RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1962 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9s166f47f LIFE IN THE NEW TERRITORIES 91 which it had supplanted eighteen years before. Great hardship was encountered which is hardly surprising, and the people were eternally grateful to their benevolent officials and commemorated them in several temples dedicated in their honour. One of these was burned down in 1955 during the fire which destroyed Shek Wu Hui near Fanling, and others are to be found at Sha Tau Kok and Kam Tin, and Sai Heung in Chinese Territory. In addition a school was named in their honour at Kam Tin, and when it was repaired in 1744 the San On magistrate of the time composed a Confucian discourse which was inscribed on the wall of the restored building, to instruct the pupils and their parents. An interesting survival which still existed in 1898 was the appearance of an old beggar in the Yuen Long villages every Chinese New Year who brought statues of WONG and CHOW for the people to worship, and incidentally to supply him with food and money.'' To these men-become-gods for whom the construction of a temple was necessary to ensure their better worship and resulting favours, there must be added an equal and possibly much older faith in sacred tree spirits and the multitude of earth spirits known as pak kung ih, tai wong ★, and ordinary she taan 4, who look after villages and localities such as passes, bridges, and fords over streams. This insurance with the spirits who ruled this world and would assuredly be encountered in the next was expressed in the continual reconstruction of temples. A great many of the temples in the New Territory to-day owe their present fabric, or a great part of it, to repairs made during the last fifty years of the Ching dynasty. It was evidently a highly necessary part of the proceedings that the god should be informed of the names of the contributors so that his benefits should not pass anyone by, since their names, and often the amounts they gave, were scrupulously inscribed on the commemorative tablet which was always let into the wall to mark the occasion. Sometimes over a thousand names had to be recorded in this way, most of them in respect of trifling amounts, even for a small and out of the way temple, as in the reconstruction of the Tin Hau temple at Cheung Chau in the second year of the last Ch'ing Emperor (1909). The magistrate, too, was expected to play his part in warding off disaster. The District History mentions that CHAN Kuk ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1963 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/4m90m091v 104 J. W. HAYES There were also examination titles among the organisers and subscribers to the defence office. There were three scholars, who held higher grades of the hsiu-ts'ai or first degree by examination. One was a kung-sheng, another a sheng-yüan, and the third held the grade of lin-sheng, all normally obtained by additional examinations by a literary chancellor appointed from Peking to examine hsiu-ts'ai in the provinces, though occasionally granted for merit. Another was a wu-sheng ±, a military hsiu-ts'ai, an officer by examination, not purchase. These four were WONGs, almost certainly members of the Tong. A fifth, named TSUI, was a tu-szu or first captain and was probably a serving military officer in the locality. The final title is ching sheng #. Of these various degree and title holders sixteen were named WONG *. The coincidence is probably too great to be accidental and the number of purchases testifies to the Tong's wealth, whilst the presence of genuine scholars, probably from the Cheung Chau branch, and the genealogical record, confirm its gentry status in the late Ch'ing period. There is no doubt that the main Tong was well entrenched and able to exert an "interest" with the district ruler and perhaps also with the prefect and viceroy at Canton. 23 HSIAO illustrates the slight degree of local control on another island, Ch'a K'eng, off the coast of Sun Wui district, Kwangtung, in Rural China, pp. 344-348. For his views on the effectiveness of imperial control see pp. 320-322 and pp. 316-320 for the role of the gentry in local affairs. CH'U, op. cit., chapter 10, also examines the problem in general. Krone's article (see note 22), apparently written from long, first-hand knowledge of the western part of San On shows that the district magistrate and his deputy and sub-magistrates had little control over the population (see especially p. 81), and perhaps wanted it less, e.g. "... the Mandarin of Fuk Wing (a sub-magistrate) confided to me, in a conversation that I had with him that he had nothing to do but to eat, to drink and to smoke”, though over 200 villages were in his charge. 24 The district association is of considerable antiquity in China. They were known in Sung times: see J. Gernet, Daily Life in China on the Eve of the Mongol Invasion 1250-76 (London, Allen and Unwin 1962) p. 222; see also Y. K. Leong and L. K. Tao Village and Town Life in China (London, Allen and Unwin 1915) pp. 78-9 for "the guild of co-provincials" and H. B. Morse, The Gilds of China (London, Longmans, Green 1909) pp. 35-48 for the provincial club with a mercantile bias. 25 With consequent language difficulties. See R. A. D. Forrest (a former Hong Kong Cadet Officer) "The Southern Dialects of Chinese", Appendix No. 1 to V. Purcell The Chinese in South East Asia (Oxford University Press 1951). 26 The word "member" may have too strong a connection with the modern club where one pays an entrance fee and monthly subscriptions. In fact, one was born into membership of these early district associations and participated in their activities by subscription, as required. Mr. LEUNG Yau (see note 28) confirms this for his own association, the Wai Chiu. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1964 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qz20zx09r 48 K. M. A. BARNETT 17 strong corroboration of traditions, which might otherwise be thought apocryphal, of the disappearance of other villages, including the large village of Lik Yuen,84 half way down what is now Tide Cove.16 For all that, one cannot be absolutely sure. An old Hoklo155 boatman at Tai Po, who fortunately spoke reasonable Cantonese (for I cannot manage the Hoklo language) told me that "fifty years before he was born, Hong Kong Island was joined to the mainland. It obviously was not. But remembering what has been observed by other field workers, that "fifty years" is commonly used to mean any time too long to be remembered, what the old man was passing on was clearly a tradition among the Hoklo that Tuk Ngo Kong45 a name for Victoria Harbour which apparently only the Hoklo language now preserves was long ago interrupted by a strip of land. It may well have been so, and I have provisionally marked it so. For if it were, it would tend to explain the curious demarcation of responsibility between the military commanders of Nam Tau and Tai Pang40 and the apparent fact that ships went through Sheung Sz Mun127 rather than through the present Hong Kong Harbour. It might also explain why Kwun Fu Cheung was more important for the collection of salt than for defence. There is also some slight reason to believe that Ma Wan and Tsing Yi,13 which are now islands, were 1,000 years ago connected to the mainland and to one another, and that the channel between Chep Lap Kok1 and Tung Chung was considerably deeper than it now is. But I must emphasize that the picture on the south and east side is still sketchy. It would greatly facilitate the work of the historian if his geological colleagues could be persuaded to take their eyes off remote aeons and fix them on to this comparatively recent period so as to obtain some degree of certainty regarding the position of the shore-line at the time of the first Chinese settlement. The Missing Pieces. To move away from the shore up to the hills, the first thing that would strike the eye of any us, if he could be transported by time machine into the tenth century, would be the profusion of trees. A former Director of Agriculture told me that the remains of huge trees had been discovered some distance below ground during preparatory work for one of the ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1964 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qz20zx09r HONG KONG BEFORE THE CHINESE 53 where the terraces are constructed running down a spur from the top, whereas tin denotes valley land which is terraced from a water-course upwards and stops at the toe of the hill around which flows the highest of the irrigation channels. A study can be made in the Lam Tsuen valley and in Pat Heung of the two systems of terrace; and one is often corrected by the locals if describing che as tin, or tin as che, though both are terraced and irrigated land. Whether this truly represents a new meaning given to an old word, or whether the Chinese reference books are wrong in describing che as dry cultivation, is another of the gaps in my puzzle which I hope can be authoritatively filled. Other indicator words which appear to be non-Chinese, though I cannot identify them as Yao, are quoted in my introduction to Mr. Tregear's Gazetteer, already quoted. The commonest among them are chun, kau, lek, pok, ting, to, run, tung, wat and yuen. In a paper presented at the Jubilee Congress of Hong Kong University I suggested that wongchuk and wongmai in local place names stood for left and right respectively. Another interesting specimen is the raised valley Wat Lo Fu northeast of Silvermine Bay, which preserves the original order (attribute after noun) of words in most of the non-Han languages of south-western China. Regarding the other tribe which is described as inhabiting our hills, the Shan Lao, I have not been able to obtain any distinctive marks of identification. However one easily observed feature of our hills, about which most of the present villagers disclaim all knowledge, is the system of low walls made of graded uncut stones enclosing rectangular areas of hillside which are either not terraced or only roughly terraced, with terraces at an angle; and since those of my acquaintance who have worked and lived among the Yao people say they have seen nothing of the kind in the Yao system of cultivation, it may well be that these old stone walls are a "trade mark” of the Shan Lao people. If so, then the same people must also be responsible for a number of irrigation works, of which the two most conspicuous are the one that begins near Hau Tong and flows about half a mile, partly underground, to one of these walled enclosures about the village of Ko Tong on the west of Long Harbour; and another on the northwest coast of Lantao, part of which, owing to the tilt... ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1964 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qz20zx09r 118 CRANMER-BYNG AND SHEPHERD 14 They had every reason to be alarmed on account of the continual attacks from pirates on coastal villages in Kwangtung and other places during the period from about 1787 until 1810. See A. W. Hummel: Eminent Chinese of the Ching Period, 446-8. Also C. F. Neuman, History of the Pirates who infested the China Sea from 1807 to 1810. 15 Macartney took with him on the embassy a "gardener and botanist”, David Stronach. For the botanical side of the embassy see J. L. Cranmer-Byng, op. cit., 317-19. 16 These nets are known locally as "stake nets" or tsang pang are lowered and raised by means of a tackle. They are frequently used along the coasts of Kwangtung today. The fishing season is from February to mid-September, 17 The island is now reasonably well covered with pine trees and there are a few small feng-shui woods of deciduous trees. A large number of kites have been observed using pine trees on a ridge in the centre of the island as a roost during the winter months. 18 Parish knew the island, which he had been sent to reconnoitre, under the name of Cowhee. Now he learned that the inhabitants called it Toong Shing-ow-a. However, this name does not appear to have survived and the island is now always known as Ma Wan4 and was so called as far back as 1859. See Rev. Krone, op. cit. (note 8) p. 73. The word Cowhee was probably a phonetic rendering of the name of an island between Ping Chau island and Hong Kong island known as Kau I Chau 交椅洲. 19 By the small island to the south-east Parish presumably meant Tang Lung Chau## which now has a small light-house on it. There is now a small harbour with a jetty at Ma Wan village, and this is the normal place for landing on the island today. 20 This is a doubtful statement. 21 The word as written in the manuscript report is clearly "profil". I can only suggest that Parish meant "profile", and was using it in a technical, military engineering sense, meaning "outline". A reading of Tristram Shandy and other eighteenth century books about sieges and defence works might give a clue to its technical meaning at that time, 22 From the anchorage position marked on the chart this must refer to the bay of Tsing Lung Tau. Today Ma Wan is connected to the mainland by a regular ferry service running from the bay of Sham Tseng, where the Hong Kong Brewery is situated. 23 By the word "bay" in this context Parish appears to refer to the wide bay formed by the northern coast of Lantao from its headland opposite Tsing Lung Tau to Chek Lap Kok opposite Tung Chung bay, but the wording is somewhat ambiguous at this point. 24 Probably the western arm of Luk Kang - · + + on Lantao. 25 Tung Ku #island opposite Tap Siak Kok on the Castle Peak peninsula. It forms part of the Urmston Road. 26 See Charles Tulse, Local Master's Handbook. Seamanship Illustrated (Hong Kong University Press, 1960). 27 See photograph of the "race" between Ma Wan and Lantao on page It is interesting to know that Professor Deryck Chesterman of the Department of Physics in the University of Hong Kong is carrying out research into the currents off Ma Wan and their effects on the sea bed. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1964 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qz20zx09r 144 LIBRARY Mirza Bashir-ud-din Mahmud Ahmad, Hazrat. Ahmadiyyat or The True Islam. Rabwah, 1959. From L. A. Khan Mirza Bashir-ud-din Mahmud Ahmad, Hazrat. Introduction to the Study of the Holy Quran. London, 1949. From L. A. Khan From L. A. Khan Philosophy of the Teaching of Islam, The. (Chinese and Arabic). 1956. Qur'an, The Holy. (Arabic and English). Rabwah, 1960. From L. A. Khan Shams, J. D. Where Did Jesus Die? London, 1945(?). From L. A. Khan Têng, Ssu-Yu and Biggerstaff, Knight. An Annotated Bibliography of Selected Chinese Reference Works. (Harvard-Yenching Institute Studies, Vol. II). Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1950. Bought. Trotsky, Leon. Problems of the Chinese Revolution. (Reprint. 2nd edition). New York, 1962. From Paragon Book Gallery. Wei Wu Wei. All Else is Bondage. Hong Kong, 1964. From Hong Kong University Press. PERIODICALS, REPORTS, ETC. (All exchanges are included) Annual Report 1962-63. (National Library of Wales, The). Aberystwyth, 1963. Exchange. Asia Major. N.S. Vol.IX, Part 2. Vol.X, Part 1. London, 1962-63. Exchange. Asian Perspectives: The Bulletin of the Far-Eastern Prehistory Association. Vol.V, Nos.1-2. Index to Vols.1-5. Hong Kong, 1962-63. From Hong Kong University Press. Asiatic Research Bulletin. Vol.5, Nos.8-10. Vol.6, Nos.1-8. Seoul, 1962-63. Exchange. British Museum Quarterly, The. Vol.XXVI, Nos.1-2, 3-4. Vol.XXVII, Nos.1-2, 3-4. London, 1962-63. Exchange. Chung Kuk Hak Po. (Journal of Chinese Studies). No.1. Seoul, 1963. Exchange. East and West. N.S. Vol.13, No.4. Vol.14, Nos.1-2. Rome, 1962-63. Exchange. Historical Abstracts Bulletin. Vol.7, Index. Vol.8, No.4. Vol.9, No.1. California, 1961-63. Exchange. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1965 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s752cj653 58 J. MCCOY 'warm',chen 'spring', fen 'to instruct". -engteng 'to wait', ceng 'past, finished'. -i 豬 ci‘pig,魚 i fish’,書 si book’,樹 si ‘tree',主ci 'master', ci to know', ci 'branch', ci 'property', Biisi É si "teacher', i 'two'. --iu miu 'temple', siu 'small', khiu 'bridge', thiu kiu 'to call', ✯ tiu ‘to -it -ik 'to jump', * liu 'material', throw away". #cit 'to receive', ] pit 'different', it 'hot', thit 'iron', thit 'to take off', sit 'snow', it ‘month', hit 'blood". lik 'strength', sik ‘color.uik ‘region', cik *mat', tik 'drop'. kin 'to investigate', -in lin 'connecting', 'slice', khin 'to owe', tin 'dot', sin 'wire', in 'word', phin lin 'confusion', chin 'complete', it in ‘far'. -inging to respond', ✈ sing 'to ascend', ping 'soldier', ling 'neck', sing 'star', -iek R chiek 'foot measure', -iengpieng 'sick', -ou hieng 'light', to 'much', ‘old woman', pou 'cloth, uing ‘eternal'. thiek 'to kick',13 pieng 'cake', # sieng 'sound', thieng 'to listen'. co ‘left side', 'hungry', pho ko 'to pass over', E uo 'to lie down'. lou 'slave', mou 'military', lou 'old', kou ‘to announce', # mou 'mother'. -okpok 'thin', ' cok 'to do', iok 'weak', kok 'suburb', (a surname), khok 'really'. -on hon 'Han dynasty'.14 -ong pong 'to help', thong 'soup', iong 'sheep', E cong 'artisan', long 'two', fong 'falsehood', ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1965 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s752cj653 122 NOTES AND QUERIES 2. With the high rates of interest on loans and/or the continuing need over several years to have money ready to pay the instalments in a money-loan association, it is not surprising that people got into difficulties and there are good instances of this in the papers. One man borrowed thirty-four silver dollars from the Tong at the end of 1886, and three years and two months later owed eighty-eight dollars, representing principal plus interest. Of this sum ten dollars had already been paid off by selling land to offset the debt. The remainder was extinguished by the debtor waiving his turn for payment in a money-loan association in favour of his creditor. Yet this experience was not a case of 'once bitten, twice shy' for either side, for in the month following the settlement of his affairs with the Tong he asked it for, and secured, another loan of sixteen dollars "due to dire need of money." This loan was made on the mortgage of more of his inherited farmland. We do not know the sequel. Another villager who had failed to pay his share or instalment in a money-loan association mortgaged a house in pledge and was to lose if he had not paid the money by the end of that lunar year. 3. The Tong was not the only source of money loans available to the Shek Pik villagers. Shops in the neighbouring market centres of Tai O and Cheung Chau would advance credit, or give loans as would two other local Tongs. They were not organizations belonging to Shek Pik, one being composed of merchants from Tai O and the other a family organization belonging to a clan in another village. 4. These papers came from only one of the clans living at Shek Pik and there is reason to think that similar activities were taking place in other clans and amongst other groups of persons in the village. J. W. HAYES A CEREMONY TO PROPITIATE THE GODS AT TONG FUK, LANTAU, 1958 In the course of opening new roads and other works the developers usually run up against feng shui (geomantic influences). This ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1965 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s752cj653 NOTES AND QUERIES 123 happened recently at Tong Fuk on Lantau Island, a multi-clan Cantonese village with a population of 198 at the Hong Kong Census of 1911. Its present population is about the same number. In 1958 the scheme to build a new reservoir at Shek Pik was confirmed and work went ahead on the dam and associated works. Behind Tong Fuk there were to be catchwaters for which an access road had to be constructed to the west of the village. This led to difficulties with the villagers, because in feng shui ideology the place was held to be the seat of the White Tiger. They therefore requested a ceremony known locally as a tun fu (符) — to propitiate the gods and spirits who would, as they thought, be aroused by digging earth and blasting stones in this particular place. Precedents were cited by the village elders. They said they had carried out such a ceremony thirty-five years before, following several unexpected deaths in the village. The inhabitants had worshipped at the Hung Shing (廟) temple on the beach nearby, praying for the removal of the malignant influence. It transpired that a villager had cut stone from this particular spot to build a house. The elders then invited a Taoist priest — a Hakka — to come from one of the neighbouring villages to carry out the propitiatory observances usually made under such circumstances. They also said that a similar ceremony had also been conducted twenty years before in the adjoining Cantonese village of Shui Hau, this time by a priest engaged from the urban area. Deaths had also occurred there and had been traced to one of the villagers having constructed a cowshed in front of his house on ground with feng shui properties. Returning to the 1958 case, the elders proposed to call in the services of the nephew of the priest who had supervised the ceremony thirty-five years before. He was a man of forty years of age who had followed in his uncle's footsteps. Such persons are known locally as feng shui hsien sheng (風水先生). This ceremony was supposed to cause considerable inconvenience for the villagers, in theory if not in practice. One week of vegetable diet was obligatory for all and there was also a three-day prohibition on entering and leaving the village: that is, if the ceremony was to realize its full value. This meant that no cows could be grazed or grass or firewood cut on the hills; nor, presumably, could men go out to work in the fields. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1966 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/bz60k0811 The Five Great Clans 29 area by a group at least as strong as they, a point which will be taken up later. The Pangs of Fanling were also on the fringes of the Sheung Shui area, and also were unable to settle on this better land, though they apparently arrived shortly after the Hau's. Their land is of moderate quality, though a little of it is in the 250-300 catty range,54 and the Pangs were poor, as remarked earlier. Recently the 'vegetable-growing revolution' began on this lineage's land,55 communications being excellent, so that, being on the direct line of exit from the Mainland, the area was soon picked out by the immigrants for settlement and farming. One result of this revolution has been a sudden rise in the income and standard of living of the Pangs, an indication of their growing influence being their entering of a candidate in 1964 for the high-prestige position of Chairman of the Heung Yee Kuk.56 At the same time the Pangs display an ultra-conservative attitude in respect of feng shui57 and religion. I am not in a position to say whether this conservatism is of long standing, or whether it has been strengthened since the change in their economic conditions. It is interesting, however, that their response to rising standards of living contrasts markedly with that of the Lius, whose rejection of feng shui tenets appears to be as whole-hearted as is the Fanling tenaciousness. The Lius were the fourth of the clans to arrive. Their history is fairly well documented and throws an interesting light on the process by which they acquired probably the largest area of first-quality land outside the Tangs' holdings.59 The first ancestor was an itinerant tinker who disappeared from the area after founding a family there. Within four generations the family was scattered all round the Sheung Shui area in small settlements, the best land being occupied by the Kan60 lineage. By the seventh generation the Lius had greatly increased in numbers. A geomancer61 was amongst them, and he suggested that they should all come together to found a village, for "he knew that it was not good policy to live in so many places, and feared that being scattered they would be unable to retain their close contacts and unable to maintain their mutual protection and aid".62 Then, says the genealogy, "the whole lineage lived together completely in accordance with the wishes of the geomancers".63 This bland explanation of history does not explain how the Kans were persuaded to vacate their ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1966 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/bz60k0811 38 HUGH D. R. BAKER men temples were built and dedicated to them in many parts of the effected area. In the New Territories there were three such temples - one at Sha Tau Kok,10 one built by the Kam Tin lineage of the Tang Clan,102 and a third in the market town of Shek Wu Hui known as the Chau Wong Yee Yuen,103 which was built by the five clans and endowed by them with land for its upkeep. It was not the five clans as clans which did this, but rather lineages of the five clans which came together and each purchased a share in the temple.104 The Man Clan took two shares in the temple, one purchased by each of the two lineages; as was the case with the eastern Tangs.105 The Pangs, Hau* and Lius each had one share. Not only was land purchased and a temple106 built with this money, but also a ferry boat was bought to assist all members of the five clans to cross the Sham Chun River107 to get to the large market town of Sham Chun, with which all had dealings. The share-holding lineages took part in an annual feast at which the business of the temple was discussed, the feast being paid for out of temple funds. As might be expected, however, the history of this temple association has not all been peaceful, and recently a major dispute has arisen, three members108 claiming complete control of the funds to the exclusion of the others.109 The matter quickly escalated to a point where both sides hired lawyers and placed vituperative advertisements in the Colony's newspapers. Eventually, after three years of argument, it was settled in 1963. The second example of cooperation between the clans is of the army which they raised between them to oppose the arrival of the British when they took control of the New Territories in 1899. Under the leadership of literati of the Tang Clan, working from the ancestral hall of the Ha Tsuen lineage,110 they mustered men, arms and supplies in quantity and attacked the British at their landing point in Tai Po. Unfortunately they lacked training and could do no more than fight an ignominious retreat back over the hills. Some records of the organisation of this force are still available through documents captured by the British at the time, and it is obvious that all the planning was done by and communications established at the level of the literati of the five clans. It seems that these men kept up some kind of informal contact, and there is mention of an organisation called the Tung P'ing Kuk112 in the first British reports on the area, which was said *Hau is the correct spelling, not "Haus". I've made the correction. Please let me know if you need further assistance. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1966 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/bz60k0811 OLD BRITISH KOWLOON 131 example of a local boy making good, whilst his public activities demonstrate the sustained zeal to perform charitable works that continues to typify leading members of the Chinese community of Hong Kong to this day. Farming was not for him. When in his twenties he set up a general store in Yau Ma Ti where his elder brother was already running a wholesale vegetable business. Very soon he turned his energies in other directions and established two cross-harbour ferry services with steam launches running from Yau Ma Ti and Mong Kok. At the same time he also went into the confectionery and soft-drink business in Hong Kong. These activities prospered to such an extent that whilst still in his thirties they enabled him to undertake public affairs. He served on the Yau Ma Ti Kaifong for many years and, up to the time of its removal, he was also the leading manager of the Tai Shek Kwu Temple which, as you will recall, was a particular concern of his own village of Mong Kok and the adjoining rural settlements. In 1917 he became founder President of the Kowloon branch of the Hong Kong Confucian Society and two years later he was appointed a director of one of Hong Kong's oldest charitable institutions, the Po Leung Kuk. These appointments mark the summit of his career. He responded to the traditional Chinese concern for his family ties and background by founding the Wong Clansmen's Association of Hong Kong in 1925, and when the universal flood disasters of 1924 affected his family's home district of Wai Yeung he had become founder President of the Wai Yeung Relief Association and was responsible for raising the then considerable sum of $9,000 to help flood victims there. He was also president of the Chinese Steamboat Association for some time.45 With its varied activities his career is a useful reminder that a person can be involved in various public capacities at one and the same time. The various community and welfare groups which characterised Hong Kong society at this time and later were operated on a complementary basis and not one of exclusion. As in his case the strands of village, town, business, family and district are all interwoven to form the traditional pattern of Chinese charitable activities. Finally, I wish to touch on another aspect of village and town life in Old Kowloon. Because of its proximity to Hong Kong, where a variety of religious bodies from the West established ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1967 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/0c488p70g THE TRAVELLING PALACE OF SOUTHERN SUNG 37 "the back seat". But before accepting this interpretation, one must verify the identity of the Yunnan Lao with the aboriginal tribe dwelling in Kow-Joon speaking the same language. 6 See my article "The Southern Sung Stone-engraving at North Fu-t'ang" in Journal of the Hong Kong Branch, Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 5, 1965. At line 17 of the article "before this date" should read "after this date". The Chinese text on the engraven rock was given in my article, but was not accompanied by a literal translation, which now follows: [I] Yen I-chang of Ku-pien (K'ai-feng, Honan Province), being the administrator of this Field (namely, Kuan-fu Ch'ang), accompanied by Ho T'ien-chuch of San-shan (Foochow, Fukien Province), come to visit these two mountains (North and South Fu-t'ang). In the course of investigation, [I found, first, that] the stone pagoda (shih-ta, or colloquially called Ku-shih-ta and abbreviated to Ki-ta) at South T'ang was constructed in the 5th year of the reign of Ta Chung Hsiang Fu (i.e., of Emperor Tsen Tsung of Northern Sung, A.D. 1012). Next, Cheng Kuang-ch'ing of San-shan, piling up stones and chopping down trees, renovated the two T'angs. Again, T'eng Liao-chuch of Yung-chia (Wen-chou of Chekiang Province) continued the work. The ancient stone-tablet at North T'ang was established by Hsin P'o-ting of Ch'uan-chou (Fukien province) in the year wu shen but the reign [of what Emperor] cannot be ascertained. Now, Nien Fa-ming of San-shan and Lin Tao-i of this native place (i.e., Kowloon) continue the work. Furthermore, Tao-i can expand the former plan requesting [me] to establish another stone-engraving for commemoration [of the renovation]. Inscribed on the 15th day of the 6th lunar month in the year chia shu [i.e., 10th year] during the Hsien Shun reign (Emperor Tu Tsung of Southern Sung, A.D. 1274). 7 Yuan Yuan, Kwangtung T'ung-chih, Haifang lüeh, chuan 2, kx. Ak Ma. 40%. Shu Mou-kuan, Hsin-an Hsien-chi, chuan 7, Chien-shu lüeh 建署累 8 Ta-ch'ing Hui-tien, Kuan-chih kao. 76. 9 Research notes by the late Sung Hsueh-p'eng (4) who had done much research work on the local history and geography of Hong Kong and Kowloon. A portion of the notes was generously recopied and given to me. 10 Ibid. 11 T'u-shu Chi-cheng, Chih-fang-tien (811A.AZ) records that "This was the old engraving of Yuan times”. 12 Chuan 18, Sheng-chi-lüeh BAY. 13 Before 1941 there were three streets at this place, called "Sung Street", "Ti (Emperor) Street" and "Ping Street". (Apparently Emperor Ping was mistaken for Tuan Tsung (Shib). As the history of Southern Sung in Kowloon had been rather obscure, the mixing up of the two names was not very unlikely; even the Hsin-an Gazetteer made the same mistake. This whole area including the three streets was levelled during the Japanese occupation to facilitate the extension of Kai-tak airfield. 14 See Jao Tsung-i, Kowloon yũ Sung-chi shih-liao ✯‡, ^*‡‡‡£ #, Hong Kong, Universal Book Co., 1959, p. 105. 15 Wu Pa-ling, Sung-t'ai kan-chiulu 4*. *4434 in Sung Wong Toi, a Commemorative Volume, p. 108. 16 By the side of the cliff a low-cost housing estate has been recently constructed south of the new Fu-ning Street (3##), east of the now Fuk- ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1967 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/0c488p70g A NOTICE OF THE SANON DISTRICT 107 of the mountains, in order to procure a more luxuriant herbage, and these conflagrations seen at night have a very picturesque effect. The height of the Mountains is not very considerable, but some of them reach to between 4,000 and 5,000 feet. The Islands usually consist of mountains and rocks; the Chinese therefore very seldom use the expression “island” — Hoi-taou, but call them "mountains" — Shan, as Lin-tin-shan 零丁山. There are only three Plains of any extent in the district. The most important lies in the N. W. part of the district, and is well watered and covered with villages; it is under the government of the Mandarin of Fuk-wing, who, by-the-by, though he is supposed to rule over 200 villages, confided to me, in a conversation that I had with him, that he had nothing to do but to eat, to drink, and to smoke. The important towns of San-keaou, Wong-kong, Cap-sui-hou✯, and Sha-tsing #, are situated in this plain, and it might be named the San-keaou plain, San-keaou being the largest and most influential of its towns. The inhabitants of the plain are industriously occupied in the pursuits of agriculture and trade; and in the more populous and richer towns, is found the highest degree of cultivation and learning which the Sanon district affords. The north-west angle of the plain lies very low, and is covered with rushes, some parts of it only being under cultivation, and in these only a certain kind of rice will flourish. The second plain extends from Si-heong to Deep Bay, and is continued on the southern side of that bay, there forming a triangular perfectly-even plain, the sides of which measure about five miles. The third plain occupies the eastern part of the district, near the city of Ti-pung, and is not personally known to me; even these plains have ridges of hills running through them. Amongst the principal mountains, that of 'Ng-tung † ♫ is said by the Chinese to be the highest and the most powerful; all remarkable mountains are supposed by the Chinese to have some spiritual influence over the affairs of mortals. It lies in the eastern part of the district near Mirs Bay, and is probably about ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1967 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/0c488p70g A NOTICE OF THE SANON DISTRICT 123 along the banks of rivers or of ponds, you have an opportunity 水牛, of observing how appropriately the Chinese name "Shui-ngau” ★ †‚— water ox, has been applied to them, for you will see the beasts with their huge carcases entirely submerged in the water and mud, their heads only to be seen, and they will lie thus contentedly for hours. There are large numbers of pigs, which, as in Ireland, form an integral part of the family, and are admitted to the domestic hearth. Goats are scarce, and are found chiefly in the mountainous parts. Ducks are seen in immense flocks, and are generally hatched in heated ovens. Fowls are kept by people of all conditions. The poor generally keep them, not for their own consumption, but to make a few cash by selling the eggs or the chickens, which are consumed in great numbers at marriage festivals and other popular entertainments. The principal Trading-places of the district are, Nam-tow 南頭, Sai-heong 西鄉, Wong-kong 黄崗, Sham-tsuen 深圳, San-keaou 新橋, Tai-pung 大鹏, Fuk-wing 福永, Ku-shu 固戌, and Sha-tsing. These places are here mentioned according to the extent of their trade. From each of these places, passage-boats ply regularly to Hongkong, Canton, Tai-ping (at the Bogue), and Shek-lung. From Namtow only a boat is occasionally despatched to Macao. The trade between these towns and Hongkong has of late years become of great importance. For instance, six years ago, only one passage-boat started from Sai-heong for Hongkong, every third or fourth day. Before the commencement of the present hostilities, the number of these boats had increased to five, and they were of a much larger size, and started from Sai-heong in company every third or fourth day. Other boats were projected when the present difficulties interfered with the enterprise. In Sai-heong alone there were more than 400 traders who frequented Hongkong. The exports consisted chiefly of fruits, vegetables, eggs, poultry, cattle, oil, sugar, charcoal, fish, and dried ducks, and they imported in return rice, salt, calico, and other European manufactures, besides articles which came from the northern ports of China. Timber, silk, and paper, are imported from Canton, Shek-tung, Tai-ping, and other parts of the province. The trade with the interior of the country is unimportant, for there are no highways along which goods can be conveyed into the interior. All goods are conveyed either by coolies or in awk. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1967 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/0c488p70g 124 REV. MR. KRONE ward wheel-barrows, and the cost of carriage adds so much to the price at which goods must be sold to remunerate the trader, that the demand for them soon ceases. The inhabitants along the coast support themselves principally by fishing. Hundreds of old men, women, and children, may be seen on the extensive flats left by the receding tide, collecting the small fishes, crabs, and other animals which have been stranded; with these they season their rice. The able-bodied men are with their boats at sea. Many of these proceed to distant islands, and remain at sea for several months. Towards the end of the year they set sail for their native villages, and then all the bays and mouths of rivers teem with crowds of fishing-boats, which have returned that their crews may celebrate the New Year with their families. Pik-tow, Sha-tsing, Fuk-wing, Sai-heong, and Nam-tow, are the principal fishing stations. At Sha-tsing and Fuk-wing there are extensive oyster beds. Pik-tow, Kong-ping, and Fuk-wing †, are said to be the head-quarters of pirates. Sham-tsün is the chief place of export from the villages occupied by the Hak-kas, who are often met with in long trains, of from 400 to 600, conveying produce to that place. The northern part of the district is inhabited by populous and powerful clans, not unlike in their constitution to the old clans of Scotland; these live in intimate connection with one another for mutual protection. + The villages in the plain of San-keaou, are almost exclusively inhabited by four clans, Man, Mak, Tsang, and Chang. The villages inhabited by other clans are of no importance, and gradually either become absorbed in the more powerful clans, or are ruined by their hostility, and forced to remove to some other part of the country. For instance, the villagers of Hung-tiu changed their name, and adopted that of the powerful clan which inhabited San-keaou. This was done in order to extricate themselves from the endless feuds, which the aggressive conduct of their neighbours involved them in. The people are of a quarrelsome nature, and fond of rapine. They will engage in any enterprise which promises them money, or which will give them an opportunity of robbing. The mandarin at Fuk-wing once asked me why we attempted to carry out our missionary work, among a people so depraved ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1967 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/0c488p70g A NOTICE OF THE SANON DISTRICT 137 lishment in the district, was made in the year 1848, by the Rev. Thomas Hambley, who established a station among the Hak-kas at Toong-foo, at the head of Mirs Bay. In 1849, a station was established at Sai-heong; and in 1852, besides these two principal stations, other small dependent stations have been formed, where preaching and education have been carried on. Before the outbreak of the war, the missionaries were able to live in the country, even with their families, and suffered comparatively little disturbance; they travelled in safety freely over the whole country. Their intercourse with the people was quite unrestrained, and the mission houses were visited by the literati, and by the higher classes of people. The mandarin of Fuk-wing was a guest in the mission house at Sai-heong for a whole week; and the first Seu-tsai at Sai-heong, who has since graduated as a Keu-jin, readily accepted an engagement as teacher in the missionary college. It is sincerely to be hoped that the present deplorable war, which has for the time put a stop to the mission work, may in the end cause the country to be opened, and thus enable us to have free access to these people, who are as yet imperfectly known, and who perhaps wait only to have the truth fairly represented to them, that they may receive it and believe. Footnote. Since writing the preface I have come across the following account of Mr Krone given at pp. 206-207 of Memorials of the Protestant Missionaries to the Chinese..............[by Alexander Wylie, whose name does not appear on the title page], Shanghae, American Presbyterian Mission Press, 1867. "CXLI. # # Kaou Hwać-ć. RUDOLPH KRÖNE, a native of Germany, ordained to the ministry of the gospel, was appointed a missionary to China by the Rhenish Missionary Society. He arrived at Hongkong in 1850, and early in the following year took up his residence on the mainland, having charge of the Society's stations at Fuh-yung and San-kiu, while located with Mr. Genähr at Se-heang. At the same time he itinerated a good deal among the people, adopting the native costume and conforming to many of their habits. In 1855 he was married at Hongkong, and resided successively at Puh-yung and Ho-au. Being obliged to retire to Hongkong for a time, during hostilities between the English and Chinese, he returned to the mainland in 1858, and made his residence at Pu-kak. In 1860 he left China on a visit to Europe, where he spent a good deal of time travelling through Germany and Russia. In 1864 he embarked on his return to China by the Egypt route, but died at Aden on the way. There is a long article by Mr. Kröne, descriptive of the district of Sin-gan in the province of Kwang-tung, published in Part 6 of the "Transactions of the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society". Ed. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1968 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833948d 86 ARMANDO M. DA SILVA defected to the government cause, and that as a reward, their land holdings were recognized officially by the government. This is a very Chinese approach to the problem of pacification. The Cheng 鄭 family of Fan Lau claims to have ancestral connections with Cheng Lin Fuk 鄭連福 and his son, Cheng Yat 鄭一, both notorious pirates from Tai Yu Shan, who terrorized the Chu Kong estuary during the latter half of the 18th century. The Cheng family still owns the land nearest to the old fort, which may suggest that this family had ancestors who were also on the government side (plate 10). The garrison could not have existed for long without food and it is reasonable to suppose that the padi fields of Fan Lau supported the soldiers from the fort (plate 11). There are reasons for believing that the Kai Yik Kok fort may have pre-dated the Coastal Withdrawal of 1662, and that it may have been a Ming rather than a Ch'ing fort. Some confirmation of this is afforded by a series of nautical charts in the Mo Pei Chi (A). The preface to this work is dated 1621, but it was not presented to the throne until 1628. However, it has been shown that the charts almost certainly date from the first half of the fifteenth century. Many of the place-names in that section of the charts pertaining to the Chu Kong estuary are identifiable when checked against similar or equivalent place-names found in the maps of the 19th century editions of the Kwong Tung Tung Chi, San On Yuen Chi, Heung Shan Yuen Chi and O Mun Kei Leuk, but the reader must be warned on two points. First, place-names may differ in both pronunciation and orthography in different sources. Yung Hai is written as 容海 on the Mo Pei Chi charts, but as 雍海 on the maps of the Kwong Tung Tung Chi. A second point to remember is that adjoining districts on one island are not infrequently depicted as separate islands. The Kwong Tung T'ung Chi carries a map of the San On district, for instance, which marks Tai Yu Shan, Tung Chung and Kai Yik Kok fort as separate islands, whereas the last two places are in fact both located on Tai Yu Shan. It is obvious that the place-names on these maps serve not so much to pin-point localities as to mark well-known landmarks and stopping places. Navigation in these waters depended not on nautical instruments, but on the experience of pilots familiar with key channels and navigational landmarks, such as headlands and mountain peaks. *Plates 12 and 13 also relate to this article. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1968 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833948d FAN LAU AND ITS FORT $9 i.e. great island, by the Chinese; the town Toongchung on the north shore opposite Chulocock I. is the largest on the island" On the other hand, it seems by this date that the fort was already abandoned since one of the British officers who came out to China for the hostilities of 1841-42, has this to say of it in an account of his experiences: 14 At the S.W. part of Lantou (sic) we saw, on a height, the remains of an old walled fort, supposed to have been one of the haunts of the famous Coxinga, the pirate However, the fort could not have been abandoned for very long since a repair tablet inside the Tin Hau temple at Fan Lau dated the 2nd summer month of the 25th year of Chia Ch'ing (11th June -9th July, 1820) records contributions by officers of the 21 as it is described thereon. Both these records can only apply to the Fan Lau fort.'5 When the Hong Kong Government surveyors arrived at Fan Lau in 1904 after the New Territories were ceded to Britain, they found the fort still abandoned. In the Block Crown Lease Survey, it is described as "old fort, ruins, waste".16 It had probably not been re-occupied since the early part of the 19th century. It can now be argued that the Kai Yik Kok fort is a Ming dynasty fort built sometime before 1573, possibly abandoned, but rebuilt again in 1730, captured by pirates and re-taken by govern-ment forces sometime between 1810 and 1815, and then refurbished, refortified, and garrisoned until some time before 1841-42, by which time it was already again abandoned. NOTES 1 Also known to the villagers as Yuen To Shan (#ll) or "the hill from which to watch the arrival of distant boats". There is a level spot high above the village, which, according to tradition, was used by observers to watch for incoming vessels proceeding up the Chu Kong or Pearl River estuary. 2 The locations of these various strongpoints can be plotted from the text and maps in the Coastal Defence sections of the 1864 edition (map circa A.D. 1822) of the Kwong Tung Tung Chi the 1819 edition of the San On Yuen Chi M £ M ; the 1827 edition of the Heung Shan Yuen Chi ₺ 4B #; and the 1800 edition of the O Mun Kei Leuk * 1938 #. The last three works contain maps of varying dates from earlier editions. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1968 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833948d FAN LAU AND ITS FORT 91 11 A lorcha is a specialized fighting craft from Macau that combined a Western-style hull (for speed and maneuverability) with Chinese batten sails and rigging (for easier sail-handling and disguise). 12 Charles F. Neumann, History of the Pirates (š), who infested the China Sea from 1807 to 1810, (London, John Murray, 1831) P. 58. 13 J. R. Morrison, A Chinese Commercial Guide (Canton, Office of the Chinese Repository, 1848) pp. 70-71. 14 The Last Year in China to the Peace of Nanking as sketched in Letters to his Friends by a Field Officer actively employed in that Country (2nd edition, revised, London, Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans 1843) pp. 51-52. 15 There is, in addition, the possibility that the fort had a temporary garrison in 1834 see the imperial directive given respecting defence and patrolling at Lantau and Macao quoted by J. L. Cranmer-Byng in his brief note "An old fort at Tung Chung on Lantao Island” in J.H.K.B.R.A.S. Vol 3 (1963) pp. 144-145. 16 Hong Kong Government. New Territories Administration. Block Crown Lease Demarcation Districts 322 and 327, Shek Sun village, Lantau Island. BIBLIOGRAPHY CITED J. J. L. Duyvendak, "Sailing directions of Chinese voyages", T'oung Pao vol. 34 (1938), pp. 230-237, "The true dates of the Chinese maritime expeditions in the early fifteenth century", T'oung Pao vol. 34 (1938), pp. 341-412. Luis B. Gomes, Monografia de Macau, Macau, 1951. Hongkong Government. A Gazetteer of Place Names in Hongkong, Kowloon, and the New Territories, Hongkong, 1960. Lo Hsing-lin, Hongkong and its External Communications before 1842. Hongkong, 1963. J. R. Morrison, A Chinese Commercial Guide, Canton, 1848. Charles F. Neumann, The History of the Pirates who infested the China Sea from 1807 to 1810, translated from the Chinese original, London, 1831. Ch'ing dynasty work: Chinese Sources Mo Pei Chi (AA) A.D. 1621 The provincial Gazetteer of Kwangtung: Kwong Tung Tung Chi (♬✯ ih sk) 1864 edition The District Gazetteers for the following: San On Yuen Chi (%) 1819 edition Tung Kwun Yuen Chi ✯✯✯) 1797 edition Heung Shan Yuen Chi (3) 1827 edition O Mun Kei Leuk (39 1932) 1800 edition ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1968 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833948d 122 H. G. H. NELSON was the effect of this development on the relationships within the old marketing area? It might be noted here that the modern system of communications in the New Territories has, necessarily, been laid down with little reference to the pre-existing marketing structure of the southern part of San On county. To what extent have these and other modern developments—such as the formation of the Heung Yee Kuk* - contributed to the overall integration of marketing areas which previously had little or no contact with each other? Has Kowloon replaced Yuen Long and Taipo as the stage on which local leaders perform to their audience? No less striking than the change in the standard of living and the range of activities of the local "Big Men", is the rise in the income of farmers in Ping Shan. But although the improvement in their returns from agriculture is clearly demonstrated, one is again tempted to ask if this is not a case of plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. Those who maintain that the lineage was a vehicle for class exploitation have a strong case, and it is possible to take Potter's data as evidence that this still is so. Traditional Chinese society was relatively highly differentiated, but the range of differentiation possible in a semi-subsistence economy is limited: although the farmers' income has risen so dramatically, one can still ask whether their position has improved or worsened in relation to that of other sections of the rural population. Are the rich Tangs growing richer, while their poorer kinsmen - in fact, or in their own estimation, become relatively poorer? In Ping Shan, now as in the past, the farmers come from the poorer branches of the lineage†; the members of the richer branches can afford not to be farmers. For the most part, then, farmers have to rent their land from corporations to which they do not belong, and they therefore get no dividend on the rents they pay. Since there is no reason to suppose that the distribution of ancestral land in Ping Shan was untypical, so far as the rich and long-established lineage is concerned, the material presented by Potter in his chapter IV "The Ownership and Management of Property" * See the Laws of Hong Kong, revised edition 1964, Cap. 1097 for the Ordinance establishing the Heung Yee Kuk (#) as a statutory body "to provide for the establishment and functions of an advisory and consultative body for the New Territories and for purposes connected therewith". Ed. † The sample used for the Farm Survey consisted of 42 farms operated by punti men, and 3 by refugee vegetable growers, (v. p. 62) ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1969 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d 12 T. C. CHENG uneventful one, and he was noted for his co-operative attitude towards Government policies. This at least had the merit of demonstrating that no hazard was likely to result from having a Chinese representative permanently on the Legislative Council. When his six-year term was up in 1890, he asked not to be re-appointed, and a very prominent "local boy", Dr. Ho Kai (later Sir Kai Ho Kai) succeeded him. Dr. Ho Kai, born in Hong Kong in 1859, was the fourth son of the Rev. Ho Tsun-shin (alias Ho Fuk-tong) of the London Missionary Society. Having studied Chinese for several years, he was admitted to Class 4 of the Central School in 1870 at the age of 12. He was an extremely clever and hardworking boy for, according to the school record, he was already in Class 1, the top form, in September 1871. He completed his studies at the Central School the following year, and proceeded to Palmer House School, Margate, England. From there he entered St. Thomas' Medical and Surgical College and received the degrees of Bachelor of Medicine and Master of Surgery from the University of Aberdeen in 1879. In the same year, he was admitted as a member of the Royal College of Surgeons of England by examination. He then turned to the study of law and was admitted to Lincoln's Inn in May 1879. He was Senior Equity Scholar, Lincoln's Inn, in 1881 in which year he passed the finals with flying colours and also married a charming English girl, Alice, the eldest daughter of the late John Walkden of Blackheath. On his return to Hong Kong in 1882 with his newly-wedded wife, he first practised medicine but was unsuccessful, because the Chinese at that time were not prepared to avail themselves of western medical treatment unless it was offered free. He then turned to the Bar and since 1882 had practised as a barrister in Hong Kong. Until his death in 1914, Dr. Ho Kai rendered his services freely and ungrudgingly to the Hong Kong community. For many years he was a valuable member of many important committees, including the Standing Law Committee, the Public Works Committee, the Examination Board, the Medical Board, the Sanitary Board, the Po Leung Kuk Committee, the Tung Wah Hospital Advisory Committee, the District Watch Force Committee, the Architects' Advisory Board and the Advisory Committee of the Hong Kong Technical Institute. For 26 years he was a Justice of the Peace and for 25 years he represented the Chinese community on the ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1969 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d 28 T. C. CHENG NOTES 1 During these early years, schools like the Morrison School, operated by the Morrison Education Society founded by Dr. Robert Morrison, the Anglo-Chinese School (or Ying Wah School) operated by Dr. James Legge of the London Missionary Society (Dr. Legge is best known for his translation of the Chinese classics and for his appointment as the first professor of Chinese at Oxford University in 1874), and St. Paul's College operated by the Anglican Bishop, were dismal failures whether from the missionary or from the educational point of view. In 1855, the Governor Sir John Bowring had this to say about St. Paul's College: "For the last six years, £250 a year has been voted by Parliament to the Bishop's College for the education of 6 persons destined to the public service, and not a single individual from that College has been yet declared competent to undertake the meanest department of an interpreter's duty See E. J. Eitel, Europe in China, London; Luzac and Co., 1895, p. 349. 2 On p. 60 of Fragrant Harbour by G. B. Endacott and A. Hinton, a statement was made that Ng Choy was "educated at the old Central School (Queen's College)". I find no evidence to support this. 3 As a result of the founding of the Government Central School (the present Queen's College) in 1862, a number of educated Chinese well-versed in both Chinese and English had been produced, who began to regard Hong Kong as their home town and who began to develop a keen interest in the welfare of Hong Kong. Thus leading Chinese founded the Tung Wah Hospital in 1870 and the Po Leung Kuk in 1880. It is of interest to note that in the 1870's, the educated Chinese actually pressed for the election of representatives to form a Chinese Municipal Board. In 1878, when the foreign community protested against Sir John Hennessy's policy of lenient treatment of prisoners, the Chinese in Hong Kong for the first time despatched an address to Queen Victoria which was in effect a vote of confidence in the Government. 4 G. B. Endacott, Government and People in Hong Kong, p. 94. *G. B. Endacott, Government and People in Hong Kong, p. 94. 6 In 1862 an Institute of Foreign Languages was founded in Peking and translation bureaux were established to translate scientific books into Chinese. In 1866 the first modern shipbuilding yard was started in Foochow, Fukien, and from 1872 to 1875 four batches of selected young Chinese scholars, totalling 120, were sent to the U.S.A. to further their studies. 7 General Chan (陳炯明, Chen Chiung-ming) revolted against Sun Yat-sen in Canton in June 1922. For details about this revolt, see Tang Leang-li's The Inner History of The Chinese Revolution, London, p. 140. 8 G. B. Endacott, A History of Hong Kong, p. 199. 9 G. B. Endacott, Government and People in Hong Kong, p. 98. 10 After 2 years there, Yung Wing (容閎, Rong Hong) went to Yale University and was the first Chinese to graduate from that famous institution in 1854. Yung later became a famous person in the history of modern China, being responsible for the opening of the first school of mechanical engineering in Shanghai; the formation of the China Merchant Steamship Navigation Company; the translation of many scientific books into Chinese; and the sending of young Chinese scholars to the U.S.A. for western studies in the 1870's. In the case of Wong Foon, after 2 years' study in the U.S.A., he crossed the Atlantic to Scotland and entered the University of Edinburgh where he graduated with honours in medicine and surgery. He returned to Canton in 1857 and distinguished himself as a surgeon. See also Lo Hsiang-lin, Hong Kong and Western Cultures, Honolulu, East-West Center, 1964, Chapter 4, "Yung Hung (Yung Wing) and Foreign Schemes". ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1969 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d 46 R. G. GROVES Yee Yuen and donated sums to its resistance fund. The two lineages also comprised two yeuk within the Ts'at Yeuk and, as such, were represented in the fighting at Tai Po. At some point after 1st April, leaders from the Yuen Long and Sheung U Divisions went together to the Tung P'ing Kuk at Sham Chun and attempted with little success to enlist wider support for their activities. An agent was sent to Tung-kuan Hsien, where a number of 'bare-sticks' were recruited. In addition, the help of the Tang lineage of Pan T'in, in the northern part of Hsin-an Hsien, was solicited. This lineage appears to have stood in a clan relationship with the Tang higher order lineage within the New Territory. Members of the Pan T'in lineage participated in the fighting within the territory and subsequently felt themselves threatened by the British occupation of Sham Chun. The first confrontation between the Ts'at Yeuk and the vanguard of the occupying force occurred at Tai Po. Since late March, contractors had been erecting matsheds for the Hong Kong authorities on a hill near the market. Work had been obstructed by local villagers who claimed that the hill was private land and that the matsheds would disturb the feng shui of the area. On 3rd April Captain-Superintendent May set off for Tai Po, with a mixed party of Sikh policemen from Hong Kong and a detachment of Chinese soldiers, which had been temporarily assigned to him by the Commander of the Chinese military garrison stationed at Kowloon City. He hoped to get work on the matsheds started again and intended to leave the soldiers as a guard for the construction materials, pending assumption of British authority in the Territory. May arrived at Tai Po early in the afternoon and went to a nearby temple, almost certainly the Man Mo Miu, where he knew he would meet local leaders. A large crowd gathered, both within the temple and in the narrow street outside. His efforts at persuasion failed and the bystanders "became very offensive in their language and demeanour."59 May thought it wise to leave, but hope of a dignified withdrawal ended as soon as the British party reached the street. They were set upon by an angry crowd, wielding brooms, buckets, and other improvised weapons. An escape was made after the soldiers had threatened the crowd with their rifles and the Sikhs had made a bayonet charge to clear a path. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1969 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d 48 R. G. GROVES 7th April includes entries for approximately 999 catties (about 1,332 lbs.), of gunpowder. Meanwhile, the Governor of Hong Kong again asked the Viceroy to take whatever steps necessary to maintain order prior to the take-over. A reassuring proclamation was jointly issued by the Viceroy of Kwangtung and Kwangsi and the Governor of Kwangtung, and Chinese troops were ordered into the area. The Governor of Hong Kong had already issued his own proclamation to the people of the New Territory. Whatever its intention, his message cannot have appeased the resistance leaders: the most respected of your elders will be chosen to assist in the management of your village affairs, to secure peace and good order and the punishment of evil doers. I expect you to obey the laws that are made for your benefit, and all persons who break the law will be punished severely. It will be necessary for you to register without delay your titles for the land occupied by you, that the true owners may be known."62 In other words, control over both land and political institutions appeared to be at risk. By 10th April plans for resistance were sufficiently advanced to allow the establishment of the T'ai Ping Kung Kuk (Great Peace Public Council), at Yuen Long market. The inaugural meeting promulgated several policies: (i) a levy of 100 taels of silver was to be made upon each village and, where necessary, force was to be used to secure payment; (ii) the wealthy, and those who appeared to be associated with the British, were forbidden to leave the area. Those attempting to do so were to be killed,63 The date and place of the formal British take-over — Tai Po, on Monday, 17th April — had been announced in a variety of contexts and must have been widely known. However, the first major clash involved provincial Chinese troops, rather than the British. As part of his undertaking to maintain order the Viceroy had directed a Major Fong, in command of a gunboat and troops, to the territory. The Major sent letters ahead, saying that his intentions were pacific. The implication was that he would not interfere with plans for resistance. These assurances were unacceptable and his landing at Castle Peak Bay, on 12th April, was successfully opposed by militia of the Yuen Long Division, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1969 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d # MILITIA, MARKET AND LINEAGE 55 General Gascoigne summed up the consequences of the occupation: "the forces of law... had disappeared on our arrival..."76 ## Conclusions The original questions, posed at page above, were how were composite militia forces organized and can they be related to what is known of other, enduring aspects of social organization in rural Kwangtung? It has been shown that the resistance movement was organized within and between standard marketing communities. For example, meetings were held at Yuen Long, and attended by leaders from throughout the area, prior to the first formal meeting with leaders from adjacent marketing communities. Meetings not held in ancestral halls were convened in the appropriate market town. In two of the markets - Shek Wu Hui and Tai Po - they occurred in temples which served existing market-wide associations. The Tai P'ing Kuk was established at Yuen Long as headquarters for the entire resistance movement. It is probable that this kuk was intended to replace the Tung Ping Kuk of the intermediate market, Sham Chun. The latter was a meeting place not only for leaders from within the New Territory, but also for leaders from adjacent Chinese territory. Attempts to enlist their support for the resistance had failed. This may account for the establishment of a new kuk, to serve the organizational needs of those involved in resistance. If, as has been suggested, the Tung Ping Kuk was a militia association, the constituent tung were not always organizational units. Although Yuen Long Tung appears to have been congruent with the Yuen Long marketing area, Sheung U Tung encompassed the marketing communities represented by Shek Wu and Tai Po markets. They, rather than the tung, were the loci of mobilization. A tentative view is that the tung were territorial areas of responsibility for the relatively few militia units within them, rather than organizational units per se. The response to the occupation of Sham Chun confirms the significance of marketing areas for militia mobilization. The Rev. Schaub's letters depict, in outline, a nexus of organization closely resembling that revealed by the resistance movement within the New Territory. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1969 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d 62 R. G. GROVES 44 Skinner, op. cit., Part 1, p. 27. The markets of the northern district of the New Territory seem to have been dependent primarily upon Sham Chun, rather than upon several intermediate markets. This may be an example of what Skinner terms a marketing system in a "topographic cul-de-sac". Ibid., p. 21. 45 Baker, Hugh D. R. "The Five Great Clans of the New Territories”, Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. VI, 1966, p. 31. 46 Freedman, op. cit., pp. 82ff., gives an account of the origins of the Ts'at Yeuk. The character yeuk may be translated as 'covenant', or 'agreement'. The seven covenants' were a confederation of seven groups of villages within the Tai Po marketing area. 47 Papers Extracts, op. cit., p. 192. 48 Hayes, "The Pattern of Life.", op. cit., p. 9. 49 Freedman, op. cit., p. 81. 50 Papers Extracts, op. cit., pp. 201ff. 51 Hong Kong 1963, Hong Kong, 1964, pp. 363ff. 52 Papers Extracts, op. cit., pp. 587-8. 53 The following account has been assembled, somewhat in the manner of a jigsaw puzzle, from two sources: Hong Kong. Correspondence (June 20, 1898 to August 20, 1900) Respecting the Extension of the Boundaries of the Colony, Eastern No. 66, Colonial Office, London, 1900; Papers Laid Before the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, 1899. Despatches and Other Papers Relating to the Extension of the Colony of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1900. Specific references will be given only for quotations. 54 Correspondence, op. cit., p. 261. A brief discussion of the activities of the land syndicate mentioned in the preceding paragraph is to be found in Endacott, G.B., A History of Hong Kong, Oxford University Press, London and Hong Kong, and Paperback Edition, 1964, p. 265, who says: "The main problem of the take-over was not military but administrative. A land syndicate of Chinese among whom it was suspected Ho Kai [Dr. Ho Kai, a Chinese unofficial member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong] was one, had bought land at a fraction of its value by spreading the rumour that the British would seize all land. Blake threatened to restore this property, but the land problem proved too baffling for him to carry out his threat." 55 Correspondence, op. cit., p. 261. Wakeman, op. cit., Chap. V, discusses similar charges made against the British at Canton almost sixty years earlier. 56 One recipient was Liu Wan-kuk, of Sheung Shui. His support for the resistance appears to have been half-hearted throughout. On at least two occasions he protested: "the villages in our Division have no plans. Moreover, our commissariat and arms being insufficient, how can we offer effective resistance? We request your Division [Yuen Long] to decide on the plan of campaign and we will follow your instruction". The dominance of the Yuen Long Division—and of the Tang lineages within it—was to become increasingly obvious as the resistance movement developed. Papers Despatches, op. cit., p. 72. 57 Translated in Correspondence, op. cit., pp. 138ff. 58 Baker, op. cit., pp. 35ff. 59 Correspondence, op. cit., p. 147. 60 Ibid., p. 148. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1969 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d MILITIA. MARKET AND LINEAGE 63 61 Ibid., p. 154. 62 Ibid., p. 159. 63 Liu Wan-kuk, of Sheung Shui, later described the inaugural meeting and its consequences in the following terms. "On the 1st of the 3rd moon (10th April), the Un Long Division made a great show of force, and stated in a most peremptory manner that if we refused to join in the resistance of the British, thousands of men from the Un Long Division with arms would proceed to level to the ground the villages belonging to the Liu, Tang and Pang families. The Sheung U Division was therefore compelled on the 3rd day (12th April) to request the Hau, Liu, Pang, Tang, Man clans to meet in the temple dedicated to a former Governor of Kwang Tung province. There it was decided to raise a small public subscription.... It was also decided that the various villages in our Division should have their trainbands (or militia) in readiness so that we should not be....powerless to check disorder. Our Division was the victim of circumstances.... Our trainband (or militia) was intended solely for the protection of the old and young in our Division." Translation of a statement made to the Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong, 26th April 1899, Papers. Despatches..., op. cit., p. 74. Here and subsequently, the spelling of place names and parenthetical remarks are those of the original translator. Remarks in brackets are my own. 64 Correspondence ..., op. cit., p. 226. Jingals are "long tapering guns, six to fourteen feet in length, borne on the shoulders of two men and fired by a third. They have a stand, or tripod, reminding one of a telescope being less liable to burst than cannon, they form the most effective gun the Chinese possess." J. Dyer Ball, Things Chinese, London, 1904 edition, p. 44. Page 13 Correspondence 65 Stewart Lockhart described the flag as follows: "the flag has a red border and a white centre, on which are seven Chinese characters meaning: Train band sanctioned by the Government: -Tai Kai (village), surname Man.' The village referred to.... is also known by the name of Tai Hang , op. cit., p. 180. The militia were so martial in appearance and conduct that the British at first thought they were regulars. The Viceroy commented: "the Governor of Hong Kong suspected that they were regular troops from the fact that they had guns, cannon, and uniforms. He was not aware that the villagers of Kwangtung, in their constant fights with each other, are always erecting forts, and use guns and cannon, and wear uniforms. This is a matter of common notoriety." Ibid., p. 304. 66 Ibid., pp. 188ff. These and similar letters were found in the T'ai Ping Kung Kuk at Yuen Long. A proclamation issued by the Council of the Yuen Long Division was also discovered. It supports Liu Wan-kuk's claim that coercion was a feature of the resistance movement: "The English barbarians are about to enter our territory, and ruin will come upon our villages and hamlets, All we villagers must enthusiastically come forward to offer armed resistance and act in unison. When the drum sounds to the fight, we must all respond to the call for assistance. Should anyone hesitate to take part or hinder or obstruct our military plans he will most certainly be severely punished, and no leniency will be shown. This is issued as a forewarning." Ibid. 67 Ibid., p. 171. 68 Papers 69 Ibid. Despatches , op. cit., p. 66. op. cit., p. 166. 70 Correspondence ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1969 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d 128 ARMANDO DA SILVA accessibility, seasonal demand, and tonic quality. The Chinese names are in colloquial Cantonese: Artemisia vulgaris (ng yuet ngai AX) is a traditionally sacred medicinal plant. Sprigs of artemisia are hung on doorways on the festival day of tuen yeung (), that day associated with glutinous rice dumplings and dragon-boat races; hence the colloquial name "fifth moon artemisia". A powder is made from this and is used in moxa (ngai yung *). For medicinal use the sprigs are ground and sprinkled into warm rice wine to make a fragrant tonic drink, which allegedly relieves upset stomach. Amaranthus spinosus (lak yuen tsoi ). The roots and leaves of this plant are boiled in water and the infusion used in the treatment of piles. A soup is made by boiling the leaves and the shoots and the decoction is drunk as a yuet hei reliever. It is also considered a diuretic drink. Although this plant is not cultivated, it is often sold as a vegetable in vegetable stalls. Hylocereus undatus (pa wong fa re£) is a seashore plant of the cactus family. The silk tassels from the flowers are dried and used to make a cough medicine. The tassels may also be boiled as a vegetable and cooked with pieces of pork to make soup. See Plate 10. Vitex trifolia (pak fei muk yee ¶). This is another beach plant whose leaves and vines are boiled to make a poultice for bruises. The leaves are ground and drunk with warm rice wine. This is a favourite medicinal plant among the Tanka boat-people. Breynia fruticosa (hak min shun i) is a hillside plant whose leaves are boiled in water to make an infusion for the cleansing of sores. To complete the treatment a poultice of its leaves is applied to the sores. Melastoma sanguineum (long kau lei #Ƒ) is a styptic simple. Its leaves are both ground and drunk with warm rice wine, and are also used as a styptic poultice. Polygonum chinenses (fo tan mo ★★). The leaves are fried with honey and eaten as a treatment for dysentery. The leaves can also be made into a poultice to relieve rheumatic pain and for treating foot sores and arm boils, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1971 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g CHINESE ELITE IN HONG KONG 75 By the 1860s a clearly defined élite group had established itself, providing leadership for the Chinese community. The purpose of this paper is to document the conditions from which an identifiable élite group arose in Hong Kong and to illustrate this emergence by biographies of some of its members. SOURCES FOR THE STUDY What sources were used to determine the Chinese élite for the period covered by this study? The most important are the names given on memorials, petitions, and subscription lists. The repetition of a name on subsequent lists, the amount of the contributions, and the position of the name on the document serve to suggest the relative status of an individual. Proprietorship of land also suggests potential élite status. (1) The earliest such document used is a list of land owners dated 19 February, 1848, in which they petition for the remission of what they considered excessive crown rent charges. There are twenty-seven signatures of the principal Chinese landowners. This document is in the Colonial Office Records, Series CO129/23. (2) In September 1852, The China Mail published the subscription list for the Chinese Hospital proposed by Dr. Hirschberg of the London Missionary Society. This also contains twenty-seven names. Of these, ten were compradores, seven shopkeepers, three merchants, three contractors, and one "gentleman". Only three names that were on the 1848 list appear on this list: Loo Aqui, gentleman, Tam Achoy, building contractor, and Chow Aqui, merchant. (3) On 4 November 1856, a memorial concerning a recent piece of legislation was presented to Government. It contained both European and Chinese names. Nineteen Chinese signed. It is in the Colonial Office Records, Series CO131/3. (4) In 1859 the Government Gazette published a "List of Chinese Voluntary Contributions to a Fund for purchasing books, etc., for the Government Schools in the Colony". Most of the contributions were made in the name of business firms, but all of the largest amounts were contributed by individuals. The two largest contributors were both contractors; Tang Luk gave $60, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1971 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g CHINESE ELITE IN HONG KONG 77 (10) Relation of land ownership to élite status can be judged by a list of the twenty highest rate-payers in 1876 and 1881, published in the Government Gazette. The list includes both Europeans and Chinese. In 1876 European ownership outranks Chinese twelve to eight; but in 1881 ownership had shifted so that there were seventeen Chinese among the twenty highest rate-payers. In the 1881 list seven of the top twenty were of compradore families, six were merchants, one contractor, and the widow of Rev. Ho Fuk Tong, ordained minister of the London Missionary Society's Chinese congregation. The terminal date for this study is the opening of Tung Wah Hospital in 1872. After this date, the names of the Directors of the Hospital published in the Development of the Tung Wah Hospital 1870-1960 are an excellent criteria for determining élite status. After 1872 there is also an ever increasing number of subscriptions, memorials, committees, delegations, etc., which serve as counter-checks to the Tung Wah Directorships. For a study of élite based on such lists, it is necessary to give identity to the names by a biographical sketch. These sketches indicate the manner by which the individual arrived at élite status. To reconstruct the biographies of these early residents of Hong Kong is not easy. Only documentary sources have been used for this reconstruction. No information has been sought from present day descendants of these individuals. I have relied upon such material as newspapers, Land Registry Office records, the Police and Lighting Rates for 1860, 1868 and 1872, the Government Gazettes and Blue Books, the published Calendar of Probates and Administrations, the Colonial Office Records in the Public Records Office, London, and the archives of several Missionary Societies. The Chinese practice of using various aliases complicates identification. In one instance, for example, an individual used at various times and in various relationships ten different aliases. The varying Romanization for Chinese names constitutes another problem for the researcher who uses western sources. The contemporary English, Portuguese, Germans and French each had a different system for Romanizing Chinese characters. For instance on page 101 there is a reference to Tso Aon's brother, Chow Yik Cheong. The Chinese character ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1971 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g 88 CARL T. SMITH one of the leading brokers and charterers of emigrant ships. In front of his lots he erected a wharf which he leased to the Hong Kong, Canton and Macao Steamboat Company after its organization in 1865. In 1860, he appeared in the Courts on the charge of piracy. In response to a request of the Mandarin of his home district in Hoi Ping for assistance in suppressing some Hakka bandits, Achoy had chartered the vessel Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy from Kwok Acheong, the P. and O. Company's compradore. Engaging some Europeans in the Colony he took them up to Hoi Ping where they attacked some Hakka villages. Achoy pleaded that he had not realized that this would be against British law and therefore threw himself upon the mercy of the court.19 He again assisted his home district in 1865 by supplying the local militia with western-made armaments. This earned him official recognition and a biographical notice in the Hoi Ping Gazetteer. In later years his constitution was affected by habitual opium smoking and he did not participate actively in public affairs. He died in 1871, leaving a large fortune.20 In 1857, the editor of The Friend of China described him as being "no doubt the most creditable Chinese in the Colony". Tang Aluk, another contractor, though not as much of a community leader as Tam Achoy, was a generous benefactor of worthy projects. He was the largest contributor to the Chinese school book fund of 1859, contributing sixty dollars; Tam Achoy contributed fifty dollars and Kwok Acheong, the P. and O. compradore contributed twenty dollars; all other contributions ranged from ten dollars to fifty cents. The fact that Tang Aluk's name was that of "Number Six" indicates he was of humble origin. He began as a stone cutter. Most of them were Hakka, and it is probable that Aluk was of this group. In time he built up a successful contracting business. At his death in 1887 he left a large estate, much of which was in landed property. The administration of his estate involved many lawsuits among his heirs. A newspaper commentator observed that the estate was a gold mine for the legal profession as suits and appeals dragged through the courts for several decades after his death.2 THE MERCHANTS GROUP 21 Hong Kong had difficulty in attracting merchants with capital. We have mentioned the abortive efforts of Chinam and several ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1971 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g 92 CARL T. SMITH when tensions developed between the western powers and the Imperial Government of China. If they had not cut themselves off entirely from their place of origin but tried to keep up their relations with clan and family, they exposed themselves and their family to the charge of playing traitor to Chinese interests. However, their financial connections with foreigners pulled them to identify with the foreign cause. They usually tried to have it both ways, walking the thin line, but in periods of crisis they were forced into accommodation with the foreigners if they were to protect their financial investments. Li Leong, one of the brothers, died in 1864, leaving his property in a family trust, which was later divided into five shares. The leadership of the clan then devolved upon Li Sing, although many other members of the family are in the Hong Kong records — so many, in fact, that it is a difficult task to establish exact relationships. But it is the name of Li Sing which appears in the various lists until his death in 1900. He was one of three trustees who held title to the Queen's Road Temple in Wanchai in 1869. The same year he was one of the organizing members of the Tung Wah Hospital. Other members of the family have continued the tradition of Li Sing as community leader down to the present day. One of the organizing directors of Tung Wah Hospital was Ng Yik Wan alias Ng Chan Yeung of the Fuk Lung opium firm. The founder of the family in Hong Kong was Ng Yü who first appears on the records in 1858 when the Fuk Lung opium shop was the successful bidder for the opium monopoly. He was secured by Loo Aqui who had held the monopoly in an earlier period. The Fuk Lung firm was made up of five members, all from the Tung Kwun District of Kwangtung. One of them was Shi Sing Kai, one of four named in a petition to Government in 1878 which resulted in the organization of the Po Leung Kuk. Ng Yü, the head of the Fuk Lung firm, died in 1870 leaving his property under the management of his son Ng Kai Kwong alias Ng Pat Shan alias Ng Po Leung who was the sole beneficiary of his father's estate. Ng Kai Kwong died in 1884 leaving three minor sons to inherit his property. Another of the founding Directors of Tung Wah was the ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1971 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g 96 CARL T. SMITH Wong Shing, newspaper editor and manager of the London Mission press; and Cheung Achew, a wealthy carpenter.29 The Rev. Ho Fuk Tong and his family lived at the nearby compound of the London Mission Society. In time this area around Peel, Graham, Gage Streets and Hollywood Road became a centre for Parsee and Indian merchants, as well as European brothels. Some of the old families stayed on, but the opening up of the area bounded by Wyndham, Wellington and Pottinger Streets by the Dents provided a needed location for the houses of the better Chinese. After the Peak was developed in the 1870s and 1880s, the wealthy Chinese moved up to Mid-levels occupying the mansions of the Europeans who moved to the Peak. Of the individuals who had their family residence in the former Middle Bazaar area were two who were on the organizing committee of Tung Wah Hospital, Wong Shing and Ho Asek alias Ho Fai Yin #alias Ho In Kee. Ho Asek first appears in Hong Kong records in 1849 when he purchased a lot in Tai Ping Shan. At the time he was compradore of the opium firm of Lyall, Still and Company. It failed in 1867 and Ho Asek embarked upon his own business ventures under the firm name of Kin Nam. According to a newspaper account, he was subject to a $2,000 “squeeze” from the mandarins during the second Sino-British War.30 He traded extensively in opium as well as rice, and in 1871 held the gambling monopoly from which within a year he realized a $28,000 profit. In an action brought against him in 1871, he testified that he operated with a capital of $200,000.31 In 1868 two of his employees were brought before the court on a charge of extortion. In the evidence presented it was stated that about September 1866, some influential Chinese started a system of subscription or unofficial taxation to support district watchmen. The city had been divided into two sections, East and West. The West District was superintended by Tam Achoy and Ho Asek, "a most respectable and honest trader”. A shopkeeper resisted the pressure put upon him to contribute and brought the charge of extortion against two of Asek's employees who had been collecting for the scheme. The court gave judgment in favour of the defendants.32 Ho Asek was still a member of the Kai Fong Committee in 1872. He died in Pang Po (likely Ping Po+), Shun Tak District in 1877. His wife was granted letters of administration on his estate, but she being blind, gave her power ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1971 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g 100 CARL T. SMITH alias Fung Ming Shan alias Fung Po Hai Fung Chew, another of the founders of Tung Wah, in the 1870s was compradore to A.H. Hogg and Company, but later became the compradore of the Chartered Mercantile Bank. He had received an English language education and may have been a classmate of Ng Choy (Wu Ting Fang) at St. Paul's College, as they were partners in several land transactions in Hong Kong. Fung Ming Shan was one of the signatories in 1878 of the petition of natives of Tung Kwun District to Government concerning the kidnapping and sale of children, which resulted in the organization of the Po Leung Kuk. He was naturalized as a British subject in 1881. He died in 1898, leaving a widow and two sons, one of whom died in 1906. Yet another of the organizing directors of Tung Wah was the compradore of Gilman and Company, Choy Wing Chip **蔡永接 alias Choy Lung Chi. Along with Choey Teo Soon and Chop Aping, he was a partner in the Wing Cheong Shun firm which failed in 1873 owing some 160,000 taels. He was probably the brother of Choy Aloy, who was compradore to J. J. dos Remedios and Company in the 1870s; both were in Hong Kong as early as 1865. Choy Achip died in 1874 and the administration of his estate was granted to his eldest son Choy Afoong. A compradore family that appears on a number of the various lists and by 1881 had become the largest rate-payer was headed by Ng Acheong alias Ng Ying Cheong(A) who died in 1873. He left an estate of $260,000. The family were compradores to the firm of Messrs. Douglas Lapraik and Company. Lapraik began his career as a jeweller and watchmaker, but by the 1850s had extended his business into commerce and eventually the firm built up a large shipping concern. His compradore first appears on the Hong Kong records in 1855. After the death of Ng Acheong in 1873, a near relative Ng Sang(A) alias Ng Ying Sang alias Ng Chuk Shau succeeded as compradore. He fell victim to the fever of land speculation in 1881 and suffered heavy losses. Concern over his strained financial position so affected his health that he died in 1883. Action was brought by his employers against the Ng family property to cover debts he left in his compradore's accounts. The family had come to Hong Kong from Macao. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1971 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g 104 CARL T. SMITH imposture and contemptible impudence". He later was part of Chan Lai Tau's ambassadorial staff at Washington, and upon his return to China in 1882, he promoted the organization of the Canton and Hong Kong Telegraph Company.38 Associated with Ho Shan Chee in the Telegraph Company was a kinsman, Ho Kwan Shan (何崑珊) alias Ho Amei (何阿美),†Œ4 the Secretary of the On Tai Insurance Company in Hong Kong. Ho Kwan Shan had been educated at Dr. Legge's Anglo-Chinese College in Hong Kong, being a schoolmate of the sons of Ho Asun. Upon completing his education, Ho Kwan Shan joined his elder brother, Ho Low Yuk (何陸玉) in Australia in 1858. From Australia in 1865 he went to New Zealand to arrange for the importation of the first Chinese laborers to New Zealand. Returning to Australia, he served for a time as interpreter at Ballarat, Victoria. In 1868 he came back to Hong Kong. Here he became a clerk in the Registrar General's Office. Later he became interested in developing mines on Lan Tau Island as well as at other places in Kwang Tung Province.39 The most prominent of the Ho clan, however, was the family of Ho Tsun Shin (何遵善) or as he was better known in Christian circles, Ho Fuk Tong (何福堂).† His father had been a block cutter for the press of the Anglo-Chinese College at Malacca. Ho Fuk Tong joined him there and became a student at the College. He showed scholastic aptitude and for a time accompanied the son of the senior missionary at the Malacca Station to India for advanced study. Upon the arrival of the Rev. James Legge at the Mission, a close bond was established between the two young men. Ho Fuk Tong was his junior by three years. When Legge removed to Hong Kong in 1843, Ho Fuk Tong accompanied him and was ordained as the Chinese pastor of the London Missionary Society congregation in 1846. He continued as a faithful minister of the congregation (now Hop Yat Church) until his death in 1871. He was conscientious and faithful in his service to the church, but he was also very successful as a financier. After his death there were numerous Court suits over the interpretation of his will and the administration of his estate. Some of the difficulties arose because Ho Fuk Tong held his property under various aliases. In one of the cases a barrister gives his opinion why Ho Fuk Tong followed this procedure: ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1971 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g 106 CARL T. SMITH Still another son of the Rev. Ho Fuk Tong, Ho Shan Yow (ii) was a student of law. In 1897 he was a member of the ambassadorial staff of his brother-in-law, Wu Ting Fang, and became Consul-General in San Francisco, where he promoted the organization of the Chinese American Commercial Company capitalized at a million dollars. The eldest daughter of Ho Fuk Tong, Ho Mui Ling, married Ng Choy (1) alias Wu Ting Fang (14), a young graduate of St. Paul's College. Ng Choy's father was a business man who spent some years at Singapore where he became a Christian and married a Malay woman. He returned to Canton where he put his two eldest sons, Afat and Akwong, into the Boarding School of the Presbyterian Mission. In 1851, when the California gold-fever was rampant in Kwang Tung, Ng Afat was the ringleader in stirring up the students of the school to rebel against the hold the school had over them due to bonds their parents had signed guaranteeing that their sons would stay in the school until their education was completed. The students resented being held to this agreement as they wished to try their fortune in the gold-fields. The school authorities found it necessary to dismiss Afat. He came to Hong Kong and was employed as clerk in the Police Magistracy. His brother Akwong was a more tractable student and successfully completed his course of studies. After leaving school, he too came to Hong Kong and was for a short time an Interpreter in the Harbour Master's Office, but then about 1864 became the General Manager of the Chinese edition (Chung Ngoi San Po) of The Daily Press. The Wu family was interested in promoting Chinese journalism. The obituary notice of Mr. Chiu Yu Tsun, (The Daily Press, 12 June 1908), the editor of the Chung Ngoi San Po, states that when he joined the staff of the paper in 1873 it was "under the management of the present Chinese Minister to Washington H. E. Wu Ting Fang and his brother the late Mr. Ng Chan". When Ng Chan died about 1890, Mr. Chiu succeeded as sub-lessee and General Manager. Wu Ting Fang was only four when the family returned from Singapore. In time he became a student of St. Paul's College in Hong Kong, where he was baptized. Upon graduation he followed the pattern set by his brothers and entered Government service as chief clerk and shroff in the Court of Summary Jurisdiction. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1971 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g 108 CARL T. SMITH the Chinese Classics. Few Chinese in Hong Kong at this period were noted for their literary or scholarly ability. Ho Fuk Tong was a good scholar, but in the area of Christian thought; having mastered Greek and Hebrew, he translated and edited Biblical Commentaries in Chinese. Though acquainted with the Chinese Classics, he was not an outstanding Chinese scholar. Wong T'ao, who like Ho Fuk Tong was closely associated with Rev. James Legge, was generally recognized as a competent Chinese literati. He was a baptized Christian and had come to Hong Kong from Shanghai because of suspected connections with the Tai Ping movement. He was recommended to Legge by the missionaries in Shanghai. Legge, who was involved in translating the Chinese Classics, found Wong T'ao to be an invaluable assistant and paid him the following tribute: "This scholar, far exceeding in classical (knowledge) more than any of his countrymen whom the author had previously known, came to Hong Kong in the end of 1863, and placed at his disposal all the treasures of a large well-selected library. At the same time entering with spirit into his labours, now explaining, now arguing, as the case might be, he has not only helped but enlivened many days of toil"45 Wong T'ao continued as editor of the Tsun Wan Yat Po until he left Hong Kong to return to Shanghai in 1884. He was largely responsible for the prestige the paper achieved, fulfilling in some measure the hopes of the prospectus for the paper that it "would eventually become in China what the London Times is in England"46. As a mark of his position in the community, his name appears on several memorials and deputations of representatives of the Chinese in Hong Kong in the 1880s. Still another Christian associated with the introduction of western style journalism in China was Wong Shing alias 黃勝 Wong Pin Po. Like Ho Fuk Tong and Wong T'ao, he was closely associated with Dr. Legge for a number of years. Wong Shing was a native of Heung Shan District near Macao and was in the first class of the Morrison Educational Society School. The school's principal, the Rev. Samuel Robbins Brown, took Wong Shing with three other students for advanced study in the United States in 1846. Wong Shing's health broke down and he had to return to Hong Kong after two years in America. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1971 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g 114 CARL T. SMITH 19 C.O. Series 129-78, No. 113, 24 Aug., 1860. 20 Tam Achoy was survived by five sons: Tam Kung Ping alias Tam Ping Kai, died 1887 at Canton, Tam Mo Seen, Tam Yun Yeen, Tam Kee Chun, and Tam Lin Tai. The latter had been adopted by Achoy's fourth wife in 1865. 21 Tang Aluk was survived by a daughter, the wife of Hu Yu Chan; a son Tang Tung Shang alias Tang Pak Shan, died 1899; and a grandson Tang Yeung Mau, the only son of Tang Shau Shan alias Tang Kau Chun. Some of the court suits revolved around whether the deceased son Tang Shay Shan was a natural or an adopted son of Tang Aluk. The family retained much of its real estate holdings up to the present. 22 C.O. Series 131-2. 23 The China Review, Vol. 1 (1872) p. 171. 24 K. G. Tregonning, Under Chartered Company Rule (Borneo 1881-1946) (Singapore, 1958) Chap. 1. 25 The China Mail, 23 July, 1891. 26 Ibid., 17 Oct., 1861. 27 For details on the Chiu (Hsü) family see: Hsü Jun, (Chronological Autobiography of Hsü Jun), #M. #****†# (1927). 28 See my article "The Chinese Settlement of British Hong Kong", Chung Chi Bulletin, No. 48 (May, 1970), pp. 30-31. 29 For notice of Cheung Achew see Chung Chí Bulletin, No. 45 (Dec., 1968) p. 11. 30 The China Mail, 9 Dec., 1858. 31 Ibid., 19 Dec., 1871; 7 Feb., 1872. 32 The Daily Press, 4 Nov., 1868. 33 Li Chin-wei, editor (A History of Hong Kong, 1848-1948) £34. điều (Hong Kong, 1949), p. 271. 34 The Daily Press, 23 April, 1880. 35 Archives of the London Missionary Society, London, South China, Box 8, 23 Sept., 1876. 36 C.O. Series 133-5. 37 The name of Ho Tsin Shin does appear on a list of contributors to the Berlin Missionary Society Chinese Vernacular School Fund in 1868 and 1869, 38 For reference to these various aspects of the career of Ho Shan Chee see The Daily Press 24 July, 1868, 20 Sept., 1878, The China Mail 28 Feb., 1882. 39 For details of the career of Ho Kwan Shan see The Daily Press 4 Oct., 1871. 40 The China Mail, 28 Aug., 1891. 41 A biographical sketch of Ho Kai is found in Wu Hsing-lien, (The Prominent Chinese in Hong Kong) AA, SEP^S^ (Hong Kong, 1937). 42 The Hong Kong Telegraph, 3 Sept., 1891. 43 The information on the family of Wu Ting Fang is from the Archives of Presbyterian Missionary Society, New York. The exact relationship is deduced from probable evidence rather than having been directly stated in the sources, At the marriage of Ng Achoy and Ho Amooy, 14 Jan., Page 120 Page 121 ================================================================================ 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 129 But one point needs further elaboration. Fifty-two Chinese were appointed to the Committee between 1891, the year the Committee was put on a proper footing by Lockhart, and 1941, the year of the Japanese invasion and occupation of the Colony. Nearly all, as I have said, were re-appointed to the Committee after their five-year term of office expired, so that the majority continued in office until death or complete decrepitude released them from public service31. A few resigned because of ill-health or because, so one suspects, they suffered severe financial reverses and thus lost standing as successful merchants or businessmen in the community, in the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, and in their district association. The District Watch Ordinance of 1930, which consolidated earlier legislation, said quite simply that 'the Governor may appoint any person to membership of the District Watch Committee (and) such persons shall hold office for such period as the Governor may direct', thus recognising a situation that had arisen: the permanency of the committeemen. On the other hand, those Chinese who served on the committees of the Tung Wah Hospital and the Po Leung Kuk, two very prestigious associations, were in office for one year only and then were replaced at the next election by a new committee: but a Chinese appointed to the District Watch remained in office practically for ever. The Committee became, in other words, a permanent advisory board comprising the richest, most influential, most prestigious and politically powerful Chinese in the Colony; and the Committee always contained the Chinese unofficial members of the two Councils. J. H. Stewart Lockhart, who had also been instrumental in the 1890s in reorganising and strengthening the committees of both the Tung Wah Hospital and the Po Leung Kuk, may be thought of, then, as the main architect of the system of colonial government which matured in Hong Kong in the period 1891-1941. This system brought the interests of European administrators, European businessmen and prominent Chinese into a closer alignment; it tended to reduce conflict. A number of other permanent boards and committees were established in the period after 1890 but although these formed a necessary part of the system they were hardly as crucially important as the District Watch Committee. The Po Leung Kuk Page 130 is missing, directly followed by Page 135 Page 136 ================================================================================ 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 135 4 The first census of the Island in 1841 gave a population of 5,650. In 1844 the population was given as 19,009. See Historical and Statistical Abstract of the Colony of Hong Kong, 1841-1931, Hong Kong, Noronha, 1932. The validity of the first census has been questioned by G. R. Sayer in his Hong Kong: Birth, Adolescence, and Coming of Age, London, Oxford University Press, 1937, p. 104. 5 The China Review, vol. 1, 1872/73, p. 333. 6 Ibid., p. 334. 7 E. J. Eitel, Europe in China, The History of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Kelly and Walsh, 1895, p. 282. The Man Mo Temple stands at the western end of Hollywood Road. It was originally a shrine patronised mostly by fishermen before 1841. For a description of the temple see Charles J. H. Halcombe, The Mystic Flowery Land, London, Luzac and Co., 1896, ch. xxvii. The temple was run by a committee appointed by the Five Districts and the committee used to hold an annual ceremony at Mount Davis for the dead... in celebration of the gods of literature and war: see the Hongkong Government Gazette (henceforth cited as the Gazette), 12 February 1879, p. 52. The properties of the Man Mo Temple were transferred to the Tung Wah Hospital by the Man Mo Temple Ordinance, No. 10 of 1908. Before the committee of the Tung Wah Hospital was organized, the Man Mo Temple Committee appears to have been recognised as representing the opinions of respectable Chinese. 9 J. W. Norton Kyshe, History of the Laws and Courts of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Noronha and Co., 1898, vol. 2, p. 86. See also the reports of the Registrar General for 1866 and 1867 in the Gazette. 9 Ibid., p. 86. 10 In 1867 the police force consisted of 89 Europeans, 377 Indians (chiefly Bombay sepoys) and 132 Chinese, many of whom were employed as marine police. See Eitel, op. cit., pp. 445-6. As late as 1893 there were only two European policemen who could act as proper interpreters and only five who could speak some Chinese. See the Report of the Commission on the Po Leung Kuk, Hong Kong, Noronha and Co., 1893, p. 81. 12 Correspondence on Hong Kong Gambling Houses, London, H.M.S.O., 1869, p. 21. 13 Eitel, op. cit., p. 447. 14 Gazette, 6 January 1872. The Police Commission set up by MacDonnell was not unanimous: broadly it agreed to recommend an Anglo-Chinese police force. The recruitment of Chinese police had been strongly advocated by Dr. Legge, as most likely to bring good understanding between the government and respectable Chinese', G. B. Endacott, History of Hong Kong, London, Oxford University Press, 1958, p. 160. 13 Osbert Chadwick, Reports on the Sanitary Conditions of Hong Kong, London, H.M.S.O., 1882, p. 42. 16 'Registration of Chinese Partners', Hong Kong Sessional Papers (henceforth cited as Sessional Papers), No. 43 of 1901, p. 22. The text reads: 'Head and District Watchmen employed to patrol the streets by day and by night, are to be recommended by the Chinese themselves, because they know whether they are trustworthy or not. If these men, however, should fail to maintain their good character and should be found to be unfit for the post by the Chinese residents of the district to which they belong, they should be dismissed at any time, in order that they may have something to fear'. The translation is clearly a bad one. 17 In 1883, the Registrar General, Frederick Stewart, used the district watchmen to conduct an enquiry into all Hong Kong schools. In the 1897 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1971 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g 136 H. J. LETHBRIDGE census 13 of the 76 Chinese enumerators were district watchmen; in the 1901 census 5 out of 107 were. In the 1906 census the 120 enumerators were shown round the blocks (census sub-divisions) by district watchmen. They also gave help in the 1911 census, and in the 1921 one the bulk of the force was placed at the disposal of the commissioner of census, who wrote 'each Chinese watchman engaged was in charge of two sections; they helped clear up misunderstandings and kept a check on enumerators'. The Committee was thanked on many occasions by government for its public service; it was praised for the help it rendered to the police during the riots which occurred in 1894 during the great epidemic of plague. The Committee did all it could to help its sister organizations the Tung Wah Hospital and Po Leung Kuk. Thus district watchmen were always employed on special duties at the Tung Wah Hospital during outbreaks of plague and the Chinese Public Dispensary Committee used Watchmen to prevent the dumping of bodies in the streets. The Po Leung Kuk's two principal detectives were serving district watchmen at the turn of the century. Co-operation was easy because most members of the District Watch Committee had served or were serving on the committees of the Tung Wah Hospital and Po Leung Kuk. In 1895 head district watchmen were paid $240 a year, assistant head district watchmen $180 and watchmen from $84 to $96. 18 For examples of police corruption in nineteenth century Hong Kong see numerous references in Norton-Kyshe, op. cit. 19 After a distinguished academic career at Edinburgh University, J. H. Stewart Lockhart became a Hong Kong Cadet in 1878; Registrar General in 1887; Colonial Secretary in 1895. In 1902 he was appointed first Civil Commissioner of Weihaiwei and retired from this post in 1921. Among his numerous publications there are several of sinological value. See particularly: 'Contributions to the Folklore of China', China Review, vol. 14, no. 6, pp. 352-353 and vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 37-39; also 'Some Chinese Folk-lore', Folk-lore, vol. 14, 1903, pp. 292-298. Lockhart was local secretary in Hong Kong of the International Folk-lore Society. 20 In 1892 new rules were drawn up under Ordinance No. 13 of 1888, with the advice of the Committee, for the regulation and guidance of the watchmen. 'Copies of these rules have been distributed among the contributors of the District Watchmen's Fund, by whom more interest seems to be evinced in and more assistance asked from the force than formerly': See Report of the Registrar General for 1892. Lockhart also persuaded two Chinese newspapers—the Tsun Wan Yat Po and the Wai San Yat Po—to publish weekly lists of cases brought before the magistrate by the District watchmen for the information of subscribers to the District Watchmen's Fund. Lockhart realised that publicity was good for the Committee: he saw that they got it. The report of the Registrar General/Secretary for Chinese Affairs always contained a section on the District Watch and news about members was given: deaths, resignations, appointments, etc. 21 Wei Yuk (1849-1921) was the son of Wei Kwong, compradore to the Chartered Mercantile Bank of India, London and China. He was educated at the Government Central School in Hong Kong and in 1867, at the age of 18, became a pupil at the Leicester Stoneygate School and in 1868 of the Dollar Institution, Scotland. He returned to Hong Kong in 1872 to become assistant compradore in the Chartered Mercantile Bank. He succeeded his father on the latter's death in 1879. Wei Yuk married the eldest daughter of Wong Shing (Huang Shêng). He was the fourth Chinese to be appointed to the Legislative Council, the other three being Ng Choy (Wu Ting-fang), Wong Shing and Ho Kai. He was knighted in 1919. During his public career he served on all the commissions appointed by government to inquire into matters affecting the Chinese. Ho Fook (1863-1926) was the younger half-brother of Sir Robert Ho Tung, reputed ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1971 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g 140 H. J. LETHBRIDGE 44 Sir Robert Ho Tung was never a member of the District Watch Committee although he was at one time chairman of the Tung Wah Hospital Committee. Sir Robert's brothers—Ho Fook and Ho Kom Tong—and other relatives became members of the Committee. 45 Sir Chau Tsun-nin, who served on the Committee, was the son of Chau Siu-ki, a prominent financier and member of the Committee until his death. Chau Siu-ki (1863-1925) was killed in the collapse of a house during an abnormally heavy rainstorm. 46 I think one may conclude that by the time the Committee met the Registrar General most of the problems to be discussed had been thrashed over previously, most likely at the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce or at the Chinese Club, both located in Connaught Road. There was also a Compradores' Club. 47 For an account of Ho Kai's involvement in Chinese politics see Harold Z. Schiffrin, "The Enigma of Sun Yat-sen", in M. C. Wright, ed., op. cit., pp. 246 ff. 48 The Hong Kong Chinese General Chamber of Commerce was in close touch with the Canton Chamber of Commerce and members flitted between one and the other. Many members of the District Watch Committee had offices and businesses in Canton and invested heavily in Kwangtung enterprises. Many bought land. 49 Ho Kai, however, believed in the 'Open Door' policy in China, which he thought would be beneficial to both China, Hong Kong and the West. See the letter sent to Lord Charles Beresford in Beresford's book, The Break-up of China, London, Harper and Brothers, 1899, pp. 216-233. 50 This is made clear, I feel, by a perusal of the commissions of enquiry into the workings of the Po Leung Kuk and the Tung Wah Hospital. In both cases Ho Kai worked in concert with Lockhart to protect the interests of the Chinese community. Ho Kai was no yes-man. On the other hand, he did use his inside knowledge of government activities to line his own pockets. Endacott states that Ho Kai and his cronies were suspected of spreading rumours about British intentions in the New Territories before the takeover in order to reduce land prices. Endacott, op. cit., p. 263. See also Despatches and other papers relating to the Extension of the Colony of Hong Kong, Sessional Papers, No. 32 of 1899, p. 20. 51 For example, Ho Fook, Chau Siu-ki and Wei Yuk all died in office. 52 This board was set up to oversee the working of the managing committee and to see that continuity in policy was maintained. 53 See note 52. An important function of the Advisory Board was to see that money was spent wisely. 54 The Committee controlled fee-paying cemeteries at Aberdeen and Tsun Wan. Burial was reserved for Chinese who had been permanently resident in the Colony. 55 This Committee, like the others listed above, was under the chairmanship of the Secretary for Chinese Affairs. Chinese temples were controlled, in accordance with Ordinance No. 7 of 1928, by this Committee. 56 The Chinese Recreation Ground was an open space situated off Hollywood Road. Funds derived from the rents of stalls in both Hollywood Road and the Yaumati Public Square in Kowloon. 57 Before 1941 there were 9 Chinese Public Dispensaries controlled and maintained by a committee under the chairmanship of the Secretary for Chinese Affairs. They were originally established to help combat plague. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1971 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g 200 NOTES AND QUERIES ains in Kiang-Si, the charcoal burners constitute the population of almost all the villages. The houses of these landowners may be at once recognised by the vast piles of charcoal in front of them.' ** Gray may be right in implying that charcoal was in great demand for domestic use at the time he wrote, but observation and enquiries in New Territories' villages show that wood has long been in general use at the kitchen stove and even in the portable earthenware stoves known as fung lo () in this area. The observant traveller on the local hills can still find evidence of charcoal burning in the past, but first-hand information is now hard to come by. This note only deals with a few areas where I am familiar with the older local people. On Lamma, for instance, an old person born in Yung Shue Long Village about 1887 recalls that there were a lot of charcoal burners on the island when she was a girl, mostly outsiders who employed the village women and girls to carry the charcoal from the kilns to the waiting junks or to barges towed by steamboats. These Lamma kilns were mostly situated in the more wooded south of the island, at the village localities of Mau Tat, Yung Shue Ha and Tung O. Too young to help, she followed her mother and her aunt there from their village in the northern part of Lamma. Along with other villagers, they were paid 2 cents (sin) a day for the work. On the south coast of Lantau Island an old villager of Tong Fuk, born in 1889, recalled, as a boy, having seen charcoal burners at work near his village and on the hills above. He said that (as on Lamma) these were not local people. A few miles east, there are pits on the hills above the Pui O group of villages; but though linked by village tradition with charcoal burning, the oldest men said they had not been worked in their lifetime. In the first few decades of this century charcoal burners were still to be seen on the hills behind north-west Kowloon, near the present Shek Lei Pui reservoir, formerly the site of a Hakka farming village of that name removed for the water scheme in 1923. An old village woman from Cheung Sha Wan, born 1892, recalls seeing them there as a young girl when grass cutting in the area. A second woman who married into another of the Cheung ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1971 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g 208 Photograph No. 2. NOTES AND QUERIES Tying on the red cloth with red string. Photograph No. 3. Adding the gilt leaves. Photograph No. 4. Before writing every sentence the pen had to be passed over the lighted incense and candles with a suitable incantation. This was omitted from the previous ceremony. The cockerel to be used is on the ground, tied to the table leg. Photograph No. 5. General view of the bamboos after all preparations were made. The left utensil contained kuk (unhusked rice or padi) the right one mai (milled rice). Photograph No. 6. Close-up of the left set of bamboos. A fan was added; this was not seen at Pak Wai. Photograph No. 7. Close-up of right set of bamboos. The pen used for writing the characters is added here; also not done at Pak Wai. Photograph No. 8. Getting ready for the ceremony proper after the bamboos were prepared and placed. Photograph No. 9. Assistant in the background posting a letter on the Chi Tong* entrance. This was not done at Pak Wai. Photograph No. 10. Close-up of the letter to the ancestors of the Tsui clan informing them of the date and time road work would commence behind the Chi Tong. Photograph No. 11. Assistant renewing the lighted candles. These were kept burning from beginning to end, and renewed as required. Photograph No. 12. Geomancer praying to the ancestors of the Tsui family and informing them of proposed road works. Ancestral hall, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1971 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g 239 RAINBIRD, S. W. O'C. - RASSIM, Mrs. E. RAYNE, R. N. - REAR, John REDFERN, O'Donnell S. REES, R. E. REES. W. H + RICHARDS, Mrs. Patricia RIDE, Sir Lindsay* RIDE, Lady* RIGBY, Lady ROBERTSON, Dr. David G. ROBERTSON, Mrs. David G. ROBERTSON, Prof. Jean M. + Room 466 Establishment Branch, Colonial Secretariat, H.K. 101 Holland Road, Hove 2, Sussex, England. c/o Chung Chi College, C.U.H.K., Shatin, N.T. c/o Dept. of Law, University of Hong Kong, H.K. 154-158 Caine Road, H.K. 101 Tregunter Mansions, Old Peak Road, H.K. 4 Coombe Apartments, 15 Coombe Road, H.K. 67 Mount Nicholson Gap, H.K. 23A Tintagel House, Stanley Fort, BFPO 1. Villa Monte Rosa, Block E2, 11th Floor, 41A Stubbs Road, H.K. As above. 50 Magazine Gap Road, H.K. 18B, Headland Road, H.K. As above. c/o Dept. of Social Studies, University of Hong Kong, H.K. ROBERTSON, Mrs. W. G. Park Mansions, 4 Mile Taipo Road, 1st fl., N.T. ROBINSON, Prof. K. E.* - + RÕE, Capt. J. S. ROGERS, Rev. D. L. - ROTHE, U.⭑ ROY, Dr. A. T.- RUMJAHN, S. M. RUST, H. A. + RUTTONJEE, Hon. D. RYDINGS, H. A. SALMON, Andrew + + N.T. c/o The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulum, H.K. c/o Caldbeck Macgregor & Co., Ltd., P.O. Box 350, H.K. Union Church, Kennedy Road, H.K. Ernst-Albers-Str. 2, 2 Hamburg-Wandsbek, Germany. c/o Chung Chi College, C.U.H.K., Shatin, N.T. P. O. Box 448, H.K. c/o Palmer & Turner, Prince's Building, 19th Floor, H.K. E-7, Woodland Heights, 2 Wongneichong Gap Road, H.K. c/o The Library, University of Hong Kong, H.K. Superintendent's Qtr. H.M.P. Tong Fuk, Lantao, N.T. * 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-1973 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r 116 SUNG HOK-P'ANG Tang Foo's own grave is well known, as it was mentioned in the "To Shue Tsap Shing" (4) a large encyclopaedia of 10,000 volumes written in the 4th year of Yung Ching (£) A.D. 1726 of Tsing dynasty, by order of the Emperor. The volume which refers to the grave is known "Chik Fong Tin” (*) and it says, "Tang Foo's grave is in Ab Kai 鄧符墓在横洲丫髻山 Shaan, Wang Chau". Even if it is accepted that Tang Foo was the pioneer in settling at Kam Tin, or Kwai Kok Shaan as it was then called, there is very conflicting evidence as to when he actually went there. Although his grave-stone records that he passed the Tsun Sz (±) degree, Government civil examination in the 2nd year of Sung Ning (##) A.D. 1103 of Sung dynasty, there is no record of it in the lists of people who passed the Government examinations (Suen Kui Piu ***), in the annals of Canton, Kwong Chau Foo Chi (✯✯), Tung Kwoon, Tung Koon Yuen Chi (4) or San On, San On Yuen Chi (##) which points to the fact that Tang Foo passed his examinations in Kiangsi before coming to Kwang-tung. Each of the three books mentioned above has a biography of Tang Foo. On the other hand, it is known that after Tang Foo had held the office of district magistrate of Yueng Ch'un (1★-) district and had been promoted to "Naam Hung Sui" ( ) he retired to live in Kwai Kok Shaan, and built a famous school there called Lik Ying Tsai () which was mentioned among “The hundred poems of Po On (Po On Paak Wing (*)" by Yung Ping(), where it was stated that during Sung Ling time A.D. 1102-1106 Tang Foo lived in Kwai Kok Shaan and founded a school called Lik Ying Tsaai (A) and kept a lot of books in the library. This book has unfortunately been lost, and only two poems are still in existence, neither of which deal with the school. Yung Ping was a native of Tung Koon. He was "Tak Tsau Ming Tsun Sz” (*★21) in the 8th year of K’in To ($) A‚D, 1172 of Sung dynasty. Another learned scholar, Fok Wai () of Naam Hoi () district, wrote a long article named Lik Ying Tsaai Kei (4) giving an account of the school. During the reign of Shun Hei ( # ) A.D. 1174-1189 the emperor caused Fok Wai to be admitted to the T'aai Hok (*) (Imperial College) as being a "man possessing the eight virtues." Paat Hang Aff. Only one other scholar... ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1973 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r LEGENDS & STORIES OF THE NEW TERRITORIES: KAM TIN 117 from Kwantung province Wong Chi Tsoi (£*) of Tung Koon district was rewarded with this privilege. The Lik Ying Tsaai had a large library which housed many thousands of books, and outside the North gate of the village Tang Foo built several hostels for the students to live in. He cultivated the surrounding fields, and the income derived from them was used for forming scholarships for poor students. Tang Foo lectured to the scholars himself sometimes, but he also paid learned men to teach regularly. In the 24th year of Ka Hing (✯✯) A.D. 1819 of Ts'ing (†) dynasty when "The History of the San On district" was revised the ruins of the school were still to be seen, but now there is no trace of it left. According to a copy of the family tree belonging to the Ping Shaan (1) branch of the Tang family, the original stone on Tang Foo's grave was replaced in the 45th year of Ka Tsing (†) A.D. 1566 of Ming dynasty, by a man named Tang Shui Faan (†4K) as it was broken and illegible. On the new stone it was said that the date of Tang Foo was not obtainable, but it stated that he lived during the Sung dynasty. In the 33rd year of Hong Hei () A.D. 1694, of Tsing dynasty another stone was erected, and it is this one, that gives the date of Tang Foo passing his Tsun-sz (+) examination to be the 2nd year of Sung Ning ($) of Sung dynasty A.D. 1103, but considering that his great grandson Tang Sin (#) (or Tang Yuen Leung, one of the "five yuens”) is known to have been district officer of Kung Yuen (4) Kiangsi province in the 3rd year of Kin Yim (£ƒ) A.D. 1129 of Sung dynasty, it is probable that Tang Foo lived a good deal earlier. In fact in the 8th year of Shing Fa (1 ) A.D. 1472 of Ming dynasty the Tang family wrote in their family tree the suggestion that perhaps the 2nd year of Sung Ning () was miswritten for 2nd year of Hei Ning ( ) which would put the date of Tang Foo back to A.D. 1069, a far more possible date. The system of district magistrates in the Sung dynasty was quite different to the system in the modern dynasty of Ts'ing (). When the "Five Dynasties” Ng Toi (£†) A.D. 907-959 began China was in a state of rebellion and disunion. Large armies under their separate generals had to be sent to the various localities to keep order, but far from supporting the Emperor the generals turned the country they were sent to control, into feudatory states, Faan Chan ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1973 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r LEGENDS & STORIES OF THE NEW TERRITORIES: KAM TIN 127 ) 3rd year of T'ong (統) dynasty, by a Buddhist priest named Yuen Chong (圓聰) in the Ts'z Yun monastery (慈雲寺) in Ch'eung On (昌安) city, Shensi (陝西) province, near the Great Wall. This monastery had been built about fifty years previously by the Emperor T'ong Ko Tsung (唐玄宗) for his mother. When the pagoda was being built a wild goose flew against it and was killed, and the monks buried the bird underneath the pagoda and in this way it received its name. It became the custom ever since Shan Lung (神龍) years A.D. 705 & 706 of T'ong dynasty for the Emperor to give a banquet in the monastery called the Kuk Kong Yin (曲江宴) “winding river banquet,” to all the new "Tsun Sz” (進士). Their names were carved on a stone tablet in the pagoda, and it became customary to use the expression “Ngaan T'aap T'ai Ming (雁塔題名) when congratulating successful candidates for the highest government examination. In Tang Lam's time the Tung Kwun people wished to have their own Ngaan Taap pagoda, and Tang Lam provided the money for them to do it. It was built some time during the ten years of Shun Yau (淳祐) A.D. 1241-1251 of Sung dynasty, and it was repaired in the 40th year of Shung Ching (崇禎) A.D. 1637 of Ming dynasty by a Tung Kwun "Tsun Sz” named Kwok Kau Ting (郭九錠). Lam's grave is still to be found in Hon Yee Haang (巷義行) in Tung Kwun district. The children of the four sons of Tang Tsz Ming seem to have left Kam T'in, and their descendants founded families in other villages. Those of Lam are to be found in the village of Lung Kwat Tau (龍骨頭) near Fanling (粉嶺); those of Waai still live in Tai Po Tau (大埔頭) near Tai Po market and Lai Tung (黎洞) near Sha Tau Kok (沙頭角), while Kei's descendants settled in Tung Kwun. But the great grandson of Tsz came back to Kam T'in. His name was Shau Tso (秀祖), he held the military rank of Chung Mo Kau Wai (忠武校尉) and in the Yuen (元) dynasty A.D. 1277 he received the honour of Hin Mo Tsueng Kwan (顯武將軍). He had two great-grandsons, brothers, named Hung Yee (鴻義) and Hung Chi (鴻志). The latter was a son-in-law of Hoh Tik (何狄) the younger brother of Hoh Chan (何真) who ruled Kwangtung (廣東) and Kwangsi (廣西) provinces at the end of the Yuen dynasty. When the Ming dynasty started Hoh Chan gave up his territory to the first Emperor, but later on he became involved in the case of General Leung Kwok Kung (梁國公) Laam Yuk (濫獄)... ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 The Hong Kong Region 129 the Kam Tin and Ping Shan branches of the Tang lineage, mediated by the Tai Po and Yuen Long branches of the same clan.1 The chronic warfare inside Hsin-an and other districts of Kwangtung was perhaps not too well known to the Hong Kong authorities, but was all too plain to the mandarins. The Viceroy of Liang-kuang, commenting on representations from the British about the alleged help given by the provincial military forces to the village bands that were opposing the occupation of the New Territories, wrote: The Governor of Hong Kong suspected that they were regular troops from the fact that they had guns, cannon and uniforms. He was not aware that the villagers of Kwangtung, in their constant fights with each other, are always erecting forts, and use guns and cannon, and wear uniforms. This is a matter of common notoriety.2 The less populated parts of the district do not seem to have experienced trouble on this scale, probably because pressure on the land was less great and there were no large lineages competing for power and struggling to retain or improve their position. However, disputes did occur and are remembered by older villagers. On Lantau, fighting between Shek Pik people and villagers from Sha Lo Wan over a grave has been mentioned to me; relations between Tong Fuk and its neighbour Shui Hau were never very good; and a fight between Pui O villagers from San Tsuen and adjoining Lo Wai took place pre-war over the mining of kaolin in a spot behind the two villages that the Lo Wai people held was disturbing the local feng shui3 It appears that in days when communications were poor and the officials at a distance, such disputes would not always come to the attention of the authorities, even if deaths occurred. This must often have been the case in the 19th century. It was thus not without good reason that the Hsin-an magistrate of 1847, quoted at the beginning of this article, considered that his difficulties were many and real, and that they were not always appreciated as such by his colleagues and superiors. 1 ARDONT, 1921, J2; with some background at J2 of his 1920 Report. 2 Quoted by Groves, p. 63, note 65. Balfour shows 23 Punti villages with outer walls at Plate 16 in JHKBRAS, 10, 1970. Many other villages, including Hakka ones, had lesser defences, as at Pui O (Lo Wai), Lantau, pp. 14-15 above. * Information secured from local elders. Page 130 is missing, directly followed by Page 135 Page 136 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 162 SUNG HOK-PANG beam into a new dragon boat. When it was launched into the water, a strange thing happened. The boat flew up into the air, and immediately a great quantity of treasure, gold, silver and precious stones fell into the boat from the sky. When it was full the boat came down to the water, and the people were able to empty it. Then it flew into the air again, and came down again with fresh supplies of treasure. This happened many times until there were untold riches for the Tangs. A few years later, they chose another lucky day and erected a new beam and the hall was completed and given the name Loi Shing Tong1. It still exists in Shui T'au Village2, on the left-hand side of Hung Shing Kung (plate 20, figure I. H.K.N., VI, Nos. 3 and 4. “Hung Shing Kung,—the oldest temple in old Ch'an T'in.") under the name of Ts'z T'ong Tsai (small ancestral hall).3 Then followed many years of prosperity for Kam T'in until times of trouble came to all the countryside and the family had to abandon the village temporarily on account of bandits. Before leaving Kam T'in, however, they buried there what remained of the treasure. This story was handed down from generation to generation more as legend than true fact. During the Ham Fung4 (咸豐) years, 1851-1861, of Ts'ing dynasty, a man called Tang Paak Luk (鄧伯祿) of Kam Hing Wai (錦慶圍) farmed the land where the treasure was supposed to be buried. One day he sent a labourer, Ch'an A Faat (陳亞發) to work in the particular field, and in the evening Ch'an returned to the farmer's house with a gold rope which he declared he had dug up. Everyone was very pleased at first, but gradually it appeared that bad luck had come with the rope. The farm beasts began to sicken, many died and then the farmer's family became ill. So the rope was re-buried without more ado, and prosperity was at once restored to Tang Paak Luk. Another story is of a very poor farmer who at a different time rented the same ground. One day he dug up a brick that shone brightly in the sun. As he examined it, thinking it must be silver, he carelessly dropped it on his foot, and broke his big toe. Being too poor to pay for a doctor or even to buy curatives, the farmer gave the brick to his wife to break up, and they found that it was without doubt real silver. So the wife was able to buy medicine and consult a doctor with the aid of the brick, but it was not until all the brick 1 Plate 31 at rear of this Volume. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 170 SUNG HOK-PANG Shui T'au village in the Shing Fa years of Ming dynasty, and at the same time, Tang Wan Kuk #Tang Shuk Lun and Tang Kwai Yin started the village of Shui Mei, while Tang Chung, Tang Shue and eight others formed the village Ying Lung Waai near Yuen Long Market. When these villages were built on the advice of “fung shui" men a pagoda was also erected to the west of them, called Man Ch'eung Kok. In the 30th year of To Kwong, A.D. 1850, of Ts'ing dynasty the Tang family seemed to have reached the height of their prosperity. Many of them had passed the highest government examination and a census taken in that year shewed that there were more than eighteen hundred males living, belonging to the family. Not content, the elders consulted with ignorant "fung shui" men as to how to increase their numbers even more. They were advised to pull down the pagoda, to alter the course of the river, making three ponds, and to build a school that would hide part of the river from the view of the village. From that time the family decreased considerably, and many of them regretted having taken the advice of the "fung shui" men. In 1930, however, they repaired the banks of the river and built houses called Ch'eung Ch'un Lei near where the pagoda had stood, and since then the Kam T'in people declare that more male children have been born and family is once again on the increase. [5] During and since the Ming dynasty Kam T'in has been able to boast of many scholarly and notable sons. Tang T'ing Ching who passed the Kui-yan degree in the 7th year of Shing Fat of Ming dynasty, A.D. 1471, of Maan On was appointed to the office of Kau Yue district in Kiangsi province, promoted later to District Magistrate of T'ang Yuen Kwangsi. He was a great friend of Hau Kui, a well-known poet of the New Territories. His poems are included in an anthology named "Ling Naam Chue Yuk" and also in the Record book of San On and among them is a poem written as a farewell to Tang T'ing Ching when he left to take up his new official post. The oldest family tree book of the Tang family of Kam T'in in existence now was compiled by Tang T'ing Ching. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 LEGENDS & STORIES OF THE NEW TERRITORIES 171 Tang Leung Sz passed Kung Shaang degree in the 38th year of Maan Lik♬ of Ming dynasty, A.D. 1610, and held the office of Fan-to. Tang Yue Cheung took his Sau-t'soi✯✯ degree in the 2nd year of Yung Ching of Ts'ing dynasty A.D. 1724 and in the following year became a Lam Shang. In the first year of Kin-lung✯✯ A.D. 1736 he passed Kui Yan, second in the list of successful candidates, but just failed to pass the Wui Shi examination the following year. However, his name was put on the Ming T'ung Pong list and he was appointed as Hok-ching of Tak Hing Chau in Kwangtung province. Tang Yue Cheung's name in the San On Record book is among the “Heung Yin" or "village worthies," and it is said there that:— Tang Yue Cheung was a scholar of a very kind and honest nature. He was very "taan-chik”✯✯ ("to wear the heart upon the sleeve for daws to peck at") and his knowledge of learning was very wide. In all his dealings with his friends he was sincere and faithful, and as a Hok-ching he was very diligent. Once some of his students fell out with the authorities, and found themselves faced with a false accusation, but were too afraid to defend themselves. Tang, however, at once entered into the dispute, and through his clear-headedness kept his students out of trouble. In the 17th year of K'in Lung A.D. 1752 Tang was called to the capital to attend an examination, but he died there, and Fung Shing Sau (a Hon Lam graduate) wrote the epitaph "for his name lives for ever,” to be carved on his grave. Tang Man Wai was the only Tsun-sz come from the New Territories, and his name is recorded in the San On book under the column devoted to hang yee "men of high repute." He was left fatherless at an early age, and had to work with the fishermen and wood-cutters in great poverty, to earn money to support himself and his mother. But all the while he was a scholar at heart and in his spare time he read his books and people said that he could be heard continually humming his lessons on the road, as he carried wood or worked with the fishermen. His uncle Tang Chan Ng, a Lam Shang, helped him, and his success in later years was greatly due to the old man's teaching. In the 14th year of Shun Chi A.D. 1657, Ts'ing dynasty, he passed his Kui Yan degree, but later failed for Tsun Sz and so returned to Kam T'in where he passed twenty years or more, living as a hermit. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 172 SUNG HOK-PANG He then returned to the capital, and stayed in General Ngai's house where he was able to make friends with many famous scholars. He wrote a book named "Yin t’oi san ngai” which had a preface written by Ts'oi Shing Yuen ## Noi Kok Hok Sz a political minister of high rank. Three years later Tang passed his Tsun sz degree, and was appointed district magistrate of Lung Yau Yuen in Chekiang province. Tang Man Wai was of a kind-hearted disposition and some say that through this the wall of T'aai Hong Wai was built. The story goes that when Tang passed his Sau Tsoi degree he was sent to Kwai Shin district, now Wai Yeung, to collect the rent due on cultivated lands, belonging to his family property. While there he came across a young man named Lei Maan Wing * hanging upside down as a punishment. On asking the reason why, Tang learnt that Lei had contracted gambling debts and was unable to pay them. Tang was sorry for the young man, paid all his debts and was able to use his influence in obtaining a military post for him. This happened during the end of the Ming Dynasty. Later on when the Manchus drove out the Mings in the North and the Ming Emperor Wing Lik✯✯ had retreated to Kwangtung, Lei was a colonel under Cheung Ka Yuk ✯ who was fighting against the Manchus. When Cheung was defeated in battle in the 4th year of Shun Chi A.D., 1647 of Ts'ing dynasty, and drowned himself, Lei, who was with him, fled with about a hundred soldiers. Gradually many of Cheung's soldiers were able to rejoin him, and with a strong army he attacked both Tung Kwun ✯✯ and San On ✯* districts. He drove out the Manchus, and made his headquarters in what is now known as the New Territories. One of Lei's camps was situated in the district round K'ei Lun Wai LP'ing Shan A and T'sing Leung Fat Yuen ****. Before the latter, which is a nunnery, was built, the locality had been known as Ying P'oon Tei, "The ground of the camp," and while the building was in progress the workmen dug up many old coffins which were supposed to be those of Lei's soldiers. Among them was found a general's sword, broken in many pieces. Anyone going to Kwun Yam Shaan to visit the Ling Wan monastery would notice half way up Taai Mo Shaan, far above the cultivated land, a stretch of hillside that has been terraced and flattened out in some former time. This is supposed to have been another of Lei's encampments. Lei burned and pillaged, and most of the + ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 LEGENDS & STORIES OF THE NEW TERRITORIES 179 When she reached the great age of seventy-two, she maintained her apartment in the same neat and tidy manner as when she was young. I have the most humble honour to record the above, (Signed) TANG WAI KUI, 26th generation descendant of "the Five Yuens." The most ancient Ancestral Hall to be found in the different villages of Kam T'in is Loi Shing Tong (✯✯✯) (see H.K.N. VII p. 250 and VIII, plate 8).* This hall is in Shui T'au village, and was built for the 11th ancestor, Tang Kwong Yue (). In recent years a tablet was discovered which had been hidden by furniture in one of the rooms for such a long time that its existence was forgotten. It records the date of the building of the hall and can be translated, roughly, as follows:- "Our ancestor Tseung Luk (X) planned to build an ancestral hall for our ancestor Kwong Yue. He was successful and the ancestral tablets have been fixed in the hall from the 40th year of Hong Hei, A.D. 1701, up till now. The building is in ruins, and Shing (*) (myself) and others think that as it was erected by our early fore-fathers, we ought to repair it. Owing to the limited ancestral fund, it is difficult to do this, but I (named Shing) and all my brothers, cousins, uncles and nephews are pleased to subscribe money towards the expense, and even the descendants of the ancestors Shing (*) and Yan (g) are pleased to help. The subscribers are as follows: Yiu Kong (#) subscribed one tael and two mace Sz Taan (BF @), one hundred and fifty taels. Sz Yue (tô) seventy-five taels. Sz Yuk (+), ten taels, Sz Shing (of), two-hundred and fifty taels. K'ei Yuen (M), sixty taels. Sz Tsaan (*), sixty taels. T'ing Suen (), eight taels. Sz Yue ($), sixty taels. Kin Lung, 47th year repaired, and this stone tablet fixed. The virtuous, meritorious descendant Tseung Luk was the one who started this Hall. The virtuous, meritorious descendant Sz Shing was the one who took charge of the work of repairing it.” * See Plate 34 at rear of this Volume. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 LEGENDS & STORIES OF THE NEW TERRITORIES 181 It is an ancient custom in China when a man passes a Government degree examination or is appointed as a Government official, for him to have his new official title carved on a wooden tablet and hung in the Hall of his ancestors. By this means the good news is reported to the ancestors that their descendant has become a man of rank, and at the same time an example is set to future generations to encourage them to do their best to rise to the same honour, as the tablet is left hanging in the hall permanently. There are many of these title-tablets hung in Sz Shing Tong, put there not only by Kam T'in men, but by other descendants of the Tang family who have sent their tablets from places far away, where they have gone to live. The oldest among them is the "Man Fui” or Kui Yan degree put there by Tang Ting Ching who passed it in the 7th year of Shing Fa, A.D. 1471. The most highly honoured title-tablets are the two from Tang Yung Keng from Tung Kwun district. He passed his Kui Yan degree in the 3rd year of Tung Chi, A.D. 1864 and became "Hon Lam Yuen Shue Kat Sz" (H.K.N. VIII, p. 110) in the 10th year of T’ung Chi, A.D. 1871. He held the office of On Ch'aat Sz (Provincial Judge) of Kiangsu province, and in 1900 during the Boxer trouble he was appointed by Lei Hung Cheung, the Prime Minister and then Viceroy of Kwangtung and Kwangsi provinces, to be the Superintendent of volunteers in Kwangtung. Tang Ts'ing Lok's eldest son, Tang Wan Kuk was a very rich man, and he owned a lot of cultivated land in San On District. During his time there were twenty-eight Sau Ts'oi (B.A.'s) and nine very rich men all members of his family and living in the same street where his house was situated in Shui Mei village. His house was called Kam Ts'un Tong "ornamental stream hall"; it has long since been destroyed and a vegetable garden is on the site of where it once existed, but the remains of a large stone gateway can still be seen (plate 20). Tang Wan Kuk owned a large library in this house, and a fine stone fish-tank, made of pink coloured stone, 2 Chinese feet high, 14 wide and 24 long. (Plate 19). Two scholars of the Tang Family have written inscriptions about this tank, speaking very highly of it, but it now lies in a destroyed school building in Shui T’au village, and no-one cares about it. The dates of Tang Wan Kuk's birth and death are not recorded, but we know that his grave, which is in Noh Mai Ham about seven li from Kam T'in was made before the 8th year of Ching ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 LIFE MEMBERS: LIU, D. H. LO, T. S. LOSEBY, Miss Patricia LUK, George P. C. LUM, Miss Ada MacKENZIE, John McCRARY, M. McKEIRNAN, Rev. Michael J., M.M. NICHOLS, E. H. NORONHA, J. E. OGDEN, B. J. N. OU, Miss G. PAIN, J. H. PICCUS, R. P. POLAND, T. D. RAYNER, Mrs. C. M. RIDE, Sir Lindsay, C.B.E. RIDE, Lady L. ROGERS, Rev. D. RUST, H. A. RYDINGS, H. A., M.B.E. SEED, Brian SELLETT, G. SERSALE, Miss Sheila SMITH, Leslie, O.B.E. SPOONER, M. G. 305, Prince Edward Road, Flat 5-D, Kowloon. c/o Lo & Lo, Jardine House, 7th floor, H.K. c/o Russ & Co., 523/5 Gloucester Building, 5th floor, H.K. B-38, Po Shan Mansions, No. 10, Po Shan Road, H.K. 142, Boundary Street, Kowloon. Davie, Boag & Co. Ltd., Jardine House, H.K. Flat 6A, United Mansions, 7, Shiu Fai Terrace, H.K. Maryknoll Fathers, Tung Tao Tsuen, Kowloon. 11, Queen's Gardens, Old Peak Road, H.K. 8, Hereford Road, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon. c/o The Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corp., P.O. Box 64, H.K. c/o French Consulate General, P.O. Box 13, H.K. Connaught Centre, 35th floor, H.K. ITT Far East & Pacific Inc., G.P.O. Box 15349, H.K. Butterfield & Swire (HK) Ltd., Union House, H.K. Dept. of History, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, H.K. Bauhinia Garden, 34, Chung Hom Kok Road, Stanley, H.K. Bauhinia Garden, 34, Chung Hom Kok Road, Stanley, H.K. Union Church, Kennedy Road, H.K. Palmer & Turner, Prince's Building, 19th floor, H.K. The Library, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, H.K. c/o Diocesan Boys' School, Mongkok, Kowloon. "Pinecrest", N.K.L. 3543, Tai Po Road, Kowloon. 11A, Cameron House, 40 Magazine Gap Road, H.K. 813, Caritas House, 2 Caine Road, H.K. The Registry, University of Hong Kong, H.K. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1975 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j0995146d MERCHANT ORGANISATIONS IN IMPERIAL CHINA 33 buffeted the Chinese state, the need for social services grew rapidly. In the urban areas, merchants organised themselves in new groups with the specific purpose of offering relief and good works. The new organisation was known as a shan-tang charitable hall or hospital. These charitable halls became popular first in the area around Shanghai, where a large number of them were founded during the 1850's and 1860's. From about 1870, they were imitated in Canton and Hong Kong. According to the nineteenth century scholar-official, Feng Kuei-fen, the concept of charitable halls as permanent establishments of private social welfare dated back to the Shang and Chou dynasties.13 Until the mid-nineteenth century, only Shanghai had a few in existence. One traced its origin to 1374 while another, a centre catering to orphaned children, dated back to 1710.14 In Canton there was no charitable hall until 1870, when the Ai-yü shan-t'ang was established by a group of merchants. Its prospectus specifically stated that it was modelled after P'u-yü of Shanghai.15 At about the same time, merchants in Hong Kong, with the local government support, initiated a hospital, the Tung Wah Hospital, to offer Chinese style medical treatment to the poor. Its services were later expanded into famine relief and it became the major centre receiving contributions from overseas Chinese. By 1900, eight more charitable halls were built in Canton to form the "Nine Great Charitable Halls" of Canton (Chiu-ta shan-t'ang).16 In Hong Kong, one other major merchant charitable hall was opened in 1882. This was called the Po Leung Kuk (Pao-liang chu) or the "Society for the Protection of Women and Girls."18 Other communities followed the pattern. The format of the two Hong Kong organisations was particularly favoured by the overseas Chinese who retained or changed slightly the names Tung Wah Hospital and Po Leung Kuk throughout Southeast Asia.20 Merchants as Community Leaders The rise of charitable halls in urban settings meant that merchants had assumed a leadership role which in other times had been held only by the scholar-gentry members. Down to 1949, the latter maintained their commanding position in the villages and small towns. But in the large commercial centres like Canton and Soochow, even though there were no lack of upper gentry members, the merchants took over the lead in providing social services. The ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1975 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j0995146d MERCHANT ORGANISATIONS IN IMPERIAL CHINA 35 buildings and roads destroyed during the Taiping Rebellion. Collaboration of this sort gave these merchant leaders a greater voice over taxation and other local public affairs.23 The same guild leaders joined charitable organisations because their larger numbers offered them a wider base of support. As the merchants assumed a leadership role in providing social services and welfare, they gradually took over responsibilities and privileges which went along with their work. Because permanent charitable organisations could cut across guilds and sometimes Landsmannschaften, they claimed that their leadership was based on community-wide support. And since they were merchants, they should be identified as merchant leaders to whom matters affecting the merchants would be referred. Moreover, these merchants were elites in their own communities, and were regularly referred to as "titled merchants” (shen-shang). Even as individuals, they had some political influence with the local officials. But unless they had begun as gentry or officials, such influence rested on no legitimate basis. When they organised themselves in institutions which had a communal purpose, they quickly used them to claim legitimate leadership. This was what happened by the late nineteenth century. In Hong Kong, the board of directors of the Tung Wah Hospital quickly gained the right to present petitions to the Hong Kong government on all matters related to the Chinese community. Institutionally, the hospital was put under the jurisdiction of the Registrar General, after 1913 styled the Secretary for Chinese Affairs, who also served as its patron. By the early 1880's, the board opened up another channel when the Governor-general's Office in Canton began to correspond with it. There is some indication that the directors acted as a kind of information centre and advisory board for the Governor-general on matters involving the overseas Chinese.24 To this day, a seat on the board of directors of either the Tung Wah Hospital or the Po Leung Kuk still represents the government's recognition of each occupier's leadership status. In Canton, charitable organisations, too, quickly became a regular channel of communication between the government and the merchants. In early 1886, when news of the San Francisco race riots against Chinese workers reached Canton and Hong Kong, the Chinese government wrote to the directors of the Ai-yü shan-t’ang ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1975 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j0995146d MERCHANT ORGANISATIONS IN IMPERIAL CHINA 41 5 Ho Ping-ti, "Salient Aspects of China's Heritage," in Ping-ti Ho and Tang Tsou, eds., China in Crisis (Chicago, 1968), I. 1:34-35; Ho Ping-ti, Hui-kuan shih-lun, pp. 33-34, 37-40. 6 See John Fincher's article on provincialism in Mary C. Wright, ed. China in Revolution: The First Phase, 1900-1913 (New Haven, 1968). 7 Ezra F. Vogel and Tamako Yagai, “Japanese Studies of Chinese Guilds," unpublished paper delivered at the Seminar on Problems of Micro-Organs in Chinese Society, 1963; Peter J. Golas, "Early Ch'ing Gilds,” unpublished paper delivered at the Conference on Urban Society in Traditional China, 1968. 8 Ch'üan Han-sheng, Hang-hui chih-tu, pp. 99-101; Peng Chang, “Distribution of Provincial Merchant Groups in China, 1842-1911," (unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Washington, Seattle, 1958), pp. 51-55. 9 The others were from (1) Chihli, (2) Shantung, (3) Nanking, (4) Wusih and (5) the Shansi bankers. See A. M. Kotenev, Shanghai: Its Mixed Court and Council (Shanghai, 1925), p. 253 n. 10 Lai Lien-san, Hsiang-kang chih-lüeh (A brief account of Hong Kong) (Hong Kong, 1931), 115-17 11 For a detailed account, see Fang Teng, "Yü Hsia-ch'ing lun," (On Yu Hsia-ch'ing) in Tsa-chih Yüeh-k'an (Monthly miscellany), 12.2:46-51 (Nov. 1943); 12.3:62-67 (Dec. 1943); 12.4:59-64 (Jan. 1944). 12 P'eng Tse-i, "Shih-chiu shih-chi hou-ch'i Chung-kuo ch'eng-shih shou-kung-yeh shang-yeh hsing-hui ti chung-chien ho tso-yung" (The revival and function of urban handicraft and commercial organizations in late nineteenth century China), Li-shih yen-chiu (Historical studies) 1:71-102 (1965). 13 T'ung-chih Shang-hai hsien-chih (Gazetteer of the Shanghai County for the T'ung-chih reign), ed. Yü Yueh (n.p., 1871), 2:21-28. 14 Ibid. 15 Nan-hai hsien-chih (Gazetteer of the Nan-hai County), eds. Chang Feng-chieh, et al. (n.p., 1910), 6:106-13. 16 Sixtieth Anniversary of the Tungwah Hospital: A Commemorative Issue (Hong Kong, 1930). 17 They were Ai-yü, Kuang-chi, Kuang-jen, Ch'ung-cheng, Shu-shan, Ming-shan, Hui-hsing, Fang-pien, Jun-shen. 18 "Reports of the Special Committee appointed by H.E. Sir William Robinson, KCMG, to investigate and report on certain points connected with the Bills for the Incorporation of the Po Leung Kuk, a Society for the Protection of Women and Girls" (Hong Kong, 1893). 19 E.g. see Hsiang-shan hsien-chih hsü-pien (A continuation of the Gazetteer of the Hsiang-shan County), ed. Li Shih-ch'in (n.p., 1923), 4:18a-20b, in which it is stated that a number were founded during the Kuang-hsü reign (1875-1908). 20 Song Ong Siong. One Hundred Years' History of the Chinese in Singapore (Singapore, 1967), pp. 277, 309, 424, 432; George W. Skinner, Leadership and Power in the Chinese Community of Thailand (Ithaca, 1958), pp. 2-13. 21 Nan-hai hsien-chih, 6:10b. 22 Shang-hai hsien hsü-chih (A continuation of the Gazetteer of the Shanghai County), ed. Yao Wen-nan (Shanghai, 1918), 2:38a. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1975 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j0995146d NOTES AND QUERIES 323 to the government for a lot on which to build a school. In granting the lot for charitable and educational purposes, it was stipulated that "the school should be built on that portion of the ground furthest away from the front of the native temple which is opposite. The villagers have asked that no houses be erected immediately fronting the temple, but they could not object to a playground. The latter should be fenced around.” (C.S.O. No. 700 of 1885) In 1898, the Roman Catholic Church bought a large piece of land behind the village for a church and a school. The Canossian Sisters, however, already had two lots on Bulkely Street in 1894 where they conducted a school (No. 59 & 60). (c) The Kwun Yam (††) and Pak Tai (†) temples. An old memorial board in the Kwun Yam Temple dated 1873-74 lists eleven individuals or shops who may tentatively be identified as the management committee.* I can only identify one, Li Shing Fat, listed as a rate-payer in 1875 and possibly as Lee A Fat on the 1867 squatter licence list. A Hop Shing shop is listed, and it is possible that the owner was Chan Hop Shing who appears on the 1873 rates list or Chang Hop Shing of the 1867 squatter list. Another possible identification might be the Kwong Lung shop with the Kwong "Leong" grocer in the 1884 Rate. In 1896 the Temple Committee applied for the grant of a Crown Lease for the lot on which the building stood. It was noted that "This Temple is a public temple, owned by the committee of Hung Hom. A notice was posted at Hung Hom on the 23rd (March, 1886) saying that anyone who objected to the issue of the proposed lease should report to the Registrar General within ten days. No communication has been made on the subject.... therefore recommend the issue of the lease." (C.S.O. No. 704 of 1896). In consequence, a lease was granted to Chung Kam Fuk, Chan Ying Cheung, and Ching Ki, Trustees. Of these, Chan Ying Cheung was a large property owner at Hung Hom who was also a wealthy contractor in Hong Kong. Upon his death, his will left his Hung Hom property to his sons. The two named temples date from this early period and have survived: one of them in its original location and another on a new *The names are listed as follows: 福隆號,兴有容,新順扣,勝扣廠,廣隆號,李富利,陳日新,怡興行,廣勝同,合勝號,李勝發。The board carries the large characters 法雨同沾and is dated 同治甲戌年仲春吉旦 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q 168 DAVID FAURE and others from Sai Kung over the mountains past Mau Ping and Wong Chuk Shan to Siu Lek Yuen and the Shatin area. To the north, there were ferries from Kei Ling Ha to Tai Po Market.21 Sai Kung was therefore conveniently located in the centre of local trade routes to Tai Po, Kowloon, Shatin and via Hang Hau, also Shaukiwan. It was an ideal location for a market in the region. Mrs. Kong Lei San Kiu, who married into Lung Mei Village, used to farm, raise pigs, and cut firewood. When a pig had been fattened to a hundred catties, she carried it into Sai Kung with some assistance, and sold it to the butchers. Sometimes she carried firewood into Kowloon, and sometimes into Sai Kung. If she carried it to Sai Kung, she sold it to shops which in turn sold it to the boat people. She would buy oil, salt, and sundries to take back to the village.22 Many other villagers, like Mrs. Kong, also sold pigs and firewood in the markets in order to buy daily necessities. The fishermen also came to Sai Kung, but many did not have to come personally for there was a wide collecting network working for the shops. Mr. Chan Kei Shang of Yim Tin Tsai, who used to work in the two teams of fishing boats known as the “ku-tsai” in the village, used to salt his fish and send them by the ferries to Sai Kung. These ferries were operated by Hakka people from Sai Kung Market, and they sold the salt fish for the fishermen. For some time, Mr. Chan Shau of Pak Tam Au worked on a Mr. Kong's boat selling rice, oil, salt, and biscuits to the boat people. Fish-mongers with their own boats also came from Tai Po and Kowloon, and collected fish directly from the fishermen.23 Villagers obtained their supplies on credit. Nam Shan villagers, for instance, shopped regularly at Kwong Tak Lung in Sai Kung Market, and they were given credit for such daily necessities as rice and sugar. They paid for their supplies by selling grass to the shop, which was used as fuel. Piglets were also obtained from the shops on credit, and when fattened, the pigs were re-sold back to the shops. Fishermen also relied on credit for their supplies. Mr. Cheung Ming Shing from Leung Shuen Wan purchased his fishing equipment from Saam T'aai, and his food supply from Saam Shing, both of Sai Kung Market. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q THE TEOCHIU: ETHNICITY IN URBAN HONG KONG 45 Hong Kong can now be considered rural or non-urban given current development and planning in the New Territories centering on three New Towns (Tsuen Wan, Tuen Mun and Sha Tin). This is not to say that there are no differences in scale or social organization between villages or small market towns in the New Territories and Mongkok, the area of highest population density in Hong Kong, but rather that these differences can no longer be usefully conceptualized as corresponding to urban and rural social systems. Some of these differences appear to be significant in influencing the nature of ethnicity, and in particular interethnic rivalry and competition. Blake's study of Sai Kung, a market town in the New Territories, indicates that the formation of ethnic categories is a process in which "powerful men struggle for the land and status positions in the emerging organization of the market” [Blake, 1975:233]. Ethnic groups in Sai Kung are closely identified with particular ecological niches in the local area. For example, Tanka [Cantonese] fishermen do deep sea fishing while "Hoklo" Hoi Luk Fung fishermen are restricted to less lucrative shallow fishing. Blake found that inter-ethnic dynamics are largely centered upon these traditional niches and that immigrant Chinese have had to negotiate their ethnic identity with the traditionally dominant ethnic group in the local area, the Hakka. The patterns of interethnic dynamics that Blake describes for Sai Kung are very different from those in the housing estates I studied. Apparently much of the dynamics of interethnic relationships in small market towns and villages in the New Territories are related to two factors: * (1) Competition over access and ownership of land and local markets between traditional lineage groups and the immigrant population, and between different ethnic groups. (2) Competition over control of formal political positions within the locality, such as village representative and membership of * These generalizations are based upon Blake's study and a paper read to the Centre of Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong, by Michael Palmer in March 1977. Page 60 Page 61 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q 58 DOUGLAS W. SPARKS The study of relationships between Teochiu and other ethnic groups within the estate was obviously of relevance to my research. I became particularly interested in relationships between the Teochiu and Hoi Luk Fung, that is, people from two districts in Kwangtung directly south of Teochiu along the coast (海豐 and 陸豐). Hoi Luk Fung persons are the most similar to Teochiu among Chinese ethnic groups in Hong Kong in language, culture, and historical origins. It was initially perplexing that Teochiu in the housing estate disliked Hoi Luk Fung more intensely than any other ethnic group, and I very quickly became aware of sharp cognitive and interactional boundaries between the two groups. With increasing knowledge of northeastern Kwangtung, the area from which these people migrated, and of cognitive and social divisions within the estate, people from the border area between Hoi Luk Fung and Teochiu became an enigmatic social puzzle to me. These people are from an area called Kap Jih (P7), and there exists among Teochiu within the estate considerable variation and confusion as to the ethnic identity of these people. The confusion, of course, fuelled my interest and led to more questions and my eventual ability to view the categorization of Kap Jih in a more fluid and flexible manner, as did the Teochiu themselves. The resettlement estate is composed of about 67,000 residents, all of whom were resettled from squatter settlements into densely populated 16-storey blocks. Most of the residents have lived in this estate since it was constructed ten years ago, and many of them had lived in squatter settlements for many years prior to resettlement. Thus, my research did not focus upon problems of resettlement nor upon the adaptation of recent immigrants to an urban, industrial social setting. People living in the estate function within dense social networks which include relatives and friends within the estate, work colleagues, and friends and relatives living in other areas of Hong Kong. This is particularly true among the Teochiu segment of the housing estate population. Many Chinese ethnic groups are found within the estate. Housing Authority officials managing the estate do not have figures categorizing residents of this estate by ethnic group, but according to information from residents themselves, Cantonese are the largest and Teochiu the second largest ethnic group. According to Teochiu 1 A more detailed description of the ecology of the housing estate appears in my dissertation, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q ETHNICITY IN A HOUSING ESTATE IN HONG KONG 63 I studied Village 10 is a central point on the map. It is 8 li (Chinese mile, about one third of a western mile) from this village to Village 6 on the ocean; 10 li to Village 12; 20 li to Village 15; and 80 li to Village 17. It is 60 li from Village 1 to the town of Kap Jib and 60 li from Village 14 to the town of Luk Fung. These distances are only approximate in that they were supplied by informants. The entire area is very small and densely populated. Many of these former villagers had friends and relatives in nearby villages and had traveled throughout the area under consideration. The historical origins of Teochiu and Hoi Luk Fung, changes in administrative structure in the area and relationships between border villages are discussed in the following section. Historical Origins and Relationships Histories of districts and prefectures in China are confusing, given the many changes in administrative boundaries and names. This article will not be concerned with the overall history of Teochiu nor with the frequent changes in boundaries. The historical origins of the Teochiu people will be briefly outlined as well as the establishment of and administrative changes in Hui Lai, Hoi Fung and Luk Fung districts. The histories of these districts are relevant to the understanding of social relationships between Teochiu and Hoi Luk Fung living in Hong Kong today. Teochiu are Han Chinese, the major racial group in China, and their language is one of the Southern Min languages (Forrest, 1965). The earliest migration of Han Chinese into the area known today as Teochiu occurred in 214 B.C. after Ch'in Shih Huang conquered Nan Yüeh (✯✯), an area in Southern China, and established the Nan Hai prefecture ( ). These first migrants were some of the 50,000 troops who stayed in southern China to initiate the settlement of the area (Chan, 1974: 120). During the Ch'in Dynasty there were several waves of migration from the Central Plains of the Yellow River southward to Teochiu. From 317 to 581 A.D. larger numbers of Han Chinese migrated into Fukien and as the latter became populated, there was further movement into Teochiu. The latter were led by four large clans (✯ ✯ ✯) which constituted the majority of the migrants (Chan, 1974:122). During this period the downstream areas of the major river system in Teochiu, the Han River, were populated by the original inhabitants of Teochiu, who were not Han Chinese. These people were gra- ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q 64 DOUGLAS W. SPARKS dually pushed into the hilly regions further away from the coastal areas and the majority were eventually exterminated or assimilated after a series of rebellions during the seventh and eighth centuries (Chan, 1974:123). In successive dynasties, as southern Fukien became over-populated, there was further extended migration into Teochiu beginning at the end of the T'ang Dynasty and lasting until the 1660's (Chan, 1974:125). There are a few settlements of the original natives of Teochiu that have survived until the present in several of the Teochiu districts (Chiu Chow Chamber of Commerce, 1971:66; personal communication with Jao Tsung-i of The Chinese University of Hong Kong). Hoi Luk Fung was presumably populated during these successive waves of southward migration by groups who moved a short distance beyond the present day boundaries of Teochiu. According to Jao Tsung-i, who has edited and compiled Teochiu local histories or gazetteers, a separate administrative unit was first established in Teochiu in the Ch'in Dynasty (221-209 B.C.) and was a part of the Nan Hai prefecture (☞☞) (Jao, 1965). There then followed a confusing series of boundary and name changes which will not be mentioned here. The name Teochiu first appeared in 591 A.D.; this name was chosen because it refers to a coastal area where the tides move constantly and the first character of the name () has the literal meaning of “tide” (Chiu Chow Chamber of Commerce, 1971:59). Although there were later name changes this particular name survived into the present. There were also frequent internal boundary changes. To simplify, in 1936 Teochiu was divided into 9 districts, one city and one supervised area (Chan, 1972:93). After 1949 other surrounding districts, including Hoi Luk Fung, were added to the traditional districts to make a larger administrative area, In the late 15th century the town of Hui Lai, three surrounding districts of Teochiu (which was then known as Chiu Yeung, * () and a small subdivision of Hoi Fung were joined together to form the administrative district of Hui Lai (Chiu Kiu, 1975:33; Hui Lai Gazetteer, 1930:80). At that time the village of Kap Jih was part of Hoi Fung and everything 5 li inland from Kap Jih became a part of Hui Lai and the villages and towns along the banks of the river running into Kap Jih became part of Hui Lai (Hui Lai Gazetteer, 1930:59). This new district contained 160 square miles. The district was established as a result of a petition from a local official stating ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q ETHNICITY IN A HOUSING ESTATE IN HONG KONG 65 that the area was far from administrative centers, was very hilly and a refuge for bandits. The local people were described as rough, uneducated and rebellious. It was suggested that another administrative unit be established in the area to suppress bandits and establish schools in order to civilize the inhabitants (Hui Lai Gazetteer, 1930:81). Prior to the establishment of this separate district (the local administrative unit at that time being #), the area that was to become Hui Lai was part of the administrative unit of Hoi Fung. The latter first appeared as an administrative unit in 627 A.D.; prior to that Hoi Fung had been a part of Nan Hai (✯✯) and later administrative units in southern China (Hoi Fung Gazetteer, pp. 11-12). In 1142 Hoi Fung was combined with surrounding units to form Wai Chow prefecture () (Hoi Fung Gazetteer, pp. 11-12). According to the Hoi Fung Gazetteers, during the Ming Dynasty, in 1524, some of the Wai Chow sub-units were combined to form the district of Hui Lai, leaving Hoi Fung with only 7 districts (Hoi Fung Gazetteer, p. 11). Evidently Hui Lai then became administratively subordinate to Chiu Yeung, as Teochiu was then known. During the Ch’ing Dynasty, in 1731 Hoi Fung was divided into two units, Luk Fung and Hoi Fung, which remained a part of the larger unit of Wai Chow (Hoi Fung Gazetteer, p. 11). Prior to the establishment of Luk Fung, Kap Jih had always been a part of Hoi Fung and in 1731 when Luk Fung was separated from the rest of Hoi Fung, Kap Jih became a part of Luk Fung (Wai Chow Gazetteer, section on the geography of Luk Fung). Kap Jih was originally a small horse changing station for government messengers. It was always a part of Wai Chow Fu (AF), and except for one brief period, was never a part of Teochiu. From 1914 to 1921 Wai Chow, including Kap Jih and Hoi Luk Fung, were combined with Teochiu into a larger administrative unit containing 25 districts (personal communication from Jao Tsung-i, October, 1976). After 1921 this larger unit was disbanded, and Kap Jih and adjacent Hui Lai villages became parts of different administrative units, as had traditionally been the case after the early 1500's. This brief administrative history, although confusing to follow, is important in indicating the following points: (1) The district of Hui Lai was a part of Hoi Fung until about 1500, a fact which is virtually unknown to Teochiu in the housing estate who think that Hui Lai has always been a part of Teochiu. Aside from indicating ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q ETHNICITY IN A HOUSING ESTATE IN HONG KONG 69 were firmly established as having the best festival, and that this has helped to elevate the general prestige of Teochiu and their leaders. Although there has never been any cooperation between the two organizations, relations between them deteriorated several years ago as a result of an incident which involved police and local government officials. Many of the Hungry Ghost Festivals in Hong Kong are held in playgrounds within housing estates and are widely considered nuisances by non-participants in that the operas perform until late at night, loudspeakers shriek out auction proceedings, etc. The Hoi Luk Fung festival had for several years been performed at a certain playground within the housing estate, while the Teochiu had held their festival at a more remote site outside the estate. One year the Teochiu decided that they would use the more centrally located playground in the estate since they were the larger and stronger of the two groups. Hoi Luk Fung learned of the Teochiu plan, and overnight they quickly began building their opera matshed in order to forestall the Teochiu strategy. The next day both groups applied to the government for use of the playground and both were refused. During this period someone tried to burn the Hoi Luk Fung structures on the playground. The Teochiu claimed that the Hoi Luk Fung started the fire themselves in order to blame the Teochiu, and the Hoi Luk Fung of course blamed the Teochiu. In any case, the Teochiu then decided to follow the government's ruling and commenced planning to use the acceptable but more remote site. The Hoi Luk Fung persisted, however, in their plans to use the now restricted playground as their festival site and continued to build their structures. This led to a series of confrontations with police and several injuries to both sides were incurred. Although the Hoi Luk Fung rebuilt structures several times after police destroyed them, they were eventually forced permanently out of the playground. In succeeding years, Hoi Luk Fung used the more remote site with government permission. Although there was no organized fighting between Teochiu and Hoi Luk Fung, the incident severely strained relationships between individuals and the organizations. As stated above, Hoi Luk Fung are the most similar to Teochiu among Chinese ethnic groups in language, culture and historical origins. Yet they view each other with great hostility and distrust. These feelings and perceptions were evidently developed in Hong Kong in that I have been told that Hoi Luk Fung and Teochiu ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q ETHNICITY IN A HOUSING ESTATE IN HONG KONG 71 eastern Kwangtung, cannot of course distinguish the two and usually are unaware of any difference in speech. Most Teochiu in the housing estate cannot differentiate the speech of Kap Jih people and Teochiu originally from Hui Lai villages near to Kap Jih. Thus Kap Jih are known to be Kap Jih only as a result of a person's self identification or participation in the local Kap Jih organization. Although most Teochiu in the housing estate have no close friendships or significant contact with Hoi Luk Fung, there are exceptions which are interesting in that such interaction does occur, albeit not frequently, and they serve to explicate the distance between the two groups. A few Teochiu do have friendship relationships with Hoi Luk Fung which are of course similar to Teochiu-Teochiu friendships; that is, each of the actors has expectations and responsibilities within the relationship which are appropriate for any such relationship, regardless of ethnic background. The major difference between a Teochiu-Hoi Luk Fung relationship and a Teochiu-Teochiu relationship is that in the latter the two people are likely to be very involved in a common network and norms concerning friend loyalty are reinforced and at times interpreted in terms of a loyalty to the local Teochiu group vis-a-vis other groups. The first example of a Teochiu-Hoi Luk Fung relationship concerns an elderly Teochiu (C) who runs a small ground floor shop in one of the blocks within the estate. This man's shop sells mostly candy, soda, beer and other small items and also has a mahjong game continuously going in the back. A number of Hoi Luk Fung live in this particular housing block, and (C) has joking and acquaintance relationships with several who buy beer, etc. from his shop. One Hoi Luk Fung (D) calls (C) the honorific title "uncle" and usually stops and chats with the old man when passing the store. I met (D) on such an occasion and learned that his great great grandfather was originally from the old man's village in Hui Lai and that he moved to Hoi Luk Fung. Thus the old man and (D) consider themselves very distantly related as "fellow villagers". Both (D) and the old man label (D) as Hoi Luk Fung, and (D) speaks Hoi Luk Fung rather than Teochiu. He is involved in the local Hoi Luk Fung festival organization and in the only major Hoi Luk Fung temple organization in Tsun Wan (which is not in the immediate vicinity of the housing estate). The old man (C) had heard of this temple but had never been there. (C) and (D) ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q 72 DOUGLAS W. SPARKS do not visit one another's homes in the estate nor did I ever see (D) accompanying the old man to any Teochiu rituals. Although their interaction is limited to the store front, it is more than an acquaintance relationship. The old man personally knows more Hoi Luk Fung than do most Teochiu in the housing estate, largely because of his friendly personality and the location of his shop. As I got to know (D) I learned that he had lived prior to resettlement in a squatter settlement in which many Teochiu in the housing estate had also resided. He thus knows many of the people in the local Teochiu associations and had, in fact, opened a business in the estate with one of the local Teochiu leaders. The business went bankrupt about 8 years ago, and since then the two have not been involved in any kind of business relationship and do not visit one another. This was the only business partnership between Teochiu and Hoi Luk Fung in the housing estate that I learned about. (D) once visited the office of one of the Teochiu associations. He knew 5 or 6 of the 15 people present and was very friendly in greeting those he knew as well as the others. The ex-business partner was present and entered into the usual greeting ritual for someone one has not recently seen but did not initiate any extended conversation. (D) busily took interest in the on-going mahjong game, asked about people, etc. Two Teochiu who had known (D) in the squatter settlement were particularly friendly at his arrival and made an effort to act the role of friend seeing friend after a long period by enthusiastically greeting him, seating him, asking about his current situation, asking him to drink beer, etc. This clearly indicated the unusualness of the visit; a frequent visitor is not likely to be publicly treated as a guest. (D) spoke briefly to these two individuals and to several others, walked around and tried to take part in several conversations, and shortly made parting statements and left. My impression, confirmed by talking to some of the Teochiu afterwards, was that he was not particularly close to any of the Teochiu and was unable to enter into conversation or initiate his own simply because he was not involved in that network of individuals and, as in any culture, knew when to end the interaction at an appropriate time. The interaction was interesting in that it was the only case of a Hoi Luk Fung visiting the association office, and because that morning (D) had taken me to visit the Hoi Luk Fung temple and his visit was evidently prompted by our own prior interaction. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q ETHNICITY IN A HOUSING ESTATE IN HONG KONG 73 In these examples, the very negative beliefs concerning Hoi Luk Fung are not applied to those Hoi Luk Fung that one knows, but rather to the unknown group as a whole. Stereotypes do, however, influence interaction in that unknown Hoi Luk Fung are likely to be treated with distrust; negative feelings resulting from interaction with Hoi Luk Fung also reinforce and verify the attitudes and beliefs. It is difficult to explain why Teochiu and Hoi Luk Fung so heartily dislike one another. Part of the reason is demographic. Teochiu are a sizeable minority and are not in the position of having to combine with other related groups in confronting the discrimination of the majority group, Cantonese. And there are sufficient numbers of Hoi Luk Fung to support separate ethnic organizations and to maintain a separate ethnic identity. The group is thus directed into rivalry with competing ethnic groups, and particularly with the "sister" ethnic group which is much stronger and clearly the most dominant. If this reasoning is correct, the similarities of the two groups, their "relatedness", would thus become the essence of the differentiation process and would have to be counteracted and in effect re-defined in the ethnic ideologies of the two groups. Similarity is thus transformed into distinction which must be maintained in interaction and belief systems. Local Kap Jih built and maintain a small temple overlooking the housing estate. This temple and its organizing committee were initially identified to me as being Hoi Luk Fung, and it was only later when I visited the temple that it became clear that it was run by Kap Jih. The founders of the temple are from one village which has over 100 descendants in Hong Kong, many of whom live in the estate. One of the officers of the temple organization is a Teochiu from Hui Lai who had been invited to participate in rituals for several years and had subsequently been selected as an officer. Of the 40-50 families involved in the temple, 6 or 7 are Teochiu and some of the Kap Jih are members of local Teochiu associations. One of the founders of the temple explained to me that the village mentioned above is located near Hui Lai, and he claimed that the village was really part of Teochiu rather than Hoi Luk Fung. He said that his village was very prosperous and that there had been much conflict between Hui Lai and Hoi Luk Fung over jurisdiction of the village. It was further claimed that the village ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q ETHNICITY IN A HOUSING ESTATE IN HONG KONG 75 only a few cases in which a Kap Jih person has done so. One example involves a very charismatic and locally powerful man who has cultivated ties in both communities and is involved in the festival organizations of both. Not everyone could successfully do so; it is unlikely that Kap Jih involved in Teochiu networks would be tolerated if they became intensely involved in Hoi Luk Fung activities and relationships. The two sets of relationships would be contradictory in that membership in one requires that one behaves "loyally", and the latter is partially defined in terms of specified action vis-a-vis outside groups. Those individuals who do successfully operate in both communities are in effect manipulating the normative system in breaking some norms, but are possessed of certain attributes that can negate the misbehavior. In the example mentioned here, the individual is sufficiently powerful within the local area so as to demand and obtain the allegiance of Teochiu despite his known involvement with Hoi Luk Fung. Conclusion Cognitive classifications and interactional patterns are often treated as distinct analytical entities in anthropological research and theorizing. When viewing the way people act and conceive of things at a lower level of abstraction, the two are obviously inseparable. The study of process, as opposed to the study of frequencies, form and structure, forces attention to be focused upon the interplay between the two, to explain categorizations of groups or individuals in terms of interactional patterns, as in the case of Teochiu classification of Kap Jih in the housing estate. In the latter, the lack of consensus concerning Kap Jih is only confusing for the outsider, in this case the researcher, and has never been a public issue that had to be "resolved". Variation in classification is acceptable and not threatening. This is partly because Kap Jih have loosely modified their history to establish an historical link with Hui Lai and thus become "Teochiu" if they choose to do so. On the other hand, interactional patterns may be influenced by generally accepted and acknowledged conceptualizations of other groups, as in the case of Teochiu-Hoi Luk Fung relationships. In the latter, there is consensus concerning the classification and there is much less variability in interaction with Hoi Luk Fung. Viewed in a simplistic manner, interethnic interaction is a matter of definition — one must decide which category a person belongs to and then Page 90 Page 91 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q 109 OPG CHONG KONG * 12 ETHNICITY IN A HOUSING ESTATE IN HONG KONG 1 Hai Fung 海豐 2 Luk Fung 陸豐 3 Hui Lai 惠來 4 Pu Ning 普寧 5 Chiu Yeung 潮陽 6 Kit Yeung 揭陽 7 Fung Shun 豐順 8 Tai Po 大埔 9 Yiu Ping 饒平 10 Chiu An 潮安 11 Ching Hoi 清遠 12 Nan O 南澳 13 Swatow 汕頭市 Map 1. Districts of Kwangtung Province (Source: Kwangtung Province Geography, Vol. 1). 77 S ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q 110 TIN-YUKE CHAR Aldersey brought over from her Batavia, Java mission school to become assistant leaders in her Ningpo school. Ruth and Laisun had a family of six children: Elijah, Spencer, Willie, Annie, Lena, and Amy. Chan later left his mission work and went to Shanghai in 1853 where he became quite successful through his connections with an English mercantile firm. On a corner of the American Board's property in Shanghai, he built a school house where his wife opened a girls' school. As he was acquainted with Yung Wing and was qualified, he was engaged to accompany the Educational Mission to America in 1872. He took along his wife and six children. His two eldest sons were ready to enter college in two years and his two eldest daughters received part of their education in England. In 1875 Chan was detached from the Educational Mission and appointed interpreter to Li Hung-chang, Governor-general of Chihli. Thus, he met Hawaiian King Kalakaua in Tientsin in 1881. The February 1887 issue of the Hamilton College Literary Monthly had this letter from Chan, "We all love the United States, for many reasons. Our hearts are still there, although we are back in China. I am in Tientsin, with the well-known viceroy, Si [Li] Hung Chang, as his Secretary, and Interpreter. Annie, our eldest daughter, is married to a Dane, Captain of the Chinese government revenue cruiser; and is the happy mother of a beautiful son. Elijah, the eldest boy, graduated from the Yale Scientific School in 1887. He then went to Freiburg in Saxony, and remained there eighteen months. On his return to China, he was commissioned to open the copper mines in Eastern Mongolia. His prospects are very bright. He was offered the post of chief engineer for the government railroads, but declined to accept it. He is the first scientific engineer China has produced. His field is the largest ever offered to a single individual, for the mineral resources of China are almost infinite.” From Carl Smith's article, it was learned that another son, Spencer Tsang Lai Sun, married Man Kwai, daughter of the Reverend Ho Fuk-tong (1818-71) of Hong Kong. A further lead to more information was given by Chi Wang of the Orientalia Division, United States Library of Congress. In Shu Hsin-ch'eng's Chinese book on Chinese Students in Foreign Countries, the interpreter of the Educational Mission was identified by his official name, Tseng Heng-chung. The same is true in ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q IN SEARCH OF THE CHINESE NAME FOR “LI SUN” 111 Lo Hsiang-lin's book translated into English, Hong Kong and Western Cultures (Hong Kong, 1963) which gave this same official name for the interpreter of the Chinese Educational Mission, Thus, it may well be concluded that Chan Laisun was the name given at his birth in Singapore and Tseng Heng-chung was his official name in later years. It is hoped that this article about the search for a Chinese name will stimulate a response from relatives and friends of Tseng Lan-sheng (Tseng Heng-chung) and bring forth corrections and additions to the story of an unusual person and family who lived during the early historical period of China and American cross-cultural exchanges.9 NOTES 1 See pp. 92-106 of JHKBRAS 16 (1976). 2 William N. Armstrong, Around the World with a King (London: Heineman, 1909), pp. 92-93. 3 Tin-Yuke Char, The Sandalwood Mountains: Readings and Stories of the Early Chinese in Hawaii (Honolulu: University Press of Hawaii, 1975), pp. 44-51. 4 Yung Wing, My Life in China and America (New York: Holt, 1909), p. 183. 5 容閎自傳:西學東漸記, 台北文海出版社 1973 重印, 6 Carl T. Smith, "A Register of Baptised Protestant Chinese, 1813 - 1842," Chung Chi Bulletin, December 1970, pp. 23-26; Smith, "Idols on a School Hill: the American Board School for Chinese Boys in Singapore, 1835-1842,” Chung Chi Bulletin, December 1974, pp. 28-30. 7 舒新城編: 近代中國留學史, 上海中華書局 1933. 8 羅香林著: 香港與中西文化交流, 9 Tsung-1 Dow, Chronological Biography of Li Hung-chang - 著: 李鴻章年, 香港友聯社, 1968 does not include King Kalakaua's visit in 1881 nor does it mention Chan Laisun (Tseng Heng-chung), although otherwise most comprehensive. Mr. Char has since added the following extra note: It would add great interest should Hamilton College be able to find Chan Laisun's family photograph of 1872. Also, some one in Hong Kong may be able to add to the family story of his son Spencer who married the daughter of the Rev. Ho Fuk-tong of Hong Kong. Probably Carl Smith has additional materials and will write the next article. The October 1975 issue of Smithsonian carried a good article on Li Hung-chang's visit to New York in August 1896, accompanied by 18 aides and 2 servants, 300 pieces of luggage, a golden sedan chair, several cargoes of song-birds, 2 noisy parrots. He brought along his own chefs, bakers, valets, guards, footmen, secretaries, interpreters, and physician. His chief interpreter was then Lo Fing-luh, a skilled linguist in German and French as well as English. There was no mention of Chan Laisun as an interpreter or secretary. Perhaps by that time he had gone on to other work or may have died. In 1896 he would have been 67 years old (born 1829). Editor's note: Carl Smith's article extending the story of Chan Laisun and his family follows on. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q CHAN LAI-SUN AND HIS FAMILY 115 He served as chief secretary at the Chefoo Convention in 1876, and until the time of his death assisted at the many transactions Viceroy Li had with foreign powers. He was to have joined Li in his mission to Japan after the Sino-Japanese War, but Li excused him saying, “You are old and so am I; but I have to go because there is no help for it." At the time of his death Chan Lai-sun was survived by his widow, two sons and two daughters. He was predeceased by his son William and a daughter. The death notice of his widow, who died at the age of 92 on 17 Jan. 1917, was published in the Chinese Recorder (v. 58, p. 258). Her son Spencer T. Lai-sun had died only thirteen days before. Spencer had been educated at Queen's College, Hong Kong, before being taken to the United States by his father at the inauguration of the Chinese Educational Mission in 1872. He and his elder brother, Elijah, attended Yale. According to his obituary (South China Morning Post, 23 Jan. 1917), Spencer had an “extraordinary command of English” and was remarkably well informed on Chinese affairs, being one of the first to forecast the gravity of the Boxer Uprising. He was simultaneously on the staff of a Chinese language newspaper, the Hu Pao, and of an English language paper, the North China Daily News, both published at Shanghai. In 1911 he abandoned his newspaper career and as an expectant Taotai joined the staff of Viceroy Tuan Fang at Nanking. Early in his career in 1885 he undertook a special mission to India. When a reporter of the Times of India interviewed him, he was impressed with Spencer's European style clothing and the absence of a queue, for the latter he was said to have been given special permission by the Chinese authorities. During his school days in Hong Kong, Spencer had become acquainted with the family of the Reverend Ho Fuk-tong, being most likely a regular attendant of the Chinese congregation which met in the afternoons at Union Church. He married Ho Man-kwai, the daughter of the pastor. She died in Shanghai in 1894 at the young age of twenty-eight, leaving a young daughter, Daisy. The other two daughters of Chan Lai-sun married Europeans. The husband of the eldest daughter was a Danish ship captain, N. P. Andersen. He had seen service in the Taiping Revolution and had a long career in the Coast Staff of the Chinese Customs. He was somewhat older than his wife and married in middle age. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q 120 CARL T. SMITH the instruction of the Rev. Theodore Hamberg, preparatory to baptism. On 26 April, 1852, Fung Sen introduced Hung Jen-kan to Hamberg. Two days later, Fung was baptized with ten others at the small chapel of the Basel Missionary Society in Hong Kong. The entry in Hamberg's report lists him as "Fung Asen, aged 21 years, from Lilong, tailor's worker." When Hamberg left Hong Kong at the end of March, 1853 to establish a station at Pukak (Pu-kit, Hsin-an District), Fung Sen accompanied him. He was employed by the Mission as a watchman. A biographical notice of one of the Taiping refugees, Li Tsin-kau (†), which was published in the missionary magazine of the Basel Society, Die Evangelischen Heidenboten, June, 1868, provides interesting sidelights on Hung Jen-kan's unsuccessful effort to reach Nanking in 1854. It also illustrates the connections established between missionaries and those who had been influenced by personal association with Hung Hsiu-ch'uan before he became the Taiping Wang. Li Tsin-kau was a native of Wo Kuk Lyan, in the Ch'ing-yüan District, Kwangtung. Hung Hsiu-ch'uan had been a teacher in the household of the maternal grandfather of Li Tsin-kau, and Tsin-kau's father was a good friend of Hsiu-ch'uan. He had often heard his father tell of Hung and his visions. Was the father the Li Ching-fan who drew the attention of Hung to Liang A-fa's Christian tract? Hung himself often visited Wo Kuk Lyang. During these visits there would be discussions regarding the moral and political conditions of China and hopes expressed that these could be improved and the rule of Heaven (T’ien-kuo) established. Hung Hsiu-ch'uan and Li Tsin-kau discussed especially the benefits of fasting and abstaining from meats and the worship of idols. Tsin-kau remembered that Hung spoke often of the power of God to conquer the demons. He also spoke of Jesus as our Heavenly Brother who forgave men's sins, but this was not the main theme of Hung's thoughts, "It was though it had not much touched his heart (“Wenigstens sei es ihm nicht sehr zu Herzen gegangen"). Li Tsin-kau was caught up in the displacement of the former friends and relatives of the Taiping leaders. When the authorities frustrated the plan to join the Taiping movement in Kwangsi, he fled to Macao. He lost track of his brothers and father, and later believed that they were imprisoned. His mother was taken in and Page 135 Page 136 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q NOTES ON FRIENDS AND RELATIVES OF TAIPING LEADERS 131 CARL SMITH'S ADDITIONAL NOTE Carl Smith has added to the text of the article appearing in Ching Feng the following note on the family of Li Tsin-kau and their services to the Hakka Church of the Basel Mission in Hong Kong and in Sabah. Li Tsin-kau, otherwise known as Lee Sik-sam, died 8 April, 1885, aged sixty-two. On the letters of administration issued to his widow Ho Lai-yau, the value of his estate was estimated at $400. His assets consisted principally of a small house beside the Basel Society's Church and Mission House in Sai Ying Poon, which he had purchased in 1878 for $480. He sold a portion of the lot in 1878 for $370. Li Tsin-kau's wife was baptized in Hong Kong in 1861 and died there 21 September, 1888, leaving four surviving children. The family property after her death was conveyed by Li A-cheung, an interpreter, Li Shin-en, a missionary and Li En-kyau, unmarried to their brother Li A-po, a trader. The eldest son of Tsin-kau, A-lim, had died in 1864 “in trouble with the police". A-po, the second son was betrothed in 1865 to Kong Oi-fuk from Lilong. She was a student in the Basel Society Girl's Boarding School at Hong Kong, and he was a student of their Boy's School at Lilong. The third son, A-cheung studied at Hong Kong Central School (Queen's College) and in 1871 was given the prize for best scholar. After leaving school, he entered Government service, beginning as a charge-room interpreter for the Police, but in 1875 was transferred to the Magistracy as a clerk. Three years later he was promoted to Second Interpreter in the Magistracy. In 1882 he was offered the position of Interpreter to the Kingdom of Hawaii. Like his brother he had married one of the students of the Girl's Boarding School in Hong Kong, Tshin Then-tet. She accompanied him to Hawaii. In 1883, the Rev. Frank Damon, who was in charge of Chinese Christian work in Hawaii, visited Hong Kong. In a report of his visit published in The Friend (New Series, Vol. 33, No. 2, p. 9) he expresses his pleasure in meeting "the venerable and interesting father of our Government interpreter in Honolulu, Mr. Lee Cheong. A brother and sister are engaged in teaching here, while another brother is missionary to his countrymen". ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q SOCIAL RESEARCH IN THE N.T. OF HONG KONG, 1963 203 suggest that the fight over the market was a quarrel between Hakka and Punti as such, and I incline to the view that, whatever may have been in earlier decades the state of feeling between communities speaking the different dialects, by the 1890s local alignments did not depend on ‘ethnic' solidarity. (Indeed, I think too much should not be made today of the cultural differences between Punti and Hakka in the New Territories and of the social cleavages which are presumed to rest on these differences). 22. The first British administrators seem not to have appreciated the local significance of the term yeuk, for when the New Territories were arranged in districts and sub-districts in accordance with the Local Communities Ordinance, 1899, boundaries were drawn round units (themselves labelled with the word yeuk) bringing enemy villages together. Since, however, the ordinance was never fully brought into force no harm was done. The Ts'at Yeuk continued under British rule to be masters of the new market and to dominate local affairs, and it has been only in recent years that a Tai Po Rural Committee has emerged, under government encouragement, to provide a strictly territorial form of local council. The Rural Committee is made up of seven units: six of the Ts'at Yeuk (Fan Leng being excluded because of its remoteness) and a new unit composed of all the scattered villages which are not members of the Ts'at Yeuk. The Ts'at Yeuk and the Rural Committee share the same offices (they were built by the former) and the same officers (the chairman of the one being a vice-chairman of the other and a second vice-chairman being common). In local eyes the Ts'at Yeuk remains dominant, not least because only it has access to the revenue brought in by the public weighing scales. 23. It is possible to piece together sketchy accounts of yeuk-complexes in other areas of the New Territories. One of them operated in the area now covered by the Ta Kwu Ling Rural Committee. This was the Luk Yeuk (the six Yeuk), a union which was cut in two by the new international frontier created in 1898. It appears to have been flourishing a hundred years ago when the father of my sole informant on it (I stress the fact that in this case I was unable to cross-check the assertions made) took part in a battle between it and a village in Chinese territory. Each of the six yeuk had an average of three villages, taking its name from the largest village. The Luk Yeuk had a common estate, most of it now inaccessible in China, which was managed in turn by each yeuk. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1977 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n 171 T'aai Shing finally collapsed during World War II, after it had been looted by bandits. Saam Shing owned considerable property on the waterfront, which had, in part, been reclaimed by this shop. But the shop collapsed before the War, allegedly because of mismanagement. Many people came to both shops.32 Table 1 Shops in Sai Kung Market Before World War II Name Business Owner Saam Shing* General store Lei, from Shuen Wan T'aai Shing* General store Lei Ling, from San Wooi Tak Shing* General store Lei Faat, from Fong T'ung Shing* Kwong Tak Lung* General store T'ung Hing* Shipyard Tung Shing* Shipyard Po Tsai Tong* Herbalist Loi Lei* Beancurd maker Kung Cheung* General store T'aam Shing* Carpenter Tsang* Taoist priest San Shun Cheung* General store Wong Chuk Yeung Fong, from Yung Shue Au ?, from Sham Chun Chau, from Wai Chau ?, from Sai Kung Lee Yim Kwai, from Sham Chung Saam T'aai* General store Laai, from Tam Shui Ng, from Mui Tsz Lam Tam (?), from Ngong Wo Tsang, from Sha Tseng Ling Shin Chung, from Po Kut On Cheung* General store Lei, from Lan Nei Wan Yan T'aai* General store ? from Ngong Wo San Cheung* Teahouse Chau Fuk Lei* Draper's Chau, from Wai Chau Kam Lei Uen Butcher Taai Fung Nin Butcher Cheung, from San Wooi * Recorded on 1916 tablet in Tin Hau Temple. Source: interview reports, see footnote 31. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1977 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n 178 DAVID FAURE Table 3. (Translation) Front: Annual festival 19th First Month, 15th Second Month, 23rd Third Month, 5th Fifth Month, 14th Seventh Month, 24th Twelfth Month, Tung Chi in Eleventh Month, Night of 30th Twelfth Month; she t'au (leaders of the she); ALL THOSE WHO LIVE IN PAK KONG VILLAGE HAVE THE RESPONSIBILITY TO SERVE THE AFFAIRS AND PUBLIC INTEREST OF THIS VILLAGE; work collectively for the achievements of this village, do not follow the Monroe [Doctrine]. Back: GOLD Cheng Tso On, Cheng Chung, Lok Tso Po, Cheng Woh, Cheng Chan Ip, Lau T'in T'ing; WOOD Lok Shek Kam, Lok T'aai Ts'eung, Lok Shue Kam, Lok Foh Kau, Lok Yau T'aai, Lok Shai Ngau, Lok Tak Kwong; WATER Lok Ting Ngau, Lei Lam, Lei Kau, Lok Kam, Cheng Tso Ning, Lok T'aai Hei; FIRE Lok Tak Lam, Lok Shiu Ch'oh, Lok Lam Kwai, Lok Kam Uen, Lok Chi K'eung, Lok Shang, Lok Uet T'aai; EARTH Lok Fuk Shing, Lei Iu, Lei Kw'ai Cheung, Lok Kau Kei, Lok Tso On, Lei Shek, In a slight variation, in Tai Po Tsai (near Tai Mong Tsai) and Wo Mei, instead of collecting money to buy the pig at the time it had to be slaughtered, villagers bought a piglet at the beginning of the year and participating families took turns to feed it during the year. By the end of the year, it would be slaughtered, and the meat divided. In Wo Mei, the five lineages of the village also gathered into the Ng Woh T'ong for matters that affected the entire village.42 Less formal but not less important were the "marriage clubs" (lo p'oh wooi) found in many villages, such as Mang Kung Uk and Hang Hau, consisting of the unmarried young men of the village. The young men of the club were obliged to help the bridegroom during wedding ceremonies, and they themselves would be helped when their turn came. In general, village ceremonies, not only weddings but also funerals, required the participation of members of the village, including those outside the immediately affected lineage. It was commonly understood that on these occasions members of the village had the right and duty to participate and to help. 43 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1977 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n TWO ESSAYS ON THE CH'ING ECONOMY OF HSIN-AN 67 12 Lockhart lists 255 villages occupied by Hakkas, with a total population of 36,070 in the Tung Lo in 1898. Assuming a population of 250,000 for the total district in 1900, Hsin-An probably had a Hakka population of around 90,000. 13 Rawski's bibliography in Agricultural Change and the Peasant Economy of South China offers the most complete listing of works bearing on perpetual tenancy. p. 64. 14 CSO280/04 Extension. See note 4, Essay 2. 15 Hsu T'ien-tai, Fu Chien Wen Hua (福建文化), Vol. 1, No. 1, (1941), 16 Correspondence Respecting Affairs of China, March 1898-September 1900. "Report on the New Territory at Hong Kong," (Presented to both Houses of Parliament, November 1900) p. 19. 17 The Shih Chien T'ang Chia P'u (世鑑堂家譜), a collection of genealogies from Kam Tin, gives the following settlements of lineal descendants in Tung Kuan: Chuh Yuan (竹園), Yen Tien (燕田), Fu Lung (福龍), Huai Te (懷德), Shih Ching (石井), Tu Kao (土高), and Ping Hu (平湖). 18 "These clans gain their local influence, not through numbers alone, but owing to the fact that certain of their numbers have official rank, gained through competitive examinations, or obtained by purchase, which keeps them in touch with the Magistrate and even higher officials." Correspondence Respecting Affairs of China ibid., p. 20. The Shih Chien T'ang Chia P'u records that, from Cheng Hua (Ming Dynasty) to Tao Kwang (Ch'ing Dynasty)—that is, from roughly 1470-1820—fourteen Kam Tin Tangs passed the state examination. Several of these became office holders. Another indicator of gentry connections with officialdom was the construction, in Kam Tin, of a temple (祠堂) dedicated to the two officials (Chou Yu-te (周有德) and Wang Lai-jen (王來任)) who petitioned the Emperor, on behalf of the inhabitants of the coastal areas, to allow resettlement. 19 Introduction to the Nan Yang Tang Shih Tsu P'u (南陽堂世族譜), compiled by the Ping Shan Tangs. 20 Sung Hok-P'ang, in his articles on the Kam Tin Tangs in the Hong Kong Naturalist, claims to have seen references to Tang lands on Hong Kong in the Land Register (土地冊) of Tung Kuan. "One may judge that the land was owned by the Tangs before the first year of Maan Lik, AD 1525, (sic) as after that the San On District was formed” (Vol. VIII, nos. 3 and 4). 21 HKTCSMTC, "Details of Cultivated Land” (耕地詳情). 22 ibid. 23 The landlord clans were often referred to by the British as "first cultivators." See, for instance, CSO3172/1915 cited in the essay on tax-lordism. 24 Correspondence Respecting Affairs in China, ibid., p. 16. 25 Hsin-An Hsien-chih, ch'uan 8. 26 In this regard, note the high degree of correlation among the different "tax-burdens" in Table II. One is tempted to speculate that a native formula for the conversion of rent rates from tax-rates existed. 27 In the 1934 edition of the Chung-Kuo Ch'ing-chi Nien-chien (中國經濟年鑑), chapter 7 (Chinese Tenancy Systems), contains the following description of the Fen Chih Chih (分種制) system, a form of perpetual lease found in the East River counties of the Kwangchow Prefecture: "This ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1977 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n TWO ESSAYS ON THE CH'ING ECONOMY OF HSIN-AN 77 administration" was first implemented in the Sheung Yu Tung (**). The Land Court recognized the status of fourteen tax-lords, and granted them a total of 252.33 acres of unclaimed crown land. The taxlords, however, were in no hurry to select the land, and it was only after considerable prodding (over a period of several months) that they made their choices. The problems which arose over the plots selected were to plague district officers for years. Information regarding potentially profitable land was secured from bribed government clerks, with the result that speculation on railway land became rampant. Another problem arose when taxlords staked claims to "fung shui" groves and proceeded to extort and blackmail neighboring villages by threatening to chop down the trees for firewood. As a result, taxlord schedules for the tung were not completed till August, 1909; references to taxlord claims crop up in CSO reports well into the 1920's.20 By the time the Land Court got around to hearing the Un Long claims, little sympathy existed in the colonial service for the compensation plan. It is not surprising, then, that the Tang claims were dismissed as invalid, a decision which elders in the neighborhood still relate to the fact that the Tangs led the resistance. Official records regarding this decision have apparently been lost;29 thus, our only data on the nature of taxlordism refer to Sheung Yu Tung.* The most complete account of the taxlord settlement is provided in CSO6269 of 1909. Of the fourteen taxlords compensated throughout the tung, nine are dealt with in this file, which was compiled over the period 1904-1910. The table below summarizes these nine settlements. Table II: Taxlord Settlements, Sheung Yu Tung Taxlord Amount granted Located in: Tang Yung Peng 45.0 acres Fan Ling Liu Yin Yu 13.0 acres Man Lai Ngam Man Fung Chi 9.5 acres Tang Yui Shan 16.0 acres Pang Shin Han 65.0 acres Fan Ling, Hau Yeuk Fan Ling 9.0 acres 60.0 acres Ho Sheung, Lam Tsun Luk Yeuk 11.0 acres Hau Chak Wing Hang Chung Hin 4.8 acres Man Cham Tsum *The claims by Tangs over Tsing Yi Island were originally labelled. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1977 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n J 78 J. T. KAMM It is interesting to note that each of the five great clans (§ Tang (鄧), Hau (侯), Pang (彭), Liu (廖), and Man (文) — are represented on the schedule.30 Of these, the Tangs clearly have the greatest share. Another point, which is less obvious from the scanty data presented above, is that the taxlords only chose land within the boundaries of the tung itself, even though plots existed in Un Long Tung considerably closer, and hence easier to manage, than the plots chosen. This seemingly minor point leads us into an examination of the political and economic foundations of the tung. The standard "primary source" on the nature of tung is Lockhart's description of “Local Government in the Villages" contained in his report on the Extension of the Colony of Hong Kong.31 On the basis of this report, which heavily stresses the judicial functions performed by the chu (Cantonese: Kuk) which oversee the tung, Acting Governor Black recommended the appointment of “a commissioner or a Resident, possessing knowledge of the Chinese” who "should govern somewhat in the present Chinese system, i.e., the village elders to rule the villages, which grouped according to topographical limits, form a tung having a council composed of representatives from the village elders."32 Considerable confusion exists over the precise nature of tung and chu. Lockhart clearly overestimated the political-judicial power of the Tung Ping Kuk (東平局), a mistake which would have proven costly had not the British possessed superior firepower in the Pat Heung Valley. Having won the support of this chu, Lockhart believed that the gentry of the various “divisions” would follow suit. He was to discover later that the gentry of Un Long Tung had convened another chu, the Tai Ping Kung Kuk (太平公局) which financed, and to some extent coordinated, the local revolt; in so doing, they effectively dismantled the Tung Ping Kuk by summoning Tung-Kuan clansmen to occupy Sham Chun.33 In most of the counties of the Kwangchow Prefecture, chu formed the basis of local self-government throughout the troubled nineteenth century. One of the best descriptions of these organizations is to be found in Kang Yu-wei (康有為)'s chapter on self-government.... "taxlord claims," but, since the inhabitants could not produce title to the land, the Tangs were recognized as "chief landlords." CSO8551 in 1903. One taxlord was recognized in Sha Tau Kok (Li Tung-chung) and one on Lantao (Wong Kwok-shi). Little is known concerning these cases, except that the latter status was granted out of compassion. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1977 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n TWO ESSAYS ON THE CH'ING ECONOMY OF HSIN-AN 81 buyers and sellers of commodities and to effect a transaction between them.” By the late 1920's, "its importance to the Hopei provincial finance was only second to that of the land tax." It is difficult to weigh the relative importances of the various taxes in Hsin-An, but we do have figures on the revenue collected on trade between local markets in November 1911, which indicate a relatively low volume of local trade (see Imperial Maritime Customs, 1902-1911, Volume II, p.156). Also, refer to Appendix II, which Lockhart credits as a reliable source. The Tangs of Kam Tin and Lung Kwat Tau (A) were apparently farmed the monopolies of collecting market taxes in Un Long Kau Hui (±##4) and Tai Po Kau Hui (£# #). The Tongs who oversaw the markets in turn "sub-leased" the brokerages to traders, merchants, and shop-owners. 4 The CSO files held in the Government Archives of Hong Kong constitute one of the richest stores of first-hand knowledge about local political economy and society in Hsin-An during the period 1890-1910. I am very grateful to Mr. Ian Diamond, Government Archivist, and his staff for their assistance in helping with my research. 5 C. M. Chang, op. cit., pp. 826-828. 6 Lien-sheng Yang, "Buddhist Monasteries and Four Money-Raising Institutions in Chinese History," in his Studies in Chinese Institutional History, pp. 198-199n. 7 Yeh-chien Wang draws heavily on the Ts'ai-cheng Shuo-ming-shu for his research on the land tax in China (Land Taxation in Imperial China, 1750-1911). On the basis of the material presented in this paper, Hsin-An conforms to his general thesis of the declining relative importance of the land tax throughout late Ch'ing. 8 Correspondence Respecting the Extension of the Boundaries of the Colony (hereafter Extension Papers), p. 60. 9 For a fuller discussion of li-chia, see Kung-chuan Hsiao's Rural China, Imperial Control in the Nineteenth Century, pp. 84-143. 10 The annual rotation of these positions (44) constituted the primary mechanism whereby the local magistrate attempted to maintain some measure of centralized power by restricting the excesses of local magnates. 11 Hsiang-kang Teng-ch'u-shui-mau Ts'ung-ch'eng (44¥Æ#*# Z), p. 2: "All together the cultivated land measured 8 ch'ing 3 mau 6 fen 1 li 9 hau 2 ssu 5 hu (i.e., 803.61925 mau) and was registered under the name of Tang Tin-luk, 6th tu, 7th p'i, 2nd chia. In addition, Tang Chi-cheung and others had purchased from Ho Ch'iu-ping and others plots of land at Wong Nei Chung... having a total area of 1 ch'ing 89 mau registered in Tung-Kuan under the name of Tang Chi-fu of the 2nd tụ, 18th p'i, last chia." The formula is often repeated in the land memorials held at the Land Office of the Registrar General in Hong Kong. 12 Kwangchow Fu-chih (1759), ch'uan 4: 43a-b, 46b. 13 Hsin-An Hsien-chih (1819), ch'uan 2. 14 Kwangtung T'u-shuo, Hsin-An Hsien-t'u. 15 Krone, "A Notice of the Sunon District", originally published in the Transactions of the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 6:5, 41-105. This quote, as all the others, is from the reprinted copy in the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society V: p. 119. 16 Tung-Kuan Hsien-chih (1797), 10:10b-11. 17 Lockhart, in the Correspondence Respecting the Affairs in China, writes: "Small villages and hamlets often place themselves under the protection of large and influential clans to which they refer all complaints and from which they expect assistance in case of attack, robbery, and ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1977 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n TWO ESSAYS ON THE CH'ING ECONOMY OF HSIN-AN 83 into Tung or Divisions. Each council of a Tung contains representatives of the villages which make up the Tung. In addition to a council of a Tung there is a general council for the whole of the Tung Lo or Eastern Section, which is practically that portion of the district of San On contained in the map attached to the Convention. This general council is styled the Tung Ping Kuk or Council of Peace for the Eastern Section. It has its council chamber at the market town of Sham Chun, which is regarded as the centre of the Eastern Section. If the decision of the council of the Tung or of the General Council is not regarded as satisfactory, an appeal lies to the magistrate of the district." (pp. 55-56, Extension Papers.). 32 Extension Papers, p. 34. 33 Ibid., p. 174. 34 K'ang Nan-hai Kuan-chih I (***T**), pp. 15-16. 35 Philip A. Kuhn, Rebellion and its Enemies in Late Imperial China, pp. 91-92. 36 K'ang Nan-hai, op. cit., p. 15. 37 Other evidence which supports this hypothesis is drawn from the fact that the production and distribution of agricultural produce within the tung tends to be regulated by specific and unique processes. Hence, the tau chung (#), or local measures for payment of rent in kind, differs from tung to tung. Lockhart, in his Report on the New Territory at Hong Kong (Presented to both Houses of Parliament, November, 1900), relates the problems encountered in rationalizing land tenure: "But even this tau varies in different localities. The Kun Tau, or Chinese official standard measure of 10 shing, is adopted at Tai Po, in the Sheung Yu District, and at Shat'aukok. The Ts'ong Tau, or grain measure of 11 shing, is used throughout the Un Long District. The Ts'in Tau of 8 shing is employed in the Ts'un Wan (ed. previously Kowloon District) and some other Districts. (p. 6). Moreover, the schedules of periodic markets within tung tend to complement each other, while they often clash with the schedules of markets in a neighboring tung. 38 See petition from Tung Wo Kuk ("i.e., the Committee appointed to deal with the affairs of the Shataukok Division"). pp. 318-320. 39 In a rough translation of a pamphlet obtained by the German missionary Schaub in Tung-Kuan, local gentry propose a strategy for obtaining funds for fighting the British: "It is the best plan that the six confederations (six market places) keep together as we hear. But the outlay for the soldiers should not be collected by an extraordinary field tax. It is not right that the various confederations should pay the costs.... We should use the usual field tax. Let first the six confederations come together and ask our Government for help. Will the soldiers not come to help us, then let us ask the Mandarin for the present not to collect the field tax, that we can use the money to meet the barbarians. This would not be rebellious. Afterwards in peaceful times, we could pay our duties to the Government. (Extension Papers, p. 347.) See also, K'ang Nan-hai, op cit., p. 15. 40 CSO433 in 1899, 41 The British often experienced great difficulty in distinguishing landlords from taxlords, especially since members of large, gentry clans like the Tangs were one and the same. In a memorandum on the work of the Land Court, Lockhart writes: "The most serious matter of all, however, is the stand taken by the farmers against the clans, their former landlords. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1977 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n SOCIAL ORGANIZATION AND CEREMONIAL LIFE OF TWO MULTI-SURNAME VILLAGES IN HOI-PING COUNTY, SOUTH CHINA, 1911-1949 YUEN-FONG WOON* The two villages to be discussed in this paper are: Na-loh Ts'uen (###) of Lo-yeung Heung (✯✯) and Lung-tsai She (** #) of Tsung-long Heung () both in Hoi-p'ing County (BI *) of Kwangtung Province in South China.1† Na-loh Ts'uen was a richer village and had a longer history of settlement. It was founded about 1350. This village was on the outskirt of the general area known as T'oh-fuk (4) which included four Heung—Lo-yeung, Chung-miu († $), Ling-uen (✯) and Ng-wing (). These four Heung were dominated numerically as well as economically by the Kwaan (§§) lineage,2 with its ritual centre at Kwong-ue Ancestral Hall (***) in the intermediate market-town of Che-hom (). Na-loh Tsuen itself was multi-surname: there were one hundred Kwaan families and sixty Oo (*) families in the village. Lung-tsai She was separated from T’oh-fuk by six li (two miles) and was part of Ts'ung-long Heung. Between T’oh-fuk and this village were the Oo lineage of Ue-leung Heung (f), the Chau () lineage of Hin-kong Heung (L) and the Wong () lineage of Paak-hop Heung (). The village was founded about 1500. There were about 200 inhabitants: eighteen Kwaan families, twenty Wong families and four Tang (4) families. It was not known when the Tang and the Wong came, but the Kwaan founder was Yan-waang Kung (#) who came from Na-loh some 160-170 years ago when the latter village had become over-populated. Both villages had ritual ties with the Kwong-ue Ancestral Hall at Che-hom. The Kwaan at Na-loh had an ancestral hall of its own, but the elder members went to Kwong-ue Ancestral Hall to take part in the annual rites there. The Kwaan in Lung-tsai She did not have an ancestral hall of its own, but the elders also attended rites * Dr. Woon is on the faculty of the Department of Sociology at the University of Victoria, Victoria, B.C. † The residents of both villages were Punti speakers. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1977 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n 102 YUEN-FONG WOON at Kwong-ue Ancestral Hall and all male members were entitled to the ritual pork there. In Freedman's terminology, the Kwaan of Na-loh was a segment of the "localized lineage" of T’oh-fuk, while the Kwaan at Lung-tsai She was a branch of "the dispersed lineage" of the Kwaan at T’oh-fuk with an intermediate market town, Che-hom, as its ritual headquarters. Besides ritual connections with T'oh-fuk, the two villages were similar on two other counts. Firstly, both exhibited a pattern of residential segregation. In Na-loh, the Kwaan occupied ten alleys to the east of the village while the Oo occupied the remaining six alleys to the west. In Lung-tsai She, the Kwaan lived at the village head, the Tang in the middle and the Wong at the village tail. Secondly, there were very little intra-village marriages. My Kwaan informants from Na-loh had not heard of the Kwaan marrying the Oo there. One said, "They might marry the Oo from other villages but never in Na-loh itself." When asked why, he replied, "I do not know, it just didn't happen. The Oo were low class people, no one knew how they supported themselves." Informants also answered in the negative when I asked them about the incidence of marriages between the Kwaan, the Tang and the Wong in Lung-tsai She. Despite these similarities, the two multi-surname villages were very different in ceremonial life. Na-loh exhibited a pattern of ritual segregation. There were two ancestral halls in the village: the bigger one in the middle for the Kwaan, the smaller one in the western corner for the Oo. Each had its own corporate property to sustain the rituals. These ancestral halls were similar to the ones found in the vicinity. In the middle of each hall was an altar. Under it was the Earth God Shrine. On top was hung a wooden board with the name of the hall. Below this board were two large ancestral tablets dedicated to the founder and his wife. On the altar itself were numerous tablets which were placed according to the genealogical hierarchy. These were admitted any time into the ancestral hall without a fee. But during the period of major repair or enlargement of the hall, a fund raising campaign would be held and any member who wanted tablets to be admitted ahead of the genealogical position would have to pay five dollars for each tablet. During this period, some even put their own tablets, known as "long-life tablets" (寿牌) there. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1977 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n CEREMONIAL LIFE OF 2 MULTI-SURNAME VILLAGES 105 Goddess came, firecrackers would be lit. That was when the fa-paau event occurred. The Spring Rites ceremony and the hoi-tang ceremony took place at the same time. After the Goddess of Heaven was installed in the Lung-tsai Hall, the Kwaan, the Wong and the Tang performed the kowtow and the three prostrations in no special order whatsoever. Whoever had a son born that year would hang the lantern there on the same day. After the ceremony, there was a feast. As there was no temple property, each villager brought his own meat for the feast. Occasionally, the village opera would crown the event. The Goddess of Heaven then remained in the Hall until the end of the year when it would be sent back to the same heung temple just for a few days before the next New Year. Besides the fa-paau, the hoi-tang ceremonies, the Spring Rites, and the village opera, there was also the worship of the Earth God on the twenty-eighth day of the seventh lunar month. This again was participated jointly by the Kwaan, the Wong and the Tang together in the Lung-tsai Hall. Not only were the three lineages in Lung-tsai She co-operating in celebrating their festivals of the year, they were also very integrated in their economic life. Those who wanted to rent or sell land would offer it to the villagers first, be they members of the Kwaan, the Wong or the Tang, before they would offer it to people outside the village. This was in direct contrast to the practice in Na-loh. There, both private and corporate property were open to bidding every three years. Only the Kwaan could bid for Kwaan land and the Oo for Oo land. If no tenants were found among the Kwaan in Na-loh, Kwaan land would be offered to tenants in the rest of T'oh-fuk; if no tenants were found among the Oo in Na-loh, Oo land would be offered to the Oo outside the village. Burton Pasternak, in his work Kinship and Community in Two Chinese Villages (Stanford 1972), has given a detailed description of two multi-surname villages in Taiwan-Tatich and Chungshe--which may throw some interesting lights on the differences between the two multi-surname villages in Hoi-p'ing described in this paper. Tatich was similar to Lung-tsai She in social organization. Firstly, none of the lineages there had an ancestral hall of its own or owned corporate property. All the members worshipped in a community temple. Secondly, like Lung-tsai She, members had the ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1977 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n 108 YUEN-FONG WOON lineage of T'oh-fuk, the Kwaan of Lung-tsai She, whose ancestors had migrated from T'oh-fuk, came under its protective umbrella. Some of them had even succeeded in evading their head taxes through connections with the official leaders there. Thus, it was not surprising that the Kwaan in Lung-tsai She were eager to keep their separate identity by maintaining residential segregation from the Wong and the Tang while attending the annual Spring and Autumn Rites at the Kwong-ue Ancestral Hall in Che-hom. They only co-operated with the Wong and the Tang in projects of immediate concern such as irrigation and defence, since they were numerically a minority in Ts'ung-long Heung. The study of the centrifugal forces of the headquarters of higher-order and dispersed lineages on multi-surname villages in South China has been largely neglected by scholars in the field. G. W. Skinner, in his article "Marketing and Social Structure in Rural China" Journal of Asian Studies, XXIV (1964-5 pp. 36-40) asserts that once segments of a lineage had moved away from the parent settlement and were attending different standard market towns, they would lose their connections with one another. The case of Lung-tsai She discussed in this paper tends to refute this argument. Despite geographical separation, the Kwaan in this village was economically, administratively and ritually still an integral part of the Kwaan lineage of T'oh-fuk until at least 1949. In Taiwan and other parts of China, where lineages were weaker, members of multi-surname villages not only had more intra-village ties, they also had more contact with and reliance on affinal and maternal kin outside the village. Intra-village quarrels were as likely to be along class lines as along lineage lines. Village temples had much more educational, economic, administrative as well as relief functions than were the case in multi-surname villages in South China. NOTES 1 Hoi-p'ing County is one hundred and four miles (290 li) southwest of Canton. Heung (Mandarin: Hsiang) was an administrative unit above the Ts'uen (: village) but below the District. There were one hundred and three Heung in Hoi-p'ing, each administered by a Heung Office since 1930. All names in this paper are in Cantonese, following the Meyer-Wempe system of transliteration. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1977 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n CEREMONIAL LIFE OF 2 MULTI-SURNAME VILLAGES 109 2 The two villages described in the paper have been based on my data of the Kwaan lineage. Na-loh Ts'uen was part of Lo-yeung Heung and Lung-tsai She was part of Tsung-long Heung. The county gazetteer, K'ai-p'ing Hsien-chih (Hong Kong, 1933) provides extracts of genealogies of the Kwaan and the Oo as well as other prominent lineages of Hoi-p'ing but does not mention Na-loh Ts'uen and Lung-tsai She. The table at p. 111 shows the historical origin of the Kwaan lineage of T'oh-fuk. This account is based on personal communications from elderly informants. Again, Na-loh and Lung-tsai She were not mentioned. Much of the data used in this article was obtained from 14 Kwaan in Victoria and Vancouver, B.C. Canada 1973-74. They all came from Toh-fuk and Tsung-long areas. Of these six came from the two villages of Na-loh and Lung-tsai She as follows:- Name Birth Date Age Place of Origin Year Left Hoi-p'ing Kwaan F 1902 75 Na-loh Ts'uen 1915 Kwaan H 1911 66 Na-loh Ts'uen 1927 Kwaan I 1932 45 Na-loh Ts'uen 1953 Kwaan J 1941 36 Na-loh Ts'uen 1951 Kwaan K 1903 74 Lung-tsai She 1920 Kwaan L 1937 40 Lung-tsai She 1949 My Ph.D. thesis (Social Organization in South China 1911-1949: The Case of the Kwaan Lineage of Hoi-ping) deals with the general area.* 3 G. W. Skinner ("Marketing and Social Structure in Rural China," Journal of Asian Studies, XXIV (1964-65), 6-7, 20-31, 41-43) distinguishes between three types of periodic markets in traditional rural China: the standard market town, the intermediate market town and the central market town. The standard market town is a type of rural market which meets the normal trade needs of the peasant household. An intermediate market town serves the needs of the local elites of the standard market towns in the vicinity since it provides decorative items of quality which are inaccessible in the standard market towns. It serves as a centre for interclass dealings between the gentlemanly elite and the merchants of the market town itself. The central market town is normally situated at a strategic site in the transportation network and had important wholesale functions. 4 Maurice Freedman, Chinese Lineage and Society in Fukien and Kwangtung (London, 1966, pp. 18-42) distinguishes between a localized lineage, a dispersed lineage and a higher-order lineage. A “localized” lineage denotes a group of agnates who live together in the same geographical area. The members claim to be descended from a common founder. They usually have ancestral halls to practise ancestral worship together. A "dispersed lineage" denotes two or more groups of agnates with the same surname which are separated geographically. One group has an ancestral hall to practise ancestor worship. The members of other groups do not have a hall of their own. They would go to the first group to worship because it is believed that they were originally descendants of the first group but had at some point in time moved away from the parent settlement. A "higher-order lineage" denotes two or more groups of agnates with the same surname which are separated geographically. Each group has an ancestral hall of its own but there is also a common hall comprising all the members for the performance of ancestral worship together because it is believed that they were all descended from a common founder. 5 I collected the marriage history of informants up to five generations. Whilst of interest in itself, it did not shed any light on village origins. * Now accepted for publication by the University of British Columbia Press. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1977 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n NOTES AND QUERIES 169 the Law Fau Mountains northeast of Hong Kong. In the event that there is not, it must be accepted that this little essay is no more than a start, since the preparation of a satisfactory record would require a lot more time than I possess. However, given perseverance it would be possible to create such a gazetteer for our mountain. 6. A typical Chinese gazetteer usually begins by dealing with boundaries and administration, then proceeding to geography, including streams and hills, local customs, natural products, and so on to settlements, buildings, temples, markets, fords and bridges, etc. There is usually a section on past events and historical relics, including stone inscriptions, another on poems and literature i.e. writings by local persons or on local matters, and so finally to a large section dealing with the lives of famous persons connected with the area. For present purposes, I shall not tie myself rigidly to a gazetteer framework though I shall mention items that form the subject of any such work. Settlements 7. For hundreds of years the mountain had its upland villages. Before the war, there were a considerable number of old settlements situated above the 500 feet contour line, and thus located on the mountain-side and on its upper slopes. On the south, east and west - I know little of the north—the largest group of these were the 8 villages of Shing Mun (17) mostly occupied by the ramified offspring of a single clan (Cheng ) settled in the main village, Tai Wai (PIA). A recorded 855 persons from these places were removed in 1928-29 to prepare for the construction of the Shing Mun Reservoir, going to a number of places elsewhere in the New Territories and some beyond into Kwangtung. Besides the Shing Mun group there were in 1899 another six upland villages located on the south, east and west sides of the mountain.* 8. These all gained their main living from agriculture, on padi fields and dry cultivation on small patches of flat land in the hills. The highest rice fields were cultivated at some 1500 feet above sea level. At the present day, save at Chuen Lung, the villagers have mostly left and cultivation has been largely abandoned. Chuen Lung, Pak Shek Kiu, Sheung Fa Shan, Ha Fa Shan, Sheung Tong and Ha Tong Lek. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1977 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n 192 NOTES AND QUERIES Continuously to the present, since elders in both communities were boys and reportedly before, worship of these heroes has been carried out twice a year, at the times of the first and second padi harvests (described as 春分*). It even continued throughout the Japanese Occupation, a hard time when traditional practices were sometimes dispensed with and not taken up again. Such practices, whilst tending to keep each community together, also had the effect of perpetuating a rift; and the existence of such shrines did nothing to reduce the endemic bickering that characterized much of local society at that time. NOTES 1 Sessional Papers 1928 (see the District Officer North's report which follows at Part C to the Notes for this Visit). 2 See Gazetteer of Place Names in Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories (Hong Kong Government Printer, n.d. but circa 1960): 148-152. 3 Copies of genealogies of the Cheng (#) Tang (*) and some other local lineages have been recently deposited in the Chinese Library, University of Hong Kong. 4 They also went to Tai Po Market and to North West Kowloon. 5 YEUNG Kwok-shui (#) of Yeung Uk, a small single lineage settled since the Ch'ien Lung period. 6 Local place name of the district city of Hsin-an. 7 Gazetteer: 154. * Gazetteer: 150. Lo Wai is claimed to be the oldest of the Tsuen Wan villages. 9 See e.g. G. N. Orme's Report on the New Territory 1899-1912 in the Hong Kong Government's Sessional Papers 1912: paras 58-60; and the file CSD1903 Ext/17, minutes of 6 April and 5 May 1905 in Public Records Office of Hong Kong. 10 Gazetteer: 150-151. 11 GR. 12 Shek Lei Pui (†) was the name of a village moved to Sha Tin in the 1920s to make way for an extension to the Kowloon Reservoir. See H.K. Government's Administrative Reports 1924, page Q146, para. 4. 13 Gazetteer: 151. 14 The Tin Hau Temple inscription says a wooden tablet, worshipped for 70 years. 15 of Sam Tung Uk, Chairman of the Tsuen Wan Rural Committee and Chairman of the New Territories Heung Yee Kuk, died 15th October, 1956: para. 119 of District Commissioner, New Territories' Annual Departmental Report 1956-57. 16 From the names listed it seems likely that, as stated by informants, friends and relatives of the Shing Mun people from the Pat Heung (Gazetteer: 170) aided them in the war against Tsuen Wan. 17 According to the Tsuen Wan tablet, the fighting took place with sharp weapons. (i). 18 This name was a purely Shing Mun description and does not appear in Gazetteer which only refers to the other Pat Heung to the north. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1977 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n 242 LIFE MEMBERS: KINOSHITA, J. H. KNIGHTLY, F. J. KVAN, Rev. E. LAI T. C. LIST OF MEMBERS LANCHESTER, Mrs. G. W. LAU, Michael Wai-Mai Palmer & Turner, Room 1906 Prince's Building, Hong Kong. 301, Valverde, May Road, Hong Kong. Dept. of Psychology, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong. Dept. of Extra Mural Studies, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shiu Hing House, 12/F, 23-25 Nathan Road, Kowloon. Highclere, 3 Middle Gap Road, Hong Kong. Fung Ping Shan Museum, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong. LAUFER, Mr. & Mrs. E. M. c/o China Light & Power Co. Ltd., Argyle Street, Kowloon, LAWRENCE, Mrs. B. M. I. 3, Ravenscourt, 24 Mount Austin Road, Hong Kong. LEE, J. S. LEE, Dr. R. C., O.B.E., J.P. LETHBRIDGE, H. J. LEUNG, Pak-kui LI, Dr. Choh-ming, K.B.E. LI, David K. P. LISOWSKI, Prof. & Mrs. F. P.. LIU, D. H. LO, T. S. LOSEHY, Miss Patricia LUK, George Ping Chuen LUM, Miss Ada LUNDEEN, Mr. & Mrs. R. W. MacKENZIE, J., J.P. MacKEOWN, Dr. P. K. MCCRARY, M. Prince's Building 25/F, Hong Kong. 1, Hysan Avenue 21/F, Hong Kong. Dept. of Sociology, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong. Home Affairs Dept., 141 Des Voeux Road C., 25/F, International Building, Hong Kong. Vice-Chancellor's Office, Chinese University of Hong Kong,Shatin, N.T. D7 Grenville House, 1 Magazine Gap Road, Hong Kong. 28, Middleton Towers, 140 Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong. 305, Prince Edward Road, Flat 5D, Kowloon. Lo & Lo, Jardine House 7/F, Pedder Street, Hong Kong. Russ & Co., Baskerville House G/F Room 1, 22, Ice House Street, Hong Kong. B38, Po Shan Mansions, 10, Po Shan Road, Hong Kong. 142, Boundary Street, Kowloon. 1101 Tavistock, 10 Tregunter Path, Hong Kong. Management & Planning Services Far East Ltd., G.P.O. Box 9981, Hong Kong. Dept. of Physics, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong. Flat 6A, United Mansions, 7 Shiu Fai Terrace, Hong Kong. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1978 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8g84t8593 188 DAVID FAURE There is little doubt that at least for several months, Leung Shuen Wan was a central bandit hideout. Mr. Lau Shang of Pak Lap Village on the island said that there were bandits who came there from the mainland, but they did not rob the villagers for they were themselves stationed in Tung Ah Village nearby. Villagers from Tung Ah and Pak Ah confirmed that there were bandits on the island and that the island villagers were not disturbed. Mr. Chung T'in Fuk of Pak Ah added that this might be because the bandits were from P'ing Shan (in China) nearby, and were afraid that the villagers might take reprisals against their own villages.73 Mr. Kong Ts'eung of Tung Ah knew that the bandits used the T'in Hau Temple of Leung Shuen Wan as their headquarters. The first group that arrived was Hoklo. Then came Hoh Shing Nin, from Aau T'au in China. Hoh was well-known among Sai Kung villagers as a bandit chief. But other bandits also came, and they began to fight among themselves. Hoh quarrelled with a certain Chan Nai Shau. According to Mr. Tse Koon K'au, for a short while Hoh had to leave Leung Shuen Wan for Tap Mun, and later Chek Keng. Chan took his guns with him in pursuit.74 Villagers from Leung Sheun Wan and nearby Kau Sai were apparently quite favourably disposed to Hoh Shing Nin. Mr. Chung T'in Fuk of Pak Ah thought that Hoh was a guerrilla, who was maintaining order in the area. Mr. Loh Kai Faat, a boatman from Kau Sai, made a distinction between Hoh and Chan. Hoh maintained order here, according to Mr. Loh, but Chan was a genuine bandit.75 The Wai Ch'i Wooi and the K’ui Ching Shoh The only government in Sai Kung in the very turbulent months immediately after the coming of the Japanese was the Sai Kung Market Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Lei Shiu Yam was its chairman. It was recognized by the Japanese Government as the Wai Ch'i Wooi, the local governing body that was set up in all local areas of Hong Kong and the New Territories in the early months of the occupation. The Sai Kung Wai Ch'i Wooi was located on the first floor of No. 34 Main Street, Sai Kung Market. It had little formal authority and no military power, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1978 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8g84t8593 210 NOTES AND QUERIES fort in 1923. However, it is now ruined. The whole area is covered with shrub and mangrove. Before the Ming Dynasty, there was no military post on the island. It was not until the late Ming Period that a guard-station or shuen, which was administered by the commander of the Nam Tau Walled City, was set up.2 Before then, the area had only patrol-boats, probably stationed at Tun Mun.3 During the early Ch'ing Period, because of the increased strength of the pirates along the coast, more forts and guard-stations were set up. The Fat Tong Mun Fort on the Tung Lung Island was erected during the K'ang Hsi period (1662-1727)3, and a garrison of 25 soldiers under one pa-tsung or sergeant Tai Pang Battalion✯ was stationed there.6 The fort remained a strong outpost along the east coast of Hong Kong for nearly a hundred years. Then, in the 15th year of the Ch'ia Ching rule (1810), the fort was evacuated and finally abandoned.7 A new fort was built at the place of the present Hong Kong Marine Police Headquarters at Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon. The fort remains in ruins till now. Hong Kong, 1979. SIU KWOK-KIN NOTES 1 See note 4 of Mr. JAO Tsung-i's Kowloon in Historical Records of the Sung Dynasty九龍與宋季史料, 饒宗頤著 2 Chapter 8 of the San On Yuen Chi, K'ang Hsi edition, records, "In the 19th year of the Man Lik Period of the Ming Dynasty, guard-stations were established at Fat Tong Mun, Tor Ling Ngor Kung O, Kowloon, Tun Mun, Kap Shui Mun, Tung Sai Chung, Ngor Kung Tau, Chak Wan, Lo Man Shan and Long Pak." In the same chapter, it is also recorded, "Six guard-stations were set up during the Ming Dynasty. They were Fat Tung Mun, Lung Shun Wan, Lok Kat, Tai O, Long To Wan, and Long Pak. These guard-stations were administered by the commander at the Nam Tau Walled City." Thus, we know that the Fat Tong Mun Guard Station was established in the 19th year of the Man Lik period of the Ming Dynasty; but the fort must have been built at a later time. 3 Chapter 5 of the Cheong Wu Chung Tuk Kwun Mun Chi records, "Patrol boats from Nam Tau were stationed at Tun Mun. Some sailed through Fat Tong Mun to the region as far east as Tai Pang." The book was completed in the 32nd year of the Chia ================================================================================ 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-1979 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2801w5938 214 NOTES AND QUERIES The location of the first major incident was the wooded slope of a steep hillside covered with pine trees and shrubs which was held under forestry licence by the Tsing Yi Rural Committee on behalf of the island community. The occasion for it was the entry of a bulldozer in connection with site investigation surveys (by boring rigs) to this area, where engineering works were held up pending negotiations with the villagers for the removal of several villages. In the event, an unauthorized entry was made without the knowledge of the supervising engineer or District Office land staff. The bulldozer made tracks some 300 yards long in several zig-zags across the front of the hill, to the imagined and claimed detriment of three old villages whose fung shui area it has long been. The bulldozer's tracks were approximately 8 feet wide and it had effectively knocked over trees, taken up shrubs and exposed red earth, as clearly shown in Plate 4. The villagers were prompt in their response; not only to complain to the District Office, but also to take early action to reduce the harm thought to emanate from the uncovered earth scars across the hill face. They sent parties of people to the spot who quickly cut adjoining grass, shrubs and the lower branches of trees to cover up the red earth. This took place over much of the tracks (Plate 4). They also hired a geomancer from Kowloon who set up a shrine beside a major clan grave whose side had been closely skirted by the bulldozer (Plate 5). He also provided charms which were set beside the shrine, to avert any bad influences coming from the uncovered earth nearby (Plate 6). In their turn the villagers sent a man at early morning and dusk to light joss-sticks and candles, change the oil in the little lamps on the shrine, so as to try to ensure that harm was averted by showing devotion to the earth god and to the ancestors. This service was provided in turn by a certain class of men styled fuk chù (±) from each of the villages affected by the excavation. This term means elderly persons who are thought to have received blessings from the gods e.g. by having many sons and health in old age. The District Office 'made amends' by paying for the expenses/labour costs of the remedial work, and for the cost of the ceremonial rites styled tun fu (#). The effect of the remedial work thus undertaken was estimated to last for 6 months, after which the process would be repeated. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1979 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2801w5938 238 IU, Miss Sheila, Matron, The Grantham Hospital, Aberdeen, HONG KONG. KINOSHITA, Mr. J. H. Palmer and Turner, OTB Building, 160 Gloucester Road, HONG KONG. KNIGHTLY, Mr. F J., 301 Valverde, May Road, HONG KONG. LOCAL LIFE MEMBERS KVAN, Rev. Erik, Dept. of Philosophy, University of Hong Kong, HONG KONG. LAI, MI. T. Ch Dept. of Extra-Mural Studies, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shui Hing House, 12/F, 23-25 Nathan Road, KOWLOON. LAU, Mr. Michael Wai-Mai, Fung Ping Shan Museum, University of Hong Kong, HONG KONG. LAUFER, Mrs. B. M B4, Harbour View Mansions, 11 Magazine Gap Road, HONG KONG. LAUFER, Mr. E. M., B4, Harbour View Mansions, 11 Magazine Gap Road, HONG KONG. LAWRENCE, Mrs. B. M. I., 3 Ravenscourt. 24 Mount Austin Road, HONG KONG. LEE, Mr. J. S., 74 Kennedy Road, HONG KONG. LEE, Dr. R. C., C.B.E., J.P, 1 Hysan Avenue, 21st Floor, HONG KONG. LETHBRIDGE, Mr. J. H., Dept. of Sociology, University of Hong Kong, HONG KONG. LEUNG, Mr. Pak-Kui, c/o Home Affairs Dept., 141 Des Voeux Road Central, International Building, 25/F, HONG KONG. LI, Mr. David K. P., D7 Grenville House. 1 Magazine Gap Road, HONG KONG. LISOWSKI, Prof. F. P., 28 Middleton Towers, 140 Pokfulam Road, HONG KONG. LISOWSKI, Mrs. W. Y, 28 Middleton Towers, 140 Pokfulam Road, HONG KONG. LIU, Mr. D. H., 305 Prince Edward Road, Flat 5-D, KOWLOON. LO, Mr. T. S., c/o Lo & Lo., Jardine House, 7th Floor, Pedder Street, HONG KONG. LOSERY, Miss Patricia, c/o Russ & Co., Room 1 Baskerville House G/F, 22 Ice House Street, HONG KONG. LUK, Mr. George Ping-Chuen, B-38 Po Shan Mansions, 10 Po Shan Road, HONG KONG. LUM, Miss Ada, 142 Boundary Street, KOWLOON. MACKENZIE, Mr. John, J.P., Management & Planning Services (Far East) Ltd.. G.P.O. Box 9981, HONG KONG. MACKEOWN, Dr. P. Kevin, Dept. of Physics, University of Hong Kong, HONG KONG. MARDEN, Mrs. J. L., 14 Sheko, HONG KONG. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1979 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2801w5938 244 ORDINARY LOCAL MEMBERS DE BURE, Mrs. Ursula, 550 Victoria Road, Block 29, Floor 30, HONG KONG. DE SILVA, Ms. Minette, Dept. of Architecture, University of Hong Kong, HONG KONG. DER, The Rev. E. B., Holy Trinity Church, 135 Ma Tau Chung Road, KOWLOON. DIAMOND, Mr. A. L., Public Records Office of Hong Kong, 2 Murray Road, HONG KONG. DOHERTY, Ms. Kathleen Rose, 11 Coombe Road, Flat 1A, HONG KONG. DOLFIN, Mr. John, III, 155 Argyle Street, KOWLOON. DRAKEFORD, Mr. Louis S., 124 Miles Clearwater Bay Road, KOWLOON. DYER, Mrs. C. E., 233 Prince's Building, HONG KONG. ELSOM, Mr. Graham, J. B., G.P.O. Box 11508, HONG KONG. EVANS, Prof. D. M. E., School of Law, University of Hong Kong, HONG KONG. EVANS, Mr. C. J., Flat 9. 8 Mansfield Road, The Peak, HONG KONG. FABRY, Mr. K. G., Rural Retreat, Taipo Kau, NEW TERRITORIES. FABRY, Mrs. R. G., Rural Retreat, Taipo Kau, NEW TERRITORIES. FAN, Mr. Jack F. S., 1-25 Shu Kuk Street, May Lun Apartment 14/F, North Point, HONG KONG FITZPATRICK, Mr. John, c/o Jardine Matheson & Co. Ltd. World Trade Centre, 30/F, Causeway Bay, HONG KONG. FORSYTH, Mr. A. H., c/o Stevenson & Co., 821 Central Building, 3 Pedder Street, HONG KONG FORSYTH, Mr. James J., Flat 102, 80 Macdonnell Road, HONG KONG. GAILEY, Mr. H. G., 81 Mt. Nicholson Gap, HONG KONG GAILEY, Mrs. Norah, 81 Mt. Nicholson Gap, HONG KONG. GAMLEN, Mr. Richard, 62 A-D Robinson Road, 19th Floor, Flat B, HONG KONG. GARCIA, Mr. Arthur, Victoria District Court, HONG KONG. GARRETT, Mrs. Valery M., 19 Vivian Court, 20 Mount Kellett Road, HONG KONG. GATELY, Major Charles, c/o Environment Branch, Colonial Secretariat, Lower Albert Road, HONG KONG. GHOSE, Mrs. Rajeshwari, St. Paul's Convent School, Causeway Bay, HONG KONG. GIBB, Mr. Hugh, c/o Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corp., P.O. Box 64, HONG KONG. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1980 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/kh04md207 207 36 1911 Census. 37 For a brief discussion of these ideas, see David Faure, "Hongkong and China in the village world", JHKBRAS 21 (1981). A noteworthy variation is the shrine for the Taai Shing Yan Kung Ma at Luk Mei Village, which is both an ancestral figure and a territorial god. See research notes on Ue Lan Festival at Luk Mei, 5-7.8.81. * Ints. Mr. Cheung T'o 29.5.81, 15.6.81, Mr. Cheung Ts'oi 20.6.81, Mr. Tse Ming 8.81, and notes on the ta tsiu at Ho Chung, 27.12.81 - 31.12.81. For the donations of the Uens towards the repair of the temple, see Ch'e Kung Temple tablet and ints. Mr. Uen Chi Ming 16.1.81, 13.2.81, 7.3.81. Our interviews did not discover if only villagers of Ho Chung contributed towards the annual Ch'e Kung Festival, or if other villagers in the villages that took part in the ta tsiu also did. 3 Int. Mr. Chan P'aang Hing 29.5.81. 40 Ints. Mr. Cheng Ip 14.5.81, Mr. Lei Yiu T'ing 23.6.81, Mr. Lei Kau 23.6.81, Mr. Lok Kau Kei 26.6.81, 21.7.81. 41 Ints. Mr. Tse Wing 9.6.81, Mr. Tsang 25.6.81, Mr. Tsang Yung 25.6.81, Mrs. Wai 27.6.81 42 Ints. Mr. Cheung Ts'oi 20.6.81, Mr. Cheung Wing 1981; see also Mr. Sung Kw'an 23.6.81 for similar arrangements for raising pigs in Tit Kim Hang, and Mr. Shing Uen Wan 10.7.81 in Pik Uk. 43 Ints. Mr. Shing Ip On 14.6.81, Mr. Leung Yung Hei 16.6.81. Every year, on the 28th of the First Month, all the five surnames of Mang Kung Uk joined in the worship of the earth god. A matshed was built in the village, on which lanterns were hung. See int. Mr. Ue Shun Hing 10.7.81. See also Patrick Hase, “Observations at a Village Funeral", presented at the Conference on Hong Kong Society and History at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, December 1981, (papers to be published shortly). 44 ** Mr. Leung Yung Hei 16.8.81. * Ints. Mr. Sung 22.6.81, Mr. Tang Kei Faat 25.6.81, Mr. Hoh King 24.6.81, Mr. Yau T'aam Shang 8.5.81, Mrs. Lau Lei Loi T'aai 28.6.81, store keeper at Wong Chuk Wan 28.6.81, Mrs. Hoh née Lau 29.6.81, Mr. Kuet Po Shing 2.7.81, and notes on the ruined temple at Wong Chuk Wan 28.6.81. The composition of the Shap Heung given by Mrs. Hoh née Lau and Mr. Kuet differs slightly from that in the text here. Other village groups in the Sai Kung area include one that consists of Tse Keng Tuk, Chiu Hang, Ta Ho Tun, and Ma Nam Wat (int. Mr. Chan Uet Shing 24.6.81), another that consists of the three villages at Man Yee Wan (int. Mr. Lei Shiu Yam 8.5.81), yet another the seven villages that made use of the sugar press at Ko Tong (int. Mr. To 19.6.81). Apparently, Tai Long, Pak Tam Au, and Chek Keng, and then Sham Chung, Lai Chi Chong, and Pak Sha O were two groups of villages that had close social ties (int. Madam Chiu I Mooi 7.5.81). 48 Ints. Mr. Tse Wing 20.6.81, Mr. Yau 28.7.81. Fung shui was involved in the dispute in Sha Kok Mei. The villagers considered that part of a hill nearby, known to them as the "tiger's land" (foo tei) was essential to the fung shui of the village. Sha Kok Mei would not permit burial, grass or tree cutting on the foo tei. "Mr. Chau T'in Shang 9.7.81, Mr. Lok Kau Kei 26.6.81, Mr. Yau Taai Hin 8.81, Mr. Tse Ming 8.81. Major temple celebrations before World War II were held in at least the following places: Leung Shuen Wan, Sai Kung, Tai Miu, Hang Hau, Pan Long Wan, Tseung Kwan O, Kau Sai. Pak Kong and Ho Chung had a ta tsiu every ten years, and ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1980 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/kh04md207 # PERSISTENCE & PRESERVATION OF HAKKA CULTURE 41 locality associations. These are the Tse-kam (Tsu-chin) District Countrymen's Association (1948), Loong-chuen (Lung-chuan) Native Association (1954), Pok-law (Po-lo) District Association (1954), Ho-yuen (Ho-yuan) Clansmen's Association (1963) and the Wai-yeung (Hwei-yang) Merchants Association. However, the Wai-chow Hoklos from the district of Hai-feng and Lu-feng, due to cultural and language differences, cannot fully participate in the Waichow associations, principally composed of Hakkas. This is why the Waichow Hoklos, besides having their own district-level associations (the Luk-fung District Countrymen's Association in 1967 and the Hoi-fung District Countrymen's Association in 1968), have often attempted to establish relationships with the Hoklos from other areas. In August 1972, several directors of the Waichow Clansmen General Association were discontented with their chairman's leadership, so they organized the Ten Districts of Waichow Association in order to challenge the Waichow Clansmen Association's authority. This resulted in a public split at the pinnacle of the power pyramid and had certain serious effects on the internal structure of the Waichow Hakkas. The most obvious consequence was that each association claimed to be the rightful representative of the Waichow people in Hong Kong and the two therefore competed to seek support from the secondary level Waichow associations, thus forming different association clusters within the same group. In other words, under and within the common locality name of Waichow, there are actually three association clusters in Hong Kong: The Waichow Hakka, as the majority group, have two clusters centering around the Waichow Clansmen General Association and the Ten District of Waichow Association respectively, and the Waichow Hoklos, as the marginal group, constitute another cluster with the Luk-fung District Countrymen's Association and the Hoi-fung District Countrymen's Association as its nucleus (see Fig. 1). ## III. VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATIONS AND CULTURAL PERSISTENCE With regard to the role of voluntary associations in urban situations, most contemporary anthropologists, as already mentioned- ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1980 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/kh04md207 NOTES AND QUERIES 137 are ruined, we can still get information about their previous existence. Tin Hau Temple 1. Ham Tin, Pui O— Built in the Ming Dynasty, rebuilt in 1798, and repaired in 1947*. Bell 1799. 2. Chung Hau, Shap Long—Rebuilt in 1951. No bell. 3. Fan Lau Built in the early Ch'ing Period, rebuilt in 1820, repaired in 1820*, 1928* and 1976*. No bell. 4. Yi O No information. 5. Tai O Market Built in the Ming Dynasty, repaired in 1741, 1835*, 1852, 1903, 1959 and 1975. Bell 1772. 6. Yim Tin, Tai O Built in the early Ch'ing Period, repaired in 1838*, 1892, 1895*, 1946 and 1972*. Bell 1713. 7. Tai Pak No information. 8. Nim Shue Wan 9. Chek Lap Kok Hung Shing Temple Built in early 20th Century, removed to Peng Chau Island during the Second World War, rebuilt at the present site in 1972*. No bell. Built in 1823, repaired in 1978. No bell. 1. Mui Wo—Built in the Ming Dynasty, repaired in 1843, now completely disappeared. 2. Pui O—Built in the Ming Dynasty, repaired in 1780, now ruined. 3. Tong Fuk—Built in 1802, repaired in 1965*. Bell 1802. 4. Shek Pik — Removed to Tai Long Wan. The original temple at Chung Hau, Shek Pik, is in ruins. 5. Tai Long Wan Built in 1960. No bell. 6. Shek Tsai Po, Tai O— Built in the early Ch'ing Period, repaired in 1746*, 1802*, 1841*, 1875* and 1969*. Bell 1746. * indicates that commemorative tablets exist for these repairs. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1980 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/kh04md207 NOTES AND QUIRIES 139 Fuk Tak Temple ** Tai O Market- No information. The number of temples found in each area is as follows 1. Mui Wo-2 6. Tsin Yu Wan-1 11. Sha Lo Wan-1 2. Pui O-4 7. Yi O-1 12. Tung Chung 3 3. Tong Fuk-2 8. Tai O-7 13. Tai Pak - 1 4. Shek Pik-3 9. Keung Shan- 1 14. Nim Shue Wan-1 5. Fan Lau-2 10. San Shek Wan-1 15. Chak Lap Kok-1 Hong Kong, March 1980 ANTHONY K.K. SIU THE KOWLOON WALLED CITY The Kowloon Walled City was situated to the north of the present Kai Tak Airport. It had been the most important military base in Hong Kong during the later Ch'ing Dynasty (1644-1911). At the beginning of the Ch'ing period, there was no walled city. In the 7th year of the K'ang Hsi reign (1668), there was only a watchpost, called the 6, recorded as having thirty guards. Fourteen years later, in the 21st year of Kang Hsi (1682), the number of guards was reduced to only ten, and the post was turned into the Kowloon guard-station. This Kowloon guard-station, with only ten soldiers, was still in existence up to the 16th year of the Chia Ch'ing reign (1811) 1 During the 15th year of the Chia Ch'ing reign (1810), the Fat Tong Mun Fort # was evacuated, and a new fort was built on the coast of Kowloon. This was the Kowloon Fort #. Its garrison was forty-eight men, under one pa-tsung and one ngai-wai. After the 22nd year of the Tao Kuang reign (1843), Hong Kong Island was under British rule. In order to strengthen the fortification of Kowloon, a walled city was built in the 27th year of Tao Kuang (1847). This was the Kowloon Walled City * See JHKBRAS 19 (1979)· 209-210. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1980 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/kh04md207 NOTES AND QUERIES 153 tinuing solidarity and sense of community is, I believe, quite noteworthy. The indigenous multilineage alliance feels threatened by the changes imposed on its quiet valley both by the influx of immigrant farmers and by the new government development plans. In the tun fu ceremonies, I would suggest, it fights back symbolically at both foes. The government is committed to keeping, at least symbolically, the promise made by Blake that Chinese "usages and good customs will not in any way be interfered with." Although these villagers are in reality helpless in the face of tumultuous change, they can in the short run pressure the government to give them "face" by providing financial support for the ritual reaffirmation of their exclusive symbolic rights in the lands of their ancestors. The presence of the outsiders in Fung Yuen, ritual statement notwithstanding, is very real, as is the power of the state which is likely to claim more than the domains of the Green Dragon and the White Tiger in the very near future. In the meantime, the tun fu ceremonies, like other rituals, provide us a glimpse of the structure of social as well as religious meaning in a sector of Chinese society that carries on old traditions in a changing world. Berkeley, California, 1982 JUDITH STRAUCH LYCHEES OF TSANG SHING COUNTY, KWANGTUNG. In May 1979 I was invited to inaugurate a new term of office-bearers of the New Territories Tsang Shing Fellow Countrymen's Association*4, and at dinner enquired into special local products. Among other items, a rare type of lychee was mentioned. The lychee is a kind of sub-species, and is supposed to be red with a green stripe. None of the persons at the table had seen it, and in conversation they presumed that it came into the category of folk myth. (1921), 2. The latest edition of the country gazetteer chüan 9/3a has this to say about the lychees of Tsang Shing District: Sei Mong Kong in Sa Pui, Tsang Shing County, produces the prime quality of lychee in Kwangtung because the soil there is rich and sandy. Species ranging from "Kwa Luk" (##) to ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1980 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/kh04md207 154 NOTES AND QUERIES numerous minor grades excel those of other places in their colour, fragrance and taste. Chu Yi-chuen of Sau Shui remarks, "There is no fixed standard as to which place in Fukien and Kwangtung produces the best quality of lychee, but in my opinion “Kwa Luk” from Kwangtung tops all." The three most outstanding selections of "Kwa Luk” are "Siu Fa Shan”, “Luk Law Yi” and "Kau Kei Wan”. A species named "Sheung Shu Wai", literally "being carried (wai) by the Minister (Sheung Shu)", originated from a minister Cham Man-kang who brought back a pip of lychee from Windy Pavilion. Most lychees fall into this category. The most valuable lychee tree whose fruit is priced scores of times more than others is the one growing in the West Garden located outside West Gate of the County Seat. In fact, there were other lychee trees which were as good as, or even better than, that tree. Another species called “Crystal Ball" of Cha Kong is of the same grade as "Kwa Luk”, and also on the list of the delicious lychees are "Sai Kok" (rhino's horn), "Kwai Mei” (taste of osmanthus), "Nor Mai Chee" (like glutinous rice), "Sung Ka Heung" (fragrance of Sung Family), "Chun Fung Yuk” (jade offered to emperor) and Ho Pau (wallet). (translation by District Office, Tsuen Wan) 3. By chance, I heard recently of the existence of at least one tree of the special type of “Kwa Luk” mentioned in the opening paragraph from the father of a friend. This gentleman, a Hakka from Ng Wah District, served pre-war in the provincial administration of Kwangtung at Canton. He had a friend Mr. Wong Ping-kwan (*A), who was the district magistrate (*) of Tsang Shing at that time (about 1937-38). This official used to send a parcel of this special lychee to his superiors in Canton. The fruit came from trees in the courtyard and gardens of his office in Tsang Shing. It was not for sale, and although my friend said he had heard of some being available on the market in recent times, he was sure they were not the genuine article. Hong Kong. December, 1979. JAMES HAYES ================================================================================ 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 ## CARL T. SMITH ### Introduction The events leading up to the passage by the Legislative Council of Hong Kong of Ordinance No. 1 of 1923, entitled, “An Ordinance to Regulate Certain Forms of Domestic Service" interested me as an historian of the Hong Kong Protestant Church. It was the first time Chinese Christians in Hong Kong had worked as a group on a social question. Previously individual Christians had written or spoken about public issues, but the organisation of the Anti Mui Tsai Society in 1921 was the first major effort of a large body of Chinese Christians to campaign for social change. Of added interest was the enlistment of the labour unions to support its efforts and the active part women took in the campaign. Dr. Sun Yat-sen in planning the Revolution of 1911 had received the support of secret societies and other groups whose members were from the labouring class. After the revolution some of these elements began to organise as modern labour unions. In the 1920's their desire to express themselves, gain benefits and be recognised as a political force was strengthened by the success of the Russian revolution. Communist organisers were particularly active in Canton. In February-March 1922, the Seamen's Union conducted a successful strike in Hong Kong. At the same time that labour was asserting itself, there were efforts by women to change their traditional status in Chinese society. One of the features of the fight against the practice of buying domestic servants was the support given by the Chinese members of the recently organised YWCA under the leadership of Mrs. Ma Ying-piu. The mui tsai question involved the misuse of young girls and the conduct of their mistresses. It was to be expected, therefore, it would attract the concern of enlightened women. Other than the organisation of the wives of the Directors of the Po Leung Kuk (Society for the Protection of Women and Girls) as a committee to visit the Society's Home and check on its management, there was no active participation by women on the side of those who wished to preserve the system. ### I Page 105 Page 106 ================================================================================ 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 99 abuses, why, he asked, had the question never been raised by officials of the Government Cadet system who had studied Chinese language, manners and customs in Canton. "Surely these men's experience and knowledge of the system is not inferior to those of Mrs. Haselwood." Mr. Ho suggested the Chinese organize a society among themselves to deal with any problems there might be in the system, "why cannot we Chinese take up the matter ourselves by forming a society with a strong committee of management for purpose of enlightening and educating the masses in their duty towards the servant girls, and securing proper power to prosecute the cases of cruel treatment of these girls?” Some passion was injected into the meeting when after Mr. Pun Yat-ki vividly described three cases in which cruel punishment was inflicted on servant girls, Mr. Ho Kom-tong, the brother of Ho Fook and Ho Tung, excitedly shouted that Mr. Pun and his informant should be charged with accessory to the crime for not reporting the offending master to the authorities. His remarks brought both loud applause and vehement cries of protest. Mr. Chung Wen-sang arose to appeal to the meeting "to stop these unpleasant disputes". Dr. Yeung Shiu-chuen was the main speaker for those who advocated abolition of the mui tsai system. He contended that persons who commiserated with the girls who came into their households were "rare mortals". Girls were always badly treated, and the Po Leung Kuk and Secretary for Chinese Affairs had little influence in alleviating their condition. To claim that there were no complaints was a failure to understand the pressures under which the girls lived, for "many had been wronged by their masters but had not the courage to lodge complaints with the authorities, under the impression that if this were discovered, their lives would be made even more unpleasant." Rather than attempt to counteract the accusation the English had brought against the system and regard them as a slur on the Chinese people, the problem should be honestly faced. It should be admitted that it would cause the degeneration of the Chinese as a race, for "how could servant girls be expected to train their children properly since they had been denied education and proper treatment." Dr. Yeung pleaded "in the interest of humanity, the prestige of China and posterity, and also to keep pace with the advancement of civilization" that the meeting take steps to secure the emancipation of servant girls and to put them on an equal footing with others. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1982 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p 97 * For Fang Han-ch'i, see Note 10. Li Ming-jen "I-pa-ssu nien Hsiang-kang pa-kung yün-tung" ("The Strike in Hong Kong in 1884), Li-shih yen-chiu (Historical Studies), 1958:3 (March, 1958) 89-90. Lloyd E. Eastman, "The Kwangtung anti-foreign disturbances during the Sino-French War", Papers on China, 13 (1959) 1-31, Lewis M. Chere, "The Hong Kong Riots of October 1884: Evidence for Chinese Nationalism", JHKBRAS, Vol. 20 (1980), p. 54. * Chinese Prisoners, Papers respecting the confinement and trial of Chinese prisoners in Hong Kong 1857 (155, Sess. 2) XLIII, Great Britain, Parliamentary Papers (Shannon, Ireland: Irish University Press, 1971) Vol. 24: China, pp. 151-188. For a narration of the event see James Pope-Hennessy, Half Crown Colony: A Hong Kong Note Book (London: Jonathan Cape, 1969), pp. 55-58. Marsh to Parkes, 4th October, 1884, enclosed in F.O. to C.O., 2nd February, 1885: CO129/224. Marsh to Parkes, 6th October, 1884, Telegram enclosed in F.O. to C.O., 9th December, 1884: CO129/219. Tsungli Yamen to Parkes, 10th October, 1884, enclosed in F.O. to C.O., 13th December, 1884; ibid. **For Paou-chong, see Ordinance No. 13 of 1844; for Tepo, see Ordinance No. 3 of 1853; for the Registrar-General, see Ordinance No. 7 of 1846. The Registrar-General's duties were redefined by Ordinance No. 6 of 1857, and again by Ordinance No. 8 of 1858. For the Chinese elite, see Carl Smith's works cited in Note No. 59. See also his "An Early Hong Kong Success Story: Wei Akwong, the Beggar Boy", Chung Chi Bulletin No. 45 (December 1968), pp. 9-14; "English-educated Chinese Elites in Nineteenth Century Hong Kong", Symposium Paper, Royal Asiatic Society, Hong Kong Branch, (November 1972), pp. 65-96; and H.J. Lethbridge, "A Chinese Association in Hong Kong: the Tung Wah", "The Evolution of a Chinese Voluntary Association in Hong Kong: The Po Leung Kuk" and "The District Watch Committee: The Chinese Executive Council of Hong Kong?" in his Hong Kong: Stability and Change. **Marianne Bastid, "The Social Context of Reform” in Paul A. Cohen and John E. Schrecker, ed., Reform in Nineteenth Century China (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1976), pp. 117-127; 118. Li Tak Cheong was a director in 1872, chairman in 1883, and a hip-li in 1873 and 1884. Ho Amei was chairman in 1882 and a hip-li in 1883. Leong On was a founding chairman, and chairman again in 1877 and 1887, and was a hip-li in 1872, 1878 and 1888. **Ho Kai's father, Ho Fuk Tong and his brother-in-law Wu T'ing-fang were both founding chi-shi. See Note No. 34. Marsh to Derby, 24th March, 1886, Despatch No. 91: CO129/225. **This refers to a meeting called by Europeans in Hong Kong to discuss the rise of crime which they believed resulted from the leniency of the new Governor Hennessy. Some of the Chinese leaders however supported him and the meeting developed into a confrontation between Europeans and Chinese residents in Hong Kong. See James Pope-Hennessy, Verandah (London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd.), pp. 203-205. This was also fully reported in the Daily Press and China Mail throughout October 1878. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1982 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p 147 a (a) aay By (aai) aaw (au) (ai) aw (au) aam am (aam) aeng (ang) aap (aap) ack ang (ang) ap (ap) ak (ak) e (e) eng (eng) ek (ek) ¡ (e) iw (iu) imm (im) ing (ing) ip (ip) ik (ik) a (oh) oy (oi) ong ok u (oo) uy ung (ung) uk (uk) ö (oeng) ű (ue) öng (eung) ök (euk) ung ük In the above chart, KHW finals -uy, -aeng/k, -ong/k and -üng/k have no SC homophones. KHW -uy resembles SC -ooi, but has a short vowel instead of the long /oo/ of SC. The vowel in KHW -aeng/k is similar to the vowel in (Received Pronunciation) English man. The transcriptions -aeng/k, rather than -aang/k were chosen to illustrate this point. The vowel in KHW -ong/k is noticeably more fronted than that of SC -ong/k, with the result that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between KHW -ong/k and -ông/k. Finally, KHW -üng/k are finals similar to SC -uen/t but have a short, instead of a long, vowel and a velar, instead of a dental, final consonant. Examples of these finals are: 'fear' 'big' 'satiated' /-a/ 伯 p'al /-aay/ * taay4 /-aaw/ I paaw3 /-aam/ saam1 'three' /-aeng/ 生 saeng1 'raw' /-aap/ # tyaap4 'diverse' /-aek/ 辣 laek4 'pepper-hot' /-ay/ 米 may1 'rice' /-aw/ 好 haw3 'good' /-am/ 心 sam1 'heart' /-ang/ 新 sang1 'new' /-ap/ 入 yap4 'enter' /-ak/ ☐ yak4 'day' /-e/ 蛇 se2 /-eng/ 病 peng4 'snake' 'sick' /-ek/ 吃 hek3 'eat' ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1982 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p 284 NOTES AND QUERIES sympathy of all right-thinking Chinese who have not been slow to express their profound abhorrence of the action'. This was certainly true of the Chinese elite. A deputation of forty leading Chinese, including Legislative Councillors, the Director of the Tung Wah Hospital and members of the Committee of the Po Leung Kuk and the District Watchmen's Committee, waited on the Governor two days after the crime to testify to the loyalty of the community and their profound horror at the outrage. There is little evidence to show how far such sentiments were widely shared by the rest of society. The only surviving Chinese newspaper made no comment and did not even carry a report of the incident.10 The police intercepted a letter from the landlady of the place where Li had been living in which she mentioned casually that her lodger had fired at the Governor 'and most unfortunately missed him'. At least one man saw a good omen in the affair; an Indian shopkeeper when told the news reportedly smiled and said, “Very good joss. That means there will be prosperity for Hong Kong.” Any deterrent effect of the sentence passed on Li did not last for long. Four months later the Hong Kong government made a further attempt to outlaw the use of coins minted in Canton by persuading the Tramway company to refuse to accept them. Agitators convinced the public that this was an insult to the new Republican government and a boycott of the tramway began in November, accompanied by widespread intimidation and violence directed against those using the trams and Europeans in general. In December the emergency powers under the Peace Preservation Ordinance were once again brought into force by proclamation.12 On Li Hon Hing only served six years of his life sentence.13 On 18 June 1918 Sir Henry May informed the Executive Council that he proposed to pardon the prisoner and order his release from prison. No reason is given in the Minutes of the Council for this act of clemency.19 N. J. MINERS ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1983 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v 86 Loan Word Chinese Characters Meaning Gung ho I A *Gweilo 鬼 Literally 'ghost' or 'devil man', used to refer to Westerners. Widely current in Hong Kong. Han 漢 Of, relating to, or having the characteristic of, the period of the Han dynasty; of, relating to, or being a nationality group of Chinese descended from the original Chinese constituting an overwhelming majority of the population and the dominant cultural group: belonging to the Chinese proper as distinguished from other nationality groups. Hakka 客家 One of a tribe or race of Chinese dwelling in parts of southern China, particularly in the province of Canton, descendants of immigrants from northern China in the middle ages; also their dialect, Hoey (wui) 會 A society of Chinese; especially a secret society. In Hong Kong a savings club. Hong 行 A foreign trading establishment in China or Japan. Hyson 熙春 A species of green tea from China. I-ching 易經 An ancient Chinese book of divination and a source of Confucian and Taoist philosophy. *Kaito 街渡 Literally 'street ferry', used to refer to boats plying between various points in Hong Kong. *Kaifong 街力(坊) Literally 'street square', used to refer to a neighbourhood, especially to community organizations. Kaolin 高嶺 A fine white clay produced by the decomposition of feldspar, used in the manufacture of porcelain; first employed by the Chinese, but subsequently found in many places. Ketchup 茄汁 A sauce made from the juice of mushrooms, walnuts, tomatoes, etc. Kowtow 叩頭 The Chinese custom of touching the ground with the forehead, as an expression of respect, submission, or worship. *Kuk 局 Literally 'association', 'society', 'committee'. *Kung hei fat choy 恭喜發財 Literally 'wish you grow prosperous'. A Chinese New Year greeting. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1983 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v 92 3. 4. These speak a different language from the other three races. They have a history of having migrated ages ago from the Yangtse valley, and economically are pioneers, opening up inferior lands, and doing all quarry work. They occupy the eastern and northern islands, and are often called "Chinese Scotchmen”. For this reason Scottish regiments here are called “Hakka ping" (Hakka soldiers). Nearly all regimental servants here, I believe, are Hakkas: formerly the Hakkas were anti-Manchu and often joined Triad Societies. As such, they gave vigorous assistance to the British in 1857-61, and the connection with the Army has been kept up. Hoklos, a Cantonese nickname for the coast peoples of Northeast Kwangtung; it means "men of Hok1", meaning Fukien. Most come from the area around Swatow and Swabue. Their language is very widely different from both Cantonese and Hakka: as different as German from English. They are fishermen, grasscutters, limekiln and saltpan workers. Their major settlements are at Tai O, Pingchau, Cheung Chau, Taipo (by the District Officer's island), and probably others. They are migrating here steadily, and many appear in court for offences of all sorts. A major reason behind the migration is probably that the coastal areas from which they come are suffering erosion and losing soil: the collapse of the Hoi Luk Fung Soviet Republic is another factor: finally, piracy is no longer as profitable as it was. Political divisions The Ladrones or "Pirate Islands" of which Hong Kong and its outlying islands are part were so named by the Portuguese pioneers of sea trade to the East. They are shared unequally between China, Britain and Portugal. In China they are administered by the nearest district magistrates, of Hoifung, Po On, Chungshan, Sanwui, and Toishan districts. Macao has only two or three nearby isles. The British Islands are divided between the District Officer, North, and the District Officer, South, so that the latter is sometimes called "Lord of the Isles". I had that job for nearly 3 1/2 years. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1983 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v 117 and rocky sides, and there were only a few places where agriculture could be carried on. The population was of mixed origin, and for long was largely male. As late as 1911 the number of males to females, including children, was 1,041 to 396. However, like the number of boats and boat people in the anchorage, the numbers and proportions fluctuated. In 1897, the respective numbers had been 783 to 340,14 This population of landsmen came from the nearby districts of Kwangtung province. Their interests were looked after by three organizations named the Fuk Hing Fong, Luk Hing Fong and Sau Hing Fong (*****). They were formed by the (福祿壽慶坊) men of San On, Tung Kwun and a mixed group of men from other districts respectively.15 It is not known when they were established, but the available evidence points to the earlier part of the settlement's history. For reasons that will be given below, they amalgamated about 1930, when they took the name of Tung Hing Kung She (東興公社), meaning the Society of the Combined 'Hings', retaining the common part of their old names.10 The leaders of the three Fongs managed the affairs of the small Ap Lei Chau community. They looked after the structure of the local temples and came together to discuss district affairs whenever circumstances warranted. It was to the shops of the leaders that persons in need of assistance went in time of need. The connection between the main temple, the Fongs, and the Kaifong (街坊) of Ap Lei Chau is shown in a petition to the Director of Public Works dated 17 April 1893, which is styled 'the petition of Chung Tat Chi and others, Committees of the Hong Shing Temple at Aplichow and the Kaifong of Aplichow' (English translation of a Chinese text not now available). Chung is recalled locally as a prominent shopkeeper and the leader of one of the Fongs. Again, at a hearing to determine ownership of the Hung Shing temple in 1893, one witness said 'The Kaifong are the shopkeepers', and for our present purposes he might have added "The shopkeepers are the leaders of the three Fongs."17 However, I am more concerned here with the three Fongs. Religious duties were the most regular of their functions, and ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1983 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v 124 theory by the god, whose image was brought to the dinner. Forty tickets were prepared for those persons who had secured chik lei papers at the ceremony in front of the altar. Three of the tickets were marked for the senior positions: the rest, as before, were marked tai kat. In this way, the selection of officers was, at least in theory, removed from human control. If there was discontent with the results, the god was responsible and not the persons from the previous year's committee who had made the arrangements. Unsuccessful candidates secured 'great fortune' papers: what more could be done? It remains to be emphasized that the shrine was considered to be of great importance to the well-being of the district by the local residents. I was told that 90% of the pre-war population of the district attended at the shrine, at the first lunar month, including whole families. Whilst this is probably an exaggeration, the importance of the shrine is beyond doubt. After thinking for a time, a manager told me in the presence of others that it was 'more important than the ancestors in the daily life of the people'. There was no restriction by age, sex or origin on eligibility for management, pre or post war. The grandmother of one of my informants had served as one of the senior managers when he was a small boy, and she had long been associated with the group. Again, as mentioned above, one of the Keepers was the elderly lady whose photograph is retained at the shrine. (2) Tai Ping Shan (K†14) The second urban Fuk Tak Kung shrine and its management committee chosen for study, comes from an equally old section of 19th century urban Hong Kong, the Tai Ping Shan district. This district had boundaries fixed by the British administration: 'No. 3 or Tai Ping Shan', as it is described in the Hongkong Government Gazette for 9th May 1857, which proceeds to name the streets within which the name applied.27 They seem to agree generally with the area described by the committee members I interviewed in the mid 1960s, and other old residents, as being associated with the shrine. However, as in the case of the Sheung Fung Lane Fuk Tak Kung, persons from outside the immediate area of influence and protection also came there to worship. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1983 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v 128 labourers' homes as well. The shrines to be described were connected with the villages of the Shau Kei Wan area, and not with Tung Tai Kai which, as the market town that served local villagers from the surrounding district had its own temples and shrines, managed by the market town shopkeepers, as at Ap Lei Chau.30 (1) Nam On Fong () The management committees of the shrines to be described mainly comprised land people from the villages in which they were situated, and not residents of the market town. The villages looking to the first of these shrines for protection, were collectively known as Nam On Fong. At the census of 1901 the main village of this area, Tsin Shui Ma Tau, had a recorded population of 740,37 The shrine, another Fuk Tak Kung, has an interesting history. In the first place, though old, its origins are in some doubt. Until its first removal about 1920 it was located under a large banyan tree beside a stone pier. This pier and the footpath leading to it had been built by the grandfather or great-grandfather of two of my elderly informants (born in the late nineteenth century and interviewed in 1968-70). These men had been local quarry masters and required a pier from which to ship their stone. The shrine was said to have been established after a man had recovered an image from the sea and placed it under the banyan tree at this spot. Using local contacts, I managed to trace the story to its source. The father of a local boatbuilder was the person responsible, though at the time of the find he had been only fourteen years old. A check on the ages of father, son and other relatives involved in the event showed that were this story true, it took place no earlier than 1890. This does not tally with the inscription on an incense burner in the modern Fuk Tak Kung. This is dated April-May 1877, but though it does not state that it was presented to Fuk Tak Kung, the managers state firmly that it has always belonged to the god and his shrine. Page 150 Page 151 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1983 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v 135 14.8.1897, all three Ap Lei Chau residents belonging to the old Luk Hing, Sau Hing, and Fuk Hing Tongs respectively. Their evidence enlarges and confirms the information obtained from the record of the Squatter Board's proceedings. "Hayes 1977, pp. 99-101. The Tai O information is more explicit on this point, but the Cheung Chau practice was the same. ** See E.G. Pryor, Housing in Hong Kong (Hong Kong, Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, 1983) pp. 15-17. These new urban districts were very susceptible to contagious disease. It is well to recall Governor Des Voeux's report of 1889 in which, describing the City of Victoria, he wrote: "Going ashore our visitor would see in the Chinese quarters houses, constructed after a pattern peculiar to China, of almost equally solid materials, but packed so closely together and thronged so densely as to be in this respect probably without parallel in the world.. It is believed that over 100,000 people live within a certain district of the City of Victoria not exceeding 1⁄2 square mile in area. It is known that 1,600 people live in the space of a single acre." (Sessional Papers 1889, pp. 303-304). 15 ** Victoria had seven officially-approved sub-districts in 1857, as listed and described in the Hong Kong Government Gazette for 9 May 1857, GN No. 69. They included "No. 1, or SEI-YING-POON — From the small village westward, called Cowee-wan, to the end of Circular Buildings, including all the houses on Bonham Strand, west of No. 1 Police Boat Station. The historical development of this area is given by Revd. Carl T. Smith's note at pp. 211-218 of JHKBRAS 14(1974) in "Programme Notes for Visits to Older Parts of Hong Kong Island (Urban Areas....) See also Chapter 3, Sheung Wan, of Frank Leeming's Street Studies in Hong Kong (Hong Kong Oxford University Press, 1977) pp. 45-66. 24 Sheung Fung Lane itself is situated between Second and Third Streets in that section bounded by Centre Street to the East and Western Street to the West. ** An account of pao wui at the Tam Kung festival in Shau Kei Wan from a Secretariat for Chinese Affairs' file of 1958 is typical: "There were about 15 Kaifong elders in the Tam Kung temple who were enrolling pao wui (K), there were about 18 pao wu's from the sea and about 10 from the land. The wul's who brought their own roast-pigs with them had to pay "oil money" and "worshipping fees" from $10 to $30 to the elders before entering the temple. It is learned that the worshippers have no objection to pay these fees. In addition the temple keeper also charged $5 or $10 for each roast-pig brought into the temple plus $5 to $10 "oil money". 20 A recent account of the proceedings at Sheung Fung Lane is given in the article "Everyone's festival" in The Asia Magazine issued weekly by Asia Magazines Ltd., Hong Kong, Vol. 21, Number V7, 4th January 1981, pp. 3-6. 3-6. For a very well illustrated account of a similar old neighbourhood in Singapore, and its community festivals, see "Singapore's Vanishing Chinatown" by Joan Ogden in The Asia Magazine 25th July 1976. * "No. 3, or TAI-PING-SHAN From the end of Hollywood Road near Circular Buildings, to Gough Street steps, including all the houses on the south side of the Queen's Road between these two points." See the plan opposite p. 124 of Marjorie Topley (ed) Some Traditional Chinese Ideas and Conceptions in Hong Kong Social Life Today (Hong Kong, Royal Asiatic Society, Hong Kong Branch 1967). This was drawn in 1882 (ibid, pp. 123-124). ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1983 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v 240 trading contacts with Tai Wai. At the same time the temple is currently used by the villagers of Tai Wai for purely village rituals such as the hanging of the lanterns for new-born sons, and the only communal worship is conducted by the village elders, and not by the elders of the Heung. It was probably this conflict between the communal and the purely village interest in Hau Wong and his temple which led to the decision to build an entirely new, and much larger temple, just outside the village. Such a site would certainly make it easier for non-villagers to worship, and that this was aimed at is shown by the specific mention of Lek Yuen (1), the old name for Sha Tin District, in the doorjamb inscriptions. At the same time all the donors named in the door inscriptions were Tai Wai villagers, the most prominent, Wong Yin-Tsun (2), being a villager who had succeeded in securing an official post in Shantung province. The villagers believe that this new temple was only built a few decades before the Block Crown Lease - probably, therefore, the date 1888 on the door is the original foundation date. The foundation was not successful: most villagers wanted the god back in the old temple inside the village, and difficulties which arose were blamed on damage to the Fung Shui of the village as set out by Lai Po-i. After about 30 years, the temple was closed and the god taken back to his old home opposite the village gate: since then his temple, in the village, has been considered basically for Tai Wai villagers only. NOTE 1 Chinese Monasteries, temples, shrines and altars in Hong Kong and Macau, Keith G. Stevens, Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society Vol. 20, 1980, pp. 1–33. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1983 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v Plate 7: Umbrellas were used to shield the Gods when they left the sedan chair in which they had been carried. (From "The Star" 27 Jan. 1970) Plate 8: The Gods of the Nam On Fong Fuk Tak Kung, Shau Kei Wan, are installed in their new home. (From "The Star" 27 Jan. 1970) ================================================================================ 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-1984 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/5h73wh572 139 58 Petition dated 23rd day of 4th lunar month, Tao Kuang 24th year i.e. 8th June 1844. 59 60 See notes 19-20 above and relevant text. Response or comment, presumably again by the District Magistrate, following the petition of 8th June 1844. 61 Instruction dated sometime in Tao Kuang 24th year, but date and originator not clear to me. 62 Communication dated 15th day of 11th month, Tao Kuang 24th Year, i.e. 24th December 1844 (from Series CO129/7/9807, p. 326). See also Mayers, Dennys and King, op cit., p. 57. 64 Public Records Series CO129 and FO233. Copies of this deed, together with a few other papers from Chai Wan, belonging to Mr Law Wan-yeung(c) of Chai Wan, are available in the Public Records Office of Hong Kong. 65 See note 26 for the Wong holdings. The Tangs leased out similar properties on Tsing Yi Island in the present New Territories, where they apparently did hold the sole rights to the sub-soil up to 1899. 66 See the account given in J.W. Hayes The Hong Kong Region op cit, p 32 and in J.W. Hayes The Rural Communities of Hong Kong op. cit., pp. 34-37 and 244-246. 67 For accounts of these places see chapters 2 and 3 of J.W. Hayes The Hong Kong Region, op. cit. 6. See J.W. Hayes The Rural Communities of Hong Kong, op. cit., pp 68-9 and relevant notes on p. 254. 69 See the information on settlement in north-west Kowloon and Tsuen Wan in J.W. Hayes The Rural Communities of Hong Kong, op. cit., chapters 5 and 7. 70 Kuo Fei(部) Yueh Ta Chi 與天記三十三政事類渗防廣東沿潮閣 71 This is perhaps misleading and more information is required. The list of places where land was claimed to be in the private ownership of the Tangs, with dates of purchases and names of sellers is given in a petition to the Hsin-an District Magistrate dated 18th day of the 10th moon in Tao Kuang 24th year, i.e. 25 November 1844. This shows that part of those Hong Kong lands registered in the Tung-kwun district yamen, presumably before 1573, had been purchased by the Tangs from another family in the Ch'ien-lung reign, and therefore cannot be used to show Tang ownership in or before the Ming dynasty, although they do suggest that the lands were cultivated and of value in the Ming. Nor do we know whether land registered in what later became Hsin-an had earlier been registered in the Tung-kwun yamen but with the relevant registers transferred to the new district yamen in 1573. 72 For the dates of these temples, and especially for the items mentioned in the Table, see 陸鴻基, 吳偏霞霞, 合编, “香港伸銘彝術 op. cit. (D. Faure, B. Luk, A. Ng, The Historical Inscriptions of Hong Kong), passim. I 71 See J.W. Hayes The Hong Kong Region op. cit. chapter 7. 74 ** A.R. Johnston “Note on the Island of Hong Kong” in London Geographical Journal, XIV, reprinted in the Hong Kong Almanack and Directory, 1846, 75 Endacott, op cit., p. 59 76 E.J. Eitel, Europe in China op. cit. p. 215. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1984 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/5h73wh572 151 Hong Kong authorities saw no need to take active steps to improve the situation. Parliamentary pressure over social hygiene in Hong Kong largely lapsed after 1894 once the legal framework for the licensing of prostitutes and the registration of brothels had been repealed by the Legislative Council and thereafter Hong Kong was left free to set up its new extra-legal system of control without further interference from London. But after the end of the First World War agitation on the subject revived. The League of Nations appointed an Advisory Committee on the Traffic in Women and Children which published reports highlighting the connections between state regulation of prostitution and the procurement of women. The first warning to Hong Kong of the revival of concern in Britain was the arrival in the colony in 1921 of a Commission from the National Council for Combating Venereal Disease which had been sent out to report on conditions in the Far Eastern Colonies. The Governor, Sir Edward Stubbs, had objected to any such visit and forbade government officials to give the commissioners any assistance; he also informed them when they arrived that they were not to hold any public meetings or advertise their presence in the press. In spite of this studied discourtesy the commissioners, Mrs. Neville-Rolfe and Dr. Hallam, set out upon a thorough exploration of the seedier areas of the city and various medical institutions, and were able to make contact with some business and religious groups and with some of the leading Chinese. On their return to London they submitted a scathing report to the Colonial Office on medical and social conditions. According to the commissioners, no serious attempt had been made by the government to improve the standard of health of the native population in 85 years of British rule; the infant mortality figures were disgraceful; the Tung Wah hospital was very dirty and badly equipped; the Po Leung Kuk, a place of refuge for Chinese girls, was largely used as a recruiting ground for cheap supplementary wives by members of the committee. The Colonial Office was given its first description of the working of the system of tolerated brothels, which Mrs. Neville-Rolfe dismissed as ineffective in preventing the kidnapping of girls into brothel slavery; on the contrary it was alleged that the artificial value put on the Chinese girl by the system of recognised brothels is the main inducement to the kidnappers. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1984 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/5h73wh572 243 The content of the invitation card is: "The overseas Chinese in Japan will hold a 3-days-4-nights Pu Tu, for the sake of establishing luck by offering and helping all the imprisoned spirits of the water and the earth. The meeting will take place at the Kwan T'i Temple in Kobe city. Please come to the "Tan" (altar) to present incense sticks during the 14th, 15th, and 16th of the 7th moon. (1st, 2nd and 3rd of September 1982).” The card was red in colour. 9 The 13th day and the 17th day of the 7th moon were not mentioned in the invitation card. 10 The Lantern Floating ritual in Japanese is "To Ro Nagashi', which means to float lanterns(s) (to the sea). During the Japanese Obon, lanterns are sent off on the last day of the festival. Through this, the ghosts and the ancestors are all sent back. During the Kobe festival, the ritual, according to the committee members, was to send off the "wandering ghosts or those who are not worshipped by anyone (= Mu Zhi Kuai)". However it seems confusing because after the floating ritual, they continued to give offering to the hungry ghosts as well as to the ancestors for two more nights, and the tablets of the wandering spirits were still inside the Tao Ch'ang. A similar ritual practised in Hong Kong during the Chiao festival is called 'Fong Shui Dang' (t, sending off the water lanterns), which is parallel with the 'Fong Luk Dang" (PW10, put on the street lights) ritual. The rituals are to invite all the water and earth spirits to attend the offering during the Pu Tu or 'Sai Tai Yau* (*9A, to worship the numerous spirits) of the Chiao festival). The prayer book the Obaku Buddhists used for their morning and night rituals is "Obaku Zenlin Choobo Kashoo" (R). The priests called this daily work "Zenlin Kashoo" (M). See below. 12 Plate 21. 13 Plates 22, 23. 14 The "Pang' was a book-form name-list in yellow. It had 8 pages with an introduction explaining the reason for holding a Pu Tu. (The introduction is printed in the Appendix). 15 See the introduction to the Pang printed in the Appendix. 16 The beach is at the western end of the Prefecture. 17 Plate 24. 18 See footnote 10. 19 20 Plate 25. The book used for the ritual was "Yoga Enkoo Kahan" (1⁄2μÅμ) which is similar to that used in Hong Kong during the 'Sai Tai Yau' ritual. According to an old taoist in Hong Kong, Mr. Lam Pui ( ), the gesture is called "Poh Yuk” (Z, to break Hell), and through this the ghosts are released and able to come for reincarnation and cross over. 21 Plates 26, 27, 28. 22 No meat was allowed in the festival area. However, meat was presented at the Ming-che VII. One informant explained that it was because the dead like meat, and one committee member sighed and told me that "We have no way, because they are from the other Provinces (of China) (##A)". 20 The sect started from Monk Yin Yuan (C) of Fu-ch'in (Mili), Hokkien. He was invited by the General of the Tokugawa Bankufu (UK) in 1654, In the ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1984 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/5h73wh572 269 My notebook says “We had tea at all these villages all locally grown". The list includes Tai Hang Hau, Sheung Sze Wan and Ha Yeung, but I visited others in the group without making special mention of tea. At Ha Yeung I was told that they had 100 trees of what they called shan cha (山茶) (“hill tea”), not wild but planted by themselves. Tai Po Tsai, one of the larger villages of the area, claimed to have 50 trees, but the largest village settlement, Mang Kung Uk, reported "only a few tea bushes not many." However, the little island settlement of Fu Tau Chau in Junk Bay gave me hill tea to drink, from its own trees. Further towards Sai Kung Market, I was given hill tea to drink at Nam Wai, and also at Pak Kong Au, though the village reported "only 8 to 10 trees". East of Sai Kung, people in the hamlet of Shan Liu said that “tea was formerly grown (i.e. cultivated) but only wild bushes are now harvested”. But it was at Nam A, east of Sha Kok Mei, that I learned most. "A really nice, almost English village", I wrote enthusiastically. "We drank hill tea (excellent) from trees planted twenty years ago in the hills behind the village, but not many. It is best brewed in porcelain, they said. Their supply lasts six months in all, but is harvested four times a year - once in the winter months, once at Easter and twice in the summer. The best is the Easter crop.” Nothing was said, or asked, about preparation but each crop was kept in a drawer for two months. My note ends "The cows like to eat it!”. On Lantau, the villagers of Pa Mei, otherwise known as Shan Ha, said they collected hill tea from Tai Tung Shan Keuk (大東山腳), that is the north western slopes of Sunset Peak. On South Lantau the people of the Pui villages also went up to Tai Tung Shan to collect leaves from wild bushes there in the second to fourth moons. Previously there had been many trees, but hill fires had reduced their number. It was used as leung cha (涼茶) for cooling the system. At Tong Fuk my notes state, "they gather tea leaves from bushes on the hill and use it a lot. The tea comes from the Fung Wong Shan peak behind the village, and the leaves used are plucked in the second and third moons.” Rather surprisingly, the villagers of Upper and Lower Keung Shan, though located on the mountain slopes of a sheltered valley with good tree cover, had never cultivated tea bushes, or at least not within living memory. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1984 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/5h73wh572 270 P.H. HASE, J.W. HAYES AND K.C. IU In the 1970s when District Officer and Town Manager, Tsuen Wan, my contacts with local village people established that there were families in Lo Wai which had tea bushes on the mountain slopes of Tai Mo Shan. The Hui (4) family of Lo Wai village collected tea from wild bushes near the present radar station at the very top of Tai Mo Shan. One old man, born in 1896, used to collect ten catties a week during the season, commenting that the best time for plucking the leaves was in the third lunar month: the leaves become older and coarser thereafter. This type of tea was described as wan mo (雲霧) ("cloud mist"). He began doing this when he was about 10 years old, selling to other villagers and not to shops or teahouses. He also collected medicinal herbs on the mountain. Another favourable location for wild tea trees on this mountain, he said, was Nam Tong To (南塘肚) where the Shing Mun villagers collected leaves from wild tea bushes there of the same type. Such trees could not be replanted and grown elsewhere, he stated. Separately, old Shing Mun villagers living in Kam Tin since their removal there in 1928 for construction of the Jubilee Reservoir, themselves confirmed their taking of leaves from trees in this locality. In the foothills west of Tsuen Wan, villagers of Yau Kam Tau also collected leaves from wild tea bushes.12 Lantau island possessed a rather special type of red "tea", with a brilliant red infusion, known as tsz pooi tin kwai (紫背天葵). Tsz pooi tin kwai was described to me as being “half herb half tea”. It was used as a kind of cooling tea (清熱茶) for “over-heating” from food or drink, sore throats and the like. The leaves came from a plant growing between cracks in rocks and stones in high gulleys where there was much moisture. The people of Tong Fuk village on south Lantau, at the foot of the Fung Wong mountain, used to collect these from upper slopes. It was also collected by the women inmates of the religious houses of Ngong Ping and others living at the Po Lin monastery there. Some of the produce found its way to shops in Tai O market where one of the leading shopkeepers, chairman of the Rural Committee, gave me some at intervals. According to Shiu-ying's Hu's An Enumeration of Chinese Materia Medica (Hong Kong, Chinese University Press, 1980) page 153, it is to be described in English as the Tea Begonia (Begonia fimbristipula) and in Chinese as (紅天葵/紫背天葵).13 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1984 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/5h73wh572 298 WONG TAK YAN Slaking The shell powder from the kiln is heaped up into a pile and water is mixed with it. Smoke appears and the shell powder is converted to lime. Sieving A further day after the addition of water, the by now already slaked lime is sieved with a copper mesh sieve. The lumps of waste residue after sieving are thrown into the sea to reclaim it. Bagging The finished lime is bagged in hemp or grass-cloth sacks of about 100 cattys weight, and is then shipped on small boats to the buyers. My family involvement in lime making The San Shing Lei (新盛利) lime kiln factory operated by the Wong (黃) family has enjoyed a relatively lengthy history and occupied a distinguished place in the local lime kiln industry. Five generations of the family were involved in it, for more than one hundred years. The Wong family came originally from Chung Shan (中山) county, and our ancestor first came to Hong Kong shortly after Hong Kong was established, to operate a lime kiln in the Western part of the city (西區). Later, at various times, the kiln moved. This was because, as the area became prosperous and developed, so the kiln had to move away to quiet and undeveloped areas near the sea to carry on business. Lime burning is an offensive trade because of the large quantity of lime dust emitted, and also because of the heavy pall of smoke blown about in the first hour after the kiln is lit, while the dry grass is burning. In fact, during lime-burning, local residents and passers-by would all run away to try to avoid this smoke. However, the kiln is not dangerous to health — in fact, kiln workers all enjoy excellent health. The Wong family factory moved to several places: from Western District to Tsimshatsui (near the present railway station area), then to Tai Kok Tsui (near Fuk Wing Street), then to Shamshuipo. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1984 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/5h73wh572 299 (at the corner of Hoi Tan Street and Pei Ho Street) and finally to Tsing Yi Island. In those days security was a matter of self-defence. The factory in consequence kept swords, rattan shields, and six handguns as weapons for defence against bandits. The San Shing Lei kiln moved to Tsing Yi in 1915, buying the land to build the factory, and preparing the site by levelling it and reclaiming the sea frontage. It was the first factory to invest and set up there. The factory occupied about 150,000 square feet and had eight kilns for lime burning, and a good number of shelters and other buildings. Every month it could produce 10,000 piculs of lime. At that time Tsing Yi was very remote, with only a few residents. Following the establishment of the kiln, this immediately encouraged the development and prosperity of the area. Since the kiln required to buy huge quantities of dried grass from the villagers, and employed more than one hundred workers to operate the kilns, crush the shells and to act as general coolies (most of these workers were Hoi Luk Fung people), and since many of the workers, for their convenience in getting to work, started to live near the factory, so shops could set up nearby and hope for business. Moreover, the pier built by the factory as its private pier was available for general use. Because of this the area around the factory became steadily more prosperous, and outsiders started to invest there, building houses and factories, until the area became a regular market. In 1959 the Government built a pier near this market, with ferries to and from Tsuen Wan, Tsing Yi and Hong Kong, thus making it much easier for factories and shops on the island to transport goods, and for residents to travel backwards and forwards. Why the Industry declined In the 1950s the property industry in Hong Kong began to be very prosperous. Lime was supplied not only to the local industry ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1985 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gt54s866x 77 suitable small-sized marine diesel engines. The first two of these appeared in Hong Kong late in 1950. In 1951 they were installed in purse-seiners belonging to Chan Lo of Aberdeen and Chung Fuk Hei of Kau Sai. Their installation had some drawbacks. They were noisy, smelly engines which made a few people seasick at first, and they took up a great deal of room. In such cramped quarters the loss of storage and floor space entailed by taking over the largest hold amidships for the engine was a serious matter. Even worse, or at least more resented, was the cluttering up caused by the set of life belts that had to be carried now that the junks came under the Regulations for motorised craft. But these were small matters. Engines soon began to pay for themselves many times over and when it became possible to build houses ashore problems of storage space ceased to be a worry. Even from the very beginning, however, the price paid in discomfort (and even money) was seen to be worthwhile in terms of one completely over-riding good - safety. This is a point that should be stressed. These South Chinese fishermen live and work on one of the most uncertain and dangerous of the world's seas. Brought up near the coast in England myself, and familiar with the traditional skills in weather forecasting of local fishermen there and their quiet confidence, I was at first surprised at the apparent ignorance of the Kau Sai Boat People and inclined to feel contemptuous of the unabashed apprehension with which they greeted what appeared to me to be even slightly rising winds. What I did not realise was that the weather in these waters is indeed largely unpredictable from local manifestations alone, and that, particularly in the typhoon season, the dangers are very real and can strike with astonishing speed. The objective situation is simply not comparable with that on the North Devon seaboard, and that is sometimes dangerous enough. Moreover, the Appledore boats of my childhood did not house whole families with women and children, most of whom could not swim, and all the family belongings, nor were they even in the 'thirties, when I had known them, dependent completely upon sail. Kau Sai junk masters had every justification for their caution. Mechanisation, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1985 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gt54s866x 78 BARBARA E. WARD and the development of radio weather forecasts directed specifically to the fishing fleets, brought at least a measure of security which was quite new. I have stated that Kau Sai bay was not safe in a typhoon. Under sail the journey to the nearest relatively safe place, Sai Kung, might take anything up to two-and-a-half or even three hours. Given the unpredictability of typhoons any master who did not take his boat, with his family on board, off to Sai Kung at the first intimation of a possibly threatening storm would have been failing in his manifest duty. Many fishing days and nights in the summer were lost in this way. But with an engine there was nowhere in the whole territory which was more than an hour's journey from a typhoon refuge, and the journey itself was not dependent upon the very winds one was hastening to avoid. One of the most vivid and lasting memories of windy days in the summer of 1952 in Kau Sai, the first summer in which the village had had a properly mechanised boat at the anchorage, is of old Chung Fuk Hei chugging about here, there and everywhere to round up the stragglers and tow them into safety. He was unfailingly generous in this self-imposed task, and several times made two or even three journeys back to Kau Sai to make sure that no one was left behind. The lesson that engines spelled safety was very quickly learnt. Safety when proceeding under power was, of course, also a matter of official concern. The prohibition of petrol engines as a safety measure has already been mentioned. With the introduction of small marine diesels the Hong Kong Government, through the Marine Department, devised a simplified form of license for coxswains and engineers in order to make it possible for inshore fishermen with only a few years' schooling to obtain essential minimum skills in navigation and engine maintenance. If this had not been done it would have been necessary for the owners of mechanised junks to employ men with the existing unnecessarily advanced qualifications. Since such men could command salaries well beyond the range of ordinary purse-seiners or small long-liners, the mechanisation of the inshore fishing fleets would never have taken place. At about the time that the first small marine engines made their appearance the ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1985 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gt54s866x 107 not been living at the time in Fuk Shun's house. My informants were the man's sister and her daughter (i.e. the offending Fuk Hap's sister-in-law and niece, sister and niece also to the foki concerned). My notes continue as follows: I said, later, wouldn't the unfairly treated one walk out? Mrs. FS and DM said No, neither he nor the others knew there was a differentiation when the money was actually given out. Now none dares speak out, but the undercurrent of dissatisfaction is very strong. Reason for not speaking out? Ones who get more fear they may get less: one who gets less fears others may also get less and blame him. Both fear being sworn out (naau, or laau, to scold, revile). There were no other sanctions than gossip, and, of course, a refusal to continue the engagement beyond the next New Year or Dragon Boat festival. On engagement many hired men asked for advances on their wages. Some obtained as much as two or three hundred dollars or even more in this way, and as a result received relatively little on pay days until the debt was paid off. There was no generally accepted way of doing this, arrangements for subtracting (kau: deduct) so much on each occasion being made individually by each foki with his employer. Fokis were notoriously hard up, but they tended also to be flamboyant spenders when they did have money. At Chinese New Year in particular, when, like almost all other paid workers in Hong Kong, they enjoyed double pay and several days holiday, they spent lavishly on clothes, hair styling, watches and fountain pens, girls, cinemas, theatres and gambling. Leung Shui Hei, one of Chung Fuk Her's fokis whose wages are described above came back from a spending spree in Kowloon on the eve of Chinese New Year 1953 and settled down to 3½ days' hard gambling in the course of which he lost everything he had bought and was left with the clothes he stood up in. He immediately asked for a new advance from his employer. The same Leung Shui Hei was an interesting case in many ways. Aged about 28 in 1953 he was strong, good looking, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1985 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gt54s866x 110 BARBARA E. WARD families to find employment elsewhere, put their own wives and children on sampans and hire themselves out as employees to their erstwhile peers. It is a pity that my records do not allow me to distinguish clearly between these two major categories of foki: those whose natal families had merely, as it were, loaned them out, and those who had had to turn to paid employment or starve. Among the former must be included youths like Chung Fuk Woh's son who deliberately ran away from home but nevertheless remained (albeit somewhat grudgingly) a recognised member of his natal family; among the latter, men like Leung Shui Hei alone in the world (whether accidentally or deliberately), and no longer linked into any kind of ongoing group of kinsmen. The elderly bachelor Ma Fung Shan, described below, was in a kind of intermediate position: originally a younger son put out to work on someone else's boat, he was by 1953 the sole surviving member of his father's family of procreation, split off by formal division more than twenty years before from the extended family group which his father's father's sons had at one time formed together. Ma Fung Shan had many local kinsmen, but no family to belong to. Unique in Kau Sai, there were many like him elsewhere. As long as their natal families remained undivided and they themselves remained recognised members, fokis were expected not only to support themselves but also to send or take back remittances. A number of the younger fokis in Kau Sai did just that, returning home from time to time (particularly at Chinese New Year or the Dragon Boat Festival, but also on other holidays and sometimes during slack periods in the fishing seasons) with contributions to their natal families' funds, on which, of course, they still also had a claim. Such a young man was relatively well-off, in that even if he did not usually look forward to re-entering his natal family crew as a working member (and even this was not impossible when, as occasionally happened, business expanded or re-expanded and a larger crew was needed after all) he was still a member and could hope to be provided both with a bride and a share in the family's property when it was divided. It is true that only 6 of the 26 male fokis in Kau Sai in 1953 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1985 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gt54s866x 112 BARBARA E. WARD ested shrug: “Oh, he's just one of the fokis”. The surnames of those not related to local or locally known people were usually not known. Rationalised, the above believed-in characteristics were explained as the inevitable concomitants of having no stake in the family's business. Fokis took no risks and had no responsibilities, it would therefore be unrealistic to expect them to act responsibly. Above all, they were an expense. If only one had enough sons one need not employ outsiders. Fuk Hei's almost daily mutterings about his lazy fokis were balanced by his frank delight in the birth of his grandsons and unconcealed impatience with the very existence of his granddaughters. In this he was only more extreme and more outspoken than his neighbours. There was no disagreement. Sadly, he did not live to see the foki-less Kau Sai of the late 'sixties. Fundamentally, these views reflected sound common sense economically and domestically. As we shall see in Chapter 8 purse-seine families with enough able-bodied members not to have to employ fokis did in fact make a better profit, and even in Kau Sai there was at least one example of a fisherman having to go out of business altogether because he could not meet his expenses. If only he had had enough sons, he said, this would not have happened. At the domestic level there were other hazards. The only scandal in Kau Sai for many years occurred during the last months of my stay in 1953. The hitherto barren wife of the harmless but sub-normal and allegedly impotent brother of [name withheld] was found to be pregnant. After fifteen years of marriage this was odd, to say the least. Imagination boggles at the practical difficulties in such small, crowded boats but the guilty parties confessed to having committed adultery in the presence of the unsuspecting husband. Perhaps fortunately, the [surname withheld] family have not needed to employ another foki since then. The official census of China in 1953 did not enumerate the Boat People as a separate group. 2 Ref: to Chan's and Ho En's books et al. [Ch'en Hsü-ching, Tan-min ti yen-chiu (Shanghai, 1946), and, probably, Ho Ke-en, "The Tanka or boat people in South China," F.S. Drake, ed. Proceedings of the Symposium on Historical, Archaeological and Linguistic Studies on Southern China, South-east Asia and the Hong Kong Region (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1967), pp. 120-123.] ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1986 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063 84 CHAN WING HOI not give any figures for the ratio between indigenous residents and newcomers among the members, but he stressed that no distinction was made between the two groups (mou-san pei-chi). It seems, nonetheless, that the Hoklo, Wai Chau and Chiu Chau residents see themselves as distinctive groups in the settlement. There is probably a separate association for them, for many of the flags put on display in the entrance area were styled "to the Fuk-Wai-Chiu [a short term for Fuk Kin, Wai Chau and Chiu Chau] fellow townsmen" or their Association.' I found out less about Tai Long Wan and Hok Tsui. In these two settlements, too, the indigenous villagers had been Hakka and Punti people who practised paddy cultivation and fishing. Many of the men of more recent generations worked as seamen and their descendants were able to obtain jobs in the city. As in the case of Shek O, outside interest in their scenic surroundings has been a major factor in the changes in the last few decades. I talked with Mr. Yau Ho Sam, who moved to Tai Long Wan about 40 years ago. His native place was Zheng Cheng, but before he moved to Tai Long Wan, he had lived at Wong Chuk Hang. There were only some ten families at Tai Long Wan when he arrived. Now there are more than 100. The original inhabitants were mainly Hakka although some were Punti. According to Mr. Wong, Tai Long Wan is still a mainly Hakka village, although there are also some Punti, Chiu Chau and Hoklo people. Tourist facilities can be seen in the village, and there are some Westerners' residences. For Hok Tsui most of my information comes from the man who drove the Taoist priests to his village in his van for the daily haang-chiu procession in the festival. In the past the village had 40 indigenous households. Now there are fewer. The villagers were mainly Hakka. His family has been here for ten generations, counting to his grandsons. In the past many worked as seamen. They probably became wealthy in that occupation. There is a watch tower (diu-lau) in the main village (jing-chyn) for protection against bandits, said to be the only watch tower left on Hong Kong Island. I observed that many of the present houses were not in the ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1986 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063 148 CARL SMITH Upon reading it Hung believed he had found the key to explain the strange things that had happened to him in his dreams and visions. Soon he was formulating the initial ideology upon which the Taiping movement was based. It was a strange mixture of that which was traditionally Chinese and new elements derived from the Christian teachings of the foreigners. Liang A-fa lived for a short time in Hongkong, long enough for him to acquire a property in the Lower Bazaar. This and the one next to it, purchased by his son, were used by the Rev Mr Elijah Bridgman for a school and dispensary. In 1845 Liang A-fa left Hongkong disillusioned with life in a British colony. Both he and his son had experienced rough treatment on the streets of Hongkong from Europeans. He was in the unhappy situation of not being accepted by his countrymen because of his foreign faith and his connections with foreigners. At the same time he was not able to adapt to life in a place governed by foreigners. A STUDENT AND TEACHER WHO BECAME A TEAM Ho Fuk-tong, or as he was also known, Ho Tsun-shin, met the Rev. Mr. James Legge at the Anglo-Chinese College in Malacca. Fuk-tong, 22 at the time, was only two years younger than his future teacher and colleague, when they met. Mr. Legge had recently arrived from England to assist the ailing principal of the college, the Rev. Mr. John Evans. After some months, Mr. Evans died and Mr. Legge took charge. Ho Fuk-tong was his star pupil. Fuk-tong was the son of a woodblock-cutter and printer brought from China to work in the Malacca press of the Ultra-Ganges Mission of the London Missionary Society. After the father had been away from home for some years, his son left China. Page 165 Page 166 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1986 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063 149 to join him. The boy had already shown great promise as a student and his teacher had urged his village to sponsor his future studies, but the money for this could not be found. When he arrived in Malacca, however, he began attending classes at the Anglo-Chinese College, it being in the same compound as the press. He excelled in the classroom and when the son of the principal was to be sent to the Bishop's College at Serampore in India to further his studies, Ho Fuk-tong was selected to accompany him as a companion. There was an understanding that he could also attend classes if, in return, he taught a class the Chinese language. After a few years the two young men returned to Malacca. Here under the direction of Mr. Legge, Ho Fuk-tong began the study of Greek and Hebrew along with other advanced subjects. He made remarkable progress in the languages and seemed destined for a career as a scholar. An unfortunate incident happened, and, but for the humane understanding of his teacher, this incident could have cut short their association. One day Mr. Legge discovered his student had committed a moral indiscretion. Ho Fuk-tong had some years before been baptised into the Christian church. Fortunately Mr. Legge was not as strict in applying church discipline as some missionaries of the period were. He believed the transgressor was truly penitent for his misdeed and, after a period of probation, accepted him back. It was decided, however, that it would be best if he returned to his home village and married the girl who had been chosen for him from childhood, even though she was not a Christian at that time. Not many months after Ho Fuk-tong had left Malacca for his home at Nam Tsuen Sha in Nam Hoi District of Kwangtung, Mr. Legge left for Hongkong. When a suitable period had elapsed after the marriage celebrations, Ho Fuk-tong and his new wife came to Hongkong. Here ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1986 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063 150 CARL SMITH Mr. Legge and he discussed how they might work out the plans laid down by the London Missionary Society for the reorganisation of the Anglo-Chinese College in Hongkong. By this time Ho Fuk-tong was no longer an enrolled student, but assumed, along with Mr. Legge, duties as a teacher. It soon was evident he was not cut out to be a teacher and it was decided he should devote most of his time to evangelisation and preaching. In this he was a master. The story is told of how, when preaching about the afflictions of Job, the audience became so enthralled by his powers of description that they began to imitate his dramatic gestures. He did not altogether abandon scholarship, for he wrote Christian literature and made translations into Chinese. In this he and Mr. Legge worked together just as they shared preaching responsibilities. The Chinese congregation they served is now Hop Yat Church on Bonham Road. Inside the church is a marble plaque with a picture of the Rev Ho Fuk-tong and his wife Lai She. It was agreed that Ho Fuk-tong should be ordained, thus elevating him to the same ecclesiastical level as Mr. Legge. The ordination service in 1846 at Union Church evoked a newspaper notice. It stated that as a student of the Anglo-Chinese College at Malacca, "he seems to have acquired a remarkably correct knowledge of the English language." He had a dignity of bearing which impressed the reporter, for he wrote: "He deported himself with true modesty, and with a becoming seriousness which must have impressed those present with personal esteem, and a confidence he will faithfully discharge the solemn duties he has undertaken upon himself." Ho Fuk-tong not only showed ability as a preacher and scholar but also as a shrewd manager of money. A barrister, speaking in a case concerning his will, said: “He undoubtedly made good use of his time, money and opportunity." H -- ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1986 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063 151 He came of a humble family; his salary was not large and could have earned much more using his English language ability in a business firm or in Government service — but by exercising thrift, he was able soon after his arrival in Hongkong to buy property in the Lower Bazaar (Sheung Wan). As the income from his property increased, he continued to invest in real estate. Linking his destiny with the advancing fortunes of Hongkong, he profited by its growth. By the time of his death in 1871, he had a large fortune. His wealth enabled him to provide a good education for his sons. The most prominent of them was Sir Ho Kai. He received a university education in Britain, both in law and medicine, and was the benefactor of the Alice Memorial Hospital. When the Hongkong College of Medicine was established in 1887, Dr Ho Kai was one of the lecturers. His sister, Ho Miu-ling, wife of the Honourable Wu Ting-fang, twice Minister of the Chinese Government to the United States, also endowed a hospital. Both institutions are now a part of the Nethersole Hospital group. It is fitting that the Ho Fuk Tong College at Tuen Mun, New Territories, perpetuates his name. Dr Ho Chung-chung, recently retired Headmistress of the Hongkong True Light Middle School, though not a direct descendant, was of the same Ho family. From 1843 to the present, members of the family of Ho Fuk-tong have contributed to education in Hongkong. THE LIFE AND TIMES OF AN AMERICAN BITTEN BY THE “CHINA BUG” The original plan for the Anglo-Chinese College in Malacca was for a cosmopolitan student body. East and West would meet to study each other's language and culture. In its first few years, there were some half-dozen foreign students. Most of them were adult missionaries learning the Chinese language. There were, however, three teenagers: James Bone, of ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1986 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063 170 CARL SMITH strengthened by his baptism and resolve to study theology. As a theological student, A-sow was soon preaching and in 1849 Dr. Legge noted that he began to show considerable ability in public speaking. The following year the missionary committee agreed that he should continue his studies for two or three more years. He was urged to improve his Chinese. At the same time he was to assist at the school in teaching English. In December 1850, Dr. Legge received a shock, A-sow appeared in a hearing before the Police Magistrate. The case concerned the loss and reappearance of bills of exchange worth about $50,000, In the summer of 1849, the agent of the P and O Shipping Company reported the loss of a valuable parcel from one of its ships. It had been addressed to the firm of Gibb, Livingston and Co, a firm that is still doing business in Hongkong today. About this time a cook's assistant picked up a bill for some £300 near Union Chapel in Hollywood Road not far from the London Mission House and School. Being written in English he could not read it. So he showed it to his employer. It was from the lost parcel. Now more than a year later A-sow turned up at the police station with two bills worth about £2,000, asking if the owner was known. He told the police he had received these bills and others from a former coolie in Dr. Legge's employ. The coolie in turn said he had received them from two other people, one who had left for California and the other was the same man who claimed to have picked up the £300 bill the year before. On the basis of this testimony, the latter was charged with robbery. Under oath A-sow deposed that the London Mission Society coolie had brought the bills to him some ten months earlier asking if they were of importance. A-sow said he took them to the Rev Ho Fuk-tong for his opinion. The reply was they were worthless, whereupon A-sow put them in a drawer in his desk and forgot about them. Ho Fuk-tong at the hearing denied ever having seen the bills, thus putting into question A-sow's credibility. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1986 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063 172 CARL SMITH He wrote: "The farce of bringing up Chinese in English fashion the decoration of swine with pearls will probably by this exposure, receive a deserved check." And in another diatribe he remarked: "Give a Chinese boy an English education, and you give him the means to become a greater rogue than he was born." The newspaper correctly predicted that the case would not come before the court for lack of sufficient evidence, even though it was placed on the calendar for the next Criminal Sessions. The prisoner, however, would be kept in prison for a time and then quietly released. "Thus," the paper commented, "the whole matter will be hushed up quietly; and the London Missionary Society's operation in China will not be abridged by the loss of a useful member. The society, however, did not take the matter lightly. A-sow was suspended from the church until he should show proper contrition, and he was relieved of his part-time teaching duties. He was later restored, but only to fall again. REPRIEVED ONLY TO STRAY AGAIN Dr. James Legge had a forgiving spirit. When Ho Fuk-tong had violated an accepted moral code while a student at Malacca, he was received back by Dr. Legge, an act Dr. Legge was never to regret. Perhaps he had this in mind in his attitude towards Ng Mun-sow after his involvement in the case of the missing bills of exchange. After his appearance at Court, A-sow had been suspended from church privileges and dismissed as an assistant teacher, though he was not completely cut off from the mission community. To have done so would have probably bound him closer to the bad companions he had been associating with and who had led him astray. This, at least, was Dr. Legge's view of the matter. The decision seemed justified when some months later A-sow submitted a letter to the church expressing deep sorrow for his ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1986 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063 206 CARL SMITH When the London Mission closed its work in Malacca and moved to Hongkong in 1843, Ho A-sun came with it. He wanted his children to have the advantage of education under the direction of Dr. Legge. His eldest child, a daughter, had already been under instruction of Mrs. Legge. She was the one who later married Ng Mun-sow. Two sons were of an age to be in the first small class in Hongkong of the transplanted Anglo-Chinese College. Ho A-sun set himself up in the Lower Bazaar at Hongkong as a block-cutter and printer. His shop was next to the London Mission Chapel on Jervois Street. He had been baptised in Malacca and was an ardent propagandist for his new faith. When customers came to his printing-stationery store he gave them Christian tracts. He was always ready to discuss religion with those who showed any interest. After shop hours he would go about the streets distributing literature and explaining the religion the foreigners had brought to China. While he had not the skill at preaching or the education or scholarship of one like Ho Fuk-tong, he had devotion and earnestness which in their own way were impressive. The mission called him “a humble, unobtrusive Christian.” Through hard work he was able to acquire sufficient real estate in Hongkong to leave valuable properties at his death in 1869 to each of his six sons. He also provided that the family house on Hollywood Road west of Aberdeen Street be retained as a residence for his widow, sons and grandsons. This property was resumed by Government in 1883 for the purpose of acquiring ground for the erection of a new Central School. His older children attended Dr. Legge's school. The younger ones were students at Central School after it was opened in 1862. The eldest was Ho A-lloy. He became the most prominent of the family. Dr. Legge characterised him in 1852 as a very promising lad. He was disappointed later, however, when A-lloy had to be excluded from church fellowship for taking on a secondary ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1986 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063 208 CARL SMITH lency Chen Lan-pin, I had the honour through Dr. Eitel to receive your kind remembrance of me and my family. Your ever affectionate pupil and friend, Ho A-lloy." Time and fortune had not loosened the ties between pupil and master. When a new Chinese Ambassador was appointed to the United States, Ho Shun-chee returned to China. He served for a period as Secretary of the China Merchants Insurance Company at Shanghai. Tong King-sing, a former schoolmate, was the chairman of the company. It was proposed that Ho Shun-chee be put in charge of a newly organised telegraph company, the Wa Hop, formed to build a line between Hongkong and Canton. The company was principally financed by Chinese capitalists in Hongkong. Later the company was taken over by the Chinese Government. The careers of his brothers are not as well documented as that of Ho Shun-chee. The third brother, Chung Sang, was a worry to his elder brother. When A-lloy was teaching in the Government school he wrote to Dr. Legge about Chung Sang, who was then a student in the mission school. A-lloy thought it would be much better if his brother were more directly under his supervision. He requested Dr. Legge to release him that he might transfer to the school where A-lloy was teaching. He expressed a low estimate of his brother to Dr. Legge, describing him as "by nature a very stupid, lazy and disobedient boy..., all play, flying his kite.” Furthermore he had been accused of stealing some money. The boy could not have been as stupid and lazy as his brother alleged for he was later manager of the Wah Tze Yat Po, a Chinese newspaper published in Hongkong. When his lease for the paper expired in 1889, it was taken over by Ho Wyson and Dr. Ho Kai, two of the sons of the Rev. Ho Fuk-tong. A-lloy's second brother was A-fuk. Prospects for his career were bright. He too began by teaching English in a Chinese school supported by the Hongkong Government. From there he went into the Hongkong office of the North China Insurance Office as interpreter and Chinese manager. He died in 1873. Page 225 Page 226 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1986 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063 209 The fifth brother, Ho Wooi-shang, became an assistant in the business of A-tick, Hongkong's most successful tailor at that time. In addition he had a business at Honam in Canton. While visiting there he was wounded by a Chinese tax officer. He lingered long enough to make his will but died not long after leaving a family of small children. In the collection of the Legge family, which was deposited in the Archives of the London Missionary Society, there is a photograph of Ho Shun-chee, alias A-lloy. On the back is written: “To Miss Legge with kind regards from her sincere friend,” and an added note by Dr. Legge's daughter, Edith: "He told me he had attended the emperor when he went to pray at the Altar of Heaven." It is indeed a long step from a Hongkong classroom to the Altar of Heaven at Peking. TO THE GOLDFIELDS DOWN UNDER IN SEARCH OF CONVERTS Among the students of Dr. Legge's school in Hongkong were a number of boys from the Ho clan. Two orphaned brothers, Ho Low-yuk and Ho Mei-yuk, were near relatives of the Rev. Ho Fuk-tong. Both went to Australia after finishing school. They were part of an exodus of Hongkong-educated boys seeking their fortunes in overseas communities. As English speakers in a place where their countrymen were cut off from the general community, they served to bridge the gap. At the same time, government officials and Christians interested in the conversion of the Chinese needed someone through whom they could communicate with the immigrants. A-low and another young man from the school were urged by Dr. Legge to emigrate to Australia. Because of the unsettled conditions in China created by the Taiping rebellion, Dr. Legge felt it was not a good field for these two young men he had trained as religious workers. So provided with letters of introduction to a Congregational minister in Melbourne off they sailed. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1986 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063 227 The whole matter was one that was not really for public discussion and the chairman suggested it be dealt with by the Standing Committee of the chamber. After some discussion this mode of dealing with the matter was approved. Ho A-mei may have been a little bold in speaking up at his first meeting of the Chamber of Commerce, but he was not one to shrink from expressing his opinions. His outspokenness received the approval of the press, which in its comments on the emigration resolution said: "It was a novelty that it was put forward, not without ability, fluency and clearness by a Chinaman. The fact is reassuring, as an indication of the interest in public events which is being developed amongst the Chinese." Ho A-mei, as "a Chinaman," was to speak out about public questions on many other occasions. HO DABBLES IN THE REALTY BUSINESS Ho A-mei's link with the distant past of Hongkong was a housing scheme he was promoting in 1895. The scheme was financed by the wealthy Li Sing family of Hongkong. They had purchased through a Hongkong-based company, Fuk Tin, the remaining rights of the Tang clan in the area between Laichikok and Shamshuipo. There are also references to the Fung Fuk and Tin Fuk firms in connection with the deal. The Tang's claim to the land extended back many centuries, most likely to the Sung dynasty, when members of the family first came into the region. There is well-substantiated evidence that the family once owned Hongkong Island, British Kowloon, much of New Kowloon, Tsing Yi Island and a substantial part of the New Territories. The original grant had been broken up through the centuries. It was divided among various branches of the clan, portions had been sold outright to others, certain tracts had been perpetually leased with the Tangs retaining their right to annual payments. The Tang family received no compensation for their claim for ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1986 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063 228 CARL SMITH land on Hongkong Island when the British took it over. They petitioned the Kwangtung Government to present their claims on an official level to the British Government. The Chinese authorities, however, refused to intercede as their investigation showed the claimants had not paid taxes on the land for many years. The authorities held that these findings had constituted a negation of the Tang family's rights to the land. This may have been a handy excuse for the Chinese officials to avoid another confrontation with the British soon after their humiliating defeat in the first Opium War. In the 1860s the Tang claim to rights in British Kowloon was confirmed by the grant of some half a dozen farm lots. These, however, soon passed out of the possession of the Tang family. Some were sold but most were lost when the individual to whom they had been granted went into debt to a foreign contractor of Chinese labour, and his property was sold at Sheriff's sale. In New Kowloon, particularly in the western portion, individual members and groups of the Tang family still owned land in the late 19th century. A certain portion, especially land which had been reclaimed, was still in the name of the five ancestors for whom a temple had been built at Tung Kun city. The association to support the temple was the Po Hing Tong. When suggestions were being aired that Britain might expand its borders, there was renewed interest in the holdings of the Po Hing Tong by certain prominent members of the Tang clan. The matter was managed by an individual of the Ping Shan branch of the family. He had passed the Kui Yan examination, equivalent to a modern master's degree, and had certain important connections. He used these in getting management of the Tang ancestral holdings. It was charged that after he had the land in his control, he had mortgaged it to the Fuk Tin Company, in which he had an interest. The company itself, however, was largely controlled by Li Sing, Hongkong capitalist. Ho A-mei often represented the Li family, particularly in its dealing with foreigners. He, therefore, was ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1986 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063 229 sought out by a reporter of the Hongkong Telegraph for an interview on the housing to be built on the land of the Fuk Tin Co in Cheungshawan. This was not the first plan to develop the area. In 1864, an enterprising member of the Tang family arranged with certain other clan members to develop their holdings along the foreshore. The documents relating to the proposal state: "The lessors' intentions are to invite people to settle thereon, and erect boatbuilding sheds, houses and shops thereon, in order to open up the place for trade, so that some income may be derived therefrom by them to turn it to account." The owners did not have the capital to develop the area so as to attract those who had been dislocated by events in China or by the clearance from the Tsimshatsui area of Kowloon after British occupation. The owners of the land were happy to make terms with one who was ready "to superintend the work as first founder of the place." The income from the family houses, boatbuilding sheds, rope works and the use of the shore for breaming junks was to be managed by the lessee. The kaifong of the place was to be allowed a certain part of the income for hiring watchmen and meeting other public expenses. The balance was to be divided into two equal shares, one for the descendants of the ancestor Tang Shek-cho, the other for the developer, Tang Fu-kowk, alias Tang Chi-nam. The agreement concluded with the pious hope that after the making of the lease "may the inhabitants be in prosperity and make good profit! May the source of the wealth be multiplied!" In 1876, Tang Fu-kowk, the promoter, acquired title to improvements members of the clan had made at Laichikok. These consisted of a flour mill with two water dams, an improved stream called Tit Lo Hang (Blacksmith's creek) and a vegetable plantation. At the time of the interview with Ho A-mei in 1895 there was a severe shortage of Chinese housing in Hongkong. Even before the plague of 1894 struck it had been in short supply. To control ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1986 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063 230 CARL SMITH plague, the Hongkong Government cleared most of the district of Taipingshan. This had been the city's most congested area, and its removal displaced a large number of people. To provide needed housing, Ho A-mei explained that the Fuk Tin Co was building houses across the harbour, where it was still rural. There would be fresh air, wide streets and better sanitary conditions. Some several scores of houses were almost completed and site formation for others was in progress. The houses were of brick with tile roof, two storeys high and with ample room between the blocks. The intention was to build several hundred. Built in bulk, the properties could be sold at a bargain price, at the same time the promoters could realise a substantial profit. The hope was that "many respectable Chinese will buy land and houses over the way as family residences and that thus many well-to-do Chinese who have houses in the interior will find it convenient and pleasant to 'pitch their tent' in the neighbourhood of this thriving colony." Nor need there be any anxiety about security as there were military personnel at the Chinese custom's station at Laichikok. But looking ahead only a little farther, there was the prospect of the area becoming British, for as the interviewer stated, “such an extension of Hongkong has long been needed, and, I am glad to say, the day when it will be un fait accompli is now within measurable distance." The distance was three more years. OPIUM MONOPOLY AND HO CONNECTION Somehow Ho A-mei became involved in a Chinese scheme to solve the opium question. Some background will aid in understanding his role in the scheme. In 1875 the British took the opportunity presented by the murder of a member of a British exploratory expedition in the province of Yunnan to press China for a treaty revision. As a consequence, the Chefoo Agreement was negotiated the following year. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1986 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063 252 CARL SMITH He had received a mandarin's degree from the Chinese Government. His education was limited to the years in Dr. Legge's school. He was not a scholar, but a promoter and financier. He sometimes expressed himself too bluntly on public occasions and was quick to engage in controversy. The hostile attitude of Ho A-mei toward Dr. Ho Kai may not have rested entirely upon his ambition to be a Legislative Councillor. It possibly might go back to the days when they met as boys in the home of the Rev. Ho Fuk-tong, Ho Kai as a son of the family, A-mei as the poor relative. Whatever the foundation for A-mei's critical attitude towards the doctor, the Chinese deputation of 1883 provided the opportunity for him to express it. The controversy within the Chinese community created by Dr. Ho Kai's remarks not only revealed that the Chinese were torn by parties and factions, jealousies and rivalries, but that Dr. Ho Kai, while eminently suitable from the foreign standpoint, might not be altogether acceptable to the Chinese as their representative and hence frustrate the purpose of having a Chinese on the council. This possibility was acknowledged by the English press. In commenting on Dr. Ho Kai's remarks to the Acting Governor, an editor said: “Granted that the learned barrister had been a most successful student, and admitting that he is a person of great attainment and doubtless of some ability, it is only fair to remember that he is a young man who can have but a very imperfect knowledge, whether of his countrymen or of the political and social exigencies of Hongkong." It concluded furthermore that the views he expressed “are merely the opinions of himself and perhaps a few of his immediate friends and supporters, but do not represent in any way the voice of Chinese public opinion in Hongkong." Perhaps it was unfortunate that Dr. Ho Kai assumed the responsibility of speaking for the Chinese before he had become thoroughly reacquainted after his long absence with the Chinese community in Hongkong. In terms of intimate knowledge of Chi- ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1986 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063 266 ing in the New Territories. Unfortunately, the British misunderstood that the soldiers were sent there to assist the uprising. With this as an excuse, the British invaded the Walled City on the 8th day of the Fourth Moon (i.e. 19th May) and drove away the Imperial officials and the three hundred soldiers. This ended the Ch'ing rule over the Kowloon Walled City. Hong Kong, June 1987 Anthony K. K. SIU NOTES 2 See JHKBRAS 20(1980): 139-141. They were said to be Hakka stone workers and Triad members. Cheung Yu-tang E, a native of Wai Chau H, was a Fu-cheung #or Brigadier of the Tai Pang Battalion in 1854. He was stationed in the Walled City for thirteen years. Then he retired in the 5th year of Tung Chih (1866) and died four years later in the 9th year of Tung Chih (1870) at the age of 76. See Chapter 82 of the Kwangchow Fu Chi, Kuang Hsu edition 廣州府志卷八十二, 5 See the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong, 1898 (signed at Peking, 9th June, 1898): Treaties between China and Foreign States Vol. 1, P. 539-540. Shang-hai, 1917. 6 See Despatches and other Papers relating to the Extension of the Colony of Hong Kong, 1899. See the Report of Viceroy Tam Chung-lun and Governor Luk Chuen-lam of the Kwangtung and Kwangsi Provinces to the Imperial Court on the Lease of Kowloon Customs and her territory on the 9th day of the 4th moon in the 25th year of the Kuang Hsu Reign (1899). See the Report of Viceroy Tam Chung-lun and Governor Luk Chuen-lam of the Kwangtung and Kwangsi Provinces to the Imperial Court on the British Occupation of the Kowloon City and the French Occupation of Ng Chuen and Shui Kai Prefectures 奧督撫譚鈺麟鹿傳霖泰英人佔據九龍城法人圖佔吳川遂溪兩縣請飭籌 on the 15th day of the 5th moon in the 25th year of Kuang Hsu (1899). ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1987 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522 42 NOTES Anthony K.K. Siu, "The Kowloon Walled City”, Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, (hereafter, JHKBRAS) vol 20 (1980) 139-140; his Chiu-lung ch'eng shih lun-chi ” (“Studies on the Kowloon Walled City") (Hong Kong: Hin Chiu Institute, 1987) p. 27. It was called miserable by the Rev. Krone in his “A Notice of the Sanon District” China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society Transactions 6 (1859) 71-105, reprinted in the JHKBRAS 7 (1967) 104-137, 132. 2 Chou-pan i-wu shih-mo (The complete account of the management of barbarian affairs) 260 ch'uan (Photographic copy of original compilation, Hong Kong, 1964), ch'uan 70: 18b-19b. The hsun-chien originally administered 496 villages in the county; with the cession of Hong Kong Island, 5 were taken out of his hands, and in 1860, another 12 were lost with the cession of the Kowloon Peninsula. Thus by 1898, he was only responsible for 479. See Siu, Chiu-lung ch'eng, pp. 16-20. 3 ibid., p. 28. 4 Chou-pan i-wu shih-mo, ch'uan 76: 3a-4a. 5 J.H.S. Lockhart, [Report on the New Territory], enclosed in Lockhart to Chamberlain, October 8, 1898 in Great Britain. Colonial Office. Original Correspondence (Series 129) (hereafter CO129)/289; p. 74. According to a later account, however, the wall was about 23 English feet high, and the width at the top between approximately 5.8 feet and 11.75 feet. See Chiang-shan ku-jen LA, “Hsiang-kang hsin-chieh feng-t'u ming-sheng ta-kuan" (A panorama of local customs and famous places in Hong Kong and the New Territories) part 104. These articles appeared in the Hua-chiao jih-pao between 1935-36, and are collected in an album deposited at the University of Hong Kong Library. Based on observations, these articles are an important source of geographical and historical information of places in the territory. However, it seems that Lockhart, who had been commissioned to reconnoitre the newly leased territory, might have gone to greater lengths to obtain accurate measurements. 6 Another detailed observation of the wall and guard houses was made by Walter Schofield in 1928, and his notes are reproduced in JHKBRAS 9 (1969) 154–156. 7 Chiang-shan ku-jen, “feng-t'u”, part 104. 8 Lockhart, p. 75. 9 Lockhart, p. 75. 10 Chiang-shan ku-jen, “feng-t'u”, parts 109-110. 11 See the inscription recorded in David Faure, Bernard Luk and Alice Ng Lun Ngai-ha ed. Hsiang-kang pei-ming hui-pien (Historical inscriptions of Hong Kong) 3 volumes. (Hong Kong: Urban Council, 1986) vol. 1, p. 101, James Hayes, The Hong Kong Region 1850-1977 (Hamden, Connecticut, 1977) pp. 167-168. The building was partially demolished in the early 1980s, and a high-rise apartment building was built over it. At the moment (1988), the frame of the entrance with the original couplet is still in place, and an altar, said to be from the school, still stands on the ground floor. 12 Hsun-huan jih-pao June 13, 1883. 13 Hayes, p. 168; Chiang-shan ku-jen, "feng-t'u”, part 107. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1987 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522 from the List of Common Jurors (in the Hong Kong Sessional Papers), where most recently it had been associated with his long-standing address at 267, Queen's Road East and with the occupation of Compradore for Holt's Wharf, the Hong Kong home of the Blue Funnel Line. An examination of his will and the certificate of probate shows that he died on Sunday, 30th December, 1917. On Tuesday, 1st January, 1918, the following brief news item appeared in the “Local and General” column of the South China Morning Post:43 A well-known Chinese resident, Mr. Mok Man Cheung, compradore at Holt's Wharf, died at the week end. Mr. Mok passed away on Sunday morning at his residence, 267, Queen's Road East. He was an old QC44 student and very well known in the Colony. He was on the Committee of the Tung Wah Hospital, the Po Leung Kuk, the Hongkong Public Dispensary and many other prominent institutions.” He was only 53 years of age at the time of his death. Questions which remain for consideration and which possibly taxed him at the time of his death concern the inaccuracies in the career summary which he permitted to be published in 1906. Why did he claim to be a pupil-teacher in 1884, when in fact he was already a fully-fledged assistant Chinese master? Why did he post-date his teaching career at the Central School? Why did he post-date and abbreviate his career at the Registrar General's Office? Why did he post-date his time at the Supreme Court? The simplest answer is to place the responsibility either on faulty copy-editing on the part of the editors of Who's Who in the Far East or upon faulty memory on his own part. These answers do not ring true, partly because the editors have received no similar criticisms relating to the numerous other entries, and partly because the errors are too consistent to be simply the result of an oversight. Furthermore, it is unlikely that a person in 1906, then aged 41, would forget the dates of employment only fifteen to seven years before. Another possibility, already mentioned, was that Mok Man Cheung felt that he gained face from association with the pupil teacher scheme, and that all consequent post-dating was caused by ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1987 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522 72 40 Hong Kong Government Gazette, 6th May, 1899, p. 701. Mok Man Cheung's book, retailing at $8, was unusually expensive. There clearly was a market for books attempting to bridge the social and linguistic gap between the Chinese and British communities. Also in 1899, for instance, a Lo Sing-lau published his English Self Taught for Chinese at $1 per copy and this went into a second edition in 1904 and a third in 1905, 1904, the year in which Mok Man Cheung produced his English Made Easy, also witnessed the publication of Tang Chi Kun's A Step in English Tongue ($0.80), 41 Letter to the Editor, signed by "X", Hong Kong Daily Press, Thursday, 17th January, 1901, p. 2. 42 This assumption is further strengthened by the fact that he made out his will on 28th December, 1917, and that its Probate Number is No. 68 of 1918. I owe this information to Professor Dafydd Evans who also points out the relatively high proportion of "death bed” wills among the Chinese in Hong Kong at this time. The will itself is serial no. 3135, deposit no. 4, in series 144. It confirms that one of Mok Man Cheung's aliases was Mok Cheuk Lim. An examination of the actual will shows that it was, indeed, a deathbed will and that Mok Man Cheung actually died on 30th December, 1917. The Declaration by Executor before Probate, dated 13th March, 1918, indicates that "the whole of the personal estate of the said testator amounts in value to the sum of $21,075.53”, certainly no mean sum at the time. 43 There appear to be no locally-published Chinese language newspapers extant for this period of time. Although the Wah Tsz Yat Po was certainly in operation, unfortunately there is a break in the surviving copies from 18th January, 1917 to 16th February, 1918. 44 The acronym for Queen's College, which was (and is) the current name for the school Mok Man Cheung had attended as "the Central School". 45 These are very clear and characteristic indications of his prominence in Hong Kong Chinese society. See, for example, H.J. Lethbridge, Hong Kong: Stability and Change, (Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 1978), especially pp. 52-102, and Carl T. Smith (1985), especially pp. 139-171. Confirmatory evidence that he was a member of the Committee of the Po Leung Kuk, elected on 20th March, 1909, using his alias, Mok Yeuk Lim, is found in the Hong Kong Government's Administrative Reports for that year, p. C39. If one can assume that another of his aliases was Mok Yuk-chi, confirmatory evidence about his membership of the Committee of the Tung Wah Hospitals can be found in the Administrative Reports for 1913. 46 Even though Mok Man Cheung was certainly successful in a material sense, his name appears neither in Arnold Wright's Twentieth Century Impressions nor in S.L. Woo, The Prominent Chinese in Hong Kong, (Hong Kong, The Five Continents Book Company, 1937) which, though written long after Mok Man Cheung's death, contained reference to several deceased merchants who had been born before 1865. Moreover, he does not appear to have been a member of the District Watch Committee, posited by Lethbridge as the Chinese Executive Council of Hong Kong (Lethbridge 1978, pp. 104-129). On the other hand, Carl Smith's justly-famed index cards reveal that he was involved in many property deals and was, for example, co-proprietor, with Tang Lap Ting and Mok Kun Hiu, of the Wanchai Godown. 47 In London, a Colonial Office minute in 1907, for example, declared that “I don't think that the fact that Mr. Hee has found an Englishwoman foolish enough to marry a Chinaman is an argument for increasing his salary [as Headmaster of Wanchai District School] (CO129/341, p. 342). In Hong Kong, the official defini- ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1987 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522 120 doubt that such a man would be sympathetic to their views about the Chinese and Chinese matters. Ho A-mei was of a different sort altogether. He had served the Kwangtung Government for a number of years in an official capacity. He had received a mandarin's degree from the Chinese Government. His education was limited to the years in Dr. Legge's school. He was not a scholar, but a promoter and financier. He sometimes expressed himself too bluntly on public occasions and was quick to engage in controversy. The hostile attitude of Ho A-mei toward Dr. Ho Kai may not have rested entirely upon his ambition to be a Legislative Councillor. It possibly might go back to the days when they met as boys in the home of the Rev. Ho Fuk-tong, Ho Kai as a son of the family, A-mei as the poor relative. Whatever the foundation for A-mei's critical attitude towards the doctor, the Chinese deputation of 1883 provided the opportunity for him to express it. The controversy within the Chinese community created by Dr. Ho Kai's remarks not only revealed that the Chinese were torn by parties and factions, jealousies and rivalries, but that Dr. Ho Kai, while eminently suitable from the foreign standpoint, might not be altogether acceptable to the Chinese as their representative and hence frustrate the purpose of having a Chinese on the Council. This possibility was acknowledged by the English press. In commenting on Dr. Ho Kai's remarks to the Acting Governor, an editor said: "Granted that the learned barrister has been a most successful student, and admitting that he is a person of great attainment and doubtless of some ability, it is only fair to remember that he is a young man who can have but a very imperfect knowledge, whether of his country or of the political and social exigencies of Hongkong." It concluded furthermore that the views he expressed “are merely the opinions of himself and perhaps a few of his immediate friends and supporters, but do not represent in any way the voice ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1987 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522 257 expert knowledge to do anything about it. Long afterwards, about 1977, when I had taken things as far as I could, I became aware that David Faure and his colleagues Bernard Luk and Alice Ng at the Chinese University were becoming interested in such relics and beginning to relate them to their own professional teaching of Chinese history, and in particular the history of South China. I turned over the documents to them and suggested that what we ought to be doing was to send their students round to check on the texts and, hopefully, publish them. Earlier - and I'll finish at this point - I had got help from another source. In 1974 the Hong Kong Tourist Association got impatient at the neglect of historical Chinese buildings in the New Territories. They provided $10,000 for a project, and I was an adviser to a survey which Patrick Lau of the University of Hong Kong did with his students in 1975. Based on its results, that splendid book Rural Architecture in Hong Kong was published by the Government Information Services in 1979. I shall now turn you over to David Faure who can tell you something about setting up his project. It led in time to collecting a mass of historical material about the New Territories that might otherwise have been lost for ever. David Faure I came with some notes, I think I always speak better with them. Let me just say a few things before I go on with this. I think in all fairness, some credit should be given to people who worked on these things before the Second World War. Sung Hok-pang, who was working in the Government, must have been a rather rare specimen at that time. He collected a lot of legends from the New Territories and wrote many articles about Hong Kong subjects. However, it is generally true, and I see it all the time, that Chinese scholars trained in the orthodox tradition do not think very highly of village studies. You mention the villages to them — but everything there is too common. The Chinese texts that you find in village books are not literary enough. Errors creep in here and there, they write the characters poorly, and so on. I may touch on ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1987 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522 261 history have been struggling for a long time to get rid of some major preconceptions, but not always successfully. One of these is the theory that the Chinese countryside was controlled by the imperial bureaucracy and the gentry, and that the Confucian values inculcated by their education formed the basis of the most essential organisation in the clan or the lineage, through which social behaviour was directed and moulded. Well the issue is less apparent if you don't work in the field: but if you do walk about and have to ask your way around, it dawns on you that the chap who guides you through all these things is not just a pawn in the system, oppressed under some rigid rules controlled by some outside force. You get to see him as a free agent in his own right and to know something of his social, religious and economic behaviour. It was a mistake it started round the 1920's especially among Chinese sinologists to have put village religion into the category of superstition, and to conclude that because villagers were superstitious they were not worth studying. Consequently, modern Chinese history has very little to say about village religion, and there is much to learn on this subject, too. I was rather lucky with the Project because in 1980 two rather unexpected things happened. We had two requests to do some history writing: one from the Sai Kung District Board, and the other one from Sha Tin. It was known in Sai Kung that the local villagers were involved in the resistance movement during World War II, and I was asked if I would be interested to write it up. The District Board would provide the funds. This seemed too good an opportunity for me to miss. I was very interested in what happened in the Second World War, and it was another chance to get behind the theory. Again, team work was needed. The late Barbara Ward, Bernard Luk and I worked along with our research students. I must stress that working on a historical project with research students and through interviews is a more demanding task than copying inscriptions, though I must not sound ungrateful because we had some very good student assistants on the project, in particular Lee Lai-mui and Wong Wing-ho. They were extremely fluent ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1987 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522 290 whilst the shrine was at Elgin Street, largely because no Hoklo troupes were available in Hong Kong or could visit from the mainland. The position improved when members of troupes reassembled here. It is usual in these traditional festivals for an image of the patron god to be installed in a special altar at the theatre matshed or nearby. At Peel Street this is not necessary, because the shrine faces down this sloping street directly onto the opera stage. The god could see all without moving his position. When I asked whether any other images were brought from neighbouring shrines, there was a unanimous and swift denial! The group of devotees, at any rate in and up to 1974, were mainly persons from To Tong Market, and all Hoklo speakers. The personnel of the Hoklo opera group hired in the previous few years were all Hoklos from Hoi Luk Fung, but only one of them was a native of To Tong Hui. I did not ask about management in 1974, though I gathered that they described their managers as ta-lei yan and not as chik-lei, which is more common among the Hong Kong shrine and temple groups. Besides the annual celebration, there is also religious activity at the shrine on the first and fifteenth days of each month. It is curious that, although the Peel Street shrine is dedicated to an earth god, there are no celebrations on either the first or second months of the lunar calendar, when so many of the local shrines in town and country carry out major activities. The Sheung Fung Lane shrine's big day is in the first moon, as with the Tai Ping Shan and Kennedy Town shrines also mentioned in the article (pp. 124-127). The Nam On Fong shrine at Shau Kei Wan (pp. 128-130) originally celebrated in the second lunar month. However, the Sai Wan Ho earth god shrine at the other end of Shau Kei Wan had always celebrated the Yue Lan or "Hungry Ghost" festival as its principal event, for as far back as memory and local tradition served (pp. 130-132). There is variety in all things, old and new, mercifully. Page 315 Page 316 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1988 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q 86 TS'IN, FUK (津復)* (being an account of how part of the coast of South China was cleared of inhabitants from the 1st year of Hong Hei (康熙) 1662 to the 8th year of Hong Hei 1669.) Sung Hok-P'ANG (宋學鵬) + The word "Ts'in" (遷) is a short form of "Ts'in Hoi" (遷海) a historic term which means "to shift inland people living by the coast". "Fuk" or Fuk Ts'uen (復遷) means "allow the people to return to their own villages", and the two words together is the term applied to that incident in Chinese history when part of the coast of South China, including the New Territories, was completely cleared of inhabitants by order of the Emperor. Although an incident of not much importance in Chinese history as a whole, yet the Ts'in Fuk caused much suffering and loss of life to many people. In the book Kwong Tung San Yue (廣東新語)* by Wat Taai Kwan (屈大均) a great scholar of early Ts'ing (清) dynasty, there is a passage referring to Ts'in Fuk which says **自有粵東以來 生靈之禍,莫慘於此** "since the establishment of the province of Kwangtung none of the calamities of human beings can be worse than this". The cause of Ts'in Fuk was Cheng Shing Kung (鄭成功) a Ming (明) general and native of Naam On (南安) district in Fukien province who since the rise of the Manchu Emperors continually attacked the coast of South China with his powerful navy. Using Formosa as his base he harassed the Ts'ing army from Kiangsu to Kwangtung and found the inhabitants of the country on the coast very sympathetic towards the Ming cause, and ready to help him. Cheng Shing Kung's father, Cheng Chi Lung (鄭芝龍) was responsible for the first Chinese settlers in Formosa and had been made P'ing Kwok Kung (平國公), a title conferred on him by the Ming Emperor Lung Mo (隆武). When Lung Mo was killed at Foochow by the Ts'ing army in the 3rd year of Shun Chi (順治) 1646, Cheng Shing Kung put his navy at the disposal of Emperor Wing Lik (永曆), his successor. Fifteen years later Cheng took Formosa, * The Hong Kong Naturalist November 1938. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1988 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q 87 and when he died the following year 1662 his son Cheng King (4) continued his attacks on the south coast. The Ts'ing government eventually sent out their navy to engage Cheng's ships, but it is said that the Ts'ing sailors were prostrated by seasickness and were no match for their enemies. About that time an officer from Cheng's forces named Fong Sing Hoi (959) surrendered to the Ts'ing government, and it was from him that the plan of Ts'in Fuk originally came. Having full knowledge of how people living along the coast by their mere presence, apart from their willing help, aided the rebels, he suggested that villagers should be moved inland so that they should no longer be able, willingly or not, to supply Cheng's forces with food. This idea was approved by the Emperor Shun Chi, but the same year (18th year of Shun Chi, 1661) he died. His son, Hong Hei, however, followed up the plan by ordering a personal investigation of the coast to be made by government officials, with a view to finding out which part was most vulnerable to attack, and at the same time to arrange how the people were to be moved inland. The result of this was a report from the P'ing Naam Wong (#E) 平南王 ("Prince who tranquilizes the South") and the Viceroy, strongly advising that the people should not be moved. “All along the coast there are several millions of inhabitants", the report said. "If they are shifted they will all lose their livelihood, which will be a great affliction. We make this piteous appeal and request royal favour to allow them to stay." But this had no effect. The following year in the spring an Imperial decree ordered that everyone living by the coast must move 50 Chinese miles inland. The P’ing Naam Wong with other officials were sent to inspect the coast, and in the 2nd month they arrived in San On district. A boundary on Foo Mun (J21) was set up, ending to the west at Tsun T'au Shaan (111) and to the east at Lin Fa Fung (TEE), the centre station of the boundary being at Ngai Kung Leng (42). At each of these places a flag was erected and more than eighty villages within the boundary were told to move and many lookout posts were built along the hills with soldiers stationed there to watch. Even the rivers had railings built across them to prevent boats going down to the sea. If any one disobeyed these orders they were to be put to death. A month later soldiers were sent to enforce the new regulations. Although notices had been posted up few people could read them and many villagers were quite ignorant of what they were to do. The arrival of the soldiers caused a ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1988 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q 89 touched anything belonging to the people, however. They then ventured up the Canton river, burning ships and attacking Canton itself. At last Chau was captured by the Ts'ing general, Cheung (), and Lei put out to sea again and kept his junks near Taai P'aang (A) now Kowloon city. In the 3rd year of Hong Hei, 1664, a battle was fought off Kowloon city between Cheung and Lei. The latter was beaten, and was forced to take refuge at Tung Ch'ung (Hafi) on Taai Ue Shaan (AMBULI), Lantau Island. There now followed a time of great distress for the unhappy country people. More villages were forced to move, and the people treated with great harshness. Many of them who refused to go or even hesitated were killed by the soldiers. At the beginning of the Ts'in Fuk the people imagined that it was only a temporary measure and they managed to keep together with their wives and children. But after three years had passed they found themselves without means of livelihood. So the husbands left their wives, the fathers left their children, and the elder brothers younger brothers, each pushing north in the hope of finding work, leaving behind them the sound of crying and sorrow. In the 8th month of the 3rd year of Hong Hei a man named Yuen Sze To (AP48), a Foo Muk (11) (an official title meaning "Head of relief and soothing of the people") disobeyed the order to move over the boundary, and collecting a crowd of discontented country people, he made a stronghold in Lik Yuen (HM) a village near Sha Tin. He had other quarters in Kwun Foo (1fif), now Kowloon city and his followers acted as bandits robbing and killing as they pleased. They gave much trouble to the Ts'ing government, as when the soldiers were sent out to search the solitary parts for people hiding in order to avoid being moved, they were often set on by Yuen's band and either robbed or killed by them. Eventually they were exterminated after a long time by an officer named Tseung Wang Yun (1479) who was sent with a large company of soldiers to Sha Tin for that purpose. The following year a system of beacons was started along the coast to be used as signals in case of attack. In the same year the retiring Viceroy Lei Sut T'aai (4) in his Wai Soh (6) a valedictory address to Emperor Hong Hei, asked him not to press too firmly the question of removing the people over the boundary. "When I was in ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1988 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q 206 hand in their rent. These turned into very serious conflict. The Hakkas made themselves bows and arrows and started a war with the village. They shot arrows into the village and used stones to bombard it. But the village was not easily conquered. It had a moat, four strong towers and a citizen force to defend the village, so the Hakkas could not achieve much. But then they thought of a method, a way which is still used by Chinese to get enemies into trouble. "Among the Hakkas there was an old childless couple. The husband was named Tai and his wife was of the Lo family. They were too old to work and tried to get money by begging. It was proposed to them that they take poison and die in front of the village gates, then the Puntis would be accused of their murder. The old couple were told that they would have to die anyway in the course of events and they had no descendants to sacrifice at their grave. If they accepted the plan of their fellow Hakkas, a temple would be built in their honour and every two years a theatrical performance would be held for them. The old couple were at first not willing to agree to the proposal, because they wanted to continue to live and not die so early. Repeated requests finally caused them to agree. So one evening they were given a very good meal and afterward they took poison and died before the village gate. Immediately all forty-eight Hakka men attacked the village and brought the villagers before the judge who lived at Schau Kin, accusing them of murder. "There was a long court proceeding because accusation of murder had great consequences in China. The Puntis paid over a lot of money and went to court to defend themselves. While they were there, their village was burned down by the Hakkas who took over the place. The Puntis became impoverished by the court case. They dared not return to Pu Kak. They settled in [place not given in manuscript] where their descendants again became wealthy and respectable and they produced literary graduates. Many congratulated themselves that their ancestors had been driven out of the village as they have now much better land. "The Hakkas took over the village and surrounding fields. As they had promised the old couple, they built a small temple and honoured the Fuk tei kung and Fuk tei poh, the grandfather and grandmother who give blessings. Later a new temple was built for them near the ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 97 However, to export the heavy and bulky incense logs must have caused a lot of trouble and lead to high transport costs. Yet, to assume that incense wood milling developed directly out of this trade seems, perhaps, premature. The incense industry received a very serious blow during the first eight years of the reign of K’ang-hsi (1662-1669), when the Manchus, under the excuse of the expulsion of the pirates and the necessity of protecting the population against them, ordered the people to evacuate the coastal areas, and move inland to places more than 50 li from the coast, so as to suppress the revolt of the Ming remnants. This not only led to the death of many, but also adversely affected the cultivation of and trade in incense trees. The most prosperous incense producing area, Sha Lo Wan on Lantau and Lik Yuen (nowadays known as Sha Tin), were within the evacuation area. Kuang-tung hsin-yü summaries the effects of this evacuation on the industry, noting that, there were very few people left after the evacuation, and less than one-tenth of the incense tree growers were left. Most serious of all, old trees had been cut down, and those which were left were only those ten to twenty years old.* Those who survived this evacuation experienced another disaster in the reign of Yung-Chêng (1723-1735) when a magistrate, obsessed with a love for high grade incense, killed a number of incense growers." As a result, the remaining incense growers destroyed the rest of the trees and fled. Thus, the once prosperous incense tree cultivation industry was seriously harmed." However, Aquilaria sinensis is by no means rare in Hong Kong. Dunn and Tutcher stated that in 1912, in a one-acre plot of fungshui woodland on lower ground in Hong Kong, 31 out of the 125 trees examined were Aquilaria sinensis (then known as A. Grandiflora)." Today, incense trees can still commonly be seen in natural woodland on lower hill slopes and in fungshui woods behind villages." It seems likely that while trade in incense logs did not survive beyond the early eighteenth century, local milling of incense and manufacture of joss sticks for the local trade did. It was certainly a significant feature of local life in the nineteenth century. Incense Wood Milling After 1842, the trade in incense wood expanded. Hong Kong's famous deep harbour and geographically sheltered position suited trading vessels. Having become a member of the British Empire, Hong Kong became ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 113 Factory Location 40 The location of the joss stick industry has experienced a lot of changes throughout its history. In the early days when incense trees were grown, the industry was strongly affected by physical factors. As the incense trees require a balance between sand and alluvium for successful growth, the joss stick industry, so dependent on local supply of incense wood, evolved around Lik Yuen and Sha Lo Wan where soils were well aerated. However, after Hong Kong began to process these incense woods before they were exported, the location pattern of the industry became more widespread. From 1911 onwards, incense wood milling was concentrated in Taikoktsui and particularly in Tsuen Wan, making use of the presence of a large, fast flowing river to power the wheels used to pound the incense powder. Other concentrations were found in Victoria, Yaumati, Mongkok and Sham Shui Po. Nevertheless, nowhere was able to assume a higher importance than Taikoktsui in the joss stick industry, especially in the period immediately after 1945. Indeed, Taikoktsui immediately after 1945 had a unique concentration of joss stick manufacturers unequalled by any other location. Because of its industrial peripheral situation, “for over a century or more, Taikoktsui had a sort of fringe status in Kowloon, and much of it was rather isolated”, the area was considered to be an ideal place for the business of the joss stick industry. According to local manufacturers, post-war concentration in Taikoktsui was prominent because the acquisition of factory buildings was so easy as 60% of them had been left empty since the War. These factory buildings were only tenements, one- or two-storey workshop or storage buildings, and some of them were no more than sheds.43 Despite the importance of Taikoktsui in the period immediately after the War, the industry began to disperse after about 1950. The trend became especially marked as Hong Kong became more and more urbanized. The industry was pushed further northward into the New Territories as the city sprawled, using large pieces of unoccupied land. By the 1960s, the industry clustered in Yau Yat Tsuen; slightly later it was further pushed into Sha Tin, Fanling and Yuen Long. Location of the industry today is closely tied to the needs of the manufacturing method. Generally speaking, the location of joss stick fabrication is more economically determined than physically determined. Indeed, the only physical factor considered essential is the availability ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 134 14 not only succeeded, but passed out the highest of his year. Subsequently, all Hakka youths from the area trying for the imperial examinations took to spending the first night away from home in the nunnery, in the hope of emulating Lee Cheung-chun's success, and its fame grew in consequence. The roof was rebuilt in 1890, according to an inscription on the carved eaves-board, at the expense of a Loi Tung villager. During the twentieth century, the nunnery became steadily less significant. The rebuilding of the Ng Tung Monastery to the north-east of Sha Tau Kok in 1906-1907 diverted some of the devout to this larger and more splendid place. The opening of the Fanling Sha Tau Kok railway in 1916, and, far more significantly, of the Fanling Sha Tau Kok road (completed in 1928), took traffic off the old Sha Tau Kok to Sham Tsun road. By the 1920s, the nunnery had become of only local significance. In 1920 a hill fire caught the nunnery, and burnt part of its roof off and destroyed many of its fittings. The abbess was able to secure donations, mostly from the villages of the Ta Kwu Ling area, and from the Sha Tau Kok area, to allow for a full repair, but the effort further impoverished the nunnery, at a time when its income from passers-by was already dropping, and reduced its wider significance even more. The abbess responsible for the repairs after the fire died in 1931. The local villagers appointed a replacement to care for the place, after a short time during which the nunnery seems to have been vacant, and the new abbess found a second nun to assist her. Both were elderly. These two old nuns both died during the Japanese Occupation. The abbess was the last to die, in 1944, leaving the nunnery once again vacant. Owing primarily to its remote location, it was not much harmed. In 1949, the monk Kuk Shan Kit (竹山傑), or LTR, originally of Shek Ki and of the Hau (侯) surname, the thirteenth abbot of the Po Tsik (寶積) Monastery at Lo Fau Shan (羅浮山), fleeing from the Communists, came to Hong Kong with about a dozen disciples, and settled into the vacant building, repairing what damage the War had caused, and restarting the daily prayers.16 This change of the buildings from a nunnery to a house of monks does not seem to have troubled the local villagers, who seem to have ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 135 been only too pleased to have the buildings back in operation, and the daily prayers re-started. Kuk Shan Kit, however, died after being at the Cheung Shan Kwu Tsz for only a few years. His disciples dispersed to other monasteries. Only one disciple, a lady of over 40 when she arrived from Lo Fau Shan, stayed at the Cheung Shan Kwu Tsz, where she lived until she died early in 1991. It is because of Kuk Shan Kit's early death, and the dispersal of his disciples, that the nunnery escaped being rebuilt in the 1950s and 1960s. Before the War, the nunnery seems to have been dependent on donations from villagers and on offerings made by wayfarers, despite the fact that, at least on paper, it owned a considerable amount of land. At the Block Crown Lease Survey (1905) it was registered as the owner of 2.49 acres of First Quality, 1.8 acres of Second Quality, and 0.23 acres of Third Quality riceland in the Ping Shan area (DD79), 3.79 acres, 0.42 acres and 0.26 acres in the Ping Che area (DD77), 0.87 acres of First Quality riceland in the Wo Hang Au area (DD38), and 1.22 acres of First Quality riceland in the Man Uk Pin area (DD37), totalling 8.37 acres of First Quality, 2.22 acres of Second Quality, and 0.49 of Third Quality riceland; 11.08 acres overall. The only houseland owned was the nunnery itself. Unfortunately, the title deeds for this land have been lost, and it is impossible to be sure when they were donated to the nunnery. The tiny plots near the nunnery were also owned by the nuns, but the value of these plots was so low that they were left unregistered. It should be noted that the average holding of an average New Territories family actually farming their own land in the early part of this century was about one acre. Land rented out was usually rented at 50% of its crop, so that the 11.08 acres of the nunnery's holdings should have produced enough, if all rented out, to provide for the subsistence needs of five families, and hence should have been more than sufficient for the needs of a couple of elderly nuns, even if they did have to provide free tea to all wayfarers. However, it seems likely that only a small percentage of the income from this land actually reached the nunnery. This point is considered more fully below. The Cheung Shan Kwu Tsz and the Ping Yuen Hap Heung Politically, the nunnery stood at a nodal point in the tangled web of local politics. The area near the nunnery was certainly settled in the Ming period. The Punti Ho (I), Tang ( ), Man (A), To (#), and ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 138 the "major lineages". If, as seems likely, the foundation of the nunnery represented, at least in part, a political move to strengthen the villages near the pass against the "major lineages", then it was the first step in what was to become open inter-village warfare two or three generations later. The Cheung Shan Kwu Tsz and the Ta Kwu Ling Luk Yeuk In the nineteenth century, local politics in the New Territories area were marked by the struggle for local political dominance between the rich and ancient “major lineages", and the mutual defence inter-village alliances, or Yeuk, which set out to combat the "major alliances" by uniting the strength of villages too weak to oppose them on their own. The struggle for dominance was centred on control of the markets, and of the vital roads which linked them. 24 Within the eastern New Territories the villagers of the area around Sha Tau Kok formed a network of Yeuk alliances which was responsible for the foundation of the market at Sha Tau Kok about 1825, and which controlled all the roads in the area immediately around the market. The villagers formed ten inter-village Yeuk alliances, and this Yeuk network was called the Shap Yeuk (+*, "Alliance of Ten'') in consequence. The Shap Yeuk owned the market at Sha Tau Kok communally, and their interest in keeping open all the roads which served the market, but especially their vital road to Sham Tsun, is obvious. The Shap Yeuk was united enough, and strong enough, that it was able to ensure that the "major lineages” had no significant influence within the Sha Tau Kok area, but it was never strong enough to control the whole of the road to Sham Tsun. To the south, the area around the ancient market town of Tai Po had been dominated by the Tang lineage of Tai Po Tau since the Ming dynasty. The Tangs not only controlled the market, but also owned the extremely important ferry over the Kwun Yam river in the town, over which all traffic from Kowloon to the north had to pass. This control by a "major lineage” was very irksome to the other villages of the area, who had been trying to seize control of the area since early in the nineteenth century. The foundation of the New Market (Tai Wo Shi, ) at Tai Po, which was to have no Tang involvement, and the building of a new bridge ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 142 steady waves. This sensible and pragmatic defence plan lead to the villages near Kan Tau Wai being formed into five Yeuk, which radiate out from Kan Tau Wai like the spokes of a wheel. The villages to the north-east, furthest from Kan Tau Wai, formed a sixth Yeuk: its duties were to guard the other entrances to Ta Kwu Ling, the Fan Li Au and to keep an eye on the Cheung's allies in the area, especially Lin Ma Hang and Sai Ling Ha. The arrangement of the area into six Yeuk lead the area to be called the Ta Kwu Ling Luk Yeuk ("Ta Kwu Ling Alliance of Six"). The Yeuk seem to have been very united in their opposition to Wong Pui Ling — the deaths of villagers in the fighting were very evenly shared between them. 29 + These arrangements required the Ping Yuen Hap Heung to be split, Ping Che joining Tong Fong and Kan Tau Wai in one Yeuk, centred on the Ping Che Road, and Ping Yeung with Nga Yiu Ha and Wo Keng Shan forming another centred on the Miu Keng road. The Loi Tung villagers had no interest in the Law Fong bridge, and did not join the Ta Kwu Ling alliance; their political interests lay elsewhere. Similarly, the old grouping of Kan Tau Wai, Lei Uk and Tai Po Tin had to be split, with Lei Uk and Tai Po Tin being joined with Shan Kai Wat further along their common access path. These arrangements seem to have been introduced no earlier than about 1850, and were limited to defence and mutual assistance matters; ritual and other arrangements continued to operate according to the older groupings. Hence the management of the Cheung Shan Kwu Tsz was unaffected, and even though Loi Tung and Man Uk Pin were probably friendly with Wong Pui Ling, the political contacts of the villages near the pass did not end, and probably helped to stop the dispute escalating too far. Although it is something of an irrelevance to this article, it is, perhaps, worth saying something further about the Luk Yeuk. The alliance was successful in its war with Wong Pui Ling: the bridge was built (it was a very fine, three-span granite structure), with an inscription set up at the bridge foot detailing the donors. Wong Pui Ling had to accept defeat, and see its influence disappear throughout Ta Kwu Ling and beyond. The Ta Kwu Ling villagers, after peace had been secured, set up an organisation to ensure that the area could go back onto a “war footing” at short notice if required. This was the Shing Ping She ("Peace Secured Society"). This organisation ensured that all the young men were trained in martial arts, and that patrols "to keep the peace" ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 146 the client relationship Lung Yeuk Tau wanted them in. Loi Tung, despite its genealogical connection with Lung Yeuk Tau, was always regarded by Lung Yeuk Tau as a "poor relation", and classed with the "small villages". Lung Yeuk Tau was, in addition, a member of the Po Tak Temple (#) Old Alliance: this alliance was of the "major lineages” of the area (Lung Yeuk Tau, Sheung Shui, Ho Sheung Heung, and Tai Hang), and was a specifically gentry body, whose influence was certainly antagonistic to the “small villages". The Sze Yeuk, therefore, divided into Lung Yeuk Tau to the west, interested mostly in its enmity to Fan Ling, and an eastern group, which had interests to the north. In the Shap Yeuk area, Man Uk Pin, the westernmost of the ten or eleven Yeuk of the Shap Yeuk, was also part of the Sze Yeuk, in which organisation it did not form a Yeuk by itself, but was merely a subordinate part of the Loi Tung Yeuk. Man Uk Pin was a long way from Sha Tau Kok market, and, again, looked in a different direction from most of the rest of the Shap Yeuk. To Man Uk Pin the road through the Miu Keng pass was essential, and the villages on the other side of the pass were, therefore, of more interest to it than would have been the case with the other Shap Yeuk villages. areas ― Peripheral areas, on the boundaries of the Yeuk inter-village alliance areas, were always more conscious of interests outside the Yeuk areas than villages closer to the centre of local political activity. The Cheung Shan Kwu Tsz is built where the Luk Yeuk, Shap Yeuk, and Sze Yeuk meet. The area is peripheral to the centre of interest of all three Yeuk - the Law Fong bridge, the Sha Tau Kok market, and the river crossing between Lung Yeuk Tau and Fan Ling. The continuing existence of the nunnery committee, and the continuing inter-relationship of the villages holding the six shares of the nunnery, was a standing brake to any attempt by hot-heads to provoke enmity between the three Yeuk alliances as units; if such a thing had happened, the three groups of "front-line" villages would have been unlikely to have been very enthusiastic participants. It is probably this factor which led to there never being any outright fighting between these three alliance areas as a whole, despite the Sze Yeuk and Shap Yeuk friendliness with Wong Pui Ling. Equally, the capacity to look for support from outside the Yeuk area must have strengthened the position of Loi Tung, Man Uk Pin, and the Ping Yuen people within their respective Yeuk areas. The influence of the Magistrate and the gentry in the area was minimal. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 147 The Magistrate's influence seems to have deferred the success of the Tsat Yeuk in by-passing the Tai Po ferry from about 1840 to 1892, but otherwise it does not seem to have played any significant part. The Magistrate seems to have played absolutely no role at all in the dispute between the Luk Yeuk and Wong Pui Ling. The main gentry organisations in the area were the Po Tak Temple Old Alliance and the Community School (1) in Sham Tsun, which was managed by the Tung Ping Kuk (T5, "Council for Peace in the East"), consisting of all the Punti degree holders in the Sham Tsun area, who sat in the school in rotation to adjudicate disputes. The political effectiveness (as opposed to their effectiveness in settling inter-personal disputes) of these gentry bodies in ordinary times was slight. The predominant membership of the Community School rota was from Sheung Shui, Lung Yeuk Tau, Wong Pui Ling and Sham Tsun itself, and their mutual enmities rendered it helpless in most major local political crises. The Po Tak Temple was similarly divided. The Sham Tsun Community School was, furthermore, ignored by the Hakka degree-holders, who had a similar, but weaker, body connected with the school in Sha Tau Kok, and known as the Tung Wo Kuk (†1⁄2, “Council for Peace in the East”). 41 The Nuns and Their Background The nuns of the Cheung Shan Kwu Tsz were local Punti girls. This was a common feature of the pre-British Buddhist institutions in the area. The Ta Kwu Ling villagers believe that all the nuns, at all dates, were Punti. They were "women who refused to marry". This was the same at all the indigenous nunneries in the New Territories. The Tang lineage owned three nunneries: the Ling To nunnery being owned by the Ha Tsuen branch of the lineage, the Ling Wan nunnery by the Kam Tin branch, and the Lung Kai nunnery by the Lung Yeuk Tau branch. Village elders of all three villages say that, before they were taken over by immigrant monks (or, in the case of the Lung Kai nunnery, became ruined), they were all houses of nuns, and that, while girls from other places were not debarred from becoming nuns there, effectively all the nuns were Tang girls from the branch of the lineage owning the monastery in question, girls, that is, who “refused to marry". Similarly, the nuns of the Kim Ho monastery at the Law Fong bridge were, according to Law Fong village elders, girls from Punti ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 152 Mun, founded by Pooi To. This is, however, perhaps unlikely. The note of 1089 on the history of Pooi To and his monastery (Hsin An County Gazetteers, loc.cit.) is sufficiently comprehensive that it is unlikely that it would have failed to notice if Pooi To had founded two monasteries in the immediate vicinity of Tuen Mun, but it refers to only one, and clearly identifies Pooi To's Kwangtung area of interest with this one monastery. I am indebted to the students of Ng Yuk Secondary School who presented a study of the Ling To monastery to the Hong Kong Institute for the Promotion of Chinese Culture for the Institute's 1990 Historical and Cultural Investigation Award for much of my information on the Ling To monastery. 4 See Sung Hok-p'ang, "Legends and Stories of the New Territories: Kam Tin (B)", in The Hong Kong Naturalist, June 1936, reprinted in Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 13, 1973, p. 127-129. The nunnery bell is dated Kang Hsi 40 (1701), and this is probably the date of foundation. The bell speaks of a desire to achieve success for the Tang lineage in the imperial examination. 9 See Plan, and Plates 20 and 21. See Location Map. A two-day survey was conducted on December 11th and 12th, 1904, which showed that 1823 persons used the road on the 11th (a market day at Sham Tsun), and 708 on the 12th (a non-market day). The market day at Sha Tau Kok would have been the 10th. The survey was taken “on the road”, and very probably at the nunnery. These figures suggest a monthly total of up to 43,000 travellers: even if this is substantially discounted (the report suggests that travellers carrying rice after the second rice harvest, and fish, made the road very busy at that time) about 25,000 a month would seem a reasonable figure, or 300,000 a year. The Governor gave a more conservative statement of the yearly total, at 250,000, or about 20,000 a month. Of the 2531 travellers surveyed on the two days, 679, or 27%, (29% on the market day, 22% on the non-market day) were "carrying goods". Assuming that these carriers were carrying the standard cookie distance load of 100 lbs, then they were carrying 67,900 lbs, or 30 tons, implying perhaps 400 tons a month, or 4,800 tons a year. The survey for this road gave figures entirely in line with those shown by the surveys conducted at the same time on the other roads along the line of the railway. See file C.O.882, despatch No. 59, from Sir Matthew Nathan to Mr. Lyttelton, received February 13th, 1905, Public Record Office, London, (copy in P.R.O. Hong Kong). A second survey, conducted outside the nunnery, on 26th and 29th December, 1910 (both market days at Sham Tsun) showed 319 and 203 people "carrying goods" on those days. Assuming that the percentages of people carrying goods (those not carrying goods were not surveyed) was, as in 1904, 29%, then total passengers on those days would have been 1100 and 700, suggesting a monthly total of about 23,000, and a yearly total of just under 300,000. See file C.O.129/376, despatch no. 165 (page 582), from Sir Frederick Lugard to Rt. Hon. Lewis Harcourt, 28th April, 1911, (copy in P.R.O. Hong Kong). A monthly total of between 20,000 and 25,000 people passing the nunnery, therefore, seems very reasonable. ... The inscription is at Vol. 3, p. 679 of David Faure, Bernard H.K. Luk, and Alice N.H. Ng Lun, The Historical Inscriptions of Hong Kong, Urban Council of Hong Kong, 1986. The bell was donated to stand for ever before the altar of the Lord Buddha in the nunnery at Cheung Shan by "the mass of the devout people from all the villages". 各鄉衆信弟子慶具鳴鐘一口，敬酹長山廟佛生爺爺案前永遠供奉、福有攸歸。The nunnery is mentioned in the Hsin An County Gazetteer of 1819, as the "Cheung Chun nunnery, at the Loi Tung Pass", at ch'uan 18, page 149 of the Chung Lap Pao edition, 1979. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 154 19 , at Law Fong) are believed to have entered the area after 1700. See Map of Ta Kwu Ling. It is interesting to note that, of the 21 villages in the Ta Kwu Ling area, seven are purely Punti, nine are purely Hakka (including two of originally Punti but now Hakka speaking Mans), but five are of mixed Punti and Hakka residents, including the large village of Chau Tin (which has only a tiny handful of Hakka residents), Fung Wong Wu, Kan Tau Wai, and Law Fong, and Tong Fong which consists partly of Punti speaking Mans, and partly of Hakka speaking Mans. + 1 Yeung, and Ng, at Fong Wong Wu; Siu, and Ho, at Chau Tin; Wong, at Kan Tau Wai; Pang, and Au, at Tai Po Tin; Fu Lau, (and others) at Wo Keng Shan; Yiut, at Chuk Yuen; Chan, and Yiu, at Law Fong (Luofang); Chau at Wang Kong Ha; Yeung, and Kwu, at Sai Ling Ha (Xilingxia), and others. 21 The temple bell, of Chien Lung 21 (1756) was donated by "all the faithful people of the Ping Yuen Hap Heung... ...to stand for ever before the altar of the Lady Tin Hau*. Faure, Luk, Ng, op. cit., Vol. 3, p. 670. The only earlier dated item in the temple, a Cloud Gong of 1727, was donated by a single family from Ping Che, Faure, Luk, Ng, op. cit., Vol. 3, p. 661. The temple continued to be owned and controlled by this group of villages. Faure, The Structure of Chinese Rural Society: Lineage and Village in the Eastern New Territories, Oxford Univ. Press, Hong Kong, 1986, p. 104 is incorrect in saying that the temple was owned by Ping Yeung. In the Block Crown Lease, the Manager of the temple was Man Shan-fung, of Ping Che. The Tong Fong people, although closely related genealogically to the Ping Che people, were not part of the Ping Yuen Hap Heung, and did not take part in the Ta Tsiu.22 Faure, op. cit., p. 103. + + 23 The four managers at the time of the Block Crown Lease were Tang Hung-wai (a houseowner of Loi Tung), Chan Shing-pong, called a houseowner of Ping Yeung in a District Office report of 1979), Man Ying-shau (probably a villager of Ping Che, a relative of the houseowners Man Ying-kei, Man Ying-wai, and Man Ying-fat), and Chung Choi-wah (a houseowner of Man Uk Pin). These died in 1938, 1926, 1925, and 1942 respectively, according to a report made to the District Office in 1979. The abbess, Wong Tik-yuen, was appointed a manager in 1926, but she died in 1931. After the War, the lack of managers caused trouble on a number of occasions. A temporary manager was appointed in 1968. In 1979 the Chairman of the Sha Tau Kok Rural Committee and others were appointed as managers, although he, as a Lin Ma Hang villager, had no connection with the nunnery. This seems to have been with a view to rebuilding the nunnery. This proposal has led to a string of vigorous complaints from the elders of the six villages with shares during the last three years, but the situation remains, at present (1991), unresolved. 24 See Faure, The Structure of Chinese Rural Society, op. cit., pp. 100-127, for a discussion of the Yeuk. 25 The only alternative was a dangerous, difficult, and often impassable waist-deep ford, as the 1896 Kwong Fuk bridge tablet makes clear. See Faure, Luk and Ng, Historical Inscriptions of Hong Kong, op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 298. 26 See Robert G. Groves, "The Origins of Two Market Towns in the New Territories", Aspects of Social Organisation in the New Territories, Royal Asiatic Society, Hong Kong Branch, Symposium Report, 1964, pp. 16-20, and Alice Ng Lun Ngai-ha, "Xianggang Xinjie xushi zhi xingqi yu shuailao: Dabuxu yanjiu" [The Foundation and Decay of Market Towns in the New Territories of Hong Kong: A Study of Tai Po], in Chinese Studies, Vol. 3, No. 2, 1985, pp. 633-655. The very widespread support for the Tsat Yeuk can be gathered from the list of donors shown on the Kwong Fuk bridge tablet, Faure, Luk and Ng, loc. cit. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 155 27 As noted above, 20,000 people a month used the Miu Keng pass. Probably as many again used the road from Ping Che to Kan Tau Wai, or started their journey within Ta Kwu Leng. 40,000 users of the ferry a month is a likely figure. Probably 25% of them carried goods. This represents more than $50 a month income, or about $600 a year. Even depreciating heavily for the salary of boatmen and costs of maintenance, $400 a year clear profit seems likely. The date of this war was probably in the 1860s, as Faure, The Structure of Chinese Rural Society, op. cit., p. 104, shows. 29 For the arrangement of the Yeuk, see map. The information in this section comes from Mr. Chan Yau-tsoi and Mr. Chan Wa-chun of Ping Yeung, Mr. Man Kam-muk of Ping Che, Mr. Yeung Choi of Fụng Wong Wu, Mr. Man Lei-wa of Tong Fong, and Mr. Hau Foh-tai of Law Fong, all very knowledgeable elders. I met them as a group, and include here only what they were unanimous in agreeing was the case. I would like to express my particular thanks to them for the several hours of discussion they had with me. As to Sai Ling Ha, this village, although it lay within the Ta Kwu Ling hills, supported Wong Pui Ling in the fighting, I was told. It had no part in the Luk Yeuk. However, when the Communists took over, most of the inhabitants of Sai Ling Ha crossed into Hong Kong, and set up homes in Ping Che. They were then allowed to become part of the Luk Yeuk, as part of Ping Che Yeuk. The account of the Luk Yeuk given here differs in detail from that given in Faure, op. cit., pp. 103-104. +1 - 30 The deaths are recorded in the "Heroes Shrine" () in the Tin Hau Temple at Ping Che, which was the community temple of the Ta Kwu Ling area. 23 names of the **Heroes who died in protecting the villages, who knew how to perform the duties of filial piety", or the "Heroes who defended the Yeuk" as they are named in two inscriptions *澳四總鎮源樂友例段英雄履考之神位 and "MX") are recorded. Of these, 3 (all surnamed Chan) came from the Ping Yeung Yeuk, 4 (3 surnamed Tang and 1 surnamed Chau) from the Lin Tong Yeuk, 4 (1 surnamed Chau and 3 surnamed Lei) from the Lei Uk Yeuk, 4(2 surnamed Yiu and 2 surnamed Hau) from the Law Fong Yeuk, 2 (both surnamed Yip) from the Lo Shue Ling Yeuk and 4 (2 surnamed Wong and 2 surnamed Man) from the Ping Che Yeuk. One Law died he came either from Law Fong (Law Fong Yeuk) or Kan Tau Wai (Ping Che Yeuk). A Lau Ah-ngau (劉亞牛) also died -- he could have been from Wo Keng Shan (Ping Yeung Yeuk), where there was a tiny clan of Laus, or could possibly have been a servant, as his name suggests his name is entered last on the tablet. 23 deaths suggests very bloody fighting. It is unlikely that the population of the whole of Ta Kwu Ling in 1860 was higher than 1750 (representing an average village population of about 80, or perhaps 12 households), and the adult males could not have been more than a quarter of that (440). The young men of fighting age were probably no more than about 200. 23 out of 200 is about 11.5% deaths of those involved, which is a very high percentage. The population of the Ta Kwu Ling villages within the New Territories totalled 1441 in the 1911 Census (Sessional Papers, 1911, no. 17, Noronha & Lo, Hong Kong, 1911, "Report on the Census of the Colony for 1911”, Table XIX p. 103 (32)). + - Loi Tung, with its lineage brethren of Lung Yeuk Tau, and the small villages between them, formed the Sze Yeuk (四約, “Alliance of Four''), which was, to a large degree, designed to ensure that the ancient enmity of the Tangs of Lung Yeuk Tau and Loi Tung with the Pangs of Fan Ling was tilted in favour of the Tangs. The Pangs supported the Luk Yeuk in its fight with the Cheungs this almost certainly means that the Sze Yeuk supported the Cheungs, as did Sheung Shui, the other ancient enemy of the Pangs. Man Uk Pin was a Yeuk of the Sha Tau Kok Shap Yeuk, as well as forming a part of the Sze Yeuk. The Shap Yeuk were dubious about the activities of the Luk Yeuk. Free travel between Sha Tau Kok and Sham Tsun was vital to the Shap Yeuk. With the Cheung Shan Kwụ Page 180 Page 181 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 156 Tsz people controlling the pass and the Cheungs controlling the river crossing; no one group had total control of the road; but if the Luk Yeuk controlled both the pass and the bridge, then the Shap Yeuk's interests could well have been at risk. Lin Ma Hang of the Shap Yeuk actually fought alongside Wong Pui Ling; the rest of the Shap Yeuk was probably friendly to the Cheungs, or at least neutral in the dispute. The Sze Yeuk were allied with the Tangs in their opposition to the establishment of the Tai Po New Market by the Tsat Yeuk; as is to be expected, Fanling and the Luk Yeuk supported the Tsat Yeuk. 32 33 It is unclear if the inscription still survives or not. They were Man Fuk-ting (Tong Fong, Chairman); Lei Yi-wa (Lei Uk); Chan Kwok-cheung (Ping Yeung); Tang King-shiu (Au Ha or Wang Kong Ha); Law King-fan (Law Fong); To Kan-yeung (Tin). 14 Between 1911 and 1924 Chan Ping-kei (Chau ...) and Chan Tai [or Ting]-cheung ... (+ [Chinese characters unknown]) were managers, and as such appear on the Land Memorials. 35 It was put up by Lin Tong and Wang Kong Ha villages, in "The Shing Ping She Shrine of Righteousness".ĦTH, Faure, Historical Inscriptions, op. cit., Vol. 3, p. 850. 36 37 Faure, The Structure of Chinese Rural Society, op. cit., pp. 104-105. Chau Tin village owned a small temple, or San Teng (神廳), as did Kan Tau Wai and Law Fong. Kan Tau Wai in addition owned a small house as a meeting place for its elders. None of these communal facilities had any income-producing land attached to them, except for the Law Fong and Kan Tau Wai temples, which owned 0.05 and 0.12 acres respectively. The Ping Yuen temple manager was registered only for the single temple building, but not for any income-producing land, although the temple did buy a piece of land (0.72 acres) from a Ping Che villager in 1906. See DD82, houselot CT20; lot 759; DD78, lot 1158; DD82, houselot KTW13; houselots PC1-3; Memorial 2744. Memorials 24058 (20 April 1913), 27471 (4 June 1914), 45919 (7 December 1920); see also Memorial 17779 (17 October 1911) for the succession of the She to a house at Tong Fong. 19 For the Po Tak Old Alliance, see Faure, The Structure of Chinese Rural Society, op. cit., pp. 128-140. 40 41 See R.G. Groves, "The Origins of Two Market Towns'', loc.cit. For the Tung Ping Kuk and the Tung Wo Kuk, see Faure, The Structure of Chinese Rural Society, op. cit., pp. 128-140. 42 (唔出嫁嘅女) 43 44 Sung Hok-p'ang, Legends and Stories of the New Territories: Kam Tin, op. cit. It should be noted that these nunneries are often called Tsz (寺) in ordinary speech and documents. This character strictly means "monastery", but, in this area, this does not necessarily imply that the religious living there were men. Thus the Cheung Shan Kwu Tsz is almost always so called, as in the document printed in the Appendix. The use of the more correct character Am (庵, 'nunnery') is almost entirely limited to Ch'ing official documents (especially the County Gazetteer) and, sometimes, on bells. 45 46 loc.cit. See Faure, Luk and Ng, Historical Inscriptions of Hong Kong, op. cit., Vol. 3, p. 669. It is called Miu (廟, "temple") in Hsin An County Gazetteer, 1922, ch'uan 4 and 7, pages 49-50 and 82 of the Chung Lap Pao edition, 1979, and in the 1688 Gazetteer. 47 Ling To is called Tsz (寺) in the Hsin An County Gazetteer, 1819, at ch'uan 18 and 21, pages 148 and 174 of the Chung Lap Pao edition, 1979, and, given the care with which... ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 306 TABLE 1.1 Partial Genealogical Chart of the Dang Lineage of Kam Tin i Hung-yi Generation 15 Yam Mau Ging Tong) Jan Yeui Gyun 16 (Ching Lok Tong) (Loi Sing Tong) Ching-Lok Naam-Kai Gwong-Yu (adopted) Ting-Jing Naam-Kai 17 Wan-Guk Wan-Gaan Wan-Yu See Table 1.2 Ching-Lok — Ancestral Hall See Table 1.3 18 Chung-Yut Hak-Sa Note: Some of the detail of this chart and those at Tables 1.2 and 1.3 is subject to further investigation. Some collateral branches are omitted. Some of the detail is obscure. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 309 B. Earliest Evidence of the Lineage Present-day Dangs of Kam Tin speak of the four branches of their lineage, which correspond to the four sons of Hung-Yi. This division into four branches stemming from Hung-Yi's sons was already clear in the sixteenth century: it is implied in the will of Dang Kei-fong, a fourth generation descendant of Dang Hung-Yi, of the fourth branch - the will was written in 1561. The earliest evidence we have of a lineage focussed on Hung-Yi is this will. The will was copied in a genealogy compiled by a descendant of his. In the will Kei Fong stated that he had inherited a substantial property from his father and had not added much to it. He now wished to set aside 90 sek of rental rice for the worship of his parents, himself and his wife, and the education of his male offsprings. He had also set aside 33 acres of farmland, the rent from which was to help his descendants to cope with the county corvée. Kei-Fong stated his intention to build an ancestral hall in honour of his parents, Chung-Yut and his wife. This, although probably never realized, is the earliest known plan to build an ancestral hall in Kam Tin. Kei-Fong started his will by naming his office-holding ancestors, Fu-hip, the gwan-ma's father, and the gwan-ma himself. No reference is made to Hung-Yi. But the will as preserved includes the names of the witnesses, which comprise a juk-jeung and four fong-jeung. Comparing the name list with genealogies, we find that the "clan" in this 1561 document is one that has Hung-Yi at its apex. The first of the four fong-jeung is a grandson of Yam, the eldest son of Hung-Yi. The third is a grandson of Jan, Hung-Yi's second son. The fourth is a grandson of Gyun, Hung Yi's fourth son. Curiously, the other fong-jeung is another grandson of Gyun rather than one of Yeui's. The juk-jeung, however, was not only a descendant of Yeui rather than Yam, but was also more junior in generation terms than the others. He was the eldest son of the eldest son of Siu-Geui, the only son of Ting-Jing. Ting-jing was the eldest son of Yeui. This may be a reflection of the continuing influence of Ting-jing's descendants in clan affairs in that period. In 1471 Ting-Jing (a son of Yeui) had been awarded a geui-yan degree and subsequently (in 1514) appointed as the Director of Studies of a Jiangxi county and subsequently promoted to be a County Magistrate ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 310 in Guangxi, Documents preserved in genealogies testify to his involvement in clan matters. He was credited with having compiled a genealogy. He and his son headed the short name list on the new grave stone for the wong-gu prepared in 1471. A preface he wrote in 1472 for a genealogy written by a certain “clan uncle” can be found in many existing genealogies. They also record accounts of the wong-gu and her husband written in 1489 by a jeun-si of the surname Lau from Dongguan at Ting-Jing's request. The Xin'an gazetteer of 1688 named Hung Yi as the tax-payer for two local ferries. The two ferries had most probably provided income to an ancestral fund in his honour. But it was unlikely that his trust had any significant income. Present-day elders remember that in earlier days the expenses for the worship for Hung-Yi had to be shared among the villages of Kam Tin. In terms of ancestral trusts and ancestral halls, however, the lower level ancestors in whose names the segments of the lineage below the branches were organised were probably even more important. Besides the annual worship at the ancestral halls and graves, such segments had various ways of reinforcing their solidarity and maintaining their network of information. In the case of Ching-Lok jou it used to be the case that the managers, heads of the main branches (ga, or "family") and the accountant were invited to a banquet on the day before each of the major festivals of the year. A member of Ji-Ga Tong, another lineage segment, mentioned to me a customary get-together of all the male members on one day at the New Year. I have heard of a similar practice in another segment, Gwong-Yu Tong. They hold a get-together on the first day of the New Year at their ancestral hall from early in the morning, and again worshipped at the Daai-Wong Temple, a temple the founding ancestor had started, on the seventh day of the First Month. C. Wan Guk and the Ching Lok Ancestral Hall The senior branch (descended from Yam) was the most successful until late in the seventeenth century. Hung-Yi's eldest son Yam had three sons. Yam had the second, now known as Naam-Kai jou, adopted to be heir of his (Yam's) youngest brother Gyun. The two remaining sons of Yam were Ching-Lok and Loi-Sing (alias Gwong-Yu, but not to be confused with the Gwong-Yu of Gwong-Yu Tong). Ching-Lok had four sons, the eldest of whom was Wan-Guk. According to oral tradition ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 311 recorded by Sung (1974:181-182), Wan-Guk "was a very rich man, and he owned a lot of cultivated land in [Xin'an County]". He died before 1513 (ibid: 182). We have more detail about some of his great-great-grandsons, among them Dang Yun-Fan who made a donation of 1,000 sek of rice to the county government for relief during a bad famine. The details of Dang Yun-fan's descent from Wan-Guk are obscure. Because of this act of generosity Kam Tin was given its present name in 1587, instead of the Sham Tin used earlier (Sung 1973:111-112). The story must be quite close to the truth. Siu (1982:23:24) has checked the Xin'an gazetteer to verify it. He found an entry for a serious drought in 1583, and the County Magistrate named in the anecdote assumed his position in 1586. I have found other supportive data in a local manuscript that records some of the inside inscriptions of the spirit tablets in one of the ancestral halls of Kam Tin. Two ancestors of this period had "pen-names" (hou) that probably alluded to the new name of the settlement. An elder I interviewed attributed the change of the place name to Kam Tin to his ancestor Pou-Am, another great-great-grandson of Wan-Guk's, and provided the following information. Pou-am's holdings reached Chuk Yuen near San Tin. He had house(s) where the rent collectors could stay when collecting the payment and being entertained by the tenants. Pou-Am's grandson Lok-Sin had comparable holdings. It was probably in the second half of the 16th century that an ancestral hall was built in honour of Ching-Lok, Wan-Guk's father. It was in all likelihood the earliest ancestral hall ever built in Kam Tin. We know the approximate date of the ancestral hall because a handbook for its rituals prescribed that extra portions of ritual pork were to be given to the descendants of certain individuals, some for their part in the initial building of the hall and some for their contribution towards subsequent repairs and rebuilding. These involved six people. Among them the two rewarded for the original building and another two rewarded for the first rebuilding were all Wan-Guk's great-grandsons. It was only in a subsequent repair in 1788 that one of the descendants of the other sons of Ching-Lok became involved. The spirit tablets in the hall confirm the dominance of Wan-Guk's segment. The two Dangs honoured for the initial effort, as already mentioned, were Wan-Guk's great-grandsons. The time when the ancestral hall was first built was probably not later than the time of Yun-Fan, the great-great-grandson of Wan-Guk's who made the donation to the county in 1587. It was also in the second half of the 16th Century that Kei-Fong (not a descendant of Ching-Lok) ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 312 mentioned his plan to build an ancestral hall for his segment in his will dated 1561. Although spirit tablets for Hung-Yi and Yam can be found on the altars of the Ching-Lok ancestral hall, only Ching-Lok and thirteen descendants of his were honoured by being escorted to the central area of the hall in the Spring and Autumn rites. The ritual arrangement is as if to emphasise that only the descendants of Ching-Lok, and no other descendants of Hung-Yi or even of Yam, belong to the hall. Those excluded are descendants of Jan, Yeui and Gyun, as well as those of the brother of Ching-Lok. The descendants of Ching Lok's brother built their own ancestral hall, the Loi-Sing Tong, much later, in 1701. A fung shui story indicates the subsequent decline of Wan-Guk's segment. Since his first burial the descendants had had great wealth but, to their regret, no degrees. Subsequently they followed a geomancer's suggestion to change the place of burial in order to improve their chances of passing the imperial examinations. But the reburial did not work. It turned out to have unfavourable effects on the descendants: since the reburial the segment has declined. Wan-Guk's segment continued wealthy probably well into the 18th century, Pou-Am's descendants included at least three holders of purchased gung-sang degrees." When one of them, known to his descendants by the "pen name" of Git-Sau, celebrated his 71st birthday in 1771, the congratulatory passage on a screen was written by two different jeun-si degree holders and the presenters included 12 friends and relatives who held some lesser (probably gung-sang, most styled seui-jeun-si) degrees. Many of these relatives were relatives by marriage. The screen is now kept in a very large "study" which had belonged to Git-Sau. He had also had at least one sai-man hereditary servant. The descendants of Pou-Am's father's brother Hei-Ye also included some very wealthy men. On the outskirts of Shui Mei, near house no. 70, is the ruin of a rather big house, which was built by some of Hei-Ye's descendants. I was told by a present descendant of Hei-Ye's segment that the house was built for some sai-man. He said that the sai-man for whom the house was built were fighters (da-jai), Sung (1974:182) reported that Hei-Ye's son Sing-Ngok, with Yun-Fan, to whom I referred previously, “appear to have shared the [Hong Kong] island between them, three quarters belonging to the former, and the rest to the latter”. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 314 10 the Dangs of Kam-Tin in the dispute with the Dangs of Ping Shan over the grave of the gwan-ma several decades before 1737. The descendants of Man Wai and his brothers (i.e. the members of the Gwong Yu Tong and the Lei Ging Tong) are all also members of the Sung-Kok jou segment which derives its name from the "pen name" of Man Wai's father. E. Loi-Sing Tong To avoid confusion with Gwong-Yu Tong (i.e. the descendants of Man-wai) I shall call the Gwong-Yu jou segment (Le, the descendants of Gwong-Yu) by the name of their ancestral hall, the Loi-Sing Tong. The first datable event relating to this segment was the building of the ancestral hall in 1701 by Jeung-Luk, a sixth generation descendant of Gwong-Yu. Probably the best known of the Loi-Sing Tong ancestors was Si-Daan. The details of Si-Daan's descent are obscure. He was probably a descendant, perhaps a grandson, of Jeung-Luk. Sung (1973:63-65) records a story that upon his birth there was an unmistakable sign that he was destined to be a rich man. According to Sung (1974:164) he “built himself a very big house called Naam Teng, the remains of which can still be seen on the South side of Kat Hing Wai". In 1755 when Si-Daan's uncle presented a bell to Ling-Wan Ji his name was included as one of the donors. The family probably had become rich before his father's generation. That uncle of his, Dang Yu-Jung, had purchased a minor official title. The donation list for the rebuilding of a temple in 1744 recorded a single sum donated by four Yus that included Yu-Jung and Si-Daan's father Yu-Man. Among the four, Yu-Ji had purchased a gung-sang degree in the Yongzheng period (1723-1735), and two others had degrees of gaam-sang. Si-Daan himself had purchased an official title of jau-tung. Of the ancestors whose tablets were housed in the hall Puk-Chai, gung-sang degree holder, is remembered by his descendants, who still keep an embroidery presented to the father of this degree holder on the occasion of a birthday." He was probably one of Jeung-Luk's brothers. F. Mau Ging Tong The period of the late Ming and the early Qing was an eventful period for the people of the Xin'an county. The Kam Tin jiu festival itself had started as a response to experiences in this period, especially the serious ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 316 G. Gwok-Yin jou A segment of the Ching Lok Tong worth mentioning is the Gwok-Yin jou, which has a small ancestral hall in Wing Lung Wai. It has ancestral tablets for Lam-Mau (one of the great grandsons of Fong in the 20th generation), two of his sons, neither of whom had had any descendants, and Gwok-Yin his third son (with a title of mou-leuk-ke-wai), and Lam-Mau's grandsons Chiu-Yip, Chiu-Yung, Gwan-Leung (also with a title of mou-leuk-ke-wai) and Gwan-Haak. Dang Ying-Yun, a grandson of Gwan-Leung, is represented by a horizontal inscribed board to congratulate his mou-geui-yan degree award in 1789. In all likelihood, the titles of Gwok-Yin and Gwan-Leung were conferred in consideration of the imperial degree of this descendant of theirs. 13 Sung (1974:173-174) provides some information about Dang Ying-Yun. He wrote the calligraphy for many inscriptions, including those for the repair of the Jau and Wong Temple in 1824 and the rebuilding of the Ling-Wan Monastery in 1821. His involvement in public affairs was not limited to calligraphy. Sung recorded the oral tradition that he was instrumental in the construction of a fortress in the present Kowloon City and a county school in its capital town. H. Ji-Ga Tong 14 According to his descendants and other informants, Ji-Ga Tong prospered after the marriage of Dang Kyun-Hin (1755-1822), its founder. He was a member of the Fourth Branch, the descendants of Gyun, and was originally poor. He had worked when he was young for a Gwok-Yin jou person known as Haan sau-choi who had a peanut oil factory. His wife was a servant girl of the sau-choi's. The family prospered afterwards. The good fortune was partly attributed to the wife. The family was very large and wealthy. According to oral tradition recorded by Sung (1974:175-176), Dang Kyun-Hin "had four sons and twenty-four grandsons and the number of his family and servants together are said to have totalled two hundred.” He built a hall called Sou-Lau Yun, better known to local villages as Ji-Ga Tong, which term is also used for the lineage segment consisting of his descendants. Chung-Shaan, one of his sons, built a hall called Cheung-Cheun Yun which had two side rooms, one for a school and one for martial arts. When he died, a banquet was held in Ji-Ga Tong for seven days. The guests included some people from Yuen Long and Pat Heung. The youngest of Kyun-Hin's sons, Yu- ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 318 of money, he would go up to Canton. This also surprised people, for they supposed that one spent money in Canton. But Chi-Naam would go to meet officials in Canton, and earned, so the story goes, much money on each trip by handling cases for clients. Another story of the same informant told of Chi-Naam's influence. Once upon a time, soldiers were sent to Kam Tin. These men were very impolite. They urinated in the open. Chi-Naam was angry and told his brothers to beat the soldiers up. The case was brought to a local official, who decided to take away the academic title of Chi-Naam's younger brother, who was held responsible. Chi-Naam asked the official if he had authorisation from his superiors. The official therefore dared not carry out the penalty. An informant related that Chi-Naam was once the head of the Dung Ping Guk, the council for the eastern section of the county established as the unofficial administrative and judicial organization for the eastern part (Dung-Lo) of the county, which decided local cases. 15 Dang Ting-sam played important roles in many lawsuits which involved the Dangs of Kam Tin and outsiders. We have documents of some of these lawsuits and oral stories for others. The earliest datable one I know of took place in 1854, when he brought a case to the Dongguan County Magistrate to request action against some Heungs who had kidnapped some of the Dangs who went to worship at the wong-gu's grave in Dongguan. I shall refer to the other cases later. 16 II. THE DANGS VS RIVALS AND TENANT COMMUNITIES The Dangs of Kam Tin had conflicts with their neighbours over various matters, especially land ownership, rent, and irrigation rights. These conflicts took the form of lawsuits and fighting. Those who died in fighting with enemies of the community were worshipped as "heroes”. A jiu festival document of 1895 indicates that up to that time 80 persons were recognized as "heroes" to whom special offerings of paper clothing were to be made in the festival. This kind of fighting (da-saat) was common in the area. Elders of Kam Tin told me that there had been fighting between Kam Tin and the alliance of Ping Shan and Pat Heung. This had taken place long ago, even before the birth of an elder born in 1900. Through fighting, Kam Tin lost much of its land holdings, because they had to sell land for money to pay as compensation for lives lost. In the past, people entered yeuk alliances for this kind of fighting. Pat Heung was part of the Ping Shan alliance. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 327 Naam-Bin ("South Side") and Bak-Bin ("North Side"). Bak-Bin includes only two villages: Shui Tau and Shui Mei. Naam-Bin includes Kat Hing Wai, Tai Hong Wai, Wing Lung Wai, Ko Po, Kam Hing Wai, Tsi Tong Tsuen, Tai Hong Tsuen and Kam Tin Shi. The division into Naam-Bin and Bak-Bin corresponds to the geographic location of residence as well as to agricultural and ritual activities. The village patrol corps of Kam Tin were also organized in terms of Naam-Bin and Bak-Bin. B. The Village Guard System The village guard system continued well into the 1960s. It used to be called cheun-ding, but later was called ji-wai-deui. There was one for Naam-Bin and one for Bak-Bin. The Naam-Bin guards consisted, more or less, of two men from each of Tai Hong Wai, Wing Lung Wai, Kat Hing Wai and Ko Po. The Bak-Bin guards were from Shui Tau and Shui Mei. The guards worked in two shifts, the first from 8 p.m. to midnight and the second from midnight to about 5 a.m. The Naam-Bin village guards patrolled the area reaching Au Tau to the west, gwai-waan to the east, Wong Chuk bei to the south, and the river before Pak Wai chyun to the north. Sha Pui Leng (Sa Bui Leng) was within the scope of their protection. The villagers of this village paid levies to the corps, but none of them were members. The village corps was rewarded by levies on sweet potato and rice crops. They charged 10% on potato. Before harvest, one in ten rows (laar) of the potato had already been allocated to the village guards. The rate of the levy on rice was a prescribed amount some tens of catties on each mu of cultivation. When the villagers' paddy fields suffered loss from theft, they got compensation from the village corps responsible for its protection. The corps would compensate in full the estimated loss. In earlier times the head of each village corps was selected by bidding. Each candidate would offer a certain quantity of rice (guk) which he would give back to the member villages. But in the case of the head for the year 1954, who I interviewed, he was appointed by the elders. This was because few people wanted the post. Around 1954 there was government involvement in the village guard system. "The police station asked us to organize [village corps]”. There were more than ten guards, armed with 6 guns. The guards also had passes issued by the police. They were also given used uniforms for ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 329 Loi Tung, among other places, including some to Dongguan and Xiangshan counties. The cousins of Hung-Yi moved away to nearby Ha Tsuen and Xiangshan county, among other places. Hung-Yi's brother Hung-Ji moved to Ha Tsuen. Thereafter, all the remaining Dangs of Kam Tin were descendants of Hung-Yi. Casually asking the Dang elders about the relationship between lineage segmentation and settlement, one is given both concrete examples that suggest a correspondence as well as general observations that there is no correspondence. For example, one would be told that the descendants of the third branch (Yeui), which are very few in number, all live in Wing Lung Wai, and that all the others of that village were descendants of the first fong. Unless one asks about a particular segment, the answers would be in terms of the four branches of the lineage, and the conclusion will be that no single segment lives in a village of its own except in the case of Tai Hong Wai where all the villagers are descendants of Man-Wai and his brothers. Going down the level of segmentation, to the lineage divisions focussed upon ancestors of the 17th to 19th centuries, there is correspondence in the sense that members of these segments all live in the same village. As already mentioned, all the members of the third branch live in Wing Lung Wai. Similarly, all the Ji-Ga Tong people live in Shui Tau, all the descendants of Wan-Yu live in Wing Lung Wai, and all the descendants of Gwong Yu Tong and Lei Ging Tong live in Tai Hong Wai. Another example is the descendants of Wan-Gaan, who, according to one account, had three sons: Fau-Ng, Jan-Ting and Gai-Jau. Gai-Jau's segment live in Kat Hing Wai. Fau-Ng's descendants are divided into three sub-segments. One of the three lived in Ko Po, another in Kat Hing Wai, and the other in Kam Hing Wai. Some segments of the lineage settled elsewhere. The descendants of Hung-Yi's second son Jan had moved to Ying Lung Wai near the Yuen Long Old Market at a very early date. I was told by its head of branch that many more lived in Zhongshan county. Some of the descendants of San-Fung, a son of Wan-Guk, also had settled elsewhere. I was told that most of them live in Kat Hing Wai, but some had moved to Tong Fong near Ping Shan. The ritual handbook for Ching-Lok's ancestral hall had a special provision for the descendants of San-Fung, which said that they had moved to Naam Tau, in a street outside the city wall. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 330 A. Early History of Settlements The present relationship between lineage segment and settlement is roughly the same as that recorded by Sung (1974: 168-70) concerning who started and walled which village and when. Village Started by Genealogical Position Walled in Kat Hing Wai Baak-Ging Son of Chyu-Yin and Gwong-Yu Jik Gin Kangxi (1662-1721) by Chyu-Yin and two others Wing Lung Wai Siu-Geui and seven others Tai Hong Wai Chung Shui Tau and four others Kei-Fong and Kei-Wa, both from Tai Hong Wai and Gwok-Yin One of the Man-Wai and five sons of Gaai-Yut Naam-Kai Son of Chung-Yut Gam-Tin jou, son of Hak-Sa Shui Mei Suk-Leun and Wan-Guk Sons of Gwai-Ting, Gwong-Yu Son of Ching-Lok Kam Hing Wai Yut-Man of Ko Po Kat Hing Wai and Pui-Hing of Tai Hong Wai Jau-Man +34 of Kat Hing Wai Sung has indicated that Kat Hing Wai, Shui Tau and Shui Mei were ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 335 A. Places of worship The gods worshipped in Kam Tin can be divided into four categories. They are gods housed in temples, localized gods in outdoor space, gods on family altars, and the general gods of Heaven. The gods of heaven (Tin-San) are worshipped outside the house door, often with a tablet saying "Blessings from the Gods of Heaven" (Tin-Gwun Chi-Fuk). More important for the community as a whole are temple gods and localized gods. Firstly there are the Ling-Wan Monastery and the Jau and Wong temple, which were important to the Dangs of Kam Tin as a whole. Stone inscriptions show that villagers of Kam Tin as a whole contributed money for rebuilding or repair, doing so on the basis of villages and higher order lineage estates, notably Ching-Lok Jou and Naam-Kai Jou. According to Sung (1973 and 1974) and the Si Kim Tong genealogy the Ling-Wan Ji was established by the Dangs of Kam Tin for the second wife of their founding ancestor Hung-Yi. But it is probable that Sung's source for this information was the author of the Si Gim Tong genealogy himself, and other villages seemed less aware of the connection of the monastery with their ancestor. Perhaps even more important is the idea that Ling-Wan Ji was the jyu-lou, or “head” of Kam Tin. That is why, a Mr. Dang explained to me, all the village gates should face Kwun Yam Shan, where Ling-Wan Ji is, and there is no need for a tall san-teng. Ko Po and Wing Lung Wai are exceptions to this rule. He knew that the position of the gate in Wing Lung Wai had been altered. He thought that the direction of the Ko Po one had been altered too. Interestingly the Xin'an gazetteer has no entry for the Ling-Wan Monastery under that name, but records the existence of a Gwun-Yam Temple on Kwun Yam Shan at the foot of Tai Po Shan, which matches the location of the monastery. The Xin'an gazetteer of 1688 is probably the earliest document mentioning the temple. Under the entry for the temple it mentioned a man of Dongguan county in the Ming dynasty who had lived there. It is not completely clear if this man was a Daoist. When Dang Si-daan's uncle donated the bell now at the monastery in 1755, the inscription referred to the place as the nunnery at Kwun Yam Shan. No one had heard about the temple named in the gazetteer, but Gwun-Yam is worshipped in the monastery, with various other gods such as Gwaan-Dai, and it is the goddess who has a central position, with Page 360 Page 361 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 338 two less common gods. The villagers have very little to say about the gods per se. They have more to say about who is responsible for worshipping which god. For example, when I asked who Ngau-Wong was, the response was "Ngau-Wong is Ngau-Wong", and I could not get any further than that. But the informants have very interesting things to say about who worshipped the god. The Ngau-Wong of Naam-Bin was worshipped by an association known as Ngau-Wong Wui. The Wui was started by a group of cowherds who spent their time on the same hilltop during their work. They gambled using coins. They decided that each time a person won he would give a portion of the money to a fund. This money accumulated and with it farm land was bought to endow the association so that descendants of the members would get their share of pork in the annual celebration. The place is an ordinary stone on the hill top, which they did not worship until the association was started." There is another Ngau-Wong near Shui Mei, whose responsibility it is to worship the god. Before each jiu festival the ritual representatives of Shui Mei will fetch the god from his place on the top of a hill, and walk him back afterwards. The only story about the god a knowledgeable elder could tell me is that, in a previous jiu celebration, the person responsible for walking the god home neglected his duty. Without reaching the hilltop he went home. He got sick soon afterwards, and as if in possession revealed the anger of the god. Probably the most important thing about any god is its place in the social framework. 45 Neither Juk-Yun Nunnery nor San-Sin Fu, the two nunneries within Kam Tin, exists any more. Still extant is Miu-Gok Yun, which was built by the [Dang] Tung Fuk Tong. The tong was a charitable association which collected unburied human bones and buried them in a charity tomb (yi chung). "It was started to collect gam-taap bones that were not worshipped by anybody. Some of those containers would have been broken, and animals might eat them". The Tong also cares for the Temple for Dei-Jong Wong, whose role, similar to that of Daai-Si Wong in the Offering to Ghosts ritual in the jiu ritual, is to watch over the ghosts. The date and the circumstances in which the Tung Fuk Tong started is no longer remembered. There were Dangs who had shares in the association. They contributed towards buying some landed property as endowment to the Dei-Jong temple. The nunnery with an altar for the Buddha was built in 1936, before which time there were already some monks and nuns resident at the temple. They did not rebuild the temple ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 345 level. The rest of the group (on the middle level) included a scene from the story of the Baishe Zhuan, the legend of the love between a snake-turned beauty and a virtuous scholar. The episode represented was that of the monk exercising his supernatural power to kill the lady, so as to free the scholar from the seduction of the demon. The other group bore the sign Wudan Shan, at once one of the famous mountains of China and a well-known place for Taoism. The top level of the group included the Jade Emperor. On the lower levels of these two groups were a temple, runners escorting a sedan chair, and the scene of the Eight Immortals Turning the Sea Upside Down. 51 Decorated with embroidery hangings, the Taoist altar had at its centre portraits of the Three Pure Ones and on either side the Heavenly Master and Taai-Yut Jan-Yan. Further from the centre were portraits of four minor “generals", named “dragon", "tiger", "fire" and "water". On the inner walls of the partitions hung pictures of the ten Kings of the Underworld. There was also a backroom to the altar, where the priests stayed between rites. Hanging in this room was an umbrella-shaped object with many charms trailing from it. There were, a priest told me, 28 in all, one for each of the 28 sau constellations. It was called the luo-tian, which meant, he said, the same as xian-tian, the Taoist primordial heaven." In the room was a temporary altar set up for the Three Pure Ones, plus a place with two red slips of paper saying "May Tao be popular with people" and “Good Luck in the rites". 52 On the day before the seven-day period of rites, the villagers decorated the room for their own gu in the main paang. Before each of the rooms stood a Luk Gwok flag, which was the same as the flag used in the Cantonese opera of the same name to announce the identity of a player; and a lo-gu ga; i.e. “drum and gong holder". Hanging from the top of the opening were mechanical "hanging puppets". Inside near the front was a heung-on incense burner set of the siu-cheng type. The tables inside were decorated by toi-wai embroidery that hung from the edges. Hanging from the "ceiling" were similar pieces of embroidery known as waang-mei. Some of the villages put on displays in these rooms of relics of their illustrious ancestors. In the room for Shui Mei was the screen presented to Dang Git-Sau by relatives and friends to congratulate him on the occasion of his 61st birthday, which I mentioned previously. In the room for Wing Lung Wai was a series of scrolls presented in 1919 to celebrate ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 356 vice-chairmen are the no. 1 to no. 15 ritual representatives, and the other members of the committee the no. 16-60 ritual representatives. I saw parts of two of the Committee meetings, one before the festival and another before the Opera performance period. Both took place at the Jau and Wong Temple. There were about 60 men who attended the first meeting. At the end I noticed that a group of younger men (aged about forty) stayed on outside the temple and talked. They told one another that in this new era everything had to be done in accordance with the law. They also said that they should have invited the Governor of Hong Kong himself. But they should have made arrangements earlier. The second meeting was announced by notices on the village notice board as a meeting to discuss who was going to present "coloured flags" (formal tokens of thanks) on the main day of the opera performance. It mentioned that the original idea was to have the head of lineage do it, but he complained that he was too old to do so much walking. About 100 men were present. They first went through some ding-hau population records for each village, in all likelihood prepared for the festival. They probably used them for allocating seats in the theatre. Then they talked about the arrangements for Guests Seats on the main day of the performance. C. Leadership One of the senior priests complained that in this festival nobody was able to take the responsibility for decisions, hence the confusion and additional trouble for the priests. I heard two of the ritual representatives making the same comment. I also have some firsthand experience of the state of near anarchy when I asked the chairman, Dang Saak-Luk, to whom the Museum's formal request for permission for video-taping should be addressed. He emphasized that the letter should be to all the members of the committee rather than to himself as Chairman. The absence of authority probably had to do with the current situation of local politics rather than "traditional ways". Before the opening ceremony a Liaison Officer from the District Office came with the Chairman of the Rural Committee to give an "order": seats reserved for the principal guest and nine other guests for the secular opening ceremony were to be labelled clearly. The Chairman of the Rural Committee, a man of about fifty, commented that now that he was ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 361 Back at the ritual site, the ritual representatives installed the image of Gwun-Yam in the temporary altar dedicated to her, and the spirit tablets for the others in the san-paang altar for general gods. These, with the spirit tablets for the gods from the villages, gradually filled up the three levels of the temporary altar. Two ritual representatives fetched the tablet of Hung-Yi from the Ching-Lok Ancestral Hall to his altar on the stage. The portrait of the Heavenly Master was fetched from the village gate of Tai Hong Wai, and installed at a temporary altar set up for him in the Mau-Ging Tong ancestral hall. There were also a few deities to be invited from the sky. They included Tin-Dei-Sheui-Yeung, the gods of the realms of Heaven, Earth (the Underworld), Water, and the human world; Gods of the Naam-Dau ("North Dipper") and Bak-Dau ("South Dipper"), both for blessings to men; the City God and the Lei-Wik (who supervises the local Gods of Earth and Grain and the Earth Gods); Tin-Chyun San-Gwan (two common titles of the highest deities); and the Dragon King. In the last stage of the Opening Rite there were complaints that those gods were omitted. But later on that day temporary spirit tablets for them were seen in the san-paang. D. Procession of incense I The first Procession of Incense took place on the main day of the ritual, to the participating villages of the Kam Tin heung. It was to visit all the temples, shrines, and major ancestral halls to worship the gods and higher-level ancestors. There did not seem to have been a clearcut rule about the lower-level ancestral halls. When I mentioned to an elder that the procession had stopped and worshipped at Lai-Gaan Tong, his first response was that the procession should not have worshipped there. But he changed his mind later: the worship in the rite was indiscriminative, it went to every ancestral hall if the doors were open. A very large number of villagers participated. Priests took part in the procession as well, but their part was limited to a brief invocation. Most of the villagers wore hats with special ornaments indicating their villages. The procession was accompanied by the sound of large gongs, a flag saying jeun-heung ("to offer incense"), and the priests' musician playing sona. There was one lion dance group, and Luk Gwok flags and percussion teams playing drum and gong on lo-gu ga frames representing each of the five main villages. There were also flags ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h deui-lyun dim-dang Wif ding-hau T`LI Dongguan 東莞 dong-ji Dung Ping Guk 東本局 faan Fa-Gung Fa-Mou (EAEN fa-paai TEMP Fau-Ng ởH Fong 兒 fong fong-jeung Fu Qing (47 fu 伏 Fu-Hip gwan-ma 郡馬 Gwok-Yin Gwong-Yu K Gwong-Yu Tong Gwun-Yam #E Gyun 銷 Ha Tsuen 厦村 Ha Che 下崟 haang 坑 ha-fu F Hak-Sa ha-yan FA Hei-Ye 起野 heui-lok Heung heung Fui-Sing !! Fung Yuk-Daan MƒU!! Gaai-Yut gaam-sang Gai-Jau # heung-on Ho fil hoi-dang EH hou 號 Hung-Fan Taam gam-taap Gam-Tin Gaozong h Gau Ga Chyun **† hung-jeuk FL Hung-Ji 孔子 Hung-Ji 洪贄 Hung-Sing # Hung-Yi 洪儀 geui-yan git-jing #7 Git-Sau gu l Guangdong MAC Guangzong 光宗 guk 榖 gung-chou Y gung-sang Gwaan-Dai BNR Gwai-Ting gwai-waan (?) Gwai-Wong E gwan 棍 Gwan-Haak 7K Gwan-Leung R jaap-fo 雜貨 Jai Baak-Fu Jan 鈞 Jan-Ting Jau M Jau-Man B jau-tung 州同 Jeung Hoi Jeung 張 Jeung-Luk A jeun-si 進士 Jiangxi 江西 Ji-Ga Tong #18 2 Jik-Gin jiu BE Page 369 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 373 Many Dangs attributed the deceased worshipped in their Altar for Heroes (Ying-Hung Chi) and those buried in the big grave known as yi-chung to the battle with the British in 1898. We found that the number of "heroes" for whom paper clothing were ordered for the jiu of 1955 is only 2 more than the 1895 figure, i.e. only two can be attributed to the 1898 incident. See also Law and Lau (1985) about this dispute. 19 According to this informant the Dangs married villagers of Lam Tsuen, Tai Hang, Sheung Shui and places like Sha Tau across the border. Other Tangs who discussed the point included Tuen Mun and Gak Tin, a place of the Wong surname, also known as Fuk Tin, across the border. 20 Another stone inscription dated 1786 recorded a similar case. Although it has been cited by many scholars as another rent dispute case that involved the Dangs of Kam Tin as the landlords, I cannot find any of Dangs whose names appear in the inscription in other documents. 21 In Kam Tin Historical Documents, vol. 2. 11 The original expression is that the villagers were the diding of the Dangs. Diding refers to tax on land and persons. 73 See also Kamm (1977:213-214) on other similar disputes. 24 See Cheng (n.d.). 25 Besides the formal names that appear in local documents and present-day road signs and maps, many of these villages had other names that were used in everyday conversation. 10 Formal names Kam Hing Wai Kat Hing Wai Pak Wai Tai Hong Wai Wing Lung Wai According to the jiu festival record of the year. "Nickname" Gaak Seui Yun Fui Sa Wai Laan Bak Wai Taan Wai Sa Laan Mei 27 Tanaka (1985:935-7), quoting A Gazetteer of Place Names in Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories, Hong Kong, pp. 172-173. The original expression was "Tai Hong Wai and Tsuen" and probably included only the part of Tai Hong Tsuen whose residents were considered Tai Hong Wai people. 20 Kam Tin Historical Documents vol. 2. 30 See the account dated 1966 in the Si Kim Tong genealogy. 31 According to a descendant of Fau-Ng. The genealogical relationships among the ancestors he gave may be wrong. 32 Ying Lung Wai is part of Shap Pat Heung, the group of villages which was involved in several disputes with the Kam Tin Tangs. It seems that the Ying Lung Wai Dangs join the Kam Tin Dangs only in the jiu festival and the worship at the Mau Ging Tong ancestral hall. I have not heard anything about its position in the disputes between Kam Tin and Shap Pat Heung. 33 Sung (1974:168) says Tai Hong Tsuen. This is my interpretation. 34 Ditto. 35 Siu-Geui, with his father and others, made a new stone inscription for the grave of the wong-gu in 1483. Kei-Fong's will is dated 1562. (See the genealogy in Kam Tin Historical Documents vol. 1 for both.) Kai-Wa was born in 1494 (See inside text of his spirit tablet, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 374 which has been copied in an untitled manuscript in the possession of Mr. Dang Yu-Hing).36 Dang Kei-faan Genealogy in the Baker Collection of New Territories genealogies in the British Library. 37 The elder was Dang Wing-Sau, the head of the lineage. I do not know which generation he was in. See Taga (1982:92). 38 Translated in Sung (1974:177-179). 39 40 See table above and the genealogy in Kam Tin Historical Documents, vol. 1. Probably Dang Hei-Seui. See Sung (1974:166-168) and a genealogy of his segment included in Hugh Baker's Collection of Genealogies. 41 Patrick Hase has drawn my attention to the importance of the monastery as central to the establishment Hung-Yi's descendants in Kam Tin, just as Ling To nunnery is to the Dangs of Ha Tsuen. The monastery and the earlier temple are a major element in the fung-seui of the Pat Heung valley and Kam Tin. The rivers important to irrigation in the area all flow from the mountain on which the monastery stands. 42 41 44 I have not tried to find further information on this man in gazetteers. See Sung (1973:112-113) for the Hung Sing Temple. This was one of two stories. They were thought of as alternatives although there is no contradiction between them. I shall relate the other one later. 45 I was told that the Juk-Yun Am used to be at the present site of the Gwaan-Dai Temple of Shing Mun San Tsuen, and San-Sin Fu near Shui Mei. 46 Two items in Kam Tin Historical Documents vol. 2 were probably intended for this very grave. These were among the papers of Dang Ting-sam from the year 1873. The first was a request for donations towards the establishment of a charitable grave. The second was intended for a stone inscription. There is strong evidence that the charitable grave was established before the British came, although many present-day Dangs believe that those buried in the grave were those who died fighting against the British. The jiu festival record for 1895 included the Dei-Jong Wong of Tung-Fuk Tong among the gods to be invited, and an elder in his nineties remembered seeing gam-taap jars for bones when he was very small. He deduced that those must have been the remains of people who died before 1898, because one had to wait for many years he suggested ten — until the bones could be extracted after a first burial. 47 A bin-ngaak (horizontal inscribed board) presented to the Buddhist altar at its completion included ten names who were believed to be the share-holders of the Tong. They were three Wan-Guk jiu descendants of Shui Mei: Baak-Cheung, Daat-Hung, and Jik-Hing; three brothers Yat-Wa, Seui-Chuen, Gam-Wa and two of their nephews, and Baak-Yi, all descendants of Wan-Gaan; and a Hin-Yiu of Kam Tin Shi. 48 Plus a inscribed stone on the ground saying Naam-mo O-Mei-To-Fat, set up to offset the bad influences that caused traffic accidents near the stone. 49 Hoi-dang for a village did not always take place at an altar for the God of Earth and Grain. In the Shui Mei case it took place at the Tin-Hau Temple. 50 The elders made it clear that gu here does not mean “shares". 51 The subjects for these paper images were specified in the contract made with the craftsmen. The contract was included in the general record for the festival and was copied from the previous ones. But neither the organizers nor the contractor seem to have paid much attention to the details of the prescription. 52 The object is probably more commonly known by the name dong 'an and is more often installed over the central area of the Taoist altar rather than in the backstage room. See ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 397 the Yuen Ka Walled Village E, Mui Wo, Shek Pik, Tong Fuk 塘福,Shek Mun Kap 石門甲,Shui Hau 水口, Shek Lau Hang 石榴坑, Ngau Au 牛凹, Sha Lo Wan, Shek Tau Po石頭莆,Yi O 二澳 and Yau Ku Long. Also, Hakka villages were found at Tai Ho, Pak Mong, Wang Long and Ling Pei Walled Village at Tung Chung." The population on the island increased, and they depended on fishing and farming. Nowadays, Mui Wo, Pui O, Shui Hau, Tai O and Tung Chung have developed into towns; Shek Pik Village has been removed, and a reservoir built on that site. However, many villages founded in the Ching Dynasty still remain with little development. NOTES ANTHONY SIU KWOK-KIN 1 The inscription of the 42nd year of Chien Lung (1777) on the stone tablet in the Hau Wong Temple of Tung Chung bears the name "Tai Hai Shan". 1 See Chapter 19 of Kwong Yu Kei, Ming edition. 1 1 See Chapter 2 of Yuet Man Chuen See Kei Leuk, 1684 edition. See Chapter 7 of Lin Tien-wai and the writer's Essays on the History of Hong Kong Prior to British Colonisation, Commercial Press, 1984. It is now known as Lantau Island, and in some newly published maps of Hong Kong, it is also known as Tai Ho Island. + See S. G. Davis and May Tregear's Man Kok Tsui, Archaeological Site 30, Lantau Island, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Univ. Press 1961; and “An Archaeological Site at Shek Pik”, Journal Monograph I, Hong Kong Archaeological Society 1975. 7 See Chapter 29 of the Tung Kwun Yuen Chi 8 See Chapter 1 of the Tung Kwun Yuen Chi, 1464 edition. 非 See Tsang Yat Man's "Hai Nam Chaak, an old Salt Pan on Lantau Island" 大嶼山鹽田學, No. 284, Cosmorama Pictorial, Hong Kong. 9 As Note 8. See Tsang Yat Man's "A Textual Research on the Ins and Outs of the Rebellion of the Natives of Tai Hsi Shan – Now Tai Yu Shan of Hong Kong - in the third year of Ching Yuan of Emperor Ning Tsung of South Sung Dynasty" 南宋寧宗慶元三年, Chu Hai Journal No. 11, October, 1980. 12 See Chapter 67 of the Kwangtung Tung Chi, 1558 edition. 13 See Tai Hai Shan 大箂山 in Ng Loi 吳榮's Nam Hoi Ku Chik Kei 南海古鏞記, Chapter 61-1 of Su Fu, Shun Chih edition. 14 See Chapter 12 of the Kwangtung Tung Chi, 1697 edition. + 15 As Note 4. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 reference for those who wish to study this part of the world. For those who have not got the back issues I am sure you will find them of interest and you can obtain them by contacting the Assistant Secretary. In addition there may be some of you who have aspirations to publish their research work and if you think that it could be suitable for our Journal, I hope you will contact Dr. Hase. Long articles are of course welcome but even short notes about Hong Kong history or some other aspect which you think might be of interest are also very much appreciated. Finance The Treasurer, Mr. Robert Nield, will give a detailed report shortly. You will notice that the finances are in reasonable shape, but the overall situation does need to be watched. The new annual subscription from 1st January 1991 is $250, as agreed at the last annual general meeting and it is hoped to keep this rate for another year. The Library As you will see from the report of Mr. Y.C. Wan, our Hon. Librarian, our Library collection has continued to increase through donations and purchases, mainly through the efforts of Dr. James Hayes. The Library, as many know, is kept at the Kowloon Central Library, as part of the reference collection there. Recently I had a meeting with the Chief Librarian, Urban Council Libraries, Mrs. Barbara Luk, and I am pleased to report that subject to unforeseen circumstances it is anticipated that sometime in 1992-1993 it will be possible to move it to the City Hall Central Library into a special collection room, part of which will be specifically set aside for the Royal Asiatic Society. This is indeed good news and I hope that by this time next year I will be able to report further progress. The Library is becoming a fine reference source of books on China and I do strongly urge you to make use of it: clearly a move to the City Hall area will make it that much easier for members to gain access. Other Matters At the beginning of each Journal you will read these words "The Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society was originally founded in 1847 but ceased to exist in 1859. It was revived in 1959 with the Page xi ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 "of the respect which constituted authority commands. They keep up soldiers and police to enhance the dignity of their own positions, and, incidentally, to suppress rebellions and catch, castigate, torture or behead such persons as they consider to be malefactors; but all their actions are limited by what public opinion will allow."'" A decade earlier, the American missionary educator, Bishop Graves of Canton, long acquainted with the popular will, had explained what it was and how it had to be taken into account by the authorities at all times: "China's government consists of two elements: the Imperial authority, as represented by Mandarins, high and low, with the underlings and police runners connected with the various official courts, and the popular will represented by the village elders, the Kung-Kuk, or councils of literati, and the Kai-fong or assemblages of householders in cities and towns. Public opinion, which is, perhaps, practically the strongest element in Chinese society, is based on local traditions, clan feeling and provincial pride, modified by a sense of nationality founded on allegiance to the Emperor as the Son of Heaven or Divinely-sent Ruler. No one can understand China who regards its government as a pure despotism, an Autocrat imposing his own will on subservient subjects. The popular element must also be taken into consideration in estimating the forces which bind Chinese society together. Much was expected of their rulers by the ruled. It was assumed that they would be guided in their actions in accordance with the ethical code, and rule by the moral authority and example of righteous action rather than by despotic whim or tyrannical decree. When this was not the case, it was open to the oppressed people to remove their rulers. Such conduct had been openly endorsed by the sage Mencius. A propos the overthrow of the last Hsia dynasty king he had said bluntly, "I have heard about the killing of a ruffian called Chou; I have not heard about the killing of a king". The phrase long in use for a rising against unjust rulers is hei yi; which means literally "to raise righteousness". The ordinary people of China justified actions against oppressive or neglectful authorities by transforming themselves Page 30 Page 31 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 17 with its inculcation of “right thinking", the complete process has been summed up in a few well-chosen words by Dr. Monlin Chiang, one of the most prominent educationalists of the early Republican period: “These moral precepts came from the Confucian classics. Moral ideas were driven into the people by every possible means — temples, theatres, houses, toys, proverbs, schools, history and stories until they became habits in daily life, 233 The effect of both the legacy and the drilling was not lost on competent Western observers. Writing over 150 years ago, in his standard work on China first published in the 1830s, a future governor of Hong Kong, Sir John Davis, then only lately returned to England from many years' membership of the Honourable East India Company's Select Committee at Canton, had this to say: "The Chinese lower classes are better educated or at least better trained than in most other countries”. PART THREE: “Right Thinking" in Action in Tsuen Wan 134 + Tsuen Wan District (like all the rest) provides plenty of evidence for the effectiveness of the indoctrination, as well as occasional examples of emulation and performance. People knew what to think and what to do, and recognized the attainment of the prescribed high standards of conduct and behaviour even if they themselves did not measure up. Men who did so were greatly respected, to the point of veneration. It is the general opinion among Tsuen Wan natives, then and now, that such a one was the late Mr. Chan Wing-on, a former Tsuen Wan Rural Committee leader and also Chairman of the New Territories Heung Yee Kuk. Mr. Chan, who unfortunately died comparatively young, left a fine reputation behind him. He is commemorated by a tablet in a traditional-style pavilion, named for him, which was erected the year after his death near the entrance to the Chuk Lam Sim Yuen, one of the large religious houses located above the town. The memorial tablet records his life and achievements as a teacher and as a public figure; with an emphasis on his virtuous conduct and character and how it had influenced others for good: "Entering the teaching profession, he taught the village ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 18 children with skill and patience. Being a teacher, he was dutiful to his parents and respectful to the elders, thereby setting a good example to his fellow villagers. Thus, being virtuous himself he caused others to establish their virtue also. **35 The inscription ends on this note: "It was little expected that Mr. Chan should die from an illness last year. Upon hearing the news of his death, many persons expressed their condolences. Being sincere and virtuous, he should have enjoyed a long life. It is deeply regretted that we have lost such an honourable leader. In order to sustain the traditional morals, and to commemorate his virtuous acts, I have composed this elegy." Notice here how the traditional morals are to be maintained through recording the virtuous conduct and attainments of a revered public figure. The only other public memorial of such a character seen to date in Tsuen Wan is that to Yeung Kwok-shui of Yeung Uk Village (1871-1940), Ch'ing dynasty scholar of the hsiu tsai degree, graduate of the Kwangtung Senior Teacher's Training College, village teacher, leading prewar elder and a founder member of the Heung Yee Kuk. His photo-memorial, which hangs in the office of the Tsuen Wan Rural Committee, was composed and written by another surviving hsiu tsai and senior rural leader of his day, the late Li Chung-chong of Kuk Po, North District. It is recorded that one of his funeral elegies contained the phrase, "He deserved to be called The Perfect Man of the New Territories" **36 Other reminders of how deeply the Confucian virtues were esteemed and honoured, illustrating how obligations to the family and the community were keenly felt and sometimes fully honoured, are to be found in a few of the inscribed tablets at the older ancestral graves of the District. One of these, located in the Shing Mun area on the slopes of Tai Mo Shan, is of special interest in the context of virtuous reputation and its ongoing influence among descendants. The person buried there had been born about 1710 and the reburial in 1884 was carried out by all three branches of the family then living. However, retained on the new tablet, were the names of the elder brothers of the deceased who had been responsible for the initial burial at this site 37 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 G. Knapp, The Chinese House: Craft Symbol, and the Folk Tradition (Hong Kong, Oxford University Press, 1990). Knapp does not cover the paintings and stucco work that were a marked feature of the Kwangtung architectural style. For examples of this fine traditional decorative work, see Rural Architecture in Hong Kong (Hong Kong, Government Information Services Department, 1979). In the Hakka villages of the Tsuen Wan district, this "animal" was always a unicorn. In Cantonese villages the lion was usual. However, their purpose and motivation was clearly the same. Informants said there were differences in the dance performances of lions and unicorns; unicorns "crept, bobbed and weaved", whereas lions would "stand up and prance". The musical accompaniment, drums and gongs, was the same, and previously firecrackers had been an indispensable part of any performance by lions or unicorns. Hugh Baker mentions that the Liaos of Sheung Shui were known throughout the New Territories for their unicorn dance team. See the interesting information given in his Sheung Shui, A Chinese Lineage Village (London, Frank Cass & Co., Ltd., 1968), p. 193. See my "Notes on Temples and Shrines on Hong Kong Island" in Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 27 (1987), p. 287. Monlin Chiang, Tides from the West (New Haven, Yale University Press, 1947), p. 9. John Francis Davis, The Chinese, A General Description of the Empire of China and its Inhabitants (London, Charles Knight, 1836) Vol. 2, pp. 29-30. From the memorial tablet to Mr. Chan Wing-on, Chairman of the Tsuen Wan Rural Committee and Chairman of the 18th Term, New Territories Heung Yee Kuk 1950-52, at the Wing On Pavilion, Fu Yung Shan, Tsuen Wan. Mr. Chan died on 15 October 1956; see Annual Departmental Reports, District Commissioner, New Territories, (1953-54 para. 56, and 1956-57 para. 119). From a “Short History of Yeung Uk Village" (in Chinese), published at the time of the village resiting in 1965 and written by Yeung's eldest grandson, Mr Yeung Cho-ling. According to the commemorative tablet, the grave was repaired on a lucky day in the middle month of the autumn season in the 10th year of Kuang Hsu, that is in September-October 1884. 1736; but in fact the ping-san year is the 1st year of Ch'ien Lung's long reign. There was probably another, less altruistic factor at work here too: since it was believed that the graves of good people have a beneficial effect on the fortunes of their family for generations to come. It is implicit in this case that the good influences of the grave were not yet spent. For a more recent example from Tsing Yi Island, see my Rural Communities, op. cit., p. 143. Contents more than values, I suggest? Wolfram Eberhard, Cantonese Ballads (Munich State Library Collection) (Taipei, The Orient Cultural Service, 1972), p.2. R. David Arkush, "Orthodoxy and heterodoxy in Twentieth-Century Chinese Peasant Proverbs" at pp. 310-335 of Kwang-Ching Liu (ed.) Orthodoxy in Late Imperial China (Berkeley, University of California Press, 1990). Helen Kwok and Mini Chan, Fossils From a Rural Past, A Study of Extant Cantonese Children's Songs (Hong Kong, Hong Kong University Press, 1990), pp. 17, 29. Lucien Bianco, Origins of the Chinese Revolution, 1915-1949, (Stanford, Stanford University Press, 1971), successively pp.126, 94-95. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 39 Kat Hing Wai and Wing Lung Wai terminated their own independent Jiao but continue to participate actively in the Jiao of the whole Kam Tin community. Still others, like Tai Wai and Tin Sam, celebrate their own Jiao festivals on the one hand but also participate as members in the Jiao celebrated by the Sha Tin Kau Yeuk (Sha Tin Village alliance). Reasons such as the Japanese occupation or economic recession given by villagers themselves cannot explain the diversities found in the New Territories. All villages experienced the Japanese occupation. With regard to economic constraints, a community like Ping Shan, though as prosperous and powerful as Kam Tin and Ha Tsuen, stopped the celebration for some unknown reason. Therefore, the continuity or discontinuity of the Jiao festival depends on the effectiveness of the festival's communal structure and organization. In Lam Tsuen, the Jiao festival is a means to reconfirm the roles of its alliances (the Luk Hap Tong [Lui He Tang] “Hall of the Six [Sc. Village Clusters] United"). In Kam Tin and other single lineage communities, the Jiao plays an essential role in re-establishing the structure of the segmented lineage as well as in re-confirming membership in the branches. The question of whether Jiao festivals will survive after the 1997 take-over is in fact a question of whether or not there is a need to preserve such a tradition in the community. NOTES Liu Zhi-wan, "Taiwan Taibeixian Zhonghexiang Jianjiao Jidian" Bulletin of the Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica 33 (1972): 135-64. Tanaka, Issei, Chugoku Kyoshon Saishi Kenkyu: Chihogeki no Kankyo [Village Festival in China: Background of Local Theatres] (Tokyo: Tokyo Univ. Press, 1989), 799. Some fishing villages in Hong Kong like Kau Lau Wan, Tap Mun and Kat O name their Jiao festivals "An Long Qing Jiao" meaning the Jiao celebrated to pacify the earth dragon. Tanaka claimed that originally "Qi An Jiao" was celebrated only when there was need to pray for peace (Ibid., 799). However, evidence in Hong Kong, at least, shows that the festival is celebrated in a regular cycle. The shortest cycle is the Jiao of Cheung Chau where it is celebrated yearly. The longest is Sheung Shui and Shuen Wan where the Jiao is said to be celebrated once every 60 years. In some fishing villages in the New Territories, it is celebrated once every two or seven years. A five-year cycle is also practised in some agrarian communities like Tai Hang. However, a ten year cycle is the most popular in agrarian communities. Nonetheless, the method of counting also differs from one community to another. For instance, Lam Tsuen claims to celebrate the Jiao once every ten years but they actually celebrate it once in nine years. Their Jiao festival was celebrated in the following years: 1963, 1972, 1981, 1990. Mr. Cheung Chi-fan (Zhang Zhi-fan), JP, and Mr. Chung Chi-leung (Zhong Ji-liang), interviewed by author, Lam Tsuen, Dec. 1, 1990. According to Dean, about 80,000 Chinese yuan was spent on the Jiao in a village in Zhangzhou, Fujian in 1986. See ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 265 Kok and Ta Kwu Ling people had established a trust to collect cash and construct this bridge: Chan Sheung-yan (of Luk Keng in the Sha Tau Kok area), and Lei Tsok-san (of Lei Uk in the Ta Kwu Ling area) were the two Chief Managers of this trust, representing the totality of the people of the two areas. P.H. HASE I NOTES "Cheang Shan Kwa Tsz. An Old Buddhist Nunnery in the New Territories, and its Place in Local Society”, Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 29, 1989, pp 121-158. The documents are contained in a recently recovered genealogy of the Chan clan of Luk Keng. I understand that a copy of this genealogy will be placed on record in the collection of Hong Kong historical documents held at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in due course. I am indebted to Mr. Chan Wing-hoi for drawing my attention to these documents. II I am indebted to Mr. P.L. Lau for assistance in the translation of this document. The Sha Wan River, unlike the main branch of the Sham Chun River, which flows in a deep and well-defined channel, was a shallow and ill-defined stream, which meandered through a broad valley which it often flooded. This river has now been dammed off to form the Shen Zhen Reservoir. See the paper at n. 1 for details of the loss of life in this War. A VILLAGE WAR IN SHAM CHUN The Rev. Carl Smith has drawn attention to the great wealth of material available in the Basel Mission Archive on the history of the Hakka people of Kwangtung Province. When looking through his notes and summaries of important documents I saw a summary of an important document on an inter-village war in Sham Chun (深圳). Through the courtesy of the Mission Archive, a photostat of the document was received, translated, and is published below. Sham Chun lies at the centre of a broad and fertile valley, drained by the Sham Chun River. This river has four main tributaries: the stream which drains the Ta Kwu Ling valley (this stream is considered as the headstream of the main river), the Sha Wan River, which joins the first stream at Kim Hau (or) at the entrance to Ta Kwu Ling, the Sheung Yue (or Beas) River which drains the Sheung Shui/Lung Yeuk Tau area and which enters the main river ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 266 about a mile below the Sha Wan River, and finally the Ching Shui River which drains the northern part of the valley from Po Kat (Buji) down, and which enters about half-a-mile below the Sheung Yue River. The main river is navigable for small skiffs as far as Kim Hau, but for junks only as far as the confluence of the main river and the Ching Shui River. However, the river at the mouth of the Ching Shui River is not navigable for junks at low tide. Furthermore, the navigable part of the river is not wide enough for a junk to turn around in easily when under sail. The Ching Shui River, at the junction with the main river, splits into two branches, with a low, marshy island between them and the main river.* Junks could come up the main river, enter the Ching Shui River, pass behind the marshy island, and back into the main river via the second branch of the stream, thus turning round without cutting across the channel, using a "one-way" system. The landing place used by the cargo junks and ferry boats, therefore, was the channel of the Ching Shui River behind the island. Junks would come up the river with the tide, and would load and unload while at rest on the mud at low tide, and would cast off and go down the river with the next high tide. Three significant roads pass through the valley, crossing at Sham Chun: the Yuen Long to Wai Chow (Huichou), Nam Tau (Nantou) to Sha Tau Kok, and Po Kat to Kowloon roads. In the Ming, this valley had a number of markets, of which Sham Chun was only one. There was another at Kim Hau, and others to the west, including one at Lung Tsun Hui (Longjinxu), which was part of the Fuk Tin (Futian) village cluster. By the nineteenth century, however, all these other markets had either become extinct, or else survived only in a very small way as satellites of Sham Chun. Sham Chun had developed until it had become a very large market, with probably 500 and more shops. The market was ringed by large villages of rich clans—the Cheungs at Wong Pui Ling (Huangbeiling) about a mile to the east, the Tsois at Tsoi Uk Wai (Caiwuwei) about half a mile to the south-west, the Wongs at Fuk Tin about a mile to the south-west, the Yuens at Lo Wu (Lohu) about half a mile to the south and the Hos at Sun Kong (Sungang) about half a mile to the north. These rich and ancient clans were almost perennially in dispute, as they jostled for power and position in the district. * See Map. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 274 man, and the Tsoi clan four, to the authorities as being responsible for the murder of the man who fell in the ditch. This, however, is only a formality. Everyone knows that the District Mandarin will be only too happy to exchange these men for an eloquent sum of money. It is sad to be forced to see in action how the best of these Chinese officials are blind in the face of corruption of this type. The total cost of this village war was more than sixty thousand dollars. This money will have to be found by a stiff payment from every person affected. The parties will be reduced to such extreme poverty that it will be many years before they can recover. It is as well that the bone of contention is removed from the clans. However, as it is said "There can be no peace, where men do not sing of the love of Christ". May that love soon be sung throughout this fruitful valley of Sham Chun! I greet you with the deepest respect and affection, Yours, G. Reusch 8th July, 1875." The 1924 aerial photograph of Sham Chun, and the War Department map drawn up from it, show a broad earth-wall in the position suggested by Reusch, and this is shown on the Map. This probably represents the earth-wall of 1875. If so, the "New Market" of 1871 was not a success. Although the roads from the south (Kowloon and Yuen Long) ran through the centre of the site, the site was not as well sited as was the "Old Market", being further from the nodal point of the road system in the area. It was better located for the river trade, but only so long as the "New Market" and the landing place were in the same hands. Once the landing place had been handed over to the She Hok and to the Tung Ping Kuk which ran the She Hok, and which was dominated by the Cheungs, the "New Market" lost the advantages it gained from proximity to the river. By 1924, there were only a few buildings within the earth-wall — a ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 275 few fishermens' houses, and a newly-built hotel. This dispute in 1875 did not end the matter. It broke out again between 1902 and 1905. The documents which discuss this last conflict make it clear that the decisions of Tin On-pong in 1875 had not been fully implemented. In 1902, all the land behind the landing stage, which Tin On-pong had ordered to be sold by the Yuens to the Cheungs, was still in the hands of the Yuens. The right to collect toll, however, was wholly in the hands of the Tung Ping Kuk, and the Yuens were not collecting their four-tenths. Presumably the Yuens had passed this right to the Kuk, so long as their land-owning rights were left untouched. The Cheungs seem to have been left with nothing, other than what they could get by their dominance of the Tung Ping Kuk of the “Transit Toll" income. Between 1875 and 1902 conditions on the Sham Chun River had changed. Firstly, from the mid-1890s steam launches had begun to trade with Sham Chun. These vessels were less dependent on the tide than were the junks, since they were more manoeuvrable, so that they could turn within the river. They were, therefore, less dependent on the landing place behind the Ching Shui River island. They had come to dominate the local trade by 1902: by 1904 the Wa Lu company had achieved a virtual monopoly in the steam launch business here. In addition, in 1898 the New Territories lease had included within the territory of Hong Kong all the waters of the Sham Chun River up to the high water mark on the north bank. The Yuens saw in these circumstances the opportunity to regain their position. They sought a lease from the Hong Kong Government of a 2,000-foot-long strip of the main river bed on which to erect a wooden wharf. This would connect with their agricultural land by a wooden bridge which would pass over the wastes of the river banks, thereby side-stepping any claims to ownership of the tolls put forward by the District Magistrate on the grounds of imperial ownership of the wastes. The wharf so built would have blocked the exit from the channel behind the island at the mouth of the Ching Shui River. The Yuens produced this plan in conjunction with the Wa Lu steam-launch company. The plan would have ended at one stroke the use of the old landing place, and would have rendered all sailing junks using ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 276 the river more or less helpless unless a steam launch either towed them out, or at least assisted in turning them round. The wharf proposed was to be built very close to the Imperial Maritime Customs station: the Customs supported the proposal since it would make their anti-smuggling work in the area far easier. ― A lease (for a smaller area of 850 feet not so obviously blocking the channel) was granted by the Hong Kong Government. The Tung Ping Kuk, however, (represented by two Cheungs and a Wong; by this date the Wongs were normally allies of the Cheungs, being united by their mutual antagonism to the Tsois whose land lay between them) complained to the San On Magistrate, who promptly had the Yuen elders imprisoned for the "fraudulent attempt to divert the toll from the Kuk to themselves". The District Magistrate also made a strong statement of the rights to take toll being a Government right, founded on Government ownership of the wastes of the river bank. The Kuk sent young men to tear the new wharf down. The affair then petered out - the Magistrate was willing to take a far more active role in 1903-1905 than in 1875 or earlier, and the opening of the railway a couple of years later made all discussions of rights to toll somewhat academic, since trade now began to flow in different directions altogether. These documents show three points of interest: the ineffectiveness of the Magistrate in settling affairs of this sort in the mid/late-nineteenth century; the critical importance of control of markets, roads, ferries, bridges and other nodal points of the traffic system in local politics; and the blood-thirsty and implacable nature which inter-village disputes could assume. The disputes over the ownership of the landing place at Sham Chun lasted some seventy years, from the 1830s to 1905. Effective action by the District Magistrate seems to have been limited to the period 1903-1905: the actions of the Magistrate in 1875 were ineffective in the extreme, and there seems to have been no action at all in earlier disputes. In 1875, it was only when the dispute had escalated to such a state that the army was forced to intervene that any effective Government action was seen but it came very late. In other inter-village disputes in the area in this period the same ineffective inaction by the District Magistrate can be seen. There seems to have been no action taken by the District Magistrate in the bloody fighting (about 1850-1860) between Wong Pui Ling and Ta... ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 302 NOTES L This same carver also referred to the Fukienese Pestilence Wang Yeh as "pan-shen pan-kuei" (Note 1: Page 59 of Vol 29: 1989 Journal) as they too are neither gods nor demons, but 'humans of the other world'. See Plates 7-9. THE MAKING OF A HUSK-GRINDER Mr Chung Yick Ming, the Chairman of Tai Po Rural Committee took me to see Mr Chung Koon Tai (#) who is a villager of Chung Uk Village in Lam Tsuen Valley in Tai Po, New Territories. Mr Chung Koon Tai is now 76 years old. He first joined the trade of husk-grinder (A) making when he was 16 years old as an apprentice. His teacher was a fellow clansman. He retired in 1980. He also got an apprentice to succeed to the craft of husk grinder making. Because of the decline of rice farming in the New Territories since the 60's, the apprentice could not find a living with his profession, and therefore has migrated to UK. In those golden days of husk-grinder making, Mr Chung received orders for grinder making from villages all over the New Territories. He had to travel to these villages on foot and stayed there for three to four days to make a husk-grinder. He also made husk-grinders for rice-grinding shops (*) in the old market towns in Tai Po, Yuen Long and Tuen Mun. Chan Yat Sun (H), the former Heung Yee Kuk Chairman, was also his customer when he owned a rice-grinding shop in the town of old Castle Peak (Tuen Mun today). There used to be two skilled workers working together to make a husk-grinder. When they arrived at the village, they first went to find some bamboo which was available almost everywhere in the New Territories. They cut down some bamboo and then stripped the bark off layer by layer into long narrow pieces of a quarter to a half inch wide. They then wove these long narrow bamboo strips into the upper and lower parts of the outer framework of the grinder, which looked like two empty baskets. The upper part was fixed with a wooden handle and a wooden funnel which helped the grain to go to the grinding surface. The lower part was also fixed with an axis of iron in the centre. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 340 The jacket proclaims this to be a "meticulously researched study"; therefore, I was all the more surprised to find elementary errors. For example, Hong Kong Island was ceded to the British Government in 1842 in the Treaty of Nanking, not in 1843 (p 2). Also, South Sea Textile Manufacturing Company, Limited has never, to my knowledge, been known as "South Sea Cotton Mill" (p 55). Such unfortunate lapses, while they may be minor, tend to cast doubt about how much meticulous research went into this manuscript. There is a tendency to report, not analyze. One might be led to believe that mill owners felt insecure as immigrants to Hong Kong (p 51). Yet, on the very next page, the Shanghainese entrepreneurs are credited with having a "long term time horizon" and that “in spinning, one has to wait before the capital will yield profit" (p 52). This contradiction is neither pointed out nor elaborated upon. Incomplete research in other places leads to trivial or misleading conclusions. I found myself frustrated that, with all the data the author had in hand, other questions were not addressed. A Shanghainese industrialist in 1948, armed perhaps with an MBA, would, if he had done a thorough analysis, probably not have set up a spinning and weaving operation in Hong Kong. In those days, all raw materials, machinery and spare parts, down to nuts and bolts, had to be imported. There was no domestic market. And yet, not only did the Shanghainese establish themselves in Hong Kong, they, by and large, prospered. Why? And did they do as well in other Asian countries? We will have to wait for another book to find out the answers to these questions. MARTIN TANG Michael Y. L. Luk. The Origins of Chinese Bolshevism, and Ideology in the Making. Hong Kong, Oxford University Press, 1990 (East Asian Historical Monographs) viii + 366pp. Bibliography. Index. Analysis of the incubation and early development stages of the Chinese Communist movement, lasting through the 1920s, presents historians with a difficult and complex task. For decades many of the intellectual elite of China had been convinced that only sweeping political and cultural changes could save the country from unlimited ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 341 degradation and contempt. Questions of reform or revolution, democracy or proletarian dictatorship were deeply exercising the minds of those bent on national salvation, personal power, or both. Men seized on new ideas and later changed their attitudes under the influence of both local pressures and growing familiarity with western political theories. The moves of the major actors rarely seem to have been clear-cut or consistent. The aim of the author here, Michael Y.L. Luk (a Senior History Lecturer at the University of Hong Kong) is to trace the thinking of leaders of the Chinese Communist Party and their attempts to develop an agreed ideology. He is also concerned to show how the outcome of these attempts would in time affect the party's whole political destiny. This is a book for scholars and students, a dissertation not aimed at the general reader. The interplay of ideas on the part of the activists and theoreticians has its own dense vocabulary, and the writing and presentation are uncompromisingly academic. However Luk fully achieves his purpose. The book records the varying convictions of visionaries and men of action at a crucial time in the history of China and gives a penetrating view of the way men thought and the policies they accepted in those years of warlords, Sun Yat-sen republicanism, and struggling political parties. Two influences emerge clearly first, that of the Russian Revolution echoing round the world, and the writings of Lenin on colonialism. Secondly the indigenous thinking of left-wing Chinese intellectuals, notably Li Dazhao and Chen Duxiu. Why did the Chinese avant-garde listen to the voice of the Russians and brush aside the teaching of a Dewey or Hu-shih? Almost until the official founding of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1921 it was the Americans who had exercised a major influence. But new universities and hospitals and the YMCA seem to have provided an insufficient answer to the frustrations of Chinese life. Revolution was in the air and it was the Russian experts who moved in to show the Chinese enthusiasts how to organise it. Yet although Marxism-Leninism entered China as a brand-new ================================================================================ 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 |17 storey, basically domestic, accommodation in crowded, busy Kowloon, The eldest daughter, in the front seat of the car, carried the enlarged photograph of Mother in her 'spirit shrine' (jing tong), made from coloured paper stretched over a bamboo frame. A short ceremony was held at 'Pine Shade Hall' with two Buddhist nuns in attendance. Pine is an emblem of longevity." It frightens away evil, such as ghouls that prey on corpses. Later, a meal with three tables (about 12 people to a standard Chinese round table) was provided at a nearby restaurant. A place was filled at intervals. It was the first time relatives had eaten meat for two days. It is bad luck to return to the funeral parlour on the same day (to retrieve something left behind, say) and it is not propitious to go straight home. One should 'leave' the bad luck elsewhere. All close relatives, however, were given a piece of bright red cloth, about eight inches square, cut from the shroud. This they still keep as souvenirs. 28 Because of congestion long funeral corteges with pedestrians, some in good spirits, and close relatives and professional mourners weeping unashamedly, are no longer allowed. Up to the late 1960s when these were still common, an elaborately carved, nine-foot high funeral chair with a portrait of the deceased would lead the procession followed by the hearse.29 Large bamboo and wicker frames covered with silver and blue papers and flowers, with characters reading, for example, ‘Funeral of Wong Family', and describing the dead person's outstanding characteristics, would also be shouldered by coolies or transported on tricycles. The names of the three genial Gods of Happiness, Wealth and Longevity, Fuk, Luk and Shau, would also sometimes be displayed as would names of donors. Chinese bands, some engaged by friends to proffer condolences, played western hymns: like Abide with Me, or pop tunes such as Polly-wolly Doodle all the Day. Paper scatterers left trails for souls to find their way back home. 28 The cortege of Kwok Acheong, who died in 1880, was supposed to have taken one hour and 13 minutes to pass. The author recalls a quarter-mile long cortege in 1956, with 16 separate bands and musicians' uniforms ranging from white-waiter-style, to Salvation Army blue, to Confederate grey. The procession completed one circuit of Happy Valley before stopping at the then Colonial Cemetery gate. On such occasions newspapers recorded, "The funeral passed the Monument at such a time." ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1992 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qf85tx75x Chinese Painting & Caligraphy Armoured Cars in the Battle of Hong Kong TC Lại Arren Leung Inheritance and the Chinese Lineage Hugh Baker From the Common Por James Watson No Environmental Myopia at Mai Po Dick Irving & David Melville Feng Shut David Shru The Woman as a Symbol in Judaeo-Christian & Hindu Buddhist Traditions Caroline Muar & Rajeshwari Ghose Good lectures however can rarely be carried out unless there is a reasonable venue and the technical aspects are in place. Fortunately, as members will know we have an excellent relationship with the Urban Council which not only sponsors our talks, but provides us with a very well fitted out room, and I would like to record our sincere thanks for the council's unstinting co-operation. I would now like to turn to the second of our area of activities; the Journal and the Library. To produce an annual journal as we do is a very time-consuming business and throughout the history of the Society we have been particularly fortunate to have had a line of very distinguished editors, Professor Crammer-Byng, Professor James Lui, Dr. James Hayes, our immediate past president, Dr. David Faure, and one who has done it since 1982, Dr. Patrick Hase. We do owe a great deal to Patrick who assures me that the 1990 Journal will be out very shortly, (we are waiting for the final version of the 30th anniversary lecture given by Dr. Wang Gungwu) and the 1991 Journal will, it is hoped be out by the end of the year. Last year I reported to you that I hoped to be able to report more encouragingly on the move of the Library from its present location in the rather inaccessible Kowloon Central Library, to a special collection room in the reorganised City Hall Central Library. I am pleased to say that this is now likely to happen in the foreseeable future probably by the end of the year. This is something we have been working on for sometime and it is particularly gratifying that it is now becoming a reality: our thanks go to Mrs. Barbara Luk, Assistant Director Museums and X ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1993 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302 94 on her medical work, the maternity area indeed grew during her incumbency. In 1909, there were 235 hospital and 1381 domiciliary births, babies delivered by the Chinese midwives trained by Dr. Sibree. 57 As well, she had established networks in the medical and Chinese community. She referred in 1906 to a holiday on the Peak, during which she assisted the acting PCMO, Dr. Clark, with work at the Victoria Hospital.58 Her fluency in Cantonese and regular visits to the 'small footed ladies' and poor Chinese women were supported by the Chinese subscribers, including Dr. Ts'o, with whom she appears to have had a friendly relationship. As well, she was acting, at the request of Mr. Brewin, the Registrar-General, as medical officer to the Po Leung Kuk, a Chinese institution for the care and protection of Chinese girls and women, originally those who had been brought forcibly to Hong Kong for prostitution.59 Her main tasks in relation to government were first, her role in training government midwives in the program set up at the AMMH in 1905, and secondly, in acting as supervisor of the government midwives. At the time of her resignation, then, Dr. Alice Sibree had a number of personal connections within Hong Kong, and a credibility with the government which was useful to the mission hospital. Her foreshadowed resignation served to bring into focus the underlying issues between the subscribers, the District Committee and the medical mission over control of the maternity service. Immediately the Chinese subscribers through Mr. Brewin requested a replacement under tightened conditions:60 The lady doctor was to: 1. be 'on the regular staff' of the hospital and not in an 'exceptional position' as formerly 2. undertake language training, 3. make visits to Chinese women in their homes. 4. act as Visiting Surgeon to the Po Leung Kuk and if necessary take charge of female patients under Western treatment at the Tung Wah Hospital, An additional condition was the representation of Chinese subscribers on the management committee of the Hospital, specifically, by appointing the Chairman of the Finance Committee (Dr. Ho Kai) and one Chinese person, in order to have an equal voice with other members in the administration and the medical part of the work. 62 62 T ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1993 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302 49 50 LMS Box 16, 1904-5 No 284 Dr. Sibree to Mr Cousins, 20 December, 1904 LMS Box 16, 1906-07 No 295 Dr Sibree to Mr. Cousins, 9 October, 1906 105 51 LMS Box 17, 1907 No 297 Minutes of the HKDC Annual Meeting 1906, 24-25 January, 1907 52 LMS Box 16, 1906 No 294 Dr Sibree to Mr Cousins, 27 July, 1906 LMS Box 16, 1905-06 No 290 Dr Mitchell to Mr Cousins, 30 December, 1905, noting that he had not had time for language study, and requesting that the Directors forgo the deduction of 10 per cent from his salary 54 LMS Box 16, 1906 No 294 Mr. Pearce to Rev G Cousins, 12 July, 1906 55 Miss Rayner noted that midwifery trainees preferred to extend their practice to general nursing, resulting in changes to the proportions of each in the curriculum, reflecting their perception also of midwifery as a narrow field LMS Annual Reports. South China, Box 5, 1917-18 No 539 Miss Rayner's Report, 1917 50 Indeed, it was Dr. Gibson who insisted that the probationary period of Dr Annie Sydenham be extended by one year, in view of her episodes of illness in her first year in Hong Kong See LMS Box 25, 1928 No 423, Minutes of the South China District Committee, January, 1928, S 8054, LMS Box 25, 1928-29 No 428 Dr Gibson to Rev Phillips, 16 January, 1928 57 Pamela Leung, ‘A History of the Obstetrics & Gynaecology Department, Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital', in Alice Ho Miu Ling Hospital Annual Report 1988-89 (n.d. np). P 80 58 LMS Box 16, 1906-07 No 295 Dr. Sibree to Mr Cousins, 9 October, 1906 59 HJ Lethbridge, “The Evolution of a Chinese Voluntary Association: the Po Leung Kuk', in lus Hong Kong. Stability and Change (Hong Kong Oxford University Press, 1978), Pp 71-103 60 The Chinese guarantors suggested a lady doctor in middle life - 'about forty" - as culturally appropriate to attend Chinese women Dr Sibree, born in 1876, was now 32 years old There is no evidence to suggest that the subscribers were dissatisfied with Dr Sibree's work On the contrary, Mr Pearce thanked them for their 'generous and steadfast support' of her in the obstetric service See LMS Box 17, 1908 Mr Pearce to Dr Ho Kar, 19 September, 1908, Mr Pearce to Rev Cousins, 9 October, 1908 61 Dr Ho Kat was Chairman of the Finance Committee 1887-1912 See Paterson, op.cit, Appendix 5, p1 62 LMS Box 17, 1908 Mr Brewin to Mr Pearce, 14 January, 1908. It is assumed that this correspondence reflects the views at the Chinese subscribers on learning that Dr. Sibree ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1993 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302 142 importance of an unexampled calamity. However in spite of difficulties in balancing the budget, many public works projects were completed during his term. He governed with a liberal-mind for he increased the number of unofficial seats in both the Legislative and the Executive Councils in response to a demand for reforming the government. He also agreed to have an unofficial majority on the Sanitary Board. Generally regarded as an able administrator he stayed for fully six years as Governor, the longest tenure held by any governor thus far. In the history of modern China, he would be remembered as the Governor of Hong Kong who imposed a five-year ban on Dr. Sun Yat Sen, who then went to London and was kidnapped but rescued by Sir James Cantlie but that is another story. Sir James Stewart Lockhart, the main target of Lowson's attack, was Registrar General and acting Colonial Secretary in 1894. There is a biography of him written by Shiona Airlie entitled 'The Thistle and the Bamboo.' He emerged from it as a capable but ambitious man who was eager to seek promotion ahead of his time, and in spite of what Lowson said of him, he got on well with the Chinese. The function of a Registrar General in the early years was to deal with Chinese affairs, not legal matters as at present, in fact, the initial title was Protector of the Chinese. In this office, Lockhart maintained good relations with the directors of Tung Wah Hospital and Po Leung Kuk and the District Watch Committee, the three main representative bodies of the Chinese community. As to his character, he was said to possess 'humoured geniality which endeared him to his contemporaries' but 'occasionally his patience snapped and from a man considered in the main to be warm-hearted and genial, he became angry and stubborn.' He made at least one important contribution in connection with the Epidemic. After the Resumption of Tai Ping Shan Ordinance was passed, action had to be taken to demolish the old houses. Both landlords and tenants put up a spirited resistance as they both had to suffer financial loss, no rent to be collected by the landlords for sometime and no cheap lodgings for the tenants who were mostly coolies. The coolies threatened to go on strike which would paralyse the city in already very difficult circumstances. Lockhart, who was fluent in Chinese, having been a cadet in the Hong Kong Civil Service, was instrumental in solving the dispute which ended amicably. In 1895, at the age of thirty seven, he became Colonial Secretary when his acting appointment was substantiated. In addition, he was appointed as Special Commissioner for the New Territories in 1897 after the lease was settled. In 1902, he went to Weihaiwei as its first Civil Commissioner. On his departure the ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1993 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302 185 high standards, and took care to employ good teachers. The school must always have had several teachers - the building is just too big to have been feasible for just one. In 1923 there were five teachers. Three were Shap Yeuk area people. One, Chan Kan-cheung, from Luk Keng, was a returned student from USA - he taught English and Physical Education. Another teacher from Luk Keng was Chan Ping-long, a graduate from Canton. He taught "the new books". The third teacher from the Shap Yeuk area was Lau Woon-kwong, from Keng Hau (Jinghou) in the Chinese part of the Shap Yeuk area. He taught classical Chinese and Music. The other two teachers were outsiders: Lei Wai-lau was a Sau Tsoi from near Yuen Long, a Punti speaker - he taught classical Chinese. The fifth teacher, Wu Fan-ng, was from Shaoguan in the north of Guangdong. He had lived for many years in Sha Tau Kok, and spoke and taught in Hakka. He, like Chan Ping-long, was a graduate from Canton, and taught "the new books". Right down to the 1930s, the desire to keep their school one of the best and most advanced in the region was a major aim of the elders of the Shap Yeuk. In the 1920s, the standard of the school was as advanced as the Government schools which the Hong Kong Government had started to open in the major centres of the New Territories. By having this group of well-educated and cultured men living in the market, the elders of the Shap Yeuk demonstrated that their town and district comprised a full and viable community - not only having artisans and labourers and merchants, but scholars and gentry as well. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1993 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302 No. Name of Shop 191 Address of Shop Name of Owner Village of Owner Source Comments Tobacco 67 Guesthouses 68-71. WIS C C '3 or 4" guesthouses See below under "Others" Basel missionaries. 1859 Opium Divan 72 WIS Lunie-burners 73-74 Yin Lou C C Ft.L Oilers 75 = } WH C groceries 76 77 仙 78 利 79 SE B 1 or 2 limekilns Lockhart's Report, 1899 sweets and small ) these may be two of B ) the guesthouses B J B ) HO ... B ) nothing is now 18 W B } remembered about 82 87 K 4 B > these shops B } #4 ¥ } Prostitutes 85-96 Row neat City C LS Saltworks 97-115 - Yon In EL C Hawken C WIS Punti girls from City Offered opium to clients HL workers from Swabue, sold salt retail Detail of works in Block Crown Lease Fish, meat, vegetables, cooked food (including noodles), handicrafts fuel. Also at Yim Liu Ha E NOTES See G A C Herklots, The Hong Kong Countryside, Hong Kong, 1951, pp 86-89 for tigers and leopard on Ng Tung Shan, and the Hsin An County Gazetteer (1819 Gazetteer, ch 3. Chung Lap Pao Edition, 1979, p. 45) for tiger, wild boar, and deer in the area 2 1688 Hsin An County Gazetteer, ch 3, 127 A salt commission was established at Nam Tau (Nantou) just outside the present borders of Hong Kong, probably in the Nan Yueh period, in the second century BC This was later divided into 4 commissions, probably during the Nan Han period (tenth century A.D) Of the 4 Nan Han commissions, the Kwun Fu commission certainly covered the Mirs Bay area in the Sung; the headquarters of the commission were moved temporarily from Kowloon City to Tip Fuk (Deep Fuk) on the east coast of the Bay in 1163; and probably did so from the establishment of the commission The borders of Tung Kuan County and its predecessors bent round to include just the coastal strip of Mirs Bay. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1993 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302 194 14 The oldest surviving dated object is the bell, of 1922 (D Faure, A Ng B Luk, F. M. Xianggang Beiming Huabian, Historical Inscriptions of Hong Kong, Urban Council, Hong Kong, Vol 3, p 733) The temple, however, appears in the Block Crown Lease (1905), and the local villagers believe it is old 15 The Sam Heung villagers have recently elected a tablet at the resited replacement temple, stating that the temple was first built in the Chia Ch'ing reign (1796-1820), and that the Ta Tsiu was instituted as soon as the temple was built While the grounds for these statements are not given, they are reasonable, and probably correct, although a date late in the reign is likely 16 D Faure, The Structure of Chinese Rural Society, op cit. p 107 17 A copy of this genealogy is in the collection of New Territories historical documents at United College, Chinese University of Hong Kong I am indebted to Dr D Faure for drawing my attention to this reference Our information on mid-nineteenth century Sha Tau Kok comes primarily from documents of the Basel Mission, which had a Mission Station in the town 1849-1854, and whose missionaries regularly visited it in the late nineteenth century The missionaries rented four houses from a local village elder, near the western end of Upper Street, backing onto the wall The missionaries drew a map of the town in 1853, plans of typical shop units in 1849 and 1853, and wrote a long description of the town and district in 1853 – Map 2 is a re-drawing of the missionaries' map of 1853, corrected by measurements taken from the 1924 aerial photograph of the town (13 November 1924 original in the Department of Geography, University of Hong Kong) The written description of 1853 is Basel Mission archive, doc Al-2, Nr 44, “Half-Yearly Report of the missionary Rev P Winnes, from 1st January to 1st July 1853", printed in translation in P H. Hase. "Sha Tau Kok in 1853”, in Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol 30, 1990, pp 281-297 See PH Hase, "The Alliance of Ten", op cit, for redrawings of the plans of mid-nineteenth century shop units, and also for a drawing of a cross-section of such a shop unit I am indebted to Rev Carl Smith for drawing my attention to the importance of the Basel Mission documents to the history of Sha Tau Kok, and for allowing me to use his transcripts and notes I would also like to thank Mrs W Haas, and the staff of the Basel Mission archive in the preparation of this article 19 The Tung Wo Kuk was so named in direct emulation of the older Punti Council in Sham Chun, which was also known as "The Council for Peace in the East", PA, Tung Ping Kuk - the choice of the name Tung Wo Kuk must be seen, in these circumstances, as a marked sign of local pride and self-confidence 20 See n 11 21 The villagers believe that the name Sha Tau Kok is taken from a poem by a Ch'ing official who passed by and was so impressed by the beauty of the sun rising above the sand-dunes that he wrote a poem on it ADV AEAA. "The sun rises from the sand-dunes the moon hangs where land and ocean meet" I have heard this story from a Sheung Wo Hang elder, and see also Shatoulaode quwer xuanguanbu (Sha... ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1993 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302 197 conditions, under which the pickets contented themselves with exacting 'squeeze' from the local trade over the border1. Administrative Reports for the Year 1925, Appendix J, "Report on the New Territories for the Year 1925", p. J2. In Administrative Reports for the Year 1926, App J, "Report on the New Territories for 1926", p. J3, the District Officer notes that the fishermen in Mirs Bay suffered particularly seriously from the boycott, as they were unable to fish except close inshore, because of the "disturbed conditions”. These Communist guerrillas had appeared in various parts of the East River area since at least 1925. They were the direct descendants of the rebels who had operated near Yim Tin in the first decade of the century, and were closely related to the groups who took over the Hoi-Luk Fung area to form the "Hoi-Luk Fung Soviet" on three separate occasions between 1925 and 1928. They were the original nucleus of the "East River Guerrillas" of the war years and just after. 40 The agreement specified that goods for the guerrillas would be treated as duty-free. 41 Juntonghanguan Bainian Dashup, op cit passim. 42. The son of the executed man had committed a robbery in the market, and left a "paper" at the scene of the crime which implicated him. He had fled back to his home near Yim Tin, where the soldiers could not get at him. So they took the father and shot him instead, behind the Man To Temple in the market, in the presence of most of the district's young people. The fact that the son fled to the rebel-held area, and the "paper" left at the scene, suggests that the robbery was politically motivated, and the execution, too. 43 Shatoupaode Lishe, op cit. 44 Administrative Reports for the Year 1910, Appendix I, "Report on the New Territories", p. 16. The bulk of the Sha Tau Kok marketing district was in the New Territories, and there was a satellite market at Yim Tin, which could service the part of the marketing district in China if the Sha Tau Kok market did cross the frontier. 45 Administrative Reports for the Year 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, Appendices J, pp. J8 (and Table IV), J3, J2, and J17 (and Table IX), respectively. 46 Administrative Reports for the Year 1937, Appendix J, pp. J7-10. "The typhoon of September the 2nd will long be remembered in the eastern parts of this District, where it caused much damage and suffering. Unfortunately, the height of the gale coincided with a very high tide, so that the swollen waters of Mirs Bay were driven with double force westward up Starling Inlet, whence they had no outlet. The sea rose, about 2-5 am, in places 20 feet and more higher than it had been known to rise for many decades. The resultant damage was astonishing. All round the shores of Starling Inlet roads, bridges, paths, piers, and bunds were breached and broken up, and buildings overthrown. All the big bunds on Starling Inlet were [almost wholly overthrown]. Casualties were heavy, about 100 in "Brush" Sha Tau Kok. At Sha Tau Kok the Officer in Charge of the Police Station displayed initiative in [getting the dead buried, animal corpses burned, and obstructions cleared] and in arranging for a supply of rice and peanut oil from Kowloon, which broke a ring at Sha Tau Kok Market who had greatly raised the prices of these two. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1993 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302 1850-1911, op cit 71 See P H Hase, "Sha Tau Kok in 1853”, op cit 72 The largest shops were Kwan Tau (144) the household goods shop (Nai Wai, Niwei, in Luk Heung) 2 Wang Hap (Z) the household goods shop (Yung Shue Au) 3 Kwong Yue (M) the grocery (Fung Hang) 4 Yuen Tai (54) the grocery (Tong To) 5 Sam Lung ( ) the grocery (Wo Hang) 6 Yan Hong (10) the grocery (Yim Tin) 7 8 Cheung Ding (FL) the fishmonger (Kwun Lo Ha, Guanlouxia, in Luk Heung) Wa Shong (4) the fishmonger ("Sha Tau Kok" probably Sha Lan Ha) 9 10 Tak Ding (120) the tobacconist (Luk Keng) 11 Tsui Cheung (4307) the silversmith (Tsai Muk Kiu) 12 I San Cheung (1) the tailor and cloth dealer (Yim Tin) 13 San Lung (954) the tailor and cloth dealer - the largest shop in the market - (Au Tau, Aotou, in Luk Heung) 14 Tung Yue ( ) the carpenter (Sau Hang, Xuokeng, in Luk Heung) 15 Jung Hing ([]) the carpenter (Sha Tseng Tau, Shajingtou, Luk Heung) 16 Cheung Sze (12) the boatbuilder (Sha Tau Kok Sha Lan Ha) 17 Sze Fong Ting (P44) the gambling house (Wo Hang) 18 Nung Sang Tong (WE7) the doctor (Yim Tin) 19 Wo Hing Tong (ABU) the pawnshop (Yim Tin) Thus, of the largest shops, five were owned by Luk Heung people, four by Yim Tin Yeuk people, two by Wo Hang Yeuk people, two by Sha Tau Kok (Sha Lan Ha) people, two by people from the Thi Tin Yeuk (the area south-west of Sha Tau Kok across the sea, around Luk Keng and Nam Chung), and one each by people from the Hing Chun Yeuk (around Lai Chi Wo), Kuk Po Yeuk, and Sam Heung. Thus, in 1925, not only were the largest shops all operated by people from the Shap Yeuk area, but ownership of these larger shops was spread around most of the Yeuk areas of the Shap Yeuk. The Basel missionaries make it clear that the shops in the market in 1853 were also all owned by people from the surrounding villages see P H Hase, “Sha Tau Kok in 1853", op cit 71 See J W. Hayes, The Hong Kong Region, 1850-1911, op cit for the places of origin of shop-keepers at Tai O and Cheung Chau, and J W Hayes, The Rural Communities of Hong Kong, op cit for those at Kowloon city. D Faure, loc cit gives details on those at Tsuen Wan and Sai Kung. The fisher ports in the Islands (Tai O, Cheung Chau), and, to some degree Sai Kung on the mainland, had the largest percentage of non-indigenous shopowners, but Sha Tau Kok had fewer "outsider" shopowners even than Tsuen Wan. 74. A contact from Tsat Muk Kiu village, for instance, said that she would go to the market with her wood, sell it, buy what she needed in the market, and return home, passing on her way home the women from Wang Shan Keuk still carrying their wood. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1994 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g 136 District Regional Hospital, from which a good view was obtained of the reclamation for the Mass Transit Railway Extension to Chaiwan; then being constructed along a 12.5 kilometre route from the western side of the Central Business District at Sheung Wan. Completion of its 12 stations, plus additions and alterations to those at Central and Admiralty, was expected in 1985-86. 17 With both new transportation links in operation, the Eastern District would at last come into its own, increasing the value of existing land and buildings there, and enabling the construction of more public and private housing development. The coach then took us to Shaukerwan. Our purpose here was quite different: to visit a new temple complex and walk through one of the large old squatter areas on the hillside, then still so characteristic of Shaukerwan, ending the visit with tea at the City District Office premises on the main road. The main temple, the Fuk Tak Chi, had been a 1970 removal and reconstruction of an earlier shrine that had served the old villages in that part of Shaukerwan from the late 19th century onwards. The shrine had prospered in its new location, and two more temples had been added in the mid 1970s. Together, they made an attractive group on the hillside. We were entertained to tea there by friends among the local Kaifongs and the temple managers, managing to attract a group of excited children. We then walked up to the large and heavily populated Nam On Fong Squatter Area, built around the nucleus of an older settlement that had originated with the extensive quarrying of the Shaukerwan hillsides in the mid-19th century. Passing through we had vivid glimpses of how people in the older squatter areas lived in all kinds of structures - in some places abutting onto large rocks - some made of wood and others of tin, with a few older cottages of brick and stone. Livestock, mainly pigs and chickens, occupied other premises and some buildings served their inhabitants as both home and workshop. A few religious establishments were dotted here and there on the hillsides or among the huts. They included the large hundred year old Kik Lok Tung, which unfortunately for us was barred and shuttered, its owner being overseas. Moving along, we saw residents engaged in the various pursuits and occupations. This part of the tour provided the visitors with sights that very few European city residents would see in the normal way - and the local people likewise! ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1994 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g 156 intellectual and historical traditions. Thus they were able to push the study of Hong Kong history to new frontiers. The Hong Kong History Project, Chinese University of Hong Kong Research was pursued with great energy at the Chinese University, and a history project its members began in 1978 may be said to have marked a turning point in the development of the study of local history. Aimed at saving whatever historical information that might still be found, the Project included Ng Lun Ngai-ha, Kwan Li-hung, David Faure, Bernard Luk, Tam Yu-yim and Barbara Ward, and teams of students. They began by gathering historical inscriptions in temples and ancestral halls, and then went on to interviewing villagers for what they remembered of the villages. Villagers were also asked to come forward with whatever documents they had. Soon, gathering documentary materials and interviewing became complementary. The research teams worked on one district at a time, first concentrating on Sha Tin and Sai Kung, then Lam Tsuen and in 1982, Tsuen Wan, though members would approach other villages in the New Territories whenever the opportunity arose. Their search yielded rich fruits because they cast their nets wide - they sought materials that earlier researchers had not considered relevant. Thus documents such as village regulations, land deeds and accounts, ritual and ceremonial texts, scholars' handbooks, textbooks and almanacs, clan records and so forth were gathered, and these were able to throw new light on important, and yet hitherto neglected, aspects of village life - daily life, farming and subsistence, sickness and death, family life, marketing, intervillage organizations, internal village organization, 22 The project must have seemed like a massive raid by scholars into the New Territories, and its benefit to other scholars is incalculable. Many of the manuscripts and books were deposited in public libraries. Inscriptions copied were published in three volumes as Historical Inscriptions of Hong Kong, now standard reference. The wealth in information supplied by these inscriptions is overwhelming, and Maurice Freedman noted that, together with land deeds, genealogies and other records, they formed the basic sources for an understanding of the New Territories. The exercise was all the more timely since, in face of Hong Kong's rapid development, it was possible that many of the inscriptions might have been lost had the project not been undertaken at that time. 24 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1994 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g A SHORT BIOGRAPHY OF LAI CHUN BIN ANTHONY SIU KWOK-KIN 175 1 Lai Chun-bin (黎春彬), also known as Pun-shek, was a native of Cheung Ping Chau (長坪洲) of Tung Kwun county in the Kwangtung province. He was born in the 1830s. When he was young, he followed his brother Lai Chun-hai (黎春海) to fight against the Taiping rebels in Kiangsu and Chekiang; he was then promoted to be lieutenant, and was awarded a blue feather. In the 9th year of the reign of Hsien Feng (1859), by making a donation to the government, he was promoted to be a colonel, commanding the newly equipped Chit-shing Fleet. He joined forces with his brother in the attack of Kiang Pu. The Taiping rebels under Shuet Shaam-yuen (薛杉元), also known as Shuet Shing-leung (薛成龍), were defeated and then surrendered. In the 10th year of the reign of Hsien Feng (1860), they captured Po Hau (寶號) and Kau Fuk Chau (九福洲); Lai Chun-bin was awarded a peacock feather, and was promoted to be a brigadier. In the 11th year of the reign of Hsien Feng (1861), Shuet Shaam-yuen revolted. He retreated his force to Yeung Chau (洋洲). At the same time, So Sheung of Tan Yeung and the rebels of Si-ling-tong and Chin-kiang joined him. Lai Chun-bin and his brother followed To Hing-ah, the Kiang-ling General, and Wong Bun, the lieutenant-general of the Navy, and thrice released Chin-kiang from the rebels' seizure. For this, Lai Chun-bin was granted the title of major-general. In the 6th moon of the 1st year of the reign of Tung Chih (1862), Lai Chun-bin was promoted to be the major-general of the Kwangtung Navy. Two months later, his Chit-shing Fleet, consisting of only six ships, was dismissed; and he had remained at the post of the Chin-kian Naval Battalion. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1994 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g 177 scheme a success. The hospital and the tomb established in 1878 are still in existence to this day, and a memorial tablet for the deed was mounted on the front wall of a shop near the hospital. It is still in existence, too. NOTES 1 Ch 2-7, A Brief Record of the Pacification of the Kwang-tung Rebels. A 1865 edition. 2 Ibid. Ch 8. 3 Ibid. Ch 9-10. 4 Thick, Ch 1-12. 7 Ch 72, Fung Kwan Gazetteer. 45, 46. By that time, Lai Chun-hot was the commander of the 'Shung' Naval Battalion stationed in Chikrang. In the 5th Moon of the 2nd year of Tung Chi reign (1863), he found that his Battalion had only a few sloops but too many officers. Thus, he transferred his brother Lai Chun-pin back to Kwang-tung. During his time in Kowloon, he had dedicated a memorial board to the Hau Wang Temple in the Kowloon City in the 6th year of the Kuang Hsu reign (1880). The board is still hanging inside the temple today. As per note 6. The charitable hospital was called the Fong Bin Hospital. The tomb was called Yee Chung Yuen, and was situated on the slope facing the sea at Tai Shek Flat, not far from the Tin Hau Temple of the region. To my knowledge, Jar O on Lantau Island had one, formed by charitable subscription, and indeed, there was one at Lai Chi Kok, Sai Ying Pun and at Lai Ping Shan Street on Hong Kong Island. It was known as Kong Fuk Yee Charity Hall but in 1851, also formed by charitable subscription. It was taken over and extended as the Tung Wah Hospital in 1870, after which it became a hospital in the western style. Detail of the story of the scheme can be seen on the memorial tablet established in the 4th year of the Kuang Hsu reign (1878). It is still in existence. Because of recent development on the island, the slope with the charitable tomb was levelled. The tomb has been moved to the cemetery which lies on the north of the island. The shop, with the one next to it, were purchased with the charity fund at the time of the establishing of the Fong Bin Hospital. They were rented, and the money so got was used as the expenses of the hospital. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1994 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g YET MORE ON THE MAN THE EMPEROR DECAPITATED WONG WING-HO 179 I was interested to read, in Volumes 28 and 29 of the Journal, material on folk-tales from the New Territories relating to Ho Chan, the late Yuan Guangdong Warlord, and early Ming Minister of the Left, collected by Dr. D. Faure, Dr. J.W. Hayes and Dr. P.H. Hase. In 1991, while working as a Research Assistant in the Chinese University of Hong Kong, I collected a further folk-tale of a similar character, very similar, in fact, to the ones collected by Dr. D. Faure at Kat O and by Dr. J.W. Hayes at Kei Ling Ha. Because of the interest of these folk-tales, this version is printed here. Translation of Notes of an Interview with Mr. Yeung Fuk-sham (楊福杉) of Ha Ling Pei Village, Tung Chung, Lantau, 5th July, 1991. Fuk-sham is of the Yeung surname, of Ngau Hom Village in Tung Chung. She is now 65 years of age. At age 24, she married Lei Fuk-hei (李福喜), of Ha Ling Pei Village. Fuk-sham said that her husband's grandmother frequently told her this tale. The Ho family was originally very wealthy. When the old city was built (the fort at Tung Chung), the imperial court called on Ho, the Minister of the Left, to provide the funds. However, Ho was unwilling to provide them - if he had been willing, the old city would have been big enough to take in the sites of Upper and Lower Ling Pei Villages. It is because Ho, the Minister of the Left, was unwilling to provide the funds that the old city is its present size. It is also because of this that the Fung Shui and gravesites of the Hos lost their effectiveness, though the influence of the city. If the site of the city had been able to include Upper and Lower Ling Pei Villages, then the Fung Shui of the Hos would still be extremely good. Because the city is small, when the cannon fired, the explosive power was very great, and the ancestral tablets of Minister Ho were toppled over by the blast. Ho, the Minister of the Left, was executed by beheading at the orders of the Emperor. The Minister was accustomed to go each morning to Court, and to return home every evening. However, his mother was ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1994 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g 181 off and strike the Emperor dead – But the minister's wife mourned for only six days. At the end of that time, being very exhausted, she dozed off, and her head fell forward, and her nose touched the tree. Immediately, a sprig of the tree flew off. However, because the time was not enough, the sprig did not have enough power, and, although it flew into the Emperor's presence, it fell to the ground. The Emperor saw that the name of Ho, the Minister of the Left, was written on the sprig; as a result, the Emperor decided to destroy all the Fung Shun sites of the Ho family. Fuk-sham had heard that the grave of Ho, the Minister of the Left, was on the hill opposite the Yuen Tan Temple at Shek Mun Kap (FIGZ Biff 1). Another site was at Tei Tong Tsai (HUMPKT-(BUL)). The Emperor ordered that these sites be controlled. However, whatever was cut down by people today, grew back three-fold tomorrow. A small-minded man advised that the blood of a black dog be sprinkled at the head of the grave - this would be sure to destroy the Fung Shui. The Emperor took this advice, and, as a result, the Fung Shui was destroyed. When the Fung Shui was destroyed, for seven days and seven nights blood flowed out. NOTES ■ Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Hong Kong Branch, Vol. 28, pp. 198-203, Vol. 29, pp. 188-189 2 [Editor's Note] Any further material relating to folk-tales on Ho Chan would be welcome. Page 195 Page 196 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1994 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g 187 In Ho Sheung Heung, the 'guarding star' at the entrance to the village is a bamboo. However, it is not always the case that a tree growing beside a shrine has any relationship to that shrine. At Ho Sheung Heung trees besides the southern Pauk Kung have no fung shui significance and have simply grown up there. At Tar Om trees near the main shrine have grown up in the seventy years since the shrine was built and have little, if any, fung shui importance. None of the villagers questioned thought that the fung shui woods had any sacred or spiritual value outside their fung shui importance. Another important reason for the protection of large, old trees was that they had been planted by the ancestors. Examples are at Man Uk Pin, Ma Mat Wai, Ping Kong, and Ma Tsuek Leng. Few of these trees were individually venerated except for the 'grandfather tree' at Kuk Po which was planted by the founders of the village to honour the local earth gods. Villages often have examples of many types of fung shui tree. An example is the village of Sheung Wo Hang which has an inviolable fung shui wood in which all vegetation is protected, in addition to ancestorally planted trees which guard particular shrines and which reinforce certain fung shui locations, as well as earth god trees without shrines. In some cases, shrines may not be dedicated to an earth god. At She Shan Tsuen in Lam Tsuen valley, a small shrine at the edge of the fung shui wood makes the spot at which hunters would gather to make offerings before the hunt. There is a parallel here with those shrines in the sacred forests of Nepal at which hunters gather to worship (Mansberger, 1991). Both Tar Wong and Paak Kung shrines guard the important places and fung shui points of the village, such as the wells, irrigation dams, "dragon veins" and especially the entrances to the village. The latter are often marked by a Tar Wong shrine. Where a path or road leaves a village, invariably where an approaching path curves around the end of a fung shui wood, the site is known as "the mouth of water", (the flow of a road symbolising water). The site is often associated with a clump of bamboo, a large rock or a large camphor or banyan tree, or sometimes all three, known as a "guarding star" in fung shui terms, as it guards against excessive outflow of chi from the village. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1995 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/95941j25g 32 now s 5. Cap 4 10 The late Mr. G.E. Strickland in the penultimate paragraph of his Appendix I to the Committee Report, 1953 20 (1910) 6 HKLR 12, at p. 53 per Sir Francis Piggott, C.J. "Committee Report, 1953. Marriage by Chinese Law and Customs in Hong Kong, (1958) 7 International and Comparative Law Quarterly, 437 2 Chinese Marriages in Hong Kong, Government Printer, Hong Kong, 1960 * TANG CHOY HONG vs TANG SHING MO & OTHERS. (1949) 33 HKLR 58 (concerning succession to land see below), and CHAN PUI vs CHU YAN KIT (1950) 34 HKLR 297 (concerning agricultural tenancies) * Committee Report 1953. Chap II para 11 at pp 6-7, and Annual Departmental Report District Commissioner New Territories. 1954-55, para 72 (Hereinafter such reports are referred to as Report DCNT 19) Report, DCNT, 1950-51, para 26 and 1954-55, para 72 This attitude among the Chinese was always the reaction to litigation and possibly was born of a general distaste for their ancient judicial procedure, vide R.H. Van Gulik, T'ang-Yin-Pi-Shih "Parallel Cases from under the Pear-tree". Leiden. 1956, P. 58 "Report, DCNT, 1956-57, para 106 16 Report, DCNT, 1957-58, para 98 para 43 * CHEUNG Sau Tim vs CHEUNG Yo, Lam (1948) 32 HKLR 31 "vide Committee Report, 1953. Chap III, para 31 "ibid paras 34 and 40 Lik Memorandum of 20th March 1958, addressed to the Secretary for Chinese Affairs vide McAleavy's article "Certain Aspects of Chinese Customary Law in the Light of Japanese Scholarship." BSOAS, 1955, Vol XVII Part 3. p. 535 For the customs of the land-dwelling Cantonese and Hakka I have had recourse to notes ! ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1996 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/3n209j641 32 to say. These came from the Wai Chau Prefecture, particularly Kwai Shin District, and from Ka Ying Prefecture, especially Cheung Lok District - 556 males are recorded in the 1911 Census from these Prefectures, 488 from the two Districts of Kwai Shin and Cheung Lok. Only 110 females from these areas were recorded, making it clear that the bulk of the people from these areas were not accompanied by their families. The third group of Northern District men recorded in the 1911 Census as born outside the New Territories are probably mostly shop-keepers in the small market-towns, people from all over the Canton Delta (273 males and 119 females), but only a few from any one place. A few may be children born while their New Territories parents were living temporarily away from home, as doubtless the three males born in Honolulu. It is clear that, in 1911, the 556 Northern District males born in the north-east prefectures, and the 273 born in the Delta, could not have affected the basic structure of society - they together represent only 2% of recorded males. Females born outside the New Territories were more numerous than males born outside the New Territories in 1911 in Northern District, as it had long been the custom of the area to seek wives for sons from some distance away from the village. Doubtless, the 1,536 females recorded as born in San On District, and the 2,383 born in Hong Kong and Kowloon were mostly wives brought in, and thus not likely to affect the basic structure of society. Females from further away constitute only 308, a mere 1% of the recorded female population of the Northern District in 1911. In the islands, however, a full 26% of males recorded in 1911 of the land population (1,631 males) were born outside the New Territories. As in the Northern District, some of these were probably shop-keepers resident with their families (246 San On males, and 265 San On females: 195 Tung Kun males, and 144 females: 40 Macau males, and 63 females), but many were businessmen or coolies living apart from their families, in businesses supporting the coastal shipping trade. 51 males from the Chiu Chau area (only 7 females), 536 from the Hoi Luk Fung area (only 28 females), and 32 men from Lo Tung (no females) were ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1996 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/3n209j641 92 For instance, in Sha Tin, both Punti and Hakka indigenous villagers believe that their numbers are, and have always been, about half-and-half, whereas in fact there were, in 1911, 28.4% Punti males to 66.2% Hakka males (the remaining 5.4% were predominantly "not stated"). * Census Report, 1911, Tables XIX, XIXa 97 Basel Mission Archive, Doct. A 1-2, No 14 A1-28, No 47. Des Evangelische Heidenbote, Feb 1906, p 9. See Der Evangelische Heidenbote, Sep 1861, for a discussion of the indentured coolie trade from this general area. "D. Faure, A. Ng, B. Luk, eds, Xianggang Beiming Huipian. Historical Inscriptions of Hong Kong, Urban Council, Hong Kong, 1986. Vol 1, pp 262-280. The tablet records the donations towards the rebuilding of the main Tsuen Wan Temple. The tablet divides donors into two categories: 500 donors resident in the Tsuen Wan District, and some 636 resident abroad. While a few of those donating from overseas were not Tsuen Wan people (a few Sha Tin villagers can be identified), the great majority clearly are. There can be no doubt that Tsuen Wan, as the other New Territories mountainous areas, had a high percentage of its young adult males overseas in 1900. The overseas donors came from California, Australia, Hawaii, Siam, Singapore, Hong Kong, and elsewhere. Faure et al., The Historical Inscriptions of Hong Kong, op cit. Vol 1, pp 319-329. 10 Census Report, 1971, Table I. 102 Basel Mission Archive, Doct A1-2, No 44 printed in translation in P.H. Hase, "Sha Tau Kok in 153", in Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol 30, 1990, p 281-297. * J.L. Watson, “Self-Defence Corps, Violence, and the Bachelor Sub-Culture in South China: Two Case Studies”, in Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Sinology, Academia Sinica, Taipei, 1989, pp 209-22. There is no evidence for female infanticide in the New Territories or the broader region. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1996 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/3n209j641 106 The genealogy of the Chengs of the Nam Wai traced their origin to a Song dynasty settlement in several places of Xingning, with farming and orchard land of several Chinese acres and population of more than one thousand. As the result of disorder during the Yuan they lost all names and burial places of ancestors save what was called their zheng shizu immediate Beginning Ancestor, ancestor Shao Ji(7) Lang. This name, while not indicated as a duming, also fits into the pattern of ordination names. The beginning ancestor's eldest son Shao Jiu(19), who was said to be of the Yuan dynasty, had only one son Shi Jiu (19). The latter moved to Changle County in the Taiding period (1324-1327) when he had no relatives around at the native place of Xingning. His son Liu Shi San (63) bore a son during the Hongwu years, Liu Shi Jiu (69). Liu Shi Jiu had a son called Sheng who lived during the Tianshun years (1457-1464), to whom the genealogy attributed magical powers,” but does not indicate any ordination name. One part of the genealogy listed the next eight generations, showing separately the two descendants of each of his two sons, while limiting itself to the descendants of the elder son in the last four generations. Another listed the descendants of the second son, who is an ancestor of the Chengs of Nam Wai. The first ancestor to have an ordination name in the genealogy is Fa You in the seventh generation, an ancestor of the Chengs of Nam Wai. His father lived in early Ming during the Hongwu years (1368-1398). But it was among the descendants of the first son that we find many with ordination names, a large proportion of the ancestors named for the 12nd to 14th generations." The only other ancestor of the Chengs of Nam Wai to have an ordination name was Fa Jing of the 16th generation who moved to the Xin'an county in the early years of Kangxi (1662-1722) at a very young age "His ordination, it therefore appears, probably took place in Xin'an county, Similarly, in a fragment of the genealogy of the Lis of Wu Kau Tan after the name of the 14th generation ancestor Ming Fang and his zi and hao names there are eight words which can be punctuated as "[alternative name] Fa Nian, and fang ming Li Mou Shi Lang”. While the term Shi Lang is the same as a title of an official it seemed to be originally Mou Shi(4)Lang. The caption of the plate says this is the first ancestor of the Lis to move to the Hong Kong region, probably in early Qing. The Chens of Luk Keng and elsewhere of the New Territories had some ancestors with ordination names since the 1st generation in early Ming until the 10th generation in early Qing. One Page 135 Page 136 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1996 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/3n209j641 112 The sessions for the maintenance of the ancestors' army are "Issuance of Pai [token of authority] to Recruit Soldiers”, "Recruitment of Soldiers”, and “Distribution of Army Provision". The three were part of the Anlong rite I witnessed at Cheng Lan Shue, although the offering of a raw pig was not part of that occasion during which the villagers were to take vegetarian food only. The Decline of Magic, the Rise of Literati Influence? This Lu Shan-related tradition of ordination had persisted for about ten centuries among the Hakka in the apparent absence of an "orthodox" Daoist tradition. This is despite the fact that Chen Nan, the founding master of the Southern School of Daoism in Southern Song, is from Buoluo of Huizhou, a county where some Hakka live. Moreover, many Hakka settlements are in the proximity of the famous Daoist mountain of Luofu Shan. On the Buddhist side, we know about some Hakka ancestors who befriended monks (e.g., the one in the genealogy of the Lins of Lam Tsuen). The genealogy of the Chens of Luk Keng also mentioned an ancestor who had the type of ordination name we discussed and was to become the founding patriarch of a Buddhist establishment, using another, Buddhist ordination name. Another example, again in a family with ordination names since an early ancestor who lived in Song times, is provided by the Wens of Xingning county. An 8th generation ancestor, who does not have an ordination name, made donations to a Buddhist nunnery, yet all his sons had the same type of ordination names. A story in a work of anecdotal literature of the Yuan dynasty, of a Buddhist monk from Nanxiong Prefecture, where there were some Hakka settlements since early days, suggests that those enlightened in "respectable" religions may feel powerless in their home village. The monk, who returned having attained a high level of enlightenment in Buddhism, had to eat non-vegetarian food so as not to contradict his mother. When he tried to wash away the food from his intestines afterwards he was scolded by an old woman of the neighborhood, using the name by which he was known when small. Eventually, he had to leave the village for a Buddhist monastery in another prefecture. The story tells how, long after the death of this monk, the coming of people from his home place is ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1996 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/3n209j641 138 In many places the country was remarkably pretty. Very much like Devonshire, with this exception that all round were the barren dreary dry looking hills. Some clumps of trees were very fine. After above an hour's walk we began to go down into a valley, that was considerably cultivated, and just at the beginning of the descent under the shade of several lofty trees was a Chinese public house - would that in England there were such on the roadsides - We went up and sat down at the table which was covered with packets of cakes, and in a few minutes, away came cups of tea from the house. Real Chinese fashion, with covers. The tea is made in each cup. And you dip it out from the leaves with a small cup holding about a tablespoonful. Really it was delicious. It was tea, such as I never tasted. No milk or sugar wanted. It was milk and sugar in itself. Such tea! Didn't we enjoy it, and didn't we eat the cakes, and didn't we have no end of fun! No one should travel in China who cannot speak to the people and understand them. We gave them 1/4 dollar for all we ate and drank, and really refreshed we went on our way. About 12 o'clock we entered Sam Chun, a fine village, or rather market town. We entered the temple, where were many curious things, as well as the group of idols in the Centre, representing a great officer who died heroically, and his family and a black servant who is honoured because when his master died he killed himself. What noble heroism! These images were all larger than life, and no pains had been spared on them. They were all spangling with gold. I obtained the history from the officiating priest, whose apartments were adjoining the temple. At Sam Chun the same curiosity was manifested, and we at last went into a shop of one of the former converts of the German missionaries from Po-kuk. Here we rested and got chairs for the remainder of the journey. Adjoining was a rice shop, and a man was hulling rice. Another was winnowing it, with a curious machine. The people swarmed in crowds round the door, and when we rose to depart we had to push our way through them. Our chairs were of the most curious kind. Two long bamboo poles, 1 1/2 ft apart, a board hanging down by ropes to sit on, and a stick hanging down by two strings to rest the feet on. Nothing could be more simple, and withal, it was not so very uncomfortable. The men were twice as strong as the Hong Kong carriers. And we got on very well. Our route lay through a large ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1996 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/3n209j641 a fluvial plain nearly all fresh ploughed up. We were too late to see the paddy, or rice growing. Here and there were a few patches of barley, and now and then a field of hemp in full blossom that scented the air for a long way round. Often our road lay through fields of sugar cane. The canes grow about 7 or 8 feet high, and look very well with their green tops. The highway road passing through these fields is a curiosity. It is raised a few feet above the field, and is about a yard wide on an average. On each side runs a ditch about a foot wide. Since these roads are only for foot passengers they answer very well. Remember there are no horses ever dreamt of, and only here and there a poor lean solitary Chinese cow, with a hump on his back on the hills. There are no hedges or fences, and thus it is all open country. The outside narrow ditches are all that separate the fields, and as most of the people are not troubled with shoes, a little mud and dirt is not minded. We now and then passed a troupe of pedestrians on their way to the town to sell their produce and buy new supplies. Many of them had brown sugar in square cakes, and many more were loaded with oil, which is obtained from a kind of ground nut, largely grown in China. We often saw immense heaps of these nuts. All these things were carried in China fashion, with a pole, and a basket or bucket balanced on each side. Every few miles we rested in a tea house, and in one, we got some preserved dates and plums. The dates were on strips of bamboo, three on each, and each string cost a cash. They and the plums were very good, especially to us who had been walking a great deal. We passed through Po-kuk - where Mr Lechler lived as a Chinaman for 5 years in one house which he showed us. He is a fine noble fellow and no mistake. Would that all our missionaries were like him. We were again on our route; and continually heard the sound of heavy firing at a distance. These towns and villages have continual animosity with each other, and are continually fighting. They can make their own clumsy cannon, and they pound away at each other finely, sometimes for weeks together. The different clans often get up a bit of a brush about something or other. Our road at length wound up a narrow pass between two hills, and ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1996 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/3n209j641 4. Tai Hang 5 Wong Nei Chung: 3 6. North Point [ 7 Quarry Bay' I 12 Stanley' 4 13 Aberdeen I 14. Ap Lei Chau: 2 15. West point: 2 245 8. Shau Kei Wan. 4 16 Middle Island: 1 NOTES Indicates that commemorative tablets exist for these repairs See the Map of the Kwangtung Coastland, Ch 32 Yue Tau Kee, Man Lik edition A*X*9 ALE 廣東沿海闢 2 In 1661 the Idiot of the Coastal Evacuation was carried out to stifle the coastal supply of + 1 Koyinga i Larwan people living along the coast had to move inland Ch 3. Sam On Gazetteer – 1688 edition (Fb];}}&KLE t * Ch 2 Sam On Gazetteer 1891 edition af #M74 1⁄2 1LE 5 See P 203, Appendix II. Original Gazetteer and Census, May 15th, 1841. by G. R. Sayers. Hong Kong 1841-1862, Birth, Adolescence and Coming of Age ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1997 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579 77 health and fortune would not be harmed by evil spirits. In fact, these two religious activities are held in Fanling Wai (the settlement of the Pang lineage in Fanling) by the Pangs exclusively. The Pang villagers, be they in Fanling Wai or in other settlements, will enjoy the supernatural benefit from these activities through the descent line of their father or husband. This figure was collected from the Lands Department in the North District Office. 12 See Fong, Peter, K. W., op. cit. "But the Lees in Wo Hang, Sha Luk Kok recognised that renting village houses out would infringe on the values contributing to the maintenance of their community as a whole. The villagers defined occupancy within the village as permanent residence, and the rights for it could only be enjoyed and inherited by their fellow villagers through the male line. Houses were not simply residential structures but constituted Wo Hang as an agnatic village community. The house was a source of the rootedness that permitted the natives to claim identity with their natal village community through their right of occupancy." See Allen Chun, op. cit., pp. 249-50. David Faure, The Structure of Chinese Rural Society: Lineage and Village in the New Territories, Hong Kong, pp. 2-4. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press. Liao Hua Chuan, "Xin Jie Yifan Lai Min Quan Yi Lu You" (The Origin of the New Territories Indigenous Inhabitant's Prerogative), p. 144, in Lu Yan (Ed.), Xiang Gang Zhang Gu (Legends of Hong Kong), Xiang Gang: Guang Jia Jing, 1987. 16 See GWE Jones, “Rural Housing in Hong Kong", in Lok, S. K. Wong (Ed.), Housing in Hong Kong: A Multi-Disciplinary Study, Hong Kong: Heinemann Educational Books (Asia), Hong Kong, 1975; Kwok Kam-chau, Planning for Village Development in the New Territories, M.Sc. thesis, The University of Hong Kong, 1987; Allen Chun, op. cit.; and James Hayes, Chinese Customary Law in the New Territories of Hong Kong, paper proceedings of the fourth International Symposium on Asian Studies in 1988. 18 For details, see Heung Yee Kuk (Ed.), Xin Jie Xiao Xing Wu Yu Zheng Ce Te Ji (Special Collection of the New Territories Small House Policy), 1980. **Of this total of twelve houses, four were built in 1979, five in 1980, two in 1981, and one in 1982. 19 The one allowed to build ding wu on Crown land had to pay a premium of about $4,000 at that time. 20 210 hectares of this new town were designated for residential and commercial development, 50 hectares for industrial development, and 140 hectares for government and community use. See Hong Kong Government, Hong Kong 1984 (Annual Report), p. 132. Hong Kong Government Press. 21 Hong Kong Government, Hong Kong 1985 (Annual Report), p. 183. Hong Kong Government Press. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1997 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579 78 47 # Government Press The total land area of Fanling and Sheung Shui was 13,184 acres (20.6 square miles). See Heung Yee Kuk, Xin Jie Xiang Yi Ju Cheng Li Lu Shi Zhou Nian Jin Dian Te Kan (The Special Issue for the New Territories Heung Yee Kuk's 60th Anniversary [published in 1986]), p. 182 A name list of successful applicants was posted on the village notice-board in 1991. A total of 69 ding houses were allowed to be built. But unsuccessful applicants tore down the list and then submitted objections to the District Office. They complained that some successful applicants were found to be living abroad, some came from the same family, and that most village council members of Fanling Wai (cun wei hui cheng yuan) were successful applicants. The result was considered unfair because many of these successful applicants were said to have bribed the Village Representatives for their applications. So the District Officer and Village Representatives had to set up new criteria for reconsidering the applications. "The detail of the criterion is as follows (Data collected from the Fanling Wai village notice-board in 1994): (1) Villagers having large families and those whose present living conditions were comparatively less desirable. (1) Villagers who could afford the construction costs of the houses and were unlikely to dispose of the completed houses to outsiders. (11) Villagers who were enthusiastic towards serving fellow villagers and were benevolent towards the affairs of the village. (iv) Villagers who had submitted applications before June 1989. (v) Applicants who were or had been members of either the village committee, or Da Jiao Committee or Village Guard would be considered to have served their fellow villagers and to be benevolent towards the affairs of Fanling Wai. (Da Jiao is a lineage-based religious festival, see footnote 10). (vi) Where two or more applicants having a father and son relationship were successful in this selection exercise, only one application would be selected for allocation of a Small House site. "Some villagers anticipated that their building rights would not be realized in their lifetime due to the keen competition or to their lack of money, so they decided to sell their "right to build" (ding quan) to land developers to profit. That is, land developers have offered villagers money to make use of their building rights to apply to build houses elsewhere. During my fieldwork, I found a total of seven Pangs who had successfully applied to build ding houses outside Fanling Wai. Six were built in San Wai of Lung Yeuk Tau (the Tang lineage settlement in Fanling), and one in Long Chai, Fanling. In fact, the phenomena of selling ding quan by villagers to make a profit has been a common one. For example, according to the Far Eastern Economic Review, ten villagers living abroad who had no intention of returning to Hong Kong made a total profit of $500,000 by selling their ding quan to land developers (1982: 55, quoted in Allen Chun, op. cit., p. 222). * In 1976, in order to discourage villagers from making profits by selling their ding wu, the government amended the policy to pay the government full market value premium if houses are sold within five years of the end of construction work. 27. The emigrant Mans also built new village houses in San Tin as the ultimate proof of their stake in the community of their birth. See James Watson, op. cit., p. 165 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1997 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579 82 two long roughly-hewn granite slabs. Near villages adjacent to the sea stone jetties were built, the largest almost certainly being that at Kowloon City with its 21 spans, each with five longitudinal slabs supported on granite piers, which was completed in 1875 with a wooden extension added in 1892, and connected to the older Walled City by a wide road. Reclamations were formed, for example, at Sha Tau Kok, Nam Chung and Luk Keng (near Starling Inlet), Shuen Wan and Yuen Long. These were sited on the tidal flats behind rock/mud/stick bunds located at low water level, and incorporated horizontal timber plank sluice gates. It took seven years for the salt to leach out of the sea bed with quarterly flushings before the land could be put to agricultural use. Irrigation schemes were constructed throughout the rural areas involving construction of temporary dams across streams, simple pedal-operated wooden paddle-belt machines for raising water (usually around a metre), small bunds, catchwater channels and even bamboo pipe-aqueducts to cross low-lying ground. To provide power for traditional village industries, wooden water-wheels were installed adjacent to streams. Harbour Works On the signing of the Convention of Chuen-pi in 1841, Captain Belcher of HMS Sulphur undertook a hydrographic survey of Hong Kong Island and the surrounding waters with separate scales indicating sea miles and cables, statute miles and furlongs, and yards. The chart's emphasis was on water depths in fathoms, rocks and coastlines with the general shape of the hills and prominent landmarks shown only for navigational purposes. As the years passed, the benefits of Hong Kong's natural deepwater harbour were exploited and, by the turn of the century, some 40% of China's foreign trade was passing through Hong Kong which had by this time become one of the world's principal ports with its fine dockyards and excellent workforce devoted to shipbuilding and repairing - indeed "a sort of Far Eastern Marine Clapham Junction”. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 409 the community as a shining example of a native son. He certainly helped bridge the vast gap between Victorian, colonial society and the Chinese community and he frequently presented - and clarified the often-misunderstood Chinese viewpoint. One gets the impression that, in spite of his western background he was still at heart very Chinese. In spite of having an eminent pastor father, the Reverend Ho Fuk Tong (Ho Tsun Shin), he was not opposed, for example, to concubinage. In the same way that Sir Kai Ho Kai was a son of whom Hong Kong could be truly proud, so too the author's family has roots going back in the Territory for a number of generations. As a true Hongkongese, Choa has had a lifetime of experience as a physician, scholar and senior government administrator. He is a long-time, life member of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch. Such a background fits him admirably to write such a book. It has been well researched, contains a wealth of detail and is a good read. Understandably, with limited information in some areas, this account is often more about the times in which he lived than Ho Kai himself. But that does not detract from the value of the book. As one of Hong Kong's true sons Sir Kai Ho Kai deserves to go down in history, during an important period, as one of the few Chinese who was able to leave his indelible mark. The book, together with its epilogue, bibliography and 11 appendices, should be on the shelves of every serious researcher of Hong Kong history. At the same time the book is a good product, on good quality paper with clear print and a stout, attractive cover, unlike so many books published today. Although some of the 25 illustrations, which are mainly photographs, are more common, there are some the reviewer had not seen before. DAN WATERS NOTES 1 Susanna Hoe, The Private Life of Old Hong Kong: Western Women in the British Colony 1841 - 1941, Oxford University Press (1991), pp. 293; and Univer- ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x 2 of the lower Pearl River Estuary. By AD 331, when the County of Tung Kuan was established, the then Salt Intendant certainly had his yamen (official residence and office) at Nam Tau. Nam Tau became the new county seat in that year, and the then Salt Intendant was promoted to County Magistrate, and the old Salt Monopoly yamen was upgraded to become the new County Magistrate's yamen, with a new yamen thereafter built for the incoming Salt Intendant. These early references also do not speak of Kowloon City specifically, but it is very likely that, with the Salt Intendancy headquarters so close, the salt-fields at Kowloon City were already then in full operation, probably with a Sub-Intendant in charge there, and it is likely that this was so from Nanyueh times. At some date between 331 and 1163 the Tung Kuan Salt Intendancy at Nam Tau was split into four, with one of the new Salt Intendants stationed at Kowloon City (then called Kwun Fu Cheung, "Rich Official Salt-fields"). The most likely period for this development (which was associated with an attempt to increase revenue from the Salt Monopoly in Kwangtung) is the tenth century, when again Kwangtung formed a separate Empire, that of the Nanhan (907-979); considerable amounts of Nanhan pottery have been found in the general Kowloon City area, suggesting that this was a place of some significance then. By the date of this split of the Salt Intendancy there can be no doubt that Kowloon City was an important Salt Monopoly centre. In 1163 the Kwun Fu Cheung Salt Intendancy yamen was moved to Tip Fuk (Tiefu) on Mirs Bay, where it stayed for a few decades — perhaps a hundred years — before returning to Kowloon City. In or shortly before 1293, the Kwun Fu Salt Intendancy was amalgamated with the Salt Intendancy headquartered at Wong Tin outside Sai Heung (Xixiang), a little to the north of Nam Tau, and the old Kowloon City Salt Intendant's yamen (which was a walled compound) became the yamen for a new County Sub-Magistracy then formed. This Sub-Magistracy was upgraded in 1370, and moved to Chek Mei Village outside Sham Chun (Shenzhen) in that year; it was moved back to Kowloon City in 1841, together with the yamen of the local Military Commander, which had previously been at Tai Pang (Dapeng) on Mirs Bay, to bring the Sub-Magistrate and Commander closer to the anticipated problems arising from the British occupation of Hong Kong. The walls of Kowloon City, which ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x the whole area remained a Restricted District, and closed to civilian settlement. The earliest civilian settlement in the area that we know of dates from the middle-late twelfth century. The Lam clan settled in this period at Po Kong, and, as will be discussed further below, the Chan clan settled in the Nga Tsin Wai area at about the same date. The foundation date of Ma Tau Wai is probably middle-late twelfth century as well. It is noticeable that the Salt Intendancy moved at precisely this period (1163) to Tip Fuk, in the still unsettled Mirs Bay area: it is likely that a decision to allow civil settlement around Kowloon City was coupled with a decision to keep the Restricted District in place around the Mirs Bay salt-fields, and to move the Salt Intendant's yamen into this still secure part of its old district. The most significant event in the early history of the area was the visit to Kowloon City of the Sung boy-Emperor Ching and his brother Ping (himself Emperor from the Third Moon, 1278) in 1277. The boy-Emperor and his remnant Court were being pushed down to the south by the Mongol troops, and, from the 2nd Moon in 1277 until the final destruction of their forces and the death of the Emperor Ping in the 2nd Moon, 1279, they were unable to leave the area around the mouth of the Pearl River, which was all they were able to control. During this period they stayed at Kowloon for five months (4th to 9th Moons, 1277). It is likely that the Imperial family stayed in the Salt Intendant's yamen, but a wooden "Travelling Palace" was also built for the Court. This may well have been built at the site of the later village of Yi Wong Tin, E, "Palace of the Two Kings" - this name is clearly rather suggestive (this village stood under today's Tam Kung Road, near Mok Cheung Street). Yi Wong Tin village stood just below the Sacred Hill, which was crowned by the Sung Wong Toi Rock, which has commemorated the boy-Emperor's stay here since the Ming dynasty at least. The presence of the Sung remnant Court for this period must have had major implications for the residents of the area, although it is difficult now to discover details. Many villages in the area (including Nga Tsin Wai) claim to have been founded by remnants of the Sung Court left behind when the Court moved away in late 1277, but in many cases (including Nga Tsin Wai) it can be shown that this is unlikely. One nineteenth century clan of Ma Tau Wai, indeed, the Chius, claimed ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x Hang, Nga Tsin Long, Shek Kwu Lung and elsewhere in the area. Branches of the village clans moved out of the area to Siu Lek Yuen, Tseung Kwan O, and Lamma Island, during the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Written records, however, give a different, more complex, and doubtless more accurate account. The Ng clan has three surviving Tsuk Po, an old hand-written one from Nga Tsin Wai itself (several slightly different copies of this survive), and a recent printed revision and updating of it, and yet another hand-written version from the branch of the clan that moved to Siu Lek Yuen in Sha Tin in the late seventeenth century14. The Chan clan has a Tsuk Po from the branch of the clan that moved to Tseung Kwan O in the early eighteenth century. No written records are known to survive from the Li clan, however. The foundation records of Tai Wai, in Sha Tin, also have some information to offer. The Chan clan Tsuk Po gives as the First Ancestor of the clan the second of the clan to settle in Kwangtung. Chan Tsun-hing (陳遵興), the father of the First Ancestor, came from Kiangsi, and was posted to Nam Hung (Nanhsiung, 南雄) in Kwangtung after achieving great success in the Imperial Examinations in 1138. His son, the First Ancestor, Chan Hing-yuen (陳興遠), also achieved official rank, and moved from Nam Hung after he had married and had two sons (i.e., probably in the middle twelfth century, or a little after that period), to Nga Pin Heung (衙前鄉, “Beside the Yamen”). Later in the Tsuk Po it states that this place was "at Kowloon", and that the place was so named because it stood to one side of the yamen of the Pak Kap Sze (伯嘉祠), who was presumably a military official. The Chan clan Tsuk Po gives five further generations of the clan who died in the Sung (i.e., before 1279), and a further three who died in the Yuan (i.e., between 1280 and 1367). If it is assumed that Chan Hing-yuen was born about 1125, and assuming a 25-year generation gap, the last Sung ancestor would have been born about 1245, and the last Yuan ancestor about 1320, and this seems to fit the dates given well, and can be taken as probably close to the truth. The Chan clan Tsuk Po then proceeds to give six ancestors who died in the Ming. This cannot be correct. The Ming (1367-1644) ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x 15 Ling, and at Ma Tau Wai/Ma Tau Chung. The Tsuk Po also give no dates for the branches of the Ng clan settled at Sha Po and Shek Kwu Lung, although it is likely that these broke away from the Nga Tsin Wai main stock late, in the nineteenth century (there were also branches of the Lei clan of Nga Tsin Wai in these two villages, who probably moved there at about the same time as the Ngs). Over time, so many of the Chans and Leis moved out of Nga Tsin Wai that that village became almost entirely resided in by the Ngs. As of today there are only one or two households left of the Chans and Leis. Even a hundred years ago, the great majority of the Chans had already moved elsewhere, as will be discussed further below, and in the last few decades most of the Leis have left as well. Nonetheless, the Nga Tsin Wai Ngs remain very much aware that their village is a three-clan village, even if two of the clans have declined to a very low percentage. Groups of Tses () and Yungs (the Chinese character for their surname is not known) bought into Nga Tsin Wai late in the last century, but these incomers are in no way to be compared with the Chans and Leis who are, the village elders of today state, “truly our brothers". The Tses and Yungs eventually sold out and left the area, anyway. The Nga Tsin Wai villagers invite all their clan brethren from Nga Tsin Long, Siu Lek Yuen, Lamma, Tseung Kwan O, and the other Kowloon villages for the Tin Hau Birthday celebrations each year. Most send representatives, to show that they still recognise their relationship with Nga Tsin Wai. This is even more the case with the decennial Ta Tsiu (the “Great Sacrifices" which bring a community back into conformity with the wishes of the deities), which Nga Tsin Wai and its nearby villages have held every ten years since 1726". Topography of the Village Area The village as laid out in 1570, and as rebuilt and rehabilitated in 1724, consisted of a rectangular, almost square, walled enclosure (about 60 yards deep by 67 wide) set in the middle of a wide moat (between 30 and 35 feet wide) which surrounded it on all sides, and which could be accessed only over a single narrow causeway leading to the single gate. This gate consisted of two leaves of stout planks, barrable from behind, and with provision for being reinforced across the front by iron bars or stout wooden bars let into housings cut into the jambs and lockable from within the gatehouse. The walls were of good brick, on stone ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x 19 nineteenth century that Sha Po started to establish itself as a separate village. As well as the residences outside the walls, the village had its latrines outside the walls, on the northern side of the moat. There were three or four of these. To the southwest of the walled village, and adjacent to the important footpath from the village to the South-East Gate of the Walled City, there were a string of important structures. Two or three large houses stood near the moat (one, owned by Ng Kit-san jointly with Ng Yuk-chan, was about 45 feet wide by 60 deep, with a courtyard and an outhouse as big as fourteen of the houses within the walls). Next to Ng Kit-san and Ng Yuk-chan's house, was the Ng clan Ancestral Hall, another large building (about 50 feet wide by 55 deep, with an outhouse, and a well) fronted by a courtyard: the village school was held in this building". The school was managed by the Ng Shing Tat Tso Ancestral Trust, which went to great pains to hire a good teacher. They provided him with a spacious house outside the walls since the houses within the walls were too cramped to attract a good teacher. The teacher was probably housed in one of the houses owned by the trust in the Market perhaps the large house with a courtyard behind owned by the trust in Hoklo Tsuen, near the sea. With a house in the Market, the teacher would have been in close contact with the scholars who were to be found around the Sub-Magistracy and the Lok Sin Tong. The school had an excellent reputation, and attracted boys from the Market, as well as the village. There was a wide footpath, which surrounded the moat on all sides. Four important footpaths fed into this path around the moat. To the northwest was the footpath which connected the Market at Kowloon City with Tai Wai and the villages of the Sha Tin valley. This path crossed the mountains by the pass below Lion Rock, and came into Sha Tin past the Che Kung Temple. To the northeast was the very important footpath which, having crossed the river, passed by Po Kong to the ferry pier at Yuen Chau Kok in Sha Tin (this was the main path between Kowloon City and Tai Po, Sham Chun, and Wai Chow). A branch of this path went to Siu Lek Yuen in Sha Tin. These paths crossed the mountains into Sha Tin by Sha Tin Pass and Grasscutters' Pass. To the southwest was the path to the South-East Gate of the Walled City ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x 28 of Cheung Yuk-tong (E) arrived (presumably this relieving force came from the garrison at the County City of Nam Tau), and retook the Walled City after a day of very heavy fighting, in which two of the Government soldiers died, and "over 30" bandits. Presumably, the successful defence of Nga Tsin Wai took place during this same seven-day period, in September - October 1854. There were probably other occasions when bandits were forced away. For instance, the villagers of the Siu Lek Yuen inter-village alliance in Sha Tin have a story of a heroic fight by their combined manpower against a gang of bandits in the 1860s or 1870s. The Siu Lek Yuen villagers, having killed a number of the bandits, forced the rest to flee over the mountains to Nga Tsin Wai, where the Siu Lek Yuen villagers left them to the further attentions of the men of the League of Seven27. The Nga Tsin Wai villagers also remember an attempt by the Tang clan (probably of Kam Tin) to impose Tang clan political control on this area. They relate that the elders of the League of Seven met the Tangs, and showed them the bags in which the silver which had been gathered by the League as a defence fund was kept, and the guns and gunpowder at their gate. "Every tsin of silver, and every grain of gunpowder will be spent to fight you off", the elders said, and the Tangs eventually left, with their tails between their legs2. The last time the Nga Tsin Wai villagers closed and barred their gates against attack was in 1967, during the Riots. When the Riots broke out in San Po Kong, the villagers closed their gate, and put themselves into a position of defence, although their valour was not then put to the test. Nga Tsin Wai's position at the head of the League of Seven put it into a very important position in the traditional politics of the Kowloon area. The Chief Elder of the League of Seven - usually the Chief Elder of Nga Tsin Wai - was one of the two or three most important figures in the district. The Sub-Magistrate would certainly have included him whenever he needed to consult the gentry of the district. As noted further below, Nga Tsin Wai village trusts were the subsoil land-owners of a good deal of the land in the area, especially in the Market, and at Sha Po, thus reinforcing their predominant local political position. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x 34 The 1902 Lease does record a number of apparently very poor households, as for instance Ng Fuk and Ng Ki-san, who held between them a mere 0.05 acre of arable land, Ng Shing-po who held just 0.04 acres, plus a further 0.08 held jointly with Ng Loi, Ng Tso-kwai who held 0.04 acre, Ng Ying-shan who held 0.06 acre, Li Yung-wun who held 0.04 acre, and Ng Ping-fuk with 0.04 acres. Ng Chan Shi, Ng A Hing, Ng Lam-hing jointly with Ng Tso-hing, and Ng Tsun-ming are all recorded as owning only houses, with no agricultural land, although there can be no question that these were genuinely resident villagers in every respect. These areas of agricultural land are far too low to support a household. In these instances, however, we are probably seeing men whose fathers were still alive, and where the bulk of the family land was recorded under the father's name. In such circumstances, where an adult son had himself bought a piece of land with money he had saved from his own labour, then this small piece of land was often regarded as the son's alone, and would have been so recorded. This cannot be proved at Nga Tsin Wai, since the Tsuk Po in most cases records the posthumous Tong names rather than the names recorded in the Lease, but it is extremely likely for Li Kam-tak, for instance. This man held 0.1 acres, of which 0.06 acres were held jointly with two others - but Kam-tak was an important Ng clan elder in 1902, the trustee of the moderately significant Ting Fuk Tso, with its holdings of a house in Sha Po and 0.37 acres. Similarly, Ng Loi, with his 0.08 acres, was nonetheless a significant elder, the trustee of two trusts, including the important Chiu Pak Tso. Ng Ping-fuk, too, may have had only 0.04 acres of agricultural land, but he also owned two very large houses outside the village, as large between them as six standard houses, and was one of the trustees of the small King Tai Tso. Another reason for these tiny estates may have been that families were unsure whether it would later on prove to be advantageous to have a name entered on the Lease (as was definitely the case with the Ch'ing Imperial Land Registers), and so some families allowed adult sons to enter themselves as the owner of some small plot in case this later proved of value. In none of these cases should the small estates recorded be taken as the household's sole economic resource. Few households in Nga Tsin Wai (other than the remnant Chans, and the Yungs) seem to have held less than 0.4 acres of arable land. In many cases, households would have extended their land holdings ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x 38 The Li clan also had a range of ancestral trusts. In the absence of any Tsuk Po, however, it is never very clear whether a particular trust is a "family trust" or a genuine ancestral trust. The two main trusts, however, the Shing Kwai Tso (named from the Founding Ancestor - the transliteration should be Shing Kai, rather than Shing Kwai), and the Luk Wa Tso (this was most likely named from the six descent lines of the clan, and thus probably equated in membership with the Shing Kwai Tso), both had substantial land-holdings (1.09 acres and 1.43 acres respectively), as had also the Ching Wun Tso (0.93 acres): this latter Tso was named from the pivotal ancestor of the largest of the clan descent lines. All three of these Tso had as their trustee Li Lai-ting, who was, in 1902, clearly the dominant elder of the Li clan. Other trusts were probably family trusts, as for instance the Kwan Fong Tso (0.24 acres), also with Li Lai-ting as trustee, but probably in this case as the manager of his own family estates. Other Li clan trusts, including the Sz Fo Tso (“Four “Fo” Ancestors”), Sz Cheung Tso ("Four "Cheung" Ancestors"), Sz Kwong Tso ("Four "Kwong" Ancestors"), and Sz Pin Tso (“Four “Pin" Ancestors") were probably vehicles for the holding of land used to provide income for rituals and grave-maintenance - none of these trusts were very wealthy (0.43 acres, 0.09 acres, 0.19 acres, and 0.30 acres respectively, with a further 0.13 acres owned jointly by the Sz Pin and Sz Kwong Tso). Li Lai-ting was trustee for the Sz Pin Tso, which must have been the trust of his own sub-descent line. In general, the Li clan of Nga Tsin Wai had 5.70 acres held in trust, 28.12% of their total holdings of 20.21 acres, much the same percentage as the 28.92% held by Ng clan trusts. The land-holdings of the Lis averaged 0.77 acres per recorded house-owning household, only a little above half of the 1.31 acres per recorded house-owning households of the Ngs. This, again, illustrates the greater prosperity of the Ngs in 1902. Within the Li clan there was much the same range of wealth as in the Ngs, although there were fewer joint households. Land-holdings include, as in the case of the Ngs, some households with only houses recorded (Li In-ting, Li Kong-fuk, Li Tso), or else with only tiny plots of arable land (Li Kam-tsing, 0.09 acres; Li Yung-wan, 0.04 acres), or else with just house property and a vegetable garden (Li Tin, 2 houses within the walls and 0.08 acres; Li Kun-sang, 1 house within the walls ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x 39 and Li Kun-fuk, 2 houses within the walls, and then with these two brothers or cousins holding 0.17 acres of land jointly, and Kun-sang in addition a further 0.01 individually; Li Tin-hi, 2 houses within the walls and 0.18 acres; Li Tin-yau, 1 house within the walls and 0.11 acres). The reasons for these households with far less arable land than could possibly allow for subsistence are likely to be the same as in the case of the Ngs, although, in this case, some of the Li households may have been in the process of moving out of the village. In the case for Li Kun-fuk and Li Kun-sang, however, who were important elders of the clan (Kun-fuk was the trustee of three trusts, and Kun-sang of two), the tiny-recorded individually owned areas of agricultural land must hide far more substantial areas actually under their control.. Of those households of the Li clan which recorded their land-holdings under the family head's name, the holdings varied from 0.31 acres (Kun-tai), and then through 0.45 acres (Yung-tai), 0.67 acres (Yung Wa and Yung Fat jointly), 0.89 acres (Yuk-hing), 0.93 acres (Kam Tak), 1.15 acres (Lai-ting, the dominant elder), 1.5 acres (Ping-shan, part of this was held jointly with Tak-hing and Chiu-hing, and another tiny part jointly with Ip Shi); to 3.81 acres (Loi: he also owned 0.86 acres jointly with Li Hau-fuk). Kun-tai, who held no less than 5 houses within the walls, must have been wealthier than his 0.31 acres of agricultural land-holding would suggest: he was also one of the trustees of the Luk Wa Tso. He probably had access to a significant amount of trust property. Yung-tai also had a significant amount of house property - three houses within the walls. Relatively wealthy villages like Nga Tsin Wai were usually marked by an interest in education. The village had a fine school, which was held in the Ng clan Ancestral Hall. Villages like Nga Tsin Wai often also had "literary clubs", where the more scholarly and better educated of the villagers would meet to write poetry together, and drink wine in the light of the moon. The Sub-Magistrate in Kowloon City encouraged such literary groups, in particular by sponsoring poetry competitions and so forth. Nga Tsin Wai villagers had access to such a club (probably in the Market), and the Li clan had a small trust to support it, the Man Lau Tong ("Association for the Literature House"). This owned only 0.05 acres, the income of which probably supported the costs of tea and wine for the Li clan members of the club, but it demonstrates the scholarly ambitions of the village. Page 75 Page 76 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x 49 Tsuk Po. of the 132 marriages from the 17th to the 24th generation where the surname of the wife was remembered (the elders in 1902 were mostly of the 23rd generation), 33 were Chans or Lis, probably from within the village (25%). Only 6 were Lams, probably from Po Kong (4.5%). The tendency to marry within the village probably increased over time: 21 of the 77 marriages from the 23rd and 24th generation were probably from within the village (27.3%: there were 4 marriages with Lams probably from Po Kong in these generations - 5.2%), whereas, from the 17th to 20th generation, of the 23 marriages remembered, only 2 were probably from within the village (8.7%). In this early period there was only one marriage with a Lam of, presumably, Po Kong (4.3%). The villagers claim that they frequently married girls from Sha Tin, and this is very much born out by the Tsuk Po, which records no less than 14 marriages with Wais, and 5 with Chois, of whom the Wais almost certainly, and the Chois probably, came from Sha Tin (the Wais from Tai Wai, Tin Sam, and Keng Hau, the Chois from Siu Lek Yuen, Tin Sam, and Tai Wai). The marriages with these two clans alone represent 14.2% of all the marriages remembered, and there were probably other Sha Tin marriages as well. The villagers also claim that Nga Tsin Wai boys often married Hakka girls, and this, too, is born out by the Tsuk Po. There are several marriages recorded, for instance, with Laus, and the only local clan of Laus were the Hakka Laus from Ngau Chi Wan. A marriage with a Chu, in the 24th generation, is very probably with a Hakka girl from Tai Hom. The elders today say that, in the past, many of the villagers could understand Hakka, although few could speak it. Hakka girls who married into Nga Tsin Wai were expected to speak Punti, and adjust themselves to the Punti customs of their new village. The girls who married into Nga Tsin Wai had to learn from the older women the boundaries of the area in which Nga Tsin Wai women could cut fuel. Each village had an area of hillside, which belonged solely to that village to cut fuel in, and inter-village brawls were not uncommon when women trespassed into the woodcutting grounds of another village. Nga Tsin Wai cut its fuel on the Kowloon slopes of Lion Rock (i.e. the area where protection from tigers was the responsibility of the Nga Tsin Wai Tin Hau). They could not cut on the Sha Tin side of the pass (probably to their regret, since the Sha Tin side was ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x 61 See) Hong Kong 1987, WW#ENS "明 (*1##AB) (Forts and Batteries Coastal Defence in Quangdong during the Ming and Qing Dynasties), Urban Council, Hong Kong, 1997, A Lui Yuen ching Forts and Pirates A History of Hong Kong, Hong Kong History Society, Hong Kong, 1990, p 29 5 On the foundation of Po Kong, see Jen Yu wen, "The Southern Sung Stone-Engraving at North Fu Tamg" Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Hong Kong Branch, Vol 5, 1965, pp 65-68 The founder was the great grandfather of a significant local leader in the Kowloon area in 1274, the man responsible for managing the rebuilding of the Tin Hau Temple in Joss House Bay in that year Given his local standing, it is likely that this man was in his 50s or 60s in 1274 This being so, his great-grandfather was probably born in the period 1120-1140, and a foundation date for Po Kong in the 1160s would therefore seem very likely E 6 On this incident see Jen Yu wen, "The Travelling Palace of Southern Sung in Kowloon" Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Hong Kong Branch, Vol 7, 1967 pp 21-38, Jen Yu-wen, ed , Hong Kong, 1960, , Hong Kong, 1959, #M, (R), op cit, Chapter 4, 蕭國健,“香港王廟奉[楊大王]”in <香港前代史論集> ed 國健 and 大厅, Taipei, 1985 7 Jen Yu wen, "The Travelling Palace of Southern Sung", op cit p 33 8 * The young princess was drowned at sea, and the body was lost the grave had buried in it, to represent the deceased, a golden figurine the grave was known locally as the 'Grave of the Golden Maiden' ፡፡ "Some scholars doubt this ascription (for instance, in his "FAI PREFLEX", op cit) but the identification seems certain to me The identification was first made by the eminent late Ching scholar, Chan Pak-to (B) in a tablet he placed in the Hau Wong Temple, Kowloon City, in 1917 (the text is to be found in 科大,陸鴻基,吳倫霞<香港碑銘彙編> (D Faure, B Luk, A Ng, The Historical Inscriptions of Hong Kong), Hong Kong, Urban Council, 1986, Vol 2, pp 446-449) I find the reasons given by Chan Pak-to and Jen Yu wen (loc cit) on this very compelling 10 In 1846, as shown by the drawing of that date by Lt Collinson, the market comprised just the one main street, and the pier had not yet then been built The ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x 62 market clearly grew in the later nineteenth century, but it was already large and prosperous by 1846. "The map is the Coastal Map of Kwangtung of 1553 of Ying Ka (MW l), reproduced in Hal Empson, Mapping Hong Kong: A Historical Atlas, Hong Kong, Government Information Services, 1992, Plate 1-2. Kowloon is not included in the list of Markets in the 1688 San On County Gazetteer (at least, not under an easily recognisable name), but both a "Kwun Fu Village" (九龍墟) and a “Kowloon Village" (九龍村) are, as well as Nga Tsin Wai, Po Kong, and Ma Tau Wai Villages. Despite this, however, it seems likely that a market was in existence at Kowloon City from well before the late seventeenth century. The Kowloon City Market is equally not included in the 1819 County Gazetteer, by which date there can be no shadow of a doubt that the market was very well, and very long, established. The earliest surviving land-deeds for the market date from 1751 and 1755, by when, clearly, the market was well-established: see J. Hayes, The Hong Kong Region: Institutions and Leadership in Town and Countryside, Hamden, Connecticut, 1977, p. 235, n. 14. In 1822, when the Hau Wong Temple near the market was restored, 85 shops from Kowloon City Market donated to the restoration, together with 5 (probably apothecaries), 31 quarries (石場), presumably from the surrounding hills, 4 ferryboats and 29 fishing-boats, as well as 8 shops from other markets. Clearly, the market was, in 1822, a vital and very well established place. See D. Faure, B. Luk, A. Ng, The Historical Inscriptions of Hong Kong, op. cit. Vol. 1, pp. 75-78. WE The dates of 1354 and 1724 are included on a tablet giving the history of the village placed by the villagers in the Tin Hau Temple in the village. The details of the three founders' connections with the late Sung court are from statements made by village elders to Dr Hayes, and again to me, at various dates. 14 I have used a copy of one of the Nga Tsin Wai hand-written versions (kindly given to me by Mr Ng Hung-on, 吳雄安), the (privately printed) Nga Tsin Wai Wai Clan Genealogy (寶安縣衙前圍吳氏族譜), and the hand-written version from Siu Lek Yuen, a copy of which may be found in the “Historical Literature of Sha Tin" series in the library of United College, Chinese University of Hong Kong. 15 A copy was kindly given me by Mr Chan Wai-hong (陳偉康). This Tsuk Po was produced some years ago, from genealogical information written on the back of the clan Ancestral Tablets. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x 64 27 See P.H. Hase "Bandits in the Siu Lek Yuen Yeuk", in Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 32, 1992, pp. 214-216. 29 I am indebted to the interview notes of Dr James Hayes for this incident. 29 The traditional land-law of the New Territories divided the land-ownership rights into subsoil rights and topsoil rights. The topsoil landowner had the right to till the land, or to sell or mortgage that right. The subsoil landowner had the right to take a rent-charge from the topsoil landowner, and he resumed the topsoil rights should the topsoil owner fail. It was the subsoil owner who was responsible for paying the land-tax, if any. The British declared the system inappropriate, and declared the topsoil owners the sole owner, and personally responsible for the Crown Rent. For the Nga Tsin Wai sub-soil rights in Kowloon City, see J.W. Hayes The Hong Kong Region op.cit. pp. 167-168. 30 See J.W. Hayes, The Hong Kong Region, op. cit, pp. 168-171. 31 The information in this section is taken from the Chan clan Tsuk Po, and from information given me by the Chan clan elders. See also B. Williams, "The Chan Family of Tseung Kwan O", in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Hong Kong Branch, Vol. 7, 1967, pp. 158-160, which gives additional material taken from the information given by the elders in the 1960s. 32 See J.W. Hayes, The Hong Kong Region, op. cit. p. 171. 33 See J.W. Hayes, The Hong Kong Region, op. cit. pp. 167-168. 34 For these inscriptions, see D. Faure, B. Luk, A. Ng, The Historical Inscriptions of Hong Kong, op. cit, Vol. 1, pp. 75-78, 114-116, 184-188. 35 Information from the recently revised Tsuk Po. 36 Information in this paragraph is taken from the Census of 1911, and from information given by elders of a number of villages. See P.H. Hase, “Traditional Life in the New Territories: The Evidence of the 1911 and 1921 Censuses", in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Hong Kong Branch, Vol. 36, 1996, pp. 1-92. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x 255 NOTES AND QUERIES FENGSHUI AND ROAD WORKS AT TONG FUK VILLAGE, SOUTH LANTAU, IN 1958 JAMES HAYES In my memoir of government service, Friends and Teachers, Hong Kong and its People 1953-1987 (Hong Kong University Press, 1996), one of the opening chapters was devoted to my duties in connection with the Shek Pik Water Scheme on Lantau Island to the west of Hong Kong in the late 1950s. In it, I recounted the periodic confrontations with the villagers of that then remote place over the drillings and soil excavations needed to establish the viability of the proposed design for the dam, along with the similar difficulties experienced later on, during construction work on the reservoir, its access roads and catch waters. Bringing obstruction and delays, the local people's opposition stemmed from their strongly rooted belief in geomancy (fengshui) and in the adverse effects for man and beast certain in their minds to follow any tampering with the landscape, especially when its orange-red coloured soil was exposed to view. Similar problems were also being encountered in adjoining old villages during the extension of the only recently completed South Lantau Road to the reservoir site. Five miles of new motor road were required, and the line passed through several settlements. There were difficulties with the villagers at each of these places, particularly at Tong Fuk Village, to which at one point I and my land staff had to make frequent visits because of the villagers' continual interference with the contractor's workmen on site, regardless of promises made and assurances given. Needless to say, the appearance of Tong Fuk village today, with its array of smart "Spanish Villa" type houses, restaurants and shops bears no resemblance to its former self. In 1958, every house was old and built in the traditional architectural style, occupied by humans or livestock, or used for storage, and all its inhabitants were engaged in agricultural work, mainly in raising the two annual rice crops on which they depended for a subsistence livelihood. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x 256 Getting to Tong Fuk at that time was a slow business. After taking a scheduled ferry from Hong Kong, and travelling along the new South Lantau Road to the road-end at Cheung Sha, half the distance to Shek Pik, we had still to walk along old country paths and ford large and small streams. One of these stream courses was wide and boulder-strewn, and crossing it in full flood after heavy rain, as well as several smaller ones, was guaranteed to give one a thorough soaking. However, being young and active, and in high spirits, we thought nothing of it. In fact, I positively enjoyed it! Nonetheless, when visits were so time-consuming and there was plenty of work to do in the office and elsewhere in the District, the need to go out so frequently in that short space of time was not appreciated. On this occasion, local opposition was centred on one especially sensitive spot, where the villagers insisted that rock and boulders be broken up by hand instead of being removed by blasting with explosives. My reluctant acquiescence made the District Office unpopular with the government engineers from the Roads Office, who thought we were pandering to the villagers. So it might have seemed, but there was otherwise certain to be a conflict with people who were quite numerous, united in their opposition, and always capable of taking the law into their own hands, not omitting sabotage of contractors' equipment and installations. In this respect, I may add, they were no different from the majority of New Territories' villagers of the day. To run such a risk was not advisable in circumstances where both the senior police and civil authorities were based in Kowloon, several hours' journey from the site. Violent confrontations would not have been acceptable to my seniors; and in any case, it was part of my personal responsibility as District Officer to avoid that kind of thing. Moreover, further, and more prolonged delays would be certain to ensue. This was unthinkable. Nonetheless, our experiences on this particular occasion were certainly rather trying. The full story, on two and a half closely typed pages, was contained in a minute to the District Commissioner dated 27th May 1958. I do not know whether it has survived in the Public Records Office of Hong Kong, but fortunately I kept the copy on which this account is based. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x 257 As I reported to Mr. (later Sir Ronald) Holmes, the villagers had changed their minds about letting the work proceed "a further three times" in the four days that had elapsed since my first visit to the village to deal with the difficulty. Enquiring into the reason for the renewed stoppage of work, I was told by the village representative and elders that the deities in the two local temples had had to be consulted, and that the propitious day for resuming work would be a day or two later. Frustration and annoyance are writ large in my report on these events: I replied that I certainly hoped that this would be the case since I was not possessed of second sight sufficient to enable me to know what they had not said to me on my first visit [about the need to consult the deities]. Nor could I be expected to understand their frequent changes of mind during the past two weeks when they would say one thing to Mr. Abbas [the land bailiff], quite another to the contractor and the Roads Engineers when they wished to resume work, and yet another to myself; not once but several times all round. Masters indeed in the art of creating confusion and uncertainty! On this visit, it had soon appeared that the villagers had thought up extra reasons for causing us delays. On our way to Tong Fuk, passing by the South Lantau Rural Committee office at Pui O, we had been given letters from the Village Representatives of Tong Fuk and the adjoining village of Shui Hau, making some additional points in the ongoing dialogue with the District Office. These concerned what I described as "an entirely new series of complaints" about the crop compensation to be paid in connection with the engineering works, the villagers professing themselves worried about the compensation schedules and about rates of compensation: ... "All this, mark you," [as I told the Commissioner], “though in their large-scale airing of perplexities on the Monday not one word of these matters had been breathed, saving only their concern about [the date of] payment." ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x 258 Viewed in retrospect, my report is rather ponderously expressed. My prose tended to be "turgid," the boss once told me, and I resolved to do better! However, turgidity could not disguise my exasperation, which still shines through the contents of the report, loud and clear, 39 years on. Looking back on that period, my exasperation was increased by the fact that I had to put up with (and more to the point, get over) similar difficulties with village communities in other parts of a far-flung District, from Sai Kung in the east to Lantau in the west. With road works going on at each extremity, I was sometimes rushing here and there, backwards and forwards, dealing with problems of this kind. There were special difficulties in getting the new extension to the Sai Kung road past Tso Wo Hang Village in regard to the road line, and also with cutting stone at a certain spot where, my notebook says, "the Village Representative was to say when work could start”. It sticks in my memory that none of the other villages affected by construction work for the new road were as temperamental or difficult as this one, and certainly this seems to be borne out by my notes. See my chapter "The Traditional Background: Hong Kong Villages in the 1950s” in Elizabeth Sinn and Patrick Hase (eds) Beyond the Metropolis: Villages in Hong Kong (Hong Kong, Joint Publishing (HK) Company Limited. As I have written elsewhere, patience and resolution, leavened with an essential saving dash of humour, were qualities in demand on these occasions. The Tong Fuk episode was certainly one of those in which all of these had to be deployed by my land staff and myself during that period. Mercifully, an antidote was sometimes supplied by the villagers themselves, since their ill humour could be turned to laughter by themselves or even by one of us, and lead to an amicable compromise. When all is said and done, it was fun! What was equally important for me as a young D.O. was that in Ronnie Holmes I had an ideal boss, someone who was immensely able, perceptive and compassionate, and a good Chinese linguist, a man who could see both sides of any situation. Also, he would welcome me home for a drink, listen and laugh at my predicaments, and (usually) endorse my solutions to them. By way of a postscript to the above, we were by no means ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2000 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/nk328168n 155 IMAGES ON CHINESE POPULAR RELIGION ALTARS OF THE HEROES INVOLVED IN THE SUPPRESSION OF THE AN LUSHAN REBELLION [AD 755 - 763] KEITH STEVENS China suffered a major internal political upheaval between 755 and 763 when General An Lushan led a rebellion against the Tang emperor. It took some seven years for it to be decisively suppressed by government forces. From some records it would appear that An Lushan was half Turkish and half Soghdian, the son of a Soghdian officer and known as Rokhshan before he took the Chinese name of An Lushan. Recent histories written by foreigners only rarely refer to An Lushan prior to his command of a punitive expedition against the Khitan in 736. This campaign was a failure to such an extent that his superior general considered having him executed. Within ten years, however, he became one of the most powerful of the generals, ruling most of the north-east of what was then China, and in particular holding the governorship of three frontier cities, Pinglu, Fanyang and Hedong, along the northern borders of present day Hebei and Shanxi provinces. This meant that he commanded the best and largest armies of the Empire. Professor Giles' provided An Lushan's biography in some detail, and although very dated it is still of great interest: An Lu-shan died in AD 757. He was born in Luk-chak, of Turkic descent, whose original name had been K'ang. [Presumably Giles was quoting Chinese sources when he related that]... An Lu-shan's mother had been a witch who had prayed for a son on the Ya-lao mountains and at his birth, a halo was seen around the house, and the beasts of the fields cried aloud. The authorities sent to have the child put to death, but he was successfully concealed by his mother. His father died young and his mother re-married, a man named An; ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 191 11 12 capable apprentice Hóng Réngan (1828-1864) who later died as the Shield King among the Taiping insurgents, and Legge's co-pastor of the Chinese congregation at Union Chapel (later Union Church) for twenty-five years, the first modern Chinese theologian, Ho Tsun-sheen (P. Hé Jinshan, known in the 20th century by his sobriquet among Chinese Christians, "Ho Fuk-tong," 1817-1871). Among the many forgotten persons whom Legge knew in his role as a missionary-pastor is a Cantonese resident more than 20 years Legge's elder, Ch'ëa Kam-Kwong (P. Che Jinguang, c. 1800-1861). In the Hong Kong newspapers of the early 1860s it was Ch'ea's life and fate which catapulted Legge into the status of a folk hero among the expatriate and Chinese Christian communities. Yet Ch'ëa's own unusual conversion, his subsequent career as a self-determined missionary, and his tragic murder years later by a local Chinese vigilante squad have been almost completely overlooked in English and Chinese sources. To Legge's credit Ch'ea was the subject of many letters and reflections in various places, so that it became one of three post-mortem memorials for notable Christians associated with his missionary career. Consequently, it is largely on account of the Scottish missionary's writings that Ch'ëa's name and story can be rescued from the dustbins of forgotten Chinese history. 14 13 ## PART TWO: Walking through shadowlands: Ch’ea's transition across major traditions The town of Poklo (P. Bóluó) was the leading city in a district of the same name, about 40 miles east of the capital city of Canton (Guǎngzhōu) and about 20 miles southeast of the impressive mountains of Lo-fow (or Laufu, P. Liúfú or Luófú) range. Those mountains were already made famous after the end of the Han dynasty (4th century A.D.) by Gé Hóng (283-363), a famous Daoist priest who made his retreat on the slopes of Mount Lo-fow when in search of special materials for an immortality elixir. Four or five temples of both Daoist and Buddhist traditions were well established on its slopes in the 19th century, and were visited by Legge and his younger Scottish colleague, John ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 396 In Chapter 3, 'The Confucian Imprint,' I omitted to mention Rev. Joseph Edkins' statement of the enormous influence of Confucius on education, and the reason for its universal pervasiveness. The second such omission relates to Chapter 4, 'Non-Confucian Belief and Practice,' when, in describing the depopulation experienced at Shek Pik, Lantau Island, between around 1870-1930, I had forgotten to add that a similar depopulation had featured in the memories of old men in the nearby village of Tong Fuk. Some details are provided here: but first to Edkins: = Joseph Edkins (1823-1905) was a notable missionary-sinologue, translator and philologist. His Views on Confucianism can be found at pp.120-122 of the revised edition of his Religion in China (London, Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, & Co. Ltd., 1893), partly as follows: The tendencies of the Confucian morality are seen in the national system of education even if they could not afford the expense and had to borrow cash or mortgage land, in which the moral training of the child's mind is always put forward as the chief element. There is a universal system of self-supporting day-school education in that country. Every parent who has a few pence to spare in the month will educate his child. Teaching is the regular profession of the literati, that is, of the class who study for academical degrees. The highest character known in that country is that of an instructor. When the boy goes to school, he becomes a disciple of Confucius. If he is not educated, his nature will go wrong, and he will be a lawless subject and a disobedient son. The end of his education is to show him what virtue is, and to lead him to it. The true disciple of Confucius is the filial son, the loyal subject, and the kind and faithful husband. The Government regards the education of the people as essential to the welfare of the State. But it does not itself educate them by supplying free instruction to the poor. It appoints public examiners to confer degrees and other rewards on successful candidates for such distinctions, and in this way it stimulates and influences voluntary education. The Government decides what books shall form the subject of examination, and what school in philosophy and morals shall be counted orthodox. Its influence on the state of opinion in the country is therefore very great. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 397 The result of the Confucian education is supposed to be the formation of a highly virtuous character....The chief energy of those who have taught it has been expended in the endeavour to give it practical effect on the individual, the family, and the nation.1 In regard to the depopulation at Shek Pik, it is curious how this was repeated at Tong Fuk, another old village four miles to the east, where the 198 persons recorded at the Colony Census of 1911 were survivors of the much larger population of some 700 persons claimed before the onset of disease sometime in the second half of the 19th century. Interviewed in 1971, the elders had been most emphatic about this, on the basis of information handed down by their fathers' generation... 'There was not a single empty or ruined house [before the epidemics struck],' or so they claimed. Later on, in the 1910s, when my oldest informants were then in their teens, the situation worsened again, with two persons dying every day. 'No sooner had we taken out one body for burial, than we had to start all over again.' As at Shek Pik, altered, meaning adverse, fung-shui was blamed for these disasters. 'For we Cantonese, fung-shui is vital,' stressed one of their number. The caption to Plate 25, the rebuilt Tianhou Temple at Chiwan, Shenzhen, can be extended here. I omitted to mention the famous well, prominent in the foreground, with adjoining plaque, As mentioned in the related text, the temple's long history and cultural importance had not saved it from destruction. By the end of the ten-year period of the Cultural Revolution (1966-76) only the foundations survived, and what remained of its historic buildings had been reduced in height and roofed over to provide barrack accommodation for a unit of the People's Liberation Army, still in occupation at the time of my first visit in 1983. The temple's fine stone and wood carvings had gone, along with the many donated fittings and repair tablets that would have been kept within its walls. However, one tradition had survived the decades of Communist ideology. 'This was both the theory and the aim. However, Edkins concluded that despite the intention, 'it has not made them (the Chinese) a moral people. Many of the social virtues are extensively practised among them, but they exhibit to the observer a lamentable want of moral strength. Commercial integrity and speaking the truth are far less common among them than in Christian countries. The standard of principle among them is kept low by the habits of the people.' ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2003 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2v242g390 11 Hon, an 81-year-old woman's experiences in the village, Mr. Fan made comments related to the government's decision on rural development in Sai Kung: A trip to town for Hon involves phoning for a boat to take her to Wong Shek pier and then a bus to Sai Kung. The alternative, an hour's hilly walk, is beyond the frail old woman now. "It is very inconvenient that we have no road, no vehicles can come in," says Fan Koon-mui, ... ++ "If the Government had provided us with transport, our fate wouldn't be deserted villages,” Fan says. Since the 1980s, the Kuk has badgered the Government to provide link roads for the villages, but without success. A chicken-and-egg situation exists - there are not enough people to justify the building of roads but, if they were built, more people could live in the villages. "Solitary zone' (by S. Lee, South China Morning Post, May 4, 2002) The village is abandoned now, but I suggest that there is a lot of potential in developing the village into a heritage education centre in which there are at least several aspects we should try to cover. In order to achieve a better understanding of the history of Chek Keng for the further concerns both in heritage preservation and environmental development, we suggest some research topics for consideration: • Migration history and social change in Hong Kong's Hakka settlements • Traditional village lifeways and folk cultures • The Catholic church and influences given by the missionary of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (Pontificio Instituto Missioni Estere as well as P.L.M.E.) from Milan, and • Oral history on villagers' lifestyles and cultural traditions, etc. Discussion: Development with local people's support Therefore, we need to think about whether the development of ================================================================================