RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1967 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/0c488p70g The Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society Patron: H.E. Sir David Trench, K.C.M.G., M.C. Governor of Hong Kong The Council, 1967: President: J. R. Jones, C.B.E., M.C., M.A., LL.D., J.P. Vice-Presidents: Marjorie Topley, B.Sc.(Econ.), Ph.D.* K. E. Robinson, M.A., F.R.Hist.S., J.P. Hon. Secretary: Miss E. O. Michaeliones, succeeded by T. H. Thomas, B.A. assisted by Mrs. K. R. Hunter, M.A. Hon. Treasurer: G. W. Lanchester, B.A., succeeded by D. S. Gilkes, M.A., C.A. J. S. Lee Hon. Editor: J. W. Hayes, M.A., J.P. Hon. Librarian: H. A. Rydings, M.B.E., M.A., A.L.A. Ma Meng, M.B.E., B.A.* Councillors: H. T. Wu, M.A., J.P. R. Bruce, O.B.E., M.A. M. S. Cumming, O.B.E., J.P. * Editorial Consultants ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1968 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833948d J. S. Lee THE HONG KONG BRANCH OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY Patron: H.E. Sir David Trench, K.C.M.G., M.C. Governor of Hong Kong The Council, 1968: President: J. R. Jones, C.B.E., M.C., M.A., LL.D., J.P. Vice-Presidents: Marjorie Topley, B.Sc.(Econ.), Ph.D.* K. E. Robinson, M.A., F.R.Hist.S., J.P. Hon. Secretary: T. H. Thomas, B.A. Hon. Treasurer: D. A. Gilkes, M.A., C.A. Hon. Editor: J. W. Hayes, M.A., J.P. Hon. Librarian: H. A. Rydings, M.B.E., M.A., A.L.A. Ma Meng, M.B.E., B.A.* H. T. Wu, M.A., J.P. Councillors: R. Bruce, O.B.E., M.A. (left Hong Kong on retirement in March) M. S. Cumming, O.B.E., J.P. * Editorial Consultants ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1968 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833948d 202 BRIGGS, G. G. BRIM, John A. BRITTON, Mrs. N. M. • + BROMHALL, J. D. BROOKS, D. E. BROWN, Miss B. BROWNE, Hon. H. J. C. BRUCE, Robert BUNGER, Dr. Karl BURTON, Miss Jill V. BUTT, Dr. Nancy S. G. - CALCINA, P. G.* + CAMERON, N. CAPLAN, M. – - CAREY-HUGHES, Dr. J. CARLSON, Miss R. E. CATER, J. CHAMBERS, J. W. CHAN, Alfred T. - CHAN, Gilbert Fook-lam CHAN, Leonard CHAU, Sir Tsun-nin* CHEN, Ching-Ho CHEN, Prof. Cheng-siang CHEN, Yih + + + J + + + - The Supreme Court, H.K. c/o Universities Service Centre, 155 Argyle Street, Kowloon. 6 Peel Rise, The Peak, H.K. Fish Fisheries Research Station, The Market, Island Road, Aberdeen, H.K. Radio Hong Kong, 7th Floor, Prince's Building, H.K. Medical Rehabilitation Centre, L254 Kwun Tong, Kowloon. c/o Butterfield & Swire, Union House, H.K. The British Council, Gloucester Building, H.K. Consul General, Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany, 1, Duddell Street, H.K. 807 The Hermitage, MacDonnell Road, H.K. The Grantham Hospital, Wong Chuk Hang, Aberdeen. H.K. Commercial Investment Co., Ltd., Union House, 12th floor, H.K. A-9 Repulse Bay Towers, Repulse Bay Road, H.K. 6. Homantin Hill Road, Kowloon. Room 315 Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank Building, H.K. 4, Mansfield Road, Flat 13, 6/F., H.K. c/o Trade Development Council, H.K. c/o Colonial Secretariat, H.K. Coronet Court, 14/F “H”, North Point, H.K. La Belle Mansion, 118-120 Argyle Street, 7th floor, Flat A, Kowloon, c/o Pfizer Eastern Corporation, G.P.O. Box 2513, Bangkok, Thailand. 8 Queen's Road, West, Hong Kong. New Asia College, Chinese University of Hong Kong, 6 Farm Road, Kowloon. Geographical Research Centre, Chinese University of Hong Kong, On Lee Building, 545 Nathan Road, Kowloon, 406A Bank of East Asia Building, H.K. *Life Member Please notify the Hon. Secretary of any inaccuracy ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1969 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d Council in February of this year, and more recently both Mr. J. S. Lee and Mr. M. S. Cumming have resigned owing to their many other commitments, and in the case of Mr. Cumming owing to the likelihood of his being away a good deal from the Colony during the year. Of the original Council of 1959 there are only two left - Dr. Marjorie Topley and myself. The Council is a hard-working body; it meets at least once a month and its activities involve a great deal of time and labour. It is essential for the future of the Society to fill the vacancies with persons who have real interest in the work of the Society and are prepared to share the work in furthering its interests. In concluding I want to thank all my colleagues on the Council for their unremitting work, the British Council for their traditional help in a variety of ways and for the use of their premises for the meetings of the Council and their Library to house the greater part of the Society's books, and last but not least Mrs. O'Hara, also of the British Council, for her ever-willing and ready help and secretarial work which have been most valuable. 28 April, 1969. Lectures in 1968 comprised:- 15 January Professor Michael Sullivan. "The Cave Temples of Maichishan (with slides). 26 February J. R. JONES "The British Treaty with Siam of 1855" 16 March Mr. Robert Bruce. Visit to Chinese Vegetarian Halls (chai-t'ang) and the Sects of Former Heaven (Hsien-t'ien Tao). 18 March Dr. Philip Mao. "Some Aspects of Ching Dynasty Porcelain of the Kang Hsi, Yung Cheng & Ch'ien Lung Periods" (illustrated with slides). 8 April Annual General Meeting. 29 April Mr. T. C. Cheng. "Chinese Unofficial Members of the Legislative and Executive Councils in Hong Kong up to 1941". ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1969 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d 88 R. BRUCE any case, he argued, trade had dwindled and it was in the interests of the Siamese to accept a new treaty which would expand trade. The White Rajah never met the King. He sailed away with nothing but indignation. He had not openly threatened the Siamese with force but had hinted as much. The old King and his Ministers were not impressed but they must have harboured fears of reprisals as there were so many precedents. In October that year Brooke, addressing himself to Lord Palmerston, evoked high principles in the fine Victorian manner in support of his call for force: "Justice — compassion — interest — dignity — and a consistent course of policy appear to me to call for decisive measures to be taken without delay." And in a letter to a friend: "The Siamese must be taught a lesson... our policy should be commanding and our power exerted when necessary. My policy in Sarawak has been high-handed against evil-doers and there, and in England and in Siam, there are bad to be punished as well as good to be cared for." Mercifully for Siam, Brooke's gun-boat policy was not accepted in London but he did perceive the solution in spite of his call for force. The old King, Rama III, must soon die and there was good prospect that his half-brother Prince Mongkut would succeed him. In that event, Brooke said, the prospect of a new relation with Britain was bright. The Sphinx and the Nemesis had scarcely left the Menam in September, 1850 when an American mission arrived. It was led by a certain Joseph Balestier, a not very successful American merchant of Singapore who came with a letter from his President. If the Brooke mission was a failure, Balestier's was even worse. Bowring comments: "Mr. Balestier had not been fortunate in his commercial operations as a merchant at Singapore and it may be doubted whether the nomination of a commercial gentleman whose history was well known to the King and nobles at Bangkok was judicious; it was certainly not deemed complimentary to the proud Siamese authorities."4 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1969 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d 185 BROWNE, Hon, H. J. C, - BRUCE, R. T BRUUN, F. BUNGER, Dr. K. BURTON, Miss J. V. BUTLER, Miss B. A. T BUTT, Dr. Nancy S. G.. CALCINA, P. G." · CAMERON, N. CAPLAN, M. - CAREY-HUGHES, Dr. J. CARLSON, Miss R. E. - CATER, J. · CENTRE OF ASIAN STUDIES CERRA, R. L. CHAMBERS, J. W. CHAN, Alfred T. CHAN, Gilbert Fook-lam CHAN, Leonard CHAU, Sir Tsun-nin* + CHEN, Prof. Cheng-siang CHEN, Ching-ho L T - c/o Butterfield & Swire, Union House, H.K. c/o Prescott College, Prescott, Arizona 86301, US.A. c/o H. Tonkin & Co., 908 Takshing House, H.K. $32 Bad Godesberg, Lukas-Cranach-Str. 14. Green Pastures, Blackhill Lane, Sevenoaks, Kent, England. Public Services Commission, Room 573 Central Government Offices, 5th Floor, H.K. The Grantham Hospital, Wong Chuk Hang, Aberdeen, H.K. Commercial Investment Co., Ltd., Union House, 12th floor, H.K. A-9 Repulse Bay Towers, Repulse Bay Road, H.K. 6. Homantin Hill Road, Kowloon, Room 315 Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank Building, H.K. c/o Education Department, Lee Gardens, Hysan Avenue, H.K. c/o Trade Development Council, Ocean Terminal, H.K. University of Hong Kong, H.K. Yau Yat Chuen, No. 18 Fa Po Street, Flat B-7, Kowloon. c/o Secretariat for Home Affairs, International Building, H.K. Coronet Court, 14/F "H", North Point, H.K. La Belle Mansion, 118-120 Argyle Street, 7th floor, Flat A, Kowloon. c/o Pfizer Eastern Corporation, G.P.O. Box 2513, Bangkok, Thailand. 8 Queen's Road, West, Hong Kong. Geographical Research Centre, Chinese University of Hong Kong, On Lee Building, $45 Nathan Road, Kowloon. New Asia College, Chinese University of Hong Kong, 6 Farm Road, Kowloon. Life Member Please notify the Hon. Secretary of any inaccuracy ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1971 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g ADV : 32 STEPHEN UHALLEY, JR. 23 Inclosure 7 in No. 32, Ibid., p. 46. 24 Inclosure 8 in No. 32, Ibid., pp. 46-47. 25 Inclosure 12 in No. 32, Ibid., p. 49. 26 Inclosure 13 in No. 32, Ibid. 27 Harvey to Hammond, No. 27, Ningpo, May 16, 1862, Inclosure 2, Ibid., p. 38. 28 Dew to Hope, Ningpo, May 7, 1862, No. 32, Inclosure 15, Ibid., p. 50. 29 Inclosure 16 in No. 32, Ibid., p. 51. 30 Harvey to Hammond, No. 27, Ningpo, May 16, 1862, Inclosure 1, Harvey to Bruce, Ningpo, May 9, 1862, Ibid., p. 36. 31 Dew, "Proceedings of Encounter at Ningpo detailing the events which led to the capture of that city on May 10th, 1862,” Gordon Papers, Vol. VII, British Museum 52392, p. 22. Intriguingly, there is in this handwritten account a following sentence which says that Hope replied to Dew asking the latter to keep the peace until he could get there with sufficient force. This sentence was crossed out in the manuscript. 32 Inclosure 17 in No. 32, "Further Papers relating to..." p. 51. 33 Inclosure 19 in No. 32, Ibid., p. 52. 34 Hsiang Ta, et al, eds., T'ai-ping Tien-kuo, Chinese Modern History Collection, Shanghai, 1952, Vol. 6, p. 602. 35 Inclosure 1 in No. 27, "Further Papers relating to....,” pp. 36-37. 36 T'ai-ping T'ien-Kuo, Vol. 6, p. 604. 37 Admiralty to Hammond, July 14, 1862, Inclosure 2, Dew to Hope, Ningpo, May 10, 1862, Ibid., p. 30. 38 Green to Jardine Matheson & Co. (Hong Kong), Ningpo, May 15, 1862, No. 592, Local Correspondence Section, Ningpo (1858-62), B2/132, Jardine Matheson Archives, Cambridge University Library, 39 Cited in A. F. Lindley, Ti-Ping Tien-Kwoh: The History of the Ti-Ping Revolution, London, 1866, II, 536. 40 Jen Yu-wen, T'ai-p'ing T'ien-Kuo tien-chih t'ung-kao, II, Hong Kong, 1957, p. 1059. 41 Captain D. Patridge to Jardine Matheson & Co. (Hong Kong) via Shanghai, Ningpo, July 28, 1860, Local Correspondence Section, Ningpo (1858-62) B2/132, JMA, 42 Green to Jardine Matheson & Co. (Hong Kong), Ningpo, August 1, 1862, No. 602, Ibid. 43 Green to Jardine Matheson & Co. (Hong Kong), Ningpo, November 5, 1862, No. 613, Ibid. 44 Green to Jardine Matheson & Co. (Hong Kong), Ningpo, January 20, 1863, No. 622, Ibid. 45 Inclosure 3, Harvey to Bruce, Ningpo, May 16, 1862, in No. 27, p. 39. 46 Russell to Bruce, No. 28, July 22, 1862, "Further Papers relating to..." 47 Alexander Mitchie, The Englishman in China, I, Edinburgh & London, 1900, p. 380. 48 Cited in Lindley, II, 538 49 Ibid., 537. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1971 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g 228 BROWNE, Hon. H. J. C. BRUCE, R. BRUUN, F. BUNGER, Dr. K. - BURNHAM, W. L. BUTLER, Miss B. A.. BUTT, Dr. Nancy S. G.. c/o Butterfield & Swire, Union House, H.K. c/o Prescott College, Prescott, Arizona 86301, U.S.A. c/o H. Tonkin & Co., 908 Takshing House, H.K. 532 Bad Godesberg, Lukas-Cranach-Str. 14, Germany. 191, Prince Edward Road, Kowloon. c/o Public Services Commission, Room 573 Central Government Offices, 5th Floor, H.K. c/o The Grantham Hospital, Wong Chuk Hang, Aberdeen, H.K. BUTTERFIELD, Mrs. Ellen 5K Bowen Road, Ground Floor, H.K. CALCINA, P. G.* CAMERON, N. CAPLAN, M. · CAREY-HUGHES, Dr. J. CARLSON, Miss R. E, - CATER, Hon. J. - CENTRE OF ASIAN STUDIES CHAMBERS, J. W, CHAN, Alfred T. CHAN, Gilbert Fook-lam CHAN, Sui-Jeung CHAR, Tin-Yuke CHEETHAM, Mrs. J. A. CHEN, Prof. Cheng-siang CHEN, Ching-ho CHEN, Tsun-teh Commercial Investment Co., Ltd., Union House, 12th floor, H.K. A-9 Repulse Bay Towers, Repulse Bay Road, H.K. 6, Homantin Hill Road, Kowloon. Room 315, H.K. & Shanghai Bank Building, H.K. c/o Education Department, Lee Gardens, Hysan Ave., H.K. c/o Dept. of Commerce and Industry, Fire Brigade Building, H.K. University of Hong Kong, H.K. c/o The Colonial Secretariat, H.K. Coronet Court, 14th Floor, "H", North Point, H.K. La Belle Mansion, 118-120 Argyle Street, 7th floor, Flat A, Kowloon, 33 Tin Hau Temple Road, 3rd floor, H.K. 3898 Diamond Head Road, Honolulu, Hawaii 96816, U.S.A. B2, Bowen Hill, 12 Peak Road, H.K. c/o Geographical Research Centre, CUH.K., 545, Nathan Road, Kowloon. c/o New Asia College, C.U.H.K., 6 Farm Road, Kowloon. Room 11, 21st Floor, Block B, 395 King's Road, H.K. * Life Member Please notify the Hon. Secretary of any inaccuracy ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1977 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n PRESIDENT'S REPORT FOR 1977 (Covering the period April 1, 1976 — March 31, 1977) During the past year your Council has endeavoured to arrange a full and varied programme of events and we hope that everybody has found something to interest and enjoy. Altogether there have been 14 lectures, three local excursions and two foreign tours, all events being well attended, although not always by the same people. Let me briefly summarise these events. In May 1976 Professor John Fairbank, a leading authority on modern Chinese history and Asia's relations with the West, visiting from Harvard, came to talk to us about contemporary China studies. He also asked us about studies of Hong Kong and China being conducted from here at that time, and was pleased to find many of our own members active in this field. In June, Dr. James McGough, an anthropologist, at that time with the University of Hong Kong, talked about his own research on Chinese marriage carried out in Taiwan, and in July Professor Robert Bruce, an old friend and former member of the Council, discussed relations between the United States and East Asia. In August Mr. Brian Peacock, Curator of Hong Kong's Museum of History and also a Council member, talked on Hindu-Buddhist Settlement and Trade in Ancient Kedah, Malaya; and in October members visited the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals' museum, under the able guidance of Carl Smith and James Hayes. Carl Smith also provided very comprehensive notes on the Hospital which will be published in a later issue of the Journal. Also in October Dr. Peter Wesley-Smith gave a very thought-provoking talk on the convention for the lease of the New Territories. This stimulated much discussion. In November, in preparation for the Sri Lanka tour, Ms. Minette de Silva gave an introductory talk, illustrated with slides, of the various places tour members would be visiting and things they would be seeing on the tour. Also in November Professor Cheng Te-k'un returned to us again to lecture, this time on Chinese Nature Painting, and in December Dr. Leigh Wright, a member of your Council, gave a lecture in preparation for the other foreign tour, to Borneo, which he led in February. A visit to the Tang family graves was organised by David Liu and James Hayes in December. The Tang lineage is the oldest and ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1983 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v 196 the vessel appointed to receive us, in the 10th month of the year Yeh-sze. Like Kong-heang my renown is small; like Lea-heang I have taught the classics, but profited little by the examples found in them. My attainments are slender, and I can only be compared to a ragged colt that has no real substance." In view of Cree's mention of Charles Gutzlaff being on board the Vixen, and of the dearth of translators in Hong Kong at that time, it may be that the translation of the poem was made by Gutzlaff himself. NOTE This is probably Liu Kai-yü (M), a native of Shun-Tien, Prefect of Canton (AHA) from 1843, or Liu Hsin (2), a native of Hsiang Fu, Honan, who succeeded him as Prefect of Canton in 1845 c.£. ƒƒƒ± (+M/2## Vol. 1), p. 405 (Note from Rev. C.T. Smith). RELICS OF HONG KONG AND CHINA IN BRITISH ARMY AND REGIMENTAL MUSEUMS P. BRUCE While in the United Kingdom in 1983 I visited a number of army museums in search of items related to China. There is, in fact, quite a lot to see, though the museums are scattered the length and breadth of the country and considerable travelling is involved. However, members of the society may like a brief note on what I was able to find and it would be interesting to hear of anything additional which is known of. I started at the Royal Marines Museum, at Southsea, Hampshire, which is, in effect, a part of Portsmouth. There is an interesting collection of China items here. The oldest items are several assorted rifles and swords and an impressive Chinese cannon which looks as if it would have fired a shot about the size of a tennis ball. It is crafted to include a ferocious dragon's head at the muzzle from which the ball would roar forth. These were picked up in 1842. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1983 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v 202 AN IMPERIAL CHINESE BANNER PRESERVED IN KENDAL, ENGLAND P. BRUCE A unique memento of the First China War is slowly disintegrating in an English parish church due to lack of money to restore it.* The 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. The 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. The 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: "Ensign Duell holds up our Colour, then falls, shot through the breast. That morn had seen the ambition of a life fulfilled. An 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; * See plate 11. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1985 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gt54s866x Wai bund. Constructed in 1916, this encloses the large area of fish ponds that will become the site of Tin Shui Wai new town by the late 1980s. On this visit we also went to a lookout point above Deep Bay and entered the Mong Tseng Village with its interesting temple. On 23 November 1985, over 80 members of the Society attended, by invitation, the 10 yearly Ta-chiu (FTA) rituals at the Kam Tin group of villages in the New Territories. This was a splendid opportunity to attend and understand a long-established important local event which is now in its 31st cycle, the latest in a series begun in 1685. On 7 December 1985, Dr. Michael Lau, Curator of the Fung Ping Shan Museum and one of our Councillors, arranged a tour of the museum including an exhibition of paintings by Lui Shau Kwan. The tour was conducted by Miss Flora Chan, a former pupil of the artist. On 11 December 1985, Professor Cameron Hurst III, the Japan Foundation visiting Professor in History at the University of Hong Kong, gave a talk entitled "Martial arts and the martial way - the Samurai martial culture in Japan". On 7 January 1986, follow-up talks entitled "Kam Tin Revisited" were held at the Museum of History by Drs. Patrick Hase and David Faure and Mr. Chan Wing Hoi who had all led the group to Kam Tin in November. On 22 February 1986, Major Willie Shiel and Mr. Philip Bruce conducted a successful visit attended by 50 members to Lei Yue Mun Fort, a late 19th century imperial coastal defence project of considerable interest. On 22 January 1986, Mr. Jeff Lanham of the Hong Kong Polytechnic gave an interesting talk on the Fanling-Sha Tau Kok branch line of the old Kowloon Canton Railway 1910-1928. On 21 February 1986, Mr. John Lundin, US Consul at Canton, gave an illustrated talk on the history of the Shameen viii ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1987 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522 June 24 July 15 Prof. Alan Griffiths "Victorian Flower Power' Mr. Phillip Bruce "The Bogue Forts' September 29 Dr. Elizabeth Sinn 'Kowloon Walled City' (repeat) October 17 Rev. Carl Smith "History of the Wanchai District' October 28 Mr. Mitya New 'Expatriates in Pre-Revolutionary China' November 27 Dr. Betty Wei Peh-T'i 'Shanghai: Crucible of Modern China' February 8 Ms. Veronica Pearson 'Health and Welfare in Modern China' February 27 Prof. Jean Chesneaux 'China in the eyes of French intellectuals' Local tours were made to the following places of interest: Wanchai and the Ruttonjee Sanitorium (7 November, led by Rev. Carl Smith and Dr. Elizabeth Sinn), Stonecutters Island (3 December, led by Phillip Bruce), the Hong Kong Bank Picture Collection (18 December, led by Mrs. Anita Wilson), Tai Po and Island House (9 January, led by Dr. Patrick Hase) and Sam Tung Uk Museum and Tin Hau Temple in Tsuen Wan (10 February, led by Dr. James Hayes). Tours outside Hong Kong included two visits to Shekou, Humen and the Bogue Forts on 18/19 and 25/26 July organised and led by Phillip Bruce, and an eight-day visit to the Yangtse River Gorges starting 29 August led by Dr. Michael Lau. You will, I am sure, agree that these activities have given a great deal of pleasure to members of the Society. Our thanks and appre- viii ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1987 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522 ciation go principally to Dr. Elizabeth Sinn as Chairman of the Programme and Activities Committee, and to our speakers and tour leaders. As a gesture of the Society's appreciation, all our speakers have been invited as guests to attend this evening's dinner, an innovation that I hope will become a regular feature of this important event in our calendar. Back-up Organisation The Hon. Secretary and Assistant Secretary have been very busy during the year, coping with the paper work associated with new membership and support services and with the many enquiries and arrangements connected with our programme of activities. In this regard we owe special thanks to Mrs. Wilson and Mrs. Bruce. They provide an efficient service to members and to the Council, and keep us all informed through the Newsletter which is now a regular feature. Mrs. Bruce and her husband Phillip, a co-opted Councillor, have made a special effort to provide information on publications and to improve sales. Whilst this is proving very successful in earning revenue, it does involve Mrs. Bruce in a lot of extra work. In consequence, the Assistant Secretary's monthly salary will be increased in line with work done on behalf of the Society, backdated to 1 January this year. The heavier burden of secretarial work apart, the new wave of interest shown in the Society in the past three years made it necessary to review our organisation in order to keep up with demand. We found that it was no longer possible to make all arrangements through and by the Council, as hitherto. At the same time we were also concerned with the Society's situation in changing times and needed to consider how, together with the rest of Hong Kong, we could best prepare ourselves for the future, especially in these transitional years before the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in 1997. This led to the Symposium on the Society's Future held on 9 May last year. Symposium on the Society's Future The symposium was attended by over 70 members, justifying the organisers' belief that such an event would be well supported. In addition, a detailed questionnaire sent to all members before ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1988 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q Luk and I have discussed this question also. She tells me that other Societies with private collections on long loan also wish their members to have fuller access to their books, but this will not be possible until under a different arrangement more space in new premises enables the collections to be placed on free access in a reference library. In the meantime, Mrs. Luk wishes to facilitate our members' use of the RAS Collection. She is considering issuing updated catalogues and arranging for books to be requisitioned at, and be collected from and returned to, certain public libraries on this side of the harbour. The will to assist is obvious, and we shall be very grateful for improved borrowing arrangements meantime. The Council and its Helpers Members of the Council have worked hard during the year, in their various capacities. If I may say so, they are talented and competent, and make a good team: which is why (I suppose) you have not made any other nominations this year! They are also friendly and supportive, and it has been a pleasure to work with them. The same is true of our helpers who, under our new arrangements, are assisting on the various committees. They, too, deserve a word of thanks. Those serving on the Activities Committee have certainly made it possible to do more than the Councillors could do unaided. Insufficient hands was one of the constraints impeding the growth of the Society, and it is very gratifying to be able to report the success of this particular outcome of the 1987 symposium. Those concerned are Rosemary Lee, Dan Waters and Geoffrey Roper on the Activities Committee, Betty Wei on the Editorial Board, Michael Kirkbride and, again, Rosemary Lee on the External Links Committee, and Helena Hung, David Yung and Choi Chi-cheung on the Ad Hoc Committee on Chinese Membership. Other members, some of them here tonight, have offered to help. Never fear! It is still "early days" with the newer committees, and we shall be co-opting you and other members once they get into their stride. The new arrangements enable us to be as flexible as is required. At this point, I must also repeat what I said last year about the excellent support given by Mrs. Sharon Bruce, our tireless Assistant Secretary, helped on the side by the Acting, Unpaid Assistant Secretary, husband xii : ! ! ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 23 March Dr. Elizabeth Sinn "Management of the Chinese in 19th Century Hong Kong and the Role of the Tung Wah Hospital” The following Visits were made: 29 April 6 May 24 June 1 July Anita Wilson and Dr. James Hayes Visit to the Pottery Kiln at Tuen Mun, Ha Tsuen Tang Ancestral Hall and Old Market, Ling Wan Monastery (with vegetarian lunch), Lai Family Study Hall and Mansion at Sheung Tsuen, Hakka Mansion at Sham Ka Wai, and Yuen Long Old Market Dr. James Hayes and Ted Brown Visit to Kowloon Walled City, Again! Phillip Bruce Visit to Old Marine Police Headquarters at Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon Phillip Bruce Repeat of the Visit of 24 June 14 September Dr. Patrick Hase and Lee Man-yip Visit to Wo Hang for the Hot Air Balloon release at Mid Autumn Festival 25 November Dr. James Hayes 9 December Visit to places of interest on Hong Kong Island, including Waterfall Bay, the Aberdeen Country Park Management Centre, Chung Hom Kok, Shek O Village and Lei Yu Mun Barracks and Leisure Centre Rosemary Lee and Richard Gee Repeat of the N.T. Visit of 29 April 13-14 January Anita Wilson, Dr. Dan Waters, Rev. Carl Smith and Dr. Joseph Ting 22 January 18 February Week End Visit to Macao Phillip Bruce Visit to some interesting Naval and Military Graves in the Colonial Cemetery Phillip Bruce and Dr. Anthony Siu Visit to the Tung Chung Area, the site of Hong Kong's Future Replacement Airport This varied and interesting programme has again been due to the Activities Committee, which has worked hard under Dr. Elizabeth Sinn's ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 92 to present a neatly typewritten note in English, carefully preserved in a cellophane envelope, stating that the area was prohibited. The pheasant shooting season continued until the Chinese New Year holiday, which falls late in January or early in February. It was generally possible to get two or three days off for this holiday, and at this date in 1937 two of us found ourselves some ten miles up the Yangtze above Nanking in the neighbourhood of the Three Hills. We had come in the houseboat, now so seldom used owing to the opening of the countryside to the greater convenience of the motor car. Only where the river bank was steep-to could we bring the boat sufficiently inshore to throw a plank across and step off; and so having disembarked we had to walk awhile until we reached a small creek, which we crossed in a borrowed sampan, before arriving at the extensive reed beds for which we were heading. At this late season great stretches of the reeds had already been cut by the country people for use as fuel, leaving small clumps and narrow strips standing here and there. Inland, the fields, turned over by the shallow Chinese plough, showed long rows of soft green where the shoots of winter wheat sprouted. The country was ideal for pheasant. Unfortunately it was drizzling and blowing hard. Sandy, the smooth-haired black Labrador was at the top of his form, but nonplussed by the poor shooting. In such weather the birds would as a rule sit tight until the last moment, when they would get up suddenly at your feet; for some reason today they were wild and rising almost out of range. As we approached each patch of reeds, inside which pheasant might be sheltering from rain and squall, we would carefully move to the lee end and beat our way back upwind. My wife worked with us, and two of the boatmen, who also served to carry the bag. The pheasants were reluctant to fly, and would run unseen out of the reeds through the more open stretches of stubble to start up cackling indignantly at unexpected moments. The expenditure of cartridges was considerable, but so far as I remember, the bag only held six brace. Late in the afternoon, soaked, we boarded the houseboat. Luckily the run down with the tide was much quicker than the outward trip, and there was something in the icebox to keep the damp out. Little did we realise that was to be the last shoot for many a season! That year was Coronation year: great preparations were made by ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 third component [the yoke-pole: the end of this pole is in fact firmly joined to the sole-beam; it then bends up and is braced in place in the middle by the brace-bar]. This third component runs parallel to the sole-beam, but it goes further to the front. The draft animal is yoked to the front end of this third component. This instrument has to be carried by the farmer to the field while the draft animal runs ahead. The reason for this is partly because of the construction of the plough which cannot be pulled along a road, and partly because in China there are no roads, but only footpaths leading to the fields. Either a cow or a buffalo will be used as the draft animal. The furrows that can be made with this plough are not particularly regular; it is more suitable for tearing up the ground which the harrow has to smooth and even up afterwards. The harrow consists of a row of iron teeth on each side, i.e. one row in front and one behind it, and two iron uprights which are connected with each other by a transverse wooden bar. The harrow is held with both hands on the bar, and is pulled by one of the above-mentioned animals, or sometimes by the farmer in person. The most important product that is cultivated is rice. Rice can only be planted when the field is under water, and it will only grow when it is continuously kept in water. The rice-fields are kept in this state partly through heavy rains, and partly through artificial irrigation. This can easily be done because the fields slope down from the mountains to the sea. If water is led down to the upper edge of the fields, then by opening a gap in the narrow, raised field-bund (these narrow, raised field bunds, with footpaths on, form the divisions between the tiny fields), the water can be diverted through and the whole of the rice fields can be covered with water. In some years there is no rain at the time when the seeds are sown, and the water channels dry out, and then there is great hardship. Rice immediately then jumps to a high price, so that many people cannot afford the money for their daily rice. During such famine periods, people take refuge in theft, and thieves and robbers increase. Nowhere is safe from them any more. All the signs seemed last spring to Page 291 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 327 Russian empires came into conflict culminating in the Crimean War of 1854. This focused Hong Kong's attention on matters of defence. This concern was already heightened by pirates and elements in the local population which led the administration to review the consequences should the navy and military leave the young Colony unprotected. A pirate attack near Macao in May of 1854 prompted the then Lieutenant-Governor, William Caine, to address the issue of the unsavoury locals, "The danger to be apprehended is that during an attack by an enemy or a gang of pirates, these vagabonds might form themselves into bands for the purpose of plunder, to be joined perhaps by others from this vicinity, and then immense loss of property and life might ensue through their progress; nor must it be forgotten with what facility the Chinese houses in some parts of the town may be fired by incendiaries to increase the confusion, and consequent facility to plunder. The existence of a reserve such as would be formed by a Colonial Volunteer Corps might stop such proceedings at the outset or prevent them altogether" (p. 10). This concern for internal security against the backdrop of patriotism led to the formation of the corps Caine advocated. The ability of the author to place the reader in the overall context of the times adequately is something often found lacking in history books. That Mr. Bruce has this talent is shown by the book's portrayal of the fears and aspirations surrounding each stage in the evolution of the Corps. His profile of certain of the original 99 volunteers is particularly intriguing with such asides as 'Dent was the great rival to Jardine and that is probably the reason that none of the 99 were connected with the latter firm' (p. 15). In this first chapter we meet many of the characters who were the first Volunteers. These individuals reflect the frontier town atmosphere of the embryo port-city. There was Thomas Lane, clerk and shopkeeper who is remembered today in the name of one of Hong Kong's leading retail stores 'Lane Crawford' (p. 15). There was George Cameron who ran the El Dorado Tavern and, when he died in 1859 left it jointly to a friend and to the Chinese woman with whom he had lived for the previous seven years' and schoolmaster Joseph Thornton who must have known his way around the town's pubs as he eventually had to be dismissed for what were described as 'irregular habits' (p. 17), or when Alexandre Grandpre caused a stir when his wish to marry in ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1991 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j Mr. David Sheil Mr. Michael Kirkbride Mr. Yip Cho-hong Mr. Philip Bruce (twice) and Mr. David Mahoney Dr. James Hayes Mr. K. Leung Mr. Tao Ho Mr. Charles Walker Tibetan Rugs Hong Kong: a Landscape History Preparing for the Future: Our First 15 years in the Antiquities Office Second to None: The Hong Kong Volunteers and the Battle of Hong Kong Tsuen Wan: 1887 to 1987 Civilians Under Japanese Occupation Western Market Eric Lidell There have also been the following trips/tours over the last year since I last reported. Dr. Patrick Hase and Dr. Graeme Lang organised a trip to Wong Tai Sin, and three visits have been organised by Mr. Philip Bruce namely the Bogue Forts in the Pearl river Delta, the Colonial Cemetery and Chek Lap Kok in conjunction with Mr. Bill Meacham (again and probably the last), Mr. John Wilson organised a trip to the Shing Mun Redoubt in keeping again with the Society's sights on the 50th Anniversary of the Battle of Hong Kong. Dr Patrick Hase and Mr. Philip Bruce did not also forget to look after our gastronomical and liquid desires since the former organised our annual Chinese dinner at the City Hall, and the latter our resuscitated Christmas cocktail party at the Volunteer Officer's mess at Beaconsfield house. Since the new year we have also been well taken care of by a visit to the South Side of Hong Kong Island organised jointly by Mrs. Rosemary Lee who took us to the war cemetery at Stanley, Mr. Michael Kirkbride who expanded on Keteleeria Trees, and Colonel Douglas Fox who showed us how the South side of the island and Stanley Fort in particular was fortified in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Colonel Douglas Fox also led a very successful trip to Stonecutters Island. This was followed in quick succession by a tour to more of the remote parts of Lamma Island led by our honourary secretary Mr. David St. Maur Sheil. And more recently we had a very successful if rather wet trip to Xiamen, organised by Mrs. Anita Wilson and Mrs. Rosemary Lee, and a very comprehensive tour of Tsuen Wan led by Dr. James Hayes. To all these organisers may I extend our thanks and sincere appreciation. Our local tours are very popular as many members, who were not able to get on some, found: the Council is very conscious of this problem, IX ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1991 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j having discussed it many times: there is no easy solution since the number of members are invariably limited due to external restraints, such as transport or the sheer difficulty in taking too many people around one place. One solution is to organise the trip twice or even thrice and you will note we have done this on a number of occasions. The Council continues to be wary of running tours outside Hong Kong, after finding that the response to the proposed trip to South Korea early last year was not good, which led to its abandonment. However over the last year we have been to the Pearl River Delta and Xiamen and next July there is a thrust deep into China to be led by Mrs. Rosemary Lee and Mr. Peter Lee for which there have been some encouraging responses. It does seem therefore that this will be the pattern for the future, i.e. short or long trips into China rather than elsewhere. It is customary for this report to include a paragraph on Membership, and this cannot be done without the assistance of our very capable Assistant Secretary, Mrs. Sharon Bruce, who is able to inform me from her records that our current numbers are 581 local members (450 from H.K. Island, 76 from Kowloon and 55 from the New Territories) and 114 overseas members, making a total of 695 members. This compares with last year's figures of 596 local members (492 from H.K. Island, 65 from Kowloon and 39 from the New Territories) and around 80 overseas members, making a total of 676 members. In this transitory society it is considered that this is a satisfactory situation. May I ask that if you are leaving Hong Kong you will continue to keep in touch: we can keep you informed of our activities and send you the annual journal all for the modest subscription of HK$180. And on the subject of membership it is with great regret to note that we will be losing our patron Lord Wilson, later this year. Lord Wilson has been very supportive of the Society's activities and his presence at our Annual General Meeting dinner two years ago was very much appreciated. I regret to say I do not have a secret line to inform you as yet who our next patron will be but we will keep you informed as soon as we have anything definite. Such a large membership does mean of course that they need servicing and that we have a system for keeping in touch: this is done very competently by Mrs. Anita Wilson, who produces a bi-monthly newsletter: this helps enormously to bind our Society together and also when we need assistance we have means to obtain it: this was clearly ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1994 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY HONG KONG BRANCH PRESIDENT'S REPORT FOR 1994/95 May I welcome all of you here this evening, the 35th gathering since the resuscitation of the Society in 1960. For me one of life's real pleasures is to be a member of the Royal Asiatic Society (Hong Kong Branch) and I hope that this feeling of enjoyment is shared by all of you this evening. It is not idle enjoyment, it is of the active voluntary kind, which stimulates the mind, and gives you insight into areas of activity which you would not normally tread into given the very busy lives which most of us lead in Hong Kong. In other words most of us make time to come to the activities of the Society, because we know that when we come to hear a talk or go on an activity we will learn something we did not know before, or are given some insight into Hong Kong's history which is much more fascinating than many of us imagine. These words, although they may be obvious to some, are worth saying because it gives me a lead into the very active programme which we have had since I last reported to you this time last year. At that time I said I thought we had had one of the most active years ever, but looking at this last year we seemed to have even surpassed last year. We have had no less than seventeen lectures, fifteen visits to various parts of Hong Kong and two very successful visits: one to North Vietnam, and I am very pleased to see so many Vietnamese veterans here this evening and one to North Taiwan; the former organised by Dr. Patrick Hase and the other by Mr. Keith Stevens. (Some of us did our best to conquer the Perfume Pagoda high in the Vietnamese hills but lack of time and breath in some cases prevented us from reaching the top, and seeing members of the Society sitting and wobbling precariously in a Vietnamese sampan trying to eat a picnic lunch out of a box without falling into the water was something which is not easily forgotten by those who had the privilege of seeing them). For the success of the talks and visits we have to thank the very active Programme Committee, i.e. Mrs. Rosemary Lee, Rev. Carl Smith, Dr. Patrick Hase, Dr. Elizabeth Sinn, Mr. Geoffrey Roper, Dr. Dan Waters, Mr. Philip Bruce, Dr. Michael Lau and Dr. Joseph Ting. They have really done a splendid job. viii ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1994 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g Fung shu' originated from the love of, and the worship of nature. It consists, simply, of geographical advantages and orientation rules similar to requirements home builders take into consideration in many parts of the western world today (Maitland, 1977:11). Often, with the landscape being manipulated so it falls into line with culture and cosmological requirements, 'the setting can be more important than the Jewel'. For example, a house on low-lying ground may become flooded and water can affect the foundations. Fung shu doctrine maintains that dry soil which is arid and does not support vegetation is bad. Earth which is dark and moist and has an appropriate bearing pressure will bring happiness. If the architect prepares a good design the occupants will be contented living there. A home shapes the destiny of its master and his family. If a Chinese makes a fortune while living in a particular house he is likely to believe it brings him luck. He will be loathe to move. The flat under examination in the case study has a superb view. That makes sense in any language. In Chinese culture vital cosmic breath and magical currents, known as hei shar (*) and described as a form of primordial force, animate superbly landscaped countryside. This may be studded with pagodas, grottoes and temples. Generally, highland and ridges are yang and valleys are yin. But in every type of ground, in every range of mountains, in every bluff or rock, nature has laid down a certain quantity of yin. Or terrestrial breath. Balance between the two is important. In an idyllic place, where life forces flow from heaven along the veins of the earth, obviously, people are more likely to be content. If there is not a 'bond' between person and place, then he or she will feel miserable, and, in the extreme, illness, paralysis or death will result. Bruce Lee, the popular martial arts expert and film star who died tragically in 1973 at the age of 33, lived, many believe, in an 'unlucky house' (Block, 1974:passim). A fung shu master would more likely say, 'compatibility between Lee and his home in Hong Kong were lacking.' Fung shui has been described as the doctrine of nature's breath in which one 'inhales and exhales nature'. Fung shui enters every stem and every fibre (Eitel, 1882:37). Just as acupuncture is about subtle energy in the body, so fung shui is about discriminating energy in the earth. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1994 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g 110 Bibliography Theses, Books and Journals, and Papers and Articles in Books and Journals Aimer, Goran, 'Being Caught by a Fishnet, On Fengshui in Southeastern China', Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. 8, 1968 Baker, Hugh, 'Burial, Geomancy and Ancestor Worship', Aspects of Social Organization in the New Territories, Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch, week-end symposium, 1964. 'Geomancer'. Ancestral Images, A Hong Kong Album, South China Morning Post, 1979 'Grave', More Ancestral Images, A Second Hong Kong Album, South China Morning Post, 1980 'Red', Ancestral Images Again, South China Morning Post, 1981 Ball, J Dyer, Things Chinese, Graham Brash, 1989 (first published 1903). Bard, Solomon, In Search of the Past: A Guide to the Antiquities of Hong Kong, the Urban Council Hong Kong, 1988 Block, Alex Ben, The Legend of Bruce Lee, Dell Publishing Co, 1974. Bloomfield, Frena, The Occult World of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Publishing Company Ltd, 1980 Burkhardt, V.R., Chinese Creeds and Customs, South China Morning Post Ltd., 1982 Chatwin, Bruce, The Songlines, Picador, 1987 Chinese Landscapes: The Village as a Place, University of Hawaii Press (c. 1992) Cumine, Eric, Hong Kong Ways and Byways, Belongers' Publications Ltd, 1981 Dudgeon, David and Richard Corlett, Hills and Streams, An Ecology of Hong Kong, Hong Kong University Press, 1994 Edwards, W.H., An Introduction to Aboriginal Societies, 4 April 1990 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1994 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g 36 See WG Hoskins, Local History in England (London: Longman, 1972, 1st published, 1958) In Hong Kong, there is a small number of amateur local historians focused around a few subjects; one subject is military history, and among the enthusiasts is Phillip Bruce, a civil servant, who produced the bulletin Hong Kong Military Notes in the 1980s, and wrote Second to None: the Story of the Hong Kong Volunteers (Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 1991). Another focus is railways, and the field is led by Jeff Lenham who teaches surveying at the Polytechnic University. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1997 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579 named deserve a sincere vote of thanks for their efforts which, in some cases, have been considerable. When it is 'within the family', there is, naturally, a tendency for us members sitting on the Council to take one another rather for granted. For example, although our speakers who have given lectures over the past year are invited to this dinner tonight, Council members, even if they have given lectures or led groups and no matter how much they have contributed, are expected to pay for their own dinners. As a democratic institution, this year again we invited members of good standing to nominate members to sit on the Council. No applications have been received. I am pleased to announce, however, that all Council members, with the exception of one, are willing to offer themselves for reelection for 1998/99. Owing to other pressing commitments Peter Rull has decided he must step down. During the past year he played a major role in organising the successful trip to Wai Chau, in Guangdong Province, in November. Together with a past Council Member, Phillip Bruce, and others, Peter has also done useful preliminary work on the publication of a special edition of our Journal which will include re-printed military articles and articles about World War II. Peter informs us that he intends to continue with this project and that he is willing to help the Branch in other ways even if he no longer sits on the Council. Assisting other bodies Over the past year some of our members, especially Council members, have assisted other bodies in various ways. This has included sitting on the Antiquities Advisory Board and its committees and helping the Antiquities and Monuments Office. It has also included RAS volunteers assisting with the grading of buildings and some Council members helping to organise Heritage Year which ran successfully throughout 1997. Your Branch has also started to develop some reciprocal arrangements with other societies, such as the Hong Kong Anthropological Society and we keep each other's members informed of coming functions. With something always taking place and files building up quickly, xviii ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1997 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579 172 in the Colony), it could also be seen at Sha Tau Kok and at San Hui in Castle Peak Bay.7 In certain places along the route on our way to Huizhou, where there was apparently good fung shui, there were concentrations of graves and funerary urns, the latter, in Chinese, known as 'golden pagodas'. These contain human bones, placed in anatomical order, in the shape of a foetus, ready to 'return to the womb' for rebirth at reincarnation. Often, as one sometimes sees in Hong Kong's New Territories, small clusters of these urns were placed in tiny shelters. In some places however, along the road to Huizhou, these small structures were painted in garish colours. Often one would pass in China brick and tile kilns very similar to those simple kilns which one could find in the Castle Peak district of Hong Kong in the 1950s. A few years later these small firms were put out of business by less expensive clay, building-products which were imported into Hong Kong from Guangdong. The author contrasts this visit to Huizhou, in beautiful short-sleeve-shirt weather, with a visit led by RAS Member Phillip Bruce, also undertaken in November, about a decade earlier. The previous visit took place on one of the coldest November days on record with temperatures down to freezing. The author wore a deerstalker hat with ear-flaps to protect him from the biting wind! At the time, limited development had taken place in Huizhou. It is surprising how things have changed. Acknowledgements The RASHKB is grateful to Geoffrey Roper and his Activities Committee members, and especially to Dr Joseph Ting and Peter Rull, for organising this visit. The author is also grateful to RAS Member Charles Slater for the three photographs which illustrate this article. NOTES Peter Rull and Joseph Ting, Outline Programme for RAS Huizhou Visit 15 and 16 November 1997, handout Geoffrey Roper, An Introduction to the Tan Gong (Tam Kung) Temple below the Julung ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 Appendix C RASHKB Projects Undertaken during the 1998/9 Year (a) Photographic Exhibition: From 25 to 27 May, 1998, the RASHKB held a photographic exhibition on the overhead walkway leading from the Landmark building to Swire House. The RASHKB photographs of Western and Sheung Wan aroused considerable interest among the public. The main purpose of the exhibition was to boost RAS membership. Although many RAS members helped mount and man the exhibition, most of the planning and the bulk of the work was undertaken by Robert Nield and Tim Ko. Members Philip Bruce and Arthur Hacker also helped plan the recruitment drive, with the latter designing a new RAS brochure assisted by Dr Michael Lau for the Chinese translation. We are grateful to all who assisted in any way. (b) Tracing Graves: From July to September our Branch was involved with tracing seven graves for the British Association of Cemeteries in South Asia. The requests to trace these graves came from descendants of the deceased living in Britain. Four of the graves were traced in Happy Valley and Carl Smith was able to trace, from his card index system, that the fifth person had died in Ningbo. The bulk of the research in Hong Kong was undertaken by Dr Dan Waters with help from the Government Urban Services Department. (c) Samuel Cornell Plant (1866-1921): Commencing in September as an ongoing project, two of our overseas members, Captain A.C. Bromfield and Mrs Rosemary Lee, have been assisting the British Association of Cemeteries in South Asia research the life of Captain Plant. He was an inspector in the Chinese Maritime Customs on the dangerous upper section of the Yangtze River and he and his wife are buried in Happy Valley. The RASHKB has been involved at the Hong Kong end where research has been undertaken by Dr Dan Waters. (d) The National Library of China: From 17-24 January, 1999, RASHKB member Dr Kazimiera Gasztine worked in the National Library in Beijing, in an honorary capacity, assisting staff translate passages into English, and writing synopses of the contents of old and rare works. It is understood there is in the region of 4,000 such books in the Beijing library in languages about which the staff at the National Museum... xxiii ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2000 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/nk328168n Appendix Two Activities - Visits Date 2000 Saturday 8 April: Private View-The 'Mosseum' of Sculpture, led by Roger Moss, with lunch at Lok Yu Teahouse April 1 to 4: Foshan, Tinghu and Zhaoging, led by Dr Joseph Ting Saturday 27 May: Museum of Coastal Defence, at Lei Yue Mun, led by Dr Joseph Ting and Phillip Bruce Saturday 24 June, Bethanie Church Pokfulam, led by Phillip Bruce Saturday 23 September, Chi Lin Nunnery, led by Professor Puay Peng Ho Hase September 29 - October 6: Central Vietnam, led by Dr Patrick Saturday 18 November: Police Museum at Wanchai Gap, led by Curator Wong Nai Kwan 2001 Saturday 13 January: Hong Kong Heritage Museum, at Shatin, led by Valery Garrett and May Holdsworth 22 to 29 January: Goa: Former Portuguese Enclave, led by Dr Patrick Hase Saturday 10 February: Saltfields at Tai O, led by Dr Patrick Hase Saturday 3 March: Buddhist Sculptures: New Discoveries at HK Museum of Art, led by Rose Li Assistant Curator xxvi ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2001 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g 295 of small, mostly single-storey buildings, such as quarters, as well as paved areas which drained into channels, gullies, and pipes. These led into tanks both above and below ground.34 A record was kept and a plan for the use of water. Following Hong Kong custom, water was boiled before being used for drinking. During an especially dry period, after storage tanks became empty, they were cleaned and limed. Orders used to be posted in the look-out room to this effect. To reduce requirements, salt water was pumped up from the sea for flushing toilets. It is understood that on one occasion, a building worker who had gone to the island to carry out repairs was caught in the nick of time as he stood behind a building about to relieve himself into a gully. Had he done so, the fresh-water supply system would have been contaminated. Up to the 1970s, Hong Kong as a whole was generally short of water and, together with rainfall, it was a common topic at cocktail parties. For several months in 1963, and again in parts of July and August 1967, water for the average household was on tap for only four hours once every four days. Water shortages were part of every Hong Kong resident's lifestyle in those times and for no one more so than the keepers on Waglan. There, during especially dry periods, water had to be brought in by tanker. Manpower Over the years, lengths of tours of duty varied. After World War One, keepers, it is understood, spent one month at a stretch on Waglan, which was followed by only one week's leave. Later, this arrangement was changed to one month on duty and two weeks' leave (Bruce; 1990, 6). In an interview with the Superintendent of Aids to Navigation, the author was told that the establishment on Waglan comprised 1 Principal Lighthouse Keeper, 2 Lighthouse Keepers, 5 Attendants (who cut the grass and cleaned the windows, etc.) and 1 Cook. This made a total of 9.35 Figures have, of course, varied, off and on, over the years. In the years leading up to 1989 (when Waglan was automated), one team would be on duty for one week. They would then be relieved Page 345 Page 346 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2001 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g 307 and Monuments Office and the Government Marine Department and to everyone mentioned in the text. Without their help this paper would not have been written. Special thanks are also due to Yip Kin-sang Superintendent of Aids to Navigation of the Marine Department. Thanks are also due to many other helpful people including Master Mariners Roger Parry and Alan Lack, Dr James Hayes, Simon Lord, Paul Brown, Phillip Bruce, Louis Thomas and S J Chan. This paper would not be complete without photographs and those published here are indeed rather special. For these, a very sincere thank you to Charles Slater. NOTES Part One 1. T. Roger Banister (1932). The Coastwise Lights of China, Shanghai: Inspectorate General of Customs, Statistical Department. 2. Lee Krystek - http://unmuseum.mus.pa.us/pharos.htm 3. Trinity House - http://www.trinityhouse.co.uk/ 4. A day in history - http://www.sis.gov.eg/calendar/html/cl171196.htm 5. It was named after James Horsburgh (1762-1836), an eminent hydrographer for the East India Company, author of the book Sailing Directions, which became the most widely used nautical directory of Eastern waters during the first half of the 19th century. He was also a Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The lighthouse has a cone-shape tower painted with black and white horizontal bands. http://www.lighthouseclothing.com/database/searchdatabase.cfm. 6. It was rebuilt in 1875 in the form of a white conical cast-iron tower with black trim. The 30-foot high tower with lantern constructed of oyster shells had a light visible for 20.5 nautical miles. 7. T.R. Banister concedes that the claim is good only in its literal sense. '...if we except such primitive lights as the old open beacon at north-east promontory, or the ancient native light on Fisher Island in the Pescadores. The Tungsha Lightship, in the Yangtze Estuary, was established in 1855, and the Taitan Light was apparently first shown by the Chinese priests in 1863. But neither of these were exactly light [houses].' ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2001 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g 312 BIBLIOGRAPHY INCLUDING WORKS CITED Banister, T Roger (1932), The Coastwise Lights of China, An Illustrated Account of the Chinese Maritime Customs Lights Service, Shanghai. Bruce, Phillip (1990), Suggested Notes for Royal Asiatic Society Visit to Waglan Island. Dyson, Anthony (1983), From Timeball to Atomic Clock, Hong Kong Government Publication. Endacott, G B (1958), A History of Hong Kong, Oxford University Press. A Gazetteer of Place Names in Hong Kong Kowloon and the New Territories (1960), Hong Kong Government Printer. Harrison, Paul (1999), East India Company Guns, letter and information to Author. Hayes, James (1999, February 16), letter to Author. Hong Kong 1962 (Year Book), Review, the Port of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Government. Hong Kong Observatory (1999, February 26), letter from Director to Author. Hong Kong Standard (1989 August 23), Lowering Flag for Last Time. Jones, Kenneth Sutton (1985), Pharos: The Lighthouse Yesterday and Tomorrow, Sparton Press, UK. Lack, AJ S (1999, April 19), letter to Author. Lee, H C (undated), About Waglan Lighthouse, a paper, prepared by Hong Kong Government Marine Department. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 268 bannermen stationed there. The great Qing emperor Qian Long, travelled far and wide throughout his empire on Inspection Tours and visited Zhenjiang. He had a particular love for the monastery at Jin Shan. Lord Macartney was yet another visitor who, in 1792, passed through Zhenjiang on his way up to Beijing, during his unsuccessful attempt to achieve British diplomatic representation there. He was much impressed by the crossing of the Yangzi from the southern arm of the Grand Canal to the start of the northern arm, and by the pagoda-crowned islands he observed on the Yangzi. These would be Jin Shan and the Ganlu Si. Some twenty-five years later Lord Amherst's Mission to Beijing also visited Zhenjiang. His visit was also unsuccessful and, moreover, he was treated with gross discourtesy in the Capital. The storming and capture of Zhenjiang by the British force under Sir Hugh Gough on the 21st July 1842 during the First Anglo-Chinese War This episode in Zhenjiang's history is described in Part II by Phillip Bruce. The problems facing the Qing emperors and their survival from both within and without China during the seventy or so years after 1840 heightened political consciousness and the increasing weakening of control due to unrest and an increase in brigandage. During the latter years of the Qing forced confrontation with Western culture in treaty ports led to the spread of popular unrest and Zhenjiang was no exception. The Taiping era The Taiping Rebellion was an armed rebellion against the Manchu Emperor. It grew out of worsening social and economic conditions, with a number of secret societies and clan groups offering an existence economy and protection. The foreign dynasty of the Manchus had lost its drive and with opium addiction widespread, the scene was set and ================================================================================