RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1980 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/kh04md207 THE HONG KONG RIOTS OF OCTOBER 1884: EVIDENCE FOR CHINESE NATIONALISM? LEWIS M. CHERE* Even though its importance for China's relations with the Western Powers, and for the development of the European empires in general, is very great the Sino-French War has not attracted much scholarly attention. In the field of the development of Chinese Nationalism alone a great deal of potential evidence remains to be examined from the incidents which arose out of the conflict. Nowhere is that more the case than in the history of Hong Kong in the period of the 1880's. The reactions of the Chinese community in Hong Kong, where the legendary influence of malevolent mandarins could only be indirectly applied—if at all—could provide very good examples of the emergence of genuine Chinese anti-imperialist nationalism as opposed to the earlier xenophobic opposition to foreigners in general. Yet that evidence remains unstudied and almost completely unknown. Even those scholars who have concerned themselves with the history of Hong Kong—a lamentably small group—have not found the question of any great interest; possibly because they were concerned with other, very limited, aspects of Hong Kong's development. There is a distressing lack of source material available outside Hong Kong for scholars interested in trying to integrate developments in the Crown Colony into the overall picture of developments on the China Coast. This is especially true for the period of the Sino-French War. The most readily available general history of Hong Kong, that of G. B. Endacott,1 devotes barely two pages to the riots of 1884, and does not give any indication of the sources used. Perhaps the scope of the problem can be better appreciated if the sentiments of G. M. Sayer in the foreword to his father's book are repeated: "The work is not of great historical importance; indeed little of significance occurred during the period to excite the interest of anyone outside Hong Kong." If those who have concerned themselves with the writing of the history of Hong Kong * Dr. Chere is Assistant Professor of History, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1983 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v References Cited 183 Ch'en Kuo-fu 1963 Tao-tsang yüan-lin k'ao. Peking: Chung hua Press. Keupers, John 1977 "A Description of the Fa-ch'ang Ritual as Practiced by the Lü Shan Taoists of Northern Taiwan," in Michael Saso and David W. Chappel, eds., Buddhist and Taoist Studies (Hawaii: The University Press of Hawaii). Liu Chih-wan 1974 Chung-kuo min-chien hsin-yang lun-chi. Academia Sinica Special Monograph no. 22. Taipei: Academia Sinica. Saso, R. Michael 1972 Taoism and the Rite of Cosmic Renewal. Pullman: Washington State University Press. Stein, Rolf A. 1979 “Religious Taoism and Popular Religion from the Second to Seventh Centuries", in Holmes Welch and Anna Seidel, eds., Facets of Taoism: Essays in Chinese Religion (New Haven: Yale University Press). APPENDIX 1983 Cheung Chan Bun Festival 長洲一九八三年(癸亥年)建太平清醮 Date: May 16-20, 1983. Place: Playground in front of the Bai-di temple A. Taoist Team: five Fukienese-speaking dao-shi, with Wei Guo-xin as the head dao-shi; five musicians, also Fukienese-speaking. May 16 13:00 Greeting the Gods 20:00 First operatic performance begins on temporary stage adjacent to the Taoist altar. May 17 1:00 Beginning of Jiao-shi Residents of Cheung-chau begin the three-day fast Operatic performances continue, afternoon and evening shows. May 18 Operatic performance continues, two shows per day. 12:00 Offering to the Gods 15:00 Dotting of eye May 19 12:00 Vegetarian diet ends. May 20 10:00 Divide the Buns 14:00 First day of Procession 第一天會景巡遊 Operatic performance continues, two shows per day. 14:00 Second day of Procession Operatic performance continues, two shows per day. Fast ends. May 21-22 Operatic performance. Beginning on May 17 and ending on May 22, Jiao-shi were conducted in three sessions each day, generally in the morning, afternoon, and evening. ================================================================================