RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1966 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/bz60k0811 126 JAMES HAYES in Chinese territory. The village elders retained much of their authority, though I am not yet in a position to assess the degree to which they were recognised, and to that extent supported, by the British administration.27 Two of my informants recall that stealing crops in their villages was a matter for the village elders. If the offender was an outsider the elders would take him back to his own village and expect his own leaders to deal with him. Failing an agreeable settlement the offender would be taken to the nearest police station. For a long time, it seems, the realities of local power lay with the elders. It is significant that as late as 1895 Eitel was able to write:28 "The Chinese people in town are at the present day under the sway of their own head men (the Tungwa), and the people in the villages are ruled by their elders as much as ever". The same degree of local autonomy existed above the village level where the village organisation was augmented by small regional groupings which were usually based on a temple.29 For example, Mong Kok, Ho Man Tin and adjoining smaller settlements patronised the Kwun Yam [Kuan Yin] Temple (†) at Tai Shek Kwu near Ho Man Tin village. Their fore-bears had apparently built this temple soon after their arrival in the area. It was removed to make way for development in 1926,30 and as the preamble to the commemoration tablet in the new building has it:31 44 "The Shui Yuet Kung Temple was first built at Tai Shek Kwu over a hundred years ago. It was famed for the exact prophesy of its gods and had many worshippers". My informants confirm that it was a very popular temple and consequently well-supported. It was given a major repair about 1908 when all the local villagers and the Yau Ma Ti shop-keepers contributed money towards the project. The temple building stood on top of a rocky feature to which access and egress was by two flights of granite steps each with thirty steps. Local people referred to it as the Tai Shek Kwu Miu (★☎★A). At the beginning of the 20th century the temple was looked after by four managers, (f) as they were styled. One of them was a prosperous villager called WONG Lan-sang (*) a self-made man from Mong Kok village of whom more ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1966 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/bz60k0811 OLD BRITISH KOWLOON 135 24 With regard to the quantities of firewood brought on foot into Kowloon from as far afield as Sha Tin, see Sessional Papers 1903 p. 209 which list 66,521 loads of firewood, each estimated at 70 piculs (approx. 93 lbs.) as being carried over the hills in 1902. The Sham Shui Po Kaifong, through operating the Mo Tai (A†4) temple's public weighing scales, got its revenue from the vegetable and livestock market there. Much of the produce sold there crossed the harbour to Hong Kong. (See the Registrar General's Report for 1907 in Sessional Papers 1908, p. 194. Other information supplied by elders). I am also informed by Mr. WAI Tau Shue (b. 1885) that in his youth the Kowloon Lok Sin Tong levied a small weighing charge on each load of firewood sold in the Kowloon City market. In each case the proceeds were supposed to swell public funds for charitable work. For social advancement see the career of WONG Lan-shang described in this article. 25 The Third or Kowloon Police Magistrate was not appointed until 1925 (Colonial Estimates 1924-1926). For an example of police assistance in an emergency see the press reports of the two big fires at Hung Hom village on 11 and 16 December 1884 (Hong Kong Daily Press). 26 See Report from the Hong Kong Land Commission of 1886-87 on the History of the Sale, Tenure and Use of the Crown Land of the Colony published in Sessional Papers 1887 pp. XXVI-XXVII. 27 Between 1853 and 1862 the Hong Kong government paid village elders as tepos (18) in an endeavour to enlist their services in the public interest. See G. B. Endacott, Government and People in Hong Kong 1841-1962, Hong Kong; University of Hong Kong Press, 1964, pp. 37-38. The Colonial Estimates for the period, under Registrar General's department, show that payment was not extended to the elders of the Kowloon villages acquired in 1860. 28 Eitel, p. 160. 29 See, for instance, pp. 8 and 9 and note 40 of my typescript article "Some villages in the North Western Part of the Kowloon Peninsula in 1898” presented to the International Conference on Asian History held at the University of Hong Kong, August 30-September 5, 1964. See also note 37 below. 30 The temple was re-erected in Shantung Street Kowloon in 1927 on a site provided by Government which also gave a grant of $6,000 towards the reconstruction. The rest of the money required for the new building was supplied by the Kwong Wah (Tung Wah group) Hospital, to whom the management of the temple was entrusted. 31 Shui Yuet Kung (KA) is an alternative name for a Kwan Yin temple. See S. Wells Williams, Tonic Dictionary of the Chinese Language in the Canton Dialect, Canton; Office of the Chinese Repository, 1856, p. 650. See also E. T. C. Werner, A Dictionary of Chinese Mythology, New York; The Julian Press, 1961, pp. 225-227. 32 See E. T. C. Werner, China of the Chinese, London; Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, 1920, pp. 196-197, and S. Wells Williams, Tonic Dictionary under p. 308 and p. 581 under A. 33) E. J. Hardy, John Chinaman at Home, London; T. Fisher Unwin, 1905, p. 86. See also W. Stanton, The Chinese Drama, Hong Kong; Kelly & Walsh, 1899, pp. 5-6 for a brief description of the position in "China and in the villages of Hong Kong". 34 Robert Morrison, A View of China for Philological Purposes. Macao; Hon. E. I. C. Press, 1817, p. 105. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1975 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j0995146d 3 April he arranged a visit to old Wanchai, one of the oldest districts of British Hong Kong. Under the name of Ha Wan or "lower bay” it was one of the 5 bays or "circuits"-a terms used in the 1850s and 1860s to describe the residential and commercial areas largely developed by the new Chinese population of the island. Places visited included the Pak Kung Shrine in Star Street, established before the war and probably upward of 70 years old; the Hung Shing Temple, one of the oldest of the area, perhaps even existing as a shrine before the British occupation; the Sui Tsing Pak temple housed in several dwellings in a terrace and of the late nineteenth century; the Yuk Hoi Kung Temple to Pak Tai, God of the North and of early origin; and various terraced houses and individual buildings. In May Mr. Hayes arranged another excursion to the Diocesan Boys' School-D.B.S.-and La Salle College. D.B.S. originated in 1869 with the Diocesan Home & Orphanage for English, Eurasian Chinese and other scholars, male and female and had links with an earlier body, the Diocesan Native Female Training School of 1860-58. In 1900 the Diocesan Girls' School opened and DBS no longer took girls. The school moved from Bonham Road to its present site in 1926. La Salle dates from 1932 but its connection with Catholic Education in the Colony is much longer. The La Salle brothers had already a record of 42 years work at St. Joseph's College in Hong Kong. In June Mr. Hayes organised a visit to old Western District which included tea in a traditional tea-house. The original Chinese tea house was a place where many kinds of tea were served together with tim sham, small tidbits or literally "to point to the heart". It is gradually being replaced by new establishments usually combining a Chinese restaurant with tea-house business. Later, in July, a visit to a tea-house was also arranged to hear typical Cantonese music and "southern songs” traditionally played to clients of such establishments and also sadly disappearing in modernising Hong Kong. During the June visit to Western, many shops for traditional crafts and wares were visited or observed. Many have since been pulled down in this area scheduled for urban renewal. In July, Miss Helga Werle, a member of our Council, arranged with a colleague, a visit to Aplichau the small island-just still an island-off Aberdeen. Members visited the Hung Shing Temple, probably built in 1773; and the Shui Yuet Kung Temple (Shui Yuet is another name for Kuan Yin) probably dating from the early days of Aplichau town developing in the 1850s. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1980 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/kh04md207 207 36 1911 Census. 37 For a brief discussion of these ideas, see David Faure, "Hongkong and China in the village world", JHKBRAS 21 (1981). A noteworthy variation is the shrine for the Taai Shing Yan Kung Ma at Luk Mei Village, which is both an ancestral figure and a territorial god. See research notes on Ue Lan Festival at Luk Mei, 5-7.8.81. * Ints. Mr. Cheung T'o 29.5.81, 15.6.81, Mr. Cheung Ts'oi 20.6.81, Mr. Tse Ming 8.81, and notes on the ta tsiu at Ho Chung, 27.12.81 - 31.12.81. For the donations of the Uens towards the repair of the temple, see Ch'e Kung Temple tablet and ints. Mr. Uen Chi Ming 16.1.81, 13.2.81, 7.3.81. Our interviews did not discover if only villagers of Ho Chung contributed towards the annual Ch'e Kung Festival, or if other villagers in the villages that took part in the ta tsiu also did. 3 Int. Mr. Chan P'aang Hing 29.5.81. 40 Ints. Mr. Cheng Ip 14.5.81, Mr. Lei Yiu T'ing 23.6.81, Mr. Lei Kau 23.6.81, Mr. Lok Kau Kei 26.6.81, 21.7.81. 41 Ints. Mr. Tse Wing 9.6.81, Mr. Tsang 25.6.81, Mr. Tsang Yung 25.6.81, Mrs. Wai 27.6.81 42 Ints. Mr. Cheung Ts'oi 20.6.81, Mr. Cheung Wing 1981; see also Mr. Sung Kw'an 23.6.81 for similar arrangements for raising pigs in Tit Kim Hang, and Mr. Shing Uen Wan 10.7.81 in Pik Uk. 43 Ints. Mr. Shing Ip On 14.6.81, Mr. Leung Yung Hei 16.6.81. Every year, on the 28th of the First Month, all the five surnames of Mang Kung Uk joined in the worship of the earth god. A matshed was built in the village, on which lanterns were hung. See int. Mr. Ue Shun Hing 10.7.81. See also Patrick Hase, “Observations at a Village Funeral", presented at the Conference on Hong Kong Society and History at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, December 1981, (papers to be published shortly). 44 ** Mr. Leung Yung Hei 16.8.81. * Ints. Mr. Sung 22.6.81, Mr. Tang Kei Faat 25.6.81, Mr. Hoh King 24.6.81, Mr. Yau T'aam Shang 8.5.81, Mrs. Lau Lei Loi T'aai 28.6.81, store keeper at Wong Chuk Wan 28.6.81, Mrs. Hoh née Lau 29.6.81, Mr. Kuet Po Shing 2.7.81, and notes on the ruined temple at Wong Chuk Wan 28.6.81. The composition of the Shap Heung given by Mrs. Hoh née Lau and Mr. Kuet differs slightly from that in the text here. Other village groups in the Sai Kung area include one that consists of Tse Keng Tuk, Chiu Hang, Ta Ho Tun, and Ma Nam Wat (int. Mr. Chan Uet Shing 24.6.81), another that consists of the three villages at Man Yee Wan (int. Mr. Lei Shiu Yam 8.5.81), yet another the seven villages that made use of the sugar press at Ko Tong (int. Mr. To 19.6.81). Apparently, Tai Long, Pak Tam Au, and Chek Keng, and then Sham Chung, Lai Chi Chong, and Pak Sha O were two groups of villages that had close social ties (int. Madam Chiu I Mooi 7.5.81). 48 Ints. Mr. Tse Wing 20.6.81, Mr. Yau 28.7.81. Fung shui was involved in the dispute in Sha Kok Mei. The villagers considered that part of a hill nearby, known to them as the "tiger's land" (foo tei) was essential to the fung shui of the village. Sha Kok Mei would not permit burial, grass or tree cutting on the foo tei. "Mr. Chau T'in Shang 9.7.81, Mr. Lok Kau Kei 26.6.81, Mr. Yau Taai Hin 8.81, Mr. Tse Ming 8.81. Major temple celebrations before World War II were held in at least the following places: Leung Shuen Wan, Sai Kung, Tai Miu, Hang Hau, Pan Long Wan, Tseung Kwan O, Kau Sai. Pak Kong and Ho Chung had a ta tsiu every ten years, and ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1996 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/3n209j641 241 DISTRIBUTION OF TEMPLES ON HONG KONG ISLAND AS RECORDED IN 1981 ANTHONY SIU KWOK KIN Hong Kong Island lies to the south of mainland China. It was not known until the later part of the Ming Dynasty, when the names of Heong Kong 香港, Tit Hang 鐡坑, Chung Hum 舂磴, Chek Chu 赤柱, Tai Tam, Shoo-ke-wan (Shau Kei Wan) and Wong Nei Chung were recorded in the book called Yuet Tai Kee. During the 1st year of the Kang Hsi reign of the Ching Dynasty (1661), the people living in the coastal area had to move back to the inland.2 Seven years later, in the 8th year of the Kang Hsi reign (1669), they were allowed to come back. At that time, only the villages of Heong Kong (Hong Kong village or Shek Pei Wan Village) and Wong Nei Chung were rebuilt. However, the other villages were abandoned during the Coastal Evacuation. Then in the Chia Ching reign (1796-1820), two more villages were founded: they were the Pok Fu Lam Village and the So Kon Po Village. From then on, the population increased rapidly, with people flocking to the area. In 1841, Hong Kong Island came under British rule. At that time, there were the villages of Chek Chu (Stanley), Heong Kong (Hong Kong Village), Wong Nei Chung, Kung Lam (A Kung Ngam), Shek Lup (Shek O), Shoo-ke-wan (Shau Kei Wan), Ta Shek-ha, Kwan-tai-loo (Victoria City, or Central), Soo-Kon-poo (So Kon Po), Hung-heong-loo (Causeway Bay), Sai Wan (Chai Wan), Tai Long, Too-te-wan (To Tei Wan), Tai Tam and Shek-tong-chui (Sai Ying Pun). Tseen Sui Wan (Repulse Bay), Sum Wan (Deep Water Bay) and Shek-pac (Shek Pei Wan) were deserted fishing hamlets. Since then many local temples were built and repaired. The temples listed below are in existence in 1981. Though some are ruined, we can still get information about their previous existence. Tin Hau Temple 1. Causeway Bay Built in the early Ching period, repaired in 1848, ================================================================================