RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1961 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/vd6724704 Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch RASHKB and author Vol. 1 (1961) ISSN 1991-7295 11 THE STUDY OF ASIA: A HERITAGE AND A TASK Inaugural Address delivered on April 7, 1960. F. S. DRAKE, O.B.E., B.A., B.D., Professor of Chinese, Hong Kong University. The study of Asia by the West is the result of the total impact of East and West through the ages, in which traders, soldiers, administrators, travellers, preachers, and scholars all have a part, and in which a study of the language and literature of the peoples of Asia is an essential element. So far as Europe is concerned the study of Asia commences with the Greeks. The Greeks were in contact with Asia in three directions: along the coast of the Black Sea they were in contact with the Scythians; in Asia Minor they lived under the shadow of the Persian Empire; through Egypt they were in contact with the sea routes to India and beyond. These three directions indicate three great geographical divisions of the subject around which we can, I think, arrange the historical, cultural and linguistic studies. First the grasslands of Central Asia, from the steppes of Russia to the plateau of Mongolia, home of the nomadic races from the Scythians to the Mongols; second, the Oriental Empires connected with the great river valleys and deltas from Iran to India and China; third, the islands and peninsulas from South-east Asia to Korea and Japan, including the China coast. I. The Scythians are graphically described in the pages of Herodotus, and his description is verified by the finds of archaeologists in the tombs of their chieftains in South Russia and the Caucasus region. The virile 'nomad animal style' of the ornaments in bronze and gold found from the Caucasus to the Siberian side of the Altai, and from the Altai through Mongolia to the borders of China, indicates the extent and the character of the nomadic tribes. But the chief source of our knowledge of the nomads is to be found in the series of Chinese dynastic histories. The Chinese were in continual contact with the nomadic peoples along their northern frontier from Manchuria to Turkestan—the line of the Great Wall. The struggle between the nomads and the Empire, based on agriculture, is the great theme of Chinese history. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1961 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/vd6724704 Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch ORASHKB and author 14 Vol. 1 (1961) ISSN 1991-7295 The retreat of the Macedonian army was followed by the complicated history of North-west India, the present Pakistan, in which invasion followed invasion, Bactrian Greek, Indo-Scyth, Ephthalite and Turk, and dynasty followed dynasty, of which that of the Guptas was one of the most illustrious. But the impact of the Greeks, though it was eventually absorbed, lasted for a long time, and its effect is still to be seen in the abundance of Graeco-Buddhist sculpture unearthed in the ruins in the Buddhist monasteries in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia, reaching even to the confines of North-west China. To the Greeks of Alexander and of his successors, we owe a large part of our early knowledge of Persia and of Northern India. When the power of Islam had spread through Western Asia, the Moslem Arabs and Turks became the intermediaries between East and West. The Crusades were one, but not the only, answer of the West to the Moslems, The way of St. Francis was another, But yet another was that of Raymond Lull, who, born as it were before his time, advocated the study of Moslem philosophy and the Moslem tongue as a preliminary for the preaching of the Gospel. Meantime Moslem learning in Latin translations, and even the Greek authors, translated into Arabic, and from Arabic into Latin, reached the Western World. The Mongol dominion became divided. The Mongol rulers of Persia, and the partly Turkish partly Mongol rulers west of the Pamirs became converted to Islam. The dominion of Timur arose, and the Moghuls of India followed. First-hand accounts in Persian and Arabic now became added to the study of the Mongol regime. I refer in particular to Juvaini's History of the World Conqueror (between 1252 and 1260), by one who had served as a high official under the Mongol conquerors. From henceforth Islam contributed to the philosophy, poetry and art of the Persians, and the study of Islamics formed part of the study of Persia. Before leaving the subject of Persia one can only refer in passing to the mystic philosophy and poetry of Persia, the beauty of Persian miniatures, Persian rugs, and of Persian architecture. III. Finally we come to the sea-route to India and China, and the islands and peninsulas from South-east Asia to Korea and Japan. In the course of his travels Herodotus had visited Egypt, where he had learned about the navigation of the Red Sea, and recorded that Phoenician sailors in the service of the king of ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1961 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/vd6724704 Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch RASHKB and author Vol. 1 (1961) ISSN 1991-7295 17 English was the most eminent. A new era in Sinology opened with Edouard Chavannes and Paul Pelliot at the turn of the century, by whom the pattern for present day studies was set. At this time too (1898) the Ecole Française d'Extrême-Orient was established in Indo-China, and the thorough and many-sided work of the French scholars in South-east Asia commenced, which included the superb achievement, still in progress, of the conservation of Angkor, Space does not permit to treat of the studies in Indonesia and Malaya, in Japan and Korea. But in closing mention must be made of two special subjects, which affect all countries: Buddhism and Oriental Art. It is hard to realize that there was a time when Buddhism was unknown to the West. The study of Buddhism commenced at the beginning of the nineteenth century with a young Hungarian scholar who set out for the East to find the origin of the Magyar race, which he rightly divined was connected with that of the Turks. His travels brought him to the Tibetan-Himalayan borderland, where he settled in the little village of Kanum in the Upper Sutlej valley to study Tibetan Buddhism. It is interesting to note that it was with the Tibetan branch of Buddhism that the study of Buddhism commenced. Later the great studies of the Sanskrit and Pali Canons began, and later still of the Chinese Canon, in which Japanese scholars have played a very great part. At the present time the Tibetan Canon and the mystic forms of Tibetan Buddhism are receiving great attention. The study of Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Persian, Tibetan and Cambodian art is now receiving great attention. The last century saw a beginning in all these directions. Through the fundamental books of the pioneers, the magnificent collections in museums, the improvements in modern photography, and the facilities in travel, the finest examples of oriental art are now open to all. Persian miniatures, Moghul architecture, Indian sculpture, Chinese porcelain, Japanese temples, Angkor Wat and Borobudur are now well known. But a final word must be said: he who would understand the East must be deeply religious. This does not refer to any particular church or sect of religion, but to the religious spirit diffused through all. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1961 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/vd6724704 Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch RASHKB and author Vol. 1 (1961) ISSN 1991-7295 57 painstaking scholar. In his journals and letters he notes with appreciation books received for recreational purposes and also for the education of his children. The collection is representative of the period and contains more curiosities than rarities, Only about two hundred volumes remain which are of Far East interest. This section seems to have suffered the depredations of time and insects more than any other, but what is left is perhaps of sufficient interest to warrant description. There are a fair number of eighteenth century books but in all only five seventeenth century and of these only two are about China, The earliest is Atlas Extreme Asiae Sive Sinarum Imperii (Atlas of furthermost Asia and Imperial China) by Martin Martinius of 1654. It lacks a title page and of the fifteen maps three are missing. It includes a brief note on Korea and Japan. It has a thirty-six page supplement "De Bello Tartarico Historia" many separate editions of which appeared in French and Dutch translations. The work is listed in Cordier as Novus Atlas Sinensis a Martino Martinio Soc. Iesv, a later edition than the one here described. According to the same authority there were two Latin editions and many translations. Only one of the two copies listed of China Monumentis by Athanasius Kircher, S.J. is now in the Library. It is a copy of the first 1667 edition listed in Cordier as being the finest, a folio, complete with the engraved frontispiece and the numerous plates. Among the eighteenth century books there is a copy of the first edition of the first English translation to be made of Camoës' epic poem, The Lusiad (Os Lusiadas) by William Julius Mickle. Mickle published a translation of Book Five only in The Gentleman's Magazine for March, 1771 and a little later the first canto. These were followed by the whole poem in 1775 when its publication was supported by a long list of subscribers. The translator visited Portugal as secretary to Commodore Johnstone in 1779 where he was received with much acclaim. There is a copy of the first collected English edition of The Works of Peter Pindar, Esq. in three volumes (two earlier collected editions had appeared in Dublin), but unfortunately the first volume is missing. Peter Pindar, the pen name of John Wolcot, was well known as a pungent satirist in his day. This collected edition was published in 1794 by John Walker of Paternoster Row, London, to whom Wolcot sold all the rights of his published and future work in 1793. This arrangement subsequently led to disputes and a law suit which was decided in the author's favour and he enjoyed a comfortable annuity for the rest of his long life until 1819. The Works contain A pair of Lyric Epistles to Lord Macartney and Odes to Kien Long which recall how much in the public eye was the British Embassy to Peking at this time. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1964 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qz20zx09r LIBRARY 145 History, Science, the Arts and Nature in Sarawak (1961-62). (Reprinted from Sarawak's Annual Report). Sarawak, 1962. Exchange. Japan Quarterly. Vol.X, Nos.2-4, Vol.XI, No.1. Tokyo, 1963-64. Exchange. Journal of the Asiatic Society. Vol.I, Nos.1-4. Vol.III, No.2. Vol.IV, No.1. Calcutta, 1959-62. Exchange. Journal of Asiatic Studies, The. Vol.VI, Nos.1-2. Seoul, 1963. Exchange. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. Parts 1-2, Parts 3-4, 1963. London, 1963. Exchange. Korea Journal. Vol.3, Nos.2-5, 9-12. Vol.4, Nos.1-2. Seoul, 1963-64. Exchange. Korean Report. Vol.III, No.2. Washington, 1963. Exchange. Lishi Yanjiu. Vol.6, 1962. Vols. 1-2, 4-6, 1963. Exchange. National Library of Wales Journal, The. Vol.XII, No.4. Vol.XIII, No.1. Supplement, Series II, No.23. Aberystwyth, 1962-63. Exchange. Bangkok, 1963. Presented. Exchange. Exchange. Sarawak Museum Journal, The. N.S. Vol.X, Nos.19-20. Sarawak, 1962. SEATO Record. Vol.II, No.3. Sinologica. Vol.VII, Nos.2-4. Basel, 1963. Sociologie, Science du Langage. Vol.XVI, Nos.1-4. Vol.XVII, Nos.1-3. (Bulletin Signalétique 21) Published by the Centre de Documentation du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. París, 1962-63. Exchange. Tôhô Gakuhô, The. (Journal of Oriental Studies: Published by the Research Institute for Humanistic Studies). No.33. Kyoto, 1963. Exchange. Transactions of the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. Parts I-VI. Hong Kong, 1847-59. (Microfilm copy). Purchased. Transactions of the Korea Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. Vol.XXXVIII. Vol.XXXIX. Seoul, 1961-2. Exchange. Tsing Hua Journal of Chinese Studies. N.S. Vol.III, No.2; Vol.IV, Nos.1-2. (Combined issue). Taiwan, 1963-64. Exchange. What's On in Hong Kong. 2nd Year, No.2. Hong Kong, 1964. Presented. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1964 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qz20zx09r 164 MCCRARY, M.* MCDOUALL, Hon. J. C. MACK, A. M. MCELNEY, B. S. MCKEIRNAN, V. Rev. M. J. MACKENZIE, J. MACKENZIE, Miss S. MALLORY-BROWNE, G. E. 25-A Robinson Road, Top floor, H.K. Secretariat for Chinese Affairs, Connaught Road, C., H.K. c/o H.K. & Shanghai Banking Corpn., 9 Gracechurch Street, London, E.C.3., England. Johnson Stokes & Master, H.K. Bank Building, H.K. St. Peter in Chains Catholic Church, Kowloontsai, Kowloon, Davie, Boag & Co., Ltd., Jardine House, H.K. 17 Chater Hall, Conduit Road, H.K. 15, Cooper Road, H.K. MALLORY-BROWNE, W. Asta Foundation, 2 Old Peak Road, H.K. MANEELY, R. B. MARSHALL, Dr. Patricia M. MARTINHO-MARQUES, E. J. Anatomy Dept., The University, H.K. Zoology Dept., The University, H.K. P. O. Box 472, Macau. MAYNARD, Prof. D. M. Foothill College, Los Altos Hills, California, U.S.A. MIDDLEBROOK, R. W.* 165, East 66th Street, New York 21, N.Y., U.S.A. MILBURN, K. MILLER, C. F. O.* Marine Dept., 102 Connaught Road, C., H.K. c/o Royal Asiatic Society, Korea Branch, C.P.O. Box 255, Seoul, Korea, MINETT, Lt. Col. F. R. D. British Military Hospital, Rinteln, Weser, MORGAN, L. G. MOSCROP, Miss M. E. MOYLE, G. C. NABHOLZ, Mrs. M. E. NEWBIGGING, D. K. NG, Peter Y. L. NG, Ronald, C. Y. British Forces Post Office 29, West Germany. c/o H.K. & Shanghai Bank, 9 Gracechurch Street, London, EC.3., England. 76, Peak Road, The Peak, H.K. c/o Jardine Matheson & Co., Ltd., H.K. 820-823, Union House, H.K. Jardine, Matheson & Co., Ltd. (Shipping Accounts Dept.) H.K. Dept. of History, The University, H.K. 164, Prince Edward Rd., 1st floor, 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-1965 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s752cj653 137 MCELNEY, B. S. MCFADZEAN, A. J. S. MACK, A. M. MCKEIRNAN, V. Rev. M. J. · H - MACKEITH, J. S. MACKENZIE, J. MACKENZIE, Miss S. MCLEVIE, J. G. MALLORY-BROWNE, G. E. + · MALLORY-BROWNE, W. MANEELY, Miss M. 5. MANEELY, R. B. MARSHALL, Dr. Patricia M. MARTINHO-MARQUES, E. J. T - + - - · + MAYNARD, Prof. D. M. MIDDLEBROOK, R. W.* . MILBURN, K. MILLER, A. C. - MILLER, C. F. 0.* MORGAN, L. G. MOSCROP, Miss M. E. - MOUSSAYE, R. D. de La MOYLE, G. C. · NABHOLZ, Mrs. M. E. - NEILD, Mrs. C. - · J - Johnson Stokes & Master, Hong Kong Bank Building, H.K. The University, Pokfulum, H.K. 34 Wilton Crescent, London, S.W.1., England, St. Peter-in-Chains Catholic Church, Kowloontsai, Kowloon, 80 Robinson Road, H.K, Davie, Boag & Co., Ltd., Jardine House, H.K. 17 Chater Hall, Conduit Road, H.K. Dept. of Education, The University, Pokfulum, H.K. 42 Bonham Road, 7th Floor, H.K. 11, Awley 5, Lane 1274, Chung Cheng Road, Taipei, Taiwan. Diocesan Girls' School, Jordan Road, Kowloon. Anatomy Dept., The University, Pokfulum, H.K. Zoology Dept., The University, Pokfulum, H.K. P. O. Box 472, Macau, c/o Chung Chi College, Ma Liu Shui, N.T. 165, East 66th Street, New York 21, N.Y., U.S.A. Marine Dept., 102 Connaught Road, C., H.K. Union Research Institute, 9 College Road, Kowloon. c/o Royal Asiatic Society, Korea Branch, C.P.O. Box 255, Seoul, Korea. c/o H.K. & Shanghai Bank, 9 Gracechurch Street, London, E.C.3., England. c/o Mrs. N. du Breuil, 86 Main Street, Stanley, H.K. c/o Jardine Matheson & Co., Ltd., H.K. 820-823, Union House, H.K. c/o Welfare Handicrafts, Salisbury 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-1966 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/bz60k0811 182 MCBAIN, E. B. MCBAIN, G. MCCABE, Donald C. MCCABE, Mrs. S. J. MCCOY, John MCCRARY, M.* c/o Geo. McBain & Co., Union Building, H.K. S.C.M.P. c/o Imperial Chemical Industries (China) Ltd., 16th Floor, Union House, H.K. New Asia College-Chinese University of Hong Kong, 6 Farm Road, Kowloon. Flat 1, Abermor Court, May Road, H.K. Division of Modern Languages, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, U.S.A. 25-A Robinson Road, Top floor, H.K. MCDOUALL, The Hon. J. C. Secretariat for Chinese Affairs, Connaught Road, C., H.K. MCELNEY, B. S. MCFADZEAN, A. J. S. MCKEIRNAN, V. Rev. M. J. MCLEVIE, J. G. MANEELY, Miss M. S. MANEELY, R. B. Johnson Stokes & Master, Hong Kong Bank Building, H.K. The University, Pokfulum, H.K. St. Peter-in-Chains Catholic Church, Kowloontsai, Kowloon, Dept. of Education, The University, Pokfulum, H.K. Diocesan Girls' School, Jordan Road, Kowloon, Anatomy Dept., The University, Pokfulum, H.K. MANSFIELD, Miss M. B. c/o Diocesan Girls' School, Jordan Road, Kowloon, MARSHALL, Dr. Patricia M. MARTINHO-MARQUES, E. J. MAYNARD, Prof. D. M. MEFFAN, Mrs. N. I. MEIJER, Dr. M. J. MICHAELIONES, Miss E. O. MIDDLEBROOK, R. W.* MILBURN, K. MILLER, A. C. MILLER, C. F. O.* Zoology Dept., The University, Pokfulum, H.K. P. O. Box 104, Macau, c/o Chung Chi College, Ma Liu Shui, N.T. 201 Tregunter Mansions, Old Peak Road, H.K. Consulate General of the Netherlands, Room 1505, Central Building, H.K. The British Council, 1st Floor, Gloucester Building, H.K. 165, East 66th Street, New York 21, N.Y., U.S.A. Marine Dept., 102 Connaught Road, C., H.K. Union Research Institute, 9 College Road, Kowloon, c/o Royal Asiatic Society, Korea Branch, C.P.O. Box 255, Seoul, Korea. * 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-1967 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/0c488p70g 39 PRINTING - A NEW DISCOVERY L. CARRINGTON GOODRICH In 1963 the Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society published a paper of mine entitled "The development of printing in China and its effect on the renaissance under the Sung dynasty (960 - 1279)." Recently a new find was made which, if confirmed, pushes back the history of block printing some fifteen years, possibly more. The discovery occurred last October when certain Korean scholars noticed that a stone stupa known as Sokka Tap 釋迦塔, at Pulguk sa 佛國寺, had been damaged. On investigation they found a printed Buddhist sutra hidden in its interior. (See plates 5 and 6) It was in the form of a scroll made of thick mulberry paper, mounted on a piece of bamboo, lacquered at each end. The text is some 630 cm. long and 6 cm. wide, the printed portion being 5.3 cm. in width. The exact length cannot be determined as the scroll has not been fully unrolled due to its poor condition. In fact, about one third has suffered serious damage from worms; the rest of it, however, is in fair condition. Later examination revealed that the printing had been executed by means of a series of woodblocks, twelve in number, each about 20 or 21 inches in length. Then the separate pieces of paper had been joined together to form a continuous scroll, just as was the text of the famous Diamond Sutra of 868, discovered in 1907 at the cave library of Ch'ien-fo-tung near Tun-huang (west China) by Sir Aurel Stein, now at the British Museum. The scholars who have pronounced this an authentic piece of printing are Professors Kim Sanggi and Yi Hongjik, members of the Cultural Assets Preservation Committee, Ministry of Education, Seoul. In the cavity of the stupa there were, besides the scroll, reliquary vessels, Buddhist images, tiny pagodas, incense sticks, pieces of silk, etc. (See plate 7). They seem to be typical of the period not only in Korea, but also in China and in Japan. These items are important discoveries in themselves, and deserve further study. The text is well known. Its title in Chinese is Wu kou ching kuang ta to-lo-ni ching (in Sanskrit: Raśmivimalavaviśuddhaprabhā dhāranī). It was first rendered into ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1967 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/0c488p70g 199 MCCABE, Donald C. - MCCABE, Mrs. S. J. - MCCOY, John MCCRARY, M.* MCDOUALL, J. C.* MCELNEY, B. S. - New Asia College Chinese University of Hong Kong, 6 Farm Road, Kowloon, Flat 1, Abermor Court, May Road, H.K. Division of Modern Languages, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, U.S.A. 25-A Robinson Road, Top floor, H.K. 13, The Green, St. Leonards-on-Sea, Sussex, England. Johnson Stokes & Master, Hong Kong Bank Building, H.K. MCFADZEAN, Prof. A. J. S. The University, Pokfulum, H.K. MCKEIRNAN, V. Rev. Michael J. St. Peter in Chains Catholic Church, Kowloon Tsai, Kowloon. MCLEVIE, J. G. Dept. of Education, The University, Pokfulum, H.K. MADING, Dr. Klaus c/o German Consulate General, P.O. Box 250, H.K. MANEELY, R. B. Anatomy Dept., The University, Pokfulum, H.K. MANSFIELD, Miss M. B. c/o Diocesan Girls' School, Jordan Road, Kowloon. MARSHALL, Dr. Patricia M. Zoology Dept., The University, Pokfulum, H.K. MARTINHO-MARQUES, E. J. P. O. Box 104, Macau, MAXWELL, D. P. F. Jardine Matheson & Co., Ltd., Jardine House, H.K. MAYNARD, Prof. David M. Foothill College, Los Altos Hills, California, U.S.A. MEFFAN, Mrs. N. I. 92 Kitano-cho, 2-chome, Ikuta-ku, Kobe, Japan. MEIJER, Dr. M. J. Consulate General of the Netherlands, Room 1505, Central Building, H.K. MICHAELIONES, Miss E. O.* c/o The British Council, 1, St. Mark's Avenue, Leeds 2, England. MIDDLEBROOK, R. W.* 165, East 66th Street, New York 21, N.Y., U.S.A. MILBURN, K. Marine Dept., 102 Connaught Road, C., H.K. MILLER, A. C.* Union Research Institute, 9 College Road, Kowloon. MILLER, C. F. O.* c/o Royal Asiatic Society, Korea Branch, C.P.O. Box 255, Seoul, Korea. 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-1968 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833948d 212 MILLER, A. C. MILLER, C. F. O.* MOLTKE-HANSEN, Mrs. Olav. MOSLER, Mrs. M. MOYLE, G. C. NEILD, Mrs. Christine NELSON, Howard G. H. NEWBIGGING, D. K. NG, Ronald C. Y. NICHOLS, E. H. NIXON, F. A.* NOLDE, Prof. John J. NORONHA, J. E. OLIPHANT, R. G. L. OLIVER, J. R. ORD, Miss I. M. OU, Miss G. OVERBURY, Miss U. M. PATTERSON, G. N. PAYNE, Miss P. M. PEARSON, Miss E. F. PENNELL, W. V. PERESYPKIN, O. P. PHILLIPS, Prof. J. G. PICCIOTTO, Mrs. R. J. PICKFORD, J. B. Union Research Institute, 9 College Road, Kowloon. c/o Royal Asiatic Society, Korea Branch, C.P.O. Box 255, Seoul, Korea. A-4, Repulse Bay Mansions, 117 Repulse Bay Road, H.K. 3, Macdonnell Road, Flat 602, H.K. 61 Mile Taipo Road, N.T. 1201 Manson House, Nathan Road. c/o Universities Service Centre, 155 Argyle Street, Kowloon. c/o Jardine, Matheson & Co., Ltd., Jardine House, H.K. 148, King Henry's Road, Swiss Cottage, London N.W.3, England. 11, Queen's Gardens, Old Peak Road, H.K. Room 63, Hong Kong Club, H.K. Dept. of Chinese, The University of Maine, Orono, Maine, U.S.A. c/o W.F. Bollmeyer & Co., (H.K.) Ltd., 408, Yu To Sang Building, H.K. c/o The H.K. & Shanghai Banking Corpn., H.K. c/o Supreme Court, H.K. Sisters' Qtrs., 802 King's Park House, Kowloon. c/o French Consulate General, P. O. Box 13, H.K. The Helena May, Garden Road, H.K. 21 South Bay Road, Ground Floor, Repulse Bay, H.K. 1 Chater Hall, Ground floor, 1 Conduit Road, H.K. Flat 1002, 75 Macdonnell Road, H.K. C'an Boyet Mear Puerto Pollensa, Majorca, Spain. P. O. Box 1382, H.K. Dept. of Zoology, University of Hull, England. 46 Stubbs Road, H.K. Flat 2, Buxey Lodge, 37 Conduit 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-1969 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d NOTES AND QUERIES 151 So, on November 18, he despatched a memorial to Peking which laid the blame for mismanagement of the country not only on Chang Fu-ching, but also on several others in responsible positions. The emperor, naturally, was infuriated, and Feng nearly lost his life as a result; but that is another story. Now back to the comet. Becoming curious about its very long duration, I wrote to Mr. D. J. Schove of St. David's College, Beckenham, Kent, with whom I have previously corresponded on sun spots and similar phenomena, and asked if there had been any report on it by observers in Europe. He replied: +4 The comet of 1532 was more important than that of Halley and was visible even in the daytime. It is recorded e.g. in Italy, Switzerland, England, Russia, Japan and Korea.” And one of my American correspondents, Dr. C. Doris Hellman, professor of history at Queens College, New York, adds to this a Spanish record left by Gaspar G. Molera, who published a tract on it in Barcelona in 1533. Now I am curious as to whether there is any notice of the comet's appearance in the New World. Mr. Schove writes that Aztec chronicles record the comets of 1490 and 1529, but not those of 1531 and 1532. If any reader of this Journal knows of one I hope he will let me know, or publish it in the JRAS, Hong Kong branch. Columbia University, 1968. L. CARRINGTON GOODRICH WHAT INSPIRED SIR JOHN BOWRING'S HYMN? Ever so often one hears that John Bowring's famous hymn “In the cross of Christ I glory Tow'ring o'er the wrecks of time” was inspired after he saw the facade of the Collegiate Church of St. Paul in Macao. But is this true? These words were penned in, or shortly before, 1825, the date of the publication of Bowring's own book entitled HYMNS, in * See for example, M. Hugo-Brunt in his excellent article on St. Paul's Church in the Journal of Oriental Studies, 1-2 (1954-55) p. 344. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1969 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d 182 THE LIBRARY Asia; with an appendix of sailing directions for those seas and coasts. 5th ed. Taipei, Ch'eng-wen Publ. Co., 1966. YULE, Sir Henry. Y95 Cathay and the way thither; being a collection of medieval notices of China. New ed., rev. throughout in the light of recent discoveries by Henri Cordier. Taipei, Ch'eng-wen Publ. Co., 1966. The following bound volumes of periodicals are now located in the British Council Library, Gloucester Building, where they may be consulted. They are not available for loan. Asia major, London, vols. 9-11, 1962-1965, East and West, Rome, vols. 14-17, 1963-1966. France. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. Bulletin signalétique. Sec. 21: Sociologie, etc., vols. 16-18, 1962-1964. Sec. 24: Sciences du langage, vol. 19, 1965. Japan quarterly, Tokyo, vols. 10-14, 1963-1967. Journal of Asiatic studies, Seoul, vols. 8-10, 1965-1967. Monumenta serica, Los Angeles, vols. 19-25, 1960-1966. Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm. Bulletin, vols. 1-4, 1929-1932; 38-39, 1966-1967. Royal Asiatic Society, London. Journal, 1957-1966. Royal Asiatic Society. Korea Branch. Transactions, vols. 34-39, 1958-1962. Sarawak Museum journal, vols. 9-14, 1960-1966. Sinologica, Basel, vols. 7-9, 1962/63-1966/67. Tōhō Gakuhō, Kyoto, vols. 32-39, 1962-1968. Tsing hua journal of Chinese studies, Taipei, new series, vols. 2-6, 1960/61-1966/67. This collection comprises 14 different titles, and 75 vols. (bound in 60). Hong Kong, 28 April, 1969. H. A. RYDINGS, Hon. Librarian. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1969 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d 194 MCCRARY, M.* McELNEY, B. S. McFADZEAN, Prof. A. J. S. McKEIRNAN, Sister Agnes MCKEIRNAN, V. Rev. M. J. + L McKENNA, Sister M. P. MCLEVIE, J. G. MEFFAN, Mrs. I. E. MEIJER, Dr. M. J. MICHAELIONES, Miss E. O. L = MIDDLEBROOK, R. W. MILBURN, K. MILLER, A. C. MILLER, C. F. O.* MOLTKE-HANSEN, Mrs. O. MOSLER, Mrs. M. MOYLE, G. C. NEILD, Mrs. C. NEWBIGGING, D. K. NG, Dr. Ronald C. Y. NICHOLS, E. H. NIXON, F. A.* NOLDE, Prof. J. J. NORONHA, J. E. + + - - 25-A Robinson Road, Top floor, H.K. Johnson Stokes & Master, Hong Kong Bank Building, H.K. University of Hong Kong, H.K. Maryknoll Sisters, Waterloo Road, Kowloon. St. Peter in Chains Catholic Church, Kowloon Tsai, Kowloon. Maryknoll Sisters, Waterloo Road, Kowloon, Dept. of Education, University of Hong Kong, H.K. 92 Kitano-cho, 2-chome, Ikuta-ku, Kobe, Japan, Consulate General of the Netherlands, Room 1505, Central Building, H.K. c/o The British Council, 1, St. Mark's Avenue, Leeds 2, England. 165, East 66th Street, New York 21, N.Y., U.S.A. Marine Dept., 102 Connaught Road, C., H.K. 34 Kennedy Road, Block C, 9th Floor, H.K. c/o Royal Asiatic Society, Korea Branch, C.P.O. Box 255, Seoul, Korea, A-4, Repulse Bay Mansions, 117 Repulse Bay Road, H.K. 3, Macdonnell Road, Flat 602, H.K. 64 Mile, Taipo Road, N.T. 1201 Manson House, Nathan Road, Kowloon. c/o Jardine, Matheson & Co., Ltd., P.O. Box 70, H.K. c/o School of Oriental and African Studies, London, W.C.1, England. 11, Queen's Gardens, Old Peak Road, H.K. Room 63, Hong Kong Club, H.K. Dept. of Chinese, The University to the College of Arts and Science, The University of Maine, Orono, Maine. c/o W.F. Bollmeyer & Co., (H.K.) Ltd. 408, Yu To Sang 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-1970 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ww72j0241 227 MCKEIRNAN, V. Rev. M. J. MEFFAN, Mrs. 1. E. MICHAELIONES, Miss E. O, MIDDLEBROOK, R. W.* MILBURN, K. MILLER, A. C. MILLER, C. F. 0.* MOLTKE-HANSEN, Mrs. O. MOSLER, Mrs. M. MOYLE, G. C. MUNN, Mrs. Elizabeth NEILD, Mrs. C. NEWBIGGING, D. K. NG, Dr. Ronald C. Y. NG, Peter P. K. NICHOLS, E. H. NIXON, F. A.* NOLDE, Prof. J. J. NORONHA, J. E. O'BRIEN, Dr. J. P. OLIVER, J. R. ORR, Jain C. OU, Miss G. + + - + St. Peter in Chains Catholic Church, Kowloon Tsai, Kowloon. 92 Kitano-cho, 2-chome, Ikuta-ku, Kobe, Japan. c/o The British Council, 1, St. Mark's Avenue, Leeds 2, England. 165, East 66th Street, New York 21, N.Y., U.S.A. c/o Marine Dept., 102 Connaught Road, C., H.K. 34 Kennedy Road, Block C, 9th Floor, H.K. c/o Royal Asiatic Society, Korea Branch, C.P.O. Box 255, Seoul, Korea. A-4, Repulse Bay Mansions, 117 Repulse Bay Road, HK. 3, Macdonnell Road, Flat 602, H.K. 61 Mile, Taipo Road, N.T. c/o Taikoo Dockyard, Quarry Bay, H.K. 1201 Manson House, Nathan Road, Kowloon. c/o Jardine, Matheson & Co., Ltd., P.O. Box 70, H.K. 164 Prince Edward Road, 1st Floor, Kowloon. 304, Man Yee Building, H.K. 11, Queen's Gardens, Old Peak Road, H.K. Room 63, Hong Kong Club, H.K. c/o Dept. of Chinese, The University to the College of Arts and Science. The University of Maine, Orono, Maine, U.S.A. c/o W.F. Bollmeyer & Co., (H.K.) Ltd. 408, Yu To Sang Building, H.K. Sandy Bay Children's Orthopaedic Hospital, Sandy Bay, H.K. c/o Supreme Court, H.K. 17 Crown Terrace, 3rd Floor, Bisney Villas, H.K. c/o French Consulate General, P. O. Box 13, 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-1971 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g THE LIBRARY OF THE HONG KONG BRANCH ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY REPORT FOR THE YEAR 1970-1971 Growth of the Library slowed down again in the year under report, after the impressive figures of the previous year. Nevertheless, donations continued to be the main source of accessions, totalling 20 out of 24 volumes. This brings the total stock to 420 volumes, excluding bound periodicals, to which further reference is made later in this report. Donors included the following, to whom we express our warm appreciation: The Hon. H. J. C. Browne - Taikoo, by C. Drage, 1970 Korea Branch, Royal Asiatic Society - three of their own publications Four other books were donated anonymously, seven were received through the Hon. Editor, having been sent to the Journal for review, and a further five were in the series Michigan Papers in Chinese Studies, which are received in exchange for our Journal. These are all listed at the end of this report. The Hon. Librarian was absent on long leave during the latter half of 1970, and in his absence Professor Ma Meng kindly undertook to act in this capacity. Four books were purchased for the Library by the Hon. Librarian whilst he was in England. A further batch of 24 volumes of periodicals has been bound and added to the Library. In the report for 1968-69, a list of bound periodicals located in the British Council Library, Gloucester Building, was given. In order to make room for the growing collection of more interesting books, the majority of the periodicals which were rarely consulted have been moved back to the University of Hong Kong Library, where other less used materials are kept. The total number of bound volumes is now 125 (bound in 99). Most of the periodicals are received in exchange for our own Journal. No new exchanges have been started during the year, though possibilities for this are investigated from time to time. As a result of the appeal made to members in February 1970 for ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1971 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g 14 issues of The Hong Kong Naturalist to complete our set, we received from two London booksellers a total of two complete volumes (VIII and IX) and three other issues (I no. 2 and II nos. 1 & 2). This was arranged through the kindness of Sir John Galvin, and we are extremely grateful to him for this generous gift, which has greatly enhanced our collection. However, we still lack a number of issues of this important set, and anyone locating any parts of The Hong Kong Naturalist, either for sale or exchange, is invited to contact the Hon. Librarian as soon as possible. As in previous years, the main problems facing the library are (i) how to encourage members to make more use of it, and (ii) shortage of space. Until the Branch has its own premises in which the whole library may be housed it seems that this will be an annual plaint. Meanwhile, we have to thank both the British Council and the University of Hong Kong for providing space for the collection, and for making it available to members on request. Hong Kong, 26th April, 1970. H. A. RYDINGS Hon. Librarian, ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY, 1970-1971 (Books and pamphlets) BERKOWITZ, M. I., and others. Folk religion in an urban setting: a study of Hakka villages in transition, Hong Kong, Christian Study Centre, 1969. BOK, pseud. Piracies Ltd. London, Jenkins, 1938. Vampires of the China coast. London, Jenkins, 1932. CLARK, A. D. and CLARK, D. N. Seoul, past and present: a guide to Yi T'aejo's capital. Seoul, R. A. S., Korea Branch, 1969. (Its guidebook series, no. 1) CRANE, P. S. Korean patterns. 2nd ed. Seoul, Hollym Corp., 1968 reprinted 1969. (R. A. S. Korea Branch. Handbook series, no. 1) ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1971 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g 15 DRAGE, C. Taikoo London, Constable, 1970. EGERTON, H. E. Sir Stamford Raffles. London, Unwin, 1900. FITZGERALD, C. P. A concise history of East Asia, London, Heinemann, 1966. HEMMINGSEN, A. M., and GUILDAL, J. A. Observations on birds in northeastern China, especially the migration at Pei-tai-ho Beach. Hong Kong, Vetch & Lee, 1969. LAING, E. J. Chinese paintings in Chinese publications, 1956-1968: annotated bibliography and an index to the paintings. Ann Arbor, 1969 (Michigan Papers in Chinese Studies, no. 6) LAL, K. Miracle of Konark, New York, Castle Books, 1968. LAU, S. M. Joseph Ts'au Yüan. Hong Kong University Press, 1970. LI, Chi, and JOHNSON, D. Two studies in Chinese literature. Ann Arbor, 1968. (Michigan Papers in Chinese Studies, no. 3) MURPHEY, R. The treaty ports and China's modernization: what went wrong? Ann Arbor, 1970. (Michigan Papers in Chinese Studies, no. 7) OKSENBERG, M., and others. The cultural revolution, 1967, in review. Ann Arbor, 1968. (Michigan Papers in Chinese Studies, no. 2) RUTT, R. Korean works and days: notes from the diary of a country priest. Seoul, R. A. S., Korea Branch, 1964. SPEISER, W. China: spirit and society. London, Methuen, 1960. (Art of the world, 4) ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1971 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g 237 MCCABE, Mrs. S. J. McCOY, Dr. J. 2 McDOUALL, J. C.* MCCRARY, M.* McELNEY, B. S. Flat 1, Abermor Court, May Road, H.K. Division of Modern Languages, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA. The Old School, Souldern, Bicester, Oxfordshire, England. Flat 6A, United Mansion, 7 Shiu Fai Terrace, H.K. c/o Johnson Stokes & Master, H.K. Bank Building, H.K. McFADZEAN, Prof. A. J. S. c/o University of Hong Kong, H.K. McGEE, Mrs. Joan S. MCGEE, Dr. T. G. Flat 1A, 134 Pokfulum Road, H.K. Dept. of Geography, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulum, H.K. McKEIRNAN, V. Rev. M. J. Maryknoll House, Stanley, H.K. MEFFAN, Mrs. I. E. MICHAELIONES, Miss E. O. MIDDLEBROOK, R. W.* MILBURN, K. MILLER, A. C. MILLER, C. F. O.* MOLTKE-HANSEN, Mrs. O. MOSLER, Mrs. M. MOYLE, G. C. MUNN, Mrs. Elizabeth NEILD, Mrs. C. NEWBIGGING, D. K. NG, Dr. Ronald C. Y. NG, Peter P. K. NICHOLS, E. H. NICOL, C. A. A. NIXON, F. A. B10, Repulse Bay Mansion, Repulse Bay, H.K. The British Council, Halls Croft, Old Town, Stratford-upon-Avon, England. 165, East 66th Street, New York 21, N.Y., U.S.A. c/o Marine Dept., 102 Connaught Road, C., H.K. 34 Kennedy Road, Block C, 9th Floor, H.K. c/o Royal Asiatic Society, Korea Branch, C.P.O. Box 255, Seoul, Korea. A-4, Repulse Bay Mansions, 117 Repulse Bay Road, H.K. 3, Macdonnell Road, Flat 602, H.K. 64 Mile, Taipo Road, N.T. c/o Taikoo Dockyard, Quarry Bay, H.K. 1201 Manson House, Nathan Road, Kowloon, c/o Jardine, Matheson & Co., Ltd., P.O. Box 70, H.K. 164 Prince Edward Road, 1st Floor, Kowloon, 304, Man Yee Building, H.K. 11, Queen's Gardens, Old Peak Road, H.K. No. 8 Abermor Court, 15 May Road, H.K. Room 63, Hong Kong Club, 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-1972 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gm80qf99h # ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY, 1971-72 (Books and pamphlets) Gifts from the Chinese University of Hong Kong (review copies): FEHL, N. E. Li (†): rites and propriety in literature and life . . . 1971. FEHL, N. E. Sir Herbert Butterfield, Cho Yun Hsu and William H. McNeill on Chinese and history. . . 1971, 香港中文大學 中國語文教學研討會報告書1970 Exchange from Dankook University, Seoul: 崔世珍 訓蒙字會1971. Gifts from Heinemann Educational Books (Asia) Ltd.: CHESNEAUX, J. Secret societies in China in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Transl. by Gillian Nettle, 1971. WAUNG, W. S. K. Revolution and liberation: a short history of China from 1900-1970. 1971. Gift from Oxford University Press: MITCHISON, L. China in the twentieth century. 1970. Gifts from Sir Lindsay Ride: LOPEZ MEMORIAL MUSEUM, Manila. Catalogue of the Filipiniana materials. 4 vols. 1962-69. Gift from the Royal Asiatic Society, Korea Branch: GORE, M. E. J., and WON, Pyong-Oh. The birds of Korea. 1971. Gift from H. A. Rydings: KOREA. Ministry of Culture and Information. Facts about Korea. 1971. Gift from the Tao Teh Benevolent Association, Hong Kong: WEI, Tat. An exposition of the I-ching. 1970. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1972 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gm80qf99h BOOK REVIEWS 229 This material gives us a better picture of Chinese theatre in general. The western studies of it are almost entirely based on Peking opera. But the time has now come to show, on the one hand, the originality of each province, and, on the other, within a single province, the graduation from elaborate theatre of the professional troupes, mainly in towns, to simple rural theatre, mostly amateur. In Ho-pei province for example, one has both Peking opera, which reached the highest level of artistic sophistication, and the folk theatre from Ting Hsien district. The translation of this book brings the first important material in a western language on the rural theatre. This is no mean achievement. Through this volume we see that the plots were often simple; sometimes only two actors were needed. The music and singing had the charm, but also the monotony, of folk music. There was no libretto, dialogue was transmitted only orally. Performances were mostly limited to festivals and the amateur groups rehearsed during the dead season. It involved no elaborate ballet or acrobatics. It praised the same moral virtues as the great plays we already know: faithfulness, filial piety, integrity; but the language was more vivid. It was not impaired by fear of vulgarity, and puns were one of its main assets. The plays at the end of the volume, like the White Snake, Sung Chiang kills his mistress, Drying the tomb with a fan also exist in Peking opera, and comparison of the two versions would be interesting. But many plays only exist in rural theatre, and through such a book they are brought to light. At a time when ethnologists are more interested in displaying the brilliance of their minds through theories, it is refreshing to be given the raw material, and the reader is free to elaborate theories of his own or just to enjoy a good story. 1972. ANON THE BIRDS OF KOREA, M. E. J. Gore and Won Pyong-Oh. Seoul, Korea, Royal Asiatic Society, Korea Branch, 1971. pp. 450, with many coloured plates, U.S.$15.00 (in Korea). Although a number of papers have been published previously, mainly in Japanese or in American journals, this is the first publica- ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1972 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gm80qf99h BOOK REVIEWS 233 Korea Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society-richly deserves the reward of seeing the wildlife of the Republic of Korea better protected in the future. This is, after all, the ultimate aim of books like this. Hong Kong, 1972. MICHAEL WEBSTER. ASIAN URBANIZATION: A HONG KONG CASE-BOOK edited by D. J. Dwyer, University of Hongkong Press. HK$60. THE squalid living conditions which are typical of the bulk of Hongkong's housing have been a major focus for research at the University of Hongkong over the years. Overseas scholars have failed, unfortunately, to take much note of the lessons of the Hongkong situation. Asian town planners, too, have neglected to profit by the rich experience of Hongkong in attempting first to rehouse an immigrant population in a war-ravaged city and then to come to grips with the problem of holding a balance between what the Government could do to alleviate slum squalor without completely undermining the private entrepreneur in the housing market. This work draws together a number of papers which represent a bid by a combination of geographers and civil servants to discuss the background to urban living problems in this colony. The studies also include a provocative contribution by a lawyer and an interesting essay by a town planner (who is also a qualified architect) to round off the discussion. Half the papers were delivered first at a 1968 symposium, and this clearly has presented some headaches for the editor. The various chapters straddle, not always comfortably, the straightforward, simple narratives necessary to spark off seminar discussion while attempting to retain an academic approach based on original research. However, the volume is more coherent in style and more effectively drawn together than is usual with books of this sort, which is a tribute to the editor's labour. But much of the information is dated because of the time-lag in getting this work out. In many ways, the most interesting pieces have been put together by two civil servants. Pryor's effort to apply techniques developed ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1973 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r Exchanges of the Journal of the Branch for the publications of other similar associations have been continued, and two additional exchanges started, with the Société Asiatique, Paris (for their Journal Asiatique), and the Paek-San Society, Korea. The number of bound volumes of periodicals increased to 206 (bound in 161), the majority having been obtained on exchange. The total of all items on the shelves is thus 532. 20th March, 1973. H. A. RYDINGS Hon. Librarian, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 LIST OF MEMBERS 251 LIFE OVERSEAS MEMBERS: JORDAN, Dr. David K. - Department of Anthropology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92037, U.S.A. KNOWLES, Mrs. W. C. G. Wakes Colne Place, Nr. Colchester, Essex, England. LINDSAY, T. J., M.B.E. 3, Bareena Avenue, Wahroonga, N.S.W., Australia. LOTHROP, Francis B. 176, Milk Street, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. MANSFIELD, Miss M. B. The Royal Naval School, Haslemere, Surrey, England. McBAIN, George c/o Imperial Chemical Industries (Japan) Ltd., C.P.O. Box 411, Tokyo, Japan. McDOUALL, J. C. - The Old School, Souldern, Bicester, Oxfordshire, England. MEFFAN, Mrs. I. E. - c/o Swire, MacKinnon, C.P.O. Box 703, Tokyo 100-91, Japan. MICHAELIONES, Miss E. O. The British Council, Halls Croft, Old Town, Stratford-upon-Avon, England. MIDDLEBROOK, R. W. 165, East 66th Street, New York 21, N.Y., U.S.A. MILL, Capt. C. S., Jr. - Indian Hill, Pittsboro, N.C. 27312, U.S.A. MILLER, Carl Ferris O. c/o Royal Asiatic Society, Korea Branch, G.P.O. Box 255, Seoul, Korea. PLAG, Rev. A. 7000 Stuttgart 1, Roemerstr. 41, Germany (F.R.) ROBINSON, Prof. K. E. The Old Rectory, Church Westcoat, Kingham, Oxford, OX7 6SF, England. ROTHE, Ulrich 'Wohnstift Augustinum' Apt. 778, 5483 Bad Neuenahr, Germany. SINFIELD, G. H. C. Hong Kong Tourist Assoc., 159 Bay Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. SPERRY, H. M. 64, Hillbrook Drive, Portola Valley, California 94025, U.S.A. STEVENS, Major K. G. - 9 Cherry Glebe, Mersham, Ashford, Kent, England. SWIRE, A. C. c/o John Swire & Sons Ltd., 66, Cannon Street, London, E.C.4, England. TARARIN, P. A. 623, Harper Avenue, Los Angeles, Calif. 90048, U.S.A. TILL, The Very Rev. Barry c/o Morley College, 61, Westminster Bridge Road, London, S.E.1, England. TURNER, Sir Michael c/o The Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corp., 9, Gracechurch Street, London, E.C.3, England. WARD, Miss Janet A. c/o National Provincial Bank Ltd., Bideford, North Devon, England. WELCH, Holmes H. 4 Holden Lane, Concord, Mass., USA ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1979 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2801w5938 the future we hope it may be possible to organise a small group to visit cultural sites in Thailand (e.g. Chiangmai, Pimai, Sukhothai and Ban Chiang). December might be particularly convenient in view of the projected Hong Kong-Chiangmai direct service by Thai International from April 1. Another small group may be able to visit South Korea at Easter 1980, in cooperation with the Korean Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. Plans for these visits have to be made many months in advance and many members have found it necessary in the past to withdraw after initial arrangements have been made. Some sixteen members, for example, withdrew from the proposed Darjeeling-Sikkim visit after payment of deposits which were fully refunded. But this entailed a substantial amount of rearrangement of aircraft, hotels, ground transport, and so forth. Although recent and forthcoming excursions are arranged on a 'break even' basis for the Society, they are at considerably less cost to participants than for individual travel; and it may be necessary to consider levying some non-refundable service charge in future to protect the Society's financial interests. I would like to thank Dr. Shaw for all the time and effort he has put into these excursion arrangements and I am sure those who have participated would wish me to do so. Janie Thomas of Urbis Planning Design has also offered to include interested members of our Society in a trip she is planning for later this year to Shanghai and Peking. All except our very recently joined members have been circulated with information about her proposals. Publications Work continues for our proposed publication of photographs with text of old Hong Kong buildings. Many of the buildings photographed — by members of your Council and friends — have since been demolished. Mr. Tony Rydings has played a very active role in this project together with Mr. Ian Diamond. We are now, so to speak, on the home stretch in this publication project with approximately three-quarters of the text assembled and the photographs in place. We would like also to thank Dr. Solomon Bard, Executive Secretary, Antiquities and Monuments Section, Urban Services Department, for much material assistance with the project. The 1977 Journal is now being distributed to all members, and Dr. Hayes has already submitted a draft list of contents for the 1978 issue which promises to have a great deal of interesting and ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1979 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2801w5938 256 OVERSEAS LIFE MEMBERS KNOWLES, Miss Moira G., 3 Kirkmay House, Marketgate, Crail. Fife KY10 3RF, SCOTLAND. KNOWLES, Mrs. W. C. G., Wakes Colne Place, Nr. Colchester, Essex. UNITED KINGDOM. KURATA, Mrs. Lucien, 478 Edison Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario K2A 1TQ. CANADA. LANCHESTER, Mrs. G. W., Alderfen, Surlingham, Norwich NR14 7AW, UNITED KINGDOM. LI, Dr. Choh-Ming, 81 Northampton Avenue, Berkeley, California 94707, U.S.A. LINDSAY, Mr. T. J., M.B.E., 3 Bareena Avenue, Wahroonga, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA. LOTHROP, Mr. Francis B, 176 Milk Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02109, U.S.A. MANSFIELD, Miss M. B., 51 Fairlawns, Maldon Road, Wallington, Surrey, UNITED KINGDOM. MCBAIN, Mr. George, c/o Imperial Chemical Industries (Japan) Ltd., Central P.O. Box 411, Tokyo, JAPAN. MCDOUALL, Mr. J. C., The Old School, Souldern, Bicester, Oxon, UNITED KINGDOM. MICHAELIONES, Miss E. O., The British Council, Halls Croft, Old Town, Stratford-upon-Avon, UNITED KINGDOM. MILL, Capt. Charles Stuart, U.S.M.C., 132 Greenbriar Court, Jacksonville, N.C., 28540, U.S.A. MILLER, Mr. Carl Ferris O., c/o Royal Asiatic Society, Korea Branch, C.P.O. Box 255. Seoul, KOREA. O'BRIEN, Mr. J. R., + St. Paul's, 1 Roma Avenue, Kensington, New South Wales 2033, AUSTRALIA. PLAG, Mr. Albrecht (Rev.), 7000 Stuttgart 1, Roemerstr. 41, GERMANY (F.R.). POLAND, Mr. T. D., 15 Bellevue Lawns, Delgany, Co. Wicklow, REPUBLIC OF IRELAND. ROBINSON, Prof. K. E., The Old Rectory, Church Westcoat, Kingham, Oxford OX7 6SF, UNITED KINGDOM. ROTHE, Mr. Ulrich, Wohnstift Augustinum, Apt. 778, 5483 Bad Neuenahr, GERMANY. SINFIELD, Mr. G. H. C., Hong Kong Tourist Association, 159 Bay Street, Toronto, CANADA. SPERRY, Mr. H. M., 64 Hillbrook Drive, Portola Valley, California 94025, U.S.A. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1983 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v # THE LIBRARY OF THE HONG KONG BRANCH ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY # REPORT FOR THE YEAR 1983-1984 Since the retirement of H. A. Rydings, Esq., last year, and his resignation from the Council, there has been a quiet period of gradual takeover. This has been followed by a wild flurry of activity caused by the donation to the Society of a large number of books from the collection of the late W. V. Pennell, Esq. These came to us via the University of Hong Kong Library and will boost the size of our collection considerably. My intention is to produce an additions list this year. This will provide members with details of the new books. Approximately 280 titles have been added since the last edition of the catalogue which must be a record for the Society. This total also includes gifts from Dr. James Hayes and from the International Cultural Society of Korea. There is only one pessimistic note. This is the recurrent problem of accommodation which has inevitably raised its head with such an influx of material. It may be necessary in the end to re-locate the journal collection but preferable alternatives are being sought. On the subject of journals, the purchase of Volumes 1-18 of Monumenta Serica this year establishes almost a complete run of this title. We have also a new exchange journal to add, The Journal of East Asian Affairs which comes from Korea. In all it has been a most productive year. 14th March 1984. xvii V. E. MORGAN Hon. Librarian ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h community, and this will encourage others to take up the task from year to year. In this regard, we shall most likely develop along much the same lines as the Society has done in Japan and Korea, where two lively, long-established Branches of the RAS continue to make a useful contribution to these nations and their people. It has become clear that new needs attend the transformation of expatriate society brought about by political change and continuing “leaps and bounds" modernization. I was strengthened in the above thoughts the other day, when a Japanese friend was explaining why her daughter was being sent to the Chinese International School, now fast growing but operating in three locations and therefore striving to raise the very large sum needed to build a large new premises of its own. “Neither the English Schools Foundation nor the leading local secondary schools provide the kind of Eastern-oriented English language education that people like me need if we are to bring our families to Hong Kong", she said. Finally, following after so many distinguished predecessors, not only since 1960 but also in the first period of our existence here between 1847 and 1859, it is both an honour and a burden to be President of the Society of Hong Kong. I have tried to make a contribution, and leave the post happy in the thought that, through many people's efforts, the Branch is larger and stronger than ever before: and also secure in the knowledge that in the present Council we have a willing and capable body of people who believe in the abiding worth of this Society, and are dedicated to its continuance and the promotion of its objectives in Hong Kong. From personal contacts and correspondence, I know that many of our Members feel likewise, I doubt if any voluntary body can ask for more! Thank you all for such fine support during my tenure of office. 24 March 1990. James HAYES XV ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1992 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qf85tx75x 93 the first anti-foot binding societies in China. Lovatt, W N Ex-Royal Artillery serving in Honan Road in Shanghai. He, with Massagorra, taught Mesny the skills of guns and gunnery in 1864. He later became a Commissioner of Customs in Korea. Mason, Charles H. A. W. A young Imperial Customs Assistant who was the main figure in the 'Mason case'. He joined the Customs in 1887 and after an involved plot was arrested for smuggling arms into China with the intention of providing foreign weapons for the Ko-lao Hui, a secret society whose aim was to overthrow the Imperial government. Massagorra, W Formerly Royal Navy and subsequently mate on one of the large lorchas plying the Yangtze: he, with Lovatt, taught Mesny gunnery. Mayers, W F Chinese Secretary at the British Legation in Peking in the mid-1870s. His best known work was the Chinese Reader's Manual. [Mesny culled a large number of items from Mayer's Manual and included them in his Miscellanies] Richard, Timothy Baptist missionary in Shantung and Shansi provinces. He met Mesny in Taiyuan Fu where Richard was superintending a branch of the English Baptist Mission. Richard was renowned for his humanitarian work during the great famine in Shansi in 1877-1878. Su Chin-wang [Shan-ch'i ## or Shan Ai-t’ang #E#: born ca 1865] The Manchu Prince with whom Mesny had breakfast in Peking in 1892 when Su had not yet inherited his title and was then simply the captain of the Emperor's Bodyguard. A black and white photograph ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1994 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g 114 Smith, Michael G. Crystal Power, Llewellyn Publications, 1993 Sung, Z.D., The Symbols of 'Yi King' or the Symbols of the Chinese Logic of Changes, The China Modern Education Co., Shanghai, 1934 The Text of Yi King', The China Modern Education Co, Shanghai, 1935 Walters, Derek, The Fung Shui Handbook: A Practical Guide to Chinese Geomancy, Aquarian Press, London, 1991. Feng Shui, Pagoda Books, 1988. Webb, Richard, "The Village Landscape'. Beyond the Metropolis: Villages in Hong Kong, eds, P.H. Hase and E. Sinn, Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch, 1995. Williams, C.A.S. Chinese Symbolism and Art Motifs, Charles E. Tuttle, USA, 1974 - Outlines of Chinese Symbolism, Hong Kong's Living Environment, Customs College, Peiping, 1931 Williams, Martin and Richard Webb, 'Rural Landscapes', The Green Dragon, Hong Kong's Living Environment, Green Dragon Publishing, Hong Kong, 1994. Wilson, B.D., 'Notes on Some Chinese Customs in the New Territories', Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. 23, 1983 Wilson, Colin, The Occult, Grafton Books, 1971 Yau, Hong-key, Geomantic Relationships, Beliefs, Culture and Nature in Korea, University of California, Berkeley, Chinese Association for Folklore, Corporate Unit Cultural Service, Taipei, 1976. Academic Papers, Newspaper and Magazine Articles Au Yeung, Mabel and Arthur Kan, 'Let the Good Times Roll', Magazine, undated, Chung, Challina, "Two Lions Wait for their Tryst with Destiny", Hong Kong Standard, 28 January, 1985 'Countering Fung Shui', Building, Development, Real Estate and Construction Review, South China Morning Post, August 1982 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1995 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/95941j25g municipal library. For some reason which I have not been able to fathom South Korea has a Royal Asiatic Society - founded about thirty years ago and very flourishing it is. The Hong Kong Branch however after its foundation in 1847 did not survive for very long and due to internal dissensions collapsed in 1859, not to be resuscitated until 1960 at the initiative of one of our past Presidents, Dr. J.R. Jones. It was resuscitated very much on the basis conceived by the founders, i.e. monthly lecture, an annual journal, the occasional symposium and publication. The one thing we do not have is our own building and permanent office, but to a certain extent we have overcome this since our library is very well housed in the Urban Council facilities on the 3rd floor of the High Block at the City Hall. In the past few years, however, the Society has added and expanded on the activities originally conceived by its founders, i.e. we have arranged a considerable outreach programme whereby we visit not only many places of historical interest, within Hong Kong, but travel to nearby places which has helped to put our perhaps rather narrow perspectives into a larger context. We have also arranged exhibitions, and we are now consulted on many aspects about Hong Kong, its history, the preservation of buildings, and other areas in which some expertise by our members is perceived to be important. In the last year for instance our members have been consulted by the Hong Kong Government, the Hong Kong Tourist Association, the British Broadcasting Corporation and an Australian Radio Station. We publish and provide a useful platform for our members to publish. In short we have expanded our activities and enlarged our fields of interest into wider fields than our founders originally conceived. These developments are I feel to the Society's advantage. They have kept the membership up to a reasonable level with a good cross-section of nationalities. They have enhanced the Society's public profile, and they have given a strong basis for the Society to move forward confidently through 1997. The above is of course a rather potted history of the Society but I think it is important to remind ourselves of the Society's background, because quite clearly we have entered changeable times and they are not likely to go away in the foreseeable future. Your Council has in the last year reviewed the society's activities and its objectives, in the viii ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1997 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579 that a copy of the Journal is given, free, to all fully-paid-up members. Also, while our lectures are free, our visits provide leadership and quality that one is unlikely to find elsewhere, at a similar cost in the private sector for example. It should be noted that, to encourage students to join, their annual subscription remains at only HK$50. Although there has not been a mass exodus of expatriates from Hong Kong, many have left, and, in turn, new people have arrived, often short-term stayers. Our Branch is becoming less British in composition. With the RAS in some ways an international institution, with branches or affiliated organisations in places like Japan and Korea which never formed part of the old British Empire, for our Branch to become more cosmopolitan is not a bad thing. However, although we have tried to recruit more Chinese members over recent years, we have had limited success with numbers varying from 15 to 20 per cent of total membership. Nevertheless, although we have organised a few lectures in Cantonese, we are basically an English-speaking society in what has become, since the Handover, a more Cantonese-speaking community. But, in spite of this change, the RAS still fills a need in Hong Kong in its present form. Having said that, if our Branch wishes to increase considerably its number of Chinese members, then it will have to organise many more functions in the local language. We are a society catering partly to scholars, and some of the quality research on Hong Kong has been undertaken by RAS members who have endeavoured to place their findings on record, in some cases before the old ways of life disappear forever. But, at the same time, the RAS is popular with newcomers to Hong Kong who wish to learn something of local history and about Chinese culture, one of the most important cultures in the world. Here it should be said that many of our members contribute a great deal to the Hong Kong community, and, as a result, five were named in the June 1997 Queen's Birthday Honour's List. They included Dr Michael Lau, Professor I.J. Hodgkiss, Mr Randolf O'Hara, and Ms Caroline Courtauld, who each received an MBE, and Mr Peter Halliday, who was awarded the Queen's Police Medal. xiii ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1997 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579 150 eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival. In recent years visits have also been paid to such destinations as Taiwan, Vietnam and various parts of China. Before looking in greater detail at what the Hong Kong Branch (RASHKB) does, let us review briefly the history of the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS 1979). History The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland was founded in London in 1823, and it received its Charter of Incorporation as a Royal Society the following year. It is the oldest and most important learned society of its kind in Europe, and it is the doyen of societies promoting the study of Asia. Its membership has included generations of eminent scholars and explorers with a deep understanding of the East. A large part of the Society's work has, however, always been carried out through its branches and affiliated societies. Branches were formed in such places as Bombay and Madras about 1838, and in Ceylon in 1845. The Hong Kong Branch followed in 1847, the North China Branch at Shanghai in 1857, the Japanese in 1875, the Malayan in 1878 and the Korean in 1900 (RAS1979: 15). Such countries as Japan and Korea were never, of course, part of the British Empire, and, in any case, British territory today is reduced to a few small pink dots on the map; such as Bermuda, the Cayman Islands and Gibraltar. Thus the RAS can now be thought of, very much, as an international organisation rather than as being purely British. Although the Hong Kong Branch was first established in 1847, it ran into difficulties and, consequently, ceased to exist after the end of 1859. It was, nevertheless, resuscitated a century later (Hayes 1997: 129). Achievements Going back to the middle of the last century, although the Branch was comparatively short-lived, it was nonetheless productive. With its emphasis on practical projects one of the most conspicuous notches in its belt must have been the proposal that a piece of land be requested ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 together with his wife Edith, re-visited Hong Kong. So did Past President Dr James Hayes who gave an entertaining, illustrated talk to our Branch about his army days, in Hong Kong and Korea, in the early 1950s. We were delighted to see these three old friends once again. It is always sad when old friends depart, for whatever reason, and we are sorry to have to report the passing of two of our overseas members in Britain: the Reverend Cyril Clarke and Mr G Harden. We are also sad to record the passing of Lady May Ride who was a strong supporter of our Branch from 1960 right up to her death after she had moved to England. May they all rest in peace. In addition other members resigned and some left, we later discovered, without informing us which complicates the keeping of our records. As a matter of general interest, there appears to be no founding member (who joined in 1960) who is still active in our Branch today. Membership drive Because of reduced membership, strenuous attempts have been made to increase numbers in various ways. For instance a successful photographic exhibition, on the Landmark Building's Overhead Walkway in Central, was mounted at the end of May, 1998 (see Appendix C). The major organisers for this event were Robert Nield and Tim Ko, assisted at planning stage by Philip Bruce and Arthur Hacker. Their efforts were greatly appreciated as was the help of a large number of other members, including Dr Michael Lau who did the Chinese translation. In addition to the successful Landmark Exhibition (no pun intended), the RAS message has been spread in various other ways. This has included the President and members giving talks to, or liaising with, approaching 20 associations, such as the Corona Society, Dante Alighieri and the Hong Kong Natural History Society. Reciprocal arrangements with other societies are obviously important and, in some cases, other associations have been very supportive. Councillors have also taken part in radio and television programmes and our Branch is to be allocated space by the British Consulate on the Internet. For all this assistance we are grateful to many different organisations. We are also grateful to RAS members Bob and Sally Bunker and Xiv Page 15 Page 16 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 132 Arthur Sowerby was recorded in the Directory & Chronicle of China, Japan, Corea, Indo-China, etc. for the years 1932 and 1938 as manager of China Industries Ltd, with an office in Museum Road, Shanghai and in 1938, as a director of the Post-Mercury Company Inc., USA in Avenue Edward VII, also in Shanghai. The latter was involved in printing and advertising. Arthur was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, a Fellow of the Zoological Society, a member of the RAS North China Branch and also President [1928] of the China Society of Science and Arts [in Shanghai], as well as being Honorary Director of the Shanghai [RAS] Museum. iii He married three times, the first time in about 1910, at the age of twenty-five, to Mary Anne Mesny, the daughter of John Mesny of the Chinese Customs Service. She would have been just about the same age as Arthur though more than likely his elder by a few years. She seems to have disappeared from the scene almost immediately, perhaps dying comparatively young but not before she bore him a son. She does not appear in any notes after their marriage even when his parents and sisters were evacuated from Taiyuan to the safety of Tientsin during riots. This suggests that she was no longer present after about 1911 or 1912. As Mary Anne's father, John Mesny, was married to a Chinese lady whom he married in Hankow in 1866, Mary Anne was half-Chinese. This was a time when mixed marriages and even more so, marriage to someone with native blood, was frowned upon by the more bigoted expatriates. His second wife, to whom he was married at the age of forty-two in 1927, was Clarice Moise, the American with whom he founded the China Journal. Clarice died in 1944 during the Japanese occupation of Shanghai. His third wife was Alice Cowens, an old friend and the lady who had nursed Arthur's brother when he had been gassed during the First World War. She was invited to join Arthur in Shanghai in the Autumn of 1946 at a time when he was too ill to travel back to England alone and promptly flew out, first to Hong Kong and then, five days later, she arrived in Shanghai and married him. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2001 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g # HONG KONG BRANCH OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY # Introduction # REPORT ON THE WORK OF # THE SOCIETY, 2001-2002 first I am very glad to be able to state, at the beginning of my Annual Report to the Society, that the outcome of the Society's work over the last year has been, taking the year as a whole, broadly satisfactory. Complacency is something which the Council constantly strives to avoid, but, nonetheless, there is little which I am able to pinpoint as a matter of serious concern as of today. We can, of course, always do better, and I will be outlining in this Report some new initiatives introduced or under consideration by Council by which we hope that we will achieve such improvements. Council is, of course, always open to suggestions for improvement in the way we conduct our affairs, and, at the end of this Report you will have a further opportunity to raise questions and make suggestions for improvements. Similar comments or suggestions can also be made to me, or to any other Councillor, at any time, of course. ## Inter-Branch Relations Council has become concerned about the state of our relations with the parent branch, the Royal Asiatic Society, London, and with the other branches elsewhere in Asia, as well as with other Societies of a similar character and aim. Council has agreed that action should be taken to improve relations, and, as far as possible, to get the Society in a closer and more friendly relationship with them. A good start to this was achieved in September when, as part of the Society's trip to Korea, the members who went on the trip had the opportunity of spending a most convivial and pleasant evening with the President and Members of Council of the Korea Branch at a truly magnificent Korean meal, arranged by the Korea Branch and paid for by the members of the Society who went on the trip. It is to be hoped that similar events, aimed at improving relations generally, can be xiv ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2001 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g arranged at suitable opportunities in the future. I would like to thank the President of the Korea Branch, Dr. H. Underwood, for his assistance and amicability on this occasion. I shall, on behalf of the Society, shortly be writing to the parent branch and the other branches with suggestions for improving contacts generally. Membership In perhaps the first place in Council's concerns is the state of our Membership. It is always difficult to say what the most desirable size for a Society such as ours is. If it is too small, then the income from Membership Subscriptions (which represents by far our largest source of income) will be too low to meet the expenses of our activities. If it is too large, then Members will find they cannot easily get onto the tours and other activities organised by the Society. To hit the happy medium is not easy. In practice, we have to see what the practical implications are for the size of the Society at any date, and then to see whether we need to take action to try to get an increase. The changing demographic characteristics of the expatriate community in Hong Kong make this question of membership even more critical. Our membership is predominantly from the expatriate resident community in Hong Kong. For at least the last 25 years Council has tried to increase our membership from the local Chinese community, but so far with only moderate success. We have to accept, therefore, that changes to the make-up of the expatriate community will have immediate effects on the Society. When I joined the Society, in the mid-1970s, a substantial part of our Membership was of expatriates who expected to spend the whole of their working life in Hong Kong, or at least expected to live here for a decade or so. In these circumstances, our membership tended to be rather static. Relatively few people joined the Society for just a year or two, and the percentage of our membership which resigned and thus had to be replaced each year was low. Nowadays, however, relatively few expatriates come to Hong Kong for a long time, still less for the whole of their working life. Overwhelmingly, the expatriate community in Hong Kong consists, today, of people who will live here for only a few years, often only two or three. As such, we have to accept that a very high percentage of our membership will resign after only a couple of years. Last year, in fact, and the year before that, about a fifth of the entire ordinary membership XV ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2001 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g 1 March 2002 ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY HONG KONG BRANCH LIBRARY ADDITIONS LIST 2001/2002 Adams, Edward Ben, 1934- Palaces of Seoul: Yi dynasty palaces in Korea's capital city; foreword by Hwang Su-Young. Seoul, Korea: Taewon Pub. Co., c1972. Belden, Jack, 1910- China shakes the world. New York: Harper & brothers, c1949. Bodde, Derk, 1909- Law in imperial China: exemplified by 190 Ch'ing dynasty cases (translated from the Hsing-an hui-lan) with historical, social, and juridical commentaries. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, c1967. Boulger, Demetrius Charles de Kavanagh, 1853-1928 The life of Sir Halliday Macartney, K.C.M.G., commander of Li Hung Chang's trained force in the Taeping rebellion, founder of the first Chinese arsenals, for thirty years councillor and secretary to the Chinese legation in London. London, New York: J. Lane company, 1908. Carney, Dora Sanders, 1903- Foreign devils had light eyes: a memoir of Shanghai 1933-1939. Toronto: Dorset Pub., 1980. Copper, John Franklin Words across the Taiwan Strait: a critique of Beijing's "White paper" on China's reunification. Lanham: University Press of America, c1995. Croft, Michael Red carpet to China. London: Longmans, c1958. Cronin, Vincent, 1924- The wise man from the West. London: R. Hart-Davis, c1955. xlv ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2001 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g 331 of those who use it. Places, their layout and furnishings, and their associated activities, are crammed with meanings that can be identified and analysed for what they tell us about people's beliefs. Thus, the sociologist Anthony Giddens suggests that one way to look at place is as a 'locale', a 'setting for interaction'. Activities come and go, but places remain, with the traces of what has happened there. And meanwhile, the shaping of a place will continue, both in terms of the physical qualities of that place and in its image in the minds of those for whom it has some significance. As a result of my visit to Wo Hop Shek, and subsequently to many of the other urban cemeteries in Hong Kong, I wrote several papers about Hong Kong's urban cemeteries and columbaria. In 1999, curious to know how fifty years of Communist rule had affected the spatial manifestation of death in a metropolitan landscape in mainland China, I extended my research to Guangzhou. And, equally curious to find out how a modern East Asian society with an uninterrupted tradition of Confucian beliefs and customs was coping with the expression of death in the landscape, I also arranged to carry out associated research in Seoul, South Korea. I refer to each paper below. In the published versions, each has a long list of references. These are a valuable dimension of the published work, as they offer a sound starting point to those wanting to carry out related research. These lists represent hours of leafing through back issues of journals, combing bookshelves, following up other researchers' reference lists, collecting newspaper cuttings (and, in one case, employing a Chinese-speaking research assistant to access a Guangdong evening paper online), and using electronic search tools to search and download. The website of the Korea Herald was especially useful. As well, of course, I used — especially for theoretical approaches — articles in recent issues of those professional journals to which I subscribe. Very important were the occasional and invaluable recommendations of 'You had better get hold of this....' from RAS members! Personal introductions have helped, too. In fact, several members of the Royal Asiatic Society (Hong Kong Branch) have been consistently generous and encouraging since I began this research, and I owe a lot to them. Dan Waters, James Hayes and Patrick Hase have kindly read several of the papers listed below and ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2001 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g 357 FRIENDS OF THE HKBRAS TRIP TO CORNWALL KIRSTY NORMAN In April 2002, 25 members of the Friends of the RAS Hong Kong Branch took part in the group's first Monday-Friday organised tour, thanks to the excellent teamwork and organisation of Anita Wilson, Rosemary Lee and Penny Byrne. The group visited six gardens in eastern Cornwall, in order to look specifically at oriental planting, and the connections between Cornwall and the early plant hunters. Given the county's place in the history of early oriental plant introductions, there are many gardens to choose from, but in this choice we were fortunate to have the help of the remarkable Maggie Campbell-Culver, author of the recently published and well received The Origin of Plants and previously in charge of the gardens at Mount Edgcumbe, and also her husband Michael Culver. Both had become close friends of Penny Byrne and her husband Tim Heald while neighbours in Fowey. Maggie's love of her subject, and her instinctive ability to strike a balance between educating us and allowing us to roam made her a very popular guide and companion. The group met in Fowey on the Monday, visited two gardens a day for three days, and dispersed on the Friday. The trip also included that essential of a Friends outing, good Chinese food, in the form of two fine dinners organised by Penny. Gardens visited were Trewithen, Pine Lodge, Tregrehan, Heligan, Caerhays, and also the Eden Project, though Eden is perhaps more of a phenomenon than a garden. The great Cornish gardens we now know were, in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the testing grounds for what was to become a veritable torrent of newly discovered plant material, much of it being brought or sent back from China, Japan, Korea and the Himalayas. The way was paved by men like Major General Thomas Hardwicke (1755-1835) of the Bengal Artillery, who brought the first Himalayan rhododendron to Britain in the early 19th century. Discoveries were made by missionaries such as Père Armand David and Père Jean Delavay in the late 19th century, but it was in the early 20th century when professional explorer-collectors such as Ernest Wilson, George Forrest, Frank Kingdom Ward, and Reginald Farrer began systematic ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 around the world where full sets of our Journal are available to scholars. Members will have seen, in the Newsletter, a growing amount of information about the activities of a number of these other Societies, information reaching us as a direct result of the improved communications we have been seeking. I am glad to say that we have been able to get into improved communication in particular with three of the Branch Societies in India, that is, those in Madras (the Madras Literary Society), Bombay (the Asiatic Society of Bombay), and Calcutta (the Asiatic Society of Bengal), and with those in Colombo (The Royal Asiatic Society, Ceylon Branch), Kuala Lumpur (the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society), and Seoul (the Royal Asiatic Society, Korea Branch). All these Societies have agreed to welcome our Members to any of the events they mount, and we in turn have been very happy to offer Members of these Societies temporarily visiting Hong Kong access to our activities on the same terms as our own Members. We have also improved our contacts with the Siam Society, in Bangkok, and, again, we are now offering their Members access to our events on the same terms as our own Members. We have also been in regular communication with the Parent Society in London. We have not been able to contact the Branch Society in Tokyo as yet, and any Member able to help us in this respect should contact me. As part of our drive to improve relationships with these other Branch and Associated Societies we have agreed to donate sets of our Journal to the Madras, Bombay, and Bangkok Societies, in return for sets of their Journals, which will be placed in our Library. Exchange arrangements with the Parent Branch in London, and with the Korea, Calcutta, Malaysia, and Ceylon Branches are also in place. We have also recently agreed an exchange arrangement with the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities in Stockholm, Sweden. Following the agreement of Members at the Extraordinary General Meeting of the Society on 4 October 2002, that the Society should have a new category of Member, that is Honorary Institutional Member, we have agreed in the subsequent months to make the Shanghai Library; the Hong Kong Catholic Diocesan Archives; the Zhong-ying Street Historical Museum, Sha Tau Kok (Shenzhen); the National Library, Bhutan; the British Empire Museum, Bristol, England; and the Instituto Cultural of Macau Honorary Institutional Members of the Society. In xxvi ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 361 THE LIBRARY OF THE HONG KONG BRANCH OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY J. L.Y. CHAN In the early days of Empire, when western institutions permeated around the world as a result of colonisation in the nineteenth century, libraries were among the first community organisations established wherever foreign settlements developed. Some of the libraries began as informal shared collections of reading materials, but a few developed a specialty of publications providing sources of information about the host country and its culture. This paper traces the development of the Library of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, its progress and growth since inception, and addresses some of the concerns faced by the Library. The Royal Asiatic Society The establishment of the Asiatic Society dates back to 1784 when a group of interested traders, missionaries, diplomats and administrators founded the Asiatic Society of Bengal in Calcutta, the then capital of British India. This provided the impetus for the formation of the Royal Asiatic Society in London (now known as the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland) in March 1823 which again gave rise to the founding of other branches, in Bombay and Madras in 1838, in Ceylon in 1845, in Japan in 1875, in Malaya in 1878, and in Korea in 1900. In China, two branches were established, the Hong Kong Branch (formerly named the China Branch) started in 1847 followed by the North China Branch in Shanghai in 1857/58. The aim of the Royal Asiatic Society and its branches is "... investigation of the subjects connected with and for the encouragement of science, literature and the arts, in relation to Asia." As such, they serve as fora for discussion and greater understanding of Asian culture. The Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society had actually grown out of a Medico-Chirurgical Society which was founded in 1845, initially constituted as the China Branch in January 1847 with the effort of Sir John F. Davis, the then Governor, himself a founder member of the Royal Asiatic Society in London. Due to dissent and feuds within the trading community in Hong Kong, the China Branch collapsed in ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2003 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2v242g390 Malatesta, Edward J. and Gao Zhiyu Departed, yet present: Zhalan, the oldest Christian cemetery in Beijing. Macau: Instituto Cultural de Macau, c1995. Musavi Lari, Mujtabá God and his attributes: lessons on Islamic doctrine. Potomac, Md.: Islamic Education Center, c1989. Musavi Lari, Mujtabá. Resurrection judgement and the hereafter: lessons on Islamic Doctrine (book three). Qum, Iran: Foundation of Islamic Culture Propagation in the World, [1992]. Musavi Lari, Mujtabá The Seal of the Prophets and his message: lessons on Islamic doctrine. Potomac, MD: Islamic Education Center, [1989?]. Nahjul balagha: sermons, letters, and sayings of Imam Ali. Qom, I.R. Iran: Sayyed Mojtaba Musavi Lari Foundation of Islamic C.P.W. [n.d.]. (2 vols) Peacock, B.A.V. Hong Kong archaeological survey: subsurface investigation reports. [Hong Kong: Antiquities & Monuments Office, Municipal Services Branch, c1988]. The Psalms of Islam. Imam Zayn al-'Abidin ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn ; translated with an introduction and annotation by William C. Chittick; with a foreword by S.H.M. Jafri. Qum, Iran: Foundation of Islamic Cultural Propagation in the World, 1980-1989? Second International Conference of Institutes & Libraries for Chinese overseas studies. Conference handbook. Xianggang: c2003, Steinberg, David I. Stone mirror: reflections on contemporary Korea. Norwalk, CT: EastBridge, 2002. xliv ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2003 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2v242g390 2003 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE FRIENDS OF THE HONG KONG BRANCH OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY (UK) Although the number of Friends' activities during the past year cannot compete with those in Hong Kong, it is nevertheless pleasing to report that the quarterly meetings which have taken place have been of a very high standard. They started in May 2003 with a bold and forthright talk by Dr. Francis Wood, entitled 'Marco Polo and Me.' Dr. Wood is curator of Chinese Collections at the British Library and author of 'Did Marco Polo Go To China?' and 'No Dogs, Not Many Chinese: Treaty Port Life in China 1843-1943.' Her talk was very convincing and one was left in no doubt that there are still many unanswered questions about Marco Polo's trips to China. The second event took 35 Friends to Bath and Bristol for two days in early October, 2003. Bath has an excellent Museum of East Asian Art, originally set up by Mr. Brian McElney, who lived in Hong Kong for many years in the 1960s and 70s. He became a well-known collector of Chinese artefacts. The museum now houses a wide range of Far Eastern art, including items from South Korea and Japan. Our visit coincided with the very well presented exhibition 'Death and Burial: The Chinese and the Afterlife.' The Friends were particularly impressed by the emphasis on education and the museum's outreach to local schools. The day ended with a very authentic Chinese meal at the Cathay Rendezvous in Bristol. The following morning the Friends met at the Empire and Commonwealth Museum, which was opened in Bristol three years ago, with a great deal of local and overseas backing, including the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. It was particularly pleasing to see Dr. Dan Waters' name inscribed in the entrance hall. The exhibition portrayed in very enlightened and balanced ways a history of the Commonwealth countries, as seen by many of the local people who lived there. The items on display showed that the build-up of Empire and Commonwealth was a remarkable achievement, but there were clearly some aspects which did not come up to the high ideals many expected - this precipitated a lively topic for discussion during the lunch that followed after the visit and the subsequent river cruise through the old town of Bristol. xlvi ================================================================================