RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1961 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/vd6724704 Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch RASHKB and author Vol. 1 (1961) ISSN 1991-7295 129 HAINES, Miss F. 10-F Headland Road, H.K. HALLIDAY, Lt. Col, P. A. T. Headquarters Land Forces, H.K. HARRISON, Prof. B. Dept. of History, H.K.U. HAYDON, E. S. The Supreme Court, H.K. HAYE, C. Education Dept., Fung House, H.K. HAYIM, E. J. 41 Island Road, Deep Water Bay, H.K. HELLBECK, Dr. H. German Consulate-General, 1 Duddell St., 4th fl. H.K. HENSMAN, Dr. Bertha Chung Chi College, Ma Liu Shui, N.T. HINDMARSH, R. H. Hong Kong Club, H.K. HO Teh-Kuei 61 Fort St. 3rd fl., North Point, H.K. HOGAN, The Hon. Sir M. Chief Justice's Chambers, Supreme Court, H.K. HOLMES, D. R. N.T. Administration, N. Kowloon Magistracy, Kln. HOLMES, G. M. 9 Chater Hall, 1 Conduit Road, H.K. HOLMES, The Hon. J. C. U.S. Consulate-General, H.K. HORSMAN, Miss A. M. Colonial Secretariat, H.K. HOOK, B. G. Queen Mary Hospital, H.K. HORTON, J. R. U.S. Consulate-General, H.K. HOWARD-WILLIAMS, E. D. The British Council, 133 Gloucester Building, H.K. HOWORTH, J. F. Leigh & Orange, P. & O. Building, H.K. HSIA Tung Pei 12 Ming Yuen Street W., 3rd fl. North Point, H.K. HUANG Sheng-Fu P.O. Box 9066, Kowloon City Post Office, Kowloon. HUGHES, G. M. American International Assurance Co. Ltd., H.K. HUGHES, Mrs. G. M. 175 Sassoon Road, H.K. HUGHES, Prof. W. I. Dept. of Extra-Mural Studies, H.K.U. HUNG, C. S. 19, Hec Wong Terrace, 1st fl., H.K. INGLES, Miss J. M. Government House Lodge, H.K. JACOBSON, H. W. U.S. Consulate-General, H.K. JONES, Dr. J. R. H.K. & Shanghai Banking Corpn. H.K. KAMATH, F. M. de Mello Commission of India, Tower Court, H.K. KAY, B. Flat 4, 52 Island Road, Repulse Bay, H.K. KEOWN, W. C. Butterfield & Swire, H.K. KHAN, Dr. L. A. M.O., Tai Lam Prison, N.T. KIDD, S. T. N. Kowloon Magistracy, Kln. KILBORN, Prof. L. G. Chung Chi College, Ma Liu Shui, N.T. KIRBY, Prof. E. S. 2 University Drive, H.K. KNOWLES, W. C. G. Butterfield & Swire, H.K. KNOWLES, Mrs. W. C. G. Butterfield & Swire, H.K. KRAMERS, Dr. R. P. Tao Fong Shan, Shatin, N.T. KUNG, Mrs. T. P. 8 Sunning Road, 2nd fl., H.K. KVAN, Rev. E. St. John's College, H.K.U. KWOK Chan, The Hon. Hang Seng Bank Ltd., H.K. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1963 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/4m90m091v 150 BOYD, J. D. I. BRAGA, J. M. - BREUIL, Mrs. N. du BROMHALL, J. D. BROOKS, D. E. BRUUN, F. - A-1 9th Floor, 2 Oaklands Path, H.K. - P. O. Box 951, H.K. 86, Main Street, Stanley, H.K. Fisheries Research Station. The Fish Market, Island Road, Aberdeen. Radio Hong Kong, Rodney Block, G/F., Wellington Barracks, H.K. 908, Takshing House, H.K. BURKHARDT, Col. V. R. - 86, Main Street, Stanley, H.K. BYRNE, D. J. - CALCINA, P. G. * CHAN, Dr. H. C. - CHAN, Hok-lam CHAN, Leonard + CHAU, Hon. Sir T. N. *- CHAU, Wah-ching CHENG, T. C.. CHEONG-LEEN, Hilton + c/o China Light & Power Co., Ltd. Argyle St., Kowloon. Commercial Investment Co., Ltd., Union House, 12th Floor, H.K. Bank of Canton Building, H.K. c/o Department of History, Chung Chi College, Ma Liu Shui, N.T. c/o Pâzer Corporation, G.P.O. 323, H.K. 8, Queen's Road, West, H.K. English Department, Chung Chi College, Ma Liu Shui, N.T. United College of H.K., Bonham Road, H.K. G.P.O. Box 584, 310 Yu To Sang Building, H.K. CHESTERMAN, Prof. W. D. 4 Felix Villas, Pokfulum, H.K. CHEUNG, O. CHING, Henry CHING, Joseph - CHIU, Miss B. T. CHIU, Ling-yeong CHOA, Dr. G. H. CHOW, Edward T. CLARK, Mrs. N. E. COHN, Dr. A. J. - COLE, M. 1002, Alexandra House, H.K. 9, Village Road, 1st Floor, H.K. c/o U.S. Consulate-General, 26 Garden Road, H.K. Department of Botany, The University, H.K. 167, Yee Kuk Street, 3rd Floor, Shumshuipo, Kowloon. Queen Mary Hospital, Pokfulum, H.K. 3 Village Terrace, Happy Valley, H.K. 71, Peak Road, H.K. 116, Leighton Road, Lei Shun Court, 6th Floor, "F", H.K. 16, Conduit Road, H.K. *Life Member Please notify the Hon. Secretary of any inaccuracy ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1964 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qz20zx09r 162 KEOWN, W. C. KEYES, M. P. - KHAN, Dr. L. A. KIDD, S. T. KILBORN, Prof. L. G. KIRBY, Prof. E. S. KNIGHTLY, F. J. c/o Messrs. Butterfields & Swire, Union House, H.K. c/o Jardine, Matheson & Co., Ltd., Jardine House, H.K. 1, Wing Ying Mansion, 2/F, Soare's Ave., Kowloon. c/o Colonial Secretariat, Lower Albert Rd., H.K. 57, Humewood Drive, Toronto 10, Ontario, Canada. 2, University Drive, H.K. H.K. & Shanghai Banking Corpn., H.K. KNOWLES, Hon. W. C. G.* Messrs. Butterfield & Swire, Union House, H.K. KNOWLES, Mrs. W. C. G.* Messrs. Butterfield & Swire, Union House, H.K. KRAMERS, Dr. R. P. KVAN, Rev. E.* KUMMER, Dr. M. KWAN, The Hon. C. Y.* KWOK, Chan* KWOK, Miss R. Y. KWOK, Walter LACEY, J. A. LAI, T. C. LAM, Yung-fai L LANYON-ORGILL, Dr. P. A. LAU, Wai-mai LAW, Chung-kam LAWRENCE, Mrs. I. LAWRY, R. E. - + + - L H.K. c/o Sinologische Bibliother Der Universitate Zurich, Florhofgassell, Zurich, Switzerland. St. John's College, The University, H.K. Goethe-Institut, German Cultural Centre, 6th floor, Caxton House, H.K. Room 736, Alexandra House, H.K. Hang Seng Bank Ltd., Des Voeux Road, Central, H.K. 7 Arbuthnot Road, H.K. 39-B, Estoril Court, H.K. c/o American Consulate-General, Garden Road, H.K. Dept. of Extra-Mural Studies, The University, H.K. c/o Ye Olde Printerie Ltd., 6 Duddell St., H.K. Brentwood College, Cobble Hill P.O., Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada. Institute of Oriental Studies, The University, H.K. Victoria Heights, 43-A Stubbs Rd., Flat 1-A, H.K. 4-B, Cliff View Mansions, 19 Conduit Road, H.K. British Council, Building, H.K. *Life Member 1st floor, Gloucester Please notify the Hon. Secretary of any inaccuracy ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1965 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s752cj653 135 KUMMER, Dr. M. KURATA, Mrs. L. C. - KVAN, Rev. E.* - - KWAN, The Hon. C. Y.* KWOK, Chan* KWOK, Walter LAI, T. C. LAM, Yung-fai LANDOLT, M. A. LANYON-ORGILL, Dr. P. A. LAU, Wai-mai LAW, Chung-kam LAWRENCE, Mrs. I. - LAWRY, Mrs. B. C. LAWRY, R. E. L LECKIE, J. B. H. - LEE, Din-yi LEE, Harold W. LEE, J. S. LEE, The Hon. R. C.*. LEUNG, Kai-cheong LEUNG, Pak-kui LI, Dr. Choh-ming - LI, Shi-yi LI, T. K. Г + Goethe-Institut, German Cultural Centre, 6th floor, Caxton House, H.K. 27 Grenadier Heights, Toronto 3, Ontario, Canada. St. John's College, The University, H.K. Room 736, Alexandra House, H.K. Hang Seng Bank Ltd., Des Voeux Road, Central, H.K. 39-B, Estoril Court, H.K. The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hang Seng Bank Building, 12th Floor, 677 Nathan Road, Kowloon. c/o Ye Olde Printerie Ltd., 6 Duddel St., H.K. 20 Coombe Road, Flat B-4, H.K. Brentwood College, Cobble Hill P.O., Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada. Institute of Oriental Studies, The University, H.K. Victoria Heights, 43-A Stubbs Rd., Flat 1-A, H.K. 4-B, Cliff View Mansions, 19 Conduit Road, H.K. A9, Bowen Hill, 10 Peak Road, H.K. British Council, 1st floor, Gloucester Building, H.K. c/o Union Insurance Society of Canton, Ltd., Union House, H.K. United College, 9-A Bonham Road, H.K. Lee Hysan Estate Co. Ltd., Prince's Bldg., 25th Floor, H.K. 74, Kennedy Road, H.K. Lee Hysan Estate Co. Ltd., Prince's Bldg., 25th Floor, H.K. c/o Education Dept., Battery Path, H.K. 44 High Street, 2nd Floor, Sai Ying Poon, H.K. + The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Vice-Chancellor's Office, 677 Nathan Road, 12th Floor, Kowloon. 72, La Salle Road, 2nd floor, Kowloon. 49, Village Road, Ground floor, H.K. *Life Member Please notify the Hon. Secretary of any inaccuracy ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1970 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ww72j0241 A BRITISH MARITIME CHART OF 1780 SHOWING HONG KONG HENRY D. Talbot* A recent acquisition by the Map Library of the Department of Geography and Geology of the University of Hong Kong is of some interest as it appears to be the earliest known British map or chart depicting the island of Hong Kong. The title is "A Chart of the China Sea from the Island of Sancian to Pedra Branca with the course of the River Tigris from Canton to Macao from a Portuguese draught communicated by Captain Hayter and compared with the Chinese Chart of the Macao Pilots". The places mentioned need little explanation as they are names still used today. Sancian is also called St. John's Island and is to the west of Macao, while Pedra Branca is today called Pedro Blanco and is an isolated rock, used as a navigational landmark, to the east of Hong Kong. The River Tigris is the name given to the river up to Canton, derived from the name of the narrows called "Bocca Tigris" (Tiger's Mouth) in Portuguese, a translation of the Chinese name. The Captain Hayter is evidently Captain George Hayter of the East India Company Ship York. This ship was in Chinese waters frequently from 1741 up to 1786 and Hayter was compiler of another chart dated 1787. The chart was "... Printed for R. Sayer and J. Bennett Map and Chart-sellers No. 53 Fleet Street, as the Act directs, 29 Nov. 1780" Robert Sayer (1725-1794) and John Bennett were well known as map-sellers at the end of the eighteenth century. It is recorded that Robert Sayer retired in 1794 after almost half a century in the map chart trade. The size of the chart is 950 × 640 mm., while the size of the map itself is 781 × 596 mm. The latter is the length along the neatlines, the inner border of the map. * Mr. Talbot is Lecturer in the Department of Geography and Geology in the University of Hong Kong. He was Hon. Editor of this Journal in 1964. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1970 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ww72j0241 NOTES AND QUERIES THE J.O.P. BLAND PAPERS Introduction One day in September 1967, I received, quite out of the blue, a letter from my former commanding officer during the Second World War, Michael St. J. Packe, to say that he had been entrusted with J.O.P. Bland's private papers, with instructions "to find a good home for them," and asking me whether I would like to have them. Before going further, let me explain that Mr. Packe is himself a historian and wrote an excellent biography of J. S. Mill.* We have kept in touch intermittently since we were demobilized from the First Airborne Division (British) at the end of the war, and I have been to visit him at his home on Alderney. This is the really fantastic part of this chain of coincidences. Here was Mr. Packe, living and writing on the little island of Alderney in the Channel Islands while a near neighbour of his was Mrs. Dolores Coombs, an old friend of the Bland family, who had often visited them at their home at Aldburgh in Suffolk. Bland himself died in 1945 and Mrs. Bland in 1953. His private papers were entrusted to his goddaughter, Miss Ailsa Cochrane, who was to act as his literary executor and to try, if possible, to complete the memoirs which he had begun before his death, and to have them published. Before she could achieve much Miss Cochrane became ill and in 1955 her brother sent these papers to Mrs. Coombs who, in turn, was to act as literary executor. Meanwhile Bland's books on China had been given to Trinity College, Dublin. However, a list of these books, preserved among his papers, shows that they amounted to a modest collection without containing anything rare. Sometime in 1966 Mrs. Coombs was forced by illness to leave Alderney, and it was at this point that she entrusted her friend and neighbour, Michael Packe, with the task of finding a home for these papers. Thus for a period of over twenty years Bland's private papers disappeared from view while two successive literary executors struggled with the task of trying to complete and publish his memoirs. Bland himself, to judge from his instructions to his * The Life of John Stuart Mill (London: 1954). ================================================================================ 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 163 quartz and jade, and stone beads, adzes and lance heads were discovered. Some of the pottery bore makers' marks, which seemed in some cases to resemble archaic Chinese characters. To deal with the problems raised by these and the ornaments on much of the pottery, the chief of which was a symbol resembling a long f and showing several variations, Prof. Shellshear invited the collaboration of the late Father Finn, S.J., a distinguished scholar in the Regional Seminary at Aberdeen, Hong Kong, and a lecturer at the University of Hong Kong. Father Finn devoted himself thenceforward to a careful study of this site and its culture, and published thirteen papers in the Hong Kong Naturalist on the subject, basing his work on a profound study of archaeological literature in neighbouring countries, Japan, China, Indo-China, the Straits and elsewhere.* This study was greatly aided by the decision of the Hong Kong Government to have the site excavated at its own expense. In five weeks' work about half the undug portion of the sandbank was excavated to a depth of 6 to 7 feet, and some thousands of pottery fragments, a large number of other objects of stone, quartz, jade, bronze and even two or three partly of iron, were unearthed. Father Finn conducted this excavation, and included the description of the results in his articles. Father Finn also worked at other sites on Lamma and Hong Kong islands, and during visits to St. John's Island (where St. Francis Xavier died), and the Swabue district near Swatow, discovered more sites. The latter district gave very interesting and important results, which have recently been outlined in a paper by Father Maglioni in the Hong Kong Naturalist. In 1932 Professor Shellshear brought the facts then known about Hong Kong's prehistory before the scientific world at the Prehistorians' Congress at Hanoi, whose proceedings were published by the École Française d'Extrême Orient as the Praehistorica Asiae Orientales (Hanoi, 1932). Father Finn summed up the results of his work at the Lamma Island site at the Manila Congress of the same body in 1935.† * A list of publications on local pre-history that includes those mentioned at various places in this article can be found at the end. † Whose proceedings were not published. I have Mr. Schofield's notes and can make them available to anyone who may wish to consider filling a gap in our published records. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1979 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2801w5938 252 ORDINARY LOCAL MEMBERS THOMAS, Mr. Reginald, Rose Villa, Lot 369, 12 Miles Tai Po Road, Tai Po, NEW TERRITORIES. THOMAS, Mrs. S. E., Rose Villa, Lot 369, 12 Miles Tai Po Road, Tai Po, NEW TERRITORIES. THOMSON, Mr. J. Marsh, Spencer Stuart & Associates, St. George's Building, 2 Ice House Street, HONG KONG. TISDALL, Mr. Brian, 7 Stanley Mound Road, Stanley, HONG KONG. TOCHRANE, Miss Vera, 410 The Hermitage, 75 Macdonnell Road, HONG KONG. TOH, Miss Esther, 1903 Hang Chong Building, 5 Queen's Road C., HONG KONG. TOMLIN, Mrs. Sarah, 12A Broadwood Road, 1/F, HONG KONG. TRETIAK, Prof. Daniel, Centre of Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong, HONG KONG. TSANG, Mr. Hin Sum, 11B Princess Margaret Road, 5/F, KOWLOON. TSO, Mrs. Priscilla, Dept. of Extra-Mural Studies, University of Hong Kong, HONG KONG. TUCKER, Mrs. A., 21 Coombe Road, HONG KONG TURNER, Mr. H. David, Dept. of History, University of Hong Kong, HONG KONG. TWITCHETT, Miss Yvonne, c/o Island School, Bowen Road, HONG KONG TYLER, Mrs. M. R., P.O. Box 9423, HONG KONG. VEEVERS, Miss Kathleen Joyce. c/o Medical & Health Dept., Lee Gardens, Hysan Avenue, HONG KONG. VINE, Mr. P. A. L., Room 304, Chartered Bank Building, HONG KONG. VISICK, Mrs. Mary, Dept. of English, University of Hong Kong, HONG KONG. WALDEN, Mr. John, I The Homestead, The Peak, HONG KONG, WALKER, Mr. A. P., 4 Felix Villas, 61 Mount Davis Road, HONG KONG. WALKER, Ms. Prudence, 4 Felix Villas, 61 Mount Davis Road, HONG KONG. WALTERS, Dr. Richard P., 2C London Court, 41 Conduit Road, HONG KONG. WALTERS, Mrs. Sandra L., 2C London Court, 41 Conduit Road, HONG KONG. WARD, Miss Barbara E., New Asia College, Chinese University of H.K., Shatin, NEW TERRITORIES. WATERS, Mr. D. D., c/o Education Department, Lee Gardens, Hysan Avenue, HONG KONG. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1983 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v 204 A RELIC OF ST. FRANCIS XAVIER P. BRUCE In a small cool church in Macau, separated by a few hundred yards of muddy water from China, rests a unique relic of St Francis Xavier.* Almost 20 years ago 100,000 people in 15 days filed past the small piece of bone housed in an ornate silver monstrance when it was taken to America from its usual resting place in Macau. Now the relic is back in a tiny church on Coloane Island. Ten years ago the building was in a run-down condition, having been used as a chapel for soldiers from Mozambique serving in the Portuguese Army. Then Father Mario C. Acquistapace arrived on the scene. A sprightly figure now probably in his seventies, he had the church restored. Today its exterior is washed in pale yellow with windows and woodwork picked out in light blue. He has an outgoing personality that runs to a hug when he finds a visitor is a Christian. Macau, the first permanent Western settlement on the coast of China, across the silt-laden waters of the Pearl River estuary from Hong Kong, despite wars, upheavals and revolutions, remains curiously Mediterranean. The Portuguese built their first houses there in 1557, having camped briefly at Liampo and Sanchuang (St John's) Islands. Francisco de Xavier, called by Pope Urban VIII the "apostle of the Indies", was born into a noble and wealthy family and in 1529 he made the acquaintance of St Ignatius Loyola who was then studying at Paris. Impressed by his teachings, Xavier became one of the original seven men to take the first vows of the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits, in 1534. When John III, King of Portugal, asked the Pope to send a mission to his Indian possessions, two Jesuits were selected, one of whom was Xavier. He set sail in 1541 and after a voyage of more than a year arrived in Goa, India, where he carried out missionary work. From there he journeyed to Ceylon, or Sri Lanka... * See plates 12-14. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1988 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q PRESIDENT'S REPORT, 17 March 1989 The year has seen a continued great increase in membership, a fuller and more varied programme of activities, more sales of our stock of publications, an improved (but still not satisfactory) financial situation, and a start to the work of the several new committees set up following acceptance at last year's AGM of recommendations stemming from the Symposium Report on the Future of the Society. Thanks to Phillip Bruce, I am also happy to table the Society's new brochure. I have fought unsuccessfully my tendency to be long-winded: but truly there is much to report, and I believe it will be of interest to those present tonight and to the wider audience reached through the Journal. Membership Our Assistant Secretary, Mrs. Bruce, reports that there are currently around 700 Local Members, plus 116 Overseas Members and 5 Institutional Members. There has thus been another big increase in the past year, with 41 since 1st January 1989 alone. The gains obviously greatly offset the losses, but there have been about 50-60 deletions owing to departures and longstanding non-payment of annual fees. The local "Ordinary" membership includes 129 Joint Members (258 persons), as well as 104 Life Members and 10 Student Members. Approximately three-quarters of the local membership lives on Hong Kong Island. Programme During the year, the Activities Committee, continuing under Dr. Elizabeth Sinn's energetic and imaginative leadership gave us a record-breaking 11 talks, 8 local visits, one outside tour to Foshan, Guangdong, and a Chinese Dinner at City Hall and a Cocktail Party besides the Annual Dinner after the AGM. A full list of these events follows: Programme Events April 9 16 Tour of St. John's Cathedral (organiser: Mrs. Doreen King) Discovery Central (tour: organiser Phillip Bruce) Page vii ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 275 tossing about. Great blame is therefore due to those who saw it for not describing what they saw, and to those who ought to have been on the lookout for not seeing it. Just before dark we saw another ship in the distance, quite disabled, or rather nearly so, and laid to. We steered close under her stern, and found the crew all right, and preparing to set her to rights. She was a Dutchman from Cape Town, bound for Batavia, Every sail in her was blown to rags and gone, except two spankers which helped to keep her steady. Yet she laboured fearfully. Instead of being thankful that we were not so badly off, the captain kept laughing at the poor fellows, and saying how mortified they must feel to see us going on so well under the circumstances. On Sunday as they were clearing the wreck away, a lot of the upper rigging fell on the new yard that had been put up, and snapped it off as clean as possible, to add to our troubles. I expected no other, and am only surprised it did not give way during the storm. It will take two days to "scarf" the pieces together and put it up again, and even then it may not stand. I do not know how long it will be now before our journey will end. I am almost disheartened about it. Three months gone, and not yet got to St Paul's Island or Amsterdam, in the Indian Ocean. As to you ever hearing from me again, it seems out of the question altogether. This storm will have put us by very considerably and no mistake. I dare say you all very much wonder you have not heard before, but I have only this consolation, that it is not my fault. I am continually thinking of home, and picturing in my mind all the pleasures of the country in May and June, while here I am tossed on the ocean, in the depth of winter, where the cold is enough to freeze anybody, with everything damp and cold. No more going round the Cape for me while my name is John Fryer, if I can avoid it. It is worth a pound a day to put up with all the inconveniences, and were it not for the thought of what I am going to do, I could not endure it at all. It is now dinner time, three o'clock, so I must now stop. Thursday, June 6th Since my last entry our circumstances have been much on the improve. Yesterday we got the topsail yard up, and the sail bent. The old yard Page 300 Page 301 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 G. Knapp, The Chinese House: Craft Symbol, and the Folk Tradition (Hong Kong, Oxford University Press, 1990). Knapp does not cover the paintings and stucco work that were a marked feature of the Kwangtung architectural style. For examples of this fine traditional decorative work, see Rural Architecture in Hong Kong (Hong Kong, Government Information Services Department, 1979). In the Hakka villages of the Tsuen Wan district, this "animal" was always a unicorn. In Cantonese villages the lion was usual. However, their purpose and motivation was clearly the same. Informants said there were differences in the dance performances of lions and unicorns; unicorns "crept, bobbed and weaved", whereas lions would "stand up and prance". The musical accompaniment, drums and gongs, was the same, and previously firecrackers had been an indispensable part of any performance by lions or unicorns. Hugh Baker mentions that the Liaos of Sheung Shui were known throughout the New Territories for their unicorn dance team. See the interesting information given in his Sheung Shui, A Chinese Lineage Village (London, Frank Cass & Co., Ltd., 1968), p. 193. See my "Notes on Temples and Shrines on Hong Kong Island" in Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 27 (1987), p. 287. Monlin Chiang, Tides from the West (New Haven, Yale University Press, 1947), p. 9. John Francis Davis, The Chinese, A General Description of the Empire of China and its Inhabitants (London, Charles Knight, 1836) Vol. 2, pp. 29-30. From the memorial tablet to Mr. Chan Wing-on, Chairman of the Tsuen Wan Rural Committee and Chairman of the 18th Term, New Territories Heung Yee Kuk 1950-52, at the Wing On Pavilion, Fu Yung Shan, Tsuen Wan. Mr. Chan died on 15 October 1956; see Annual Departmental Reports, District Commissioner, New Territories, (1953-54 para. 56, and 1956-57 para. 119). From a “Short History of Yeung Uk Village" (in Chinese), published at the time of the village resiting in 1965 and written by Yeung's eldest grandson, Mr Yeung Cho-ling. According to the commemorative tablet, the grave was repaired on a lucky day in the middle month of the autumn season in the 10th year of Kuang Hsu, that is in September-October 1884. 1736; but in fact the ping-san year is the 1st year of Ch'ien Lung's long reign. There was probably another, less altruistic factor at work here too: since it was believed that the graves of good people have a beneficial effect on the fortunes of their family for generations to come. It is implicit in this case that the good influences of the grave were not yet spent. For a more recent example from Tsing Yi Island, see my Rural Communities, op. cit., p. 143. Contents more than values, I suggest? Wolfram Eberhard, Cantonese Ballads (Munich State Library Collection) (Taipei, The Orient Cultural Service, 1972), p.2. R. David Arkush, "Orthodoxy and heterodoxy in Twentieth-Century Chinese Peasant Proverbs" at pp. 310-335 of Kwang-Ching Liu (ed.) Orthodoxy in Late Imperial China (Berkeley, University of California Press, 1990). Helen Kwok and Mini Chan, Fossils From a Rural Past, A Study of Extant Cantonese Children's Songs (Hong Kong, Hong Kong University Press, 1990), pp. 17, 29. Lucien Bianco, Origins of the Chinese Revolution, 1915-1949, (Stanford, Stanford University Press, 1971), successively pp.126, 94-95. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 148 that accompany this essay. Other illustrations include a photograph of the college found in the Fryer Papers and photographs of the college as it looks at present. Finally, a photograph of Fryer with a group of students was used as centerpiece for a holiday greeting card by Fryer in 1927-28, 66 years after his impressions of Hong Kong were formed, and eight months before his death at age 88: it is also included. NOTES Published in Vol. 29 (1989) pp. 252-301 of this Journal as "Diary of Voyage to China: From March 10, 1861 to August 6, 1861", Richard G. Irwin, "John Fryer's Legacy of Chinese Writings" (mimeo.) n.d. There is no evidence for this in Fryer's extant writings, but it is known that Dr. Irwin had contact with Fryer's eldest son, retired Professor Charles Edmund Fryer, of McGill University, in the early 1950s. Presumably this and other information on Fryer's life that cannot be verified at present was transmitted during that contact. 1 See note 10 in Fryer's "First Impressions" + See Plates 2-5. " FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF HONGKONG AND THE CHINESE PEOPLE' St. Paul's College. August 7th! My dear Parents, relations, and friends. Being now comfortably settled down in my new abode, I am going to give you a closer insight into the place, and of my new style of living. Knowing how inquisitive mothers, etc., generally are I mean to go into every little particular, just to gratify all curiosity, and this yarn being passed around will save having to insert it in every letter. And now to begin with Hong Kong itself. Hong Kong is a small rocky island, about half a mile from the mainland of China. It is about 26 miles round. The centre is nothing but hills of hard granite, covered with scanty vegetation. Yet there are numerous ravines and valleys which are fertile, and well watered. Among these "Happy Valley" ranks as the most eminent. It is indeed a lovely place. Behind the town the hills rise to the height of nearly 2000 feet. On the top of the Peak of Victoria stands a small lake which from its romantic position is an object of interest. The summit is obtained by ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1991 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j Mr. David Sheil Mr. Michael Kirkbride Mr. Yip Cho-hong Mr. Philip Bruce (twice) and Mr. David Mahoney Dr. James Hayes Mr. K. Leung Mr. Tao Ho Mr. Charles Walker Tibetan Rugs Hong Kong: a Landscape History Preparing for the Future: Our First 15 years in the Antiquities Office Second to None: The Hong Kong Volunteers and the Battle of Hong Kong Tsuen Wan: 1887 to 1987 Civilians Under Japanese Occupation Western Market Eric Lidell There have also been the following trips/tours over the last year since I last reported. Dr. Patrick Hase and Dr. Graeme Lang organised a trip to Wong Tai Sin, and three visits have been organised by Mr. Philip Bruce namely the Bogue Forts in the Pearl river Delta, the Colonial Cemetery and Chek Lap Kok in conjunction with Mr. Bill Meacham (again and probably the last), Mr. John Wilson organised a trip to the Shing Mun Redoubt in keeping again with the Society's sights on the 50th Anniversary of the Battle of Hong Kong. Dr Patrick Hase and Mr. Philip Bruce did not also forget to look after our gastronomical and liquid desires since the former organised our annual Chinese dinner at the City Hall, and the latter our resuscitated Christmas cocktail party at the Volunteer Officer's mess at Beaconsfield house. Since the new year we have also been well taken care of by a visit to the South Side of Hong Kong Island organised jointly by Mrs. Rosemary Lee who took us to the war cemetery at Stanley, Mr. Michael Kirkbride who expanded on Keteleeria Trees, and Colonel Douglas Fox who showed us how the South side of the island and Stanley Fort in particular was fortified in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Colonel Douglas Fox also led a very successful trip to Stonecutters Island. This was followed in quick succession by a tour to more of the remote parts of Lamma Island led by our honourary secretary Mr. David St. Maur Sheil. And more recently we had a very successful if rather wet trip to Xiamen, organised by Mrs. Anita Wilson and Mrs. Rosemary Lee, and a very comprehensive tour of Tsuen Wan led by Dr. James Hayes. To all these organisers may I extend our thanks and sincere appreciation. Our local tours are very popular as many members, who were not able to get on some, found: the Council is very conscious of this problem, IX ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1996 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/3n209j641 JOHN FRYER'S EARLY YEARS IN CHINA: III. ACCOUNT OF THREE DAYS EXCURSION ON THE MAINLAND OF CHINA FRED DAGENAIS* 129 This is the third in a series of letters by John Fryer (1838-1928) to appear in this Journal. In the first letter Fryer described the tedious and sometimes difficult voyage from London to Hong Kong in 1861 on a sailing ship via the Cape of Good Hope with a brief stop at Batavia. In the first letter Fryer presented himself as a very young man just out of Highbury Training College coming into contact with the larger world, homesick, critical of the master of the ship and of the passengers, confirmed in his personal faith, bent on self-improvement, and interacting for the first time with missionaries in the colonial world of Batavia and Hong Kong. The second letter, written shortly after his arrival, described Hong Kong and its environs and the European and Chinese people encountered; in it he provided us with a detailed tour of the building housing St. Paul's College, where he had been assigned to superintend by the Church Missionary Society, and of its operations. St Paul's College had its origins in a school founded in the mid-1840s by then Colonial Chaplain Rev. Vincent Stanton; the College was given a boost by the arrival in 1850 of the Rev George Smith, Bishop of Victoria (1849-64). In that letter Fryer seemed in awe of his new authority and responsibility and quite proud of the commodious school building and its library; he began to socialize with the Colonial Chaplain and his family, and revealed an appreciation of the wider perspective offered by the interaction with the Chinese population of the island and its culture. The first and second letters were clearly identified as letters written for home consumption, for family and friends in Hythe and Chudleigh. The letters were extracted from his diary and designed to describe his adventures in an exotic land. The first letter had a salutation and a signature; the second letter had a salutation, but ended abruptly, the last page or pages with conclusion and signature having perhaps been lost or purposely destroyed. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2000 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/nk328168n 51 young for demobilisation, he volunteered to join the HQ of the CLC instead of serving with the Army of Occupation of the Rhine, and served with them until being demobilised. In February 1920 he volunteered for repatriation duty and from Le Havre assisted to escort 1000 labourers on the S.S. Melita to St John's, Newfoundland, a voyage lasting five days. Seven days journey by Canadian Pacific Railways took them to Vancouver City and then by ferry to the quarantine station at William Head on Vancouver Island, where they were joined by another 5000 coolies who were also awaiting repatriation. After quarantine, with 12 British officers and other ranks, 4730 coolies sailed on the M. S. Dollar to Qingdao, a crossing of twenty-one days, where the coolies were demobilised. Mellor then sailed via Shanghai, Hong Kong [staying two months], the Suez Canal to London, where he was demobilised in late 1921. Again, a further confusion in these figures of those who died arises, as, according to a list of names provided by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, of those labourers who have graves, world-wide, the number buried is 1952. Their list also includes, separately, names and graves of non-nationals [i.e. Brits, etc.] who were either serving with or were attached to the CLC from other regiments and these totalled 58. A total of 191 Chinese from the Corps served later with the Slavo-British Legion in Northern Russia in 1920. Between March and December 1919, 50,861 labourers were repatriated with shipments continuing for several more years. About 60 men remained behind in France to carve inscriptions on the tombstones of their dead fellow workers, and this may explain why some of the characters on the stones are unusual, if not incorrect. We understand that headstones are today replaced at fairly frequent intervals providing an enduring picture of well-cared for military cemeteries. The stones are produced nowadays in France by a team working for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission [CWGC] using automatic laser guided tools. This means that the Chinese characters are taken from identical templates which may explain why the character that we saw for the surname Liu has two different forms, each of which is identically turned out on headstones but without any apparent reason for the use of the popular version on some and the obscure version on many more. According to the CWGC a typical headstone would bear one of five phrases engraved both in Chinese and English, the name of the corps, number and date of death in English and the name and province of the casualty in Chinese. We only ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 1861) is both a tour de force and riveting, to boot. Ch'ëa was the keeper of a temple at Poklo. He was visited in 1856 by two colporteurs from Hong Kong who left him with a bible. On reading it, he was almost immediately converted to Christianity and was later baptised in Hong Kong becoming, essentially, a disciple of James Legge. He returned to Poklo where he pursued his faith with great, if not excessive, zeal, becoming an object of suspicion and hatred in many quarters. In October 1861 he was seized by a local vigilante squad, tortured, ordered to renounce his faith - which he refused to do - and was ultimately beheaded. Stephen Selby's interesting account of archery in China from the pre-Shang period to the end of the 19th century mirrors the excellent address that he recently gave to the Society. The indefatigable Keith Stevens takes us on a voyage of discovery into the history of Zhenjiang. As always the illustrations are wonderful. And Dan Waters reminisces about Hong Kong in the post-War years. There are a total of 18 NOTES AND QUERIES on a wide variety of subjects. Paul Bolding gives us some insights into the life of the intrepid Belgium aviator, Louis de San - who he ultimately met in 1988 with some interesting photographs. There is an amusing 1905 Christmas card from Arnold Graham - that great benefactor of the HKBRAS Library - and an account of the Library by our Hon. Librarian, Julia Chan. Peter Hansell discusses the famous clock maker Douglas Lapraik. Paul Harrison writes penetratingly on the highly unusual subject of restoring artefacts for display in Hong Kong's museums. Bob Horsnell continues his highly interesting pieces on old military installations. David Mahoney provides further insights into the Chinese Labour Corps in France during World War I. Martin Merz adds another follow up to Solomon's Bard's TEA AND OPIUM advising that Chinese and Indian teas are, essentially, the same (we live and learn!). Robert Nield's beautiful photographs of Bhutan which I messed up in Volume 41 are now reproduced in all their glory. I'll leave you to read The wrestling princes by Keith Stevens (a little suspense will do no harm). Peter Stuckey and Chris Bailey take us to St. John's (Shangchuan) Island to the southwest of Hong Kong where St. Francis Xavier died in 1552 (not, as I originally thought when skimming through the article, iv ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 St. John's Island off the coast of Singapore). Dan Waters contributes a couple of nice pieces on how HKBRAS helps enquirers with historical research (without mentioning that he does the lion's share of this community service) and the history of Conduit Road. And John Wilson has contributed another "Bhutan poem." I've suggested to John that he contact Robert Nield because they both seem to need the psychiatrist's couch! To all contributors, I offer, on behalf of HKBRAS, our appreciation and thanks. PETER HALLIDAY V ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 Peter Stuckey and Chris Bailey - Visiting St. John's Island Dan Waters - Projects and enquiries ........ 435 449 Dan Waters - Yet more thoughts on Han Suyin's A Many Splendoured Thing: Conduit Road and its environs 453 John Wilson - A poem from the HKBRAS visit to East Bhutan, February 2003...... BOOK REVIEWS 459 Peter Halliday - Voices from the past: Hong Kong, 1842-1918 (Solomon Bard) 467 Peter Halliday - The development of education in Hong Kong, 1841-1897 (Gillian Bickley) 468 Patrick Hase - The fall of Hong Kong: Britain, China and the Japanese Occupation (Philip Snow) 472 James Hayes - From rice to riches: A personal journey through a changing China (Jane Hutcheon).... 474 XV ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 435 VISITING ST JOHN'S ISLAND PETER STUCKEY AND CHRIS BAILEY Introduction St John's Island is about 160 kms WSW of Hong Kong. It is about the size of Lantau Island and is the largest of the Chuan Shan Islands which form part of Tai Shan County. The adoption of the name St John's Island appears to be through anglicisation of the Chinese name for the island, variously spelt as "Shang Chuan Island" on current Chinese maps, or as "Sancian". "Ilhas de San Joao" or "St Jean" Island on older western maps. Our interest in visiting the island was aroused by the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society's visit to Goa in January 2001. There, in the Basilica of Bom Jesus, in Old Goa, we had seen the preserved remains of St Francis Xavier. His corpse is displayed in an elaborate glass-sided, silver ornamented casket that rests high up on a Florentine marble mausoleum. St Francis, we learnt, had died on St John's Island on the night of 2/3 December 1552, aged 46. In view of the local interest two visits were made by members of the HK Branch, one travelling “independently" and the other through an organised China Travel Services guided tour. Here follow their accounts of the visits. Independent travel Two Branch members, Rocky Dang and myself, Peter Stuckey, went to the Island on 20th and 21st October 2001. We took a Chu Kong Shipping (CKS) ferry from the China Hong Kong ferry terminal in Tsim Sha Tsui, to Xin Hui, leaving at 8:45 a.m. The ferry passes between Macau and Taipa and then follows up the river system past the Yamen Fort to Xin Hui for a fare of HKD 188. At Xin Hui we took a short taxi ride to visit the "Bird's Paradise." Here egrets fly over a huge banyan tree. The tree is reputed to be 500 years old. It extends to cover over a hectare with many trunks formed from the aerial roots descending from the branches of the single organism. Similar trees exist in the Botanical Gardens in Calcutta and in Phimai in NE Thailand. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 440 - who were very friendly and didn't mind us snapping away. All too soon, it was time to head back for the 2.30pm ferry (and the dreaded customs hall that was rumoured to be tough-going, but in fact gave us no problems). In all, a relaxing and different weekend which was fun and gave us a sense of achievement. Details of St Francis Xavier's life and links to St John's Island (as gleaned from a search on the Web and other sources) St. Francis spent 10 years in Asia and became known as the Apostle of the East. He was the third son of a high official and was born in April 1506 in the Castle of Xavier in Navarre in Northern Spain. Francis was influenced by Ignatius of Loyola and his “Spiritual Exercises” while they lived in Paris. Later, while in India, Francis became a member of the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits, which Ignatius had been instrumental in founding. Francis left Lisbon in 1541 and travelled via Mozambique to Goa in 1542. Many were converted, inspired by his life, writings and teaching. He travelled to Malacca in 1545, translated prayers into Malay, and again won many converts. He travelled to the Moluccas, to Cochin (1548), to Kagoshima (1549) and to Kyoto (1550). In 1551 he resolved to return to Goa and his ship called in to St John's Island in December 1551. St John's Island was a common port of call for Portuguese ships in those times. While Francis was there, a Portuguese prisoner in Guangdong, probably a smuggler who had been caught by the Chinese authorities, managed to get a letter to a friend of Francis's. The letter suggested the sending of an ambassador to China to seek help for such prisoners. Francis saw opportunities in this and set out from Goa again in April 1552. He intended to bring the news of Christ to China and, with others on board the "Santa Cruz," intended to pursue the release of Portuguese prisoners. However, when they called in at Malacca, they found the Captain of Malacca, a son of Vasco da Gama, resented the appointment of an ambassador other than himself. He allowed the Santa Cruz to leave Malacca, but only without the ambassador. Francis realised his mission was in peril but arrived at St John's Island in August 1552. The Chinese authorities forbade him to enter ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 441 I China, He tried to make informal arrangements but was unable to persuade anyone to smuggle him in. The other Portuguese ships left St John's so that when Francis fell ill of fever in November, his ship was the only Portuguese ship in the port. Francis died unattended by any of his brethren and without the last religious rites. His corpse was reported to have been surrounded by lime in the coffin before it was buried in a grave on a beach on St John's Island. The lime was intended to accelerate the decomposition of the flesh so that the bones might be more conveniently returned to Malacca. However, when the Santa Cruz was ready to return in February 1553, the corpse was found to be intact so the whole coffin was returned to Malacca. The corpse was again buried in Malacca for five months but again was found not to have perished when it was exhumed and returned to Goa in 1554. Francis was canonised in 1622 with a feast day of 2 December. His body was transferred to the Basilica of Bom Jesus in 1624. It is now preserved intact, minus a right arm which was severed at the elbow and taken to Rome in 1614 and a toe, reportedly bitten off in ecstasy by a lady on viewing his corpse. The 450th anniversary of the death of St Francis was commemorated by the Macau Ricci Institute who arranged a Symposium in Macau on 28th and 29th November. Some members of the RAS HK Branch attended this seminar which was followed by a visit to St John's Island. Phillip Bruce, a Branch member, had visited St John's Island before he left for Spain. He wrote to us from Spain, and noted that he had visited the castle at Xavier, the birthplace of St Francis. "A spartan place, with, not surprisingly, a huge Jesuit college next to it. It is really interesting to have seen both the beginning and the end of the story." ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 The harbour at St John's Island 442 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 Entrance gate to church of St Francis Xavier, St John's Island 443 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 444 4 Church of St Francis Xavier, St John's Island, Page 510 Page 511 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 Interior of church of St Francis Xavier, St John's Island ¦ 445 3 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 446 Steps leading to statue of St Francis Xavier. St John's Island ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 B.. 447 Statue of St Francis Xavier, St John's Island ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2003 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2v242g390 CORRIGENDA Page 93, Plate 13, caption should read: 'Rosettes. Mabel Hayes and Christine Chow (City District Commissioner, Hong Kong, and City District Officer, Eastern respectively) at a function, mid 1970s. Pages xiv and 373: ‘1905' should read ‘1990.' [The card was sent by Arnold Graham to James Hayes in 1990. The reference to 1905 comes, inadvertently, from the photograph of the famous bubbling well taken in 1905, on page 374.] Page 44: Caption should read 'Steps leading to statue of St. Francis Xavier, St. John's Island' 111 ================================================================================