RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1981 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ff36bt18m SALMON, Mrs P.A. SAPSTEAD, Mr Gordon A.G. SCOTT, Dr. Ian SEARLS, Mr M.W., Jr. SHAM, Mr Francis SHANNON, Major J.M. SIDDLE Mr Oliver R. SIEGFRIED, Mrs Stephanie S. SIU, Mr Anthony Kwok-Kin SMITH, Mr Reginald C. SMITH, Mr Stewart P. SMITH-ROBERTS, Miss Karen A. SO, Dr Chak Lam STEAD, Miss S.M. STEINER, Mr Henry STEWART, Miss Jessie STRICKLAND, Mr John E. STUMF, Mr Karl L., O.B.E. SU, Mr Samson SURECK, Mr Joseph SURECK, Mrs Joseph TAM, Miss Adelaide Chiu-hor TANG, Mr David TANG, Mr Hai Chiu TANG, Mr Stephen Wing-hung TAYLOR, Mrs V.V. THATCHER, Mr Melvin Paul THOMAS, Mr Reginald THOMAS, Mrs S.E. THOMPSON, Mr F. John TING, Mr Joseph Sun Pao TING, Mr Thomas Kam-Shu TISDALL, Mr Brian TOCHRANE, Miss Vera TOH, Miss Esther TOOGOOD, Mr C.W. TRETIAK, Professor Daniel TSANG, Mr Augustin Chung-Kong TSANG, Mr Hin Sum TSO, Miss Priscilla TURNER, Mr H. David TWITCHETT, Miss Yvonne VINE, Mr P.A.K. WALKER, Mr A.P. WALKER, Mrs Prudence WALTERS, Mrs Sandra L. WATERS, Mr D.D. WATT, Mr James WATT, Mr Mo-Kei WEBB, Mrs Susan M. WEI, Miss Peh T'i WHITTAM, Mr Anthony R. WHOLEY, Mr. J.W. WILLIAMS, Miss Stephanie WILLIS, Mr David Nye WILLOUGHBY, Prof. P.G. WILSON, Mr Brian D. WILSON, Miss Elinor WIN, Mr Oliver 215 WINKLER, Mrs Rowena WONG, Miss Marion WONG, Mr Siu-Lun WOODS, Mrs Rowena WORKMAN, Dr Gillian WRIGHT, Mr D.A.L. WRIGHT, Dr Leigh R, WRIGHT, Miss V. Moya YANG, The Hon. Mr Justice YEUNG, Mr Michael Wing Chiu YOUNG, Dr John D. YOUNG, Mr Richard YUNG, Mr David C.W. ZIGAL, Mrs Irene OVERSEAS LIFE MEMBERS ARMERDING, Mr Ludwig E. BAKER, Dr Hugh David R. BAKER, Mr William Ernest BALL, Mr John M. BARNETT, Mr K.M.A. BENNISON, Mr Larry L. BERTUCCIOLI, Dr Giuliano BLACKMORE, Mr Michael BLACK, Sir Robert BLAKER, Mr D.J.R. CAPLAN, Mr Malcolm CARLSON, Miss R.E. CATER, Sir Jack CLARKE, Rev. Cyril S. COCKELL, Miss Juve V. COLLIN, Mr P.H. COSBY, Mr Ivan P.S.G. COSTANTINI, Dr Giulio COSTANTINI, Mrs G. CRANMER-BYNG, Prof. J.L. CUMMING, Mrs Dorothy M. DUNCANSON, Mr J.D. EWING, Miss E. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1994 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g CONTRIBUTORS Carl Smith, B.A, M.Div. is a Vice-President of the Royal Asiatic Society (Hong Kong Branch). He has written extensively on the social history of Hong Kong. Dan Waters, M.Phil., Ph.D. is the Acting President of the Royal Asiatic Society (Hong Kong Branch). He has written extensively on Chinese modern history. Keith Stevens, B.A., is a regular contributor to the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (Hong Kong Branch) and is a noted authority on Chinese deities James Hayes, B.A., M.A., Ph.D. is a past President of the Royal Asiatic Society (Hong Kong Branch). He has written extensively on the culture and customs of Hong Kong. Elizabeth Sinn, B.A., M.Phil, Ph.D. is a Vice-President of the Royal Asiatic Society (Hong Kong Branch). She is a noted authority on the history of Hong Kong. Anthony Siu, B.A., M.A., Ph.D. is a member of council of the Royal Asiatic Society (Hong Kong Branch). He has written extensively on the history and culture of Hong Kong. Wong Wing Ho is a research assistant at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Richard Webb, Ph.D. is a director of Richard Webb and Associates, Environmental Consultants, Wicklow, Ireland and has written a Ph.D. thesis on the fung shui woods of Hong Kong. Betty Wei Peh Ti, Ph.D. is Head of Liberal Arts and Interdisciplinary Studies at the Academy for Performing Arts and is a frequent contributor to the Journal. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1994 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g PRESIDENT'S REPORT CONTENTS HON AUDITOR'S REPORT ARTICLES: Carl Smith - The German Speaking Community in Hong Kong, 1846-1918 Dan Waters - Foreigners and Fung Shui viii xiv 1 57 Keith Stevens - The Taking of Chapu, May 1842 119 James Hayes - The Royal Asiatic Society, Hong Kong Branch 129 0 Elizabeth Sinn - The Study of Local History in Hong Kong: A Review · NOTES AND QUERIES 147 Anthony Siu Kwok Kin - Notes on Cheung Pao Tsai ...... 171 Anthony Siu Kwok Kin - A Short Biography of Lai Chun Bun 175 Wong Wing Ho - Yet More on the Man the Emperor Decapitated 179 Richard Webb - Earth God and Village Shrines in the New Territories 183 SPECIAL FEATURE An English Bibliography for China Studies - compiled by Betty Wei Peh Ti 193 vii ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1994 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g 60 English mile) long, Great Wall (Needham, 1971:53). General Meng Thien is said to have swallowed poison because of concern about this; undue interference with the given pattern of nature. It was not possible [during the wall's construction] not to cut through the veins of the earth. This is my crime. Needham also writes, however, that this tale could have been a 'literary invention'. Fung shui can loosely be described as being partly composed of 'mana', het shai (?), yeung (?) or lucky forces, while, as its antithesis, shaat het (?) (meaning to kill or slay) connotes bad currents, the breath of ill fortune, noxious vapours or harmful 'arrows' or forces. Fung shui, which has been likened to man's 'spiritual compass', guides lives and promotes balance relative to nature throughout the universe among both the living and the dead. Thus the purpose is to avert disharmony wherever it exists; be it in the home, the workplace or the grave. 'If a person's lucky that's fine. But the fung shui master can make his luck even better,' some Chinese will tell you. With faith in the divine powers of nature and the beauty of the landscape, a golden thread of spiritual life can be perceived running through every form of existence. This binds together, in harmony, everything that exists in heaven or on earth. A man and his family can be influenced, for good or evil, depending on the siting of an ancestor's grave (Chinese do not like the Vietnamese practice of siting graves in flooded paddy). It is widely believed that the principles of fung shu were first applied to graves by Kuo P'o a scholar who died in 324 AD (Williams, 1931: 144). 'Woe betide anything or anybody who does not conform to the principles of fung shui,' is the common belief. 'It is a great pity that more gweilos (loosely translated as "foreign devils"), and Chinese as well, do not believe in fung shui,' wrote Richard Webb of Kowloon, in the South China Morning Post on 10 July 1991. This was in reply to a journalist's (Stuart Wolfendale's) jibe, in a previous letter to the editor. Wolfendale wrote, '... there is nothing more ridiculous than a gweilo who believes in fung shui' ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1994 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g 114 Smith, Michael G. Crystal Power, Llewellyn Publications, 1993 Sung, Z.D., The Symbols of 'Yi King' or the Symbols of the Chinese Logic of Changes, The China Modern Education Co., Shanghai, 1934 The Text of Yi King', The China Modern Education Co, Shanghai, 1935 Walters, Derek, The Fung Shui Handbook: A Practical Guide to Chinese Geomancy, Aquarian Press, London, 1991. Feng Shui, Pagoda Books, 1988. Webb, Richard, "The Village Landscape'. Beyond the Metropolis: Villages in Hong Kong, eds, P.H. Hase and E. Sinn, Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch, 1995. Williams, C.A.S. Chinese Symbolism and Art Motifs, Charles E. Tuttle, USA, 1974 - Outlines of Chinese Symbolism, Hong Kong's Living Environment, Customs College, Peiping, 1931 Williams, Martin and Richard Webb, 'Rural Landscapes', The Green Dragon, Hong Kong's Living Environment, Green Dragon Publishing, Hong Kong, 1994. Wilson, B.D., 'Notes on Some Chinese Customs in the New Territories', Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. 23, 1983 Wilson, Colin, The Occult, Grafton Books, 1971 Yau, Hong-key, Geomantic Relationships, Beliefs, Culture and Nature in Korea, University of California, Berkeley, Chinese Association for Folklore, Corporate Unit Cultural Service, Taipei, 1976. Academic Papers, Newspaper and Magazine Articles Au Yeung, Mabel and Arthur Kan, 'Let the Good Times Roll', Magazine, undated, Chung, Challina, "Two Lions Wait for their Tryst with Destiny", Hong Kong Standard, 28 January, 1985 'Countering Fung Shui', Building, Development, Real Estate and Construction Review, South China Morning Post, August 1982 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1994 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g 116 Poon, Clement and May Fung, 'Plenty More Fish to Fill the Tanks of Mong Kok', Hong Kong Standard, 26 November 1994, 'Race-Day Rites to Exorcise Sha Tin Jinx', South China Morning Post, 3 May 1987 Ram, Jane, 'Asia Conjures Wind and Water to Boost Business', International Management, July/August 1987 Saw Puay Lim, "The Force is With Them', Sunday Morning Post Magazine, August 1990 Stewart, Rob, 'Can Your Business do Without the Feng Shui Edge?', Executive, November 1995 'Superstitions Rife. Survey Reveals', South China Morning Post, 11 December 1989 Tatlow, Dermot, 'Safe and Sound in Domain of the Yellow Emperor', Sunday Morning Post, 7 March 1993 Tse, Patricia, 'Banking on a Grand Design and Good Luck', South China Morning Post, 28 May 1990 Wan, Melanie, 'Fungshui Experts not what They Used to Be', Hong Kong Standard, 19 August 1985 Wesley-Smith, Peter, Identity, Land, Feng Shui and the Law in Traditional Hong Kong, Law working paper series no 5, University of Hong Kong, 1992 'What Pyramids and the River Thames have in Common', International Property Review, undated Woo, Anthony, 'The Tao of Technology', Asia Magazine, c. 1995 Letters to the Editor of the South China Morning Post Chan, C.W., 'Safety Concern', 24 June 1990 Ho, Eugene, 'Fung Shui and a Lesson from Science', 25 May 1987 Webb, Richard, 'In Defence of Fung Shui', 10 July 1991 'Unlucky Bank', 21 September 1991 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1994 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g 183 EARTH GOD AND VILLAGE SHRINES IN THE NEW TERRITORIES OF HONG KONG RICHARD WEBB The investigation of spiritual landscapes and sacred places is traditionally the task of the geography of religions, itself a branch of cultural geography (Fickelei, 1962). Geographers who have examined sacred space as an expression of landscape include, and are summarized by, Mansberger (1991). Within the set of traditional beliefs known as fung shui, in the New Territories of Hong Kong, the material prosperity of the community and its individual members depends upon that community being located in particular harmony with the landscape and in maintaining that harmony. It is a landscape, moreover, which encompasses not only the physical and aesthetic landform, but also, it is believed, the spiritual, less tangible landscape manifestations of powerful Earth forces, seen as natural hazards, which if not controlled, may adversely affect that community. However, the control of these forces and a reduction of these hazards often has a sound practical basis in a region beset by typhoons and landslips and practising wet-rice farming (Lovelace, 1983). In many ways, therefore, the landscape of the New Territories valleys and the reasons why earth god shrines, the fung shui woods behind traditional villages, and even individually venerated trees are located where they are, and why they have survived periods of adversity and cultural change, has much to do with a spiritual interpretation of that landscape. At its most basic, fung shui is the study of the environmental and intangible forces which influence human destiny and well-being (Lo, 1992). "The art of living in harmony with the land and deriving the greatest benefit, peace and prosperity from being in the right place at the right time is called feng shui" (Skinner, 1982). Lovelace (1983) looks at the very close parallels between fung shui and the practice of wet rice agriculture and reveals the practical basis of much fung shui lore. A detailed analysis of the relationship between fung shui and the development of a typical yet specific New Territories village is provided by Hase (1992). ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1995 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/95941j25g CONTRIBUTORS Edwin Haydon is a retired Registrar of the Hong Kong Supreme Court. D.H. Liu is a member of the Society with a deep interest in Chinese opera. Alfred Y.K. Lau is a member of the Society with an interest in early colonial Hong Kong. David Faure is a member of the Society, a noted sinologist and a former Editor of the Journal. He is now with the University of Oxford. Anne and Stephen Selby are members of the Society and noted sinologists. Stephen is currently Director of Intellectual Property of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government. Richard Webb is a member of the Society and a former Administrative Officer of the Hong Kong Government now in business in the Republic Of Ireland. John Hodgkiss, Ph.D is a member of the Society and the Head of the Department of Ecology and Biodiversity at the University of Hong Kong. He is a noted authority on mangroves and kindred flora. R.G. Horsnell is a member of the Society and a Chief Property Services Manager with the Architectural Services Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government. Keith Stevens, B.A. served with the British Army and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office before his retirement in 1991. He has an abiding interest in Chinese temples and deities and has written numerous articles for the Journal. Dan Waters, M.Phil, Ph.D is a retired Assistant Director of Education of the Hong Kong Government. He is a long-time Member of Council of the Society, and became President in 1997. He has written prolifically on the history and culture of Hong Kong. Peter Vine, LL.D (Hons) is a solicitor in private practice and a prominent resident of Hong Kong since 1947. He is currently, inter alia, President of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Society of Notaries. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1995 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/95941j25g CONTENTS PRESIDENT'S REPORT ...... HON AUDITOR'S REPORT vii xxiv ARTICLES: Edwin Haydon - Chinese Customary Law in Hong Kong's New Territories: some Legal Premises.... 1 D.H. Liu - The Peking Opera 43 Alfred Y.K. Lau - An Outline of the Urban Development of Sai Ying Pun in the Nineteenth Century 59 David Faure - The Emperor in the Village: Representing the State in South China 75 Anne and Stephen Selby - China Coast Pidgin English......... 113 Richard Webb - the Use of Hill Land for Village Forestry and Fuel Gathering in the New Territories of Hong Kong 143 NOTES AND QUERIES: John Hodgkiss - Life on the Fringes: The Biology of Mangroves and the Role They Play in Hong Kong 155 R.G. Horsnell - The MacIntosh Cathedrals 171 Keith Stevens - Singapore's Disappearing Temples and The Decline and Apparent Demise of a Popular Religion Cult 181 Keith Stevens - Two Groups of Chinese Deities Rarely Seen on Chinese Altars ........... 187 Dan Waters - The Chinese Labour Corps in the First World War: Labourers Buried in France 199 Peter Vine - Experiences as a War Crimes Prosecutor in Hong Kong. BOOK REVIEW vi 205 217 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1995 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/95941j25g this Society's main objectives is to produce an annual journal. Contributions to the Journal from members are always very welcome and so please do contact our editor, Mr. Peter Halliday. Other Activities The Society is fortunate in having a very outward and enthusiastic Activities Committee. For the first half of the year until her departure from Hong Kong Mrs. Rosemary Lee was the Chairman, and for the last few months, Mrs Anita Wilson has taken on this mantle, and more recently Mr. Geoffrey Roper has done so, and will be doing so in future. To all of them I would like to offer our sincere thanks. The Committee's efforts are there for all to see We have had 12 lectures at the City Hall: Date Title Lecturer 28 Apr 95 A Fujian Hakka Village Temple Alliance Dr. John Lagerway 19 May 95 Reflexivity in Research and a Question of Culture Dr Mary Pang (A study of Chinese in Britain) 23 Jun 95 Contemporary Chinese Painting. Metamorphosis or Misrepresentation? Ms. Catherine Maudsley 7 Jul 95 Fung Shui Woods of Hong Kong Mr. Richard Webb 15 Aug 95 Liberation Evening (2 videos and brief talk) held at Royal HK Regiment Mess, Beaconsfield House Dr Elizabeth Sinn 29 Sep 95 Hong Kong 1931-1941 Ms. Mimi Chan 20 Oct 95 A Guide to Hong Kong Literature 17 Nov 95 Marine Bio-Diversity Protection in Hong Kong Prof. Brian Morton 15 Dec 95 Hong Kong's Wild Places Mr Edward Stokes 12 Jan 96 Hong Kong - A Woman's Place? Dr. Veronica Pearson xi ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1995 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/95941j25g 143 THE USE OF HILL LAND FOR VILLAGE FORESTRY AND FUEL GATHERING IN THE NEW TERRITORIES OF HONG KONG. RICHARD WEBB While recent economic and social changes in the New Territories of Hong Kong have wrought irrevocable changes to the rural villages, until perhaps twenty years ago, villagers appeared to have used the hillsides much as they pleased, even though some of the larger clans claimed payments for hill land. The villagers of Cheung Sha Wan, west Kowloon, for example, paid regular sums in silver to the Tangs of Kam Tin for their forest land. The Liu family of Sheung Shui was leasing forest land to the villagers of Long Keng under a deed of 1867 (Hayes 1983). However, hill and forest land was usually annexed by the nearest village. Each village had its forestry lot, apportioned to families according to natural boundaries. There was a major difference in people's minds between land under pine tree cultivation (Pinus massoniana) and other hill land used for fuel gathering, grass cutting, and grazing. The British administration carried over the common usage of hill areas for pine cultivation into their village forestry licenses, or "t'sung shaan p'aai", which allowed villagers to occupy Crown Land for the purpose of growing these trees on which they relied for fuel, poles, and timber. It was the 'pine hills' that mattered more to the village families, even though they possessed no proper title to them, save under British rule, an undifferentiated notional share in the village license through being part of its community. Like houses and fields, hillside plots could be passed from father to son. Daley (1975) provides an account of forestry activities, although it is not clear if this refers to village forestry, in which 211,015 trees were planted in 1880, rising to 1,157,609 in 1883. The British administration established the Botanical and Forestry Department in 1880, with the objective of planting the badly eroded areas and water catchments. From 1881 to 1891, an average of around 647,223 trees were planted every year, of which 95% was Pinus massoniana, a local pine which can establish on very poor soil. By 1938, 70% of Hong Kong island had been afforested with government plantations, and 200 km2 of the New Territories were occupied by leased forestry lots used as a source of firewood. By this time, the government plantations were ================================================================================