RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1967 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/0c488p70g 166 NOTES AND QUERIES held office for many years on the main advisory bodies representing the Chinese community in the Colony, including the District Watchmen's Committee, the Tung Wah Hospital Committee, the Chinese Public Dispensaries Committee and the Po Leung Kuk.15 Sir Show-son CHOW's son, Mr. CHOW Yat-kwong, J.P. has kindly given permission for members to visit the house in the New Village which contains the family's ancestral hall, III. THE Hung Shing Temple And AP LEI CHAU The Hung Shing Temple, The Hung Shing Temple at Ap Lei Chau, judging by the temple bell, dates from the 18th century.16 It appears to have been enlarged in 1847 and some wall-tablets show that it was given a major repair in 1888. The present building dates from that time or earlier. Its origin is uncertain because it is not clear who built it in the first instance. Records show that the Ap Li Chau land population was "no more than two or three families of Hakka grass cutters" before 1841, so that we must look elsewhere for the builders. It could have only been built and supported by the joint efforts of the local (i.e. Aberdeen) land people and boat population. The former only amounted to a few hundreds before the British came, but the boat population was probably as considerable before 1841 as after, e.g. 415 boats and 2,243 persons at the 1856 census18 and 424 boats and 4,130 persons in 1866.19 The temple is interesting in that it has old-style flagpoles still standing in front of the building. Old prints frequently show this kind of pole; but though a few bases can still be seen nowadays in Hong Kong, Macau and the New Territories these could be the only ones left with the poles and their basket-like tops still in place. Ap Lei Chau before 1911. The present land settlement on Ap Lei Chau was founded in the early decades of British rule. By the mid-1860's there were 60 houses there, which implies that several hundred residents were living on the island at that time.20 By 1897 the number of residents was 1,123 rising to 1,437 at the Colony Census of 1911.21 This population gained its livelihood to a great extent from concerns directly associated with the fishing industry, such as boat-building yards, ship chandlers and rope and sail works, and from provision shops and general stores that also catered for the fishermen's daily needs.22 There was very ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1968 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833948d 132 J. NACKEN follow their pattern sage. They pluck and eat their fruit when still unripe; this may be partly because they are afraid of thieves, and partly because the means of sending their produce to the market are so primitive and slow. One of the most interesting aspects of street life presents itself at noon. Tables are set in convenient places shaded by a large umbrella, A bench for guests stands in front, whilst the busy cook stands behind. He cries out his delicacies and the price of them, which varies from 2 to 8 cash a bowl. Those of the Chinese who can afford it sit down to "shik-án-chau.”* There are beef, mutton, fish, and shrimp-congee, macaroni, vermicelli, sago soup, etc. Those of the hawkers who have not yet earned so much capital as to have such a stall, offer cheaper delicacies on their perambulating tables. You may get several kinds of cooling gelatine or jelly with sugar for 3 cash a bowl, or a glass of lemon-water, or cake with meat or peanuts inside. Cakes vary according to seasons and festivals. In the evening all the stalls and hawking tables are illuminated by paper lanterns, which, indeed, make the streets look lively and interesting. Besides the articles mentioned above you may hear cried out: Pickled, salted, or candied fruit, betel nut, almonds' milk, lotus-nut soup and a kind of whey made of milk. In winter the cooling dishes and drinks are exchanged for flour-balls and cakes boiled or cooked with oil. I think we have now listened long enough to street cries for selling articles of food, and I should not wonder if my friend ex-claimed, "Dear me, I had no idea that the Chinese had such a variety of chow-chow." The fact is, I have not by any means exhausted my list of street cries of this nature. The Cantonese are gourmands and they pride themselves on their art of cooking. They have this saying:- "Happy is he who is born in Soochow, who has his meals in Kwong-chow, and who dies in Laou-chow.”† * : to eat the noon meal; to take lunch. The last two characters have probably given rise to the pidgin-English chow-chow, to eat. † The Soochowites are envied by our orange-skinned Cantonese friends, being of a fair complexion; Laou-chow is said to have the best wood for coffins. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1971 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g THE DISTRICT WATCH COMMITTEE 139 36 In 1917 there were 31 guilds for employers only (in trades such as silk, sandalwood, wicker furniture and copper), 35 skilled craftsmen guilds (sandalwood workers, masons, tinsmiths, etc.) and 5 guilds with mixed membership (employers and workers). There were also 17 district societies, such as the Heung Shan (Hsiang-shan) resident merchants association and the General Commercial Association of the Tung Kun (Tung-kuan) merchants resident in Hong Kong. See the list of exempted and registered societies in the Gazette, 27 April 1917. 37 Wei Yuk was appointed in 1891 and served until his death in 1929. He resigned several times in order to allow a newcomer to join the Committee but was soon re-appointed. Lau Chu-pak was appointed in 1902 and served until his death in 1922. Sir Shouson Chow was appointed in 1917 and was still a member in 1949, the year of the demise of the Committee. 38 During the years 1929 to 1931 and in 1936 the Committee met four times a year at Government House. Lennox Mills states that members had the right to a guard of the District Watch Force on the occasion of weddings and other festivities'. The Secretary for Chinese Affairs tells us in his report for 1936 that through the kindness of His Excellency the Committee was able to meet the members of the Mui Tsai Commission on the occasion of their first visit to the Colony, 'All members attended and there was a valuable discussion with frank interchange of views'. When the Governor, Sir Henry Blake, left the Colony in 1903 on the day of his departure he inspected the District Watchmen. Clearly, everything was done by the government to give prestige and éclat to the Committee and the force. 19 T. C. Cheng, op. cit., p. 18. 40 Of the Chinese land population in the 1901 census 227,615 returned themselves as natives of Kwangtung Province, 179,296 of this number belonging to the Kwong Chau Prefecture, 28,844 came from Tung-kuan hsien, 28,587 from P'an-yü hsien, and 27,221 from Nan-hai hsien. The situation was substantially the same in the censuses of 1911, 1921 and 1931. In 1911, for example, 311,992 out of 350,418 Chinese in Hong Kong, exclusive of the New Territories, spoke Cantonese, 41 Op. cit., pp. 399-400. 42 Heung Shan, present-day Chung Shan, is the arid county on the west side of the Pearl River, stretching down to Macau. It was the Heung Ha, the Cantonese term for the province, district or village from which each person derives his ancestry, of many prominent Chinese, including Ng Choy (Wu Ting-fang), Yung Wing (Yung Hung), Wong Shing (Huang Shêng), and Sun Yat-sen. Many Chinese merchants in Hong Kong came from this county; for example, Wei Yuk, Ma Ying-piu (founder of the Sincere Company), M. Y. San (before 1941 the largest biscuit manufacturer in China), Tsang Foo, Look Poong-shan (founder of the Bank of Canton). Su Chao-cheng, organiser and leader of the Seamen' Strike in 1922, came from this county; in 1928 Su was elected to the Central Political Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party. The anarchist, Liu Ssu-fu, was also born there. In 1938 the Chung Shan Commercial Association had a membership of over 4,000 in Hong Kong. 43 In 1905, for example, at least seven members of the Committee were compradores to important western firms; one was manager of a native bank; another of a prosperous pawnshop; a third ran a large export firm. Ho Kai was primarily a financier rather than an entrepreneur. See on this point the Chinese speculator Marie-Claire Bergère, "The Role of the Bourgeoisie' in M. C. Wright, ed., China in Revolution: The First Phase 1900-1913, New Haven, Yale University Press, 1968, p. 236. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1978 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8g84t8593 NOTES AND QUERIES 211 Ching period of the Ming Dynasty (1553). From this, we can see that, at that time, there was no fort nor guard-station at Fat Tong Mun. 4 See my article "A Short History of the Pirates of Hong Kong before 1842," published in Volume 8, No. 4, of the Kwong Tung Man Hin 早期海盜略，原載廣東文獻第八卷，第四期。. 5 Chapter 4 of the San On Yuen Chi, Ch'ia Ching edition, ★★★✰ recorded, "North Fat Tong is an isolated island, A fort is erected during the K'ang Hsi period, for the protection of the waterway against the pirates." This proves that the fort on Tung Lung Island was erected during the K'ang Hsi reign. 6 See Chapter 13 of the Kwong Tung Hoi Tu Shuet. 1889 edition ★***, and Chapter 73 of the Kwong Chow Fu Chi, 1879 edition 廣州府志。 7 Chapter 125 of the Kwong Tung Tung Chi, Tao Kuang edition £ A records, "In the 15th year of the Ch'ia Ching rule, Viceroy Chin Mun Fu ✰✰ suggested to have the Fat Tong Mun Fort abandoned, and rebuilt near the Kowloon Walled City, Viceroy Pak Ling ordered the Magistrate of the San On District 4 to carry out the suggestion. The Fat Tong Mun Fort was under the command of the officer commanding of the Tai Pang Battalion ***. The fort stood on an isolated island, two hundred li from the Tai Pang Walled City, and forty li from the Kowloon guard-station. There were no villages on the island that could assist in protecting the region. Thus the fort had to be removed to the Kowloon City Region." Chapter 14 of the Kwong Chow Fu Chi, 1879 edition АЯ, and the Genealogy of Tang's of Kam Tin, New Territories of Hong Kong, 香港新界錦田鄧氏族譜 have the same record. 8 See Note 6, Chapter 8 of Professor LO Hsiang-lin's Hong Kong and its External Communications before 1842, Chinese edition, 1959 -AS- 一八四二年以前之香港及其對外交通，羅香林著. FIRST RECORD OF THE PELOBATID FROG LEPTOBRACHIUM PELODYTOIDES BOULENGER IN HONG KONG It is indeed gratifying to find-in an area as small and zoologically well studied as Hong Kong-any amphibian not previously known to be part of our fauna. Not only does the discovery of Leptobrachium pelodytoides add another species, but represents a genus new to the known fauna of Hong Kong. The first specimens found here, and subsequently identified, are nine tadpoles collected by Dr. Frank F. Reitinger and Mr. Jerry K. S. Lee at an altitude of about 853 metres on Tai Mo Shan in the New Territories on 30 November and 7 December 1974. However, it was not until two adult frogs were found by Mr. Phillip J. Bishop ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1979 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2801w5938 198 NOTES AND QUERIES * The evacuation of the South-east coast of China was carried out from the 1st year to the 7th year of the K'ang Hsi reign (1662-1668). It was because of the disturbances of pirates and the followers of Koxinga (Cheng Shing-kung) along the coasts of Kwangtung and Fukien. The disturbances were so large that the Ch'ing Army could not stop them. The government evacuated fifty li from the coast. The lands were abandoned in order that the pirates and the followers of Koxinga could not obtain supplies from them. (see my article: "The Chow Wang Yi Kung Chi of Kam Tin", published in the Wah Kiu Man Fa of Wah Kiu Yat Po for 13th September 1976 綿田之周王二公祠,原载1976年9月13日華僑日報文化版) + * In the O Mun Kei Leuk ME 1800 edition, it was recorded, "During the 7th year of Yung Cheng reign, there were forts erected on the two hills. This strengthened the guards of the Tai Yue Shan Shuen”. The Tai Yue Shan Shuen was probably at the place of Tai O today. The forts on the "two hills" are most likely to be the Kai Yik Fort on its south-west and Tung Chung Fort on its east. This shows that the Fan Lau Fort was probably rebuilt and refortified in the 7th year of the Yung Ching reign. 19 See my article: "A Short History of the Pirates of Hong Kong before 1842", published in Volume 8, No. 4 of the Kwong Tung Man Hin 廣東文献(1979). 11 see Chapter 13 of San On Yuen Chi Chapter 81 of Kwong Chow Fu Chi A **** 1819 edition and 1879 edition. 12 Chapter 12 of San On Yuen Chi (1819) stated, "During the K'ang Hsi reign, it was because of robbery and piracy along the south-east coast that the Ch'ing government evacuated the coastal regions. Later, with the surrender of the pirates, the Ch'ing government extended the coastal boundary. More forts and guard-stations were set up. Those of outstanding importance were the Kai Yik Fort on Lantau Island, the Nam Tau Fort, and the Chik Wan Fort." The book was written in 1819, and the famous pirate Cheung Po-tsai had surrendered in 1810. This shows that the fort was again under the control of the Ch'ing government after 1810. 14 1a Chapter 130 of the Kwong Tung Tung Chi 4 1822 edition recorded, "Tai U Shan, an island which lay in the midst of the sea, was a place where foreign ships anchored. There were only two inlets for the anchoring of these ships: they were at Tai O and Tung Chung. At that time, Tai O was guarded by a garrison of thirteen men. There was already the Kai Yik Fort under a Tsin Tsung (lieutenant) of the Tai Pang Battalion." The book was published in 1822. This proves that before 1822, there was the Kai Yik Fort guarding the south-west tip of Lantau Island. 14 see Armando M. De Silva's article, op. cit. 15 also called Tung Chung Hau in the past. 10 To the south-east of the valley is the Sunset Peak (Tai Tung Shan 大東山); the Lantau Peak (Fung Wang Shan 凤凰山) lies to the south-west. 17 Sheung Ling Pei Village is one of the largest villages in the Tung Chung Valley. It is situated to the east of the Tung Chung Walled City. 18 Ha Ling Pei Village, an adjacent village to Sheung Ling Pei Village, is situated to the west of the Tung Chung Walled City. 19 See my article: "Distribution of Forts and Guard-stations on Lantau Island during the Late Ch'ing period", JHKBRAS vol. 18: 1978. Page 225 Page 226 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1979 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2801w5938 20 See note 13. NOTES AND QUERIES 199 21 See Ch'ing Hoi Fan Kei recorded in Chapter 33 of the Tung Kwun Yuen Chi ★★ 1911 edition. 22 Chapter 125 of Kwong Tung Tung Chi (1822) stated, “The Shek She Fort of Tung Chung Kau, Tai U Shan, was built in the 22nd year of the Ch'ia Ching reign (1817). It was proposed and built by Viceroys Cheung Yau-koot and Yuen Yuen.' Chapter 130 of the same book recorded, "In the 22nd year of the Chia Ch'ing reign, Viceroys Cheung Yau-koot and Yuen Yuen proposed to build eight guard-houses at Tung Chung Hau, and two fortresses, seven guard-houses, and an ammunition store at the foothill of the Shek She Shan. The proposal was carried out by Pang Chiu-lun, Reserve Prefect of Kwong Chow Fu. The eight guard-houses at Tung Chung Hau were those inside the Tung Chung Walled City. The two fortresses, with seven-guard-houses and an ammunition store at the foothill of Shek She Shuen formed the Shek She Fort of Tung Chung Kau. 23 See Wong Pui Kai's "Tung Chung of Tai Yue Shan", published in Volume 86 of Tai Fung Pun Yuet Kan, ⭑「大公報·文教半月刊」第八十六期。 24 Chik Lap Kok Island lies to the north of Tung Chung Bay. The island is famous for the production of granite used in building purposes. 25 See note 22. 26 See my article: "The Cannons on the Wall of the Tung Chung Fort", JHKBRAS vol. 18: 1978. 27 See note 22. 28 The stones of the wall had been taken away by the monks of Tai Tong Tsai ## for the building of the Ma Wan Chung Bridge. It is now called the Lai Luk Bridge. 29 See note 22. TWO EXAMPLES OF CHINESE RELIGIOUS INVOLVEMENT WITH ISLAM Although Chinese folk religion and Islam have next to nothing in common, two examples of Chinese reaction to Islam are afforded to us in present day South East Asia; one in Singapore and Malaysia where the image of Muslim appears on Chinese altars, and the other in Thailand where a local Chinese folk religion cult has developed around a Chinese girl who killed herself because her brother was being converted to Islam. Chinese immigrants brought their beliefs and their gods with them to South East Asia, but one further and special deity has been added to their pantheon. This is a Malay, depicted on the altar as having a very dark skin, often jet black, and wearing the Malay ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1981 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ff36bt18m THE CHINESE CHURCH, LABOUR AND ELITES AND THE MUI TSAI QUESTION IN THE 1920'S 107 son-in-law of Ho Tung T. N. Chau, a barrister Li Wing-tin Simon Tse Yan, also known as Tse Ka Po Fung Ping-shan, donor of the Fung Ping Shan Library building at Hong Kong University Chau Yu-ting, a wealthy import-export merchant Yung Tse-ming, compradore of the Chartered Bank Ho Wing, son of Ho Fook, adopted son of Ho Tung and compradore of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank Wong Ping-shuen, and Ip Lan-chuen Wong Ping-shuen advocated a slow approach, "The time was not yet ripe for drastic action. Conditions in China had to be radically changed before it would serve any useful purpose to legislate on the question". The Secretary of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Ip Lan-chuen, contended that Hong Kong was too close to China to attempt abolition at this time. Li Po-kwai, the Chairman, vividly portrayed the dangers to the mui tsai if she were released from servitude at the age of eighteen. She would do "mad and silly things" which would lead to her downfall. Chow Shou-son spoke out as "being dead against the Bill". If left alone the custom would die out in time as had the practice of foot-binding. After making his speech in Chinese, for some reason he shifted to English to conclude it, saying, “It is the opinion of the Chinese community and the Chinese people generally that the system should not be abolished”. Mr. M. K. Lo interjected a moderating tone into the discussion when he reminded the meeting that it would have been better if the Chamber had expressed opposition to abolition sooner and more clearly, instead of keeping relatively silent until the Government had drafted and introduced a Bill. Mr. Wong Kwong-tin objected to the Ordinance because it did not provide protection to the owners of mui tsai and was therefore grossly unfair. He gave a warning to the British Government they should be very careful in interfering with an old Chinese custom which had become an unwritten law. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1984 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/5h73wh572 136 JAMES HAYES p. 78. There was a custom-made school building on the edge of Wong Nei Chung village which is shown on maps from Collinson's survey onwards. 13 By "town", Collinson means village. 14 The Last Year in China by a Field Officer actually employed in that Country (London, Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans, 2nd edition 1843) p. 75. 15 Cited from the Canton Press for January 1842 by G.R. Sayer op. cit., p. 121. For information on present day So Kon Po, see the Notes by Revd Carl T. Smith and myself in JHKBRAS, Vol. 23 (1983) p. 7-77. 16 Wright and Allom, op. cit., Vol. I, p. 17 and again at p. 33, "Bamboo Aqueduct at Hong Kong". For a fuller account see J.W. Hayes The Hong Kong Region 1850-1911, Land and Leadership in Town and Countryside. (Hamden, Conn., Anchor Books, 1977) pp. 25-32. E A copy of this letter from Mr. Chow Yat-kwong, JP, dated 30 March 1967, is now in the Public Records Office, Hong Kong, 19 This statement can be found in the manuscript volume Summary Report of the Squatters Commission 1891-1906 in the Public Records Office, Hong Kong, under the date of hearing 6 July 1893. By "100 years" is meant "from before anyone now alive can remember," as normally in local village usage. 20 21 Ibid, hearing of 26 January 1891 of claims at Wong Nei Chung. Report of the Hong Kong Mission, Vol. 23, June 1843, November 6, p. 157, in American Baptist Board of Foreign Missions Archives, Valley Forge, Pa., by courtesy of Revd Carl T. Smith. 22 American Baptist Mission Archives, folder of Revd I.J. Roberts, No. 1 — China, also by courtesy of Revd Smith. 23 Captain A.A.T. Cunynghame, quoted in Sayer, op. cit., p. 104. 24 Stanley and Aberdeen in 1841 would seem to have been very similar in size and composition to the New Territories Market Towns in 1898 and earlier. Thus, Sai Kung had 50 shops and 150 houses in 1898 with a population of 512 (cf. C. Fred Blake Ethnic Groups and Social Change in a Chinese Market Town. (Hawaii, 1981 p. 27-28), Tai Po New Market had 38 shops within eight years of its foundation (J.W. Hayes The Hong Kong Region, op. cit. p. 36 and n. 78), and Yuen Long Old Market had about 160 buildings of which at least 100 were shops (see unpublished Report 24 (Yuen Long Kau Hui) produced by Antiquities and Monuments Section, Hong Kong Government). 100 shops specifically noted as being from the Yuen Long Old Market donated to the restoration of the Tai Wong Temple there in 1837. At the Yuen Long Old Market many of the families working in the Market lived in the adjacent villages of Nam Pin Wai and Sai Pin Wai. As well as the 100 shops donating in 1837, 7 residents in the Market, 52 in Nam Pin Wai, and 22 in Sai Pin Wai donated, suggesting a total community of about 200 families, about half of which had shops. Tai O must have had more than 100 shops: 119 shops donated to the restoration of the Tin Hau temple there in 1838, 98 to the restoration of the Hung Shing temple there in 1841, and between 105 and 126 to the restoration of the Man Mo temple there in 1852 (in each case counting "workshops" and "ferries" as shops). 科大衛,陳總集,吳倫電位,合術 香港碑靠藥衚 MOMSKOM * (D. Faure, B. Luk, A. Ng The Historical Inscriptions of Hong Kong) (Hong Kong Urban Council 1986), pp. 86-90, 90-93, 95-97, 103-107, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h IN THE STEPS OF LU PAN: REMINISCENCES OF BUILDING IN HONG KONG DAN WATERS Lu's architectural precepts hold good forever; His methods of computation will endure a thousand years. Translation of inscription at Lu Pan Temple, above Kennedy Town, Hong Kong Island. Parts of Hong Kong give the impression of being one gigantic building site, and a visiting schoolboy, on being asked what he thought of the Territory, replied, "It will be nice when it's finished!" There have, of course, been recessions, and those brought about by the 1967 Disturbances in the Colony, and the world shortage of oil in the mid-1970s, spring to mind. Yet all employed in the construction industry in Hong Kong, with its unrivalled prosperity which provides a barometer of the economy, have a great deal to thank Lu Pan, master builder and patron saint of the industry, for. He was born in 606 BC, and was a leading technical innovator in the era of Confucius (551-479 BC). Besides being credited with creating the handtools that revolutionised carpentry, such as the saw, the plane and the chisel, he also invented, among other things, a kite which took him up to the sky. Homage is paid to this early "Leonardo Da Vinci" on the 13th day of the Sixth Moon, his birthday, when banquets are held. The author first attended a Lu Pan dinner, hosted by the Hong Kong Building Contractors' Association, in 1955. This was held at the old Kwong Chow restaurant in Western. It was the close of the period when Western was the entertainment district of the Territory. Large gatherings could be hosted at the Kwong Chow and the Kam Ling, each of which were capable of providing 100 tables (a circular Chinese table normally seats 12 or so persons). In the late 1950s a few Sing Song girls, the Chinese equivalent of the Japanese Geisha, were still active. The writer attended the Lu Pan dinners from 1955 to 1975 (except ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 2 for 1959 and 1972 when he was on leave). After the Kwong Chow was demolished, these events were held in the Ying King Restaurant, in Wanchai. Many architects, engineers, surveyors, Public Works Department staff, and contractors attended these functions. Speeches were made, and all present, at a given moment, paid their respects by bowing three times to a portrait of Lu Pan. But a builder's life is not all brandy and shark's fin soup. Steep, rugged, rocky Hong Kong is not ideal terrain for many projects. In the early days of the Colony, when roads and reservoirs were built (the first reservoir, at Pok Fu Lam, was completed in 1864), there was little in the way of mechanical equipment. It was not until 1962 that the first crane was used to construct a building, the Hilton Hotel (originally named the American Hotel). Even today, for structures up to 150 metres high, the ubiquitous bamboo, which typifies an exemplary man's life in that it grows tall, straight, and yet is flexible and versatile, with rings marking important achievements in a person's career — is still used for scaffolding. It bends rather than breaks and is about one-third the price of steel. Bamboo is, or has been, also used for making (among other things) chipboard, woven bed mats, furniture, water pipes, fishing rods, summonses for secret-society meetings, and Chinese medicine. In addition, bamboo shoots provide a tasty dish. 10 Although some old building techniques, like bamboo scaffolding, are still in use, many have long since disappeared, along with the ancient structures built using them.” A few of the latter are, however, still left." These include "walled" villages, such as Kat Hing Wai at Kam Tin, and the 600-year-old, three-storey Tsui Shing Lau at Ping Shan in the New Territories. This was built in a geomantically favourable location to placate the God of Literature and originally had seven floors. But the upper part was damaged in typhoons. This Man Pat (its local name) Pagoda was built to improve the performance of the Tang clan of Ping Shan in the imperial examinations. Academic results indicate the edifice proved effective. In the urban area, Victoria Prison, off Arbuthnot Road in Central, which was completed in 1843, is said to be the oldest jail still in use for that purpose in the Commonwealth. Hangings used to take place there (the last in Hong Kong was at Stanley Prison on November 6, 1966), ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1991 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j in a period when Chinese were only allowed to invest in European insurance companies. But at the same time, he still had large interests in traditional business. Cantonese compradors in Hong Kong, of course, should not be considered as only a few persons; they could probably be identified from archives of the firms they worked for. However, we are limited by sources, which make it quite difficult, but not impossible, to assess compradors' wealth which they had accumulated when they were in office. Furthermore, most of the wealthy Chinese in Hong Kong, including compradors at that time, had investments or property in China. From their business activities, a Canton-Macau-Hong Kong linkage is shown in their wills deposited in the Hong Kong Public Records Office. Names of the Cantonese compradors in Hong Kong were probably Cheang Hoong of Philips Moore & Co., Wong Kong and Kwong A Hang of Smith, Archer & Co.; Ng A Cheong of Douglas Lapraik & Co., Law Pak Sheung of Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation, Wai A Kwong of Chartered Mercantile Bank of India, London & China, Law Sai Nam of McBain & Co., Lau Cheong of Gilman & Co. (Fuzhou), Au Yeung Shing of Russell & Co., Sung Chin Tseung of Messrs. Turner & Co., Tong Mow Chee (Tang Maozhi) of Jardine, Matheson & Co. (Tianjin), and Choa Chee Bee of China Sugar Refining Co., Ltd. They all left wills in which some indicated business connections with Canton, Macau, and Hong Kong. For example, the will of Wai A Kwong written in 1866 reads: I am a native of Tsin Shan in the District of Heung Shan, Empire of China, at present residing in Victoria, Hong Kong, and holding the office of compradore of the Chartered Mercantile Bank of India, London, and China. At the age of eleven years, I left my native place and proceeded to Macau, where I obtained employment as a domestic servant to a Portuguese; at the age of thirteen, I was sent down to Singapore by the Reverend E. C. Bridgman, missionary to the Chinese, and became the first pupil of the Morrison Education Society. I returned to Hong Kong in the year 1843, and I have ever since lived under the just and equitable rule of the British Government. I married in Hong Kong and have several children, all born in this colony. By industry and thriftiness, I have acquired and am possessed of sundry houses, lands, shares in business, and other property and effects. Knowing Page 30 Page 31 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1991 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j 11 that all men must die and not knowing when I may be called away, I deem it right while still in bodily health and full possession of mental faculties to make my will. Wei A Kwong, the father of Wei Yuk, had a typical story of success. He was a Zhongshan native; he left his hometown and worked in Macau as a teenager. His father was a comprador to two American merchants, Benjamin Chew Wilcocks and Oliver H. Gordon. It was known that Wei was forsaken by his family and had to resort to begging on the streets of Macau. He was later sent to Singapore where he studied under the auspices of the Morrison Education Society in a school of the American Board of Commission for Foreign Missions. This changed his life. He returned to Hong Kong and began his career. He served as comprador in Bowra & Co. and then in the Mercantile Bank of India, London and China until his death. Wei wrote his will in 1866. He prefaced it with a brief account of his life, particularly mentioning that he was the first student of the Morrison Education Society and that he first came to Hong Kong in 1843. He had "ever since lived under the just and equitable rule of the British Government." Though we cannot prove to what extent his exposure to Western culture was related to his Christian education, he succeeded in becoming a leading member of Chinese society in Hong Kong. This contrasts with the will of Sung Chin Tseung, which reads. Sung Chin Tseung, otherwise literary appellation Sung Ching, otherwise Ngok Shan, native of Kat Tai village, of Kong Sheung Division, Heung Shan District. I followed my deceased father, Mr. Shau U, to Hong Kong in 1842 to trade in foreign business as compradore. Further, in 1854, thanks to the kind support of Mr. Ryrie and others of Messrs. Turner and Co., Hongkong, I took over the office of compradore and up to the present thirty odd years. Both Wei and Sung were natives of Zhongshan. They came to Hong Kong for business in the early 1840s when Hong Kong was already a British colony. Though they lived in Hong Kong, they maintained connections with their hometown, as Sung's father, Soong Ke, stated in his will written in 1864: In the 21st year of Tao Kwong (1841), I came to Hong Kong and employed myself in business all the time with foreigners, always being diligent and making little profit sufficient to ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1991 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j 30 enterprises," but also challenged their foreign counterparts by planning, organising, and managing most of the modern Chinese enterprises. As Thomas Rawski has pointed out, Western firms in Chinese treaty-ports such as Shanghai were ineffectual on their own; they had to rely on Chinese compradors to conduct business with their Chinese associates. Cantonese compradors were in such a position that they could dominate the main business in Shanghai during the nineteenth century where they had fully shown their special entrepreneur genius." Notes Assessment of recent studies of Chinese ethnic groups is mainly quoted from Emily Honig (1992) pp. 6-7 2 As Yen-p'ing Hao mentioned most of the Cantonese compradors came from the coastal prefectures of Guangdong province as Zhongshan, Nanhai and Panyu See Hao (1970a). p. 13 1 For sample of letter of recommendation for comprador used in the 1870s, see Appendix + HKRS#144-245 Wong Kong (August 1867) 4 Hao has explained why Western firms in Japan employed Chinese instead of Japanese compradors. See Hao (1970a), pp. 51-9 6 The first three British firms opened were Dent & Co. (first established Canton, 1832), and Gibb, Livingston & Co. (1836 in Canton) 7 Wei came from the Zhongshan prefecture, his father was a comprador to two American merchants Benjamin Chew Wilcocks and Oliver H. Gorden. He followed a missionary and moved from Canton to Hong Kong. In 1852 he entered Bowra & Co. as a comprador and five years later when the Chartered Mercantile Bank of India, London and China established a branch in Hong Kong he joined the Bank as its first comprador. See Smith (1985), pp. 62-9 and Wei A Kwong's will, HKRS#144-368: Wei A Kwong (October 1866), Wei Yuk's brother Wei Long Shan went to Shanghai to learn business in 1871. He returned to Hong Kong after twelve years and then became comprador to the Eastern Extension and Great Northern Telegraph Co. from 1882 to 1902. He was also assistant comprador at the Hongkong & Shanghai Bank from 1885 to 1895. In the absence of sufficient sources, it is difficult to assess Wei's wealth accumulated during his comprador's years. The Ho family, beginning with Ho Tung, was called a comprador family. Ho introduced his two brothers Ho Fuk and Ho Kom Tong as assistant compradors to Jardine who later succeeded him; his adopted son Ho Sai Wing was the Hong Kong Bank's comprador through thirty-four years from 1912 to 1964. Ho Sai Wing's brothers: Ho Sai Iu was comprador of the Mercantile Bank of India, Ho Sai Kwong of David Sassoon & Co.; Ho Sai Leung of Jardine, Matheson & Co., Ho Sai Ki of Arnhold & Co. Ho Sai Wa, son of Ho Kom Tong was an assistant comprador in Mercantile Bank. See Group Archives of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, Comprador Files. Ho Sai Wing. Ho Fuk (Ho Fook)'s son was said to have assisted him in Jardine's work. 10 This company was said to have close business relations with Shanghai's Ting Tai firm. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1991 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j 31 Lo was suspected to have cheated an amount of 20,000 taels as bad debt from the Bank See Group Archives of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, Comprador Files Law Pak Sheung || Ibid. Lo Hok Pang was said to be involved in certain bankruptcy cases See Comprador Files Lo Hok Pang 12 For an important article that explores the studies on early Chinese in Hong Kong, see Carl T Smith (1993), Hong Kong Chinese Wills 1850-1890 13 See HKRS#144-98. Cheang Hoong (December 1856), 245 Wong Kong (August 1867), 254 Kwong A Hang (January 1872), 268 Ng A Cheong (October 1870), 349 Law Pak Sheung (February 1877), 368 Wei A Kwong (October 1866), 457 Law Sai Nam (December 1881), 470 Lau Cheong (June 1880), 661 Au Yeung Shing (December 1886); 733, Wong Shi Lai (June 1888), 734 Sung Chin Tseung (January 1888), 1161 Tong Mow Chee (December 1894), and 1465 Choa Chec Bec (June 1890) HKRS#134-144; Soong Ke (December 1864) 15 See Zheng Guanying. Da Guangzhou shangwu zonghu yi bingting zhuamban zhangcheng ershisi tiao (To draft the twenty-four opening ordinances of the General Chamber of Commerce of Canton), in Xia Dongyuan (1988a), pp 593-6 16 HKRS#144-273 O Kee Cheong (October 1872) HKRS#144-1504: Leung Kiu (April 1887) 18 HKRS#144-394 La Hing (January 1879) 19 See Carl T Smith (1993), p 11, 15-6 20 For Western merchants who came with their Cantonese compradors to Shanghai, see Hao (1970), pp 51-3 21 According to Leung Yuen-sang's study, Wu Jianzhang came to power because of the rise of mercantile power in post-1843 local politics when there was an absence of official-gentry leadership during the British invasion and capture of Shanghai in 1842 The vacuum was filled by Cantonese merchants and compradors They were sought because of their foreign language skill and foreign knowledge During Wu's office, nearly all the jobs in the government were filled by Cantonese See Leung (1990), pp. 53-6, 147-50, Toyama Gunji (1994), Shanghai dotai Go kensho (The Shanghai Taotai Wu Jianzhang), pp 45-54. and Zhang Wenqin (1989), Cong fenguan guanshang dao maiban guantiao, Wu Jianzhang shilun (From Feudal Official Merchant to Compradorial Bureaucrat), pp 31-54 21 Leung Yuen-sang (1982), Regional Rivalry in Mid-Nineteenth Century Shanghai: Cantonese vs Ningpo Men, pp 34-6. 21 Though Li Hongzhang was a central bureaucrat, through the guandu shangban enterprises in Shanghai and Tianjin, he had successfully extended his influence in this region discussed through the "Shanghai-Tianjin Connection" See Leung Yuen-sang (1986), The Shanghai-Tientsin Connection: Li Hung-chang's Political Control over Shanghai during the Late Ch'ing Period, pp 315-30 24 Ibid, pp. 45-6 24 Wang Gungwu (1990). China and the Chinese Overseas, pp 175-6 HKRS#144-1152 Li Chu (December 1896) 27 HKRS#144-1087. Lee Chak (May 1894) 8 HKRS#144-1093 Chan Kin Tong (April 1896) ================================================================================