temples, though without a crew and certainly without cannon) and with the groups of miniature soldiers representing the pestilence deities' armies. Any temple named Tai T'ien Kung (奉天宮), Shun T'ien Kung (順天宮) or Tai Shun Kung (大順宮) will always be the residence of Pestilence Wang Yeh. Processions during Pestilence Wang Yeh celebrations are known in Taiwan as 'Inspection Tours deputising for Heaven (代天巡狩).\n\nBefore we go further let us examine the legends relating to the Pestilence Wang Yeh. There is general agreement, though by no means undisputed, that the Pestilence Wang Yeh consist of 36 or 360 spirits", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211663, "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": 78, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "53\n\nwere destroyed but at the end of the campaign (ca 1127 BC) Lu was made President of the Celestial Ministry of Epidemics () with his four disciples as his senior departmental officials. The coincidence of the number five, and of them dying from epidemics before their due date of death, suggests that these five might be the precursors to the Five Plague Gods of much later times. Lu is described as having red hair, a blue face, fangs and a third eye, and it is therefore not surprising that god carvers have used this description when making Wang Yeh, and a number of images of the Wang Yeh on altars in Taiwan and South-East Asia have blue faces, red hairs and fangs though none has been seen with a third eye. It was interesting to encounter a Hakka ancestral image on a public altar in northern Taiwan which had a bright blue face. This was explained to be so because the ancestor, a Mr Huang, was a Ta Jen, an alternate form of Wang Yeh, a worthy and not a Pestilence deity; but because many of the temples around had Pestilence Wang Yeh and their faces were blue, red or green, it had been decided that the worthy Mr Huang should have a blue face too.\n\nAccording to the Yeh Wang Yeh legend in Tainan, Yeh himself took part in fund raising to build his cult temple in Fukien province. He disguised himself as an old man and went to Fuchou to buy the wood necessary to build the temple and also sent instructions to the villagers in their dreams that he would like his effigy to be carved in camphor wood to be placed on the roof. This they had carved, and when it was delivered to the site the timbers for the temple's construction arrived without anyone appearing to have carried them there, leaving the villagers only the task of erecting the building.\n\nFishermen in 1795 found an unmanned bamboo raft near the island of Haifeng on which there was a tablet dedicated to Chang, Li and Moh, Three Wang Yeh. They built a shrine on the island dedicated to the three and later the tablets were moved to the present temple at T'ai Hsi in Yunlin county on the west coast of Taiwan.\n\nOther groups of five deities in Taiwan have similar and on occasions identical legends and are believed to be able to control or prevent epidemics. They too are also prayed to for a cure by the sick, and for the maintenance of good health by the hale and hearty. Temple keepers on occasions identify them as Pestilence Wang Yeh though they are not officially referred to as such. These groups include The Five Great Emperors of Fortune (Wu Fu Ta Ti), and the Five Efficacious Lords", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211747, "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": 162, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "137\n\nCheung (張) lineage of Wong Pui Ling. The area, however, was fertile, rich, and, by the later eighteenth century, becoming relatively densely populated. Growth of stronger and less politically quiescent inter-village groupings could be expected, and the clearest evidence of this comes from the nunnery.\n\nThe nunnery was founded by the villages of the Ping Yuen Hap Heung on the one hand, and Loi Tung and Man Uk Pin on the other. Loi Tung was a tight lineage alliance of three large villages of the Punti Tang clan (Loi Tung Lo Wai, San Wai, and Tai Tong Wu), and Man Uk Pin was a single, large Hakka village, predominantly of the Chung clan. The nunnery lay in six shares: Ping Che, Ping Yeung, Wo Keng Shan, Loi Tung, Tai Tong Wu, and Man Uk Pin. Of these, the Wo Keng Shan and Tai Tong Wu shares were probably there to reflect the greater size and strength of the Chan and Tang lineages within the grouping. In practice, however, the nunnery was controlled by the four clans of the Mans, Chans, Tangs, and Chungs, and normally probably had one Manager drawn from each lineage.” This group of eight villages, most of them large and wealthy, clearly represents a new generation of inter-village grouping in the Ta Kwu Ling area.\n\nThe importance of the road through the Miu Keng pass has been discussed above. The position of the nunnery on the road was not only of value to travellers seeking shelter, it was also of major strategic and political significance. The road was the only passage through the hills, and could not be by-passed. Whoever controlled this pass controlled much of the Sha Tau Kok to Sham Tsun road. The foundation of the nunnery was the result of the grouping together of a few villages which were clearly seeking to capitalise on their strategic location, and thus to increase their local political leverage and district significance. The political significance of the foundation should not be downplayed. The religious impetus behind the foundation should not, of course, be ignored, but the strategic significance of the grouping is too strong to be overlooked. The nunnery-founding group of villages seems to be, in fact, an early example of a Yeuk (約) mutual defence and support inter-village alliance. The villages which had founded the nunnery seem to have worshipped there together at the Yu Lan Festival in the summer, when vegetarian food was served to the elders and faithful in front of the nunnery.\n\nIt is likely that the Ping Yuen Hap Heung people used their alliance with the groups east of the pass to strengthen their position as against", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211748, "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": 163, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "138\n\nthe \"major lineages\". If, as seems likely, the foundation of the nunnery represented, at least in part, a political move to strengthen the villages near the pass against the \"major lineages\", then it was the first step in what was to become open inter-village warfare two or three generations later.\n\nThe Cheung Shan Kwu Tsz and the Ta Kwu Ling Luk Yeuk\n\nIn the nineteenth century, local politics in the New Territories area were marked by the struggle for local political dominance between the rich and ancient “major lineages\", and the mutual defence inter-village alliances, or Yeuk, which set out to combat the \"major alliances\" by uniting the strength of villages too weak to oppose them on their own. The struggle for dominance was centred on control of the markets, and of the vital roads which linked them.\n\n24\n\nWithin the eastern New Territories the villagers of the area around Sha Tau Kok formed a network of Yeuk alliances which was responsible for the foundation of the market at Sha Tau Kok about 1825, and which controlled all the roads in the area immediately around the market. The villagers formed ten inter-village Yeuk alliances, and this Yeuk network was called the Shap Yeuk (+*, \"Alliance of Ten'') in consequence. The Shap Yeuk owned the market at Sha Tau Kok communally, and their interest in keeping open all the roads which served the market, but especially their vital road to Sham Tsun, is obvious. The Shap Yeuk was united enough, and strong enough, that it was able to ensure that the \"major lineages” had no significant influence within the Sha Tau Kok area, but it was never strong enough to control the whole of the road to Sham Tsun.\n\nTo the south, the area around the ancient market town of Tai Po had been dominated by the Tang lineage of Tai Po Tau since the Ming dynasty. The Tangs not only controlled the market, but also owned the extremely important ferry over the Kwun Yam river in the town, over which all traffic from Kowloon to the north had to pass. This control by a \"major lineage” was very irksome to the other villages of the area, who had been trying to seize control of the area since early in the nineteenth century.\n\nThe foundation of the New Market (Tai Wo Shi, ) at Tai Po, which was to have no Tang involvement, and the building of a new bridge", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211758, "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": 173, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "148\n\nvillages in the neighbourhood. Of the nuns of the Cheung Shan Kwu Tsz, the abbess from before 1920 to 1931, Wong Tik-yuen, is believed to have come from Fu Tin (Futian), just west of Sham Tsun. Her successor (1931-1944) was Yip Yuet-kwan. It is not known from which village she came, but she, like Wong Tik-yuen, was definitely Punti.\n\nThis strongly suggests that there was a tradition in the New Territories area among the long-settled Punti lineages which made it respectable for girls of those lineages to refuse marriage and instead to enter a nunnery. Those lineages or village groups which owned nunneries were proud of them, and proud of the fact that the nuns came from within the lineage or from the village group or a nearby village. Certainly, the Ling Wan nunnery holds a critically important position within the folktales of the Tangs of Kam Tin.43\n\n—\n\nFor a district to have a nunnery with a few dedicated women living a pure life, eating vegetarian food, and offering shelter and prayer to and for all men, certainly helped protect the district from spiritual disaster, but equally it must have helped reduce social tensions by providing a socially acceptable outlet for girls who did not wish to marry. It is probable that most of these indigenous Buddhist establishments were usually nunneries;14 the Cheung Shan Kwu Tsz is called a nunnery ( ) on the 1789 bell, and in the Hsin An County Gazetteer of 1820* and the folktales of the Tangs about the Ling Wan house clearly presuppose that it was always a nunnery (it is specifically called a nunnery on the bell there, of 1755). The evidence for Ling To and Lung Lai before about 1900 is less clear.¶ However, these nunneries were occasionally handed over to devout men to live in, if such men presented themselves to the villages which owned them when the nunnery would otherwise have been vacant. Villagers remember that, before Wong Tik-yuen became abbess, the nunnery was lived in by a man, who was not a monk (he wore his hair “like a Taoist''), and who terrified the children of the villages.** Lei Pui-yuen may have run the nunnery in the same way. The Ching Shan monastery at Tuen Mun must have been founded for men, and this alone may have remained a house of men in the nineteenth century.¶ What is clearer, however, is that there were no Hakka monasteries or nunneries within the New Territories — presumably the Hakka in this area had no nunnery-based tradition of socially acceptable marriage-refusing women. The question of nunneries and marriage-refusing women in this area requires further study.\n\n48\n\n49", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211765, "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": 180, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "155\n\n27\n\nAs noted above, 20,000 people a month used the Miu Keng pass. Probably as many again used the road from Ping Che to Kan Tau Wai, or started their journey within Ta Kwu Leng. 40,000 users of the ferry a month is a likely figure. Probably 25% of them carried goods. This represents more than $50 a month income, or about $600 a year. Even depreciating heavily for the salary of boatmen and costs of maintenance, $400 a year clear profit seems likely.\n\nThe date of this war was probably in the 1860s, as Faure, The Structure of Chinese Rural Society, op. cit., p. 104, shows.\n\n29 For the arrangement of the Yeuk, see map. The information in this section comes from Mr. Chan Yau-tsoi and Mr. Chan Wa-chun of Ping Yeung, Mr. Man Kam-muk of Ping Che, Mr. Yeung Choi of Fụng Wong Wu, Mr. Man Lei-wa of Tong Fong, and Mr. Hau Foh-tai of Law Fong, all very knowledgeable elders. I met them as a group, and include here only what they were unanimous in agreeing was the case. I would like to express my particular thanks to them for the several hours of discussion they had with me. As to Sai Ling Ha, this village, although it lay within the Ta Kwu Ling hills, supported Wong Pui Ling in the fighting, I was told. It had no part in the Luk Yeuk. However, when the Communists took over, most of the inhabitants of Sai Ling Ha crossed into Hong Kong, and set up homes in Ping Che. They were then allowed to become part of the Luk Yeuk, as part of Ping Che Yeuk. The account of the Luk Yeuk given here differs in detail from that given in Faure, op. cit., pp. 103-104.\n\n+1\n\n-\n\n30 The deaths are recorded in the \"Heroes Shrine\" () in the Tin Hau Temple at Ping Che, which was the community temple of the Ta Kwu Ling area. 23 names of the **Heroes who died in protecting the villages, who knew how to perform the duties of filial piety\", or the \"Heroes who defended the Yeuk\" as they are named in two inscriptions *澳四總鎮源樂友例段英雄履考之神位 and \"MX\") are recorded. Of these, 3 (all surnamed Chan) came from the Ping Yeung Yeuk, 4 (3 surnamed Tang and 1 surnamed Chau) from the Lin Tong Yeuk, 4 (1 surnamed Chau and 3 surnamed Lei) from the Lei Uk Yeuk, 4(2 surnamed Yiu and 2 surnamed Hau) from the Law Fong Yeuk, 2 (both surnamed Yip) from the Lo Shue Ling Yeuk and 4 (2 surnamed Wong and 2 surnamed Man) from the Ping Che Yeuk. One Law died he came either from Law Fong (Law Fong Yeuk) or Kan Tau Wai (Ping Che Yeuk). A Lau Ah-ngau (劉亞牛) also died -- he could have been from Wo Keng Shan (Ping Yeung Yeuk), where there was a tiny clan of Laus, or could possibly have been a servant, as his name suggests his name is entered last on the tablet. 23 deaths suggests very bloody fighting. It is unlikely that the population of the whole of Ta Kwu Ling in 1860 was higher than 1750 (representing an average village population of about 80, or perhaps 12 households), and the adult males could not have been more than a quarter of that (440). The young men of fighting age were probably no more than about 200. 23 out of 200 is about 11.5% deaths of those involved, which is a very high percentage. The population of the Ta Kwu Ling villages within the New Territories totalled 1441 in the 1911 Census (Sessional Papers, 1911, no. 17, Noronha & Lo, Hong Kong, 1911, \"Report on the Census of the Colony for 1911”, Table XIX p. 103 (32)).\n\n+\n\n-\n\nLoi Tung, with its lineage brethren of Lung Yeuk Tau, and the small villages between them, formed the Sze Yeuk (四約, “Alliance of Four''), which was, to a large degree, designed to ensure that the ancient enmity of the Tangs of Lung Yeuk Tau and Loi Tung with the Pangs of Fan Ling was tilted in favour of the Tangs. The Pangs supported the Luk Yeuk in its fight with the Cheungs this almost certainly means that the Sze Yeuk supported the Cheungs, as did Sheung Shui, the other ancient enemy of the Pangs. Man Uk Pin was a Yeuk of the Sha Tau Kok Shap Yeuk, as well as forming a part of the Sze Yeuk. The Shap Yeuk were dubious about the activities of the Luk Yeuk. Free travel between Sha Tau Kok and Sham Tsun was vital to the Shap Yeuk. With the Cheung Shan Kwụ\n\nPage 180\n\nPage 181", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211766, "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": 181, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "156\n\nTsz people controlling the pass and the Cheungs controlling the river crossing; no one group had total control of the road; but if the Luk Yeuk controlled both the pass and the bridge, then the Shap Yeuk's interests could well have been at risk. Lin Ma Hang of the Shap Yeuk actually fought alongside Wong Pui Ling; the rest of the Shap Yeuk was probably friendly to the Cheungs, or at least neutral in the dispute. The Sze Yeuk were allied with the Tangs in their opposition to the establishment of the Tai Po New Market by the Tsat Yeuk; as is to be expected, Fanling and the Luk Yeuk supported the Tsat Yeuk.\n\n32\n\n33\n\nIt is unclear if the inscription still survives or not.\n\nThey were Man Fuk-ting (Tong Fong, Chairman); Lei Yi-wa (Lei Uk); Chan Kwok-cheung (Ping Yeung); Tang King-shiu (Au Ha or Wang Kong Ha); Law King-fan (Law Fong); To Kan-yeung (Tin).\n\n14 Between 1911 and 1924 Chan Ping-kei (Chau ...) and Chan Tai [or Ting]-cheung ... (+ [Chinese characters unknown]) were managers, and as such appear on the Land Memorials.\n\n35\n\nIt was put up by Lin Tong and Wang Kong Ha villages, in \"The Shing Ping She Shrine of Righteousness\".ĦTH, Faure, Historical Inscriptions, op. cit., Vol. 3, p. 850.\n\n36\n\n37\n\nFaure, The Structure of Chinese Rural Society, op. cit., pp. 104-105.\n\nChau Tin village owned a small temple, or San Teng (神廳), as did Kan Tau Wai and Law Fong. Kan Tau Wai in addition owned a small house as a meeting place for its elders. None of these communal facilities had any income-producing land attached to them, except for the Law Fong and Kan Tau Wai temples, which owned 0.05 and 0.12 acres respectively. The Ping Yuen temple manager was registered only for the single temple building, but not for any income-producing land, although the temple did buy a piece of land (0.72 acres) from a Ping Che villager in 1906. See DD82, houselot CT20; lot 759; DD78, lot 1158; DD82, houselot KTW13; houselots PC1-3; Memorial 2744.\n\nMemorials 24058 (20 April 1913), 27471 (4 June 1914), 45919 (7 December 1920); see also Memorial 17779 (17 October 1911) for the succession of the She to a house at Tong Fong.\n\n19\n\nFor the Po Tak Old Alliance, see Faure, The Structure of Chinese Rural Society, op. cit., pp. 128-140.\n\n40\n\n41\n\nSee R.G. Groves, \"The Origins of Two Market Towns'', loc.cit.\n\nFor the Tung Ping Kuk and the Tung Wo Kuk, see Faure, The Structure of Chinese Rural Society, op. cit., pp. 128-140.\n\n42 (唔出嫁嘅女)\n\n43\n\n44\n\nSung Hok-p'ang, Legends and Stories of the New Territories: Kam Tin, op. cit.\n\nIt should be noted that these nunneries are often called Tsz (寺) in ordinary speech and documents. This character strictly means \"monastery\", but, in this area, this does not necessarily imply that the religious living there were men. Thus the Cheung Shan Kwu Tsz is almost always so called, as in the document printed in the Appendix. The use of the more correct character Am (庵, 'nunnery') is almost entirely limited to Ch'ing official documents (especially the County Gazetteer) and, sometimes, on bells.\n\n45\n\n46\n\nloc.cit.\n\nSee Faure, Luk and Ng, Historical Inscriptions of Hong Kong, op. cit., Vol. 3, p. 669. It is called Miu (廟, \"temple\") in Hsin An County Gazetteer, 1922, ch'uan 4 and 7, pages 49-50 and 82 of the Chung Lap Pao edition, 1979, and in the 1688 Gazetteer.\n\n47 Ling To is called Tsz (寺) in the Hsin An County Gazetteer, 1819, at ch'uan 18 and 21, pages 148 and 174 of the Chung Lap Pao edition, 1979, and, given the care with which...", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211907, "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": 322, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "in our family prayers, as you sailed down the Channel and set out on your voyage to China. I hope this will find you arrived in Hong Kong, and we shall await with much interest your first communication. There will be just time to answer this before Mrs Smith and I embark D.V. on October 4th.\n\nI am glad to find that Mr Beach is likely to be in China on your arrival. He will kindly direct you until my arrival, as to your course, and I doubt not you will find in him a kind friend, and a prudent counsellor.\n\nMrs Smith if she were with me would write in the expression of our best wishes and kind remembrances.”\n\n(I must omit a lot for want of time.)\n\nI remain, my dear Mr Fryer\n\nYours very sincerely,\n\nG. Victoria.\n\nET\n\n297\n\n^His portrait hangs over the drawing room fire place. I often look at the old chap as he hangs there. From what I have seen and heard of him I cannot help really liking him. Everybody seems to love him and speak of him with the greatest respect and veneration.\n\n^Mr Beach is a good sort of fellow. As rough and blunt as you can imagine, but under the rough exterior I believe he has a manly warm heart. There is no \"gammon” about him. We agree remarkably well together, and he leaves everything to me, although I would rather he should not do so. For a clergyman and chaplain however, I think there is not anything like the amount of the elements of religion in him that are necessary. He is too much like a gay young man.\n\nA Mr Cleverly, the Surveyor General, is a middle aged man, and a thorough gentleman. He pleases me much. Mr Beach goes in a few days to Tien Tsin, where he remains, so that I shall be all alone. He will give up everything to my control, and I can do what I like till the bishop comes.\n\nI had no idea that the institution was so large, or that the duties required", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211912, "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": 327, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "302\n\nTHE DANGS OF KAM TIN\n\nAND\n\nTHEIR JIU FESTIVAL*\n\nCHAN WING-HOI\n\nOf the lineages of the New Territories, that of the Dangs of Kam Tin is noted for its vast land holdings, numerous imperial degrees and control of the Kam Tin Market. While the Dangs and outsiders talk about them as a corporate entity, and the Dangs do trace their descent from a common ancestor, it was the different segments of the lineage whose collective presence in ancestral trusts and halls is most noticeable. Contrary to what one would expect, there is no ancestral hall or any significant ancestral trust in honour of the common ancestor Dang Hung-Yi. The main ancestral halls and ancestral trusts highlight the divisions within the lineage rather than its unity.\n\nUnlike some other single-surname settlements in Hong Kong, the various Dang villages in Kam Tin do not correspond to segments of the lineage. Each of the villages has its own village temples or other places of worship which delimit the villages as collective entities. Religious activities associated with these local places of worship are part of the duties arising from membership of the village, and are different in nature from worship at popular temples at the nearby market, the latter being more a matter of personal choice than a function of membership in a corporate group.\n\nThe eventful period of the early Qing Dynasty was a major turning point in Dang history. This period saw the merger of a number of Dang settlements. It was during the same period that the Jau and Wong Temple was built and the jiu festival in honour of the same deities was first celebrated.\n\n* This report represents the result of field and library research I conducted as a temporary researcher of the Hong Kong Museum of History within the four months ending 15th March 1986, centring on the 1985 Jiu festival.\n\nI would like to express my gratitude to the Hong Kong Museum of History, Urban Council, for permission to publish this report which is based on part of the report I submitted.\n\nFor the romanization of Cantonese this report has adopted the Yale system. For local place names I have followed common usage. For a few terms more directly related to the wider \"China\" than the \"local\" area I have used the Mandarin pronunciation and the pinyin system. See glossary at the Appendix for Chinese characters of all words romanised.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211913, "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": 328, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "303\n\nTHE DANGS AS A LINEAGE\n\nAlthough a survey on occupations and land ownership was not part of the brief project on which this report is based, some of my interviews bear on the economic aspects of life in Kam Tin.\n\nWhile the Dangs of Kam Tin are well known as a wealthy lineage that has produced many imperial degree holders, in fact very few of the lineage were landlords/scholars. The vast majority of the Dangs earned their living as farmers, and most of them did not own much farm land. There seems to have been a large gap between the rich and the poor amongst the Dangs. Replying to my questions about ha-fu, or hereditary servants to the Dangs, a Mrs. Dang added her observations on the inequality among the Dangs themselves. The majority, the poor Dangs, were at the beck and call of the minority of the wealthy Dangs. She cited the example of her father-in-law, who worked on rice fields rented from a rich Dang as well as his own. He also took risks to hide the valuables of the rich man during the Japanese war. When asked why he did all this, she explained that obviously this was done in case he needed to borrow rice from the rich man in the future, which he actually did.\n\nThe family of another Mrs. Dang I interviewed had rented farm land from the same rich man, Dang Baak-Kau. She took care to lower her voice when saying this, and added: “Villagers of Tsi Tong Tsuen, Kat Hing Wai, and Tai Hong Wai — actually, all over Kam Tin people had rented his farm land”. Dang Baak-Kau had been a major leader of the Dangs of Kam Tin during his time. He represented the Dangs of Kam Tin in 1925 to petition the Hong Kong government to return the iron gates of one of the main Kam Tin villages taken away in 1899 when the British took over the New Territories. He was also one of the two Dangs named after the formal head of the lineage in a 1941 petition to the New Territories administration against the division and sale of an ancestral trust property. The dominance of the segment descended from him in lineage affairs is evident in the Ching Lok Ancestral Hall ritual manual, to which has been added, after entries giving two or one and a half catties of ritual pork to descendants of the six Dangs responsible for the initial building and rebuilding of the hall, an entry giving two catties of roast pork to his descendants in the Spring and Autumn rites. Before this Dang died some 30 years ago, he was awarded a \"higher medal\" in about 1933 by the British administration, according to a genealogy he commissioned. One can see at the same ancestral hall a", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211914, "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": 329, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "304\n\ncouplet engraved on wood bearing the words \"presented by the descendants of ancestor Baak-Kau\". The exact details of Dang Baak-Kau's line of descent from Ching-Lok, however, remain obscure.\n\nIt was probably more common that farm land was owned by groups of people who traced their descent from a common ancestor in the form of ancestral trusts than by individual heads of families like Dang Baak-Kau. I overheard two men (one born about 1910, one about 1925) talking about the ownership of fields in the past. They said that among 100 people there were less than 9 who had their own rice fields. Most people farmed ancestral trust land. The rent was cheaper than that for other land. Once somebody had taken up a piece of ancestral land, he never had to return it, and it was quite common for people to sub-let to other people the ancestral land they rented. These ancestral trusts were each founded for the worship of an individual ancestor and for the education of his descendants. The terms \"jou\" and \"tong\" are used by the villagers to refer to an ancestor, his trust, and often the segment of the lineage which consists of his descendants.\n\nThe case of Dang Baak-Kau is representative of the small minority of personally wealthy Dang. Men like him formed the village elite, dominating local and lineage affairs, and monopolising village connections with the government. Most lineage segments and their ancestral trusts among the Dangs seem to stem from personally wealthy elite villagers like Dang Baak-Kau. It is no surprise that his descendants formed an ancestral trust in his name.\n\nThe power of village elites like Dang Baak-Kau may have been undermined by the abundance of outside employment and business opportunities within Hong Kong in recent years. Among our informants were two men born in the 1920s who had worked outside Kam Tin, one with the Agriculture and Fishery Department and another with a Chinese trading firm. We were told that they were exceptions. But such opportunities have abounded in the last couple of decades.\n\nI. THE DANG LINEAGE, ELITES AND LINEAGE SEGMENTS\n\nA. Early History\n\nThe first Dang ancestor to come to Guangdong province was Hon-", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211915, "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": 330, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "305\n\nFaat, who was an official of the Song Dynasty. His great-grandson Fu-Hip was the first to settle in Kam Tin. One of his two sons moved to Dongguan county and the other, named Seui, stayed. The two had a total of five sons whose descendants were known as the “five main branches”. In a time of chaos, a grandson of Seui married a daughter of the Song Emperor Gaozong. This member of the royal family was better known by her descendants as Wong-gu because her brother later became the Emperor Guangzong. Her husband was called the Gwan-ma. The Wong-gu sent one of their sons to see the Emperor, who granted official titles to her husband and sons and gave her some farm land as a gift. Present-day Dangs attribute their wealth to this event. Her descendants moved to different parts of Dongguan and Xin'an counties, including Lung Yeuk Tau, and Tai Po Tau in the New Territories. The nearest common ancestor of the present-day Dangs of Kam Tin, Hung-Yi, was a seventh-generation descendant of the youngest son of the Wong-gu. Hung-Yi's brother Hung-Ji was the ancestor of some of the Dangs of Ha Tsuen.\n\nHung-Yi did not leave much property, and there is no ancestral hall dedicated to his worship. We do not know much about Hung-Yi. Oral tradition has it that in 1393 he was sent on penal servitude on behalf of his younger brother Hung-Ji. Before that, he had married a Miss Jeung and had three sons Yam, Jan, and Yeui. He survived the (unknown) period of servitude and obtained a teaching job in a wealthy family. His employer married him to a servant girl of the surname Wong. Miss Wong bore him a son by the name of Gyun. Upon his death, she brought his ashes and the son to Kam Tin. The son Gyun died soon afterwards, and subsequently Yam gave one of his sons as Gyun's heir.\n\nYau-Leun Tong in the present Kam Tin Shi was the hall in honour of Hung-Yi. But there was no tablet for him in the tong. To explain the absence of a spirit tablet, one elder said, \"Because Hung-Yi did not have much property, the fund was small. There was no spirit tablet for him in the tong. His spirit tablet was housed in the ancestral hall of his grandson, [i.e., the ancestral hall for Ching-Lok, see below.]\" Another provided a different explanation. It was because the Fung Sheui was poor for the purpose. Whatever the reason, Yau-Leun Tong was not a place for setting up a spirit tablet. It was a place for gatherings only. Some younger villagers told me that the hall was once rented out, and once used as a kindergarten.\n\nPage 330\n\nPage 331", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211919, "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": 334, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "309\n\nB. Earliest Evidence of the Lineage\n\nPresent-day Dangs of Kam Tin speak of the four branches of their lineage, which correspond to the four sons of Hung-Yi. This division into four branches stemming from Hung-Yi's sons was already clear in the sixteenth century: it is implied in the will of Dang Kei-fong, a fourth generation descendant of Dang Hung-Yi, of the fourth branch - the will was written in 1561.\n\nThe earliest evidence we have of a lineage focussed on Hung-Yi is this will. The will was copied in a genealogy compiled by a descendant of his. In the will Kei Fong stated that he had inherited a substantial property from his father and had not added much to it. He now wished to set aside 90 sek of rental rice for the worship of his parents, himself and his wife, and the education of his male offsprings. He had also set aside 33 acres of farmland, the rent from which was to help his descendants to cope with the county corvée. Kei-Fong stated his intention to build an ancestral hall in honour of his parents, Chung-Yut and his wife. This, although probably never realized, is the earliest known plan to build an ancestral hall in Kam Tin.\n\nKei-Fong started his will by naming his office-holding ancestors, Fu-hip, the gwan-ma's father, and the gwan-ma himself. No reference is made to Hung-Yi. But the will as preserved includes the names of the witnesses, which comprise a juk-jeung and four fong-jeung. Comparing the name list with genealogies, we find that the \"clan\" in this 1561 document is one that has Hung-Yi at its apex. The first of the four fong-jeung is a grandson of Yam, the eldest son of Hung-Yi. The third is a grandson of Jan, Hung-Yi's second son. The fourth is a grandson of Gyun, Hung Yi's fourth son. Curiously, the other fong-jeung is another grandson of Gyun rather than one of Yeui's. The juk-jeung, however, was not only a descendant of Yeui rather than Yam, but was also more junior in generation terms than the others. He was the eldest son of the eldest son of Siu-Geui, the only son of Ting-Jing. Ting-jing was the eldest son of Yeui. This may be a reflection of the continuing influence of Ting-jing's descendants in clan affairs in that period.\n\nIn 1471 Ting-Jing (a son of Yeui) had been awarded a geui-yan degree and subsequently (in 1514) appointed as the Director of Studies of a Jiangxi county and subsequently promoted to be a County Magistrate", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211921, "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": 336, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "311\n\nrecorded by Sung (1974:181-182), Wan-Guk \"was a very rich man, and he owned a lot of cultivated land in [Xin'an County]\". He died before 1513 (ibid: 182). We have more detail about some of his great-great-grandsons, among them Dang Yun-Fan who made a donation of 1,000 sek of rice to the county government for relief during a bad famine. The details of Dang Yun-fan's descent from Wan-Guk are obscure. Because of this act of generosity Kam Tin was given its present name in 1587, instead of the Sham Tin used earlier (Sung 1973:111-112). The story must be quite close to the truth. Siu (1982:23:24) has checked the Xin'an gazetteer to verify it. He found an entry for a serious drought in 1583, and the County Magistrate named in the anecdote assumed his position in 1586. I have found other supportive data in a local manuscript that records some of the inside inscriptions of the spirit tablets in one of the ancestral halls of Kam Tin. Two ancestors of this period had \"pen-names\" (hou) that probably alluded to the new name of the settlement.\n\nAn elder I interviewed attributed the change of the place name to Kam Tin to his ancestor Pou-Am, another great-great-grandson of Wan-Guk's, and provided the following information. Pou-am's holdings reached Chuk Yuen near San Tin. He had house(s) where the rent collectors could stay when collecting the payment and being entertained by the tenants. Pou-Am's grandson Lok-Sin had comparable holdings.\n\nIt was probably in the second half of the 16th century that an ancestral hall was built in honour of Ching-Lok, Wan-Guk's father. It was in all likelihood the earliest ancestral hall ever built in Kam Tin. We know the approximate date of the ancestral hall because a handbook for its rituals prescribed that extra portions of ritual pork were to be given to the descendants of certain individuals, some for their part in the initial building of the hall and some for their contribution towards subsequent repairs and rebuilding. These involved six people. Among them the two rewarded for the original building and another two rewarded for the first rebuilding were all Wan-Guk's great-grandsons. It was only in a subsequent repair in 1788 that one of the descendants of the other sons of Ching-Lok became involved. The spirit tablets in the hall confirm the dominance of Wan-Guk's segment. The two Dangs honoured for the initial effort, as already mentioned, were Wan-Guk's great-grandsons. The time when the ancestral hall was first built was probably not later than the time of Yun-Fan, the great-great-grandson of Wan-Guk's who made the donation to the county in 1587. It was also in the second half of the 16th Century that Kei-Fong (not a descendant of Ching-Lok)", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211923, "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": 338, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "313\n\nDocuments confirm that Sing-Ngok's descendants had a large portion of the more than 160 acres of Kam Tin Dang land-holdings on Hong Kong island.\n\nD. Sung-Kok jou and the Gwong-Yu Tong and Lei-Ging Tong\n\nI have mentioned before that the second ancestor of the fourth branch, Naam-Kai, had been adopted from the first branch. This connection might be expected to serve to make the two branches feel closer together. However, fung-sheui stories hint at feelings of rivalry between the first and the fourth branches, especially after the rise of the latter during or after Dang Man-Wai's time in the later seventeenth century. However, it was only a few segments of the fourth branch which prospered: a letter from the leaders of the Kam Tin Dangs in 1941 claimed that the ancestral fund for Naam-Kai used to be a broken house in the county town of Xin'an until it was expanded to a farmland holding of over 200 sek in rent value under the management of the youngest son of Dang Kyun-Hin (1755-1822). It was only the families of Dang Man-Wai and of his brothers who enjoyed great prosperity from early in the Qing dynasty.\n\nThe present descendants of Dang Man-Wai attribute the prosperity of their segment (known as Gwong-Yu Tong) to the jeun-si degree of Man-Wai, which he won in 1685. But from 1657, i.e. almost 20 years earlier, he was already a geui-yan, one of only two or three ever achieved from the Hong Kong region, which should have placed him in a very advantageous position especially in this period. According to a stone inscription, Man-Wai started the Yuen Long Market in 1669, and until it was replaced by the New Market in 1898 this market was run by the ancestral trust of Man-Wai, the Gwong-Yu Tong. Man-Wai was also credited with having compiled a genealogy and having initiated the building of an ancestral hall for the larger Dang clan. His sons and grandsons included many imperial degree/title holders involved in lineage matters.\n\nThe spirit tablets of two of Dang Man-wai's brothers are housed in the Lei-Ging Tong, an ancestral hall which used to be in the present playground, but which was later moved to near the Sun Ngai Brass factory on Kam Sheung Road. The original building was only a little smaller than the Gwong-Yu Tong. One of the two brothers was Dang Ng-sang, who, according to Sung (1974:185), built the ancestral hall. Some village elders confirmed that he was the same Ng-sang who was the leader of", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211924, "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": 339, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "314 \n\n10 \n\nthe Dangs of Kam-Tin in the dispute with the Dangs of Ping Shan over the grave of the gwan-ma several decades before 1737. The descendants of Man Wai and his brothers (i.e. the members of the Gwong Yu Tong and the Lei Ging Tong) are all also members of the Sung-Kok jou segment which derives its name from the \"pen name\" of Man Wai's father.\n\nE. Loi-Sing Tong \n\nTo avoid confusion with Gwong-Yu Tong (i.e. the descendants of Man-wai) I shall call the Gwong-Yu jou segment (Le, the descendants of Gwong-Yu) by the name of their ancestral hall, the Loi-Sing Tong. The first datable event relating to this segment was the building of the ancestral hall in 1701 by Jeung-Luk, a sixth generation descendant of Gwong-Yu. Probably the best known of the Loi-Sing Tong ancestors was Si-Daan. The details of Si-Daan's descent are obscure. He was probably a descendant, perhaps a grandson, of Jeung-Luk. Sung (1973:63-65) records a story that upon his birth there was an unmistakable sign that he was destined to be a rich man. According to Sung (1974:164) he “built himself a very big house called Naam Teng, the remains of which can still be seen on the South side of Kat Hing Wai\". In 1755 when Si-Daan's uncle presented a bell to Ling-Wan Ji his name was included as one of the donors. The family probably had become rich before his father's generation. That uncle of his, Dang Yu-Jung, had purchased a minor official title. The donation list for the rebuilding of a temple in 1744 recorded a single sum donated by four Yus that included Yu-Jung and Si-Daan's father Yu-Man. Among the four, Yu-Ji had purchased a gung-sang degree in the Yongzheng period (1723-1735), and two others had degrees of gaam-sang. Si-Daan himself had purchased an official title of jau-tung.\n\nOf the ancestors whose tablets were housed in the hall Puk-Chai, gung-sang degree holder, is remembered by his descendants, who still keep an embroidery presented to the father of this degree holder on the occasion of a birthday.\" He was probably one of Jeung-Luk's brothers.\n\nF. Mau Ging Tong \n\nThe period of the late Ming and the early Qing was an eventful period for the people of the Xin'an county. The Kam Tin jiu festival itself had started as a response to experiences in this period, especially the serious", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211925, "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": 340, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "315\n\npiracy problem in the late Ming, the Coastal Evacuation and its aftermath. In 1662, to deny Ming loyalists supply and support, the Qing government ordered the coastal population of Xin'an county, among others, to evacuate inland (see Ng 1983:26-28). Many died. They were only allowed to return in 1669, thanks to the petitions of the Governor of Guangdong Wong Loi-Yam and the Governor-General Jau Yau-Tak.\n\nIt is to be expected that the population became smaller in the period just after the evacuation. Many new lineages had migrated into the area in this period (Siu 1984:5-6). These newcomers would have been a threat to those who had settled long before the evacuation. Some of the “locals” had probably also learnt from the previous experience the need to get organized. Others would have to follow suit if they did not want to be dominated by large power groups. Students of the region see the Evacuation (1662-1669) as a turning point in its history. Watson (1985:25), for example, pointed out, \"Many of south [Xin'an] temples, and large corporate descent groups trace their beginning to this period”. The construction of temples and ancestral halls, she suggested, were steps to strengthen the organizational framework and power of the dominant lineages.\n\n12\n\nThe ancestral hall for Ching-Lok's segment, as I have noted above, was probably first built before this period. In Kam Tin a few other ancestral halls and the Jau and Wong Temple were erected in this period. Before this period, therefore, some of the Dangs in Kam Tin had ancestral halls and some had none. From early in this period every one \"belonged” to at least one ancestral hall. One of them, the Mau-Ging Tong, was obviously different in nature from the earlier Ching-Lok ancestral hall. It encompassed the three junior branches of the lineage. An inscription for the rebuilding of the Mau Ging Tong included in the Si Gim Tong genealogy acknowledged that it was built subsequent to the Ching-lok ancestral hall, in the Kangxi period (1662-1735). Another ancestral hall, Loi-Sing tong, was also built in this period, in 1701, for the brother of Ching-Lok, as noted above. All of the Dangs of Kam Tin belong to one of these three ancestral halls. Even then, there is no common ancestral hall for all the Dangs of Kam Tin. The Gwun-Yam temple at the site of the present Ling-Wan Ji monastery, to which I shall return later, may have been important to Kam Tin as a whole since very early days. The Jau and Wong Temple built in 1685 dedicated to two officials, and its associated decennial jiu festival also provided all the Dangs of Kam Tin with a unified symbol of identity.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211928, "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": 343, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "318\n\nof money, he would go up to Canton. This also surprised people, for they supposed that one spent money in Canton. But Chi-Naam would go to meet officials in Canton, and earned, so the story goes, much money on each trip by handling cases for clients. Another story of the same informant told of Chi-Naam's influence. Once upon a time, soldiers were sent to Kam Tin. These men were very impolite. They urinated in the open. Chi-Naam was angry and told his brothers to beat the soldiers up. The case was brought to a local official, who decided to take away the academic title of Chi-Naam's younger brother, who was held responsible. Chi-Naam asked the official if he had authorisation from his superiors. The official therefore dared not carry out the penalty. An informant related that Chi-Naam was once the head of the Dung Ping Guk, the council for the eastern section of the county established as the unofficial administrative and judicial organization for the eastern part (Dung-Lo) of the county, which decided local cases.\n\n15\n\nDang Ting-sam played important roles in many lawsuits which involved the Dangs of Kam Tin and outsiders. We have documents of some of these lawsuits and oral stories for others. The earliest datable one I know of took place in 1854, when he brought a case to the Dongguan County Magistrate to request action against some Heungs who had kidnapped some of the Dangs who went to worship at the wong-gu's grave in Dongguan. I shall refer to the other cases later.\n\n16\n\nII. THE DANGS VS RIVALS AND TENANT COMMUNITIES\n\nThe Dangs of Kam Tin had conflicts with their neighbours over various matters, especially land ownership, rent, and irrigation rights. These conflicts took the form of lawsuits and fighting. Those who died in fighting with enemies of the community were worshipped as \"heroes”. A jiu festival document of 1895 indicates that up to that time 80 persons were recognized as \"heroes\" to whom special offerings of paper clothing were to be made in the festival.\n\nThis kind of fighting (da-saat) was common in the area. Elders of Kam Tin told me that there had been fighting between Kam Tin and the alliance of Ping Shan and Pat Heung. This had taken place long ago, even before the birth of an elder born in 1900. Through fighting, Kam Tin lost much of its land holdings, because they had to sell land for money to pay as compensation for lives lost. In the past, people entered yeuk alliances for this kind of fighting. Pat Heung was part of the Ping Shan alliance.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211930, "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": 345, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "320\n\nYeuk and Shap Pat Heung the Ha Tsuen Yeuk. Kam Tin never joined a yeuk, because its collective strength was great enough on its own.\n\nOne of the causes of conflict was disputes over land ownership. Anecdotes are still remembered of an early case that involved the Lais of Sheung Che or Ha Che. The site of one of the earlier temples of the Dangs of Kam Tin is the Hung Sing Temple, the site of which is also known as Lai Ga Dei (“Lai family land” or “Lai family grave”). There used to be a grave of the Lais there but the Dangs had moved it away to build the temple. The Lais sued the Dangs. The Dangs won the lawsuit by citing the following: hung-jeuk (peacock the Hung bird) was not a bird owned by the Hungs.\n\n18\n\nAnother major cause of conflict was farm rents. The relationship between the Kam Tin Dangs and many other communities in the area, especially those of Pat Heung, was one of landlords and tenants. Many elders mention the village of Tsiu Keng as an example: the name originally meant “recruit to cultivate”. These tenant villages were not on a par with the Kam Tin Dangs. This distinction found its expression in marriages. A Dang in his 60s made an observation about marriage partners. The Dangs of Kam Tin never married Pat Heung people until his generation, nor did they marry members of other \"minor\" (tenant) villages such as Pok Wai. Many Dangs elders have similar ideas.\n\nThe relationship between the Dangs and the other tenant communities in Pat Heung and Shap Pat Heung was difficult. The problems involved included rents as well as irrigation rights.\n\nA. Pat Heung\n\nThe Dang elders I talked to generally knew about some serious fighting with Pat Heung, but none of them remembered any detail. What they could describe at some length were lawsuits rather than fighting. One of the elders remembered the case of a Lam Ngau-Jai who was illiterate but very good at verbal skills. He took a case to court. He accused the Kam Tin Dangs of being barbarous and despotic. Some parts of the accusation were still remembered. “In daytime they wanted chicken, goose and duck, at night they wanted pretty women in their bed”. “They used extra-large grain sorters, measures that were 80% larger than the designated volume, and for pushing the excess grain off the heap in the measure they used a crooked stick so that the surplus would remain”.\n\nPage 345\n\nPage 346", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211931, "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": 346, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "321\n\nThese accusations were made at the county magistracy. The Kam Tin Dangs got news of the accusation and arranged that all their young men gathered in the various ancestral halls and temples to read, so as to deceive the investigators from the county government. The county magistrate was deceived, and believed that the Kam Tin Dangs were all scholars and would not give any time to the accusation. Therefore he did not pursue the case any further.\n\nSome of the Dangs believe that the fighting between the people of Kam Tin and those of Pat Heung was over agricultural resources such as irrigation water. The Dangs of Kam Tin used only one bei reservoir, the one called Fui Sha bei. The water flowed from Pat Heung, near Lin Fa Tei, and the Pat Heung people could stop the water. One recent (about 100 years ago) example of a dispute over agricultural resources was the Ngau Wong Wui association which had been started to organize the cowherds of Kam Tin, to protect them against their Pat Heung counterparts, and to preserve Kam Tin pasture rights.\n\nOne piece of documentary evidence of the conflict between the Dangs and their Pat Heung tenants has survived. It is a stone inscription dated 1777 found in both the Daai-Wong Temple of Yuen Long Old Market and the Jau and Wong Temple of Kam Tin. It records a rent dispute.\n\nFive Dangs are named as the landlords in this inscription. In general terms, the document calls the landlords \"the Dang surname\", and the land \"the land of the clan\". It is therefore clear that the landlords were all from the same lineage and the property was considered as linked to the lineage as a whole albeit it was probably individually owned. Four of the five names can be found in various documents from Kam Tin. All four appear in a silk embroidery presented to a Dang of Kam Tin to celebrate his birthday in 1771. We have more specific information about two of them: one, Dang Si-Daan, was a descendant of Yam's second son Gwong-Yu, and the other, Dang Chung, is a descendant of one of the other sons of Hung-Yi, most probably Gyun. It is therefore clear that one of the parties to the dispute were many of the Dangs of Kam Tin, including members of different branches and represented in general terms the Dang lineage.\n\nA few names are also given of the tenants. There were about the same number of Dangs and non-Dangs among them. While the landlords were referred to as members of a lineage, the tenants were referred to as", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211932, "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": 347, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "322\n\nmembers of several neighbouring villages. Among the seven named, two have been identified by Cheng (n.d.) in ancestral tablets of Lin Fa Tei [Fung Yuk-Daan] and Yuen Kong [Leung Gwan-Daat], both of Pat Heung.\n\nThe dispute was over the size of the measure for the rent rice. The inscription mentioned an earlier case of 1726 when some tenants accused the landlords of using a larger measure than that which was agreed. As a result of that earlier case, the authorities had ascertained the actual volume of the original measures and issued some standard measures. From then on there had been no more dispute until the 1777 case. According to the inscription, some of the tenants instigated those of the other heungs to take the case to the county magistrate. Meanwhile they fraudulently forged some measures in order to pay less than the agreed rent. The authorities applied the same method as in the previous case: they declared a standard conversion ratio for the different measures. They also decided to punish the tenants who had started the case and had forged the measures, as well as an outsider who had involved himself in helping the tenants. The punishment was waived in consequence of a general royal pardon.\n\n20\n\nA document dated 1873 suggests that the hostility between the Kam Tin Dangs and the Pat Heung villagers continued to that time. Some Dangs of Kam Tin, including Dang Ting-sam, who, as we have seen, had been involved in disputes between the Dangs and outsiders, made a formal complaint against five people among whom the names of two appear in the 1886 and 1861 stone inscriptions for repair/rebuilding of the Pat Heung Temple. The complaint was against a Leung of Pat Heung. The Dangs had found that their ancestral grave (which was over 200 years old) had been damaged but had failed to find the evil-doer. On Ching Ming festival of that year a named Dang went to worship at the grave with his younger brothers and nephews. For no reason at all, the accused, Leung, ordered his people to cause further damage to the grave. In the document the Dangs demanded that the accused repair the grave on a suitable day. If he should fail to do so, the Dangs threatened to take further action.\n\nB. Shap Pat Heung\n\nHostility between the Dangs of Kam Tin and the Shap Pat Heung villages, especially those around the old market, is still evident today.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211933, "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": 348, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "323\n\nI was told by a descendant of Dang Man-Wai that his ancestor had made several alterations to the landscape to destroy the fung-sheui of Nam Pin Wai. He built a number of temples, and dug a well behind the temples and made fish ponds in front of the village.\n\nSome written complaints from 1873 reveal a series of disputes that had lasted several months and which suggest that the event was part of a long term conflict. The Dangs complained to the county magistrate and his subordinates that some Nam Pin Wai villagers had robbed their money for fish seeds, and that they had several times in the previous six months taken fish by force from the fish ponds that belonged to or were operated by the Dangs. The owner of one of the fish ponds, a Wong of Sha Tau, complained that on one occasion the local Nam Pin Wai gangsters fed more than one thousand people to take all the fishes away from the ponds. The version of the Nam Pin Wai villagers is different. According to them, some of the Dangs of Tai Hong Wai, one of the Kam Tin villages, relying on their being the owner of the market, for a certain amount of “rent” allowed gambling tables to be set up in the market area, some just in front of the house of a certain Ng of Nam Pin Wai. Ng reported this to the nearby guard post. In response the man in charge came to stop the gambling. But the Dangs would not listen. Ng and other villagers tried in vain to reason with them. The Dangs beat them up, causing injuries, and seized the laundry of Ng. To cover up their misdeeds, the Dangs asked their village brothers to accuse the Nam Pin Wai villagers of robbing the fish seed money, and later framed the case of the fishes.\n\n7\n\nThe target of the Dangs was not limited to the few alleged gangsters, but included the Nam Pin Wai villagers in general. In one of the complaints the Dangs gave the general context of the dispute. The Nam Pin Wai village had been subordinate to the Dangs since the time of their ancestors.22 Many of the villagers were generally disloyal to their masters, and the younger ones had relied on this when they robbed the fishes. The people of the village in general were pleased to see the disaster that happened to the Dangs. The Nam Pin Wai villagers, on the other hand, spoke of themselves as a small village always oppressed by the big lineage of the Dangs. They accused the Dangs of stealing two cows from a Yeung of their village. When they complained to the Dang elders about this, they were told to pay to redeem the cows.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211934, "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": 349, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "324\n\nC. Scramble over land in Kowloon\n\nAlthough scrambles over land was not new to this region, it was in the context of the British occupation of Hong Kong and Kowloon that the last major disputes over land holdings in the Kowloon peninsula took place. In 1860, when south Kowloon passed into British hands, the Dangs of Kam Tin, with another branch of the larger clan, were held to possess 276 acres of the 452 acres of land for which registered land documents were produced to the Anglo-Chinese Land Commission (Hayes 1983:87-88). The re-registration of land is a likely occasion for disputes. Besides, as a result of the development of the port of Hong Kong, the land in Kowloon doubtlessly appreciated sharply in value.\n\nIt is from an anecdote about Dang Ting-sam that we learn about the dispute between the Kam Tin Dangs and the Ping Shan Dangs over the rents from Kowloon Tsai. In the words of the informant, they scrambled for the rent. There was fighting between them. In the fighting a ha-yan of the Kam Tin Dangs killed a mou-geui-yan of Ping Shan. The ha-yan, whose name was Ah Chiu, had been sent to Kowloon Tsai to take care of the rent collecting. He was staying at a house his master kept for this purpose. The military degree holder of Ping Shan wanted to infringe upon the rent. He came to the house to make a claim that the land had belonged to him. Soon the fighting began. He was killed by Ah Chiu, who was not as strong as the mou-geui-yan but was very clever. The Ping Shan Dangs sued the Kam Tin Dangs for this. Chi-Naam made use of his skill [and connections?] to get Kam Tin out of the trouble. He was allowed to see the written complaint from the Ping Shan people. After reading it he offered 500 taels of silver to the official to let him add three strokes to the document. The original complaint said yung fu seung yan (\"caused injury by using an axe\"). Chi-Naam added one stroke to the character yung, and altered it to lat, \"[an object] fell off\". So the accusation had become \"an axe fell and injured a person\". Because of the alteration, the Kam Tin Dangs did not have to pay compensation for the killed man's life, they only had to pay a fine.\n\nD. The land re-registration of the New Territories\n\nMuch of the land of the Kam Tin Dangs was lost when the British government started the re-registration of land holdings.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211935, "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": 350, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "325\n\nIn the nearby Pat Heung region, according to a genealogy dated about 1933, the rent the Dangs used to collect from the portion of their farm land holding lost in the land re-registration in the 1900s amounted to more than 2,000 taels. The Dang elders explained to me that the lost land included both individual and corporate holdings. They were lost to Pat Heung people, i.e. the villagers of Yuen Kong, Sheung Tsuen, Wang Toi Shan and Lin Fa Tei. The Dangs lost the land because the government's policy was to ask those who claimed a piece of land to say where the land was rather than to say who the tenants were. In many cases the Dangs knew the tenants but not the land, and were unable to sustain their claim. Dang Wing-Sau was told by his mother that a certain Lam Ngau-Jai of Yuen Kong had claimed the land he rented from Wing-Sau's father. Wing-Sau's father took the case to court and won the lawsuit. Subsequently Lam Ngau-Jai changed his name to Lam Jyu-Jai so as to avoid possible prosecution.\n\nI learned of a similar case from an anecdote about Ng Sing-Chi. A son of the Ng of Nam Pin Wai in the 1873 dispute, he was a prominent figure of the period around 1898 who was instrumental in opening a new market in Yuen Long in opposition to the Dangs.* A Mr. Dang of the Gwong-Yu Tong told me of Ng Sing-Chi's role in putting an end to the rent payments to the tong. On each Chinese New Year Eve each household in Nam Pin Wai had to pay the Gwong-Yu Tong Dangs a small sum of money, which, he said, was rent for their house land. The Dangs used to do the collecting themselves. But soon after Ng's release by the British officials from imprisonment for his involvement in the fighting against the British in 1898 he played a trick against the Dangs. He offered to them that to save their trouble he would do the collecting for them, if they would give him a receipt. This the Dangs did, and with the receipt Ng reported the case to the government. It was illegal. Since then the Gwong-Yu Tong Dangs dared not collect the rent from Nam Pin Wai any more.\n\n## COMMUNITY AND WORSHIP\n\n### III. THE COMMUNITY\n\n#### A. Overview\n\nMany informants mentioned the expression \"five wai and six tsuen” with regard to the Kam Tin Dangs, but none of them was able to list these walled and unwalled villages definitively. The villages of Kam Tin", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211938, "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": 353, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "328 \n\nwinter. Once in a year they practised shooting at a police shooting range near Man Kam To. In earlier times the guards had used gwan sticks.\n\nC. The village market\n\nAt present there are a few shops, mostly food stalls, in Kam Tin Shi. Some Dangs also live there. They are descendants of the senior branch, including descendants of Wan-Guk and Wan-Gaan. The place used to be the local market. It was active before the Japanese occupation. It had a sign in the form of an arch, which was removed by the Japanese. Some documentary information about the market has survived in a rent record.29 One of the shops entered into the rental contract in 1851. The rent book included entries for five shops in Kam Tin Shi. Among them one was run by a tailor. It also mentioned the names of three streets. These were Upper Main Street (Sheung Taai Gaai) and Lower Main Street (Ha Taai Gaai) as well as Middle Street (Jung Gaai). The elders remembered that the market had two or three butchers and two or three fishmongers. Besides these there were a few other shops. Two sold jaap-fo (“sundry goods”). Kam Tin Shi is remembered to have mainly catered for the needs of the Kam Tin people. Very few outsiders came.\n\nSome informants added that there was even one pawn shop inside Kat Hing Wai. The owner was a descendant of Wan-Gaan jou. I have no idea when the pawnshop was started. There was also a peanut oil factory which was started more than 100 years ago. It was owned by a Wan-Yu jou person.\n\nIV. SETTLEMENTS AND LINEAGE SEGMENTS\n\n4\n\nAccording to Sung (1973:111) Hon-Faat, the first Dang ancestor to come to the province, built the first house at the bottom of a hill called [Gwai Gok Saan] about three-quarters of a mile away from the present Kam Tin\". His grandson Fu-Hip lived there on retirement and founded a school called Lik Ying Jai (ibid.: 116). The descendants of Fu-Hip's grandson Seui, lived in the Naam Wai and Bak Wai villages around the beginning of Ming dynasty (1368). The division of the Kam Tin settlement into Naam-Bin and Pak-Bin remain today. Yun-leung, father of the gwan-ma and one of the sons of Seui, remained in Kam Tin. The other four descendants of Fu-Hip moved to nearby Ping Shan and places in Dongguan county, among other places. The descendants of many of the sons of the gwan-ma moved away to Lung Yeuk Tau, Tai Po Tau,\n\n30", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211939, "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": 354, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "329\n\nLoi Tung, among other places, including some to Dongguan and Xiangshan counties. The cousins of Hung-Yi moved away to nearby Ha Tsuen and Xiangshan county, among other places. Hung-Yi's brother Hung-Ji moved to Ha Tsuen. Thereafter, all the remaining Dangs of Kam Tin were descendants of Hung-Yi.\n\nCasually asking the Dang elders about the relationship between lineage segmentation and settlement, one is given both concrete examples that suggest a correspondence as well as general observations that there is no correspondence. For example, one would be told that the descendants of the third branch (Yeui), which are very few in number, all live in Wing Lung Wai, and that all the others of that village were descendants of the first fong. Unless one asks about a particular segment, the answers would be in terms of the four branches of the lineage, and the conclusion will be that no single segment lives in a village of its own except in the case of Tai Hong Wai where all the villagers are descendants of Man-Wai and his brothers.\n\nGoing down the level of segmentation, to the lineage divisions focussed upon ancestors of the 17th to 19th centuries, there is correspondence in the sense that members of these segments all live in the same village. As already mentioned, all the members of the third branch live in Wing Lung Wai. Similarly, all the Ji-Ga Tong people live in Shui Tau, all the descendants of Wan-Yu live in Wing Lung Wai, and all the descendants of Gwong Yu Tong and Lei Ging Tong live in Tai Hong Wai. Another example is the descendants of Wan-Gaan, who, according to one account, had three sons: Fau-Ng, Jan-Ting and Gai-Jau. Gai-Jau's segment live in Kat Hing Wai. Fau-Ng's descendants are divided into three sub-segments. One of the three lived in Ko Po, another in Kat Hing Wai, and the other in Kam Hing Wai.\n\nSome segments of the lineage settled elsewhere. The descendants of Hung-Yi's second son Jan had moved to Ying Lung Wai near the Yuen Long Old Market at a very early date. I was told by its head of branch that many more lived in Zhongshan county. Some of the descendants of San-Fung, a son of Wan-Guk, also had settled elsewhere. I was told that most of them live in Kat Hing Wai, but some had moved to Tong Fong near Ping Shan. The ritual handbook for Ching-Lok's ancestral hall had a special provision for the descendants of San-Fung, which said that they had moved to Naam Tau, in a street outside the city wall.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211941, "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": 356, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "331\n\nestablished during the Chenghua (1465-87) period. From information in genealogics about the Dangs who started the villages it can be estimated that Wing Lung Wai was established in the same period and Tai Hong Wai a little later, in the first half of the 16th century.\" All of the five main villages, therefore, had been started between the second half of the 15th century and the first half of the 16th century, and from them the smaller villages of Kam Hing Wai and Ko Po were derived.\n\nB. Merger of settlements in the 17th century\n\nThe foregoing would suggest that the development of the Dang settlements in Kam Tin was a process in which new villages were established as offshoots of the older main villages. But the opposite process, that of newer settlements being merged into older ones, also took place, in the critical period of the 17th century. Such were the cases of Sa Bui Leng (Sha Pui Leng) and Gau Ga Chyun, two Dang settlements which either no longer exist (Gau Ga Chyun), or no longer have any Dang residents (Sa Bui Leng).\n\nAccording to his descendants, who now all live in Tai Hong Wai, Dang Man-wai first established a village at Shun Fung Wai, and then left it and moved to Nam Pin Wai. There is a widely known fung-sheui story which implied that Nam Pin Wai was unfit for a single surname community. Man-Wai discovered the problem: the fung-sheui was no good as far as the behaviour of women was concerned. So he gave up the idea of settling there. He moved from there back to Kam Tin. Man-Wai and his people first lived at Sa Bui Leng after coming back. It was told that a dan is still to be seen at the site of his settlement. After he became jeun-sz he built Tai Hong Wai and moved there. One version has it that Tai Hong Wai was started by his younger brother, not himself. The brother followed the instruction of the bandit chief called Lei Maan-Wing then living in Tai Mo Shan. Man-Wai was an expert on fung-sheui. Before his time the people [of his segment of the lineage?] were very poor. Thanks to his choice of good fung-sheui [something to do with the village wall] they enjoyed prosperity after the final move.\n\nGau Ga Chyun means the village of nine families. An elder remembered seeing seven or eight houses used as store houses when he was small. These belonged to the Gwok-Yin jou segment of Wan-Yu jou people. He said that people lived there until more than 10 generations ago, they found the place unsatisfactory and moved back (sic) to Wing", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211942, "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": 357, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "332\n\nLung Wai.\n\nWe know that Dang Man-Wai's period was 1627-1693. The move of his people to Tai Hong Wai, then, must have taken place in the 17th century. Various information suggests that the merger of Gau Ga Chyun into Wing Lung Wai took place in the same period. The only Dang genealogy (a Ha Tsuen one) that I found to have included Sa Bui Leng among the settlements of Hung-Yi's descendants named Gau Ga Chyun as well. The elder I talked to said that the residents moved to Wing Lung Wai more than ten generations ago, which was Gwok-Yin's time. Sung named Gwok-Yin as one of the two who walled Wing Lung Wai at the time when Man-Wai walled Tai Hong Wai. Probably it was Gwok-Yin himself who moved to Wing Lung Wai.\n\n37\n\n16\n\nIt is interesting that, if my guess is right, then the two mergers both took place during the period of the Coastal Evacuation, in which the Dangs of Kam Tin established their central temple as well as an ancestral hall for the three junior branches. Although the reasons given for the merger were in one case very vague and in the other supernatural (“fung-sheui\"), they would, in effect, have been part of the Dang response to the disorders of the times.\n\nC. The development of Tai Hong Wai\n\n38\n\nAt present, only the descendants of Dang Man-Wai and his brothers (known as Sung-Gok jou, after Dang Man-Wai's father) live in Tai Hong Wai. They all live in the village and its extension. But people from other segments used to live there. From the stone inscription for a bridge built by a filial son Dang Jeun-Yun we know that some descendants of Chung-Yut lived there around the end of the 17th century. It was Dang Jeun-Yun's grandfather Gaai-Yut who, together with Dang Man-Wai, walled Tai Hong Wai. Jeun-Yun named Shui Tau as his home. So probably the family had moved from Tai Hong Wai to Shui Tau in the time of his father.\n\nTai Hong Wai became settled solely by the descendants of Dang Man-Wai and his brothers only from about 100 years ago. The head of the only household that is descended from the senior segment of the descendants of Gyun is remembered to have recalled moving when he was very small from Tai Hong Wai to Tsi Tong Tsuen, where his family now lives.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211943, "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": 358, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "333\n\nD. Outsiders in the villages and the immediate vicinity\n\nBesides outsiders who rented houses from the Dangs for residence or workshops/factories in recent years, there are some non-Dangs who have lived in the Kam Tin villages for many generations. These \"resident outsiders\" were believed by the Dangs to have been ha-fu, a term which can be translated as hereditary servants. When a Mrs. Dang mentioned to me that some people of the surnames Man and Sam lived in Naam Bin Teng, a part of Tai Hong Tsuen, she added that they had been ha-fu. Her logic was that any non-Dang who lived in Kam Tin must have been ha-fu. The present Dangs applied the term to servants of the lineage, as well as to settlements of tenants of the Dangs. My general impression is that there was more than one usage of the term, and the status of some groups might have changed in the passage of time.\n\nThe elders explained to me that ha-fu meant ha-yan, servants, and the fu in this term was the same fù as in kiu-fu (“sedan chair carriers”). Another term for ha-fu is sai-man. In this connection, one of them added that the villagers of Sha Po, Chuk Yuen and Pok Wai had been tenants of the Dangs of Kam Tin, and that ha-fu were not the same as tenants.\n\nAt Wing Lung Wai and Tai Hong Wai, some elders still remembered some ha-fu in their village. A Wing Lung Wai elder remembered only one ha-fu in his village. The person belonged to the great grandfather of an elder, a Yeui jou descendant who had a large land holding. The ha-fu carried sedan chairs for his master, among other things. A ha-fu had lived in Tai Hong Wai until he died around the time of the Japanese occupation. His given name was Loi-Fu. His surname was probably Mak. He lived in a house in the north-east corner of the wai. The house, now broken, was still there. He had to serve the whole village. His work was to do errands on special occasions such as banquets. In the old days one invited guests to banquets by sending a ha-fu. This Loi-Fu did not have to work for the Dangs on ordinary days. He often fished using his nets at a pit (haang) where the children went to swim. He would scold the children when he saw them swimming. He also kept bees, and gave some of the honey to the children. One of the villagers remembered that his mother often gave this Uncle Loi-Fu food to eat. He left no descendants. He had had no wife.\n\nNear the centre of the Kam Tin Dang settlements is Sa Bui Leng, which has only three or four families now. According to an elder the Sa", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211944, "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": 359, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "334\n\nBui Leng village was established in very early days, “even earlier than Kam Tin\". But the building of Yau-Leun Tong had destructive effects on its fung-sheui. After the rise of the Dangs the Sa Bui Ling villagers became their ha-fu.\n\nI have talked with a 64-year-old Mr. Chan, who was the oldest person in this village. The villagers were originally of three surnames: Chan, Yeung and Yun. The Yuns have left no descendants. The villagers had established Sa Bui Leng at the same time as the Dangs established their settlement. The Dangs had taken measures to prevent the prosperity of this village. They built three ancestral halls (chi tong-jai), i.e. Yau-Leun Tong, and two others, which used to be at the site of the present playground, and dug a pond which had only been filled up to build the cinema some ten years ago. The combination had bad impacts on the fung-sheui of Sa Bui Leng and the Chans suffered a serious decline. Therefore some of them had moved to Tai Kiu, a small village in Yuen Long.\n\nBefore the war, the Chan family had grown rice on fields rented from a wealthy Dang and one of the jous of the Kam Tin Dangs. Mr. Chan stressed that the family farmed land rented from the Dangs, they did not work for them. There are indications that at least for the last hundred years, the Sa Bui Leng people were accepted as equals by some of the poorer Dangs. The Chan family was a member of the Yi-Chung Wui, a ritual association which drew its members mostly from the poorer Dang villagers of Kim Tin, since at least the time of his great grandfather. I also discovered that Mr. Chan's wife was a daughter of a Tai Hong Wai Dang.\n\nV. WORSHIP\n\nThe supernatural world was very real to the villagers. It is still so to many of the elders. A Mr. Dang who had spent his youth in a trading firm on Hong Kong Island told me that in the old days when the area was less densely populated, one often encountered ghosts. Now that there were more people one rarely saw ghosts. I have heard something similar from a younger Mrs. Dang. The belief in the reality and power of the gods is strong too. It is, above all, manifested in the villagers' behaviour in the jiu festival.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211945, "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": 360, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "335\n\nA. Places of worship\n\nThe gods worshipped in Kam Tin can be divided into four categories. They are gods housed in temples, localized gods in outdoor space, gods on family altars, and the general gods of Heaven. The gods of heaven (Tin-San) are worshipped outside the house door, often with a tablet saying \"Blessings from the Gods of Heaven\" (Tin-Gwun Chi-Fuk).\n\nMore important for the community as a whole are temple gods and localized gods. Firstly there are the Ling-Wan Monastery and the Jau and Wong temple, which were important to the Dangs of Kam Tin as a whole. Stone inscriptions show that villagers of Kam Tin as a whole contributed money for rebuilding or repair, doing so on the basis of villages and higher order lineage estates, notably Ching-Lok Jou and Naam-Kai Jou.\n\nAccording to Sung (1973 and 1974) and the Si Kim Tong genealogy the Ling-Wan Ji was established by the Dangs of Kam Tin for the second wife of their founding ancestor Hung-Yi. But it is probable that Sung's source for this information was the author of the Si Gim Tong genealogy himself, and other villages seemed less aware of the connection of the monastery with their ancestor. Perhaps even more important is the idea that Ling-Wan Ji was the jyu-lou, or “head” of Kam Tin. That is why, a Mr. Dang explained to me, all the village gates should face Kwun Yam Shan, where Ling-Wan Ji is, and there is no need for a tall san-teng. Ko Po and Wing Lung Wai are exceptions to this rule. He knew that the position of the gate in Wing Lung Wai had been altered. He thought that the direction of the Ko Po one had been altered too.\n\nInterestingly the Xin'an gazetteer has no entry for the Ling-Wan Monastery under that name, but records the existence of a Gwun-Yam Temple on Kwun Yam Shan at the foot of Tai Po Shan, which matches the location of the monastery. The Xin'an gazetteer of 1688 is probably the earliest document mentioning the temple. Under the entry for the temple it mentioned a man of Dongguan county in the Ming dynasty who had lived there. It is not completely clear if this man was a Daoist. When Dang Si-daan's uncle donated the bell now at the monastery in 1755, the inscription referred to the place as the nunnery at Kwun Yam Shan. No one had heard about the temple named in the gazetteer, but Gwun-Yam is worshipped in the monastery, with various other gods such as Gwaan-Dai, and it is the goddess who has a central position, with\n\nPage 360\n\nPage 361", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211946, "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": 361, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "336\n\nJau and Wong, among the gods invited to the jiu festival.\n\nThe origin of the Jau and Wong Temple, and its central position in the jiu festival is recorded on the stone inscription at the 5th rebuilding of the Jau and Wong Temple in 1965. It says that\n\nin the Kangxi [1662-1722] period, pirates were a serious problem in the area, and the residents of the sea coast were forced to leave home and wander about. Fortunately the two officials Wong and Jau were in charge of the Guangdong Prefecture. Thanks to their petitions the old clans were allowed to return. To express their gratitude, [the Dangs of Kam Tin] built a place for the worship of the two and for education. The construction started in 1684 and finished in 1685, when the practice of performing the jiu rites and to stage opera was begun.\n\nThe oral tradition has elements that are not found in the official account. The version of a Mr. Dang, born in the 1920s, was that there was a time when the villagers fought with bandits, many of the villagers died and the central government was asked for support. Jau and Wong were sent leading an army to help. The festival was to commemorate the villagers who died fighting the bandits. Some men born in the 1940s explained that the jiu was to commemorate the officials Jau and Wong who had died in Kam Tin, it was in a way a chiu-dou service for the dead. These two versions agree with the official one in that Jau and Wong are regarded as having helped the Kam Tin villagers in a period of disorder.\n\nAlthough the Jau and Wong Temple was built to express the gratitude of the villagers for the efforts of the two officials in getting royal permission for the villagers to come back after the 17th century Coastal Evacuation, the two are now believed to have god-like powers. There is, for example, the anecdote of Jau and Wong hiring the opera troupe on behalf of the villagers. During the Japanese occupation it was difficult to get the material needed for the festival. So the villagers decided not to hold the celebration. But in the form of two old men Jau and Wong made arrangements for opera players to come. When the villagers learnt about what had happened, on the arrival of the opera players, they changed their mind and celebrated the festival as usual.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211948, "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": 363, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "338\n\ntwo less common gods.\n\nThe villagers have very little to say about the gods per se. They have more to say about who is responsible for worshipping which god. For example, when I asked who Ngau-Wong was, the response was \"Ngau-Wong is Ngau-Wong\", and I could not get any further than that. But the informants have very interesting things to say about who worshipped the god. The Ngau-Wong of Naam-Bin was worshipped by an association known as Ngau-Wong Wui. The Wui was started by a group of cowherds who spent their time on the same hilltop during their work. They gambled using coins. They decided that each time a person won he would give a portion of the money to a fund. This money accumulated and with it farm land was bought to endow the association so that descendants of the members would get their share of pork in the annual celebration. The place is an ordinary stone on the hill top, which they did not worship until the association was started.\" There is another Ngau-Wong near Shui Mei, whose responsibility it is to worship the god. Before each jiu festival the ritual representatives of Shui Mei will fetch the god from his place on the top of a hill, and walk him back afterwards. The only story about the god a knowledgeable elder could tell me is that, in a previous jiu celebration, the person responsible for walking the god home neglected his duty. Without reaching the hilltop he went home. He got sick soon afterwards, and as if in possession revealed the anger of the god. Probably the most important thing about any god is its place in the social framework.\n\n45\n\nNeither Juk-Yun Nunnery nor San-Sin Fu, the two nunneries within Kam Tin, exists any more. Still extant is Miu-Gok Yun, which was built by the [Dang] Tung Fuk Tong. The tong was a charitable association which collected unburied human bones and buried them in a charity tomb (yi chung). \"It was started to collect gam-taap bones that were not worshipped by anybody. Some of those containers would have been broken, and animals might eat them\". The Tong also cares for the Temple for Dei-Jong Wong, whose role, similar to that of Daai-Si Wong in the Offering to Ghosts ritual in the jiu ritual, is to watch over the ghosts. The date and the circumstances in which the Tung Fuk Tong started is no longer remembered. There were Dangs who had shares in the association. They contributed towards buying some landed property as endowment to the Dei-Jong temple. The nunnery with an altar for the Buddha was built in 1936, before which time there were already some monks and nuns resident at the temple. They did not rebuild the temple", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211949, "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": 364, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "339\n\nbut moved the Dei-Jong Wong inside the Buddhist hall instead.\"7 After the building of the Buddhist hall two of the nuns were added to the managers of the trust, and since then the Dangs did not have much to do with the nunnery except that the related ritual associations go annually to worship at the charitable grave.\n\nB. Household and village worship\n\nEveryday worship is local and is mainly performed by women. Such is the case of a family of Tsi Tong Tsuen who gave me information on this point. This family seldom worshipped in any temple. For weddings they worshipped at the Mau-Ging Tong ancestral hall, where the head of the family also went when he was small for the annual worship, and to get his shares of the ritual pork. This he no longer does, having stopped a few years ago. In some years he also joins the ancestral grave worship in Tsuen Wan. On Ching Ming and Chung Yeung his family went to worship their own near ancestors. On festivals his family worshipped at Tsi Tong Tsuen's shrines to the Earth God and the God of Earth and Grain and the place for the Well God.\n\nI was able to talk with some of the older women. One Tai Hong Wai woman born in the 1910s told me that ordinarily her family worshipped at home. They went to neither the Jau and Wong Temple nor the Hung-Sing Temple. They had no share in the Hung-Sing Temple. They did go to the Daai-Wong Temple at Yuen Long, early in the first month of the lunar calendar, but it is the business of their men only: the temple belonged to their distant ancestor. Similarly, an elderly Kat Hing Wai lady told me that Pak Wai Tsuen (i.e., Shui Tau and Shui Mei) people worshipped at the Hung Sing Temple. I have witnessed part of a waan-san (“thanksgiving”) ritual in Kat Hing Wai, which took place at the san-teng. I was told that for impromptu religious activities such as divination, some of the Kat Hing Wai women went to a temple at Tai Shue Ha [which is, as far as I know, not otherwise of interest to the Dangs of Kam-Tin] and some went to Ling-Wan Ji. They went to the Jau and Wong temple mainly during the jiu, and the temples at Shui Tau and Shui Mei were for their respective villagers alone.\n\nA san teng was probably considered to be of central importance to its village. When I walked with an elder to his house we passed the san-teng of Tai Hong Wai. He explained to me that it was the wai-jyu, and he compared its status in the village to that of the most senior and", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211956, "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": 371, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "346\n\nthe 71st birthday of Dang Nga-Chyun, a member of a rich family descended from the mou-geui-yan Dang Ying-Yun. Also on display in the same room were other scrolls of calligraphy and painting. Put on display for a couple of hours were relics of the wong-gu. As many of the Dangs were proud of telling, there were two of them (1) a set of twelve small paintings known as Gwai-Fei Tip, believed to be the work of Fu Qing, a lady-in-waiting in the Song court; and (2) a painting of an eagle, reputed to be the work of the Emperor Song Huizhong; both given to the wong-gu as souvenirs.54 Although they were put on display during a visit by about 200 members of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, to put those two antiques on display had always been part of the tradition.55\n\nEach of the villages was decked out with fa-paai banners too. In most cases there was a fa-paai presented by all the members of the village in celebration of the ten-yearly jiu. In the case of Tai Hong Wai there was one from all the descendants of Sung-Gok jou (father of Dang Man-Wai and his brothers) as well as one from the \"youngsters\" of Tai Hong Wai. The village gate had red slips of paper saying Fast (tsai-gai) and Clean (git-jing).\n\nC. Ritual Representatives\n\nIt was explained to me that the people in each gu divided into family groups (chu). In some cases, the nearest common ancestor such a \"family\" group could trace was more than ten generations distant. For example, under Mr. Dang Tim-Kau's entry were his blood brothers, the sons of his father's brothers, as well as others who were more remotely related to him. The nearest common ancestor of the chu as a whole was Git-Sau jou, who was, from the standpoint of Dang Tim-Kau's grandsons, 12 generations up the lineage tree. The selection of ritual representatives was done by divination with bui.56 The theory of an elder is that each chu chooses its own candidate for ritual representative. But, according to a younger ritual representative, if a man failed in the divination, then his son would try his luck in the same selection process. The candidate who got the longest series of sing-bui would be the no. 1 ritual representative. The others were chosen and ranked in the same manner. But there were additional rules. Each gu section must have one man among the no. 1 to no. 5 ritual representatives, and each had to have three men among the no. 1 to no. 15 ritual representatives. The last three places (58-60) were, as a rule, alloted to the Ying Lung Wai people,", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211957, "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": 372, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "347\n\nwho were not allowed to compete for the other places among the 60 ritual representatives.\n\nThe selection of ritual representatives, which I did not witness, took place on the fifth day of the first moon. It lasted twelve hours on this occasion, and I was told that in the past it took even longer. Several hundred men were present. In casting the bui every man in the chu could try his luck. Therefore those chu having more members had better chances of winning the first places. The men from each chu numbered from two to a few dozen. The first five places were filled before the others, and some of the participants avoided them because the first five places entail much work. Many people repeated the divination process several times for better results.\n\nIn the festival memorial one can see that for the Dangs of Kam Tin, there were 60 ritual representatives entries and only 50 ordinary entries, and the number of members in each chu, as represented by an entry, ranged from a few to almost 100. It is obvious that for those who could get more people into their chu it would not be difficult to get a good place among the ritual representatives.\n\nEach of the 60 places was actually shared by all the male members of a chu, who took turns to attend the rites in their cheung-saam. There were different reasons why a person would be eager to compete for a good place in the group of ritual representatives. I know in some detail the case of a young man in Tsi Tong Tsuen. His deceased grandfather had had the position in many of the previous celebrations, and he had been pressed by his mother to compete for a place. To gain the favour of the gods by worship was one of the reasons why she would like him to be a ritual representative. Another important factor is that ritual representatives get better seats in the opera matshed than ordinary participants, and the higher one was in the list of ritual representatives, the better the seats one got. It is usual that a Kam Tin family invited their relatives to the opera. In the case of this young man, the family had invited his mother's brothers, among others, and the guests took up the six seats they received in the distribution. Seats were distributed to each chu, but the seats for ritual representatives were towards the front, while the other seats for the chu were towards the back.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211961, "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": 376, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "351\n\nwould send a horse to carry the document to heaven so as to ask blessings for the people whose names appeared in the list. Other women villagers to whom I talked had the same kind of understanding.\n\n+1\n\nThe Memorial listed the participants under six categories, which were, in the original order, ritual representatives, “faithful elder”, \"faithful scholar”, “jiu representatives”, \"faithful farmers”, and \"faithful outsiders”. The first three titles were used for the Dangs of Kam Tin and their families. Which one among the three was used was determined by whether the person was a ritual representative or over 60 years old. The **jiu representatives** were the Ying Lung Wai villagers. The fact and the position of the category among the others was probably more important than the literal meaning of the term. At the end were the \"faithful farmers\" and \"faithful outsiders\". The former included the indigenous non-Dangs of the heung as well as immigrant farmers. The latter referred to immigrants who operated businesses in Kam Tin.\n\nThe importance and meaning of these entries was made clearer to me by a \"mistake\".\n\nAt one point a leader of a lineage segment was copying an entry in the posted memorial for use in the distribution of ancestral ritual pork. I took the opportunity to ask him about a strange entry. The person named in the entry (and his family) was a Dang, but he was classified as “faithful farmer”. I also noticed that there had been an alteration, and the original classification, \"faithful scholar\", was also visible. The elder could not explain this. Later I saw him and another elder talking near the posted memorial, and went to see if they had the answer. The other elder knew the case very well. The person concerned had been taken to Naam Tau by his widowed mother when he was small. It was quite recently that he had returned and found his kinsmen. There were several houses in the village under his father's name. But in his absence someone else had assumed ownership. The elders of Kam Tin had been helping him at the District Office to recover his rights. The case was not settled yet. The elder had no doubt that it was the other party who altered **faithful scholar** to “faithful farmer”. He took this act very seriously, “What if someone did that to you!” He suggested that this was more than an insult. It was part of the other fellow's trick: to deny that his recently returned kinsman was a Kam Tin Dang. But he also thought this alteration to the name list was not useful, because the document would be burnt at the end of the festival.", "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": 211963, "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": 378, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "353\n\nthousand dollars. He would not give him the loan. He offered instead to purchase some of this fellow villager's seats. The offer was accepted and the family got some seats near the front.\n\nVII. THE INVOLVEMENT OF THE VILLAGERS\n\nA. Tradition and Continuity\n\nThe beliefs in gods and ghosts are still strong among the Dangs. This was most clear in the morning on the main day of the celebration when there was a very strong wind and some of the fa-paais threatened to fall down. There were rumours that some gods had been omitted in the villagers' invitation. “Some gods must have been omitted. Otherwise how can there be such a strong wind?\" An elder was asked to tell the priests to invite the omitted gods to the festival site, as a remedy.\" Something similar had happened 10 years ago. I was told that in the last celebration a few gods were forgotten and not invited, and during the festival suddenly the electricity went out and there was rain and wind. The villagers invited the missing gods and everything was fine again.\n\nSome younger Dangs who were more sceptical had suggested welfare projects instead of the festival for the last two celebrations. For the 1965 occasion they suggested the alternative of building a public school. This was done (the Mung Yeung Public School), but at the insistence of elders the festival had still been celebrated as usual. Something similar happened 10 years ago, and they established a Kam Tin Hospital for Women and Children. This time the younger men did not propose an alternative. They thought maybe there was not going to be another time at all, now that 1997 was so near.\n\nYet the continuity of the tradition depends not only on the willingness of the villagers to contribute the money and time required. It also requires knowledge about the detailed arrangement for the rites, especially where this jiu differs from others in the region.\n\nTalking with the no. I ritual representative, I found that he knew a lot about many of the events.\n\nThere will be two hang-heung [“procession of incense\"] on both the main day of the celebration and the following day. The first one will start at about 11 a.m., after ying-bong", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211969, "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": 384, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "359\n\nThe offerings included fruits and cha-gwo pastries. In addition to these they burnt paper clothing for Jau and Wong, and a yellow piece of paper with the characters wing-bou-ping-on (\"unremitting protection\") and some yun-bou for the earth god.\n\nB. Setting up the ghost flags\n\nEarly in the morning of the opening day, after the rite of Fetching Water, the ritual representatives on their own installed faan flag posts for the worship of ghosts. There were five of these posts, each set up by the ritual representatives of one gu.\n\nThe ritual representatives took precautions in this rite, since it dealt with ghosts. They told each other the taboos to observe in installing the posts. One should avoid speaking people's names out loud while this was being done. It would be wise to be silent. It was said (by the ritual representatives) that those who posted a faan should be those to dismount it afterwards. Some of the ritual representatives complained about not getting red packets for doing the rite. It was not for the money, they said, but for the good fortune.\n\nThese faan posts were initiated by the priests in the first Procession of Offerings.\n\nC. Inviting the gods\n\nBeside the temple gods and other localized gods of Kam Tin, gods were fetched from the Pat Heung Temple at Sheung Tsuen and the Yuen Kong Temple. These two places were included because the places, I was told by the villagers, originally belonged to Kam Tin. Also fetched was the portrait of the Heavenly Master from his altar inside the village gate of Tai Hong Wai.\n\nGenerally the ritual representatives of each gu were responsible for fetching their own gods: e.g. the gods at the Hung-Sing Temple and Man-Cheung Temple were fetched by the ritual representatives of Shui Tau. There were special arrangements for the gods important to the Kam Tin Dangs as a whole, and gods from outside the heung: (1) Ritual representatives no. 1 to no. 5 went to Ling-Wan Ji, as well as to the temples of Yuen Kong and Sheung Tsuen; (2) All 60 ritual representatives went to fetch the Heavenly Master from Tai Hong Wai; (3) The Head", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211974, "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": 389, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "364\n\nThey left the festival site, passing Tai Hong Wai and Ko Po, where those who took part were offered drinks. They next reached Ying Lung Wai, where they were met by the lion dance of the village, and treated to soft drinks. They first worshipped at the altar of the God of Earth and Grain of Ying Lung Wai, then the san-teng and the village gate.\n\nThey proceeded to Tung Tau Tsuen, where they worshipped at the Tin-Hau Temple and then the Gwun-Yam Temple. No one came to meet them. But nearby two elderly ladies exchanged these remarks among themselves, \"The two temples belong to Kam Tin fellows, they wanted to repair them, but Tung Tau Tsuen would not let them\".\n\nThey proceeded to the Old Market. First they worshipped at the market gate then at the Bak-Dai Temple, and then at the Daai-Wong Temple.\n\nThen they moved on to Nam Pin Wai, where they worshipped at the altar of the God of Earth and Grain, the san-teng and the village gate. A man in his fifties sitting under a tree cursed the Dangs when he saw the Ambulance which was in attendance in case anyone was overcome by the heat. He said, \"Right. Let this Ambulance carry these Kam Tin fellows\".\n\nAt the nearby Sai Pin Wai they worshipped at an altar for the God of Earth and Grain. There was a reception. They proceeded to a Lam Yi-Hing Tong” inside Sai Pin Wai, and then the village gate and an altar of the God of Earth and Grain.\n\nThe procession finished with the Old Market and the surrounding villages, and went on to Yuen Long New Market. When they reached Sau Fu Street, they were offered soft drinks by people who had come from Kam Tin for that purpose. From there they walked back to the festival site at Kam Tin.\n\nF. The Procession with the King of Ghosts\n\nThe procession with the King of Ghosts took place during the evening before the Great Offering to Ghosts. In the first stage the Bak-Bin villagers carried the huge image of the Daai-Si Wong through their villages. Their Naam-Bin counterparts waited near Kam Hing Wai to take over the paper image for the second part of the procession. These were 22 young men, many carrying long bamboo poles with metal ends", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211977, "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": 392, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "367\n\nThe villagers had already gathered at the festival site when I arrived at half past nine in the morning. The red slips of paper etc., were carried by the people responsible on a tray, and, in some cases, a \"pavilion\", back to where they had been fetched from. In all cases, I believe, the person who carried the divinities was preceded by one of his companions who beat a gong. In some cases the procession included the \"Keep quiet!\" and \"Keep clear!\" banners.\n\nI witnessed the case of the Hung-Fan Taam gods. On their arrival the villagers set up the temporary spirit tablets of the divinities at the site, and made offerings of tea, sweets, yun-bou and paper clothing to them. Then they burnt the spirit tablets as well as the paper offerings.\n\nAhern, Emily Martin\n\nBrim, John A.\n\nBIBLIOGRAPHY\n\n1981 Chinese Rituals and Politics, Cambridge University Press,\n\n1974 \"Village alliance temples in Hong Kong\", in Wolf (1974: 93-104).\n\nCheng, Sui Kwan Faure, David\n\nn.d. \"Yuanlang Xinx\", unpublished manuscript.\n\n1984 \"The Tangs of Kam Tin - A hypothesis on the rise of a gentry family\", in Faure et. al (1984).\n\nFaure, David et. al (eds.) 1984 From Village to City: Studies in the Traditional Roots\n\nHayes, James W.\n\nKamm, John\n\nof Hong Kong Society, Centre of Asian Studies. University of Hong Kong.\n\n1983 The Rural Communities of Hong Kong: Studies and Themes, Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.\n\n1977 \"Field notes on the social history and fungshui of Kam Tin”, Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (JHKBRAS) xvii, pp. 202-216.\n\nLaw, Suk-Ching and Lam Siu-Fung\n\n1985 **Jintian Dengshi shixi bogian shi'', in Renleixie Zhou Tekan, pp. 2-14. The Anthropology Society, Chinese University of Hong Kong.\n\n1984 \"Village education in the New Territories region under the Ch'ing\", in Faure et. al. (1984).\n\n1983 New Peace County: A Chinese Gazetteer of the Hong Kong Region. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press,\n\nNg Lun, Alice Ngai Ha\n\nNg, Peter Y.L..\n\nOfuchi, Ninji\n\n1983 Chugokujin no Shukyo Girei, Tokyo,\n\nSaso, Michael R. Schipper, K.W.\n\n1972 Taoism and the Rite of Cosmic Renewal, Washington.\n\n1974 \"The written memorial in Taoist Ceremonies\", in Wolf (1974:309-324).\n\nSiu, Augustus K.K. and Anthony K.K.\n\nSiu, Anthony K.K.\n\n1982 Studies on Chinese Genealogies and the History of the Hong Kong Region, Hong Kong: Hin Chiu Institute.\n\n1982 \"Zupu zhong suojian zhí shishi shili”, in Siu and Siu (1982), pp. 21-29.\n\n1984 **The Hong Kong Region before and after the Coastal Evacuation in the Early Ch'ing Dynasty', in Faure", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211983, "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": 398, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "373\n\nMany Dangs attributed the deceased worshipped in their Altar for Heroes (Ying-Hung Chi) and those buried in the big grave known as yi-chung to the battle with the British in 1898. We found that the number of \"heroes\" for whom paper clothing were ordered for the jiu of 1955 is only 2 more than the 1895 figure, i.e. only two can be attributed to the 1898 incident.\n\nSee also Law and Lau (1985) about this dispute.\n\n19\n\nAccording to this informant the Dangs married villagers of Lam Tsuen, Tai Hang, Sheung Shui and places like Sha Tau across the border. Other Tangs who discussed the point included Tuen Mun and Gak Tin, a place of the Wong surname, also known as Fuk Tin, across the border.\n\n20 Another stone inscription dated 1786 recorded a similar case. Although it has been cited by many scholars as another rent dispute case that involved the Dangs of Kam Tin as the landlords, I cannot find any of Dangs whose names appear in the inscription in other documents.\n\n21\n\nIn Kam Tin Historical Documents, vol. 2.\n\n11 The original expression is that the villagers were the diding of the Dangs. Diding refers to tax on land and persons.\n\n73 See also Kamm (1977:213-214) on other similar disputes.\n\n24 See Cheng (n.d.).\n\n25\n\nBesides the formal names that appear in local documents and present-day road signs and maps, many of these villages had other names that were used in everyday conversation.\n\n10\n\nFormal names\n\nKam Hing Wai\n\nKat Hing Wai\n\nPak Wai\n\nTai Hong Wai\n\nWing Lung Wai\n\nAccording to the jiu festival record of the year.\n\n\"Nickname\"\n\nGaak Seui Yun\n\nFui Sa Wai\n\nLaan Bak Wai\n\nTaan Wai\n\nSa Laan Mei\n\n27 Tanaka (1985:935-7), quoting A Gazetteer of Place Names in Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories, Hong Kong, pp. 172-173.\n\nThe original expression was \"Tai Hong Wai and Tsuen\" and probably included only the part of Tai Hong Tsuen whose residents were considered Tai Hong Wai people.\n\n20\n\nKam Tin Historical Documents vol. 2.\n\n30 See the account dated 1966 in the Si Kim Tong genealogy.\n\n31 According to a descendant of Fau-Ng. The genealogical relationships among the ancestors he gave may be wrong.\n\n32 Ying Lung Wai is part of Shap Pat Heung, the group of villages which was involved in several disputes with the Kam Tin Tangs. It seems that the Ying Lung Wai Dangs join the Kam Tin Dangs only in the jiu festival and the worship at the Mau Ging Tong ancestral hall. I have not heard anything about its position in the disputes between Kam Tin and Shap Pat Heung.\n\n33 Sung (1974:168) says Tai Hong Tsuen. This is my interpretation.\n\n34 Ditto.\n\n35 Siu-Geui, with his father and others, made a new stone inscription for the grave of the wong-gu in 1483. Kei-Fong's will is dated 1562. (See the genealogy in Kam Tin Historical Documents vol. 1 for both.) Kai-Wa was born in 1494 (See inside text of his spirit tablet,", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211984, "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": 399, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "374\n\nwhich has been copied in an untitled manuscript in the possession of Mr. Dang Yu-Hing).36 Dang Kei-faan Genealogy in the Baker Collection of New Territories genealogies in the British Library.\n\n37 The elder was Dang Wing-Sau, the head of the lineage. I do not know which generation he was in. See Taga (1982:92).\n\n38 Translated in Sung (1974:177-179).\n\n39\n\n40 See table above and the genealogy in Kam Tin Historical Documents, vol. 1.\n\nProbably Dang Hei-Seui. See Sung (1974:166-168) and a genealogy of his segment included in Hugh Baker's Collection of Genealogies.\n\n41 Patrick Hase has drawn my attention to the importance of the monastery as central to the establishment Hung-Yi's descendants in Kam Tin, just as Ling To nunnery is to the Dangs of Ha Tsuen. The monastery and the earlier temple are a major element in the fung-seui of the Pat Heung valley and Kam Tin. The rivers important to irrigation in the area all flow from the mountain on which the monastery stands.\n\n42\n\n41\n\n44 I have not tried to find further information on this man in gazetteers.\n\nSee Sung (1973:112-113) for the Hung Sing Temple.\n\nThis was one of two stories. They were thought of as alternatives although there is no contradiction between them. I shall relate the other one later.\n\n45 I was told that the Juk-Yun Am used to be at the present site of the Gwaan-Dai Temple of Shing Mun San Tsuen, and San-Sin Fu near Shui Mei.\n\n46 Two items in Kam Tin Historical Documents vol. 2 were probably intended for this very grave. These were among the papers of Dang Ting-sam from the year 1873. The first was a request for donations towards the establishment of a charitable grave. The second was intended for a stone inscription. There is strong evidence that the charitable grave was established before the British came, although many present-day Dangs believe that those buried in the grave were those who died fighting against the British. The jiu festival record for 1895 included the Dei-Jong Wong of Tung-Fuk Tong among the gods to be invited, and an elder in his nineties remembered seeing gam-taap jars for bones when he was very small. He deduced that those must have been the remains of people who died before 1898, because one had to wait for many years he suggested ten — until the bones could be extracted after a first burial.\n\n47 A bin-ngaak (horizontal inscribed board) presented to the Buddhist altar at its completion included ten names who were believed to be the share-holders of the Tong. They were three Wan-Guk jiu descendants of Shui Mei: Baak-Cheung, Daat-Hung, and Jik-Hing; three brothers Yat-Wa, Seui-Chuen, Gam-Wa and two of their nephews, and Baak-Yi, all descendants of Wan-Gaan; and a Hin-Yiu of Kam Tin Shi.\n\n48 Plus a inscribed stone on the ground saying Naam-mo O-Mei-To-Fat, set up to offset the bad influences that caused traffic accidents near the stone.\n\n49 Hoi-dang for a village did not always take place at an altar for the God of Earth and Grain. In the Shui Mei case it took place at the Tin-Hau Temple.\n\n50 The elders made it clear that gu here does not mean “shares\".\n\n51 The subjects for these paper images were specified in the contract made with the craftsmen. The contract was included in the general record for the festival and was copied from the previous ones. But neither the organizers nor the contractor seem to have paid much attention to the details of the prescription.\n\n52 The object is probably more commonly known by the name dong 'an and is more often installed over the central area of the Taoist altar rather than in the backstage room. See", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211985, "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": 400, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "375\n\nOfuchi (1983).\n\n5.1 These two kinds of embroidery were always found in major festivities and at temple altars.\n\n54\n\nBoth are reproduced in the Dang Clan Association handbook in Huge Baker's collection of genealogies, with commentary. One of the Dangs I talked to had some doubt about the authenticity of the alleged painting of Song Wuizong. He observed that the calligraphy was not of the typical style of the emperor, the shou-zhen ti.\n\n55 Although the wong-gu was a common ancestress, her relics were not public property. The painting of the eagle belonged to a wealthy leader of the Dangs of Kam Tin, and the other pieces to the Wan-Gaan jire segment or one of its members.\n\n57 On this divination instrument, see Ahern (1981:45-47).\n\nDiscussed in the next part of this report.\n\nSV For more information on Lam Pui and his family, see Tsui (1985).\n\n60\n\nThe rite is locally found probably only in the Kam Tin jiu festival. The priests explain it by alluding to the legendary Baiguai Zhen battle formation of Zhuge Liang, a stateman and strategist in the period of the Three Kingdoms (220-265). I think it is probably more directly related to the gimen dunjia style of magic.\n\n42\n\nA handheld small metal idiophone with a handle.\n\nSee Schipper (1974) for a thorough discussion of the Memorials in the Taiwan case, which is very close to the one I am describing.\n\nThe Oral History Project collection and Osuchi (1983) include most of the manuals used in this festival.\n\n64 The actual seating no longer observed the segregation of the sexes, although this used to be the practice.\n\n65 The difficulty was due partly to the fact that there were more Naam Bin people than their Bik Bin counterparts, even when the Ying Lung Wai villagers were added to the latter. As I have mentioned already, the seating area was divided into two halves, one for Naam Bin and one for Bak Bin. This gave the Bak Bin chu more seats each.\n\nI learned from a different source that the elder left early on the day because he felt that some younger villagers were being hostile to him.\n\n67 The informant explained that it was usual for the Village Representatives to keep their position until they die. Therefore, those who are interested in becoming one always fail, except in Shui Tau, where the villagers generally have more exposure to the outside world and re-elect their V.R. once every two years.\n\n68 I saw another lady doing waan-san at Ying Lung Wai. In addition to the san-seng, she made offerings at the village gate as well, which I guess is the normal practice.\n\nThe two men were elders/ritual representatives, neither was the head of the lineage, probably due to the lineage head's age.\n\n70\n\nExcept in the case of Tin-Chyun San-Gwan, I have relied on the Daojiao Yuenliu, the priests' manual to which they often refer when asked to explain their tradition, for interpretation.\n\nThere were some young ladies in the procession this time, which represented a recent development.\n\n72 Ancestral tablets could be seen inside, but Mr. Dang Jik-Waai said that the place used to be a sun-teng, and was worshipped by the procession because of this.\n\n73\n\nIn which case only the woman herself would suffer.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211997, "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": 412, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "387\n\nWith this in mind the people of our Yeuk, all joining together in a meeting, showed a spirit of mutual assistance and unanimity. A notice was pasted up in red characters, and young men began to practice martial arts. Action was taken to guard against bandits and precautions were taken against thieves. Severe rules were agreed. Should any outsider now loiter about or enter our premises, or any outside bandits form gangs, or anyone break into houses to rob and steal, then they will at once be captured and investigated. Every detail will be uncovered. Patrols will capture bandits, and send them to the Magistrate for interrogation, and there will be no question of influence getting them off.\n\nThereafter bandits from outside will not dare to cause trouble here: within the Yeuk the people will be happy and live in auspicious peace. Then in the future we will see fine customs; they will spread everywhere. Everyone will sing and dance, as the sun rises in peace: every family will enjoy a common happiness as in the times of Yao. Thus it is written.\n\nA public announcement by the community of ... Yeuk.\n\nKuang Hsu... Year, ... Month, ... Day.\n\n[Note: punctuation in the translation basically follows that in the transcription]\n\n犯約服罪式\n\n立服罪人〔^姓名]口後不敢復爲非禮之等情因〔^口〕係不守法有鄉犯規竊得[^姓名]物[“幾多]小因彼〔姓名〕拿得贜眞證確今悔遇自身求免送官按情願徑衆公罰日後永迎約束規條如有復行非禮之時任案公送官法徵此係並服約束亦不敢挾盖陪害等情恐口憑立並服數據照\n\n【從read經,東read諫〕\n\nExemplar of a Document by which someone confesses a crime against the rules of the Yeuk\n\nThe writer of this document [... name], who confesses his crime, will hereafter not dare to commit anything improper again. The reason is that, on [... date] I did not obey the law, but was guilty of breaking the rules of the Heung, and stole things [... quantity, [... name], and also because I was captured by [... name], with the", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 212099, "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": 41, "title": "RAS-1990", "content_text": "18 \n\nchildren with skill and patience. Being a teacher, he was dutiful to his parents and respectful to the elders, thereby setting a good example to his fellow villagers. Thus, being virtuous himself he caused others to establish their virtue also. **35\n\nThe inscription ends on this note:\n\n\"It was little expected that Mr. Chan should die from an illness last year. Upon hearing the news of his death, many persons expressed their condolences. Being sincere and virtuous, he should have enjoyed a long life. It is deeply regretted that we have lost such an honourable leader. In order to sustain the traditional morals, and to commemorate his virtuous acts, I have composed this elegy.\"\n\nNotice here how the traditional morals are to be maintained through recording the virtuous conduct and attainments of a revered public figure. The only other public memorial of such a character seen to date in Tsuen Wan is that to Yeung Kwok-shui of Yeung Uk Village (1871-1940), Ch'ing dynasty scholar of the hsiu tsai degree, graduate of the Kwangtung Senior Teacher's Training College, village teacher, leading prewar elder and a founder member of the Heung Yee Kuk. His photo-memorial, which hangs in the office of the Tsuen Wan Rural Committee, was composed and written by another surviving hsiu tsai and senior rural leader of his day, the late Li Chung-chong of Kuk Po, North District. It is recorded that one of his funeral elegies contained the phrase, \"He deserved to be called The Perfect Man of the New Territories\" **36\n\nOther reminders of how deeply the Confucian virtues were esteemed and honoured, illustrating how obligations to the family and the community were keenly felt and sometimes fully honoured, are to be found in a few of the inscribed tablets at the older ancestral graves of the District. One of these, located in the Shing Mun area on the slopes of Tai Mo Shan, is of special interest in the context of virtuous reputation and its ongoing influence among descendants. The person buried there had been born about 1710 and the reburial in 1884 was carried out by all three branches of the family then living. However, retained on the new tablet, were the names of the elder brothers of the deceased who had been responsible for the initial burial at this site\n\n37", "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": 212186, "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": 128, "title": "RAS-1990", "content_text": "105\n\ntimed with their fuses set to burst just a few feet above water level. But the gunners evidently found the moving targets difficult to follow, because the aim grew wilder and eventually the shelling ceased. As the sun set in the west, the British ships came to anchor off the Three Hills, where I had my last pheasant shoot, while the American ships anchored in a group a few miles lower down.\n\nNext morning broke clear and sunny, one of those late autumn days in China, when there is not a ripple on the river, and the smoke hangs low in a thin pall over the country villages. Gun fire could be heard in the distance, both above and below the concentration of neutral vessels; and by-and-by the three American ships, escorted by the U.S.S. \"Panay\", got under way and steamed upriver. As she went by, the \"Panay\" stopped to pass back one of our wounded men, who had been kindly accommodated in her sick bay, and the Commander explained that he was taking his ships further up towards **Pidgeon Island** as the Japanese had been dropping some \"bricks\" in the river just below them. Not for the first, or the last, time in China, the Americans elected to play a lone hand.\n\nMeanwhile the refugees on the British vessels whiled away the time counting up the splinter holes in their ships, attending to the wounded, and in mutual visits for gossip over the events of the previous day. Every one thought it was all a mistake, although some concern was caused at about 10 o'clock, when a number of Japanese military landing craft were seen upriver pulling in to the north bank, on to which they ran a small gun which was openly trained at the ships. But the feeling of security was confirmed when the Japanese craft, one after the other, steamed out towards the British gunboats, circled round them, waved a salute or two, and then went on their way down river. There appeared to be no Chinese troops in the neighbourhood, and the Japanese sailed down the Yangtze unmolested, stopping to burn an occasional junk.\n\nIt was without an after-thought that we all sat down to lunch on that lovely Sunday morning on the Yangtze. We were anchored off the reed beds which grow round Rosina Beacon, and through the porthole I could see across the river the clumps out of which not so many months before we had driven our last pheasant. Imagine our astonishment and indignation when suddenly we heard the approaching noise of planes, the roar of power dives, and bombs", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1990.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 212198, "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": 140, "title": "RAS-1990", "content_text": "117\n\nHotel, was Japanese. So were the majority of the photographers' shops. It was known that a proportion of the workers in the Royal Naval Dockyard were Japanese, passing themselves off as Chinese. Even the Chinese could not distinguish between one of their own countrymen and a Japanese after he had lived amongst them sufficiently long to speak the language fluently. There was a police regulation under which all persons entering the Colony of nationality other than British or Chinese must register. But Koreans were classed as Chinese, and so Japanese, who wished to avoid observation, described themselves as Koreans. To overcome the difficulty it would have been necessary to make registration of Chinese compulsory, and that was a task beyond the capacity of the existing police personnel; moreover, the Chinese might have resented such a regulation as a slight on their dignity.\n\nThe Hongkong weekend continued much as usual. You could run your car onto the vehicular ferry, take it over to Kowloon, and drive the 17 miles to the border of the New Territory, either by the road which wound in and out amongst the bays along the coast, or by the road which followed the railway gap through the Kowloon hills; and play golf at the Royal Fanling Golf Club where there were two eighteen hole, and one nine hole, courses. Or you could bathe from one of the numerous beaches, or go on a launch picnic. These last were popular. On Sunday morning the time would be spent taking turns on a surfboard towed behind the launch, or sunbathing on top of the awning; in the afternoon a heavy lunch would offer the lazy an excuse to sleep.\n\nThe Japanese were bombing the railway line between Hongkong and Hankow. In those days the confidence of air enthusiasts in regard to the results which could be achieved by desultory bombing had not yet been discounted by the hard test of experience. Moreover, we were yet to learn of the devotion and sacrifice, the skill and efficiency, of the Chinese railway repair gangs. With a minimum of equipment they performed wonders, and through traffic was seldom interrupted for more than a few hours. I was instructed to reconnoitre an alternative route for the despatch of supplies from Hongkong to Central China against the time when the railway might be finally disrupted. It was a thankless task because opinion in Shanghai continued to assume that the Chinese government would soon collapse under Japanese pressure.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1990.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 212201, "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": 143, "title": "RAS-1990", "content_text": "120\n\nwhich the government was hurriedly building from Hengyang, on the Canton-Hankow line. The embankment was finished, the culverts and bridges were in, and the construction gangs laying the rails were only a few miles off. The rails had been salvaged from sections of line abandoned to the invader in the distant north, and brought to Kwangsi despite great difficulties.\n\nI drove on to Hengyang and on the way observed one of those curious inconsistencies to which you grow accustomed in China. The Ministry of Communications, all the handicaps of the war notwithstanding, continued resolutely with its programme of road building. Where rivers were too wide to justify bridges, ferries were used. The ferry boat, a wide pontoon long enough to carry two lorries, one behind the other, would be poled across the river, or rowed over those stretches where the water might be too deep. As the current often ran fast some skill was needed to bring the ferry safely to the far side, and it took time. You would have thought that on these main roads, on which the movement of war supplies depended, relays of ferries would have been installed at the wider rivers to avoid unnecessary delay. Not only was that not so, but the ferry men, who were controlled by the Provincial Road Bureaux under the Ministry of Communications, refused to work after dark, or at meal hours. The consequence was that again and again a long string of vehicles would be held up waiting to cross, and if the ferry-trip took half an hour, as it usually did, you might have to wait a whole day for your turn. The wooden ferry boats were of local construction and not difficult to build. It would have been easy to increase the number of boats and ferrymen, but these serious bottlenecks in transportation continued to hamper the Chinese war effort. Only too often have Japanese bombers taken advantage of the target presented by a group of vehicles bunched at a ferry.\n\nBetween Kweilin and Hengyang you pass the watershed that separates the Yangtze basin from the West river basin. An ancient narrow canal, five feet wide, recently repaired, connects the two headwaters. There is an old story of a British gunboat having come up from the West river past Kweilin to a point whence those on board could see the mast-tops of a sister ship which had sailed up from the Yangtze. The masts must have been very tall; or perhaps the story is tall, because actually the gap between them could not have been less than thirty miles.\n\nWithout stopping at Hengyang I went straight through the same", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1990.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 212215, "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": 157, "title": "RAS-1990", "content_text": "134\n\nphone. It was a friend of mine, a former N.O., to let me know he had just heard from the British gunboat that the Luftwaffe was bombing Warsaw. I went over to a party at another table to tell them that the launch picnic we had arranged for the following Sunday would be off. The news spread from table to table. No emotion registered on the faces of the stolid English people sitting on the verandah of that exclusive club. A stranger coming in just then would have noticed nothing out of the ordinary except, perhaps, that it was later than usual when the members scattered from their tables to go home to dinner. I do not think that this display of composure was entirely due to British phlegm; it sprang in part from an unimaginative failure to realise what the news meant. Warsaw was very far from Shanghai. My Sunday picnic need not have been cancelled for all the difference the war made in its early stages. The chief problem seemed to be whether those with children in England should move them elsewhere, to the States or to China. There was no encouragement to join up; in fact, young men were informed officially that it was their duty to stick to their jobs to keep British trade going.\n\nSince the outbreak of the war between China and Japan, there had been a succession of political murders and outrages in the foreign areas of Shanghai. I think probably that the Chinese government started it. They considered any \"puppet\" fair prey and, I daresay, those Green and Red tongs came in useful. Then the Japanese retaliated by organising terrorist gangs of their own, and attacking Chinese with prominent government connections, or such as refused to collaborate. It almost amounted to a reign of terror, under cover of which ordinary crime, too, increased. The police found great difficulty in coping with the situation. They themselves were sniped at by both sides. The police, in both foreign areas, were remarkably efficient, but unpopular with the official Chinese, because so often involved in suppressing illegitimate political activities, which had a long history in Shanghai.\n\nMy wife and I were living in a small flat in the French town, and several of us, in preference to joining the Shanghai Volunteers, decided to join the French Special Police. We were issued with a blue uniform, with a thin red line down the trouser, a police kepi, and a French tin hat; also a large Mauser automatic, one of numbers collected from time to time at the Concession entrances from disbanded Chinese troops seeking admission to the safety of the foreign area. In this accoutrement we paraded several evenings a week at the Central", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1990.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 212241, "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": 183, "title": "RAS-1990", "content_text": "160\n\nWe now come through the porch and enter the verandah. This is an open one, and very cool and pleasant in the middle of the day. We look into the dining room where the animals are fed, and there they are, throwing in the rice with their chopsticks at a fine rate. There are two rows of square tables, and they sit on bamboo stools, and eat out of very curious plates. Their food costs but very little, although they eat a great deal of it. Two meals a day is all they require; but then they lay in a good stock while they are at it. The feeding times are a quarter to eight and half past four.\n\nWe now turn the corner of the verandah, and just glance at the rooms of the upper servants, masters, etc. At the end of the verandah is my bath room, with a jolly large bath in it where I perform my ablutions. Before the verandah is the play ground, where the pupils having done dinner are now at play. They have such a strange way of playing that if we look for a long time we shall not understand it.\n\nSo I will now take you through the bath room, up my private stairs, which I never use except to go down from the dressing room to bathe. By turning to the other side of the plan you will see where we have come up into the dressing room. Here hang all my clothes, and I have all the apparatus one can desire. I had it painted afresh. There is a large strong box, where I can keep clothes, etc.\n\nWe now come out on the verandah, and enjoy the view. The trees are so high that they reach the verandah and form a pleasant shade. This is my own private verandah. We will now enter by the large glass doors into my parlour; a very neat little room which I have had newly painted, and set out very neatly. The floor, like every other floor in the college is painted. The Chinese are excellent imitators of marble; and they paint it so naturally that it looks like square slabs of variegated marble let into the ground; dark, and whitish alternately. There is a large mahogany book case or secretary, with cupboards underneath; as many arm chairs as I like out of the library. Two easy chairs were lent me for an indefinite period by Mr Beach, who is going to Tien Tsin. One is an old fashioned one, with a spring cushion, and back, and a reading stand and candlestick which move in a socket in the arms, in any direction. The other is a very easy one, and well lined with wadding. There is a neat fire place, brass fender, marbled mantle piece, etc. A fine portrait of the Bp hangs over it; other pictures in frames hang round the room. It", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1990.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 212242, "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": 184, "title": "RAS-1990", "content_text": "161\n\nis the loftiest room I was ever an occupant of, being 15 feet high, which is the height of all the rooms upstairs belonging to me.\n\nAThe sea view is very good, though slightly interrupted by trees, which Mr Beach advises to cut down. We now come into the verandah, which has Venetian shutters, or rather doors, which open with a view of the playground, and the whole way up the Peak and surrounding hills. Many fine villas lie around. The villas in the corner of the [ground floor plan] are very fine ones indeed, and are occupied by high families. We can see them very capitally, although they are a good height above. If it were evening by moonlight we could see the dining and drawing rooms of each house well lighted up, and hear the piano, accompanied by some good male and female voices. Sometimes I have to wait half an hour before I can sleep, till they have finished.\n\nAMy bedroom has two large windows opening to the verandah, and one the other side with a sea view. I had the bed newly painted. You will see the mosquito curtain of green gauze, which however I never want to use. There is a capital barometer which I hang up inside the window; about the best I ever saw; so that I can always know the state of the weather and temperature. Over the mantel piece hangs my picture gallery of portraits, before which I spend several odd minutes, and wish often enough I had a great many additions to it, which I expect every mail. There is a mahogany dressing table, which however I do not use, so I cover it with my “deer skin”, and use it as a side board. I forgot to point out the round mahogany table in the parlour. Next allow me to show you my pantry, etc. There are two or three [meat-] safes and cupboards, a dresser, and shelves all round piled up to the top with Chinese books. The other day I had 500 large books put up there out of the way. Here all my provisions are kept, and the food that has been prepared in the kitchen below. Beyond is a spare room, which I can in emergency use as a bedroom. Indeed it was intended for that purpose, but I never want to use it so leave it locked up. Any of my friends who can honour me with a permanent visit shall be made very comfortable there I promise them.\n\n^We now turn the corner, and enter the library, which has large doors opening to the verandah, as well as the opposite end. The breeze in the daytime is generally very refreshing through the room.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1990.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 212360, "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": 302, "title": "RAS-1990", "content_text": "TABLE 1: VILLAGE WARS IN THE HONG KONG AREA\n\n279\n\n \n Antagonist\n Lo Wu\n Antagonist\n Tsoi Uk Wai\n \n \n Date\n Source\n Comment\n \n \n \n 18.36\n Above\n Over control of landing place\n \n \n \n Lo Wu\n Wong Pui Ling\n 1856-75\n Ahove\n \n \n Ta Kwu Ling\n Wong Pui Ling\n TRGON\n Hase 1989\n \n \n Sheung Shui\n Wong Pui Ling\n VERSOS\n Baker 1967 1979\n \n \n Sheung Shui\n Ho Sheung Heng\n long-term\n Baker 1966\n \n \n \n \n Over control of landing place\n \n \n \n \n \n Over control of river-crossings. 23 dead on TKL side alone. Hero shrine.\n \n \n \n \n \n Over control of irrigation systems\n \n \n \n San Tin\n Ping Kong\n 1851\n \n \n \n Kam Tsin\n Baker 1966 1968\n \n \n \n \n San Tin\n Ping Shan\n 1851\n Baker 1968\n \n \n Hero Shrine\n \n \n \n \n \n Shup Pat Heung\n San Tim\n Ping Shan\n 1851\n \n \n Watson 1982\n \n Over control of ferries\n \n \n \n Ha Tsuen\n \n \n Baker 1968\n \n \n Sha Tseng\n Pok Tau Kong\n 185.3\n Krone (above)\n \n \n Po Kat\n neighbours\n 1853-\n Above\n \n \n Sheung Shun\n Fanling\n long-term\n \n \n \n Ping Kong\n Fanling\n \n Baker 1966\n \n \n \n \n Over control of market\n \n \n \n \n \n Earthwall on border\n \n \n \n Ho Sheung Heung\n Long Yeak Tho\n Fanling\n long-term Oral\n \n \n Par Fleung\n ?Kam Tia\n Tinid 19\n \n \n \n Hero Shrine\n \n \n \n \n \n Sheung Tsuen\n Wang Tei Shan\n 2nud (19\n Oral\n \n \n Lam Tsuen\n \n \n \n \n \n Hero Shrine\n \n \n \n \n \n Tsuen Wan\n Shing Mun\n \n \n \n \n Tsim Sha Tsui\n neighbours\n \n \n \n \n Tai Wai\n Cheung Sha Wan\n \n \n \n \n Keng tam\n \n 1862-4\n \n \n \n \n \n 1862\n mid-late c19\n \n \n Haves 1983\n \n Hero Shrines\n \n \n \n Hayes 1983\n \n \n \n \n \n Paure 1986\n \n Hero Shrine\n \n \n \n Kak Tin\n Shek Pik\n \n \n \n \n Sha Lo Wan\n \n נִי\n \n \n \n Hayes 1983\n \n \n \n \n \n Pui O San Tsuen\n Pui O La Wai\n 1930\n Hayes 1983\n \n \n Kam Tin\n Ping Shan\n \n Chan 1989\n \n \n Heroes worshipped\n \n \n \n \n \n Pat Heung\n Kam Tiu\n Ping Shan\n long-term\n \n \n mid c19\n \n Chan 1989\n \n \n\n#\n\n[Baker 1966 = \"The Five Great Clans of the New Territories\", H.D.R. Baker, Journal. Vol. 6, 1966, pp. 25-49; Baker 1968 = H.D.R. Baker, Sheung Shui: A Chinese Lineage Village, London, 1968; Baker 1979 H.D.R. Baker, Chinese Family and Kinship, London 1979; Faure 1986 = D. Faure, The Structure of Chinese Rural Society: Lineage and Village in the Eastern New Territories, Hong Kong, 1986; Hayes 1983 = J.W Hayes. The Rural Communities of Hong Kong: Studies anet Themes, Hong Kong. 1983; Watson 1982 = Rubic S. Watson \"The Creation of a Chinese Lineage: The Teng of Ha Tsuen, 1669-1751\", Modern Asian Studies, Vol. 16(1). 1982 pp 69-108; Chan 1989 = \"The Tangs of Kam Tin and their Jio Festival\", Chan Wing-hoi, Journal, Vol 29, 1989. pp. 302-376.]", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1990.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 212368, "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": 310, "title": "RAS-1990", "content_text": "the kitchen, in which there is usually no chimney. The filthiness of the houses is caused by the pigs and fowl that can enter at any time. It is still worse for those families who are poor. In such families, one room has to serve as kitchen, living-room, and bedroom for the whole family\n\nif\n\nyou can even call it a room. Children, pigs, and fowl fight for their living space. Nevertheless, these people are more satisfied with their living condition, so long as they have enough rice to eat, than many others who live in a palace, and have the best of foods available at all times.\n\n—\n\nThe household gear of the Chinese who belong to the poorer classes or even to the middle classes is extremely modest. My teacher, for example, who belongs to the literati, has, in his room, first of all a bed, or rather a bed place consisting of some boards which rest on a wooden stand, with a mat on top of the boards. The pillow is made out of bamboo. The bed is covered around by a mosquito net. Apart from the bed he has a small table, one or two bamboo chairs without backs, a small box, and a few earthenware dishes for cooking. His lamp is a small earthen bowl into which oil is poured, with a thin wick which hangs over the side of the bowl and which is fed by that oil. The rest of our helpers own gear of similar quality. In general, this is the case with all the people who I have had the opportunity of getting into contact with. If they have a bed to sleep on and a table to eat at, some benches or stools to sit on, and crockery to cook with and to eat out of, all their needs in regard to household gear are satisfied. They have no luxury articles. Financial circumstances force these people to this simplicity, one can even say, poverty, in the design of their houses and in the way their houses are arranged and furnished.\n\nOf course, with rich Chinese, it is different in both ways. Their houses are larger and roomier, with a separate barn like a European farm. Their household gear is plentiful and richer. While I have already met rich Chinese, I have had little opportunity to see their houses,\n\n287", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1990.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 212375, "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": 317, "title": "RAS-1990", "content_text": "294\n\nEuropean ladies, and also less strong. The Chinese idea of beauty is for women to be slight, and men stout.\n\nThe clothing of the Chinese has its advantages, and would be worthwhile for Europeans to imitate, since it is loose-fitting. Clothing is a matter of taste, and I do not believe that the Chinese fashion would be appreciated by Europeans, so I do not recommend it. But, nonetheless, in some respects it would be worthwhile to imitate it, particularly with regard to \"fashion\". Whereas at Home, \"fashion\" is continuously changing, in China the style has not changed for a long time.\n\nThe materials out of which the clothes are made are silk, cotton, and linen. In winter, fur and skin are worn. The colours of men's clothes are white, yellow, blue, and black. The ladies' clothes are usually blue. During the summer, a man's clothes consist of a wide pair of trousers and a jacket. The trousers are tied with a ribbon above the hips. The jacket hangs down over the hips, and has long sleeves. Around the neck, it fits about the way a blouse does, and it is buttoned down the right side. Stockings are made of a thick, white material, and are sewn, but are not worn in general. People from the lower ranks wear no stockings, but go bare-footed in their shoes. The ones who wear stockings put the ends of their trousers into them, so that they look like knicker-bockers. The trousers are loose around the knee. Upper-class people wear long gowns that fall down to the ankles - a rather oriental garment. This garment fits around the neck, and is buttoned down the right side. Workers in their workshops, in the fields, and coolies, take off their jackets in the summer, so that their upper body is naked. People who are exposed to the sun carry a roughly woven straw hat with a very wide rim in order to protect themselves from the sun's rays. Those who have to run a lot wear sandals on their feet.\n\nIn winter, men pull on a narrow pair of trousers over their wide ones. The two pairs are tied together above the ankle, and are fastened with a trouser belt above the hips. These trousers make the backsides look unaesthetic, but they are covered by the long jacket. Over the long gown, people usually put on a shorter one - usually of a blue colour - which has very wide sleeves. The long sleeves of the gown", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1990.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 212611, "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-1991", "page_number": 165, "title": "RAS-1991", "content_text": "145 sentries were mounting guard on it. With this information brought back the number and weight of the charges could be calculated; the charges would then be made up and fastened to wooden forms made to the requisite patterns; the correct lengths of detonating fuse would be cut, the primers, lashings, etc., prepared, and the other details of the raid worked out, such as covering parties, carrying party, pass word, rendezvous and so on. Then at the appointed time, usually of course at night, the raid would be made on the target. If all went well your trained demolition party, consisting of the right number of men for the job, working as a team, each responsible for a part, could lash on all the charges, connect up the primers and detonating fuse, and retire in very quick time, while the leader stayed behind to light the safety fuse as soon as the party was clear. The raiding party would then move as rapidly as possible to safety, dropping a scout or two to watch the result of the explosion from a distance, and to bring back the report of success or otherwise. As such raids might often be made under fire, the importance of accurate work and speed needs no emphasizing. One mistake in wrongly estimating the measurements, calculating the charges, fixing them, and connecting the fuses, results inevitably in failure. It is particularly unfortunate if, in the dark, what with rain, perhaps, and a general state of flurry, one of the men slips and lets a charge drop into the river; because a failure will put the enemy on his guard, and what can be attempted once is seldom successfully attacked a second time.\n\nTo discourage enemy repair gangs, a special team would usually be detailed to lay booby-traps round the job, and other men would prepare booby-traps along the line of retreat to prevent the enemy following up too rapidly All this is ticklish and dangerous work where the mistake of one man may imperil all; so it is important that a strong esprit-de-corps animate the raiding party to ensure that all have confidence in each other. In other words a very high standard of training was called for.\n\nBooby-trapping has its fascination too. The object is to leave a modicum of explosive, encased in metal - that provides the splinters to do the damage in some place, through which the enemy is likely to pass, but concealed in such a way that he can not see it, and set with a spring which he will unwittingly set off. You can put booby-traps anywhere. In the ground they are called mines, and standard containers are supplied for the purpose. But the ordinary booby-trap that you put behind a door, or under a floor board, or in a suit case full of clothes,\n\nPage 165\n\nPage 166", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1991.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 212878, "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-1992", "page_number": 187, "title": "RAS-1992", "content_text": "172\n\nThis letter is both a classic of its kind and rather special—in its content warranting translation in full. It was composed in the literary style, and the writer's calligraphy is of a high standard. It is altogether a superior production, and of a kind now seldom seen. The writer was either an old village scholar or a retired schoolmaster, since the younger generation no longer has these literary skills or is trained in them. The letter was accompanied by a copy of the grave tablet erected in 1962 by the four branches descended from Ancestor Shui-tai, and by a list of all male descendants in the after generations, including mention of those who had gone abroad. It is beyond doubt that the clan took the government's notice to remove the grave very seriously indeed.\n\nAccidental Damage to Graves and Urns\n\nSuch statements by those concerned—and they can be many times multiplied since they were the rule—indicate how very concerned villagers became if an old grave, and especially a founding ancestor's grave, was likely to be interfered with by the authorities. Sometimes the files record damage by accident or even by intent. Where accidental damage to graves occurred in the early postwar years, when a large military garrison engaged in frequent exercises across the countryside, the British Army was sometimes the culprit. In 1963, the District Office received a letter from the Tangs of Kam Tin about one of their ancestral graves on the slopes of Tai Mo Shan. 'It has recently been discovered that this ancestral grave has been damaged by military trucks... We are anxious to have it repaired; and as we cannot afford to do so, shall be much obliged if you will sympathize with us and provide the cost of building materials, so that we may proceed to repair the grave as possible in order to pacify the souls of our ancestors and calm ourselves.'8\n\nOn another such occasion, the then District Commissioner, New Territories, upon learning that an ancestral grave had been damaged during a military exercise, arranged for a ceremonial visit to be paid to the village by the brigade commander, the command land agent, the district officer concerned and himself. This was done to show respect to the family and to acknowledge its concern, as well as to show the authorities' desire to make speedy reparation for the damage caused.9 The villagers no doubt appreciated this gesture.\n\nSuch actions could be two-way. Meritorious actions by officers of the District Administration were also recognized. I once received a", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1992.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qf85tx75x", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 212884, "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-1992", "page_number": 193, "title": "RAS-1992", "content_text": "178\n\nNOTES\n\n1\n\nSaid by one of the Tangs of Ha Pa. The father had won a Jockey Club lottery ticket\n\nMrs Wong Chau Yuk-bing, 10 July 1991\n\nI once became concerned with a grave on a hill above Tsuen Wan. There had been a mistake and confusion when exhuming illegal graves and removing the remains to an authorized cemetery. My subsequent enquiry showed that this slope contained a number of graves of Chans of Sam Tung Uk, repaired in 1919, and another old grave belonging to their cousins from Kwan Mun Hau, a recent reburial of another of their graves whose old site had been required for development; the earth grave with stone tablet dated 1954 belonging to another local lineage recently taken up and remains placed in an urn (whose removal caused all the trouble); and a Tsang grave dated 1909 but removed at some time previously. The enquiry showed that the hill was a favoured burial site, that it was mostly monopolized by the Chans of Sam Tung Uk; that they had received objections from Kwan Mun Hau to a new grave and had not used it but found another site.\n\n4\n\nThe exercise was prompted by what I personally felt was the misguided notion that all the owners of old graves could, and should, one fine day be asked to exhume them.\n\n4 This was still felt to be the case, even though some leading members of the clan were Christians, with forebears who had also been members of the local protestant Chuen Yuen Church, established in Tsuen Wan about 1905.\n\n+\n\nAddressed to DOTW but sent to NTA HQ. See Secretary for the NT's NT L/M No.(172) in E/948/78 to TM&DO TW dated 11 December 1980, enclosing Chinese letter dated November 1980.\n\n+ Chinese letter from Mr. Wong Kit-hung, Village Representative of Shui Pin Village, Yuen Long, dated 14 January 1980.\n\n\"Wong Cho-yip and 22 other villagers of this place are the owners of the grave of Ancestor Shui-tai at Tsing Lung Tau. Ancestor Shui-tai was buried there in the tenth month of the first year of Tung Chih [1862], so that the grave has a history of 120 years. The villagers have recently learned that the government will resume the land there for development. They fear that great damage will be done to the fung-shui [of the clan] if the grave is destroyed. We entreat you to remedy the situation quickly [by cancelling the notice] or by compensating for this loss, so that they may choose a lucky day for the removal of their ancestral grave (and another auspicious burial ground for).\n\nM\n\nChopped DOTW Inward. Serial No. 1861 of 17 August 1963. The District Commissioner gave an account of a ceremonial visit following damage to a grave. See Annual Departmental Report, District Commissioner, New Territories, 1955-56.\n\n4\n\nADR, DCNT 1955-56, para. 87.\n\nMr Wong Kwai-chi, Land Inspector, Class 1. He and I had been colleagues and friends since we first served together in the District Office South, twenty years before.\n\n|| DOTW file TW6/WL/71, Chinese letter dated 4 May 1971.\n\n1:\n\nSee JHKBRAS, Vol. 17 (1977), p.189 for background.\n\nFile TW130/983/77, for China Light and Power Company's electricity supply sub-station on NE Lantau.\n\n14\n\nThis was partly their own fault, as owing to a particularly intense intra-lineage feud, all through the late 1970s and most of the 1980s they could not agree on removal terms,", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1992.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qf85tx75x", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213136, "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": 204, "title": "RAS-1993", "content_text": "186\n\n# APPENDIX I\n\n## Calendar of Disturbances in the Border Area, 1899-1940\n\n(Orme = Papers Laid Before the Legislative Council of Hongkong, 1912, (Sessional Papers 1912, printed by Noronha and Co, Government Printers), No 11 of 1912. \"Report on the New Territories, 1899-1912” (The Orme Report), pp 43-63, SP = Papers Laid Before the Legislative Council of Hongkong (Sessional Papers), STJLS = Shatinjiade Lishe, op cit. AP = Administrative Reports, \"Report by the District Officer New Territories\", JLHG = Judonghaiguan Baoguan Dashiji op cit. Note JUHO is limited in material for 1921-1927, and AP has little to say on the border 1931-1938, except to comment on the levels of smuggling)\n\n \n Year\n Event\n Source\n \n \n 1900\n Abortive Rebellion in Wai Chan Sham Chun valley in turmoil Sam Chau Ti in revolt 5 piracies in Hong Kong waters\n SP 1901 STJLS Orme\n \n \n 1901\n Chinese military patrol formed on frontier\n SP 1902\n \n \n 1905\n Most serious crime in New Territories caused by cross-border gangs these impeded by new blockhouses at Ta Kwu Ling Second rebellion at Sam Chau Tin\n Orme STJLS\n \n \n 1906\n Market strike at Sha Tau Kok\n STJLS\n \n \n 1907\n Riot against Customs at Sha Tau Kok\n STJLS\n \n \n 1911\n Law Fong, Chor Uk Wai, Shu Tau Customs Stations sacked by bandits Law Fong Customs Station destroyed by bandits\n JLHG\n \n \n 1912\n Fighting in area near border Increase in banditry and piracy In Hong Kong, military assistance needed by Police Law Fong, Lin Tong, Sha Tau Customs Stations sacked by bandits, at Law Fong claiming to be \"new revolutionaries\" Situation confused Executions in Sham Chun\n SP 1912 AR JLHG\n \n \n 1913\n Nam O, Yun To Customs Stations sacked by bandits\n JLHG\n \n \n 1914\n Nam O attacked and sacked by night Tai Chan, Chek Wan Customs Stations sacked by bandits\n JLHG\n \n \n 1915\n Chan Hang (Siu Mui Sha) Customs Station sacked by bandits\n \n \n \n 1916\n Increase in smuggling opium into China Bad outbreak of cross-border crime, due to \"lack of any reasonable system of policing\" on the Chinese side Yum Tin (3 times), Kai Chung, Lung Tsun Hui Customs Stations sacked by bandits (40 men attack Kai Chung, up to 200 Yum Tin, and 150 at Lung Tsun Hui) All Customs firearms removed to Hong Kong for safe-keeping (until 1932)\n JLHG AR JLHG\n \n \n 1917\n Hakkas fleeing disturbances in Waichau arrive in New Territories Outbreak of crime in New Territories by \"undesirables\" from across border Kai Chung, Lung Tsun Hui, Sha Tau Customs Stations sacked by bandits\n AR JLHG\n \n \n 1918\n Times \"very disturbed\" on border Outbreak of cross-border crime \"half the offenders come from Chinese territory\" Kai Chung, Tip Fuk, Ha Sha JLHG Customs Stations forced to close (April) Sha Yue Chung and Kai Miu Customs Stations sacked by bandits and forced to close (August)\n AR JLHG", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1993.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213138, "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": 206, "title": "RAS-1993", "content_text": "188\n\n \n Year\n Event\n Source\n \n \n 1933\n Mounted Horse Patrols instituted to control smuggling. Guerrillas active in Bias Bay area Gunbattle with \"uniformed smugglers\" off Tai Mu Sha\n AJ, JLHG\n \n \n 1934\n Increase in smuggling Gunbattle with smugglers in Hong Kong waters Automobile Anti-smuggling Patrol instituted\n AR\n \n \n 1935\n Continuing influx into the New Territories of poor Hakkas, refugees from neighbouring districts, living in matsheds Chinese erect steel fence from Sham Chun to Sha Tau Kok Guerrillas active in Bias Bay area Gunbattle in Mirs Bay with smugglers. In gunbattle at Sha Tau Kok, an innocent bystander is killed\n JLHG\n \n \n 1936\n \n \n \n \n 1937\n Increase in smuggling after slight drop in 1935 (District Officer) Customs revenues rise as smuggling is \"brought under control” (Customs) Increase in immigration into the New Territories of poor Hakkas Guerrillas active in Bias Bay area\n AR JLHG\n \n \n 1938\n Increase in smuggling Destitute refugees in New Territories Gang crime wave there \"Abnormal conditions\" in China cause more refugees to arrive Cross-border thieves set on and beaten to death by New Territories villagers\n AR JLHG\n \n \n 1979\n \n \n \n \n 1940\n Refugees from Japanese increase population of New Territories by 1/2 Many squatter matsheds, but no increase in New Territories crime, except that some cross-border gangs cause trouble. Kai Wong, Tip Fuk, Customs Stations closed. – Kai Miu Customs Stations destroyed in Japanese attack Japanese enter Sham Chun and all Customs Stations closed Japanese attack Sha Tau Kok, Sham Chun, Mirs Bay and Deep Bay, damaging all Customs Stations, then relieve Customs stations reopen at end of year Fishing, other than inshore, greatly hampered by Japanese attacks. Many refugees in the New Territories die of starvation\n AR JLHG\n \n \n \n Increase in smuggling and piracy, due to confused situation in border area Guerrillas come to agreement with Customs on operation of Sha Yue Chung Customs Station - goods for guerrillas to be duty-free Japanese take Nam Tau, attack Sham Chun, then enter Sham Chun - all Customs Stations except Sha Yue Chung close Japanese retire, and all Customs Stations reopen battle with smugglers off Yau Tam\n JLHG\n \n \n \n Japanese re-enter Sham Chun All Customs Stations close, then the Japanese retire, and Mirs Bay Customs Station re-open with assistance of guerrillas All Stations damaged Heavy smuggling of strategic goods to Sha Yue Chung, Mui Sha, Chan Hang Japanese again invade Sham Chun, and attack Mirs Bay Mirs Bay Customs Station able to operate at night only Sha Tau Kok captured by Japanese\n JLHG", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1993.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213144, "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": 212, "title": "RAS-1993", "content_text": "194\n\n14 The oldest surviving dated object is the bell, of 1922 (D Faure, A Ng B Luk, F. M. Xianggang Beiming Huabian, Historical Inscriptions of Hong Kong, Urban Council, Hong Kong, Vol 3, p 733) The temple, however, appears in the Block Crown Lease (1905), and the local villagers believe it is old\n\n15 The Sam Heung villagers have recently elected a tablet at the resited replacement temple, stating that the temple was first built in the Chia Ch'ing reign (1796-1820), and that the Ta Tsiu was instituted as soon as the temple was built While the grounds for these statements are not given, they are reasonable, and probably correct, although a date late in the reign is likely\n\n16 D Faure, The Structure of Chinese Rural Society, op cit. p 107\n\n17\n\nA copy of this genealogy is in the collection of New Territories historical documents at United College, Chinese University of Hong Kong I am indebted to Dr D Faure for drawing my attention to this reference\n\nOur information on mid-nineteenth century Sha Tau Kok comes primarily from documents of the Basel Mission, which had a Mission Station in the town 1849-1854, and whose missionaries regularly visited it in the late nineteenth century The missionaries rented four houses from a local village elder, near the western end of Upper Street, backing onto the wall The missionaries drew a map of the town in 1853, plans of typical shop units in 1849 and 1853, and wrote a long description of the town and district in 1853 – Map 2 is a re-drawing of the missionaries' map of 1853, corrected by measurements taken from the 1924 aerial photograph of the town (13 November 1924 original in the Department of Geography, University of Hong Kong) The written description of 1853 is Basel Mission archive, doc Al-2, Nr 44, “Half-Yearly Report of the missionary Rev P Winnes, from 1st January to 1st July 1853\", printed in translation in P H. Hase. \"Sha Tau Kok in 1853”, in Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol 30, 1990, pp 281-297 See PH Hase, \"The Alliance of Ten\", op cit, for redrawings of the plans of mid-nineteenth century shop units, and also for a drawing of a cross-section of such a shop unit I am indebted to Rev Carl Smith for drawing my attention to the importance of the Basel Mission documents to the history of Sha Tau Kok, and for allowing me to use his transcripts and notes I would also like to thank Mrs W Haas, and the staff of the Basel Mission archive in the preparation of this article\n\n19 The Tung Wo Kuk was so named in direct emulation of the older Punti Council in Sham Chun, which was also known as \"The Council for Peace in the East\", PA, Tung Ping Kuk - the choice of the name Tung Wo Kuk must be seen, in these circumstances, as a marked sign of local pride and self-confidence\n\n20 See n 11\n\n21\n\nThe villagers believe that the name Sha Tau Kok is taken from a poem by a Ch'ing official who passed by and was so impressed by the beauty of the sun rising above the sand-dunes that he wrote a poem on it ADV AEAA. \"The sun rises from the sand-dunes the moon hangs where land and ocean meet\" I have heard this story from a Sheung Wo Hang elder, and see also Shatoulaode quwer xuanguanbu (Sha...", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1993.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213321, "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-1994", "page_number": 143, "title": "RAS-1994", "content_text": "124\n\nup a rocket projector failed to breach them. For the first time in the three hours since the Tatars had taken refuge in the temple did their discipline begin to slip, a few tried to escape in ones and twos down the valley towards the harbour, only to be picked off on the way. It was now decided by the British to set fire to the building, and a second breach having been blown in the opposite side a fire was kindled which soon spread to the roof and in a short time the whole was reduced to ruins. When finally the Tatar resistance ceased and they were forced to abandon the temple only fifty-three were still alive to be taken prisoner. They were found crouching on the ground, with their arms folded and their matchlocks and swords laid aside, in evident expectation of a violent death. They were secured by having their queues tied together, whilst those with wounds were bandaged by British doctors which created considerable goodwill. In the midst of the smoke and death sat an old Tatar colonel who, when the red coats began to appear through the smoke, laid down his pipe, snatched up a sword and cut his own throat. He failed to kill himself and was bandaged up by the British doctors and then, along with all the other prisoners, was released. Ilipu, the Manchu, wrote thanking the British for their kindness in caring for the wounded.\n\nThe Manchu force in the temple was commanded by a company commander Lung Fu of the Bordered Red Banner * and he, like many of the 270 men within the temple, killed himself rather than be taken prisoner.\n\nMeanwhile, as this was the first time that the Manchu Tatars had encountered the British on the field of battle, and fearing that the British would slaughter and rape indiscriminately or probably more so because the Tatars were unable to bear the shame, they destroyed themselves in large numbers, first killing their wives and children. Whole families seem to have done away with themselves hanging from beams in their own homes, and the wells and every place where they could find water enough were full of bodies. Chinese gangs plundered the abandoned Tatar part of the town, and when the British entered the town the only noise was screams of those being killed or killing their own families.\n\nIn a Chinese account of the battle the British bombarded Chapu on the 18th May and landed a force to attack the east gate of the city. Here they were met by troops from Shensi and Kansu provinces armed with gingalls, and received such rough treatment that they went round to the south gate. As the Manchu Tatar garrison had been in the habit of", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1994.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213577, "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": 173, "title": "RAS-1995", "content_text": "143\n\nTHE USE OF HILL LAND FOR VILLAGE FORESTRY AND FUEL GATHERING IN THE NEW TERRITORIES OF HONG KONG.\n\nRICHARD WEBB\n\nWhile recent economic and social changes in the New Territories of Hong Kong have wrought irrevocable changes to the rural villages, until perhaps twenty years ago, villagers appeared to have used the hillsides much as they pleased, even though some of the larger clans claimed payments for hill land. The villagers of Cheung Sha Wan, west Kowloon, for example, paid regular sums in silver to the Tangs of Kam Tin for their forest land. The Liu family of Sheung Shui was leasing forest land to the villagers of Long Keng under a deed of 1867 (Hayes 1983). However, hill and forest land was usually annexed by the nearest village. Each village had its forestry lot, apportioned to families according to natural boundaries. There was a major difference in people's minds between land under pine tree cultivation (Pinus massoniana) and other hill land used for fuel gathering, grass cutting, and grazing. The British administration carried over the common usage of hill areas for pine cultivation into their village forestry licenses, or \"t'sung shaan p'aai\", which allowed villagers to occupy Crown Land for the purpose of growing these trees on which they relied for fuel, poles, and timber. It was the 'pine hills' that mattered more to the village families, even though they possessed no proper title to them, save under British rule, an undifferentiated notional share in the village license through being part of its community. Like houses and fields, hillside plots could be passed from father to son.\n\nDaley (1975) provides an account of forestry activities, although it is not clear if this refers to village forestry, in which 211,015 trees were planted in 1880, rising to 1,157,609 in 1883. The British administration established the Botanical and Forestry Department in 1880, with the objective of planting the badly eroded areas and water catchments. From 1881 to 1891, an average of around 647,223 trees were planted every year, of which 95% was Pinus massoniana, a local pine which can establish on very poor soil. By 1938, 70% of Hong Kong island had been afforested with government plantations, and 200 km2 of the New Territories were occupied by leased forestry lots used as a source of firewood. By this time, the government plantations were", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1995.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/95941j25g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213603, "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": 199, "title": "RAS-1995", "content_text": "The MacIntosh Cathedrals\n\nR.G. Horsnell\n\n171\n\nIntroduction\n\nThe author of this article has been working in Hong Kong since 1971. He started in the Architectural Office of the old Public Works Department, and is at present a Chief Maintenance Surveyor in the Architectural Services Department which celebrated its Tenth Anniversary in 1996. He has been assisting the Antiquities and Monuments Office in recording historical buildings and structures since 1992. In this article, he gives a brief history of the police border observation posts known as the MacIntosh Cathedrals, which were named after Commissioner of Police, Mr. D.W. MacIntosh, whose idea it was to build them. The article has been compiled from information in the Hong Kong Police Force Library, also the Force Museum in Coombe Road to which due acknowledgements are made.\n\nIn 1945, when Hong Kong was liberated, the population was estimated at 500,000. As the Territory regrouped and normality returned, it saw an upturn in immigration and by the end of 1947, the population had increased to an estimated 1,800,000. In 1948/49, as a result of unsettled conditions in China caused by the civil war and the increasing successes of the communist armies, a large influx of refugees from the mainland commenced. Approximately 750,000, mainly from Kwantung Province, Shanghai, and other commercial centres, entered Hong Kong during 1949 and early 1950. This reached its height in the Spring of 1950, when the estimated population was 2,360,000.\n\nAmongst the refugees were the defeated remnants of the Kuo Min Tang Nationalist armies and also a fair number of common criminals. Arms of all descriptions were available, and gangs of armed men raided villages near the Border. There were frequent gun battles between the police and gangsters, and there were several cases of policemen being killed and their revolvers stolen. In May 1949, two incidents occurred on the Border, which were to lead to a change of design and use of police posts in that particular area.\n\nOn May 2, 1949, a four-man police patrol left Ta Kwu Ling Police", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1995.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/95941j25g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213924, "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-1996", "page_number": 276, "title": "RAS-1996", "content_text": "254\n\nof death rituals, rites of passage, gender role, festivals and customs, ancestor worship and feng shui, Constable illustrates that the Shung Him Tong Hakkas' attempt to reconcile Hakka-Chinese and Hakka-Christian identities is an ongoing process. This ongoing process is also demonstrated in the continuous transforming images of Hakka characters. The older generation emphasises Chineseness despite being Christians; the younger generation tends to allow Christianity a far more obvious role in their lives (Chapter 6).\n\nChapter 2 is devoted to a discussion on Hakka migration and the Taiping Rebellion, both events thought to have been important in the construction of Hakka identity. According to the book, the former provides the Hakkas with a historical mechanism to identify themselves as \"Orthodox Chinese,\" and the latter provided, other than lineage, an \"organisational structure that helped bring together those who became influential in inventing and articulating Hakka identity” (p. 38). If these two historical events were so crucial to the construction of early Hakka identity, one would expect to know more about how they were told and utilised by the Shung Him Tong Hakka Christians to reconstruct their own Hakka identity, not through records by historians of European missionaries. Without this, it is difficult to relate the construction of early Hakka identity and the reconstruction of the Hakka-Christian identity in Shung Him Tong.\n\nShung Him Tong is located near Lung Yeuk Tau, a village compound dominated by the powerful Tang lineage. It is also situated close to two other influential localised lineages in the New Territories of Hong Kong: the Pangs of Fanling and the Lius of Sheung Shui. Though the political influence of the early founders of Shung Him Tong is mentioned, Constable does not explain how the marginal situation of the village contributed to the survival of the community, which is Christian and Hakka (as against Chinese and indigenous Punti villages like Lung Yeuk Tau, Fanling, and Sheung Shui). It is also unclear how, unlike the Lius of Sheung Shui, who had to change their ethnic identity from Hakka to Punti, this marginal nature of the community is manipulated by the Shung Him Tong Hakkas to reconstruct their own unique Hakka-Christian identity.\n\nThere are also some minor imprecisions. One of which is Qing Ming, which does not fall in “Spring during the third month of the", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1996.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/3n209j641", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214028, "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-1997", "page_number": 96, "title": "RAS-1997", "content_text": "NEGOTIATING THE TRANSFER PRACTICE OF HOUSING IN A CHINESE VILLAGE\n\nCHAN KWOK SHING\n\n63\n\nIn Hong Kong's New Territories, the government has allowed each male indigenous inhabitant in his lifetime to apply for building a new three-storey house in his village since 1972.1 Villagers call this type of house ding wu (male's house), which is distinct from others called zu wu (ancestor's house). Zu wu should be transferred through the male descent line for the maintenance of lineage community, whereas the sale of ding wu (male's house) for profit is recognised as a socially acceptable practice. Villagers of the Pang lineage in Fanling define ding wu and zu wu differently with reference to their locations, and then manipulate the spatial difference to justify the transfer practice.2 In order to maintain the lineage community and its associated traditional identity, villagers rigidly enforce patrilineal descent in the transfer of zu wu. The transfer of ding wu is nevertheless open to negotiation in their self-interest. Some defined their ding wu as patrimony and transferred them patrilineally, but some sold them out for profit when the real estate market price in Hong Kong has been booming since the mid-1980s. The Pangs' strategy of manipulating space to redefine/negotiate the property transfer practice shows a mixture of community solidarity and profit maximisation in rapidly changing economic and legal circumstances.\n\nThe Setting and Housing Conditions in Hong Kong\n\nThe Pang lineage has been situated in Fanling in the northern New Territories before it was leased to the British Government in 1898. It is a patrilineal descent group with corporate landholdings to support group worship. Its members also organise a self-defensive village guard to safeguard life and property and appoint village representatives to speak for their interests. The population of the Pang lineage in the 1990s is about 3,000, but, as the Pang genealogy records, nearly half the lineage members have emigrated to countries such as Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium, and so on and worked abroad since the 1950s for making a better living.\n\nThe genealogy notes that the lineage founder and his son emigrated", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1997.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214029, "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-1997", "page_number": 97, "title": "RAS-1997", "content_text": "64\n\nto Leng Shan in Fanling from Dongguan in 1190.5 In 1220, they were then driven out and moved to Fan Ling Lau, as their residence was appropriated by neighbouring Tangs. In the Ming Dynasty, due to population pressure, some Pangs moved to what is now called Fanling Wai and built forty-two houses and the village walls. Fanling Wai is composed of a walled village and its extensions which are referred to by the Pangs as Wai Noi Tsuen, Nam Bin Tsuen, and Pak Bin Tsuen. The houses in the past were built one-storey high of clay bricks with tiled roofs. Wooden ancestral tablets were placed at the center of the house for worship. Nowadays, due to population growth, nearly two hundred village houses stand in a row in the village. They have been built and rebuilt into two- or three-storey cement houses since the 1980s, and they contain paper-made ancestral tablets for veneration. The Pangs call this type of house zu wu (literally means the ancestor's house) and point out that they should be passed down the male descent line, usually from fathers to sons, for maintaining the Pangs' lineage community.\n\nOutside the walled settlement, there are many village houses with dark-red tiled roofs, white walls, and a balcony. Villagers call it the Spanish style. These houses were mainly built in the 1980s, under the 1972 Small House Policy. The policy allows every New Territories male villager, whose ancestor had settled there before the British Government took over the lease in 1898, to apply for building a house in his village. The house is allowed to be built of no more than 25 feet in height (three storeys) and 700 square feet covered area. Since this type of village house is built by male inhabitants (nan ding), villagers colloquially call these houses ding wu (male's house).\n\nFrom the 1980s onwards, the Pangs have rented out their available village houses for profit when the demand for rural housing increases substantially. After the Second World War and the unstable political period in China in 1949, a huge influx of immigrants from China to Hong Kong, together with the subsequently increased birth rate, exacerbated the housing problem in Hong Kong's urban area. In order to relieve the over-crowded living conditions, the government has not only provided low-cost public housing but also commenced the development of satellite towns (nowadays called new towns) in the New Territories. Housing is nevertheless still in substantial demand because of its inadequate supply. In the 1980s, the private housing", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1997.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214030, "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-1997", "page_number": 98, "title": "RAS-1997", "content_text": "65\n\nmarket began to boom. As a result, more urban people were hitherto willing to rent New Territories village houses because of their lower rent as compared with that in the urban area. In Fanling Wai, village houses for rent are now in great demand. This is because the village is situated near the railway station and modern highways linking Fanling to urban Hong Kong. Besides, a large shopping mall, swimming pool, sports field, hospital and park are also available in the vicinity of Fanling Wai.\n\nZu wu: Transfer through the Patrilineal Line\n\nIn retrospect, when Hong Kong was under the rule of Imperial China, villagers were free to build houses without restrictions. But after the British Government took over the lease, village houses could be built and rebuilt into cement houses, which did not exceed 25 feet in height and 1,000 square feet covered area. In Fanling Wai nowadays, most of the zu wu are three and a half storeys, with a covered area ranging from 250 to 800 square feet. They are customarily transferred in the Pang's male descent line. When villagers dispose of them due to financial difficulties, their segment members have the priority to purchase them. In fact, the needs for collective agricultural activities such as irrigation and the defense of property and life were incentives for them to share a common residence. Villagers also believed that this settlement was propitious for them and their descendants, and also for their wealth. For achieving these aims, the Pangs transferred their housing property through the patrilineal line, which thereby defined this space/territory as their common settlement and generated a shared sense of lineage identity or of rootedness. The Pangs today still claim that, albeit the vanished pragmatic needs, they should abide by this customary practice for maintaining their lineage community. Fanling Wai has hitherto been considered by the Pangs as a native place to claim their identity, and the settlement itself also serves as a religious centre to give them spiritual protection against ill-health and economic insecurity.\n\nThe villagers' statement is further supported by the legal transactions of 100 out of 634 house lots of the zu wu from 1898 to 1994, in which all were transferred through the male descent line. Though the market value of housing property has been increasing since the mid-1980s, the sale of the zu wu to non-Pang lineage members is socially prohibited.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1997.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214031, "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-1997", "page_number": 99, "title": "RAS-1997", "content_text": "66\n\n13\n\nDespite this, the Pangs are free to rent it to outsiders for profit because this will not change their legal ownership. This social phenomenon manifests villagers' two underlying distinctive concepts, as David Faure suggests, that is, the right of settlement and the right of residence. He points out that not all residents in the village enjoy settlement rights, as the rights can only be inherited by the lineage founder's male descendants.1 One will be considered as a lineage member if one can trace common descent and hold the same settlement rights. Residents who do not hold settlement rights are defined as outsiders. They have no right to elect anybody or to serve in any posts (such as the village guard and Village Representative) in the lineage, nor can they participate in or benefit from lineage religious activities. Therefore, keeping village houses by lineage members is synonymous with maintaining their prescribed settlement rights to sustain their lineage community.\n\nAs a matter of fact, property dispute is not unknown in Fanling Wai. The following case study demonstrates the way in which the Pangs strategically manipulated the spatial differences between agricultural land and housing land to prevent a married-out daughter from inheriting the zu wu. In the dispute, patrilineal ideology is commonly articulated by different parties involved, namely, the Village Representatives (who are elected by male villagers to speak for their interests and whose power is legitimised by the government) and the female villagers, to safeguard their interests.\n\nPang Chiu Sun had only a daughter, Pang Mei Fan (see Diagram 1). In the late 1970s, after her parents' death, Mei Fan applied for the inheritance of her father's property, which included nine plots of agricultural land and two village houses. Her application, however, was objected to by Pang Man Si (Mei Fan's father's brother's wife). Man Si complained to the District Officer that Mei Fan should be precluded from inheriting her father's property. She argued that, according to the Pang lineage custom, married-out daughters enjoyed no rights to inherit the housing property in Fanling Wai.\n\nVillage Representatives arbitrated this case. In 1979, they arrived at the resolution that Mei Fan inherited her father's landed property and the village houses were managed by Man Si as a trustee. Their rationale is that, by custom, zu wu should only be inherited by male", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1997.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214032, "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-1997", "page_number": 100, "title": "RAS-1997", "content_text": "67\n\nlineage members. Following this practice, Pang Sai Keung and Pang Tai Keung, the only male members in this segment, would be designated inheritors. However, since they died heirless and their property was managed by Man Sî (Tai Keung's wife), who was the only surviving member in this segment, the Village Representatives recommended Man Sî as a trustee of Chiu Sun's housing property. But they stipulated that she had no right to dispose of it, and it should be passed on to male descendants of the Pangs. In 1983 Man Sî therefore adopted an heir to carry on Tai Keung's family line and to inherit his property as well as Chiu Sun's property. In this case, adoption is viewed by Man Sî as an effective strategy to legitimately incorporate the Chiu Sun's property into her husband's household, and through which the hegemony of the patrilineal inheritance is reinforced and reproduced.\n\nFor land, however, the Village Representative said it could be inherited by the married-out daughter of Chiu Sun. His justification was that land and houses should be customarily passed on to male lineage members, but since the village houses were located inside the lineage settlement while the land was not, married-out Mei Fan was therefore entitled to claim her father's landed property and could even dispose of it at her discretion.\n\nIn sum, this case vividly demonstrates how the Pangs made use of the spatial difference to define and redefine their transfer practices of property in the early 1980s. They held the idea that only housing property inside the lineage settlement must strictly follow the patrilineal descent principle to maintain the Pangs' settlement rights, lineage community and its associated identity. The transfer of other property located outside the settlement was subject to the Pangs' negotiation. The Pangs drew or, perhaps, redefined this boundary in the 1980s when the government's resumption of their lands for development was in full swing and when the Pangs themselves also actively sold their lands to outsiders for a huge profit (since the land market in the New Territories sprang up at that time). Under these circumstances, land was no longer considered by the Pangs as an essential or indispensable property for maintaining patrilineal structure and preserving traditional identity. The retreat of the lineage's territory thus led them to become more conscious of the importance of the male inheritance of housing property. This is because only the village houses are the available estate property in Fanling Wai which can or have to be kept intact by the", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1997.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214033, "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-1997", "page_number": 101, "title": "RAS-1997", "content_text": "68\n\nPangs for achieving the common goals mentioned before. Their adaptation to spatial changes associated with the redefinition of the transfer practice of property delineates succinctly how traditional identity is strategically preserved and reinforced when the local society has been experiencing modernisation and industrialisation from the late 1970s on.\n\nA New Type of Village House Emerged: Ding Wu\n\nSince 1972, the government has introduced a new housing policy—the Small House Policy—which allows every New Territories indigenous inhabitant to build a village house of 700 square feet covered area and 25 feet in height. The timing of the introduction of this housing policy coincided with that of the ten-year housing program in Hong Kong, which the government anticipated would be able to provide accommodation for 1.8 million Hong Kong people within ten years, aiming at improving the overcrowded urban living conditions. Since this housing program mainly favoured the city dwellers, the Small House Policy was, as scholars argue, intended to improve the New Territories indigenous inhabitants' housing conditions.\n\nA male indigenous inhabitant aged over eighteen can apply for building a ding wu. They can build houses by converting their agricultural land into building land without premium or purchasing government land at a concessionary price. In 1978 the Pangs successfully built a total of fourteen ding wu. From 1979 to 1982, they built twelve more. All were built on the outskirts of the village territory, and the building lands included both private land and Crown land. The total construction costs of a house were around a hundred thousand dollars, and at that time only a limited number of the Pangs could afford the costs.\n\n18\n\nThere has been no deadline to hand in an application, but the Pangs usually do it at the age of eighteen. Applications have been gradually increasing from the 1980s on, and it has to do with the government's resumption of their lands for development. In the late 1970s, the government started to develop Fanling and Sheung Shui into a new town, of about 780 hectares, to accommodate a population of 226,000; and On Lok Tsuen in Fanling (about ten minutes' walk away from Fanling Wai) was designated to be an industrial site. For this", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1997.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214034, "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-1997", "page_number": 102, "title": "RAS-1997", "content_text": "69 \n\nproject, about 1,924 acres of agricultural land in Fanling and Sheung Shui were reclaimed.22 Besides, in 1982, thirteen acres of the Pangs' agricultural land were then resumed to build a park. By surrendering their lands to the government, the Pangs received cash compensation. The land records show that, for example, Pang On Sun in 1981 surrendered agricultural lands with a total area of 2,168 square feet and received $224,334 at a rate of $103 square feet. In the same month a plot of agricultural land of 3,610 square feet, owned by Pang Chung On, was reclaimed by the government, and he received $372,860 cash compensation. Besides, the Pangs since the late 1970s have also been granted cash from their corporately-owned land trusts when the trust land was resumed by the government. The villagers say that a trust member has been granted more than twenty hundred thousand dollars in total or so from their trusts since the 1980s. As they received cash compensation, many of them saved up for building houses.\n\nAfter the 1980s, however, the Pangs find that they do not have enough land to build ding wu, as most land has been resumed by the government. Moreover, the government has not provided any building land for them in or nearby Fanling Wai. Consequently, by 1990, the number of applications for purchasing Crown land to build ding wu had increased to 300. In 1994, a new set of selection criteria was drafted by the District Officer and the Village Representatives for evaluating the applications.3 Those additional criteria included the applicant's family size, financial competence to pay the construction costs of building house, contribution to the village and so forth.4 Besides, the Village Representatives recommended that the applicants residing in the village or in Hong Kong took priority for having their applications granted over those overseas applicants, as they were said to be in greater need. As a result, 69 villagers were selected from among approximately 300 applicants under this new selection system.2\n\n25\n\nPang Yeuk Lung was one of the successful applicants. He was a village committee member from 1985 to 1994 and a member of Da jiao committee in 1990. His payment for the construction costs largely came from the cash dividends of his ancestral trusts in the 1980s. He said the amount he could save from his job was little, as most of it was spent on the family. Pang On Sun was another successful applicant. He was a seaman from the 1950s to the early 1980s and remitted a large part of his salary to support his family. His savings for building a", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1997.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214035, "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-1997", "page_number": 103, "title": "RAS-1997", "content_text": "70\n\nDing wu mainly came from the trust's cash dividends and from compensation for resumption of his private lands. As mentioned, in 1981 he received about two hundred thousand dollars as compensation for the government's resumption of his over 2,000 square feet of agricultural land. And since the 1980s, he and his family members have been granted about six hundred thousand dollars from their ancestral trusts. These two cases reveal that cash compensations for land resumption has become the Pangs' major financial sources to support the building of the ding wu.\n\nIn short, the Pangs' building applications were not large in the late 1970s because not many of the villagers could afford the construction costs. But from the 1980s on, their improved financial conditions had increased the applications rapidly, and thereby a set of newly-defined criteria was later introduced in the selection process.\n\nDing wu: Its Economic and Social Values\n\nBy and large, the ding wu built in the late 1970s and the early 1980s were rented out. One villager rented his house to an outsider after it was built. He moved into the ground floor only after marriage, and the second floor was still being rented to a couple, at $4,000 a month in 1994. Another village rented it to some American missionaries in the mid-1980s and the monthly rent was around $1,300 to $1,500. The rent was still less than $2,500 a month per floor in 1993, and was finally raised to $4,500 per month in 1994. He emphasised that he did not care much about the rental income and his only concern is that the house should not be left unoccupied. This is because the villagers had uncomfortable and bad feelings about empty houses (xiong wu in Cantonese is homophonic with the meaning of a haunted house). In fact, the Pangs could generate rental income from their ding wu; yet their low rents indicate that at that time, building ding wu was not considered as a very profitable investment. And the Pangs simply did not have any intention in the 1970s to make huge profits from the sales of this housing.\n\nHowever, the boom of real estate market since the 1980s has been changing the meaning of building ding wu. More urban people are willing to rent village houses, particularly the ding wu, in the New Territories because of their lower rent. For instance, in 1995 the rent", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1997.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214036, "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-1997", "page_number": 104, "title": "RAS-1997", "content_text": "71\n\nfor one floor of a ding wu, of 700 square feet, was around $6,000 to $7,000. The rent was cheaper than that of a flat of the same size in urban Hong Kong. Since Fanling Wai is located near the Fanling railway station and is provided with a free car park, the demand to rent ding wu in Fanling Wai is still great nowadays. Even the zu wu, of around 400 to 500 square feet, have been rented to outsiders, at around $4,000 to $4,500 per month. In order to benefit from this larger housing market, Pang On Sun, who had his application granted in 1995 as mentioned, was going to rent his house at about $6,000 per month per floor. He calculated that the rental income in five years (about a million dollars) would then cover the construction costs of his house. It reveals that the investment in building ding wu for rental purpose can bring the Pangs considerable and immediate income.\n\nThe Pangs can also make a huge profit from selling their houses. In early 1996, one villager advertised in a local real estate company to sell his ding wu; the proposed selling price of one floor was about $1.8 million. That is to say, the house was priced at $5.4 million in total. Though the Pang would have to pay about $1.2 million as a \"premium\" and to deduct about $1.2 million of construction costs, he could still gain approximately three million dollars. In fact, though the government realises that some villagers take advantage of the policy to profit from the sale of their ding wu (or their ding quan), it still grants them the right to build. This is because the nature of this policy is to recognise and institutionalise villagers' customary rights to build houses for better living conditions. Under this policy, when villagers have their application granted, they can build ding wu by converting their agricultural land into building land without premium or purchasing government land at a concessionary price (about one-third of the market value). This economic allowance enjoyed by the successful applicants will be nevertheless deprived when their houses are sold to outsiders within five years at the end of construction work. The government adopts this strategy for the purpose of discouraging villagers from building houses not for their own use.\n\nIt should be noted that not all the Pangs would sell their houses for profit. Rather, building ding wu is considered by some of them a way to re-construct their identification with Fanling Wai. In recent years, some overseas Pangs who are going to retire or have been retired in the village also submitted their applications. For example, Pang Tai", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1997.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214037, "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-1997", "page_number": 105, "title": "RAS-1997", "content_text": "72 \n\nWing, who emigrated to the United Kingdom in the 1960s and is now running a Chinese night club there, is going to retire in a few years and return to Fanling Wai. He said that the building of a ding wu was the prerogative of his being an indigenous inhabitant on the one hand, and a way to live and to associate with his fellow villagers after his retirement on the other. In this context, to build a ding wu is alternatively recognised by overseas Pangs as a means of re-identifying with his lineage members in Fanling Wai and of showing that Fanling Wai is his home and that he is not an outsider.\n\nIn the above sections, different social and economic meanings and transfer practices of zu wu and ding wu are highlighted. In the following paragraph, the discussion will turn to how the Pangs come up with the different transfer practices of housing property by manipulating the conception of community boundary.\n\nManipulating Space in the Construction of the Transfer Practice\n\nTo reiterate, in Fanling Wai the Pangs hold a common argument that ding wu situated outside the lineage settlement can be sold to non-lineage members. They explain that since the lands for building ding wu are not owned by their ancestors and their locations are outside the lineage settlement, the transfer practice of their ding wu should not follow that of zu wu. Even the sale of their ding wu is also allowed. Why are the transfers of village house built inside and outside the lineage settlement treated in such a very different way? Why is this boundary so important to the Pangs? It should be noted that village territory is by no means defined solely by the location of the village house. Villagers might define village boundary with reference to such markers as paddy fields, hill slopes, groves, shrines, temples, fishing ponds and so on. For example, the elderly villagers defined the village territory within which the village guard in the past should patrol at night to warn off thieves, with referring to the locations of their paddy rice fields; or they defined which groves and hill slopes should be included to demarcate the village boundary, entitling them to collect wood and grass as fuel and to manage streams for irrigating rice fields. These cases reveal the fluidity of village territory which can be re-defined in different contexts. How do the Pangs manipulate the boundary of the walled settlement as a decisive factor to redefine the\n\nPage 105\n\nPage 106", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1997.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214038, "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-1997", "page_number": 106, "title": "RAS-1997", "content_text": "73\n\ntransfer practices of housing property in the 1990s?\n\nThe territorial boundaries between zu wu and ding wu were indeed created after the implementation of the 1972 Small House Policy, since all ding wu were built outside the lineage territory. But the location itself is not the factor which explains these different practices. Rather, the Pangs manipulated the spatial difference between these two types of houses to legitimate whether male inheritance practice should be enforced to them. As mentioned, the Pangs' idea of male inheritance of zu wu has never been lax. Being practised from generation to generation, the practice has been recognised or internalised by the Pangs as their custom, which in turn maintains and reinforces the lineage solidarity. Therefore, the value of zu wu at community level apparently overrides the villagers' self-interest, and the male inheritance of it is perpetually enforced by the villagers themselves. As housing value has been increasing since the 1980s, building of village houses becomes the Pangs' short-term profitable investments. Being able to make a huge profit from selling their ding wu, the Pangs have manipulated the geographical location of these houses to justify that their transfer/sale should not abide by the patrilineal descent principle.\n\nIn daily conversation the Pangs use the term cun (village) to represent these two settlement units as a whole. But when they want to distinguish between the two, they call the walled settlement wei.28 This distinction corresponds with different transfer practices for the zu wu situated inside and outside the wei. The former are transferred rigidly according to the patrilineal principle whereas the transfer of the latter is subject to the Pangs' negotiation. This strategy defined in terms of geographical difference is constructed or shaped by their conceptual classification of “community” and “settlement”. The Pangs call their walled settlement \"wei” or “cun\", which is composed of three cun (villages), Pak Bin Tsuen, Wai Noi Tsuen, and Nam Bin Tsuen. The two words, wei and cun, are interchangeable. Cun/Wei is a community in which the Pangs share a common residence and enjoy the settlement rights through the male descent line. In this context, \"community” implies two different meanings. On the one hand, community refers to a social milieu in which people engage in intense social interaction and share common interests. On the other hand, as Benedict Anderson suggests, community is an idea of socio-cultural relationship and belongingness in the minds of people.\" These two meanings do not,", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1997.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214039, "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-1997", "page_number": 107, "title": "RAS-1997", "content_text": "74\n\nhowever, exclude each other. Rather they coexist in different contexts. Since the meaning of community itself is fluid, the Pangs can manipulate it in different contexts to define and redefine the transfer practice of their housing property. The transfer of ding wu is the case.\n\nAfter the implementation of the Small House Policy, a new settlement unit developed. Though this settlement unit is subsumed within the term \"cun\", the Pangs have never recognised it as an extension of the wei (lineage community). As mentioned before, in the Ming Dynasty the Pangs' ancestors found a propitious location at which Fanling Wai was founded. They built thatched sheds to develop the settlement. Over the generations, the settlement became more populous and the Pangs built more brick or stone houses to replace these thatched sheds. At present the settlement is not merely a nucleated cluster of houses, but it significantly represents the agnatic community of the Pangs. Keeping this housing property intact solely through the Pangs' male line is strategically important for the maintenance of their community. Nowadays, though many outsiders have rented houses in the wei, they cannot acquire right of settlement, which is the most important criterion for defining the lineage community's membership. As for the settlement of ding wu in which there is only a number of contemporary lineage members, this property is not thought of as a cultural legacy representing the Pang's lineage history and agnatic community. So its transfer to outsiders does no harm to the social cohesion of their lineage community.\n\nTo recapitulate, the Pangs' conception of community boundary is changing. It has constructed and shaped their transfer practices of property to achieve maximisation of self and group interests in dramatically changing economic and legal circumstances. When property is defined as an essential material for lineage solidarity, its transfer should rigidly follow the patrilineal principle. For the property which is not so defined, villagers have the free right to dispose of it in their own interests. This principle explains why sometimes the Pangs' self interests are subordinated to the lineage interests and sometimes not.\n\nSomeone will argue that the villagers manipulate membership but not space to justify their different transfer practices. Of course, they are entitled to inherit or get zu wu and to apply for building ding wu,", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1997.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214040, "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-1997", "page_number": 108, "title": "RAS-1997", "content_text": "75\n\nthrough the lineage membership. But interestingly, the above sections clearly show that the transfer of zu wu but not ding wu should abide by the patrilineal descent principle. If the Pangs can manipulate the lineage membership to sell their ding wu, then why do they not apply it to the zu wu? And, in so doing, how do they justify these different transfer practices? It reveals that space but not membership is being manipulated in the transfer of different housing property to hold the balance of the Pangs' self and group interests.\n\nConclusion\n\nThis article depicts how the villagers of the Pang lineage redefine or negotiate the transfer practice of housing property when the local society undergoes modernisation and industrialisation at a rapid pace. The Pangs' strategy, I would argue, is also commonly adopted by other villagers to gratify their material desires and to preserve traditional identity in the modern and capitalistic society of Hong Kong. This is because most patrilineal lineages in the New Territories are the kinship-cum-territorial social groups, and villagers are conscious of the territorial boundaries of the inside and outside of their lineage village, which thereby affects or shapes the transfer of housing. This common structural characteristic conditionally provides the villagers with a common and unifying strategy of manipulating spatial difference in the transfer of different types of housing property to preserve tradition and to gratify personal material desires.\n\n+\n\nNOTES\n\nAn earlier version of this paper, which is extracted from my master thesis, was presented in The Symposium of The Current Post-graduate Research on Hong Kong Society held in the Hong Kong University in March 1997. I thank Drs. Choi Chi-cheung, Cheung Siu-woo, and Lum Tik-sang for their theoretical guidance and constructive comments. Thanks are also due to Drs. David Faure and Ngo Tak-wing for their careful reading of and useful comments on this revised paper. Needless to say, I alone am responsible for errors and poor expression.\n\nPersonal names cited in this paper are pseudonymous, except those of villagers who passed away before the lease of the New Territories in 1898. Cantonese terms, in italics, are romanized in pinyin. Hong Kong place names are spelt according to A Gazetteer of Place Names in Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories (Hong Kong Government, 1960). It should be noted that though each male indigenous villager is entitled to this building...", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1997.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214041, "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-1997", "page_number": 109, "title": "RAS-1997", "content_text": "76\n\n1\n\nright, government officials and village representatives have powers to grant or block the application In this essay, my study of the Pang villagers in Hong Kong's Fanling shows how their building rights have been re-defined to have their applications granted Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities Reflection on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism (Revised Edition), London: Verso 1991\n\nIt is called small house in government's terms under the 1972 Small House Policy\n\nSee Hugh Baker, A Chinese Lineage Village, p. 154, Stanford: Stanford University Press 1968, Allen Chun, Land is to Live: A Study of the Tsu in a Hakka Chinese Village, New Territories, Hong Kong (unpublished PhD thesis, University of Chicago 1985), pp. 249-250, H. Nelson, \"The Chinese Descent System and the Occupancy Level of Village Houses\", p. 117, Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 9 (1969) pp. 113-121, James Watson, Emigration and the Chinese Lineage: The Mans in Hong Kong and London, p. 160, Berkeley: University of California Press 1975, and Rubie Watson, Inequality among Brothers: Class and Kinship in South China, pp. 106-110, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1985\n\nThe data presented in this essay was collected during my fieldwork in Fanling Wai from the end of 1993 to early 1995\n\n4\n\nT\n\n#\n\nPang Beng Fu (Ed.), Bao An Xing Fen Ling Xiang Peng Shi Zu Pu (The Genealogy of Surname of the Pang in Bao An Province), 1989\n\nIbid, p. 59.\n\nAt the end of the summer of 1950, approximately 700,000 Chinese arrived at Hong Kong as a result of the political unrest in China in 1949 Szczepanik estimates that the population of Hong Kong in 1954 was about two millions But there was yet another influx of an estimated 140,000 immigrants from China during 1955-56 See Edward Szczepanik, The Economic Growth of Hong Kong, pp. 25-27 London: Oxford University Press 1958\n\nAs Jones reveals, by 1981, more than one quarter of Hong Kong's near five million population are living in the new towns such as Tsuen Wan, Shatin and Tuen Mun See Catherine Jones, Promoting Prosperity: The Hong Kong Way of Social Policy, p. 242 Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press 1990\n\nSee Catherine Jones, op cit, Fong, Peter, K.W., \"Housing for Millions: The Challenge Ahead\", in Joseph Y.S. Cheng and Sonny S.H. Lo (Eds), From Colony to SAR: The Hong Kong's Challenge Ahead Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press 1996\n\n10 There are two lineage-based religious activities held in Fanling Wai They are Hong chao rite and Da jiao festival Hong chao rite is held annually by the Pangs in the name of the Fanling Pang lineage to placate deities in exchange for their protection of villagers' well-being (see Au Tat-yan and Cheung Sui-wai, \"The Hung Chin Ceremony in Fanling\" [Chinese], in South China Studies Vol. 1 (1994) pp. 24-39). Da jiao festival basically fulfills the same function of the Hong chao rite, but is held at ten-year intervals Through this elaborated and expensive five-day-four-night exorcising rite, the Pangs believe that their", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1997.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214042, "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-1997", "page_number": 110, "title": "RAS-1997", "content_text": "77\n\nhealth and fortune would not be harmed by evil spirits. In fact, these two religious activities are held in Fanling Wai (the settlement of the Pang lineage in Fanling) by the Pangs exclusively. The Pang villagers, be they in Fanling Wai or in other settlements, will enjoy the supernatural benefit from these activities through the descent line of their father or husband.\n\nThis figure was collected from the Lands Department in the North District Office.\n\n12 See Fong, Peter, K. W., op. cit.\n\n\"But the Lees in Wo Hang, Sha Luk Kok recognised that renting village houses out would\n\ninfringe on the values contributing to the maintenance of their community as a whole. The villagers defined occupancy within the village as permanent residence, and the rights for it could only be enjoyed and inherited by their fellow villagers through the male line. Houses were not simply residential structures but constituted Wo Hang as an agnatic village community. The house was a source of the rootedness that permitted the natives to claim identity with their natal village community through their right of occupancy.\" See Allen Chun, op. cit., pp. 249-50.\n\nDavid Faure, The Structure of Chinese Rural Society: Lineage and Village in the New Territories, Hong Kong, pp. 2-4. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.\n\nLiao Hua Chuan, \"Xin Jie Yifan Lai Min Quan Yi Lu You\" (The Origin of the New Territories Indigenous Inhabitant's Prerogative), p. 144, in Lu Yan (Ed.), Xiang Gang Zhang Gu (Legends of Hong Kong), Xiang Gang: Guang Jia Jing, 1987.\n\n16 See GWE Jones, “Rural Housing in Hong Kong\", in Lok, S. K. Wong (Ed.), Housing in Hong Kong: A Multi-Disciplinary Study, Hong Kong: Heinemann Educational Books (Asia), Hong Kong, 1975; Kwok Kam-chau, Planning for Village Development in the New Territories, M.Sc. thesis, The University of Hong Kong, 1987; Allen Chun, op. cit.; and James Hayes, Chinese Customary Law in the New Territories of Hong Kong, paper proceedings of the fourth International Symposium on Asian Studies in 1988.\n\n18 For details, see Heung Yee Kuk (Ed.), Xin Jie Xiao Xing Wu Yu Zheng Ce Te Ji (Special Collection of the New Territories Small House Policy), 1980.\n\n**Of this total of twelve houses, four were built in 1979, five in 1980, two in 1981, and one in 1982.\n\n19 The one allowed to build ding wu on Crown land had to pay a premium of about $4,000 at that time.\n\n20 210 hectares of this new town were designated for residential and commercial development, 50 hectares for industrial development, and 140 hectares for government and community use. See Hong Kong Government, Hong Kong 1984 (Annual Report), p. 132. Hong Kong Government Press.\n\n21 Hong Kong Government, Hong Kong 1985 (Annual Report), p. 183. Hong Kong Government Press.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1997.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214043, "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-1997", "page_number": 111, "title": "RAS-1997", "content_text": "78\n\n47\n\n#\n\nGovernment Press\n\nThe total land area of Fanling and Sheung Shui was 13,184 acres (20.6 square miles). See Heung Yee Kuk, Xin Jie Xiang Yi Ju Cheng Li Lu Shi Zhou Nian Jin Dian Te Kan (The Special Issue for the New Territories Heung Yee Kuk's 60th Anniversary [published in 1986]), p. 182\n\nA name list of successful applicants was posted on the village notice-board in 1991. A total of 69 ding houses were allowed to be built. But unsuccessful applicants tore down the list and then submitted objections to the District Office. They complained that some successful applicants were found to be living abroad, some came from the same family, and that most village council members of Fanling Wai (cun wei hui cheng yuan) were successful applicants. The result was considered unfair because many of these successful applicants were said to have bribed the Village Representatives for their applications. So the District Officer and Village Representatives had to set up new criteria for reconsidering the applications.\n\n\"The detail of the criterion is as follows (Data collected from the Fanling Wai village notice-board in 1994): (1) Villagers having large families and those whose present living conditions were comparatively less desirable. (1) Villagers who could afford the construction costs of the houses and were unlikely to dispose of the completed houses to outsiders. (11) Villagers who were enthusiastic towards serving fellow villagers and were benevolent towards the affairs of the village. (iv) Villagers who had submitted applications before June 1989. (v) Applicants who were or had been members of either the village committee, or Da Jiao Committee or Village Guard would be considered to have served their fellow villagers and to be benevolent towards the affairs of Fanling Wai. (Da Jiao is a lineage-based religious festival, see footnote 10). (vi) Where two or more applicants having a father and son relationship were successful in this selection exercise, only one application would be selected for allocation of a Small House site.\n\n\"Some villagers anticipated that their building rights would not be realized in their lifetime due to the keen competition or to their lack of money, so they decided to sell their \"right to build\" (ding quan) to land developers to profit. That is, land developers have offered villagers money to make use of their building rights to apply to build houses elsewhere. During my fieldwork, I found a total of seven Pangs who had successfully applied to build ding houses outside Fanling Wai. Six were built in San Wai of Lung Yeuk Tau (the Tang lineage settlement in Fanling), and one in Long Chai, Fanling. In fact, the phenomena of selling ding quan by villagers to make a profit has been a common one. For example, according to the Far Eastern Economic Review, ten villagers living abroad who had no intention of returning to Hong Kong made a total profit of $500,000 by selling their ding quan to land developers (1982: 55, quoted in Allen Chun, op. cit., p. 222).\n\n* In 1976, in order to discourage villagers from making profits by selling their ding wu, the government amended the policy to pay the government full market value premium if houses are sold within five years of the end of construction work.\n\n27. The emigrant Mans also built new village houses in San Tin as the ultimate proof of their stake in the community of their birth. See James Watson, op. cit., p. 165", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1997.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214056, "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-1997", "page_number": 124, "title": "RAS-1997", "content_text": "91\n\nKong village in 1936, thus providing access to the proposed second airfield site at Pat Heung. In the following year the first roadworks on the outlying islands were undertaken at Muk Wo (Mui Wo) on Lantau, primarily to provide access to the ferry pier.\n\nDrainage\n\nIn 1843, a particularly bad year for disease, some essential drainage was begun and, by 1847, 740 metres of city drains had been laid in Victoria. At Happy Valley the muddy waters discharging from the surrounding hills via Wong Nei Chong (literally yellow mud stream) created swamp and healthwise lethal conditions, in particular following heavy rain. By 1846 the rice and sweet potato farmers at Happy Valley were bought out and the flat land drained, thus making the area less unhealthy than before. In spite of drainage improvements in and around the city, the mortality rate amongst European troops remained exceptionally high, for instance in 1851 it reached 24% compared with 10% for the civilian population, this latter percentage being swollen by the deaths of seamen. In the early days, to avoid flooding in low-lying areas, main drainage nullahs (large open channels) were constructed, the earliest in the central district probably being the Murray Barracks Nullah, which ran through the naval dockyard area, and the winding Victoria Barracks Nullah. At East Point, an impressive 6m-wide and 3.6m-deep nullah, the Bowrington Canal (now decked and located under Canal Road) which carried the run-off from the Happy Valley catchment area was planned as early as 1842. In Wan Chai, Stone Nullah Lane was located above a stream which ran below Hospital Hill (to the east of Morrison Hill).\n\nThe quality of design/workmanship in the original drainage system clearly left a lot to be desired as, in 1860, a very heavy rain storm is reported to have burst most of the drains and also caused the collapse of some houses in Canton Bazaar (off Queen's Road opposite to the naval dockyard). During the violent typhoon in 1874, mounds of soil were again thrown up by bursting drains. The sewers also had other uses, for instance in 1863 twenty-two prisoners were known to have escaped from the old gaol in Hollywood Road by way of the monsoon drains whilst, in the next two years, the ingenuity and engineering skill displayed by “drain gangs\" was such that a godown, jewellery store and even the vaults of a bank were entered by using storm-water drains.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1997.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214242, "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-1998", "page_number": 100, "title": "RAS-1998", "content_text": "63\n\nthe golden bowl being his unique characteristic.\n\nMahesvara, Mahadevi or Siva, known in Chinese as Mo-hsi-shou-lo T'ien 摩醯首羅天\n\nMahesvara is one of the numerous titles borne by one of the best known of the Indian deities, Siva. He has come to be regarded as the Supreme Being though he more generally represents the more malignant forces and destruction, all part of the cycle of creation and destruction. He is married to either Uma Mahesvara [also known as Parvati], by whom he had a son named Skanda [see 21 below], or to Kali, who is also Durga. The latter is known as Hariti [and in Chinese Kuei-tzu Mu: see 6 below] whose image is also one of the twenty-eight Devi. Hariti has one face, six arms and a necklace of skulls\".\n\nImages of Siva stand in both the Ta Pei Ssu and the Pi-yun Ssu. In the Ta Pei Ssu he is portrayed as a typical northern Chinese deity dressed in multi-coloured robes and a tall Buddhist crown, but with six arms and an ageless Chinese face of indeterminate sex. He looks like and could easily be confused with other multi-arm Buddhist deities as he has no unique characteristic. In the Pi-yun Ssu he is naked apart from a skirt in colourfully decorated cloth down to his knees. He has four arms and a smaller head on top of his normal head. He has red spiky hair on both heads and fangs rising out of the lower jaw of his normal head.\n\nSoothill described Siva as having eight arms, three eyes and riding a large white bull, holding a handful of snakes and a small drum, and can be represented as the phallic symbol.\n\n4] Maritci [Maritchi or Marici] known in Chinese as Chun-t'i P'u-sa\n\nThe Tantric [Lamaist] bodhisattva, Chun-t'i, is the Buddhist form of the Hindu personification of light and an offspring of Brahma, Cundi or Candi. She is often confused with the Tantric many-armed Kuan Yin and the Taoist stellar deity, Tou-mu Hsing-chün. Two separate deities also are referred to by Chinese devotees as Chun-t'i; these are as", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1998.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214265, "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-1998", "page_number": 123, "title": "RAS-1998", "content_text": "86\n\npray to him for the blessing of a son. However, in Cholon [Saigon] his image, seen in several temples are known as Tzu-wei Ta-ti but identified as T'ai-sui, the god of the planet Jupiter and of Time, though in the major Jade Emperor temple in Cholon images of both T'ai Sui with his bell and Tzu-wei astride his lion stand side by side.\n\nHis standard image in Cantonese communities portrays him as a clean-shaven youth with large round protruding eyes, astride or sitting side-saddle on a reclining mythical beast, possibly a stylised lion. He is holding a seal aloft in his right hand, a talisman bearing the inscription \"The Star looks Straight On\" R. He also has a unique feature, a flag pole behind him on to which is fixed a sheathed sword. The youth holds a conch shell in his left hand and is dressed in only trousers and a cape which hangs round his neck and down his back. He is wearing shoes and has neck-length hair which is held in place by a tiara from which two objects, like insects' feelers, protrude upwards.\n\nIn yet another tale, an extraordinary and complicated legend, an emperor had eighteen robes specially embroidered for the Eighteen Lohan. These were being delivered by a trusted minister who reached their palace in the Western Heavens only to find seventeen Lohan. He sought the eighteenth and found him dead in the kitchen crawling with big fat lice. As this Lohan was the god of the star Tzu-wei and this star represented the emperor of China, the minister knew immediately that the emperor had died since his departure and the spirit of the dead Lohan had been incarnated as the new emperor. The minister was puzzled - what he should do? Finally, he placed the cape around the body of the dead Lohan and returned to Earth bearing a box from the other Lohan which would, they assured him, prove that he had accomplished his mission. When, after months of travel, he reached home, the new emperor opened the box and out flew a crane up into the sky and back to the stars. Artists customarily depict this in their portrait of Tzu-wei.\n\n39] Lei Shen The Spirit of Thunder\n\nLei Shen is portrayed and named as such in only one of the two temples, the Pi-yun Ssu. The problem is that Lei Shen, as such, has been noted on remarkably few altars. Lei Kung, the God of Thunder is", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1998.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214314, "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-1998", "page_number": 172, "title": "RAS-1998", "content_text": "136\n\nI am grateful to the Reverend Carl Smith for the following information:\n\nAn announcement from a China mail of 1925. Married, at Shanghai, yesterday, Miss Clarice Sara Moise, to Mr. Arthur de Carle Sowerby, publisher of the China Journal of Arts and Science. Will of wife, Clarice Clara Sowerby, probated in Hong Kong in 1948, written in Shanghai 1933, in favour of her husband Arthur de Carle Sowerby of Shanghai, and son, Arthur Mesny de Carle Sowerby. Sister, Nina Ethel Moise. Will of Sowerby himself: Arthur etc., probated in Hong Kong, 1955, Arthur de Carle Sowerby, scientist, at present residing at Fairfax Hotel (?), 2100 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington DC. Wife, Alice Muriel Sowerby. If predeceased, sister-in-law, Nina Ethel Moise, 6485 San Marco Circle, Hollywood, to receive half; and son, Arthur Mesny de Carle Sowerby, to get the other half. Will written 7th November, 1949. A death record of Arthur de Carle Sowerby, 16th August 1954.\n\nCarl Smith also commented that it was known that Sowerby had children (sic) by a Chinese woman. It would appear that most expatriates in Shanghai were unaware of Sowerby's first marriage in Tientsin to William Mesny's niece, Mary Anne, and that the reference to the 'children by a Chinese woman,' remembering that Mary Anne's mother had been Chinese, suggests that Sowerby's first marriage had been quietly 'forgotten.'\n\ni The bandits were referred to as the Ko-lao Hui, the Elder Brother Society, an old powerful secret society, membership to which was strictly forbidden by the Ch'ing government and punishable by death. Their gangs robbed and killed far and wide as well as causing trouble with their inter-gang feuding.\n\nii The British Residents' Association was formed in 1931 to enable long-term residents to have a say in the running of the Concession. At about the same time, in order to support the authorities in the Concession following the recent troubles and crises, a body known as the Shanghai Fascisti was organised, and led for a while by Sowerby. The Fascists at this time were regarded by many as an honourable force against encroaching communism.\n\niii John Mesny died in 1884 in Hankow leaving a widow and eight children, all under the age of sixteen.\n\niv Davidson-Houston, JV: Armed Pilgrimage : Robert Hale Ltd : London: 1949\n\nv Journal of Oriental Studies Vol. II. No. 1. January 1955 [University of Hong Kong]", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1998.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214545, "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-1998", "page_number": 403, "title": "RAS-1998", "content_text": "372\n\nAN IRISH FANTASY\n\nKEITH STEVENS\n\nA wooden effigy of a Chinese man stands above the front door of a pub called The Chinaman in Rathkeale in West Limerick in the Republic of Ireland. It is claimed by the publican to be a portrait image of the Chinese captain of a powerful sailing ship, 'The Mikado' which had brought a valuable cargo of tea to Foynes some time before 1743, the year when local people got together to honour Captain Wongyu.\n\nThe story goes that some of the Chinese crew were drinking in a wine and spirit store when one of the Chinese crew rushed in from Foynes and announced that a pirate ship had entered the Shannon Estuary and the pirates were plundering towns and villages along the shoreline. Captain Wongyu mustered more than one hundred locals and, together with his crew, they marched against the pirates. In a quick but fierce skirmish the pirates were defeated and the people of the area showed their gratitude by erecting an effigy of him over the door of the building where it stands today. Captain Wongyu died in 1789, some twenty-six years later but did not forget the people of Rathkeale. He is said to have made provision for a sum of money to be sent to the poor of Rathkeale.\n\nThe statue depicts a Chinese man but with a marked European face and beard, wearing a mandarin-style summer hat, and a half-length blue robe over a faded orange robe. I would guess that it was carved by a European who had never studied a Chinese but had seen some 18th or 19th century illustrations. A quite small round [un-Chinese] gilded medallion or disc hangs or is sewn on to the blue robe high up just below his beard, bearing an unintelligible character or squiggle.\n\nIt makes a good story but the Chinese did not sail the seven seas during the 18th century and should a junk have reached the British Isles at that time it would have made headline news. Chinese did not import tea into Britain nor, I suspect, would there have been a great market for tea on the west coast of Ireland at that era. Finally, Mikado", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1998.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214649, "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-1999", "page_number": 64, "title": "RAS-1999", "content_text": "28\n\nof Cheung Yuk-tong (E) arrived (presumably this relieving force came from the garrison at the County City of Nam Tau), and retook the Walled City after a day of very heavy fighting, in which two of the Government soldiers died, and \"over 30\" bandits. Presumably, the successful defence of Nga Tsin Wai took place during this same seven-day period, in September - October 1854.\n\nThere were probably other occasions when bandits were forced away. For instance, the villagers of the Siu Lek Yuen inter-village alliance in Sha Tin have a story of a heroic fight by their combined manpower against a gang of bandits in the 1860s or 1870s. The Siu Lek Yuen villagers, having killed a number of the bandits, forced the rest to flee over the mountains to Nga Tsin Wai, where the Siu Lek Yuen villagers left them to the further attentions of the men of the League of Seven27.\n\nThe Nga Tsin Wai villagers also remember an attempt by the Tang clan (probably of Kam Tin) to impose Tang clan political control on this area. They relate that the elders of the League of Seven met the Tangs, and showed them the bags in which the silver which had been gathered by the League as a defence fund was kept, and the guns and gunpowder at their gate. \"Every tsin of silver, and every grain of gunpowder will be spent to fight you off\", the elders said, and the Tangs eventually left, with their tails between their legs2.\n\nThe last time the Nga Tsin Wai villagers closed and barred their gates against attack was in 1967, during the Riots. When the Riots broke out in San Po Kong, the villagers closed their gate, and put themselves into a position of defence, although their valour was not then put to the test.\n\nNga Tsin Wai's position at the head of the League of Seven put it into a very important position in the traditional politics of the Kowloon area. The Chief Elder of the League of Seven - usually the Chief Elder of Nga Tsin Wai - was one of the two or three most important figures in the district. The Sub-Magistrate would certainly have included him whenever he needed to consult the gentry of the district. As noted further below, Nga Tsin Wai village trusts were the subsoil land-owners of a good deal of the land in the area, especially in the Market, and at Sha Po, thus reinforcing their predominant local political position.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1999.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214951, "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-2000", "page_number": 47, "title": "RAS-2000", "content_text": "2\n\nthis paper to examine the role of tea in relation to opium and the resulting conflict. For tea, too, was an addiction of sorts, though perhaps without all the deleterious effects of opium.\n\nTea and the Chinese\n\nThe origin of tea is hidden in the remote mists of antiquity and more than enough theories of its discovery exist, mostly legendary. One date keeps cropping up - 2737BC - the legendary year that attempts to pinpoint the discovery, and attribute it to the Chinese emperor Shen Nung, the Divine Healer. Like many great discoveries, it was reputedly made by chance. Shen Nung, concerned about hygiene, used to boil his water for drinking. One day, while boiling water, a gust of wind blew leaves from a branch burning under the pot into the water. A marvellous aroma overtook Shen Nung. The branches came from a tree whose formal name today is Camellia sinensis.\n\nWhile other theories may claim a different origin (a Buddhist connection has been suggested), no one questions that tea as an industry began in China. Did the plant originate in China? Chinese sources claim that the tea tree is indigenous to Hunan Province, in Southwest China, where it grew wild in the mountains, where no other plant could grow. Cultivation of tea, however, appears to have begun around 350AD along the Yangtze River, in Sichuan Province, spreading to Yunnan and through southwest China into the central provinces. By the 5th century AD, tea had joined other products as a popular article of trade. It is not surprising, therefore, that tea's excellent qualities were known to the Chinese since early times, and that drinking tea as a pleasurable pastime had spread throughout the country. A brief attempt to tax tea, in 780 AD, was met with wide public outcry and had to be rescinded. This was also the year in which the first book on tea was published - an important milestone in its history. It was a monumental work in which the author Lu Yu of the Tang Dynasty dealt with tea in detail and from every possible aspect. One can only wonder at Lu Yu's deepest knowledge of the subject. His description of various shapes of different leaves verges on poetical. He described the code of conduct in relation to tea, from which the Japanese had probably derived their tea ceremony, and which in China had evolved into a social custom bordering on ritual. Some would assert that after the conquest of the Songs, at the end of the 13th century, the Tangs' romance of tea disappeared and tea", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2000.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/nk328168n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 215061, "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-2000", "page_number": 157, "title": "RAS-2000", "content_text": "114 \n\nIn imperial China the mandarins, i.e. the official class,1 as well as Daoists honoured Taisui at the beginning of Spring. This was an element of the official religion, with Taisui being an early deity who appears to have been first offered official sacrifices during the Yuan [Mongol] dynasty. The cult of Taisui, referred to as far back as the Han dynasty, was linked with the planet Jupiter2 which during its twelve year orbit of the Sun moves through the 28 Constellations.\n\nThe Ministry of Time in the spirit world is ruled over by the President, Yin Jiao, a deified hero, - also known as Marshal Yin, though more frequently and popularly referred to as Taisui, reflecting his canonisation by Jiang Ziya in the popular historico-novel The Deification of the Gods [Fengshen Yanyi]. It was only after his popularisation in The Deification of the Gods that Taisui was identified with Yin Jiao. In the novel Taisui is portrayed as both a good human and a very ugly demonic deity with a face described as blue as indigo and with long protruding fangs. He is also referred to in another well-known novel of the same era, the Journey to the West [Xiyou Ji] where again he is described as blue-faced and with fangs.\n\nThe Composition of the Ministry\n\nThe Deification of the Gods3 lists the composition of the Ministry of Time. Apart from the President, identified as Yin Jiao, the others do not seem to appear by these names anywhere other than in The Deification of the Gods.\n\nYin Jiao 殷郊\nPresident\n\nMembers: Wen Liang\n溫良\n\nChiao Kun\n喬坤\n\nHan Dulong\n韓毒龍\n\nXue E'hu\n薛惡虎\n\nFang Bi\n方弼\n\nThe Day Duty Spirit\n\nThe Night Duty Spirit\n\nThe Spirit who stores up Blessedness\n\nThe Spirit who Shoulders Misfortunes\n\nThe Spirit who Shows the Way", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2000.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/nk328168n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 215064, "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-2000", "page_number": 160, "title": "RAS-2000", "content_text": "117\n\nSoochow in 1885 noted that \"the image of the cycle god with arms protruding out of his eye-sockets, has eyes in the palms of his hands, looking downward to see secret things within the earth\". This apparently unique feature has also been seen on an entirely different deity in a mural in a temple at Kepala Batas near Butterworth in northern Malaysia. This is Feng Bo, the God of the Wind, with miniature arms emerging from his eye-sockets.\n\nIn a number of temples where images of the Twenty-four Celestial Generals [Ershi si Tianjun] are located down the inside of the temple main hall's side walls, a ferocious blue-faced demonic general, with a club in each hand and long vicious fangs, is labelled as the Taisui of the Months (Yue Taisui).\n\nThe Rôle of Taisui\n\nToday Taisui is a popular folk religion stellar deity, the 'ruler of time' and an arbiter of the destiny of mankind worshipped to avert calamities. He is known to some foreigners as the god of astrology. He rules the cycle of sixty years, of which each year is ruled by one of the subsidiary Taisui. Matching a human's birth date and times with the cycle provides auspicious and inauspicious years. Despite a Singapore god-carver's claim that Taisui is not a heavenly deity but a good example of an earthly deity, a \"half-spirit\" [banshen], the deity is viewed by the man-in-the-street, and the Pearl River boat people in particular, as an exceptionally powerful, wilful, and fierce god, popularly feared as one who must never be angered and needs to be placated to avoid disasters and sickness. He is said to strike when least expected and can injure and destroy the highest and the lowliest, at home or on the high road, but is believed never to injure anyone in the vicinity of his, Taisui's, own person. It is therefore essential to know where he is at any given moment, and if he is nearby and not immediately present, he is at his most dangerous; precautions have to be taken at once. This is done by hanging the appropriate talisman or stellar charm near the front door or facing the entrance. As Taisui can be so destructive, it is important to pinpoint his location at any given time to ensure that work on a project or building is not carried out during the actual time he is passing by. This is done by geomantic specialists who employ a specialist compass with a complicated diagram consisting of the twelve terrestrial stems or branches [horary characters - see below under Time and Calendars].", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2000.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/nk328168n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 215129, "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-2000", "page_number": 225, "title": "RAS-2000", "content_text": "182\n\nMarshal Wen Qiong was said to have been one of the subordinate generals serving Guo Ziyi during the campaigns to suppress An Lushan's rebellion. This modern portrait depicting him as a celestial general hangs in a Daoist temple in Pudong, a suburb of Shanghai.\n\nPage 225\nPage 226", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2000.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/nk328168n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 215332, "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": 109, "title": "RAS-2001", "content_text": "57\n\nnot orthodox spirits shen\n\nbut dark spirits. Yinshen, the ghosts of those who have died a violent death before their due date.\n\nChinese usually describe this group, in English, as the 108 Martyrs. They are never portrayed as images and tend to be regarded more as public worthies, folk hero \"ethnic group\" ancestors rather than deities. The tablet is very similar to the ancestral tablet and simply states that it is the 'Tablet to the One Hundred and Eight Brothers'. It is venerated and although the spirits of the brothers are occasionally asked for advice by devotees they are not usually prayed to for major requests or protection, although in Java in one temple the tablet was prayed to by seafarers before they set out on a long journey. Their festival, simple and not in any way lavish, is generally celebrated on the 15th day of the tenth lunar month, though in Singapore it is held on the 3rd of the eighth lunar month.\n\nThe question is, who were the One Hundred and Eight Brothers? Three separate versions of the story of their demise have each been recounted with great solemnity, conviction and confidence by temple keepers in Java, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, and even in a Chinese temple in Bali. In Penang the story centres on a junk-load of Hainanese immigrants heading for South-east Asia which never arrived. One version claims that they were mistaken for pirates and wiped out by the 'French' [sic] navy off Annam or the 'British' off Malaya again having been mistaken for pirates. Another version suggests that they were all drowned during a typhoon off the southern tip of what is now Vietnam, and yet another that they were annihilated by Chinese government forces off the Leizhou peninsular immediately north of Hainan when, again, they were mistaken for pirates.12 The third story is that they were the original immigrants from Fujian province who arrived in Hainan to settle but all died in Hainan from disease or at the hands of the aborigines. A twist to the version heard in Penang claimed that the typhoon which sank the junk in the South China Seas drowned all but one of the one hundred and nine aboard, one small boy being saved after days of drifting on wreckage. He then died in Malaya at a ripe old age.\n\n12\n\nOne hundred and eight is a secret symbolic number used by secret societies, and one of the Triad gangs in British Malaya was known as the 'One Hundred and Eight Society.' with a devotee in Seremban", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2001.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 215397, "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": 174, "title": "RAS-2001", "content_text": "號襬浹囅匋踹\n\n自然戒獳魚在鲜的)\n\n附端自附件,上裝飾,卷結縫藎爋賰\n\n. \n\n可,群了載點幾望對諾層,翠灦的圖案, 當中有植物,花卉、蛇、維辭饜肄垴酯物。不論是裡子讚是卷翔,沒有颱方領辦\n\n饼子的蓝面刻有四個漢字“德繈專行: 意思是“以德行護香港”,中央推顯色带出了盧押名字的英語縮寫,蘿的內面能辎用絲織成的衛,講越中國古代的\n\n來,只有關首的招呼語及顯耀的伫開闢\n\n\"ANT THAT RAAPO-\n\n泰軸內文:一個金色的外推包圍署、廚外\n\n是一系列純人目眩的交骧圖案,但据菲镪\n\n動植物。在維的頂部,\n\nAll of the features of the embroidered scroll and its casker are well\n\nrecognized symbols and emblems of legendary tales, supernatural and\n\npropitious signs (Box). Unfurled, the satin scroll bangs by two omate silver brackets in the form of bars, an emblem of happiness and longevity and signifying good luck.\n\nThe foot of the scroll is wrapped around an ivory roller with ornately\n\ncarved end pieces. Wound on to its roller, the scroll sits in a red sandal wood casket which is almost entirely covered with intricate carved designs including plants, flowers, snakes, birds and other animals. There are few unoccupied spaces on either the casket or the scroll.\n\nThe lid of the casket is embellished with four Chinese characters Tak Yam Heung Gong (de yin xiang jiang), meaning \"Virtue shadows over Hang Kong\". In the centre of the lid appears a silver monogram of Lugard's initials. On the underside of the lid is a painting on silk depicting a classical scene.\n\nAll of the embroidered characters appear in dark blue silk except for the\n\nsalutation and the valediction \"Respectfully Yours\", which symbolically is in red signifying truth and sincerity.\n\nOutside of the gold framed text appears a stunning array of linked images\n\nmany different types of fauna and flora. At the top, ringed by bamboo shoots, peonies, roses, butterflies and birds are a magnificent pair of\n\npeacocks. The cock is displaying for the benefit of the hen. The borders of the rest of the frame carry a profusion of bamboo, peony, butterflies and birds together with a pair of deer.\n\n案、讓孔靈正為雄孔深開辦。原的其他」\n\n01 # #RH#4 d4\n\n對脆。", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2001.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 216063, "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": 362, "title": "RAS-2002", "content_text": "296\n\nQufu, and Tai Shan, the Holy Mountain, where he saw thousands of poor pilgrims assembling. Mesny claimed that, as an adviser to the Governor of Shandong province, Ding Baozhen, he persuaded the Governor Ding to establish an arsenal near Jinan and build a railway from the Yellow River to the arsenal. Mesny also claimed to have persuaded him to dredge the Yellow River and to fortify Weihai Wei and Jiaozhou [both places later occupied and governed by Britain and Germany respectively as leased territories]. Mesny also claimed to have persuaded Ding to develop the mineral wealth of Shandong 'which he did though in a small way only'.\n\nRiots and mob violence\n\nZhenjiang suffered its share of mob violence and riots during its treaty port era. One of the major problems confronting westerners within China was the ever-present possibility of petty or even major violence against their persons and property. Often the disturbance to the peace, due to whatever cause, would be exacerbated by either western impetuosity and/or the indifference and inactivity of the local intendants [mandarins] and their staffs. There were also the perils of banditry, of pirates, of rebels or simply of thugs.\n\nOne afternoon in 1865 the astounding news was received in Hankou that three foreigners had been most barbarously hacked to pieces in Zhenjiang, and were not expected to live. One was Francis Pickernell, a friend of Mesny, and another was Charles Lewis of Boston, an American, a former ship and messmate of Mesny's, whilst the third was another friend and fellow Jerseyman, Filleule, all of whom died from their horrible wounds. The outrage caused a profound impression upon all foreigners in the river ports and John, Mesny's younger brother, who had not been at Hankou very long, felt very sad at the loss of three such friends. The outrage was said to be due to mistaken identity. A man named Stone, a master of a lorcha on the Yangzi, appears to have offended some Chinese military officials who had insulted his Chinese wife, and they had attempted to avenge themselves in this horrible manner.\n\nOne fine evening in about 1866, during the time the Nianfei [or Nianzi], the so-called Twisting Bandits, were in the neighbourhood of Hankou, Mesny relates the dreadful tale of four westerners who saw a favourable opportunity to join up with one of the roaming gangs of", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2002.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 216228, "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": 527, "title": "RAS-2002", "content_text": "In camp Mary mentioned that 'sound travels fast.'\n\nAt six the next morning we had peace at last!\n\nי\n\nDid Nicholas try to abandon his wife?\n\nDid he say to the driver 'Now drive for your life'?\n\nDid he know that his Lorene had been left behind?\n\nI'm sure that he didn't - he's not that unkind!\n\nAngus hails from Scotland,\n\nwhere real men go bare, forsooth.\n\nIf he takes his kaftan off,\n\nall you'll see is - hair? The truth\n\nis only known to Bebe, his clever lawyer wife.\n\n(She's the one whose expertise is matrimonial strife!)\n\nNational Workforce gangs sit breaking stones;\n\nat the end of the day they must have aching bones.\n\nAh yes, that reminds me - Sir David, our knight,\n\nwould like to see Bhutan tourism more bright,\n\n461", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2002.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 216299, "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": 58, "title": "RAS-2003", "content_text": "7\n\nwhich contained tsuen and wai, was an important administrative unit; yeuk were alliances formed by weak lineages as a means to oppose the stronger lineages.\n\nTai Long Wan belongs to the Sai Kung Nam Yeuk (meaning Sai Kung South Alliance) which is originally formed by more than thirty Hakka settlements spreading all over the south-eastern part Sai Kung peninsula. Likewise, such groupings of Hakka communities were commonly found in the eastern part of the New Territories (about a similar traditional Hakka village settlement in Sha Lo Tung in Tai Po, also see Gee 1995). Divided by the mountain range on the eastern side of Pat Heung that is almost in the middle of the whole area, we find the north-western side of the New Territories is fertile flat land consisting of a few early settled clans such as Tangs, Mans, Haus, Lius, and Pangs. As distinct from the lineage-oriented village settlements of the north-western part of the New Territories however, we find the eastern and south-eastern parts of the New Territories are characterized by settlements that were regionally grouped in multiple lineages/villages together.\n\nAs informed by Mr. Cham, one of the indigenous inhabitants of Tai Wai (sometimes called Tai Long by non-residents), one of the five villages in Tai Long Wan, there are altogether 700 to 800 villagers currently belonging to Tai Long Wan, even though most of them did not live inside the village. He estimated that about 500 villagers are now living in the UK and about 300 villagers are now living in the urban areas of Hong Kong. So many residents had moved out of Tai Long Wan because of the inconvenient transportation between the villages and the residents' working places and their children's schools. Mr. Cham told me that villagers from Tai Long Wan were mostly poor, and this explained why the last one-storey small-house built in Tai Long Wan was in the mid-1970s. Therefore, even though the villagers were asking for house land available for 370 units, he mentioned that the actual number would be much smaller and the potential applicants might be more in the next ten years. Regarding the indigenous rights in small-house policy, he emphasized that although 70 per cent of the potential applicants were living in UK, their rights to build houses on the homeland should be respected. Furthermore, he added that some retired villagers even came back to Hong Kong 2 to 3 times a year and some villagers had work that there might come back every year as well.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2003.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2v242g390", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 216427, "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": 186, "title": "RAS-2003", "content_text": "136 \n\nwhich they searched the holds for contraband and pulled the pigtails of the Chinese crew to see if they came off, and thus discover a Japanese on board in disguise.\n\n5 \n\nThere were few descriptions of the experiences of Chinese townsmen or peasants during the battles between Japanese and Russians, and the passage through their land by the armies of the two contenders. Several short paragraphs in the contemporary illustrated volumes simply mention in passing how in, for example, the old walled town of Port Arthur, the Russian residents started to flee north at an early stage and those who had hung on had finally to be evacuated on crowded trains, leaving behind their property and livelihoods. Also, there were several passing comments that after each battle there were Chinese loitering, waiting to loot.\n\nAs the winter set in Russian troops tore down many Chinese villages to provide material for quarters for their Army, and cut down trees for firewood, commandeered pigs, cattle, chickens and grain. Chinese refugees fled from Mukden ahead of the Japanese to avoid being caught up in the fighting, and nearby the Russians looted Chinese houses for food, clothing and women.\n\nIn contrast - as the Russian reinforcements arrived in Manchuria across the Trans-Siberian Railway so the requirement for accommodation and stores fell upon the Chinese population. \"The Chinese village of Mudzetun, a short distance to the south-east of Mukden, was utilised as a Cossack camp. The Chinese inhabitants had disappeared in a body, and their old quarters had been swept and garnished; the little courtyards had been cleansed of filth in which pigs and children had played together; several Russian baths had been constructed and strict sanitary regulations enforced. Sometimes some miserable-looking Chinese might be seen collecting from the banks of the frozen stream the discarded entrails of the cattle that had been killed for food, accompanied by outcast dogs that had been ousted from the village by its new masters.\"\n\nManchurian native bandits\n\nSparsely populated, and wild and poverty-stricken, Manchuria was a natural breeding ground for bandits, either as individuals or gangs.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2003.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2v242g390", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 216428, "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": 187, "title": "RAS-2003", "content_text": "137\n\nMost were mounted on Manchurian ponies, and were rough, brutal and, beyond the bounds of towns, unrestrained. Occasional bandit-suppression campaigns and schemes to tame or buy off thugs were only temporary checks. There were two generic names for bandits in Manchuria, one mainly reported across the south, was Red Beards, Hong Huzi (in the romanisation of the day - Hung Hutse) while the less well-known term for those across the north was Chunchuse. Red Beards included a mixture of seasonal bandits who came over to rob and pillage from Shandong. This mutated into the Red Beards, local criminal thugs, both individual groups and those part of a larger network, thieving as a way of life due to endemic poverty.\n\nAny act of brigandry in southern Manchuria was blamed on the Hong Huzi; hence, sketches in British illustrated journals of Chinese robbing the dead and dying on the field of battle all bore the caption naming the robbers as Hong Huzi.\n\nOne of the better-known Chinese \"brigands,\" a seasonal worker from Shandong, was Wang Delin.* By 1899 he had established a considerable following among Chinese workers in Manchuria opposed to Russian encroachment, and in 1903 he openly declared his opposition to both the Russians and the non-Chinese Qing dynasty. His band operated along the eastern part of the China Eastern Railway, attacking trains and Russian shipping on the rivers. His men had a code of conduct based on three rules:\n\nThey were forbidden to harass or harm Chinese\n\nThey should not kill captured Russians without reason\n\nAnd, they should assist the poor and helpless.\n\nHis band was typical of the gangs roaming Manchuria with their various motives, some simply thugs and robbers others political, but all were generically referred to as Hong Huzi.\n\nWesterners writing about their travels in Manchuria were not slow in providing valid reasons for their nickname. Harvey Howard in his Ten Weeks with Chinese Bandits [1927] explained that 'during the 18th and 19th centuries roving bands of unshaven, red-bearded Russians", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2003.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2v242g390", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 216483, "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": 242, "title": "RAS-2003", "content_text": "192\n\nKarun without an effective paddle wheel but he met every emergency with energy and resolve.\n\nWherever he went, he surveyed the river, recorded his observations and updated his map. He explored other waterways, first by sailing boat and then in the Shushan in order to establish which rivers in the area were navigable. The account of Shushan's journey of exploration up the River Diz in 1891 is still included in the current edition of the Admiralty Pilot for the Persian Gulf,\n\nLife in Iran\n\nLife in Iran for the young Cornell Plant was not all hard work. Game was plentiful and he enjoyed shooting it. If it was edible he ate it, if not, he just enjoyed the shooting. He shot hare, fox, jackal, wolf and deer and went pig sticking with mixed results. He was asked by representatives of one of the villages along the route to shoot a desert lion that had been raiding their herds. Less sportingly, he shot another lion that he spotted from the bridge of the Shushan. Far more dangerous was his encounter with a wild buffalo, which he dropped in the true tradition of the best heroic tales with a shot from his .577 Express, as it charged at him from a few yards away. The most amazing of his adventures was watching a formal battle between two warring Arab tribes from a concealed position on a hill overlooking the chosen battleground. It took several hours for the 600 or so mounted warriors to assemble and hurl insults at each other but once the battle proper started, it was over very quickly. One side felt they were losing and left the field at speed leaving their Sheikh and his family to fight on alone. The opposing warriors withdrew to allow the families of the two opposing sheikhs to fight it out - to the death which they did. Only one 14-year-old boy was spared from the losing Sheikh's family.\n\nThe whole area through which the Shushan travelled was under the direct control of the Nizam, an official appointed by the Shah but when he lost favour and another took over, law and order seemed to break down and Plant found himself threatened by gangs of river pirates. Fortunately, he kept on the move and away from trouble but on one occasion, when anchored overnight in a remote spot he and his team were stood to with their hunting rifles at the ready. The watch, while half asleep, had observed what he made out to be dusky figures stealing", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2003.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2v242g390", "rank": 0 } ]