RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1961 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/vd6724704 Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch ORASHKB and author Vol. 1 (1961) ISSN 1991-7295 45 The geographical isolation of the country resulted in a peculiarly isolated culture. Government, religion, social customs all developed in their own secluded world. In that world many qualities which we are apt to describe and look on as primitive were present and survived until very recent times; I mean characteristics like simplicity, honesty, confirmed religious devotion, obedience, leisure, contentment, and kindness. Nowadays it is a fairly common contention in certain circles that a feudal upper stratum oppressed the Tibetan populace. But that ignores, for one thing, the fact that there was a very considerable body of yeoman farmers who held land directly under the Tibetan Government and worked it themselves with their own families and with the help of their friends, in the good old English system of exchanging services. There were of course bad landlords as there are everywhere; bad landlords included monks and laymen. But the difference between rich and poor in Tibet really was a very small one; it was not a money economy at all, and the difference, either social or economic, between a rich man and a poor man was in no way comparable to what you may see in many of the world's great cities. Income from exports was more than enough to buy all essentials from the outside world. There was a three-year reserve of grain, sometimes more. The people ate a good deal of meat and their standard of living was certainly higher than what I have seen in any Indian village. One of the most obvious products of oppression is discontent, and no traveller in Tibet before 1950 that I can think of has described the Tibetans as anything but cheerful and contented. Heinrich Harrer, whose name and book, Seven Years in Tibet, you doubtless know, is probably the only Westerner who has actually worked as a landless Tibetan labourer. He did it not as a social experiment, but from the sheer necessity of keeping alive. He has told me, and I think he may have written it in his book, that his life as a labourer was easy and he was treated extremely well. He has also given evidence of the touching kindness of the Tibetans, particularly of the poor, but of the rich as well. Now it is quite true that the Tibetans have from time to time been described as inhospitable in their dealings with large explorers' parties; but that was due to fear of such parties as a spearhead of Western penetration. To anyone in want they have the most wonderful warm-hearted generosity. In so many ways, certainly in their character, they really provide an example for the Western world. These were some of the valuable assets that were swept away in Tibet as it was. There is a great deal more that could be said about the very pleasant peculiarities of living in that country, about the exhilaration and the occasional difficulties of travel in ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1962 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9s166f47f 60 HEROLD J. WIENS of south China that have evolved a significant culture. But precisely because of this and because they occupied irrigable valley lands, the Han Chinese came into conflict with them. Moreover, because of superior culture, technology and number, the Han gradually took over the T'ai states of the Yangtze valley and assimilated their populations. Those among the T'ai leadership who escaped Han political and cultural conquests were the ones who led their following in migration away from the front of contact. The direction of this slow historical flight was southward and southwestward, Before the Han Chinese conquest under the Ch'in dynasty (Third century B.C.), south China contained 6-8 large T'ai states. In Szechwan the T'ai state of Shu was centered on the present provincial capital of Ch'eng-tu. The Pa state was centered at Chungking. In the central and lower Yangtze region were the T'ai states of Ch'u and Wu respectively. The T'ai state of Nan-yueh included such areas as the Canton delta and the Red river delta of Tongking. In Fukien were the Pai-yueh, sometimes politically centralized at Foochow. All of these were absorbed into the political body of China during the 400 years of the Han dynasties. Sinicization, however, took many more centuries and reached its greatest flowering in the Canton delta region during the T'ang period. West of this region in the Yunnan-Kweichow plateaus, however, a Sinicized T'ai power lingered on through the T'ang and Sung periods in the state of Nan-chao, at times strong enough to pose threats to the stability of the T'ang empire. The successor to this state, Ta-li, withered under the Mongol onslaught directed by Kublai Khan, and T'ai political genius moved across the southern borders of Yunnan into the Mon-Khmer cultural sphere in the basin of the Chao Phya river where it evolved the present state of Thailand. 7 T'ai autonomy within southwest China continued in smaller units in the lake and river basins of Yunnan near the Burma borders until the Communist conquest of China. The reasons for the extended freedom from close Han Chinese control over the southwest include the rough topography of the region with agriculture restricted to small basins or primitive self-sufficiency Ch'en Pi-sheng, T'ien-pien san-yi (Reflections on the Yunnan borderlands), Chungking, 1941, 21-24. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1962 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9s166f47f 104 ELSPETH MANEELY 16 hill slopes of the western islands and in the Castle Peak area; but perhaps only four places investigated since archaeological work began in the Colony may be dignified by the term "site". These are: So Kun Wat #, a series of low hilltops to the west of the Tai Lam Chun reservoir; Lamma Island (Pok Liu Chau14), which really comprises several distinct sites; Shek Pik and Man Kok Tsui, both on Lantau Island (Tai Yu Shan). A report on the findings at So Kun Wat was presented by C. M. Heanley and J. L. Shellshear in 1932 at the first Congress of Prehistorians of the Far East held at Hanoi. Father Finn's publications on the Lamma sites, begun in 1932, have recently been reprinted in one volume, Archaeological Finds on Lamma Island Near Hong Kong.3 The Shek Pik site, on the south-west coast of Lantau Island, was excavated by W. Schofield and J. G. Andersson in 1937 and a report was published in the Proceedings of the Third Congress of Prehistorians of the Far East, Singapore, in 1938. The artifacts uncovered at Man Kok Tsui are similar to those found at these earlier sites and are of three kinds: stone tools and ornaments, pottery and bronze. Before describing the discovery of Man Kok Tsui in more detail however, reference should be made to Father R. L. Maglioni's extensive discoveries in Hoifung as they bear a definite relationship to finds in the Hong Kong area. Hoifung lies on the China coast about one hundred miles north-east of Hong Kong. In 1934 Fr. Maglioni, then a priest in the Hoifung region, embarked on a thorough search for prehistoric remains. He located as many as twenty distinct sites. In general the finds were of the same type as those described by archaeologists working in Hong Kong, but Fr. Maglioni was able to distinguish three separate Neolithic cultures. These three he called the SON, SAK and PAT cultures from the capital letters of the romanized names of villages adjacent to the sites. So far Neolithic remains in Hong Kong resemble closely those of Fr. Maglioni's PAT culture, the latest of the three. In April 1958, Dr. S. M. Bard first reported Man Kok Tsui as a possible area for investigation by the University Archaeological Team. The site, given the number 30 by the Team, lies at the extreme tip of the northern arm of Silvermine Bay, Lantau Island. It consists of two sheltered, sandy beaches, a flat fertile valley ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1962 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9s166f47f 106 BRONZE ELSPETH MANEELY The bronze, though small in amount, was an interesting and exciting discovery. Fr. Finn at his Lamma sites, and Schofield and Andersson at Shek Pik also found bronze associated with pottery and stone of similar workmanship to the Man Kok Tsui material. The Man Kok Tsui bronze: two pieces of a lanceolate knife, and a fine patinated fishhook, were found in the vegetable fields of the central valley. In considering the age of the site the presence of these three pieces of bronze is important despite the fact that they must be regarded as surface finds. STONE: The stone artifacts found at Man Kok Tsui consisted of grinding, hammering and polishing tools of local granite and sandstone; polished adzes, knife edges, roughly chipped discs, polished discs and rings. The most interesting of these were perhaps the adzes and the rings, showing as they did the advanced nature of the stone industry achieved by these Neolithic people. The adzes were of most of the types found in South East Asia, including some rectangular in cross-section, a type Fr. Maglioni has linked with his Late Stone Age PAT culture. The rings varied in size and shape, and mostly were of quartz or black dolorite. Some were very finely finished, one particularly fine slotted quartz ring varied in section thickness by only 0.004 of an inch. POTTERY: Two varieties or qualities of Neolithic pottery were encountered at Man Kok Tsui; a hard resilient stoneware, grey or buff in colour often with a purple tinge and frequently speckled through and through with blackish spots; and a soft, coarse, friable sand-mixed ware. No complete soft pots were found but, judging from pieces of lip and concentrations of sherds found, some of these pots must have been large. Man Kok Tsui yielded eleven whole, nearly whole, or reconstructable hard pots. Some of these looked as if they had been finished on a turn-table and some seemed entirely hand-made. The two largest hard pots, one eighteen and the other sixteen inches high, appeared to have traces of glaze. The shapes of the pots corresponded to those described by Finn, Shellshear, Schofield and Heanley from other sites in Hong Kong. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1962 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9s166f47f 108 ELSPETH MANEELY The suggestion of glaze on two of the pots, the bronze, the variety of shapes of the polished stone adzes, and the impressed patterns on the pottery similar to Fr. Maglioni's PAT culture, all indicate a Late Stone Age or Early Bronze Age date (Warring States, 481-221 B.C.) for the Man Kok Tsui site. However, the people living in this area may have continued to use stone tools and pottery of this type well into the Han period. REFERENCES 1 William Watson, Archaeology in China, Max Parrish, London, (1960). 2 C. M. Heanley and J. L. Shellshear, “A Contribution to the Prehistory of Hong Kong and the New Territories", Proceedings of the First Congress of Prehistorians of the Far East, Hanoi, (Jan. 1932), 3 Daniel J. Finn, S. J., Archaeological Finds on Lamma Island Near Hong Kong, Ricci Publications, Ricci Hall, University of Hong Kong, (1958). 4 W. Schofield, "A Protohistoric Site at Shek Pik, Lantao, Hong Kong", Proceedings of the Third Congress of Prehistorians of the Far East, Singapore, (1938). 5 R. L. Maglioni, S. J., "Archaeology in South China", Journal of East Asiatic Studies, Manila, II, No. 1, (Oct. 1952). 6 R. L. Maglioni, S. J., "Archaeology Finds in Hoifung", Hong Kong Naturalist, VIII, Nos. 3-4, (March 1938). 7 S. G. Davis and Mary Tregear, "Man Kok Tsui, Archaeological Site 30, Lantau Island, Hong Kong", Asian Perspectives, IV, Nos. 1-2, (1960), 183-212. ================================================================================ 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 112 M. W. WELCH and improved the primitive method of firing so much that well-shaped vessels of fairly hard clay, which may be considered as ancestors of porcellaneous ware, were actually produced. Supports of refractory clay evidently used for the pots in the kiln are proof of this great progress. The pottery found in site I and II is pretty uniform in composition and appearance, and I would say typical of SAK. The mixture of clay is very fine; the potsherds quite thin and hard. When struck they give off a fairly fine "ping". So far, no other kind of pottery has been found on the sites. There has, for instance, been none of the rough and sandy ware found on Lamma and Lantao, which is crumbly and very thick. 44 On the potsherds I have found, there are three types of SAK pressed patterns. Though there are no complete pots, I have been able to put together enough of one to conclude that it was fashioned in the same manner as those found by Maglioni in the Hoi-fung area: the pot shaped and patterned first, the foot added later. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of my site is what I have not found. There has, for instance, been no bronze. Maglioni makes the point that absolutely no bronze or other objects belonging to a metallic period have been discovered in any of the pure SAK sites. Nearby, however, he came upon numerous large villages of the later (PAT) period, often with bronze pieces, and he has a theory that the spreading of the PAT culture was the reason for the dispersion of the SAK people. I have found nothing that can be assigned to PAT. This is in contrast to other sites in Hong Kong, where a few SAK pieces have been found, but always mixed in with a much larger number of PAT artifacts. My sites are not only rich in SAK, both implements and pottery, but they are pure SAK. They are, indeed, the first pure SAK sites to be found in the Colony. There are two other things I want to mention. One is the type of very roughly shaped large tools that I have found in groups on all three sites near kaolin deposits, frequently embedded in a lump of hardened kaolin. I have tentatively separated these tools into eight categories according to their shape. Five are “Archaeology in South China" by Raphael Maglioni, University of Manila Journal of East Asiatic Studies, Vol. II, No. 1 October, 1952. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1965 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s752cj653 S. G. DAVIS the work he very quickly graduated to a well-informed archaeologist capable of making shrewd observations and comparisons. Altogether, Father Maglioni mapped and recorded twenty-one principal sites and nine others where odd fragments of pottery were picked up. And here it is important to note that all the remains were collected from the surface and that no excavations were ever carried out. It would therefore seem reasonable to assume (on the basis of our experience in Hong Kong, especially at Lamma, Shek Pik, Man Kok Tsui and Fanling) that re-examination of the Hoifung sites with spot digs could be most revealing and fruitful. Perhaps this may be possible one day, Father Maglioni in his report (16) on the Hoifung District underlined and confirmed many of the conclusions reached by Dr. Heanley and Father Finn: principally that all the sites were either on raised beaches or low granite hills and that the absence of building remains pointed to their having been built of clay and wood (probably as at Tai O today on piles) and therefore easily and quickly disintegrated by weathering and typhoon attrition. He also concluded that all sites are neolithic with a strong reservation that the use of the term "neolithic" might be misleading. This was because he recognized distinctly different cultures present. In order to identify them he used the capital letters of the largest villages near the sites; SOW, SOS, PAT, KEB and SAK. Dr. Heanley in a letter (11) to Father Maglioni also was emphatic that the term "neolithic" should not be used for Asia. He felt that polished stones were almost certainly in common use in Hong Kong until iron became cheap and abundant. On the basis of European usage of the terms "palaeolithic" and "neolithic" it seems that there is no solid evidence of a pure palaeolithic culture being present. But many palaeolithic artifacts have been found both in Hong Kong and Hoifung and presumably were used by the later neolithic peoples. Father Maglioni noted that villages were usually located on the western hill slopes below the summit. This village siting is paralleled in Hong Kong and was done to provide shelter from the strong northeast monsoon winds. He also reported that "Double-F" pottery was not much in evidence in Hoifung. He concluded that this type of pottery had been imported from Hong Kong by sea. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1965 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s752cj653 THE DIALECTS OF HONG KONG BOAT PEOPLE 61 Given these obstacles in the way of locating KS origins geographically, I will continue to speculate that the most fruitful area for further research in the problem would be in the regions bordering the northern part of the Pearl River delta. Furthermore, and on firmer ground, it seems clear that the anthropological and the linguistic data put this group of Boat People well within the mainstream of Han Chinese culture and it would take some new type of evidence to assign other origins to them. I repeat the point that similar research should be done on other Boat People groups in Hong Kong before the full picture can develop. On the basis of this one study and a series of more casual observations I would also expect to find support for the thesis, shared by others, that the Boat People are not of a single origin but come from various regions of China at various times. NOTES 1 The Kau Sai village and anchorage are located on Kau Sai Chau in the Port Shelter area off Sai Kung in the New Territories. My sincere thanks are due to those people of Kau Sai who gave so freely of their time to help with this project. I am especially grateful to Mrs. Stella Lau Fessler of Hong Kong for her generous assistance during all the collection phases of the research in Kau Sai and Sai Kung; she also served as informant for Standard Cantonese against which base the Kau Sai speech was compared. By Standard Cantonese I refer to the dialect spoken by the majority of persons residing in Canton, Hong Kong, and now possibly Macau. 2 See Egerod (1956) for some notes on the Hoklo and a detailed study of the dialect spoken by one particular group of Fukien Province immigrants in south Kwangtung. 3 These three terms are not technical but may be self-explanatory. For a more precise definition reference should be made to Hockett (1958 pp. 137-8). My term grammar might include his terms grammatical and morphophonemic; my term lexical is roughly equivalent to his term semantic. 4 The distinction between a phonetic and a phonemic description is highly significant in scientific linguistics and in oversimplified terms represents the differences between a close transcription of the gross sound features of a language and a transcription of this same language in an unambiguous script with a minimum number of symbols. Thus, a good phonetic transcription might indicate all the differences in the 'h' of he, hat, and home since the 'h' is articulated in slightly different areas from the roof of the mouth to the back of the throat as these words are pronounced. A good phonemic script, as English happens to be in this instance, would use one symbol with the guiding principle that these three 'h' sounds are nearer to each other than to other sounds in the language and that as a group they signal... ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1968 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833948d 999 SUN YAT-SEN AND CHINESE HISTORY 113 government." In fact, he noted that the "general psychology of the Chinese is that a man possessing marked ability should become king." Viewed in the most charitable way possible, such an impression of history for a twentieth-century revolutionary seems strangely incongruous. But incredibly enough, Sun was making such comments at the very moment when Ku Chieh-kang and others were making electrifying discoveries in Chinese historiography, one of the more exciting dimensions of the New Culture Movement of the 1920s. These revolutionary currents seem to have had little effect on Sun. Sun Yat-sen also enjoys the distinction of having contributed a unique historical theory to historiography. One of his most ardent contemporary admirers has affirmed that of "all theories of history, the social interpretation of history" of Sun Yat-sen "seems to be most illustrative of the truth of social evolution, as revealed in the legends of ancient China."10 Yet this theory seems to be of rather minimal consequence. Drawing on ideas supplied by the American dentist, Maurice Williams, Sun is primarily at pains to set aside Marx's concept of class struggle. Williams contended that the struggle for subsistence is the law of social progress and the central force of history. From this, Sun reasoned that since the struggle for existence is the same thing as the problem of livelihood, "therefore the problem of livelihood can be said to be the driving force in social progress." With this insightful formula, Sun could now refute Marx, for class warfare was clearly not the cause of social progress. Sun could say that, conversely, since class warfare is the end product of the social disease caused by the inability to subsist, this made Marx a social pathologist, for he had concentrated upon the study of social disease, not the central element in social progress itself. However much such reasoning reveals Sun's basic humanitarian impulse, and certainly much of the rest of his writing on the subject of the People's Livelihood confirms this happy feature of Sun's personality, it presents an historical theory of but limited value. In a similar theoretical vein, Sun also spoke briefly of universal political stages of history as traversed by mankind. These stages, the first being that of the great wilderness, the second of theocracy, and the third of autocracy, culminate in the fourth, which history has proved to be the best, democracy.12 This very loose set of generalizations is part of Sun's discussion of democracy itself, so ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1972 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gm80qf99h ARCHAEOLOGY IN H.K. AND SOUTH CHINA 165 they have revealed a new province of culture, which from its leading characteristics as well as its geography can be seen to link the Chinese classical culture with that of the Archipelago and the Pacific Islands, generally referred to as 'Indonesian'. The reciprocal influence of these two cultures has never been adequately studied, for only in a region on their respective boundaries, such as the China Coast, can this be done. These characteristics may be summed up as: 1. use of stone adzes, chiefly rectangular and stepped; 2. working stones with circular borer to make rings, and with stone saws to cut stone implements; 3. pottery made on the turn-table, in both coarse and fine qualities built up by the ribbon technique and decorated with cord, mat and geometrical patterns; 4. lance heads of shale or slate; 5. cylindrical stone beads; 6. rings of hard stone used as ornaments; 7. cultivation, probably by growing grain in cleared patches of jungle; 8. fishing and boatbuilding; 9. cloth-making. The later form of this culture has in addition these features: 10. casting of bronze weapons and tools; 11. use of ceremonial objects of jade, especially in burials; 12. hard, high-fired pottery stamped with the f pattern; 13. leadless glaze, green and brown, applied to pottery. Second, they demonstrate the flow of Chinese culture to the south and its replacement of the native culture, in which can be seen traces of the ancient Chinese culture of the Shangs. Third, they show that this native culture formed part of a culture-province which included not only the Chinese coast provinces but Japan, Manchuria, Formosa and Annam, and whose remoter connexions extend landwards into E. India and N. Asia, and seaward as shown by the adze forms into the Archipelago, the Philippines, and the furthest Polynesian islands. For instance, a highly polished adze with a large tang, of very distinctive form, is found in Hong Kong, the Philippines, Hawaii, Tahiti, New Zealand and Hervey Islands. Fourth, light is thrown upon the ancient trade routes of S.E. Asia. Painted pottery, which was not, it seems, made on the China Coast, was imported from Tongking, probably along the West River. Bronze and jade of Chinese workmanship was imported from the Yangtse valley, by which of the three possible routes is uncertain. The Swabue people produced quantities of shale lance-heads, harpoons, arrow heads and rings, sometimes very delicately worked, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 114 JAMES HAYES Two other famous graves are listed for the Hsin-an district, one of them dating from the Sung period and the other from the Ming. The first concerns that ancestor of the Tang clan who married a princess of the Sung royal house. The second is the epitome of the local uncertainty and danger that seems to have threatened its inhabitants down the centuries. This entry dates from the 11th year of Chia Ch'ing in the middle of the Ming period, but similar instances could be quoted from any dynasty. It commemorates two patriots named Yau and Leung who bravely resisted bandits and were buried together in one grave mound.2 The old records are useful for another reason. They help to remind us that the outer areas of the prefecture, such as Hsin-an, though of little general interest to scholars for their lack of history and culture, were important for officials in the scheme of coastal defence, a subject which engrossed the attention of many writers. The importance of the islands springs not from their size or the number of their inhabitants, fields, boats or fisheries, but from their position on the seaways, commanding communications between all parts of the Kwangtung coast and the entrance to Canton, the capital of the province and the centre of the local and foreign trade for over a thousand years. They had to be garrisoned and patrolled in the days of sail because they harboured pirates and could provide supplies of food and water for pirate fleets and those of troublesome outsiders, including 'barbarian' Japanese and Western vessels.3 The reason for establishing the commandery at Nam Tau in the first Ming emperor's reign, and for elevating it to district status in the first year of the Wan Li reign was the insecurity of which local inhabitants complained and, probably the more decisive factor, the official emphasis on coastal defence in the twin interests of trade and internal security. A point that is often overlooked is that the seaways were far busier in the last century and before than they are today. European accounts of entry into local waters often mention seeing large fleets of fishing junks in the islands, and 1 KTKKCY 15/2. See also Sung in JHKBRAS 13, 1973:121-124. 2 KTKKCY 15/2. 3 KTKKCY 30/3 states 'There were two kinds of pirate on the sea in the Ming period; our own robbers and those of outside barbarians'. + e.g. Collingwood p. 16 ('As we approached the coast, great numbers of junks, with mat sails and two masts, appeared the high poops of which gave them the strange aspect of plunging headlong into the water') and Des Voeux II:204 (at Lamma Island.... there was visible a very large number of fishing junks packed closely together"). Page 120 Page 121 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1975 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j0995146d PACIFIC OYSTER INDUSTRY IN HONG KONG 147 Bromhall (1958) reported upon an experiment using raft culture (*) in Deep Bay and showed that the oysters reached marketable size in two and a half years instead of four. Furukawa (1968) in a review of Japanese oyster culture reports that the raft method of culture has now virtually replaced all other methods of shellfish culture in that country, and that by this method the annual production of oysters has increased enormously, for example in Hiroshima. According to Quayle (1969) in his study of Pacific oyster culture in British Columbia, this method of culture is the most efficient with regard to the intensity of spatfalls and the subsequent growth and survival of the oyster. By this method, the culture of oyster is no longer limited to the shore and can be extended to deeper waters, thereby increasing the area available for culture. Recently conducted experiments undertaken by the Agricultural and Fisheries Department of the Hong Kong Government designed to test the feasibility of extending the oyster industry to the north side of Lantao Island (*) (Fig. 1) have been successful (Mok, 1974). The oysters are able to breed naturally in these waters and the reported growth rate is even faster; the oysters requiring only two years to reach marketable size. Oysters suspended in the water can utilise the whole column of water thereby reducing intraspecific competition. Moreover bottom living predators cannot attack the suspended oysters. In addition the large number of spat collected by this method can be separated from the cultch after one year and cultivated on trays, thereby solving the problem of overcrowding. Raft culture involves a similar amount of labour as that used in bottom-laying but the more arduous and unpleasant aspects of the work (i.e. the laying of the cultch on the muddy sea bed) are avoided. The strings of cultch to be suspended from the rafts can be prepared on land beforehand. During harvesting the strings of oysters can be hauled up from the raft into a boat, which is much easier than diving or tonging as is practised in Deep Bay. The advantage to such a system are many and obvious and result in larger spatfalls, a faster rate of growth, better quality of the flesh, reduced mortality and easier management. Since the surface waters of Deep Bay are less polluted (Leung et al., 1975), the oysters too would be safer to eat. The increased intensity of fouling upon the strings is a problem but has been solved, for Pearl oysters at least (Mawatari and Miyau- ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q IN THE PATH OF THE ANCIENT MON --PAGAN, PEGU and NAKORN PATHOM MICHAEL SMITHIES The fourth overseas tour of the Hong Kong Branch, Royal Asiatic Society and the third led by the author of this article, went to Burma from 26 December 1975 to 2 January 1976. Forty-two members and guests went on the tour, and most stayed on for a two-day extension in Bangkok. Mount Popa, the extinct volcano which is the home of the 37 nat or spirits worshipped by the originally animistic Burmese, can be clearly seen on fine days as the plane comes to land at Nyaung-U. But the short drive from there to Pagan past an incredible number of vast ruined brown brick temples (whitewashed where they are still in use), soon gives an idea of the Kings' and peoples' devotion to Buddhism and the splendid ensemble Pagan must have been at the time of its greatness. This lasted from 1057, the date of the conquest of Thaton by the Burmese king Anawratha, to 1287 when the grandson of Kublai Khan, Prince Ye-su Timur, occupied the city and overthrew the dynasty. Some 5,000 temples still remain in part but virtually no lay buildings, with the exception of the traces of the city wall of Pagan and the Sarabha gate to the old city dating from the 9th century. Both are probably relics of the period of the Pyu, about whom little is known after 832 since they became totally absorbed by the incoming Burmese quite early. Anawratha brought from Thaton to Pagan thirty elephant loads of sacred texts, many monks, innumerable craftsmen as well as the conquered Mon royal family, and Mon culture was dominant in the early period of Pagan, to the extent that the Burmese adopted and still use the Mon script. Mon buildings were characterised by narrow blocked windows and a certain functional squatness. The materials used were brick, with a true arch, which was covered with stucco into which were sometimes inserted green glazed terracotta plaques. The inside of the buildings was nearly always covered in paintings applied to a dry surface and so not correctly frescoes. The buildings essentially form two different types. The first is the solid stupa, often raised on receding terraces, and the second a... ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1978 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8g84t8593 CONTENTS EDITORIAL - PRESIDENT'S REPORT - HON. TREASURER'S REPORT - THE LIBRARY - Page 1 3 9 12 Articles : The Reform of Military Education in Late Ch'ing China, 1842-1895 -- RICHARD J. SMITH 15 41 Altar Images from Hunan and Kiangsi KEITH STEVENS Is Face the Same as Li? — A critical note on Agassi and Jarvie, 'A Study in Westernization' MARGARET N. NG 49 0 Ancestors in the Spring -- The Qingming Festival in Central China GÖRAN AJMER - 59 (83 The Politicization of Chinese Craft Organization in Post World War II Hong Kong - EUGENE COOPER Shiwan Pottery Explored-FREDRIKKe Skinsnes ScollaRD 101 Village Government in China [1933]—C. MARTIN WILBUR 113 Woodblock Printing, an Essential Medium of Culture Inheritance in Chinese History — DAVID H. S. CHAU 175 NOTES AND QUERIES: = 国 - Missing Maps: Sowerby's "Sport & Science on the Sino-Mongolian Frontier" - H. A. RYDINGS Brook's Gecko Found in Macau - J. D. ROMER Mud Skis or Scooter, Deep Bay, Hong Kong The Saintly Guo- KEITH STEVENS - The Immortal Fan - KEITH STEVENS Ancestral Images - KEITH STEVENS StevENS Marble Hall Peter Wesley-Smith Distribution of Forts and Guard Stations on Lantau Island during the late Ch'ing period - The Cannons on the Wall of the Tung Chung Fort, Lantau Island, Hong Kong - The Fat Tong Mun Fort (or the Tung Lung Fort) - - 190 191 · - · 192 - - 193 - ANTHONY K. K. SIU First Record of the Pelobatid Frog-J. D. ROMER Two Bibliographical Notices JAMES HAYES BOOK REVIEWS - - - 198 200 - 202 205 607 (09 - 211 - 213 214 V Page 15 Page 16 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1978 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8g84t8593 200 NOTES AND QUERIES ANCESTRAL IMAGES* I have been fortunate enough to come across a most interesting book, "Religious Art in Taiwan" (in Chinese) by LIU Wen-san.† In it, amongst many other things, LIU describes several 17th Century wooden figures, some 18" high, which he discovered on the Pescadores. His photographs show images of elderly people, devoid of any colour and ravaged by time. I have translated part of his short article on them as it amplifies my Note on ancestral images. The Contemplative CHANG Pai-wan (張百萬) In Taiwan, not only temples but also homes have gods and ancestral tablets. Ancestral worship, a major characteristic of Chinese culture, is to show gratitude to the ancestors for bringing us up, and to mould us so that we do not shame them. Some people even have images made of their ancestors. The writer visited the old home of the legendary CHANG Pai-wan, a poor fisherman who lived over 300 years ago, in Pai Sha on the Pescadores. One day in a cave CHANG saw large numbers of black bricks and took a few home, only to discover that they were black gold bars. To prevent others from finding out, he took only a few bars home each day until after a month he had moved the lot into his small home. Now a wealthy man, he bought several hundred acres of land and the long string of bullock carts he owned filed past his home before dawn each day. Unfortunately they also had to pass the home of another rich man, a Mr. WU, who took CHANG to court for disturbing peace. The court case, a stalemate, led WU to suggest to CHANG that they see who was the richer of the two, the richer being the winner. The arrangement was for both WU and CHANG to take their gold to a nearby bay and one by one cast their bars of gold into the sea. Whoever was first to have no more bars left was the loser. CHANG emerged the winner. * To be read in conjunction with the article at pp. 47-54 †台灣宗教藝術, 劉文三 (雄獅圖書股份有限公司) 台北 1976 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1980 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/kh04md207 # CONTENTS Page viii President's Report x TREASURER'S REPORT xvi LIBRARIAN'S REPORT xviii ARTICLES : 1 Chinese monasteries, temples, shrines and altars in Hong Kong and Macau - KEITH G. STEVENS 34 Persistence and preservation of Hakka culture in an urban situation : a preliminary study of the voluntary association of the Waichow Hakka in Hong Kong - JIANN HSIEH 54 The Hong Kong riots of October 1884: evidence for Chinese nationalism? - Lewis M. CHERE 66 Silk and silver: Macau, Manila and Trade in the China seas in the sixteenth century - JOHN VILLIERS 81 Fung Shui, an intrinsic way of environmental design, illustrated by the case of Kat Hing Wai in the New Territories of Hong Kong - David Lung 93 Symbolism of the new light - JULIAN F. PAS 116 Rediscovering our social and cultural heritage in the New Territories - BARBARA E. Ward 125 NOTES AND QUERIES: A Hakka wedding in Hong Kong - VALERIE Garrett 129 China and the Beholder - HOLMES WELCH 133 Chinese religious involvement with Islam - KEITH STEVENS 134 More about the Tung Lung fort - ANTHONY SIU 136 Distribution of temples on Lantau Island - ANTHONY SIU 139 The Kowloon walled city - ANTHONY SIU 141 Tuen Mun from Chinese historical records - ANTHONY SIU 145 Is Chun Fa Lok the old name for Tsing Yi — ANTHONY SIU Page 15 Page 16 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1980 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/kh04md207 FUNG SHUI, AN INTRINSIC WAY TO ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN WITH ILLUSTRATION OF KAT HING WAI IN THE NEW TERRITORIES OF HONG KONG DAVID LUNG* In modern society where our environment is largely dictated by economy and technology, much of the deep meaning in places and placemaking has been lost. Scientists, psychologists, sociologists and environmentalists have repeatedly warned us of the danger of alienation from nature, from other men, and more drastically, from our inner self. What Alvin Toffler wrote in Future Shock, published in 1970 is no longer shocking to us; instead, the symptoms have become real societal sickness. Rapid industrial developments and acceleration of social changes have created what Toffler calls a ‘new throw-away culture': our relationship with things is more temporary; with human beings, more transient; with our environment, ‘nomadic.’ Too much is happening too fast. In expressing his strong anguish that human value is being eliminated by technology, Rene Dubos, a distinguished microbiologist, pathologist and Pulitzer Prize winner, protests by saying that "[s]cientific technology is presently taking modern civilisation on a course that will be suicidal if it is not reversed in time." He finds no excuses in affluent societies where, although resources are ample, human values are still neglected by establishments concerned with self-interests only. "[The institutions base their] choices and decisions on technological means rather than on human ends; [their] criteria are power, efficiency of production, and quantity of consumption, rather than the quality of human life." "Yet... productivity and efficiency have no value in themselves; they have merit only as means to ends.” Therefore, in viewing modern architecture, he deplores that "apartment and office buildings [in particular] have nothing to communicate beyond efficiency and conspicuous wealth, hence their architectural triviality." Indeed our buildings today are so utilitarian that human * Mr. Lung is a practising architect in Hong Kong. This article is excerpted from his M.Arch. thesis Heaven, Earth and Man: Concepts and Processes of Chinese Architecture and City Planning. Oregon: Centre for Environmental Research, 1978. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1980 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/kh04md207 82 DAVID LUNG desires and aspirations are no longer a priority in design. The trend toward brutalism in architectural design has urged theoreticians in the field like Robert Vickery and Christopher Alexander to advocate a return to basic principles, to refathom the timeless way of building and to rediscover the fundamental 'pattern language' in environmental design. In the long search for meaning in Chinese architecture, I have come to the conclusion that buildings should reflect the characteristics, the values and the sensitivities of a culture so that people who live in them can sense their archetypal foundations and, in turn, heighten their awareness of their own culture and values. Hence, architecture is didactic, a device for expression. Architecture becomes a life-sustaining process, and not an end object itself. Chinese architecture, like its civilisation, is an accumulation of a continuous, monolithic tradition. Unlike its European counterpart where building types of certain periods characterise certain architectural styles, Chinese architecture basically carries one archetype throughout the ages. Be it a commoner's house, or a palace, or a temple, they share a common set of design principles and methods. From the founding of an imperial city in Peking to the building of a farm village, the same tradition is followed. Chinese farm villages do not just 'grow in a haphazard fashion' as a number of scholars have suggested. Rather, they follow the same set of values as city building of the Chou Dynasty (1122-256 B.C.). I have chosen Kat Hing Wai, a farm village in the New Territories in Hong Kong, to demonstrate one significant theory that "vernacular architecture and the monumental buildings of the grand design tradition have a common root and serve the same symbolic function, both express the meaning, values and needs inherent in public form of life." This village was built in the Ming Dynasty (1368—1644) and is the best surviving example of Cantonese farm architecture remaining in the Colony. It still serves as a viable living habitat for the original Tang clan who migrated to this region during the tenth century. I want to document and preserve this 'vanishing' farm village in drawings, photographs and writing, as well as to examine the reasons why this architecture, and the life it supports, have survived into the twentieth century. What lessons can we learn from the village built forms that can significantly contribute to the making of future environments? ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1980 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/kh04md207 158 NOTES AND QUERIES YET ANOTHER LIBRARY In his Korea, published by William Heinemann of London in 1904, Angus Hamilton has a good deal to say about John McLeavy Brown, C.M.G., LL.D., formerly Treasurer-General of that Kingdom and, when he wrote, Chief Commissioner of Customs, that is, of the Korean Customs. Hamilton writes (pp. 85-86): In his official life he represents a type of Englishman that is rapidly disappearing from our public services. His private life reflects the culture and the grace of an attractive personality. They say, in Seoul, that Mr. McLeavy Brown is more skilful as a diplomatist than as an administrator; and his brilliant conversational powers give some colour to the assertion. Upon arrival in Seoul, newcomers are apt to hear that "Brown is a walking encyclopædia." He speaks, reads and writes with equal facility French, German, Italian and Chinese. It will be remembered that he is in the service of the Korean Government, a sphere of utility and activity which demands fluency in yet another language. His library attests the breadth of his culture; it numbers some 7000 volumes, and fills the walls of the rooms and corridors of his house at Seoul from floor to ceiling. Boxes of new books arrive by every mail. When he reads them it is difficult to conjecture. At night, as one strolls from the British Legation to the Station Hotel, the lights in his study window may be seen burning brightly. He is believed to sit up with his books very often until dawn. It would be typical of this silent self-contained man if he found in the pleasures of his library the antidote to much which takes place in Seoul. McLeavy Brown appears in the contemporary Who's Who in the Far East 1906-7 published by the China Mail, Hong Kong, in June 1906, where he appears as 'ex-Head of Customs and Controller of Finance, Corea', having resigned in 1905 and gone on tour abroad in April following. He had been appointed a Student Interpreter in China in 1861 and was Acting Chinese Secretary in the British Legation at Peking 1871-72, resigning in 1872. He was later appointed a Commissioner in the Chinese Customs and appointed Commissioner-General of Customs, Corea. I am here less concerned with the man himself, despite his stature and later career which can be followed in the Dictionary of ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1986 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063 100 CHAN WING HOI NOTES Besides "three-day jius", there are more elaborate “five day jiu” celebrations in the New Territories. The annual ritual takes place typically in Chiu Chau, Wai Chau and Hoklo settlements to make offerings to uncared-for dead spirits. 1 The oldest dated object in the Tin Hau Temple, which housed the main god of the festival, was about one hundred years old. I shall refer to this again later. 6 There could have been more than one "chairman". Probably part of the golf club, or otherwise a similar establishment. Tanaka Issei 田仲一成, Chugoku saishi engeki kenkyū 中国祭祀演劇研究 (Tokyo: Institute of Oriental Culture, University of Tokyo 1981) p. 891. 7 The Fuk-Wai-Chiu immigrants had their own gods and their operas in the Tin Hau festival. According to Tanaka, eleven or twelve gods other than Tin Hau were sacrificed to (op. cit., pp. 891-3). One of them, the Daai Wong Paak Gung of Naam Bin Chyn, is attributed by Tanaka to the Hoklo residents. Tanaka also points out that the Fuk-Wai-Chiu members of the organizing committee were alone responsible for a special part of the festival, that is, the performance of Wai Chau and Chiu Chau operas. 8 Piu-sik are usually carried on frames at a height far above that of the audience in a parade. Because of the rain during the procession this time they stood in a lorry instead. About half of the gods sacrificed to in the Tin Hau Festival, including the Fuk-Wai-Chiu deity mentioned above, were not found among the spirit tablets in the jiu festival. 10 "Picking green". In this case the two lions competed in capturing a bank note hanging near the entrance to the house. Glossary Choi Paak Lai 蔡伯勵 choi-cheng 採靑 Dai Wong (Ye) 大王(爺) ba-wong-dei 霸王地 Chiu Chau 潮洲 baai-chaam 拜懺 Baak Mou Seung 白無常 Baak-gung 伯公 Bak Dai 北帝 Bao'an 寶安 bui 杯 bin-ngaak 匾額 Chai Wan 柴灣 Chan Wa 陳華 Cheung Chau 長洲 Daai Si (Wong) 大士(王) daai-gat 大吉 diu-lau 碉樓 Dongguan 東莞 fa-laam 花籃 fa-paai 花牌 Faaigou jeungdaai ... ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 119 NOTES 1 Ch'ü, Ta-chün, Kuang-tang hsin-yü [New Tales from Kuang-tung], Hong Kong: Chung-hua ch'u-pan-shê, 1974, reprinted from 1700 edition, p. 677. 2 ibid, pp. 674-676. 3 Yung-yen, “Hong Kong ti ming k'ao” [The Origin of Place Names in Hong Kong], in: Li Chun-wei (ed.) Hong Kong pai nien [Centenary History of Hong Kong], (Hong Kong: Nan chung pien yi ch'u-pan-shê, 1948), p. 68. 4 Hong Kong Daily Press, February 5, 1873. 5 Siu, A.K.K., “The Hong Kong Region Before and After the Coastal Evacuation in the Early Ch'ing Dynasty”, in: Faure, David, James Hayes and Birch (eds.), From Village to City, (Hong Kong: Centre of Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong, 1984), p. 2; Fêng K'ê-pin (ed.), Hsiang chien [Notes on Incense], in: Kuang pai ch'uan hsüeh hai (1), 1998. (Taipei: Hsin-hsing shu-chü, reprinted in 1970). 6 Balfour, S.F., “Hong Kong Before the British”, Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. 10, 1979, p. 176. 7 Ch'ü, p. 677. 8 Chang, Y.N., "Hong Kong Ts'un (Hong Kong Village) and the Cultivation and Exportation of Incense from Kowloon and the New Territories”, in: Lo, Hsiang Lin (ed.), Hong Kong and Its External Communications Before 1842, (Hong Kong: Institute of Chinese Culture, 1963), p. 114. 9 Tung-kuan Hsien-chih [Tung-kuan Gazetteer], compiled by Ch'ên Pai-tao, (Tung-kuan yang-hêng yin-wu-chü, 1910), Section 14, p. 13; Dunn, Stephen Troyte and William James Tutcher, Flora of Kwangtung and Hong Kong, (London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1912), p. 9. 10 Iu, K.C., "The Cultivation of the Incense Tree (Aquilaria sinensis)”, Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. 23, 1983, pp. 247-249. 11 “Imports for the Year 1846”, Hong Kong Blue Book 1846, p. 200, 204, 207. 12 “Imports for the Year 1847”, Hong Kong Blue Book 1847, pp. 200-212. 13 “Imports for the Year 1848”, Hong Kong Blue Book 1848, pp. 251-254. 14 Hsü, Kuang-ch'i (ed.), Nung chêng ch'üan shu [Encyclopedia on Agricultural Techniques], (1847), Section 18, pp. 13-15. 15 Yung-yen, p. 68. 16 Lockhart, S. "Extracts from A Report by Mr Stewart Lockhart on the Extension of the Colony of Hong Kong on October 8, 1898”, Sessional Papers concerning the Acquisition of the New Territories 1899, p. 190. 17 Nathan, cited by J.W. Hayes. "Notes and Queries: Sandalwood Mills at Tsun Wan". Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. 16, 1976, pp. 282-283. 18 'Report on the New Territories for the year 1925; B. Southern District", Hong Kong Administrative Reports 1925, p. J13. 19 'Report on the New Territories for the Year 1931; B. Southern District" Hong Kong Administrative Reports 1931, p. J18. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1991 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j 11 that all men must die and not knowing when I may be called away, I deem it right while still in bodily health and full possession of mental faculties to make my will. Wei A Kwong, the father of Wei Yuk, had a typical story of success. He was a Zhongshan native; he left his hometown and worked in Macau as a teenager. His father was a comprador to two American merchants, Benjamin Chew Wilcocks and Oliver H. Gordon. It was known that Wei was forsaken by his family and had to resort to begging on the streets of Macau. He was later sent to Singapore where he studied under the auspices of the Morrison Education Society in a school of the American Board of Commission for Foreign Missions. This changed his life. He returned to Hong Kong and began his career. He served as comprador in Bowra & Co. and then in the Mercantile Bank of India, London and China until his death. Wei wrote his will in 1866. He prefaced it with a brief account of his life, particularly mentioning that he was the first student of the Morrison Education Society and that he first came to Hong Kong in 1843. He had "ever since lived under the just and equitable rule of the British Government." Though we cannot prove to what extent his exposure to Western culture was related to his Christian education, he succeeded in becoming a leading member of Chinese society in Hong Kong. This contrasts with the will of Sung Chin Tseung, which reads. Sung Chin Tseung, otherwise literary appellation Sung Ching, otherwise Ngok Shan, native of Kat Tai village, of Kong Sheung Division, Heung Shan District. I followed my deceased father, Mr. Shau U, to Hong Kong in 1842 to trade in foreign business as compradore. Further, in 1854, thanks to the kind support of Mr. Ryrie and others of Messrs. Turner and Co., Hongkong, I took over the office of compradore and up to the present thirty odd years. Both Wei and Sung were natives of Zhongshan. They came to Hong Kong for business in the early 1840s when Hong Kong was already a British colony. Though they lived in Hong Kong, they maintained connections with their hometown, as Sung's father, Soong Ke, stated in his will written in 1864: In the 21st year of Tao Kwong (1841), I came to Hong Kong and employed myself in business all the time with foreigners, always being diligent and making little profit sufficient to ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1991 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j 76 chance to take advantage of the linkages to the United States to put themselves in an international context. Unlike technicians and social scientists, Chinese humanistic intellectuals, of whom writers and artists form a major part, are frequently thought of in Chinese society as sensitive souls and passionate spokesmen of civil society as opposed to political society. They are likely to view society from the perspective of the ordinary man. Traditionally, Chinese humanistic intellectuals have had a deep sense of social responsibility. They are apt to be social critics. "Being persons with vivid imaginations, many of them entertain bold visions and lofty ideals which may or may not converge with those of political leaders or which cannot be realized at this moment but may inspire dissatisfaction with and encourage dissent from the existing socio-political arrangement. In a time of building the "four modernizations", such characteristics may come into conflict with the wishes of political leaders to rejuvenate and modernize the nation, processes which require stability and the willingness of the citizens to support the efforts of the government, Nevertheless, Chinese humanistic intellectuals view the modernization of the nation in a different way. Artists and writers always view themselves as a positive force in programmes for progress. They cannot accept the notion that modernization can be achieved solely through economic progress and that modernization is synonymous with material modernization. Motivated by a strong sense of responsibility for modernization and dissatisfaction with the absence of official encouragement to initiate a “cultural modernization" and to incorporate culture into the opening-up process as an independent entity, China's artists seized the opportunities of Sino-American cultural exchanges to establish connections with artists in the West and to conduct exchanges on their own initiative. China was finally opened-up culturally, though this cultural openness was not encouraged by the government. To discuss Sino-American art exchanges in this period, another issue needs to be tackled; that is the relationship between the general development of culture and the periodical reassessments of political development. In the three decades from 1949, a precedent was set in which the contents, styles and genre of incoming cultural events demonstrated the preferences, or at least the toleration, of top political leaders. In similar terms, incoming events were often those in conformity with the orthodoxy of established standards, though occasionally some ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1991 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j 114 overhearing a person exclaim after he had been insulted, 'When his mother dies I will not attend her funeral! On arrival at the funeral in this case study visitors signed the visitors sheet and each was given a red and white packet with two black characters, meaning 'lucky ceremony' (吉禮), printed on it. Inside were a sweet, a handkerchief (usually a facecloth) to wipe tears and a coin. For a funeral, the amount of money should be an odd number. For other events it is an even number: 'Good luck always comes in pairs.' Mourners walked to the altar, bowed three times to the deceased person's picture representing the soul, turned left, inclined and bowed once to the lined-up family, some of whom kneeled or crouched low and stared at the floor! Mourners are expected to sit and tarry awhile. Chinese are not too impressed by solemnity. You cannot live with the dead. Some relaxed, chatted about things in general, as well as confirming how good the dead person was. In fact the odd nervous giggle at things which should shock, in Chinese culture, are a sensible, natural escape mechanism to protect and keep the system in balance. Mourners later left the funeral parlour, ate the sweet, bought more with the coin they were given and threw away wrappings (which could bring bad luck if kept) while 'sweetness was still in their mouths'. As in the West, funerals of important people are partially viewed as events where one should be seen. There are, however, some who should not attend funerals. For example, those whose birthdays fall during the same month (Chinese calendar) that the funeral is held. Neither should those who are already mourning attend another funeral or send presents. Not infrequently, parents still do not attend services of their own children who die before them. At a funeral, immediate members of the family wear white (colour of deep mourning) shoes (no longer grass sandals) and traditional, cheap, undyed (white) clothes; with white shirts and trousers for men and white skirts for women. Over this is placed a thin, hemp, 'surcoat' of sackcloth (麻衣). One corner of part of the sacking attire may be worn, like a hood, for women. Men usually wear a 'skeleton hat' or white headband. On some, there is an auspicious red spot which counteracts evil. Although clothing can vary slightly in style it is basically a ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1993 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302 203 REFLEXIVITY IN RESEARCH AND A QUESTION OF CULTURE MARY PANG [This paper is a personal account of an exploration into cultural identity and self-awareness resulting from the process of doing research. For her doctoral degree Dr. Pang examined the occupational choices of young Chinese adults in Britain. What was distinctive about this was the fact that while most studies of the Chinese community in Britain have been conducted by non-Chinese researchers, Dr. Pang shared many common characteristics with the subjects of her investigation, including ethnicity, background and age. This presentation focuses on the issues of how the researcher's "insider knowledge" influenced the research; and conversely, how the research in turn impacted on the researcher's self-perception and views about her environment.] This paper examines my experiences of doing research for a PhD. My doctoral thesis entitled 'Catering to employment needs: the occupations of young Chinese adults in Britain' (Pang, 1993) was an investigation into the occupational choices of young Chinese adults in Britain. The purpose of the research was to locate the position of 16 to 30 year old Chinese in the British labour market, and to determine why these Chinese youth took up the jobs that they did. Frederick Steier suggested that 'we understand and become aware of our own research activities as telling a story about ourselves' (1991:3) This statement seemed particularly apt in my case, for a complex two-way exchange process occurred in this research whereby I used my "insider" knowledge to form decisions regarding the research design; while the research in turn impacted upon my own self-perception and views about my environment. There are two main themes which will be discussed in this paper: One is the methodological considerations which looks at how my close identification with the subject influenced the nature of the project, and The second deals with the process of self-discovery and exploration of my own identity during this period of study, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1993 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302 216 The main ceremony consisted of the kar ye (godfather) and kat neung sitting below large Chinese characters, (meaning 'double happiness'), and a 3-inch diameter, draped red-paper 'streamer'. The 'son' then poured and 'offered up' cups of tea to his adopted parents and kowtowed. By accepting and drinking the tea this signified that the couple had taken the 28-year old man as their 'son'. He would, however, continue to live with his real parents. As with most Chinese ceremonies today, photographers were present to capture important moments on film. The procedure of offering cups of tea was repeated by the new godson 'doing the honours' to the wife's eldest sister and her husband, as well as to another unmarried sister. At an adoption ceremony such as this, and on occasions like a parent's birthday and at Lunar New Year, such action displays filial piety. It is interesting that tea is always presented and drunk, not wine. Kowtowing is still sometimes performed in traditional Chinese families although it is not nearly so common in Hong Kong as it was, even 40 years ago. In Chinese culture presents are commonly exchanged at this ceremony, of course they included the usual red 'lucky packets' containing money. The godparents also gave their godson a neatly packaged box holding two bowls and two spoons. These signified, 'May you never go hungry'. In China, which has been plagued by famine throughout history, such a wish was appropriate. After all, even as late as the early 1960s, 30 million (the exact figure is debatable) died after the crop failure during the 'Great Leap Forward'. Several members of the two families involved in the Wanchai restaurant adoption ceremony are professional musicians. The godfather composes Chinese opera. On the evening in question his four to tat (*apprentices or pupils) also poured and offered up tea to their 'master'. The last 'event' of the evening was the meal, which, of course, included roast suckling pig and shark's fin soup, washed down with brandy. As one would expect, as many of the guests worked in the entertainment business, karaoke accompanied the dinner. There was many a star performance. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1994 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g 91 There are, for example, the Nine Stars and the 24 Mountains. The 24 Celestial Mansions, the 24 Fortnightly Climatic Periods, the 24 Characters, and the Five Elements are also represented. The compass, made from timber and coated with lacquer, not only tells direction, namely east, south, west, north and centre (the 'five' cardinal points), but it also shows the position of the sun at different periods of the year. To use the compass the base is placed parallel with the door, wall or other object to be oriented. The rings are then rotated so that things are lined up. As a model of the universe, then, the loh poon helps its fung shui master interpret and predict, from the mystic Chinese characters, the client's future. This is done with the 'Eight Trigrams' forming the paat kwa (the eight-sided divining diagram as detailed in the I Ching) which is displayed on the inner section of the compass (Sung, 1934; and Sung, 1935). With the 'Eight Trigrams' two parallel continuous lines represent the 'Great Male Principle', and two parallel broken lines represent the 'Great Female Principle', and so on. The ancient book, the I Ching, is regarded as almost sacred in some quarters and dates back to about 2800 BC, although the oldest extant commentaries were probably written closer to 1300 BC (Markert, 1986). The I Ching deals with prognostication, fortune telling and philosophy, with sets of symbols and different ways of combining these symbols so that they form titular statements. Much is written in poetic language which is difficult for the lay Chinese to understand. These Trigrams mentioned above, made up of broken and unbroken lines in various relationships, are loathed by evil spirits in the same way that Holy Water, blessed by a Christian Priest, will fight evil. In fact in China's Fujian Province, to the North-east of Hong Kong, large circular, communal dwellings have one ring of houses encircling another ring (Huang, 1994, 11). A whole complex, as large as an Olympic stadium, houses hundreds of families. Such structures are said to be earthquake proof and designed to provide natural temperature control. Each complex is shaped similar to the baat kwa, as outlined above. As previously stated Chinese culture is woven around the 'Five Elements' in various ways (Needham, 1956, 243). The Five are employed, in fung shui, after consulting both the lunar and solar calendars (which ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1996 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/3n209j641 181 per-muing hia-pren, diffighi Vol 2 (Hong Kong Urban Council. 1986), pp. 395-402 * Interview of Lo Ch`uan, op cat Jun 22 1991 46 Interviews La P'o † # (surname Ho, age 70+), Ma Wan Chung, Jun 30, 1991, Ch'en Kuang-sheng P4144 (age 63) Fishermen's Village. Jul 8,1991 & by telephone, Aug 1,1991, 20 Mall, op cit 1 Anthony KK Sau “Distribution of Temples on Lantan Island as Recorded in 1979.** JHKBRAS, Vol 20(1980), p 138 ** Ch^en Po-Cao BR1MB "Touwang ku-mao sheng-shih per-chu,” (Kowloon: n.p., 1917) the Flouwang Temple Kowloon City For different opinions on the Houwang's identity, see Hsiao Kuo-chuen "Hstang-kang Hou-lung so ssu-feng chih 'Yang-hou-ta-wang' k'ao,” in Hstang-kang ch'inh-tai-shih huu-chu (Taipei: Taiwan Shang-wu yin-shu-kuan, 1985), pp 307, 313, Jao Tsung-yı "Yang-1'ai-hou chia-chih yu Chit-lung Yang-Houwang miao,' in Chu-hung vu Sung-chi shuh-hao (Hong Kong: Wan-yu t'u-shu kungssa, 1959), pp 84--92 * Ronald Ng. "Culture and Society of a Hakka Community on Lantau Island,” in I_C Jarvie, ed, A Society in Fransition. Contributions to the Study of Hong Kong Society (London: Butler & Tanmer Lid. 1969), pp. 55, 62 40 According to an interview at the Tung Chung Public School, Jun 24,1991, see also interviews. La P'o †% (age 63), upper Ling Per, Jun 15, 1991, Cheng Man-hung, op cit 1 5? Interview of 11 Chii-sheng PL/ (age_73), Lam Che. Jun 18,1991 * Interview of M. Huang (age 76), Wong Ka Wai, Jun 25, 1991 Brim, op eit, p. 100, N 10 ** Interview of Cheng Man-hung, op uit, upper Ling Per Aug. 11. 1991 Ho, op ett. p 13 Flayes, 1967, op eit, p 91 * Ho, op. cit, p9 5 lbid. p 13 * Brum op eit,p/103 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 22 consider the first character to be partly made up of the character for ghost.' This was thus seen by many as a ghost knocking at the door of Hong Kong. It was certainly not auspicious. The second 'Ngai' can be seen by wary Chinese as representing the Chinese character for 'danger' Consequently, on his return in 1987, to solve the problem Sir David's name was changed to Wai Yik-shun. This means, 'to defend and protect with faith and trust.' All this changing of names, although generally regarded with some amusement by many Westerners, is taken very seriously by most Chinese. Changing given names is by no means uncommon among Chinese although they do not normally change surnames (Jones, 1997;73). More of humour It has been said, if you want to educate a person in the culture and customs of a country you must start with his or her grandmother. Yet Raybon Kan, an ethnic Chinese who performs under the title of Comedy Fu, was born and grew up north of Wellington, New Zealand (Green, 1998). He works as a stand-up, Chinese 'Kiwi' comedian. This lawyer turned funnyman speaks fluent, colloquial Cantonese, but only with his parents who understand limited English and run a take-away. It is something to come on stage in a White community, with a Chinese face in a classic, rural white-bloke tradition, with an act where about one-quarter focuses on his native origins, racial stereotypes, and being an 'underdog' and a 'victim' (Little, 1998). Humour can of course be 'learned.' In fact in one month, in rugby-loving New Zealand, more went to see Comedy Fu perform than watched the Auckland Warriors in action. Another act was put on by Pui-fan Lee (note surname and given names reversed in western fashion), a stand-up comic in Short, Fat, Ugly and Chinese, at the Fringe Club in Hong Kong, in 1994. As a Chinese girl born in Birmingham, her performance consisted of immigrant Chinese culture and indigenous British values intertwined, interlarded with farcical growing-up encounters in England. And when she lapsed into a broad Brum accent the Birmingham folk who were there loved it. The key is pronunciation. He or she who speaks with a foreign accent is a foreigner. The audience did not care what colour their peer was. The important point was that she spoke broad Brum. Accent conveys acceptance. She was one of them. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 24 'Eat or don't eat!' John Moloney, the British comedian, found that playing to a Chinese (partly westernised) audience in Hong Kong required less of a cultural leap than when he took his act to Beijing (Syrett, 1995:4). The itinerant comedian, in fact, soon learns to steer clear of anything remotely embarrassing or linguistically complicated and to resort to the 'language of action.' This is universal and capable of bringing about smiles and even belly laughs. While all people, no matter the culture, are said to cry at similar incidents, people in London, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Beijing, or wherever, may not always laugh at the same jokes. In the same way, people in the West and people in China may not always see insults in the same light. For example, Jimmy Lai, the owner of Apple Daily, in the run-up to the 1997 Handover in Hong Kong, called a senior China official a 'turtle's egg,' meaning more or less 'unnatural birth.' Although not too unpleasant, it caused a furore. Yet, as an American Old-China Hand commented to the author, 'Who would get worked up over name-calling like that?' The last British Governor, Chris Patten, took it as a joke when he was described in catch-phrases by the Beijing Government as 'a serpent' and being 'disgraced in history for a millennium.' In fact, Patten quoted with relish his sobriquet of 'Whore of the East.' Most Britons also saw such 'insults' in much the same light as Patten, and as being faintly despicable, with the rhetoric unworthy of 5,000 years of continuous civilisation (Waters, 1995:168). In the same way that Chinese and Westerners may see insults differently, so they often see humour differently. A Hong Kong Chinese, of Shanghainese stock, said to the author, 'I'll tell you a typical English joke which the average Chinese cannot really appreciate. 'A publican and a customer were talking in a bar (E) when in came another man. He walked up the wall, walked upside down across the ceiling, and then down the wall the other side. He ordered a pint of beer, which he promptly quaffed. He then walked up the wall, across the ceiling, down the wall the other side, and out of the pub door. "That's ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x SAFEGUARDING ONE'S FORTUNES: THE IMPORTANCE OF TUN FU DAN WATERS 83 Introduction What do Hong Kong's New Territories' residents do when civil engineering work is to be carried out which will spoil the feng shui of their village? How do they alleviate misfortunes and protect themselves from shaat hei (evil influences) and the wrath of spirits? The short answer is they hold a tun fu ceremony.1 With the Chinese character, fu, meaning amulet or charm, the term tun fu (sometimes romanised as tan fu) denotes a group of talismans.2 This paper sets out to examine a particular, large, tun fu ceremony at Pat Heung and what purpose it served. Comparisons are made with other tun fu ceremonies. How do rites differ? How do women feel about being excluded from participating roles? Do villagers really believe in tun fu? Will such practices continue in the future? The Chinese characters in this paper have been romanised generally using the Cantonese pronunciation, which is the dialect understood by 95 per cent of Hong Kong's population and the dialect used when performing tun fu ceremonies in the Territory. When dollars are quoted, unless otherwise specified, they are Hong Kong dollars. There is a general dearth of information about tun fu including details of observations of actual ceremonies. In addition, it is surprising how little Chinese urban folk know about New Territories' customs. The Author has asked many, including some persons who are considered authorities on local, Chinese customs and culture. Most, including some urban feng shui masters even, had never heard of tun fu. To make sure they understood the question they were shown the two relevant Chinese characters (see 'Transliteration'). Bearing in mind that the Territory is a compact place, and even though there is little mention of such activities by the media, this still struck the Author as surprising. In fact the feng shui masters' loss of face, on being unable to answer such question, resulted in some hesitation and their replying generally about unrelated aspects of feng shui. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x 88 altered work for the railway had not been held up, as so often happens with New Territories' projects similar to this. This was in spite of the protracted discussions that had taken place regarding the removal of the graves at Pat Heung. By comparison a dispute between the Government and Ping Shan villagers, in the northeast of the New Territories, about the moving of an agnate's grave, has been going on for several years. This has resulted in the closure of some buildings along the Ping Shan Heritage Trail by the Tang Clan (Cheung; 1999, 570). At the time of writing they are still closed. After bussing the large group back to Sheung Tsuen a further ten-minute ceremony was held by the Taoist priests in the Kwan Yin Ancient Temple, opposite the matshed (see Plate 6). Again there was a repeat of chanting, bowing and the sprinkling of rice wine. This was to pay respects to the gods in the temple and was not really a formal part of the tun fu ceremony. Whether it is a wedding, a funeral or celebrating the completion of the refurbishment of an ancestral hall, in Chinese culture food usually plays an important part. Now, after the tun fu ceremony was over, it was time to feast and what and how people eat can reflect complex social messages. The banquet consisted of a basin meal. For some this was in the open and for others under cover, close to the temple. Before the meal there were speeches in Cantonese from both government officials and village representatives. These were followed by Cantonese opera. Only about 20 women (some of whom sit on village committees) were present among the over 1,000 people who sat down for the basin meal which included the crisp, golden-brown roast pigs which had been offered up to, and was food fit for, the gods. After this latter ritual the pork had taken on magical qualities. Later, by eating it, we the living were able to fortify our chi (prank or life-force) (Waters; 1996, 125) (Leung; 1992, 27). As is the custom in the New Territories on such occasions, all ‘ate from the common pot'. This was placed in the centre of each circular, Chinese table (Watson; 1987, 389). Eating together like this is intended to imply that all diners co-operate and depend on and trust one another. A basin meal is a great leveller. But it is not just how you eat. It is also what you eat. Consequently, many of the layers (frequently totalling nine which is a propitious number) of food in the 'common pot', in addition to the pork previously mentioned, were auspicious. For example faat choi, ‘sea moss' (or, as it is commonly ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x 92 Do villagers really believe in tun fu? How many of the New Territories' villagers really believe in tun fu? Earlier, it was mentioned that the Pat Heung villagers were paid $600,000 to stage their collective tun fu ceremonies. Brian Jenny, Government Director of Audit, in November 1994 wrote in his report that, during the 1980s, amounts paid annually by the Government (on account of feng shui disturbances) varied between $500,000 and $950,000. In 1990, the Government paid $1.1 million, in feng shui compensation, to the villagers at Ha Tsuen so that ceremonies could be held (Hong Kong Standard; 1990). The fall in the purchasing power of the dollar over the years must be taken into account when interpreting these figures. When the British took over Hong Kong they promised the Chinese that Qing laws would be retained and local customs respected (Endacott; 1958, 38, 40, 41). Certainly a large number of festivals, customs and much culture have been retained. To some degree, because of lack of restrictions during the colonial period, there was limited hostility towards the British (Cheung; 1999, 573). Other ex-colonial powers could perhaps argue that this easygoing affinity, which developed between the Hong Kong Chinese and their rulers, was not always in the interests of the Colony. For example, the compensation paid to villagers to hold tun fu ceremonies, could have been put to better use. But returning to how many villagers really believe? A small group of elderly women that the Author spoke to, sitting in the sun near a tun fu pot at Shui Tau Village, in the Kam Tin District, said that when work first started on improvements to the Kam Tin River the villagers did not intend doing anything. But people started falling sick and several died. It was decided then to hold a tun fu ceremony.12 'Did the elderly ladies believe in tun fu?' 'Well, people stopped falling ill and dying,' they replied, 'so of course we had to believe.' That is as good an argument for believing in tun fu as any. Nevertheless several retired civil servants, both British and Chinese who have worked in the New Territories, some as District Officers, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x "in the mind.' Nevertheless, the money and effort needed to stage tun fu ceremonies does demonstrate resolve. The ritual also appears to have a therapeutic effect on believers taking part who are contented in that they have done their duty towards their ancestors and the community. Frequently in Hong Kong, villagers find themselves in the path of tumultuous upheaval. Until the New Territories has been almost entirely transformed by urban development, tun fu ceremonies will probably continue, albeit on a gradually reducing scale. The custom is more firmly rooted among the older generations among whom local festivals and ceremonies like tun fu are an important part of village life. Nevertheless, because a person does not believe when he or she is young does not necessarily mean that they will not believe when they become older. Sentimentalists probably agree that it will be sad if ceremonies, such as tun fu, disappear altogether and, with globalisation, these are replaced largely by western-style entertainment such as karaoke and bars with hostesses similar to those which have sprung up, in recent years, in the Yuen Long-Kam Tin district. Acknowledgements The Author is especially grateful to the Hong Kong Government Antiquities and Monuments Office whose members have provided considerable help, in a variety of ways (including supplying six of the seven photographs which are gratefully acknowledged). Likewise, sincere thanks are due to the staff of the Lands Department, Railway Development Section, and to the village elders and committee members of Pat Heung and elsewhere who invited the Author to observe and take part in their tun fu ceremonies. Grateful thanks are also due to authors listed in the bibliography, to whom this paper refers. Without the help of all concerned, this study would not be as detailed as it is. NOTES E.g. Ma Wan villagers held a tun fu ceremony when they felt 'threatened' when the Tsing Ma Bridge, leading to the new Chek Lap Kok Airport, was being constructed. Many objects serve in Chinese culture as talismans or charms. These range from couplets, or even a single Chinese character, for example meaning 'blessings' or Page 135 Page 136 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 79 Final comment Whilst my aim here has been to note the formal nature of these proceedings and to explain some of the arrangements made behind the scenes, it is also essential to mention how this time-honoured framework of ceremonial and protocol coexisted with the equally pronounced informality and relaxed behaviour of those present. This was especially the case in the long-settled villages of the New Territories. Rural Chinese, generally the most courteous and assured of men in their social relationships, through long practice had acquired the precious gift of being able to combine these qualities at formal gatherings and in their daily lives. Like the lion, unicorn and pei yau dancers, this element relieves the tedium which such occasions otherwise create for those concerned: for, in truth, both participants and audiences can go through all the motions almost without thought, so deeply is the procedure engrained in the sub-conscious by countless repetition. But this in itself is part of the culture. It would truly be fascinating to be able to trace opening ceremonies back in time! Glossary (Cantonese) Chan Min-yue ... fa pai 花牌 Lo Sheung-fu (Lo Tsz-tsun) (£7£) pai lau 牌樓 pei yuu 貔貅 ta chiu/ching chiu kin chiu/chau yan kin chiu EMBLEM 打醮/清醮建醮酬恩建醮 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 394 food in village culture. Early last century, the meals in most village families were basic for most of the year: consisting of rice with salt fish or preserved vegetables, with meat once or twice a month. During my initial researches into Hong Kong's rural history, a local leader impressed upon me how people so looked forward to the major festivals of the year, for it was only then, most notably at the lunar new year, that they could have a greater variety of food, and more of it. Major family events, like the marriages of sons and the celebration of old age, were welcomed for the same reason. Anticipation was heightened by the confident expectation that even if they could not afford the expense and had to borrow cash or mortgage land, families would provide the proper feasts on these occasions, or else "lose face" in the community. Like much else in Chinese culture, the dishes prepared at such times were named so as to have auspicious meanings. For instance, at the lunar New Year, oysters, in Cantonese pronunciation named ho si conveyed the sense of good luck, whilst a dish of green vegetables, faat choi, expressed the wish that all those attending the feast would get rich. There were, and are, many such examples - see, pp.46-7 of T. C. Lai's book, At the Chinese Table (Hong Kong, Oxford University Press, 1984), also in the Images of Asia series. Even more focused on this topic is another interesting book, recently reprinted (2001) from the original edition of 1991 by Graham Brash, Singapore: namely Koh-Hwang I-Ling's Symbolism in Chinese Food. This is recommended reading, albeit it relates to Singapore Chinese of Hokkien descent, rather than the Cantonese and Hakka who are the subject of my book. - A certain type of food eaten at village feasts had (and still has) a distinct social function. This was the "basin food" provided for, and often by, the whole village on celebratory occasions. Consisting of very fat pork, with bits of turnip, dried mushrooms, beancurd and the like, cooked and mixed together, it was meant to indicate the equality and solidarity or brother-hood of participants. It was and is not confined to men but includes women and children. It is communal in every sense of the word, and is intended to be such. Its preparation involved persons from each family in one or other of the many tasks involved, from providing or marketing for the ingredients, the building of an outdoor stove and its covering, the collection of dried grass and firewood to feed the stove for the cooking, fetching water, washing crockery before and after, bringing tables and benches to the site, and ================================================================================