RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1961 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/vd6724704 Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch RASHKB and author Vol. 1 (1961) ISSN 1991-7295 3 THE NORTH CHINA BRANCH started in Shanghai in 1857 under the name of the Shanghai Literary and Scientific Society. Its first President was the Rev. E. C. Bridgman, D.D., the first American missionary in China and the founder and manager of the Chinese Repository. Its first Journal appeared in 1858 in the name of the Literary and Scientific Society, but in that year the Society became affiliated to the Royal Asiatic Society as its North China Branch. Except for a brief period between 1861, when Dr. Bridgman died, and 1864 when the Society was reanimated through the unremitting efforts of Sir Harry Parkes as President, the Society maintained for nearly 85 years—until the outbreak of the second world war in December 1941—almost an unbroken vigour and a high reputation as the principal centre of Oriental culture among the foreign and Chinese communities in Central China. It also kept up a high standard of scholarship and of cultural appeal in its Journal, which appeared unfailingly every year. After the war it continued its work until, after 1948, it was forced through political troubles to cease its activities. The last issues of the Journal had been published with the co-operation of the International Institute of China. The Society in Shanghai was from its early days fortunate in the support of a generous public and of the British Government, which in 1868 provided it with a site at a nominal rent for its own building, completed in 1871. Later the property was conveyed to the Society in perpetuity or for so long as it was used for the Society's purpose. Thus, in 1931 the Society was able, with the aid of public subscriptions and generous municipal grants, to build in Museum Road close to the British Consulate a commodious building of its own; it contained a lecture hall named after the late Dr. Wu Lien-teh, a floor to accommodate its Oriental Library of 12,000 volumes and adjacent reading rooms, as well as space for an excellent natural history museum and for the exhibition of Chinese paintings and other works of art. In 1941 the Society had nearly 800 members, including most of the leading Oriental scholars, explorers and travellers. Amongst the outstanding personalities who had been associated with the North China Branch a few may be mentioned—Dr. Joseph Edkins, Thomas W. Kingsmill, Dr. Emil Breitschneider, Henri Cordier (at one time the Society's Librarian), P. G. van Mollendorf, Sir Robert Hart, Sir Harry Parkes, Sir Byron Brennan, W. H. Medhurst, Sir Edmund Hornby (the first British Judge in China), Sir Rutherford Alcock, H. A. Giles, G. H. Parker, H. B. Morse, A. P. Parker, Alexander Hosie, Samuel Couling, Sir Sidney Barton and Dr. J. C. Ferguson, an American, former President of Nanking University and a man of profound learning and wisdom who, in the course of half a century, served the Society as President, Secretary and Editor of the Journal. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1961 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/vd6724704 Vol. 1 (1961) ISSN 1991-7295 Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch RASHKB and author 8 and contributions from the community, it built a commodious home for itself with a spacious lecture room and provided accommodation for its very valuable library and museum. In Hong Kong we hope that some facilities may be afforded in the new City Hall for societies like ours but if our plans are to mature we need a meeting place of our own where we can build up an Oriental library which should fill a special need which cannot be supplied by the University, whose library is not readily accessible to the public, or by the new City Hall, whose library will probably be of a wider popular interest. As the basis of our projected library we propose to print a sufficient number of our periodical journals to enable us to exchange periodicals with kindred societies in other parts of the world. We also propose in our journal to review books on Oriental affairs which may bring us a useful nucleus of publications. Until we have enough money to buy books it would be greatly appreciated if members who have any books of interest and connected with the objects of the Society would kindly remember that any gifts of books and journals would be most welcome. The Branch is greatly indebted to benefactors who have been generous with donations. In Sir Richard Winstedt's message on its formation he expressed the hope that both European and Chinese firms with their accustomed generosity would help to foster the growth of a Branch of high promise. This hope was realised in the donations received of 500 dollars each from Messrs. Butterfield & Swire, Messrs. Jardine, Matheson & Co., Ltd., and The Hongkong and Shanghai Bank, and 250 dollars from Mr. Ellis Hayim. Then in April last year there came a munificent gift from an anonymous donor who is not now resident in the Colony. This was the gift of 10,000 dollars in memory of Arthur de Carl Sowerby, a great authority on the natural history of China, who was the founder and curator of the museum of the Society in Shanghai. These contributions have enabled us to put aside a capital fund which will help us in our aims for the future while yielding a useful interest in the meantime. It is greatly hoped that other merchant houses and individuals in the Colony may, without any direct appeal, emulate the example of these benefactors and help us to build up a Branch of the Society in Hong Kong worthy of the heritage which Professor Drake in his inaugural address coupled with the corresponding task which such heritage implied. During the year there was little change amongst the officers and members of the Council. Mr. Endacott resigned owing to pressure of work and the vacancy was filled in accordance with the rules by the co-option of The Hon. A. G. Clarke. Mr. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1961 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/vd6724704 Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch RASHKB and author Vol. 1 (1961) ISSN 1991-7295 54 as a free gift to form a reference library. The books had suffered a good deal in being constantly moved about, the number was now 3800, all of them dilapidated and 3000 were considered worth rebinding. This would cost about $3,000 but the Society had no money for this work. A despatch dated 29 December, 1863 from the acting Governor, W. T. Mercer to the Colonial Secretary quoted the Morrison Education Society's circular and asked for action.1 A City Hall containing a Library and a Museum was eventually built on the site now occupied by the Bank of China and the Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corporation in Queen's Road Central and adjoining Statue Square. It was opened by the Duke of Edinburgh on the 2 November, 1869 and during his tour of the building His Grace visited both the Library and the Museum. A printed catalogue of the Morrison Library was issued in 1873 by the City Hall Committee. It contains 1666 entries arranged in alphabetical order of authors or titles, editor, translator, etc., where the author is not known, only eight of which I have been able to identify as belonging formerly to the Royal Asiatic Society. The books are classified, single letters indicating the following groups :- A History. Peerages, &c. B Biographies and memoirs. C Geography including works on various countries. Travels, Voyages and Adventures, D Natural History: Ornithology. E Botany. F Atlas Gazetteers, Meteorology, Guidebooks, Geology, Metallurgy and Mineralogy. Topography. G Mechanics. H Encyclopaedias, I Commercial Statistics. International Law, Jurisprudence, J Complete Works. K Astronomy. L Chemistry. Optics. M Mathematics. N Painting, Music. Science and Art, O Medicine and Surgery. P Biblical works. Q Oriental Societies. Journals. R Classics. Dictionaries. S Novels. T Drama and poetry. U Periodical works. Directories. V Divinity. Law, Treaties and Conventions. W Miscellaneous works. A stocktaking was made in 1956 and of the 1666 titles there are now 1233 remaining (2748 volumes out of 3583). Some volumes were removed during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong and were not subsequently recovered. The condition of the books is poor. Nearly all are worm-eaten to a greater or 1 C.O.129/94, Public Records Office, London. (I am indebted to Mr. G. B. Endacott of the University of Hong Kong for supplying this reference). ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1961 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/vd6724704 Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch RASHKB and author 130 LACEY, J. A. LAI, T. C. - LANYON-ORGILL, Dr. P. A. LAW Chung Kam · LAWRY, R. E. LEE, Harold LEE, J. S.- LEE, The Hon. R. C. LIDDELL, Mrs. M. LINDSAY, Mrs. B. E. LINDSAY, T. J. - LIU, D. H.- - LIU, James J. Y. LIU. Dr. Tsun-Yan LLEWELLYN, J. LOBATO, Dr. P. G. LOTHROP, F. B. LUM, Miss Ada - MA Meng McBAIN, E. B. McCOY, W. J. MCCRARY, M. U.S. Consulate-General, H.K. Vol. 1 (1961) ISSN 1991-7295 + Dept. of Extra-Mural Studies, H.K.U. - - - · - · + · · - L 1701 Beach Drive, Victoria, B.C., Canada. Victoria Heights, 43-A, Stubbs Rd. Flat 1-A, H.K. The British Council, 133 Gloucester Building, H.K. 604 Edinburgh House, H.K. 74 Kennedy Road, H.K. Lee Hysan Estate Co. Ltd., 604 Edinburgh House, H.K. 10-F Headland Road, H.K. 364 The Peak, Severn Road, H.K. Butterfield & Swire, H.K. 1 Mercury Street, 1st fl., Causeway Bay, H.K. Flat 14, 16-18 Conduit Road, H.K. 83 Sincere Terrace, Grd, fl., Tai Hang Rd. H.K. Dept. of Geography & Geology, H.K.U. P.O. Box 144, Macau, Peabody Museum, Salem, Mass., U.S.A. 142 Boundary Street, Kln. Institute of Oriental Studies, H.K.U. Geo. McBain & Co., S.C.M.P. Building, H.K. · U.S. Consulate-General, H.K, - 25-A Robinson Road, Top fl., H.K. McDOUALL, The Hon. J. C. S.C.A., Connaught Road C., H.K. McGRATH, D. B. MACK, A. M. - McKERNESS, Miss J. MANEELY, R. B. + T L + MARQUAND, R. A. - MARTIN, Rev. Canon E. W. L. MELLOR, B. MILLER, P. M. - MOK Shu Wah MORGAN, L. G. MOU Jun Sun MOYLE, G. C. - NETHERCUT, R. D. - NEWBIGGING, D. K. NIXON, F. A. NG, Peter Y, L. · - - U.S. Consulate-General, H.K, - - H.K. & Shanghai Banking Corpn., H.K. 5 Magazine Gap Road, H.K. Dept. of Anatomy, H.K.U. 104 Paramount Apt., 2 Shan Kwong Rd. Happy Valley, H.K. St. John's College, H.K.U. Registrar, H.K.U. W U.S. Consulate-General, H.K. + - - - 21 Cochrane Street, 1st fl., H.K. Colonial Secretariat H.K. Dept. of History, New Asia College, 6 Farm Rd., Kln, Jardine, Matheson & Co., Ltd., H.K. U.S. Consulate-General, H.K. Jardine, Matheson & Co., Ltd., H.K. Room 42, Hong Kong Club, H.K. + Dept. of History, H.K.U. NOBLE, H. - Ying Wah College, Bute Street, Kln. O'CONNELL, Miss S. - - U.S. Consulate-General, H.K. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1962 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9s166f47f A NEW ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE 111 Maglioni continued archaeological work further afield. After his death, Maglioni roughly outlined the area of their researches and designated it as the Han-Chu region, naming it this because it is bounded by the Han and Teng Rivers in the East and the Chu (or Pearl River) and Tung in the West. Maglioni divided the neolithic era into three main periods, to each of which he assigned one of the cultures he found. SON was early neolithic, SAK was middle neolithic, and PAT was late neolithic.* All three names were taken from parts of the names of the villages nearest to the sites where the cultures were first discovered. The stone artifacts that I have found are typical of the middle neolithic era, and they also closely resemble the SAK artifacts in the Maglioni collection. They differ strikingly from the PAT materials found in the Western part of the Colony. Unlike the latter, they are almost exclusively made of chert. They are also cruder and less sophisticated, with traces of chipping left in spite of the polishing, as if the chipping had been too deep. The cutting edge of the axes as well as the adzes is not bevelled as in the case of those from Lamma and Lantao. They are almost all longer in shape and narrower, not as thick in cross-section as the latter, and to my unpractised eye, they resemble more the stone artifacts displayed in the Hong Kong University Museum from Annam and Laos. The most typical element of SAK culture is its pottery, which is a fine ware of smooth mix and is stamped with a variety of patterns, the most common one being a basket weave and others including a herring-bone and concentric circles. The pots are of a small size (perhaps because the SAK people were nomadic), globular in shape, with a shallow ring-like foot, which was added after the pots had been shaped and stamped. They were frequently decorated with an equatorial band in bas-relief as well as other bands above and below it. These bands were also added after the pot had been shaped and stamped. The SAK potters made great progress in both preparing and baking the clay. Maglioni says: "They utilized clays which received their bright colour when fired, added little or no sand, made very thin ware, "PAT appears to have continued uninterruptedly from the stone age into historic times, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1962 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9s166f47f 122 NOTES AND QUERIES QUERIES PRELIMINARY REPORT ON THE FINDS AT SHEK PIK At the beginning of March 1962 a bulldozer employed by Messrs. Dragages on the reservoir site at Shek Pik, south-west Lantau, uncovered coins and pottery on the hillside above the abandoned village of Shek Pik Wai. Unfortunately, the find was not reported by the Company and it was only after a member of the Chief Resident Engineer's staff got to hear of it that steps were taken to recover as much as possible from the workmen. Some three hundred coins and several small sherds of pottery and porcelain were handed in to the Waterworks Office by the Chief Resident Engineer, Shek Pik and these were sent to the Curator of the City Hall Museum, Mr. J. M. Warner, who passed them to me for a preliminary examination. On Sunday, 11th March, members of the Archaeological Team of the University went out to Shek Pik and spent the better part of a day looking round the area which had been cleared by the bulldozers. We managed to recover over a hundred more coins and, which was possibly of greater importance, picked up fragments of porcelain from the site. The coins have now been given a preliminary classification in the District Office, Islands. Fortunately, despite their long burial, the characters on most of the coins are still decipherable and it has been possible in all but a few cases to determine to which reign dates they should be assigned. They appear to be copper coins and with the exception of two small groups, have reign titles in the Sung Dynasty (960-1278). Of the sixty reign titles of the eighteen emperors of this dynasty, both Northern and Southern Sung, twenty-nine are represented among the coins which have already been recovered. There is also a group of coins which bear the characters Wang Sung, Shêng Sung, and Ta Sung. These appeared along with coins bearing a reign title, and can also be fixed accurately in time, in these cases 1038-40, 1101 and 1226 respectively. The date of the coins covers the whole length of the Sung period, that is approximately three hundred years from the mid-tenth to the late thirteenth centuries. Besides Sung coins there is a small ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1962 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9s166f47f 133 SMITH, Leslie, O.B.E. SMITH, Lloyd A. + SMITH, Stanley Herbert - SOONG, Norman SPERRY, Henry Muhlenberg STANLEY, Major Henry, F. STANTON, William T. STARBIRD, Linwood R. - STENTON, Prof. Harry STOCK, Prof. F. E., O.B.E. - STOKES, John ז J . 23-A, Robinson Road, Hong Kong. 2741, SW 22nd Ave. Coconut Grove, Miami 33, Florida, U.S.A. (Local address: c/o R. S. Fountain, Esq., 309, Prince's Building, H.K.) c/o Messrs. Scott & English Ltd., P. O. Box 1555, H.K. Asia Magazine, 31 Queen's Road, C., H.K. 2, Queen's Road, Central, Hong Kong. Flat 12, Tjibatoe, 9 Plunketts Rd., H.K. Dina House, Duddell St., Hong Kong. c/o American Consulate-General, Garden Rd., H.K. Dept. of Botany, H.K. University, H.K. Hong Kong University. Education Department, Battery Path, H.K. STRICKLAND, Mr. P. G. c/o Caldbeck Macgregor & Co., Ltd. H.K. SWIRE, A. C. TALBOT, Henry D. TANG, Shiu-kin, C.B.E. THOMAS, Louis F. THOMPSON, R. W. TOPLEY, Dr. Marjorie TREGEAR, Miss Mary TRISTRAM, M. P. W. TSEUNG, Dr. F. I. TURNER, The Hon. Sir Michael VETCH, Henri VETCH, Mrs. Henri VIO, Dr. Eric George VISICK, Mrs. Mary WALDEN, J. C. C. WARD, William L. WATSON, K. A. WEI, Dr. Tat, M. A. · c/o Butterfield & Swire, Union House, H.K. Dept. of Geography, H.K. University, H.K. 505, Pedder Building, Hong Kong. 8, King's Park Flats, Kowloon. Dept. of Modern Languages, H.K. University, H.K. 6, Peak Mansions, Hong Kong. Ashmolean Museum, Oxford University, Oxford, U.K. Rating & Valuation Dept., Man Yee Bldg., 9/F., H.K. China Building, 4th floor, Hong Kong. Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corpn., London. H.K.U. Press. H.K.U. Press. 315, H.K. & Shanghai Bank Building, H.K. Dept. of English, H.K.U. c/o Commerce & Industry Dept. Fire Brigade Bldg., H.K. Apt. 3, 7 Magazine Gap Road, Hong Kong. c/o Lammert Bros., Pedder Building, H.K. H.K. Anti-Tuberculosis Association, Queen's Rd., E., H.K. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1963 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/4m90m091v 159 STRICKLAND, Mrs. P. G. c/o Caldbeck Macgregor & Co., Ltd., H.K. SWIRE, A. C. * TALBOT, H. D. TANG, Shiu-kin * THOMAS, L. F. + THOMAS, Dr. O. L. Messrs. Butterfield & Swire, Union House, H.K. Department of Geography, The University, H.K. The Kowloon Motor Bus Co., (1933) Ltd., 505, Pedder Building, H.K. Co-operative Development & Fisheries Department, Li Po Chun Chambers, 11th Floor, H.K. 17, Magnolia Road, Yau Yat Chuen, Kowloon. THOMPSON, Lt. Col. P. H. CRE Hong Kong B.F.P.O.1, H.K. THOMPSON, R. W. - TILL, The V. Rev. B. * - TOPLEY, Dr. Marjorie TREGEAR, Miss M. TRISTRAM, M. P. W. - TSEUNG, Dr. F. I. TURNER, Sir M. * VETCH, H. - VETCH, Mrs. H. VIO, Dr. E. G. VISCHER, Mrs. H. B. VISICK, Mrs. Mary WADDINGTON, Mrs. A. WALDEN, J. C. C. WARD, Miss J. E. A. WARD, W. L. - WARNER, J. M. WATSON, K. A. WEI, Dr. Tat + Dept. of Modern Languages, The University, H.K. The Dean's House, H.K. 6, Peak Mansions, H.K. c/o Ashmolean Museum, Oxford University, Oxford, UK. Rating & Valuation Dept., Murray House, Queen's Road E., H.K. China Building, 4th Floor, H.K. "Whispers" Riversdale, Boume End, Bucks, U.K. c/o H.K. University Press, H.K. c/o H.K. University Press, H.K. 315, H.K. & Shanghai Bank Building, H.K. A-23, Estoril Court, 15 Garden Road, H.K. Department of English, The University, H.K. 9, Middle Gap Road, H.K. c/o Commerce & Industry Department, Fire Brigade Building, H.K. 51, Buxey Lodge, Conduit Road, H.K. Apt. 3, No. 7, Magazine Gap Road, H.K. City Hall, H.K. c/o Lammert Bros., Pedder Building, H.K. H.K. Anti-Tuberculosis Association, Queen's Road, East, H.K. *Life Member Please notify the Hon. Secretary of any inaccuracy ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1964 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qz20zx09r HONG KONG BEFORE THE CHINESE 49 experimental stations. And there is literary evidence for stating that all the hills between here and Canton were densely forested, as hills of similar geological structure still are in countries such as Japan, where the population does not destroy every tree before it is ten years old as they have been doing in South China for several centuries. Exactly what trees grew in these forests I cannot say; here is another missing piece in the puzzle which can probably be filled, as I shall soon suggest. The forests are supposed to have had two different kinds of human inhabitants, or at this time perhaps more than two, (a document of the early Yuan Dynasty mentions two types of hill-dwellers by name) but until further evidence comes to light, I suggest that in view of the small size of this territory, there is little reason to pre-suppose the existence of a third, and as I shall indicate later, my own preference is for a view that only one people lived here. Of the two non-Chinese peoples mentioned, one, the Yaos, are well-known and documented from South and Southwest China, Vietnam and Laos. Their languages have been studied, not an easy matter since their society comprises many small units, each possessing its own dialect and none having any form of writing; and work has been done on their customs and religion. There is an exhibit in the National Ethnological Museum at Leiden in Holland which shows the principal elements of their cultural and social life, including the type of house and the traditional patterns which they weave into their cloth, which in South China is made of wool. The exhibit at Leiden is particularly interesting because the adjoining showcase contains, or did contain when I visited that museum, an exhibit of a people from the island of Celebes who, although physically dissimilar in appearance, built somewhat similar houses and used almost identical patterns in their cloth, which however is bark-cloth. I asked the Assistant Curator whether the juxtaposition of the two exhibits was accidental or whether they had evidence of some connection between the Yao and the people of Celebes; he said that it was not fortuitous, because the resemblances were considerable, but there was no actual evidence of any connection and, as far as he knew, the peoples were of different racial types and spoke unrelated languages. Here is another gap to be closed. Page 60 Page 61 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1964 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qz20zx09r A RECONNAISSANCE OF MA WAN NOTES 117 1 For a more detailed account of British trade to Canton at this period see J. L. Cranmer Byng, An Embassy to China. Being the Journal kept by Lord Macartney during his Embassy to the Emperor Ch'ien-lung 1793-1794 (Longmans, Green, 1962), 4-17. 2 Macartney's own journal printed in J. L. Cranmer Byng, op. cit., For Parish and Alexander see Appendix A, 313-16. 111-112. J. L. Cranmer-Byng, “The Defences of Macao in 1794: a British Assessment" in Journal of Southeast Asian History Vol. 5 No. 1 (1964). 4 Printed in H. B. Morse, The Chronicles of the East India Company Trading to China 1635-1834, 5 Vols. (O.U.P. 1926-9), I., 237. 5 This report is preserved among the Macartney documents in the Wason collection on China and the Chinese at Cornell University, No. 371 (part). I wish to acknowledge my thanks to the Director of Libraries at Cornell for permission to reproduce this document in full. In doing so I have modernized the spelling and the use of capital letters. I also wish to acknowledge permission received from the authorities of the British Museum to reproduce Parish's sketch map from the original preserved in the British Museum, Add. MS. 19822 (art. 13). 6 The Portuguese name of an island close to Macao which also gave its name to the anchorage there. 7 An officer of the Bombay Marine who had been sent to Macao in 1793 in command of the Endeavour brig, one of two surveying ships, which were earmarked for the use of the embassy. The Jackall had sailed from England in 1792 as tender to the Lion. Both the Endeavour and Jackall sailed from Chusan to Canton in October 1793, but I have not discovered why Proctor was transferred to the Jackall or why the original survey ship, the Endeavour, was not used for this purpose. 8 A large island about twice the size of the island of Hong Kong. The east coast of Lantao, although it has at least one good bay- Silvermine Bay is not sufficiently protected from the wind and is too exposed to the sea to make a good harbour for ships. Lantao Peak rises to approximately three thousand feet and is a useful local landmark. The Chinese name for the island is Tai Yu Shan. + 9 Chek Lap Kok *#, a long island just off Tung Chung bay, See map facing page 27. Like other ports of Lantao it appears to have been more prosperous in the past than at present. The 1911 census gave its population as 77, of whom 55 were men. They probably worked in its stone quarries. to This refers to the Tung Chung valley, which included a fort between the villages of Ha Ling Pei and Sheung Ling Pei. Tung Chung ranked as a cheng M. See Rev. Krone "A Notice of the Sanon District" in Transactions of the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society Part VI (Hong Kong 1859) p. 82. + 11 This is correct, since presumably Parish was referring to the head land of San Tau #. From here the coast runs sharply SW to Tai O. 12 Two islands known as the Brothers, consisting of the West and East Brothers. 13 In the vicinity of Tsing Lung Tau "Green dragon head", on the coast of the New Territories between Tsun Wan and Castle Peak. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1964 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qz20zx09r 142 BOOK REVIEWS Indian archaeology, Robert Bruce Foote, a fascinating story that probably could be duplicated in every country in the world as regards the beginnings of archaeological interest and research. In this third section there is also a paper by Naoichi Kokubu and Erika Kaneko entitled Ryukyu Survey 1960 which is a preliminary report on ethnological and archaeological research carried out on several of the islands of the Ryukyu archipelago. The report is detailed, well and fully illustrated with notes on the history and customs of the islands in addition to findings from excavations and the study of existing museum material. An appendix, Note on the skeletal material collected during the 1960 Survey by Takeo Kana Saki accompanies the report. Other notes and articles in this section are New Dates for Early Pottery in Japan; On the Origins of Traditional Vietnamese Music; A First Classification of Prehistoric Bone and Tooth Artifacts,—and two articles on the occurrence of glass rings and bracelets in Southeast Asia. The Journal is pleasant to read and to handle with good print and clear drawings and photographs. E. MANEELY ================================================================================ 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-1964 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qz20zx09r 152 NOTES AND QUERIES cannons still point to the sea. The inscription on two of these both on the eastern wing, is relatively clear. The words on the easternmost one show that the cannon was cast in the eighth moon of the fourteenth year of the reign of Chia Ching (1809), serial number Ching 80, weighing 1,000 catties (1,333 lbs.) and was cast by the master of the Man Shing Furnace. The second cannon was cast by order of the Fat Shan Magistrate in the tenth moon of the twenty-first year of the reign of Tao Kuang (1841) by Craftsmen Lee, Chan and Fok. The two dates are rather interesting. It can be imagined that the first cannon was transferred from the Fort at Nan Fau when the fort was first built and the second was cast in Fat Shan specifically for this Tung Chung Fort when Viceroy Lin wished to strengthen coastal fortification as he feared that Captain Elliot might attack the coastal areas of Kwangtung. Two of the cannons on the western side have shapes distinctly foreign to the Chinese, and they are more subjected to weathering than the others. As these rather remind the observer of those kept in the Raffles National Museum and the Malacca Museum, it is possible that these pieces might have been captured from the Portuguese or might have been cast with their help earlier on. The granite slabs used for building the fort are foreign to the valley. They might have come from Chek Lap Kok Island across the Bay or might even have been brought in from T'un Mun (Castle Peak). There are many of these slabs lying about the fort and some have found their way to becoming part of a rural house. Recent site preparation for an extension of the school building revealed a tiled floor below the present ground level. Had some sort of a garrison been maintained throughout the dynasties? Is the present form of the fort a result of several expansions in the nineteenth century? Were there originally more cannons mounted on the battlements? Where are the sites of the other constructions mentioned in the Annals? The answers to these questions would be of great value in establishing the important role played by Lantau in the history of the region. LOAN-WORDS IN THE CHINESE LANGUAGE A gap in our knowledge which I suggest should be filled would be to establish the date of the introduction into China of ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1965 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s752cj653 into close contact with the people of the rural districts of the Colony. The success of these studies proved so encouraging that we have considered it to be a worthy task to follow up and to record in print all that can be recorded now of the traditional aspects of Chinese life which can still be seen in the rural areas of Hong Kong, but which are in danger of dying and vanishing forever. The results of the Symposium, including the substance of the papers read on the first day, have been recorded in a booklet edited by Dr. Marjorie Topley which will be published in a month or two. It will be the first comprehensive sociological study of New Territories organization. We commend this booklet to members and we hope that we can recoup the cost of its printing. We hope to be able to continue this line of study and research and that it might be of assistance to the Committee of the City Hall Museum, who are considering a project for the inclusion in the Museum of exhibits illustrating the ethnography and history of the native peoples of Hong Kong. A particular feature of the Society's work is the production of its Journal and we may justly feel a sense of pride in the vigorous scholarship exemplified in the first three volumes. Owing to a series of unforeseen difficulties, the issue for 1963-64, which should have been published last summer, has been much delayed. Mr. Cranmer-Byng, the Chairman of the Editorial Committee, who had been mainly responsible for the first three volumes left the Colony early in 1964, and Mr. Talbot, who kindly stepped into the breach, was on leave until the late autumn. The printers also had been unable to obtain the special accented type for the romanization of oriental languages which had been ordered in October 1963. The Journal, however, will, we are assured, be out next month. During 1964 the Society suffered serious and regrettable losses. In March, Sir Robert Black, who had been our Patron since the branch was revived, left the Colony. He was not only our Patron but had enrolled as a life member. He had taken an active interest in the Society and both he and Lady Black, in spite of the many calls on their time, attended most of our meetings. In the same month, Mr. Cranmer-Byng left. He took a leading part in the re-establishment of the Hong Kong Branch in 1959; he was a tower of strength on the Council and was the Chairman ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1965 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s752cj653 4 of the Editorial Board. It is true to say the Journal is a monument to his scholarship and editorial ability. In recognition of their eminent service to the Society, both Sir Robert Black and Mr. Cranmer-Byng were admitted as the first Honorary Members of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. In the summer, Professor F. S. Drake of the University left the Colony on retirement. He had been a great inspiration to the Society and his inaugural address in April 1960 on "The Study of Asia: A Heritage and a Task" as well as his lecture on the Nestorian Crosses and his farewell address on the "Jewish Colony at Kaifeng", were memorable events. Before he left, Professor Drake was the guest at a dinner in his honour given by the Council. At the end of the year, we also had regretfully to bid farewell to Mr. Mallory-Browne, who had served on the Council and who had, through The Asia Foundation, given generous support to the Symposium in May, and had obtained another grant of HK$2,850 from the Foundation for the purchase of books for the library. We wish to record our appreciation and thanks both to him and The Asia Foundation for their generous support. We have to thank other donors also for gifts of books for the library. Dr. L. A. Khan has presented seven books, mainly on the subject of the Qur'an and the Philosophy of Islam. Mr. F. A. Nixon, presented four rare volumes, bound in sheepskin, entitled The Museum of Antiquities (Astasiatika Samlingarna), being four volumes on East Asia antiquities, published in Stockholm, and dedicated to H.R.H. Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden. Mr. Nixon has also presented to the Society a rare manuscript in Chinese characters, a fragment of one of the sacred books of Mahayana Buddhism, which had been deposited in the rock temples of the Thousand Buddhas at Tun-huang. The manuscript has been examined by the Department of Oriental Printed Books & MSS. of the British Museum and pronounced a genuine document from the Tung-huang Monastic Library of the eighth or ninth century, but certainly not later. This is a very important acquisition for which we are deeply indebted to Mr. Nixon. The gift raises the question of the custody of such a document and of our collection of books, which is now increasing and which should be made available to members. We have, however, no library or reading room of our own and have no funds to rent one. We should like to make an appeal for a ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1965 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s752cj653 12 S. G. DAVIS The sites at Tai Wan, Hung Shing Ye and Yung Shu Wan on Lamma Island have been most fruitful and have provided the material that was excavated and studied by Father D. J. Finn, which is partly on display today. The report of finds at Tai Wan came in a most interesting way. Mr. Tom Man Long (who happily is present with us tonight) was building the service reservoir in the Botanical Gardens opposite Government House when he noticed that the sand being used for the concrete had fragments of pottery and several axe-heads. Mr. Tom, as a keen collector of Chinese art and pottery, recognized the antiquity of the pottery and reported his discovery to the Waterworks Department who in turn notified Professor Shellshear. He visited Tai Wan and immediately recognized the richness of the site. At a later date Father Finn was asked by Professor Shellshear, who was going on leave, to interest himself in the finds. Father Finn wrote, "I was very glad of the invitation and luck seemed to confirm the vocation. A few days after that, while I was still regarding any active participation as remote, I almost crushed a piece of obviously old pottery under foot as I walked past a sand-heap on a jetty at Aberdeen. The next step was to find where the sand came from. Having found out that and having got there, I found myself at the site from which I knew Professor Shellshear and his friends had already reaped a rich harvest.” It was a fortunate day for archaeology when Father Finn began his work on Lamma. He brought an expert knowledge to the study and rapidly revealed tremendous archaeological treasures by thorough, careful digging. The results of this work were meticulously reported in The Hong Kong Naturalist from 1933 to 1936 and still later combined in one complete volume under the editorship of my friend, Father F. Ryan, S.J. Many of the best finds from the Lamma sites are in the British Museum. They were sent there by Professor Shellshear and were examined by Mr. Soame Jenyns, the curator for the Far East section. Mr. Jenyns had been in Hong Kong as a young administrator and had studied Chinese art. Outstanding among the specimens is a bronze sword about eleven inches long and distinguished by a zoomorph design in three panels along the blade. This sword has been dated as Warring Kingdoms Period, (421-221 B.C.). A bronze-socketed celt with a distinctive design ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1965 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s752cj653 ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERY 13 of conventionalized T'ao T'ieh is also highly prized. There are also fine specimens of both glazed and unglazed pottery decorated with the "Double-F" pattern, a design thought to be unique in the Hong Kong area and not so far found elsewhere, even around Canton. The design was quite new to such an eminent authority as Professor Paul Pelliot. Much study and conjecture was given to this design by Father Finn (7). Apart from exhibits of Lamma archaeology at the British Museum and locally at the City Hall and the Fung Ping Shan Museum there are other smaller ones held in Ricci Hall (a University Hostel) and the University Team Working Centre. Further away there are collections in Honolulu at the Bishop Museum and at Harvard University. There are without doubt also many other good private collections that have not been recorded, Following the historical sequence of discovery in and around Hong Kong come the Hoifong sites located about eighty miles away in northeast Kwangtung. All these sites are fairly close to the indented coastline and near well-established ports such as Swabue. It was a student in the Jesuit Seminary at Aberdeen (Hong Kong Island) who first reported the presence of remains in Hoifong that were similar to those in the Seminary collection. He brought several pieces to Father Finn who was soon convinced that he should visit the area for an on-the-spot examination. This he did in 1934 and very quickly established the fact that there were many rich sites with remains probably the same in age and culture as those in Hong Kong, especially Lamma. Father Maglioni, an Italian priest in the Pontifical Institute of the Milan Foreign Mission accompanied Father Finn on much of his fieldwork, especially around Swabue where he was stationed in a Catholic Mission. During this time he learned much from Father Finn and when Father Finn died it was natural that he should continue collecting and studying the remains. Father Maglioni modestly proclaimed himself as being strictly an amateur archaeologist without any scientific training. However, while this amateur status was correct, when he took over ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1965 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s752cj653 ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERY 15 Since World War II archaeological work has continued fairly vigorously. From 1947 to 1949 a small team regularly (every Sunday) visited Lamma. Mr. W. Weinberger, Mr. Paul Daiko and the author were the key members. The finds collected were taken care of by Mr. Weinberger who took them to England after his tour of duty with the military forces. It was not until February 1953 that a society was formed to promote and stimulate organized archaeological study through active fieldwork. It was set up as part of the Geographical, Geological and Archaeological Society of the University of Hong Kong. Its membership consisted of internal, external, graduate and associated students of the University. This Society continues to be active. In March 1956 a University Archaeological Team was founded. Its membership is limited to twenty-five, all of whom must be active workers in the field. The need for such a team alongside the Geographical, Geological and Archaeological Society was felt to be justified because of the large number of new sites discovered and the need for experienced workers capable of regular systematic work and providing exact, written and illustrated records. Membership of this team is open to University staff and others. At present approximately half are from the University and half from outside. Responsibility for running the Team is with the Department of Geography and Geology under the leadership of the Head of Department. Regular monthly talks to the Team on different aspects of archaeology are given. During the cooler months fieldwork is carried out, mainly at weekends. The Team has an archaeological laboratory and storeroom in the Fung Ping Shan Museum on Bonham Road. Beginning in April 1958 the Team started what so far has proved to be its largest and most outstanding work. This was the excavations at Man Kok Tsui, Silvermine Bay on Lantau Island (4). This site was first reported by a member of the Team, Dr. S. Bard. It had the great advantage of being practically undisturbed. With the help of the Hong Kong Government, who provided $3,000 for expenses, digs continued throughout the summer and autumn of 1958. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1965 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s752cj653 NIAH CAVE, 1947 - 1964 23 9. Jeragun a very high cave up a barely accessible cliff, discovered in 1960 (c.600 square feet). Crammed with primary burials of small-bodied adults and urn burials of infants and some women. Very simple material culture, perhaps of a more primitive group (Punans?) integrated economically with the Great Cave people. The deposit has been entirely removed, owing to danger of guano-extraction and difficulty of control at this point. This material is being studied as a unit in Britain, by Dr. Calvin Wells and others. MATERIAL FINDS A new building in Kuching, completed in 1958, now houses the bulk of the materials from Niah and related excavations just described. These include stone tools from fully palaeolithic "hand-chopper" and flake tools, through to neolithic polished round axes and then to quadrangular adzes — about 5,000 pieces in all. Bone-tools are richly represented and have been recently classified tentatively into seventeen categories by Lord Medway and the writer. A great quantity of food-bone remains are all kept. Where possible, these are sent abroad to zoological specialists and reported upon separately (see below). Animals now extinct in Borneo include tapir, rhinoceros, giant pangolin, and tiger. Food shells abound. Samples are kept for each trench; all others are counted-off as excavated, against a coded species identification list. Shell tools (including fossil oyster) are less common. Skeletons are treated as above; plus several thousand scattered teeth which are being studied on the spot by Dr. Yim Khai Sun and assistants. In the upper levels, earthenware pottery (studied on the scene by Dr. W. S. Solheim) in a wide range of types starts in the neolithic and reaches an apotheosis in massive "three-colour ware" urns, several of which have been reconstructed and are on museum display. Some of this pottery was made in the caves; one such site has been excavated. Pottery and bone were also used for beads in the neolithic. Glass replaced bone as a bead material a little later and shell and bone jewellery then became scarce in the sub-surface. Several fragments of fine bronzes, carved ivory, and also iron tools came in the topmost levels or in the special burial caves. A few textile fragments Page 30 Page 31 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1965 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s752cj653 24 T. HARRISSON and carved wood have also survived there. Some fifty rush mats and wrappings survived under late neolithic or early metal burials in the West Mouth of the Great Cave. PUBLICATIONS Many smaller caves have been studied; and many others are available for study - over fifty. But there is no point in constantly repeating work that is very costly. Rather we seek constantly to define and re-define the project, so as to add new data, modifying or widening ideas — in preference to multiplying the established points. So far, about fifty papers have been published on the Niah results in Asian Perspectives (annually), Archaeological Newsletter, Journal Royal Society of Arts (a general review to 1963), Man (three papers), Oriental Art (Oxford), Artibus Asiae (Switzerland), Bijdragen (Holland), and the Geographical Journal (Royal Geographical Society, London). The full background and a long series of technical reports are published in the last eight issues of the Sarawak Museum Journal (Kuching, Sarawak, East Malaysia). The S.M.J. papers include specific contributions from Dr. R. Brothwell of the British Museum, Miss J. Clutton-Brock of the Institute of Archaeology, Dr. Calvin Wells of the Norwich Museum, Dr. D. A. Hooijer of Leiden and Professor G. H. R. von Koenigswald of the University of Utrecht, Dr. W. S. Solheim of the University of Hawaii, Drs. R. Inger and Wayne King of Chicago, the Earl of Cranbrook and Miss Pat Aldridge (now Dr. P. Marshall) of the University of Hong Kong. While those who have made specialist studies on the spot, working in Kuching, include Lord Medway (both here and at the University of Malaya), Dr. Alastair Lamb (glass beads), Dr. Solheim with Mrs. Lindsay Wall (prehistoric earthenware), Mrs. E. Moore in association with Miss Mary Tregear at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (Yueh and other early porcelains), Mr. Benedict Sandin and Mr. R. Nyandoh (links to cave and other Niah folklore), Mr. Geoffrey Barnes (burial rites), Mr. J. Revers (U.S. Peace Corps; topography), Professor N. Haile (geology; now of the University of Malaya), Mrs. Barbara Harrisson and her husband. Work of this sort involves multiple cooperation, as has already been well demonstrated by the University team from Hong Kong working on Lantau Island. In 1965-66 we hope to get additional outside help from Dr. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1965 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s752cj653 NIAH CAVE, 1947 - 1964 25 Sheila Brooks, Dr. Richard Shutler (who has already made one visit) and their associates in the U.S.A. The work continues actively with increasing emphasis on publication, generously aided by The Asia Foundation and the Otago Museum in New Zealand, as well as those already listed. In conclusion, I stress that from start to finish this has been and is a Sarawak Government-based study. The main costs and all the conceptions have been derived from this Government, first as a Crown Colony and now as a State in Malaysia. APPENDIX —— Specimen list of mammals so far identified from Niah Cave Stone Age food-bone deposits will illustrate the value of keeping everything in an excavation; in this case to build up a complete picture of prehistoric food habits. Similar studies on bird, fish, and reptile bone are in hand. The mammal work was organized and patiently carried on by Lord Medway and largely undertaken by him personally, with special help from Dr. Hooijer, in Holland, Lord Cranbrook in England, and Pat Marshall in Hong Kong. (For an introductory survey see Medway in Sarawak Museum Journal, VIII, 1958, 12:627-636). Comparative frequency of remains in the first seasons for a typical series of trenches down to 72" (Medway p. 631) gave approximately: Total no. of identifiable bones in Stone Age food remains (0 - 72"). (Sample only); Group Mammal Bird Reptile Fish 6,380 85 383+(Turtle, 305) 27 6,875 Over ninety per cent mammal bone is common form. For the mammals eaten, other than seven species of bat (also living in the cave, and difficult to distinguish as between food and dead falls), here is a brief summary, based mainly on Lord Medway's records, but my generalizations (and possible errors): ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1967 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/0c488p70g and in the Colonial Office in London. Mr. Endacott's History of Hong Kong (1958) has already indicated what sort of material is available to form the necessary background to new studies in urban history and sociology. We hope, then, that this Journal will receive contributions in this neglected field and that, in particular, it will benefit from the new project in urban studies, now being initiated by Dr. Alan Birch of the History Department at the University of Hong Kong. We hope, too, that some of the material being obtained from the Urban Family Life Study commissioned by the Hong Kong Government and now in progress under the direction of Dr. Robert Mitchell from the University of California, Berkeley, may appear in its pages. As a Hong Kong publication the Journal must play its part in encouraging and making available some of this basic information. Meantime we have not made much progress with the ethnographic aspects stressed by the Hon. Editor in 1962. Unfortunately, pure ethnography is rather neglected by scholars nowadays and, probably for this reason, less progress has been made in this field, though the curator of the City Hall Museum and Art Gallery, with the help of the New Territories Administration and others, has begun collecting items of interest, with a view to forming a local collection. Members were fortunate recently in hearing a lecture from Mr. Alan L. Kagan on the Cantonese Puppet Theatre in Hong Kong. It is hoped to include this article in the 1968 Journal. Mr. Kagan's assessment has reinforced Mr. Cranmer-Byng's remark five years ago that time is indeed short. Whereas there are only two part-time puppet troupes operating in present-day Hong Kong, there were more full-time operators twenty years ago, when a smaller, poorer, less-sophisticated and less westernised population supported this type of entertainment enthusiastically and business was good, their services being in demand all over the territory. The Editorial Committee welcomes articles of this sort and would be glad to have more of them from interested persons. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1967 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/0c488p70g 18 PATRICIA MARSHALL There is plenty of cover in these places for deer and civet cats. There are also a number of exotic wild birds, that would increase if left unmolested. The Sai Kung peninsula and the area above Plover Cove are also beautiful areas which it is hoped will never be used for building. It is for the people of Hong Kong to act in a responsible manner to themselves and to future generations to ensure that a little of the natural beauty and at least some of the native mammals of Hong Kong are conserved. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. REFERENCES Allen, G. M. (1938) The Mammals of China and Mongolia published by American Museum of Natural History, New York. Balfour, S. F. (1940-1941) “Hong Kong before the British”, Tien Hsia Vol. XI, No. 4 pp. 330-352 and No. 5 pp. 440-464. Grant, C. J. (1962) The Soils and Agriculture of Hong Kong. published by the Hong Kong Government Printer, pp 136-138. Herklots, G. A. C. (1951) The Hong Kong Countryside, printed by the South China Morning Post, Hong Kong. Marshall P. M. and Phillips, J. G. (1965) "Plans for Conserving the Wild life of Hong Kong," "Oryx” (Journal of the Fauna Preservation Society) Vol. VIII No. 2 pp 107-112. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1967 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/0c488p70g 39 PRINTING - A NEW DISCOVERY L. CARRINGTON GOODRICH In 1963 the Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society published a paper of mine entitled "The development of printing in China and its effect on the renaissance under the Sung dynasty (960 - 1279)." Recently a new find was made which, if confirmed, pushes back the history of block printing some fifteen years, possibly more. The discovery occurred last October when certain Korean scholars noticed that a stone stupa known as Sokka Tap 釋迦塔, at Pulguk sa 佛國寺, had been damaged. On investigation they found a printed Buddhist sutra hidden in its interior. (See plates 5 and 6) It was in the form of a scroll made of thick mulberry paper, mounted on a piece of bamboo, lacquered at each end. The text is some 630 cm. long and 6 cm. wide, the printed portion being 5.3 cm. in width. The exact length cannot be determined as the scroll has not been fully unrolled due to its poor condition. In fact, about one third has suffered serious damage from worms; the rest of it, however, is in fair condition. Later examination revealed that the printing had been executed by means of a series of woodblocks, twelve in number, each about 20 or 21 inches in length. Then the separate pieces of paper had been joined together to form a continuous scroll, just as was the text of the famous Diamond Sutra of 868, discovered in 1907 at the cave library of Ch'ien-fo-tung near Tun-huang (west China) by Sir Aurel Stein, now at the British Museum. The scholars who have pronounced this an authentic piece of printing are Professors Kim Sanggi and Yi Hongjik, members of the Cultural Assets Preservation Committee, Ministry of Education, Seoul. In the cavity of the stupa there were, besides the scroll, reliquary vessels, Buddhist images, tiny pagodas, incense sticks, pieces of silk, etc. (See plate 7). They seem to be typical of the period not only in Korea, but also in China and in Japan. These items are important discoveries in themselves, and deserve further study. The text is well known. Its title in Chinese is Wu kou ching kuang ta to-lo-ni ching (in Sanskrit: Raśmivimalavaviśuddhaprabhā dhāranī). It was first rendered into ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1967 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/0c488p70g Page 162 NOTES AND QUERIES 155 5 Professor Goodrich has written subsequently, "It so happens that a cannon inscribed with a date equivalent to the spring of 1620, and bearing the names of Generalissimo Ch'en Liang-pi (a native of Kuangtung who died in 1644 in the collapse of the Ming) and Huang K'o-tsuan, is now in the Woolwich Museum, London, Inscription on the Tsiu Keng cannon (recovered 1966) 永 欽 管局都督府 曆 年 九月一日 造 督 總鎮宮保府 院 定海將軍 杜 范 督 理 重 府 百 片 Inscription on the Kowloon Bay cannon (recovered 1956) 永 欽 總 督 理 衷 掛定海將軍 印 府 廣東總鎮宮保府范 督兩廣部院杜造 都 六月 督 參 將 蕭 利 仁 管局都司何興祥 朕日 重 五百斤 Notes 2-4 have been added by the Hon. Editor with Professor Goodrich's consent. The photographs (plates 10 and 11) are by courtesy of the District Officer, Tai Po (Mr. T. J. Bedford) whose assistance is gratefully acknowledged by the Editor. Page 162 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1968 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833948d Colony in not losing more than 53 ordinary and two life members in 1967 and to gain 59 ordinary and three life members. It is hoped that, in the year 1969 which will be the tenth year after the revival of the Hong Kong Branch of the Society, we may achieve a membership of 500. The Journal of the Society (which has now reached its seventh issue) covering the year 1966 came out in 1967 under the editorship of Mr. Hayes and has maintained its high standard and interest. From the Hon. Treasurer's report it will be seen that on the working of the year there was a small deficit of $738 due mainly to the doubling of our expenditure this year on the Society's publications, the Journal, the Volume on the 1966 Symposium and the reprinting of Sir Lindsay Ride's article on the Old Protestant Cemetery in Macao, from the sale of which we expect to replenish our finances. Our efforts to build up a library available for the use of members have this year shown some promise of success. We have now a collection of over 300 volumes of standard works on China and the Far East including, in particular, works on South China and Hong Kong and a valuable collection of exchange journals. Our collection has been enriched with the books purchased with the generous grant of $2,850 from the Asia Foundation and with about 100 books from the library of the late Colonel Burkhardt and Madame du Breuil generously presented by Colonel Burkhardt's daughter. Our thanks are due once again to Mr. F. A. Nixon who has enabled us to receive from the Fung Ping Shan Museum of the University five albums containing photographs of his collection of Nestorian Crosses which are housed in the Museum. The British Council have come to our aid by kindly providing space in their library for the greater part of our books, while some of the rarer books and reference works will still be kept for the time being in the University Library. The accommodation given to our library by the British Council is the best temporary solution of our library problem until some kind benefactor appears to give us a room of our own with sufficient funds to provide for a part-time librarian. Before the original branch of the Society was wound up in 1859 it had a substantial and valuable library which was presented to the Morrison Educational Society and it was fortunate then in having good friends in its first President — Sir John Davis — and the Chief Justice who provided a ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1968 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833948d FURTHER NOTES ON THE SUNG WONG T'OI 71 ment outside, possibly T'ang; two fragments of stoneware bowls with pale blue glaze, much weathered and probably old; and two thick stoneware bowl bases roughly hollowed out below, with their yellow glaze decayed, probably of Sung date; one of them was apparently not glazed so far down as the base. Lastly there is one fragment of the neck of a large stoneware jar, wheel-turned, the external diameter of which was 37 cm. at the mouth, and internal 35 cm.; it shows no sign of slip or glaze, and seems to be of Six Dynasties date. 2. Pottery from the beach. A group of 21 bowl bases and sherds were collected from the boulder-strewn beach at the south-east foot of the hill. All but two were submitted to the British Museum for determination of the probable dates of manufacture, with the following results: T'ang dynasty; broken bowl glazed olive-green, with 17-tooth comb mark. Probably T'ang: two bowl bases, one with 10-tooth comb marks. Probably Sung: three bowl bases and two sherds, without incised ornament. Probably Southern Sung: two bowl bases and one sherd with shallow incised grooves on the outside. All the above bowl bases are unglazed below a line part way down their outsides, and are hollowed out with a tool that left a helical mark within the footrim. Southern Sung or Yuan: three bowl bases of 13th century date, two with white porcellanous bodies and white glaze, and one with pale buff body and creamy glaze: their unglazed bases are flat with very low footrims. Each of the first two has incised ornament, one an underglaze wave pattern within the bowl, the other a lotus petal pattern on the outside with raised outlines. The third shows signs of wear on a beach, which are seen on no other specimen. This specimen was overlooked and not submitted to the Museum, but has a strong resemblance to the two others in its style and appearance. These three pieces are broken across their bases in such a way that outline tracings of the base in section could be made. Figures 1, 2 and 3 below ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1968 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833948d 72 W. SCHOFIELD are the outlines so traced: they are numbered to correspond with the order in which they are described. The remaining items from this group are:- Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Probably Yuan: piece of the shoulder of a jar with the base of a handle; glazed gray, roughly made. Probably early Ming, 14th to 15th century; two sherds with worn opalescent blue and white glaze, each of them part of the rounded lips of thick bowls. Ming, 16th century: three pieces, a bowl, a sherd, and a plate, with blue underglaze designs. 19th century: small broken porcelain wine cup, light blue glaze. This piece could well date back to the days of quarrying on the hill: it looks newer and less worn than any other piece, and was not submitted to the Museum. 3. Pottery fragments from the exposed surface of a cutting through the south end of the earthwork, where it faces east. These fragments, numbering 13, were also submitted to the British Museum experts, who reported as follows: 'We are agreed that these are of Six Dynasties and T'ang Dynasty date. The sherd with the impressed designs is not parallel with those found on Lamma Island,* and The reference is to Father Finn's discoveries pre-war. See Archaeological Finds on Lamma Island (*) near Hong Kong, Ricci Publications, Ricci Hall, University of Hong Kong, 1958 reprinted from The Hong Kong Naturalist between 1933-36 and edited by T. F. Ryan, S.J. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1968 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833948d FURTHER NOTES ON THE SUNG WONG T'OI 73 evidently of later date. The sherds with partially preserved glaze appear to represent a local attempt to imitate Yüeh ware, while one or two of the smaller glazed fragments are of better quality and may be imported from kilns further north and are definitely of T'ang date. It need only be added that one fragment, of soft pinkish earthenware, is certainly proto-historic; and that the attribution of the whole of the fragments to the T'ang Dynasty or earlier raises the question whether the earthwork, or at least that part where the cutting was, may not date to the troubled period at the fall of that dynasty. If so, it might be that the Sung army re-used and strengthened an old fortification, very likely adding the high rampart with its ditch, counterscarp, and glacis at the north end, where an attack was evidently expected. The total absence of Sung pottery is certainly an unexpected feature, and if any part of these earthworks still survives, a few trenches dug across them would reveal enough pottery to prove or disprove this view. The turf and spoil removed could easily be put back, as is done in most modern excavations. One thing is certain: the work at the north end faces Kowloon City, so cannot be a defence work for the salt depot there, as the wall on the Kowloon T'ong gap west of the city was. There was Sung pottery on the hill when the writer saw it, so that an earthwork thrown up in 1276 should contain some pieces of it. The small number of 13 pieces found may well be not enough to yield a satisfactory basis for a conclusion: yet the total absence of both Sung and later porcelain among them points at least to the extreme scarcity of such porcelain at the time the earthwork was thrown up. As the evidence now stands, it is reasonably likely that the earthwork is connected, like the watch-tower recorded as erected on the summit rock, with the defence of the palace of the last Sung emperors. Acknowledgement My thanks are owing to the Department of Oriental Antiquities, British Museum, for their expert advice on the pottery from the beach and the earthwork cutting, to which this paper owes much of its value. Biographical Note Mr. Schofield served in Hong Kong as a Cadet (Administrative) Officer in the Civil Service between 1911-38. He is well-known for his published articles on the archaeology and geology of the Colony in pre-war years, and is M.A. (Liv. and Oxon). ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1968 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833948d THE LIBRARY 181 BREDON, Juliet. Sir Robert Hart: the romance of a great career, told by his niece. London, Hutchinson, 1909. BUCK, Peter H. Explorers of the Pacific: European and American discoveries in Polynesia, by Te Rangi Hiroa (Peter H. Buck). Honolulu, Bernice P. Bishop Museum, 1953. BUSHELL, Stephen W. Chinese art. 2nd ed. London, H.M.S.O., 1909 reprinted 1924. (Victoria and Albert Museum handbooks) 2 vols. CAHILL, James. Chinese painting. [Lausanne] Skira, 1960. CARL, Katharine A. With the Empress Dowager. New York, Century, 1905. CARNÉ, Louis de. Travels in Indo-China and the Chinese Empire: with a notice of the author by the Count de Carné. Translated from the French. London, Chapman and Hall, 1872. CHAI, Fei, and others. Indigo prints of China. Peking, Foreign Languages Press, 1956. CHENG, J. C. Chinese sources for the Taiping Rebellion, 1850-1864. Hong Kong, University Press, 1963. CHU, Hsi (AO Kia-li (†): livre des rites domestiques chinois de Tchou-hi, traduit pour la première fois avec commentaires by C. de Harlez. Paris, Leroux, 1889. CLAUDEL, Paul. Chine. Photographies d'Hélène Hoppenot. [Genève] Skira, 1946. CLAVELL, James. Tai-pan: a novel of Hong Kong. London, Michael Joseph, 1966. COATES, Austin. Prelude to Hongkong. London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1966. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1968 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833948d 182 COHEN, Paul A. THE LIBRARY Some sources of anti-missionary sentiment during the late Ch'ing. Ann Arbor, Center for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan [1962?] Extract from China Society, Taiwan. Journal, v. 2. COHN, William. Chinese art. London, The Studio, 1930. COHN, William. Chinese painting. London, Phaidon Press, 1948. COLE, Fay-Cooper. The peoples of Malaysia. New York, Van Nostrand, 1945. COTES, Everard. Signs and portents in the Far East. New York, Putnam, 1907. COULING, Samuel. The encyclopaedia sinica. Shanghai, Kelly and Walsh, 1917 reprinted 1964. COWDRY, N. H. Plants from Peitaiho. [Shanghai, Kelly & Walsh, 1922] Reprinted from Royal Asiatic Society. North China Branch. Journal, v. 53, 1922, pp. [158]-188. CROSSMAN, Carl L. A design catalogue of Chinese export porcelain for the American market. Salem, Mass., Peabody Museum, 1964. DAVID, Armand. Journal de mon troisième voyage d'exploration dans l'Empire Chinois. Paris, Hachette, 1875. 2 vols. DAVIS, S. G., ed. Economic geology of Hong Kong. Hong Kong, University Press, 1964. DAVIS, S. G., ed. Land use problems in Hong Kong: a symposium. Hong Kong, University Press, 1964. DAVIS, S. G. and TREGEAR, Mary. Man Kok Tsui (†); archaeological site 30, Lantau Island, Hong Kong. Hong Kong, University Press, 1961. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1968 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833948d DAWSON, Raymond, ed. THE LIBRARY The legacy of China. Oxford, Clarendon P., 1964. DEBNICKI, Aleksy. 183 The Chu-shu-chi-nien (+) as a source to the social history of ancient China. Warszawa, Panstwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1956. DEGROOT, J. J. M. The religion of the Chinese. New York, Macmillan, 1912. DE MOUBRAY, G. A. de C. Matriarchy in the Malay Peninsula and neighbouring countries. London, Routledge, 1931. DER LING, Princess. Two years in the forbidden city. New York, Dodd, Mead, 1929. DRAKE, F. S., ed. Symposium on historical, archaeological and linguistic studies on Southern China, South-East Asia and the Hong Kong region: papers presented at meetings held in September 1961 as part of the Golden Jubilee Congress of the University of Hong Kong. F. S. Drake, general editor; Wolfram Eberhard, chairman of the proceedings. Hong Kong, University Press, 1967. EASTHAM, Barry C. Chinese art ivory. Tientsin, Paradissis, 1940. EBERHARD, Wolfram. Settlement and social change in Asia. Hong Kong, University Press, 1967. ECKE, Gustav. Atlantes and Caryatides in Chinese architecture. [Peking, Catholic University, 1930] EDWARDS, Richard. Pine, hibiscus and examination failures. [Ann Arbor] Center for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan [1966] Extract from Michigan. University. Museum of Art. Bulletin, v.1, 1965/66. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1968 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833948d Plate 21. Reaping hook from Lantau Island, Hong Kong (see p. 161), Plate 22. Reaping hook from Lantau Island, Hong Kong (see p. 161). (Plates 21-22 by courtesy of the Curator, City Hall Museum and Art Gallery, Hong Kong.) ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1969 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d 65 TUNG KWU ISLAND: THE TYPE SITE OF HONG KONG'S OLDER PRE-HISTORIC CULTURE INTRODUCTION W. SCHOFIELD* The present paper describes the writer's investigations of the large site revealed from 1925 onwards by sand diggers on the island of Tung Kwu beyond Castle Peak,† This dumb-bell island, which is formed entirely of Hong Kong granite and the sand which links its two portions by an isthmus, has not only yielded pottery of the historic period in one area of its western beach, but a great many remains of a culture obviously earlier than that of the Bronze Age in Lamma described by Father Finn.‡ DESCRIPTION OF THE ISLAND (See Plates 1 and 2) Tung Kwu is a typical single dumb-bell with an isthmus joining a large northern hill ridge 76 metres high to a smaller southern one of 68 metres. These hills show all the signs of early loss of their original woods, followed by washing away of most of the thick subsoil of clay full of quartz grains which formed beneath their cover, some of which remained on the isthmus and beaches. Much of the hill surface is occupied by large masses of granite boulders formed by chemical action in the clay, and left behind when it was washed away. A noteworthy feature of the northern hill area is the 35 metres hill that rises just north of the isthmus and is surrounded by a * Mr. Schofield (1888-1968) served in Hong Kong between 1911-1938 as a Cadet Officer and Police Magistrate, He was noted for his work pre-war on the geology and archaeology of Hong Kong, in which fields he was a pioneer scholar. More recently his article "Further Notes on the Sung Wong Toi" appeared in the 1968 Journal. Ed. †This island has long been misnamed on local maps. The Hong Kong Government's official Gazetteer of Place Names in Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories (no date, but 1960), p. 161, calls it Lung Kwu Chau (##) and describes it as "an uninhabited island in area 0.158 sq. mile off the west of the Castle Peak Peninsula, incorrectly named TUNG KWU (Tongku) on the 1:25,000 official map. (Sheet 13, 1957 edition)". ‡ The photographs which illustrate this article may be found at Plates 1 to 9 at the rear of this volume. They are representative, and not ordinarily related to items mentioned in the text because Mr. Schofield died before we had chosen and discussed the illustrations. I am greatly indebted to Mr. James C. Y. Watt, Assistant Curator of the Hong Kong City Hall Museum and Art Gallery and Hon. Sec. of the Hong Kong Archaeological Society, for much help and advice with the sketch-map, charts and plates. Ed. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1969 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d 66 W. SCHOFIELD small plateau averaging some 10 to 12 metres above sea level. This is a plane of marine denudation dating from a time when the sea level stood 12 metres higher than now, perhaps during the last great inter-glacial period (Riss-Würm), some 100,000 years ago. From this lower area much less clay could be washed than from the higher and steeper hill to the north; and the gentler wave-action on the west beach, normally on the lee of the island, made it about five times as long as that on the east of the isthmus, with very few large boulders. Somewhere on the west side of the 12 metres terrace, between about 1100 and 1500 A.D., there was at one or more times a small settlement, perhaps no more than one or two fishermen's huts; for at this point on the west beach are found pieces of Sung and even Ming pottery lying on the beach and in the cliff, which here is largely built up of coarse rainwash from the hill behind. There is, however, no modern settlement and no cultivation, and the island appears to be used only by boat-people, either for fishing or for burial of their dead; for on one visit Prof. Shellshear, who was with me, discovered a human skeleton of recent date two feet below the top of the sand cliff. METHOD OF INVESTIGATION The site was first discovered and investigated by Dr. Heanley and Prof. Shellshear, who worked together from about 1925 in looking for sites showing early human occupation. Much of what they found lay on the surface of the beaches, but wherever possible they noted the depth from the soil surface of objects found in the sand cliffs. Part of their material was presented later to the British Museum, and some to Mr. Eumorfopoulos and others, but the rest seems to have disappeared during the war in 1941 when the Hong Kong University was wrecked. Their code number for the site was 123, which points to a comparatively later discovery: the Tai Wan site on Lamma, for example, is numbered 83. The technique employed by the writer at Tung Kwu was as follows. Objects not found in situ were collected and the initials of the site were painted on them in Chinese ink. If a single object was found in situ, its depth from the surface was measured in inches or centimetres; it was extracted; the depth and initials of the site were written on it or its wrapping paper, and later were recorded in Chinese ink on the specimen. In 1935, by which ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1969 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d TUNG KWU ISLAND 79 or saucer, painted with an open flower in underglaze blue, crudely executed and very badly glazed; and the third, found at 78 cm. in the sandbank, was a bronze button wrapped in a fragment of coarse cloth, hollow and containing a small object which rattles. I interpret this as a fragment from a modern burial: its depth is noteworthy. A group of late pottery fragments is recorded on my last visit but one to the site. Three of them were at 69, 71 and 76 cm. from the surface, and one, probably a piece of tile, at 61 cm. They were near the north end of the west beach, where rainwash from the hill has increased the depth recordings compared with those on the sand isthmus. Other pieces of tile, with textile impressions on their concave sides, and gray in colour, apparently old-fashioned, lay at 1 m. depth in rainwash 25 m. north of the group described. These tiles evidently mark an occupation level, most likely fishermen's huts of the Yuan or later period; some of the fishermen may even have been using pieces of porcelain left behind by the Sung court after its retreat from the Kowloon district to its final end on the Ngai Mun mouth of the West River. The accumulation of rainwash over this level points to the island's deforestation as having started about the Sung period, when Chinese immigration from the north had increased the population, and with it the demand for timber and firewood, as the log runways on the Lantau hills testify. PUMICE An interesting feature of the site is a layer, roughly 32 cm. thick, and from 75 to 107 cm. from the surface, containing fairly numerous rolled pebbles of pumice, stained yellow by the sand. It is confined to the east shore of the isthmus. This layer evidently points to an eruption that took place in Japan or the Philippines, possibly submarine, and coming from a magma of the acid type rather than the basic, from which the 'froth' was expelled by explosions, and was drifted by wind and currents on to the Tung Kwu beach. Similar beds of ancient pumice are found at eight other sites in the Colony, very likely more, and give a very useful datum line for correlation, like a zone fossil in geology. This holds good also in some sites on the Tonkin (North Vietnam) coast visited by Dr. Andersson in 1938; his results were published in the Stockholm journal of the Museum of Far Eastern ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1969 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d TUNG KWU ISLAND 81 influence is provided by the recent discovery (in 1968) of a Shang-style stone ko (dagger-axe) on Sha Chau in association with the same soft pottery. The affinity between the decoration on the pottery of Sha Chau and Tung Kwu and Shang pottery is therefore rather stronger than Mr. Schofield's last sentence in the present article suggests. Perhaps his statement made thirty years ago in his classic report on the Shek Pik site remains true: "From the earliest period to which the Hong Kong culture can be dated a trace of Chinese influence is present." ++ Pre-war writings on Hong Kong Archaeology include: (1) J. G. Andersson — “Topography of the Hongkong Sites" in Bulletin No. 11, Topographical and Archaeological Studies in the Far East, of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, 1939. (2) S. F. Balfour Section II, "Archaeological Evidence" at pp. 336-341 of his article "Hong Kong Before The British” between pp. 330-352 and 440-464 of T'ien Hsia Monthly, Shanghai, 1941. (3) Fr. D. J. Finn — various articles in The Hong Kong Naturalist between 1933-36. These are now reprinted in (ed. T. F. Ryan, S.J.) Archaeological Finds On Lamma Island (Akhio) Near Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Ricci publications, Ricci Hall, University of Hong Kong, 1958. (4) C. M. Heanley and J. L. Shellshear "A Contribution To The Prehistory Of Hongkong And The New Territories”, Praehistoria Asia Orientalis, I, Premier Congrès des Pré-historiens d'Extrême-Orient, Hanoi, 1932. (5) W. Schofield — "Implements Of Palaeolithic Type In Hong Kong" at pp. 272-275, The Hong Kong Naturalist, December, 1935. (6) W. Schofield — "The Proto-Historic Site Of The Hong Kong Culture At Shek Pik, Lantau, Hong Kong" at pp. 235-305 of Proceedings of the Third Congress of Pre-historians of the Far East, Singapore, Government Printing House, 1940. A photograph of Mr. Schofield taken at Tung Kwu by Professor Shellshear on 9 December, 1931 is at Plate 9. Ed. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1969 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d NOTES AND QUERIES 161 A PAIR OF POTTERY COVERED JARS FOUND AT SHEK PIK, LANTAU ISLAND The Shek Pik area in the south-western corner of Lantau Island has yielded archaeological finds of more varied interest than any other area in Hong Kong. Before the construction of the reservoir in the valley (1958-62), it was mainly known by the neolithic sites on the raised beach which W. Schofield excavated in the thirties. During and since the building of the reservoir various archaeological finds of comparatively recent periods have been made. The latest of these finds is a pair of earthenware jars with identical blue and white porcelain bowls as covers. They were discovered in February 1968 and February 1969 by James Hayes who had reported all post-war archaeological finds at Shek Pik†. Both pairs of jar and bowl were broken when discovered and the first pair has now been restored by the City Museum and Art Gallery (see Plates 19 and 20). These jars and bowls were located on a sloping hillside west of the former village of Shek Pik Wai (abandoned before the War for sites a few hundred yards lower down the valley). The area had been scoured by bulldozers for 'fill' for the dam and the jars were found in an exposed bank. This was, in fact, the site of the earlier discoveries reported by Hayes. Though located less than a foot away from each other and each about two feet from the surface, the pots were discovered singly as progressive eroding of the bank by rain brought them to light. Mr. WAN On (溫安) of Pui O, South Lantau was with Mr. Hayes on both occasions. The porcelain bowls are the first known pieces of Ming blue and white porcelain reported in Hong Kong, at any rate since the War, although they are a type of trade porcelain which is commonly found in the Philippines and in Indonesia. The bowls have fairly straight slanting sides and high foot-rims. They are decorated on the outside with vertical fern leaves (sometimes identified as plantain leaves) with wavy edges and with a band of floral design round the mouth rim. On the inside they are decorated with a double ring near the mouth and with a lotus flower within a circle in the centre. The lotus flower (Sanskrit padma) is one of the "eight glorious emblems" in Buddhist art † See reference to this article at p. 73 of this issue. Ed. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1969 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d 182 THE LIBRARY Asia; with an appendix of sailing directions for those seas and coasts. 5th ed. Taipei, Ch'eng-wen Publ. Co., 1966. YULE, Sir Henry. Y95 Cathay and the way thither; being a collection of medieval notices of China. New ed., rev. throughout in the light of recent discoveries by Henri Cordier. Taipei, Ch'eng-wen Publ. Co., 1966. The following bound volumes of periodicals are now located in the British Council Library, Gloucester Building, where they may be consulted. They are not available for loan. Asia major, London, vols. 9-11, 1962-1965, East and West, Rome, vols. 14-17, 1963-1966. France. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. Bulletin signalétique. Sec. 21: Sociologie, etc., vols. 16-18, 1962-1964. Sec. 24: Sciences du langage, vol. 19, 1965. Japan quarterly, Tokyo, vols. 10-14, 1963-1967. Journal of Asiatic studies, Seoul, vols. 8-10, 1965-1967. Monumenta serica, Los Angeles, vols. 19-25, 1960-1966. Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm. Bulletin, vols. 1-4, 1929-1932; 38-39, 1966-1967. Royal Asiatic Society, London. Journal, 1957-1966. Royal Asiatic Society. Korea Branch. Transactions, vols. 34-39, 1958-1962. Sarawak Museum journal, vols. 9-14, 1960-1966. Sinologica, Basel, vols. 7-9, 1962/63-1966/67. Tōhō Gakuhō, Kyoto, vols. 32-39, 1962-1968. Tsing hua journal of Chinese studies, Taipei, new series, vols. 2-6, 1960/61-1966/67. This collection comprises 14 different titles, and 75 vols. (bound in 60). Hong Kong, 28 April, 1969. H. A. RYDINGS, Hon. Librarian. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1969 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d 192 LANYON-ORGILL, Dr. P. A. LAU, Wai-Mai, Michael LAWRENCE, Mrs. I. LECKIE, J. B. H. LEE, Din-yi LEE, Miss Tsu-Wei, Flossy LEE, J. S.* LEE, Hon. R. C.* LETHBRIDGE, H. J. LEUNG, Pak-kui LEVY, A. LI, Dr. Choh-ming LI, Shi-yi LINDSAY, T. J.* LIU, D. H. LIU, Sydney C. LIU, Prof. Ts'un-yan LLEWELLYN, J. LO, Prof. Hsiang-Lin LO, T, S.* LOBO, Mrs. R. H. (Margaret) LOCKING, J. R. LOCKS, Miss A. M. Crichton College, Balmains, Stanley, Perthshire, Scotland, Fung Ping Shan Museum, University of Hong Kong, HK. 4-B, Cliff View Mansions, 19 Conduit Road, H.K. c/o H.K. Trade Development Office, Britannia House, 30 Rue Joseph II, Brussels 4, Belgium. United College, 9-A Bonham Road, H.K. c/o University Library, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T. 74, Kennedy Road, H.K. Lee Hysan Estate Co. Ltd., Prince's Bldg., 25th Floor, H.K. Dept. of Economics, University of Hong Kong, H.K. 22 Hing Hon Road, 2nd floor, Western District, H.K. 5 Tung Shan Terrace, Flat B2, Stubbs Rd., H.K. The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T. 72, La Salle Road, 2nd floor, Kowloon. 3, Bareena Avenue, Wahroonga, N.S.W. c/o U.S. Consulate General, 26 Garden Road, H.K. Rose Court, 117 Wongneichong Road, 12th Floor, Happy Valley, H.K. Dept. of Chinese, Australian National University, Canberra, A.C.T. 2600, Australia. Dept. of Geography & Geology, University of Hong Kong, H.K. Dept. of Chinese, University of Hong Kong, H.K. c/o Lo and Lo, Jardine House, 7/F., Pedder St., H.K. Race View Mansions, Apt. 72, 46 Stubbs Road, H.K. c/o Colonial Secretariat, Lower Albert Road, H.K. Flat 20, 6 Mansfield Road, H.K. *Life Member Please notify the Hon. Secretary of any inaccuracy ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1969 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d CAVOUR. ALL 45 7 VOUR. $ A MEMOIR. LIBRARY 香港 LIBR HONG KONG: 二楼書大 Beceù Eldior. (HONGKONG. WOOR BY EDWARD DICEY, H HOME IN 1908.", ** Cambridge: MACMILLAN AND CO. AND 18, HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN, 1881. Plate 18. Title page of Edward Dicey's "Cavour" (1861) showing copy of the Victoria Library and Reading Rooms and the old City Hall Library, (By courtesy of the Librarian, University of Hong Kong and the Curator, City Hall Museum and Art Gallery, Hong Kong) ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1969 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d Plate 19. One of an identical pair of Ming dynasty pottery-covered jars found at Shek Pik, Lantau Island, Hong Kong in 1968. By courtesy of the Curator, City Hall Museum & Art Gallery, Hong Kong: A ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1970 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ww72j0241 the Society had a fine home of its own with a lecture hall presented by a Dr. Wu Lien-teh, a magnificent library and a museum and art gallery. It was supported by the Municipal Councils of the International Settlement and of the French Concession with liberal grants. In Hong Kong, however, no philanthropist has yet appeared to help the Society and the Government gives us only $200 a year in return for which it receives free copies of the Society's publications. Our library is increasing and now consists of about 500 books but can be much enlarged by the purchase of books and by donations. One section of the library, the rarest volumes and our exchange journals as well as a stock of our own journals, is kept in the University, while the other section is kept in the rooms of the British Council which is already hard pressed to house its own library. We are grateful to the University and the British Council for these facilities and the services of their staff but the time has come when the Society will have to appeal for funds to house our library and make it more easily available. We have to acknowledge with gratitude the gifts of books made during the year, including contributions from the Hong Kong University and from the South China Morning Post. A most valuable gift was the presentation on behalf of the Diocesan Girls' School of the classic and rare book, Bentham's Flora Hongkongensis, published in 1861. Bentham was a member of the Society but published his great work two years after the Society's collapse. In this connection I want to add that it has been my great wish, so far not achieved, to see Bentham's book succeeded by a new and colour edition of the Flora of Hong Kong based on the 500 admirable slides from the photographs taken by Mr. F. A. Nixon. With some Government encouragement and some philanthropic help, such as was given by Jardines and Dents in 1859, such an aim could be achieved and would serve as a permanent contribution by the Royal Asiatic Society to the natural history of Hong Kong. As you will see from the Hon. Treasurer's Report our finances are in a satisfactory position; but we cannot be complacent as we have heavy expenses to meet in printing the new issue of the Journal and in reprinting Vol. I and the printing of the record and results of the recent Symposia conducted by Professor Dwyer ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1970 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ww72j0241 54 H. J. LETHBRIDGE St. Andrews 2, Aberdeen 2, Glasgow 1). Sir Joseph Kemp attended Cape University, South Africa and Edward Wynne-Jones the University of Wales. These university-educated gentlemen represent a social stratum lying somewhere between Mathew Arnold's Barbarians and the Philistines. A large number of them had been educated in schools animated by the ideas and ideals of Arnold's father, Thomas Arnold, the headmaster of Rugby. 28 Alexander Macdonald Thomson (1863-1924), Educated at Aberdeen University. Lecturer in Mathematics, Naini Tal College, India, 1884-5; Assistant Professor of Mathematics, Aberdeen, 1887; entered the Hong Kong Civil Service, and attached for one year to the Colonial Office, 1887; Treasurer 1898-1918. Retired in 1918. He is the only cadet who retired to live in the United States (San Mateo, California); most cadets, including the Scots, settled in the Home Counties on retirement. 29 Norman Lockhart Smith (1887-1968) was the son of Hugh Crawford Smith, M.P., Newcastle-on-Tyne, and Lewis Audley Marsh Johnston (1865-1908) the son of William Johnston, M.P., Ballykilbeg, Ireland. 30 Robert Huessler Yesterday's Rulers, Syracuse, New York, 1963, p. 98. 31 In H. R. Wells and Lam Tong Chinese Documents and Petitions, Hong Kong, 1931, some examples are given in Chinese, with English translations. There are also some interesting specimens of petitions received by the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs from Chinese in Hong Kong. In the section on the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs in the General Orders of the Hong Kong Government, 1924, we read: "Before taking action affecting bodies or classes of people, the Chinese Government is in the habit of issuing proclamations explaining the action to be taken and the reason for it and the Chinese in Hong Kong expect the same notice to be given. It is desirable that whenever the Head of a Department finds it necessary to take notice of any slackness in complying with the law, or to put a stop to gradual encroachments on the part of individuals, or to bring some new regulation into force, he should first consult the Secretary for Chinese Affairs and ask him to notify the people affected in the same way". 32 Margery Perham Lugard, vol. 2, London 1960, p. 302. 33 Ibid., p. 367. 34 Geoffrey Robley Sayer (1887-1962), Educated at Highgate School, London, and Queen's College, Oxford. Hong Kong Civil Service 1910; Director of Education 1934-6; retired 1938. 35 Stephen Francis Balfour (1905-1945). Educated at King's College, Cambridge. Hong Kong Civil Service 1929; died in internment during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong. 36 Walter Schofield (1888-1968). Educated at the University of Liverpool. Hong Kong Civil Service 1911. First Police Magistrate 1934-1937; retired 1938. Schofield was noted for his work pre-war on the geology and archaeology of Hong Kong, in which fields he was a pioneer scholar. 37 Roger Soame Jenyns (born 1904). Educated at Eton and Magdalene College, Cambridge. Hong Kong Civil Service 1926; resigned in 1931 to join the British Museum. He is a noted expert on the arts of the Far East and has written extensively in that field. 38 Robert Andrew Dermod Forrest (born 1893). Educated at Aberdeen University. Hong Kong Civil Service 1919; Inspector of Vernacular Schools; Immigration Officer 1940. Lecturer in Tibeto-Burman Linguistics at the School of Oriental and African Studies at London University. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1970 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ww72j0241 A HONG KONG BUTTERFLY Lamproptera curius (Fabricius) walkeri (Moore) COLONEL V. R. BURKHARDT* Introduction with Introduction and Postscript by J. B. Pickford and J. Carey-Hughes The following notes on the breeding of Lamproptera curius walkeri are from the records of the late Colonel V. R. Burkhardt, together with some correspondence he had with Mr. N. D. Riley of the British Museum of Natural History. Colonel Burkhardt served in China and Hong Kong for many years, including two periods as Military Attaché to the British Embassy to China. He published three volumes on Chinese Creeds and Customs (H.K., South China Morning Post Ltd., 1953, 1955, 1958) and contributed a weekly article in a local newspaper on the same subjects under the pseudonym 'Pioneer'. In addition to his interest in Sinology he was an enthusiastic and painstaking entomologist. In later years, due to storage difficulties he did not keep his set specimens, but made water colour illustrations of the many species he had caught including a large number of rarities. While these are extremely well executed and scientifically correct, there is really no substitute for the whole insect. At the time of Colonel Burkhardt's notes on L. curius (1957) little or nothing was known of the early stages of this butterfly. His observations are recorded here without alteration. COLONEL BURKHARDT'S NOTES The small Papilio Lamproptera curius was first reported in Hong Kong by Commander Walker in 1892, and his name is associated with it by Moore. Kershaw describes it in his Butterflies of Hong Kong (1907) as very scarce and sporadic, appearing to become scarcer in Hong Kong of late years. He continues "I have seen so little of this insect that I cannot do better than quote Commander Walker's account in the Transactions of the Entomological Society of London, for 1895." * Colonel Burkhardt's article on Hong Kong Butterflies, with coloured illustrations, appeared at pp. 97-104 of the 1964 Journal, Ed. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1970 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ww72j0241 212 BOOK REVIEWS TRADITIONAL CHINESE PLAYS, Volume 2, translated, described, annotated and illustrated by A. C. Scott, Longing for the worldly Pleasures, Ssu Fan, Fifteen Strings of Cash, Shih wu kuan, University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, Milwaukee and London, 1969, pp. X, 156. The second volume is translated with all the same accompaniments that we find in the first one. But the two plays chosen are not Peking operas. They belong to another kind of opera which was predominant in China from the end of the XVIth century to the end of the XVIIIth. The music was softer than in Peking opera and the main instrument for accompanying the singing was the flute. As in more ancient forms, the sung parts were written on different types of melodies, with verses of unequal lengths. The literary character of these verses made them difficult for a popular audience to understand. And this type of opera, created at K'un-shan, near Suchow, was later overcome by the success of the genre elaborated at the capital and favoured by the court. But this K'un-ch'ü, as it is called, remained for years part of the training of a good Peking opera actor. The famous actor Mei Lan-fang tried to revive it around 1915-16 and again later in 1933 with the great actor Yü Chen-fei. After 1949 a new troupe of K'un-ch'ü was formed, which put on Fifteen Strings of Cash in 1956, with the actor Wang Ch'uan-song as the clown, Lou the Rat. Longing for worldly Pleasures comes from a Buddhist story: a nun, put in a monastery, escapes to find her paramour. Fifteen Strings of Cash is a detective story from storytellers' repertoires: Lou the Rat commits a murder to steal and puts the blame on the stepdaughter of the murdered man. But a good judge, disguised as a fortune-teller, confounds him. The interest of these books lies not so much in the translation of four librettos as in all the information about costumes, make-up, and the movements made by the actors at each moment. Consequently, the work is not just one more translation, but, first and foremost, a handbook; and a good one for anyone wanting to put on and adapt Chinese plays for a foreign audience, instead of being interested in Chinese opera as a museum piece or as an... ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1970 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ww72j0241 232 TURNER, Sir Michael* UHALLEY, Dr. S., Jr. VALE, Miss M. VARNEY, Dr. C. B. VETCH, H. VETCH, Mrs. H. VIO, Dr. E. G. - VISICK, Mrs. M. VOSS, Dr. A. · WALDEN, J. C. C. ► WARD, Miss J. E. A.* WARRINGTON-STRONG, Cmdr. F. WATERS. D. D. WATSON, James L. WATSON, K. A. WATT, James C. Y. + WEBB-JOHNSON, S. A. - WEBSTER, J. L, H. WEI, Dr. Tat WEINREBE, H. M. WELCH, Holmes, H.* WHITE, Robert N. - WHITELEGGE, D. S.* WILLIAMS, A. T. - WILLIAMS, B. V. WILLIAMS, P. B. + ■ + + - + + "Whispers", Riversdale, Bourne End, Bucks, England. c/o Dept. of History, Duke University, Durham, N. Carolina, U.S.A. 1-B, 126 Pokfulum Road, H.K. c/o Dept. of Geography, United College, C.U.H.K., 9A, Bonham Road, H.K. Belmont Court 10A, 10 Kotewall Road, H.K. As above. 315, H.K. & Shanghai Bank Building, H.K. Dept. of English, University of Hong Kong, H.K. 27, Babington Path, H.K. c/o The Colonial Secretariat, H.K. c/o National Provincial Bank Ltd., Bideford, North Devon, England. c/o Registration of Persons Office, Causeway Bay Magistracy Building, 4th Floor, H.K. c/o Technical College, Hunghom, Kowloon. P.O. Box No. 8, San Tin Village Post Office, N.T. c/o Lammert Bros., Pedder Building, H.K. c/o City Museum & Art Gallery, City Hall, H.K. H.K. Chinese Liaison Office, Abbey House, Victoria, London, S.W.1, England. c/o The British Council, Gloucester Building, H.K. 3, Fontana Gardens, 5th Floor, Causeway Hill, H.K. c/o Weinrebe & Pennell Ltd., Room 805, The Bank of Canton Building, H.K. 4 Holden Lane, Concord, Mass., U.S.A. 12 Pokfield Road, 1st floor, H.K. 58 Mt. Nicholson Gap, H.K. Geography & Geology Dept., University of Hong Kong, H.K. c/o The Colonial Secretariat, H.K. 10, The Albany, H.K. * Life Member Please notify the Hon. Secretary of any inaccuracy ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1970 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ww72j0241 Plate 20. An early map of the region showing the forts and Portuguese ships passing between Cheung Chau and Lantau and the Lama Islands. (Plates 16-20 are reproduced here by courtesy of Mrs Halfour (now Glock) and with the kind assistance of the Curator, City Museum & Art Gallery) ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1970 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ww72j0241 Plate 22. Nos. 14-16 Shau Kei Wan Old Main Street. Note the decorated eave boards, wall paintings and the ironwork of the verandahs. (Plates 21-24 by courtesy of the Curator, City Museum & Art Gallery) Page 255 Page 256 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1970 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ww72j0241 Plate 24. Boat used as a dwelling at Shek Tsai Po, Tai O, 19th January, 1937. It was hauled above high water mark, supported by stones with its gunwale level with the floors of sheds beside it. (Plates 20-29 were taken by Mr Walter Schofield at Tai O and are reproduced here with the kind assistance of the Curator, City Museum & Art Gallery) ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1971 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g At a later meeting the committee further decided that our active support should begin by informing you officially of our views on this important subject, but in doing so, I must not give you the impression that it represents the considered opinion of the Society as a whole. That may be forwarded later. I would however like to take this opportunity of making the point which I personally believe cannot be too strongly stressed at this stage of Hong Kong's development, where one so frequently still hears the question asked: "Why do we need a public museum?" Those who still ask that question obviously know nothing of modern museums or modern education. We need an up-to-date museum, not because all other cities in the world worthy of the name have at least one museum and that therefore we must follow suit, but because a museum in these days is something more than a mere repository of things relating to the past; it is as much an active, integral and essential part of any system of public education as a school, a college or a university is. Any modern museum worthy of the name provides opportunities for study which are complementary to the routine courses provided by institutions of learning at all levels of education - primary, secondary or tertiary - and the real value of these complementary opportunities lies in the fact that they are of a more informal nature, and consequently allow (and indeed encourage) the development of initiative and specialization among pupils. For this reason, expenditure on a museum project is not to be regarded as favouring the intelligentsia or a minority group; it is essential for its part in the balanced development of the young minds in the colony of all classes. This makes it of all the more importance in Hong Kong where our youth forms over 50% of our population, because the financial provision for these educational facilities is every bit as important as the provision of recreational facilities for our young people which so much more readily captures the imagination of social workers and the readers of the headlines in our press. Yours faithfully, L. T. RIDE President, Hong Kong Branch, Royal Asiatic Society. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1971 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g LETTERS FROM CHINA 1835-36 61 for drawing quite a genius for it, as the Japanese have for music. I saw a Japanese book at Macao—their Encyclopaedia, a work in many volumes, full as it could hold of the most exquisite wood-cuts, about the size of this page [8′′ × 10′′]. And it is quite impossible that Art could excel the spirit, grace and truth to Nature, with which these pictures of birds, trees, flowers, animals, etc. were represented. The pictures of the beasts reminded me of the Antique (the drawings in the Museum at Naples) in the exquisite ease with which the creatures are exhibited in all their own natural attitudes; the nicest distinctions of species are observed, with wonderful accuracy and the execution is as spirited as any lithograph I ever saw. I particularly admired the disregard of mere finish in their work, but nothing could be more useful than the adherence to everything that constitutes life and character. The botanical drawings surpass description; the true love of beauty is to be seen in the charming simplicity and fidelity of these things. They cannot combine groups apparently. Nor were their attempts at landscape at all to be compared to their other drawings. But the real Genius of Art was there as obvious as in any work that ever came from pencil or chisel. The book was a great rarity—and not to be replaced. What a pity that no nation but the indolent and incurious Dutch should be allowed to visit Japan—and that even their intercourse should be so restricted and trammelled as it is! I am unfortunate in being shipped off from China as I am direct from my sick-room. There are many things I should wish to have enquired about before going home, and I should like to have taken home some of their books and works of art.... • + 77 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1971 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g A BRIEF REPORT ON SUNG-TYPE POTTERY FINDS IN HONG KONG J. C. Y. WATT* THE SITES Over the past thirty years various pottery finds attributed to the Sung period have been made in many parts of Hong Kong. For the purpose of this paper, two representative sites will be described and the finds discussed. The sites are: the area of Kowloon City near the present Kai Tak Airport, and Nim Shu Wan on the eastern coast of Lantau Island, the largest of the islands of Hong Kong. Kowloon City, formerly called Kuan-fu Chai, was the administrative centre of the salt-pans on the north coast of Kowloon Bay. These salt-pans were one of the chief official centres of production of salt in south China during the Southern Sung period2. The existence of the Kuan-fu salt-pans, which we know from historical records, is confirmed by an inscription written by one of the salt-officers, Yen I-chang, in 1274 and carved on a rock which still stands today. The rock is situated behind a Tien-hou temple in Joss House Bay. Kuan-fu Chai was also one of the stopping places of the fleeing court of the last princes of the Sung dynasty3. It is not surprising that a site with so much connection with Sung history should yield archaeological finds of the Sung period. The first group of finds made in this area, which are still partially available for inspection and have a fair claim to be Sung, were unearthed intermittently from a small hill which used to be known as the Sacred Hill. This hill, on which stood the Sung Wang T'ai, the Sung Princes' Rock, was levelled during the Japanese occupation in the Second World War when the airfield was extended. When the hill was demolished a large quantity of pottery was unearthed, which consisted of celadons, green glazed *Mr. Watt is Assistant Curator, City Museum and Art Gallery, Hong Kong. His note "A Pair of Pottery Covered Jars found at Shek Pik, Lantau Island" appeared in Vol. 9 (1969) of this Journal, pp. 161-163. This article is based on a paper presented by the author at the Manila Trade Pottery Seminar held in March, 1968. Plates 1-10 illustrate this article. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1971 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g Plate 10. Green glazed stoneware bowl with incised formalised "petals" on the outside (and a "square stamp" in the centre of the inside), from Kowloon City, Diam, 11 cm. Plates 1-10 by courtesy of the Curator, City Museum and Art Gallery, Hong Kong, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1971 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g SUNG-TYPE POTTERY FINDS IN HONG KONG 149 among the sites, will at least be an important step towards an understanding of the overall pattern of early cultural and trade relations between China and South-east Asia over a period of several centuries. This comparative study will, of course, become more meaningful still when the pottery traditions of South China are better known, NOTES 1 A report of the finds at Shek Pik by Hayes and Watt appeared in the Journal of the Hong Kong Archaeological Society, Vol. I, 1968, pp. 19-23. 2 Jao Tsung-i: Kowloon in Historical Records of Sung Period, Hong Kong 1959. 3 Lo Hsiang-lin: Hong Kong and Its External Communications before 1842, Chapter on “Last of the Sungs", Hong Kong 1963. 4 According to the survey sheets and land ownership schedules kept in the District Office, Islands, New Territories Administration. 5 WW 1963.1, pp. 27-35. 6 WWTKTL 1958.2, pp. 34-37 and WW 1959.6, pp. 62-71. 7 WWTKTL 1958.2, p. 37. 8 L. and C. Locsin: Oriental Ceramics discovered in the Philippines, Tuttle, 1968. 9 Ku-Kung Po-wu-yuan Yuan-k'an, No. 2, 1960, pp. 121-123. 10 WW 1965.2, pp. 26-31. 11 UKK 1965.6, pp. 287-288. 12 Kuang-chou Hsi-ts'un Ka-yao I-tzu, 1958.9, Wen Wu Press. 13 See, for example, Plate V, KKTH 1956.4. Also Plate XVI (2) in J. C. Y. Watt: A Han Tomb in Lei Cheng Uk, Hong Kong, City Museum Handbook, 1970. 14 WWTKTL 1955.10. 15 See notes on pp. 161-3 JHKBRAS Vol. 9, 1969. 16 KK 1962.8 pp. 414-415 and KK 1964.4 pp. 196-199. WWTKTL = Wen-wu-ts'an-k'ao-tzu-liao WW = Wen-wu KKTH = K'ao-ku-t'ung-hsün KK = K'ao-ku Chinese Names and Terms Nim Shu Wan 稔樹灣 Kai Tak 啟德 Page 165 Page 166 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1971 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g BOOK REVIEWS EARLY MING WARES OF CHINGTECHEN. A. D. Brankston. 106 pp. 45 plates (1 coloured), 18 text-illus. Re-issue 1970. Vetch and Lee, Hong Kong $60; Lund Humphries, London, £5. The appearance of a reissue of A. D. Brankston's book Early Ming Wares of Chingtechen will be welcomed by the collector, connoisseur and dealer alike and will fill a long-awaited need to possess this classic in the field of Chinese ceramics. The original edition, published by Mr. Henri Vetch in Peking in 1938 was limited to 650 copies and has been, until now, virtually unobtainable to the layman, despite the fact that it is frequently referred to by writers on Chinese Porcelain and freely quoted from in sales catalogues. The present edition has been faithfully reproduced on the off-set press and Mr. Vetch is to be congratulated for turning out a most pleasing volume which retains much of the charm of the original. Archibald Brankston was born in Shanghai in 1909. He followed his father's profession as a civil engineer and, after schooling in England, came to Hong Kong to work on the Shing Mun Valley Water Scheme. Being obliged to return to England due to ill health, he was fortunate to be employed in the setting-up of the International Exhibition of Chinese Art in London in 1935. This led to his appointment as a travelling student by the Universities China Committee in London and he was thereby enabled to journey into the interior of China and visited the kiln sites around Chingtechen from which he recovered a variety of samples which now form part of the British Museum study collection. He was also fortunate in being acquainted with well-known Chinese collectors of that time, including Mr. Wu Lai-hsi and others. Back in England, he was employed in the Department of Oriental Antiquities of the British Museum for two years until he had to return to the Far East on behalf of the Ministry of Information. He died in Hong Kong in 1941 at the early age of 31. The book deals mainly with blue and white wares of the 15th Century covering the reigns of Yung Lo, Hsüan-Tê, Ch'êng Hua and Hung Chih and also includes some information on the ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1971 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g 218 BOOK REVIEWS In answer to the review in the Journal of the previous book, one of the authors wrote "I am impelled to emphasize that we wrote avowedly as dealers. Our objective has been achieved and the work has brought us a substantial volume of business". Where desire for success prevails over truth, accuracy and scholarship, one gets only gallery patter. The present volume has all the bad points of its predecessor. Peabody Museum Salem, Massachusetts, U.S.A., 1971. F. B. LOTHROP J FAMILY AND KINSHIP IN CHINESE SOCIETY, edited by Maurice Freedman. Stanford, California, Stanford University Press, 1970., pp. XV, 269. Students of Chinese society are not able at present to undertake field studies in the Chinese homeland, the People's Republic of China. The last major social investigation was carried out in the vicinity of Canton by Professor C.K. Yang over twenty years ago. Despite this formidable obstacle - the fact that China is closed to direct sociological observation - the study of Chinese domestic institutions by Western and other scholars has quickened rather than slackened. A small group of dedicated social scientists have been active since 1949 in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and other areas of Overseas Chinese settlement. Paradoxically, since 1949 much data have been collected, some important hypotheses formulated, and some parts of theory tested. As this volume makes clear, we have learned much about Chinese society since 1949 - at least about the older China now being transformed by political, social and economic developments. It is natural, I feel, that the editor of this volume should be Professor Maurice Freedman, whose two major studies of this area - Lineage Organization in Southeastern China (1958) and Chinese Lineage and Society: Fukien and Kwangtung (1966) — have deeply influenced many other researchers in the same field. Professor Freedman, as the bibliographies appended to his works amply * A Chinese Village in Early Communist Transition and The Chinese Family in the Communist Revolution (both M.LT., 1959), ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1972 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gm80qf99h The Council therefore unanimously decided that we should emulate the example set by our first President in 1847, by affording our moral support to the modern proposals of 1971 concerning a New City Museum. It was therefore further decided that letters should be sent to the Hon. the Colonial Secretary and to the Chairman of the Select Committee of the Urban Council on Museum and Art Galleries, pledging our support to "the proposal that the present museum should be re-organized and that the opportunity should then be taken of re-housing it in a new and specially designed building situated on a site chosen for its suitability and adaptability rather than for reasons of expediency." In these letters, we were careful to point out that this expression of opinion was that of the Council and not necessarily that of the Society as a whole, but I suggest that if you see fit to accept this Report at this meeting, your incoming Council will be justified in assuming that the general line of action taken last year has your approval. If any member should wish to have further information about the achievements of the Society concerning the original aims of a century and a quarter ago, they will find a brief statement of these from the pen of Dr. J. R. Jones, the past-President of this Branch of the Society, in his letter published in the South China Morning Post on Friday, 18th December, 1970, under the title "Sir John Davis, and Hong Kong's First Museum". Thanks: It now remains for me but to put on record my thanks to the members of the Society in general for their generous support of the Society's activities during the year under review, and my hope that you will continue to afford the same measure of support to the Council you are about to elect to look after your affairs throughout the forthcoming year. In one respect, however, I must particularise, and that is to thank the British Council and its staff members who continue so willingly to render us invaluable service and assistance. 27th March, 1972. L. T. RIDE ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1972 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gm80qf99h 28 P. H. COLLIN NOTES 1 Wingrove Cooke, China, London, 1858. p. 254. 2 Ibid., p. 279. 3 This was J. Scarth, who in 1860 published Twelve Years in China, illustrated from his own sketches. In this work Scarth has little to say of the events in Canton during the Arrow War, pointing out that the subject had been fully treated by Wingrove Cooke. 4 Albert Smith, To China and Back, London, 1859, p. 27. 5 J. Dyer Ball, Things Chinese, 1900 edition, p. 38, gives the following description. "Gingals, or 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, resembling one of a telescope”. 6 Lt. Col. Fisher, Three Years' Service in China, London, 1863 p. 25. 7 Ibid., p. 72. 8 E. Fraser & L. G. Carr-Laughton, The Royal Marine Artillery. 1804-1923, London, 1930, p. 459. I am indebted to Miss J. S. Crockett of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, for drawing my attention to this work. 9 Ibid., p. 462. 10 Cooke, op. cit., p. 329. 11 Fisher, op. cit., p. 4. 12 Parliamentary papers on Lord Elgin's mission to China. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1972 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gm80qf99h 168 W. SCHOFIELD Editor's Note The manuscript breaks off abruptly at this point, and since it was passed to me after Mr. Schofield's death in December 1968 and I was hitherto unaware of its existence there is now no means of knowing whether it was completed or finished in part only. It is reproduced here for its interest as a contemporary statement of the progress of the archaeology of Hong Kong and South China by about 1938, when it was written, and for the useful account it provides of the part played by Schofield, Shellshear and Heanley in the early period of Hong Kong archaeological studies. PRE-WAR WRITINGS ON HONG KONG ARCHAEOLOGY INCLUDE: (1) J. G. Andersson — "Topography of the Hongkong Sites" in Bulletin No. 11, Topographical and Archaeological Studies in the Far East, of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, 1939. (2) S. F. Balfour Section II, “Archaeological Evidence" at pp. 336-341 of his article "Hong Kong Before The British" between pp. 330-352 and 440-464 of T'ien Hsia Monthly, Shanghai, 1941. [Since reprinted in Vol. 10 (1970) of this Journal -Ed.] (3) Fr. D. J. Finn — various articles in The Hong Kong Naturalist between 1933-36. These are now reprinted in (ed. T. F. Ryan, S.J.) Archaeological Finds On Lamma Island (Ai》) Near Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Ricci publications, Ricci Hall, University of Hong Kong, 1958. (4) C. M. Heanley and J. L. Shellshear “A Contribution to the Prehistory of Hongkong and the New Territories", Praehistoria Asia Orientalis, I, Premier Congrès des Préhistoriens d'Extrême-Orient, Hanoi, 1932. (5) W. Schofield — "Implements Of Palaeolithic Type In Hong Kong" at pp. 272-275, The Hong Kong Naturalist, December. 1935. (6) W. Schofield "The Proto-Historic Site of the Hong Kong Culture at Shek Pik, Lantau, Hong Kong" at pp. 235-305 of Proceedings of the Third Congress of Pre-historians of the Far East, Singapore, Government Printing House, 1940. J. W. H., Hong Kong, 1972. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1972 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gm80qf99h Plate 1. J.H.S.L., with his Chinese teacher, 'Okl Ow' (Mr. Ou-yang Hui): probably early 1880s. The Plates 1-7 are by courtesy of Mrs. Mary Stewart-Lockhart, Curator, City Museum, Hong Kong, very kindly assisted with preparation of new negatives and prints. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1973 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r or the government, to acquire or build our own premises. Dr. J. R. Jones during his presidency canvassed this subject regularly. Like many cultural societies in this modern world of space shortages and high rents, our hopes of ever obtaining such premises have dwindled and died. It might be worth noting here, that associated with the parent Society's 150th celebration is a special fund appeal to conserve its own library of 85,000 volumes, kept at present for safety at the British Museum in the absence of room for them at its own premises, and an appeal also to re-equip the 200-year-old building now serving as its head office. The parent Society hopes to raise £75,000 through its appeal and I am sure I speak for you all when I wish it well with this venture. For ourselves however, your Council has had to consider very seriously what to do about the future. We have been extremely fortunate in having the support of the British Council in Hong Kong right from our 1959 beginnings. The Council has lent us space to hold our meetings, helped us with day-to-day business, housed part of our library—the University of Hong Kong has kindly housed the other part—provided us some of the time with a postal address, and occasionally with the use of a room for our lectures. More and more, lecture rooms in Hong Kong become booked up months ahead. It is now very seldom indeed that we can obtain a booking at the City Hall. This threat to the cultural life of Hong Kong has largely prompted a group of concerned individuals to promote the Hong Kong Arts Centre, under the vigorous direction of Mr. Bill Bailey. It seemed to us that the Arts Centre might well meet our needs for a coordinated centre for our activities, and a place to house our full library which is presently restricted in expansion through lack of space. It might also provide space, although this is not yet certain, for our archives, files, and stock of publications. At present, the latter are housed in Watson's Estate, where they were transferred in February 1972 from the University, which itself has great problems of space. I am glad to report that our materials were not affected by the recent fire at the Estate. Thirty-six members attended the Extraordinary Meeting, and Mr. Bailey himself came along to explain the details of the Centre proposals. A majority of twenty-eight members voted in favour of the motion to join, and there were no abstentions. On January 30, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1973 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r 24 H. A. RYDINGS APPENDIX CATALOGUE OF THE LIBRARY OF THE CHINA MEDICO-CHIRURGICAL SOCIETY This is an attempt to revise the "Catalogue of books” on p. 78-79 of the Transactions in accordance with modern cataloguing practice. The list has been divided into two sections, books and periodicals, each arranged alphabetically. The listing of books in the form given in the original catalogue is shown in quotation marks following each entry, except where it has proved impossible to identify the item, in which case this is shown first. As is usual in such lists, author's names were given inaccurately or not at all, whilst titles were frequently abbreviated or translated without any indication that this was done. Consequently some of the identifications are uncertain. Dates of publication were not given for any of the books, and those supplied here are tentative when there was more than one edition. Nevertheless only three out of fourteen titles remain unidentified Periodicals present less difficulties of identification, but it is rarely possible from the details given to provide an accurate record of holdings. No distinction appears to have been made between volumes and parts, e.g. April and July issues of the Medico-chirurgical review are described as 2 volumes; whilst the Lancet for 1825-26, 1827-28, 1829-30 and 1838-39 is described as 4 volumes. All that can safely be said is that 24 titles were represented, in some cases by a few scattered issues, in others by continuous runs of several years. Out of this total only 2 titles have not been confirmed from other sources. “AUSCAUX on bandaging" BOOKS No such author appears in the catalogues of the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, the British Museum, or the Surgeon-General, Washington. A possible (though doubtful) identification is: DUCROS, C. Du bandage dextriné dans le traitement des fractures. Paris, 1840. Page 30 Page 31 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1973 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r PERSIANS, ARABS IN T'ANG CHINA 71 23 Ch'en Yu-ching, p. 19; Wang Gungwu1, 'The Nanhai Trade', Journal of the Malayan Branch Royal Asiatic Society, vol. 31, part 2, chapter 7, "The Middlemen and the Spices 618-960 (II), (Kuala Lumpur, 1958). 24 CTS, chüan 89; HTS, chüan 116. 25 TCTC, chüan 203; Wang Gungwu, pp. 75-76. The passage from TCTC follows Wang Gungwu's translation. 26 CTS, chüan 89; HTS, chüan 116. 27 Tung Hao and others, eds., Ch'üan-Tang wen♬ X (A.D. 1814 edition), chüan 291. 28 Hsiang Ta, pp. 38-39. 29 Ibid., Schafer, p. 21. 30 Wang Ch'i±1 ed., Li T'ai-po wen-chi4★ø̇ (A.D. 1758 edited), chüan 3, 'Ch'ien yu tsun-chiu hsing'☀☀f The Chinese version is as follows: 嬰獒龍門之綠桐，玉壺美酒清若空口 催舷梯往與君飲，看朱成碧顏始缸口 胡姬貌如花，當爐笑春風，笑春風， 笑春風，舞羅衣，君今不醉將安歸。 The translation here follows Schafer's. 31 Hsiang Ta, pp. 41-47. 32 Yüan-shih chang-ch'ing chiZAŁA (1929 edition), chüan 24, p. 5, 'Fa Chu'. After Schafer's translation. Schafer, p. 28. 33 Liu Mau-tsaiA†, 'Kulturelle Beziehungen zwischen den Ost Türken (Tu-Küe) und China', Central Asiatic Journal 3:3:199 (The Hague and Wiesbaden, 1957-58). The dictionary is 'T'u-chüeh yü'*A* See Schafer, p. 285, n. 175. 34 Cf. S. W. Bushell, Chinese Art, Victoria and Albert Museum Handbook (London, 1906), chapter 12; Osvald Siren, Chinese Painting (London, 1956) I, 71; Arnold Silock, Introduction to Chinese Art and History (Oxford, 1948), p. 181; Arthur Waley, An Introduction to the Study of Chinese Painting (London, 1923), p. 108; Jitsuzo Kuwabara, 'Zui-To-jidai ni Shina ni raiju shita seikijin ni tsuite'隋唐時代に支那に来往した番域人に就いて Naito Hakase Kanreki shukuga shukuga Shinagaku ronsoAKŁET#***$*£ (Tokyo, 1926; *ˆ†±‡ƒ), pp. 643-644; Chuang Shen#, 'Sui-Tang shih-tai Yü-tien tsu-chih chi fu-tzu hua-chia'MAARTA##, Lishih yü-yen yen-chiu-so chi-k'anAt*7*ƒƒ4N (Bulletin of the Institute of History and Philology), Extra Vol. 4, part I, pp. 403-454 (Academic Sinica, Taiwan, 1960). 35 Schafer, p. 36 Chuang Shen, pp. 408-416. 37 Ibid., pp. 440-443. 38 TCTC, chüan 203, p. 6415. For Ch'in Ming-ho and Li Hsün, I am indebted to Professor Lo Hsiang-lin's stimulating article 'Hsi-chu po-ssu chih Li Hsün chi ch'i Hai-yao pen-ts'ao'±Ùƒ±‡HZ‡❀$$‡ Symposium on Chinese Studies Commemorating the Golden Jubilee of the University of Hong Kong, 1911-1961. F. S. Drake, ed., (Hong Kong, 1964) II, 217-240. 39 For Ch'ung ICTH, chüan 95 see Lo Hsiang-lin's article on Li Hsün; also ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1973 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r NOTES AND QUERIES 153 For once Hotten had backed a loser with the publication of Under the Peak; certainly no further edition or impression was called for by a panting public. We do not know whether Mercer continued to write verses until his death at Reading on 23 May, 1879, but it seems likely for Mercer had all the enthusiasm of the bad poet.11 NOTES 1 One would like to cite P. G. Wodehouse, the son of H. E. Wodehouse, a Hong Kong Cadet Officer; but P. G. Wodehouse was born at Guildford, Surrey, and did not spend much time in Hong Kong. After leaving Dulwich College he worked for two years at the London branch of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. 2 London, 1930. 3 For biographical information on Mercer see particularly G. B. Endacott, A Biographical Sketch-Book of Early Hong Kong, Singapore, 1962, pp. 79-83. J. W. Norton-Kyshe, The History of the Laws and Courts of Hong Kong, 2 vols., Hong Kong, 1898, provides many details about Mercer's official career. 4 For information on Hotten see especially Ronald Pearsall, The Worm in the Bud, London, 1969, pp. 387-90; and Steven Marcus, The Other Victorians, New York, 1966, pp. 68-75. Hotten was born in Clerkenwell, London, and showed an early interest in books and bookshops and achieved the dubious distinction of having been struck in a bookshop by the irate historian Macaulay. In 1848 Hotten went to America and there acquired a good knowledge of American literature. On his return to London he published the works of a number of American authors, including Bret Harte's 'heathen Chinee' poems. 5 An account of Swinburne's dealings with Payne of Moxon's is given in Humphrey Hare's Swinburne, London, 1949, pp. 109-134. 6 Written by Richard Payne Knight in 1786 but reprinted by Hotten in 1865. 7 Written by John Davenport and published in 1873. In 1872 Hotten reprinted seven works on flagellation alone. * Copies of both Under the Peak and Addresses are in the British Museum. The Library of the Royal Commonwealth Society, London, has a copy of Under the Peak, now a very scarce book. 9 p. 4. 10 p. 6. 11 Several cadets maintained their interest in classical studies after reaching Hong Kong, notably (later Sir) Cecil Clementi (1875-1947). In 1911 Clementi published his translation, with apparatus criticus and explanatory notes, of the Pervigilium Veneris. In a preface to a later edition of this work, published by B. H. Blackwell of Oxford (3rd edition, 1936), Clementi tells us that he worked on his manuscript in Hong Kong and during periods of leave in England and Europe. Hong Kong, March, 1973. HENRY JAMES LETHBRIDGE ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1973 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r 164 NOTES AND QUERIES traditional Buddhist scenes. Wat Suwannaram on Klong Bangkok Noi is one of the best known temples for murals. The building was constructed in the reign of Rama I and its paintings, dating from the time of Rama III, were executed by two artists, Luang Vichit Chetsada and Kru Khonpae, whose names have, unusually, come down to us. The wall inside the entrance illustrates the conquest of the Buddha over the spirit of evil, Mara, and the wall behind the altar shows the Buddha descending to the earth, the Traibhumi. At the upper levels on the long side walls are rows of orahan or followers of the Buddha, and between the windows the jataka tales, the stories of the last ten incarnations of the Buddha-to-be, are represented, the whole of the left-hand wall being given over to the very last jataka, the Vessuntarajataka, or renunciation. The paintings are remarkable for their delicacy and charm. Some more examples of traditional Siamese painting were to be seen in the collection in Krisnavara House, the home of the epigraphist and art historian Alexander B. Griswold, which was opened specially for the tour. Mr. Griswold's collection of rare Sukhothai porcelains and ancient stuccos and bronzes was much appreciated. The Siam Society, a learned body established in 1904, has a traditional northern house, the Kamthieng museum, re-erected in one corner of its fine grounds. The Society was the setting for an introduction to traditional Siamese folk opera, likay. Especially for the tour, the Hom Huan troupe of actors performed with verve the story of Chantakorop. The prince of this name falls in love with a fickle girl Mora who has come from a magic casket and who agrees to be his wife, but she is then attracted by a bandit leader and enables him to kill Chantakorop. The prince is taken up to heaven by the god Indra, the bandit leader runs away from his new wife who is alone and hungry in the jungle. Indra, disguised as a bird, offers her food on condition she marries the bird. She agrees and is transformed into a gibbon as a reward for her fickleness. Likay is an old theatrical form, possibly of southern or Malay origin, but having by syncretism absorbed most other Thai theatrical forms including the masked dance khon. Once extremely popular, it is now dying out in the capital. It is rumbustious and bawdy, and incorporates popular songs, traditional dance and improvised dialogue. The costumes are gay, extravagant and imaginative. The small orchestra of six performed on traditional instruments. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1973 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r NOTES AND QUERIES 165 ments which were capable of delicate romance and noisy battle music. A tour through the large compound of the National Museum gave a perspective of the best examples of Thai art from the Dvaravati to the Ratanakosin periods. The latest discoveries of pots from Ban Chieng, thought to date from approximately 5,000 BC, were on display. In a museum as packed with treasures as this is hard to select any one piece as particularly outstanding; certainly the magnificent Avalokitesvara from Chaiya and some of the early Khmer pieces were much appreciated. The museum has the added advantage of containing the buildings of the former palace of the second king, which themselves are attractive and include the chapel of Buddhaisawan with its large lacquer cupboards and fine frescoes. The lavish carving of the royal funeral carriages, the rajarot, was also noted. The group visited Suan Pakkard Palace in Bangkok, the home of H.R.H. Princess Chumpot of Nagara Svarga, whose large collection of antiques, including some fine Ban Chieng and Sukhothai pieces, is elegantly and informally arranged in adjoining traditional Thai houses modernised for contemporary living. The grounds also contain the only lacquer pavilion to survive the Ayuthia period; with its fine decoration it has been restored to its former grandeur. After visiting the palace the members of the tour were entertained to lunch by Her Royal Highness. Pitsanuloke was used as a base for the visit to the Sukhothai area. In that city Wat Mahathat with its exceptional polished bronze statue of the Sukhothai period, Phra Buddha Chinarat, was seen. At Sukhothai itself some time was spent in the vast area of Wat Mahathat, strewn with ruined chedi, chapels and ante-chapels, where there is a number of stucco Buddha statues recently restored. The well-preserved Khmer style temple Wat Si Sawai, with its three symmetrical prang and double enclosure of brick and laterite was in its severity in marked contrast with the ebullience of Wat Mahathat. The ruins of Wat Trapan Ngoen and Wat Sra Si and their moats were noted, the massive walled Wat Si Chum was visited, with its vast and contemplative Buddha open to the sky surrounded by high walls with a hidden staircase in their mass, up which the adventurous climbed. The site of the ancient celadon kilns, Tao Turiang, was seen and Wat Saphan Hin, at the end of a long stone path up a hill from which it gets its name, offered a fine view over ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1973 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r 166 NOTES AND QUERIES the surrounding countryside reposing in the benediction of its large standing Buddha. The museum of Sukhothai also displayed a number of very fine pieces, not least the magnificent walking Buddha, phra lila, a purely Sukhothai invention. The sister city of Srisachanalai is further to the north of Sukhothai but of the same period. It is famous for the Sangkaloke variation on Sukhothai celadons, and it is from there that the Chalieng wares came. To get to the site one has to cross the river Yom in a boat below the rapids; the ruins are visited on foot. The entire spread of the area was seen from the top of Wat Khao Phanom Pleung. Wat Chang Lom, with its stucco-on-laterite elephants around giving it its name, dates from the beginning of the Sukhothai period. Wat Chedi Chet Tao has among other chedi the characteristic lotus-bud finial which was also seen in Wat Mahathat in Sukhothai; as in that temple, too, there were also some good stucco remains, here, of a Buddha seated under a protecting naga. Wat Uttayan Yai is another ruined temple, and between it and the high city wall still remaining are the ruins of Wat Nang Phya, the walls of the chapel containing some delicate decorative stucco work. In the ruins of the palace is an interesting covered arched sanctuary, The site of Kampengpetch lacks the hills of Sukhothai or Srisachanalai but is surrounded by denser secondary jungle which adds to the attraction of the area. Wat Chao Awat Yai has little of particular note apart from the deep rectangular pool before it from which the blocks of laterite were cut to erect the building. The elephants surrounding the central section of Wat Chang Rob are better preserved than at Srisachanalai and finer in their detail, and there is a stucco decoration of Bo trees and demons on the walls between them. Wat Phra Si Irayabot has in the middle of the jungle a vast laterite platform for a vihara and behind it a most unusual construction with four Buddhas placed round a high core in standing, walking, sleeping and seated positions. The first two are still in good condition but little remains of the last two. All these temples lie outside the old city walls, inside which are to be found the ruins of Wat Prathat and Wat Phra Keo, with their bare outlines of laterite Buddhas and fallen chedi. The new museum at Kampengphet was also visited by special arrangement and contains some exceptional pieces, notably an U-Thong Buddha and some torsos of Hindu deities which seemed to have found more favour in Kampengpetch than in the other cities of Sukhothai. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1973 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r 168 NOTES AND QUERIES DEEP BAY MARSHES The photograph at Plate XV was taken in March 1973 by Mrs. F. O. P. Hechtel. It shows men and women collecting seaweed from an embanked pond at Deep Bay. They had come over from Chinese Territory by boat, bringing a punt with them on deck. The boat was anchored at the outer edge of the bund, left high and dry at low tide, and the punt was launched in the shallow pond and loaded with seaweed which was taken back for pig food. This is still a common practice, and has been observed by Mr. and Mrs. Hechtel on other occasions. This brings in another feature of the marshes. Our printer, and member, Mr. Y. F. Lam of Ye Olde Printerie Ltd., tells me that when he went shooting on the marshes just after the war, his party used regularly to meet a person who came over from Chinese territory using a waak baan (★★) or mud scooter on which he travelled easily over the areas of foreshore and swamp. The man landed at Mai Po, left his mud scooter there, and walked to Yuen Long Market to buy necessaries, after which he would return to Mai Po, load his scooter and set off for home. The mud scooter is also used by oyster farmers in Deep Bay and is an old form of local transportation. Two of them, one old and much used, and one made to order, have recently been obtained by the City Museum and Art Gallery, Hong Kong. Plate XVI is by courtesy of the Curator, and shows the used scooter. A very similar contrivance is used in the shrimp fisheries at Stolford on the Bristol channel, Somerset, England, C. M. Yonge writes: 'At Stolford where the nets are secured on soft banks of mud a mile from the shore, the fishermen use a type of intertidal sledge or "mud horse" which they push in front of them and which serves the double purpose of preventing them from sinking deeply in the mud and of carrying back the catch'. (pp. 321-322 of The Sea Shore, Collins, The Fontana New Naturalist paper back, 1963). There is an illustration of the "mud horse" at page 322. Hong Kong. April, 1974. HON. EDITOR ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1973 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r BOOK REVIEWS 179 In my opinion much of the earlier discussion tends to be more an aesthetic exercise, a presentation of personal standards of elegance. Most if not all of the proposed systems work and do their job well enough. Most of the counterproposals were made with such goals as simplification, economies at the printers, or the revelation of linguistic truths in the analysis. These, and a number of other goals, are of course valid and important, but the combination of these goals and the possible differing priorities in achieving them creates literally an infinite number of possible transcription systems, most of them basically acceptable. The first requirement is essentially linguistic and says in over-simplified terms that the system should be non-redundant and unambiguous. If carried to its logical extreme this would generally produce systems satisfying only to linguists, systems in which the minimum inventory of symbols is used to transcribe all the contrasting sounds of Chinese. The trouble with such systems is that they often disturb everyone else in the field by forcing them to learn too many rules to cover situations in which a given symbol may have multiple pronunciations conditioned by the preceding or following symbols. For example, in the Pinyin system now preferred by Peking, the letter u is pronounced [u] or [ü] depending on whether it follows j- or zh- respectively. This sort of thing takes care of a perfectly good linguistic fact about the language, but to the average reader or beginning student it is irritating and troublesome to find one letter with two contrasting pronunciations. The effect is generally more confusing than helpful. Therefore, although leaving something to be desired by the linguist, the more popular systems usually work on a principle of one symbol for one sound and ignore the details of linguistic complementary distribution. But the arguments still flare up about the desirability of such an approach, or even about the choice of symbols in cases where multiple choices seem possible to the disputants. No less a figure than Bernhard Karlgren ("Compendium of Phonetics in Ancient and Archaic Chinese", Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities 26, 367) has implied that the reason English and American speakers have so much trouble pronouncing words like 'self' and 'master' is because Wade-Giles spells them tzŭ and chu respectively, whereas in fact the initial consonants of these words are of two quite different values. He argues that the transcription has ignored the complementary distribution between velar and retroflex initials, and he uses a system which ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 5 of disease and urbanisation in Singapore and Hong Kong. Finally Dr. Shih Hsiao-yen, Curator of the Far Eastern Department of the Royal Ontario Museum, and Adjunct Professor of the Department of East Asian Studies, University of Toronto, talked on the relationship between Chinese tomb figurines and monumental sculpture. Dr. Shih, who is presently visiting professor at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, illustrated her talk with many striking colour slides. Our overseas trip this year, which took place over five days at the Chinese New Year, proved very popular. It was, like our previous Thailand excursion, very ably led by Mr. Michael Smithies. Forty-one members joined the party, starting at Vientiane, proceeding to Luang Prabang, and returning again to Vientiane. They visited museums, Vat, a silk-weaving village, and other handicraft centres, caves and ceremonies; and they saw a rare performance of classical dancing given by the Royal Lao dancers. It is hoped that we may continue to arrange at least one overseas trip a year and we have already received offers to lead future excursions from two of our members. I regret to say that our proposed trip to China has not advanced very far. On the advice of the China Travel Agency we revised our original proposals, suggesting several small groups of ten to fifteen members—and also the possibility of diversifying, some groups making a longer (approximately three weeks) trip to take in Peking and other northerly areas, and some making a shorter (about ten days) trip to places within Kwangtung Province to include museums, potteries and archeologically interesting areas. Recently members of another learned society in England made a trip to China and we can only hope that we are not too far down China's list of priority groups. ARTS CENTRE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE A few words about the progress of the Hong Kong Arts Centre and our participation. The Society became a constituent member of the Arts Centre in January 1973, paying its entrance fee in February of that year. The Society had long wished to have its own premises both for holding lectures and discussions and for housing its library and archives, but despite efforts it was never able to afford to fulfil these wishes and now with astronomical rents it is clearly most unlikely that it ever will. We joined the Arts Centre so that when its buildings are completed we may enjoy ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 The monuments of Vientiane and Luang Prabang 103 went to Bangkok and the temple in Vientiane lost its importance. It has been restored many times and is technically no longer a temple but a 'haw' or hall since services are not held and the building has been converted into a museum. At the entrance is a fine Dvaravati Buddha and there are several good examples of bronze Lao Buddhas with characteristic sharp, pointed noses both outside and inside the building. Among those inside is an elegant and extremely attenuated standing Buddha and two walking Buddhas. The restored pediments of the building are good examples of Lao woodcarving and so are the carved window panels. Nearby is Vat Srisaket which is a quiet spot without having any particular artistic merit, though its galleries of Lao-style Buddhas, the carved ceiling of vihara and its naive frescoes of animals are worth seeing. The only other temple of note is Vat Ong Tu, near the market with good carving on the portal only in the Chiengmai style. The primitive wall paintings at Vat Oup Muong are a modern interpretation of the Ramayana but the temple is otherwise without interest; Vat Xieng Yuen and Vat Chantaburi, by the river Mekong, have peaceful and shady courtyards, and the temple of the Sankaraj, or Lao Supreme Patriarch, Vat Dong Mieng is remarkable mostly for its carving and hideous modern paintings. Vientiane boasts the usual ministries of an administrative capital and a small modern royal palace for the occasions when the king comes from Luang Prabang. Modern Vientiane is largely without interest, the only building of note being the Monument to the Dead on the broad avenue leading to the That Luang; it is a top-heavy and as yet still incomplete miniature of the Arc de Triomphe. The teak-lined boulevards running parallel to the Mekong have a tranquillity which few capital cities can boast. The difference between Vientiane and Luang Prabang is striking; the former has on occasions something approaching a bustle of modernity. Luang Prabang, a half-an-hour away by plane, is a century away in time. There are virtually no modern buildings, there is no traffic, and the ring of mountains around seems to keep the world away. The morning market is peopled by Lao villagers and Meo tribesmen, the latter heavy with silver and bright with colour; three soldiers look after a pig and half-a-dozen people watch a kettle boil on the side of the road. Local silk is offered at very low prices and the silverware is unusual. Luang Prabang is the ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 THE MONUMENTS OF VIENTIANE AND LUANG PRABANG 105 on Tonkin and Laos; the Dutch merchant van Wusthoff also visited the capital of Souligna Vongsa from 1641-42 and left an interesting account of his travels. But neither Protestant merchants nor Jesuit priests could have made such a visual impression that more than two hundred years later their envoys should be recorded in a different city from that they visited. No known accounts, either written or visual, survive from the Lao side to record the visits of these gentlemen; however the visual tradition of Europeans, particularly the French, in 17th century Siam was strong during the reign of King Narai (as the lacquer pavilion in Suan Pakkard Palace in Bangkok bears witness), and was continued into the nineteenth century, and as the artists for the frescoes undoubtedly came from Siam one suspects that the inspiration for the unusual door and window carving comes from the same source. It is significant that the foundation date of the temple is also that of Mouhot's visit to Luang Prabang, one of the first recorded visits by Europeans. In the grounds of the temple a resourceful monk had utilised a plasma bottle and dripper to feed his roses. Vat May, past the royal palace in the main street, was built in 1820 and has an unusually high roof; the portico is decorated with large gilded panels representing scenes from the life of the Buddha. It was for a time the shrine of the Pra Bang, the palladium of the Lao kingdom. This statue came from Cambodia in 1358 at the founding of the Kingdom of Lane Xang and was moved to Vientiane when the capital was transferred in the 16th century. It was taken in 1778 with the Pra Keo by the Siamese; the Pra Bang was returned in 1781 to Ong Boun. The Siamese again removed it in the sack of Vientiane in 1828 but King Mongkut restored the statue in 1867. Recently it has been moved from the temple for safekeeping in the Royal Palace. Between the temple and the palace is a small red lacquer post and dais; until recently, each year the royal elephants were preached at and requested to behave themselves before being sprinkled with lustral water. The two other principal temples of the town are away from the main street. Vat Vixun was restored in 1867 and much changed in shape. It has a large nave and fat pillars and it is far more imposing than many temples in the town. A number of pieces of woodcarving have been collected in it to form the basis of a museum, but at present it is but a jumble of spirit houses and shrines. Here are to be found several flags, each with a number of small Buddhas ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 204 NOTES AND QUERIES there is a shrine at the rear inscribed Tao Kuang 27th year (1847-48). Points of interest are the excellent granite work screen and balustrade along the whole front of the temple: the Shek Wan pottery decorations on the roof (Hsuan-Tung 1st year: 1908-09) and the large boulder inside the building which was probably the uncovered site of the original shrine. (There is a similar one inside the Lin Fa Kung temple at Tai Hang, which is of approximately the same age.) 3) The Sui Tsing Pak temple at Tik Lung Lane. This is not housed in a temple building but in several houses in a terrace. The god is said to have been a man named Chan (**陈**) enobled as marquis (**侯**) who lived in the Sung dynasty and performed many good deeds. His title means the 'Pacifying Marquis' (**遂清侯**). The date of its establishment is not known, but several of the memorial boards inside the temple carry inscriptions in the late Kuang Hsü reign (1875-1908). Among them are boards presented by residents of 'The Thirty Houses' (the local Chinese name for Staunton Street, in Central District) and another by the community of Hung Hom village in Kowloon. The upstairs rooms are devoted largely to the care and worship of memorial tablets, many with photographs of the deceased, placed there for a subscription by friends and relatives. This temple is of particular interest for the various art objects and antiquities kept inside the upper rooms, which make it almost a museum. They include paintings and porcelain. The interior decoration of the temple should also be noted especially the screens and fittings for the various altars upstairs which are probably at least 60 years old. 4) Yuk Hai Kung Temple (**玉皇宫**), Stone Nullah Lane. This temple to Pak Tai, the god of the North (**北帝**), is again of early origin. According to an inscription above the entrance, the present structure dates from the first year of the T’ung Chih reign (1862-63). This is a large temple with side rooms which is still in an excellent state of repair. The building on the right of the temple is a public office or kung sor (**公所**) in which the temple management committee met to discuss the affairs of the temple and the neighbourhood. It was, as Carl Smith remarks, under the control of the Wanchai Kaifong from 1882 and before. Page 210 Page 211 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 NOTES AND QUERIES 231 final shape of the object. e.g. the legs of the horse are pasted with clay to the body. This is then burnt in a furnace, fired with diesel oil. The time and temperature differs for different pieces of ceramic. The piece is then glazed with various colours, dried and burnt again. After the second burning the piece is ready for the market. Although it is hard to give an exact burning time for the object, this process is usually divided into 2 sections, slow and fast burning. The slow burning method is used on thick pieces of ceramic and has a burning time of about 27 hours. For a thin piece, a burning time of about 14 hours is employed; this is known as fast burning. Many factors are involved and the above figures are only a rough guide. The main factors involved are the humidity of the air, the water content of the clay and the thickness of the piece of ceramic. Making ceramic requires patience as the job should never be rushed. Time must be spent on every individual piece and the combination of burning time and temperature must be close enough to perfection, otherwise the work will crack and a low quality piece is produced. A scientific approach is required to understand the property of the clay and its variation, and an artistic inclination to give it that “special” finish to the ceramic. Mr Lam has a total of 160 different moulds, and new pieces are added as new assignments come in. He copies the basic shape from books, magazines, and museum pieces. He specialises in Tang burial figures—Tun Huang Temple guardians, mythical animals, Kuan-Yin figures, Tang horses, vases, roof tiles and other roof decorations. In the Tang dynasty figures, only 5 colours are used: green, brown, yellow, orange and greenish-yellow (egg and spinach). Collectively these are known as the 5 colours of Tang Ceramics, and are produced from metal oxide e.g. green from copper oxide, yellow from iron oxide. The number of craftsmen working in the factory depends on the size of the orders. They were mostly trained by Mr Lam in the past, although quite a few of his "past pupils” have branched out to start their own business. He doesn't like to train young people because of that reason and feels, too, that it is hard to find young people who are really interested in this art. The number of assignments has decreased recently from both Hong Kong and overseas market, due to the increase in cost of production resulting from the increasing cost of raw materials and the setback in the world economy. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 BOOK REVIEWS 237 on the one hand, as a tool-reference for the understanding of the developments of styles of seal-carving in China, and on the other hand, ensure their capability to differentiate the forgeries from the genuine seals, so contributing to a real connoisseurship in a specialized knowledge affiliated to Chinese painting. The Seals of Chinese Painters and Collectors of the Ming and Ch'ing periods, first published in 1940 in Shanghai entitled Maler und sammler-stempel aus der Ming-und-ch'ing Zeit, jointly edited by a German scholar, Victoria Contag, and a Chinese specialist in Chinese painting, Chi-ch'ien Wang, from the above mentioned viewpoint, happens to be the earliest tool-reference of this kind ever published in this century. As regards the practical aspects of this book, edited by scholars of two nations, the following are worth noting. Firstly, it contains 9,000 selected seals, an amount which has never been collected by others in any book of this nature. Secondly, names of artists and collectors are arranged in alphabetical order as well as by Chinese stroke system, thus giving ready access to European or Chinese readers. Thirdly, each seal is clearly numbered and deciphered. Finally, a brief but sufficient information about each artist or collector is provided bilingually by German and Chinese texts. There remain some minor disputable questions; see my other book review on the same work in Journal of Oriental Studies, Vol. IX, No. 2 (1971, Hong Kong University Press). But despite being overshadowed by a later compilation of a similar nature; Seals and Signatures of Artists, Calligraphers and Connoisseurs since the Tsin Period, a publication of the Kai-fa Co. Ltd., 1964, Hong Kong, still it serves as a most useful tool-reference for not only students of Chinese painting but also museum curators and private collectors. CHUANG SHEN University of Hong Kong, 1975. BALLAD OF THE HIDDEN DRAGON, by M. Dolezelová-Velingerová and J. I. Crump, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1971. 128 pp., introduction, dramatis personae, text, survey of editions, appendix, bibliography, glossary, £3.50. Much of the original texts of Chinese novels and dramas have lately been translated from Chinese into either English or other ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1975 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j0995146d 2 which followed his talk. In May, Mrs Carole Morgan talked on Dogs and Horses in Ancient China, a subject for which she is preparing a doctoral dissertation for the Sorbonne in Paris, and also in May we were invited by the Hong Kong History Society for a cultural evening. It was an Indian occasion, with a talk by Mrs Raj Ghose on Buddhist Art, followed by curry at the Gaylord Restaurant in Kowloon and a film on Rock Carvings. In October we invited Mrs. Raj Ghose back to talk to the Society and her subject was Tibetan Iconography. In September we had a talk by Miss Helen Perrell on Mandarin Squares, and in October our members were invited to the Fung Ping Shan Museum of the Hong Kong University to hear a talk on the museum given by the curator, Dr. Michael Lau, to University staff. In January Mr. John Myers, another doctoral candidate, for the University of Pittsburgh, talked on his field research into Chinese spirit-medium cults in Hong Kong's urban area. Mr. Myers is currently with the anthropology section of the Sociology Department, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Three other talks have been organised so far this year, all on China. One, also in January by Professor Cheng Te-k'un, scholar of international renown in the field of Chinese archaeology and art, was on Chinese export ceramics, and was illustrated with beautiful slides. In February Professor Hsieh Chiao-min talked on contemporary problems in modern Chinese geography. Professor Hsieh is on sabbatical leave from the University of Pittsburgh and honorary visiting professor in the Geography and Geology Department, University of Hong Kong. Finally in March Professor Noah Fehl, Chairman of the Department of World History of the Chinese University and a long time resident of Hong Kong, talked about the work and thought of the philosopher/scholar Tsou Yin, who matches Aristotle in period of time and some of his ideas. All our talks drew good size audiences and from the variation in their constitution from lecture to lecture it would appear that our policy of variety to suit different interests is a correct one. During the period, then, we were fortunate in being able to borrow the talents of many visiting and resident scholars. EXCURSIONS Mr. James Hayes, one of our Vice-presidents was as usual active in organising many of our excursions during the period. In ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1975 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j0995146d 5 films have been shown many times. This time—in June—we had a new film on the boat people of Hong Kong "Dragons of the Sea" made with Miss Barbara Ward, an anthropologist and also an old friend of our Society. We were invited together with many of the boat people and others in Hong Kong who had helped make the film a success. In July one of Mr. Brian Brake's films "Borobadur, Cosmic Mountain” was reshown. Borobadur is one of the world's greatest Buddhist monuments, situated in central Java. Mr. Brake is well-known for his documentary art films. In September another of his films "Ramayana” a major epic of the Far East was shown. Ramayana has culturally influenced Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia and other parts of the East and has been represented many times in paintings, sculptures, dances and theatrical performances. In December films on Taiwan were shown in connexion with our excursion to Taiwan over the Christmas holidays led by Miss Werle. The Taiwan visit was a great success I understand (I never seem to be able to go on overseas trips myself owing to family commitments during the holiday seasons). Members visited Hualin, Taipei, the National Palace Museum and the Peking Opera School; various temples; and Tainan where a shadow puppet performance was seen. It was with great reluctance that we had to cancel our proposed visit to Borneo over the Easter holidays, owing to insufficient numbers. We realise, of course, that for many people this is not a “free” time and the possible lack of response was due to this fact. PUBLICATIONS Several of our talks for 1974 will be published in our coming 1974 journal, which will also include, apart from several original articles, two valuable reprints, one on the Tang Family of Kam Tin by the late Sung Hok-pang, and another on place names of Hong Kong and the New Territories by Mr. K. M. A. Barnett. Most of the items have already been passed to the printer and it is hoped the Journal will be ready for distribution by June this year. Also in press now, are the papers relating to the two symposia we held: Hong Kong, Chinese tradition and the Development of a Town; and The Flora of Hong Kong. Professor Lofts' symposium on the Fauna of Hong Kong is also in preparation. ARTS CENTRE As old members will recall, the Society is a constituent member of the Hong Kong Arts Centre. For new members our object is ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1975 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j0995146d EMPLOYMENT OF FOREIGN MILITARY TALENT 63 See Smith, "Foreign-Training,” 83-86. 64 Ward and other foreigners in the Chinese military service are studied in depth in Smith, Ward, Gordon and the Ever-Victorious Army. 65 For basic Chinese documentation on Ward's career, see IWSM TC 4: 25-276; 4: 40a; 4; 51b-52; 5: 6b-8b; 5: 33-36b; 5: 51-52; 5: 54; 6: 2a-b; 6: 14b; 6: 17b-18; 6: 19b-20; 6: 30-31; 7; 47b-48b; 9; 3-4. 66 IWSM TC 79: 11. 67 Ibid., TC 4: 25-26; see also John K. Fairbank, "The Early Treaty System," 270. 68 IWSM, TC 5: 33-36b; 5: 51-52; 6: 19b-20; 6: 30a-b. 69 Li Hung-chang, Letters to Friends, 1: 29. 70 Foreign Relations of the United States (1888), part 1, 211-217. 71 IWSM, TC 6: 17. 72 Ibid., TC 9; 3b. 73 Ibid., TC 9: 4. 74 Ching Wu and Chung Ting, eds., Wu Hsu tang-an chung ti T'al-p'ing r'ien-kuo shih-liao hsüan-chi [Selections of historical materials concerning the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in Wu Hsu's archives] (Peking, 1958), 128-129, 75 See Martin Ring, "The Burgevine Case and Extrality in China, 1863-1866," Papers on China 20 (1969). In mid-1863, Prince Kung requested that Burgevine be expunged from the Chinese population register. See IWSM, TC 17: 136 and 20b. 76 Ring, 145-146, 156 note 70. 77 IWSM, TC 10: 46-49. 78 Ibid., TC 10: 50a-b. 79 Ibid., TC 15: 10b-11. 80 I have discussed this combination in Ward, Gordon and the Ever Victorious Army. For some indications of Li's approach, consult J. O. P. Bland, Li Hung-chang (New York, 1917); I. C. Cheng, Chinese Sources for the Taiping Rebellion, 1850-1864 (Hong Kong, 1963), 120-132; Gordon Papers (British Museum), Ad. Mss. 53, 386, Robert Hart to Charles Gordon, October 7, 1863. 81 See, for example, Feng Kuei-fen's Hsien-chih-r'ang chi [Collected essays from the Hall of Manifest Aspirations] (1876), 6: 46. 82 IWSM, TC 22; 3b; 24: 29a-b; 25: 27b-28b; 27: 28-29. On Gordon's return to China in 1880 to assist Li during the so-called Ili Crisis, consult Immanuel C. Y. Hsü, "Gordon in China, 1880," Pacific Historical Review 30.2 (May, 1964). 83 See Kuo T'ing-i, Taiping t'ien-kuo shih-shih jih-chih (A daily record of historical events of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom] (Taipei, 1963), appendix, 165-167. 84 See Smith, "Foreign-Training". 85 See Mary Wright, The Last Stand of Chinese Conservatism: The T’ung-Chih Restoration, 1862-1874 (New York, 1967), 216; IWSM, TC 16; 11; 39; 22-29; 70: 38a-b and 41-42b; 85: 39a-b; 87; 31, 34-35. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1975 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j0995146d 298 NOTES AND QUERIES concerned at the fact that not even Schedule 1 is 100% complete (and some of the buildings scheduled have already been demolished). Taking the photographs, although the most important function, is actually one of the least time-consuming. Sorting out the photographs and numbering them is by far the slowest job, and writing up the schedules is also slow work. Now that we more or less know what we want to achieve, and how to set about it, we should be able to speed up, particularly if we can organize more workers. When the existing five schedules are completed, we intend to cover Wanchai, and then possibly move across the harbour into Kowloon; but our plans are flexible and must take account of such factors as which areas are scheduled for redevelopment, and the availability of people with a knowledge of the area to make the schedules. In conclusion, it may be as well to point out that we are not intending to form a collection of old photographs of Hong Kong, important as this would be. Such a collection is already in the process of acquisition in the City Museum and Art Gallery, while the Hong Kong Collection of the University Library also intends to acquire similar materials, including copies of the R.A.S. survey. The Honorary Secretary would be pleased to hear from any members who would like to help with the survey in any capacity; though we must repeat that we may not be able to make use of all offers immediately, owing to the organizational problems which we have already experienced. Exhibition This exhibition is intended to show what the survey aims to achieve. The selection of photographs is not necessarily based on artistic merit, though some qualify on these grounds: rather they have been chosen to show how particular buildings or streets, some familiar, others less so, may be covered photographically to bring out the most important features. The sites included in the exhibition are as follows: Site 4 6 : Schedule 1 Shops at 145-155, Hollywood Road. Institute of Pathology, Medical & Health Dept., between Caine Lane and Po Hing Fong. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1975 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j0995146d BOOK REVIEWS 339 controlled the central government of the late Ming period. However, due to the expansion of the military power of the Manchus, the central activity of this Association from 1640, turns into the intellectuals' Anti-Manchu Movement.41 The fact that Hsiao Yün-ts'ung has been a member of the Reconquering Association can certainly help us to understand more about his life and personality. Although we know nothing about Hsiao's Anti-Manchu activity, a description of him as, “taking up the life of a hermit, he devoted himself to poetry, essay-writing, scholarship, and painting” (p. 177) is at least not the entire picture of Hsiao Yün-ts'ung's life. He must have been patriotic and full of the spirit of justice at one time. More likely it was only because of the triumph of the Manchus that he was forced to live as a recluse for his last 30 years. Professor Li has tended to ignore this key point in Hsiao Yün-ts'ung's life. To conclude, in the 20th Century, in the 60 years since Stephen W. Bushell (1844-1908) published his classic Chinese Art42, due to the stimulation given by the opening of museums, the growth of private collections and a developed new interest in studying things oriental, a good number of histories of Chinese art have been written by scholars of different nationalities. None of them, however, has attempted a Chinese art history based on a single private collection,43 like Thousand Peaks and Myriad Ravines. This appears to be the first book of this kind, and despite those problems that the reviewer has already pointed out, and some other minor disputable points44, it is not inappropriate to call this book the first such publication. It is one, too, that is associated with a unique and earlier feature of writing Chinese art history, the introduction. The reviewer suggests that as a Research Curator of the Nelson Gallery and Atkins Museum in Kansas, with its far better known collection, Professor Li should publish another such history of Chinese art, or history of Chinese painting, based on that renowned assemblage. University of Hong Kong, 1976 FOOTNOTES CHUANG SHEN 1 For instance, the well-known collection of Mr. K. Sumitomo, is described in the illustrated and descriptive catalogue Senoku Seisho ★A★T (The collection of old bronzes of K. Sumitomo) first edited by Prof. Kosaku Hamada∗ ∗ ∗ and others in 1911. After being revised by Prof. Sueji Umehara∗ ∗ ∗ it was reprinted in 1934 in Kyoto. The additional catalogue concerning Mr. Sumitomo's new acquisitions on ancient ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1975 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j0995146d 340 BOOK REVIEWS Chinese bronze is again by Prof. S. Umehara and was separately published in Kyoto in 1961. 2 The Senoku Seisho is sub-divided according to nature of bronzes, into two parts. The first part dealing with ritual vessels is by Prof. K. Hamada while the next part, devoted to Chinese bronze mirrors, is edited by Prof. Yoshito Harada. 3 In addition to these catalogues about the Sumitomo collection, in 1951 Prof. S. Umehara has also edited Kakkaku Kikkin Senshu (Selected specimens of the Chinese Bronze collection in the Hakkaku Art Museum), an illustrated and descriptive catalogue on Chinese bronzes housed in a private museum possessed and financed by Mr. Jihei Kano in Kobe. 4 For instance, among his various studies on ancient Chinese bronzes, there are three catalogues. The first, "Bronzes in the Hellström Collection", is in the Bulletin of Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities (hereafter abbreviated as BMFEA) (1948, Stockholm), No. 20, while the second, "A catalogue of the Chinese Bronzes in the Alfred F. Pillsbury Collection" was published in Minneapolis in 1951. The third, "Bronzes in the Wessen Collection”, is in BMFEA, (1958, Stockholm), No. 30. 5 For instance, his Fruhe chinesische Bronzen aus der Sammlung Trautmann (1939, Peking). 6 For instance, the Chinese Bronzes from the Buckingham Collection, (1946, Chicago), jointly edited by M. C. Chen and Charles F. Kelley. 7 Alfred Salmony (1890-1958): Archaic Chinese Jades from the Edward and Louis B. Sonnenschein Collection (1952, Chicago). 8 W. Perceval Yetts (1878-1957): The Georg Eumorfopoulos Collection: Catalogue of the Chinese and Corean Bronze, Sculpture, Jade, Jewellery, and Miscellaneous objects (1929-32, London). 9 Howard Hansford: The Seligman Collection of Oriental Art, Vol. I, (1957, London). 10 Yoshito Yonezawa: Painting of the Ming Dynasty, (1956, Tokyo). 11 Osvald Siren: Chinese painting, Vol. VII, (1958, London). 12 Victoria Contag: Chinese Masters of the 17th Century (1969, London). 13 The date of Hsuan-ho hua-p'u is not known. But a general date, 1120, the second year of the Hsuan-ho era during the reign of the Emperor Hui-tsung of the Northern Sung Dynasty, associated with its preface, is normally considered to be the date of completion of its compilation. Regarding its authorship, it has been previously suggested by scholars in the Ch'ing Dynasty, such as Wang Wan, as having been edited by Emperor Hui-tsung himself, and by Chou Chung-fu as being by Tsai Ti, and by Pien Yung-yu as being by Hu Kuan. But according to Yu Shao-sung, a 20th-century specialist on the historiography of Chinese art, none of these old identifications are reliable. Instead, a possible editor of this imperial catalogue is perhaps an anonymous eunuch of the Northern Sung palace. For detailed discussion see his Shu-hua shu-lu chieh ti (hereafter abbreviated SHSLCT), "A Collection of Summary of content and Studies of Titles of Books on Chinese calligraphy and painting", (1931, Peking). 14 Although it carries a preface by the author, this book is undated. In general, as Yu Shao-sung has suggested (SHSLCT Chuan 12, p. 9), Hsu Hsin must have lived in the transitional period of Ming and Ch'ing but the book itself is written in early Ch'ing. 15 See Yen-Tzu chun-chiu, Nei pien, 10th chapter of the Tsa-hsia section. This book is generally regarded as a work of the 6th century B.C. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1975 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j0995146d BOOK REVIEWS 343 in this new publication, the subject being discussed by Ch'eng Wei is only one of many aspects of Chinese painting. 44 Such as (A) in Chapter X whether Chiao Ping-chen should be regarded as an artist of the Yu-shan school, and (B) in Chapter IV, whether Mo Shih-lung's chronology is to be rendered as ca. 1540-1587. Undoubtedly the chronology which appears in Professor Li's book is far more reasonable than ca. 1567-1582, the impossible chronology suggested by C. C. Wang and Victoria Contag in their Seals of Chinese painters and collectors of the Ming and Ch'ing Periods (1966, Hong Kong), p. 134. Nevertheless, for many years Mo Shih-lung's chronology has always been a puzzle to students of Chinese art. No one so far, except Professor Li, has so explicitly pointed out the years of birth and death of this artist. For example, in Nan-ching po-mu-yüan tsang-hua-chi, Chinese paintings in the collection of the Nanking Museum (1966, Peking), Vol. I, p. 3, the editor was able only to find Mo Shih-lung's death was in 1587. In Professor Li's book, this artist's year of death agrees with what the Nanking specialists have found. About Mo's year of birth, Vol. I, p. 106 states, "he must have been born around 1540, though the precise date is not known", so it seems that 1540-1587 is a tentative calculation. However, students of Chinese art would feel grateful if Professor Li could give his original information and state that on what ground this chronology is obtained. THE SANDALWOOD MOUNTAINS; READINGS AND STORIES OF THE EARLY CHINESE IN HAWAII: compiled and edited by Tin-Yuke Char, pp. xv, 359. Honolulu, University Press of Hawaii 1975. “Yum sai see yuen.” “When drinking water, think of the source." This ancient Chinese proverb came to mind as I read Mr. Char's compilation, The Sandalwood Mountains. This is a monumental book—a monument to the Chinese who came to Hawaii in the early 1800s to start the first sugar plantations there and who later came in the tens of thousands in the latter third of the 19th century. Many of these early Chinese laborers were brought to Hawaii indentured for three to five years at a cost of $5 to $7 a month, including pay and support. Many of them later left to start their own rice plantations and other agricultural pursuits. Others left to go into retailing and service industries. Many lived to see their children and grandchildren become teachers, professional people, political leaders and thoroughly integrated into Hawaii's multi-racial life. The book is also a monument to the compiler, Tin-Yuke Char, who has brought to his task an unusual background including studying and teaching in Hawaii, China and the mainland United ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q PRESIDENT'S REPORT FOR 1975 (Covering the period April 7, 1975-April 1, 1976) This has been another active twelve months for your Society. I start my Report with a review of the programme and will then turn to matters concerning publications, the Art Centre, Library, Membership, and the Photographic Survey which has been one of our more recent ventures. During the period we have organised nine lectures, 2 excursions to places of local interest, and one tour abroad, to Burma. We have arranged two film shows, one recital and a symposium — the seventh in our series. Most events were well attended. Lectures and films related to the regions of China, contemporary and traditional, Vietnam, India, Korea and Hong Kong. The year started last April with a lecture on changing patterns of merchant organization in late Ch'ing China given by Dr. Wellington K.K. Chan, a visitor from the United States, and also in that month we arranged our first excursion, to Macau, where members, guided by Dr. Leigh Wright, visited Chinese temples and toured the Museum and colonial cemetery. In May and June our focus was on Peking opera. In May, Dr. Rulan Pian, visiting professor in music at Chung Chi College, spoke on musical elements in the opera; and in June Dr. Chiao Chien explained revolutionary opera as a means for transmitting values and political ideas. The arts were further represented in June with a demonstration of Kathak dancing by a well-known expert Mr. Satyanarayana Charka; and in July and August we showed films--one on Chinese paintings and one on music. Another film dealt with the excavation of a Silla tomb of 5th century Korea. In August Sir John Addis, formerly Ambassador to China, described a visit to Ching-te Chen; and in September a talk was given on Brahman ritual by Professor Fritz Staal. Also that month James Hayes, our editor and one of our vice-presidents who in his professional life is District Officer Tsuen Wan, led members to visit his area. The focus was on the past-historical places, the present, as well as the future of the area--development plans. Following, in October, a discussion was conducted by Drs. Graham and Elizabeth Johnson, both anthropologists working in Tsuen Wan ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q "PATTERNED BANDS” IN THE NEW TERRITORIES OF HONG KONG Introduction ELIZABETH L. JOHNSON* These notes on a form of peasant textiles are based on research conducted in Kwan Mun Hau (关门口), one of the old villages of Tsuen Wan District, in the New Territories of Hong Kong.1 Tsuen Wan, now an industrial city with a population of nearly 600,000 with a small rural hinterland,2 consisted until after World War II of a group of about twenty Hakka villages, with a central market area. The villages remain, (some have had to be resited) but most are now surrounded by the city. The area's rapid urban development has meant that traditional forms of dress and adornment have virtually disappeared, to be replaced by western-influenced styles of clothing. Despite this, women of Kwan Mun Hau village were able to describe the use and significance of these textiles, and to demonstrate the technique of weaving them.3 The information reported here, which refers to Tsuen Wan of about thirty years ago but is applicable to the more rural areas of the New Territories even today, is derived from interviews with informants in Kwan Mun Hau Village, as well as from observations elsewhere in the New Territories. The findings are only preliminary; additional research must be done elsewhere in the New Territories to supplement this report. Definition The fa tai (花带) or "patterned band” is worn by Hakka women in the New Territories of Hong Kong as an article of personal adornment. Patterned bands are hand woven, intricately patterned ribbons about 1 CM wide, and ranging in length from about 65-145 CM. They are most commonly flat, with tassels of varying length and thickness at either end, and are either multicoloured, or white with coloured or black patterns. If multicoloured, they are made of silk (now often synthetic) threads with silk tassels; if white, they are of cotton with the patterns in silk or cotton and the tassels of white cotton cord. * Dr. Johnson is on the staff of the Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia. The plates illustrating this article are at the back of this volume. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q THE ANCIENT MON--PAGAN, PERU & NAKORN PATHOM 187 end of the last century. The iron shed that covers it exactly reproduces the architecture of railway stations at the turn of the century, and the quality of the decoration is likewise Burmese Victorian. The clumsiness of the feet, which are iconographically incorrect, does not however apparently disturb the local people in their veneration of the statue. The four-imaged Kyaikpan pagoda is much ruined; the Buddha's back on to a central solid square core. It was originally built by Dhammaceti (Damuazedi), a Mon king of great piety who reigned from 1472-1492. The images, of plaster on brick, have been much restored. Rangoon was at first a Mon village called Dagon centred around the Shwedagon pagoda, the origins of which are lost in time. The shrine is said to cover a number of the Buddha's relics. The Mon king Binnya-U is recorded to have raised the height of the stupa to sixty-six feet in 1362. The present height of 326 feet was reached in 1774. The shape is that common in Burma, of a square base to the main terrace for the pradakshina, then the beginning of the bell after a square base with recessed edges: multiple mouldings, the bud and the hti follow. The whole is gilded where it is not actually covered with gold plates and the hti is gilded and encrusted in stones. Of perhaps greater interest are the innumerable baroque shrines round the bases of the stupa and the vast crowds of pilgrims coming for their devotions. By night the illuminated gold stupa is to be seen from the distance in impressive display. There are no other monuments in Rangoon of interest; the Sule pagoda, reputed to be ancient, is a modern jumble. The bargaining in Scott's market or the buying in the diplomatic shop is more representative of the capital today. But the National Museum, consisting almost exclusively of the relics of Thibaw's regalia taken by the British and kept until quite recently in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, have now been returned and are well displayed. They have often been described before; the luxury of the jewel-encrusted objects, the ornamental hamsa, and the robes are in complete contrast with the austerity and constraints of present day Burma. In Rangoon can be seen a 'cultural show' representing various traditional dance forms. The uncourtly little jumps and hops in the classical dances are as surprising as they are interesting. But the soul of Burmese dance and entertainment is not in this, nor in ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q 188 MICHAEL SMITHIES the minority dances like those the repetitious groupings of the Karen, but in the pwe, a complicated form of popular opera where the narrative of a traditional story is intertwined with a modern play which, reaching its end about two or three in the morning, then reverts to the rest of the pwe story. Pwe has everything for the villager wishing to take his mind off current cares, for it includes love songs, stories of handsome princes chasing after princesses who can wiggle their bottoms, often in contrary directions, with regal exquisiteness, and the strident orchestra gives the appropriate support to the stage. Mandalay is the great centre for pwe activities. The Mon theme can be resumed in Thailand by a visit to Nakorn Pathom, a few hours drive from the city. Like Pegu, Nakorn Pathom is an ancient Mon centre, called Davaravati in Siam, and is thought to date from the 5th century. Just before arriving at the modern city, which was established in the 19th century, is the Phra Pathone; little remains of the original stupa which is probably the oldest Buddhist monument in Thailand. Nearby a kind of grotto has recently been erected by a deceased monk into which are inserted heads and objects found in the temple grounds; they are nearly all Davaravati period and some Buddha heads are of much beauty. Not far from this is the unimpressive brick remains of Wat Chulapathone which has however yielded considerable artistic riches in the form of terracotta bas-reliefs which were originally placed around its base. These illustrate Mon versions of the Jataka tales and are to be seen in the new museum to the south of the giant chodi in the town. Wat Pramane is a much-excavated brick ruin to the south of the city giving but a faint idea of its early importance. But the chief pride is the 19th century stupa erected over the original stupa that was Phra Pathom. The work of building the enormous tiled cupola was started by King Mongut, who discovered the original stupa when still a monk, and was continued by his son Chulalongkorn. The stupa may be higher than the Shwe-dagon in Rangoon but it cannot begin to compare in interest. At its base, on the upper terrace, are twenty-four small turrets with bronze bells for the faithful to ring. The projecting chapel to the north contains a venerated statue in the Sukhotai style, and in a detached prayer hall to the east is an excellent Davaravati stone Buddha seated in the European fashion. Also of interest in Nakorn Pathom is the Sanam Chan palace built by King Vachiravuðh ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q 194 MAURICE FREEDMAN summer); Miss Jean Pratt from Cambridge, who studied a Hakka village in the neighbourhood of Tai Po; and, most recently, Mr. Jack Potter, from Berkeley, California, who has just completed a study of one of the major Tang settlements in Yuen Long District. All these may be called community studies, for they attempted to give rounded accounts of the lives of the people they investigated. The results of the three studies, when they are fully published, will provide a useful sample of traditional communities in the New Territories, for they cover both fishing and agriculture and range from relatively unsophisticated Tanka, through a small, and in some respects isolated, Hakka settlement, to one of the old centres of Punti power. In addition to these field studies the work of another anthropologist, Dr. Marjorie Topley, has dealt with the New Territories in a general way in regard to aspects of their economic life. 7. The gaps in knowledge and understanding of New Territories society are in part filled by the results of investigations carried out by other kinds of scholars. I have in mind particularly the work done by geographers and historians. The field studies by Dr. T.R. Tregear and Dr. C.J. Grant are too well known to call for my comment. At the moment further geographical field studies are in train; for example, Mr. Ronald Ng, a graduate student at the University of Hong Kong, is engaged in an investigation of the Tung Chung valley which promises to bring in much new material on the social aspects of agriculture. As for history, I may mention the work of Mr. J.W. Hayes, formerly a District Officer in the New Territories; he has produced two studies, one dealing with the New Territories as they were just before British rule, the other on Cheung Chau, which illustrate very happily how the work of the social historian and that of the anthropologist can complement each other. 8. But when the fruits of all this work are put together they will still leave out of account much that is important. The New Territories can no longer be regarded as simply a rural appendage to urban Hong Kong, an area where traditional Chinese village life has, because of the accident arising out of diplomacy in the nineteenth century, been fostered by British administration, a museum conveniently arranged for the benefit of antiquarians. The population has changed to what extent is demonstrated by the admirably conducted and analysed census of 1961. Modern industry has not ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q 260 MAURICE FREEDMAN are discarded, inscriptions neglected. I have already referred to the cast out stone in the Tin Hau Temple in Tai Po Kau Hui. The stock of genealogy books and old land deeds is being fast depleted by loss and decay. The apparatus of ancestral halls is in many cases being allowed to disintegrate. (I came across a village where only the initiative of the Village Representative restored to the ancestral halls the honours boards which villagers had filched to make beds). Now people are at liberty to do what they like about their past and I am not in favour of any artificial antiquarianism; but it is surely a good argument that both the world at large and their own future generations will be grateful to the New Territories people for the preservation of their historical relics. Would it not be possible for the Administration to undertake to register all monuments, to collect unwanted documents, to copy those which their owners are unwilling to part with, and generally to preserve what can stand as a witness to the past of an interesting corner of civilisation? I am told that it is the intention of the new City Hall Museum in Hong Kong to start collecting at some future date objects illustrating the art and material culture of the New Territories, but I fear that if action is long delayed there may be little to survive. 101. I have covered many subjects in this report and made a number of suggestions for research. In many cases I have implied the degree of priority I should give to particular kinds of investigation, but I have not attempted to offer a neat arrangement of subjects on a scale of usefulness, because it is for the Administration and not me to say what is more or less important to its needs. I have tried to indicate the kinds of research that I should sponsor if I were in a position to do so and within the limits of the talent and money at our disposal my colleagues and I hope to be able to pursue some of the investigations I have proposed. If the New Territories Administration is interested in the private research to be undertaken and should itself wish to sponsor investigations then a plan could be drawn up to co-ordinate more closely the needs of the Administration with the interests of the social scientists. Hong Kong, Singapore May-July 1963. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q NOTES AND QUERIES VISIT TO TUNG WAH GROUP OF HOSPITALS' MUSEUM, 2ND OCTOBER, 1976 The Tung Wah Group of Hospitals is one of Hong Kong's leading Chinese voluntary bodies. The Hospital was established in 1870. Its services then comprised medical, social and educational work that has been continued and extended to the present day, The Tung Wah Museum contains an excellent collection of materials and is well worth a visit. It is located in the Old Hall of the Kwong Wah Hospital, Kowloon, established between 1908-11, which itself is an interesting and historic building. The visit to the Museum was made by courtesy of the Chairman of the Board of Directors 1976-77, to whom the Society is indebted. For Members' guidance, the exhibits in the Museum may be listed as: -- (a) Presentation and Commemorative Boards (horizontal) (b) Presentation and Commemorative Boards (vertical) (c) Furniture (d) Books and Other Records pertaining to the Hospital (e) Photographs of past Tung Wah events (A) Other presentation items. Item (a), of which there are many examples, are all donated; some by previous directors or by senior officials and associations in China in appreciation of charitable work carried out by Tung Wah e.g. raising money for flood and famine relief. Item (b), also well-represented, usually includes presentations by directors or leading citizens of Hong Kong at the time of the establishment of, or major repairs to, the various Tung Wah buildings. They include presentations by other community organizations, like the Kaifongs of Hung Hom and Yaumati, also in Kowloon. Items (a) and (b) are always dated. Item (c) comprises furniture presented at times of building or major renovation, which again carry names and dates. Item (d) includes the early reports of the Hospital in English/Chinese over the past 100 years, and there are other valuable ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q NOTES AND QUERIES 263 Chinese reports on e.g. the work and accounts of the Man Mo Temple in Hollywood Road which has long been associated with the Tung Wah Group. Also Chinese medical works and journals. Item (c) comprises photographs of Tung Wah occasions over the past seventy years and more; but mostly modern. Item (f) includes presentation items from directors and others, including pieces of stoneware and porcelain. All told, though still not, in my view, fully representative of all Tung Wah activities over the past hundred years, the Museum contains an impressive and interesting collection of exhibits and reflects great credit on the Hospital. Carl T. Smith's notes of the history and work of the Hospital follow this brief introduction to the Museum and its contents. Hong Kong, 1976, JAMES HAYES NOTES ON TUNG WAH HOSPITAL, HONG KONG These notes are not a comprehensive history of the Tung Wah Hospital group. For this the reader is referred to the following books issued by the Directors: Development of the Tung Wah Hospitals 1870-1960; One Hundred Years of the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals 1870-1970 and The History of Education of Tung Wah (1963). Of particular interest is Henry James Lethbridge's article, "A Chinese Association in Hong Kong: The Tung Wah", Contributions to Asian Studies, 10, 1973, pp. 144-158. In it he views the Hospital as an important social organization of the Chinese community and draws attention to the efforts of Government to relate to that community through the Hospital Committee. The present notes underline the thesis developed by Mr. Lethbridge. Every community has certain institutions of particular significance in such areas as education, religion, culture, business, politics and society. Seldom perhaps has one institution overlapped so many of these areas as Tung Wah Hospital. It has been some 107 years since the first Chinese Hospital Committee was formed—during these years the Hospital has played varying roles. This means that it can be looked at in different ways. A past, present or expectant member of the Board of Directors might give one story of ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q 268 NOTES AND QUERIES in its power to promote harmony and to co-operate cordially with him. The result of the Governor's notice was a general meeting called by the Tung Wah Committee to sanction appointment of a Chinese trained in western medicine. The representatives of the Kaifong had been invited to the meeting but none attended. The Committee felt it should not make a final decision until there was some agreement from the Kaifong, they therefore adjourned the meeting for a week. This did not please the Governor who wanted immediate action. He was in no mood to countenance stalling tactics. Fortunately there was a representation from the Kaifong at the next general meeting to consider the question. It was agreed that Dr. Chung King-u, a graduate of Viceroy Li's Imperial Medical College at Tientsin be appointed as a resident doctor, thus meeting the requirement of the Governor that there be a medical officer trained in western practice on duty for those who wished to avail themselves of his services. The Hospital Committee anticipated a reaction from the Kaifong to this appointment, hence one of the Directors moved that the proceedings be entered into the record "so Kaifong people could not complain afterward". Then on behalf of the Kaifong people Mr. Fung Wa-chuen thanked the Directors. All seemingly ended in peace. Gradually through the succeeding years more and more Western medical practices were introduced into the hospital routine. The transition has not been without tension and controversy but today, in every respect, Tung Wah is recognized as a modern, well-equipped medical institution. The series of traditional Chinese medical books on display in the Museum are reminders of the many years when patients were treated according to methods stemming from centuries of medical tradition in China. The facilities and equipment of the Hospital today represent the latest advances in modern medical science. Tung Wah and Education Tung Wah's direct interest in education began in 1880 when the Hospital Committee assumed responsibility for the management of the Chung Wah school which was attached to the Man Mo Temple. This appears to have been a natural result of the Hospital Committee's gradual assumption of the affairs of the Temple. This informal amalgamation of Temple and Hospital affairs was due to ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q 270 NOTES AND QUERIES incense burners and vases placed before a scroll with an inscription honouring the deity. In order to safeguard the claim that "the Hospital is not for the purpose of worshipping gods", the Rules stated that "No other gods shall be worshipped in order to prevent superstition, and no outsiders shall be allowed to come to the Hospital to worship the Patron Saint which is simply an insult to him". The desire to give transcendent religious authority to the operation of the Hospital is clear from the provision that the Directors, the doctors, the Secretary, and the Steward, as well as all the servants of the Hospital, upon assuming their duties sign two declarations of loyalty and faithful service. One was burnt before the Patron Saint at the beginning of service, the other was burnt when the term of service was finished in order, as the Rule says "to show their purity”. It was a form of sacred oath. Another aspect of the religious connections of Tung Wah was its close association with the Man Mo Temple. This temple on Hollywood Road was regarded as a civic centre for the Chinese community. As the Emperor observed the Spring and Autumn Rites on behalf of the nation at the altars in Peking, so the recognized leaders of the community in Hong Kong observed similar rites at the Man Mo Temple. The Tung Wah Directors still meet annually and observe them at the Temple. The committee members of the Temple, the Kai Fong and the Tung Wah Hospital overlapped, most of the members at some time served on all of these Boards. It was natural therefore that the affairs of the Hospital were closely related to those of the Temple. In time this natural association was officially confirmed by the Man Mo Temple Ordinance, No. 10 of 1908, which placed the temple under the jurisdiction of the Tung Wah Committee. Representing this tradition is the figure of a god in the Museum's Collection which was placed on the roof of the Man Mo Temple during its construction or reconstruction. Death and the burial of loved ones are usually associated with some form of religious belief. They are boundary experiences which tend to throw the mourner beyond his normal world. In the early years of its history, Tung Wah was regarded as the last resort of the dying by the local population, hence the mortality rate of its patients was extremely high. The Hospital saw its responsibility not only to provide care for the dying, but also to see that their remains Page 285 Page 286 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q NOTES AND QUERIES 273 judging a Chinaman's respectability. Hence it regards the Committee as a mouth piece of the people". However, rabid critics of the Committee in the foreign population claimed membership on the Committee did not necessarily confer respectability or responsibility. It was claimed that "it is undignified on the part of the Government to treat with the often illiterate managers of a Hospital fund as if they possessed official powers over their fellow countrymen". (C.M. Dec. 3, 1875). The Governor Sir Arthur Kennedy was charged with extending to "men whose positions were of the humblest nature, a sort of patronage which vastly inflated their self-conceit." (C.M. Nov. 8, 1875). These criticisms, however, in no way affected the prestige status given to the Tung Wah Directors by the Chinese community. It recognized the men it elected as those who had fulfilled the achievement standards accepted by the community, In time the exclusive prestige value of the Committee was diminished by Government appointment of Chinese representatives on the Legislative Council and the reorganization of the District Watchmen's Committee into a status group. See H.J. Lethbridge, "The District Watch Committee: "The Chinese Executive Council of Hong Kong'", JHKBRAS 11 (1971), pp. 116-141. The Tung Wah Committee became responsible on behalf of the Chinese Community for being host to visiting Chinese high officials. A number of the Directors had themselves acquired an imperial degree and hence were of a sufficiently elevated rank to mix socially with their guests. Several of the Directors later entered Chinese government service holding office in the diplomatic corps. You will note in some of the museum's old photographs of the Tung Wah functions and in the reproduction of the pictures of the first Committee members that some are dressed in Mandarin costume, wearing the feathers and buttons of the appropriate degree. These they had purchased rather than earned through the literary examination system. Sometime the degree was awarded in recognition of some particularly generous contribution for the welfare of the people of China. Whatever the reason for the degree its recipient was given social deference. Those who had acquired such honours conferred status upon the Tung Wah Committee as a group. Though in Hong Kong today the Tung Wah Hospital Directorship is not so exclusively the status group of the Chinese community, it is still recognized as a mark of achievement to be sought after. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q NOTES AND QUERIES 287 of incorruptness. The last name of Ho Chung's studio was T’ing-yü-hsien, that is, a pavilion for listening to the rain. The melancholy atmosphere of a rainy day, from the point-of-view of Chinese literary life, has been a special but poetic mood favoured by poets of Sung China in the 13th century. Transferring this sad feeling of listening to the rain as one of Ho Chung's studio names showed that this late 19th century Kwangtung artist certainly shared the Sung poets' feeling of melancholy. With regard to Ho Chung's biography, due to the lack of information his life as an artist is not completely clear, although according to an art history written in 1927 and devoted to Chinese artists in Kwangtung, Ho Chung was over seventy years old when he died. Based on this clue, the chronology of this artist can be ascertained in general. There are 34 pictures all by Ho Chung in the Luis de Camoes Museum in Macau. Among them, a circular fan painting has been inscribed by the artist with the date Keng-tze ✯; a year corresponding to the 26th year in the Kwang-shü * era during the Ch'ing Dynasty, which in turn corresponds to the year 1900. This is a very helpful discovery, since if Ho Chung died around 1900 at the age of seventy-five, he might have been born around 1825. At any rate, Ho Chung must have been an artist chiefly active in the second half of the 19th century and presumably his late years touched at least the first one or two years of the 20th century. From the 17th to the 19th centuries, Chinese painting in Kwangtung certainly developed into a more fruitful stage than in the preceding centuries. Nevertheless, the artistic quality of these Kwangtung paintings was not only less significant than those of the Chiang-nan area, the centre of Chinese painting of that time - but also can hardly be compared with the standard of her neighbouring province, Fukien. For this reason, within these three centuries, artists who were not natives of Kwangtung and were also not first class artists of the Chiang-nan area, but whenever and wherever settled in Kwangtung, were always regarded by Kwangtung art historians as Kwangtung artists. For instance, Wang Hou-lai, a native of An-hui province settled at Pan-yü during the 18th century, was treated as a representative artist for Kwangtung landscape painting. Similarly, Sung Kwang-pao and Meng Chin-i, two artists of the Kiangsu province, lived in Kwang- ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q NOTES AND QUERIES 291 * This poetic feeling can be reflected by a Tzu poem written by Chiang Chieh # which reads: "The rain song in youth I heard from song bedroom 樓上 red candle setting behind a satin screen ***** older and travelling I heard rain in a boat # huge river, low clouds, ***› a goose crying in the west wind parted from the flock. $$$ K Now when I hear the rain, in a hermit's cell MET my hair has long turned grey 11 sorrow, happiness, parting, joining are all neutral #46BAH raindrops all night long on the stone steps. Ħ¶¤àa¤N · For the English translation, see John Scott: Love and Protest (1972, London), p. 118. 9 see Wang Chao-yung, op.cit. p.7. 10 Its registration number in the Luis de Camoes Museum is AL 1 No. 10. 11 Chiang-nan is a conventionalized geographic term referring to the vast area of Kiangsu, Chekiang, An-hui and Fukien provinces. 12 See Chuang Shen op.cit. pp. 14-18. There I have pointed out that in the 19th century, the painting styles of Hua Yen and Huang Shen, two artists of Fukien, were followed by the Kwangtung artists. 13 See Chu-tsing Li: "Landscape painting in Kwangtung during Ming and Ch'ing", in Landscape paintings by Kwangtung Masters during the Ming and Ch'ing Period (published in 1973 by the Art Gallery of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong), p. 4. 14 Sung Kwang-pao and Meng Chuii were both artists of Kiangsu province. Followed Li Ping-shou, they came to Kwangtung during the first half of the 19th century. Later, Sung was regarded as the founder of a more laborious and decorative school, while Meng became the forerunner of a different school, less decorative, and mainly stressing the artist's inner self. 15 See Lin Po-ting *** "Brief Notes on the Taiwan painters during the Ch'ing Dynasty”滑朝台灣畫人輯系 history selected in Central Chinese culture and Taiwan AXLA÷ (1971, Taipei), pp. 531-539, 16 See Lin Po-ting: ibid, p. 535. **MFIL 17 See Sohokaku Shogaki **M***, Descriptive catalogue of Chinese paintings and calligraphies in the possession of Bardo Asano (1864-1880), (published in 1973 by the Kansai University in Japan), pp. 143 - 144. As to this catalogue and its editor, see also Kokuro Wakimono + A 'Notes on paintings and calligraphy in the Shohokaku Shogaki Collection and its Author Asano Baido", *NTORE *o****** The Bijutsu Kenkyu ✯ (Journal of Art Studies), No. 35 (1973, Tokyo), pp. 531 - 544. 18 See Chuang Shen: op.cit. p. 21. University of Hong Kong, March 1977. CHUANG SHEN ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1977 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n 28 LEIGH WRIGHT The state of Brunei annual report for 1956 describes the water city, Kampong Ayer, this way, Set in a wide sweep of the river, this river town is in its way unique. At high tide under favourable conditions of light it takes on quite a remarkable beauty; viewed at close quarters it is even more remarkably ramshackle. The houses are grouped together in small villages, being connected by precarious plank walkways, and there the inhabitants carry on their multifarious activities in much the same way as if they were on land. NOTES 1 See e.g. O. W. Wolters, Early Indonesian Commerce; a study of the origins of Srivijaya, (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1967); and D. E. Brown, Brunei: the structure and history of a Bornean Malay sultanate, (Brunei: Brunei Museum, 1970). These works have drawn upon the earlier studies of such scholars as W. P. Groeneveldt (1880) and Lien Sung (1919). 2 See Brown, op. cit., Ch. XI. 3 The fullest account of the Moro wars is in E. H. Blair and J. A. Robertson, The Philippine Islands, 1493 - 1898, (Cleveland, 1903 -09). 4 Lord Stanley of Alderley (ed.), The first voyage round the world by Magellan, by Antonio Pigafetta, (London: Hakluyt Society, 1874). 5 J. Hunt, "Some particulars relative to the Sulo islands in the Archipelago of Felicia”, in Malayan Miscellany, I, (Bencoolen, 1820). 6 James Horsburgh, Directions for sailing to and from the East Indies and China, (London, 1811), the navigational handbook for generations of British sea captains. This work drew heavily upon the surveys of eighteenth century seafarers such as Alexander Dalrymple (1774) and Thomas Forest (1780). 7 S. B. St. John, Life in the forests of the Far East. (London, 1862), Vol. 2, pp. 248-49. 8 British Parliamentary Papers, 1854-55, XXIX (253), 9 Sarawak Gazette, 26 April, 1872. 10 Henry Keppel, The expedition to Borneo of H.M.S. Dido for the suppression of piracy, with extracts from the Journal of James Brooke, Esq. of Sarawak, (London, 1847), 11 S. Baring-Gould and C. A. Bampfylde, A History of Sarawak under its two white rajahs, (London, 1909), pp. 82-83. 12 Lennox Mills, British Malaya, 1824-67, (reprint: Kuala Lumpur, 1966), p. 248. 13 British interests in Borneo are treated extensively in, L. R. Wright, The Origins of British Borneo, (Hong Kong, 1970). 14 See L. R. Wright, "The Foreign Office and North Borneo", in Journal of Oriental Studies, Vol. VII, No. 1, (January 1969). ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1977 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n 232 NOTES AND QUERIES REPTILES NEW TO HONG KONG The purpose of these notes is to record the occurrence of one species of gecko (Reptilia: Sauria: Gekkonidae) and three species of snakes (Reptilia: Serpentes: Colubridae) not hitherto known as part of the fauna of Hong Kong. Hemidactylus brookii Gray During the first six months of 1978 three live adult specimens of these geckos were sent to me by Father Anthony Bogadek for identification. All three had been caught in the same locality in the Sai Ying Pun district on Hong Kong Island. The first two, both males, had been found outdoors behind a piece of building material lying against a brick wall, one in late September or early October 1977 and the other on 1 March 1978. The third specimen, a female, was found inside a school on 3 June 1978. There is no doubt that at least a localized population of Hemidactylus brookii is now established in Hong Kong. The known geographical range of this species includes ‘India' [and therefore Pakistan and probably Bangladesh], Sri Lanka, and parts of Burma, extending southeastward into the East Indian Archipelago and Singapore; it is also widely distributed in the northern half of Africa, and has been introduced into the West Indies (Smith, 1935, p.91). Its occurrence in Thailand and the Malay Peninsula is not clear as, while Boulenger (1912, p.43) records it from the Malay Peninsula and Archipelago', Smith (loc. cit.) states that it is: ‘not yet known from Siam, French Indo-China, or the Malay Peninsula except Singapore. . . .’ As regards its occurrence in China, Smith (loc. cit.) remarks: there are two specimens in the British Museum said to have come from China, both were obtained more than 80 years ago.... Recently (Anon., 1977), this gecko has been listed for Fukien and Chekiang provinces, but without other details. In its habits, Hemidactylus brookii is equally at home inside buildings as it is out of doors. It is due to their close association with man that the geographical ranges of several species of house-geckos have been artificially extended very widely in warmer parts of the world. ================================================================================ 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 OCCURRENCE OF THE FROGS RANA PARASPINOSA AND RANA SPINOSA IN HONG KONG 237 The herpetological literature for over half a century has recorded the occurrence of Rana spinosa David in Hong Kong. However, Dubois (1975) has shown that a series totalling sixteen preserved specimens in the British Museum (Natural History) and in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University, under the name Rana spinosa and having come from Hong Kong, represent a species closely related to, but distinct from, R. spinosa. He has named these frogs Rana (Paa) paraspinosa, having stated the type locality to be 'The Peak, Hong Kong' and recorded a paratype from 'Mount Butler, Hong Kong.' Dubois' discovery that what was previously thought to be R. spinosa is a closely related but distinct species will inevitably cause confusion as regards much of the existing literature recording 'R. spinosa' from Hong Kong. Having re-examined all of the specimens which I had identified as R. spinosa in my own collection from The Peak district on Hong Kong Island (four males and five females, all adults) and Tai Po Kau Forest Reserve in the New Territories mainland of Hong Kong (one adult female), I find them all to be R. paraspinosa. The main purpose of this note is to record the recent finding of Rana spinosa on the mountain Tai Mo Shan in the New Territories of Hong Kong. A total of seven specimens, comprising three adults and four juveniles, were taken by Dr. Frank F. Reitinger and Mr. Jerry K. S. Lee on 9 and 18 July 1978 at altitudes ranging from about 853 to 870 metres. Another point, of ecological interest, is the fact that R. paraspinosa also occurs on Tai Mo Shan. As yet the evidence for this rests on a single fully mature female taken at an altitude of about 808 metres by Dr. Frank F. Reitinger on 14 July 1978. Thus, with the specimen from Tai Po Kau Forest Reserve mentioned above, two specimens of R. paraspinosa have so far been recorded for the New Territories mainland. While both paraspinosa and spinosa occur in the mainland area of Hong Kong, present indications are that the latter may not inhabit Hong Kong Island. It would be interesting to obtain specimens from streams high up on Lantau Island, where both species may reasonably be expected to occur. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1977 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n 248 LIST OF MEMBERS ORDINARY MEMBERS: + AIKEN, Mrs. L. · AKERS-JONES, Hon D., C.M.G., J.P. ALLCOCK, R. C. ALLEN, O. J. R. ANDERSON, J. S. ANGOVE, W. B. ARCHER, Hon. Mrs. S. + - ARSAN, Mrs. K. AU, K. N. · Room 2411, Plaza Hotel, Hong Kong, Island House, Tai Po, N.T. Dept. of Law, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong. Flat B2, 29 Severn Road, The Peak, Hong Kong, Diocesan Boys' School, 131 Argyle Street, Kowloon. Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., Operations Building 4/F, Kai Tak, Kowloon. 41, Stubbs Road, Apt. 21, Hong Kong. 43 Stubbs Road, Flat C-1, 5th Floor, Hong Kong. Grantham College of Education, Gascoigne Road, Kowloon. BARD, Dr. S. M., O.B.E., J.P. Hong Kong Museum of History, Star House, 4/F, Kowloon, BARR, J. W. E9 Repulse Bay Towers, 119A Repulse Bay Road, Hong Kong. BARRETT, Fr. Cyril S. J. Wah Yan College, Queen's Road East, Hong Kong. BARRETTO, R. O. 1903 Hang Chong Building, Queen's Road C., Hong Kong. BENNETT, Dr. J. R.. Dept. of English, New Asia College, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T. BERKHOUT, P. The Shell Co. of Hong Kong Ltd., P.O. Box 22, Hong Kong. BERTRAM, J. 601 Swire House, Hong Kong. BIRCH, Dr. A. Dept. of History, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong. BLAIKLEY, P. E. - 4 Middleton Towers, 140 Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong. BLAKE, Mrs. D. Paul Y Construction Co., Bank of Canton Building 18/F, Hong Kong. BLOOMFIELD, Miss Frena - 38A, 1/F, Kennedy Road, Hong Kong. BOND, M. W. - BOYLAN, Mrs. C.. BRAGA, P. BRANDON, Miss J. BRIGGS, Hon. Sir Geoffrey, Q.C. BROADBENT, Miss M. 404 La Hacienda, 31 Mount Kellett Road, Hong Kong. Cathay Pacific Airways, P.O. Box 1, Hong Kong. 61A Bisney Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong. St. Stephen's Girls' School, 2 Lyttelton Road, Hong Kong. Courts of Justice, Hong Kong: Helena May Court, Garden Road, 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 4 Hong Kong Museum of History invited members to the screening of three Korean films at the City Hall. The films concerned the art and archeology of important sites in Korea. In September we were again concerned with Hong Kong History when Dr. Alan Birch, Reader in History at Hong Kong University, spoke on Hong Kong 1937-45: Conquest and Liberation. Also in September Dr. Marilyn Grayburn, lecturer in Indian Archeology, University of Cleveland Museum, spoke on 5,000 years of the Indus Valley Civilization, and in October Mr. Lawrence Tam, Curator of the Hong Kong Museum of Art, and himself also an artist of repute and teacher of Chinese Art History, spoke on the Shek Wan Pottery of Kwangtung Province in connection with an exhibition current at the City Hall Museum. In December Mr. Henri Vetch, a long standing member of the Society, spoke of his experiences in Peking where he worked as publisher between 1920-1951, when he was imprisoned for three years by the Communists. In January an interesting talk was given by Dr. Wen Hsiang-lai, a neurologist and neurosurgeon as well as authority on acupuncture. He spoke of his recent experiments at the Tung Wah Hospital in the use of electrical stimulation using acupuncture points and needles in connection with drug addiction. And finally Dr. William Parish gave a talk in February on "Status and Power in Kwangtung Villages under the People's Republic." Dr. Parish is associate professor of Sociology at the University of Chicago. Both local excursions and overseas trips are a regular feature of our activities and in December Dr. James Hayes arranged a visit to Tsuen Wan where he talked about local temples, rural organization and traditional inter-village feuding. The Society is continuing its programme of cultural tours abroad with a ten-day visit to Kashmir and Kathmandu starting later this week. The trip has been arranged by Dr. Brian Shaw. Where possible we deal directly with hoteliers and pass on group discounts and commissions directly to members travelling. Your Council has been investigating the feasibility of mounting future tours to Afghanistan; the Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, Taxila sites; Ladakh Darjeeling, Sikkim and Bhutan; Dr. Shaw will again be looking into this possibility. Dr. Leigh Wright is also looking at the possibility of a tour to the old Straits Settlements. Now that the Chinese authorities are encouraging travel with. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1978 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8g84t8593 QINGMING FESTIVAL IN CENTRAL CHINA 79 and a new transplantation followed in the fourth moon. In Baling we find that grave worship was conducted in the first moon, at Qingming, and on the 3rd day of the third moon. I think it possible to correlate this unusual dispersion with the existence of two periods of sowing. This short sketch indicates how much more we must know in order to make anthropological sense out of the Chinese calendar system. I leave the argument at this juncture. When we know more about the autumn rituals and the New Year celebrations we may, in this new knowledge, find clues to a better understanding of the distribution of ceremonies over the calendric span of time. Again, when we know more about the local conditions and variations to be found in this limited area of Central China, we may find some co-variation in ritual events, which would be helpful in our attempts at establishing the overall system. NOTES *This paper was written when in 1975 I was privileged by All Souls College, Oxford, with a Visiting Fellowship. I remain most thankful to the Warden and Fellows of All Souls. I owe a further debt of gratitude to the two Swedish Research Councils for the Social Sciences, and for the Humanities. Part of the material which concerns this essay was found in the Harvard-Yenching Institute, Harvard University, in 1970. I am indebted to that Institute for their hospitality, and also to University of Stockholm and the Nathhorst Foundation for generous support. The argument of this paper was presented at a seminar in the School of Oriental and African Studies, London. I am grateful for this occasion. For comments and discussion I remain thankful to Hwang Tsu-yu, Wang Gung-wu, James Watson, Arthur Wolf and the late Maurice Freedman. 1 See, for instance, the papers by Maurice Freedman, ‘A Chinese Phase of Social Anthropology,' British Journal of Sociology 14, 1-19, 1963, and 'Why China', (Presidential Address 1969) Proceedings of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 1969, 5-13. 2 Gujin Tushu Jicheng. The Complete Collection of Books of All Times, Eds. Chen Menglei & Jiang Tingxi, 1885-1888 reprint of 1726 edition. (Hereafter GJTSJC). References to this work are given according to the system of Lionel Giles, An Alphabetical Index to the Chinese Encyclopaedia. London: British Museum, 1911. 3 Taoyuan Xianzhi. Records of Taoyuan County. Auths. Fang Kun and Pi Zhen. n.d. juan 3:12a. 4 Yiyang Xianzhi. Records of Yiyang County, Auth. Zhao Zhepei 1807-1819. juan 2:66. 5 GJTSJC, VI:1259 lb, 1193 # 3a, 1120 # 4b. 6 GJTSJC VI:1130 # 2a. 7 Baling Xianzhi. Records of Baling County Auth. 1872 juan 11:7b, quoting that is an earlier sub-prefectural gazetteer. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1978 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8g84t8593 80 GÖRAN AIJMER 8 D. H. Perkins, Agricultural Development in China 1368-1968. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1969, p. 47. 9 Göran Aijmer, 'A Structural Approach to Chinese Ancestor Worship'. Bijdragen tot de taal-, land- en volkenkunde 124, pp. 91-98, 1968, and The Dragon Boat Festival on the Hupeh-Hunan Plain, Central China. A Study in the Ceremonialism of the Transplantation of Rice. Statens Etnografiska Museum, Monograph Series, No. 9. Stockholm, 1964. 10 Several terms are used: *, **, *, ; it is hard to tell whether they signify different types of graves. 11 GJTSJC VI:1259, ##† 1b. 12 TRAŁ. Records of Changde Prefecture. Auth. A, 1813. Juan 13:4a. Wuling is the capital of this prefecture. 13 ****, juan 3:8a, quoting older edition. 14 # Records of Yuanjiang County. 1807-1819. Juan 18:2b. Juan 18:2b. 益陽縣 154, juan 2:9b, 16 CM, juan 11:2b. 17 ***. Records of Anxiang County. Eds. ## et al., 1748, no pagination. 風俗考 18 GJTSJC VI:1130, £## 1b. 19 GJTSJC VI:1142, ## 3a. 20 GJTSJC VI:1120, #2b. 21 GJTSJC VI:1120, ‡ 4b. 風俗考 BB 22 GJTSJC VI:1116, + 4b. 23 GJTSJC VI:1223, 2a. 24 A#. Records of Wuling County, Auths, $ et al., 1862-63. Juan 7:4b. 25 GJTSJC VI:1142 ### 2a. 26 GJTSJC VI:1120 * 2a. 27 eums, juan 11:12b, quoting 'old record' — presumably an earlier edition of the gazetteer. 28 Sometimes there is also an autumnal she ri, but the present case certainly refers to a spring offering. 29 GJTSJC VI:1120 $ 2b. 風俗考 30 GJTSJC VI:1120 ## 4b. 31 GJTSJC VI:1166 ## 4b. 32 GJTSJC VI:1120 33 GJTSJC VI:1259 34 GJTSJC VI:1223 #‡ 6b. # 2ab. # 1b, 2a. 風俗考 35 GJTSJC VI:1142 ## 1b. 36 For a general survey of the architectural features of Chinese tombs, see Magdalene von Dewall, 'Grab und Totenbrauch in China.' Tribus, no. 25, November 1976, pp. 31-81. 37 Harry A. Franck: Roving through Southern China. New York & London: The Century Co., 1925, p. 64. 38 On Tongshan, see GJTSJC VI:1120, A#‡ 6b, and on Wuling, GJTSJC VI:1255, 1, 7ab. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1978 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8g84t8593 SHIWAN POTTERY EXPLORED FREDRIKKE SKINSNES SCOLLARD* In April of 1977 I had the opportunity to visit the pottery-producing town of Shiwan for the first time with the Oriental Ceramic Society tour. At that time for foreigners, group travel to China from Hong Kong still involved months of waiting for approval, and the individual trip needed for my own research of Shiwan pottery was an impossibility. The day spent in Shiwan however, was sufficient to establish a few acquaintances and to discover that fundamental archaeological research was in progress. In May of the same year I gave a talk to the Oriental Ceramic Society titled "Shiwan Reverberatory". The reason for the choice of that title was that in ten years' experience studying Shiwan pottery, I have met with a great deal of resistance to the study of these wares. Art historians feel they are a coarse and unimportant local product with little esthetic merit, and even most non-specialists more often than not react with "I just don't like it." In a first lecture on Shiwan pottery, I therefore did not expect to gain immediate converts to this art with a very different and unfamiliar esthetic. Rather, the choice of the title indicated that I felt the subject was worthy of much more attention, and that I hoped, over the next few years, my audience would have repeated opportunity to see and study Shiwan pottery, thereby slowly gaining familiarity with its esthetic. Indeed, over the last two years, more attention has been paid to these wares. In October of 1977, the Hong Kong Museum of Art in cooperation with the Leal Senado of Macau, staged an exhibition of 139 pieces and published a full colour catalogue. Mr. Lawrence Tam delivered an excellent talk to this Society on the subject, and Mr. Nigel Cameron critiqued the exhibition with his "Second Thoughts on Shekwan" in the South China Morning Post.1 At present, the Fung Ping Shan Museum of the University of Hong Kong, in cooperation with Guangzhou museums, is preparing a joint exhibition on Shiwan pottery for the fall of 1979. * Ms. Scollard holds Masters' degrees in the History of Art (Hawaii) and Chinese Literature (Chicago). She is Associate-in-Research, Centre of Asian Studies, University of 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 # WOODBLOCK PRINTING 179 than eight thousand volumes together with the world's oldest wood-block printed book are now kept by the British Museum in London. In 1908 a Frenchman, Professor Paul Pelliot, took away two thousand five hundred more volumes. What remained in the library, around eight thousand volumes, were sent to Peking in 1911 and are now kept in the Peking Library. Buddhism came to China along the Old Silk Road first from Central Asia at the end of the last millennium BC and again in 67 AD when a mission sent to India by the Han Emperor Ming Ti (***) returned with two learned Indian scholars. Chinese pilgrims, notably Fa-hsien (3); §) 399-424 AD and Hsuan-tsang (✯✯) 625-645 AD, used the Old Silk Road. All went through Tun-huang, By the time of the Tang Dynasty, 618-905 AD, woodblock printing had already developed to a high state of artistry. Buddhists made full use of the printing technique to popularize their religion. Buddhism was very prosperous at that time. There were more than five thousand temples in existence, and around three million people became monks or nuns. The temple authorities and their followers engaged in publishing Buddhist texts or sutras with great enthusiasm, as they believed that the more texts or sutras that could be published and circulated the more merit would be rewarded. Most of the sutras were printed with images and illustrations so that they could be better understood by those followers with only little education. In the year 931 AD the government of Late Tang (k) set up a special printing section under the Education Department (§76) to engage scholars, carvers, and printers to make woodblocks to print all classical texts copied from the stone texts, the first official textbook printing in Chinese history. It took twenty-two years to accomplish the whole series, consisting of nine classical texts totalling one hundred and thirty volumes and finished in the year 953 AD, Late Chou (£§). The great advance in wood engraving skill should be credited to Northern Sung Dynasty (a). In the period of the tenth or twelfth centuries, the production of both classical texts and illustrated novels, including imprints of stone and woodblock folk prints, increased in quantity and quality. Books of fiction printed in the Sung Dynasty 960-1179 AD were amply illustrated, with illustrations Page 195 Page 196 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1978 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8g84t8593 180 DAVID H. S. CHAU on the upper part of the page and the text on the lower. Folk prints became popular at that time. According to a historical reference every year started from the tenth lunar month, and the markets were filled with new calendars, all sizes of door gods, charms and papercut blessings in gold and coloured paper for the coming new year festival. These folk prints thus came to be known as Nien Hua or New Year Prints. A Russian named Koslov found some old prints from a ruined pagoda in Black Water City, Kansu Province, whilst exploring in China in the year 1908. One of the prints is in a form of a poster-like illustration of 2′5′′ × 1′ in size depicting four historical beauties of four different dynasties printed in black ink on yellowish colour coated paper. According to the printed year mark, it was made in the period of Southern Sung, 1127-1279 AD and is believed to be the oldest surviving Chinese folk print or Nien Hua printed by woodblock in the world. The print is now kept by the Alexander the Third Museum in Moscow. Woodblock was developed to print paper money at the time of 998-1022 AD in the Sung Dynasty, but did not last long as the woodblock printed paper notes were too easily forged. Later the government changed to using bronze plates instead. The designs on the plates were not engraved, but were moulded by using carved woodblock moulds by the same method used to make picture bricks in Chin Dynasty and the illustrated roof tiles in Han Dynasty. It is the prototype of woodblock printing. At the time of 1041-1048 in the Northern Sung, a Chinese commoner Bi Sheng developed the use of movable types made of baked clay for printing, and later by using carved woodblocks for the types. This method did not attain extensive use because of the large number of characters used by Chinese: an ordinary book required at least four to five thousand different types. The woodblock prints of the Yuan Dynasty, 1279-1368 AD, are characterised by their boldness and simplicity. Double colour printing was developed in this period. Two blocks were used for printing. Some books printed in this period had the text printed in black and the notes printed in red. Woodblock printing was extensive by the time of the Wan Li reign of the Late Ming 1573-1619 AD, as paper making ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1978 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8g84t8593 212 NOTES AND QUERIES and Mr. Stephen J. Karsen at an altitude of about 700 metres on Lantau Peak on 19 October 1979 that it became possible to confirm the identification of this species on the basis of both stages of its life cycle. Subsequently, two more of these frogs were found by Father Anthony Bogadek: one at around 690 metres altitude on Tai Mo Shan on 26 October and the other between Lantau Peak and Ngong Ping (altitude not recorded) on 9 November 1979. Leptobrachium pelodyroides has been recorded—as Megophrys pelodytoides from Fukien (= Fujian) in China by Pope (1931, p.447). It has also been listed (under the name Carpophrys pelodytoides) for China from Yunnan, Guizhou, Hunan, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangxi (Anon., 1977). These frogs as represented in Hong Kong are closely related to certain other geographical populations of frogs, for example in Thailand and Malaysia, and evidently there is need of a comprehensive study. Until one herpetologist can bring together specimens, which should include tadpoles, from all related populations for comparison, the geographical limits of Leptobrachium pelodytoides will remain undefined. One of the adult frogs and two of the tadpoles recorded here from Hong Kong have been presented to the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago. The others, except for one of the frogs, are in my own private collection. My thanks are due to Dr. Robert F. Inger (Field Museum of Natural History) for most helpful observations, and to all those mentioned above for kindly presenting me with specimens. REFERENCES Anonymous (Compiled by the Amphibians and Reptiles Research Department of The Biological Research Institute of Sichuan Province) 1977 Systematic Keys to China's Amphibians. (In Chinese) Science Press, Beijing. Pope, C. H. 1931 Notes on Amphibians from Fukien, Hainan, and Other Parts of China. Bull. Am. Mus. nat. Hist., Vol. 61, pp. 397-611. Hong Kong, 8 February 1980 J. D. ROMER ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1981 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ff36bt18m Page & Vol. 25 (1985) Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch RASHKB and author ISSN 1991-7295 217 ing machines; perhaps this was it. Notwithstanding the possibility that one item purchased might be unrelated to war, the receipts pasted here are obviously connected with funds raised and disbursed through Hong Kong for some military operation. It does not take much imagination to see what this operation was. I translate the following from Liu Shao-t'ang H, Min-kuo ta-shih-chih ICHA DE (Taipei, 1972), pp. 174-177; 16th August, 1920 Commander-in-chief Ch'en Chiung-ming of the Kwangtung Army swore allegiance to Mr. Sun Yat-sen at Chang chou...; 19th, Hsü Ch'ung-chih of the right division of the Kwangtung Army captured Mei hsien; 24th, Commander-in-chief of the Kwangtung Army, Ch'en Chiung-ming arrived at Swatow...; 6th September, in obedience to Mr. Sun Yat-sen's order, Chu Chih-hsin instigated the independence of the Fu-men batteries...; 21st, Chu Chih-hsin... killed, aged 36; 26th Commander of the 3rd division of Canton and Hui-chou, Li fu-lin, declared independence; 2nd October in obedience to Mr. Sun Yat-sen's command, Ku Ying-feng (that is, Ku Hsiang-ch'in) carried 108,000 dollars from Hong Kong to Swatow in support of Ch'en Chiung-ming's troops, and Mr. Sun further remitted 150,000 Hong Kong dollars from Shanghai to Swatow for Ch'en. THE NIXON SCROLL David Faure The following letters, written in 1963, provide some necessary information on the Nixon Scroll, now presented by the Society to the Fung Ping Shan Museum on long-term loan: (1) The Keeper Oriental Printed Books and Manuscripts The British Museum London Department of History University of Hongkong June 14, 1963 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1981 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ff36bt18m BOOK REVIEWS 209 be churlish to be pedantic and ask how this rating is measured. Surely Eric does not think so poorly of Hong Kong girls? We know the author's enthusiasm for their natural beauty, their dress (especially the Cheong Sam) continually pops out in this selection of comments, definitions and descriptions. Best of Every Thing Oh, that this marvellous idea of collecting and presenting this sparkling miscellany about life, love, labour and lore in Hong Kong could have presented the best of everything. But we have the author's assurance that this is the first of a series, garnered from his vast collection of bits and pieces about Shanghai and Hong Kong. So, if some of the items are not up to standard, perhaps this is the cook's device not to give us indigestion. Accuracy Although there are a lot of facts, considered and unconsidered in this encyclopaedia of Hong Kong, historical accuracy is not particularly the author's strong line. A few years, here or there, will not matter to many readers who will sample the wide varieties of these verbal cocktails listed here. Historians, of course, will not be so happy with several statements "Chinnery started off (his career as an artist) in Macao.” What of his Indian period which preceded his fruitful stay in Macao? Hong Kong did not officially become a colony until 1843. But it would be tedious to go through this book like a school essay. e.g. Gallimaufry This is not a Hong Kong word, but one, I think, of Ivor Brown, the lexicographer. Anyway I offer it in a sense of gratitude to Eric Cumine for this idiosyncratic but absorbing gallimaufry (what a marvellous bedside book it makes.) Ironically I find myself asking my Chinese wife about these 'things Chinese'. It takes a lot to excite her curiosity; but Eric does it. - John Warner, Hong Kong Illustrated Views and News 1840-1980 (Hong Kong, 1981) By comparison with the other publications under review this is a distinguished book. Put together by John Warner, former Curator of Hong Kong's Art Museum, it is, as one would expect, a sensitive and effective collection of line engravings, and lithographs, taken mainly from two British periodicals, The Illustrated London News and The Graphic. The selection of pictures beautifully reproduced and well set-out with accompanying extracts from the letter-press of the period ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1983 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v of the charitable work done by the Kadoorie family in this field. A cheque for $500 was sent in appreciation to Mr. Horace Kadoorie on behalf of the Society. K 26th November 1983 about 35 members took part in a visit to the Soo Kon Poo district of Hong Kong Island where we visited the Buddhist Memorial to victims of the Race Course fire in 1918, the Tung Wah Eastern Hospital and the Confucian Middle School. December 1983 and March 1984 - two separate groups of members visited the Narcotics Museum of the Narcotics Bureau, RHKP, in Police Headquarters, Arsenal Street, under the kind arrangements of Mr. K. W. J. Lloyd, Chief Inspector of Police. 28th January 1984 about 70 members went by boat to the Ch'ing Dynasty fort on Tung Lung Island, and passed by the Tin Hau Temple at Fat Tong Mun and the former Chinese customs station at Junk Island on the return journey. Lectures 29th March 1983 Mr. Nigel Cameron, the author and art critic, gave an interesting illustrated talk on "Hong Kong Art: the Quiet Revolution". 14th April 1983 — Ms Elizabeth Sinn of the Department of History at the University of Hong Kong spoke about "The Strike and Riot, Hong Kong 1884", an interesting local side effect of the Sino-French war over Vietnam. 25th April 1983 Professor Daffyd Evans, Head of the Department of Law, University of Hong Kong, spoke about the wills made by some Chinese in early British Hong Kong in an interesting talk entitled "Fearing Verbal Words, or Chinese Testaments in British Hong Kong". 25th May 1983 Professor Daniel Kwok, professor of History at the University of Hawaii and visiting professor, Centre of Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong, gave a stimulating talk entitled "Confucianism and Modernization: Reflections of Antipathies and Sympathies". This dealt with ix ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1983 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v 196 the vessel appointed to receive us, in the 10th month of the year Yeh-sze. Like Kong-heang my renown is small; like Lea-heang I have taught the classics, but profited little by the examples found in them. My attainments are slender, and I can only be compared to a ragged colt that has no real substance." In view of Cree's mention of Charles Gutzlaff being on board the Vixen, and of the dearth of translators in Hong Kong at that time, it may be that the translation of the poem was made by Gutzlaff himself. NOTE This is probably Liu Kai-yü (M), a native of Shun-Tien, Prefect of Canton (AHA) from 1843, or Liu Hsin (2), a native of Hsiang Fu, Honan, who succeeded him as Prefect of Canton in 1845 c.£. ƒƒƒ± (+M/2## Vol. 1), p. 405 (Note from Rev. C.T. Smith). RELICS OF HONG KONG AND CHINA IN BRITISH ARMY AND REGIMENTAL MUSEUMS P. BRUCE While in the United Kingdom in 1983 I visited a number of army museums in search of items related to China. There is, in fact, quite a lot to see, though the museums are scattered the length and breadth of the country and considerable travelling is involved. However, members of the society may like a brief note on what I was able to find and it would be interesting to hear of anything additional which is known of. I started at the Royal Marines Museum, at Southsea, Hampshire, which is, in effect, a part of Portsmouth. There is an interesting collection of China items here. The oldest items are several assorted rifles and swords and an impressive Chinese cannon which looks as if it would have fired a shot about the size of a tennis ball. It is crafted to include a ferocious dragon's head at the muzzle from which the ball would roar forth. These were picked up in 1842. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1983 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v 197 From 1860 there is, firstly, a collection of China Medals and related items and eight drawings by a Royal Marines Light Infantry officer who served in the Second China War. There is also a vase and a gilded, seated, Buddha which were taken from the Summer Palace in that year. The Marines were involved in the fighting occasioned by the Boxer uprising in 1900, and the Museum holds a number of relics of this involvement. A Boxer flag is, for instance, on display. This was captured by Sgt. Preston, Royal Marines Light Infantry, on the walls of Peking on July 14, 1900, an act for which he was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal. The notes explain that Preston kept the Boxers at bay while an American Marine seized the flag. A Victoria Cross was won at about the same date which is commemorated by the display of a large pike. This was captured by the RMLI detachment during the siege of the Legations. Captain L.S.T. Holliday led a sortie during which he had half a lung shot away. He later became Adjutant General of the Royal Marines and when he died in 1966 at the age of 95 he was the oldest holder of the VC. A squat, gape-mouthed, mortar about two feet high is also on show. This was seized at the capture of the Taku forts in 1900. A large brass shell case used by the Quick Firing guns at the Taku Forts is mounted in the museum as a gong. The case has the name Berndorfer stamped upon it, an Austrian firm. Next came a quick visit to the National Army Museum, in Chelsea, London. Among the items which I spotted there were the following, and I am sure there must be others which I missed. There is a large, full-length, portrait of Sir Hugh Gough, by an unknown artist. He is shown with what looks to be an Indian servant buckling on his sword and is impressively bemedalled. A tall, slim, figure, with a white moustache, the General was in his fifties or sixties when the picture was painted. A silver model pagoda commemorating the Treaty of Nanking, August 1860, is on loan from the present Viscount Gough. It was made by Richard Hennell and is hallmarked London 1860-61. A long rampart gingall, manufactured at South Tientsin Arsenal in 1895 slants diagonally across a case which also features ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1983 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v 199 A pair of Chinese drums, each with writhing dragons, with colours still surprisingly bright considering their age, is on show. There are Chinese caricatures of British soldiers and a red lion rears on the ensign which flew from a piquet boat in the attack on Chusan in 1842. The regiment was one of those honoured by being allowed to carry the China dragon on its badge and it still features today, with the word "China" underneath, on the buttons and badges of the Border Regiment. The museum has a good collection of belt plates and cap badges bearing the dragon. There is an interesting Chinese map, epaulettes and medals of the First China War. A banner seized by the 55th now in Kendal Church is the subject of a separate note. More modern memories of Hong Kong are housed in the museum of the Middlesex Regiment, in Bruce Castle, Tottenham, London. The museum was closed for re-organisation when I visited but I was kindly shown the relevant items in the collection. The role of this distinguished regiment in the 1941 battle for Hong Kong is well known. There are several weapons which were used in the battle. One machine gun was buried to prevent its capture by the Japanese and it was recovered after the Allied victory. A Japanese machine gun is also held. There is a framed menu card which was used on the regiment's Albuhera Day, 10th May 1943, in a Hong Kong prison-of-war camp. Sketched on the front is a guard tower and those present have signed their names. A Japanese flag bears the Rising Sun. Other reminders of POW life are the 1st Battalion's bugle which was used in Hong Kong, and later in Japanese prison camps and a small wireless set which was used secretly in the prison-of-war camp here. For refusing to divulge its whereabouts Colonel L.A. Newnham was tortured and executed. He was posthumously awarded the George Cross. The museum also has a small flat fan with a pagoda painted on it which belonged to Captain Kyodo Shigeru of the Lisbon Maru. A poignant reminder of the incident is a sketch which shows the stern of the ship already under water and the decks crowded with desperate men. The drawing was kept for over two years concealed in a bamboo stick by Major C.M.M. Man, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1983 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v 200 MC, while he was a prisoner of war in Japan. Captain Shigeru was later tried and executed for war crimes. Not connected with the last war is a mirror on which are painted the colours and battle honours of the regiment and which is set in a carved wooden frame. This mirror was originally the property of the Sergeants' Mess of the third battalion and it was used in the ante room of the mess from 1906 when the battalion served in Hong Kong, Tientsin and Peking, up until its disbandment in 1922. There is, finally, a waist-high Chinese vase decorated with blossoms and birds about which little is known. My final stop was at the excellent museum of the Royal Engineers, at Chatham, where there are many interesting China-related items. A whole case contains objects relating to General Charles 'Chinese' Gordon, who was an RE officer. Gorgeous embroidered robes feature dragons, there is a white silk jacket, panels and hangings, a Mandarin's hat with a long pigtail seemingly attached, a silver cup and other items. A name that crops up in the early history of Hong Kong is John Ouchterlony; he wrote a book "The Chinese War" which was published in 1844. The RE museum has his epaulettes, those of the Madras Engineers, on display. There is also an executioner's strangling cord, bullets, a fung shui compass, a series of gods from the Summer Palace, a Chinese crossbow, knives and swords. Probably most of these items date from the time of the Second China War, in 1860. Anyone who can visit Chatham should note that the Royal Engineers library has a large store of information just waiting to be mined. The Engineers left their mark throughout Hong Kong and their projects are well documented and recorded in the reports, journals and other papers held in the library. I am sure that in each of the establishments mentioned there are other items which I missed; most visits were in and out affairs with a pregnant wife waiting patiently in the car and a not-so-patient two-year-old keeping her company. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1983 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v 201 There were two museums which I intended to visit but as my daughter's birth day approached the time available for such luxuries declined. I wrote to the Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment museum, at Lichfield, Staffordshire, and received a very helpful reply. The 98th Regiment, later the 2nd North Staffords, served in the First China War and in Hong Kong. On display at the museum are a "soldier's watercolour" in the uniform of the period c1840-50. "This also shows a sentry box and the Colours and seems intended to indicate a coastal location. The 'China Dragon' is on the colour and the painting could well relate to the Regiment's subsequent service in Hong Kong (1842-45)". There is an officers' Shako plate (1829-44), an officers' shoulder belt plate, an officers' sword belt clasp (1826-55) and "two buttons, a shoulder numeral and a few other relics of the period, subsequently dug up in Hong Kong". The other museum which I missed was that of the Royal Berkshire Museum, successors to the 49th Regiment, in Salisbury, Wiltshire. My experience in 1983 proved that visitors to England should make a point of calling in at virtually any regimental or army museum that they pass. What may be judged an unimportant relic against the span of centuries of regimental history may be viewed quite differently from a Hong Kong point of view. Not army, but equally interesting, is the National Railway Museum, in York, which might seem an unlikely place to search for souvenirs of China--but it houses what is probably the biggest one in Britain. There, sparkling and gleaming, is a mighty Chinese National Railways Class KF 4-8-4 locomotive. The 93-foot long behemoth was built in the mid-1930s at the Vulcan Foundry, Newton-le-Willows, to haul 600-ton trains over the mountainous central section of the Canton-Hankow Railway. After 43 years in service the locomotive was presented to the museum by China and it left Shanghai for England in 1981. The sheer size of this monster makes it stand out and it looked to me far and away the biggest in the extensive collection. The engine weighs in at 114.9 tons with a 77-ton tender. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1983 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v 203 And like a brave and gallant soul he pleaded for the honour, To carry in the coming fight the Regimental Colour. Into his willing hands they gave the sacred trust; That night the Colour still remained, but, he was as the dust. As Colour Serjeant Davison took the colour from the dead, Another well-aimed shot takes off the gilt spear-head. The first upon the hill was the gallant Lieutenant Butler, Who attacked, and took a Flag from a Chinese soldier; The Standard-bearer falls but we preserve the trophy, In Kendal Church it now hangs up, a record of our glory." The colours, which fluttered in Hong Kong when the regiment was stationed here after the hostilities are also in urgent need of conservation. Modern viewpoints have assessments of glory or otherwise which differ from those of the 1840s. But the banner in Kendal church is unique and it would be a tragedy if it were allowed to disintegrate. Lt. Colonel Ralph May, Curator of the Regimental Museum of the Border Regiment and Kings Own Royal Border Regiment, Queen Mary's Tower, The Castle, Carlisle, would be delighted to hear of any offers of help in preservation. Given the uniqueness of the banner and the circumstances of its seizure, is it too much to hope that the money to permit that preservation might be found in Hong Kong? NOTE 1 The action in which the 55th gained the Imperial banner, and in which Ensign Duell was killed is described also in The Border Magazine, September 1955, pp. 178-179, and in the Historical Account of the 34th and 55th Regiments (publ. in the 1870s) pp. 78-79 (information by courtesy of The Curator, The Regimental Museum of the Border Regiment and the Kings Own Border Regiment). Page 225 Page 226 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1984 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/5h73wh572 photographs with accompanying text will follow Hong Kong Going and Gone, published in 1980. Some Problems A number of problems have beset us during the year. First, the important matter of where we can hold our talks. After the GIS theatre was closed to all outside groups, we used the American Library premises in United Centre for a time. Well provided, and conveniently located for the subway, bus and taxi services, it was a disappointment to learn that the Library's own activities precluded its further use. We then turned to the Museum of History in Kowloon Park, whose excellent facilities partly outweigh the inconvenience for members accustomed to our long-standing practice of using the Hong Kong side of the harbour. We are very grateful to the Curator and his staff for their assistance. Second, we had to decide what to do with our Library after the Hong Kong Arts Centre advised constituent members (of which we are, or were, one) that it would be revising the basis of their participation in the organization. Thereby, it was clear that we would have to withdraw, and so lose the library accommodation. Our library, despite its size and content, has been little used over the years, and in the circumstances the Council authorized an enquiry via the Hong Kong Library Association for an appropriate home. In the event, the most suitable expression of interest came from the Urban Council Library Services. The Chief Librarian has now been authorized by the Urban Council to accept our library on long loan, under certain conditions, which include retaining its identity and making it available for reference and research in what will be Hong Kong's largest public library, the new Kowloon Central Library due to open in July 1985. Third, we have been faced with a falling membership and a diminished return from sale of publications. The phenomena are directly connected, as I shall show below. Fourth, in the longer term we have to consider very carefully the future of the Society in today's changing Hong Kong. I shall deal with both these considerations in the concluding sections of this address. xii ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1984 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/5h73wh572 屮 1. Wong Nai Chung Village. From a photograph taken about 1883 which appears in Henry Ching's Pow Mah published by the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club in 1965 and owned by the Club. 2. Chinese Fisherfolk by William Prinsep (1794-1874) Watercolour on paper. By permission of the Hong Kong Museum of Art. 141 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1984 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/5h73wh572 241 ing here and not give them trouble". According to the introduction in the Pang (see Appendix), as posted up at the main entrance, "the festival was held for the purpose of assisting the reincarnation of i) the soldiers who died during the world wars, ii) the ancestors of all surnames, and iii) the ghosts who were not worshipped by anyone. And it was hoped that through the mediation of the priests, the Three Buddhas and all the spirits would give their permission and open the door for them to cross-over and become human beings again. However, the worshippers, being more interested in self-prosperity, were more concerned about their own ancestors who are the only ones who can guarantee their prosperity. V. Conclusion; History of the Festival in Kobe 34 According to an appeal to the Hyogo Government in 1873, the Ningpo merchants were the first to hold a Ghost Festival for the Chinese in Kobe. Mr. Chan (70 years old, Cantonese, born and educated in Kobe, now vice-president of the History Museum of the Kobe Chinese) told me that before the Second World War, the festival was organized by the Cantonese who then out-numbered the Hokkienese. The Cantonese were wealthier and 'had more knowledge'. Mr. Chan continued to tell me that during that time the Hokkienese were relatively poor. They were mostly travelling merchants (f). They therefore had no stable residential place neither were they economically strong enough to be the organizers of the festival. Though there was a bachelor-centre for about 17 Hokkienese laborers in Nagoya about 30 years ago, there was no Hokkienese cluster in Kobe. Today, however all the three Chinese Ghost Festivals in Japan are organised by the Hokkienese". Mr. Chan's narration agrees with the information given by Li Ta-shen.36 The Hokkienese, now organisers of the Festival, had never been an influential group until the end of the Second World War. However, since then, until 1978, the Hokkienese were said to be the centre of the Kobe festival.37 Due to the anti-Chinese incident in Kobe in 1976, the Chinese started to pursue unification among all the different Chinese territorial groups, and to disregard their origins. In 1978, the Kobe Chinese News (US) was changed to the Kansai Chi- ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1984 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/5h73wh572 264 Notes and Queries TRADITIONAL TEA GROWING IN THE NEW TERRITORIES P.H. HASE, J.W. HAYES, K.C. Iu* Following the establishment of the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware interest was expressed in the indigenous tea growing and preparation customs in the New Territories. A visit was paid to one of the villages where traditional tea growing is still practised to ensure that a photographic record of the process was taken. A written record was also taken, which appears below as section 1 of this Note. Section 2 is a selection of notes on traditional tea growing elsewhere in the southern part of the New Territories, and section 3 is a note on the Mountain Begonia, which was also used to make tea, at least on Lantau. (1) Traditional Tea Growing in Mau Tso Ngam (PHH) Mau Tso Ngam Village is a Hakka village inhabited by members of the Cheng and Lau clans situated high up on the slopes of Kowloon Peak in the upper reaches of a stream that eventually reaches the sea at Siu Lek Yuen in Sha Tin. This village is one of the few left in the New Territories which still grows and prepares its own tea in the traditional way. This note briefly describes the tea preparation processes in use at Mau Tso Ngam as seen by the author on a visit to the village on 26th April 1986 and as described further to him by the Village Representative, Mr. Cheng Kau-hung.' Tea trees2 are planted here and there on the edge of the hills near the village: most families own a few trees, while others are owned by the Ancestral Trusts of the village. Tea from the trees owned by the Ancestral Trusts is used for offerings to the gods and spirits. There are no tea plantations as such, since each family keeps its trees scattered at traditional sites on the hills near its See Plates 33-41 Page 265 Page 285 Page 286 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1984 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/5h73wh572 274 P.H. HASE, J.W. HAYES AND K.C. IU around Lantau Peak. Because of its properties, it has traditionally been collected by local villagers to make "tea". Normally, the fresh or dried leaves are boiled in water, and sugar added if necessary. Apart from local consumption, the leaves are dried for sale in the herbalists' shops at Tai O. Over the years, the plant has been established as a local product of Lantau Island. Hawkers doing business in front of the Po Lin Monastery on Ngong Ping Plateau are also "cashing in" on the trade by bottling the drink for sale to visitors. Because of the thirst-quenching properties and good "cooling effect", the drinks are particularly welcomed by hikers. However, most of the dried leaves for sale there nowadays are in fact imported from Ting Wu and Lo Fu Mountains (#LI, #) in Guangdong Province. The price ranges from $5 to $12 per packet according to weight. The popularity of the drink seems to be declining in recent years, particularly among young people who prefer ready-made soft drinks. This change has in fact helped to conserve the declining population of this plant species on Lantau Peak. NOTES My (PHH) thanks to Mr. K.C. Ho, Assistant Curator, the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware for his assistance in preparing this Note, and to Mr. M. Cheung of the Visual Aids Section of the Hong Kong Museum of Art for taking the photographs. Tea trees used for the production of "Hill Tea" in Mau Tso Ngam and elsewhere in the New Territories are plants of Camellia sinensis in common with tea bushes used elsewhere in China in the commercial production of tea. See Plate 33. (Note by K.C. Iu). Plate 34. Plate 35. 5 Plate 36. 6 Plate 37. 7 Plate 38. & This method of preparing green tea is similar to that used in many other parts of China, and involves three steps, viz (a) pan firing, (b) rolling, and (c) roasting. The main purpose of pan firing is to inactivate the enzymes inside the tea leaves (these enzymes must remain active if fermented, rather than green tea, is being made). Rolling releases the tea juices which are considered to be the essence of the tea. The constituents of the juices will stick to the surface of the tea leaves after the final roasting process. Roasting aims to stabilise the process, by baking the leaves to dryness to facilitate storage (Note by K.C. Ho). ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1985 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gt54s866x himself (by the President). This is a most interesting book which I commend to members who have not purchased a copy. I would remind them that it is still available to members at a 25% reduction in block orders through the Society. I am also glad to report that the talks given on Radio Hong Kong in 1984 by eight members of the Society on important buildings in Hong Kong, under the title "Heritage Houses”, are now in course of publication by Government Information Service with the editorial assistance of Mr. David Skinner: in short, another joint venture. Photographic Survey Mr. Philip Bruce reported that he has completed photographing and cataloguing the Wanchai area. He is ready to move on to another district. Venues for Lectures during the Year During the year we have continued to use the Museum of History in Kowloon Park whose excellent lecture hall facilities have been made available to us through the courtesy of the Curator. We have been grateful to him and his staff for assistance on these occasions. However, despite the availability of the mass transit railway whose Tsimshatsui station is located outside Kowloon Park and only 5 minutes from the museum, we know that many members prefer the Hong Kong side. We have therefore looked for suitable venues there but with little success so far. We are continuing the search. One of the difficulties lies in the fact that it is not always possible to make bookings well in advance and find lecturers whose schedules meet the chosen dates. A New Home for the Library As stated in last year's report, a new home had to be found for our library after the Hong Kong Art Centre advised its constituent members, of whom we were one, that it would be revising the basis of their participation in the organization. This meant that X ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1985 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gt54s866x Treasurer's concurrence. In this connection I wish to report that our former Assistant Secretary, Mrs. Anne Porter, after a year in post has returned to New Zealand for further study. She has been succeeded by Mrs. Rukhshana Daroowala who has quickly got to grips with our problems and is helping us to improve our situation daily. The Nixon Scroll and the MacMullen Bills of Lading These important items, which have been already in safe deposit since presentation many years ago, have now been presented to the Fung Ping Shan Museum and the University of Hong Kong Libraries respectively, and are now held by these institutions, following a council decision in the matter to place them where they would be useful. Sale of Publications I have mentioned the need to sell as well as to produce publications. In this regard, I am glad to report that Dr. David Faure has produced a revised list of our publications, copies of which are available to-night. This list is being despatched to overseas members, and to universities and similar institutions with a known interest in Chinese and Far Eastern studies throughout the world, in an endeavour to improve sales, and increase our income. Increased Membership Last year I reported that membership was down. 12 months ago there were 475 members compared with 543 the year before. I am happy to report that, as a result of increased publicity and a membership drive by councillors, the number of members now stands at 530. This comprises 4 Honorary Members, 99 Local Life Members, 297 Local Ordinary Members and 130 Overseas Life and Ordinary Members. The present number of local Ordinary Members is 297 compared with 263 last year and 311 in 1983. We have every reason to think that this increase will continue. There is clearly an interest in our programmes, and it is only xii ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1985 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gt54s866x Necessary to bring our Society and its activities to public attention. To this end, we have been assisted by media interest. We have to thank the South China Morning Post for an article on the Society which appeared in the Sunday Post Herald in November, 1985, just before our 25th anniversary celebration. There have also been a number of radio interviews on Commercial Radio and RTHK by our Hon. Secretary, Robyn McLean, our Council member, Elizabeth Sinn, and myself, as well as notices placed in the TV and Entertainment Times. Tours We have always been aware that members of the Society have been interested in overseas tours. Experience has shown that these are best arranged for the Society by a member of Council, but because they are busy people this is not always possible. Towards the end of last year we arranged for a questionnaire to be distributed to members on this subject. Some 45 affirmative replies were received indicating a continued strong interest in this area of activity. The matter was debated in the Council where there was divided opinion. Some members considered that we should not arrange tours through a commercial operator because expressed dissatisfaction, with or without reason, with the tour could affect the Society adversely; whilst others felt that this possibility was remote and outweighed by the service rendered to members. The Council voted to carry out one tour this year on a trial basis, and one will probably be organized for September. I wish to thank all members who responded to the questionnaire, and am sorry we have not yet made a written response to keep them informed. Recently another opportunity has presented itself, this time for a Guangdong tour under the auspices of the curator of the Fat Shan Museum. A 2-day guided tour is suggested. If successful, it is hoped that this will be the first of several of the kind. In this connection, the Council is grateful to Dr. David Faure for his initiatives and arrangements. Dr. Anthony Siu is also arranging a visit to Nam Tau (Shenzhen) soon. The Hong Kong Museum of History xiii ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1985 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gt54s866x During the year, in two exchanges of letters with the Chairman of the Urban Council, I expressed our Council's concern about the unexpected halt to the proposed joint Museum of Science and History at Tsimshatsui East which was to have been built with the aid of a large Jockey Club donation. I also stated the Council's hope for a more modest permanent museum in lieu with, in the meantime, the preparation of a standing exhibition on Hong Kong history, something which has been lacking in the present museum in Kowloon Park since 1980 although present in its earlier premises at Star House. Appreciative replies were received together with the assurance that a modest extension to the existing premises has been approved pending the construction of the permanent Museum of History, and that the museum staff are preparing an outline thematic scheme for a permanent Hong Kong exhibition. Conclusion I am thankful that, after two quite difficult years the Society's affairs now seem to be set again on an upward path. I feel confident that, commensurate with the reduced time now available to working council members an improved administrative base and the services of a capable and interested assistant secretary, will enable the Council to operate to the best advantage of the Society. We shall ensure that our promotion and publicity are sustained and that as has ever been the case - our programmes and supporting publication programme remain of interest and of good quality. However, it has not been possible to hold the seminar on our future organization which I mentioned in my last year's address. It has not only been the matter of finding time to organize this presentation and to secure qualified speakers. It seemed to me to be necessary, in the first instance, to place our affairs on a firmer footing, so that the confidence which this creates can be reflected in our deliberations on this important subject. I now hope that we can address this subject during the coming year. Finally, I wish to thank members of Council for their support and their interest throughout the year. In these difficult times I xiv Page 15 Page 16 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1985 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gt54s866x 126 JOHN KARL EVANS above all food and drink.29 These were placed in the tomb at the time of burial, but this act alone was insufficient. Periodic sacrifices were also required, in the absence of which the dead would be tortured by hunger and thirst. Thus the plea, on a gravestone near Syrian Antioch, that the passer-by "tearfully propitiate me with libations on the tomb and garlands of flowers in season” (SEG 7.69), or the request on the Roman inscription cited above (CIL 6.2357 Buecheler, Carm. Epigr. 838 = ILS 8204) for wine to be poured into the tomb.30 This was effected by libation pipes, which are frequently found in tandem with cremation urns, such as that on display in Wales at Caerleon; and with sarcophagi, of which there is an excellent example at the Colchester and Essex Museum, again in the United Kingdom.31 When they could afford it, the Romans even equipped their tombs with a mortuary kitchen (the culina), and with a dining-room (triclinium) and gardens (horti),32 32 When the sacrifices were carried out in a timely manner, the di manes were uniformly beneficent. Neglect of the sacrifices, however, would cause the tortured spirits to issue forth from their graves and inflict reprisals upon the living as savage as those attested among the LoDagaa in present-day Africa, or the Nāyars in India.33 Typically, punishment was limited to the individuals who had failed to comply with their obligations,34 but the Augustan poet Ovid tells us that, on one occasion, the people at large neglected the parentalia, the one ancestral rite mandated by the state, with the following results: This did not go unpunished, for it is said that from that ominous Day Rome glowed with the funeral fires without the city. Indeed they say, although I can scarcely credit it, that the Ancestors went forth from the tombs to wail in the hours of Darkest night, and hideous ghosts, they say, a spectral throng, Howled throughout the city streets and the wide fields. Afterwards, the honours which had been neglected were again paid To the tombs, and a limit was set to prodigies and funerals. (Fasti 2.549-556) ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1985 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gt54s866x 218 Dear Mr. Gardner, The Council of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society was asked, earlier this year, by a well-known Hong Kong resident, Mr. F. A. Nixon O.B.E., to assist him to establish the authenticity of two manuscript fragments in his possession which may have come originally from Tunhuang. Mr. Nixon's account of how he obtained these two fragments is as follows:- In the early 1930's Mr. Nixon was Postal Commissioner at Peking, and had under him a Chinese clerk, a Mr. S. T. Han, whom he was helping to learn English. In return Han used to look out for any objects of interest which he could acquire for Mr. Nixon. At this time Mr. Nixon was making a collection of Nestorian Crosses which are now in the Museum of Chinese Art at the University of Hong Kong. (See Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 2 1962, article by Professor F. S. Drake). In 1932 S. T. Han had been sent to Sian on duty and had acquired two manuscript fragments as explained in the following letter which he wrote to Mr. Nixon on his return to Tientsin. Mr. Nixon was Postal Commissioner in Tsinan, Shantung, from 1932 December to 1934 December. Copy Tientsin, 14th April, 1933 Dear Mr. Nixon, I was in receipt of your letter. The book and the magazine are being returned herewith with thanks. All the statements in the book are based upon facts and with proofs, so we have not the least doubt in accepting them. With reference to the Tun-Hwang "Gloria in Excelsis Deo" in page 52, I am very glad to inform you that I have two rolls of ... I i ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1985 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gt54s866x 220 acter as part of the Maha-pradjina-paramita-sutra. Subsequently, on Professor Drake's advice, Mr. Nixon had his two fragments mounted on scrolls in order to protect them. In April 1963 the Council of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society asked Mr. Ma Meng, Principal of the Language School in the Institute of Oriental Studies at the University of Hong Kong, Mr. H. D. Talbot, Lecturer in the Department of Geography of this University and myself to advise Mr. Nixon on the best way to ensure the safety of his two fragments for the future. We asked the advice of Professor F. S. Drake, Professor of Chinese in this University, and together with him, and a member of his staff, Mr. Lo Hsiang-lin, we examined the two fragments. These are: a) One manuscript approx. 17¾" × 9" written in Chinese characters. This is a fragment of the Maha-pradjina-paramita-sutra. According to Mr. Lo Hsiang-lin, who has had some experience in these matters, the calligraphy, colour of ink, texture of paper etc. of this MS. give it the look of a genuine T'ang dynasty manuscripts. b) This consists of one section of 9″ × 11½" followed by two sections of 18½″ × 11½″ followed by one section of 9¾" × 11½". The writing is Tibetan. It is on the same quality of paper as the fragment in Chinese. Mr. Nixon, although still quite active, is now in his eighty-sixth year, and he is anxious that these fragments should be examined by experts and that, if they are found to be genuine, arrangements should eventually be made for their permanent safekeeping where they can be consulted by scholars. We have advised Mr. Nixon that these conditions cannot be fulfilled in Hong Kong and that the British Museum is the right and proper place to give an opinion on his fragments and to advise on their eventual safekeeping. We have promised Mr. Nixon that we will write to you on his behalf. May we therefore ask if you would be willing to receive these two fragments for examination and let Mr. Nixon have your opinion? ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1985 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gt54s866x 221 ion on them. If you agree to receive them can you please suggest the safest way for the Society to send them to you. Meanwhile the two fragments have been photographed in the Museum of Chinese Art at the University and one positive copy (enlarged to the size of the original) has been made of each section of the Tibetan text and of the one section of the Chinese text and these photographs have been given to Mr. Nixon. The negatives remain in the possession of the Department of Chinese at the University. Yours sincerely, sgd.) J. L. Cranmer-Byng Senior Lecturer in History, University of Hong Kong Hon. Editor, Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society cc: Mr. F. A. Nixon, O.B.E. Hong Kong Club Hong Kong (2) J. L. Cranmer-Byng, Esq., Department of History, University of Hong Kong, HONG KONG. Department of Oriental Printed Books & MSS., British Museum, LONDON, W.C.1. 26th July 1963 Page 240 Page 241 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1986 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063 20 December, 1986: Mai Po and Lau Fau Shan Dr. Richard 14 March, 1987: Irving Shing Mun Arboretum and Tai Po Kau Forest Reserve James Hayes Besides the local visits, there were two weekend tours to the city of Foshan in Guangdong organized and conducted by Dr. David Faure of our Council. The May 1986 visit was so popular that it was repeated in December. Arrangements were also made during the year for members to participate in a Bhutan tour for early 1987 arranged by Mrs. Peggy Craig, one of our members and a well-known travel specialist. The Council noted the high quality of the programmes and wishes to express its deep appreciation to the lecturers, visit and tour leaders. Special thanks go to Elizabeth Sinn, Chairman of the Programme Sub-committee, and her helpers for such a satisfactory outcome. The Council also wishes to thank the Curator, Hong Kong Museum of History, Kowloon Park, for the regular use of its well-equipped lecture hall, and the assistance of his staff there. The Council continue to discuss venues for lectures. Mindful of the fact that not everyone finds it easy or, dare I say natural to go to lectures at the Museum of History at Kowloon Park, Tsimshatsui, we try to find venues on Hong Kong Island. Some suitable places have been suggested, but in most cases require more advance booking than we are usually able to contrive. However, we will try to improve on the position. Administration During the year, we benefitted from the conscientious, thoughtful and strong support given by our new Assistant Secretary, Mrs. Rukhshana Daroowala who worked closely with the Hon. Secretary, Mrs. Robyn McLean. It was therefore a double blow when, unexpectedly, Mrs. Daroowala had to leave Hong Kong early in 1987 when her banker husband was posted to Canada, and at more or less the same time Robyn McLean left Hong Kong to return to Australia after fourteen years' residence, the last six of ix ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1986 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063 96 CHAN WING HOI Although the number of persons who walked in the procession was impressive, for it was probably more than 300 at many points, many were in the main on-lookers. This was especially obvious in what I overheard when the procession reached Tai Long Wan. A middle-aged woman made the following comment to her companion: “Come along to the walk and have a good time together.” A young woman asked another, probably her newly married-in sister-in-law, if she had seen the piu-sik before. Someone else made the observation, "There are so many things to see.” Once back at the main ritual area, the Chiu Chau ceremonial music group started a more elaborate performance, with two girls in colourful costume walking their stylized steps carrying fancy baskets on poles. The performance, I learned later from a Chiu Chau friend, was called Chiu Chau fa-laam (flower baskets) and was typical of Chiu Chau celebrations. Because of the heavy rain in the morning, the head priest proposed to change the time for posting the participants' names from the time chosen to some time in the afternoon, which, the priest stressed, was the time when the rite took place in the previous celebration. One of the local leaders suggested, without insisting, that maybe the gods wanted the rite to take place at the time chosen, but the priest's opinion prevailed. Two Shek O men whose achievements indicated their lives had been endowed with good fortune acted as laam-bong (recipients of the name list that was said to be granted by Heaven). The ritual for name posting took place between six and seven o'clock in the evening and was followed by two other rites Ying-shing (receiving the gods) and Siu-yau (small offering to the ghosts). I was absent during these rites but learned later from Mr. Leung, a photographer from the Hong Kong Museum of History, that the name posting took place in the rain and there were not many people watching. There were more people reading the document the next morning. Even then, Mr. Leung observed, there were not as many people reading as in the case of the jiu festival of Kam Tin which took place in the previous year in the New Territories. When I arrived at the ritual site on the last day of the festival at around 3:00 p.m., one of the main rites was already in progress. I ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1987 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522 70 32 For further details and comments about the establishment and failure of the 1881-1883 Normal School, see CO129/197, p. 326f. In this file, Colonial Office minutes are critical of Hennessy's extravagance, note that "the scheme is evidently Dr. Eitel's with Governor Hennessy's fiat" and other correspondence (e.g., Eitel first report on the Normal School, in Eitel to M.S. Tonnochy, Acting Colonial Secretary, 19th January, 1882, and his second report enclosed in his letter to Tonnochy of 19th January, 1882) shows that Eitel, the Inspector of Schools, felt that there would be very unfortunate repercussions if the school were to be closed and that the headmaster, A.J. May was even prepared to take a salary reduction (from the original proposal of $2,400 a year to $1,600) rather than see the Normal School break up. In later reports (contained in CO129/202 p. 532f.), Eitel compared the Normal School, with its "special private tuition and instruction" in pedagogy, to the pupil-teacher scheme at the Central School to the disadvantage of the latter, and May, in his letter to Frederick Stewart of 19th July, 1883, mentioned the virtues of being able to utilize simulation techniques for the preparation of teachers at the Normal School. The actual end of the Normal School, which had been dismissed as unnecessary in the Education Commission Report of September 1882, was precipitated by A.J. May's insistence, in September 1883, that the students agreed to a bond to teach for five years at a salary rate of $25 per month on their completion of the course. The immediate result was that four of the ten students left for the Medical College at Tientsin, three joined commercial firms, and one became a government interpreter, leaving only two of the original intake, as mentioned above, to become teachers. 33 In Singapore, a central training college for men teachers using English as the medium of instruction was proposed in 1904 and again in 1910, but the scheme was aborted because of the lack of applications. In Kuala Lumpur, an experimental teacher training course began in 1905, proved successful, and was followed by a two-year course in Penang in 1907. See Wong Hoy Kee, Francis, and Gwee Yee Hean, Perspectives: The Development of Education in Malaysia and Singapore (Kuala Lumpur: Heinemann Educational Books (Asia) Ltd., 1972), pp. 12-14. 34 What is certain is that his name does not appear in the Blue Book as one of the Pupil Teachers at the Central School at any time between 1880 and 1885. As noted above, Mok Man Cheung won the Class 1 Mathematics prize in January 1884. He was employed as "Fourth Chinese Assistant" at the Central School from September 1884. He did not, therefore, have the time to be enrolled in a pupil teacher's course, which customarily lasted for three years, but he might have taken an examination in "Pupil-Teacher's Theory" while studying in Class 1. 35 The dispute over the opening hours at the City Hall Museum had come to a head in 1880 when the Executive Committee of the City Hall Museum, led by its chairman, William Keswick, attempted to restrict the entry of Chinese to the afternoons. They were opposed by the first Chinese member of the Legislative Council, Ng Choy, and by the Governor, Sir John Pope Hennessy. See CO129/189 p. 476-614 for correspondence, largely unsympathetic to the Committee's discriminatory proposal and including an extract from the Hong Kong Hansard for 1880 reporting a speech by Ng Choy, and CO129/192 p. 438-446 for correspondence which includes Keswick's opinion that racial distinctions should not be abolished with regard to admission to the Museum of the City Hall. The call for separate schools for the different races had been made on a number of occasions in the past, most notably in 1845, 1856, and 1870-1872, but the most recent resurgence of interest and argument about the issue had been provoked by a speech made by the Anglican Bishop Hoare at the Prize Distribution of the Diocesan Boys' School in January ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1987 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522 104 North, South and Number 2 Military Cemeteries in Manila, Los Banos, as well as the Protestant Cemetery. As with so many cemeteries elsewhere in poor tropical countries, deterioration was rapid. Torrential rain washed away the soil around graves, grave stones were stolen to be recarved and used elsewhere and the cemetery became a playground for young and old. The Filipino “Chowkidar” (watchman) could do little to stem the decline. In July 1973, fourteen years earlier than due, the Cemetery was handed over by the British Consul C.L.F. Parker to the Ayala Corporation, the successors in title to Roxas, who donated P10,000 to help in the transfer of all remains to their new resting place. The grave stones said to be historically valuable were turned over to a 'British Association': their present whereabouts are a mystery. The site of the old cemetery was developed by the Ayala Corporation, the developers of the "new town" of Makati, Manila's business district, into a housing estate for its middle management staff and is now known as Barrio Olympia (Olympia Village). The few British graves in the Sual Cemetery, were at last report, being well tended by the local authorities. Sadly however, the Iloilo "English Cemetery”, (lots 158 and 674) in the very "heart of the city" was closed in October 1946 “for the purposes of health and sanitation and as part of the programme of beautifying the City of Iloilo”, but the British Protestant remains lie peacefully in Southern Manila. Author's acknowledgement: I am indebted to several people for assistance in these brief and I am sure, not fully comprehensive notes; in particular, Father Gabriel Casal and Carlos Quirino of the Ayala Museum, Dr. Serafin Quiason of the Philippines National Library and Peter Karmy of the British Embassy in Manila. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1987 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522 tually the day will come when somebody else will have to do the project all over again, and take in everything from 1945 onwards. This is also true. Then, of course, we were working on a small budget. It was not possible to employ somebody to do the photo-copying and make rubbings and I did not know how to do them, my photography was not good enough, and so on. Eventually, there was a compromise, because after we had got the whole collection done the Museum of History became interested in publishing the lot and holding an exhibition. They got some people to help them make rubbings, and I made suggestions as to which were the ones to be selected on grounds of calligraphy and art as well as history. The main drawback of hand-copying is, of course, that errors creep in rather easily. We had to proof-read the whole lot, but even then we still had a lot of errors. Once you have rubbings, the errors are obvious. So the more rubbings you make, the more work you make for yourselves. At the moment I've got the nasty task of going through all our inscriptions again, piece by piece, to make sure that I can correct as many errors as possible. As you can see, the project took me into the villages. Walking around the villages is a very instructive experience. Here, I suppose I should say something about the state of sinological research at the time (the 1970's). What we are learning from the New Territories has a lot to do with the sinological background as well as my own narrower interests. You see, if you talk with villagers and you ask to be directed to temples and ancestral halls, and you ask about the history of these buildings (or what they thought was the history of these buildings), and you go into village festivals, it doesn't take very long to realise that we social historians of China do not know very much about rural Chinese society. Historians working with historical documents incorporate an elitist bias into their writings, whilst field researchers (which in Sinology usually means the anthropologists) lack sufficient historical perspective. There are exceptions, but they are rather rare. Moreover, in the post-war period, specialists in Chinese social Page 285 Page 286 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1987 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522 264 In the course of interviewing systemically within the district and going to all the festivals, and also doing what we call 'spot interviews', we began to discover that villagers had in their possession a lot of books. Our first big find in this area was a box in the house of a Taoist priest who kindly and generously allowed us to photocopy all the books in it. These were handwritten, and some of them were not even used in his time. We also found quite a few in Shatin, and then all sorts of other things turned up. At the moment, what we call the "Historical Literature of the New Territories" runs into 30,000 photocopied sheets, and more material is coming in all the time. Photocopies of these papers have been made for various libraries, here and abroad, in view of their historical importance. I should also mention a project on collecting folk songs in the New Territories, which is being sponsored by the Hong Kong Museum of History. In hindsight, the organisation we had was rather too simple. Working in the way we did, we in fact needed a much greater amount of institutional support than we actually had. The problem is, you need a certain amount of continuity. You see, strangely enough, money is not the biggest issue. Continuity is needed to build up and sustain your contacts. People also need a place to work in, which we never really had. It has got to the stage where if somebody really wants to go on working along these lines, collecting interview materials and documents, he has to give up all his writing, which is quite impossible. On the other hand, the price you pay for writing without continuing to collect is that a lot of the material will be lost. Old people will simply not be around for so long, and the books will be thrown away before they are collected. Unfortunately, so far no institution has come forward to support a project of this sort. The people who are involved are working in their personal capacities and doing whatever they can. But because we have not got a better organisation, more will be lost than need be the case. Patrick Hase Well I'll also start by saying how I started in this field. Like other people now keenly interested in village life in Hong Kong, I was not initially interested in the subject. Then I became District ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1987 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522 277 embark on more self-management in preparation for 1997, is that the people of Guangdong (if our New Territories are anything to go by) are absolutely 100% suited to this by reason of their capacity for it, demonstrated for centuries in the villages here and across the way. We are on to a good thing, I would think! — JH In drawing these proceedings to a close, perhaps I should add that this work does spill over into the urban area. Elizabeth [Sinn] and Patrick have been able to galvanize — that is probably the right word — the Tung Wah Hospital to do something about its records. The Po Leung Kuk is also now doing something to preserve its records. Indeed, today the SCMP has a very interesting photograph of the new lady chairman of the Kuk, Mrs. Lee, looking over her records. I should not forget to mention the work of the Hong Kong Museum of History which, David has said, is going to have an exhibition of historical inscriptions and is going to publish them too. They were going to do it last year, but realised that if they do it badly, all the scholars of Hong Kong will jump on them, particularly the elderly experienced Chinese scholars, and so they are being very cautious and rightly so. The exhibition will be held this year and perhaps even next, but no matter. They do give us a great deal of support, and we are very fortunate in this. Also, I don't think we should hit the Universities too hard, because one can't expect everyone to be interested in local history. The important thing is that they get to know what we are doing and give us support, and that the institutions themselves become more broad-minded about what may be local history but in fact has a much wider contest and larger implications than the term "local history" would suggest. That's what we want from the Universities. Revd Carl Smith But the University of Hong Kong has just cancelled its proposed lectureship in Hong Kong Studies. This, I believe, indicates how much it really cares for ‘local history'. JH — Yes, so I hear, and it is regrettable and short-sighted if true. Finally, ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for coming to us tonight. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1987 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522 278 NOTES AND QUERIES TAM KUNG: HIS LEGEND AND WORSHIP Occasionally, one hears of the deity Tam Kung #2 as having originated in Kowloon. That mistake arises from confusing Kowloon (Chiu-lung 九龍) with Chiu-lung shan in Lin Kuei-shan 歸 county. Tam Kung, named Tao, was a native of Kuei-shan (present Hui-tung) in the Yuan Dynasty. He cultivated his moral conduct at Chiu-lung shan. He was often seen in the mountains with a tiger carrying his things. He cured the sick when they approached him. He died and was revered as a deity. When drought came, people went to him to ask for rain, and often they were satisfied. In the 6th year of Hsien-feng (1856), he was granted the title ‘Hsiang-chi 祥濟’ (“Assistance and Aid”) by the emperor. In Hui-chou, two temples were erected to offer sacrifice to Tam Kung; one on Chiu-lung shan in Kuei-shan and the other in Hui-chou City. A pavilion was built at the place where he cultivated his moral conduct. On my visit to the Chiu-lung shan in 1986, I saw both the temple, the Lung-feng tsu-miao 龍峰祖廟, and the pavilion, the T'an-kung te-tao-t'ing 譚公德道亭. A stone tablet now kept in the Hui-tung county museum, given the title, "The repair of the T'an-kung Temple of Chiu-lung shan" dated 4th year of Tao-kuang (1824), records that the original temple was built thousands of years ago, was repaired in the 40th year of Ch'ien-lung (1775), and then rebuilt and enlarged in the 4th year of Tao-Kuang (1824). The pavilion that I saw was rebuilt quite recently. In Hong Kong, there are two Tam Kung temples. They were built in the late Ch'ing by people from Hui-chou. The Tam Kung Temple at Wongneichung was built in 1901. It was originally built on the hill slope near the present Hong Kong Sanatorium. A bell ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1987 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522 302 Mind Landscapes enables C. C. Wang to describe the challenges he faced to see paintings in a land without public museums; "There were no good museums in China at that time and you couldn't see the work of a contemporary painter in a museum or gallery. But since they had to be mounted or remounted, they could be seen in a mounter's shop. Suzhou was famous for its mounters. They would paste the paintings to be mounted on the walls of their shops, and if you walked around every few days, you could always see new paintings.” (p. 15). Mr. Wang also talks about his teachers and how he was able to view various private collections: "For me, as well as for painter-scholars of the past, friendships with other painters and collectors were extremely significant. Each new meeting meant a new collection to see. In those days private collectors were never publicly displayed. To see a particular painting you had to know the owner.” (p. 17). When the great Chinese Imperial Collection was being prepared for the London Exhibition at Burlington House in 1936, C. C. Wang was a consultant and had a chance to study all those great paintings another significant step in his development into a connoisseur-collector-painter. Collecting as well as creating paintings soon became young Mr. Wang's principal preoccupation. However, he supported his collecting and his family by some real estate ventures because he was not able to make enough money through the sale of his paintings. The story of C. C. Wang's journey to the West (New York) and attending classes at the Art Students League, his explorations of modern Western art and his artistic evolution is marvelously told through well written prose of Jerome Silbergeld, Professor of Art History at the University of Washington in Seattle. Professor Silbergeld comes to his subject with a deep knowledge and background in classical Chinese painting and provides a sinological, art historical perspective of C. C. Wang's work. But the author does not avoid his role as contemporary critic, analyzing the relationship of the artist and modern art. When C. C. Wang's breakthrough to his mature style comes in 1971-2, the author allows the events to unfold like high drama. Moreover, throughout the text, the artist is permitted to state his own views on the elements of his art such as line, color, composition, dots, texture, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1987 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522 303 cultivation of controlled accidents, synthesis of East and West: "Chinese brushwork is really individual, like Western color. Good brushwork is so beautiful. It can make you look at it many times... It's just like with voice when I hear one song, if the voice is good I want to hear another song. It's the same voice, but each time it's a little bit different: that attracts me so much. . . .” (p. 42). Other notable scholars and critics who have written about artist-collector-connoisseur Wang have also been allowed to speak with their own voices, which gives the story a clarity and authenticity rarely achieved in a scholarly book. Moreover, the book is lavishly illustrated not only with Mr. Wang's works of all periods but also with the paintings that were most influential in building his style. In addition, Professor Silbergeld recounts the long history of C. C. Wang as collector, and how he has been a central figure in influencing the growth of major collections of Chinese art in the West, notably that of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, through the sale of his own collections. Mind Landscapes has been laid out with great beauty and intelligence. It would have been impossible to produce such an outstanding volume without financial support. This was provided through grants from the Henry Art Gallery Association, PONCHO, the University of Washington Press, and the J. Paul Getty Trust. Yet it is rare to have such a thoughtful and handsome product even if one has the resources. Kudos are also due to the designer, Douglas Wadden. The publication of Mind Landscapes coincides with a major retrospective of C. C. Wang's work and serves as a catalogue to it. This book is a fitting climax to Mr. Wang's career and sets a standard of excellence in its field. Let us hope that young scholars in Asia and the West will take note. JOAN LEBOLD COHEN* * Joan Lebold Cohen, art historian and photographer, is a lecturer at Tufts University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Her most recent books discuss various aspects of contemporary Chinese painting: The New Chinese Painting, 1949-1986 (1987) and Yunnan School, a Renaissance in Chinese Painting (1988). ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1988 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q 27 May 9 30 June 10-13 27 July 11 August 1 October 1 17 November 1 26 December 1 10 January 6 21 February 24 25 March 4 10 17 "Women in China" (lecture: Dr. Maria Jaschok) Cocktail Party for New Members "Britain and Vietnam, 1948-1955" (lecture: Prof. Mary Turnbull) Visit to Foshan (organiser: Dr. Michael Lau) "Fortune & Safe Passage: Chinese Paper Folk Art (Kam Fa)" (lecture: Dr. Janet Lee Scott) 1 "Ancestors" (lecture: Mr. Frank Ching) "Pirates in the Pearl River Delta" (lecture: Prof. Dian Murray) Visit to Fung Ping Shan Museum, Hong Kong University (organiser: Dr. Michael Lau) **Introduction to Chinese Musical Instruments" (lecture: Prof. Tong Kin-woon) Chinese Dinner for Members Tour of Central Police Station and Royal Hong Kong Police Museum (organiser: Mr. Geoffrey Roper) "Jade Carving" and "Chinese Costume" (joint lecture: Mrs. Sydney Fung and Mrs. Valery Garrett) Walk around Western District (organiser: Dr. James Hayes and others) "Influenza: the Asian Connection" (lecture: Prof. K. F. Shortridge) Introduction to New Territories Villages (tour: organiser Dr. Patrick Hase) **Shanghai Entrepreneurs in Hong Kong" (lecture: Prof. Wong Siu-lun) Tour of Kowloon Walled City (organiser: Dr. James Hayes) Tour of Country Parks (organisers: Dr. James Hayes and Mr. K. C. Iu) "The Tale of the Norma Bell" (lecture: Mr. John Chetwynd-Chatwin) Annual General Meeting and Dinner We are grateful to all speakers and organisers, and following last year's innovation have continued the practice of inviting them to attend the Annual Dinner as guests of the Society. It is gratifying to report that eleven of them have accepted our invitation this year. In addition, we vili ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1988 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q left vacant on a popular visit. Venues With a predominantly Hong Kong Island based membership, some of you have rightly said that it would be more convenient to have our lecture meetings in Hong Kong rather than in Kowloon. We have borne this point in mind, and through Dr. Patrick Hase, and by making joint presentations with the Urban Council, have been able to use the Extension Activities room on the 2nd Floor of the City Hall High Block for 7 of our talks this year. We are grateful to the Chief Librarian, Urban Council Libraries, for use of this amenity with its excellent location and facilities, and courteous and helpful staff, and look forward to continued programmes there. At the same time, we express our thanks and appreciation to the Chief Curator, Hong Kong Museum of History, for the continuing use of his well-equipped lecture hall in Kowloon Park from time to time. Without permanent premises of our own, we are doubly grateful. This closer connection with the Urban Council's Museum and Public Library Service has, I feel, been mutually beneficial. Publications The Journal is our main publication. It has been running behind, and I am glad to report the completion and issue of two numbers during the year, those for 1984 and 1986. The 1987 Journal is with the press. I wish to thank Dr. Patrick Hase and Dr. David Faure for editing them, and Dr. Faure again for his work on the 1987 number. Looking through these and past issues, one becomes strongly aware of the Journal's permanent contribution to Hong Kong Studies. It's almost as if anyone interested in the subject can't afford to be without a set! And indeed we have sold nearly 30 sets in the past year. With more attention being paid to Hong Kong Studies — especially in China, where I hear there are some 20-30 centres established for this purpose — the value of the material stored in the Journal has become apparent to many. No other academic publication has for so long concentrated on Hong Kong, and our contributors have surely aided its readers towards a better understanding of the place. To give but one example, Hong Kong's commercial development and interaction with China come vividly to life! ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1988 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q 34 THROUGH HISTORICAL RECORDS AND ANCIENT WRITINGS IN SEARCH OF THE GIANT PANDA* Père David's discovery WEI PER TI In 1869, the western world was regaled with the glad tidings that a heretofore unknown animal had been found in China. It was not exactly running to ground the legendary unicorn, but still joyful news indeed to the handful of scientists who had been anxious to locate concrete evidence of this elusive animal, reputed to be roaming the dense bamboo jungles in the mountains of southwestern China. L'Abbé Armand David, a French naturalist and missionary, known to his colleagues simply as Père David, was given the pelt of a large, predominantly white mammal by hunters of southwestern China who had called it a white bear, (baixiong). This pelt, "du fameux ours blanc et noir", was dispatched post-haste to Paris, where it was subsequently identified as that of a new species, ailuropoda melanoleusa, literally black and white panda foot. The animal was called the giant panda in English, to distinguish it from the smaller and reddish-coloured lesser panda, ailurus fulgens styani (Thomas). It was clear from Père David's diary that he himself had never seen a live panda, only the pelt of the animal Panda hunts The final decades of the nineteenth century and early years of the twentieth witnessed adventurers pressing into the wilds of Africa and Asia. American and European explorers were interested in hunting * Grateful thanks are due Joyce Wu Tong of the Sinological Institute of the University of Leiden who has made it possible for me to research this article while ensconced in the deserts of the Middle East. I would also like to thank Linda L. Reichert, Reference Librarian of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, for making available copies of the museum's journal of the 1930s through my good friend Anne Phipps Sidamon-Eristoff, Vice-President of the museum. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1988 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q 186 collection of books, and also a repository of natural and scientific productions. In the Library, every valuable book extant in Chinese, and every foreign publication regarding China and its inhabitants, should have its appropriate place...3 Meetings followed at monthly intervals at which addresses were given on various aspects of Chinese history and culture by members of the local foreign community. Membership increased gradually and soon included many individuals whose names are remembered today as important figures in nineteenth century Chinese affairs, including Sir Robert Hart, Dr. S. Wells Williams, W. H. Medhurst, and Alexander Wylie. On July 20, 1858, the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland approved their request for affiliation. That same year the Journal of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society began its ninety-year publication span.4 However, Rev. Bridgman's health soon failed and he passed away in Shanghai in 1861. The society lost its momentum and passed through what one writer described later as a "period of suspended animation". It regrouped in 1864 under the presidency of Sir Harry Parkes who was followed two years later by George F. Stewart, U. S. Consul General in Shanghai. From the beginning the society accepted donations of books and journals, which were dutifully listed in the annual reports, but the lack of permanent facilities prevented the establishment of a formal library. At first, the society used the meeting rooms of the Shanghai Library which was housed in the Masonic Hall on Ningpo Road. From there it moved to the new Masonic Building (1869) and then the Commercial Bank Building on Nanking Road (1870), before finding a permanent home on Museum Road the next year.5 Alexander Wylie, the noted sinologist and supervisor of the London Missionary Society's printing office in Shanghai, amassed a personal collection of both Chinese language books and books in Western languages concerning China which he urged the Royal Asiatic Society to purchase, as he was returning to England for home leave. After much deliberation, a public appeal, and a generous donation from the Shanghai 17 Page 210 Page 211 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1988 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q 192 reports; and even the reports of such associations as the Red Cross and the Paper Hunt Club of Shanghai. There were printed catalogues of pertinent collections in such foreign libraries as the Newberry and John Crerar Libraries of Chicago, the Morrison Library of Hong Kong, the Bibliothek zu Berlin, the universities of Leiden and Upsala, and the Raffles Museum of Singapore. In spite of all this bibliographic wealth, the librarian maintained the Society's tradition of complaining about what was not there: It still suffers from forgetfulness, ― not the willing neglect of authors. Refusals to requests for books are rare, but unfortunately unsolicited presentations are not as numerous as might be wished.2 Use statistics were seldom mentioned in early annual reports, but they became a regular feature in the 1920's. In 1926, for example, 3,124 people used the reading room, and 543 volumes were checked out to members.29 By 1928 a campaign was mounted to raise Tls 100,000 for a new building, and two years later the British government donated the land it had formerly leased to the society, thus enabling the society to borrow funds against it. The British Tobacco Company, Sassoon and Company, and other enterprises made significant contributions. An official of His Majesty's Foreign Office called the society "the one bright spot in Shanghai*." In 1931 the library collection was crated and stored while the old building was torn down and a new one constructed in its place. It reopened in 1934 with the library occupying the second floor. It included a “private office for the librarian and a well-lighted Reading Room. The storage space for books is amply designed to provide for future expansion".3 Yet another recataloguing of the collection took place in 1936 in preparation for the sixth edition of the catalogue. The count was 11,350 titles. That year also saw the beginning of the keeping of an accession book,32 As the political situation in China became more unstable, the library became more heavily used. This was in part owing to the destruction ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1988 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q 195 The establishment and growth of the Library of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society was a remarkable achievement by a number of dedicated individuals from several nations over a period of ninety years, and of varied professions and persuasions, who found time in their busy lives to labour without remuneration in the belief that a library would serve as a bridge of understanding between Chinese and Westerners. While the Chinese were only grudgingly permitted society membership, and its resulting library borrowing privileges, in later years the library was open to all. The collection was at least a signal to the Chinese that at least some of the foreigners living among them were interested in studying their history and culture." Looking back in the 1920's, a Shanghai historian wrote: Of course a large part of the community was not deeply interested in the Society and regarded it as a dry-as-dust institution, but it has had a long and honourable history and has carried on valuable research in the language, customs, ethics, history, etc., of China. It has a creditable museum and a very valuable library of books on the Orient.“ This was the library that The China Journal called "probably the best in China, when it comes to reference works of all kinds on China and the Far East. It contains numerous old works that are now unobtainable, and certainly are not to be found in any other library in China. This same journal later called it a "magnificent library of works on China and the Far East" and "the most important library in this city" +42 43 But, libraries are not forever. They are the creations of inspired individuals, and the victims of public indifference and political change. But while they exist, they help people to better understand the worlds they live in. For at least some of those Westerners trying to live in the two worlds of Shanghai between 1857 and 1948, this library must have been an inspiration, a refuge, a source of enlightenment, and a monument to their attempt to grasp the curious worlds in which they found themselves. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1988 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q 213 The bracelet itself is made of three silver wires, each about 2 mm. diameter, braided together. One of the ends is welded to a small cylindrical silver box while the other is free. Part of the free end has been cut off and what remains is 17.50 cm. long. The box is flat, about 2 cm. across by 8 mm. thick. On the upper surface is framed a silver coin with, in relief, a Greek head or bust, the Greek letters T A PA (Tara) and a zoomorphic figure representing a dolphin. On the opposite side of the box, the disc is plain except for the letters G.A.S. in a central cavity. Three scars are visible on the surface, caused by three pins welded to the coin below. Opposite to the joint of the wire, the box has a small opening obviously allowing the free end of the bracelet to be inserted into the box and locked. The box and bracelet are of recent, probably Indian manufacture, and the letters G.A.S. appearing in the box probably appeared in the scrap silver from which the box was made. A circular frame closes the box and keeps the coin in position. This ring can be removed, setting the coin free. On the back of the coin is, in relief, the figure of a riding horseman. In front of the figure is a sign like a thunderbolt with, below, the Greek letters AПOA. The coin, relatively well preserved, has been damaged by several incisions made with a sharp steel point and the welding of three pins at three equidistant points from the perimeter of the coin to keep it level with the surface of the box. There is also welded on the side of the coin, corresponding to the opening on the box, a small flat piece of silver with a little notch at the middle for the purpose of locking the free end of the bracelet. The clear centre of the disc inside the box may indicate that it contained some relics. At the centre of the disc the letter θ (th) seems to appear but it may simply be the ghost of the impression on the other side. The Coin According to Mr. John P. Sharpley, Curator of Numismatics at the Museum of Victoria, "The coin appears to be a very good silver copy of the gold stater* of Tarentum, Italy. It is believed that the original coins were struck between 344 and 334 B.C". 1 * Stater or Sesterce, Sestertius: Contraction of semi-tertius i.e. 21⁄2 asses; a Roman silver coin equal to 1⁄4 of a denarius. Also Persian coin (stater), From ETATHP (ETA = base, to stand). See Plates 9 and 10. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h # BIBLIOGRAPHY 245 1. Archives: "London Missionary Society": Incoming Letters, Central China. 2. Newspapers and Periodicals: **Boletim do Governo de Macao**, Macao, 1855-1865. "China Mail", Hong Kong, 1845-1860. "North China Herald", Shanghai, 1850-1867. "Puck, or the Shanghai Charivari", Shanghai, 1871-1873. *Shanghai Commercial Record*, Shanghai, 1865. 3. Books and Articles: Adams, W. Davenport: "A Dictionary of the Drama. A Guide to the Plays, Playwrights, Players and Playhouses of the United Kingdom and America from the earliest times to the present", Vol. I (A-G) (no more published). Philadelphia, 1904. Appleton, William W.: "Madame Vestris and the London Stage", New York - London, 1974. Barr, Pat: "The Deer Cry Pavillion. A Story of Westerners in Japan 1868-1905", London, 1968. Black, J.R.: "Young Japan. Yokohama and Yedo. A Narrative of the Settlement and the city from the signing of the treaties in 1858 to the close of the year 1879", Tokyo-London, 1968 (reprint of 1880-1881 edition). Boase, Frederic: "Modern English Biography", London, 1965 (reprint of the 1891-1921 edition). Booth, Michael (Ed): "English Plays of the 19th century", Volumes I and IV, Oxford, 1969-1973. British Museum General Catalogue of Books. Brown, T. Allston: "A History of the New York Stage from the first performance in 1732 to 1901, 3 vols.; New York 1964 (reprint of 1903 ed.). Buckley, C.B.: "An Anecdotal History of Old Times in Singapore 1819-1867, Singapore, 1902. Carse, A.: "The Life of Jullien", Cambridge, 1951. Chesterfield, Lord: "Advice to his son on Men & Manners in which the principles of politeness and the art of acquiring a knowledge of the world are laid down in an easy and familiar manner", Chiswick, 1826. Conolly, L.W. and J.P. Wearing: "English Drama and Theatre 1800-1900. A Guide to information sources", Detroit, 1978. Cordier, Henri: "Bibliotheca Sinica", second edition; 5 vols.; Paris 1904ff. Davis, Jim (Ed.): "Plays of H.J. Byron", Cambridge, 1984. 'Dictionary of National Biography". Dyce, C.M.: "Personal Reminiscences of Thirty Years' Residence in the Model Settlement. Shanghai 1870-1900", London, 1906. Engle, Gary D.: "This Grotesque Essence. Plays from the American Minstrel Stage". Baton Rouge, 1978. Fétis, F.J.: "Biographic Universelle de Musiciens", Paris, 1864; Supplement by Arthur Pougin, 1880. Fitzgerald, Percy: "Principles of Comedy and Dramatic Effect", London, 1870. "The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians", London, 1980. Haan, J.H.: "Origin and Development of the Political System in the Shanghai International Settlement" in: "Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of Royal Asiatic Society", Vol. 22 (1982), p. 31-64. Haan, J.H.: "The Shanghai Library: A history of the first foreign library in Shanghai" in: "Journal of the Hong Kong Library Association", 1987. Hartnoll, Phyllis: "The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre", London, 1972. Howard, Diana: "London Theatres and Music Halls, 1850-1950", London, 1970. Page 270 Page 271 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 302 THE DANGS OF KAM TIN AND THEIR JIU FESTIVAL* CHAN WING-HOI Of the lineages of the New Territories, that of the Dangs of Kam Tin is noted for its vast land holdings, numerous imperial degrees and control of the Kam Tin Market. While the Dangs and outsiders talk about them as a corporate entity, and the Dangs do trace their descent from a common ancestor, it was the different segments of the lineage whose collective presence in ancestral trusts and halls is most noticeable. Contrary to what one would expect, there is no ancestral hall or any significant ancestral trust in honour of the common ancestor Dang Hung-Yi. The main ancestral halls and ancestral trusts highlight the divisions within the lineage rather than its unity. Unlike some other single-surname settlements in Hong Kong, the various Dang villages in Kam Tin do not correspond to segments of the lineage. Each of the villages has its own village temples or other places of worship which delimit the villages as collective entities. Religious activities associated with these local places of worship are part of the duties arising from membership of the village, and are different in nature from worship at popular temples at the nearby market, the latter being more a matter of personal choice than a function of membership in a corporate group. The eventful period of the early Qing Dynasty was a major turning point in Dang history. This period saw the merger of a number of Dang settlements. It was during the same period that the Jau and Wong Temple was built and the jiu festival in honour of the same deities was first celebrated. * This report represents the result of field and library research I conducted as a temporary researcher of the Hong Kong Museum of History within the four months ending 15th March 1986, centring on the 1985 Jiu festival. I would like to express my gratitude to the Hong Kong Museum of History, Urban Council, for permission to publish this report which is based on part of the report I submitted. For the romanization of Cantonese this report has adopted the Yale system. For local place names I have followed common usage. For a few terms more directly related to the wider "China" than the "local" area I have used the Mandarin pronunciation and the pinyin system. See glossary at the Appendix for Chinese characters of all words romanised. ================================================================================ 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 411 Jerome Silbergeld, Mind Landscapes: The Paintings of C.C. Wang, Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington Press (Seattle and London), 1987. 132 pp. + plates, bibliography, index. C.C. Wang is certainly one of the most intriguing Chinese artists of the later twentieth century. His life chronicles cataclysmic changes many Chinese have endured and his path - artist, collector, connoisseur, businessman, and exile - was rarely clear. He was continuously called upon to redefine his relationship with China and the West as he traveled, explored, and matured. Having been born into a Suzhou family of mandarins in Imperial China in 1907 and having had a traditional Chinese education till the age of 14 assured young Wang the basis for blossoming into a twentieth-century version of the literati. But young Wang longed for a Western-style education, into which he switched at age fourteen, and from which he went on to study law in Shanghai at China's distinguished Suzhou Law School. But his art education, which started as he learned to read and write, was carried on simultaneously and ever more seriously. Over time, he had many art teachers and, indeed, became a teacher himself at an early age. Mind Landscapes enables C.C. Wang to describe the challenges he faced in seeing paintings in a land without public museums: "There were no good museums in China at that time, and you couldn't see the work of a contemporary painter in a museum or gallery. But since they had to be mounted or remounted, they could be seen in a mounter's shop. Suzhou was famous for its mounters. They would paste the paintings to be mounted on the walls of their shops, and if you walked around every few days, you could always see new paintings," (p. 15). Mr. Wang also talks about his teachers and how he was able to view various private collections: "For me, as well as for painter-scholars of the past, friendships with other painters and collectors were extremely significant. Each new meeting meant a new collection to see. In those days, private collections were never publicly displayed. To see a particular painting, you had to know the owner," (p. 17). When the great Chinese Imperial Collection was being prepared for the London Exhibition at Burlington House in 1936, C.C. Wang was a consultant and had a chance to study all those great paintings — another ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 412 significant step in his development into a connoisseur—collector-painter. Collecting as well as creating paintings soon became young Mr. Wang's principal preoccupation. However, he supported his collecting and his family by some real estate ventures because he was not able to make enough money through the sale of his paintings. The story of C.C. Wang's journey to the West (New York) and attending classes at the Art Students League, his explorations of modern Western art and his artistic evolution is marvelously told through the well-written prose of Jerome Silbergeld, Professor of Art History at the University of Washington in Seattle. Professor Silbergeld comes to his subject with a deep knowledge and background in classical Chinese painting and provides a sinological, art historical perspective of C.C. Wang's work. But the author does not avoid his role as contemporary critic, analyzing the relationship of the artist and modern art. When C.C. Wang's breakthrough to his mature style comes in 1971-2, the author allows the events to unfold like high drama. Moreover, throughout the text, the artist is permitted to state his own views on the elements of his art such as line, colour, composition, dots, texture, cultivation of controlled accidents, synthesis of East and West: "Chinese brushwork is really individual, like Western color. Good brushwork is so beautiful. It can make you look at it many times... It's just like with voice when I hear one song, if the voice is good I want to hear another song. It's the same voice, but each time it's a little bit different: that attracts me so much. . .', (p. 42). Other notable scholars and critics who have written about artist-collector-connoisseur Wang have also been allowed to speak with their own voices, which gives the story a clarity and authenticity rarely achieved in a scholarly book. Moreover, the book is lavishly illustrated with not only Mr. Wang's works of all periods but also with the paintings that were most influential in building his style. In addition, Professor Silbergeld recounts the long history of C.C. Wang as collector, and how he has been a central figure in influencing the growth of major collections of Chinese art in the West, notably that of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, through the sale of his own collections. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 423 student and to begin to understand a bit about town commerce. I was overjoyed." One of these two, then aged 59 sui, was the owner of a general store in Xunwu and a former president of its Chamber of Commerce, the other, aged 51, was a poor peasant and a County Soviet official (p. 46). Like the Chairman, I also want to know more about petty commerce, still a rather neglected topic in the Chinese field, though now being addressed by the Chinese Business Studies group. As a long-time researcher into the rural history of Hong Kong and South China I have found both the Report and the Introduction equally fascinating. I strongly recommend them to readers of this Journal and especially to those who wish to know more about the Chinese countryside in the 1920s and 1930s, a crucial time in China's modern history. JAMES HAYES REVIEW NOTES The following books have been received by the Journal from the publishers and are briefly noted here. They have been placed in the RAS Library. THE BOOK REVIEW EDITOR Hugh Baker, Hong Kong Images — People and Animals, Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. 1990. 172 pp. Maps, Photographs, Notes, Index. A reprint of Professor Baker's highly successful book published originally in 1979, and subsequently in 1980 and 1981, this paperback continues to inform and entertain readers interested in the Chinese tradition as practised in Hong Kong. Tun Li Ch’en (English translation by Derk Bodde), Annual Customs and Festivals in Peking, Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1987, reprint of 1936 edition. Illustrations, Glossary, Index, Bibliography. This brief but beautiful volume brings the reader through the Chinese year, including customs and festival celebrations as practiced at the turn of the century in Peking. Craig Clunas, Chinese Furniture, Victoria and Albert Museum Far Eastern Series, 1988; printed in Hong Kong by Oxford University Press, 1990. 118 pp. Illustrations, Notes, Index. With traditional Chinese woodblock prints and modern photographs by Ian Thomas of pieces from ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 424 the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, and written text by Craig Clunas, this work is an attractive volume for general readers interested in Chinese furniture. Robert Ford, Captured in Tibet, Hong Kong, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 1990, reprint of 1957 edition. 266 pp. Index, Photographs. This is a reprint of a highly readable account of the Chinese take-over of Tibet in 1950, with an additional introduction by the Dalai Lama. The author, seconded by the British Army as a radio communications officer to the Tibetan Army, spent a year as a prisoner of the Red Army. Christmas Humphreys, A Popular Dictionary of Buddhism, London: Curzon Press, 1984. Paperback reprint, 1987. 224 pp. Little more than a dictionary, this book will be of help to English-readers who need a quick reference to Buddhist terms in Sanscrit, Chinese, or Japanese. Robin Hutcheon, First Sea Lord — The Life and Work of Sir Y.K. Pao, Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 1990. 170 pp. Index, Photographs. A short commissioned biography written by the former editor of the South China Morning Post, this book is attractively presented with a number of photographs. A definitive study of the shipping and property giant, Sir Y.K. Pao and his phenomenal accomplishments, both in Hong Kong and worldwide, is still required. Nigel Cameron, The Chinese File, Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 1990. paperback, 246 pp. Illustrations. First published in 1958 by Hutchison and Co. in London for an English readership, this book has been reprinted by Oxford University Press in Hong Kong. By now, the author is a well-known prolific writer in the territory. Cameron's observations as a serious traveller in China before he became a specialist, on such various topics as the Great Wall, the Minorities, the Deep South, and Sian, are interesting and enlightening. Valery M. Garrett, Mandarin Squares, Oxford Images of Asia Series, Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 1990. 66 pp. Bibliography, Glossary, Index, Illustrations. In addition to delightful descriptions of the embroidered squares from court robes of the Qing officials, popularly known by Western collectors as Mandarin Squares, Garrett has presented in this most attractive volume in very simple terms how the Manchus came to the Chinese throne and how young men were trained to become officials. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 Hase, Chek Lap Kok organized by Philip and Sharon Bruce, Fung Ping Shan Museum (x2) organized by Michael Lau, Parsee Building and Parsee Temple organized by Geoff Roper, Lam Tsuen Ta-Chiu festival organized by Dr. Patrick Hase. Shataukok visit (x2) organized by Dr. Patrick Hase, and a visit to the Chinese University of Hong Kong with its Arts Gallery organized by myself. Without detracting from the other lectures I would like to mention that we were very privileged to have Dr. Wang Gangwu, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong, to speak on the occasion of our 30th Anniversary, followed by a Chinese dinner at the City Hall restaurant.* I must confess it came as a surprise to find that it was 30 years since our rebirth. I think that all those who heard Dr. Wang's lecture on this occasion would agree that his lecture was as stimulating and thought provoking as you would ever wish to hear. It will, incidentally, we hope, be published in a future edition of our Journal. Overseas Tours From time to time members have asked us to organise tours overseas, and in response to this we have recently circulated a proposal for a visit to South Korea, where we would hope to meet up with the Royal Asiatic Society there. Unfortunately although many members have expressed interest, the final numbers who have definitely said they will go are below what we think is financially viable, and unless there is a strong interest in this trip within the next day we will be cancelling it. I am grateful to Dan Waters for all the hard work he has put into this, and I think we have learnt by this experience. We will continue to consider overseas tours but I think it will be a question of something closer and for shorter periods. Members' advice on this would be very much appreciated. Membership At the end of last year my predecessor reported to you that there were 638 local members and 80 overseas members, making a total of 718 Members. Mrs. Bruce reports that at the last count there were 596 local members (492 living on Hong Kong Island, 65 in Kowloon, and 39 in the New Territories) and again around 80 overseas members, making a total of 676 members. This decline in the total membership * See Plate 16 ix ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 30 26 festivals in the New Territories. Besides Faure's 1986 book The Structure of Chinese Rural Society which touched on the festival, printed work by local scholars arising from these studies is yet to appear. 27 Two museums, first the History Museum of Hong Kong, and later the Sam Tung Uk Regional Council Museum, have taken photos and videos of the festivals since 1983, following Mr. Hugh Gibb's film of the Ha Tsuen Jiao, taken in 1974. However, only the Jiao festival in Cheung Chau and the 1985 Kam Tin festival have been fully recorded. These are not as yet available in print. Following the sad deaths of Prof. Ward and Dr. Lu, the 1980s also saw the quick decline in interest in Jiao festivals in Hong Kong. This is, perhaps, due to two not completely unrelated reasons: firstly, Jiao festivals in Hong Kong are studied only for their contribution towards the understanding of rural society. Therefore, when a researcher changes his interest to societies of another locality, study of Jiao festivals in Hong Kong becomes irrelevant. Another reason perhaps is a matter of "time". Whether it is a diachronic or synchronic study, or even an independent ethnographical report, the physical demands of observing a Jiao are often considerable. Planning for a Jiao festival may take one whole year, starting from fixing the date and selection of representative worshippers to the final purification of the community and households rituals. Moreover, if one intends to observe Jiao festivals held at different times, a long term commitment and interest is necessary since many Jiao festivals in the New Territories are celebrated only once in ten years. A comprehensive study of Jiao festivals cannot be done by a short term survey. During my visits to two Jiao celebrations in 1990 (Lam Tsuen and Fanling), the only other researchers I met were a scholar from the Music department of the CUHK, and some members of an amateur research group. b. Sources 24 +4 - Schipper noted that [Jiao festival] simply was ignored in the writings of the bureaucracy, and remained an immensely important factor in the lives of the common people ....29 Studies of Jiao festivals in Hong Kong have so far depended heavily on ethnography ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 41 Kong: Oxford Univ. Press, 1983), 156-160 & 163-164, on the Jiao festivals celebrated between 1964 and 1972 in Ma Tau Wai, Nga Tsin Wai, Tung Chung and Tai O. N Mathias, John R.G., Study of the Jiao: a Taoist Ritual in Kam Tin in the Hong Kong New Territories (unpublished D.Phil. thesis, Oxford University, 1977-78). #I Kani, Hiroaki, "Hồn Kôn Chugokujin no shukyo shiso no ichidan nitsuite" Shigaku 40, no. 2 & 3 (1967). 22 Obuchi, Ninji, “Hon Kon no tokyo girei" |Daoist ritual in Hong Kong] in Ikeda Sueri Hakase Koki Kinen Toyo Gaku Ronshu (Tokyo, 1980), 753-769. 27 Yoshihara, Katsuo. "Shukyo" [Religion] in Kani Hiroaki (ed.) Motto Shiritai Hon Kon (Tokyo: Kobundo, 1984), 184-191. 11 See note 37. 14 I have been told that Dr. Faure had a manuscript on the Jiao festival sent to a publisher in Hong Kong. However, due to whatever reasons, it has not yet been published. See also Hayes, 164, about Faure's book on Jiao festivals. 36 I was probably the only researcher who participated in the 1980 Kau Lau Wan Jiao festival when I was first introduced by the late Prof. B.E. Ward and Dr. S.H. Wang to the Jiao festival celebrated by the fishing village. In October the same year, Dr. Faure and I attended the Jiao festival at Pak Kong, Sai Kung. In November, the late Dr. Lu Bin-chuan of the Music Department of CUHK, Dr. Lu's student Mr. Chan Wing-Hoi and I attended the Jiao festival in Fanling. Dr. Faure, Prof. Ward and Prof. Tanaka also came. The Jiao festival of Fanling and that of other areas are mentioned here and there in Faure's 1986 book. In December 1980 students of CUHK under the guidance of Dr. Faure, Dr. Wang and Prof. Ward started an ethnographical research on the Jiao festival in Ho Chung, Sai Kung. A detailed report of daily rituals was written by Lee Lai-mui and Cheng Shui Kwan, two CUHK students majoring in History and minoring in Anthropology. The report was sent to interested scholars. Unfortunately it has never been published. Two students of the CUHK at that time should perhaps be mentioned here: Chan Wing-hoi, who specializes in music and computer, was employed by the History Museum of Hong Kong to study the Kam Tin Jiao festival in 1985, a report of which was published in the Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 29 (1989). Chan's master's thesis on folk music in Hong Kong also includes a chapter on the ritual music played by the Taoists at the Jiao festival. Chan also has an ethnography on the 1986 Shek O Jiao festival published in the Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society Vol. 26 (1986), 78-101. The master's thesis of Leung Chor-on, now Ph.D. candidate of Cambridge University, submitted to the Anthropology Department of the CUHK gives a good account of the ritual symbols of the festival. Chan, Leung and I held a seminar on Jiao festivals on Dec. 11, 1988 for the "Research Circle of the Regional Society of Southern China" focusing on musical, ritual and social aspects of the festival. 27 Locally published works besides those by Faure and my own are: - (a) Chamberlain, Jonathan, "Introduction” in Chamberlain J. and Iam Lambot The Bun Festival of Cheung Chau (Hong Kong: Studio Publication, 1990). This is largely a collection of photos. Chamberlain's introduction is very descriptive but no sources are quoted. (b) Chan Wing-hoi, “Observations at the Jiu [Jiao] festival of Shek O and Tai Long Wan, 1986" Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society Vol. 26 (1986), 78-101. Chan recorded meticulously what he was told and observed about the 'settlement', the 'participants', the "ritual site", the "local gods" and the "events". (c) Xiao, Kuo-jian (Anthony K.K. Siu), Xianggang Xiandai Shehui [Pre-modern society of Hong Kong] (Hong Kong: Chung Wah, 1990), 86-97. Xiao attempts to illustrate three reasons why the communities in Hong Kong celebrate the Jiao. The first reason is to plead for fortune, to pay sacrifices to the gods, to drive away evils and to prevent 4 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 73 elements in the term 'Syrian brilliant teaching". The expression ‘brilliant teaching' for Christianity occurs three times in the text of the Book of the Secret Peace and Joy, but there is no reference to Ta-ch'in. We must conclude that, by the tenth century, the Nestorian monks at Tun-huang no longer used Adam's formula Ta-ch'in ching-chiao as punctiliously as they once had, although both Ta-ch'in and ching-chiao are found separately, and that a tendency to render proper names by transliteration from the Syriac had replaced the earlier policy of finding appropriate Chinese terms for them. Other examples of this tendency can be found in the titles of some of the thirty-five books listed in the Book of Praise: The Gospels (Syriac: evangelion) are the A-wan-chü-li-yung ching; the Epistles of St. Paul (Syriac: shlicha, the Book of the Apostle) the Shih-li-hui ching; the Book of Hosannas the Wu-sha-na ching; and the Book of the Cross (Syriac: tsuliba) the Tz'u-li-po ching. Although these are the titles, according to the Book of Praise, of books translated by Adam, it is difficult to believe that he would ever have allowed them to be given such meaningless names in Chinese. We have seen how much care he took in the Sian tablet inscription to make himself clear, and suitable Chinese titles could easily have been found for these books. But book titles, as we have already seen in the case of other Tun-huang manuscripts, are obvious targets for updating in the light of changing taste, and these Syriac-influenced titles were probably given to Adam's books by the Tun-huang monks in the tenth century. They lived on the fringes of China and were not writing for discerning scholars in the capital, as Adam was. They preserved the memory of their past glories under the leadership of men like Reuben and Adam, but a definite change of style had taken place since the confident days when the Sian tablet was erected. They were conscious that an era had passed. 1 NOTES Hong Kong has a fine collection of bronze crosses from the Ongut region, worn by Nestorian Christians during the Yüan period, in the Fung Ping Shan museum of Hong Kong University. See F. S. Drake's article "Nestorian Crosses and Nestorians in China under the Mongols", Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 2, 1962, pp. 11-25. His Chinese name, given in the Sian tablet inscription, was A-lo-pen. It is suggested in Volume 3 of the Cambridge History of China that A-lo-pen is a transliteration of Reuben, and this seems to me as good a guess as any. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 162 It is a bonny great room. The books are arranged in mahogany cases round, or rather at the sides, against the side walls. In the middle is a fine mahogany table, a round ditto at the end nearest the window, where I generally sit to study and write. At the other end a sofa, and a settee, while round the room you see any number of arm chairs. You will not fail to notice the scientific apparatus, and the globes, etc. The books form about the finest collection I ever saw, except the "Museum".'* There is a large case of foreign bibles and testaments in every language one can think of, presented by the Bible Society. Hours and hours have I spent in looking over all the books. I shall never be able to see the inside of one fourth of them. A great number are on Theology. I noticed Dr Stevenson's works, and the Memoir of the brother of the Misses Breay at Chudleigh. There are so many books that I am quite bewildered which to read first. There is a round cylindrical tin case, containing a copy of the Scriptures in Hebrew, found among a number of Jews in the interior of China. They are a most interesting set of people," and retain the Hebrew language and Jewish religion, although very much corrupted. It is supposed by those who discovered them that they are of extreme antiquity. The book is just like pictures I have seen of the Jewish Pentateuch. It is written in most beautiful Hebrew characters on soft white leather, and when unrolled would reach a long way. It is regarded as a great object of interest. Before going out of the library I will call attention to the chandeliers, and the great punkah over the large central table, where I might dine if I felt disposed, but I prefer my own snug little parlour. Next I will show you the Chinese dormitories. Each contains two rows of iron bedsteads, on which during the summer is spread a Chinese mat, and pillow, which is like a square block of wood, although soft when one gets used to it!! Each has a box at the side of his bed. I shall only allow them to go to their boxes twice a day for a quarter of an hour. The rooms are very open and airy. The students have to be very quiet, for every sound can be heard. I shall not allow a sound after the lamps are put out at nine o'clock, when all hands assemble. At the sides you will notice the masters' room, shut off by a curtain. Before the entrance on the verandah is the staircase. We now pass through a door into the Bishop's part of the house, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 NOTES 167 From manuscripts in the John Fryer Papers, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. The title on the holograph was added in pencil at the top of the page and underlined; a pencil was used to cross out the salutation, probably at the time when the title was added prior to typing many years later. In transcribing this material I have followed the holograph document. Minor changes have been made to bring punctuation and use of numbers into conformity with modern usage and to improve readability. Editorial additions are in square brackets. Fryer tended to write run-on paragraphs; a caret indicates where long paragraphs have been broken up. Colons and semicolons are not easily distinguished in the holograph; Fryer was inconsistent in his use of the apostrophe. 1 Fryer mentions below that it has been a fortnight since his arrival. This would place the date for this letter around August 13, 1861. 4 A sketch of the general plan of St. Paul's College, drawn in ink and tinted with watercolors by Fryer, accompanies the holograph document. See Plans in text, redrawn from Fryer's sketch plan. 4 Fryer generally wrote "&" in his handwritten letters, but converted these to "etc." and "and" in his typewritten transcriptions. Fryer became engaged to Anna Roleston of Chudleigh, Devon, before embarking for Hong Kong, The Second Anglo-Chinese War, 1858-1860, which led to a stoppage of much of the trade of Hong Kong with China to 1861. # This is one of the rare examples of Fryer's use of hyperbole; other examples can be detected below. HI The Reverend George Smith, Bishop of Victoria. Rev. William Roberts Beach arrived in Canton in 1853 sponsored by the Wesleyan Missionary Society. He joined the Church of England in 1855. In 1857 he became Warden of St. Paul's College and Chaplain to the Bishop of Victoria. His other appointments included a period in Macao as Missionary Chaplain in 1857, and service as Chaplain to the Forces under Sir Hope Grant in 1861. He was appointed Colonial Chaplain and Canon of St. John's Cathedral by the Rev. Alford, who in 1867 became "Lord Bishop of the see of Victoria, and Warden (for the Church Missionary Society) of St. Paul's College'. (see E. J Bitel, Europe in China, Hong Kong: Kelley and Walsh, 1895. p. 466.) Alford was Principal of Highbury Training College, London, at the time when John Fryer was enlisted for work at St. Paul's College. || This was the College in Staunton Street, later renamed St. Saviour's (1863), and then (1875) St. Joseph's. זן Fryer travelled to Hong Kong on the sailing ship Prince Alfred. Published in Volume 29 (1989) of the Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. 14 See Plans in Text. 15 See Plates 2-4. 16. Charles R. Alford; see note 10. דן * "animals" standard English school master-speech for "schoolboys". श्र Possibly the British Museum. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 219 HONG KONG HONGS WITH LONG HISTORIES AND BRITISH CONNECTIONS +++ DAN WATERS* Trade the beneficent daughter of liberty and industry. The giver of human happiness! The creator of wealth. The supporter of social existence! Blessed commerce, the friend of the slave, the liberator of the oppressed John Holt merchant and West African trader 7th January 1906 Introduction This paper traces the histories of some of the present-day commercial, industrial and professional firms, that have British origins or connections, which were established in Hong Kong in the 19th century. Traditional Hong Kong romanisations of Cantonese names have been used. When currency is referred to, unless otherwise stated, it is Hong Kong dollars. A valuable start in researching the hongs (large business houses), has been made by Dr S.M. Bard (Bard, 1988) who prepared a paper for the Hong Kong Museum of History. Clearly, as Bard stresses, it is important not to forget Chinese merchants. Here too a useful beginning has been made by Professor Wong Siu-lun (Wong, 1988). The aim of the author of this article is, as Bard suggests, to continue the momentum. Now, one-and-a-half centuries after Hong Kong was established, is a good time to retrace steps, especially as the story of industry * The author is grateful to his friends, Dr. James Hayes, the Rev. Carl T. Smith and Dr. Elizabeth Sinn, for their encouragement, for recommending research material and for assistance in other ways. Thanks are also extended to the many companies covered in this paper, and to their members of staff who helped the author and without whom this study would not have been possible. This paper was first presented at the 12th Conference of the International Association of Historians of Asia, at Hong Kong University, in June 1991. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 311 spite of his deep love for his motherland. Naturally, his pictures take pride of place in the 'Overseas Chinese Museum' which has over 6,000 exhibits portraying the Ming and Qing diaspora. The building was completed in 1956, endowed by Tan and other overseas donors. Like most similar establishments in China, information is available in Chinese only. If the People's Republic really wishes to attract overseas visitors, is it too much to ask that literature and captions be printed in English as well? The Group also made a visit to Huli Shan Fortress, completed in 1823, which protected the entrance to the fine, deep-sea port in the lead-up to the First Opium War. The island of Quemoy, from which the Nationalist Government relayed propaganda with loudspeakers during the 'cold war', lies only 2.4 kilometres off the Communist China Mainland near this fortress. The RAS Party later went to the Nanputuo Temple, under the towering 'Five Old Men Peak', which is an architectural masterpiece and crammed with Buddhist statuary. Renovations were in progress. It was encouraging, too, to see the local People's Patriotic Church had recently been given a facelift by the provincial government. But impressions lie in the senses of the beholder. Some RAS Members may especially remember Xiamen for its reasonably priced seafood available, with over 600 varieties of fish compared to Hong Kong, or the edible frogs or fine noodles. There was even champagne available with the buffet breakfast! ― Nevertheless, for the author, the most treasured recollections are of banyans and buildings. Some of the former, with labyrinths of contorting, twisting roots, were probably growing a century-and-a-half ago, before the island became a Treaty port. The town is also a 'museum' of vernacular and colonial architecture. Whether the vantage point is Bill Job's workshop or the hotel window, a vista of old, mellowed, orange, Chinese 'roll and trough' roof tiles, with some roofs of interlocking tiles, blend in reasonably well with new structures erected often from overseas remittances. Although the more ornate, gently sloping, swallow-tail roofs were traditionally reserved for temples, official buildings, and residences ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1991 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j would be surprised how many members have actually published a book over the last two or three years or are going to publish in this forthcoming year. We are a society whose members get consulted on a variety of matters from the Urban Council when they set up the Hong Kong Museum of History, to the Hong Kong Government when seeking assistance for the grading of historical buildings for the Government Antiquities Advisory Board, and by the Legislative Council inviting us to make representations on the Council elections and even from abroad by people who want to know for instance about how Chinese junks are constructed; we even have applications from persons who wish to work for the society full-time but unfortunately they wish for remuneration! So although we are inclined to look back, historically, we are a Society whose members consist of people from all walks of life and who take an active forward-looking interest in Hong Kong and events which are likely to affect the future well-being of the Society, All this may sound too self-congratulatory and in some ways it is: there are of course some problems, but before coming up to them I would like to briefly outline what we have actually done to justify our existence over the last year. First and foremost there is the Journal. The 1989 Journal was published recently and if you do not have your copy please see the Assistant Secretary. I think you will agree with me that it is full of interest and is up to the high scholarly standards we have come to expect. For this we have to thank not only all contributors but particularly our Editor Dr. Patrick Hase. He has toiled long with spectacular results: but even so we are asking him to toil even harder to get out the 1990 Journal and we are hopeful this will be published later this year. The next area I wish to highlight is the Programme: the Society has a Programme Committee under the able Chairmanship of Mr. Peter Leeds and arranges a variety of talks and visits: for the last year there have been the following talks: Father Louis Ha Dr. Graeme Lang Ms. J. Bresnihan Mr. Peter Lee & Judy Bonavia Dr. Patrick Hase 150th Anniversary of the Catholic Church in Hong Kong Rise of a Refugee God (Wong Tai Sin) Governor John Pope Hennessy Tibetans and Tus New Territories Poetry and Folk Song viii ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1991 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j 40 PRIVATE PATRONAGE OF SCHOLARSHIP AND LEARNING DURING THE MID-QING: RUAN YUAN AND THE SCHOLARS AROUND HIM* WEI PEH T'I This paper is an initial essay towards a biographical study of Ruan Yuan (1764-1849), a major scholar-official and patron of scholars of the Qianlong, Jiaqing and Daoguang reigns. I hope that by examining the life and work of a competent and respected scholar-official of this era, 'the prime exemplars of any age'.1 I may be able to bring into focus the critical problems and atmosphere of early 19th century China, the two score or so years immediately preceding the Opium War after which traditional Chinese institutions and values began to change. I have been fortunate in being able to make use of the extant Qing archival documents and Ruan Yuan's own publications for this research. Ruan Yuan left considerable literary remains. I have located 75 titles, including a number of monumental publications that carry his name as author, compiler or editor. There are also prefaces he wrote for his own and other scholars' works, indicating that at least he had known the content of them before publication. Impressive indeed as these achievements were, questions about Ruan Yuan's actual efforts arise. * I would like to thank the following libraries for allowing me access to their valuable collections in preparing this paper: Library of the National Palace Museum, the National Taiwan University libraries; the National Central Library; the Fu Ssu-nien Library of the Academia Sinica; The Library of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the University of Hong Kong Libraries; the Rare Book Collection of the Beijing Library; the Oriental Manuscripts Collection and the Main Collection of the British Library, the Harvard-Yenching Library of Harvard University; the Gest Library of Princeton University; the Library of Congress; the New York Public Library; and Qing letters from the collection of the late Dr Wang Shih-chieh. I am also grateful to the following individuals for their help and comments on an earlier draft of this paper: Chang Ling-sheng, Ch'ang Pe-te, Chuang Chi-fa, Wang Ching-hung, Wang P'u and Wu Che-fu of the National Palace Museum (Taipei), Wang Junyi and Huang Aiping of the People's University; Ji Longwei of Yangzhou Teachers' College; Feng Erkang of Nankai University; Beatrice S. Bartlett, Iona Crook and Stephen Shott of Yale University; F.W. Mote of Princeton University; Elizabeth Sinn, Maureen Sabine and Shih Hsio-yen of the University of Hong Kong; and Deng Linyu and Xu Xiaohui of the Chinese International School of Hong Kong. Of course, they are not responsible for the errors contained in this paper. My gratitude also goes to the Department of History and Centre of Asian Studies of the University of Hong Kong. I have opted to use pinyin to accommodate a particular Chinese software program, but have left the Wade-Giles transliteration in quotations. Page 60 Page 61 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1991 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j 10 [bid || 63 &£#* (The He You sheng, "Chen Lan Fu di xue shu ji chi yen yuan" [learning of Chen Lan Fu and its origins], Gu Gong Wen xian 2.4 (Taipei, 1971), 1-19. He's study on Ruan Yuan can also be found in "Ruan Yuan di jing xue ji chi zhi xue fang fa" [Classical scholarship of Ruan Yuan and his education policy], Gu Gong Wen xian 2:1:19-34 (1970). 12 Liang Chi chao, qing dai xue wen gai lun [A discourse on Qing learning], (1921, Taipei Commercial Press reprint, 1975), 22 13 Xiao Yi shan, ging dar tung shi [History of the Qing dynasty], (1935, Taipei Commercial Press reprint, 1976), 11 717. 14 Hu Shi, Dai Dong yuan di zhe xue [The philosophical studies of Dai Zheng], 138. 15 This is the only work of Ruan Yuan's that I have not been able to find. It was never printed because Ruan Yuan was not satisfied with the draft. The manuscript had been kept with Ruan Yuan's papers in his lifetime and subsequently disappeared. There was no indication whether it perished in the fires that destroyed the Ruan residence in Yangzhou in 1843, or that which burned down his studio, Wen xuan lou, in 1935. 16 Ruan Yuan himself, as well as contemporary and modern scholars, complain often of the many errors in this edition. Ruan Yuan gave the excuse of not having had time to proofread the manuscript himself. In fact, he had been receiving admonitions from the Jiaqing Emperor at that time that he was expending too much time and energy on scholarly activities instead of concentrating on the affairs of state. Gungzhong dang (Palace memorials) Jiaqing 017818 (1817/29). 17 This work was not printed during Ruan Yuan's lifetime, but is in Qing shi kao (Draft history of the Qing dynasty). 18 There are a large number of these biographies of individual scholars, not necessarily all Ruan Yuan, scattered throughout rare book collections in various libraries. Copies of the biographies are also among the Guo Shih Guan (Qing Historiography Office) documents in the National Palace Museum (Taipei). 19 For example, the Provincial Gazetteer of Fujian by Chen Shouchi, the Gazetteer of Yicheng by Liu Wenchi, and a new edition of the Gazetteer of the Prefecture of Yangzhou by Jiao Xun. 20 A contemporary print is in the collection of the Harvard-Yenching Library. 21 Struve, 233 22 Ruan Yuan, Ding Xiang ting bi ji [Informal notes from the Ding Xiang studio] 4:1b-2a. 23 [bid. 24 Ruan Heng, Ying zhou pi tan [Notes from Yingzhou] 1.4b; also Ruan Yuan, Yen jing shi ji [Notes written in the Yen jing studio] 11:8:8a. 24 Zhang Jian, et al, Let tang an zhu di zi ji [The life of Ruan Yuan as recorded by his sons and students] 1:19b. 26 The preface was dated 1804, but the work was not printed until later, in 1807 when the manuscript was finally acceptable to Ruan Yuan. 27 Preface of a work entitled Ji Gu Zhai Chong ding yi chi kuan shi, printed in 1853. A copy can be found in the Fu Ssu-nien Library of the Academia Sinica in Taipei. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1991 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j 64 28 19 3:0 David Nivison, The Life and Thought of Chang Hsueh-ch'eng, (Stanford, 1866), 251 Ibid See Si ku wei shou shu mu u yao, 5 juan, 1807 Ruan Yuan's bibliographical annotations on important books omitted from the Si Ku chuan shu. He had found these books in Zhejiang. The original memorials that accompanied these books and his annotations are in the Qing Archival Collection at the National Palace Museum (Taipei) 31 Yi zheng Liu Meng zhan nian pu (Chronological account of the life of Liu Wen chi), 114-115. 32 Arthur Hummel, Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period, (Washington DC, 1943), 91 33 34 Yang Wensheng X, Si shi cao ji (1801), Preface Letter to Liu Taigong (1790-1855), dated 1802 Liu's daughter was married to Ruan Yuan's adopted son, Ruan Changsheng, 34 Letter to Wang Niansun. 36 Ruan Yuan blamed the errors on the fact that he had not had a chance to do the final proof reading before the book was printed. 37 Ruan Yuan's letters written in old age, Ruan Wen da gong zhi shi hou jia shu, consisting of several dozen memos written to his family after 1838 when he retired from government service, serve to prove that Ruan Heng, always referred to as "my younger brother" but actually a distant cousin who had been adopted as heir to a half brother of Ruan Yuan's father, had taken care of Ruan Yuan's business and financial interests with the aid of a couple of clerks. These letters are in the Rare Book Collection of Beijing Library. I am grateful to Professor Wang Junyi and his staff of the Qing History Institute at the People's University who made it possible for me to have access to the collection in March 1991 38 I am not happy with the English translation "tent friend" or "guest" Ding xian ting bi tan, 1:11a. 40 41 See, for instance, Ding xiang ting bi tan 3.52b-53a Hai ning zhou zhi gao 4:3 shan, 11b-12b. 42 Xie Guozheng, Jin dai shu yuan xue xiao zhi du bian quan kao (An inquiry into recent changes in the academies and schools of China), (Hong Kong, 1972), 2-18. 43 Zhang Ying in Wen lan xue bao 2:1 Lin Bo tong, Xue hai tang zhi ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1991 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j 82 international considerations once again dominated Sino-American relations, but cultural relations this time occupied an important position. The administration saw clearly that cultural exchanges were a means towards a closer relationship. In the period 1979-1981, bilateral arts exchanges were numerous, showing the strong support of the administration for such projects. Carter personally, like Nixon, granted interviews with visiting Chinese artists and to China-bound American artists. The framework of arts exchanges established by the Carter Administration had a far-reaching impact on the coming years. The impact was so strong that a substantial number of exchanges were still carried out when Sino-American relations were at a low ebb in the initial years of the Reagan Administration. In the Reagan Administration, cultural relations with China were handled at a lower level of management, as compared with the Carter Administration. Furthermore, the "spirit of U.S. generosity, high expectations, and mutual understanding" that had informed relations during the Carter administration had yielded to narrow calculations of interest, revived ideological enmity, and mutual suspicion. Nevertheless, the function of cultural exchanges as a foreign policy instrument was essentially the same - supporting general policy objectives. As the anti-Soviet strategic theme in Sino-American relations became less urgent, the United States began to pursue long-term American interests more vigorously and arts exchanges with China became even more politicized than in the previous three administrations. In the Reagan Administration, arts exchanges were made a channel to export to China American ideology and to consciously create a cultural imagery in China. To examine the nature of arts exchanges with China in the Reagan Administration, a good example might be an incident involving a show of modern American paintings from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. The art exhibition from the Boston Museum was an official exchange programme initiated to implement the accord reached in Beijing in 1979. Before the opening of the show, Chinese officials requested that 13 abstract paintings be deleted from the exhibition. The American side, headed by Charles Wick, Director of the USIA (then called the United States International Communication Agency (USICA)), responded ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1991 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j 87 been almost monopolized by the government because of its suspicion of Western culture. Though Sino-American arts exchanges were exclusively handled by the non-governmental sector" in the period 1972-8, due to the absence of diplomatic relation between the two countries, the Chinese government closely supervised these activities and the non-governmental sector in China in fact existed only in name. Throughout the period between 1979 and 1981, the non-governmental sector in China was more genuinely active in Sino-American arts exchanges. This is because, while the government adopted a policy to encourage contacts with the United States, its capacity to handle the dramatically increased exchanges was not raised. Furthermore, its incapacity to finance a substantial number of exchanges with the U.S. and to finance the modernization of the arts was also an invitation for the non-governmental sector to take over some exchange programmes, as the non-governmental sector was able both to raise funds at home, and to gain financial support from individual Americans or American organizations. From the handling of the exchange events one can clearly see its increasing independence from government supervision. However, although Sino-American cultural relations were nurtured by top political leaders of both countries and were one aspect of a rapidly increasing general relationship in the first three years of diplomatic normalization, the decline in arts exchanges in 1982 did not come unexpectedly. The campaign against "bourgeois liberalization", which according to Hu Qiaomu, a party theorist and a mastermind of the campaign, was partially attributed to the inflow of Western culture13 obviously affected the policy regarding cultural relations with the United States. Furthermore, the management of some specific issues between China and the U.S. created distrust on the part of the Chinese leadership concerning the motives of the Americans and their goals regarding cultural exchanges with China. To illustrate this suspicion, let us return to the incident of the Boston Museum paintings exhibition in 1981. As we have mentioned, the thirteen abstract paintings which the Chinese officials proposed to delete did get exhibited as a concession from the Chinese side. The Chinese interpretation of the abstract paintings incident is that, as the government of a sovereign country, the Chinese leaders are entitled to decide what is best for their people. So, the refusal by the Americans to accept the decision by Chinese leaders could only be interpreted as a challenge to China's dignity and authority, and therefore could nurture distrust towards ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1991 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j 133 21 Hugh Baker, 'Hell Bank Notes', Ancestral Images, A Hong Kong Album (1979), pp 105-108 ✰ 21 Hugh Baker, 'Nuns', More Ancestral Images, op. cit (1980), pp 13-16 Tin Sau Ho Coffin Shop, Hollywood Road, visited by author 20th July 1992 The Art of Death 1500 to 1800, exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum early 1992 24 09 Hugh Baker, 'Marsh', Ancestral Images Again, A Third Hong Kong Album (1981), pp 109-112; Frena Bloomfield, 'The Chinese Almanac', The Occult World of Hong Kong (1980), pp. 100-2, and 'The Chinese Almanac', The Peninsula Group Magazine 13 (Hong Kong, April 1978), pp 66-71. 26 Hugh Baker, 'Mourning', Hong Kong Images. People and Animals (1990), pp. 121-3 21 T.C. Lai, op. cit. pp 152-3 28 Ingrams, loc. cit 29 Carl T. Smith, 'The Emergence of a Chinese Elite', Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol 11 (1971), pp 74-115 (p 98). 30 S.M. Bard, Study of Military Graves and Monuments Hong Kong Cemetery (1991), pp. 16 (B), 26 and 27 32 33 J. Dyer Ball, Things Chinese (first published 1903), p 166 Discussion between author and David Shu Tat-koon, feng shui master, 7 August 1992 Hugh Baker, 'Burial', Ancestral Images, op. cit. (1979), pp 17-20 34 Hong Kong Government Urban Services Department / Urban Council Annual Reports 3 Hugh Baker, 'Exhumation', Ancestral Images, op. cit (1979), pp 110-104 JJ Hugh Baker, 'Exhumation', Ancestral Images, op. cit (1979), pp 110-104 37 Frena Bloomfield, 'Fung Shui: Chinese Earth Magic', The Occult World of Hong Kong (1980), pp. 103-114; and Ernest J. Eitel, Feng Shui (Singapore, 1984). 38 Discussion between author and David Shu Tat-koon concerning his own theories, 7 August 1992 39 In other cases the author has been told of dead people's spirits returning home three, seven, ten or other periods after death 40 All dead persons except infants and wandering strangers are entitled to a spirit tablet 41 Visit by Hong Kong Branch, Royal Asiatic Society, to Sang Woo Loong Art Advertising Model Work Company, 28 Western Street, 10 December 1988, second visit by author to same establishment 20 July 1992. 42 43 Hugh Baker, 'Earth God', Ancestral Images, op. cit. (1979), pp 1-4 Hugh Baker, 'Mourning', Ancestral Images Again, op. cit (1981), pp 101-104. Laurence G. Thompson, op. cit. pp 54 and 55. 44 Leung Chor-on, 'Blessings Are Not For All', The Hong Kong Anthropologist, no 5 (April 1992), pp. 26-28 (p. 27) 45 Rubie S. Watson, 'Remembering the Dead: Graves and Politics in Southeastern China', eds James L. Watson and Evelyn S. Rawski, Death Ritual in Late Imperial and Modern China, op. cit., pp. 203-227 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1991 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j 184 and the Aurora University, the former French university, unknown to the members of the staff at the Department of Botany, where I have the pleasure and the good fortune to work. This excited their curiosity, they had never heard of a French Museum in Shanghai. That led Mr. Liu Zhong Ling, the organizer of this conference to invite me to give a talk on the History of the Heude Museum. The following is a poor result of memory work and information plucked from a few available sources. Charles de Vol's book, Ferns and Fern Allies of East Central China, published by the Heude Museum in 1945 has been of great assistance in writing this paper. The Zi-Ka-Wei (Xu Jia Hui) Museum This Museum was situated at the S. W. of Shanghai, just on the border of the Old French Concession. It was established in 1868 by Pierre Heude SJ., the year of his arrival in China. P. Heude made extensive collections in the Kiangsu, Anhwei and Chekiang Provinces. Between 1868 and 1880, he organized 13 expeditions. Though he collected plant specimens, he was essentially a zoologist, interested in molluscs, reptiles, fishes, birds and mammals. From 1892 to 1902, he extended his field work to the Philippines, Indonesia (Java), French Indo-China (now, Vietnam), Siam (Thailand), Polynesia, Japan and other neighbouring countries. I remember possessing a large volume on Conchology of Freshwater Molluscs. The pages were filled with series of scientifically and artistically drawn specimens well marshalled all through the book, with full descriptions and notes. A page advertising his works I discovered at the back of volume VI book I of the Zikawei publications shows the astonishing achievement of that remarkable man. On two pages, some of his works are listed: 5 tomes or large volumes each comprising 4 books, that is 20 books. A total of 1,100 pages, large format (in 4to) with 270 plates, some in colour (brush-painted). The content very impressive. (see below) River Conchology of the Kiangsu Province and Central China Study on the Trionyx ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1991 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j 187 remember from hearsay, Dr. H. Belval had come to Shanghai and worked as Head of the Chemistry Department at the University of Aurora where he researched plant sugars. He was replaced at the Dept. of Chemistry by one of my colleagues, Dr. Georges Durr, a Marist. Dr. Belval was also a keen botanist and as such he was Director of the Musee Heude. He was responsible for the transfer of the Museum to its new premises and was its Director from 1929 to 1931. During this time, he prepared the publication of Courtois' Collection Petite Flore des environs de Changhai et de Nanking (Little Flora of the Shanghai and Nanking areas). It has never been published. Belval was succeeded by Octave Piel S.J., an entomologist with an interest in Chinese Archaeology and Art. Now I come to my own connection with the Heude Museum, its activities and its staff. Br. Paul August F.M.S. When I arrived in Shanghai from Beijing in September 1935, I had the good fortune of being appointed at St. Joan of Arc's College, a bilingual school of English and French media. There, I met Paul August. This humble man was Assistant Headmaster and Bursar of this school, full-time teacher of English, Mathematics, French and Latin. In spite of that heavy assignment, he took time to accumulate an enormous amount of scientific data and personal observations: notes on plants and insects collected by himself, study on chemicals, geology, petrology, weather observations, etc. His notes fill six large books written in a perfect handwriting. He had provided the Heude Museum with thousands of specimens of insects and hundreds of plants carefully packed and fully annotated. So, for 10 years, this was one of the men I was going to live with. We soon found common interests and I owe to him, not only the development of my scientific studies in Natural History but also the scientific discipline of mind and action which transcends that of an amateur. For 10 years, we used to take long walks in the countryside that was Hungjiao, Lunghua, Jiangwan etc. in the 40s and 50s and come back with plants, insects and other specimens collected there. Then, at home, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1991 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j 188 we would spend time in identifying and studying them. Then we usually brought them to the Museum. That is how I got acquainted with the Museum, its Directors and personnel. The first persons I came to know were Octave Piel S.J. and P. Bourgeois S.J.. Piel was a distinguished entomologist as well as an archaeologist. He studied Hymenoptera and specialized in the research of Parthenogenesis of a group of ground wasps. His description of new species and experiments were published in a series of Notes entomologiques du Musee Heude and other worldwide scientific journals. His interests in Archaeology and Art were evident by show cases exhibiting Chinese artifacts, antique curios and vases, set out at the entrance of the museum. P. Bourgeois was not a scientist, as far as I know. He was some kind of general manager of the Museum, while at the same time he taught pre-university students. He was a friendly gentleman introducing students and other people to the Museum activities, collaborating with scientists and university students in their projects; translating, typing manuscripts, compiling lists and indices; in short, doing all the donkey work. — When Piel went into semi-retirement, a young clergyman replaced him progressively. This was P. Becquaert. I knew Becquaert well. He was very active and seemed to do a good job. His interests: the Staphylinidae family of insects or staphs. My colleague and I would have collected, among other insects, hundreds of staphs, picked up from special baits set up in the garden in order to satisfy Becquaert's insistent demand. Unfortunately, Becquaert had no scientific training; he was no match for the eminent scientists that had preceded him. It was wartime and the authorities were unable to obtain anyone of, say, Piel's calibre. Soon, Becquaert got involved in dubious connections. He not only lost his interest in entomology, but also his priestly state and his faith. He had published a book on staphs. But the introduction was so full of scientific errors, full of incorrect assumptions and spurious statements, that his successor had to withdraw the book from distribution. Before introducing his successor, however, I must mention a few other people. Dr. Jacques Roi S.J. came to Shanghai in 1944. He had spent a few years in North China at the Geo-Biologic Institute of Beijing. In 1941, he published Phytogeograph of Central Asia, a highly scientific paper with graphs, plates, and maps. During his short stay in Shanghai, he ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1991 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j BOOK REVIEWS 205 Ann Paludan. Chinese Tomb Figurines, Hong Kong: Oxford University Press Images of Asia series, 1994, 66 pages. Illustrations. Chronology. Bibliography. Index. HK$95 It is always a joy to behold a book by Ann Paludan, whether as a scholarly study or for general reading. Her smaller work, The Ming Tombs (Images of Asia 1991), possesses the same high quality of meticulous attention to scholarship as The Imperial Ming Tombs (Yale 1981), an academic publication. The book under consideration here, Chinese Tomb Figurines, is a smaller rendition of her The Chinese Spirit Road: The Classical Tradition of Stone Tomb Statuary (Yale 1991). There is no need to have a trained eye or any knowledge of Chinese aesthetics to appreciate tomb figurines as they are shown by Paludan. She describes two types of figurines found in ancient tombs from the pre-Han era to the end of the Tang dynasty in chronological order - those made of clay and those made of stone. Despite their ‘ambivalent' attitude towards objects specifically made for tomb use, the Chinese 'dead were provided with replicas of worldly goods or talismans to help them' in their life in the nether world. Among the figurines reproduced in the book are mounted horsemen; acrobats and musicians; jesters and storytellers; houses for humans and a sty for pigs; and, above all, the ubiquitous 'fat lady' of the Tang dynasty. It is wondrous indeed to wander into the countryside of ancient China through the figurines, not unlike perusing Egyptian relics at the Metropolitan Museum for the first time. Readers will encounter colour, pageantry, glorious ceremonies and mundane everyday happenings; and, above all, 'there are no representations of death, illness, mutilation, or violence.' There is, on the other hand, a great deal of humour for readers to savour. WEI PEH TI ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1992 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qf85tx75x 'History can be well written only in a free country,' Voltaire once wrote in a letter to Frederick the Great in the early part of the 18th century. I am sure we all agree with these sentiments and objectives and we will attempt to continue to do what we are best at in order to achieve them. And what do we do from a practical point of view in order to achieve our objectives? There are four basic areas of activity; visits and expeditions to areas of historical interest, public lectures, the publication of the journal and increasing our library collection, and being a gentle pressure group and of assistance in improving Hong Kong's image when and where needed. I shall deal with each in turn and end with some facts and figures. I think it is safe to say that we have had one of the most active and interesting years in the history of the Society, and for that we need to thank the great efforts put in by the Programme Committee and particularly its chairman, Mr. Peter Leeds. When the organisation of this Society was put under the microscope of a management consultant a few years ago, one of its main recommendations was to form a number of committees each to look after an area of activity. Not all committees recommended really got off the ground in a very effective way but one of them that did was the Programme Committee. And over the last year the results are for all to see. I would like to inform you of those visits and expeditions and they are as follows: Visit Helena May / R.A.S. Quiz Visit to Fung Ping Shan Museum H.K. Park Aviary Visit to University Hall, Bethany & Pok Fu Lam Tea Ceremony Films - Hong Kong life Tour to China Arranger Anita Wilson & Rosemary Lee Michael Lau Ken Searle (Rosemary Lee) Peter Leeds / Des Robinson Michael Lau Elizabeth Sinn Peter & Rosemary Lee viii ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1992 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qf85tx75x shy of sharing their knowledge with us, possibly, and perhaps understandably, wishing to retain family privacy. Comparatively few of his autobiographical ‘facts' have been verified though he does assure us at the beginning of at least one of his autobiographical essays that it contains 'facts not fiction'. The autobiographical paragraphs and snippets scattered throughout his Miscellanies appear to have been honest and candid in so far as his revealed details. There is no reason to doubt anything he has written, anything dishonest, though with his statement that he is a 'self-proclaimed publicist,' one cannot help coming to the conclusion that there are times when he doth protest too much and that some of the details are slightly more supportive of his claims than one would have thought strictly true or indeed necessary. One is often left with more than a slight suspicion that Mesny had a touch of Walter Mitty about him, and in a number of his exploits one suspects he has embellished an already good story. The chapters of this biography on The Early Years, The Pacification of the Miao, and the Later Years, are to all intents and purposes autobiographical, and much of the substance of these chapters may seem to be grandiloquently worded, pompous and stilted. This is because I have transcribed most of the anecdotes written by Mesny in the first person singular into the 'third person' otherwise leaving the narrative as a whole as it was in the Miscellanies to provide the reader with a distinct and palpable feel for his personality. At least three potted biographies of Mesny have been written, beginning with an entry in Balleine's Biographical Dictionary.2 Later, a piece in The Pilot's first volume (July 1946) which described The (Jersey) Trinity Boy who became a Chinese General, under the general heading of ‘Adventurous Jerseymen.' This was repeated in The Pilot of July 1980. Douglas Ford of the Jersey Museum added a little to Balleine and The Pilot in his 'From Jersey to the Celestial Empire' [undated], and when the Jersey Post Office produced its stamp series in May 1992 commemorating the hundred and fiftieth anniversary of Mesny's birth they issued a short piece which added yet more about him. These were all laudatory describing Mesny's adventures and successes without portraying the unromantic and often wretched side to his life. These hyperbolised descriptions occasionally lead to erroneous claims such as the assertion that Mesny always wore Chinese clothes. In practice he wore foreign clothes most of the time and only donned Chinese robes for some fifteen years, when he had his photograph taken with his son and ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1993 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302 Lectures: 1993 16 April 14 May 11 June 9 July 15 October 30 October 19 November 26 November 9 December 1994 21 January 18 February 11 March 21 March Chinese Opera Di S.Y Chan Growing Up in China Mr Denis Bray New Territories Poetry and Song Di Patrick Hase The Li Family of Hong Kong Mr Frank Ching Chinese Festivals in Hong Kong. Dr Patrick Hase based on video taken by Mr. Peter Lee Mult-culturalism and Asia Asian Arts Society of Australia Dr. James Hayes Emigration from Hong Kong Dr. Elizabeth Sinn Law as a Foreign Language Professor Derek Roebuck Triad Societies in Hong Kong Mr. Ip Pau-fuk William Mesney. Mr Keith Stevens Chinese Clothing An Illustrated Guide Mis Valery Garrett Eternal Serenity Meaning of Architecture of the Chinese Buddhist Monastery Di Puay-peng Ho Ancient Chinese Gold Dr Simon Kwan Crossing the Taklamakan Desert Mr Charles Blackmore Visits: 1993 3 April 2 May 22 May 5 June/September 25 June 3 July 30 September Exhibition of paintings by Nancy Woo - Fung Ping Shan Museum, HK University Jewish Cemetery Mer Yung Tang Collection of Paintings by Chan Dai Chien Chinese University Art Gallery Marine Police Headquarters in Tsim Sha Tsui (two visits) Japanese Tea Ceremony - Fung Ping Shan Museum, HK University Picnic and outing to Yuen Tun Village Civil Aid Services Camp, Tar Lam Chung Wo Hang Village to see making and letting off of paper balloons (Moon Festival) ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1993 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302 193 H Details of the early Hakka examination successes are known from a recently recovered genealogy, of the Chan (陳) lineage of Nam Chung. It is understood that a copy of this genealogy will be deposited with the Hong Kong Museum of History. I am indebted to Mr Chan Wing-hot for drawing my attention to the information in this genealogy. Q Seen 8 At the time of the Block Crown Lease (1905), 12.68 acres of saltpans were recorded. However, the serious inadequacies of the first survey here led to another being conducted in 1912, when 17.11 acres were recorded. However, in 1912 two areas were left unclaimed, probably because storms had breached their bunds and ruined them. These two areas totalled about 3.3 acres. In addition, there were about 0.6 acres of houses, huts, and waste within the saltpan reclamation, which, therefore, totalled about 21.2 acres. The saltpans were very valuable property in the nineteenth century - the Basel missionaries (see below, n. 17) record the sale of a share by a Tam Shui Hang villager in 1882 for "several hundreds of dollars" (Basel Mission archive, doc. AT-16, Nr. 45). In the 1920s, however, and still more in the 1930s, cheap imported salt caused ever-growing problems, which led to the closure of the saltworks before the War. A bridge was built to the saltpans in 1934 (Administrative Reports for the Year 1934, App. J, "Report on the New Territories for 1934", p. J17). After the War, the abandoned saltworks became the site of a major squatter settlement, recently cleared. Today, the saltpan area has disappeared under new reclamation, and all that remains is a new Tin Hau Temple, replacing the old one previously on the saltpans, built on a new site on the new waterfront. For details of the history of the temples in the area, on the settlement of the Hakka in the area, the reclamation projects they undertook, the founding and management of the market at Sha Tau Kok, and the functioning of the Shap Yeuk as the district management body, see P.H. Hase, "The Alliance of Ten Settlements and Polities in the Sha Tau Kok Area", in D. Faure and H.S. Siu, eds., Down to Earth: The Territorial Bond in South China, Stanford University Press, 1995. 12. No details on the earlier history of the temple survived the very full restoration of 1894, but Shan Tsun elders believe it to be very old. 13. In the 1688 Gazetteer (Ch. 3) a ferry “along the coast” is mentioned called the "Ma Tseuk Ling Ferry". There can be no doubt that this is the ferry to Sha Yue Chung (Shayuchong, etc.), 12 miles down the coast. Ma Tseuk Ling, at the head of Starling Inlet, is the nearest old village to the Wu Shek Kok Temple (Wu Shek Kok village - probably a foundation of the early nineteenth century). The coasts of Starling Inlet within two or three miles of Ma Tseuk Ling were blocked with mudflats and mangrove everywhere except at Wu Shek Kok, where alone a hill falls steeply into the sea. Wu Shek Kok is, therefore, the only possible site for a "Ma Tseuk Ling Ferry" landing place. The Ma Tseuk Ling villagers owned the Wu Shek Kok Temple, and the Ma Tseuk Ling military post (1688 Gazetteer, ch. 7), was at Shek Chung Au, just a few hundred yards from Wu Shek Kok. These Ma Tseuk Ling connections with the Wu Shek Kok area strongly suggest that the Wu Shek Kok hill was regarded as forming part of the Ma Tseuk Ling area. Later, Wu Shek Kok formed part of the Ma Tseuk Ling Yeuk of the Shap Yeuk. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1994 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g 132 This is perhaps an appropriate place in which to put my last remembrance of a grand old man. In the mid 1980s, on one of my visits to New York, when he was approaching his 90th year but was yet active in mind and body, we had lunch together in the faculty club at Columbia. We then adjourned to a drawing room, to enable him to look at a draft paper I was preparing for publication, on which I had asked his advice. A watery sun shone through the fading curtains, onto the rather elderly carpet and furnishings in the large and otherwise deserted room. Goodrich looked through the long draft for about twenty minutes without saying a word, then told me that it was on the right lines and worth pursuing. It was good of him to take the trouble at his age, though I have since found that "Fu Hsien-seng", as he was called by his devoted former pupils, had a great reputation as a teacher and friend, 19 Our Printer Like many editors, I have been fortunate with printers, one of whom deserves a special mention. Lam Yung-fai ("Y.F." to his friends) was our RAS printer from the very first issue of the Journal in 1960. He was works manager of Ye Olde Punterie, Ltd., in Duddell Street, and printed the Journal and all other RAS publications almost up to his retirement in the early 1980s. From first to last, "Y.F." took a keen personal interest in our printing work. In those days, his firm's compositors were all elderly and experienced men. They were very efficient, but I knew that "Y.F." used to help me out by doing preliminary proof-reading, so that when I got to see the galley-proofs the number of errors in them was usually small; far less than when, facing rising charges after his firm was reorganized and re-equipped around 1980 and he went on semi-retirement, we turned to other printers. "Y.F." was a Hong Kong man, born and bred. Before the Second World War, he had been with the South China Morning Post, and was among those employees who helped bring out the first issues of the newspaper after the Colony was liberated at the end of August 1945. He gave me copies of these historic news-sheets, which are now in the Hong Kong Collection (Special Collections) at the Library of the University of Hong Kong, or the Museum of History, I forget which. One or two rare book items were also handed on for the Special Collections, and I had the satisfaction of looking at one recently, noting the Page 150 Page 151 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1994 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g 133 commemorative book plate. Another of Y F's gifts to me, was a tape recording of his recitation of Chinese prose and poetry from his former school textbook, the Kwu Man in the manner taught in his schooldays at a private academy in Hong Kong. This unique recording is now in the Museum of History, and was used as audio background to a recent exhibition there on the history of education in Hong Kong. "Y.F" had joined the Society in its early years, but was later made an Honorary Member in recognition of his interest and personal services to it over a long period. Until increasing debility made it impossible for him to attend, he used to accept our invitations to be a guest at the dinners that followed the Annual General Meetings, Local Tours During my long years as an office bearer of the Society in Hong Kong, I have organized many local tours for members and their friends. This was - and when I get the chance, still is – a labour of love. Year in year out, the "Local Tour Programme" has exploited the wide variety of topics and locations available for visits. In my time, they were made possible by the contacts generated by my government posts, and by the friendliness of the local people, who never hesitated to make us feel welcome. Always popular and well-attended, they have provided opportunities to view places and things of historical interest and see people in their home surroundings. In addition, some of the tours have enabled visitors to learn something of Hong Kong's modernization and progress over the years, especially in the New Territories where there is still an opportunity to see the new and the old side by side. On my regular visits to Hong Kong since coming to live in Sydney, I have been glad to see that the tradition continues and that the Local Tours Programme goes from strength to strength, with good attendances and the occasional need to repeat the more popular visits. This has reminded me of some "monster" visits, like the Hong Kong Island tour of November 1989, when I took four coach-loads to many locations one Saturday, and had to give members time to return to the buses at each location as, with such large numbers, "whipping in" was impossible. To convey the flavour of such visits, I have included a few notes of tours that took place in the last twenty-two years. They are included here to illustrate the scope and variety of the RAS programme, and may also bring back some happy memories of readers who took part. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1994 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g # THE STUDY OF LOCAL HISTORY IN HONG KONG: A REVIEW - ELIZABETH SINN 147 For the past few years, local history in Hong Kong has been enjoying a popularity which is quite unprecedented. Hong Kong's main historical museum, the Hong Kong Museum of History which attracted 224,756 visitors in 1995, will be replaced in 1997 by a new museum with an exhibition area three times its present size. In the New Territories, a brand new Heritage Museum devoted to Hong Kong's history, is scheduled to open in 1998, and it will be even larger. A recent school heritage festival, designed to heighten students' awareness of historical monuments and their conservation, created great enthusiasm. Local history is now often the theme of radio and television programmes and everywhere one turns, one sees books on Hong Kong history in both English and Chinese. On the academic front, Hong Kong history courses are offered at four universities and the number of postgraduate students working on the subject has also been growing. This paper seeks to trace the history of the study of local history in Hong Kong, to see how from very humble beginnings it has reached the stage of maturity today. It will examine the changes in approach, method and focus over time, and survey the various groups of practitioners in the field in the past 50 years. Lastly, it will look at some of the problems. ## Defining Local History in Hong Kong Hong Kong, not being a sovereign state, and being geographically very small - its total area is only a little over 1,000 sq km - it might be justified to some extent to categorize all historical studies about the territory as 'local history'. However, despite its smallness, Hong Kong is actually a very compact place. Its high population density and the richness and diversity of its historical experience make it possible to study its history on a macro-level as well as a micro-level. In this paper on local history, I shall only be referring to studies done on a sub-territorial and micro-level. Admittedly, the boundaries are hard to define, and it is not always possible to classify works as macro-level or micro-level studies in any clear-cut way. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1994 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g 158 On the one hand, government/semi-government institutions began to promote an awareness of local history and conservation of Hong Kong's heritage. We may see this as part of the government's 'community building' effort after the devastating riots of 1967. On the other hand, the demographics of Hong Kong have also changed. In the past, with their high mobility, people residing in Hong Kong had little sense of identity with the place. This led the Governor, Sir Alexander Grantham, to compare Hong Kong in the 1960s to a railway station; as people came, made money and moved on, it was a place with no roots. By the 1970s, things were no longer so. The generation which has grown up in the Territory after the war were much more rooted in the place and in the 1970s, as they came of age, they grew more curious about the history of their home city. A few actively sought knowledge through study and research; most of the others became willing customers of anything that might tell them more about Hong Kong. Institutionally, one focus of growth in the study of local history is the museums, the other, the Antiquities and Monuments Office (AMO). ## Museums Hong Kong's museums are run by the two municipal councils, the Urban Council and the Regional Council, which, besides being responsible for sanitation services, liquor licences and so on, are also responsible for enriching the quality of life in Hong Kong through promoting and providing recreation, sports and the arts. To give local history greater prominence, the Museum of History was separated out from the Urban Council's City Hall Museum and Art Gallery in 1975. At first, it operated only on a small scale, using rented premises in a multi-storeyed commercial building. In 1983, it moved into its own building, and subsequent extensions enlarged its exhibition area to 1520 sq m. A permanent exhibition, called the Story of Hong Kong, outlining 6,000 years of development from the Stone Age to modern times, was installed. It also stages thematic exhibitions from time to time: last year (1995), two out of three exhibitions were about Hong Kong; Hong Kong's Traditional Trades and Crafts, and Life Under the Japanese Occupation, 1941-45. The Museum runs two branch museums, the Law Uk Folk Museum, which is restored from a 19th century Hakka house, and the Lei Cheng Uk Branch Museum, which is centred on an excavated Eastern Han ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1994 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g 159 The Museum of History is also planning a museum of coastal defence of the Hong Kong region, to be built at the site of the former Lei Yue Mun fort, The Regional Council runs three historical museums. The first was the Sam Tung Uk Museum, housed in a restored Hakka walled village built in 1786. It was opened in 1987 as a folk museum specializing in the history of Hong Kong's rural areas. The Railway Museum is centred on an old railway station, and the Sheung Yiu Folk Museum is housed in an old fortified Hakka village. Together, the museums are the main venues where ordinary citizens, not to mention tourists, can learn about Hong Kong's past. Clearly it is not just exhibits that make a museum. Research is indispensable to provide support for any exhibition. The steady expansion of museums in the last decade had entailed much research input both by the museum staff and by commissioned researchers. The Museum of History, for example, in preparing for the opening of the museum of coastal defence, is busy sourcing for military items such as medals, guns, uniforms and so forth. At the same time, it is also conducting a full-scale two-year oral history project interviewing both civilians and military personnel on the Japanese invasion and the occupation period, to support the effort. Antiquities and Monuments Office 10 Another centre of local history research is the Antiquities and Monuments Office. Founded in 1976 initially to conduct archaeological work and conserve historical monuments, its work has become more diversified in the last few years. Through exhibitions, guided tours, publications, local studies and community involvement projects, it has helped to spread the message of heritage conservation. But, as in the case of the museums, its work cannot be done without research, and it is now also commissioning researchers to back up its routine work and special projects. Together, through publication, activities and exhibitions, the publicizing of local history by the museums and the AMO is being carried out with increasing efficiency and on a growing scale. All these activities, however, have placed great demands on those working on local history. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1994 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g 163 Problems So far I have been dwelling mostly on the progress of the study of local history, but that is not to imply that there are no problems. The truth is, there is still a lot of local history waiting to be done urgently. There are villages, streets, institutions, trades, interesting and significant personalities that are hardly documented. There are archives to be discovered, records to be catalogued and indexed, folk tales and personal accounts to be recorded. There are myths to be debunked. In face of rapid urbanization and large-scale emigration — and always, old people dying — we are losing materials at an alarming rate. Unlike most other places, Hong Kong's problem is not money. In fact, there is now ready money offered to fund research. The budget for the new Museum of History is HK$580 million (approx. US$74m) and for the Heritage Museum, HK$772 million (approx. US$98m), so there will be plenty to pay for research. Academics can, moreover, apply for funds from the University Grants Committee which seems to favour projects related to Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Jockey Club has been a consistent donor to projects related to heritage, and other local bodies such as District Boards have funded publications. In addition, there is the Wilson Heritage Trust Fund, named after the former governor Lord Wilson of Tillyorn and set up in 1992 to promote the preservation and conservation of Hong Kong's human heritage. To date, it has funded television programmes, conferences, student projects and a wide range of other activities. The problem is not so much money as manpower. Some of the pioneers of local history such as Barbara Ward and Lo Hsiang-lin have passed away. A number of experienced scholars have retired and emigrated, or have left Hong Kong universities to teach elsewhere. In a way, this is not a total loss, for David Faure and Bernard Luk are actually taking Hong Kong studies to Oxford and Toronto where they now teach. But the fact is that they are not here and can no longer supervise the kind of fieldwork they did in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The sudden surge in demand for researchers created by the rapid expansion of the Museums and the Antiquities and Monuments Office both highlights and aggravates the problem of manpower shortage. One obvious example is while the AMO has been granted a donation of Page 180 Page 181 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1994 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g 164 over HK$4 million to do a Territory-wide survey of historical buildings almost a year ago, work has yet to start partly because they are unable to line up enough qualified people to lead the survey (the Heritage Museum will be flying in scholars to help with its exhibitions - one a Canadian anthropologist who has been doing work in Hong Kong on and off since the 1960s, and the other an English design historian who returned to teach in the UK four years ago). There are simply not enough bodies! The same 10 historians or so are burdened with research projects; advising the museums and AMO, advising radio and television programmes, exhibitions, even film; being interviewed by local and international newspapers; adjudicating photo competitions and students' projects; designing teaching materials for secondary schools; besides doing a full-time job of teaching and administration! Although a number of postgraduate students have written on Hong Kong history for their degree, many became secondary school teachers, civil servants, joined the private sectors, even the museum system as administrators, rather than pursue a career in research. The problem is, unlike England for example, there is no army of amateur local historians (or local history societies) who study their own parish, church, village, street... as a hobby. In Hong Kong, local history is much more a consumer item than a participatory item. Despite the increased participation in projects by school and university students in the last decade or so, there is little sustained effort after the project is completed, few taking the initiative to continue research as a hobby. Thus, the main burden still falls upon those few scholars, every one of whom is spread desperately thin. There is a yawning gap, and what is missing is what we might call 'middle management' - budding scholars who can take on a project independently, without the supervision of a more senior scholar. One worries also that the glamour of the marketplace might lure scholars away from serious scholarship. Why bother with painstaking collection and analysis of materials, criticism of text and interpretation of data when all one has to do is tell a good story to sell books? How does one strike a balance between pursuing serious research, which is almost by definition esoteric and exclusive, and serving the public? There is another minor problem: items for research are now becoming much more difficult to come by. One effect of the growing popularity of... ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1994 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g 167 Kong, HIIKBRAS, vol. 14 (1974) pp 12-27 and his Facilities for Research on the Public Records Office of Hong Kong, in Alan Birch, Y C Jao and Elizabeth Sinn (eds) Research Materials for Hong Kong Studies, (Hong Kong Centre of Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong, 1984) pp 153-192 16 In 1994, the Executive Council instructed that all records over thirty years old should be reviewed, this does not automatically mean opening the files to the public, and some materials are re-classified. Applications for use still have to go to the generating agent (department) for approval. But it is now much easier to get access to records over 30 years old. 17 Peter Young, The Hung On-Lo Memorial Library, the Hong Kong Collection, in Alan Birch, Y C Jao and Elizabeth Sinn (eds), pp. 137-152 IX The most current project is an index to CO129, the Colonial Office Original Correspondence series on Hong Kong, from 1841-1926, containing about 45,000 despatches. The index, put on CD-Rom, operates on the basis of search by keywords. The chief investigator of the project is Elizabeth Sinn who currently runs the Hong Kong History Workshop. Her major works include Power and Charity. The Early History of the Tung Wah Hospital, Hong Kong (Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 1989) and Growing with Hong Kong: The Bank of East Asia 1919-1994 (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1994). 19 Peter Y L. Ng. The 1819 Edition of the Hsin-an Hsien-chih a critical examination with translation and notes. Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories, 1644-1842 (Unpublished M.A. Thesis, University of Hong Kong, 1961). The work was published many years later as New Peace County: A Chinese Gazetteer of the Hong Kong region, prepared for press and with additional materials by Hugh D.R. Baker, (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1983). 20 Ng Lun Ngai-ha, Interaction of East and West: Developments of Public Education in Early Hong Kong (Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 1984). 21 Other scholars include L.Y. Chiu, K.C. Chan, K.C. Fok, Ming K. Chan, Elizabeth Sinn and Steve Tsang at the HKU, David Faure and Bernard Luk at the Chinese University, John Young, Fung Pui-wing and Chung Po Yin (much later) at the Baptist University, and later Choi Chi-cheong and Liu Dik Sang at the University of Science and Technology - although not all of them are, or would agree to being labelled as, practitioners of local history. 22 Patrick Hase, Research Materials for Village Studies, in Alan Birch, Y C Jao and Elizabeth Sinn (eds) Research Material for Hong Kong Studies (Ibid) pp. 31-46 23 David Faure, Bernard H.K. Luk and Alice Ngai-ha Lun Ng (comp.) Historical Inscriptions of Hong Kong, 3 volumes (Hong Kong Museum of History, 1986). 24 David Faure, Bernard H.K. Luk and Alice Ngan-ha Lun Ng, The Hong Kong Region According to Historical Inscriptions, in David Faure, James Hayes and Alan Birch (eds). From Village to City: Studies in the Traditional Roots of Hong Kong Society (Hong Kong Centre of Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong, 1984) pp 43-54 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1995 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/95941j25g 9 Feb 96 Locomotives of the Sugar Railways of Java Mr Brian Pearce 8 Mar 96 Paper Folkfore Dr Janet Scott In addition to these lectures we have had a series of 8 lectures given in association with the exhibition on buildings in Hong Kong presented jointly by the Society and the Antiquities and Monuments Office as follows: Title Lecturer Villages in the New Territories Dr. Patrick Hase Kowloon Walled City (in Cantonese) Dr. Elizabeth Sinn Approach to Conservation - Work on Historic Buildings in Hong Kong (in Cantonese) Mr S L. Lam The Space and Face of 19th Century Urban in Hong Kong The Rey Carl Smith The Military Installations in Guangdong Coastal Area during the Qing Dynasty (in Cantonese) Dr. Anthony Siu The Architecture of Necessity: On the inhabiting of City Form and Space in Hong Kong Mr. Desmond Hu Our Heritage: Hong Kong's Old Chinese and Colonial Buildings Dr. Daniel Waters The Three Hamlets of Mut Wo - Pak Mong, Tu Ho and Ngau Kwu Long Dr. Joseph Ting (in Cantonese) The response to these was excellent even though they were held on a Saturday afternoon. It was particularly gratifying to note that four were presented in Cantonese, Many of the lecturers are with us to-night and we welcome them as our guests. In addition to the above no less than 15 visits within Hong Kong and three visits outside Hong Kong have been organised as follows: Date Place 7 May 95 Tam Kung Festival, Shaukerwan 13 May 95 Maryknoll Fathers, Stanley 27 May 95 Balthus Exhibition, HK Museum of Art 15 Jun 95 1st Battalion, The Royal Gurkha Rifles, Malaysia Lines xi ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1995 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/95941j25g I Jul 95 19 Aug 95 23 Sept 95 18 Nov 95 Traditional Trades and Crafts of Hong Kong - HK Museum of History (Exhibition) Heaven's Embroidered Cloths A Thousand Years of Chinese Textiles (Exhibition) - HK Museum of Art Life Under the Japanese Occupation 1941-45 (Exhibition) - HK Museum of History Exhibition of Chinese Folk Art - HK University Museum and Art Gallery New Territories Temples and Da Jiu at Kam Tin 26 Nov 95 16 Dec 95 Jade Exhibition - HK University Museum and Art Gallery 13 Jan 96 Prince of Wales Barracks and former HMS Tamar Site 20 Jan 96 Villages of the north eastern New Territories 10 Feb 96 Walk through the deserted villages of Sai Kung 9 Mar 96 Maritime Silk Route (Exhibition) - HK Museum of History 16 Mar 96 Organic Farm on Lamma Island Visits outside Hong Kong: 22/23 Apr 95 Dapeng, Xin'an County 2/3 Feb 96 14/17 Mar 96 Bocca Tigris Forts of the Pearl River Temples of northern Taiwan Such activity demands some very dedicated organisers and besides those already mentioned in the Activities Committee we are particularly grateful to Dr. Joseph Ting, Dr. Anthony Siu, Mr. John Wilson, Mr. Philip Bruce, Dr. Patrick Hase, Mr. David Sheil and Dr. Michael Lau for their help. Sometimes not all members can obtain places on these outings and I would like to say that we are quite willing to run the trip again provided we can find someone to assist in organising it. In fact, if any member is willing to propose any trip to somewhere of interest the Society will always be prepared to consider it. There is one other activity to which I would like to draw your ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1995 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/95941j25g The MacIntosh Cathedrals R.G. Horsnell 171 Introduction The author of this article has been working in Hong Kong since 1971. He started in the Architectural Office of the old Public Works Department, and is at present a Chief Maintenance Surveyor in the Architectural Services Department which celebrated its Tenth Anniversary in 1996. He has been assisting the Antiquities and Monuments Office in recording historical buildings and structures since 1992. In this article, he gives a brief history of the police border observation posts known as the MacIntosh Cathedrals, which were named after Commissioner of Police, Mr. D.W. MacIntosh, whose idea it was to build them. The article has been compiled from information in the Hong Kong Police Force Library, also the Force Museum in Coombe Road to which due acknowledgements are made. In 1945, when Hong Kong was liberated, the population was estimated at 500,000. As the Territory regrouped and normality returned, it saw an upturn in immigration and by the end of 1947, the population had increased to an estimated 1,800,000. In 1948/49, as a result of unsettled conditions in China caused by the civil war and the increasing successes of the communist armies, a large influx of refugees from the mainland commenced. Approximately 750,000, mainly from Kwantung Province, Shanghai, and other commercial centres, entered Hong Kong during 1949 and early 1950. This reached its height in the Spring of 1950, when the estimated population was 2,360,000. Amongst the refugees were the defeated remnants of the Kuo Min Tang Nationalist armies and also a fair number of common criminals. Arms of all descriptions were available, and gangs of armed men raided villages near the Border. There were frequent gun battles between the police and gangsters, and there were several cases of policemen being killed and their revolvers stolen. In May 1949, two incidents occurred on the Border, which were to lead to a change of design and use of police posts in that particular area. On May 2, 1949, a four-man police patrol left Ta Kwu Ling Police ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1995 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/95941j25g 176 14 1966, at the age of 62. His name is remembered in Hong Kong not only in the MacIntosh Cathedrals, but also in the MacIntosh tartan kilts of the Force Band. In the Force Museum in Coombe Road a special display case is dedicated to Commissioner MacIntosh and is full of memorabilia including a brass model of a MacIntosh Cathedral which was presented to him on his retirement by his Chief Inspectors and donated to the museum by his widow. In conclusion although the MacIntosh Cathedrals are perhaps not architecturally significant, they have a certain appeal and are historically important as a key element in the development and improvement of Hong Kong's frontier defences and in the control of illegal immigration in the post-war years. REFERENCES Policing Hong Kong, pamphlet by D W MacIntosh, CMG, OBE, Commissioner of Police, Hong Kong, 1952 Observation Posts, by Sub-Inspector ME Davis, The Hong Kong Police Magazine, Vol 3 #4. Dec 1953 Asia's Finest : An Illustrated Account of the Royal Hong Kong Police, by Kevin Sinclair, Unicorn Books Lid, 1983 Force History: Origins of Border MacIntosh Cathedrals, by Mike Watson, "Off Beat", Mar 22, 1989 Byways of History : Territory Regroups After the War Years, South China Morning Post, Dec 12, 1989 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1996 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/3n209j641 14 February 28 February 7 March, Rethinking the Market Town Through Festivals in Contemporary China, ' Helen Siu Fung-har The Confucian Examination Hall at Jia Ding,' by Dr Betty Wei Peh-T'i "The Hong Kong Diary, 1849-1857, of John Francis Evelyn Wright, 'by Mr Christopher Munn. In addition the following three lectures were jointly organised by the Royal Asiatic Society and the Museum of Art in conjunction with the latter's exhibition on 'Views of the Pearl River Delta-Macau, Canton and Hong Kong." 23 November 24 November 'Two Hundred Years of Collecting Chinese Export Art at the Peabody Essex Museum,' by William Sargent. The Thirteen Factories in Guangzhou,' by Dr Joseph Ting. + 27 November Change and Continuity in Macau, 'by Reverend Carl Smith. In addition to lectures the Branch has organised a number of other functions, such as visits, both in Hong Kong and outside the Territory. These were as follows: 1996 Place 20 April Walking Tour of Historic Sites in Central District. 11 May Boat Trip to View Dolphins off Lantau. 8 June 13 July Historical Sites in Kowloon Guided Tour of Exhibition. 'Teatime in Flanders,' Museum of Teaware. xiv Page 15 Page 16 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1996 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/3n209j641 21 September 27 September 12 October 2 November 9 November 30 November 7 December 1997 18 January 21 January 8 March Dinner at Police Training School. New Territories Mid-Autumn Festival Fire Lanterns Joint Seminar with the South China Research Circle and the Antiquities and Monuments Office The Future Kam Tin Heritage Trail The Defence of Leighton Hill During the 1941 Battle for Hong Kong. The 'Da Tsiu' Festival at Nga Tsin Wai Village, Kowloon. Art Treasures from Shanghai and Hong Kong A Guided Tour, University of Hong Kong Museum and Art Gallery. Views of the Pearl River Delta · Macau, Canton and Hong Kong, Exhibition held at Museum of Art Visit to Government House and the Legislative Council Building. Visit to Hop Yat Church, the Hong Kong Medical Science Museum and the Man Mo Temple. Visits outside Hong Kong 19-21 October Visit to Guangzhou and Whampoa 14-17 November Temple Tour of Central Taiwan. With 17 lectures and 16 visits it is not surprising if the odd person has been heard to say, probably partly tongue in cheek, that we have too many functions. The rubric would appear to be, however, how XV ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1997 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579 Accommodation During the past few years our Branch's stock of Journals and other items have been kept at the Main Library in the Chinese University. In the autumn of 1997 we moved this stock to the new Public Records Office, in Kwun Tong. We are grateful to both these establishments for their assistance. As a small token of our appreciation we presented to both bodies a full set of RASHKB Journals. We have for a number of years been talking about obtaining permanent Branch accommodation. In the middle of the last century Sir George Bonham, then Governor of Hong Kong, provided the RAS with a room in the old Supreme Court Building. When our Branch visited Shanghai, at Easter 1997, we were able to see the building which was erected originally by the old North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, in the 1930s. This was, unfortunately, commandeered by the Communists in 1949. It now serves as a bank. The books in the Shanghai RAS Library and the exhibits in the RAS Museum (said by some to have been the first museum in China) were also requisitioned. At present our Office Bearers, some of whom put in several hours of RAS work a week on a voluntary basis, often find it more convenient to work from their homes. Caution is obviously needed before our Branch buys or rents a 'home of its own'. During 1997 Branch overheads ran at HK$13,750.00 a month. If we had our own premises, with expenses like maintenance, services and rates, this figure would increase considerably. Possessions During the past year we also made a survey of our archives which are on permanent loan to other institutions, such as to the University of Hong Kong. They include items like the Nixon Buddhist Scroll and photographs of Nestorian Crosses. Also, during the year, a number of our files have been placed on permanent loan with the Public Records Office. The same applied to an interesting collection of photographs and papers, from the estate of the late Arnold Graham, which gave an account of his long life in Shanghai and Hong Kong. We are grateful xvi ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1997 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579 15-16 November 1997 14-15 March 1998 Visit to Huizhou (Waichau), Guangdong Province, Messrs Peter Rull, Phillip Bruce and Dr Joseph Ting. Visit to Bocca Tigris, Drs Anthony Stu and Joseph Ting. Visits within Hong Kong 1997 20 April 14 May 14 June 19 July Field Trip to Champion-Calibre Trees on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon, Professor C.Y. Jim. One day visit to Macau for Drunken Dragon Dance und Tum Kung Festival, Mr Geoffrey Roper From Beijing to Versailles, Hong Kong Museum of Art Guided Gallery Visit. Hong Kong Horse Racing Museum and Hong Kong Cemetery, Happy Valley, Reverend Carl Smith and Professor C.Y. Jim. 16 September Wo Hang to see hot air balloons, Dr Patrick Hase. 27 September Chek Lap Kok Airport and Tung Chung, Mr Phillip Bruce. 19 October History through Maps- map exhibition at Museum of History, Mr S.C. Tam 22 November University of Hong Kong Museum and Library, Mr Y.C. Wan. 6 December Walking tour of Shalotung, Mr Edward Stokes. xxiii ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1997 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579 1998 17 January 30 January 7 February 21 March Reference Gems of Chinese Art, Guided Gallery Visit at the Hong Kong Museum of Art. Lunar New Year Visit to places of worship in Tai Po District, Dr Patrick Hase. Walking Tour of Stanley, Messrs Jason Wordie and Geoffrey Roper, Gallery tours of Tsui Museum of Art and Hong Kong University Museum and Art Gallery, Mrs Vallery Garrett. 1. RASHKB Journals, vol. 33, 1993, p. xii; and vol. 34, 1994, p. xi. Dr D.D Waters ISO, President xxiv ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1997 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579 HON. LIBRARIAN'S REPORT As of 15 March 1998, the library collection had increased to 3,429 volumes. A total of 240 volumes were added during the year. There was a reduction of books purchased by Dr. James Hayes from Australia. However, a large donation was received from the Command Library (British Armed Forces Library), amounting to around 60 books. Most of these books are about Hong Kong, China and Southeast Asia. Donations of books were also received from Dr. Gillian Bickley, Dr. James Hayes, Dr. Li Shu-fan, Mrs. Patricia Lim, Mr. Liang Xi-hua, Dr. Elizabeth Sinn, Dr. Anthony Siu, and The Hong Kong Archaeology Society. Members of the Royal Asiatic Society visited the Hong Kong Collection of the University of Hong Kong Libraries together with the Hong Kong University Museum on 22 November 1997. The comprehensive collection of books, records, newspapers, microfilms and other documents is renowned as the best collection relating to Hong Kong in the territory. The group was given a guided tour by the curator of the Special Collections, Mr Y.C. Wan. Mr. Wan also gave a brief history of the unique collections in the Rare Book Room. Members were particularly interested in the antique maps of Hong Kong and China. To help publicise and promote the Royal Asiatic Society, Hong Kong Branch, as part of the University of Hong Kong Libraries' digital project, it was suggested that selected articles of the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society could be mounted on the HKU Libraries web server for wider access. The proposal is still under consideration because of copyright concern. Consent of the authors is required to launch the project. As of November 1997, the RAS Collection is available for searching on the Internet (http://www.uc.gov.hk/ucpl) via the On-line Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) of the Provisional Urban Council Public Libraries. Users may search the catalogue by author, title, subject, and/or keywords. The RAS collection is one of the special collections in the City Hall Library. xxxiii ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1997 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579 31 Certainly, for heavy duty scaffolding laid out on a grid pattern, say when constructing a flyover and for other civil engineering work, metal scaffolding has advantages. Metal has already taken over in some cases from timber in areas such as hoardings around building sites and for site offices, when containers are sometimes utilised. Also, on large projects managed by the Government Housing Department, precast concrete units are used together with gondolas. This does away with much scaffolding. Although the change from bamboo scaffolding to metal has been much slower than many people expected over the past 40 years, especially with a limited number of trainee scaffolders entering the trade, the changing to metal can be expected to continue. Nevertheless, one can expect bamboo scaffolding, with its many advantages, to be in use for many years to come. Acknowledgements The author is grateful to Mr Albert Tong Yat Chu, Mr Cho Hon Chiu and scaffolding instructor Master Chor Keung, all of the Construction Industry Training Authority, for the information and photographs they supplied. The author is also grateful to Mr Jimmy C. M. Yuen, of the Occupational Safety and Health Council and to Mr S. L. Lam, Senior Architect of the Architectural Services Department, for their assistance. REFERENCES 1. TC Lai, Hasem Role. Philip Mao, Hings Chinese (Hong Kong, 1971), pp 13 and 14 2. Shrona Anbe, Fhustle ontd Bamboo, the Life and Times of St. James Stewart Lockhart, Oxford University Press (1989), p. 58 3. Alfred Russel Wallace, FRS (1823-1913) British naturalist, widely travelled, had many publications to his credit. See Chambers Biographical dictionary (Revised edition 1961) 4. Ho So, The Craft of Chinese Scaffolding, Ho So Kee Construction and Scaffolding Co (Hong Kong, circa 1974), p 3 5. Naomi Yin-yin Szeto, 'Bamboo Scaffolding”, of Hearts and Hands Hong Kong's Traditional Trades and Crafts, ed Joseph Ting, Urban Council Museum of History (Hong Kong, 1995), P 219 6. Ho, loc cit 7. Anthony Walker and Stephen M. Rowlinson, The Building of Hong Kong, The Hong Kong Construction Association, Hong Kong University Press (1990), p 121-131 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1997 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579 138 likely each walled, using courtyards to form internal spaces for living and congregating and no formal external spaces for public gatherings. The latter structures were erected by Portuguese engineers, naval officers and church officials according to the general principles of building of their culture and time. The city was immediately divided into two - a fortified western city and housing for the Chinese outside the walls. In the course of these first three centuries of occupation, we see a growing formalisation of the city. The earliest map we can find of the city is one published in 1796 by Sir George Staunton in his report on the Macartney embassy to China (Hong Kong Museum of Art 1996). Redrawn for clarity here as Figure 1, the original is annotated to identify six forts, three parishes, two colleges, four convents, four chapels and sixteen locations of note, including two Chinese temples. There are obvious mistakes in the overall shoreline when compared to more modern surveys but the form of the city can be seen. The inner and primary harbour is on the northwest shore which is more protected. The outer harbour on the southeast, the Praia Grande, is lined with buildings, Figure 1: 1796 including the governor's house, the houses of leading traders and significant ecclesiastical institutions. At the southern tip is a hill on which forts and churches stand, with temples as its base. The urban pattern is one that urban theorists in Europe such as Camillo Sitte would be familiar with and perhaps use as an exemplar. Organic growth between the Praia Grande and the harbour has led to narrow winding streets that open into wider intersections. Plazas are formed adjacent to the significant churches. A large market square is found in the middle of the city. The fabric of the city is woven from filaments of narrow lanes and nodes where people gather. Although we have no earlier maps of the city, the same pattern can be seen in the 1598 engraving of Macao (Amacao) by Theodore de Bry (Hong Kong Museum of Art 1996) with the Praia, the harbour, squares and churches. Looking at the 1898 map (Figure 2, from Hurley 1898), we see the ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1997 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579 144 collected history of the enclave. REFERENCES Brito, R. de S.: 1962, Imagens de Macau Agencia General do Ultramar, Lisboa Duncan, C.: 1987, "Development of Macau's City Landscape" in Macau, City of Commerce and Culture R.D. Cremer, ed. UEA Press, Hong Kong Hong Kong Museum of Art: 1996, Views of the Pearl River Delta Urban Council of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Hurley, R.C.: 1898, Tourist Guide to Canton and Macau Ch'eng Wen Publishing Company, Taipei, reprinted 1973 Pires, B.V.: 1987, "Origins and Early History of Macau" in Macau, City of Commerce and Culture R. D. Cremer, ed. UEA Press, Hong Kong Prescott J.A.: 1993, editor Macaensis Momentum Hewell Publications, Macau Seurre, J.: 1996, “Macau 1996: the Die is Cast" China Perspectives No. 4, March/April Wang W.J.: 1997 “Is There a Plaza in Chinese Public Space" in Proceedings of The Second International Symposium on Asia Pacific Architecture: The Making of Public Places, Hawaii Woodward, C.: 1992, Barcelona Manchester University Press, Manchester ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1997 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579 163 EASTER, 1997 IN SHANGHAI: NOTES ON THE RAS HK VISIT GEOFFREY ROPER There are close parallels between the histories of the RAS Branches formed in the two China coastal ports of Hong Kong and Shanghai. Both were formed in the 19th Century and originally under different names. That in Hong Kong was first formed in 1847 as The Philosophical Society of China, but in the same year became the China Branch of the RAS, later again to become the Hong Kong Branch. The Branch in Shanghai was first formed in 1857 as the Shanghai Literary and Scientific Society, but soon became known as the North China Branch of the RAS.1 Both Branches underwent temporary periods of closure. The North China Branch finally closed in 1949. It had been a very active cultural organisation, with a renowned Library, totalling some 14,000 volumes in 1948, located on the second floor of the Branch's own building. Since 1949 little had been heard outside China of the fortunes of that Library, although in recent years it had become known that it was housed in the Shanghai Municipal Library. News in 1996 that Shanghai Municipal Library was to be rehoused in new premises rekindled interest in the RAS Library, whilst at the same time much was heard of another feature of Shanghai's cultural renaissance, the new premises of the Shanghai Museum. So there was good support amongst members and friends when the Hong Kong Branch decided to organise a visit to Shanghai for Easter, 1997. After a considerable amount of prior liaison and preparation by the Activities Committee, a thirty-seven strong party flew off from Hong Kong on the morning of Good Friday, the 28th March, reaching Shanghai in time for an afternoon visit to the new Shanghai Museum at 201 People's Avenue. For many years the old Museum in Henan Road had been famous not only for the high quality of the objects on display but also for the high number of items in storage, for the size of the premises permitted an age of what was available. As our party, led by President Dan Waters and Vice President ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1997 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579 178 the Branch's Catalogue of the Library, 2nd edition (1982). (d) Again it has not been possible to trace a tape recording made by K.M.A. Barnett for a RASHKB symposium. The title of the talk was The Measurement of Elapsed Time in Hong Kong: the Chinese Calendar, its Uses and Value. An edited transcript of the talk may be found in RASHKB proceedings of the symposium, titled, Some Traditional Chinese Ideas and Conceptions in Hong Kong Social Life Today (October 1966) pages 36 to 53. (2) Held by Hong Kong University Museum and Art Gallery (a) Photographs Nixon, F.A. [Nixon collection of 991 bronze Nestorian crosses: albums of photographs Five albums. 34 x 417 centimetres Each cross photographed from above, below, and side view. For description of the collection, see Drake, F. S., 'Nestorian crosses and Nestorian Christians in China under the Mongols' in RASHKB Journal, volume 2, 1962, pages 11-25. (b) Scroll Buddhist scripture of the Tang dynasty presented by Mr F.A. Nixon. 大般若經 大般若波羅蜜多經卷第四百九十四第三分善現品第三之十三 三藏法師奉詔譯 1 葉44 × 24 公分卷軸 敦煌殘卷26 行行 17 字 Presented by Mr. F.A. Nixon. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 Appendix B Local Visits 21 March, 1998, T.T. Tsui Gallery and Hong Kong University Gallery with lunch at Luk Yu Tea House, with Dr Michael Lau. 16 May, Return visit to view dolphins with Lindsay Porter. 21 November, Buddhist Treasures, exhibition at Fung Ping Shan Museum, led by Catherine Maudesly. 5 December, Gems of Ancient Chinese Inventions exhibition at Hong Kong Museum of History, led by Osmond Chan. 16 January, 1999, Egyptian Treasures from the British Museum exhibition at Hong Kong Museum of Art proceeded by lunch at the Mariners Club. Exhibition tour led by Rosa Lee. 13 March, Walk on Lantau from Pak Mong and Tai Ho to Mui Wo followed by tea at the Bunkers' residence. Visits outside Hong Kong 10-13 April, 1999, The Backstreets of Beijing, led by Dr Joseph Ting. 1-6 October, Ningbo, Putuoshan and Chusan, led by Geoffrey Roper and Keith Stevens. 7-8 November, Macau: Heritage, Preservations and Portuguese Delights, led by Valery Garrett. xxii ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 Appendix C RASHKB Projects Undertaken during the 1998/9 Year (a) Photographic Exhibition: From 25 to 27 May, 1998, the RASHKB held a photographic exhibition on the overhead walkway leading from the Landmark building to Swire House. The RASHKB photographs of Western and Sheung Wan aroused considerable interest among the public. The main purpose of the exhibition was to boost RAS membership. Although many RAS members helped mount and man the exhibition, most of the planning and the bulk of the work was undertaken by Robert Nield and Tim Ko. Members Philip Bruce and Arthur Hacker also helped plan the recruitment drive, with the latter designing a new RAS brochure assisted by Dr Michael Lau for the Chinese translation. We are grateful to all who assisted in any way. (b) Tracing Graves: From July to September our Branch was involved with tracing seven graves for the British Association of Cemeteries in South Asia. The requests to trace these graves came from descendants of the deceased living in Britain. Four of the graves were traced in Happy Valley and Carl Smith was able to trace, from his card index system, that the fifth person had died in Ningbo. The bulk of the research in Hong Kong was undertaken by Dr Dan Waters with help from the Government Urban Services Department. (c) Samuel Cornell Plant (1866-1921): Commencing in September as an ongoing project, two of our overseas members, Captain A.C. Bromfield and Mrs Rosemary Lee, have been assisting the British Association of Cemeteries in South Asia research the life of Captain Plant. He was an inspector in the Chinese Maritime Customs on the dangerous upper section of the Yangtze River and he and his wife are buried in Happy Valley. The RASHKB has been involved at the Hong Kong end where research has been undertaken by Dr Dan Waters. (d) The National Library of China: From 17-24 January, 1999, RASHKB member Dr Kazimiera Gasztine worked in the National Library in Beijing, in an honorary capacity, assisting staff translate passages into English, and writing synopses of the contents of old and rare works. It is understood there is in the region of 4,000 such books in the Beijing library in languages about which the staff at the National Museum... xxiii ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 This paper's main aim is to compare Chinese humour with Western humour, although, again to narrow the field, of these two forms emphasis is placed on Cantonese as compared to English humour. There is of course common ground; but many Chinese wisecracks are not considered really funny outside China. This paper looks at an assortment of jokes, including Western and Chinese. Many are 'lowbrow.' It also looks at the everyday humour of ‘old 100 names' (, the common man). To round this study off, conclusions are arrived at. Because it concentrates on Cantonese humour it uses the Cantonese style of Romanisation rather than the more modern Pinyin. # Introduction The British Museum's Egyptology Department has researched the bawdy fun and games that went on in the land of the Pyramids more than 4,500 years ago.3 Many of the gags which are still portrayed in the form of stone carvings centre around ‘adult jokes,' drunkenness, vomiting and sexual exhibitionism. With language and communications intertwined with culture, these antics were very much part of the humour which developed with the environment of the times (Lexikon der Agyptologie; 1997). Culture, the framework that provides people with their identity, includes not only language and communications but also multifarious parts of everyday life: such as dress and appearance, food and eating habits, and how people perceive and appreciate themselves in relation to the society in which they live. Culture also includes relationships, values and norms, beliefs and attitudes, work habits and practices, and the relationship between work and leisure and so on. Any of these aspects of culture, as well as entertainment and sex, can, of course, be related in some way to humour. All this is very much related to one's cultural background. In a completely different culture in Egypt, four-and-a-half millennia ago, what has been described as 'the oldest joke in the world' is recorded on a slip of papyrus (Pharaohs thigh slapper; 1998). Translated it went something like this. How do you entertain a bored pharaoh? You sail a boatload of young, attractive women wearing only nets down the Nile and invite the pharaoh to go and catch a fish. Although the ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 15 ing is as good as a session of aerobics. Cousins' book has become a classic. It has been said that people laugh more in a warmer climate than they do in the cold north, which, up to a point, is understandable. Opening your mouth too wide lets in the cold! But certainly, as we have seen, senses of humour can differ from the north to the south of Europe, and from country to country. They can also change considerably across Asia. There are differences even among the population of China, from one region or one sub-ethnic group of people to another. Many of the latter have their own dialects which, many insist, may be classified as separate languages in their own right. In China, jokes about politics often go down better in Beijing, the capital city of the country and the heart of Government; whereas Shanghai is the major commercial centre in the People's Republic on the Mainland. The People's Daily is purported to have quoted the Chinese joke about an alien being captured in China (HK Standard, 1998). In Shanghai, so it was written, they would dissect it for medical research. Beijingers, conversely, would send it to a museum as an educational exhibit, while the Cantonese, who eat anything whose back faces the sky and has four legs, except a table, would ask, 'which part of the creature can be braised in brown sauce?' Part-time comedian Brent Ambacher, long-time resident in Hong Kong, told the author that he had been unable to think of any similar jokes about Hong Kong people. Quite rightly, making fun of people today because of their origins is usually frowned upon, as is the cracking of sexist and racist jokes. Many squirm at 'black humour' which is too close to the bone. Yet in Hong Kong the term gweilo (meaning 'ghost person' or 'foreign devil') may, or, as the term is so widely used, may not carry pejorative intentions. Certainly not everyone agrees with the latter, and Frank Ching, the well-known Hong Kong journalist, on more than one occasion has said he never uses the term and that to say it is not derogatory is to deny the obvious (Waters, 1995; 146). Nevertheless, a number of Westerners, especially British, use the term as a self-deprecating form of humour. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 43 Sources and acknowledgements A considerable amount of material in this paper has been drawn from the author's own experiences. Much of it he has heard with his own ears rather than just repeating what he has read or what others have told him. This information has been gleaned over a period of four-and-a-half decades living and working with Chinese in Hong Kong and while visiting cities and regions in the People's Republic of China and while visiting overseas Chinese communities. The author is grateful to a number of Hong Kong comedians, including Reuben M., Brent Ambacher, Harry Wong and Michael Hui. He is also grateful to a number of Chinese friends, such as Howard Young, Legislative Councillor, Joseph Chow, civil engineer and businessman, who enjoy amusing their friends, both Chinese and Western, by telling jokes. Thanks are also due to Nury Vittachi, journalist, author and part-time comic. The author also acknowledges help received from Dr Kristin Stapleton of the University of Kentucky, Carol A R Andrews of the British Museum, Josephine Khu and Dr Sandra Tsang of Hong Kong University, Dr Elizabeth Sinn of the Centre of Asian Studies, Hong Kong University, and Catherine Lau of the Hong Kong Fringe Club. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 124 school in Chefoo in Shantung province before returning to England where he attended the Bath Art and Technical School. There he studied art before switching to Bristol University to read for a BSc in science. He would appear to have given up his higher education following the shattering of his romantic aspirations when he ran away to sea and worked his passage to Canada. He toiled for a while in Canada before returning to his parents in Taiyuan in 1905 with vague plans to hunt and explore the wild and barren areas of north China; he was twenty at the time. In practice he took up a teaching appointment at the Anglo-Chinese College in Tientsin and only during the vacations was he able to hunt and seek specimens for the natural history museum he was establishing at the college. From the vague evidence available he would appear to have remained at the school for only a matter of a year as he was invited at the end of the final term to join the Duke of Bedford's expedition to collect zoological specimens in Shensi province for the British Museum. Shensi is the neighbouring province to Shansi and lies to its west. The Duke of Bedford's expedition travelled through Sowerby's home province of Shansi where they lived for a week or so in one of the typical village cave houses of the Yellow Earth country, in a village some fifty miles west of Taiyuan. From there they continued west, across the Yellow River to Yenan in Shensi and on into the Ordos desert. Their return route took them north to the Great Wall, which they then followed to the east before turning south to Taiyuan down the main route through Shansi. The whole expedition took some five months and Arthur Sowerby would have been just twenty-one. It was during this expedition that Sowerby discovered a new species of jerboa [kangaroo rat] which was sent back to the British Museum and subsequently named after him, Dipus sagitta sowerbyi. Coming from a missionary family he would have had little or no financial support from his father and would have needed to work for a living. He was sponsored for a number of years by a wealthy American, Robert Sterling Clark, who remained a friend for most of Sowerby's life, and although it is no more than supposition he may well have continued teaching at the Anglo-Chinese College in Tientsin especially in view of his marriage in that city in 1910, at the age of twenty-six. The long vacations would have been an advantage enabling him to gather the material he later used in the China Journal, especially his ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 129 a few wavered in the face of student rioting they all stood firm and Sowerby's tense moment passed. In 1935 he was elected president of the North China Branch of the RAS until illness forced him to resign in late 1940. He was also elected honorary director of the Shanghai Museum, one of the major activities of the RAS, an office he held until 1946. The RAS had a new building in the early 1930s and the China Society of Science and Art of which he was president was incorporated into the RAS with all its funds and interests passing to the RAS. Life in Shanghai was quite busy what with his business company directorships and his membership of several councils including the Foreign Residents' Association and the British Residents' Association of Shanghai. He and Clarice lived in comfort in Shanghai with their collection of Chinese pottery and porcelain and all their books on China until her death in May 1944. These were all donated to the Heude Museum in Shanghai before he left China in 1946 and placed into a large room named "The Sowerby Hall." During the first part of the Japanese occupation he and Clarice were granted exemption from internment and were allowed to remain at home categorised as sick and elderly. However, after Clarice's death he was taken into an internment camp where he became so ill that he spent the last eight months of the war in hospital. He was fortunate in that his belongings were safely stored with friends. He remained on in Shanghai for a further year, enjoying his garden and studying animals, insects and flowers. Then, in the autumn of 1946 he brought Alice Cowens, the nurse who had cared for his brother in France, out to Shanghai where they were married and left for England. They stayed in London for some months, through the bad winter of 1946-7 and after a short trip around parts of England they decided to retire to Washington DC, partly because so much of the material he had collected during his expeditions in China was kept there but mainly because he thought that it would be better for his health. Then a problem arose. Though his wife as a British citizen could stay, he had been born in China and the quota for that category to settle in the States was Page 165 Page 166 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 130 already full. So off they went again across the Pacific by sea to Manila, Hong Kong and Shanghai before setting out for Cape Town where they remained for five months. They finally returned to Washington having stayed in Buenos Aires for a month en route. Back in Washington they found that he was still unable to obtain a residence permit. However, someone pointed out the small print that as a dependent of his wife they would be allowed to stay and there they remained for the next six years until Sowerby died on the 16th of August 1954 at the age of sixty-nine. His last years were confined to his sickroom from which he continued his researches and writing. For some twenty-five years of his life he lived in Shanghai, through its heyday, and for fourteen years he produced and published a creditable monthly periodical, the China Journal, aimed at ‘educating' Westerners in China to appreciate many of the aspects of Chinese civilisation and life under headings - Science, Art, Literature and Travel. It was to "encourage an active enthusiasm for the powerful and often enigmatic Chinese self-contained culture," though the Journal not only pursued interests concerned with culture and the Chinese social environment it also pursued the major leisure activities available in China - hunting, shooting and fishing - all subjects close to Sowerby's heart. His primary interest centred on the collection of scientific and geological specimens for museums in Britain and the United States, as well as retaining some specimens for a unique museum in Shanghai. The bimonthly Journal was originally titled The China Journal of Science and Arts, and edited by Arthur de C. Sowerby [Science] and John C. Ferguson, PhD [Literature and Arts]. Clarice Moise BA began as the Assistant-Editor and Manager but later simply became the Manager. We know nothing of Ferguson whose name continued on the editorial staff until the late 1930s. The first issue, No. 1 of Volume 1 was issued in January 1923 with a primitive sketch on the cover designed by A de C. S showing a mounted T'ang horseman, a dragon and bats. At first, the journal was based at 103 Ben Building at 23 Avenue Eduard VII in the French Concession though later, by 1928, its offices had moved to 8 Museum Street in Shanghai. The cover was changed in 1926, again designed by ‘A de C S', to a cross-legged Buddhist deity with his palms held together in front of his chest in prayer, with a flaming nimbus behind him and sitting on a pedestal. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 135 Professor Drake summed up the probable chief monument to Sowerby's life in Shanghai as the China Journal. He added that it was not a sinological journal but a storehouse of information on all manner of subjects, the range and variety of which reflect the editor's [Sowerby's] mind. To a large extent it is a record of a world that is past and one of its chief functions was to educate the foreign community in the China of those days in appreciation of varied aspects of Chinese civilisation and life. With his increasing knowledge in Chinese Art Sowerby gradually made a small but choice collection of Chinese pottery and porcelain, being attracted chiefly by the animals of the T'ang and Six Dynasties periods. These, with his fine collection of books on Chinese Art and his natural history specimens he donated to the Heude Museum, Shanghai before he left China in 1946. His last illness was the now all but forgotten debilitating sprue which left him an apparently broken man, yet whilst in the Japanese concentration camp he maintained his interests and discovered a new species of some small creature. In his final year, in Washington DC he began composing an ambitious history of the old Saxon family from which he was sprung - The Sowerby Saga - which included in the third and later parts his own autobiography. [Note: this does not appear to have been published and nothing more is known about the work]. Before the centenary of his and his family's fortunate furlough in 1900 passes I wanted to pay a debt of pleasure to the author and publisher, Arthur Sowerby, on behalf of all those who gained some insight into a China now long departed. Post Post Script [Editor's Note: Keith must have sent me at least six revised versions of this article, each time declaring that "this is definitely the last one." Then things went quiet and I edited the "absolute final version." Then this arrived with the usual "final" exhortations. I include it to confirm to readers that here at HKBRAS we truly go the extra mile!] ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 180 One of the many deities canonised by Jiang at the Investiture was Tai Sui, the Ruler of the Year. In the Feng-shen Yanyi he is also known as Yin Jiao and under that title is usually represented on altars by one image. In southern Chinese communities, however, as Tai Sui he is more often portrayed by sixty separate images each representing a year of the sixty-year cycle of the Chinese calendar, and devotees wishing to seek his aid will place spirit money offerings under the image in the group representing the year of the devotee's birth. In a number of the smaller popular religion temples in Hong Kong and Macau several rows of Tai Sui images, depicting all sixty, line one of the sidewalls of the main hall. Although in a few temples each of the sixty images is carved with unique characteristics, in the majority they are merely sixty identical heads, each mounted on a frame concealed under a red cloth robe. Even when the deity is portrayed as a single image, normally he can easily be identified by the pile of spirit money placed under his image. Some months later, this time in central Shanxi province, we came across a former temple which had been converted into what can only be described as a "waxworks" museum of celestial and historical deities. The contents of the former temple had been destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, whilst the structure had recently, in 1995, been turned into a museum. It stands on the major highway between Taiyuan, the provincial capital, and Pingyao, to the south, but rather surprisingly no attempt seemed to have been made to advertise its presence to passing motorists. The halls had been labelled guiding visitors to Historical Heroes, The Eight Immortals, Mythological Worthies and the Underworld. These two examples, and there are probably more, are local provincial or county initiatives to remind Chinese of their cultural, feudal heritage but without offering any opportunity for worship or reverence. Similar refurbishing has taken place of many of the old, larger Buddhist and Daoist monasteries in northern China but with a difference. These too are places where visitors can nowadays pass several hours of pleasurable 'tourism' but a number of them have also reverted to being working temples and monasteries with priests and rituals. The weekend visitors from the cities enjoy the scenery and ambience and in some temples offer up incense without let or hindrance to one or more of the major deities. Although to foreign visitors what we saw ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 293 SIR RALPH MOOR AND THE "BENIN CANNON OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM AND THE ROYAL ARMOURIES Ronald Bishop Smith (D If might be of interest to the members of the society and to readers of the Journal to know from unpublished sources how four old cannon recovered in Benin City (in modern Nigeria) at the time of the British expedition of 1897 arrived at their present locations, that is a Portuguese swivel-gun of about 1540 in the British Museum and three rather archaic looking pieces of various precedences found in the Royal Armouries.(2) One of the Royal Armouries' cannon, curiously to note, has writing in Chinese on it. These four cannon are the only "Benin" cannon presently known to exist in England. Another is found in the Museum für Völkerkunde in Berlin and more may exist. In the central Archives of the British Museum there is a document in the "Book of Presents" for 1899 which throws much light on the four "Benin" cannon in England. It is dated 30 May 1899. Mr Read has the honour to report that he has received from Sir Ralph Moor H.M. Commissioner and Consul General for the Niger Coast Protectorate, through Major Gallwey D.S.O., a consignment of Benin antiquities consisting of three cannon, two of iron and one of bronze; and, in addition, a second bronze gun and a bronze plaque also from Sir Ralph Moor, through the Crown Agents for the Colonies. Mr Read was somewhat doubtful whether all of the three objects in the first consignment were appropriate to the Museum, and whether they would not be more fittingly placed in the armoury of the Tower of London. He therefore consulted Lord Dillon, who confirmed his opinion that the bronze guns were not made in Europe, and are probably, therefore, of Benin manufacture; while of the two iron guns, one is doubtless of European make, and the other a copy made in Africa. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 294 Mr Read is therefore of opinion that as the two bronze guns are practically identical, and as the iron ones are of more interest as ordnance than from the ethnographical point of view, the three objects forming the first consignment might be more appropriately deposited at the Tower. He has consulted Major Gallwey who agrees to this disposal of the guns, but he (Mr Read) would propose to write to Sir Ralph Moor to explain what has been done. From the above we see that the four cannon were offered by Sir Ralph Moor, at that time Commissioner and Consul-General of the Niger Coast Protectorate, to the British Museum in 1899, and that Charles H. Read (then Keeper of the Department of British and Mediaeval Antiquities and Ethnography) in consultation with Lord Dillion (then Keeper of the Armouries of the Tower of London) proposed to keep one of the cannon for the ethnographical collection of the British Museum, and to pass the other three cannons to the Tower of London. In the Central Archives of the British Museum, in the "Report of Donations" (of the cited department) there is a register of Charles H. Read dated 9 June 1899 stating that Sir Ralph Moor, K.C.M.G., H.M. Commissioner for the Niger Coast Protectorate, donated to the Museum a bronze gun and a modern bronze plaque. It reads as follows. A bronze gun with the arms of Portugal probably made in Benin, and a bronze plaque, a specimen of modern Benin casting. (The accession numbers of the two objects, by which they are identified today, are respectively 1899, 6-10, 1 and 1899, 6-10, 2.) The two documents from which I quote above have been located for me by Christopher Date, Assistant Museum Archivist, at the Central Archives of the British Museum. To Mr Date I heartily extend my thanks. At my request Mr Date has also located for me what I believe is the only published reference to the British Museum cannon before 1995. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 295 If is found in the Annual Report containing an account or statement of objects added to the British Museum in 1899, and other Particulars "Ordered, by The House of Commons, to be Printed, 5 March 1900", at p.77. This publication is of very scarce circulation. The entry reads as follows. Bronze cannon with the arms of Portugal and modern cast bronze plaque from Benin city; given by Sir Ralph Moor, K.C.M.G., H.M. Commissioner and Consul-General, Niger Coast Protectorate. Christopher Date, through help of colleagues in the Department of Medieval and Later Antiquities, has also kindly supplied to me a number of photocopies of letters, to and from Sir Ralph Moor, on various matters, found in the departmental archives. To Mr Date and his colleagues again I extend my thanks. One of these letters is a copy sent to Sir Ralph by Charles H. Read on the cannon. I quote the part referring to the cannons, roughly the first half of the letter. It is dated 13 June 1899. The two bronze and two iron cannon that you have been good to send have duly arrived, and Major Gallwey has called here about them, though I unfortunately missed him. I do not know whether you saw all the guns before they came: but they really form two pairs, those of bronze being quite the same in size and general character while the iron ones have differences which are of interest as ordnance, but less from my point of view. I consulted my friend Lord Dillon, who is one of our Trustees, and also Keeper of the Tower Armoury, and he thought that the bronze guns and one of the iron ones were made in Benin, while one iron gun was made in Europe and ...ted. (4) The interest of the pieces being thus chiefly from the point of view of ordnance. I asked Major Gallwey if he thought you would mind some of the guns going to the Tower, in place of remaining here, and he authorized me to do this. Thus you will receive from here only an acknowledgment for one gun and the tablet. By letter of Sir Ralph Moor to Charles H. Read dated 29 July 1899 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 296 Old Calabar. Niger Coast Protectorate. Sir Ralph concurred with Mr Read's division of the cannon. By letter of 8 September 1899 Mr Read informed Sir Ralph that three of the cannon had gone to the Tower. The Department of Medieval and Later Antiquities possesses an acknowledgement from the ordnance office of the Tower of London to the Director and Principal Librarian of the British Museum, dated 17 July 1899, that three guns from Benin City had been received. NOTES (1) Upon which cf. Robert D. Smith's "A 16th century Portuguese bronze breech-loading swivel gun," Militaria. Revista de Cultura Militar N.o 7, Madrid, 1995, pp.197-205 and my "A 16th century Portuguese swivel gun in the British Museum," Lisbon, 1995, where I identified what the writing on this piece means. (2) Upon these cf. Howard L. Blackmore, The Armouries of the Tower of London. I. Ordnance, London, 1976, pp. 154, 170 and 171 (entries Nos 204, 238 and 239) (3) cf. page 154; No.204 of Howard L. Blackmore's catalogue (XIX.114 in the Royal Armouries). Mr. Blackmore states that it is an iron gun 3 feet 3 inches long. He portrays it in the catalogue and believes it was made in China in the 18th or early 19th century. He notes: "An inscription in Chinese characters engraved by the trunnions refers to the weight of the gun and probably gives the names of the officials who supervised its manufacture; it is, however, too worn for accurate translation.” Often judgements of what can be read in old inscriptions are too hastily made. I do not know if that would be the case here. How this piece arrived in Benin City, and when, is presently anybody's guess. (4) A verb in the past tense, some four letters of which I cannot read, appears to be written here. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 324 they danced they conspicuously imbibed large quantities of beer and Chinese spirit wines and were showered with water. Although some of the drink was spat out, the dancers' actions became increasingly drunken, with some entering a short-lived trance-like state. After about thirty minutes the dancing concluded with the eating of lettuce, the presentation of _lassie_ and the lighting of a string of firecrackers. The group then set off by van for other markets and fish trading establishments, with the final dance of the morning outside the "Red Market" due to be the most drunken of all. For much of our knowledge of the Dance Festival, in particular the history and legend, we are indebted to Mrs. Ana Brito, an anthropologist from the Macau Maritime Museum, who as part of her studies on the Festival had interviewed a number of the dancers the year before. Copies of her notes in English, generously supplied to us by Mrs. Brito, show that the Festival was brought to Macau some decades ago from Sek Kei District in nearby Zhongshan County. According to a version of the legend that gave rise to the Drunken Dragon Dance, a certain village had been plagued by a terrible epidemic. In despair the villagers held a procession in Buddha's honour. As the procession was winding its way through the village a dragon in the guise of an enormous serpent arose out of the river. The serpent was killed, hacked into pieces and thrown back into the river, which turned blood red. The villagers drank the water and were miraculously cured.(1)&(2) Leaving the Dragon to make its way through the Inner Harbour area we left for Coloane Village, where festivities were centred on the Tam Gong Temple on the waterfront. This was heavily decorated and had all the trappings and atmosphere of a well-attended Chinese festival. There were many worshippers, as well as beggars, and clouds of smoke from joss sticks and fireworks. We played our part with Dr Patrick Hase lighting the RAS HK string of firecrackers. Nearby a large matshed had been erected where stars from the Cantonese opera world were soon due to perform. Towards noon the Tam Gong Festival procession gathered in the Rua da Cordoaria, off the village square, and then made its way through the village to the Temple. This procession was a less spectacular affair than the Tam Gong processions held in Ah Kung Ngam Village, Shaukiwan, Hong Kong, but was equally attractive within its own ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 332 Downtown - the west of the city The first port of call in the morning was the former German governor's residence, used as such from 1903 to 1914. This was reached by driving down the newly named Xiang Gang Lu (Hong Kong Road) from the hotel and penetrating the centre of the city. Until recently the governor's residence had been a government-run guesthouse - The Qingdao Yingbin Hotel; it was such when I visited it in 1996, and at least in theory a possibility as a place to stay or at least have dinner in surroundings of baronial splendour. Now, however, it has become the much more humble No 26 Long Shan Road and is kept as a museum, with original furniture (including “German table", "German chair”, “German piano") and artifacts on display in the rooms, all of which are accessible. Also on display, although not officially, was the original German electric wiring system, complete with enormous switches, connection boxes and fuses. The main interest for most, however, was the outside of the building - which immediately impresses upon the onlooker the purpose for which it was built. Almost castle-like in its appearance, the governor's residence would have given the great man a clear view over most of the city over which he ruled to the south and west, and of the military establishments to the east. Having set the scene for the morning by visiting first the seat of power, next was a visit to the centre from which that power was exercised - the Town Hall. Still operating as such, the Town Hall, found in Yi Shui Road, is another commanding building whose intended purpose is clear at first glance. Access is denied, of course, but the outside of the building is worth a few moments contemplation. When first constructed, the Town Hall was the place from where a community of 30,000 was governed. The population of present day Qingdao is in the order of 20 times this figure, and so the original building has been long outgrown. However, interestingly enough, an extension was built in the early 1980s in exactly the same design. The result is most impressive in that it is very hard to differentiate the old from the new, even down to the fine architectural details such as the fine wrought iron work on the roof. Visitors should take a minute to walk down the small street to the left of the main building to see the new building through the gates, and see if they can spot the difference. Also worth a little inspection is the old Court House, just over the ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 was by becoming one of the world's major economies. 341 Before moving to Liu Kung Island, I might explain what happened to one of the attractions that featured on the announcement of our trip - namely Eric Lidell's grave. Popular theory had it that the grave was situated in or near Weihaiwei. Accordingly I told the travel agent that we wanted to include a visit to this site in our itinerary. Enquiries were made to China Travel, but to no avail. Rather touchingly, and obviously trying to be helpful, they suggested that perhaps it had changed its name! We considered this - maybe it had mysteriously become Charlie Travers' grave, or Reginald Throgmorton's grave. However, we considered that the name had in fact stayed the same, and so more research was done at our end on the location. Was it in Weihai or was it Weymouth? Weybridge? We were sure it was Wey-something. We eventually tracked it down to Weihsien, not a place that was anywhere near where we were going - although another account placed it in Weifang. Oh well, perhaps next time - if only we can find the way. Liu Kung Tau Liu Kung Island was a treat, especially as none of our party had been there before. Not far offshore from the city of Weihai, the island is a popular destination for day trippers and there are many ferries taking people back and forth. In a way, the island is as much of a gem as is Stonecutters Island in Hong Kong. Before the ferry had berthed we could see an impressive line of seafront buildings - some military, some residential, some commercial, and all dating apparently from the early part of the 20th century. Right next to the ferry pier is an enormous new monstrosity being erected - mock this and mock that and all rather unpleasant. Ignoring this, however, (and ignoring the remarkable absence of British battleships) one can get a good impression of how the former British naval base must have looked in its heyday. Stepping off the ferry, and past the new monstrosity, the first building one sees is the former naval headquarters - a long two-storey beauty of a building, very commanding with verandahs on both floors. It is in an excellent state of repair and is clearly used now by the Chinese navy for the purpose originally intended. To the right of this, in among a line of little shops, is a small but impressive museum of the British ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 342 occupation, from 1889 to 1930. I found the exhibits and many photographs more appealing than some of the captions (memories of the "years of pain" etc). Most of the rest of the interesting parts of the island are to the left of the ferry pier. The first attraction is the Ching naval barracks, beautifully restored and now looking as splendid as it must have done when it was first built. It is reputed to be the best (or only) example of its kind in China. Looking rather familiar in its design - it is built around three consecutive courtyards stretching back from the main entrance - one would be forgiven for thinking it was in fact a large temple, with its colonnades and red painted columns. But the naval barracks it certainly was, even though it was relegated to be the naval canteen during the period of British occupation. The whole complex is now open to the public as a museum; exhibits include a number of guns and a large model of a battle between the Chinese and Japanese navies. This latter is rather a generous gesture, given that the entire western-built Chinese navy was destroyed by the Japanese in 1894/95. Resurgence is evident, however, as plastic construction kits of today's Chinese navy can be purchased throughout the museum. Leaving the waterfront after the Chinese barracks one finds a dusty road on which stand a number of houses, again in good repair and apparently used. Standing proudly by itself is the Masonic Hall, now emblazoned with a red star in place of the masons' square and compasses. In the museum there was for sale a fat (324 pages!) little book in Chinese all about the British occupation. I bought a copy for RMB 10, not so that I could read it, unfortunately, but because it contained three contemporary maps of the island in English. These showed that the other houses around might have included the Surgeon Commander's Residence, the Coal Contractor's Residence and the Accountant Clerk's Residence. Exact identification proved difficult as some of the roads and paths had moved from their original positions. Moving towards the west we found what must have been the cemetery, but it was clear that nobody was welcome to enter - the gates were well locked and the walls were high. Peering through the cracks did not reveal any remains of gravestones. Perhaps these had fallen victim to the enthusiasm of the Cultural Revolution, along with the two churches, of which there was no trace either. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 378 the Xuan-wu Gate. The church was built by Adam Schall and completed in 1652. Emperor Shun Zhi visited it 24 times, and often had heart-to-heart talks with Schall. On our visit the church was packed. The 7 o'clock mass was just finishing and the 8 o'clock mass then started, but many of those attending the first mass stopped for the second, for that was the Bishop's mass. After the distribution of communion he moved amongst the congregation, shaking hands, including those of several of our party. Emotional moments captured superbly on video by Allan Painter. [Also Illustration Three]. This was followed by a quieter visit to the massive National Museum of Chinese History, fortunate to have a superb view over Tien An Men Square. The many different objects set out on display in traditional museum style fascinated different members of our group. It was lovely to see a large number of children, some with parents, busy drawing different articles in the collection with notable artistic talent. At the main entrance we saw long queues of children in uniform going into an exhibition marking the 100th anniversary of Chou En Lai's birth. After lunch amongst the spring blossoms of Bei Hai (North Sea) Park we drove north to Prince Kung's Garden (Gongwangfu). Prince Kung (Gong), a Late Qing Dynasty statesman and reformer, was the Garden's second owner. Exquisitely designed, the mansion exhibits a high level of classical Chinese architecture. The buildings are joined together by winding corridors whilst there is also an opera hall decorated with delicate wisteria patterns, however, the actual gardens were rather dry, dusty and crowded. Then we visited the nearby Changqiao Community Service Centre in Liu Yin Street where the Society was presented with the scroll painted by elderly members of the Centre. We heard about the various activities organised by the Centre. This was followed by a short walk and then the group divided up to go to individual homes in the hutongs for a meal. This was a delightful experience, enjoyed equally by both hosts and guests alike. The long day came to a delightful end with a visit to the Huguang Hall at 3 Hu Fang Qiao Road, Xuan Wu District. First built in 1807 it was also known as the Guangdong and Hunan Guildhall and was a ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 This Monument is erected by the non-commissioned officers of the above Regt As a token of respect May They rest in peace. 387 The undated and unsigned manuscript report held in the archives of the Regimental Museum of the King's Own Royal Border Regiment in Carlisle reads as follows: "As no opportunity presented itself of obtaining a passage in one of HM's Ships to Chusan I deemed it advisable after waiting over three months, to delay no longer and accordingly chartered a native boat in which I left for Chusan on the 20th inst. I found that the reports as to the dilapidated condition of the monument in question were by no means exaggerated. The structure, which is an oblong brick cube about 6 feet high and 4 feet wide and deep, with stuccoed edges and a granite tablet on which the inscription is cut inserted on the eastern side, is in a wretched state of decay. Many of the corner bricks have crumbled away and in a very few years the whole block will fall to pieces unless some repairs are speedily undertaken. At the back, or South side of the monument, a mud cottage forming one of a row of four is built, the roof of which almost touches the summit of it and adds materially to the progress of the decay by the drippings from it which sink into the ground at its base. These cottages are tenanted by four families of squatters and in front of them - the back being towards the monument - are two other monuments, oblong in shape and about three feet high, which appear to be used as tables or beds, as the case may be, by the squatters. One of them, erected to Captain Colin Campbell of the 55th Regt, who died of a wound received in action at Chapoo, has lost a large portion of the base upon which the stone bearing the inscription lies and must soon fall to pieces unless the progress of the decay be arrested. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 393 vi We are indebted to the Museum of the King's Own Royal Border Regiment in the Castle at Carlisle for permission to quote from the regimental diaries of the Westmoreland Regiment in Chusan. vii See the article "The Taking of Chapu" by Keith Stevens in Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the RAS: Vol.34 : 1994 : pp 119+. viii The report would appear to have been written in the 1880s during the incumbency as the Colonel of the Regiment of Lieutenant General Daubeny. This was about the same time as an amalgamation of regiments when the Westmoreland Regiment became the 2nd Battalion of the Border Regiment. ix Regimental number omitted * Ensign Richard James Duell fell dead, shot in the chest at close quarters during the assault on the heights held by the Chinese. He had only heard that morning, October 1, 1841, of his promotion from the rank of Sergeant-Major and at once requested the honour to carry the regimental colour in the impending attack. During the advance Lieutenant and Acting-Adjutant Butler, after a sharp struggle with a Chinese soldier, captured the only imperial standard taken during the war. It was deposited in Kendal Church where it can still be seen beside the regimental memorial. [see also Bruce, P: An Imperial Chinese Banner Preserved in Kendal, England: Journal HK Br RAS: vol. 23: 1983 pp 202-203] xi Beside the Chinese characters, extreme left of the inscription, is a small cartouche containing smaller illegible characters which was almost certainly a date in old style. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 404 VISIT TO THE AUREL STEIN COLLECTION OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM PAUL BOLDING The collection that Marc Aurel Stein took to London in the first decade of the 20th century yielded some of its secrets to a group of "Friends" who visited the British Museum on October 25, 1999. Dr Anne Farrer, the curator, kindly agreed to show some of the undisplayed objects to members of the Friends of the HK Branch of the RAS in London. The BM collection includes scrolls, paintings on silk and other textiles that Aurel Stein removed from Cave 17 at Dunhuang, Gansu province. The cave, a memorial chapel to a 9th century monk, was walled up in the 10th century for reasons that are unclear and was opened on June 21, 1900. Aurel Stein was the first foreigner to gain access to the cave, in 1907. He collected many thousands of objects, some 5,000 of which rest in the tiny, windowless, air-conditioned "Stein Room" in a corner of the BM. (He also bought some fakes, but that is another story.) The cave itself contained some 40,000 objects. The British Library alone holds some 14,000 scrolls and fragments in Chinese. It acquired textual material, including the "Diamond Sutra", the world's earliest known dated printed book, after it was founded in 1973. As Stein had financial support from the Government of India as well as the British Museum, further material went to the National Museum in Delhi, mainly three-dimensional pieces and wall paintings. This was a period when countries were vying to expand their museum collections, and others were soon attracted to the area. As a result, objects from Dunhuang are found in Russia, Japan, France, Germany and elsewhere. A thriving international scholarship surrounds the material today. China has made no secret of the fact that it would like the Dunhuang material returned! Dr Farrer showed a dozen or so of the most beautiful and interesting objects, explaining their significance. Page 435 Page 436 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 405 dery of Shakyamuni preaching on Vulture Peak, with attendants. This is notable for the skill of the stitchwork, which flows with the contours of faces and draperies to add depth and texture. Some colours, such as the blues, are stunningly deep and fresh, but the reds and greens have faded with time. This item dates from the 7 or 8th century. A Japanese conservator mounted the paintings on silk in the 1910s at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Many were in an extremely fragile state and they survive today largely as a result of extremely fragile condition. Unfortunately some of the backing material is quite dark. One of the brighter paintings is of Kwanyin on a lotus base surrounded by swirling green draperies that bring the work to life. An inscription on the back of this exquisite piece, from 910, has aided scholars. A scroll painting also depicts Kwanyin waving a banner on a staff, with the figure of a deceased lady in the background. The scroll is believed to have been offered so that the lady might ascend to the halls of paradise, with Boddhisattvas leading the way. Posters of this work were used to publicise a past exhibition. The collection includes some of these banners - surprisingly modest pieces a metre or so long. One of these notably depicts a Boddhisattva holding a glass bowl of Middle Eastern design, clear evidence that the object, or at least knowledge of its form, was carried on the Silk Route. We also saw a vibrant section of a scroll painting of a fierce guardian, originally larger than life size. Sadly only a fragment remains of what would have been a fabulous piece. In a different medium altogether, another item is a window painting on paper backed with cloth. This depicts stylised lotuses on the outside and images of the Buddha on the inside. To realise that these items, when Aurel Stein discovered them, were rolled, stacked up and abandoned in a cave in northern China only makes one grateful that this much has survived. Further reading: The International Dunhuang Project website (http://idp.bl.uk) includes a vast amount of material. It says that an international conference, Dunhuang 2000, is to be held in Beijing to ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 406 coincide with the 100th anniversary of the opening of Cave 17 in June 2000. Another takes place at Dunhuang in August and the site has been getting a facelift in preparation. The website has a massive illustrated database of collections held in various parts of the world - those interested can sponsor a sutra for as little as £50 sterling. The money pays for the digital scanning and the sponsor's name appears beside the object. A newsletter reports on meetings of academics and recent research. Sadly, the BM does not appear to be part of the International Dunhuang Project, but Dr Farrer told us that the museum is trying to raise funds to put its collection on the Internet in the same way. REFERENCES Roderick Whitfield and Anne Farrer, Caves of the Thousand Buddhas: Chinese Art from the Silk Route, The British Museum, London 1990. Peter Hopkirk, Foreign Devils on the Silk Road, John Murray, London 1980. Annabel Walker, Aurel Stein: Pioneer of the Silk Road, John Murray, London 1995. Life Along the Silk Road, Susan Whitfield, Hardcover - 253 pages (June 1999), John Murray; ISBN: 0719557577 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x Appendix Two Activities - Visits Date 1999 24 April: Kadoorie Farm, led by Dr Gary Ades, followed by visit to Shui Tau and Kam Tin led by Jason Wordie and Dr Patrick Hase. 29 May: Adornment for the Body and Soul, Ancient Chinese Ornaments from the Mengdiexuan Collection, led by staff of the Hong Kong University Museum and Art Gallery. 15 to 18 June: Zhangjiajie, North-west Hunan Province, Tour, led by Dr Michael Lau. 27 June: Ohel Leah Synagogue, led by Rabbi Kermayer and Glenn Fromm followed by lunch at Jewish Community Centre. 24 September: Wo Hang Mid-Autumn Festival Fire Lanterns, led by Dr Patrick Hase. 15 to 21 October : Bits of Broken China - Shandong and Dalian, led by Robert Nield, Sarah Parnell and Michael Broom. 27 November: Backstage at the Opera, led by Dr Patrick Hase. 18 December: Railway Museum, Man Mo Temple and Tai Po Tau Study Hall, Tai Po, led by Dr Patrick Hase and Peter Crush. 2000 15 January: Public Records Office, led by Carl Smith. 26 February: Wan Jing Jai Temple and Kan Lung Wai Walled Village, led by Ron and Veronica Clibborn-Dyer and Peter Stuckey. Dan Waters, President xxi ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x FRIENDS OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY HONG KONG BRANCH IN THE UNITED KINGDOM It only seems like yesterday that I was reporting on the Society's activities in its first year of existence, and now your ever energetic President is reminding me that the second report is now due. And what a pleasure it is to report because we have succeeded in surviving another year: it now looks as if we have a sufficiently sound base to move forward for several more years. For this happy state of affairs we have not only to thank all those on the committee but also to the great encouragement we have received from our friends in Hong Kong; indeed it gave us great pleasure to welcome your President, Dr Dan Waters at our first annual general meeting in May 1999, at which he kindly gave us a very enlightening and personal impression of the changes in Hong Kong during his lifetime and reminding us all of the great changes that have taken place over fifty years or more. Members of the Society now number around 80 (provided they have all paid their subscriptions and most of them have!). However, they are scattered far and wide; not only do they live in the London area, but there are members from Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, Ireland, and even Hong Kong itself. Welcome as this interest is, (and I do not think it is purely nostalgic interest) it is difficult to cater for such a wide spread membership. So far we have been meeting around once a quarter in London and in the last year we had: a) May 1999-Lecture by Dr Dan Waters. b) October 1999-Visit to the British Museum to view the collection of Sir Aurel Stein. The Friends were very privileged to be shown some of the undisplayed objects by the curator Dr Anne Farrer. A masterful account by Dr Paul Bolding of this visit has now been sent to your Council and a copy can be obtained from your President. c) Visit by an intrepid few to Durham and Edinburgh led by Keith Stevens. xxii ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x 170 place, with a hearty lack of nostalgic longings for ancestral roots - yet the sentimental or strategic nostalgia of overseas Chinese for their ancestral homes in China has also been well documented and described.1 Nostalgia is of course now commodified, fragmented and eclectic, as befits a late capitalist era in which global capital determines shifting allocations of labour. Nostalgia, and pastiche of the past, is almost commonplace, and through what was called the 'post-modern' eclectically mixes emblems of diverse eras of the past to provoke a momentary pang. The irony of Flagstaff House's transformation from a military site to a tea museum, noted by Abbas (1997), is a good example of this post-modern bricolage of meanings and historical ironies typified by Charles Moore's Piazza d'Italia in New Orleans (Harvey 1989), which we can find too in the toothless attendants and bright paints of restored Colonial Williamsburg (Lowenthal 1985), or the imaginary nostalgia of Disneyland disguising the unreality of America itself (Baudrillard 1994). But here I should like to draw attention to the importance of nostalgia as, if you like, a strategic resource for knitting together communities which have become dispersed and fragmented. While nostalgia adopts a temporal form (nostalgia for the past), it essentially implies the sense of belonging to a place (nostalgia for a place), as in its etymological roots. Can there be nostalgia for a taste, a face, an experience of abandon, a vanished emotion or capacity? Of course there can, but these experiences are all associated with a particular locus, a particular time and place (in the past). That place may never have existed, as writers from Lowenthal and Lovell to Mitchell remark, or not have existed for those who pine for it; the remembered, longed-for experience may be purely fictive and imaginative. Then again, it may have been very much a reality the loss of which is regretted; it was a real, living community we mourn the passage of. In any case, through the power of memory and recollection, that experience, that community, that place, can hardly be recollected exactly as it was, so that there is an inevitably imaginative, fictive quality to the faculty or power of nostalgia. In one sense, it may not matter very much whether the lost object was, or was not, a reality, since that reality will have been transformed through the nostalgic recollection of it. Yet, in another sense, it does matter that not all nostalgia is necessarily imaginary; that real separations, real partings, may be what are being mourned. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY (HONG KONG BRANCH) ONE-DAY CONFERENCE Hong Kong: Forty Years of a Growing City Saturday 9 December 2000 OPENING ADDRESS DR DAN WATERS ISO BBS, PRESIDENT 235 (This Conference was organised jointly by the RASHKB and the Hong Kong Museum of History to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the reconstitution of the Hong Kong Branch. The Conference was held at the Museum of History.) I am highly honoured to address you all today as we near the close of our 40th anniversary year. As you must know our Branch was re-formed in 1960, after a hiatus of a century. A very warm welcome to everyone. I have received messages from Dr Marjorie Topley, Dr James Hayes and Mr David Gilkes, all past presidents. They sent their best wishes for a successful conference. The RASHKB Group of ‘Friends’ in Britain, has sent us a congratulatory Card. If I had been born in the computer age the chances are I would be reading this address from a portable electric brain, as a computer is termed in Cantonese. But several of us taking part in this conference were born many years earlier. Indeed some of us have lived in Hong Kong for longer than the 40-year period (1960 to 2000), which we are reviewing here today. But continuing with my introduction: may I say that some of the most successful events our Branch has organised, especially in the 1960s and early '70s, were our one day and weekend symposia (see Appendix). A previous Honorary Secretary, R E Lawry, first proposed them when a small group of RAS members, in October 1963, was walking back to Silvermine Bay. Of course it was on a hill path as the first road on Lantao, or rather track, had only been constructed a few years earlier in order to build Shek Pik Reservoir. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x 244 A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT To everyone attending this Conference, a very warm welcome. That includes RAS members, staff of the Hong Kong Museum of History as well as members of the general public. Way back in 1960, when our Branch was reconstituted, with a little stretch of the imagination, one can visualize RAS founding members standing in a group singing the refrain: Forty Years on when afar and asunder parted are those who are singing today ... Well the irony of it all now is that those 40 years are well and truly behind us. If one checks the membership list at the back of Volume One (1960-61) of our Journal, although a mere handful of those founding members are still living in Hong Kong, most are decidedly ‘afar and asunder'. Virtually no one who joined our Society 40 years ago, sadly, still plays an active part in it today. Anno Domini has taken its toll. On a lighter note Rudyard Kipling wrote: Your glazing is new and your plumbing's strange But otherwise I perceive no change. Those immortal words, one feels in one's bones, could almost have been written about the RAS. Certainly much of our educational technology is new and web sites and e-mail are beyond the ken and 'strange' to some of our vintage members. But basically many of our activities, such as visits and lectures, are conducted in much the same way as they were in 1960. Why have there been so few changes? To a great extent it is because, although we did receive a handful of caustic comments as a result of the questionnaire we circulated in September 2000, by far the majority of our members are very satisfied with the activities of our Branch. Most want things to remain more or less as they are. There is no doubt demand and scope for a society such as ours to continue to serve the Hong Kong community. Nonetheless we do, naturally, need to keep our ear to the ground. With advancing years, if changes are desirable, then we should make them. Consequently, as a result of the RAS questionnaire, we shall feel ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x 286 Our fourth day started at 8.00 a.m. as we headed off to Danang via Hai Van Pass. The scenic ride took us up the mountains, travelling from north to south through Cloudy Pass (Hai Van). This pass was established under the Minh Mang dynasty and the fortresses here were strategic points during the war for the defence by the French and Vietnamese soldiers. But all these monuments were badly damaged during the American War. En route, we also saw the beautiful Lang Co Beach, a resort area, as well as the "Reunification Express" train passing through one of the level crossings. Our coach stopped to enable us to obtain a picture of this historic train, which is still powered by steam! Finally, we arrive at Danang for a quick lunch followed by a tour of the Cham Museum. Danang, the provincial capital, has grown from a small fishing village into an important port and the country's fourth-largest city with 400,000 inhabitants. It is the port where 3,500 American marines first set foot in South Vietnam, on 8th March 1965. In the 17th and 18th centuries the first Spanish and French landings were also made here. Subsequently, Danang became the scene of battles between the Vietnamese, who fought first the Spanish and later the French. In the course of the 19th century Danang superseded Hoi An as the most important port and commercial centre in the central region of the country. The Danang area was the centre of the Cham civilization, from the fourth to the eighth centuries. The Cham museum was set up in 1936 by the Ecole Francaise D'Extreme Orient. Its extensive collection is displayed in four rooms featuring the following four periods according to their origins: My Son, Tra Kieu, Dong Duong and Thap Mam. The different influences, which shaped the culture and history of the Cham people, are revealed through their sculpture and carvings. The Cham Museum provides an insight into the fascinating culture and history of the Cham people. Many statues and bas reliefs attest to the rich culture of the kingdom which once flourished there and one realizes the worship of Buddhism and Hinduism was prevalent at that time. After the Cham Museum off we went to Marble Mountain. Five miles south of Danang towards the coast stand five large hills known as the Marble Mountains or Mountains of the Five Elements (gold, metal, wood, fire and earth). These mountains were once a group of ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2000 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/nk328168n ADDENDUM Nicholas Tapp's 2000 Barbara Ward Lecture reproduced in Vol. 39 of the Journal was inadequately sourced. It was as follows: The Barbara Ward Memorial Lecture, given annually to the Hong Kong Anthropological Society on 17 October 2000, at the Museum of History, Kowloon. ERRATA THE BATTLE OF HONG KONG, Vol. 39 p. 115, second para.: 'just clause' in the second last sentence should read 'just cause.' p. 117, last para.: the word 'the' before 'Grasett's contribution' should be omitted. p. 118, second line of the quotation from Stokes: ‘again Germany' should read 'against Germany.' There are a few endnote reference numbers which have been rendered in text rather than superscript: note 11 (Before Bell' on p. 121) note 21 on p. 127 The reference to 'Keniti' in the second last para. of p. 128 should read 'Takagi Keniti.' THE CHARACTERISTICS OF CHINESE RELIGION, Vol. 39 In Note 13, the book in question, Moral Tenets and Customs in China is by Dr. L. Wieger, with texts in Chinese translated and annotated by L. Davrout, S.J. In note 14, the word 'Refs' should be omitted. In note 19, Professor Soothill's book is entitled A Mission in China (Edinburgh and London, Oliphant, Anderson and Ferrier, 1907). In note 24, read 'Moule' for 'Moulem.' ii ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2000 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/nk328168n THE HONG KONG BRANCH OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY 2000/2001 PRESIDENT'S REPORT PRESENTED AT THE 41ST ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING ON FRIDAY 16 MARCH 2001 AT THE HONG KONG CLUB Only those who take leisurely what the people of the world are busy about can be busy about what the people of the world take leisurely. CHANG CHAO Introduction This is my fifth President's report. In addition to the first two-and-a-half months of 2001, it covers nine months of 2000 during which we celebrated the 40th Anniversary of the reconstitution of our Branch. The Royal Asiatic Society was founded in London in 1823 by that eminent Sanskrit scholar Henry Thomas Colebrooke. Its Royal Charter was granted the following year. Even in those early times Hong Kong was pretty quick off the mark. A Branch was formed here in 1847 but it lasted only 12 years. In my Report I shall look at some of the things we have achieved during 2000/2001 and make comparisons with earlier years. Membership As at 12 March, 2001, total membership stood at 477. This comprised 391 local members and 86 overseas members. After the Council meeting on 26 January 2000, through to 13 March 2001, 100 new members were recruited. During the 1960s and '70s there were few organisations with similar aims to our own. Since then a number have been established. Today they include Asian studies centres in universities, friends of museum groups, various overseas branches of western institutions as well as other Hong Kong societies. While we have splendid relationships with our sister institutions some competition has naturally been generated. This is healthy. Nonetheless, in the 1960s xiv Page 15 Page 16 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2000 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/nk328168n to escape the madness, the melancholia and, yes, the panic, which sometimes surrounds the human situation. Activities Another of the fields where our Branch has made significant contributions over many decades has obviously been with our lecture and visit programme. These may be described as the backbone of our Society. Over the past year these have consisted of lectures, averaging about one a month, mainly at and jointly with the Hong Kong City Hall. These sessions are open to the general public free of charge. This is a form of community service. At the Chi Lin Nunnery talk well over 90 people attended. Over the past year we have in addition mounted visits locally and two visits outside the Hong Kong SAR. All these had leaders - sometimes more than one working as a team - who had a thorough understanding of their subjects (see Appendices One and Two). In some cases, because some of our members have good connections, it has also been possible to call upon the assistance of knowledgeable local people: for example in the case of Dr Ting who was able to invite people to assist with our visits to the China Mainland. Records show that, in the 1980s and the early 1990s for example, our visits outside Hong Kong were not well supported. Planned trips sometimes had to be cancelled. In the 1960s and '70s, it was not easy for various reasons (for government servants for example) to visit China. Over the past few years this situation has changed. More recently, on our tours outside Hong Kong it has not been possible, sometimes, to enroll everyone who wanted to join. It is interesting to mention here that our first overseas tour was to Thailand back in 1973. Although full day or weekend seminars, especially during the 1960s and the early '70s, were a fairly regular feature of Branch activities, they have not played such an important part in recent years. This was partly why our conference, titled Hong Kong: Forty Years of a Growing City, held during our 40th anniversary year as a joint function with the Museum of History, was so welcome. It consisted largely of our own members as speakers, persons on whom we rely so much. They included the Reverend Carl T. Smith, Dr Patrick Hase and Mr Tim Ko. Tim's family has lived in Kowloon for five generations, since the 1850s. These three speakers are outstanding examples of members who have put, Page xviii ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2000 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/nk328168n Appendix Two Activities - Visits Date 2000 Saturday 8 April: Private View-The 'Mosseum' of Sculpture, led by Roger Moss, with lunch at Lok Yu Teahouse April 1 to 4: Foshan, Tinghu and Zhaoging, led by Dr Joseph Ting Saturday 27 May: Museum of Coastal Defence, at Lei Yue Mun, led by Dr Joseph Ting and Phillip Bruce Saturday 24 June, Bethanie Church Pokfulam, led by Phillip Bruce Saturday 23 September, Chi Lin Nunnery, led by Professor Puay Peng Ho Hase September 29 - October 6: Central Vietnam, led by Dr Patrick Saturday 18 November: Police Museum at Wanchai Gap, led by Curator Wong Nai Kwan 2001 Saturday 13 January: Hong Kong Heritage Museum, at Shatin, led by Valery Garrett and May Holdsworth 22 to 29 January: Goa: Former Portuguese Enclave, led by Dr Patrick Hase Saturday 10 February: Saltfields at Tai O, led by Dr Patrick Hase Saturday 3 March: Buddhist Sculptures: New Discoveries at HK Museum of Art, led by Rose Li Assistant Curator xxvi ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2000 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/nk328168n A REPORT TO THE HONG KONG BRANCH OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY FROM ITS FRIENDS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM This is the third report that I have had the privilege of presenting at the annual general meeting of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society held in Hong Kong. One of the features in the last year has been the positive interaction between the R.A.S. in Hong Kong and the Friends in the U.K. This manifests itself very clearly not only by those who visit both countries and give a talk or arrange a visit, but also by those who keep close touch on the administrative aspects. Although there might be those who say "deliver us from e-mail" there is absolutely no doubt that for such a far-flung society as we are, e-mail does help enormously to keep us on the road here in the U.K. and bond us closer. Over the last year our committee has been able to meet up with Dr. Elisabeth Sinn, Dr. Patrick Hase who attended one of our meetings, and also Valerie Garrett, who kindly spared time to show us her own bequeathed collection of Chinese Costumes at the Victoria and Albert museum. On the other side, it is also a pleasure to note that Mr. Keith Stevens, Mr. David Mahoney, and Dr. Cyril Cannon, all of whom have given a talk over the last year, have visited you. Our one regret was that it was not possible for any of us to participate in the 40th anniversary of the re-foundation of the society in Hong Kong which clearly was a very successful occasion, and which augurs well for the future, in spite of the political changes that are gradually happening in Hong Kong (and in the U.K. for that matter). The Friends' annual meeting normally takes place at the end of May each year and since I last reported, there have been the following activities: * 27 May 2000. Annual General meeting and lecture by Prof. Hugh Baker entitled, "Pork for some or pork for all; sexist clans and scheming clanspersons." A very scholarly and interesting lecture, which gave us great insight into clan politics in Hong Kong xxvii ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2000 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/nk328168n * 23 June 2000. Visit to the Victoria and Albert Museum to hear Mrs. Valerie Garrett on her collection of Chinese costumes. A real lifetime's work in Hong Kong went into this collection and members were treated to a masterly exposition by Valerie on how she succeeded in acquiring the costumes and their origins. * 17 July 2000. Visit to Oxford. This was a fascinating day to see many aspects of Oxford that one does not normally visit. We started at the Pitt Rivers museum to look at the Sir Aurel Stein collection and the conservation laboratory housing the textiles brought back by him. In the afternoon, a visit to the Ashmolean Museum was made featuring the Shaw collection (not Sir Run Run) and a collection of mid-nineteenth-century Yarkand and Kashgaria costumes once belonging to Robert Shaw, British Commissioner in Ladakh, who was an intelligence gatherer within the machinations of the Great Game. In the late afternoon, we invaded David Paskett's house to view his own paintings focusing on "Glimpses of everyday Chinese life." David has made frequent visits to China and is well known for the reproductions appearing on the cards of the Chinese University of Hong Kong Art museum. The day ended with a congenial Chinese dinner. For this very successful day, we need to thank Mrs. Rosemary Lee, whose organisational ability was up to its usual high standards. * 28 October 2000. Lecture by Mrs. Janice Thorpe. "Hong Kong Revisited." Janice had recently returned from Hong Kong where she was one of the R.A.S. volunteers who worked with the Antiquities and Monuments Office, surveying heritage sites. This was a wonderfully all-embracing lecture which brought home not only the places which many of us had not seen but should have seen, and were still there, but also the very rapid changes and, in some cases, demolition of many well-known heritage sites. * 27 January 2001. Chinese New Year Lunch at the China City Restaurant, Soho, London. This was attended by 51 members and friends, including one who travelled up from Cornwall and one from Belgium. XXVIII ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2000 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/nk328168n The above activities need arranging and it is good to report that the well-known discerning committee members, whose addresses, telephone numbers and e-mails are attached, play a vital part in bringing us all together. There have been two changes in the committee since last year. Mrs. Julie Barry has decided that she can no longer continue as treasurer and membership secretary. Julie was very instrumental in helping to set up the Friends three years ago and for this we are very grateful. Mr. Roger Chandler has bravely taken on this mantle. The Friends have not in the past had an official secretary and it is a pleasure that Mr. Paul Boulding has been persuaded to do this. No report, however, can be complete without recording the Friends' sincere thanks to Mrs. Rosemary Lee and Mrs. Anita Wilson for the way they help to arrange activities and prepare the newsletter. The future of the Friends looks promising. Financially we are in the black and we number at present around 70 members. We would number more if all paid their annual subscription! In the more immediate future, there is still the possibility of visiting Chinese war graves in Northern France. We also look forward to our own annual general meeting on 26 May at SOAS when we will have the opportunity of having a talk by Mr. Anthony Lawrence, who needs little introduction to all members and friends. In the summer we will be fortunate to have Dr. Patrick Hase to lead us on an expedition to the South Coast area based around Salisbury where there are reported to be considerable number of Chinese agricultural implements in the (Salisbury) museum. If any Hong Kong members are in the U.K. for any of these events do please get in touch with any member of the committee and join us. I cannot close this report without a note of sincere regret on the standing down of our President Dr. Dan Waters. The society has flourished to greater heights and influence, and from the U.K. we can only admire what he has been able to achieve through his own expertise. We wish him all the best in his "retirement." At the same time we welcome his successor, Dr. Patrick Hase, and are confident that the society will continue to be in good hands. DAVID GILKES, Chairman 28 February 2001 xxix Page 30 Page 31 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2000 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/nk328168n ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY HONG KONG BRANCH LIBRARY REPORT FOR THE YEAR 2000/2001 As of 1 March 2001, the library collection had increased to 4,133 volumes. A total of 148 volumes were added during the year. Donations of books were received from Mr. Anthony Chung, Ms. Launa Christofis, Mr. Peter Crush, Mr. Bob Horsnell, Dr. James Hayes, Dr. Dan Waters, Hong Kong Museum of History, and Friends of the Art Museum at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The relocation of the RAS Collection to the new Hong Kong Central Library at Moreton Terrace in Causeway Bay has again been delayed. It is now planned to move in April 2001 to take advantage of the Easter holidays so that it will cause less disruption to service. There will be two RAS Collections in the new Library: the Main Collection of post-1900 materials shelved in the Special Collections area, and the Rare Book Collection of pre-1900 materials (with selected rare post-1900 materials) housed in the Central Library Rare Book Room. Both collections will be on the 7/F of the Library. The Rare Book Collection is for reference only and will be under close supervision. Some Council members have expressed concern about the deteriorated condition of some books in the RAS Collection. City Hall Public Library has kindly agreed that their Conservation Unit will help to restore these books through binding and repair after they have settled down in the new location. They will also cooperate with the Hon. Librarian to catalogue and process the Arnold Graham Collection which was donated by the late Mr. Arnold Graham in 1995 but sent directly to the City Hall Public Library without being catalogued. These books will then be able to be accessed from the Online Catalogue. In light of the move to the new location, the Library Regulations for usage and borrowing have been revised and accepted by the Council members. The regulations became effective July 2000 irrespective of the Collection's location. Copies of the Library Regulations have been distributed for information. The new Library Regulations demand stricter borrowing xlii ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2000 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/nk328168n 42 balance being formed of an interpreter, a Head Ganger (equivalent to a CSM). Some Class One Gangers [sergeants], 7 Class Two Gangers [corporals] and 16 Class Three Gangers [lance-corporals] in charge of 14 men. These were known as paitou. No military titles were used for the labourers as they were not regarded as being service personnel. The labourers were expected to work up to ten hours a day for seven days every week, time off being allowed for Chinese holidays. This was the norm for Chinese workers back in China and therefore not considered untoward. They were employed in ports to unload/load cargoes, repair roads, lay railway lines, build huts and aerodromes. At the end of the War, they were used to level shell holes, search for and unearth unexploded bombs, roll up barbed wire and also to collect the remains of bodies and bury them in graves already dug by CLC labourers. In some areas the labourers were eventually running their own truck repair shop, smith's shop, paint shop and motor-cycle repair shop. Others maintained the artillery and serviced tanks. Some also, as a pastime, constructed items from used war material [bomb cases, bullets, grenades, etc.] as souvenirs for the soldiers, and these items formed and were eventually known as 'Trench Art.' They were also adept at making items from other materials and also modelling and carving from chalk. The Imperial War Museum, London, has on display two lions carved from chalk and also, not on display, a lion modelled from clay by a labourer no. 53279, of the CLC. Unfortunately, there are no further details about this model. (see photograph) To provide a picture of how Chinese labourers were employed let us examine the development of their employment on tank repair over the twelve months from August 1917 to August 1918. Members of the CLC first arrived at the Tank Central Workshops on 8th August, 1917. These were located in the Ternoise Valley, on the road between Hesdin and St. Pol. Tank HQ was at Bermincourt, Central Workshops at Erin but the whole establishment later expanded to take over more of the valley and include more villages. The 51 Chinese Labour Company, consisting of 4 officers, 12 British NCOs and 200 tradesmen, was followed, on 26th August, by an additional 270 tradesmen. A large number of the men failed the trade tests and, for those who ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2000 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/nk328168n 54 was also awarded to some members, whether serving with or attached to the CLC. Some Items of Interest Whilst carrying out research in the Imperial War Museum in London, I came across an undated letter, written in literary Chinese by Zhong Yangchang on YMCA headed paper, giving the address as ‘On Active Service with the British Expeditionary Force' and addressed to his wife c/o Bureau of Recruitment of Chinese Labour, the British Administration, Weihai Wei. It appears that the letter was also addressed to the Hong Kong University. The writer, a well-educated man, was not necessarily the husband of Zhilan and could quite possibly have been one of the Chinese administration staff. The translation is as follows: To my wife, Zhilan I had intended to write to you earlier; however, it is only now that I have found a gap in my daily routine to do so. We are still at the same base camp. On the 13th it was Duanyang Festival [the Dragon Boat Festival] and we had the day off. The [Chinese] workers were made-up and put on the Yangke dance (a northern Chinese country peasants' dance) along the street. It was a very good show, but the foreigners seemed somewhat bemused by the event. Some British Army [officers] came along and they brought with them some other [Chinese labourers], from the Hong clan from the west of Tai [the area around Tai Shan]. I will stop writing now, my spirit will follow the letter to you My greetings and best wishes Your clumsy husband Zhong Yangchong. There is a letter, also written in a similar vein on YMCA paper, but this time in English, [with the Wade-Giles left as in the original]. The envelope on display is addressed to Mrs Sung, Normal School, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2000 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/nk328168n Peking, China and the contents reads as follows: 24-6-18 My Dear Wife I intended to write to you but as you know I am very busy all the time and this year I have been more full of work than ever. Our Company is still here. All the boys are really happy so that they like to work hard every day. Now I am going to tell you all about the Chinese Dragon Festival in old custom here [June 13th 1918]. On that day we had no work to do, the boys played a very funny game which I never saw in Hankow before. Some twenty young boys pretended themselves with northern dress as actors, then walked out and played from company to company all day. Thousands of foreigners were invited to come with great pleasure and the British general has paid a visit to the Dancing at which he was very pleased and thanked them for their play, but it was to me as nothing. I am very well now and then doing duty as hard as possible so please do not feel sorry for me. with great love Yours C.W.Sung Both of these letters and envelopes are on display in the basement of the Imperial War Museum in London in the exhibition of the First World War. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2000 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/nk328168n 56 Special envelopes were printed for use by the CLC with a central red band and black printing in English, French and Chinese. In France this mail was posted in special boxes and transported by despatch riders to and from Noyelles. Mail between CLC companies in France did not require stamps or special envelopes. The Imperial War Museum also holds two notebooks, written in literary Chinese, which may have been compiled by a clerk or labourer in his leisure time. There are random jottings with notes on, amongst other topics, the ancient political system in China, moral precepts, quotations from Chinese poets, lists of 95 individuals' names and places of birth, and also three letters. These letters reveal the feelings of an ordinary man, rural and urban labourers, and his feelings for others. The first letter is addressed to the Kaiser and is a petition to end the war. It was written by 'Spiritual Man Yuan Chun'. To the Great Emperor of the German Empire. The war in Europe is a matter that does not concern us, the Chinese people, and as Your Majesty knows the world is full of people with greater talents than we have. However, as the ancients have said, a model emperor would be a brave warrior and merciful; however, if one loves war for its own sake and treats human lives as blades of grass, you will invoke the anger of the gods. We Chinese came to Europe as neutrals, our aim is to make a paltry living; however, the war made our journey to Europe somewhat less than peaceful. An examination of the world situation now shows that within the universe we are all one family, and a virtuous ruler would seize this opportunity to put righteousness before profit, to follow the will of the gods and the wishes of men, to stop the evil of the world and together with other nations create a new world. A virtuous ruler's name will be remembered for ten thousand generations, so why not halt your troops and select ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2000 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/nk328168n 74 Office, Kew, London, to ascertain details from their records. This I leave to more qualified people. I thank the staff of the Reading Room at the Imperial War Museum for their help and assistance in locating and providing material in their archives from which I obtained some details for this article and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Maidenhead, for information supplied by them. To David Mahoney thanks are due for the various tit-bits sent to me. I also thank Mr. D. Fletcher, of the Tank Museum, Bovington, Dorset, and the Imperial War Museum, London, and also others listed for their permission to reproduce photographs from their archives. All other photographs were taken by myself. I would especially like to thank Keith Stevens for being my mentor and for all his assistance in deciphering the Chinese characters on the gravestones, translating the notebooks held at the Imperial War Museum in London, together with his invaluable comments and suggestions for this article. Without his encouragement and pressure this article would not have been written! Finally, I thank my wife, Claudine, for her patience, companionship and for acting as interpreter on our many visits and also for translating various articles written in her native French. Any errors or omissions are my responsibility. "What, indeed, were the Chinese doing in France during the First World War? Noyelles and Tungkang As far as we were concerned the story began when we were touring the British military cemeteries in northern France where Chinese Labour Corps members had been buried during or immediately after the First World War. In one small village, Noyelles-sur-Mer, we were surprised to see a pair of Chinese white stone lions mounted on small plinths within the small village square - albeit it was close to what is known as the Chinese Cemetery in which the largest number of Chinese had been buried - and so we sought an explanation. The immediate response was, as far as we could make out, that in 1994 the pair of Lions had arrived unannounced, borne by four Chinese who proclaimed that they were bringing them from the town of Tungkang in recognition of their twinning with the village of Noyelles on the Somme. Again, as far as we could understand, once the lions ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2000 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/nk328168n The funeral of Rittmeister Baron M. Von Richtheren at Bertanales 22/4/1918. The air mechanics filling up the grave are from No. 3 SQDN Australian Flying Corps. (by courtesy of the Imperial War Museum, London, Q10922) ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2001 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g CLARIFICATION – VOL. 39 With all due respect to the late Squadron Leader Donald Hill, the typographical and grammatical errors in P.J. Aston's decoded version of Hill's wartime diary, pp. 137-155, Vol. 39, are Squadron Leader Hill's. ERRATA - VOL. 40 p. iii, 3rd para., 4th line: 'contrversial' should read 'controversial' p. iii, 4th para., 5th line: 'has' should read 'have' p. 39, line 5: 'tatal' should read 'total' p. 82, 1st line: 'naôve' should read 'naive' p. 103, caption: delete 'the' before 'courtesy' p. 106, caption: 'NCOS' should read 'NCOs' p. 109, caption should read: 'Wooden carved plaque of two deer fighting presented to G.E. Cormack by members of the CLC in appreciation for his attention to their sick comrade. Held in the Imperial War Museum. March 2001' p. 110, caption: 'imperial war museum' should read 'Imperial War Museum' p. 234, caption: delete 'at dinner' p. 255, title: 'Splendored' should read 'Splendoured' p. 257, 2nd para., 6th line: delete full stop before 'F' p. 275, caption: 'Mary' should read 'May' The inconvenient presentation of some of the photographs is regretted ii ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2001 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g Hong Kong and its region. Most of the expansion of the Library over the last decade has come about through donations of suitable books to the Library by members, although some books have also been purchased by the Society. Some donations, such as the marvellous donation of a large number of books from the estate of the late Arnold Graham, have been particularly noteworthy. I would like to appeal to members to consider donating books to the Library where they have volumes which would seem suitable. The Library is designed as a collection of books which would otherwise not be available for public consultation in Hong Kong, or which are otherwise not easily available for consultation. Such books might be rare books, or else specialist books, or perhaps collections of material relating to a particular firm, community, or interest group, in whatever language. Books written or edited by members are particularly welcome. The list of Additions to the Library attached to the Hon. Librarian's Report shows the sort of volumes the Library would welcome. Any donations of volumes would be most gratefully received. Books donated would be given the most scrupulous and loving of care by the staff of the LCSD, and can be assumed to be well looked-after and available to the public on a permanent basis. Film, tape, CD material, photographs (which, following a recent agreement with the Hong Kong Museum of History will be put on permanent loan to the Museum) would also be welcome. A Catalogue of the Library has been prepared by the LCSD Library Staff. Council is in discussion with LCSD to see if it is possible for copies to be made available to members at a suitable fee, possibly in a slightly revised format. Members will be informed in due course of any successful outcome to these discussions. Lectures and Visits For many members, it is the lectures and visits put on by the Society which are the main reason for their continuing membership. Appended to this Report are lists of the lectures and visits mounted by the Society during 2001-2002. The Society takes a four week break during the middle of the year. Members will note that the 16 lectures given by the Society (including the two given on Saturday December 8th to xxi ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2001 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g We were particularly fortunate in our next event, which took place in August 2001 in Salisbury, to visit the Cathedral and the Salisbury museum where we also heard a lecture by Patrick Hase on 'Traditional South China Agriculture.' To find this latter combination, i.e. Patrick in Salisbury in August and South China agricultural instruments in the Salisbury museum, may appear somewhat far-fetched; however, by the end of the fascinating and extremely well researched lecture and a visit to the museum to actually see the agricultural instruments, which formed part of the Pitts River ethnographic collection, there was no doubt that all members had experienced a day well worth it. Our sincere thanks go to Patrick for giving us his time and for educating us on a subject about which most of us knew absolutely nothing. The Friends have for some time been trying to arrange a tour to Northern France to view the World War I battlefields, and in particular the Chinese Connection, when around 100,000 Chinese labourers were brought over from the Far East to support the war effort behind the lines. A number of them died in the process and are buried in the cemeteries. For various reasons the trip has not taken place except by the inveterate few, but we were fortunate in having the next best thing, i.e. a talk by Brian Fawcett, which took place on Saturday, 1st December 2001. Brian has been researching the Chinese Labour Corps for some time and the Friends were particularly fortunate to hear the results of his research and to see a short video/film of First World War relevant events. The fruits of his labour have recently been published in the 40th volume of the Journal of the Society, and Radio 4 in the U.K. will shortly be giving a half-hour programme on the subject. And our programme did not end there. Recently, on 16th February 2002, forty-five members and guests sat down to celebrate the incoming Year of the Horse at the Joy King Lau Chinese restaurant. Not only did we welcome Dr. Patrick Hase and his wife Aileen, who were fortunately in the U.K. again, but we also had Mr. and Mrs. S. F. Bailey (Bill), who was the first Chairman of the Hong Kong Arts Centre in the 1970's and 1980's, and was very supportive of the Society when it was a Constituent Member of the Arts Centre. Now, however, we are preparing ourselves for our next far-flung visit at the end of April to take place in Cornwall, when about twenty-five members will visit the Gardens (Caerhays, Trewithen, Pine Lodge, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2001 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY HONG KONG BRANCH LIBRARY REPORT FOR THE YEAR 2001/2002 As of 1 March 2002, the library collection had increased to 4,380 volumes. A total of 247 volumes were added during the year. Donations of books were received from Mr Anthony Chung, Mr Peter Crush, Mrs May Holdsworth, Mr Bob Horsnell, Dr James Hayes, Mr Lai Tim-cheong, Mr Hugh Phillipson, Dr Dan Waters, Hong Kong Museum of History, and Friends of the Art Museum at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The long awaited for Hong Kong Central Library was finally opened on 16 May 2001. The RAS Collection is now housed on the 7/F of the Central Library. The Main Collection of post-1900 materials is shelved in the Special Collections area, and the Rare Book Collection of pre-1900 materials (with selected rare post-1900 materials) is housed in the Rare Book Room. Compact shelving is provided to maximize storage capacity and a comfortable reading area close to the Collection is also available for users to consult the materials. A guided tour of the RAS Collection was organized by the Hon. Librarian for the Society members on 15 September 2001. A total of 34 members in two sessions attended the tour. All were impressed and appreciative of the modern and well-equipped facilities as well as the spacious and pleasant environment conducive to study, research and recreational reading. It was gratifying to see that the RAS Collection is well taken care of and has adequate room for expansion. During the Library tour, the Hoi Ha (Village) Collection which was moved from the Shatin Central Library to the Hong Kong Central Library was displayed specially for the members. These books were found by our President, Dr Patrick Hase, by accident some years ago. It included books on schools and medicine and covered all aspects of village life in that period. Patrick gave a very interesting talk on the history of the collection at the same time. With the move to the new location, Hong Kong Central Library xlii Page 45 Page 46 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2001 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g Hsiao, YÀ, 1894- Mao Tse-tung and I were beggars; illustrated by the author, Siao-yu; with a foreword by Lin Yutang; preface by Raymond F. Piper, and historical commentary and notes by Robert C. North. [Syracuse, N. Y.]: Syracuse University Press, c1959. Johann Strauss Thunder & lightning. [Xianggang]: Xianggang Lin shi shi zheng ju, c1999. Johnston, Tess Far from home: western architecture in China's northern treaty ports. Hong Kong: Old China Hand Press, c1996. Johnston, Tess. Frenchtown Shanghai: western architecture in Shanghai's old French concession. Hong Kong: Old China Hand Press, c2000. Johnston, Tess God & country: western religious architecture in old China. Hong Kong: Old China Hand Press, c1996. Johnston, Tess. The last colonies: western architecture in China's southern treaty ports. Hong Kong: Old China Hand Press, c1997. Johnston, Tess A last look: western architecture in old Shanghai. Hong Kong: Old China Hand Press, c1993. Lai, Tim-cheong Dreamscapes: the art of T. C. Lai, Hong Kong: University Museum and Art Gallery, University of Hong Kong, c[1999]. Lai, Tim-cheong Hong Kong rhapsody: the art of T.C. Lai, Hong Kong: Hong Kong Book Centre, c[1997]. Liddell, T. Hodgson China: bits marvel and mystery. London: Allen, c1909. xlvii ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2001 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g 52 1101. Though well known for his poetry, he was a celebrated scholar-statesman who has been deified by popular acclaim. However, though not recorded as such, it would be unlikely for him not to have been deified by posthumous imperial decree, an honour coming into vogue at that time. He was born in Meixian in Sichuan province and died in Changzhou in Fujian shortly after being permitted to leave exile on Hainan island. His father was a distinguished scholar, and owing to his father's long absences from home, Su received most of his education from his mother. At the age of 21, he entered the state examinations and headed the list of competitors. He rose in public office and was prominent among the strenuous opponents of the political economist, Wang Anshi. His first fall from grace in 1079 was from ministerial office when he was downgraded to be Governor of Hangzhou Fu. In 1086, at the start of a new reign, he was restored to favour but again incurred imperial displeasure, this time being exiled, first to Huizhou in Guangdong and finally to the semi-barbarous island of Hainan in 1097 where he was appointed to the petty office of sub-prefect of Yaizhou. During his exile, having complained that Hainan was wild and its "frontier" people, settlers from the mainland, without culture, he took a genuine interest in their welfare as well as the welfare of the original non-Chinese inhabitants. He was permitted to return from banishment in ca. 1100 and died shortly after. He spent the four years of his exile in Hainan in Wenchang, in the north-east of the island, and was the first great name in Chinese history connected intimately with Hainan. His memorial temple in Haikou in Hainan island is now a museum. Within the grounds of the temple is the spring which he is said to have had dug during a severe drought. d] Zhu Chuping was a magistrate in Hainan who had preceded Su Shi in the post as magistrate by some twenty years. 3: Major Hainanese Deities noted in all Hainanese communities These are uniquely Hainanese Gods 13 a] Images of the Marquis of Wenzhou, Wenzhou Houwang I have been seen only on altars in temples founded and run by ethnic Hainanese. According to devotees, he is uniquely worshipped ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2001 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g 所為推用勢下盧惟 當任殷嘉車公二 麦福也未育更也務後發麂香逍卡 現前軍 在例 律通休無愿英巴卻通典如霜與 深達嚴往 省船公港街 作望海科: 109 The Lugard Tribute 呈盧督頌詞 香港大學美術博物館 University Museum and Art Gallery The University of Hong Kong ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2001 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g 110 The Lugard Tribute 呈盧督頌詞 Anthony J Hedley 鋰達興 Alfred HY Lin 連漢榮 Department of History University Museum and Art Gallery The University of Hong Kong ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2001 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g 194 Spread before us was a buffet of rice and vegetables, fish, veal and, for those who wanted them, green chillies. All this was followed by strawberry pancakes. To help lunch go down we had half an hour to wander round the grounds. There was a cool breeze singing in the pine trees. Everything was beautifully fresh and clean. Numerous little sitting-out areas with wooden seats and benches made it possible just to sit and enjoy it all, accompanied by the distant sounds of an off-duty member of the hotel's staff sitting under a tree and strumming a guitar. A cash-less society Before setting off, we were told that we could change money at the hotel, but there was none to be had as we had to wait for the man to come up from Paro with the cash. There were post cards and local handicrafts in the hotel shop, but this was well and truly locked with a large pad-lock. Perhaps the absence of local money was not going to be a problem if this stronghold masquerading as a shop was anything to go by. We all piled on to the minibuses with much discussion about what to wear. Sure enough it was warm in the sunshine, but in the shade was an entirely different matter. Dozens of traditionally dressed staff were standing around with big smiles to see us off. It looked as though they were ready to stand down as soon as the two small buses and their contents disappeared for an explore. Until the 1970's Bhutan had been more or less closed to outside influences. Even so, the spread of 'western civilisation' has not had a very pronounced effect in the last 20-30 years. Similar to pre-Meiji Japan, there are rules on a number of aspects of everyday life, including what Bhutanese people must wear - the go. I heard that for this reason, Bhutan is a popular holiday destination for Japanese; it reminds them a bit about their past. As I noted earlier, there are other regulations about building styles - they all have to follow the same traditional pattern. This makes for a very attractive and orderly appearance, but it also means that when a 16th century monastery is pointed out to us it does not look particularly old; a brand new one would look pretty much the same. Our first destination as a group of tourists was the National Museum ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2001 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g in Paro. This is housed in the circular Ta Dzong, a former watchtower built in 1649 by the first governor of the Paro valley to safeguard the main dzong from inroads by Tibetans. The museum is well stocked with a great deal of Buddhist artefacts, including a number of *miraculous footprints*; a whole floor dedicated to postage stamps, for which Bhutan is famous in the world of philately; copper teapots and spittoons, the latter being for the use of betel-chewing monks during religious ceremonies; and costumes and coins. Having been frustrated at the hotel, I still wanted to buy some post cards. I saw some, together with other articles for sale, in a glass cabinet that was being guarded by three members of the museum staff. However, I was told that I could not buy any as nobody had the key to the cabinet. It transpired that this was only to be used by the official responsible for collecting the cash, and she had been taken ill and gone to distant Thimpu for treatment. The poor thing could have derived some comfort from the knowledge that her three minions were guarding her stock-in-trade against all comers - especially those that wanted to buy things. Perfect posers From the museum there were spectacular views up and down the Paro valley from its floor at 7,000 feet to the surrounding mountains, some of which, snow-capped, reached 17,000 feet. And it was up the valley we went to look at the ruined Drukgyel Dzong. Originally built in 1647 but destroyed by fire in 1951, this was one of the many fortresses designed to counter the frequent Tibetan invasions. Our visit included a wander round the village, where we found for the first of countless times to come how willing the people are to be photographed. It almost seemed as though they automatically adopted perfect poses and groupings, even very small children, because they knew that better photographs would be the result. I regretted later, when my films were developed in Hong Kong, that they could not also advise on apertures and exposures. Maybe this will come. With a glance up to the sharp and snowy peak of Jhomolhari, Bhutan's second-highest peak at over 24,000 feet, we set off again down the valley for afternoon tea and bickies at the Eye of the Tiger Lodge. Sipping our refreshments we could gaze over the valley at the famous Taktsang Monastery (the Tiger's Nest), perched 3,000 feet above the road up a cliff face, and be thankful that we did not quite have the time ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2001 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g 200 to be shown whilst in the vicinity of his head office. Government and other official visitors have to observe a certain dress code - a white shawl has to be draped over the shoulder for male visitors, and a colourful shoulder band for females. We were not allowed past the guard at the beginning of the entrance path, but even so I was asked to take my hat off (one of the very few times that I did). The Tashichho Dzong is ginormous, and driving straight up to the front door, so to speak, does not give one the opportunity of seeing it in proper perspective. Therefore, we drove up a nearby hill to a vantage point (covered, as most are in Bhutan, by flapping colourful prayer flags) from where we could appreciate how the building dominates its setting. As soon as this had been appreciated, and photographs taken to prove it, once more it was 'all aboard.' No organised tourist trail is complete without a visit to a local industry. Ours was the Jungshi Handmade Paper Factory. Here, in a building about the size of a double garage, half a dozen people were making excellent quality paper from the roots of the daphne plant. I often find myself amazed by the course of human progress. I mean, how on earth, with the thousands of species available in Bhutan, did they find this particular plant, mash up its roots with water, spread the mush on a bamboo sushi roller, dry it and say: 'Do you know, I think I have found a way of making paper!' Spreading the word There was an awful lot of paper at our next port of call - the National Library. We had an appointment for 11:00 a.m. to meet the Director, but it turned out that he was busy with a previous visitor. Would we please wait for 20 minutes? Our energetic tour leader is not a man to wait and so the time was usefully filled by visiting the nearby Folk Heritage Museum. This was rather nicely done, being set in a typical farmhouse and containing examples of every sort of rural implement and artefact - perhaps more than had ever before graced the insides of any one farmer's dwelling. His other business by now done, Mynak Rinpoche Tulku, the Director of the National Library of Bhutan, was ready to receive us and he looked every inch the Director. Resplendent in his go he greeted ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2001 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g 201 us and welcomed us, at the same time giving a brief background history of his library. With very limited resources, he has made good use of his previous 20 years experience with the National Museum to bring order and inspiration to his new project. There are a great many books in the Bhutanese language, mainly on Buddhist issues, and an increasing number of books in English and other foreign languages. We increased this number further by presenting the library with a full set of HKBRAS Journals. Lunch was in the delightfully named Plum's Café, including a slice of their famous apple pie. As shopping never seemed to be far from the thoughts of us Honkies, a visit to Choki Handicrafts and then the National Handicrafts Emporium sated the appetite sufficiently to face the next leg of the journey. This was to be an enormous climb up to the Dochu-la pass (10,140 feet), being the gateway to the Wangdiphodrang Valley. The weather had been fine on the trip so far, but coming to the top of the pass the clouds descended, and with them came snow. However, as luck would have it, just as the army of RAS photographers took up their positions the clouds lifted, a rainbow appeared and we were offered enormous vistas of Himalayan peaks stretching off to the west. Thereafter the weather became (and stayed) clear as a bell. That bell rings a name Did I say bell? Was that a yak approaching? No. In one of the handicraft shops in Thimpu, Brian had bought himself a brass bell. We were to hear that bell a lot in the coming days. It was to become his method of signalling to his unruly brood that it was time to board the buses and move on. So effective was it that when a “real” bell sounded in one of the temples, it had the effect of causing a stampede to the transport by all of us - except, of course, Brian. From the heights of the pass it was a very long and bouncy ride down to the hotel in Punakha at 4,300 feet. Thankfully, it was an early dinner and early to bed. Orders had already been issued for a 6:15 a.m. wake-up the following day. Even though the guide told us that we were in a sub-tropical climate zone, I had to break open my Chinese Emporium silk long johns before climbing in to bed. (Any man thinking ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2001 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g 378 11. and 12. Two World War Two shots of British soldiers although regiments and locations are not known. 13. and 14. Photocopies of the old British Central School at 136 Nathan Road, Kowloon, now the Antiquities and Monuments Office. This is where Douglas Franklin studied from 1936 to 1937. He then went to King George the Fifth School until he was evacuated to Australia in 1940. 15. A 1960s map of Victoria Peak District (photocopy). 16. Two newspaper cuttings dated 17 May 1955 giving accounts of the funeral and life of Mr Franklin senior. 17. A Hong Kong one-dollar bank note with the head of King George VI (1936-1952) on it. Further information is written on the backs of photographs and snapshots. All the above have been placed by HKBRAS, on Permanent Loan, with the Hong Kong Museum of History, where they are available for display and research purposes. May I repeat that HKBRAS is extremely grateful to Douglas Franklin, a true Hong Konger having been born here, for his generous donation. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 參觀活動 除講座外,本會舉辦之本地及海外參觀活動,亦備受大眾讚賞。此等由專家策劃之遊訪,行程與一般旅遊大不相同。近期由本會安排之海外旅遊,包括不丹、西安、吳哥窟及胡志明市等。本地之參觀活動,多具民間色彩,如橫瀾島燈塔、廈村市、后海灣及粵劇後台風光等。此外,香港之戰時遺蹟、舊區遺痕、新界古物,以至博物館之展覽等,均在遊訪之列。此等活動,多由資深學者或導賞人士帶領講解。欲知最新參觀活動,請參閱本會網址www.royalasiaticsociety.org.hk. Visits In addition to frequent talks, the RAS is famous for its carefully researched visits to places off the beaten track. Recent overseas trips around the region were to Bhutan, Xian and Angkor Wat and Saigon. Closer to home, members enjoyed visits to Waglan Lighthouse, Ha Tsuen market town, Deep Bay and backstage at a Cantonese Opera. Several visits to the remains of war time batteries and forts in Hong Kong have been arranged, as well as walks around the villages and city back-streets of Hong Kong and guided tours of interesting museum exhibitions. These visits are all led by experts who have made a special study of the subject matter. Details of upcoming visits can be found on our web-site www.royalasiaticsociety.org.hk. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 around the world where full sets of our Journal are available to scholars. Members will have seen, in the Newsletter, a growing amount of information about the activities of a number of these other Societies, information reaching us as a direct result of the improved communications we have been seeking. I am glad to say that we have been able to get into improved communication in particular with three of the Branch Societies in India, that is, those in Madras (the Madras Literary Society), Bombay (the Asiatic Society of Bombay), and Calcutta (the Asiatic Society of Bengal), and with those in Colombo (The Royal Asiatic Society, Ceylon Branch), Kuala Lumpur (the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society), and Seoul (the Royal Asiatic Society, Korea Branch). All these Societies have agreed to welcome our Members to any of the events they mount, and we in turn have been very happy to offer Members of these Societies temporarily visiting Hong Kong access to our activities on the same terms as our own Members. We have also improved our contacts with the Siam Society, in Bangkok, and, again, we are now offering their Members access to our events on the same terms as our own Members. We have also been in regular communication with the Parent Society in London. We have not been able to contact the Branch Society in Tokyo as yet, and any Member able to help us in this respect should contact me. As part of our drive to improve relationships with these other Branch and Associated Societies we have agreed to donate sets of our Journal to the Madras, Bombay, and Bangkok Societies, in return for sets of their Journals, which will be placed in our Library. Exchange arrangements with the Parent Branch in London, and with the Korea, Calcutta, Malaysia, and Ceylon Branches are also in place. We have also recently agreed an exchange arrangement with the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities in Stockholm, Sweden. Following the agreement of Members at the Extraordinary General Meeting of the Society on 4 October 2002, that the Society should have a new category of Member, that is Honorary Institutional Member, we have agreed in the subsequent months to make the Shanghai Library; the Hong Kong Catholic Diocesan Archives; the Zhong-ying Street Historical Museum, Sha Tau Kok (Shenzhen); the National Library, Bhutan; the British Empire Museum, Bristol, England; and the Instituto Cultural of Macau Honorary Institutional Members of the Society. In xxvi ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 Polo. Later in the year it is hoped to arrange an away visit to Bath (China Artefacts and Porcelain Museum) and Bristol (British Empire and Commonwealth Museum). If any members in Hong Kong are in the United Kingdom we hope you will be able to join us. Finally, the Friends convey its very best wishes to all members of the Society in Hong Kong for your Annual General Meeting; we look forward to a year of future expansion and interaction. DAVID GILKES CHAIRMAN MARCH 2003 XXXV ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 HONG KONG BRANCH OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY LIBRARY REPORT FOR THE YEAR 2002/2003 As of 1 March 2003, the Library collection had increased to 4,856 volumes. A total of 476 volumes were added during the year. The number of additions this year is double that of last year, which was 247 volumes. Donations of books were received from Mrs Anna Baker, Mrs Lorna Christofis, Mrs Valery Garrett, Mr Michael Guilford, Mrs Patricia Lim, Mrs Ann Marden, and Dr Dan Waters. We would like to thank all our donors and welcome future contributions of old and rare books or journals. The new additions are treasures for our Library. Our Library has also been enriched by some very valuable and interesting gifts from a number of societies and institutions. Dr Patrick Hase brought back, from his visit to Shanghai Library, a superb copy of a two-volume reproduction of a series of nineteenth century Chinese woodcuts from Shanghai; the University Museum and Art Gallery of the University of Hong Kong sent us a beautiful booklet on The Lugard Tribute; the Siam Society contributed 34 issues of the National History Bulletin: the Cultural Institute of the Macao SAR Government contributed 91 issues of the Review of Culture; and the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities sent us their Bulletin as part of the newly established exchange programme. With assistance from the Hong Kong Central Library, processing of the Arnold Graham Collection was finally completed. The Collection was donated by the late Arnold Graham in 1995 and sent to the City Hall Public Library directly without being catalogued. To facilitate access to this collection, efforts were made to process these materials soon after the move to the Central Library in 2001. About 77% of the records were successfully matched against University of Hong Kong Libraries' records and the Hon. Librarian searched or did original cataloguing for the remaining titles. The Collection comprises a total of 423 volumes, with 361 volumes in English and 62 in Chinese. These are shelved as a separate section in the Rare Book Room and can now be searched through the online catalogue of the Hong Kong Central Library, RAS Collection. A survey conducted last year on the Journal of the Hong Kong xlix ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 HONG KONG BRANCH OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY LIBRARY ADDITIONS LIST 2002/2003 Bate, Henry Maclear, 1908- Report from Formosa. New York: Dutton, 1952. Bickley, Gillian, 1943- The development of education in Hong Kong 1841-1897: as revealed by the early education reports of the Hong Kong government 1848-1896. Hong Kong: Proverse Hong Kong; Aberdeen: Aberdeen & NE Scotland Family History Society, 2002. Braidwood, W. G. Speech delivered by the Chairman, W.G. Braidwood, Esq. at a meeting of members held in Shanghai on 30th November, 1945. British Empire and Commonwealth Museum Voices and Echoes: a Catalogue of the Oral History Holdings of the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum, Bristol: British and Commonwealth Museum, 1999, 2nd ed. Bushell, Stephen W. Chinese art. London: H.M.S.O., 1924. (2 vols) Changing flags [sound cassette] Hong Kong: s.n., 1997) The China directory for 1874, new series. Hong Kong: China Mail. Annual. Clinton, David The Lion in the East: the Story of Kong George V School 1900-2002. Hong Kong: Parents-Teachers Association (PTA), the School (KGV) and the Former Pupils Association (FPA), 2002. Coates, Austin, 1922- Invitation to an Eastern Feast. London: Hutchinson, 1953. I removed the incomplete last line "liti" as it appears to be a fragment and not a complete entry. I corrected "H.M.$.O." to "H.M.S.O." to fix the spelling error. The rest of the text has been reformatted into HTML using tags for paragraphs. was removed as per rule 12 to keep the output clean without any extra explanation. The corrected output remains: HONG KONG BRANCH OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY LIBRARY ADDITIONS LIST 2002/2003 Bate, Henry Maclear, 1908- Report from Formosa. New York: Dutton, 1952. Bickley, Gillian, 1943- The development of education in Hong Kong 1841-1897: as revealed by the early education reports of the Hong Kong government 1848-1896. Hong Kong: Proverse Hong Kong; Aberdeen: Aberdeen & NE Scotland Family History Society, 2002. Braidwood, W. G. Speech delivered by the Chairman, W.G. Braidwood, Esq. at a meeting of members held in Shanghai on 30th November, 1945. British Empire and Commonwealth Museum Voices and Echoes: a Catalogue of the Oral History Holdings of the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum, Bristol: British and Commonwealth Museum, 1999, 2nd ed. Bushell, Stephen W. Chinese art. London: H.M.S.O., 1924. (2 vols) Changing flags [sound cassette] Hong Kong: s.n., 1997) The China directory for 1874, new series. Hong Kong: China Mail. Annual. Clinton, David The Lion in the East: the Story of Kong George V School 1900-2002. Hong Kong: Parents-Teachers Association (PTA), the School (KGV) and the Former Pupils Association (FPA), 2002. Coates, Austin, 1922- Invitation to an Eastern Feast. London: Hutchinson, 1953. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 Transitional wares and their forerunners. Hong Kong: Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong, 1981. Kotenev, Anatol M. + Shanghai: its mixed court and council: materials relating to the history of the Shanghai Municipal Council and the history, practice and statistics of the International Mixed Court, Chinese modern law and Shanghai municipal land regulations and bye-laws governing the life in the settlement. Shanghai: North-China Daily News & Herald, 1925. Kotenev, Anatol M. Shanghai: its municipality and the Chinese. Shanghai: North-China Daily News & Herald, 1927. Lam, Susan YY. and Sze, Jane Past visions of the future: some perspectives on the history of the University of Hong Kong. Hong Kong: University Museum and Art Gallery, The University of Hong Kong, 2001. Liao Disheng, Zhang Zhaohe, Cai Zhixiang Xianggang li shi, wen hua yu she hui. 1, Jiao yu xue pian. Xianggang : Xianggang ke ji da xue Hua nan yan jiu zhong xin, 2001. Liao Disheng, Zhang Zhaohe, Cai Zhixiang Xianggang li shi, wen hua yu she hui. 2, Tian ye yu wen xian pian. Xianggang: Xianggang ke ji da xue hua nan yan jiu zhong xin, 2001. Liao Disheng, Zhang Zhaohe, Cai Zhixiang Xianggang li shi, wen hua yu she hui. 3, Tian ye yu wen xian pian. Xianggang: Xianggang ke ji da xue hua nan yan jiu zhong xin, 2001. Lee, Kuan Yew Memoirs of Lee Kuan Yew. Tai-bei: Shi jie shu ju, 2000. Liang, Ellen Johnston Art and aesthetics in Chinese popular prints: selections from the Muban Foundation collection. Ann Arbor: Center for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan, 2002. lv ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 Lim, Pui Huen, Patricia Discovering Hong Kong's cultural heritage: Hong Kong and Kowloon, Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 2002. 2nd ed. Lim, Pui Huen, Patricia Discovering Hong Kong's cultural heritage: the New Territories. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 2002. 2nd ed. The Lime Kilns and Hong Kong's Early Historical Archaeology. [Hong Kong: s.n., 2002?] Liu, Yiqing A new account of tales of the world. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Center for Chinese Studies, The University of Michigan, 2002. The Lugard Tribute. Hong Kong: University Museum and Art Gallery, The University of Hong Kong, 2001. Lung, Phat Book of Lingsu. Australia: Lingsu Publications, 1990. Madsen, Juel Celebrities of the Shanghai turf. [s.l.: s.n., n.d.]. Marsman, Jan Henrik I escaped from Hong Kong. New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, c1942. Pelcovits, Nathan A. Old China Hands and the Foreign Office. New York: Published under the auspices of American institute of Pacific relations by King's Crown Press, c1948. Plauchut, Edmund China and the Chinese; translated and edited by Mrs. Arthur Bell (N. D'Anvers). London: Hurst and Blackett, 1899. Rattenbury, Harold Burgoyne Face to face with China, with 45 photographs by Cecil Beaton and 15 pictorial charts in colour designed by the Isotype Institute. lvi ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 15 25 Ibid, Chap 5 26 Ibid, pp 755 - 6; Hansard, 3rd series, vol cxlix, p 989 27 Turnbull, supra p 350 28 Act XVII of 1855, cf. Pridmore, Memoirs of Raffles Museum; Hansard, 3rd series, vol cxlix, pg 988 29 Tan DE, A Portrait of Malaysia and Singapore p 70 **Tumbull, supra, p 207** 31 Tan DE, supra, p 70 Buckley, supra, p 760; Hansard, 3rd series, vol. cxlix, p 990 + * for example, when an act was passed in 1862 to regulate coinage in India, special provision was made by the Legislative Council for the Straits Settlements, and between 1862 and 1867, copper cents for the first time bore the name 'Straits Settlements' (Turnbull, supra, p 208; Hansard, 3rd series, vol. cxlix, p 990) 34 Ibid. p 760 35 1867 Act to Provide for the Government of the Straits Settlements, para 4 36 Turnbull, supra, p 209 37 Buckley, supra, p 756 38 Mills, supra, p 241 39 Turnbull, supra, p 247 40 41 Mills, supra, p 243 Cameron J, Our Tropical Possessions in Malayan India pp 251 - 2 42 of Treaty of Tientsin Art. LIII; Prussian Treaty Art. XXXIII; Danish Treaty Art. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 139 THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY (HONG KONG BRANCH): THE FACES, THE STORIES AND THE MEMORIES Eve Lam The hall in the Hong Kong Museum of History, is dark. The room seats about 200, but it's not even half full. Those in attendance are mostly gweilos and gweipos, and with his silver-blond hair and fair skin that looks a bit flushed under the spotlight, the man giving the opening remarks on stage is indeed a gweilo. But this foreigner knows more about the place than most born and bred Hong Kongers. His name is Dan Waters; he's president of the Royal Asiatic Society (Hong Kong Branch) — and he's giving the opening address at the Society's 40th anniversary conference, "Hong Kong: Forty Years of a Growing City.” "If I had been born in the computer age, the chances are I would be reading this address from a portable ‘electric brain,' as a computer is termed in Cantonese," Waters said. "But several of us taking part in this conference were born many years earlier. Indeed some of us have lived in Hong Kong for longer than the 40-year period (1960 to 2000) which we are reviewing here today..." The conference is free for all RAS members. They are a dedicated lot who have come in early on a Saturday morning to listen to these scholars and celebrate the accomplishments of the society to which they proudly belong. A glance around the hall and everyone is concentrating their attention on Waters, the longest active member of the Society. "...An RAS member who lived in Hong Kong for approaching 30 years wrote a couple of years or so ago from his home in England: 'No, I do not miss the present-day Hong Kong one little bit. But I do miss the Hong Kong of the 1950s and '60s.' To what degree does nostalgia creep in? Let us take a wander down memory lane. What was the Colony really like when our Branch was re-constituted in 1960?..." ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 140 Seated in the front row are the other guest speakers for the day: Dr. Patrick Hase, a member of the conference organising committee and RAS Council member, who will talk about Shatin and its development from a village to a city; Reverend Carl Smith, the honorary vice-president, who will talk about his 40 years of research in Hong Kong, and Mr. Tim Ko, an organising committee member and Council member, who has prepared a slide presentation about living in Hong Kong from 1960 to 1980. Also listening attentively is Dr. Elizabeth Sinn, vice-president of the RAS, convenor of the conference and mistress of ceremonies for the day. I sit near the front to get better video of the proceedings, but it's dark in the hall and other than Dr. Waters, I realise I won't be able to capture any of the audience's faces. I direct my camera in their direction anyway, just in case, or maybe just to let them know they'd be wise not to doze off. This was in December 2000, when the one-day conference was presented jointly with the Hong Kong Museum of History. Waters has since stepped down from the presidency he held for four and a half years, during which Hong Kong was handed back to the motherland. An old hand's reflection... I met Waters for the first time a month before the conference at his home on Conduit Road. He greeted me at the door and he was just as I had imagined from our telephone conversations. He is a tall man with a strong presence. He has perfect posture and his movements are quick. Waters holds the 800m and 1500m local running records in the over 70 category. He has a full head of hair although the colour has changed from when he was a young man; the only other hint of his advanced years is that he's a bit hard of hearing. He takes me to the study and has had his maid prepare a glass of orange drink for me. I haven't had orange drink from powder something like Tang since early childhood, - What do I want to know? he asks. What do I want to know? I ask myself. I really want to find out if the Royal Asiatic Society is as snobby as it sounds, maybe. But no, I don't ask that... ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 333 Suyin's autobiographical novel, A Many Splendoured Thing, was partly shot there in the mid-1950s. In real life the boyfriend, a war correspondent killed in Korea, was British. In the film he miraculously became an American. I frequently walked past the FCC on Saturday nights when riotous parties were in full swing. The old number 41, "Fairview," was the first private residence in the territory to have a lift. This came right up from road level. The house depended on water from a watercourse, on Po Shan Road, for flushing toilets. There is an artist's embellished painting of the old "Fairview" in the Hong Kong Museum of Art's collection at Tsim Sha Tsui. Remaining from the days when it was occupied by a private family, the master bedroom had four bell-pulls. These were connected to the bedrooms of his four concubines. In fact, during his lifetime he was said to have had eight (some say nine) concubines. This was by no means unusual. When a rich Hong Kong man went to the United States in the 1930s, a headline in a newspaper read, 'Here comes the man with 20 wives!' A Chinese could legally take a concubine up until October 1971, just as up until the 1960s most weddings were customary Chinese marriages. Some concubines taken before October 1971 remain legal secondary wives to this day. There was, of course, a customary ceremony for concubines too and they had their place in the hierarchy of the family. I did know families however where, when the principal wife found out the old man had “another woman,” she was brought in to live with the family. There, the principal wife could keep an eye on her. She was not infrequently made by the first wife to live and eat with the servants. Later, if the first wife died, the concubine, who was usually quite a bit younger, sometimes took her place as a “fill the room” (t' in fong) as a succeeding main wife is known. Another important event, in October 1971, was the legislation that came into force making it compulsory for everyone to have at least one day's holiday a week. Up until then, certainly in the 1950s, there would be no problem with crowds on beaches. But no, it was not all work and no play and I swam in the Cross-harbour Race in 1955 and took part in the 42 mile 'Round the Island Walkathon' the following year. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 385 INTRODUCING THE CONSERVATION SECTION OF THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT PAUL HARRISON1 I am sure most members of HKBRAS regularly attend Hong Kong's museums and libraries. They might, however, not be familiar with all the work that goes on behind the scenes to make these institutions effective. One group of specialists are the conservators. The author is employed as a conservator and is a life member of the HKBRAS. He is one of a team of thirty-five specialists who work at laboratories at the Museums of Art, Heritage and History, the Film Archive and the Central Library. These are further divided into ten specialist teams, to work on the many varied materials that these institutions collect. There is another similar team at the Public Records Office to conserve the Government's archives. A question that the author is often asked is 'What did you study to be able to do this?' The answer is that he has a B.Sc. in Archaeological Conservation, and an M.Sc. in Ancient Metal Working Techniques from University College London, and, accordingly, works in the Metals team. The other teams are Archaeology, Ceramics/Stone, Central Library, Film Archive, Historical Documents, Organic Materials, Paper, Photographs and Textiles/Natural History. The other, curatorial, members of the section are locally employed chemistry graduates who after serving an apprenticeship at a museum head overseas to study a conservation discipline. Previously they all went to UCL too. Now people have been to Canberra University, Australia; the Canadian Conservation Institute, Rochester, New York, USA for Film Conservation; De Montfort University, Lincoln, England, and Southampton University for textile conservation; and Camberwell, London to study paper conservation. But training is a life-long experience and experienced conservators are sent on short training courses, overseas, to expand the skills base of the section. Another question that I sometimes get is 'Can you do carbon-14 dating?' ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 386 No, I cannot. Carbon-14 dating is a much specialised skill in its own right, performed by instrumental scientists. But conservators need to study it because otherwise we might, by careless treatment of samples, invalidate them, rendering them unfit for testing. E There are three aspects to conservation. Preventative conservation Firstly, we can create the right environment for the artefact to slow down its degradation. So that, ideally, the artefact will not need to be treated individually in the laboratory. There are many agents of decay. But the main factors that we are concerned with are light, including ultraviolet radiation, humidity, pollutants, insects and moulds. Have you wondered why buildings such as the Hong Kong Museum of Art in Tsim Sha Tsui have wonderful urban views but only a small number of windows to enjoy them from? It is because the strength of the sun varies throughout the day and the particular season, and conservators prefer many museum artefacts to be limited in terms of the amount of light that they are exposed to, and certainly not to damaging ultraviolet light. Conservators joke that they would prefer the galleries inside museums to be pitch black; low levels of lighting are usually the result of conservators trying to prolong an artefact's existence. Humidity is complicated and harder to control, metals need humidity to rust but if we dry the air too much, composite items will crack as they dry up. Keeping an artefact at a low state of humidity in the tropics requires a high degree of maintenance. High humidity causes many artefacts to go mouldy and become more susceptible to insect attack. A rapidly changing humidity is very damaging to wood and ivory artefacts; it can make them crack or in the case of ivory even explode. There are many types of pollutant and these can damage different types of artefacts. The pollutant may come from the external I [Hon. Ed. - A long-lived naturally occurring radioactive carbon isotope of mass 14, used in carbon dating and as a tracer in biochemistry.] ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 387 environment (mostly the burning of fossil fuels to produce oxides of nitrogen and sulphur) or from something in the museum, such as the wood or paint imperceptibly deteriorating and emitting gases. To reduce the amount of pollution, conservators test materials, chemically, to see if they are emitting pollutants. There are measures to reduce the amount of pollution emitted such as painting or encasing the material with impermeable sheeting. To get around these problems the latest generation of display cases are made of metal and glass. At the time of writing these cases can be seen at the Museum of Art exhibiting gold and jade artefacts in the first floor exhibition gallery. The cases can only be opened with a special lock, the air within the case is cleaned and the humidity controlled to a set level, with machinery that is inside the case, below the artefacts. Insects are a source of constant needed vigilance for us; discretely placed around the museums are traps similar to those bought at supermarkets and they monitor fauna. An insect outbreak at a museum is a matter of serious concern because the food source is often likely to be an artefact. Also because insects inside museums are not subject to natural selection, i.e. survival of the fittest, having regard to the amount of food available, they are likely to thrive at the artefact's expense. Conservators also have a key role in teaching curators the basics of conservation. Active conservation We call controlling the above problems preventative conservation, but we also have to do active preservation work on particular artefacts. This is hard to describe succinctly as conservators get such a variety of artefacts to work upon, suffering from a wide range of problems and which can only be cured by applying one of many different methods. This is one reason that the author finds his profession so enjoyable. Conservators have a very influential role in the history of an artefact being worked upon and the profession has developed a range of professional ethics. Some of these are: 2 But the author has probably broken most of these rules though, at one time or another. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 389 the controversy is called The Ravished Image: or How to Ruin Masterpieces by Restoration (Walden 1985). Recent well-known examples are Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper (Barcilan, 2001) and the Sistine Chapel (Pietrangeli, 1994). The conservators removed all the previous repairs to reveal the artist's work with the result that a lot less pigment is on display now. There are several things conservators can do to restore colour, two being: * Conservators can leave the repair unpainted; this can often stand out too strongly, detracting from the artefact. Conservators can paint the infill a constant bland colour, usually similar but slightly lighter than the artefact's colour, and * We can try to recreate the patterns, shadings and textures of the original, making the gap fill almost invisible. The profession does not like to restore an artefact, i.e. making it brand new The latter is very time-consuming and it is often the case that the time spent making an artefact look good is better spent saving another artefact. Many artefacts come to the laboratory suffering from an irreversible chemical reaction that we have to stabilise. Examples of this sort of treatment include the following. Archaeological iron usually contains a large amount of chloride salts. If these are not removed by prolonged soaking in chemicals, the object falls apart. Very deleterious rust forms (chemically: beta iron oxy-hydroxide) as an artefact changes its environment from burial to museum. Untreated iron only has a half life of eight to eleven years (Keene and Orton 1985). If archaeological bronzes or as we prefer to say copper alloy (as bronze is a specific alloy of copper and tin) contain too many chloride salts, a corrosion product forms known as bronze disease that can turn the artefact, ultimately, to a light green powder. This corrosion product can be stabilised by removing as much as possible of the offending corrosion product and stabilising the damaged areas with silver oxide. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 454 had eight (some say nine) concubines. In 1928, the house was passed on to his son, Mr. Mok Hing Shung. Up until the 1950s and 1960s, there were several palatial mansions standing in their own grounds in the Mid-Levels. Some had tennis courts. One splendid example was Marble Hall, at 1 Conduit Road where Chater Hall now stands. Marble Hall was built by Sir Paul Catchick Chater, a wealthy Armenian merchant and philanthropist. It was said in his days: "What Chater does today Jardine does tomorrow." The general design of Marble Hall was similar in many respects to the old mansion at 41 Conduit Road. In addition to the photographs hanging in the entrance lobbies of the five blocks at Realty Gardens today, there is an artist's embellished impression of No. 41 in the Hong Kong Museum of Art at Tsim Sha Tsui.1 From 1951 to 1961 the Foreign Correspondents' Club (FCC), a period some members describe as its heyday, was ensconced in the splendid building at No. 41. One could drive to the Club then and either drive up the slope or, alternatively, there was space for about three cars to park at the Conduit Road level. One could then take the lift (the first installed in a private dwelling in Hong Kong) up to the main entrance. There were nine bedrooms on the upper floor and the fireplaces were of Italian marble. The whole house had a wonderful ambience. With a little stretch of the imagination one can almost picture Han Suyin sitting under a cupola on the roof partaking of afternoon tea. The FCC was offered the lovely old building for a mere HK$250,000 in the 1950s, but the political situation was considered too precarious at the time to contemplate purchase. I first came to live in Conduit Road in March 1955, at the previous (then newly completed) block at No. 56. I frequently walked past the old Foreign Correspondents' Club, sometimes when boisterous parties were in full swing. On Saturday nights it was considered the place to be. The FCC had its own band but it also hired bands from the armed forces. Private parties were common there as well as diplomatic corps and airline lunches. But, in spite of the noise emanating at times from No. 41, Conduit Road was generally quiet and peaceful. At the western end especially it was almost like a country road, with trees and undergrowth, and one ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 457 Road. That is the supermarket and estate agency at No. 44. Now, many of the buildings flanking Conduit Road top 30 or 40 storeys blocking their neighbour's view. Certainly today barking deer can no longer be heard calling from Victoria Peak. But, proving the location is still peaceful, Realty Gardens does have its own flock of pigeons and it is not infrequently visited by a destructive, gregarious group of sulphur-crested cockatoos. Nevertheless the pattern of nature does change. In the 1970s crested-mynah birds were common in the grounds at Realty Gardens. Nowadays, you seldom see them. Snakes are not uncommon. But much of the wild life on the slopes of the Peak itself is nocturnal and limited. However I did see dead ferret badgers and masked-palm civets, in the 1990s, which had been run over by vehicles. Although rare on the Peak, one can occasionally even see fresh-water crabs and blue-tailed skinks. The latter is Hong Kong's most attractive lizard. Although customs have changed one can still sometimes see and hear street criers in Conduit Road. They vary from the itinerant, tiny, wizened old sharpener of knives and scissors to the trader who buys odds and ends of scrap metal. There is also the old man who sells lengths of bamboo. These are used for hanging out the washing to dry when it is euphemistically called "flags of all nations." In the mid-1950s, I remember there was a peddler with a pet monkey. Certainly if the present old, worn, steps, which are original, which Han Suyin and her boy friend once trod in the film shot at Realty Gardens, together with the original balustrades and the heavy, battered, gravity retaining walls which still exist today, could talk, they would have wonderful tales to tell. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author gratefully acknowledges the assistance given by Mrs. Betty Chiu, long-time resident of Realty Gardens, in the writing of this paper. The author is also grateful to Mr. David Roads, Honorary 'The picture in the Hong Kong Museum of Art, of 41 Conduit Road, is a watercolour on paper titled, Fairview, Conduit Road 1926', by Alfred Lane, reference AH72.1. It was donated to the Museum of Art by Mr. Kwok On. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 470 and Society in Hong Kong would have been merited. Clearly a book into which Gillian has put a great deal of effort. PETER HALLIDAY Philip Snow, The Fall of Hong Kong: Britain, China and the Japanese Occupation, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 348 pages (text), plus 129 pages (notes, bibliography, index), and 16 pages (plates), 2003. Philip Snow has done historians of Hong Kong a great service in producing this generally excellent book. His grasp of the sources for the period 1940-1946 is wide. He has consulted archives in London, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Taipei (although he seems to have missed the Harcourt archive, and the unpublished war-diaries in the Muniments of the Imperial War Museum, in London), and has read very widely, consulting both collections of original documents and secondary material, in Chinese and Japanese as well as in English. The index to the book is excellent - indeed, rather better than merely excellent. The result is a book which will be a standard for many years to come. The plates included, however, are relatively ordinary: more plates, and plates more tightly connected with the text, would have been valuable. More photographs of the major figures of the Occupation period, both Japanese and local Chinese, would have been very welcome. As so often, alas, better maps would have benefited the book greatly. Despite the title, the book has relatively little to say on the Battle of Hong Kong, the actual progress of the fighting in Hong Kong, or the fall of Hong Kong: presumably because there are other books which cover the actual fighting well. What the book does above all is illustrate in detail, and very convincingly, the months leading up to the Battle (the Governorship of Sir Mark Young), the developments in Hong Kong under the Japanese, and the post-war period of the Harcourt and restored Mark Young administrations. None of these periods has been entirely adequately covered elsewhere, and this book is the more valuable in consequence, The book is particularly valuable in clearly identifying the changes which took place in Japanese attitudes to Hong Kong in the 3 years and ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2003 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2v242g390 from last year and the year before. The SARS outbreak was to blame for some of this, since, in the early part of last year we were a little careful about putting events into the programme. Recently, we thought we were going to have to give up our lecture venue at the City Hall for some months, and so slowed the programme down, only to find that the long-awaited renovation and refitting of the Extension Activities Room had been put off, perhaps to the autumn, perhaps indefinitely, because of financial restraints. To put this into perspective, last year we had 17 lectures (2 more than this year), 9 local visits (5 more than this year), and 3 visits to places outside Hong Kong as against 4 this year. Last year the programme thus had 29 items on it, and this year only 23. In 2001-2002 there were 24. We will endeavour to do better during this up-coming year! The Council would welcome Members suggesting items for inclusion in the programme. Members willing to lead visits are particularly urged to put themselves forward! Improved Relationships with other Branches, and Extended Availability of the Journal in Libraries around the World Council has continued to take action to improve relations with our sister societies around the world, and has also taken action to ensure that full sets of the Journal are to be found in more Libraries, both academic and public. I am glad to repeat what I said last year, that full sets of the Journal are now to be found in all five of the Regional Libraries of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (in the City Hall, and in the Kowloon, Sha Tin, Tuen Mun and Tsuen Wan Regional Libraries), with three sets in the Causeway Bay Central Library. Sets are also available in the Public Library Service in Macau, and in Shenzhen, as well as in Shanghai. Negotiations are in hand to get sets into the library services at Canton and Peking as well. All the tertiary academic libraries in Hong Kong also now have full sets (two sets at Hong Kong University), as do the libraries of the Museums of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. We are in process of ensuring that the other Museum libraries in Hong Kong also get sets. During this upcoming year, Council will continue to try to increase the number of libraries around the world which have the Journal. xxiii ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2003 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2v242g390 HONG KONG BRANCH OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY LIBRARY REPORT FOR THE YEAR 2003/2004 As of 1 March 2004, the library collection had increased to 5,081 volumes. A total of 225 volumes were added during the year. Donations of books were received from Dr Patrick Hase, Dr James Hayes, Mr L. J. M. Litmaath, Mrs Mary Painter, Mr Andrew Tse, Mr Mynak R. Tulku (Director of National Library of Bhutan), and Dr Dan Waters. Gifts of books were also received from Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, Foundation of Islamic Cultural Propagation in the World, Hong Kong Museum of History, The Siam Society, Sweden Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities. The Journal of the Siam Society and the National History Bulletin donated by the Siam Society were personally brought back by our Council members, Mr Peter Stuckey and Mr Jason Wordie when they stopped by Bangkok. We would like to thank all our donors and welcome future contributions of old and rare books or journals. Following the journal replacement exercise with the Public Libraries last year, great effort was also made to identify missing volumes of the Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society in academic and museum libraries in Hong Kong. To keep HKBRAS journals up to date so that users will be able to have access to the complete set, Council members agreed to send missing copies to these Libraries on the condition that they will take out a subscription for future issues. All the ten academic institutions including University of Hong Kong, Chinese University of Hong Kong, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong Institute of Education, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, Lingnan University, and Open University of Hong Kong; as well as three museums, namely Antiquities & Monuments Office, Hong Kong Heritage Museum and Hong Kong Museum of History now have a complete set of the Society Journal. We will be sending Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences a set of the Society Journals soon and are in the process of granting them Honorary Institutional membership with the understanding that they would assist and encourage scholars in using their Museum to write articles on incidents xxxix ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2003 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2v242g390 2003 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE FRIENDS OF THE HONG KONG BRANCH OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY (UK) Although the number of Friends' activities during the past year cannot compete with those in Hong Kong, it is nevertheless pleasing to report that the quarterly meetings which have taken place have been of a very high standard. They started in May 2003 with a bold and forthright talk by Dr. Francis Wood, entitled 'Marco Polo and Me.' Dr. Wood is curator of Chinese Collections at the British Library and author of 'Did Marco Polo Go To China?' and 'No Dogs, Not Many Chinese: Treaty Port Life in China 1843-1943.' Her talk was very convincing and one was left in no doubt that there are still many unanswered questions about Marco Polo's trips to China. The second event took 35 Friends to Bath and Bristol for two days in early October, 2003. Bath has an excellent Museum of East Asian Art, originally set up by Mr. Brian McElney, who lived in Hong Kong for many years in the 1960s and 70s. He became a well-known collector of Chinese artefacts. The museum now houses a wide range of Far Eastern art, including items from South Korea and Japan. Our visit coincided with the very well presented exhibition 'Death and Burial: The Chinese and the Afterlife.' The Friends were particularly impressed by the emphasis on education and the museum's outreach to local schools. The day ended with a very authentic Chinese meal at the Cathay Rendezvous in Bristol. The following morning the Friends met at the Empire and Commonwealth Museum, which was opened in Bristol three years ago, with a great deal of local and overseas backing, including the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. It was particularly pleasing to see Dr. Dan Waters' name inscribed in the entrance hall. The exhibition portrayed in very enlightened and balanced ways a history of the Commonwealth countries, as seen by many of the local people who lived there. The items on display showed that the build-up of Empire and Commonwealth was a remarkable achievement, but there were clearly some aspects which did not come up to the high ideals many expected - this precipitated a lively topic for discussion during the lunch that followed after the visit and the subsequent river cruise through the old town of Bristol. xlvi ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2003 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2v242g390 follows: to only tackle projects on an ad hoc basis when something interesting turns up, suggested by a Volunteer or by someone writing in to AMO as sometimes happens; to revisit restored buildings and heritage trails and input comments and suggestions on feed-back forms to AMO on standard and quality of conservation works, improvements to management, signage, etc.; to hold Saturday morning workshops with AMO staff to discuss various aspects of conservation and heritage, which might include presentations or talks by Volunteers or other interested parties; to catalogue the store of salvaged architectural materials and artefacts held by the Architectural Services Department with a view to transferring the collection to AMO's store at North Point for restoration and re-use in suitable projects. Any other suggestions for future activities are welcome. Friends of Heritage The Friends of Heritage Scheme was launched in 1997 to recruit volunteers to assist in heritage conservation and promotional work. AMO are now recruiting the Fifth Batch of Friends of Heritage and an application form can be picked up from the AMO Reception Desk, 136 Nathan Road, Tsimshatsui if you are interested in joining up. Further details of the scheme are given in the application form. RAS secretary Mary Painter also has a supply of these forms; if you call her on 2813 7500 she will post one to you. Kom Tong Hall Although the Volunteers did not have any involvement, our President, Dr. Patrick Hase, did obtain a personal assurance from the Secretary for Home Affairs that the building would not be demolished. The present position is that AMO are drawing up conservation guidelines for the architect for the proposed Sun Yat Sen Museum to follow. Rennies Mill Many of you may know the old ruin on top of the hill overlooking the site of the old Rennies Mill. There have been various suggestions regarding the original use or purpose of the structure which consists of a ruined tower and small village-type house. These suggestions are xlix ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2003 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2v242g390 49 NOTES Romanization is always a problem with historical names, places and sources. For the two former, I have usually stuck with historical usage in English, whilst the sources are cited as in the originals. It should always be borne in mind that the predominant speech in and around the city of Canton was Cantonese. I am grateful to the Hong Kong Museum of History for help with illustrations, and to my friend R. Ian Dunn of Sydney for assistance in preparing them for reproduction here. The map used to indicate places comes from Peter Ward Fay's excellent book on the Opium War, published in 1975, and reissued in 1997 with a new Preface. 1 This was replaced by the Treaty System introduced under the terms of the Treaty of Nanking [Nanjing] 1842, which ended the 'Opium War'. 1 4 5 Ljungstedt, Anders (1836). An Historical Sketch of the Portuguese Settlements in China. Viking Hong Kong Publications, 1992, p.61. The full text of the revised edition of 1836. For a good modern account, see Porter, Jonathan (1996). Macau, The Imaginary City, Culture and Society, 1557 to the Present. Westview Press. Davis, John Francis. The Chinese, A General Description of China and its Inhabitants. New Edition in 3 vols (first edition 1836), London, C. Cox, 1851. Vol. I, p. 18. Parkinson, C. Northcote, Trade in the Eastern Seas 1793-1813. London, Frank Cass, 1966 (first edition, 1937), p.57. The Missionary Guide Book: or A Key to the Protestant Missionary Map of the World. London, MDCCCXLVI (1846), p.206. These were large and impressive documents. One in the British Museum dated in 1836 measures 26.25 by 19.5 inches, as recorded by Chang, Hsin-pao (1964) in Commissioner Lin and the Opium War. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press, p.7. I saw another in the Guernsey Museum in 1974. Collis, Maurice (first published 1946), Foreign Mud, The Opium Imbroglio at Canton in the 1830's and the Anglo-Chinese War (New York, W.W. Norton & Company, 1968, pp.45-62 for the official and unofficial systems of trading to China in the 1830s, at pp.58-60 especially for comparative figures. See in ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2003 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2v242g390 50 more detail, the returns for the Company and 'Country' trade at Appendix I in Greenberg, Michael (1951), British Trade and the Opening of China. Cambridge University Press. s Cited in Views of the Pearl River Delta, Macau, Canton and Hong Kong (1996). Urban Council, Hong Kong joint exhibition organized by the Hong Kong Museum of Art and the Peabody Essex Museum, USA, p.108. 9 Ball, B.L., M.D., Rambles in Eastern Asia Including China and Manilla During Several Years' Residence, Boston, 1855, pp.97-8, 10 Davis, John Francis (1845). Sketches of China Partly During an Inland Journey of Four Months, Between Peking, Nanking and Canton. [made with Lord Amherst's Embassy in 1816]. London, as a Supplement to the 1845 edition of The Chinese, p.262. 11 Cited in Views, op.cit., p.109. 12 Parkinson, op.cit., pp.257-8. 13 Gutzlaff, Rev. Charles (1838). China Opened, or A Display of the Topography, History, Customs, Manners, Arts, Manufactures, Commerce, Literature, Religion, Jurisprudence, Etc., of the Chinese Empire. London, Smith, Elder & Co., 2 vols. At Vol. I, p.138. 14 For an evocative recent account of Canton, see Garrett, Valery M. (2002). Heaven is High, the Emperor Far Away, Merchants and Mandarins in Old Canton, Hong Kong, Oxford University Press. 15 For a description, see Davis, The Chinese, vol. II, pp.114-116. 16 Herbert A. Giles (1900). A Glossary of Reference of Subjects Connected with the Far East. Shanghai, Kelly & Walsh, Third Edition, p.87. A plan of the Factories, as drawn in 1856, is given in Morse, Hosea Ballou (1910), The International Relations of the Chinese Empire, The Period of Conflict 1834-1860. Shanghai, Kelly and Walsh, opposite p.70. 17 Ball, Rambles in Eastern Asia, op.cit., p.100. The earlier remark is by Commodore Mathew Perry, USN, when en route to his Mission to Japan, but other than having recorded "Perry, p.136" I cannot at present trace my source. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2003 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2v242g390 183 VISIT TO MACAU MUSEUM OF ART. 26 OCTOBER 2003 A splendid day was enjoyed by the 28 participants on a visit to Macau on Sunday, 26 October 2003. Organised and led by the very knowledgeable and enthusiastic Council Member Jason Wordie, the purpose of the visit was to see the exhibition of George Smirnoff's watercolours, drawings and oil paintings at the Macau Museum of Art and to explore some of the places shown in the paintings. We were most fortunate to be joined for the day by Smirnoff's younger daughter, Nina Bieger, who remembers well the time her family spent in Macao in 1944 and 1945, when she was a child. Her memories, graciousness, and answers to our many questions added greatly to the pleasures of the day, making it a unique occasion. George Smirnoff was born in 1903 in Vladivostok. Educated as an engineer and architect, he worked in Harbin and Tsingtao. In 1939, he escaped to Hong Kong from the turmoil of Japanese-occupied northern China. Then, in 1944, with Hong Kong occupied by the Japanese, he and his family found refuge in Macau, where fortunately for posterity he was commissioned by Dr. Pedro José Lobo to paint a series of Macao scenes. These were the works we saw in this exhibition commemorating the centennial of Smirnoff's birth. César Guillén-Nuñez, who curated the first exhibition of Smirnoff's works in Macau almost twenty years ago, gave a brief introduction on the paintings themselves. When we left the Museum, we were each delighted to be presented with a hardcover copy of the exhibition book as a gift from the Museum, showing all of Smirnoff's works of art on display and giving fascinating historical information on his life. The book proved very useful when, after an excellent lunch at the Club Militar, Jason led us on a 3-hour walk through the back streets and parks of Macau to see many of the locations shown in the watercolours. It was amazing that many of the scenes had changed very little in the nearly 60 years that have passed since they were painted. And the time passed very quickly as we listened intently to Jason's explanations and Nina's recollections. Our heartfelt thanks to both of them for such a memorable day. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2003 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2v242g390 RO . HKBRAS members with Nina Bieger at the Macau Museum of Art 184 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2003 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2v242g390 210 With the impending British withdrawal from Hong Kong the stone was brought to England in 1994 and from 1999 to 2003 stood at the entrance to the National Army Museum. As can be seen above, information has come to light which surprisingly contradicts what was said on the original plaque. The new information panel states that in fact there was no loss of life when the troopship struck a German mine. The Middlesex Boulder is a loss to Hong Kong but it has to be admitted it was rather neglected as are, sadly, some other military relics. We have been promised a World War Two heritage Trail for some years but at the time of writing it has yet to materialise. Conversely, the Tyndareus Stone in the British National Army Museum is without doubt now being well looked after. More research has been done and, with the new information panel, it now provides an interesting, well documented exhibit. I am grateful to Dr Alan J Guy MA, DPhil, FRHistS, FRAS, FSA, the present Director of the National Army Museum, for providing information to help me write this article. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2003 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2v242g390 222 and (from Needham) a “Summary on the Transmission of Mechanical and other techniques from China to the West'. There is an index, and an extensive bibliography. Tucker acknowledges the assistance of experts in many cities along the Silk Road, and also his wife, Antonia Tozer, who accompanied him on several of the journeys that he undertook while writing the book and whose photographs comprise the majority of those included. Other sources of photographs include the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London, Tucker's alma mater. No book is perfect, and although my background does not qualify me to comment on the content and arguments of this one, I have one major reservation about the way Tucker argues his thesis, and several reservations about the book's presentation. My first point relates to Tucker's failure to compare the relative significance of the overland Silk Road with that of the maritime Silk Road. An excellent, though very different and far briefer, companion to Tucker's book is a volume produced in 1996 by the Hong Kong Museum of History, edited by Royal Asiatic Society (Hong Kong) member Dr. Joseph Ting.2 Contributors to this edited volume make it clear that the cultural exchange between China and countries to the west was just as significant by sea as by land. Admittedly, Tucker notes a contemporary account in around 800 that describes Chinese junks in Baghdad, and several maps indicate the maritime routes, but his single-minded focus on the overland route detracts from a more balanced picture of the relative significance of the two routes. In fact, Patricia Ebrey comments that the trade along the sea routes in the Tang Dynasty was higher in volume than that by land. Tucker's concluding chapter implies that it was European voyages of discovery in the fifteenth century that led to the development of the sea routes between China and the west. His emphasis on Chang'an, which is appropriate as it was a major destination for travellers along the overland Silk Road, might lead readers to overlook the significance of Guangzhou, a city which dominated the maritime Silk Road for centuries, and in which the cultural mix in the Tang dynasty was as great as in Chang'an. This leads me to wonder whether the extant art and history of the Chinese influence in the ports used by Chinese vessels on route for India, the Middle East and East Africa have been investigated, and whether this would be a worthy subject for a book. I note a tantalising Page 270 Page 271 ================================================================================