RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1969 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d 65 TUNG KWU ISLAND: THE TYPE SITE OF HONG KONG'S OLDER PRE-HISTORIC CULTURE INTRODUCTION W. SCHOFIELD* The present paper describes the writer's investigations of the large site revealed from 1925 onwards by sand diggers on the island of Tung Kwu beyond Castle Peak,† This dumb-bell island, which is formed entirely of Hong Kong granite and the sand which links its two portions by an isthmus, has not only yielded pottery of the historic period in one area of its western beach, but a great many remains of a culture obviously earlier than that of the Bronze Age in Lamma described by Father Finn.‡ DESCRIPTION OF THE ISLAND (See Plates 1 and 2) Tung Kwu is a typical single dumb-bell with an isthmus joining a large northern hill ridge 76 metres high to a smaller southern one of 68 metres. These hills show all the signs of early loss of their original woods, followed by washing away of most of the thick subsoil of clay full of quartz grains which formed beneath their cover, some of which remained on the isthmus and beaches. Much of the hill surface is occupied by large masses of granite boulders formed by chemical action in the clay, and left behind when it was washed away. A noteworthy feature of the northern hill area is the 35 metres hill that rises just north of the isthmus and is surrounded by a * Mr. Schofield (1888-1968) served in Hong Kong between 1911-1938 as a Cadet Officer and Police Magistrate, He was noted for his work pre-war on the geology and archaeology of Hong Kong, in which fields he was a pioneer scholar. More recently his article "Further Notes on the Sung Wong Toi" appeared in the 1968 Journal. Ed. †This island has long been misnamed on local maps. The Hong Kong Government's official Gazetteer of Place Names in Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories (no date, but 1960), p. 161, calls it Lung Kwu Chau (##) and describes it as "an uninhabited island in area 0.158 sq. mile off the west of the Castle Peak Peninsula, incorrectly named TUNG KWU (Tongku) on the 1:25,000 official map. (Sheet 13, 1957 edition)". ‡ The photographs which illustrate this article may be found at Plates 1 to 9 at the rear of this volume. They are representative, and not ordinarily related to items mentioned in the text because Mr. Schofield died before we had chosen and discussed the illustrations. I am greatly indebted to Mr. James C. Y. Watt, Assistant Curator of the Hong Kong City Hall Museum and Art Gallery and Hon. Sec. of the Hong Kong Archaeological Society, for much help and advice with the sketch-map, charts and plates. Ed. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1969 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d NOTES AND QUERIES 163 connection with cremation burial was introduced by an "iron-using people influenced by Buddhism”. The present discovery is thus not only of interest to Hong Kong, it also serves to establish cultural links between south China and South-east Asia during the “Proto-historic” period of South-east Asia. It is hoped that this discovery will lead to more systematic work on the archaeology of the Ming period in Hong Kong. Hong Kong, 1969. JAMES C. Y. WATT. + NOTES 1 See J. W. Hayes, "Preliminary Report on the Finds at Shek Pik” at pp. 122-124 of H.K.B.R.A.S. Vol. 2, 1962 elaborated by James C. Y. Watt and J. W. Hayes in "Sung Finds at Shek Pik" in Vol. I of the Journal of the Hong Kong Archaeological Society, (1969). 2 These bowls are usually quite shallow with an incised pattern of vertical lines on the outside and often a stamped pattern in the centre. Kilns producing such bowls have been discovered in Wai Yeung county, about 100 kms. east of Canton reports in Kaogu 1962.8 and Kaogu 1964.4. 3 Kaogu 1964.10. See also Kaogu 1962.2 and Kaogu 1965.6. 4 Rosa C. P. Tenazas, A Report on the Archaeology of the Locsin University of San Carlos Excavations in Pila, Laguna. Manila, 1968. 5 Wilhelm G. Solheim II. Archaeological Survey and excavation in Northern Thailand. Preliminary report on excavations at Ban Nadi, Ban Sao Lao, Pimai No. I. Honolulu, 1966. (Quoted by Tenazas, op. cit.) “KELLY AND WALSH” All members of the Branch will have seen books bearing the name of this famous Eastern publishing house, and some may own a few of their many publications over the last century. Dr. J. R. Jones has contributed a note taken verbatim from an old book in his possession, which demonstrates the firm's long history. It reads: Probably the next oldest printing and publishing concern in Shanghai is Messrs. Kelly and Walsh, Limited, formed in 1876 by the amalgamation of two local booksellers, Kelly and Company and F. & C. Walsh. While this firm's main concern is bookselling, it also runs an important printing business, turning out high-class work of every description. It, too, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1970 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ww72j0241 10 willing help has been of great value to me as President and to the Council generally. 13th May, 1970. Lectures in 1969 comprised:----- 20 January Dr. M. W. M. Lau 24 February J. R. JONES The F. A. Nixon Collection of Nestorian Crosses and the Fr. Finn Collection of Finds on Lamma Island Dr. Morris I. Berkowitz The Effects of Resettlement on the Plover Cove Villagers Prof. P. G. O'Neill The No Theatre of Japan Today Mr. K. M. A. Barnett Removing Some Barriers to Comprehension Aspects of Hong Kong Marine Fauna 11 March 8 April 15 April Dr. Lamarr B. Trott 28 April Annual General Meeting. 5 May Mr. Holmes H. Welch 24 May "The Role of Religion in Chinese Life 9 June 11 23 June A Tour of Old Shau Kei Wan organized by Mr. J. W. Hayes. Dr. Hugh D. R. Baker The Chinese Lineage Village: A Pyramid of Kinship Dr. R. K. Murton Wild Life in Hong Kong 29 September Mr. J. C. Y. Watt 23 October 17 November The Use of Jade in Old China "Look Around" Tour on Hong Kong Island organized by Mr. J. W. Hayes. Mr. G. E. Johnson From Rural Committee to Spirit Medium Cult ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1977 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n UNDER ALTARS (下壇) KEITH G. STEVENS The first thing to be seen on entering Chinese temples in Hong Kong and Macau, even those in which a murky half-light obscures the view, is the main altar in the middle of the far end of the main hall. What is rarely seen however, even after a stroll around, is the “Altar at which prayers are offered to avert calamities” (避災壇). This is usually an even dingier ground-level alcove inside the back of which is pasted a large green sheet of paper bearing the titles in white, of five or seven spirits all of whom need placating or propitiating as needs arise. The altar often bears the less colourful titles of the "Under Altar" (下壇), the "Yin and Yang Hall" (陰陽堂), and in very rare instances, more so in Macau than in Hong Kong, the "Five Demon Altar" (五鬼壇). Under Altars, only to be found in Cantonese, Hakka and Boat People's Taoist folk religion temples and never in Buddhist monasteries and nunneries, are usually situated under or between the main and secondary altars at ground level. They consist of a wooden or stone open-fronted "box" about three to four feet high, three feet wide and two feet six deep and are illuminated, if one can use such a term, by a 15 watt dark red electric bulb. In five temples in Hong Kong and Macau the Under Altar was in a corner beside the main altar, but without any top or covering. In one or two temples such altars may be found, again at ground level (this seems to be the one almost inflexible requirement) but without a top, against the side wall about half way down the main hall facing the centre, or alone in a separate side hall. There are several different reasons given why people pray at these altars. The most common is the wish to avert ill-fortune of any form and not just major disasters, as the title of the altar “Calamity" (災) suggests. An elderly lady pointing at one devotee said that he had just told her that he had placed a stick of incense before the Under Altar to avert losses at the races on the morrow. Another, she said, thought her child was sickening for something, and had placed ten cents before the White Tiger image and said a brief word to the deity asking for the illness to be averted. Plates 20 - 31 at end of this volume illustrate this article. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1977 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n 114 GREGORY E. GULDIN and Tsat Tsz Mui Road became the foci of middle-class Shanghaiese life in Hong Kong (see Fig. 1). If there was ever a time that North Point had a majority non-Guangdongese population, this was it.* By the early 1960s, however, changes had occurred in North Point which were having a profound effect on the area's demographics. A high-rise apartment building boom, replacing many of the post-war three or six-storey structures with 20-storey buildings, had led to an oversupply of apartments and a consequent drop in rents. Middle-income Guangdongese, who had been moving into North Point slowly but surely throughout the 1950s, could now afford to live in the once exclusive neighborhood and they poured into the area. Soon they found themselves the overwhelming majority not only in the high-rise buildings but in all of North Point as well. The Shanghaiese, certainly, could not fill all the empty spaces, for their immigrative tide had already begun to ebb. Since the late 1950s, there had been a net outflow of Shanghaiese from North Point as those who had found ways to replenish their wealth moved to richer areas and the many who had not adjusted so well, pauperized and forced into lower-status occupations, were no longer able to afford the high rents of Fort Street and North Point and also moved away. With a dearth of available Shanghaiese residents, the old system by which North Point's Shanghaiese had maintained their neighborhood's Shanghaiese identity by permitting only Shanghaiese (or approved others) entry into their three-storey buildings — rapidly collapsed under the sudden challenge of the seemingly cavernous 20-storey high-rises. As the Shanghaiese began to leave, another minority population, the Fujianese, began to arrive in North Point in greater and greater numbers until their total eventually surpassed their predecessors' and "Little Shanghai" was eclipsed by "Little Fujian." + To "Little Fujian" Most Fujianese who arrived in North Point in the late 1950s to form the basis of a future "Little Fujian" community had ironically already been living in a Fujianese community. Since the early 1950s, the few thousand Fujianese resident in Hong Kong had been living in Hong Kong Island's Sheung Wan and Sai Ying Poon districts, areas close to the city's commercial and trading centers. As the Fujianese (along with the Guangdongese) are one of Southern China's peoples who have adopted the strategy of seeking overseas ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1979 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2801w5938 WATT, Mr. James, ORDINARY LOCAL MEMBERS Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NEW TERRITORIES. WATT, Mr. Mo-Kei, Cheong K. Co., Cheong K. Building, 84 Des Voeux Road C., 2/Fl., HONG KONG. WEN, Dr. Ch'ing-Hsi, Rhenish Church College, 30 Hereford Road, KOWLOON. WHOLEY, Mr. J. W., Agriculture & Fisheries Dept., 393 Canton Road, KOWLOON. WILLIS, Mr. David Nye, H.K. Tourist Association, Connaught Centre, 35/F, HONG KONG. WILLOUGHBY, Prof. P. G., 59 High West, 142 Pokfulam Road, HONG KONG. WILSON, Mr. Brian D., Flat 2D, 30 Plunketts Road, The Peak, HONG KONG. WILSON, Mr. D. C., 2 Mount Kellett Road, HONG KONG. WILSON, Mr. James K., Economic Services Branch, Colonial Secretariat, Lower Albert Road, HONG KONG. WIN, Mr. Oliver, Suite 1, 13th Floor. Imperial Building, 58-66 Canton Road, KOWLOON. WINKLER, Mrs. Rowena, C 62 Carolina Gardens, 30 Coombe Road, HONG KONG. WONG, Miss Marion, 8 Fung Fai Terrace, Happy Valley, HONG KONG. WONG, Mr. Siu Lun, Dept. of Sociology, University of Hong Kong, HONG KONG. WOODS, Mrs. Rowena, c/o Flat 18, 9/F, Block I, Scenic Villas, Victoria Road, HONG KONG. WRIGHT, Mr. D. A. L., c/o The Hong Kong Club, HONG KONG. WRIGHT, Dr. Leigh R., Dept. of History, University of Hong Kong, HONG KONG. WYMAN, Mrs. Pamela, 23B Ventris Road, Happy Valley, HONG KONG. YEUNG, Mr. Michael Wing Chiu, 12D, 80 Gloucester Road, HONG KONG. YOUNG, Mr. Richard, The British Council, Easey Commercial Building, 255 Hennessy Road, HONG KONG. ZIGAL, Mrs. Irene, 12 Bowen Road, HONG KONG. 253 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1981 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ff36bt18m SALMON, Mrs P.A. SAPSTEAD, Mr Gordon A.G. SCOTT, Dr. Ian SEARLS, Mr M.W., Jr. SHAM, Mr Francis SHANNON, Major J.M. SIDDLE Mr Oliver R. SIEGFRIED, Mrs Stephanie S. SIU, Mr Anthony Kwok-Kin SMITH, Mr Reginald C. SMITH, Mr Stewart P. SMITH-ROBERTS, Miss Karen A. SO, Dr Chak Lam STEAD, Miss S.M. STEINER, Mr Henry STEWART, Miss Jessie STRICKLAND, Mr John E. STUMF, Mr Karl L., O.B.E. SU, Mr Samson SURECK, Mr Joseph SURECK, Mrs Joseph TAM, Miss Adelaide Chiu-hor TANG, Mr David TANG, Mr Hai Chiu TANG, Mr Stephen Wing-hung TAYLOR, Mrs V.V. THATCHER, Mr Melvin Paul THOMAS, Mr Reginald THOMAS, Mrs S.E. THOMPSON, Mr F. John TING, Mr Joseph Sun Pao TING, Mr Thomas Kam-Shu TISDALL, Mr Brian TOCHRANE, Miss Vera TOH, Miss Esther TOOGOOD, Mr C.W. TRETIAK, Professor Daniel TSANG, Mr Augustin Chung-Kong TSANG, Mr Hin Sum TSO, Miss Priscilla TURNER, Mr H. David TWITCHETT, Miss Yvonne VINE, Mr P.A.K. WALKER, Mr A.P. WALKER, Mrs Prudence WALTERS, Mrs Sandra L. WATERS, Mr D.D. WATT, Mr James WATT, Mr Mo-Kei WEBB, Mrs Susan M. WEI, Miss Peh T'i WHITTAM, Mr Anthony R. WHOLEY, Mr. J.W. WILLIAMS, Miss Stephanie WILLIS, Mr David Nye WILLOUGHBY, Prof. P.G. WILSON, Mr Brian D. WILSON, Miss Elinor WIN, Mr Oliver 215 WINKLER, Mrs Rowena WONG, Miss Marion WONG, Mr Siu-Lun WOODS, Mrs Rowena WORKMAN, Dr Gillian WRIGHT, Mr D.A.L. WRIGHT, Dr Leigh R, WRIGHT, Miss V. Moya YANG, The Hon. Mr Justice YEUNG, Mr Michael Wing Chiu YOUNG, Dr John D. YOUNG, Mr Richard YUNG, Mr David C.W. ZIGAL, Mrs Irene OVERSEAS LIFE MEMBERS ARMERDING, Mr Ludwig E. BAKER, Dr Hugh David R. BAKER, Mr William Ernest BALL, Mr John M. BARNETT, Mr K.M.A. BENNISON, Mr Larry L. BERTUCCIOLI, Dr Giuliano BLACKMORE, Mr Michael BLACK, Sir Robert BLAKER, Mr D.J.R. CAPLAN, Mr Malcolm CARLSON, Miss R.E. CATER, Sir Jack CLARKE, Rev. Cyril S. COCKELL, Miss Juve V. COLLIN, Mr P.H. COSBY, Mr Ivan P.S.G. COSTANTINI, Dr Giulio COSTANTINI, Mrs G. CRANMER-BYNG, Prof. J.L. CUMMING, Mrs Dorothy M. DUNCANSON, Mr J.D. EWING, Miss E. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1984 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/5h73wh572 Village Shops in the Hong Kong Region — James Hayes 310 Hong Kong Hilltop Retreat for Cross and Lotus — Hugh Witt 312 Diocesan Boys School Seventy Years Ago — W.J. Howard 318 Book Reviews 325 vi ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1984 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/5h73wh572 312 HONG KONG HILLTOP RETREAT FOR CROSS AND LOTUS HUGH WITT* The town of Shatin in Hong Kong's rural New Territories is a mushrooming area of rapid growth. High rise apartment blocks, factories, shops and offices are rapidly transforming this valley community into a major urban district. Shatin is one of six new town developments designed to reduce the heavy concentration of Hong Kong's population in densely congested Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. It is a typical example of Hong Kong's ability to keep pace with the need for progress and expansion in a highly competitive world trading economy. But there is more to Shatin than a reflection of Hong Kong's material needs. It is also a monument to more lasting values. For Shatin holds a unique place in east-west religious thought; it is the place where Christianity and Buddhism blossomed side by side in the teachings of a far-sighted Norwegian missionary. High on a hill, overlooking the changing landscape below, is the Christian mission of Tao Fong Shan the Mountain of the Wind of the Way. Hidden by trees from view below, the site of the mission is marked by a 40 feet (12 metre) cross which can be clearly seen from afar. Today Tao Fong Shan is a study centre dedicated to ecumenical work and the role of the Christian church among the Chinese. But it continues to carry the influence of its founder, Dr. Karl Ludvig Reichelt, who perhaps more than any other missionary to China, sought and found common ground between the ideals of Christianity and Buddhism. The church, its dormitories and the other buildings erected by Reichelt, are set in peaceful tree-lined gardens. And although the * This article, originally published in a number of Scandinavian theological publications, and in some newspapers in Norway, is printed here as background to the visit to Tao Fong Shan by the Society in the Spring of 1984. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1984 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/5h73wh572 314 HUGH WITT United States to arouse interest in his new venture. Reichelt later established himself in rented quarters in Nanking and did not have to wait long before the first wandering Buddhist monks found their way to his new Christian monastery. But differences arose between Reichelt and the Norwegian Missionary Society and there were misunderstandings and criticisms of his methods. Facing a choice of closer co-operation with the society and going it alone, Reichelt decided on the lone path. Reichelt continued to work in Nanking until 1927, when the "Nanking Incident" took place. His premises wrecked during this period of political unrest, Reichelt was lucky to escape alive and he based himself in Shanghai for two years before moving on to Hong Kong "fully determined to locate the mountain which we know Providence had prepared for our future work in south China." That place he found on a hill overlooking Shatin. Reichelt stayed there until his death in 1952 and his grave is to be found there still, in the grounds of the mission he built in 1931. The design for the monastery was produced as a result of a meeting in America between Reichelt and the Danish architect Johannes Prip-Moller, who had long been interested in Chinese building and was an authority on Buddhist architecture. Prip-Moller's book "Chinese Buddhist Monasteries" published by Hong Kong University in 1937, is a standard work on the subject. The design of the church itself is seen as an outstandingly successful blend of Christian and Buddhist influences and the architect's work is commemorated by a plaque mounted on the church wall. Today the Tao Fong Shan Christian Mission to Buddhists continues its work yet has adapted to changes in religious needs. Church groups attend seminars and lectures and accommodation is available for those who seek it, just as there was originally for pilgrim monks. The mission has also changed its name to the Tao Fong Shan Ecumenical Centre, in order to integrate earlier... ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1984 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/5h73wh572 316 HUGH WITT Sverre Holth, a leading authority on Reichelt, wrote: “His vision of the cosmic Christ had opened his eyes to the need for a special type of missionary work in the Far East, namely to reach with the gospel those religious people whose hearts had already been prepared by God's logos. His experience had convinced him that Christ had been there before him and that his footprints were to be seen even in the non-Christian religious systems, or even specially there. He also believed that it had been one of the gravest blunders of modern missionary endeavour that these divinely prepared points of contact had been neglected.” Did this belief in "preaching to the converted" conflict with the traditional approach of missionaries to preach to the Godless? Dr. Lee commented: "Chinese are not really secular people. In Hong Kong today religion is there much more than it appears on the surface. Most Chinese people have some kind of religious influence. Reichelt's approach was not a denial of the truth of other religions but an affirmative statement that Christianity fulfils other religions." After Reichelt's death his followers did not have the same outlook and there were inevitable changes of course. The Christian Mission to Buddhists became the Tao Fong Shan Christian Institute. "That Reichelt's followers did not have the same outlook was partly due to his unique personality. There was also a gradual growth in resistance to Western influences during the years after his death," said Dr. Lee. Buddhists coming from China in the late 1940s found hospitality here but by the mid-1950s not so many people were coming out." A transitional period followed, when in 1957 the institute became the Tao Fong Shan Christian Study Centre on Chinese Religion and Culture. Reichelt's son became its first director and the Right Reverend R. O. Hall, then Bishop of Hong Kong, who lived at Shatin and had been a friend of Reichelt, became its first chairman. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1987 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522 111 TYNDALL, Francis 8.5.1921 TYRE, Aaron Margaret 12.6.1944 Pickard TYRE, Alexander Bain 4.4.1932 TYRE, Eliza Ann 6.3.1952 USSHER, Fidela 16.1.1958 USSHER, George T 7.9.1937 VICK, Dorlores Ward 25.11.1919 VIEGELMANN, Edgar 14.11.1959 VIEGELMANN, Pauline 21.1.1942 VOIGHT, Julius G 17.4.1888 WAFFERT, MJ Not known WALFORD, Guy 14.1.1945 WALKER, Edward 2.8.1898 WATANABE, K Not known Henry Rawson WATT, Michael 21.9.1910 WEILL, Meyer 6.10.1915 WATT, Thomas Melville 11.3.1965 WEINICKE, Gottlieb 2.9.1905 WEISS, J G Not known WERDER, Wilhelm 20.5.1937 WHITE, John 18.4.1902 WILLEKE, Rudolf 13.5.1902 WILLIAMS, T Ellis 12.9.1942 WILKENS, Edward WILLIAMSON, John 20.12.1920 WILLIAMS, Margaret 13.11.1935 1.7.1939 WILLIAMSON, 26.11.1945 WILSON, Arthur 3.11.1900 Luyendyk Mary Blackwell Theodor WILSON, Hugh Mackay WOLFLISBERG, Heidi WOLLERMANN, WRANGLES, Jane WUSINOWSKI, Christine YOUNGS, Edward 13.8.1937 WINN, Emily 14.7.? 23.11.1936 WOLLANDER, William 10.5.1909 19.5.1898 WOODFINE, Robert Not known 21.1.1865 WRIGHT, Robert 3.2.1944 28.11.1891 YOUNGE, Rudolf 15.9.1914 3.9.1882 + ZIMMERMANN, Herman August 24.3.1968 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1991 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j 182 It was a group loosely attached to the University of Hong Kong and NOT a public society. By 1957, this small Team had visited and examined several previously-known sites. Several new members were enrolled, among them Robin and Elspeth Maneely, John Llewellyn, Gerald Moore, and John Walden. By the end of 1957, nine more members were enrolled, among them Dr. Chiu Tze-nang, Mr. (now Dr.) J. Hayes and Dr. Albert So. Total membership now stood at 19. More sites were visited, such as Potoi Island, High Island, Picnic Bay (Lamma island) and Tai Long (Lantao Island). In 1958, four more members joined the Team, including Mr. B. Williams. In 1958, the administrative responsibility for the Team had passed from the Institute of Oriental Studies to the Department of Geography and Geology (at the request of Professor Drake), and with this change, Professor Davis became the Head of the Team and its committee. Throughout 1958, the Team was very active. Several sites on Lamma Island were visited as well as Cheung Chau, Tai Long, Shek Pik, Castle Peak, and Soko Islands. An excavation at Man Kok Tsui was undertaken. In 1964, Mr James Watt joined the team and became the Secretary of the committee. After 1964, the Team activity appeared to decline. Some members became inactive, others left Hong Kong. By the end of 1966, it became apparent that the Team could not continue its work in the old way. Four active members of the Team James Watt, Bernard William, James Hayes, and Solomon Bard met in January 1967 and agreed that a public society should be formed from the Team, to be called the Hong Kong Archaeological Society, and that the assets of the Team should pass on to the new Society. The first meeting of the new Society was held in May 1967. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2000 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/nk328168n * 23 June 2000. Visit to the Victoria and Albert Museum to hear Mrs. Valerie Garrett on her collection of Chinese costumes. A real lifetime's work in Hong Kong went into this collection and members were treated to a masterly exposition by Valerie on how she succeeded in acquiring the costumes and their origins. * 17 July 2000. Visit to Oxford. This was a fascinating day to see many aspects of Oxford that one does not normally visit. We started at the Pitt Rivers museum to look at the Sir Aurel Stein collection and the conservation laboratory housing the textiles brought back by him. In the afternoon, a visit to the Ashmolean Museum was made featuring the Shaw collection (not Sir Run Run) and a collection of mid-nineteenth-century Yarkand and Kashgaria costumes once belonging to Robert Shaw, British Commissioner in Ladakh, who was an intelligence gatherer within the machinations of the Great Game. In the late afternoon, we invaded David Paskett's house to view his own paintings focusing on "Glimpses of everyday Chinese life." David has made frequent visits to China and is well known for the reproductions appearing on the cards of the Chinese University of Hong Kong Art museum. The day ended with a congenial Chinese dinner. For this very successful day, we need to thank Mrs. Rosemary Lee, whose organisational ability was up to its usual high standards. * 28 October 2000. Lecture by Mrs. Janice Thorpe. "Hong Kong Revisited." Janice had recently returned from Hong Kong where she was one of the R.A.S. volunteers who worked with the Antiquities and Monuments Office, surveying heritage sites. This was a wonderfully all-embracing lecture which brought home not only the places which many of us had not seen but should have seen, and were still there, but also the very rapid changes and, in some cases, demolition of many well-known heritage sites. * 27 January 2001. Chinese New Year Lunch at the China City Restaurant, Soho, London. This was attended by 51 members and friends, including one who travelled up from Cornwall and one from Belgium. XXVIII ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2001 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g 217 fortunate. An official-looking monk passed along each row, giving what looked like two banknotes to each seated monk. Then, down each row, ran a small boy-monk with a metal kettle, leaving a small trail of water behind him (the water coming from the kettle, I should point out). Obviously symbolic of something - ritual cleansing? Stunned and devoid of all feeling except a sense of being overwhelmed, we were ushered out into the next and final courtyard, beyond which was the building that had suffered most in the flood. It may have suffered, but was now receiving its reward. This vast structure was the principal target of the king's no-expense-spared command. Ten years later and the restoration was far from complete. (But didn't Salisbury Cathedral take about a century to build?) The focus of this hall, the highly decorated ceiling of which stretched about six or seven storeys above our heads, was three enormous seated statues. The centre figure was that of Buddha himself, about 40 feet high and carved in wood. He was flanked by two smaller (30 feet) figures, one of whom was Guru Rinpoche. These, we were told, were of brass but they had been covered in clay. In front of these was what must have been a container-load of prayers and religious representations printed on tissue paper. It is the custom to fill the hollow back of statues with printed prayers, so that they are always there. These were waiting to be sealed within Buddha and his sidesmen. Attention to detail Working in a stream of slanting sunlight, and with the dubious benefit of some 40-watt light bulbs, were about a dozen artisans who were putting the finishing touches to 100 or so smaller seated statues. These figures, about two feet high, were waiting to be placed into a similar number of niches in the walls around this 200-foot square hall. Other workmen were carving wood, modelling detailed bits of decoration in clay, and painting. Rood wooden scaffolding surrounded the three major figures, behind one of which I climbed. There I saw a craftsman carefully moulding clay to represent more perfectly the flowing robes of the seated guru. What struck me most was that nobody would ever see the fruits of this man's labours, but that did not seem to matter one bit. Again, thinking of my own culture, a similar amount of unrecognised effort went into the facial expression of a gargoyle high in the wall of Salisbury, or the decoration of a ceiling boss 200 feet off ================================================================================