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 3 THE NORTH CHINA BRANCH started in Shanghai in 1857 under the name of the Shanghai Literary and Scientific Society. Its first President was the Rev. E. C. Bridgman, D.D., the first American missionary in China and the founder and manager of the Chinese Repository. Its first Journal appeared in 1858 in the name of the Literary and Scientific Society, but in that year the Society became affiliated to the Royal Asiatic Society as its North China Branch. Except for a brief period between 1861, when Dr. Bridgman died, and 1864 when the Society was reanimated through the unremitting efforts of Sir Harry Parkes as President, the Society maintained for nearly 85 years—until the outbreak of the second world war in December 1941—almost an unbroken vigour and a high reputation as the principal centre of Oriental culture among the foreign and Chinese communities in Central China. It also kept up a high standard of scholarship and of cultural appeal in its Journal, which appeared unfailingly every year. After the war it continued its work until, after 1948, it was forced through political troubles to cease its activities. The last issues of the Journal had been published with the co-operation of the International Institute of China. The Society in Shanghai was from its early days fortunate in the support of a generous public and of the British Government, which in 1868 provided it with a site at a nominal rent for its own building, completed in 1871. Later the property was conveyed to the Society in perpetuity or for so long as it was used for the Society's purpose. Thus, in 1931 the Society was able, with the aid of public subscriptions and generous municipal grants, to build in Museum Road close to the British Consulate a commodious building of its own; it contained a lecture hall named after the late Dr. Wu Lien-teh, a floor to accommodate its Oriental Library of 12,000 volumes and adjacent reading rooms, as well as space for an excellent natural history museum and for the exhibition of Chinese paintings and other works of art. In 1941 the Society had nearly 800 members, including most of the leading Oriental scholars, explorers and travellers. Amongst the outstanding personalities who had been associated with the North China Branch a few may be mentioned—Dr. Joseph Edkins, Thomas W. Kingsmill, Dr. Emil Breitschneider, Henri Cordier (at one time the Society's Librarian), P. G. van Mollendorf, Sir Robert Hart, Sir Harry Parkes, Sir Byron Brennan, W. H. Medhurst, Sir Edmund Hornby (the first British Judge in China), Sir Rutherford Alcock, H. A. Giles, G. H. Parker, H. B. Morse, A. P. Parker, Alexander Hosie, Samuel Couling, Sir Sidney Barton and Dr. J. C. Ferguson, an American, former President of Nanking University and a man of profound learning and wisdom who, in the course of half a century, served the Society as President, Secretary and Editor of the Journal. ================================================================================ 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 11 THE STUDY OF ASIA: A HERITAGE AND A TASK Inaugural Address delivered on April 7, 1960. F. S. DRAKE, O.B.E., B.A., B.D., Professor of Chinese, Hong Kong University. The study of Asia by the West is the result of the total impact of East and West through the ages, in which traders, soldiers, administrators, travellers, preachers, and scholars all have a part, and in which a study of the language and literature of the peoples of Asia is an essential element. So far as Europe is concerned the study of Asia commences with the Greeks. The Greeks were in contact with Asia in three directions: along the coast of the Black Sea they were in contact with the Scythians; in Asia Minor they lived under the shadow of the Persian Empire; through Egypt they were in contact with the sea routes to India and beyond. These three directions indicate three great geographical divisions of the subject around which we can, I think, arrange the historical, cultural and linguistic studies. First the grasslands of Central Asia, from the steppes of Russia to the plateau of Mongolia, home of the nomadic races from the Scythians to the Mongols; second, the Oriental Empires connected with the great river valleys and deltas from Iran to India and China; third, the islands and peninsulas from South-east Asia to Korea and Japan, including the China coast. I. The Scythians are graphically described in the pages of Herodotus, and his description is verified by the finds of archaeologists in the tombs of their chieftains in South Russia and the Caucasus region. The virile 'nomad animal style' of the ornaments in bronze and gold found from the Caucasus to the Siberian side of the Altai, and from the Altai through Mongolia to the borders of China, indicates the extent and the character of the nomadic tribes. But the chief source of our knowledge of the nomads is to be found in the series of Chinese dynastic histories. The Chinese were in continual contact with the nomadic peoples along their northern frontier from Manchuria to Turkestan—the line of the Great Wall. The struggle between the nomads and the Empire, based on agriculture, is the great theme of Chinese history. ================================================================================ 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 52 Vol. 1 (1961) ISSN 1991-7295 Library, sanctioned by the Trustees, shall be published, with a Catalogue of the Books, and a copy of the same be placed in the hands of all those who are admitted to the privileges of the Society and the Library.' "The Regulations of the Library" were published in the Anglo-Chinese Kalendar for ... 1839 and include a provision that "Any person, who is not a member of the Society, may be admitted to the privileges of the Library, by the payment of $10 per annum, or of $5 for six months or any shorter period, (* A single contribution of not less than $25, or an annual contribution of $10 constitutes membership.)" The "Second Annual Report of the Morrison Education Society" of 3rd October, 1838, says: -- The Library, as was contemplated, has been opened in a convenient apartment in Canton, and is now of easy access to all those who desire to enjoy its benefits. The trustees recommend the early adoption of measures for its enlargement. As a public library, it ought, in the course of a few years, to rise from its present limited number of two thousand volumes to a hundred times that number, and thence to increase until it shall equal some of the best collections of books in the world. The Society moved to Macao in 1841 and the Library containing between two and three thousand volumes was again open to those who desired to borrow books from it at the Society's house, near St. Paul's, under the care of Mr. Brown. "The Third Annual Report" of the Society was not published until this year, the gap since 1838 being caused by the disturbed conditions prevailing in the intervening years. By 1842 the Society had already established itself in the newly ceded island of Hong Kong. At the fourth annual General Meeting of the Society on 28 September, 1842, it was reported that, as the result of correspondence with Sir Henry Pottinger, (the Superintendent of Trade and Her Majesty's Plenipotentiary in China) a site had been granted to them for a permanent headquarters on Morrison Hill, a hill which at the time of writing is quickly nearing complete demolition just over one hundred years later. One of the larger rooms of the building to be put up was designed for the Library which now contained nearly 3500 volumes. The usual vicissitudes occurred which seem to beset so many libraries run on a voluntary or partly voluntary basis. An 1843 report says: The Society's Library requires some attention in order to preserve it, and render it of greater public utility. I believe there are not far from 3500 volumes in it; but of these, a large number, perhaps one third are so injured as to make them unfit for circulation. Some sets have been broken by ================================================================================ 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 58 Among the eighteenth century travel books must be mentioned two first editions of interest although not relating to the Far East. The earlier is James Cook's A Voyage towards the South Pole, and Round the World of 1777, unfortunately the second volume only. And the second is Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa by Mungo Park, published in 1799. There is a 1771 edition of A voyage to China and the East Indies, by Peter Osbeck which includes An Account of the Chinese Husbandry, by Captain Charles Gustavus Eckeberg and A Faunula and Flora Sinensis. The first volume contains ten engraved plates of plants found in China. In the second volume is printed a letter from Charles Linné [Linnaeus] to Peter Osbeck which says:- + + + I have read your excellent books with pleasure and surprize. You, Sir, have every where travelled with the light of science: you have named every thing so precisely, that it may be comprehended by the learned world; and have discovered and settled both the genera and species. For this reason, I seem myself to have travelled with you, and to have examined every object you saw with my own eyes. One other eighteenth century account of travels and exploration in the Far East should be noticed: A Philosophical and Political History of the Settlements and Trade of the Europeans in the East and West Indies by the Abbé Raynal, 1784. It may be salutary to notice the bitter attacks which the Abbé makes on English administration in India and elsewhere. Books like Ellis' Embassy and Timkowski's Travels have been too often described to warrant inclusion here. The Hundred Wonders of the World, and of the Three Kingdoms of Nature of 1824 published under the pseudonym of the Rev. C. C. Clarke, has a picture of the Porcelain Tower at Nankin, China, as a frontispiece. It is sad to think that this wonder no longer stands; it was destroyed during the T'ai-p'ing Rebellion. Processes of time, not war, have destroyed two of London's institutions listed as 'wonders', the Linwood Gallery of Leicester Square and Bullock's Museum, Piccadilly. It is strange to think that in their day they were compared with the British Museum and the Louvre of Paris. Elements of political economy by James Mill appears in a first edition of 1821. James was the father of John Stuart Mill for whom he obtained a clerkship in the East India Company after he himself had been given a high position following the publication in 1818 of his History of British India. Among the illustrated books in the collection there is an 1828 edition of Flora Javae by Carolo Ludovico Blume with remarkable colour plates. ================================================================================ 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 116 Vol. 1 (1961) ISSN 1991-7295 nearly 10,000 coffins, urns and containers. The accommodation ranges from single rooms, where one or more coffins rest on trestles, to larger rooms holding hundreds of coffins, together with exhumed remains in a variety of receptacles, e.g. earthenware urns, rattan baskets, wooden boxes and even second-hand tin containers. In some cases, all trace of the relatives of the deceased has been lost and it is proposed to re-inter such remains in a special Tung Wah plot at the Sandy Ridge Cemetery, to which further reference will presently be made. A clear pattern is now emerging, whereby Hong Kong has almost ceased to be a transit centre for the conveyance of deceased Chinese to their native place. The next best alternative, both for overseas dead and Chinese residents of Hong Kong itself, is to bury in Hong Kong instead, though that is not to imply that local cemeteries are doing a brisk business in snapping up overseas trade. In examining the details of current burial procedure, a distinction must be drawn between the urban areas and the New Territories. In the congested urban areas, where land is needed for development and health measures assume greater importance, there is not the same freedom in choice of burial grounds. Relatives must decide whether to bury the dead in a private cemetery, with higher fees, or in a public cemetery, with lower fees and compulsory exhumation of remains after a period of years. Taking the urban areas first, let us trace the events of a typical funeral. Unlike the earlier traditional habits of mainland China, where preparations for burial were largely carried out by members of the family, the current practice in Hong Kong is for the relatives, on death occurring in their midst, at once to call in an undertaker or someone from a funeral parlour. The undertaker provides a coffin, encoffins the body and conveys it thus to a cemetery for burial, but he is debarred by law from bringing dead bodies on to his own business premises. A funeral parlour on the other hand has wider scope. Its staff will enter the home of the deceased and remove the body to the parlour, either in a basket-woven container coloured silver, blue or yellow, or on a plain canvas stretcher. The advantage of using a funeral parlour instead of an undertaker lies in the fact that, with the body actually held temporarily on the premises of the parlour, it is possible there to carry out funeral rites which would be otherwise inconvenient where an undertaker conveyed the encoffined body direct from the home to the cemetery. Chinese in Hong Kong dislike holding a dead body overnight in the private home. They much prefer its immediate removal after death. Neighbours too are far from happy at the thought of death in the near vicinity, nor in earlier days used they to be Page 120 Page 121 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1962 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9s166f47f 18 F. S. DRAKE working with their hands in the well-kept vineyards, the cherished penmanship and the care of ancient manuscripts reminiscent of 'the knowledge and zeal, which once so eminently distinguished the Chaldaean priesthood'. 4 This is the Church which evangelized the greater part of Asia during the ancient and mediaeval periods, truly it has been called a Church on Fire, and the Great Missionary Church of Asia. But that the fruit of its labours are no longer manifest is because no Church has suffered martyrdom as this Church has; it has become the great martyred Church of the world. III. THE NESTORIAN CHRISTIANS OF THE ORDOS REGION The story of the Nestorian missionary movement before the Mongols conquered Central Asia and established the Yüan Dynasty in China (A.D. 1260 to 1368) can be pieced together with difficulty from scattered references in the Syriac records; but during the Mongol domination vivid descriptions of their activities have been left to us in the pages of the Mediaeval travellers from Europe to the courts of the Mongol Khans. These can be divided into two groups: Franciscan Friars and travelling merchants. It was the time of the Crusades, and the great widening of men's horizons that these brought about. The enlightened policy of the Arabs had been followed by the restrictive measures of the Turks, now converted to Islam. Europe was stirred by the danger. The astonishing success of the First Crusade (1096-1104) was followed by the failures of the Second (1146-1187), and Third (1189-1192). The Fourth Crusade was diverted against Constantinople (1200-1205); shortly after, the Mongols appearing from the ends of the earth ravaged Armenia, and crossing the Caucasus, penetrated into Southern Russia in 1232. The great invasion followed in 1238—Russia, Poland, Hungary. At the 11 A. H. Layard, Nineveh and Its Remains, London, Murray, 1849. 12 Stewart, The Nestorian Missionary Enterprise, 1928. 13 These have been collected by Assemanni, Bibliotheca Orientalis, Rome, 1728 (4 vols.). See also Mingana, The Early Spread of Christianity in Central Asia and the Far East, Manchester Univ. Press 1925, and Bull. of John Rylands Library, July 1925. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1962 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9s166f47f CURRENCY PROBLEMS 33 tooth-picks, ear-cleaners, silver dollars from many of the provincial mints and even Russian roubles. We melted the whole mass down, refined the metal losing seventy ounces in weight in the process and recast in ingots of a standard whose increased exchange rate more than compensated for the loss of weight. The child of sycee, the silver dollar, gradually superseded its parent in favour. As far as the memory serves me, the Mexican dollar was the first to come into common circulation on the China coast. Thus for many years the dollar currency in China was designated "Mex". The Ching dynasty minted their own dollars and maintained a standard around 71 to 74 tael cents to the dollar. But with the coming of the regional and provincial mints all this was changed and standards varied considerably. One of the earliest war-lord dollars was the Yuan Shih-kai's which maintained a high standard of purity. Deterioration led to confusion of exchange rates and one certain provincial dollar eventually found its level on the common market at half the value of other provincial dollars. Gradually the dollar became the common form of silver currency. One great advantage lay in the fact that the "dud" dollar was much more readily spotted than adulterated sycee. There may be some, who, like myself, have been amazed at the dexterity of the Chinese bank teller in detecting spurious dollars by the "dullness" of their tinkle. 4 In the year 1929 I was back in Kansu distributing relief in severe famine areas. This was in the days before there was motor transport in the north-west of China and transport facilities had been decimated by the starvation deaths of man and beast. Added to which, difficulty was added to what transportation was possible by the roving bands of brigands roaming the country in search of food. All usual means of remitting money from the coast were suspended and the only way I could get funds was by issuing letters of credit on my brother in Tientsin. One leading war-lord offered me a remittance of fifty thousand taels of silver provided I would take delivery at his home village, located two and a half days' journey from the provincial capital. By a considerable effort I managed to assemble a caravan of some twenty pack animals. One pack mule will carry three thousand ounces of silver deadweight. With a heavily armed guard we took the trail over the mountains. On the second evening we came to the top of a mountain range and here we ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1962 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9s166f47f 37 THE BUDDHIST CAREER A lecture delivered on October 30, 1961 HOLMES WELCH, M.A. First I think I should tell you a little bit about what I have been doing. Last spring I was awarded a grant by the Social Science Research Council to find out how Buddhist monasteries in China used to operate before 1950, what the monks did from day to day, and why. This is a subject on which almost nothing has been published: the best sources of information are the monks themselves. There are about 200 of them in Hong Kong, most of whom are not natives of the Colony, but come from all parts of China: from the northeast, northwest, the central provinces, and the south. Unfortunately all but a few left the mainland ten years ago or more, and their memories are beginning to fade. Furthermore, some are in their seventies or eighties and not only have fading memories, but it is a question how much longer they will be here to talk to. Their knowledge, unless it is recorded now, will be lost to all future students of China. That is one of the reasons I am doing what I am. It is not an easy job to interview these monks. First, they speak in a baffling variety of dialects and accents. Second, they find it hard to understand why I should be asking them so many questions. Furthermore, they are not accustomed to answering questions about the practical side of monastic life. They are accustomed to expounding the sutras and the dharma, or Buddhist law. I have done only six months of interviewing so far and many points are still obscure. Many points are still obscure. What I am giving you today, therefore, is not in the nature of conclusions, but a kind of interim field report. The subject of my talk is the Buddhist career. By that I mean the stages that a Buddhist went through in following his religion. Not everyone went through all these stages; in fact, almost no one did. But I shall describe them all, one by one, so that you can see what the possibilities were. I shall disregard the great majority of Chinese, for whom Buddhism was just one AL. Mr. Holmes Welch is currently engaged in a study of Buddhist organisations in modern China. He is author of a book on the history of the Taoist movement, The Parting of the Way. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1962 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9s166f47f LIFE IN THE NEW TERRITORIES 99 three districts in the vicinity of Canton the phrase shui shui, tso shui, tsou shui (£££) literally "sleeping in-come, sitting in-come, walking in-come" which may be thus explained: the incumbent of the first may go to sleep, whilst his emoluments come rolling in; in the second he may sit still, and his emoluments come rolling in; and in the third he must trot around, but his emoluments come rolling in". 12 Lockhart calls these officers assistant and deputy magistrates, Papers 1899 p. 191 and so does Consul Allen in his Trade Report for Pakhoi 1896, FO No. 1983, but there appear in fact, to have been no such titles. There were one or two yuen shing (B) in each district styled to ye (*) who were officers of the sixth and seventh rank and were graduates of kam sang (1) degree. These were appointed from Peking and were transferable every three years like the magistrate himself. They were stationed at places in the district and their powers were very limited. 20 He does not mention officers other than those at the two Lantau forts, but there was another fort on Lantau at Fan Lau, still standing, which may or may not have been occupied at this time, and there were posts on Lamma and Cheung Chau officered by shun tei kun (MILF) (information from Mr. CHEUNG Yau (4) of Tai Ping, Lamma Island, and from a list of donors inscribed on a tablet in the Tin Hau temple on Cheung Chau). There must also have been shun tei kun in the mainland part of the district. More information is sought about their stations and their duties. As far as I know, they were military officers of low rank who controlled ten or twenty men in an out-station, 21 Papers 1899 p. 192. 22 A map showing these divisions, dated July 1899 on the reverse, is to be found in the Registrar-General's Department, in the Supreme Court. It is probably the Map VI referred to on page 192 of the Papers 1899, which was not printed with them. The Councils of the Tung may not have existed in the remoter and more sparsely populated areas. On Lamma for instance the village elders appear to have administered summary justice individually and not in unison. Mr. CHEUNG Yau already quoted, and other gentlemen of similar age, state there was no Council on the island. The map does not assist in this instance, being vague in some details. There were four tung in any district: north, south, east and west. 23 Dyer Ball, The Chinese at Home (London, Religious Tract Society, 1912) p. 189 says "The life of an official in China, if he occupies a high position and rules over a populous district of country, is arduous in the extreme. He knows no hours. His work is never done. He is up before dawn, and official receptions take place in the small or early hours of the morning. The health of many a man is injured by the incessant toil and unremitting anxiety". He calls him "often hard worked, harassed with many cares, and loaded with responsibilities". His is experienced and impartial testimony. 24 Papers 1899 p. 192. 25 Sir Robert Douglas, Society in China (London, Ward Lock & Co., 1901) pp. 120-1 has hard things to say of them. "The mental activity of these men, not having... any power to operate in a beneficent way, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1962 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9s166f47f 114 M. W. WELCH surface of one side is uneven). It is very finely polished on one side and shows signs of polishing on the other. Whether it has been chipped by use or exposure I cannot tell. At any rate there are deep defects on the reverse side that were missed in polishing. The second item is a white quartz adze (the only one of this material found so far in Hong Kong). It is fashioned in much the same way as some of the adzes from sites I and II, but again its size is larger. It is lenticular in cross-section, but while one surface of it lies nearly flat, the other one is humped. The flat side is almost fully polished and there are very few deep flaws in it. The humped side is polished only on the highest point and the chipping towards the edges is quite noticeable, not unlike the chert adzes from the other two sites. Site III is not as eroded and shot up as I and II. I found the quartz adze, as well as a second large chert axe, in a level hilltop depression, from which the soil had been washed off to a depth of nine inches (one steps down nine inches, that is, when entering it). Since they were embedded two inches, it seems to me that the people who last used them left them at a level about eleven inches below the level that the surface had before recent erosion began. I mention this because it is the only place that offers a comparison of levels and where the finds were still partly embedded in the soil. Hong Kong and the surrounding territories are rich in archaeological sites. Only a few of them, I think, are known and a great many await the field work of the future. Little is known of South China man, much remains to be collated from the sites already found, and a great deal of work will have to be done before what has been done can be seen as a whole. All of us who like to sail or walk are given the possibility of helping in this field. By the mapping and careful reporting of finds, no matter how humble, we can share our discoveries with those who know what they are about and help provide the missing links that are necessary to complete the history of the culture of our area. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1962 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9s166f47f 116 COLINA LUPTON The purpose of the opening account of the establishment of the British foothold in China and the development of Chinese attitudes to the whole outside world in the first thirty years of this century is really to explain the Chinese outlook today rather than to offer a new analysis of events. So much in the Chinese mentality is related to the humiliations suffered at the hands of arrogant and greedy foreigners; on a people who had always thought of themselves as the most civilised and intelligent in the world these made a profound impression. What emerges most clearly here is the way commercial interests dominated British policy in and towards China until as recently as Britain's involvement in the Japanese war. The legend (and Mr. Luard hints that he thinks, even today, that it is a legend) of a market of four hundred million eager buyers for British goods continually obliterated other considerations. Britain came to China for trade and the measures she took while there were designed largely to protect her commerce. Not until the 1930s did any feeling of sympathy for China emerge in Britain; in 1935 for instance, she made some effort to assist the Chinese economy, in particular to stabilise the currency, offering financial aid and advice and participation in joint ventures. But any goodwill which might have been engendered by this move was dissipated by the way British firms appeared interested only in whether and how they could carry on their businesses in Japanese-conquered parts of China, being otherwise indifferent to the inroads made on Chinese territory. Not until Britain and China were fighting side by side did the British government finally give up the so-called "treaty rights" which had been anachronistic for about thirty years—and this, the author points out with justice, was a moment when commercial interests were in abeyance. Since the end of the second world war and the establishment of the Communist government in China the world has become a much smaller place, and Britain has declined to the status of a second-class power. Mr. Luard's book has one weakness in that as he chiefly discusses British policy it sometimes seems rather narrow: Britain is not now so important that her interests can be considered in isolation from those of the rest of the world. To ponder how she can best promote her own influence rather than to discuss it in the context of world affairs and world survival seems shortsighted. This slightly distorted emphasis— ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1963 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/4m90m091v PROTESTANT CEMETERY IN MACAO 11 Company doing in Portuguese territory? Why did the Protestants need a separate cemetery? What is the significance of the date 1814? These are but a sample of the problems that these few words pose. The first Europeans to set up permanent maritime contacts with the Chinese were the Portuguese, and by 1557 they had been granted permission to settle on a small peninsula of the delta island of Heung Shan. This peninsula, covering an area of only about five square miles, thus became the first permanent European trading base in China. Later came the Dutch, the Spanish and the British traders and navigators; the first and the second of these national groups eventually made their oriental headquarters elsewhere, but the British, through their highly organized East India Company, were more persistent and more successful as far as trade with the mainland of China was concerned. But the China of those days was, in the eyes of her own people, the centre of the universe, and all those who lived outside the confines of her ancient and well-tested civilization were considered barbarians. They could only be admitted inside the fold as tribute bearers to the Imperial Court to receive the ethical instruction of the Son of Heaven, and were then sent back home. When such admissions were allowed, portals of entry were carefully chosen and rigidly controlled, and in the case of sea-faring people, the port appointed was Canton, situated ninety miles up the river from Macao, and thus the barbarians were kept as far as possible from the sacred heart of the Middle Kingdom. But even at Canton there were further restrictions, geographical as well as political. The ships could only get up as far as Whampoa, which was the deep-sea port for Canton, and about eleven miles down river from it. The foreign merchants were allowed to go on to Canton itself but they had to reside in a place set apart outside the city—the Factories; nor could they remain there permanently; the length of residence permitted was determined by the time it took to dispose of the cargo brought in their ships and to load the return cargo of silk or tea. The time of the year at which these operations took place was determined by the monsoon; foreign trade was therefore completely seasonal—from September to March approximately, and as soon ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1963 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/4m90m091v 42 L. CARRINGTON GOODRICH manuscripts more than printed ones. To enlarge their collections private owners also exchanged books among themselves. In Sung times a number of collectors left detailed descriptions and catalogues of their collections. Some of these private libraries were put at the disposal of the public; others were turned over to students for their use. The Sung was a period in the history of China noted for many things: advances in material culture, in political development, in science, in the fine arts, in literature, in music, and in thought. These advances may well have been due in large measure to the accessibility of the printed word. BIBLIOGRAPHY For a general discussion of the beginnings of printing in China see Thomas Francis Carter, The Invention of Printing in China and its Spread Westward, revised by L. Carrington Goodrich, second edition, New York, 1955. As a result of new finds in China and fresh investigations some of our earlier conclusions no longer hold. Here are some of the principal studies which have appeared between 1955 and 1962. Chang Hsiu-min, Chung-kuo yin-shua shu ti fa-ming chi ch'i ying-hsiang, Peking, 1958. Chen Tsu-lung, Liste alphabétique des impressions de sceaux aux certains manuscrits retrouvés à Touen-houang et dans les régions avoisinantes, Mélanges publiés par l'Institut des Hautes Études Chinoises II, Paris, 1960. Jao Tsung-i, A study of the Ch'u silk manuscript, Hong Kong, 1958. Ling Shun-sheng, Bark cloth culture and the invention of paper making in ancient China, Bulletin of the Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica, 11 (Spring 1961), pp. 1-19. Li Shu-hua, The early development of seals and rubbings, Tsing Hua Journal of Chinese Studies, n.s. I, No. 3 (Sept. 1958), pp. 61-90. The printing of books in the latter half of the Tang dynasty, ibid. II, No. 2 (June 1961), pp. 18-32. Chih ts'ung ch'i-yüan, Taipei, 1955. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1963 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/4m90m091v 52 MA MENG in many parts of China since 1913. It is still used as a teaching aid notably in Taiwan and in some schools in Hong Kong. However, on the Chinese mainland, it has been replaced since 1957 by a new system of romanization. The May 4th Movement of 1919 gave a tremendous impetus to language reform in China, widening not only its scope but also its application. Previously the concern of only a handful of pioneers, it now became a spontaneous mass movement of the intellectuals, particularly the students. The importance of radical language reform gained general recognition, and demands for a literary revolution could be heard all over the country. From this wide-spread awakening sprang all subsequent efforts to reform the Chinese language. In particular, the May 4th Movement gave rise to the two chief currents of subsequent language reform: the New Literature movement in which the classical language was replaced by the vernacular, or pai-hua; and the movement to create a common spoken language based on the Peking dialect. The New Literature movement led to changes in terminology, syntax and style which culminated in a new plan to romanize the language. Both movements showed deep traces of Western influence, which became more and more apparent in subsequent language reforms. Recent language reform has continued to follow its historical course, developing with particular vigour after the Second World War. As a result, some linguistic innovations have been practised more widely than before. These innovations, though the result of long-standing demands for linguistic reform, gained unprecedented force from political and social changes. Great differences in phraseology, syntax and style could be found in almost all popular writings. No reader can miss these differences when he compares a current journal with one, say, twenty years old. Great differences also appear in the spoken language as more and more Chinese speak Mandarin since the war, not only on the Mainland, but also in Taiwan, Hong Kong and within the overseas Chinese communities of South-east Asia. Since Chinese language reform still continues, it is difficult at this stage to make a final appraisal of the linguistic changes that have taken place since 1919. Hence I merely wish to present a brief summary of the most important changes that have occurred recently. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1963 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/4m90m091v 107 EUROPEAN NAVIGATION ON THE YANGTSE A. D. BLUE * The Yangtse is the greatest river in China, and has been of much greater importance in the history of the world than the Amazon and the Mississippi, which are superior in length and volume. In this respect it ranks with the Nile and the Euphrates, but unlike them it has always had a much greater population living along its banks. The Chinese know the Yangtse as the Long, or Great, River. Marco Polo may not have been the first European to see the Yangtse, but he was certainly the first to appreciate its importance, and to bring it to the notice of the Western world. Of the Yangtse in general Marco Polo said "the multitude of vessels that invest this great river is so great that no one who should read or hear would believe it. The quantity of merchandise carried up and down is past all belief. In fact it is so big, that it seems to be a sea rather than a river". There is no doubt but at that time, the second half of the 13th century, the Yangtse carried a greater volume of traffic than any other river in the world. Marco Polo was correct in thinking that no one would believe his reports on the Yangtse, or on China, and it was left to later generations to appreciate the accuracy of his observations. It was the missions to China of Lord Macartney and Lord Amherst in 1793 and 1816 respectively, that made Europeans realise the importance of the Yangtse. Then in 1842, during the First China War, a British naval force entered the Yangtse, and was on the point of attacking Nanking (182 miles from the mouth) when the Chinese sued for peace. Sixteen years later, after the Second China War, one of the clauses of the Treaty of Tientsin * The author served as an Engineer Officer with the China Navigation Company from 1928 until 1938, and was on the Yangtse in 1930 in the Shengking and again in 1934 in the Wuhu. He was captured by pirates in the Newchang river in Manchuria in 1933 and held prisoner for five and a half months. During and after the War he was in the Colonial Service in West Africa, but in 1958 he returned to service with the China Navigation Company, and this has enabled him to revisit a number of the former Treaty Ports. 1 Chinese records mention the visit of a 'Roman merchant' to Nanking about 230 A.D. See G. F. Hudson, Europe and China (London, 1931), p. 90. Page 120 Page 121 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1964 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qz20zx09r JOURNAL OF OCCURRANCES AT CANTON 13 On the evening of the 19th affairs looked so squally that Mr. Hunter who had returned to Canton a day or two before ordered all the books and papers packed up and started with them at 2 A.M. the next morning for Macao. At 7 Mr. King started Mr. Spooner and myself off in Mr. Hunter's sail boat with a load of baggage, and books that Mr. H. could not take. We were towed down by Captain Endicott's boat and arrived safer after a passage of 6 hours on board the Naraganset. On our arrival we received a chit from Mr. Hunter stating that a number of transports and men of war were on the way up and advising us to get out of Canton as soon as possible. This I forwarded to Mr. King, but he did not get it as he had already left with the remainder of R and Co's Establishment.3 Explanatory terms In China the factory was a multi-purpose building. The lower floor usually was used for office space, storage, and the like, the second floor for dining and lounging, and the third for sleeping. Broad verandahs around the building gave it a spacious and airy quality. In Canton the factories of the various nationalities, American, Danish, French, Dutch, and Swedish faced the river. The British factory was truly magnificent for it contained a huge and lavishly furnished dining hall with terrace, library, chapel and numerous private rooms. Hong was sometimes used interchangeably with factory but specifically it referred to all the buildings of a commercial establishment, i.e., the factory and subsidiary buildings such as living quarters for servants and workers and large storage areas for cargos of ships. Hong merchants had formed an association in the early eighteenth century; in 1839 the Chinese merchants numbered thirteen and they had a monopoly of trade with foreigners. The most powerful and wealthy Hong merchant was Howqua, spelt by Hunter Houqua. Consoo House was the property of the Hong merchants, and in actuality was a series of buildings in the Chinese style. The main building contained lavish reception rooms and a series of courtyards. 3 James Duncan Phillips, editor, "The Canton Letters 1839-1841 of William Henry Low," The Essex Institute Historical Collections LXXXIV, 1948. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1964 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qz20zx09r 38 10 Linguist purser. W. C. HUNTER See note 39, (J.L.C-B) 11 Elliot's last day. On 25 March Elliot formally requested the Viceroy that passports should be issued within three days for all the English ships and people at Canton and that if passports were not issued he would consider the men and ships of his country as forcibly detained and act accordingly. Blue Book, Correspondence relating to China, 1840, p. 367. (J.L.C-B.) 12 Edward Elmslie. Secretary and Treasurer to the British Superintendents of Trade, Captain Charles Elliot and the Deputy Superintendent, A. R. Johnston, (J.L.C-B.) 13 Houqua. Known to Westerners at Canton as Howqua 7. His family name was Wu Ch'ung-yüeh (1810-1863). He was the fifth son of the famous Hong merchant Wu Ping-chien whom he succeeded as head of the firm in 1843. For his biography see Hummel, Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period, II, 867-8. (F.L.C-B.) 14 Nam Hoe. Also written Nam Hoi. This means Nan Hai Hsien #i.e. the Magistrate having jurisdiction over the western part of Canton city and the District lying to the westward of the walls which included the area in which the foreign Factories lay. (J.L.C-B.) 15 Kwang Hup. The author may be referring to the Kwangchou hsieh "the Canton brigade", and so to its commander. (J.L.C-B.) 16 The Governor. The Governor of Kwangtung province at this time was I-liang (1791-1867). For his biography see Hummel, op. cit., I, 389. (J.L.C-B.) 17 K'an-ch'o (J.L.C-B.) 18 An-tsou (J.L.C-B) 19 Columbia & John Adams. According to the Chinese Repository Vol. 8, p. 56 the Columbia was a U.S. frigate and the John Adams was classed as a sloop-of-war. The Columbia was commanded by Commodore George C. Read. (J.L.C-B.) 20 Johnston, Alexander Robert Johnston, H.M. Deputy Superintendent of Trade. When the Government of Hong Kong was set up he was deputy first to Elliot and later to Sir Henry Pottinger and in this capacity he administered the Government of the Colony on various occasions from 1841 until 1843. (J.L.C-B.) 21 Pwan Kei Kua. Probably the merchant whose name was also spelt by Westerners at Canton at that time Ponkhequa and Puan Khequa. This was P'an Chengwei (1791-1850). See Hummel, Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period, II, 605, (J.L.C-B.) 22 Saoqua. His family name was Ma Tso-liang and the name of his Hong was Shun Tai Hong A. (J.L.C-B.) 23 Sturgis. Russell Sturgis (1805-1887) of Boston was first named Nathaniel Russell Sturgis, Jr., but he was always known as Russell Sturgis after his name was changed by decree of the Middlesex County Court. He graduated from Harvard in 1823, married in 1828 but was widowed four months later. After an extended tour of Europe he returned to Boston and for a while practised law. He remarried and in 1833 took his family to the orient where he became a partner of Russell & Sturgis of Manila and Russell, Sturgis & Co. of Canton. Later in 1842 when the latter firm became incorporated with Russell & Co., China, he became a partner in 1842. In May 1844 he retired to Boston, his second wife having died in Manila in 1837. Being far too young to give up work altogether he decided to return to China in 1849 but while passing through London he ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1964 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qz20zx09r 64 K. M. A. BARNETT Ng 103 Ngraahcrinn-chynn, 104 Ngrhtrung-shaann, N. L. 105 Ngrr-droi, £1 (+908—+959, with local variations). 0 106 Obliterated villages:- Nai Tong Kok,101 Pak Hok Tuns and the original Tai Pak,35 some way from the present site. P 107 Phuunniryh, #5. 108 Preangzhaw, , an island five miles west of the western tip of Hong Kong Island. 109 Preangzhaw, H, an island in the north-eastern part of Mirs Bay,41 110 Pre-Chinese languages: I should exempt from this stricture Professor Princeton S. Hsu,23 whose books, "History of the People of South China”72 and "A Study of the Thais, Chuangs and the Cantonese People"133 are of great interest and should be read by anyone anxious to learn more in this field. But I think he goes too far in suggesting a Malay origin for the Tanka-or is it a Tanka origin for the Malays? 111 Prengshaann, Ħ4. 112 Pruunn-gwuur, 1. R 113 River Capture. The break-through of the Kwun Yam Ho62 from the Lam Tsuen74 valley to Taipo:33 formerly it flowed through Fanling48 and Sheung Shui130 into Deep Bay;152 and that of the two streams which now flow into the sea at Sham Tseng,119 the headwaters of which used to flow through Tin Fu Tsai137 into Tai Lam.38 $ Sei-braak, see 35, 114 Shaahtraw-gok, YA★ · 115 Shaahtrinn, 3⁄4w. + 116 Shaahtrinn-xoe, , still better known to the local people as Lik Yuen Hoi. Shaamm-braak, E★ see 35, 117 shaann-ghoh, Hakka saan-go, L. 118 Shaannloo, #. 119 Shamm-zearng, ##. + 120 Shamm-zeon, . The second word means an artificial channel with earth banks and suggests that the present river was cut to drain the swamps to the east and south-east of the present town. 121 Shann Ngrrdroi-sir, ĦARK - Page 75 Page 76 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1965 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s752cj653 PIRACY ON THE CHINA COAST 71 Piracy was firmly rooted along the South China coast. Then, during the First China War, many junks were allowed to act as armed privateers, and when the war was over, became pirates rather than return to peaceful trade. Hong Kong and its neighbouring islands had always been centres of piracy, or the home of fishermen ambitious to earn a dishonest dollar or two from piracy. The new British colony must have appeared like manna from Heaven to these people, and the colony's first years were marked by an increase in piracy. There was a similar increase in piracy around Singapore at the same time. The founding of Singapore in 1819 had resulted in a great increase in native trade in the area, and this suffered severely from attacks by well-armed Chinese junks, which sometimes attacked European ships. Captain James Brooke with his sea Dyaks played a big part in suppressing piracy in these waters.1 The period between the First and Second China Wars is one of the most confusing in Chinese history. On one hand is the founding of a British colony at Hong Kong, the opening of the treaty ports, and the inception of regular shipping services along the coast; while on the other is the persistence of lawlessness and piracy. In the background is the increasing weakness of the Manchu Dynasty, and during the last years of the period, the Taiping Rebellion. When the East India Company controlled the China trade, there was little need for naval protection in Chinese waters, and the Cantonese were traditionally opposed to the Royal Navy. The large and well-armed East Indiamen and "Country" ships were perfectly capable of fighting their way past the pirates who infested the Canton River delta, as were smaller, but faster and equally well-armed opium clippers. In spite of Chinese objections, however, British warships visited Canton on several occasions. Anson called in the Centurion in 1741, on the famous voyage on which he captured the Manila galleon, and Cook in 1779 with the Resolution and Discovery after his three-year cruise in the Pacific. Cook's ships were careened, refitted, and provisioned at Canton, the East India Company advancing the money in return for bills on the Admiralty in London. 1 The first white Rajah of Sarawak. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1965 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s752cj653 PIRACY ON THE CHINA COAST 75 pirate fleets appeared. The Hong Kong press was very critical of both the Navy and the Hong Kong Government, claiming that the latter was criminally careless in granting convoy and gunpowder licenses, and pointing out that scarcely a pirate junk was captured without having Hong Kong men in its crew and that many pirate junks were fitted out in Hong Kong. They omitted, however, to point out the connection between the opium trade and piracy. Opium was highly prized, and on one occasion in 1851 one hundred and fifty chests were seized from a Jardine opium clipper, and two of their European employees taken prisoner. The steamship, more than the Royal Navy, was responsible for the decline in the old-fashioned style of piracy, in which a fleet of junks had an overwhelming advantage over a sailing ship becalmed in coastal waters. Steamships appeared on the coast in increasing numbers in the years between the two China Wars, and by the end of the Second War most of the foreign coasters were steamships. A steam hose was more effective against pirates than joss sticks, and the comparative immunity of foreign steamships from piracy was another powerful inducement for Chinese merchants to patronize them, thus weighting the balance more heavily in their favour. An action in which the Peninsular and Oriental river steamer Canton was involved displayed other advantages which steamers brought to anti-piracy operations. The Canton was on her way from Canton to Hong Kong when she met H.M.S. Columbine, a sailing ship, engaged with a fleet of pirate junks. When the Canton arrived on the scene the wind had fallen, and the junks were using their oars and sweeps to get out of range of the Columbine's guns. The Canton took the Columbine in tow, enabling her to sink a number of the junks before they got clear. Two years later another river steamer called Canton, belonging in this case to the Hong Kong and Canton Steam Packet Company, captured a pirate junk in the river. In these actions, in which dozens or hundreds of junks were involved, it would probably be more accurate to describe the Chinese as bandits or rebels, than as pirates. Such fleets attacked towns and villages as often as they attacked ships, and like the Japanese pirates of the thirteenth to sixteenth centuries, plundered ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1965 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s752cj653 76 A. D. BLUE the countryside for miles from the coast. The leaders of such fleets were often opposed to the ruling dynasty, sometimes being disaffected former high officials. Koxinga, the greatest of all Chinese pirates, comes into this category. Koxinga was a supporter of the fallen Ming Dynasty against the Manchus, and the Chinese honour him to this day as a great patriot. His greatest exploit was the capture of Formosa from the Dutch in 1661. This type of rebel cum bandit cum pirate continued to appear down to modern times. The expansion of the China trade, and the opening of Japan to foreign trade resulted in a great increase in British naval forces in the Far East. The first naval ships to operate in the China seas were based on the East Indies station, but very soon China became an important sphere of naval operations on her own. The suppression of piracy was only one of the Navy's responsibilities. The distance between Britain and China meant that unusual and interesting duties were often entrusted to naval officers, especially before telegraphic communications were established and when senior Foreign Office or Diplomatic officials were unavailable. Hong Kong became the headquarters of the China station, which extended from Singapore to Shanghai, and later to Japan. It continued as such until, as the result of a reorientation of naval policy in the inter-war period, Singapore became the major British naval base in the Far East. Even after that Hong Kong continued to be the headquarters of the anti-piracy forces. Until France sent naval forces to co-operate with the Royal Navy in the Second China War, the Royal Navy was the only effective naval force in the China seas, and undertook the protection of all shipping. Even after the United States and France stationed naval forces permanently in these waters, the major responsibility for the suppression of piracy remained with the Royal Navy. It was British policy to station a warship at or near each treaty port, whether it was a coastal or a river port. This meant warships of two distinct types. There were the larger ships and their auxiliaries, which only saw action on rare occasions, and which were based in Hong Kong, with a summer cruise to Wei-hai-wei. Then there were the shallow-draft river gunboats, specially designed to operate on the Yangtze and the ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1965 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s752cj653 78 A. D. BLUE on board at the time. A similar, but even more murderous case had occurred in 1858, on a river steamer between Canton and Hong Kong. As this was during the Second China War, and the attackers were definitely established to be Chinese soldiers in disguise, this case might be charitably described as an act of war. Most China coasters carried deck passengers, in addition to a dozen or so saloon passengers. In the emigrant trades, however, hundreds and even thousands of deck passengers were carried, and the emigrant ships were the greatest temptations to the pirates. The strategy was to get control of such a ship, take her to Bias Bay or Mirs Bay, both conveniently just outside Hong Kong territorial waters, and then make off ashore in Chinese territory with the money and valuables of the passengers. A few wealthy passengers might also be taken for ransom. An operation of this nature required careful planning and organizing ability, some knowledge of the ship's geography and routine, and some knowledge of navigation and engineering. In many cases it became known afterwards that some members of the gang had travelled on the ship previously, so as to make themselves familiar with it. A piracy of this kind required at least two dozen men, who boarded the ship along with the other passengers, with weapons concealed in their baggage. At a prearranged time a simultaneous attack would be mounted on the ship's key points—bridge, engine room, radio cabin, and saloon; often a meal time being chosen when everyone not on duty would be congregated in the saloon. While the ship was being taken to her destination under the supervision of a few pirates on the bridge and in the engine room, the others were robbing the passengers and broaching the most valuable cargo. As the destination was invariably Bias Bay or Mirs Bay, the piracy would take place as near there as possible, so as to reduce the time the ship was under pirate control and out of communication with Hong Kong. The average coaster never had more than seven or eight European officers, and if the attack were well-timed they could all be immobilized in the first few minutes of the attack. There was usually little resistance from the Chinese crew, and a few men in the engine room and on the bridge were able to take the ship to its destination. There always seemed to be some pirates ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1966 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/bz60k0811 49 SINO-WESTERN CONTACTS UNDER THE MONGOL EMPIRE* Herbert FRANKE Contacts between Chinese civilization and that of the West, whatever we take "West" to mean in this context, have a long and tortuous history which, for some periods, is still far from sufficiently studied. All historians, however, even the most Europe-centered ones, do agree that these contacts reached a pre-modern, all-time high under the Mongol empires in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and even the most superficial or condensed textbooks of world history have a few words to say about East-West relations following the conquests and campaigns of Chingis Khan. In such books, we frequently encounter the statement that this period facilitated intercourse and exchange because of the so-called Pax Mongolica, "Mongol Peace", when the Mongol domination of East and Central and even great parts of West Asia crystallized into an empire stretching from the Yellow Sea to Southern Russia. Like so many historical tags, this is, however, a statement that loses much of its seemingly uncontrovertible truth when one considers the historical facts. If it is really the task of the historian to reconsider from time to time historical writings and historical dicta, and to debunk history if necessary, then this notion of Pax Mongolica requires qualification. A historian of China will therefore perhaps ask if cultural contacts and interchange between China and the non-China West were really more frequent and easy under the Mongols in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries than under the Six Dynasties and the T'ang when no Eurasian universal empire like that of the Mongols existed. We know that a great number of travellers, missionaries, and merchants from the Western Regions came to China between the late second and the ninth centuries A.D., and that many non-Chinese cultural elements penetrated East, among them the world religion of Buddhism that became such an important part of Chinese culture. Most of the early Buddhist Text of the Hume Memorial Lecture delivered at Yale University, February 5th, 1965. The author is Director of the Institute for East Asian Cultural and Linguistics Sciences, University of Munich. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1966 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/bz60k0811 54 HERBERT FRANKE peculiarity of the Chinese script, and Chinese script is something that would strike even the most casual observer as something different from any other script in Asia or Europe. Even William Rubruk, who had never been in China but only in Mongolia, gives an entirely correct description of the Chinese writing system. All this has cast some doubt on the contention that the Polo family spent a long time in China. But however that may be, until definite proof has been adduced that the Polo book is a world description, where the chapters on China are taken from some other, perhaps Persian, source (some expressions he uses are Persian), we must give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that he was there after all. Polo tells us that he was "the first Latin" to come to Kublai Khan's court. "Il (that is, Kublai) avait très grande joie de leur venue comme un qui n'a jamais vu aucun Latin." This is another statement in his book that is open to doubt. The Polos were certainly not the first Europeans who came to Kublai Khan's court. This is shown by a passage in a Chinese chronicle covering the time from the eleventh month of 1260 to the eighth month of 1261, that is, the beginnings of Kublai's reign. This chronicle is, at the same time, the most detailed annalistic source for any period of the Mongol dominion in China. There we find recorded under the seventh day of the second month of the second year of Chung-t'ung (June 6, 1261) that an embassy of the "Fa-lang" country came to Shang-tu (Dolon-nor) and was received in audience. Fa-lang is the Chinese rendering of Farang, the Franks, the name by which the Near Eastern peoples called Europeans. The description that these self-styled envoys gave of their country and their travels is very curious, but not more curious than some of the fantastic notions about the East that are found in European medieval literature: "These people came and presented garments made from vegetable fabrics (cotton?) and other presents. These envoys had travelled three years from their country to Shang-tu. They reported that their country is in the Far West beyond the Uighurs. In their country there is constant daylight and no night. It is evening there when the field mice come out of their holes. If somebody dies there, then Heaven is invoked and it might even happen that the person is restored to life. Flies and mosquitoes are born from wood. The women are very beautiful and the men usually have blue eyes and blonde hair. There are two oceans on the route from ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1966 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/bz60k0811 64 HERBERT FRANKE as in this case, fictional material to real persons. Their original personality image as given in the texts is therefore often obscured by a veil of conventional and sometimes even interchangeable topoi.17 The second example concerns a Yüan Dynasty play, the Sha-kou ch'üan-fu “To Kill a Dog in order to Admonish the Husband”. It could be shown that the plot of this play goes back to Near Eastern folk tale motif, that of the two brothers and the testing of their friendship. Also in this play the whole background is entirely Chinese, and at least one of the persons on the stage was a historical figure, a famous judge of the Sung Dynasty. But the similarity between the plot of the play and the Near Eastern folk tale (which also spread to Europe) is so close that allogeny, to use this term here, is ruled out. We may therefore assume that the story itself somehow found its way to China in Sung or Yüan times, and was adapted to a play.18 It is not impossible that other plays of the Yüan period will show similar influences in subject matter, but it would be premature to say anything definite because the study of Yüan plays has hardly begun in the West. Turning away from the more popular literature written in colloquial language to the traditional literary genres in the written language, we can be very brief. The literary activities of non-Chinese under the Yüan have long ago been studied by Ch'en Yüan who published his researches in 1923 and 1927, and Professor L. C. Goodrich has recently dealt with this problem, taking into account the pioneer work by Ch'en Yüan.19 Under the Yüan many writers of non-Chinese origin distinguished themselves as poets in Chinese and authors of Chinese works in general. This applies not only to Mongols, Uighurs and other Central Asians but also to Near Eastern Mohammedans and Christians. We have, under the Yüan, authors by the name of Sa’d-ad-daula, of Ya-ku (Jacob), of Shams, of Sadr and many others. In other cases the foreign names had been replaced by Chinese family names. One example is the case of Ting Hao-nien (1335-1424), who adopted the Chinese clan name Ting which sounded similar to the frequent Islamic appellation ad-Dīn “of the Faith” (e.g., Saif ad-Din, “Sword of the Faith”). One Nestorian Christian family called itself Ma which might be an approximate rendering of Syriac Mar, Master. They were of Turkish origin, coming from the Önggüt tribe that ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1966 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/bz60k0811 70 HERBERT FRANKE country which had direct contacts with Europe, China and India and where information on all these parts of the world was available that went beyond the hazy and fanciful notions which existed in the other civilizations on foreign and distant countries. The geographical situation of Persia evidently favored this universal outlook on history as much as the Mongol domination over great parts of Asia had contributed to it. If we try to assess the lasting influences of the Mongol rule in Asia we are confronted with the fact that from the second half of the thirteenth century on, or, to be more specific, from Kublai Khan (r. 1260-1294) on it is difficult to speak of a single Mongol empire. In theory Kublai Khan was, as Great Khan, the ruler of an empire stretching from China and Korea to Iran and Southern Russia, but the diversity of the subjugated countries made itself more and more felt. Kublai regarded himself more a Chinese emperor than a universal ruler. In China as elsewhere in the Mongol empire development followed a line where the local cultural substratum after some initial eclipses gradually re-emerged. In the Near Eastern and South Russian Mongol dominions this process was furthered by the Mongol rulers' conversion to Islam, and in Central Asia the Chagatay dominion followed soon afterwards. In the middle of the fourteenth century this development had already gone far. We should therefore regard the individual Mongol dominions as distinct cultural entities under Mongol rulers. There was no such thing as a Mongol civilization which reached all social strata in the individual dominions. On the contrary, the ruling Mongol and Turkish minority, was everywhere assimilated in varying degrees by the existing national civilizations. This process of assimilation was, as far as China is concerned, accelerated after 1368. The national dynasty of Ming which had, through a series of civil wars, gained supremacy over China and driven the Mongol ruler and his followers out of China and back into the steppes, introduced marriage legislation which forbade foreigners to intermarry within their group and instead encouraged or even prescribed intermarriage with the Chinese. This de-segregation imposed by the state resulted in the virtual extinction of the foreign national and linguistic groups on Chinese soil within a relatively short period.28 China and her traditional civilization had, by the end of the fourteenth century, scored a complete victory over the invaders and immigrants. In the other parts of Page 75 Page 76 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1966 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/bz60k0811 96 HOLMES WELCH visory Committee (1945-1949); and a vice-chairman of the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission (1947-1949). 28 Probably he was not one of the two monks sent to Tibet for study earlier in 1937 (see p. 11). 29 An interesting account of one such, Dorje Rimpoche, from Chamdo, who visited Hong Kong in 1935, is given in J. Blofeld, The Wheel of Life, London, 1959, pp. 40-56. 30 The leading spirit of the society was Ch'ü Yang-kuang, formerly governor of Shantung and Chekiang and Minister of the Interior. This Bodhi Society (P'u-ti hsüeh-hui) had no connection with the Bodhi Society (P'u-ti She) established by T'ai-hsü in 1918. 31 Chinese Year Book 1935-36, Shanghai, 1935, p. 1514, Huang was the editor of the Chinese Buddhist, "an English magazine which was to link up China with foreign Buddhists." It ceased publication before he died in 1933. 12 It was a common practice for Chinese monks to take their ordination vows a second or third time in order to strengthen their commitment to follow them, or in order to draw inspiration from an eminent ordaining monk. Hence, from the Chinese point of view, receiving the Theravada ordination meant supplementing, not replacing the Mahayana ordination. 33 Their names were Pei-kuan, Teng-tz'u, Hsing-chiao and Chüeh-yuan. They were supposed to remain in Thailand four years. See Chinese Year Book 1936-37, Shanghai, 1936, p. 1446. 34 Their Chinese religious names, followed by their Theravada names, were: Hsiu-lu (Kondanna), Wei-chih (Bhaddiya), Hui-sung (Vappa), Fa-chou (Mahanama), and Wei-huan (Assaji). Their later histories would make an interesting study in acculturation. Wei-huan disrobed within a few months and returned to China where he married. Eventually he became the principal English interpreter for the Chinese Buddhist Association established in Peking in 1953. Fa-chou married a girl of Dutch descent and eventually became a lecturer at the University of Ceylon. Hui-sung, who stayed longest, became mentally deranged. Wei-chih, after disrobing, went to Singapore, where he died during the war. Hsiu-lu, after disrobing, went to India where he pursued his studies at Santiniketan and/or Nalanda. Only the information about the first two is reliable. Another moot question is who sent them to Ceylon in the first place. Their Sinhalese hosts believed that they had been selected and sent by T'ai-hsü; and it is true that he acted as their guarantor (see Yin-shun, T'ai-hsü, p. 404). But another Chinese source states that their group was "formed by the Chinese Buddhist Association in accordance with the proposal made by the Pure Karma Buddhist Association," both of which were housed in the same building in Shanghai. See Chinese Year Book 1936-37, p. 1446. 35 Liao-ts'an (Dhammakiti) who went to Ceylon in 1945 returned to China about 1953 with Fa-fang's ashes, disrobed and became an instructor in Pali at the Chinese Buddhist Institute in Peking. 36 Today many Theravada Buddhists have a very different attitude and publicly advocate tolerance and respect for Mahayana Buddhism. In 1956 the fourth Conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists voted to abolish even the use of the terms "Theravada" and "Mahayana" (see Report of the 4th World Buddhist Conference, Kathmandu, no date, p. 2). There are some Theravadins, however, who even today believe that the world would be a better place if Mahayana was removed from it. 37 He had gotten the information at first hand from Liao-ts'an (Dhamma-kiti) who had heard the complaints of members of the 1936 group. They are stated to have been novices (sha-mi) when they left China and the Theravada ordination they received on May 6, 1936 was also, apparently, the novice's ordination. Hence there would have been more justification for withholding the respect due to bhikkhus than in the case of Liao-ts'an and his fellow monk, who came in 1945. More information is needed. ================================================================================ 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 137 50 The Hong Kong Blue Books for 1904 onwards list Basel Mission out-stations at Shaukiwan on Hong Kong Island and at To Kwa Wan, Sham Shui Po and Kowloon Tong in Kowloon. It is not certain when the Sham Shui Po station was opened as The China Mission Hand Book p. 279 lists two out-stations from Hong Kong but does not give their names. The earlier Blue Books are not much help. 51 Hung Hom, Tai Kok Tsui and Mong Kok Tsui had their docks and in Sessional Papers 1899, p. 482 Tai Kok Tsui is described as "an industrial area". 52 This study was hampered by the fact that no early land records appear to have survived for the group of villages described in this article. The only information I have been able to obtain, besides evidence from maps, relates to squatter licenses. A list for 1896, which appears in Sessional Papers 1897, p. 203, includes Ho Man Tin (37), Tai Shik Kwu (1) and Mong Kok (57). L + Addenda I ought not to leave this subject without mentioning the bad feeling between Hakkas and Cantonese in British Hong Kong which was the legacy of the disturbed times during the Taiping rebellion. Mayers, Dennys and King, the authors of The Treaty Ports of China and Japan (London and Hong Kong, 1867) state that fights between Hakka and Punti were common in British Hong Kong and that many Hakka labourers had come to Hong Kong with vivid memories of ill-treatment in their native place. It seems that these fights were not confined to immigrant labourers with scores to settle. Eitel records that for several days in August 1862 "the peninsula of Kowloon presented the novel aspect of an animated battle field, as the Punti inhabitants of the neighbouring villages were engaged in a bloody warfare with the Hakka settlers at Tsim Sha Tsui". A previous engagement, presumably between the same people, occurred in the same place in August 1859 when hostilities lasted two days though "little damage was done beyond a few knife wounds". We are told that "The Hakkas remained masters of the situation" (Dennys etc. p. 84). At that time, according to this source, the Puntis "have an intense antipathy to the Hakkas" (p. 19). It is interesting that this is reflected in the fact that the Canton Coolie Corps which assisted our army in the Second Chinese War 1857-60 was recruited in Hong Kong entirely from among Hakkas. See W. Stanton The Triad Society, Hong Kong, Kelly & Walsh 1900, p. 26. Further to the early descriptions of Yau Ma Ti given in the text I have since come across another in Sessional Papers 1888, p. 103, in which it is stated that "the boatmen and fishermen who have hitherto constituted the residents of Yau Ma Ti are gradually becoming outnumbered by town people and artizans (sic) from Hong Kong who are attracted to Yau Ma Ti by the lower rents charged them for house accommodation". ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1967 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/0c488p70g 40 L. CARRINGTON GOODRICH Chinese by Mi-t'o-hsien tu, a monk from Tokhara in central Asia, who lived at Ch'ang-an (then capital of China) from 680 to 704, after which he returned home. These are the years when the Empress Wu (reigned 684-704) ruled the land. This fact 武后 is important as the Empress foisted certain strange characters upon her Chinese subjects. One at least of these appears in the sutra: for (heaven; the elements sun, moon, and earth appearing inside an old form for ); this helps to establish the genuineness of the text. Now the stupa seems to have been erected at the same time as the temple itself, which was completed in 751. Unfortunately no date has so far been found on the text, as was the case in the above-mentioned Diamond Sutra of 868. There seems little reason to doubt the mid-8th century attribution, however, as the calligraphy of the scribe who brushed out the characters for the woodblock is like that of other literary remains of mid-T'ang provenance (found at Tun-huang and elsewhere), and the scholars reporting the discovery assert that the artifacts found together with the text showed no sign of a disturbing hand. If then the date of 751 or earlier may be accepted, Korea has revealed evidence for printing which pre-dates the evidence from Japan. As may be recalled, the exact dates for the printing of the charms distributed by the Empress Shōtoku are not exactly known but they run between 764 and 770. (See the discussion in my revision of Thomas Francis Carter, The Invention of Printing in China and its Spread Westward, 2nd edn., Columbia University Press 1955, chapter 7.) Add to this another remarkable fact: both the Japanese empress and the unknown individual responsible for the printing at Pulguk sa made use of the same sutra. They must have considered that it had unusual powers. The main difference between the texts is that the Korean made much more use of it. His runs to twenty feet or more as against eighteen inches in the Japanese examples. The width of the two texts is almost identical (2 inches). These measurements may be compared with the sutras printed about two centuries later; one group, found in the pagoda of a monastery at Hu-chow (Chekiang) bearing a date equivalent to 956, and others found in the Thunder Peak Pagoda near Hangchow, dated 975. The first measured 2.5 inches in width (inner portion 1.95 ins.), length not specified; the second 2.8 inches wide and 6 feet 9 inches long. Incidentally the items dated 956 were also dhāranīs taken from the sutra translated by Mi-t'o-hsien. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1967 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/0c488p70g The China Coasters 85 were very small, but had very powerful engines and steering gears. Only the high passenger and freight charges enabled them to run at a profit. One of the most important cargoes from the Upper Yangtse was tung oil, which was latterly carried in bulk. This oil was used in the manufacture of high quality paints and lacquers, and was so valuable that the privilege of cleaning out the cargo pumps after discharge was one of the most highly prized perquisites of the engine room staff. The Upper Yangtse was too dangerous for night navigation, so that the Gorge boats anchored each night at dusk, and set off again at dawn. Officers on these ships were paid a special bonus after a season on the Upper River, and also given local leave. Because they operated in inland waters, the Yangtse riverboats were exempt from certain of the manning regulations which applied to deep sea British ships. Certificated masters and chief mates were always carried, but sometimes the second mates had no British qualifications, and were either White Russians or Chinese. During the inter-war years these White Russians were often former officers of the Imperial Russian Navy, and without exception were very capable and efficient. On the engine room side the chief and second engineers had British qualifications, but sometimes Chinese third engineers were employed, The opium clipper tradition inherited by the 'China coasters' resulted in smart and well run ships, a credit to the owners and crews concerned. The pre-war 'China coasters' were probably the smartest ships in Britain's Merchant Navy, and their bright paintwork, gleaming brass work, and smart red-sashed quartermasters would have gladdened the heart of old Admiral Benbow. Their closest rivals under the Red Ensign were the coasters of the Straits Steamship Company which were based on Singapore, and which traded round Malaya and the East Indies. 'China coasters', apart from officers, had all Chinese crews, while the Straits coasters and their Dutch K.L.M. rivals had Malays on deck and Chinese down below, a good combination in pre-Sukarno days. Sailors and firemen sometimes spent a lifetime on one ship, and often the bosun and Number One Fireman would have started their careers on the same ship twenty-five years earlier. The Arab and Indian practice of the bosun and Number One being responsible for their department was followed on the China coast, and each department was very much a family and clan affair. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1967 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/0c488p70g A NOTICE OF THE SANON DISTRICT 135 three rows of houses, one behind the other. The centre one contains the principal tablets of the ancestors. Separate tablets commemorate the names and titles of the graduates and officers, which the clan has at different times produced. The second class are the Tangs, which belong to families who set up in them their private tablets of their ancestors. They are much smaller, consisting of only one edifice, with two small out-houses, but they are neatly decorated according to the Chinese taste. The Temples are in general inferior in size and beauty to the ancestral halls. The largest, most elegant, and most renowned is that of Chick-wan, which is dedicated to "Teen-hau" — the Queen of Heaven. The building may be seen from the entrance of Deep Bay. Imperial officers sent on a mission to Siam or Cochin-china, were in the habit of worshipping at this temple before starting, and if they returned safely from their perilous voyage, endowed the temple with rich offerings. By these means spacious buildings were gradually erected, and about six Taouist priests are supported on the income derived from the possessions of the temple. No Chinese vessel passes this way, without making some offering to "the Queen of Heaven." Second to this temple is the one in Man-chau, near San-keaou, which is also dedicated to the same goddess. The most popular idols to which temples are erected in Sanon, are "Teen-hao" — the Queen of Heaven; "Quan-yin" — the Goddess of Mercy; "Kwan-tai" — the God of War; and "Pak-tai" — the God of the North. In Sai-heong there is a considerable temple dedicated to a man who was once a high official at Canton. The following is the history of his apotheosis: The Emperor Kanghi once gave orders that the people should retire from the sea-shore, and settle some miles further in the interior, so that the pirates would be unable to carry on their depredations. This man interceded with the Emperor, and succeeded in getting the decree repealed. Out of gratitude to him, numerous temples were erected along the coast, in which he is worshipped. Altars are erected before the villages, in the fields, under green trees, and upon the hills, and are dedicated to the worship of the tutelary deities. They are the Gods of Land and Grain, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1967 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/0c488p70g NOTES AND QUERIES 169 NOTES I am most grateful to Mr. Yuen Chun-fang, Liaison Officer, Secretariat for Chinese Affairs for help with the interviews which yielded part of the information given above. 1 Reports on the Past and Present State of Her Majesty's Colonial Possessions, 1845 (London, W. Clowes & Sons, for H.M.S.O., 1846) p. 147 and the same for 1846, p. 230. 2 G. R. Sayer, Hong Kong, Birth Adolescence and Coming of Age (Oxford, University Press, 1937) p. 208, quoting from the Canton Press, February 1842. 3 Sayer, p. 91. 4 Sayer, p. 30. 5 A. R. Johnston (H.M. Deputy Superintendent of Trade) "Note on the Island of Hong Kong" first published in the London Geographical Journal Vol. XIV, and reprinted in the Hong Kong Almanack and Directory for 1846. 6 Hong Kong Government Gazette for 28 March 1857 p. 4, Table No. 4. 7 The Last Year in China......by a Field Officer actually employed in that Country. 2nd edition (London, Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans, 1843) p. 75. 8 K. S. MacKenzie, Narrative of the Second Campaign in China (London, R. Bentley, 1842) p. 160. 9 See Hong Kong Administrative Reports for 1934, 1935 and 1936 at pp. Q.86, Q.84 and Q.81 respectively. 10 This information, like any other for which no specific source is quoted, comes from Mr. CHOW Chik-san of Kau Wai, aged 77 and Madam CHAN CHOW Ping of San Wai, aged 81. 11 Rev. W. Lobscheidt, A Few Notices on the Extent of Chinese Education and the Government Schools of Hong Kong (Hong Kong, China Mail office, 1859). 12 See Summary of Report of Squatters Commission 1891-1906, pp. 97-103. This volume of MSS. is kept in the Library, Colonial Secretariat, Hong Kong. 13 For accounts of Cantonese and Hakka see J. Dyer Ball, Things Chinese (Hong Kong etc., Kelly and Walsh Ltd., 4th edition, 1903) pp. 202, 211 and 323-326. 14 LO Hsiang-lin and others, Hong Kong and its External Communications before 1842 (Hong Kong, Institute of Chinese Culture, 1963) pp. 80-88. This is the English translation of the text, but not the notes, of their work published in Hong Kong in 1959. 15 This information is taken from the accounts given at p. 5 of Prof. Woo Sing-lim's The Prominent Chinese in Hong Kong (Hong Kong, The Five Continents Book Co., 26th year of the Chinese Republic, 1937) published in Chinese and English and at pp. 578-579, under the name CHOW Cheong-ling, of Present Day Impressions of the Far East and Prominent and Progressive Chinese at Home and Abroad, published in London, Shanghai etc. by The Globe Encyclopedia Company, 1917. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1968 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833948d 50 T. J. LINDSAY had been borne out by facts. We have also drawn attention to the improbability that magnificent vessels like the Sterling Castle could be run all the year round on the London and China line, and yet show satisfactory returns. "To the Blue-Funnel steamer owners belong the credit of being the first to venture upon a big steamer-carrying enterprise to this part of the world; at that time, when the finest sailing vessels in the world had to be competed with on the Cape route, economy was of more importance than speed. "With the ever-recurring annual race Home with Teas came the renewed desire to be first in point of time; and for several years the red-funnelled "Glens” had it all their own way, until last year, when the fast and powerful Sterling Castle appeared on the scene and reduced the previous time records by a third. Both here and at Home the Sterling has evoked the admiration of all classes, and she has been freely spoken of as the fastest merchant steamer afloat, although, until she is tried against the Atlantic liners on their own route, it can hardly be said that she is the strongest and most powerful yet built. "The latest boat built for the Glen line [the Glenogle] is a vessel the like of which is seldom seen. She is certainly the largest carrying vessel that has ever been on the line, and for power she may be fairly set down as second to her Castle rival. While the Sterling has an indicated horse-power of 8,000 and the Glenogle indicates only 6,000 horse, the Glen steamer carries 6,000 tons of measurement cargo - a capacity which is greater than the Castle steamer, owing to the much larger space occupied in the more powerful vessel by the inevitable boilers and bunkers. In the important test which is applied to such coal-consuming giants, of running a moderate speed upon a reduced consumption of coal, the Glenogle appears to have fully realised all anticipations. At her full speed it is stated she consumes 120 tons of coal per day (she has bunker capacity for 1598 tons or 133 days) with her four boilers going, and her extreme speed is, say 16 knots, while she has accomplished an average speed of 11½ knots upon a consumption of 37 tons per day. The extreme speed of the Sterling Castle, which may be put down at 19 knots under the most favourable circumstances, is obtained by the daily consumption of 150 tons of coal; but how far the speed and consumption can be modified, we are yet unable to ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1968 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833948d 138 NOTES AND QUERIES said to have been of the Buddhist faith and to have lived in China in the early part of the eighth century; or to one of their patriarch-successors. These sects share a common ideology, have the same goals, and some have a similar system of rank and appointments, even possessing the same rank-names and terms of address. Some of these sects are, like Hsien-t'ien Tao, vegetarian, that is to say they demand a permanent vegetarian diet (and also sexual abstinence) from their rank-holders; and some, generally speaking the more recent off-shoots, are non-vegetarian. It is only the vegetarian sects which are organized through vegetarian halls. Some of the other sects operating in Hong Kong today and recognised by Hsien-t'ien Tao to be related to it are P'u-tu Men: "The Salvation Sect" and Kuei-ken Men: "The Sect of Reverting to the Root [of Things]," which are both vegetarian; and T'ung-shan She: “The Fellowship of Goodness", which is non-vegetarian and was particularly active in the period leading up to the founding of the Chinese Republic and immediately afterwards. The ideology of these sects is known by Hsien-t'ien Tao rather confusingly as Hsien-t'ien Ta-tao: "The Great Way of Former Heaven". It is syncretic, incorporating elements from a number of sources but most importantly from Chinese and Tibetan Buddhism, and from Taoism, and the Yin-Yang cosmology which received general acceptance by the Chinese in traditional times. In combining all these elements however Great Way ideology, as we will refer to it here, produces an original synthesis: a system of ideas distinct from any other. The religion divides time into three major epochs, or cyclical periods, during each of which it is supposed that Absolute Truth comes into the world, is taught by a major Buddha and other distinguished sages, and then, unless men have made efforts to prevent it, becomes distorted and finally disappears. The disappearance of Truth from the world is followed by a major catastrophe (there might also be minor, localised disasters during each period due to minor Truth distortions). All sects in the group believe we have already passed through the first of these periods which was followed by a great flood; some believe we are in the second period now (dominated by Sakyamuni Buddha) which will be followed by a great fire unless we act to prevent it; and a few believe we are actually in the third period which will be followed by a wind catastrophe (interpreted by the sect Kuei-ken Men as an atomic war). It is in this final period that the ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1969 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d KING MONGKUT AND THE KINGDOM OF SIAM 83 opened the Treaty Ports and a second British conflict with China had proved the superiority of Western arms, the Chinese court refused to reform. The Japanese were quicker to read the signs. Only Siam, unlike her weak neighbours in the tropical south, was able to adapt herself to the new world without war or its threat and without loss of sovereignty. Why was this? Was it because Britain and France had agreed to the Thai kingdom being a buffer between their Indian and Indo-Chinese empires? Or was it that the King of Siam who received Sir John Bowring had more vision than most of his Asian contemporaries and was succeeded by an equally gifted son? Whatever the reasons, the Treaty of 1855 was a major factor in determining the future of the Thai kingdom. It provided for the opening of diplomatic relations with Britain and, as a natural consequence, with other western nations. It introduced extra-territorial rights to British subjects living in Siam and allowed them to own or rent property. In commerce the Treaty abolished the strangling system of monopolies owned by the King and 'farmed' to Chinese merchants - replacing it by a free market with low duties on imports and exports. The year after the conclusion of the British treaty the Americans and the French secured similar agreements and these in turn were hastily followed by treaties with various European nations. These treaties marked a turning-point in the modern history of Siam. In the century and a half which followed Louis XIV's mission to Ayuthia in 1689 Siam had little or no contact with the West. In the mid-eighteenth century her main preoccupation was the constant war with the Burmese who finally sacked their ancient and splendid capital in 1767. By the time the new house of Chakri had established the capital at Bangkok in 1782 the British East India Company had consolidated its dominion over India. The tea trade with China was growing rapidly and ports of call on the eastern run were obvious advantages. Francis Light obtained Penang island for the Company from the Sultan of Kedah in 1786 for the annual payment of $6,000 and the vague understanding of British protection. Kedah was an acknowledged feudatory of Siam, but at that time King Rama I was far too busy with the building of Bangkok to concern himself with the incident and the British were not then interested in Siam. Raffles had ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1969 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d 94 R. BRUCE necessary for the late King? He would be welcome then, that is in 1852. At the same time he took the initiative in improving trading conditions. Monopolies were partly removed and duties on imports and exports reduced. For a moment it seemed that Siam's foreign relations could be improved without formal treaty and the British Government did not press the matter. But in fact there was much to be done, and with a new British Plenipotentiary at Hong Kong it was opportune to resume discussions. Sir John Bowring was a very different diplomat from his three British predecessors, Crawfurd, Burney and Brooke or the American envoys Roberts and Ballestier. He was an intellectual, a radical reformer, a disciple and editor of Jeremy Bentham, a linguist who could prattle in a dozen languages, an ex-Member of Parliament and a writer of hymns, an inveterate talker, a man with limitless energy and a Victorian capacity for pomposity and self-glory. After a career of business, politics, writing and self-appointed diplomacy in the courts of Europe, Bowring, being short of money, accepted public office as Consul at Canton. That was in 1849 when he was fifty-seven. Some five years later he became Governor of Hong Kong, Superintendent of Trade and, most glorious of all, Her Majesty's Plenipotentiary responsible for relations with China, Japan, Siam and all countries in the Far East. Bowring's five years' Governorship of the island colony on the coast of China was anything but successful. Some of his senior officials were incompetent and even corrupt, and he was unpopular among the British merchants. Worst of all he precipitated the second Anglo-Chinese war by sending warships to bombard Canton over a quite unworthy incident. But he was completely successful when he sailed to Bangkok in March, 1855, to negotiate a treaty with the Siamese. Most of the detailed business of the negotiations was done by Bowring's young assistants, his son John C. Bowring, an employee of Jardine, Matheson and Co. in Hong Kong, and Harry Parkes, his secretary, who was later to have a distinguished career as Consul at several ports on the China coast, (Mongkut referred to the young men as "Mr. Parkes and Your Excellency's upspring".) But it was Bowring and King Mongkut who created the favourable atmosphere which allowed progress to be rapid and the discussions congenial. It was clear from the start that the ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1969 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d KING MONGKUT AND THE KINGDOM OF SIAM 95 Siamese were willing to have a treaty which would open up trade and increase Western influence. They had some anxiety, however, about what the Cochin-Chinese, the Vietnamese would think about the treaty. Would they conclude that the Siamese had surrendered to the British? King Mongkut asked Bowring time and again to go to Cochin-China to make a similar treaty. The King was also anxious about the kind of man who would be chosen as British Consul, if this article of the treaty were accepted. Would he be as much a gentleman as Sir John? Bowring assured him that only the best man would be appointed and that he hoped to go to Cochin-China. The whole business for this momentous treaty was transacted in the most felicitous manner. King Mongkut and his equally intelligent Prime Minister, Praya Suriwongse, understood the issues at stake; these were not merely the details of imports and exports, the appointment of Consuls and the rights of foreigners, they were no less than the independence of Siam and the beginning of her modernization. It was much to Bowring's credit (and to Harry Parkes and young Bowring) that he was able to gain the confidence of the King, to allay his fears, and to assure the Siamese that the new policy that the treaty was launching was greatly to their own as well as to the British advantage. The Treaty of Friendship and Commerce was signed on 18th April, 1855, less than a month after the arrival of the mission. Its first article pledged perpetual peace and friendship and the protection of the two nations' subjects in each other's countries. Article 2 provided for the appointment of a British Consul at Bangkok who would have jurisdiction over British subjects in Siam. The third article was an extension of the second, requiring that Siamese offenders should be given up to Siamese justice and British offenders to British justice, that is, the Consul. This was the system of extra-territorial rights which had recently been obtained from the Chinese after the Opium War. It was an infringement of Siam's sovereignty but it gave assurance to British subjects that they would not be exposed to the severity of Siamese justice and encouraged the setting up of business houses. This right was given up in 1909, long before its withdrawal in China, in return for the independence of Kedah and the other northern Malay States from Siam. The next three articles of the treaty were all concerned with the rights of British subjects. They could ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1970 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ww72j0241 MORE ON THE YUNG-LO TA-TIEN L. CARRINGTON GOODRICH Half a century ago Dr. Lionel Giles wrote an informative article in the New China Review (vol. II, April 1920) on the Yung-lo ta-tien (hereafter abbreviated as YLTT). Others too, both before and since, have contributed something to our knowledge about this great compilation. It appears time, however, for another sketch and assessment, now that the Veritable Records of the Ming dynasty (Ming shih-lu) and other original sources have been made available. The YLTT was unquestionably the major collective literary enterprise of the Ming period (1368 - 1644). The proposal for the undertaking was officially made by the Grand Secretary Hsieh Chin (1369 - 1415) and others on July 19, 1403. Essentially the purpose was to try to make one complete thesaurus of existing literature. At this point in history the Chinese were just beginning to recover from not one but several devastating conflicts. In the tenth century part of north China had been lost to the Khitan, and both Chinese and non-Chinese peoples had warred over the rest. After the Sung (960+) had come into control of the south and central areas, the Jurchen in the twelfth century drove out the Khitan and bit off part of the Sung domain, to be followed in the thirteenth by the Mongols who conquered all of China in over half a century of campaigning. For seventy years there was peace, and then the Chinese began to throw off the Mongol yoke as well as struggle amongst themselves for mastery. From 1350 to 1380 war raged again, and many a center of culture suffered. It is a wonder that there was anything of value left. But this was not all. The prince of Yen (Chu Ti) at the turn of the century made two attempts to seize the throne from his nephew, and this too resulted in destruction, particularly in the north. He finally achieved success on the second, entering the capital, Nanking, in July 1402, and proclaimed himself emperor, with his reign title as Yung-lo, in January 1403. One may perhaps assign to the invention of printing, both by woodblock and (to a less extent) by movable type, the merit of preserving, through all these centuries from A.D. 900 on, at least part of the literary heritage of the Chinese people. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1970 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ww72j0241 CHINESE EMIGRATION AND THE DECK PASSENGER TRADE 91 trade for their own China Navigation Company. During most of the inter-war years a Norwegian company also operated a weekly service between Swatow and Bangkok in opposition to the China Navigation Company; but the latter's faster and more modern ships enjoyed the lion's share of this trade. The Singapore trade was an inheritance from the Blue Funnel Line, and came to the China Navigation through their close connection with the Holt family. For several decades before the First World War much of the emigrant trade to Indonesia was in the hands of German companies, but when German overseas shipping was eliminated after the outbreak of war in 1914 this trade passed to Dutch companies, in particular the K.P.M. and the J.C.J.L. lines. Previous to 1890 a consortium of Dutch planters had employed coolie brokers in Singapore and Malaya for recruiting purposes, and Malaya was always something of a reservoir of Chinese labour for much of South-east Asia, especially for Indonesia and Siam. Entry into Malaya was easier than elsewhere, and there were more frequent and cheaper shipping services between south China and the Straits. It was always a comparatively simple matter for Chinese—authorised or unauthorised—to cross the short Malacca Straits into Indonesia or the ill-defined boundary between Malaya and Siam. The Indo-China Steam Navigation Company was not nearly so deeply involved in the southern deck passenger trades as the China Navigation Company, but their Japan-Calcutta ships took part in the Straits trade on their way up and down the coast, and their Hong Kong-Sandakan ships had a near monopoly of the comparatively small trade to British North Borneo. Most coasters on the Hong Kong-Shanghai service called at Canton and carried deck passengers, but there was also a small fleet of specially designed river steamers employed between Hong Kong, Canton, and Macao, which provided daily and nightly services between the three ports, and thus an out and in connection for emigrants. The Canton river steamers were smaller editions of the Yangtse steamers, and their night departure from the Praya at Hong Kong, when they were a blaze of flamboyant and garish lights, was a spectacular sight before the Second World War. The six or seven hour passage between Hong Kong ================================================================================ 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-1970 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ww72j0241 192 NOTES AND QUERIES eleven players representing China at the Berlin Olympic Games in 1936 were Tai Hang men, including the team captain. Near Tai Hang is the Lin Fa Kung (E), a temple of unusual shape which is unique in Hong Kong and the New Territories. This temple, formerly like Tai Hang situated on the seashore, is over one hundred years old in its present form. The construction date over the entrance is the mid winter months of the second year of the Tung Chi reign i.e. 11 December 1863-8 January 1864. Old Main Street, Shau Kei Wan (*****) For this section of the visit a shortened version of the extended programme notes now at pp. 183-188 was provided. It is not repeated here. Chai Wan Military Cemetery Opened in 1947, this cemetery, which is managed by the Imperial War Graves Commission, contains 1,558 graves, mainly those of officers and men killed during the Defence of Hong Kong against the Japanese in 1941.* Set high on a once remote hillside in rural surroundings, it now overlooks a heavily populated resettlement estate and industrial area. Nearby is the New Military Cemetery and the Chinese Permanent Cemetery, Cape Collinson, with its 8,027 graves set in 20.5 acres of hillside administered by a Board of Management: also the new Crematorium. Stanley Fort This peninsula was set aside for military use in the 1930s and the barracks date from then. The parade ground was formerly the site of the village of Wong Ma Kok (⇓⇓) from which the peninsula takes its Chinese name. The inhabitants were removed to Stanley Village where a row of red-brick houses (still standing) was built for them by the Hong Kong Government. This village was the scene of the spectacular murder of two British officers in 1849 (see John Luff's book The Hong Kong Story (Hong Kong, South China Morning Post, 1959) chapter 8). * Information provided by the Urban Services Department, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1970 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ww72j0241 BOOK REVIEWS OBSERVATION ON BIRDS IN NORTH EASTERN CHINA ESPECIALLY THE MIGRATION AT PEI-TAI-HO BEACH, Axel M. Hemmingsen and J. A. Guildal, Spolia Zoologica Musei Hauniensis, Copenhagen, Volumes 11 (1951) and 28 (1968) In Two Parts: General Part, pp. 227: Special Part, pp. 326, Sales Agents: Vetch and Lee, Hong Kong. HK$130.00. Dr. Hemmingsen was stranded in China after the attack on Pearl Harbour in December 1941; as a Dane, he was not interned, and was able to spend the rest of the war years in a concentrated study of the birds at Peitaiho, on the coast of Hopei in North China. This area was already well known for migration studies from the work of Wilder, Hubbard, and others. The results of Dr. Hemmingsen's studies published here, form the most detailed study of a coastal area of China yet published, and therefore provide information on the migration down the China coast which is unobtainable elsewhere, The publication of the notes was made in two parts; the first, published in 1951, containing a number of articles based on the author's observations; and the second, published in 1968, containing a systematic list of all birds recorded from the area. There are few breeding species at Peitaiho, and therefore most of the general articles are concerned with migration. Particular attention is paid to the migrations of cranes and geese, which, being both large and noisy, are less liable to be overlooked than other migrants. These migrations are studied in great detail, in relation to temperature, wind-strength, time of day, etc., in an attempt to work out the reasons for the timing of their migrations. Conclusions based on one series of observations cannot, of course, be accepted as proved, and the author makes it quite clear that his conclusions should only be taken as theories. This caution is welcome, and it increases the value of the book to students of the Eastern Palaearctic migrations. The purpose of the author is stated as follows: 'It is thus not with any idea of finality, but with the purpose of suggesting a wide field of enquiry . . . . .'. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1971 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g The Emergence of a Chinese Elite in Hong Kong Carl T. Smith* (A lecture delivered to the Branch on 15 March 1971) INTRODUCTION The opening of Tung Wah Hospital (1872)† marks the terminal date for this study of the emergence of a Chinese élite in Hong Kong. We are concerned, therefore, with the first thirty years of the colony's history, 1841-72. The first decade was characterized by economic and social problems partially created by a shifting and generally irresponsible population. During this period, there was, however, a small number of settlers who were establishing themselves and their families with the purpose of making Hong Kong their permanent home, of acquiring capital, and of investing in real estate. As the Colony entered into the 1850s, this group increasingly assumed a position of leadership. It was recruited from a few successful contractors and builders, several government servants, compradores of foreign firms, and Chinese Christians attached to missionary groups. The second decade of Hong Kong's history was marked by an influx of population and capital caused by disturbed conditions in South China created by the Taiping Rebellion. This influx turned into an exodus when hostilities began between the British and Chinese in 1857. But war brought more compradores to Hong Kong as foreign firms moved down from Canton. In the third decade, there was a revival of trade, and a growing merchant class provided its share of élite. By the end of the * Rev. Carl Smith is Lecturer in the Theology Division in the Department of Philosophy and Religion, Chung Chi College, The Chinese University of Hong Kong and has been associated with the College since 1962. † It is difficult to know what date to give to the origin of Tung Wah Hospital. In 1869, a committee of concerned Chinese was organized. In 1870 (the usual date given for the foundation of the Hospital), the Tung Wah Hospital Ordinance was passed and the foundation stone was laid by the Governor. The Hospital was formally opened by the Governor on 14 February 1872. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1971 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g A BRIEF REPORT ON SUNG-TYPE POTTERY FINDS IN HONG KONG J. C. Y. WATT* THE SITES Over the past thirty years various pottery finds attributed to the Sung period have been made in many parts of Hong Kong. For the purpose of this paper, two representative sites will be described and the finds discussed. The sites are: the area of Kowloon City near the present Kai Tak Airport, and Nim Shu Wan on the eastern coast of Lantau Island, the largest of the islands of Hong Kong. Kowloon City, formerly called Kuan-fu Chai, was the administrative centre of the salt-pans on the north coast of Kowloon Bay. These salt-pans were one of the chief official centres of production of salt in south China during the Southern Sung period2. The existence of the Kuan-fu salt-pans, which we know from historical records, is confirmed by an inscription written by one of the salt-officers, Yen I-chang, in 1274 and carved on a rock which still stands today. The rock is situated behind a Tien-hou temple in Joss House Bay. Kuan-fu Chai was also one of the stopping places of the fleeing court of the last princes of the Sung dynasty3. It is not surprising that a site with so much connection with Sung history should yield archaeological finds of the Sung period. The first group of finds made in this area, which are still partially available for inspection and have a fair claim to be Sung, were unearthed intermittently from a small hill which used to be known as the Sacred Hill. This hill, on which stood the Sung Wang T'ai, the Sung Princes' Rock, was levelled during the Japanese occupation in the Second World War when the airfield was extended. When the hill was demolished a large quantity of pottery was unearthed, which consisted of celadons, green glazed *Mr. Watt is Assistant Curator, City Museum and Art Gallery, Hong Kong. His note "A Pair of Pottery Covered Jars found at Shek Pik, Lantau Island" appeared in Vol. 9 (1969) of this Journal, pp. 161-163. This article is based on a paper presented by the author at the Manila Trade Pottery Seminar held in March, 1968. Plates 1-10 illustrate this article. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1971 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g HISTORY OF MILITARY VOLUNTEERS IN H.K. 153 way to the Volunteer Ordinance No. 10 of 1933 which was replaced, in its turn, by Ordinance No. 63 of 1948. The present Force is constituted under the Royal Hong Kong Defence Force Ordinance Chapter 199 of the Laws of Hong Kong, Ordinance No. 25 of 1951, modified by subsequent amendments.3 Besides being established by law, all volunteers have also been subject to rules and regulations provided for in the main Ordinances, Besides serving as a reminder to the present day volunteer that he and his predecessors have always operated within the laws of the Colony, these Ordinances and Regulations are a valuable source of information about volunteering over the past century and more. They are milestones in the growth and development of the Hong Kong Volunteers and provide the essential framework of accurate facts on to which information from other sources can be fitted.4 These include annual inspection reports for part of the period, personal reminiscences, newspaper reports, old photographs and memorials and the wide range of material included in the pages of the pre-war Year Book of the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps, 1934-40 and of the post-war Royal Hong Kong Defence Force magazine, The Volunteer. The latter has appeared every year since 1950, with a special edition in 1954 to commemorate the centenary of volunteering in Hong Kong. The war period 1941-45 has been covered in Major Evan Stewart's account which has been supplemented by other publications dealing with the fall of Hong Kong. Material from these different sources has been used in writing this brief 3 Since this article was prepared the Royal Hong Kong Defence Force Ordinance has been repealed and replaced by the Royal Hong Kong Regiment Ordinance and Regulations. Legal Supplements No. 1 of 18th December, 1970 and No. 2 of 24th December, 1970 in the Hong Kong Government Gazette refer. 4 They are to be found in the various editions of the Laws of Hong Kong and of the Government Gazette. 5 Only those for the years 1893-1907 are available in Hong Kong, printed in Sessional Papers 1894-1908. None of the earlier or later reports are available in the Colony. 6 A Record of the Actions of the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps in the Battle for Hong Kong, December 1941, Hong Kong, Ye Olde Printerie, Ltd. Other sources include the official History of the Second World War - The War against Japan, Volume I edited by Major-General S. Woodburn Kirby (London, H.M.S.O. 1957), John Luff's The Hidden Years (Hong Kong, South China Morning Post, Ltd., 1967) and Tim Carew's The Fall of Hong Kong (London, Anthony Blond, Ltd., 1961). ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1971 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g THE COLONY OF HONG KONG 183 the Governor, and many members of the community, in what was long afterwards called, in commemoration of the affair, K'e-ying house. His visit, no doubt, had reference to the evacuation of Choosan by our troops, and the opening of Canton city, for at that time the Governor of Hongkong was also superintendent of trade in all China;—an unfortunate arrangement, which continued till provision was made for the residence of an ambassador in Peking by the treaty of Teen-tsin in June, 1858. The wily Manchoo was more than a match for Sir John Davis. Choosan was evacuated, but Canton was not opened. K'e-ying had promised that it should be opened on the 31st March, 1847, and that not being done, as well as to avenge other injuries, Sir John made his famous raid upon the city, and on the 5th April dictated a convention, stipulating among other things, that Canton should be opened: --not immediately, but in two years, on the 1st April, 1849. It was an unhappy concession; but Sir John Davis somehow wanted "the stalk of carl-hemp." Speaking after the manner of men, the refusal to open Canton was a sufficient casus belli, and I could wish that our second war with China had been fought upon it, rather than on the affair of the lorcha Arrow, nearly ten years later. The Cantonese, from the Viceroy of the Kwang provinces downwards, were encouraged in their insolent contempt for foreigners, and various outrages were perpetrated in consequence. I may mention that in 1846 a little steamer called the Corsair began to run between Hongkong and Canton, people being doubtful whether the enterprise would pay. The foundation of the Cathedral, then a church merely, was laid in January, 1847. The old Union Church had been opened in 1845. I returned to Hongkong in the summer of 1848, and found that Sir John Davis had resigned the government of the Colony, and that his successor was Sir George Bonham, whom I had known as governor of the Straits' settlements, when I was in Malacca. I remember, as he was about to proceed in the spring of 1849 to an interview with the governor of Canton at the Bogue, asking him whether he was going to insist on the opening of the city on the 1st April. He replied, "How can I? My instructions are to keep the peace, and by no means bring on another war with China." He did keep the peace,—kept it with China, and kept it among the members of the government of ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1971 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g 224 BOOK REVIEWS the familiar background of the disasters — natural and man-made which afflicted China from the second half of the nineteenth century onwards. The author, a retired Naval Officer, himself with a first-hand knowledge of the China Station and with some apparent experience of the military and political intelligence work supporting the diplomatic moves described in this book, weaves his story from the letter books of the Great and Ancient House, Taikoo. The period covered by these extracts and quotations is from the Sino-French war of 1883-5 through to the so-called Great Boycott of 1925. There are appended a number of short notes, some by the author, others contributed to the book, on topics ranging from "The origin of Tribute Rice and of Lao mei" to "Treaty Port Racing". Several of these are probably not to be taken as serious studies of these subjects; for example, the two devoted to "Opium" and "The Eunuchs of the Empress" are mere fragments not embodied in the main text. There is undoubtedly a wealth — even an overflowing — of rich historical material in this volume; so much so, that the author, unwilling to sacrifice any scraps of illustrative comment from these business records, ends up by creating a confused picture of events. The significant fact throwing particular light on the business activities on the China Coast, is circumscribed by coils of superfluous trivia. From a naval writer, one might have expected a direct, economical style of exposition; and of course, the impact on the reader would have been much more effective. It is, indeed, painfully obvious throughout the book that despite the authorship of a considerable number of publications, the writer is an amateur. The book is written in a mixture of styles compounded from the Boys' Own and official memoranda; it is ridden with clichés and undigested wedges of administrative gobbledy-gook. For the historian who would like to use this book as a compilation of source material, there are also the difficulties that the extracts are frequently not dated nor ascribed to a writer or only vaguely so. For example, there is the telegram from the Admiralty to the Commodore Hong Kong — one wonders how this came to be with the B & S records, if in fact it is extracted from them. The exercise would have been much more useful if the range of extracts had been more carefully selected, given full documentation, and ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1972 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gm80qf99h 54 J. L. CRANMER-BYNG Councillors at Jehol at this time: Mu-yin; K'uang-yüan; Tu Han; Chiao Yu-ying. Information on all these officials can be found in Hummel, Eminent Chinese, especially in the biography of Su-shun. Their power relationships are discussed in Banno, China and the West, passim, but especially 55-56. The term "minister of the imperial presence" (yü-ch'ien ta-ch'en) is rendered by Brunnert and Hagelstrom, Present Day Political Organization, p. 28, no. 101, as adjutant-general. II Tengchow is on the northern side of the Shantung promontory. In fact it was not opened to foreign trade which was carried on at Yen-tai near Chefoo. S. Wells Williams, The Chinese Commercial Guide, 211-212. Ch'aochow was the old name for Swatow; Ch'iungchow is in Hainan. Taiwan City and Tamsui were ports on the island of Taiwan which came under the administration of Fukien province. 12 Ch'ung-hou was appointed to this post by an edict of 20 January with the designation superintendent of trade for the Three Ports, with his headquarters at Tientsin. Hsueh Huan, governor of Kiangsu and acting imperial commissioner at Shanghai, was made responsible for the newly opened ports along the Yangtze and the coast to the south of it, by the same edict. As far back as 1844 the imperial commissioner at Canton was currently designated imperial commissioner for the Five Ports. With the addition of new ports it was made a concurrent post of the governor of Kiangsu in 1861, until 1868 when it was made a concurrent post of the governor-general of Liang Kiang residing at Nanking. In 1870 the post of superintendent of trade for the Three Ports was raised to an imperial commissionership and held concurrently by the governor-general of Chihli. It is not clear when the commonly used designations for these two posts viz: superintendent of trade for the southern ports and superintendent of trade for the northern ports were first used. Meng, The Tsungli Yamen, 40-41; Banno, China and the West, 233-5. 13 Article 3 of the Convention of Peking between Britain and China refers. See W. F. Mayers, Treaties Between the Empire of China and Foreign Powers, 8. The phrase to avoid complications arising is a euphemism for 'to avoid peculation'. 14 Tentatively we have translated the Chinese phrase hui-tan as counter-foil. Note 19 also refers. 15 The term is fuyin. See Brunnert and Hagelstrom, Present Day Political Organization of China, 793. 16 See Frank H. H. King, A Research Guide to China Coast Newspapers, 1822-1911. 17 Translated in collaboration with Mr. Vei-Tsen Yang. Chinese text in Ch'ow-pan wu shih-mo, Hsien-feng, 72: 2-3. A second edict was issued on the same day, and on the same subject, to the Grand Secretariat. This edict was translated by T. F. Wade along with the six-point memorandum. Note 2 above refers. 18 Not to be confused with the Russian Hostel nor with the language school for the Russians in Peking, both of which were often referred to in Chinese documents as O-lo ssu-kuan, thus making confusion likely with the Russian language school referred to here. See Meng, The Tsungli Yamen, 111, note 48. 19 Lit. 'draw up a joint document'. Glossed by T. F. Wade as a paper signed by both parties showing that the amount deducted is in due proportion to the collection'. Translation of Peking Gazette in F.O. 17/352 p. 42. 20 Presumably referring to Robert Hart, the Inspector General of the Chinese Maritime Customs Service, and the westerners serving under him. On the general subject of foreigners taking part in the administration of China after the middle of the nineteenth century see Fairbank, The Chinese World Order, 273-5; also Fairbank "Synarchy under the Treaties" in Fairbank (ed.) Chinese Thought and Institutions, 204-231. Page 60 Page 61 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1972 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gm80qf99h 82 HENRY JAMES LETHBRIDGE It is an interesting comment on Johnston that he visited England only twice in twenty-eight years of residence in China. See Johnston's obituary in the Times of 8 March, 1938. 37 R. F. Johnston's, Twilight in the Forbidden City, London, 1934, describes his experiences as an Imperial tutor. 38 Much information on Johnston's experiences as District Officer and Magistrate are given in his book, Lion and Dragon in Northern China. 39 Annual Report on Weihaiwei for 1921, p. 3. 40 Annual Report on Weihaiwei for 1903, p. 5. From time to time the Magistrate's office issued proclamations in Chinese, notifying the people of the wishes of the Government. All the villages of the Territory were provided with large notice boards on which such proclamations were posted. The style of governing in Weihaiwei owed much to Chinese example. 41 Annual Report on Weihaiwei for 1904, p. 26. The statement is taken from Johnston's 'Report of the Secretary to Government for the Year 1904'. This is a most interesting report on Chinese society in Weihaiwei, 42 The China Review was founded in 1872 by N. B. Dennys. The publication terminated with vol. xxv, 1901. It was published bi-monthly. 43 Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society for 1937, pp. 391-3. 44 In his obituary notice of E. H. Parker, E. T. C. Werner wrote: "The editor's request to write this notice puts me in a rather awkward position, for I cannot but refer to the very great amount of valuable sinological work which has been done by members of the British Consular Service in China. Considering its relatively small size, the Service has produced proportionately more brilliant sinologists than any body connected with the Far East.” See Journal of the North-China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (henceforth cited as JNCBRAS), vol. lvii, 1926, p. vi. 45 Sir Cecil Clementi (1875-1947). Educated at Oxford. Hong Kong cadet in 1899. Governor of Hong Kong 1925-30. He published, among other books, The Chinese in British Guiana, Georgetown, 1915, Cantonese Love-Songs, Oxford, 1904, and Summary of Geographical Observations taken during a Journey from Kashgar to Kowloon, 1907-8, Hong Kong, 1911. 46 Lockhart's interest in the Chinese language is recognised in the dedication to him of Mok Man-cheung's Tah Tsz Anglo-Chinese Dictionary, 2nd edition (Chinese foreword dated 9th October, 1914). Mok had served in the Registrar-General's department with Lockhart, and moved to the Supreme Court as an interpreter in 1891. See also note 71 below. 47 China Review, vol. xxi, 1892/93, p. 405. 48 Vols. xx to xxii. The disputants included E. J. Eitel, E. H. Parker, E. D. H. Fraser, H. A. Giles, and Lockhart. The first edition of Lockhart's book was dedicated to Dr. John Chalmers, the distinguished sinologue, and the second to Dr. James Legge as well. Lockhart spoke of them as 'two famous Aberdonians'. 49 China Review, vol. xxi, 1892/93, p. 412. 50 China Review, vol. xxii, 1893/94, p. 547, 51 T'oung Pao, vol. viii, 1897, pp. 412-430. 52 Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, vol. 6, 1930-32, p. 812. 53 Chinese Recorder, Sept. 1903, p. 464. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1972 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gm80qf99h THREE CHINESE DEITIES: VARIATIONS ON A THEME (With special reference to overseas Chinese communities in South East Asia) KEITH STEVENS* Individual Chinese gods are worshipped universally throughout all Chinese communities and areas, or are worshipped only within limited areas such as a village or linked villages. Some are peculiar to linguistic groups such as the Shanghainese or the Cantonese. Three gods from the immense Chinese pantheon have been chosen and their legends, recognition features, the reason for their worship and where possible the area in which they were or still are worshipped have been described in detail below. The first deity, worshipped in practically all Chinese communities, is General Yin Ch'iao (**太岁**) more frequently referred to as T'ai Sui (**太岁**). The second, Fa Chu Kung (**法主公**), is a deity to be found only within two or three localised communities in Fukien province and amongst overseas Chinese from these communities. However, he is also to be found in a few temples of other overseas Chinese communities who have adopted him to take advantage of his power. The third deity is Cheng Ho (**郑和**), the explorer of the 15th Century who is worshipped only by limited communities of overseas Chinese in areas where Cheng Ho's fleet called during his explorations. These three have been chosen because they are good examples of three different types of Chinese deities. The first, T'ai Sui, is a * Major Stevens is a serving officer at present with the Ministry of Defence. He has been employed in South East Asia and the Far East and has travelled extensively among the Chinese communities of the region (but of necessity outside China) in his search for images of Chinese gods. The value of his article lies in bringing together material from, as he says, 'two and a half thousand temples' in the region, showing the great variety of images in their various forms and continued devotion to the pantheon of gods. I am glad to have this opportunity of publishing it in the Journal. No attempt has been made to impose a uniform romanization which is here given as presented by the author from the various works consulted, and as in the different dialect forms he encountered in the course of his enquiries. Nor have I changed the terms "god-shop" and "god-carver" used by Major Stevens because they are colourful, and therefore appropriate to the subject. Ed. Plates 15-29 illustrate this article. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1972 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gm80qf99h 182 Co-location of deities KEITH STEVENS In Fukienese temples in Singapore and Malaya, the T'ai Sui images are often seen with Hsuan Tien Ta Ti (***) or with the Goddess of Mercy (##). In Cantonese and Amoy temples there, the T'ai Sui images are occasionally to be seen with the medical deities Lu Tung Pin (†) or Hua To ($) and in one temple with T'ai Shang Lao Chün (LB). In another Fukienese temple in Singapore a triad occupying the centre altar was said by the temple keeper to be three of the Nine Emperors (g). Two were positively identified, one as the second brother of the main deity Chiu Hwang ( ). He is black skinned, bare footed, with one foot on a fire wheel, has protruding eyes, black beard, and his hair is wound into a top knot. His two arms are at his side, otherwise he is very similar to Fa Chu Kung (✯✯2). The second identified image is on the right of the main deity, and he is, without doubt, Wang Tien Kung (1A). The third unidentified image on the left of the main deity could easily be T'ai Sui. He is black faced and bearded, a standing general in armour, holding a bell in his left hand and a sword in his right; he has three eyes, ear tufts of hair, and wears a Taoist crown. In one Fukienese temple in Taipei, Yin Ch'iao was seen together with Ch'ü Kung Chen Jen (AA). (Plate 19) In North China in Kalgan his second brother Yin Hung ( *) is a special deity said to save people from the "fifteen bad deaths". He sits on the opposite side of the central deity, the Jade Emperor (11), from Yin Ch'iao. Both brothers are naked and, surprisingly, have claws, beaks and wings. Grootaers10 says that Yin Ch'iao is never to be seen except as an attendant to the Jade Emperor. It would appear that either the local god maker in Kalgan did not know the identification features of Yin Ch'iao and has confused him with the Thunder God; or that there is a local legend which we do not know about; or thirdly that Grootaers misidentified the two attendants of the Jade Emperor. C. B. Day bought a hand-painted scroll in Hangchow, depicting five Buddhist figures and six Taoist ones. This pantheon chart included T'ai Sui Ti Chün ( *#*#) together with the San Kuan 10 W. A. Grootaers, Rural Temples around Hsüan Hua (Folklore Studies vol. 10). ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1973 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r TRANSACTIONS OF THE CHINA MEDICO-CHIRURGICAL SOCIETY, 1845-6 H. A. RYDINGS* The connection between the China Medico-Chirurgical Society and the original China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society has been related elsewhere in the Journal (1). Until recently, however, it was not possible to learn much in Hong Kong about this predecessor to our own Society. Now the University of Hong Kong Library has obtained a Xerox copy of the Transactions of the China Medico-Chirurgical Society, from the original volume in the Library of the Royal Society of Medicine, one of only two copies recorded in the British Isles (2). This Xerox copy will be kept in the University's Hong Kong Collection. The volume runs to 80 pages, slightly smaller than those of this Journal, and the title page, here reproduced, gives the names of the officers and committee. Two names appear as Secretary because the first, Dr. B. Hobson, had to return to Europe for family reasons during his term of office (3). Not a great deal has come to light about most of these leaders of the medical profession in the early days of the Colony, though it has been possible to find out what each of them was doing in Hong Kong. Dr. Tucker, the first President, was Surgeon on H.M. Hospital Ship Minden, which arrived in Hong Kong on 7th June, 1843 from Chusan. He died on board the Minden on 10th Sept. 1845, whilst still holding the office of President, in which he was succeeded by Dr. Dill. Francis Dill was Hong Kong's second Colonial Surgeon, appointed to succeed Dr. A. Anderson in 1844 on a date so far unknown, but probably between 7th May and 25th June. He may also possibly be identified with the "Mr. Dill, surgeon of the 'Atlas'" mentioned in a letter of Dr. Robert Morrison dated March 19th, 1822 from Canton (4). The Society's first Secretary, Dr. Benjamin Hobson, was in charge of the Medical Missionary Society's Hospital, first in Macao, * Mr. Rydings is Librarian of the University of Hong Kong and has been Councillor and Hon. Librarian of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society since 1965. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1973 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r CHINA MEDICO-CHIRURGICAL SOCIETY 19 influence of Sir John Davis as Governor, and J. W. Hulme, Chief Justice, both of whom were members) and the Hong Kong Branch, which has yet to solve it. Since it was on condition that the books and apparatus of the Medico-Chirurgical Society should be handed over to "the Asiatic Society of China” (the original name of the R.A.S, China Branch) that the members of the former were to be admitted to the latter without ballot or entrance fee (17), the list of the library of the Medico-Chirurgical Society (Transactions, p. 78-9) is of particular interest to the present writer. The list is, however, by no means systematic, and has therefore been rearranged and rewritten as an appendix to this article. It cannot claim to be the first library catalogue to have been published in Hong Kong, since that of the Morrison Education Society was issued in the previous year (18). How far the Medico-Chirurgical Society succeeded in its second objective, "the formation of a Library" is difficult to judge, since the books and periodicals as recorded in the appendix to the present article were acquired over a relatively short period, and the problems of acquisition must have then been immeasurably greater than those about which present-day librarians (and their clients) in Hong Kong grumble. Probably most of the books were gifts from members, as also were some of the periodicals, since there is some overlap in the recorded holdings of the Lancet, presumably received from different donors. Nevertheless, the Transactions include references to orders placed for various publications, e.g. (p. 57) on November 4th, 1845, five periodicals and one book (W.L. MacGregor's "Practical observations on diseases of European and native soldiers in the N.W. provinces of India," not recorded in the catalogue, and so presumably not received). It has not been possible to trace the ultimate fate of any of these volumes. The Library of the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, into which they were incorporated as already mentioned, was eventually donated to the old City Hall Library in 1869 (19). Unfortunately, however, only the Morrison Library was catalogued after this date (20), and none of the volumes listed in the appendix to the article appear to have migrated to that collection. One must sadly assume that, as the medical element in the membership of the China Branch dwindled, and as the depredations of white ant and ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1973 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r EARLY STEAMSHIPS IN CHINA 51 the Chinese more than all the rest of the British warships put together, Chinese opposition to steamships was overborne after the First China War, and in the years between then and the Second China War 1857-1858, steam navigation in China was established on a secure foundation. During the first two decades of steam, American ships were as prominent as British on the Canton River and on the coast, and sometimes more technically efficient. This was largely because the Americans made good use of their experience on the Hudson and Mississippi Rivers, and also because their early steamships were designed specially for coastal and river conditions. Many of the early British steamships were merely sailing ships equipped with engines. The earliest American steamers were associated with Russell and Company, and Robert Benet Forbes was the man mainly responsible for bringing most of these early steamships to China. The first was the Midas, built at East Boston in 1844, which was the first American steamship to round the Cape of Good Hope, as well as being the first to be seen in China. The Midas arrived at Hong Kong on 21st May 1845, and was put on a twice weekly service between Hong Kong and Canton, the first regular steamship service in China. She also engaged in towing and salvage work, which was usually more profitable than carrying passengers or cargo; so that the advertised regular sailings were often more honoured in the breach than in the observance. The Midas was followed by the wooden screw bark Edith, also built at East Boston, which arrived at Macao on 2nd September 1845 and Hong Kong a few days later. The Edith was originally intended to run in the opium trade between India and China, but plans were changed and she was loaded with general cargo for Shanghai. Bad weather and engine trouble foiled two attempts to make this passage, and the Edith was eventually sent back to Boston via Rio de Janeiro, reconditioned at Boston and then chartered to the United States War Department. In 1846 Forbes sent the small 20 ton screw steamer Firefly on another ship to Hong Kong, and put her in service between Hong Kong and Whampoa until 1849, usually making two trips daily. She was withdrawn in 1849 and sent to California by sailing ship. In 1846 Jardines were successful in inaugurating the first British steamship service on the river, with the Corsair between Hong Kong ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1973 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r EARLY STEAMSHIPS IN CHINA 53 Hong Kong on 30th August 1849, just six months after the arrival of the P. and O's Canton. The second ship, the Hong Kong, arrived barely a month later. They went into service soon after their arrival, but not until modifications to the Canton's engines in early 1850, could they be said to be operating a regular service. They then commenced a regular schedule, leaving Hong Kong and Canton every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 8.00 a.m., and calling at Macao and Cumsingmoon as inducement offered. Saloon passenger rates were $8.00 between Hong Kong and Canton; $5.00 between Hong Kong and Macao; and $1.00 for Chinese passengers between any two ports. Although the two Cantons and the Hong Kong were a great improvement on earlier steamships, they were still liable to frequent accidents and breakdowns, and still often withdrawn for the more lucrative towing and salvage work. On 21st December 1854 the China Mail wrote: We are now pretty well supplied with river steamers, having no fewer than seven (Hong Kong and Canton of the Hong Kong and Canton Steam Packet Company; Canton, Sir Charles Forbes and Tartar of P. and O; and Spark and Ann of Russell and Company). The River Bird is on its way out (from America) and other three (Rose, Thistle, and Shamrock) are being assembled in Hong Kong. There is plenty of room for all of them, however, for every day seems to raise river steamer traffic higher in the estimation of the natives, and a very short time will elapse before Chinese merchants become steamboat proprietors. The Hong Kong and Canton Steam Packet Company, however, was not proving profitable, and the prospect of still more competition decided the company to wind up its affairs and offer its ships for sale. Shortly after this optimistic forecast by the China Mail, river traffic was almost completely disrupted—first by the continuing Taiping Rebellion and then by the Second China War. The fortunes of steamships as a whole, however, were very little affected by these events. Several were chartered by the Royal Navy for service in the war, and others went on coast services to Shanghai and intermediate ports. During these troubled years the foreign factories at Canton were burned, and Canton was blockaded and then captured by the Anglo-French forces on 29th December 1857. After this the tide of war moved north to the Peiho River, and peace was quickly restored to the Canton River. Admiral Seymour gave ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1973 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r Vessel Nemesis Material Tons 1839 Iron 630 gross Builder Laird & Co., Birkenhead, England. Dimensions 184'0" X 29'0" X ? Engines and Builder Paddle, Forrester & Co., Liverpool. Remarks: First iron steamship to round the Cape of Good Hope, played prominent part in the First China War. Lady Mary Wood 1842 Wood 297 net T. Wilson, Liverpool. England. Midas ? 250 h.p., Paddle, Fawcett & Co., Birmingham. 56 Remarks: Inaugurated first regular mail service to China in 1846. First P. and O. ship to visit China. 1844 Wood 145 gross S. Hall & Co., Boston, Mass. ? Twin screw, Hogg & Delameter, New York. Remarks: First American, and first propeller-driven steamer to round the Cape of Good Hope; operated first steamship service in China. Iron Prince 1845 Iron 180 gross J. Hodgson & Co., Liverpool, 119'8" x 17'4" X 11'8" Paddle, by shipbuilders Sir Charles Forbes 1846 Wood 211 gross Mercantile 130'1" x 18'5" Dock, Bombay. X 10'2" Canton Remarks: Chartered by P. 1848 Iron 349 gross and O., and their second ship on Canton River, Tod & Macgregor, Glasgow. 172'7" x 21'4” X 10'7" 150 h.p., Paddle, by shipbuilders Remarks: First P. and O. ship on Canton River. A. D. BLUE ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 ADVENTURERS IN HONG KONG 55 not serve his full sentence because he was released on grounds of ill-health. But, as Des Voeux notes, the day after his release from Victoria Gaol he was seen avidly betting at the Happy Valley Race Course. He was, clearly a great card and popular with drinking circles in Hong Kong. The Telegraph was an evening newspaper. After Fraser-Smith's death, J. J. Francis became publisher and Chesney Duncan its editor. 28 John Joseph Francis (1839-1901) was educated in Dublin and intended for the Catholic priesthood. But instead of entering the Church he enlisted in the Army, coming out to China in the Royal Artillery during the Second China War. He took his discharge in Hong Kong and commenced the study of law in the office of a Mr. Owens, solicitor. He was admitted to practise as an attorney in 1869 and entered into partnership with another solicitor and soon acquired a lucrative practice. Ambitious, he gained admission to Gray's Inn and was called to the Bar of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong in 1877. By 1888 he was the Colony's leading barrister. Francis was extremely touchy and truculent: in 1895 he returned to the Governor a silver inkstand, given to him in recognition of his work during the plague, on the grounds that the gift did not sufficiently acknowledge his services. He died of apoplexy at Yokohama's Grand Hotel in 1901. A fitting end: he was an apoplectic soul. Francis lived at 'Shirley House' in Bonham Road, a commodious residence with extensive grounds. 29 A. Macmillan, Seaports of the Far East, London, 1923, p. 366. 30 22 November, 1888. The Hong Kong Hotel, situated in Pedder Street, was originally managed by Parsees; in 1866 it came under European management and soon became a first-class hotel with all the facilities of a good West End hotel. 31 7 January, 1889. 32 Soulié states that Mayréna on his way to Hong Kong marooned Afong on Hainan Island but that the intrepid Chinese took passage on a junk and appeared in Hong Kong to haunt the King of the Sedangs. 33 China Mail, 7 January, 1889. 34 George Murray Bain (1842-1909) was born and educated at Montrose, Scotland. He joined the China Mail as a sub-editor and reporter (some say printer) in 1864. In 1875 he became sole proprietor of the China Mail and in 1879 took over the editorship of the paper himself. With N. B. Dennys he started the China Review in 1872. The China Mail was edited from Wyndham Street, a short distance away from the Hong Kong Telegraph on Pedder's Hill. Bain, unlike Fraser-Smith, appears to have been pious, temperate, and acutely respectable. 35 Hong Kong Telegraph, 27 December, 1888. 36 'Drey' was the name of a Sedang locality. 37 China Mail, 24 January, 1889. 38 Hong Kong Telegraph, 25 January, 1889. 39 7 January, 1889. 40 Sir Hugh Clifford, Heroes of Exile, London, 1906, pp. 69-70. Clifford states that it was the Hong Kong merchants 'who had paid his (Mayréna's) passage and had supplied his Majesty with a little ready money' and that they had been actuated partly by a desire to remunerate one from whom they had derived so much entertainment'. Sir Hugh Clifford (1866-1941), a colonial administrator, who served in Pahang from 1887 to 1899, was, apparently, in Hong Kong in late 1888; it is possible that he had taken local leave but I have been unable to confirm the fact. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 "OH FOR THE JOYS OF ENGLAND" LT. ORLANDO BRIDGEMAN'S LETTERS FROM CHINA AND HONG KONG, 1842 - 1843 ROBIN MCLACHLAN* Lieutenant Orlando Bridgeman was a minor participant in British activities in China in the early 1840's. Mention of this quite unimportant subaltern is not likely to be found in any of the dozens of histories and memoirs narrating the First Anglo-Chinese War and the early years of Hong Kong. However, Orlando Bridgeman has left us his own personal record of his sojourn in the Far East in the form of several entertaining, if somewhat illegible, letters preserved in the archives of the Nottingham County Record Office.1** His correspondence home provides the rare opportunity of seeing what life could be like in the Far East for a very homesick and bored young British officer on his first overseas service. The impression that Bridgeman gives of life in China and Hong Kong is quite different from the more romantic and adventurous picture provided by more experienced and hardier souls. For Bridgeman, his time there was little more than an adventure in misery. Limited biographical information on Orlando Bridgeman can be gleaned from Hart's Annual Army Lists and Burke's Peerage.2 His full name was Orlando Jack Charles Bridgeman; he was born in 1823, the younger son of Captain Orlando Henry Bridgeman (1794-1827) and his wife, Selina. Both parents were the children of British aristocracy; his father was the third son (of four) of Baron Bradford and his mother was the daughter of the Earl of Kilmorey. The careers of the four sons of Baron Bradford comply with the popular stereotype of careers followed by the sons of eighteenth and nineteenth century British nobility. The eldest son, of course, succeeded to the family title; for the second, third and fourth sons there were careers in the navy, army and church respectively. Following their schooling at Harrow, both Orlando Jack Charles Bridgeman and his brother, Francis Orlando Henry, followed their * Mr. McLachlan is a member of the Department of Far Eastern History at the Australian National University. **The notes to this article will be found at the end. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 130 JAMES HAYES However, despite the foregoing recital of disturbances over the years, many old persons in the Hong Kong region who were born between 1875 and 1900 have told me that their early years were very peaceful. This serves as a reminder not to telescope time and place too readily; and not to confuse occasional excitements with the regular rhythm of rural life. Nor too readily to deduce from them that there was a deterioration in institutions at the local level, as at the centre, in the later 19th century—a point made by Rhoads Murphey in his study of China's modernization.1 POSTSCRIPT There are two other happenings that must be mentioned in this survey of events. One, the establishment and rise of Hong Kong from 1841 on, and its effect on the surrounding and adjacent territory, I do not intend to treat with here.2 The second, rural depopulation, though it might appear to have some connection with the first, is in fact a separate phenomenon. Linked to over-population, malnutrition and disease, it is important enough to warrant a concluding notice.* The problem of depopulation early intruded itself into my village studies through the preoccupation with feng-shui noted in many places, so much of it linked to a reported decline in the numbers of local populations. I have encountered this in many villages on Lantau Island3 and in other parts of the old Southern District, in places as far distant from Lantau as Pak Lap on High Island in the Sai Kung District, and Ho Pui with Muk Min Ha in Tsuen Wan. These have also claimed depopulation in the 19th century and after. In the northern New Territories the well-known Tang clan of Kam Tin records a similar loss of population;4 whilst at Lin Ma Hang, a large village on the present Sino-British frontier,5 a stone tablet dated in 1893 was erected to detail the geomantic 1 Murphey: 27-30. 2 The first is well-documented, the second scarcely at all, though discussed in Potter 1968. 3 See JHKBRAS 3, 1963: 143-144; JHKBRAS 9, 1969: 156-158 and Hayes 1967:22-30. 4 Sung in HKN, VII, Dec. 1936:256. 5 See Gazetteer: 214. Especially as, in Hsin-an, it is not to be linked with devastating Taiping campaigns and official retribution, nor with Hakka-Punti wars on the scale that occurred in some parts of the province, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 BOOK REVIEWS 241 Yuan CKT Cheng Ch'en-to has also analysed the chu-kung-tiao literature of three different dynasties in great detail. Furthermore, Cheng again devoted a special chapter to CKT literature in the second volume of his Chung-kuo su-wen-hsüeh shih (i.e. History of Popular Literature in China), at pp. 63-154. This work was first printed in 1938 in Shanghai, and reprinted in 1953 in Peking. As to Liu Chih-yüan CKT in particular, Cheng Ch'en-to has also edited it into his Shih-chiai wen-ku (Library of Literature of the world) volume II (1935, Shanghai) pp. 483-508. Regrettably, just as Aoki's article in Japanese and its Chinese translation was omitted from Grump and Dolezelova-Velingerova's bibliography, so Cheng's contributions were also ignored. Second, the authors' knowledge of the Liu Chih-yüan CKT is not complete. Whilst the edition of this CKT has been correctly regarded by the authors of this book as “a woodblock print which came from a workshop in the region of P'ing-yang in Shansi province" (p. 5), such an identification would have been far more authoritative and scholarly if the authors had referred to an article written in Chinese by Chao Wan-li, a specialist on Chinese rare books who has served the National Peking Library since the 1930's. The title here referred to is Ch'ung-kao ti yu-i (On the Sublime Friendship). Its subtitle reads chi su-lien cheng-fu tsang-sung ti Liu Chih-yüan chu-kung-tiao ho liao-tsai tu-shuo (Notes on the various-mode of Liu Chih-yüan and the Illustrations of Strange Tales from a Chinese studio as being donated by the Government of the Republic of Soviet). This article appeared in Wen-wu tsan-kao tzu-liao No. 7 (1958, Peking) pp. 15-16, and p. 22. In it Chao Wan-li has not only firmly stated that the printing of the Liu Chih-yüan CKT was woodblocked around the P'ing-yang region at the Shansi province during the Chin period but also specified that the print of this chu-kung-tiao should be identified as the "P'ing-shui edition" since the quality of paper, the format of the block, the style of the carving as well as the forms of the blocked characters of this particular chu-kung-tiao are all in conformity to some other books of the Chin period woodblocked at the P'ing-shui area. 3 The title Liao Tsai here referred to follows that of the annotated edition of a selected English translation made by Herbert A. Giles in 1880 (London, Thos de la rue & Co.), and since reprinted in many editions. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1975 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j0995146d 20 JOHN T. MYERS in personal expenditures. Cult members assert that he is the Tai Wong Ye of their temple. The manner of his becoming their patron deity is outlined on a scroll prominently displayed in the temple office. According to the scroll a General Lei fled south with the Southern Sung Court in the late 13th century taking with him the tablet of his illustrious ancestor Lei Man Chung Kung. After the defeat of the Sungs at Ling Ting Island near contemporary Hong Kong the general established residence in the Lo Fu Ngam region of Kowloon. Within the area now occupied by the Lok Fu Housing Estate he is reported to have constructed a shrine in honor of his illustrious ancestor. It is further reported that the residents of the region soon recognized the Tang statesman as a powerful supernatural advocate and developed a popular devotion in his honor. We know little about the fate of the shrine and its deity during the ensuing 600 years other than that it persisted as a small structure tended in later years by Hakka villagers. After the Second World War the Lo Fu region changed dramatically as it became the site for squatter huts housing migrants from China. The immediate vicinity of the shrine was staked out almost exclusively by squatters from the Chiu-chow speaking region of Kwangtung Province. To the best of our present information it was with the arrival of the Chiu-chow that the shrine and its patron deity became the focus of spirit-medium activity. Former residents of the squatter settlement indicate that they found the shrine in disrepair and untended when they established their squatter huts. A small group of the Chiu-chow migrants soon undertook its repair and began active worship of the deity. After several months one of their number, a dockyard coolie, began to act strangely. An elderly kei tung judged that he had become possessed by the shrine's patron, Tai Wong Ye, and had been chosen to serve as that deity's medium. The new kei tung soon became the central focus of religious rituals sponsored by the shrine. A new phase in the temple's existence began in 1957 when the government announced plans for the removal of the squatter area preparatory to constructing on its site the Lo Fu Housing Estate. Most of the Chiu-chow squatters were allocated quarters in the soon to be completed Kwun Tong/Tsui Ping Road Resettlement Estate. The spirit-medium and 18 male devotees of Tai Wong Ye ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1975 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j0995146d 38 WELLINGTON K. K. CHAN Charitable halls in Shanghai did not display the same amount of community leadership even though they should have had a greater community base than the guilds. The reason seems obvious. Charitable halls dominated in communities where the merchants had no problem of collaboration because of differences in dialects or in regional customs. Hence their pre-eminence in places like Canton and Hong Kong. In Shanghai, the cultural gaps between, say, a Cantonese and a Ningpo merchant were often insurmountable. In the final analysis, charitable halls, like the formalised committees of guilds and Landsmannschaften, failed to grow into truly community-wide institutions. Achievements Merchant leaders in nineteenth century China were adept at adjusting their organisations to the changing needs of the day. By building up different types of organisations, they hoped to acquire first, broader economic and social interests; second, a large community base; and third, greater political leadership responsibility. As a result, these leaders were singularly successful in the first, especially in providing social welfare and municipal services, but were only partially successful in the second. Thus, in the more homogenous commercial centres such as Canton and Swatow, the charitable halls and the assembly commanded a community base far larger than the traditional guilds, but could not win the allegiance of the entire community. In other places like Shanghai, where the merchant leaders came from several provinces, it was more difficult to set up community-wide organisations. Even the chamber of commerce which followed these organisations and which had explicit aim of involving each entire community was unable to do without sectional interests. The Shanghai chamber was dominated by the Ningpo merchants from its inception in 1904 to at least the 1920's.35 The Canton chamber had seven vice-presidents (fu-pan) who were elected by the various guilds from among the chamber directors.36 The most extreme assertion of this form of group separatism was written into the bylaws of the overseas Chinese chamber of commerce in Singapore. There, two concurrent presidents were elected by the two most powerful Hokkien and Teochiu (i.e. Ch'ao-chou) merchant groups, while a specific number of vice-presidents and directors were assigned, in diminishing sizes, to these two and three ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1975 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j0995146d 154 DONALD C. BOWIE conflict. I came to regret my thoroughness, for there was never time to use the equipment thus accumulated and this must have been splendid booty for the Japanese. There was also a full social life; many British women had enrolled for nursing and other essential duties and had not been evacuated. The Hong Kong Hotel was a gay place indeed, particularly on a Saturday night. In October 1938, 35,000 Japanese troops had landed in Bias Bay on the China coast 35 miles from Hong Kong, and had then occupied Canton and had cut all communications between Hong Kong and mainland China. Patrolling Japanese ships thereafter made sailing from the Colony outside a circumscribed area very hazardous. In February 1939 the Japanese occupied the island of Hainan, 300 miles to the south of Hong Kong thus controlling the sea communications with Singapore. Curiously, after my arrival I do not remember taking part in any serious discussions with my friends about the prospects of a successful defence of Hong Kong. There were however plenty of rumours to fill the air. It was generally known that the strategic plan required Hong Kong to resist an attack for 90 days before a relief could arrive, a decision taken by the British Chiefs of Staff in 1937. In February 1940 the home authorities decided that food reserves should be accumulated for 130 days, while in August 1940 the Chiefs of Staff reached a further decision that in case of war with Japan, Hong Kong should be regarded as an outpost to be held as long as possible. After the war I learned from Liddell Hart's History of the Second World War, that in February 1940 the Chiefs of Staff concluded that the troops should be withdrawn from Hong Kong. Nothing was done to give effect to this decision. I have no doubt that the decision taken in February 1940 was the correct one which could with advantage have been taken much earlier. Ever since my arrival in Hong Kong in 1939 I believed that the Colony could not be defended successfully. The frontier, beyond which lay a strong Japanese army, was some 20 miles from Hong Kong harbour, the line to be defended, the so-called Gin Drinkers line was less than 5 miles from the harbour, the Japanese navy controlled the coast, our airport was tiny and the Air Force planes were few in number and no match in performance for their potential opponents. One and a half million Chinese civilians were crowded into Kowloon and Victoria. Roads suitable for wheeled traffic were few and open to close observation at many points. The whole picture left no doubt ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1975 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j0995146d NOTES AND QUERIES 309 with Taoist exorcisms and are performed at wedding ceremonies to obtain from Heaven the happy union, using the ritual of a local Taoist folk religion heterodox cult of the Three Ladies' (三娘). The 'Three Jesters' are called by the puppeteers the "Three Brothers' (三兄弟) or, individually, the Great, Second and Third Wang Yeh.* Schipper then explained that he and his informants had made many conjectures in order to identify the Three Jesters. He believed tradition links the Three Brothers (Three Jesters) with the Three Tien Brothers and thus with Tien To Yuan Shuai, and this seemed to him to be better founded than other conjectures. He continued that the identity of T'ien is extremely confused, and claimed that T'ien is reputed to be the master of T'ang Emperor Ming Huang (唐明皇) and to have taught the actresses of the Peach Garden (梨园), popularly believed to be the first academy of the theatre. Iconography, he said, represents T'ien the puppet as the 'laughing lad', similar to T’ien To Yuan Shuai. Schipper observed that when the plays are of the northern Fukienese type, the Three Jesters are identified with T'ang Ming Huang, the patron of the theatre of North China. When the play is Southern Fukienese or Ch'aochow, T'ien To Yuan Shuai (Chief Marshal T'ien) is the patron, and the Three Jesters are identified with him. The T'ang Emperor is also often referred to in Taiwan and South East Asia, where he is also accepted as the God of Actors bearing the title of the Imperial Prince or King of the Western Ch'in (Hsi Ch'in Wang Yeh, 西秦王爷) or Hsi Ch'in Lao Wang Yeh (西秦老王爷), or, on Taipei and Keelung altars just as Hsi Ch'in Wang (西秦王). (He is called the King of the Western Ch'in because of his exile in Szechuan, in Western China). His image is more colloquially referred to as The Young Gentleman (小哥) and less respectfully as The Old Boy (老郎). Schipper agreed all this might seem highly incongruous, but, he continued, the tradition which links the 'Three Brothers' (The Jesters) with Tien To Yuan Shuai (Chief Marshal T'ien) seems, as we said earlier, better founded than others. Wang Yeh Schipper has linked the Three Jesters with the Fukienese epidemic gods by the title of Wang Yeh. He also noted the legend * More often than not Wang Yeh (Imperial Princes) in Fukienese communities are epidemic deities. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q STUDY OF MODERNIZATION IN CHINA & JAPAN 13 iron factories and built many steamships. She has changed to the use of Western weapons. [...] Perhaps she is merely planning for self-protection. But if Japan seeks only self-protection, she is nevertheless oppressing and looking down on our China. Should not China plan for herself?"5 6 The outcome of the Sino-Japanese War perhaps causes us to cast the "success" of Japan and the "failure" of China in too sharp relief. But Cohen's protests to the contrary, modernization is a horserace. It involves the notion of catching up, or at least maintaining competitive presence. And nowhere is the race more evident than in military affairs. Yet curiously, very little attention has been given to the military as a perspective from which to view the comparative modernization of China and Japan. This is especially surprising in light of the importance attached to military reform by modernizers in both countries, the common threat posed to each by Western imperialism, and the same basic access to foreign military technology and assistance in the nineteenth century. This research note, based on my own preliminary investigations, suggests two tentative conclusions: First, that Japan's modernizing advantages in the military sphere on the eve of the Western encounter do not explain her military "success" in the Meiji period;7 and second, that the modernizing implications of Japan's successful military reforms, and the relative "failure" of China's, extend well beyond the sphere of military affairs. Four main stages have been identified with the responses of China and Japan to the Western "impact”: (1) Recognition of Western military superiority; (2) recognition of Western scientific technology as the basis of military superiority; (3) recognition of the need to train native personnel in Western military technology; and (4) recognition that scientific technology in the military sphere is merely part of Western science and technology in general, and that in order to develop it, the pure science and general learning of the West also had to be introduced. These phases unfolded relatively slowly in China, while in Japan they occurred almost simultaneously. A common feature of the effort to achieve national strength and self-sufficiency in both China and Japan was the employment of foreigners in military affairs. This policy, which entailed certain obvious risks, brought substantial benefits to Japan in the Meiji period, as Ernst Presseisen has indicated. In China, however, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q 136 W. A. REYNOLDS port for the work came from American United China Relief (UCR) funds through the American Friends Service Council (AFSC); there were members from Canada, U.S.A., New Zealand, as well as China itself; and the self-sufficiency required was much greater than that of other FAU groups. The original plan, worked out in late 1940 and early 1941, was for a group of forty men, equipped with 20 trucks, a mobile operating theatre and mobile workshop, to undertake two tasks. The first was the transport of medical supplies into China from Burma and the second provision of medical teams to work with civilian and military hospitals. The proposals had the support of the British Fund for the Relief of Distress in China under Dr. H. Gordon Thompson, the Foreign Office, the U.C.R. and the AFSC. The trucks and equipment were purchased in the US and shipped to Rangoon where they were assembled and driven up to China. Dr. R. B. McClure, a Canadian medical missionary born in China, was appointed to lead the Unit. It will be remembered that in 1941 Japan occupied all the coast of China, transport up the railway to Kunming from Hanoi had ceased and the only land routes into the western provinces still held by the Government of the Republic of China under Marshal Chiang Kai Shek were the Burma Road and the road from the USSR via Sinkiang. When the Sino-Japanese war widened into the Pacific War on December 8, 1941, about half of the FAU group had arrived in Burma and China, the first trucks were being assembled in Rangoon and the rest of the party and equipment were on the high seas. All arrived safely and the Unit undertook a number of interesting tasks during the Burma fighting of 1942.1 Medical Services and Supplies in China Despite the diversion of manpower and loss of trucks and fuel in Burma the work of transporting medical supplies in China got underway in 1942. In 1941 there were four organizations concerned with military and civilian medical services:— 1) the Army Medical Administration (AMA) 2) the Chinese Red Cross (CRC) 3) National Health Administration (NHA) Weishengshu (衛 生 署) with its civilian hospitals and clinics. 4) Over 100 mission hospitals, responsible to their own Mission Boards. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q LAND AND RIVER ROUTES TO WEST CHINA 163 Valley. A tea committee was formed whose findings were favourable, and experimental tea gardens were opened at Jaipur in Upper Assam. By 1859 over 4,000 acres were under cultivation, and the industry was assured of a bright future. Ample British capital was available for expansion, the British public's appetite for tea seemed inexhaustible; but scarcity of labour was a serious handicap. Assam was thinly populated, and the planters were dependent on Bengalis, who took a long time to get acclimatised. The idea of importing Chinese labour by the overland route was suggested, as at this time Chinese labour was considered indispensable to economic development in the tropics, and the Indian government was sympathetic. There were several possible land routes between India and West China, some passing through Burma, and Article 9 of the 1862 Commercial Treaty between Britain and Burma allowed entry into British territory from the Burmese side. The tea planters, however, failed to recruit Chinese workers, and blamed their lack of success upon the difficulties and hardships of the overland routes. This led to pressure on the government to improve the major land routes, and to several expeditions across the debatable borderlands between India, Burma, and China. From the 1860s until near the end of the century, therefore, there was rivalry between British commercial circles in India and those in China, over access to West China. In addition to these two approaches, from India and from the Yangtze, there were others from the south; by the Mekong or Red River from Indo-China, and by the West River from Canton and Hong Kong. Anglo-French colonial rivalry was acute during the second half of the nineteenth century, especially in the Far East. The French were keen to find and exploit a trade route to West China; and while Britain was investigating routes from Burma, the Yangtze, and the West River, France was investigating possible routes from the Mekong and Red Rivers. As became widely known by the end of the century, and suspected by realists before then, West China and its borderlands comprise some of the most difficult regions of the world in which to build roads or railways, or in which to improve river navigation. There are high mountain ranges divided by deep valleys, densely forested in many places; and all the great rivers—the Yangtze, Irrawaddy, Mekong, Red River, and Salween—are seriously impeded by rapids ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q SOCIAL RESEARCH IN THE N.T. OF HONG KONG, 1963 Other field workers, both British and American, are likely to follow them. 4. My own work would have been impossible without the generous help of many officers of the New Territories Administration; I should like to thank them collectively, expressing my gratitude in particular to the District Officer Tai Po and his staff. I have also the pleasure of thanking many officers in other branches of the Government; among them my thanks go especially to Mr. K.M.A. Barnett, Mr. J.W. Hayes, Mr. K.W.J. Topley, and Mr. P.K.C. Tsui; I am in the debt of the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs, the Department of Co-operative Development and Fisheries, various officers of the Courts, and the Colonial Secretariat Library. To my host in Tai Po, Mr. Tsang For-piu, I am specially obliged. I should like also to thank my colleague Dr. Marjorie Topley for much guidance and several teachers at the University of Hong Kong whom I had the privilege of consulting. 5. In what is to follow I shall discuss the general background to social research in the New Territories, report on some of the problems I have myself looked into, and suggest what further work could be done (and how it might be done) to promote the interests of both scholarship and administration. 6. Until the advent of the Communist regime in China the New Territories did not interest social scientists. (It can also be argued that they were of little interest to anybody outside the New Territories Administration). Chinese scholars could not be expected to concern themselves with territory under British rule, while scholars from the West were far too preoccupied with China to consider the claims of a stretch of the Chinese countryside which, from their point of view, was no more than the railway route into Kwangtung. And of course it must be remembered that the number of social scientists working on Chinese themes was, before the Second World War, extremely small. Since 1949 the New Territories have come increasingly to be appreciated as a field for research: they have been politically accessible and have had the advantage of offering for study perhaps the best living example (however much affected by British rule and modern changes) of traditional Chinese country life. So far three anthropologists have completed field studies in the New Territories: Miss Barbara E. Ward, from London, who was primarily concerned with Tanka fishermen in the Sai Kung area (and who will probably be revisiting the New Territories this ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q 224 MAURICE FREEDMAN - the big business man in his mansion. How far there was in traditional China what sociologists call social mobility is a matter still in hot academic debate; but there can be no doubt that in the kind of Chinese setting of which the New Territories is a twentieth-century sample men were morally entitled to take steps to raise themselves and their descendants—by scholarship, by the accumulation of riches, and by the religious pursuit of good fortune. 56. When a person dies he is first buried in a rough grave from which, after a few years, his bones are removed to be placed in an urn. All, or nearly all, men and women pass through the cycle of burial and removal up to this point. The urns are stored, but those belonging to families for whom geomantic burial has become important and possible are at some point put into new graves. These are the omega-shaped tombs which are so prominent a feature of the southeastern Chinese countryside. They are constructed according to fung shui and may take years to prepare, because the choice of a good site may call for a protracted search and the correct time for entombment may be long delayed by both practical difficulties and religious restrictions. The geomancy of burial is concentrated about this second internment, for although fung shui may well enter into the selection of the first grave and the siting of the urn, it is then of secondary importance, since virtue flows essentially from that which is intended to be a permanent habitation. 57. Sooner or later the geomantically sited grave will bring prosperity to the descendants of the man or woman buried in it. If it does not, then alterations may be made to it or, in the extreme case, it may be moved, 'sooner or later': the geomancer is not usually prepared to tie himself down to a guarantee of quick results. Indeed, with that keen selective scepticism marking the way in which they scrutinise their religion and its practitioners, Chinese joke about the latitude that geomancers allow themselves. 'Like a geomancer', a Cantonese saying goes, 'who cheats you by predicting within eight or ten years.' (If one's own ancestor's grave shows results in, say, five years when the geomancer has stipulated a waiting period of ten years, it is a matter for self-gratulations and gratitude; but somebody else's patience with the passing of the years may be a matter for jest). The lapse of years is necessary for the collection and concentration of the Breaths; they settle in the bones, and in a particularly successful case cause them to glow. From the bones this virtue passes to the living descendants, not in ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q 238 MAURICE FREEDMAN 74. Early in the British period in the New Territories a considerable movement took place to the West Indies, especially from the Sha Tau Kok and Shap Sz Heung areas. After the Second World War the opportunities for overseas migration were much reduced both because of restrictions imposed in many countries and on account of the failure of the local shipping industry to re-establish its demand for seamen. New Territories men were casting about for new overseas openings; a few discovered the opportunity created by a demand for (what passes for) Chinese food in Britain, where there had been for many years a small but prosperous Chinese restaurant trade run mainly by Chinese from the New Territories and the area adjacent to it across the border in China; and within a short space of time a new emigration was under way, haphazard to begin with but becoming well-organised as its economic possibilities were realised by entrepreneurs. San Tin, whose men now bulk very large in the ranks of the emigrants, appears to have been a pioneer; one of the oldest Chinese restaurants in London was started by a man from this settlement. (I have a figure, which I have not been able to check, of 520 San Tin men in the United Kingdom in February of this year). The movement to Britain was already well-marked in the early fifties; it began to increase sharply in 1956 and reached its peak figures in the years 1958-1962. In the last few months, for reasons to be discussed presently, emigration has fallen away, so that 1963 may well prove to be a year in which the movement to the United Kingdom can be definitively studied. The New Territories demand for overseas work has also been met in part during recent years by the opportunities for contract-labour in Borneo and Nauru and Ocean Islands. The figures for this emigration are given in the New Territories Administrative Reports, but it is a movement about which I know very little and on which I propose to say nothing more. 75. The ability of the Chinese restaurant trade in the United Kingdom to expand by tapping the New Territories very widely for its workers rested on the enterprise of a few men who organised an efficient method of recruiting, financing, and conveying would-be hands once it became clear that considerable profits were to be made. The early traffic was by sea. For a time charter flights took men over to London (and brought some of them back) at £90 a head. More recently the airlines have offered special migrants' fares at £85. Much of the recent financing has been done through ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q NOTES AND QUERIES 293 halls, noted how common they were in Central China and continued "they may almost be said to abound in Szechuan". He suggested that the custom sprang from the belief that the benevolent influence exercised by the deceased during his lifetime would still be active if his body was preserved and set up. These mummies were placed in a hall on their own and even in the main hall beside the Buddha's image directly in front of the main altar. The "images" were usually gilded, though several on O Mei Shan were made up in fresh colours and dressed in silken robes which sometimes produced quite a monumental effect. The finest example he saw was in a wayside monastery on Chiu Hua Shan at the Ts'ui Yun An where the features of a monk who had died about the turn of this century had been gilded and “stood out as though carved in oak”. The Chinese appear to have used two ways of preserving corpses. The usual method consisted first of evisceration; the body was then pickled in salt for a considerable period of time, afterwards being placed in a sealed urn and left for several years. If, when opened up, the urn was found to contain an undecayed body a subscription list was opened for the gilding and enshrining of the relic. The body was thickly gilded or varnished and, if not exposed to the elements or to great extremes in temperature and humidity, it would then last for centuries. The second method was for the dying monk, if he felt divinely inspired, to fast before death and in the process dry himself out, so that after death little was required to finish off drying the body into a leathery, hard mass of skin and bone3. The following short notes on the better known "fleshy bodies" provide a clearer picture of how widespread the practice was. In May 1975 a preserved body, just emaciated skin and bones, seated in a cross-legged position was returned from Japan to Taiwan. The relic, the body of the monk Shih Tzu-kung (#4) known as the Stone Monk (GI✯✯), had been in Japan since World War II when it had been secretly shipped there by a Japanese military dentist. The body, more than a thousand years old, was of a T'ang Buddhist leader born about 700 AD in Kwangtung into a family named Ch'en (#). His title during life was Wu Chi Ta Shih (AR), which is the title he is still known by. He has now been returned to his original monastery in Taiwan. An embalmed body exhibited in the eastern part of the Great Hall of the Yueh Lin Temple in Chekiang was claimed to be that ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1977 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n BRUNEI A HISTORICAL RELIC 13 Sultan Dewa Emas Kayangan, mated successively with fourteen aboriginal maidens. After much to-ing and fro-ing the fourteen chose one of their number as leader. When they were all converted to Islam the leader became sultan. The chronicles of Brunei which date from perhaps the early 1700s, relate that the first Muslim sultan was installed by the Sultan of Johore. This agrees in general with the theory among historians that Islam spread from centers in Malaya and Sumatra to the eastern archipelago, as far as Mindanao in the Philippines during the 15th century. It is interesting to note that among the ruling elite in Brunei there existed an admixture of ethnic origins. For the period of the 14th through the 17th centuries we know that there was much immigration to Borneo from Java, Sumatra, Malaya, China and Arabia. The second sultan was either Chinese or married to a Chinese woman, the daughter of a wealthy Chinese trader who had settled on the northwest coast. Accounts of the injection of Chinese blood into the royal line of Brunei vary. The third sultan was an Arab sharif who married the daughter of the second sultan according to Brunei chronicles. The addition of the blood line of the Prophet to the ruling clan would lend legitimacy to the ruler in Islamic terms. Whether fact or an invention of the royal chronicler it is impossible to verify. Up to contemporary times there have been numerous Arab adventurers living around the coastal regions of the Malay world who denominated themselves sharif - blood descendent of Muhammad. The kingdom of Brunei reached its greatest extent of power and prosperity under the fifth and great sultan, Bulkiah, after whom the present, the 29th, sultan is named. Brunei extended its power southward and northeastward around the coasts of Borneo. Bulkiah's forces raided into the Philippines as far as Luzon and left colonies of Brunei Malays on the shores of Manila Bay where they encountered the Spaniards in the middle of the 16th century. The Catholic Spaniards suspected Brunei, probably quite rightly, of being the center of Islamization of the Philippines and so attacked Brunei Town in 1578. Thereafter sporadic warfare continued for over 300 years between Malay Muslim communities of northern Borneo and southern Philippines and the Spanish conquistadores of Manila. This warfare is referred to in Spanish records as the Moro wars.3 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1977 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n "LITTLE FUJIAN (FUKIEN)” 113 local communities. "Ethnic neighborhood" can potentially refer to either or both concepts. If this were not so, if we could not separate neighborhood from sub-neighborhood or neighborhood from community, how else could we explain the appellation of North Point, a neighborhood over 2/3 Guangdongese,2 not only as "Little Fujian" but as "Little Shanghai" as well? From "Little Shanghai" Although it is hard to imagine now, North Point 50 years ago was a semi-rural area. Extensive landfill projects, however, soon led to North Point's emergence by the end of the 1930s as a center of light industry and commerce as well as of entertainment. The population remained small, however, and prior to the Second World War North Point was the least crowded spot on the northern side of Hong Kong Island (Wai 1957: 2-5). Much of the area was destroyed during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong. Post-war reconstruction coincided with the late 1940s arrival of the first wave of Central Chinese to North Point: those who had the means to flee the Civil War raging in the north of China and had chosen to come to Hong Kong for a "temporary" stay while they waited for the fighting to cease. As a newly developing, uncrowded and semi-exclusive area, North Point appealed to these relatively affluent immigrants. When Shanghai and the surrounding provinces of Zhejiang (Chekiang) and Jiangsu (Kiangsu) were overrun by Chinese Communist forces in 1949, a new wave of "Shanghaiese" descended upon Hong Kong although even at this early date North Point was not the destination of all Shanghaiese; the wealthiest went to the most exclusive areas of the colony while the bulk of the predominantly middle-class Shanghaiese proceeded to North Point and lent a decidedly bourgeois flavor to the area. By 1950 "Little Shanghai" was well established. Restaurants, tailor shops, beauty parlors and other businesses were all set up by Shanghaiese to serve the area's essentially Shanghaiese population. Even today on a walk around North Point one can spot many old and fading signboards of a "Shanghai Tailor," a "Shanghai Beautiful Woman" Beauty Parlor, a "Shanghai Peacock Laundry Service" as well as a couple of well-known and well-frequented Shanghai restaurants. The Shanghai population clustered within a block or so of King's Road, North Point's main thoroughfare, both Fort Street ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1978 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8g84t8593 PRESIDENT'S REPORT FOR 1977 (Covering the period April 1, 1977-March 20, 1978) It is my pleasure tonight to report to you on the year's activities and progress of our Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. During this eighteenth year since the Society was resuscitated we have continued to organise a regular programme of lectures and occasional tours drawing on both local talent and the expertise of visiting scholars, and I begin with a short resumé of these events, so that newcomers particularly may gain some idea of the range of our interests. In April Mr. Geoffrey Emerson, a local historian of the Japanese Occupation, gave an illustrated talk about the Stanley Internment Camp during the 1942-45 period: a camp where many local residents at the time were forced to live by the Japanese authorities. Several of the persons thus interned attended the talk and some interesting discussion arose. The talk will be published in the 1977 Journal for it is based on original research. Also in April Michael Stevenson spoke on the Chinese Press from his long knowledge as a journalist and particularly his more recent work for the Sing Tao Group of newspapers and as a public relations consultant. In May, Tony Reynolds, Head of the Department of Industrial Engineering at Hong Kong University, and member of the Friends Ambulance Service in West China between 1941-46, described his fascinating experiences as convoy leader for a load of medical supplies allowed by the Nationalist Government to be taken to the Shensi-Kansu-Ninghsia Region occupied by the 8th Route Army—the first since 1941. This talk which also gives Mr. Reynolds' impressions from meetings with Mao Tze-tung, Chou En-lai and Marshal Chu Te will appear in the 1977 Journal too. The first of two lectures in June was concerned with the History and Music of the Cheng, the Chinese 16-stringed zither, delivered by Professor Liang Tsai-ping who has performed and lectured in both Europe and the U.S.A. as well as Asia; and the second with political and other changes in the Far East in the last ten years, given by Tony Lawrence, for nineteen years Far Eastern Correspondent for the B.B.C. In July Brian Peacock, Curator of the ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1978 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8g84t8593 22 RICHARD J. SMITH Li's approach to officer education during his tenure as governor-general of Chihli from 1870 to 1895, at the apex of his power, may shed some light on the many problems involved in China's late nineteenth century effort to create a modern officer corps.34 Throughout his illustrious career up to 1895, Li continually drew upon foreign talent to instruct (and occasionally to lead) his forces.35 But in 1876, he took the unprecedented step of sending Chinese military men abroad for training, entrusting seven petty officers to one of his best German drill instructors, a man named Lehmayer. Li's plan was to employ these men as instructors in the Anhwei Army upon their return to China.36 Li had as early as 1874 inquired into the possibility of sending Chinese students to West Point, and in 1875 had discussed the establishment of a military academy in China with the American general Emory Upton.37 But political difficulties in the United States stood in the way of the first plan, and financial constraints made the second impossible.38 Li's writings in the mid-1870s indicate a full awareness of the value of military academy education, but apparently the need at the time was not sufficiently great to justify the cost of establishing a full-fledged military academy on Chinese soil.39 Of the seven men sent to study in Germany, two were recalled before completion of their planned three-year program of study because of their frivolous attitude and poor progress. One became sick and died, three successfully completed their infantry training, and one—Wang Te-sheng—stayed on in Germany until 1881, receiving additional specialized instruction in Berlin. Of the seven, only Wang emerged as a prominent figure in the Anhwei Army, heading Li's crack “personal guard unit” (ch'in-ping), and eventually achieving the rank of tsung-ping. Overall, the educational experiment fell far short of complete success, and was marked by numerous problems, including disputes with the German supervisor, language difficulties, and, of course, high costs.40 As one of the three regular graduates of the German training program, Cha Lien-piao's experience as an instructor in the Anhwei Army is illuminating. Cha served in Chou Sheng-ch'uan's 10,000-man Sheng-chün—perhaps the best detachment of the Anhwei Army in all of China up to the time of Chou's death in 1885.41 Convinced of the value of Western training and drill from long exposure to foreign instructors in Li's force (dating from the Taiping period), ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1978 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8g84t8593 138 C. MARTIN WILBUR centers. The occurrence of this Ti-pao complicates the discussion of village government for several reasons. In the first place, when his position is firmly established he seems to infringe somewhat upon the purely democratic nature of village government, because he usurps many of the duties of the elders. Secondly, the fact that his authority is not always equally great makes it difficult to fit him into the picture of the free village, for the greater his power from above the less complete may the self-government be said to be. For the present this individual will be left out of the discussion, though it must be remembered that his existence as an underling of the Hsien government does modify theoretic village government. The village temple is the recognized center of government in the village. Usually it has a minor religious significance, being dedicated to some beneficent deity such as the god of literature, of war, of mercy, or of rain, who is calculated to bring a particular blessing to the village. More essentially it is the social center of the village and the seat of government, a sort of town hall. This temple enjoys what amounts to a corporate existence; it has perpetual being, owns property, can buy and sell and enter into contract, and it acts through a body of officers, a council, which is regularly elected. Many typical administrative duties in the village are undertaken by the temple, through its council, for the civic good. This council is either composed of all the heads of various families in the village, or more probably of a group elected or taken in rotation from among the heads of families. It receives no recognition from the central government, being an internal administrative body pure and simple, handling village business only. It meets whenever village business needs to be discussed or attended to. Bazin reports that minutes (Pao tan) are kept of these meetings, one set in grass characters to be passed around among the villagers, and a second, more complete in large characters to be pasted upon the door of the temple. Whether this is an usual practice, however, it is impossible to say. III First among the administrative duties of the village temple is the handling of village finances. There are various sources of revenue. 1 Leong and Tao; Village and Town Life in China, p. 34. 2 Bazin; op. cit., I, p. 64. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1979 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2801w5938 2 CHAN KIT-CHENG The American sense of guilt was largely attributable to three factors: United States' military defeats in Southeast Asia, the American commitment to the policy of defeating Germany first before concentrating on Japan, and the American failure in delivering the bulk of lend-lease and other war materials promised to China. On the first point, according to Stanley K. Hornbeck who was political adviser to the Department of State, reports from American sources from or through Chungking indicated that the American defeat in the Philippines, together with the rapid collapse of the British position in Southeast Asia, had bred "a sense of frustration and defeatism” among the Chinese.4 To be fair, however, one must add that China had been vastly more appalled and disillusioned by, and consequently more contemptuous of, the British performance. On the second point, it was only natural that China was disappointed and embittered by the American policy of “Germany First”. Support for this order of priority was by no means unanimous within American government circles. Admirals Ernest J. King and William D. Leahy, General Douglas MacArthur (at his new headquarters in Australia), and Stanley Hornbeck, to give some examples, all expressed doubt about it and urged that a greater military effort should be directed against Japan. While President Roosevelt was firm on his decision to stand by the agreement reached at the 'Arcadia” Conference it did not mean that he was entirely free from embarrassment when faced with his Far Eastern ally, Chiang Kai-shek. M4 On the third point, immediately after Pearl Harbour, President Roosevelt had been generous in promising China war materials, including planes, mainly through lend-lease channels. However, the Americans soon realized that it was easier to make the promise than to implement it. Two difficulties were involved. The first was the problem of transport. After the fall of Burma and the seizure of the southern part of the Burma Road by the Japanese early in 1942, air transport became the only feasible means of getting supplies into China. Until the opening of the well-known Ledo Road (later on re-named Stilwell Road) early in 1945, the bulk of the supplies flown from India to China was transported by the Tenth United States Air Force between April and December 1942, and thereafter by the United States Air Transport Command in what Joseph W. Ballantine, who became director of the Office of ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1979 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2801w5938 THE U.S. AND THE QUESTION OF HONG KONG 1941-45 Far Eastern Affairs in the Department of State in 1944, terms “the most difficult supply operation of the entire war" over the towering hump of the Himalayas. The second difficulty was connected with the priority given to the European theatre. The result was that much of the promised materials to China was often diverted, much to the distress of Hornbeck and others, from its original destination for the European fronts.? Speaking in more specific terms, by late September 1942, US$3.1 billion worth of lend-lease materials were sent to the British Empire, $750 million to Russia, and only $112 million to China. The disparity became even more remarkable by early June: $7,030,000,000 to the British Empire, $1,899,000,000 to Russia, and only $133,000,000 to China.8 Under the circumstances, it is understandable that the United States should entertain grave anxiety regarding China, especially over a possible collapse of Chinese resistance against Japan. This concern, which the Chinese did everything to keep alive, was universally shared by senior men in the Washington government, including the president himself, H. L. Stimson, then secretary of war, Henry Morgenthau, secretary of the Treasury, Leahy, and many involved in Far Eastern affairs in the Department of State, principally Hornbeck.9 While some doubt was expressed as to how much China could and was willing to contribute to the war effort in the east, the consensus was that her collapse would be a fatal blow to the United Nations, especially the United States, in the Pacific theatre. This event, therefore, must be prevented at all cost. It was only natural that the United States, torn by anxiety, should be obsessed with the desire to compensate China as best she could. Consequently, the American government announced at the beginning of 1942 a loan of 500 million dollars to China, with next to no strings attached.10 Meanwhile, the move to push for the allies' recognition of China as one of the great powers, of which Hornbeck claimed himself to be the originator, became increasingly prominent in the American government.11 The outcome was the American insistence that China be included as a signatory, together with Britain, the U.S.S.R., and the United States, of the Declaration of Four Nations on General Security, signed in Moscow on 30 December 1943, and that Chiang Kai-shek, together with Roosevelt and Churchill, be a party to the Cairo Declaration, issued on 1 December 1943.12 The American eagerness to compensate naturally did not allow Madame Chiang Kai-shek's visit to the United States, Page 30 Page 31 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1979 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2801w5938 THE CHINESE MARITIME CUSTOMS REMEMBERED 23 recalled that while in charge of the Pakhoi Customs (Kwangsi), he was assigned an official residence that spread comfortably over 32 mou of land. Finally, on a light-hearted note, the interviewees readily agreed that those in the Service usually had pretty wives, simply because they could afford to be choosy! Job security, good pay and other benefits of a Customs career, however, had their demands. Customs officials were expected to meet the high standard of efficiency that had distinguished the Service since its early days. All three had been conscientious workers, we were assured, and one of them stressed that their sense of duty was also strong. He related an incident in which his life was threatened by some local rowdies demanding the release of some confiscated goods. Even at gun-point, he did not give in. In another, during the second Sino-Japanese war, he refused to hand over the Customs buildings in his charge to enemy troops, despite the pleadings of some han-chien (i.e., traitorous Chinese working for the Japanese). His argument then was that unless proper orders were issued and received from his superiors, he would not allow any interference with Customs property. When asked about the integrity of the Service, the interviewees were of the opinion that Customs officials could in general pride themselves on their honesty. A distinction, however, might be drawn between the Indoor and Outdoor staff. The latter were logically susceptible to outside influences as their duties involved actual inspection and appraisal of cargoes, whereas the former as office workers were not exposed to the same degree of corrupt practice. The efficiency and integrity of the Chinese Maritime Customs were attributed by the former officials to its foreign style of administration. Of the Inspectors-General under whom they had served, F. Aglen (1911-28) and F. Maze (1929-43) commanded their greatest admiration. Instead of disparaging the foreign Inspectorate as a tool of Western imperialism, as their nationalistic compatriots have, they saw it in a more favorable light. It would in fact be ludicrous to expect that they would have seen it in any other way, having given the prime years of their lives to serving it. This aside, their appraisal was derived also from a close familiarity with its functions and achievements. As one of them put it, the foreign inspectorate “did do good work for China,” and did so, it might be added, during those tumultuous decades to which they themselves still bear personal witness. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1979 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2801w5938 122 REVS. J. SMITH AND WM. DOWNS Hotel. Well, we did justice to that meal! Sister Paul also lost no time in informing us that we had every hope of getting out of the Colony within a few weeks, and that even then she was working on our necessary passes and permits to go to Kwongchauwan. Right then and there we signed our forms, affixed our photographs (she, in her admirable foresight, had even these all prepared) and after the second group had arrived and carried out their part of the program, it was time to sit down to another real honest-to-goodness meal. Of course, these were still wartime meals, but we enjoyed them hugely. Then we trekked down to the bund, caught the eight o'clock bus to Aberdeen, and soon were knocking at the door of Bethany, where we were heartily welcomed by the Superior, Father Bos and Father Chaye, the Belgian priest, who, it will be recalled, was once our fellow-internee at Stanley. They were the only two priests in the House, and the rest of it was at our disposal. Our rooms were all prepared and we lost no time in getting under real covers and settling down to rest, after such an exciting and memorable day. The next morning found us saying Mass at real altars in a real Chapel, and sitting down to breakfast table at which we enjoyed some of the food which again Sister Paul had previously provided. She had also very thoughtfully engaged a cook and a house-boy for us, and everything was shipshape. Bethany is a sort of Rest House for sick and aged Paris Foreign missioners, and the scriptural inscription over its main portal is pregnant with meaning: "Magister, quem amas, infirmatur” "Master, he whom thou lovest, is sick." Just across from Nazareth is the Retreat House and Printing Press of the same society; it is situated on a knoll overlooking the beautiful South China Sea, and on the slopes of its hill are the graves of a hundred of its valiant missioners who have labored in almost all parts of the Far East. Its little Gothic chapel has a charm all its own, and must be redolent of memories for those who have spent some time within the walls of Bethany. Needless to say, we Maryknollers were delighted to have this haven of refuge and we are all more than grateful to the French Fathers who have been so uniformly kind. On the Monday following our arrival, we went to the city in company with Father Troesch in order to secure our ration cards and to register our names and addresses with the proper precinct. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1979 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2801w5938 134 REVS. J. SMITH AND WM. DOWNS Camp only on the actual day of departure, and had to go direct to the steamer. As to the actual departure from Hong Kong, we had heard many conflicting reports of the strict search of person and inspection of baggage at the wharf, and we were not a little concerned, though we did not have much of this world's goods to be worried about, but it was all we had to our name. We had heard that many departing passengers, Chinese and foreign, had been subjected to a very strict search, and in some cases, all one's belongings had been confiscated, or thrown out on the floor. We also were told that we could take with us only what we could carry; that we were allowed to take only $200.00 in yen out of the Colony; that no foreign currency could be taken out; and that we could take only a few books, without a special permit. Also, that anything that looked new and that might be offered for sale, would be liable to confiscation, as many people were thus taking out new goods with the intention of selling them in Kwangchauwan or in China at fabulous prices. So, we packed our few suitcases and duffel bags accordingly, packing them also with a view to transportation conditions in the interior. Ostensibly, of course, we were going only to Kwangchauwan but our missions in the interior were our real goal, and we hoped that there would be no difficulty in crossing the border to Kwangchauwan. Kwangchauwan, be it noted, was then a leased territory under the flag of France. In the service to Kwangchauwan, the Japanese had a couple of very small cargo boats and one, a larger and finer coasting steamer, formerly belonging to the Moelier Line, and which the Japanese had salvaged after its crew had scuttled it. We were booked for this boat, but as the service was not very regular, our departure was delayed a couple of days, the first group leaving on the 13th of January. The rest of us went to the dock to see them off, and to watch them go through the mill of inspection. This did not seem too severe, and after waiting in line for a couple of hours, the boat pulled away from its berth at noon, and we returned to Bethany to await our turn. Sister Paul and some of her Sisters had already gone ahead as far as Macao and Kwangchauwan, and we were to pick them up there. On the 19th of the month, the second group got away, and with not too much difficulty in the way of baggage. The Bishop and ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1979 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2801w5938 NOTES AND QUERIES 201 It would seem incongruous that Na T'o, a Muslim who would abhor idolatry, should be venerated by the Chinese and it would be interesting to know what the Malays themselves would think of such a practice; that is of course, assuming that they even know of his existence. The Chinese, however, see no incongruity in having a Muslim on their altar, and in some areas, particularly around Kluang, he is especially treated with the respect and constraints due to another religion. As a Muslim, he is never disturbed on a Friday and never offered pork. The only other case so far noted of a Muslim appearing on a Chinese altar was heard from a Chinese from Sian who recalled a deity in North China, the Wei Wei Ts'ai Shen (✯✯1⁄2§i†), said to be the Mohammedan god of wealth, depicted dressed in a Tibetan high-crowned cap. Wei Wei, he thought, was probably derived from the Arabic, and, it was claimed that Muslim Chinese offered beef at his altar. Wei Wei however, is possibly a local variant of Hui Hui, the usual Chinese term for "Moslem”. The second cult is that of Miss Lin (✯✯✯) whose image is to be seen on Chinese temple altars only in Southern Thailand. Her legend explains all. Left alone by the death of her parents in her home village near Ch'aochou in Eastern Kwangtung province of South China, she followed her only living relative, her brother, down to a village near Songkla in the far south of Thailand where he worked in the fields. When she arrived she found to her disgust that her brother was just about to marry a Muslim girl and be converted to Islam. She attempted without avail to persuade him not to do either. A Chinese god carver in Bangkok added, with disgust, he even gave up eating pork! The sister knew she could not live with her brother and his wife and in a desperate moment threw herself into the river Patani and drowned herself. The brother, despite being filled with remorse, to demonstrate that he, as a convert, was more devout than born believer, went ahead with his plan to build a mosque and even went as far as to bury his sister beside the site chosen for it. As the last brick was laid lightning struck and destroyed the mosque without harming the sister's grave. However, the brother refused to believe that it was divine retribution for his denial of his parent's gods. Twice more he built, and twice more lightning struck. Only then did he accept the message and renounce Islam. Realizing that his ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1979 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2801w5938 NOTES AND QUERIES 221 Dr. Sun Yat-san. In front of the portrait, there was a long table, on which were installed a shrine of the deity ‘Cheung Wong Yeh' and a statue of Confucius. Each year in pre-war times there were two sacrifices, one dedicated to the 'Cheung Wong Yeh' deity in Spring and the other to Confucius in Autumn. When the sacrifices took place, the Strand was decorated with lanterns and colourful ribbons, with female singers performing in matshed, riddle-games being staged, or Cantonese operas being performed. However, the celebrations were suspended during the Japanese Occupation. They were resumed after the War and carried on until 1953 when the Association building was demolished for reconstruction. At present, our new, magnificent building standing in this busy city has been completed. When we look back to the past, could we not be moved by the old memories still lingering in our mind? In spite of business difficulties and a recession in the market, in which our trade bears the brunt, our predecessors have selflessly devoted much of their time and effort to the reconstruction of our Association building. With the completion of this new building, it is to be hoped that our members will work together for the advancement of the Association's functions, the economic recovery of our trade and the promotion of members' welfare. THE COMMERCIAL WORLD* The District is one of the earliest, if not the earliest, to develop in the history of the Colony. As far as more than a century ago its status was second to none; its town proper was a thriving entrepot, clustering around a few narrow streets in the famed Nam Pak Hong — a legendary name which had been handed down with pride even to the present day, pinpointing the area now occupied by the Bonham Strands East and West and the nearby Wing Lok Street. The title, literally translated as the "South and North Traders", was of great significance as it implies that the long arm of business stretched as far as Peking and Tientsin in North China to the distant countries in Southeast Asia. It was in this tiny plot of land that business tycoons of the last century were fostered, flourished and prospered. The ones in Bonham Strand were experts in Chinese herbs and other precious organic medicine as well as importers and exporters in other popular Chinese commodities, * Translation of an article in the Association's centenary bulletin, also by courtesy of the Director of Home Affairs. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1980 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/kh04md207 26 KEITH G. STEVENS typhoon and rebuilt some two centuries later on the site of the present Tian Hou temple in Joss House Bay,27 There have been several apparent brief bursts of temple building in Hong Kong since the arrival of the British. One was in the early days of Hong Kong in the 1840's; another spurt during the period of growing prosperity in the 1870/1880's; another during the era of the plague (the 1890's); and another in the 1950's during the massive influx of refugees. Many temples were renovated during the latter days of the Qing dynasty, and by the Hong Kong government's Chinese Temples Committee since the second world war,28 Temples are expensive buildings and are built mainly in times of economic affluence. Although many temples are receiving less and less attention from keepers and grass grows high in temple yards, others are expanding and have been refurbished at great cost. One should not be misled into believing a temple to be old by its condition, as the climate ages buildings very rapidly on the coast of China. The dilapidated state of some dozen or so traditional temples gives the impression of centuries of neglect, whereas most were working temples up to a decade or two ago. Others looking almost new are, in reality, traditional temples which have been rebuilt or refurbished with the assistance of large government subsidies. However, many modern renovations have changed the original character both of the altars and of the temples themselves. The Hong Kong Government has been meticulous in providing assistance whenever it has needed to encroach upon temple property. One site in Lo Fu Hang between Castle Peak and Yuen Long where a government department authorised a quarry to be opened and in the process ordered the removal of three ramshackle huts termed "temples", one large and two small concrete and tile edifices were built nearby to rehouse the gods. Chaozhou immigrants who settled in Hong Kong during the fifties and sixties quickly discovered that their shanty dwellings on hillsides, considered illegal by the Hong Kong Government, were torn down by officials. They also quickly discovered that British officials, fearing to tread on religious susceptibilities, were more lenient towards religious structures. The Chaozhou immigrants therefore built for themselves small, rough temples of corrugated iron and wood and, as an annex, a small living area, and more often ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1980 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/kh04md207 36 JIANN HSIEH migration patterns. First, in the early Ch'ing Dynasty, Hsin-an Hsien (*) (a district including Hong Kong and Kowloon) was deeply affected by a security policy of "chien-chieh" (†) (literally, "to clear up the border") and, therefore, became somewhat depopulated. Thereafter, during the later part of the Ch'ing Dynasty, many Hakka were encouraged by the government to migrate to the depopulated areas, which included the present day New Territories. They came with their families, possessions, and tools for reclaiming the land, and formed so-called single-surname villages, i.e., villages based on localized lineages, in the resettled area (Davis, 1962:331; Aijmer, 1967: passim).4 Second, the Hakka immigrated to Hong Kong or via Hong Kong to other Southeast Asian areas after 1842. Hong Kong especially, with its continuous urban expansion, attracted many Waichow Hakkas to work in the stonecutting and building trades (Hayes, 1977:151-158). Before the Second World War, migration was provoked mainly by population pressure, but sociopolitical disorder was another important factor (Lo, 1933:63). Evidence for this is to be found in Ch'en Ta's (1939:63) study of the relationship between land and population in Fuchien and Kwangtung; in Huang Chih-lien (1972:64) and in my research done in Singapore (Hsieh, 1977:42). As for the migration pattern at this time, although there were then relatively fewer political barriers than today to put a brake on migration, most migrants moved from rural places to urban areas, or even entered into a completely different socio-cultural setting in a foreign land; they were people who took risks. As a result, cases of migrants moving with their whole families or even with a whole lineage—as happened in the Ch'ing Dynasty—do not figure prominently. Anthropologists had designated this pattern of migration as "chain-immigration" (Hsieh, 1977:41). It was the most common pattern of overseas Chinese migration to South East Asia: people emigrated gradually from their native places, relying on intertwining kinship networks, each individual clinging to the others. However, the picture is quite different when we examine those who migrated to Hong Kong after 1949. This migration constitutes the third stage. Data from my interviews show that more than 95 per cent of the present leaders of the Waichow voluntary associations were born in China and immigrated to Hong Kong after that ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1980 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/kh04md207 38 JIANN HSIEH because of high heterogeneity and rapid local social mobility, kinship networks are difficult to perpetuate. For this reason, it seems impossible to organize traditional clan associations based on genealogical ties, even though the Hakka are much concerned about maintaining their culture, especially their kinship system. However, instead of clan associations, the Waichow Hakka have organized six surname associations based on fictive kinship. For instance, Tz'eng-tzu (曾子), as a cultural hero of ancient China, was assigned the rank of common ancestor in one surname association in order to consolidate all the Ts'engs from Waichow. In other words, kinship as a fictive concept rather than as traced in a concrete genealogy is still an important principle manipulated by the Waichow Hakka in organizing voluntary associations in urban situations. The very mixed origins of residents, the complex differentiation of occupations, and the rapid social mobility in Hong Kong have also rendered the maintenance of traditional guilds and associations, based on occupation and often combined with locality and/or kinship principles difficult (Ho, 1966: 101; Gamble, 1929:168). Taking the Waichow Hakka as an example, although they established the Waiyang (Hweiyang) Trade Union after the Second World War, its nature today is more that of a locality association than that of an occupational association. In addition, the Waichow Hakka from Tsu-chin District established the 紫金縣同鄉會 (Tse Kam District Countrymen's Association); nineteen of the forty-one members of its executive committee or board of directors are concerned with construction work and the association has been very active in recruiting its members as employees for that business. But still it cannot be called a guild because of the nature of its regulations. I wish to stress that dialect as an organizing principle of voluntary associations is not necessarily identical with locality. As mentioned before, Waichow, as a prefecture in the Ch'ing Dynasty, included ten districts inhabited by two dialect groups: the Hakka, who stem mostly from the districts of Hwei-yang (惠陽), Po-lo (博羅), Hsin-feng (新豐), Ho-yuan (河源), Lung-chuan (龍川), Tzu-chin (紫金), Lien-ping (連平), and Ho-ping (和平), and the Hoklos, who came mostly from the districts of Haifeng (海豐) and Lu-feng (陸豐) (Lo, 1933:102). Because Hakka constitute the absolute majority of the Waichow population, most members of ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1980 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/kh04md207 40 JIANN HSIEH or the reorganization of existing ones. However, contrary to this view, in the Waichow case both kinship and locality as abstract concepts are still effective for organizing new associations or reorganizing existing associations. C. A Historical Sketch of the Development of Waichow Associations in Hong Kong* 7 The development of the Waichow associations in Hong Kong did not take place before the Second World War, even though Liao Hsin-chi, a Hakka from Waichow, had joined with others to establish the Tsung Tsin Association in 1920 (CCCHS, 1950: H-16), a headquarters for all the Hakka people. To my knowledge, the first effective Waichow voluntary association in Hong Kong was the Tung Kong Sports Club, established in June 1946. With an increase in the number of its members, a simple sports club could no longer cater for all their demands, so it changed its title to the Waichow Merchants' Mutual Aid Association and its purposes were expanded to include education, and provide assistance for obtaining employment, medical welfare, etc. In March 1948, with still more Waichow Hakka having come to Hong Kong because of the political situation in China, and the Hong Kong Residents of Waichow Ten Districts Countrymen's Association was set up in order to replace the Mutual Aid Association (HTSCT, 1978: 58). In 1956 this Association was registered under a new name as the Waichow Clansmen General Association. This core organization of the Waichow Hakka, nominally representing all Waichow people in Hong Kong, has developed considerably in the past twenty years, and has set up branches in Sheung-shui (1956), Tai-po (1956), Yuen-long (1956), Tsuen-wan (1965), Peng-chau (1966), and Lam-ma (1977), as well as a series of subsidiary organizations: Waichow Music Society (1965), Waichow Lion Dancing Club (1967), Waichow Sports Association (1968), Kindergarten in Tsuen-wan (1965) and two Waichow public schools in Yuen-long (1965) and Kwai-chung (1968). In addition to their headquarters and their subsidiary organizations, the Waichow Hakka have also set up several district level * The romanization used for the names of associations is taken from the form in which they have been registered with the Hong Kong government. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1980 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/kh04md207 SYMBOLISM OF THE NEW LIGHT 111 contacts between Taoists and Nestorians may reasonably be assumed. When Wieger further states that "Nestorian influence appears to be undeniable in Taoist texts", we have a better case. Much depends, however, on the validity of Wieger's evaluation of some Taoist texts, in which he finds clear indications of Christian influence.52 To establish a reasonably strong case we need a more thorough investigation in two directions: historical and literary. Historically, all the clues already pointed out by previous authors, have to be carefully checked, esp. all the information derived from official histories and Taoist biographies. Very likely not much more than known so far may be discovered in this area. Therefore the second direction, the literary traditions may prove to yield a more bountiful harvest. Both the Taoist and the Nestorian literature has to be carefully scrutinized. If positive influence may be reasonably assumed, pure assumptions are dangerous. On the one hand, all the Nestorian writings in Chinese have to be studied; and if important works are not any longer available in Chinese translation, the Syriac originals should be consulted, esp. with regard to the Nestorian liturgy. So far I have assumed that the Nestorian Easter liturgy contained the ritual of consecrating the new fire to light the Easter Candle. But an assumption here is not sufficient to relate the Christian liturgy with the Taoist fen-teng. If the Nestorians in China never had such a ritual, the whole question of influence collapses, and we can only compare two independent (archetypal) rituals. On the other hand, the Taoist liturgical writings have to be carefully examined, especially in their historical development. K. Schipper has listed a large number of Taoist writings referring to the fen-teng ritual.53 Their careful study and analysis may reveal some of the influences that were operative in the origin and growth of one ritual like the fen-teng, but will also throw the road open to further similar researches into other areas of Taoist liturgy as well as of Buddhist liturgy. END NOTES 1 M. Saso, The Teachings of Taoist Master Chuang (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1978), p. 209. * M. Saso Taoism and the Rite of Cosmic Renewal (Washington State University, 1972), p. 73. See end-note 9. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1980 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/kh04md207 SOCIAL & CULTURAL HERITAGE IN N.T. 121 few places in the world where genuine social enquiry is nearly completely free and, second, that, exactly as Dr. Wang Sung-hsing has just told us, the traditional ways of South Chinese rural life have been retained longer here than elsewhere. A simple example about marriage customs will show you what this can mean: In 1950, when I arrived here first, all rural weddings included the bride being carried to her husband's home in a red sedan chair (fa k’iu ##). I well remember the astonishment of a Mainland Chinese anthropologist friend when he saw this "relic" of what to him was an ancient, extinct custom of the remote past that he had never seen in his life before, and he had travelled almost all over China. An interesting paper could be written about the paradox that the preservation of the traditional has been a direct result of colonialism. It happened in rather similar ways almost everywhere in the rural parts of the British colonial empire (and most parts were rural) but there is no time to discuss it this evening. Suffice it to say here that, contrary to popular opinion today, it was not usually the intention of the British colonial administrators (District Officers and the like) to impose alien ways and force change but to leave well alone (as long as in their eyes it was well) and interfere as little as possible. (The well-known book Myself a Mandarin by Austin Coates, once a District Officer in the New Territories, is a fairly representative account of common grass-roots administrative attitudes.) The result was that at least up to the time of the Second World War British colonialism almost everywhere tended to act in one sense rather like a refrigerator, "freezing" the local social and cultural systems at more or less the stage they had been when the British first arrived, and to a surprisingly large extent inhibiting changes that might otherwise have happened. That something like this was certainly the case in the New Territories is obvious. Here, though rice is no longer grown, largely traditional villages can still be found, lineage and clan organisation still exists, formal ancestor worship in ancestral halls (ch'i t'ong: **) is still observed, and people still have a strong sense of local as well as cultural identification which is expressed in temple festivals, with Cantonese opera performances and fa p’aau (JE#) and kam chue (✯*), as well as in the continuance of old local rivalries in new political and administrative forms. Here, too, we can still talk with old people who remember the still recent more ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1980 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/kh04md207 SOCIAL & CULTURAL HERITAGE IN N.T. 123 of whom (for example) one wants to make a complete linguistic survey (which would coordinate well with the kind of ethnographic mapping that Dr. Wang Sung-hsing was describing), and another of whom has already been invited to initiate comparative studies of Taoist and Buddhist ritual here and in Taiwan. Only last week I was discussing the possibility that two other established scholars, whose international reputation was gained from their work in Taiwan, may perhaps consider coming to fill in some of the gaps in our knowledge about Hakka and Hoklo communities. At least three very promising younger anthropologists are planning to come here too—two of them Chinese and one French. Last, but far from least, there is the potential of our new Department of Anthropology and our established Department of Sociology and its counterpart at Hong Kong University, and the often excellent and extremely enthusiastic fieldwork of our students which Tam Yue-him mentioned and which David Faure is already using to such advantage. And there are a number of other local resources. Now, although it is so immensely rich in social and cultural traditions the New Territories is a small area. Given hard work, money, good coordination and planning now, it should be possible to obtain an almost complete record during, say, the next five or six years. If we can do this historians, social anthropologists, and, I hope, sociologists together — we shall then have something that does not exist for any other comparable area of China, and which now never can exist anywhere else. But that is only the first aim. The second is just as important. There is little point in merely collecting information. It has to be interpreted, written, and published. So far, the great mass of the published work on the New Territories has been written by academic writers for academic readers. Thus, not only is it scattered in different places and in need of being brought together, but also it is simply unavailable to the people who ought to read it. What is the use of discovering our cultural heritage without also making it available to its true heirs—the present and future generations of the people of Hong Kong and (dare I say it?) China and the world? (But especially our own young people.) This means that the stuff that is already known and the material that we are still collecting must not only be written but re-written for the general reader. That is the second aim of the work I want to do. J ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1981 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ff36bt18m ANOTHER LOOK AT LAND AND LINEAGE IN THE N T, c 1900 — 27 all too, multiple rights in land became negotiable. Thus, by the end of the Ch'ing period, in the places where this system existed, the revenue right, the cultivation right, and sometimes the tenancy right could be bought and sold, or mortgaged (as well as inherited), and, since mortgage could be assigned, might be transferred yet another step or two. The economic and social significance of these developments in late imperial China awaits full investigation. Under what circumstances did such a system come into being? I believe I have identified five kinds of circumstances. There may be many more. In one case, where a frontier is to be opened or devastated lands reclaimed, patents may be given to an entrepreneur to make the necessary arrangements. He may then recruit persons to do the work, giving them a perpetual lease to cultivate the land subject only to their paying him an annual rent on a perpetual basis. In this way, both entrepreneurship (which sometimes included partial financing of reclamation) and the actual labour of opening the land, are given their rewards. Such was the most common origin of the multi-tiered tenure system in Ch'ing Taiwan; but as far as I know these circumstances never applied to the New Territories of Hong Kong. In a second case, local power sometimes extending beyond the purely local to become influence in higher places was the basis of such an arrangement. In this case, clans or individuals who arrived early in a given region, claimed the best lands for themselves, and, in time, perhaps produced degree holders who exercised influence, or through armed forces asserted their local power, would then claim what amounted to "protection money" from other landowners in their region. Again, the result was the same: a right to part of the produce of the land. But in this case, there seems to have been little sense of responsibility for paying the tax and, indeed, the arrangement, based on power rather than documented land rights, might not have been recognized by the Chinese government if ever brought to notice. We are most familiar with this form of revenue claim from reports of the activities of the Tangs of Kam Tin just prior to the British assumption of sovereignty over the New Territories. In a third case, on a frontier where there were non-Chinese aboriginal peoples, treaties might be made with the latter in which Chinese settlement and land rights were allowed subject to the perpetual payment of fees to the aboriginal claimants. In Taiwan, where this situation existed, such a fee was called "barbarian" rent, or "barbarian" revenue (fan ta-tsu). ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1981 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ff36bt18m RELIGIOUS RESPONSE TO MODERNIZATION IN TAIWAN: THE CASE OF I-KUAN TAO 47 above all the diffused forms of religion because they were inseparable from traditional social institutions. Institutional religions, by contrast, form social institutions of their own and are, to a certain degree, independent of "secular" social institutions. Changes in the traditional social structure have, therefore, only an indirect effect on them which is far less striking than in the case of diffused religion. On this account, the process of modernization has not necessarily the same secularizing consequences for institutional religions as it has for diffused religion. On the other hand, Buddhism and Taoism, which are the best-known examples of institutional religion in traditional China, seem to have been in a state of decline even before modernization began in the last century. The reasons for this cannot be treated here, but we should note that since the nineteenth century, there have been efforts to revive Buddhism intellectually as well as institutionally. These efforts continued in this century and were not wholly unsuccessful. Two points are to be observed in this connection. The first is the important role which the Buddhist laity played in this movement. The second is the fact that the Buddhist revival seems to coincide more or less with the period of modernization. This point is especially noteworthy since it shows that there is by no means a necessary connection between modernization and secularization. One might even conjecture that there exists an interrelation between the Buddhist revival and the modernization movement in China. 1 Be that as it may, there cannot be any doubt that in Taiwan, Buddhism actually did undergo a renaissance after 1949. This can be seen not only from the countless new temples financed by donations from laymen but also from the steadily increasing publication of popular and scholarly books and journals on Buddhist philosophy and religion. A comparison of this situation with the state of Buddhism in the last centuries of traditional China shows that the process of modernization in this case produced anything but secularization. Attempts to revive Taoism have been far less successful up to now. It is difficult to find a sociological explanation for this difference; one probably has to look for historical reasons. Obviously, the position of Taoism as an institutional religion in the last centuries of imperial China has been weaker than that of Buddhism. On the popular level, neither Taoism nor Buddhism could be separated from the religious syncretism which had developed since the Sung dynasty. But although many intellectuals were heavily influenced by Taoism, there was no significant lay-movement that actively patronized a revival of the ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1981 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ff36bt18m RELIGIOUS RESPONSE TO MODERNIZATION IN TAIWAN THE CASE OF I-KUAN TAO 49 Not much is known about the history of popular religious lay-communities in the twentieth century11. While in comparison with the last century their popularity may have faded they are far from having perished. They still play a significant role in the religious life of present-day Taiwan. It is convenient to distinguish analytically three types of popular religious community even if in practice it is often impossible to separate them clearly. First, there are groups of people which centre around the person of a specially-gifted woman or man, who may be a spirit healer able to cure sickness or a medium who can communicate with the spiritual world and reveal future, hidden or mysterious things. In most cases people who consult such persons form not a community but a clientele, i.e., they do not relate to one another but only to the healer or the medium, much like the clientele of a doctor. Sometimes, however, a healer or a medium is able to organize a cult in which his followers come together and jointly receive blessings or instructions or perform certain practices12. In such cases the clientele may turn into a community whose members share a common stock of beliefs and habits and develop a feeling of belonging together. Normally the person of the leader remains the centre of the cult and the community may retain the traits of a clientele for a long time. Second, there are religious communities which are not primarily related to the person of a leader but are connected with a particular temple or - what normally amounts to the same thing - the worship of one or several particular gods. These temple-communities are probably the most common religious community in Taiwan. In most cases they consider themselves orthodox Buddhist or Taoist, while actually they are strongly syncretic in character. It might happen that in the religious life of the temple-communities spirit-mediums do play a part, but normally they do not hold the central position. Occasionally, however, a medium may be able to gain a leading role and to turn the community into a dynamic movement whose influence extends far beyond the local or regional level13. The third type of popular religious community in Taiwan is the sect-like movement. In contrast to cults and temple-communities these movements have or at least try to develop a country-wide organization. Furthermore, they are often explicitly syncretic, combining elements of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism, and in this way consciously distinguish themselves from those religions. Since in traditional China such sects were in danger of being regarded as... ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1981 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ff36bt18m RELIGIOUS RESPONSE TO MODERNIZATION IN TAIWAN THE CASE OF KUAN TAO 61 degree is a result of the impact of the Western powers and the ensuing cultural contact, not only was reflected in the field of religion negatively but also led to a further development of popular religious ideology. That basically means that traditional religion can cope with modernization and is not necessarily doomed to extinction. At a glance it looks as if the recognition of Christianity and Islam amounts to a withdrawal of the traditional claim for superiority of the Chinese culture. To a certain degree this may be the case. But if we analyze the argument carefully we find that this is only one side of the coin. By declaring a basic unity of the Western and the Chinese religions, the Christian (and Muslim) claim to absoluteness is countered most effectively. Christianity and Islam are no longer fought against but embraced and in this way their thunder is stolen. Having neutralized the Western claim to superiority, in a second step of the argument the priority of the Chinese tradition can be restored. For, as we have seen, Christianity and Islam are recognized as true teachings because they partake of the same Tao as the Chinese religions. But in China the orthodox tradition of the Tao goes back as far as Yao and Shun and even Fu-hsi, i.e. it is significantly older than the Western traditions. That means that the Tao originally came down in China. Age is an important factor in the Chinese way of thinking. Since China was in possession of the Tao from the beginning it is obvious that she occupies a special position among the nations. Indeed Chinese tradition is made a yardstick for the assessment of foreign cultural traditions. The recognition of Christianity and Islam as true religions implies their subordination to the standards of the Chinese tradition. The exceptional position of China can be seen from still another angle. In the revelation of Shang Ti which was quoted above we saw that the dangerous disorder of the present world is regarded as an immediate consequence of that materialistic way of life which originated in the West. To save China from the impending catastrophe it is imperative to redress Chinese tradition. This is what I have called "traditionalism". In addition to the traditionalist approach, however, there is the universalist one. By universalism I mean the tendency to extend the normativity of the Tao, i.e. the original Chinese tradition, beyond the boundaries of China proper. One aspect of this universalism has been described above: the inclusion of the Western religions in the tradition of the Tao, thereby extending by implication the validity of the Chinese Tao to the Western cultures. Another aspect of universalism comes to the fore when the deliverance from threatening disaster and Page 75 Page 76 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1981 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ff36bt18m 64 HUBERT SEIWART westernization then thorough modernization means thorough westernization. This amounts to giving up one's own cultural identity. There are many reasons to suppose that no society would go that far, unless it is forced to from the outside. This is not the place to look into the mechanisms of what might be called "cultural resistance". Let it suffice here to note that the present situation in Taiwan is characterized by two opposite trends. On the one hand we have the fact of modernization with its need for innovation. Innovation, of course, means discontinuation of traditional patterns and in many cases westernization. On the other hand we have the need for cultural identity, which means symbolization of continuity, distinctness and self-assertion. These two trends are mutually opposed because more modernization as a rule implies more westernization and thus less distinctness. Less distinctness, however, increases the need for cultural identity. Renaissance of institutional religions as a response to the problem of cultural identity As we have seen, one element of I-kuan Tao and other popular religious movements is traditionalism. It is obvious that the adherence to traditional religious beliefs and practices can be a means of symbolizing cultural continuity and thereby identity. But we can go one step further: it is above all religion which is used as a symbolization of cultural identity. The reasons for this are manifold and can only be hinted at here. First of all, religion is the most important symbol system in traditional societies, at least on the popular level. This applies also to China where the legitimation of most strategic positions of reality had a strong “religious" coloration: the important institutions like the family, the norms of social interaction, the values guiding personal cultivation, “national” history and the cosmic order. To remove the religious elements from the symbol system which explains reality would cause a collapse of the system and result in anomy. If anomy is to be avoided the old religious-oriented symbol system would have to be replaced by an alternative one without religious elements. Since such a substitute is not available for large portions of the population who have been socialized in the traditional legitimation system, the interpretation of reality must continue to make use of religious symbols. Second, modernization in China, as probably in most non-Western ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1981 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ff36bt18m EDUCATION AS A BY-PRODUCT OF FISH MARKETING 121 How does it come about that this pleasing mixture of American Youth camp and English public-school sports day should come to represent the emotional high point of the year for these fifteen schools which cater for the Shui-sheung-yan (water-folk), traditionally the lowest of all Hong Kong's social strata. Organised quite separately from the normal Education Department schools, the F.M.O. school cater for less than 0.4 percent of the territory's school population. Separate educational systems for religious and ethnic minorities, often assisted by the state, are not uncommon; wholly state-run separate school systems for occupational minorities, apart from members of the armed forces posted overseas, are extremely rare. The nearest parallel that comes to mind is that of the special education projects for European Gypsies, developed to cater for children whose schooling is often prevented by frequent moves and social prejudice, just as that of the Hong Kong people used to be. Indeed, it was experience with Gypsies since running the first caravan summer school in 1967, which led me to what seemed, from the European end, a remarkable parallel with projects started for the boat people of southern China, and Hong Kong. The Development of the F.M.O. and its schools It can be argued that the Hong Kong Government, despite its ever-reiterated ideological commitment to laissez-faire economics, began to intervene to ensure the future of the fishing industry as early as the building of the Yaumatei typhoon shelter in 1911-15. During the Second World War the Japanese government began the building of regulated fish markets, such as that at Shaukeiwan, guaranteeing a better deal for the fishermen from the buyers. Since we are assured on all sides that all sections of the population suffered grievously under the Japanese occupation, the returning British government could hardly do less for the fishing population than had the Japanese. After 1945 a scheme was introduced under the old Defence Regulations of 1940 to provide "orderly and efficient Fish Marketing facilities", developing the industry, and protecting the interests of consumers. That is to say both fishermen and public were to be protected from the entrepreneurial wholesale fish merchants or middlemen. There are now seven publicly owned and regulated wholesale fish markets, and three other collecting depots. Underlying the economic goals, there was also a stated objective of improving "the socio-economic status of the fishing community." Of course, to state this too publicly would be self-defeating, but in 7 Page 135 Page 136 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1982 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p BOOK REVIEWS 351 study of revolts, reforms and revolutions in the South East Asian region is of particular interest and relevance for the outside world. This is because the variety of its component races, religions and political systems, before and after the colonial period, are paralleled by the diversity of situations experienced in revolution, reform and revolt. They are as diverse in kind as the very varied social, cultural, economic, historical context will allow, whether in or outside the colonial period, whether the colonial power was French, British or Dutch, whether a communist party was present or not. They are also, they claim, made the more interesting through the variety of "models," outside assistance and influences available to the leaders of its governments and insurgent movements alike. The authors state that, out of the total of twelve articles, five study revolts, three reforms and four revolutions. Five of the nine new states are represented (Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Singapore and Vietnam), with the former colonies of French Indo-china making up three quarters. Two articles concern events before 1914, three take place between 1914 and 1945 and four after the Second World War, and three span several of these periods. Neither the early period of colonial penetration nor the contemporary scene have been neglected, though by choice the authors have generally not gone back beyond 1850. Generally speaking, the essays illustrate the theme of the Introduction, and they do cover a most diverse and interesting set of events. This is a stimulating collection of essays which will certainly be of value to serious students of South East Asia. Also, they bear out the authors' claim that they have a wider relevance than the region in which they are set. JAMES HAYES Chinese Festivals Joan Law and Barbara E. Ward, South China Morning Post, Hong Kong, 1982, 95pp, including Bibliography, Index. 85 Colour plates It is surprising that no-one produced a book like this long ago. Of course, this superb volume is no less welcome for that. The book consists of a short introduction, followed by brief ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1982 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p BOOK REVIEWS 359 slight knowledge of China achievable in six months comes through in the rather patchy treatment it gives 7 pages on Canton, 1⁄2 page on Swatow, 5½ lines on Chiu Chow, 14 pages on places in the Pearl River Delta accessible from Canton, and 8½ lines on Shaoguan is its sum total on Kwangtung Province, and most of this 9 pages is thin and derivative. It would not be possible to visit any of these cities and gain much from the experience without taking along a second guidebook. The book's main aim is to point out that, since the recent liberalisations, it is possible for the foreigner to travel in China by himself, and stay in the cheaper hotels, and thus see more of the real China. This is, of course, true as far as it goes. But little hint is given in the book of the very real problems that still exist—the absolutely essential need to be fluent in both Mandarin and the local dialect if one is to argue oneself into the cheapest hotels as suggested, the extreme difficulty in the way of long-range telephoning in most places, the bureaucratic problems involved if one gets stuck (e.g., by roads being washed out), the practical difficulties of reaching consular, legal, or financial help in a disaster in other than major cities when on one's own, the psychological difficulties involved in walking round a town surrounded by crowds of gawpers (still a problem in some places), and the lack of even the most basic of facilities (even backpackers are likely to be thrown by the squalor of many cheap Chinese hotels). Some things are treated in a way that seems less than completely frank: most restaurant food in China outside the main cities is of the poorest quality, buses (except the Shenzhen luxury coaches) often excruciatingly uncomfortable, and the fight for tickets less than entertaining. A more significant failing of this book is its lack of any attempt to explain the real China to the young and impoverished visitor it is aimed at. It is of little use showing such a one how physically to get to the genuinely non-tourist parts of a Chinese city if he is left totally at sea as to what is going on around him when he gets there, but little attempt to explain is made. All in all, this book is of some value as giving the occasional practical hint to the would-be backpacker in China. But unless the backpacker has good basic knowledge of China, or is travelling ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1983 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v OBITUARY Barbara E. Ward (1919-1983) Members will be saddened to learn of Barbara E. Ward's death in 1983. Barbara was a gifted teacher of social anthropology and sociology in general and of Chinese society in particular. She will be remembered with respect and affection by the many students who learnt from her at the various universities in which she taught: London, Cornell, Cambridge, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. 3 Barbara read history at Newnham College, Cambridge before the Second World War, gained a Diploma in Education at London University in 1942 and then taught in schools in England and West Africa until 1947. Like a number of other British social anthropologists of her generation, Barbara was led to the discipline by the experience of overseas service gained during and immediately after the war. Although she completed a thesis on the social organization of the Ewe-speaking peoples of southeast Ghana for a Master's degree at the London School of Economics in 1949 and later published some of her observations on social change in West Africa, Barbara became drawn to the study of Chinese society. The presence of enthusiastic Chinese scholars at the L.S.E., such as Tien Ju-k'ang, as well as the inherent attractiveness of a civilization which since the Enlightenment has had a special place in western social thought, were important factors underlying Barbara's growing interest in China. Much of her subsequent writing was based on field research carried out in Kau Sai, a New Territories community of boat-dwelling fishermen, between 1950 and 1953 and during a number of later visits. Barbara's essays on the boat people represent very substantial contributions to sinological anthropology, and through this work Barbara played a leading role in opening up the field of China to modern anthropology. Her friendships with the people of Kau Sai, many of whom appeared in an ethnographic film on the fishing community made by her and Hugh Gibb, were maintained for the rest of her life, and news of Barbara's death will have been received with much sorrow by her friends in Kau Sai as well as by many other residents of Hong Kong. xviii ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1983 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v 6 yelled at her 'are you in charge here?' 'O no,' said she, ‘not me'. The officer demanded that she bring out the in-charge. Sister went in and the mother superior came out. When she came up to the officer, he yelled at her: 'aren't you afraid of me?' 'Of course not' she replied 'I know you have come to protect me.' It seems that protecting Sisters was not in the Japanese handbook for battle, and when the Japanese don't know what to do, they stand there and suck in their breath loudly. Well the officer stood there sucking in his breath for a long time, and finally turned to the soldier with him and said. 'In that case, you write out a notice and put it on the front door of the convent that nobody can come in here without my written permission!' Carmel Convent was untouched for the rest of the war! All the other places for miles around were looted from top to bottom. After the war, the house resumed its original purposes, headquarters, language school, and rest house. When the Communists took over China, our priests as well as practically all the other foreign priests stayed here. At the same time, the house became the headquarters for a massive relief effort providing all the primary necessities to the huge deluge of refugees that poured into Hong Kong from China. The house has now been made into two sections, one section for public use for retreats, meetings, seminars etc. The other section's for our own headquarters and rest house. The back part of the property towards the mountain has been sold off for a housing project known as Stanley Knoll. But we still have the glorious and spectacular view of the sea to the South. I thank you for taking the time to come to see the house, and I thank you especially for your kind attention. As the Chinese are wont to say: the first time you come, you are a stranger. The second time you come, you are a friend. I hope we will be friends. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1983 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v 47 (a) Kit fat (*) marriage. This is the traditional form of marriage and assumes that the parties were single and unmarried beforehand. Essential features are exchanges of horoscopes etc. beforehand by the respective families, negotiations by a go-between, signing of the red paper of betrothal, bridal chair (or taxi) from the bride's home to her groom's, feast at groom's house to announce the fact of marriage. It is not usual to omit any of these details, of which the red paper is perhaps the most important. However, there are occasional cases where the red paper is replaced by a certificate signed by both parties and by witnesses to the ceremony. (b) Tin Fong (**) marriage. Where one of the parties to a kit fat marriage dies or is formally divorced, the surviving spouse may subsequently contract another formal marriage which is quite distinct from concubinage. It carries all the force of a kit fat marriage. (c) Concubine. A concubine has a recognised legal status under Chinese custom and should not be regarded as an immoral plaything. Although a rich man, apart from his kit fat wife, may take more than one concubine in a fashion that leaves little doubt as to his uxorious mettle, one of the commoner purposes of taking a concubine is to provide the sons that the kit fat wife has perhaps failed to produce. The introduction of a concubine into a household is normally a formal process involving due recognition by the family and friends. It is an open matter, like marriage, and implies nothing indiscreet. As far as possible, husbands try to provide separate households for a wife and a concubine in case they do not get on well with each other. Attempts to claim status as a second wife, a level wife (p'eng tsai) or any other variation, should be discounted. Some experts state that by custom a Chinese is monogamous. As a rule he has only one customarily recognised wife or principal spouse, any other women with whom he co-habits being either a concubine (in the Chinese customary sense) or a kept woman. (d) Kept women, i.e. women who regularly live with a man without being kit fat (*) or tin fong (**) wives or a concubine, are most frequently met amongst refugees from China. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1983 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v 197 From 1860 there is, firstly, a collection of China Medals and related items and eight drawings by a Royal Marines Light Infantry officer who served in the Second China War. There is also a vase and a gilded, seated, Buddha which were taken from the Summer Palace in that year. The Marines were involved in the fighting occasioned by the Boxer uprising in 1900, and the Museum holds a number of relics of this involvement. A Boxer flag is, for instance, on display. This was captured by Sgt. Preston, Royal Marines Light Infantry, on the walls of Peking on July 14, 1900, an act for which he was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal. The notes explain that Preston kept the Boxers at bay while an American Marine seized the flag. A Victoria Cross was won at about the same date which is commemorated by the display of a large pike. This was captured by the RMLI detachment during the siege of the Legations. Captain L.S.T. Holliday led a sortie during which he had half a lung shot away. He later became Adjutant General of the Royal Marines and when he died in 1966 at the age of 95 he was the oldest holder of the VC. A squat, gape-mouthed, mortar about two feet high is also on show. This was seized at the capture of the Taku forts in 1900. A large brass shell case used by the Quick Firing guns at the Taku Forts is mounted in the museum as a gong. The case has the name Berndorfer stamped upon it, an Austrian firm. Next came a quick visit to the National Army Museum, in Chelsea, London. Among the items which I spotted there were the following, and I am sure there must be others which I missed. There is a large, full-length, portrait of Sir Hugh Gough, by an unknown artist. He is shown with what looks to be an Indian servant buckling on his sword and is impressively bemedalled. A tall, slim, figure, with a white moustache, the General was in his fifties or sixties when the picture was painted. A silver model pagoda commemorating the Treaty of Nanking, August 1860, is on loan from the present Viscount Gough. It was made by Richard Hennell and is hallmarked London 1860-61. A long rampart gingall, manufactured at South Tientsin Arsenal in 1895 slants diagonally across a case which also features ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1983 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v 198 photographs and sketches of China campaigns and a tiger's hood head-dress worn by a Boxer in 1900. — Up over the Border, in Edinburgh Castle, there is an item of loot from the Second China War: two panels taken from the Temple of Heaven by Ensign C.K.C. Rooke. The note says simplistically that the causes of this war were "very similar to those that caused the First China War, namely maltreatment of Europeans". The two large panels each bear three smaller panels and they seem to show scenes from court or gentry life. I am sure they would be of interest to scholars who could probably date them easily and perhaps, at the same time, suggest a more appropriate wording for the note. While in Scotland I visited the museum of the Black Watch, in Perth and, although there is little of China interest, they do have the only picture that I have seen of Sir George Murray - the man after whom Murray Barracks was named. He was Colonel of the Black Watch and the portrait is dated 1825. Murray, a former Quartermaster General under Wellington, never visited Hong Kong but his name also lives on in Murray Road and Murray Building. He and General D'Aguilar's father were good friends and when General D'Aguilar started out in the army it helped to have friends in high places. When D'Aguilar was involved in the building of the new barracks at Hong Kong in the mid-1840s he remembered his father's friend and in gratitude for his assistance to his career named his new construction after him. Hamilton, near Glasgow, is the home of the Cameronians. This regiment was heavily involved in the First China War and was later garrisoned at Hong Kong. There is a Chinese vase which came home with the regiment and a very good series of large drawings of a later campaign. Back over the Border in England, my next stop was Carlisle, the home of the successors to the old 55th, which was, like the Cameronians, very prominent in the early history of Hong Kong and the first campaign in China. There is quite a cache of interesting items in the Border Regiment museum in the impressive and ancient castle. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1983 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v 200 MC, while he was a prisoner of war in Japan. Captain Shigeru was later tried and executed for war crimes. Not connected with the last war is a mirror on which are painted the colours and battle honours of the regiment and which is set in a carved wooden frame. This mirror was originally the property of the Sergeants' Mess of the third battalion and it was used in the ante room of the mess from 1906 when the battalion served in Hong Kong, Tientsin and Peking, up until its disbandment in 1922. There is, finally, a waist-high Chinese vase decorated with blossoms and birds about which little is known. My final stop was at the excellent museum of the Royal Engineers, at Chatham, where there are many interesting China-related items. A whole case contains objects relating to General Charles 'Chinese' Gordon, who was an RE officer. Gorgeous embroidered robes feature dragons, there is a white silk jacket, panels and hangings, a Mandarin's hat with a long pigtail seemingly attached, a silver cup and other items. A name that crops up in the early history of Hong Kong is John Ouchterlony; he wrote a book "The Chinese War" which was published in 1844. The RE museum has his epaulettes, those of the Madras Engineers, on display. There is also an executioner's strangling cord, bullets, a fung shui compass, a series of gods from the Summer Palace, a Chinese crossbow, knives and swords. Probably most of these items date from the time of the Second China War, in 1860. Anyone who can visit Chatham should note that the Royal Engineers library has a large store of information just waiting to be mined. The Engineers left their mark throughout Hong Kong and their projects are well documented and recorded in the reports, journals and other papers held in the library. I am sure that in each of the establishments mentioned there are other items which I missed; most visits were in and out affairs with a pregnant wife waiting patiently in the car and a not-so-patient two-year-old keeping her company. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1983 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v 202 AN IMPERIAL CHINESE BANNER PRESERVED IN KENDAL, ENGLAND P. BRUCE A unique memento of the First China War is slowly disintegrating in an English parish church due to lack of money to restore it.* The war led to the establishment of Hong Kong and one of the British regiments which took part was the 55th (Westmoreland). At the second taking of Chusan, on October 1, 1841, the regiment seized an Imperial Chinese banner. Today it hangs, alongside the disbanded regiment's colours, in a glass case to the left side of the altar of Kendal Parish Church. This banner was the only Imperial Chinese banner seized by British troops during the First China War. The vicar of Kendal, and the Border Regiment, which includes the old 55th in its genealogy, are well aware of the urgent need for the banner to receive conservation treatment. The problem is, as ever, money. Estimates of the cost of restoring the banner range somewhere around £2,000 and neither the church nor the regiment can offer any immediate hope of it being raised. The episode in which the flag was taken is described in a verse history of the campaign prepared some years afterwards for the 55th. After 20 years service a soldier named Duell had gained a commission. He was given the honour of bearing the regimental colours that autumn day: "Ensign Duell holds up our Colour, then falls, shot through the breast. That morn had seen the ambition of a life fulfilled. An honour borne but for a day, the day that he was killed. For twenty years or more he had well and faithful served, Winning his way, step by step, to a Commission well deserved. And when his name appeared in the previous night's Gazette, All wished him, health, long life, success, to wear his epaulette; * See plate 11. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1983 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v 218 • There are four in the year, but the principal one falls on the nineteenth day of the second moon. * See my "Secular Non-Gentry Leadership of Temple and Shrine Organisations in Urban Hong Kong" pp 113 to 136 of this Journal. * See my article "The Japanese Occupation and the New Territories", South China Morning Post, 15 December 1967. A COMMUNITY SHOOTING BUNGALOW NEAR CHINKIANG, KIANGSU, AND ITS LIBRARY ABOUT 1905 J. W. HAYES The following extracts are taken from A. H. Rasmussen's China Trader, published by Constable of London in 1954. Mr. Rasmussen was barely twenty when he joined the Chinese Customs Service at Chinkiang, where there was a small, lonely British concession. During his first four years, two of the original thirty-five Europeans died, two went mad, two cut their throats, and he himself was twice nearly murdered by smugglers. At this time, as he relates, he was lucky enough to find relaxation and renewal of spirits brought low by the conditions of life and work in shooting wild pig, and in finding a library and visitors' books in a small shooting bungalow in the countryside near the Chinkiang concession. Let him speak for himself. "When the Concession really got me down I 'lifted up mine eyes unto the hills' and got new strength from them. A ride of about eight miles took me to a hill called Wu Chow where for many years there had been a community shooting bungalow for those who were keen on wild boar-shooting. It was rather an expensive sport as it required about fifteen beaters at fifty cents (or one shilling) each a day. Moreover, a rifle had to be bought and fortunately I came across an ancient Lee-Metford single-shot carbine used in the Boer War. I bought it for fifteen dollars. In view of the daily cost it was important to get shooting companions to share in the beating expenses. No serious shooting had been done out there for several years, and no one in the port seemed to know the ropes. I went out one week-end to investigate and to get away from everybody, most of all from my old bored self. Page 240 Page 241 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1984 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/5h73wh572 15 The Present-day Temple Oracles The temple oracles, described in modern historical writings and still found in contemporary practice in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, etc. can be traced back as far as the Sung dynasty. Yet such a long interval between the milfoil-I Ching oracles of early Chou and the Sung practice does not necessarily mean a historical continuity. But although today the literary links are missing, some scholars have assumed a continuous line of development. J. Needham is very definite when he states that "The milfoil, ... has descended continuously to the Taoist temples of the present day, where simple folk choose a stick from a box ..." This method of using sticks is, in Needham's opinion, different from the use of the I Ching symbols, although he admits that, in the latter, milfoil sticks were also used. 14 More recently a German anthropologist Werner Banck, has focused his attention on the study of temple oracles. A first volume of his work, a large collection of temple oracle texts, was published in 1976.1 (A second volume is promised in which the author will analyse and evaluate the collected source materials). In his foreword to Banck's work, Wolfram Eberhard clearly expresses the belief that there is continuity between the contemporary oracles and the tradition of the I Ching and the Han alternative version, embodied in the T'ai-hsuan ching. W. Banck himself shares this opinion and plans to examine the literary tradition of China for more exact information. A possible reason why direct evidence is not easily available consists in the very nature of the contemporary temple oracles: they are used by the people in the temples. Two conditions make such a practice possible: the existence of temples and the availability of printing. This double factor only started to materialize toward the T'ang period and therefore it seems plausible to look for the origin of temple oracles in the middle or later T'ang era. Before that time, people who wanted to consult the oracles in private matters, could visit diviners, who did not need temple oracles since they could read the I Ching and similar texts and cast the oracles for their clients. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1985 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gt54s866x 37 The differences in house form and use between 1950 and 1970 reflect nothing less than the complete substitution of one cultural-occupational group for another. In 1950 Kau Sai's houses were inhabited by families who followed the occupational patterns and sexual division of labour common among Hakka speakers in the eastern part of the New Territories, among whom village shopkeepers and temple caretakers (where these exist) are almost the only exceptions to a general rule of able-bodied male absenteeism. By 1970 there was only one Hakka family in Kau Sai. Its male head was the (new) temple caretaker who also ran a small shop. All the other houses were occupied by fishermen's families, whose men do not have to leave home to find work. The change had two major sources: the former, being a particular historical event peculiar to Kau Sai may be quickly related here; the second, being the local manifestation of the general movement of socio-economic change among the Boat People not only of Hong Kong but of South China as a whole is part of the major theme of this book. The Removal of the Hakka It so happens that Kau Sai Bay lies near the central portion of a range for firing practice which is drawn in a wide arc on the seaward side of the British Army's camp near Sai Kung on the mainland. It is obviously inconvenient for gunnery practice to have to operate with a safety angle, but this is done and to the best of my knowledge no serious damage has ever occurred. However, the villagers were not slow to demand compensation whenever a shell fell anywhere on, or even near, either of the two islands. In order to put an end to what they probably correctly deemed would become a perennial drain on their resources, Government and Army agreed that it would be wise to resettle the villagers elsewhere. (This was, indeed, one of the earliest of the resettlement programmes for which the Hong Kong authorities later became famous). When I took up residence in the spring of 1952 negotiations were already far advanced. A new village was in process of building at Pak Sha Wan (Hebe Haven) on the bus route to Sai Kung, and the move was to be made in a few months' time. Every householder in Kau Sai was ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1985 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gt54s866x 142 JOHN KARL EVANS inherit more than a portion of his estate would not harbour strong feelings of guilt about his death, and would thus be less inclined to view his spirit as potentially malevolent. Although more work needs to be done in this area, there is some evidence that suggests that the punitive capacity of the manes did wane during the Empire. In Ravenna, for example, an impressive number of gravestones are extant which clearly show that, late in the second century A.D. and thereafter, it was no longer the ability of a spirit to avenge itself that protected the tomb from desecration, but the threat of a municipal fine. There are many variations on the warning to be read on the tombstone of L. Baebius Silvanus: siquis post obitum eorum qui supra scripti sunt has plancas aperuerit dare debebit rei publicae Ravennatium sestertium duo milia nummum "if anyone opens this tomb after the interment of those who have been named above, let him pay 2,000 sesterces to the municipal treasury of Ravenna” (CIL 11.43 = ILS 2863).81 This takes up too much of the stone to be practical, but then everyone seems to have understood what the abbreviation S.P.OBIT.E.Q.S.S.S.H.PLANC.A.D.D.R.P.R. HS...Ñ stood for. We end, as we began, with the stock epigraphic phrase. Conclusions The cult of the dead in Rome and China, two societies far distant from one another both in space and time, have now passed in review, and several striking similarities have been observed. In each, there is an afterlife conceived in material terms, and a ritual centred on sacrificial offerings considered essential for the well-being of the deceased. The spirits of the deceased are commonly thought to be capable of punishing individuals who neglect these rites, but in so doing they infringe upon the larger sphere of the hostile and aggressive ghosts. In both societies, it can be argued that men and women cease to receive offerings as individuals when there is no one left who knew them at first hand, and that property can play as decisive a role in fixing responsibility for the maintenance of the dead as kinship. Finally, in both Rome and China the capacity of ancestral spirits for punitive action may be due at least in part to the postponement of the ritual and economic emancipation of ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1986 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063 20 WALTER GREENWOOD the British Colony of Hong Kong. He matriculated at London University in 1875, and in 1876 he passed the Intermediate Examination in Laws obtaining first place of those candidates who achieved second class at honours. Also in 1876 he won the Lee Essay Prize at Gray's Inn, the subject being "The Judicature Act 1873, stating its object and provisions generally and its probable effect on the administration of the law in England”. He was called to the Bar in November 1876. I have no information as to how he otherwise spent his time during 1874-6. The last glimpse of him in England I know of is an entry in Foster's Men at the Bar 2nd ed. 1885 in which his addresses are given as Hong Kong and the Junior Conservative Club. Francis was admitted to practise at the Hong Kong Bar in March 1877, being the 27th on the Roll and the first barrister of Gray's Inn to be so admitted. His admission was moved by the Attorney General George Phillippo before Smale who was still Chief Justice. Phillippo said that his call certificate had been filed and an affidavit of identity sworn before Mr. Justice Huddleston was before the Court. However Huddleston had not given any indication of his office and the question was raised whether it was in order to receive the affidavit. Phillippo said that Francis was well known in Hong Kong and Smale said that he was prepared to act on his personal knowledge of him. Just to resolve any remaining doubts there might be it was noted that the affidavit was dated from “Judge's Chambers" and that was deemed sufficient. Perhaps Francis heaved a sigh of relief. It would have been somewhat tedious for him to have to return to England to obtain a further and better affidavit of identity. E.J. Eitel in his book Europe in China wrote "the admission to the Bar of Mr. Francis added new zest to the local displays of forensic eloquence”. Shortly after his own admission Francis signed an affidavit in support of the application of Ng Choy the first Chinese to be admitted to practise in Hong Kong. I like to think that it was an indication of his sympathy towards the Chinese. In 1877 the leading practitioner at the Bar in Hong Kong was T.C. Hayllar who was admitted to practise in 1868 and at first Francis practised in his shadow. Another obstacle to getting work was that at that time the Attorney General was allowed to engage ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1986 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063 42 WALTER GREENWOOD saying he expected a C.M.G. and this I believe dished his chances. In any case I submit that it is highly improper for a Government pensioner, who has been knighted, to publish such a statement and I think Sir Edward Ackroyd should be called upon for an explanation through the Colonial Office". It may be that if Francis had not made his protest the Government would have had second thoughts. But as the China Mail observed it was not in his nature to allow the neglect to pass unnoticed. The handsome, paltry, historical silver inkstand was ordered to be returned to the Crown Agents to be sold for the benefit of the Colony. Francis was prominent in public affairs in a number of respects in addition to those already mentioned. To take a few examples. He was on the committees formed to organise the celebration of the Queen's Golden and Diamond Jubilees. As to the former he favoured it being marked by a contribution to the British Indian and Colonial Institute, which had the support of the Royal Family, but in the end the committee decided on a statue which is now in Victoria Park. On the latter occasion he was awarded the Governor's Jubilee medal for his services. He was also on the Hong Kong Golden Jubilee committee. He attended a number of the protest meetings which were a feature of life in Hong Kong, and usually had something to say. His last public appointment was as Chairman of the Food Supply Commission in 1900. He had a number of business interests which, presumably, were not regarded as inconsistent with his status as a practising member of the Bar. The most interesting relate to Borneo and newspapers. In 1889 he paid an extended visit to Borneo and whilst there purchased the island of Balambangan. His main interest was in the prospects for growing tobacco. Whilst in Borneo he "took the trouble to learn all about it” and of course lectured about it on his return. On the death of Fraser Smith in 1895 he acquired an interest in the Daily Telegraph which he retained until 1900. He was said to have directed the policy of the newspaper during that period. It was also said in an obituary that he was proprietor of the China Mail for a time. He was a member of many clubs and societies. He was a founder member of the Jockey Club and secretary of its first rule committee. He took a prominent part in disputes between the ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1986 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063 247 public matters was raised. The editor described the suggestions made then as nonsense. He did admit "that the opinion of respectable and intelligent Chinese should be solicited by the Government in a manner similar to that in which European views are obtained” but then qualified this concession by stating that "to suggest that the Chinese residents as a body, irrespective of education or intelligence, should be called upon to take an active part in legislative work, was nothing more than one of those misleading tricks which entered so largely into the ingenious underground working of the late administrator." Having denigrated the Chinese, the editor next praised them: “It is a most satisfactory and gratifying sign of the times, and one which speaks volumes for the good sense and shrewdness of the native community, that the members of the deputation have so accurately realised their rights, and have not been led away by the pernicious course of ‘blarney' to which they have been subjected for the last few years." The positive aspects of the deputation as far as the editor of the China Mail was concerned were, first, the confidence of the Chinese community in the new head of Government, Mr. Marsh, and, second, their evident unwillingness to go along with "the attempts made by the late Governor to pander to their so-called rights.” The Europeans had seen any rights claimed by the Chinese as threats to their own position. The editor remarked that “one of the principal complaints made by European residents against the late Governor was that he sought to adapt the laws to the convenience of the native, while he overlooked that of the European residents." The editor of the Hongkong Telegraph took a different view of the delegation. He pointed out that the group was made up of the same men as those of previous years. There was nothing especially innovative about it. Though the editorial did not say so, the only new element was the presence of Dr. Ho Kai, its spokesman, who had not many months previously returned to Hongkong from Europe, but more of this later. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1987 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522 35 Kong except for a short interval between 1867 and 1871, was a major attraction of Kowloon City.” Gambling houses fronting the beach offered free launch services and carried on a thriving business. This caused so much consternation in Hong Kong that, after a series of stunning embezzlement cases and a connection with the gambling "hells” of Kowloon had been established, the Hong Kong government passed an ordinance making it an offence for civil servants to visit Kowloon for the purpose of gambling. Under pressure from the Hong Kong government in the late 1890s, Chinese officials actually suppressed gambling. Ironically, it was under “British rule” in the twentieth century that gambling was re-introduced. But it was only after the Second World War, when Hong Kong prohibited brothels and opium that the Walled City was transformed into the squalid enclave of vice for which it later became notorious. 36 The City had other attractions. Both the Walled City and the fort had been frequently visited by foreigners since the 1850s. It was the terminal point of several interesting walks on the mainland popular with European residents. They were not required to produce passes or go through other kinds of formalities normally required in a garrison town. Often at the end of an excursion, visitors took a quick walk around the wall, snapped a few pictures of "this curious and particularly dirty town", and left for the Island by launch from the Lung-chin jetty. The great change came in 1899. In the previous year, the Convention of Peking had been signed between China and Britain leasing territory south of the Shumchun river to Britain. However, in face of strong Chinese insistence on retaining jurisdiction in the Kowloon Walled City, the British agreed to include a clause that "within the city of Kowloon the Chinese officials now stationed there shall continue to exercise jurisdiction except so far as may be inconsistent with the military requirement to the defence of Hong Kong." This reservation of Chinese jurisdiction upset many sectors of British interest, not least of all, foreign residents in Hong Kong, all seeing this Chinese enclave in the midst of a British administered territory a security risk. The matter came to a head in 1899. The Hong Kong govern- ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1987 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522 68 Office Records, Series 129 (“Hong Kong: Original Correspondence"), File 404, pp. 359-397. Such references will hereafter appear in the style, CO129/404, pp. 395-397. 12 Gunnar Myrdal, An American Dilemma (New York: Harper, 1944), p. xlviii, 20-42. 13 The expression "country youths" is broad enough to include the Chinese further up-country in Guangdong Province. It is likely, however, that Mok Man Cheung had his eye on the chance of catering to the population of the area then known as "the New Territory", leased from China in 1898. 14 "Feng Shui" is the traditional Chinese concern for geomancy, or the most favourable conjunction of winds and waters which would be taken into consideration when, for example, a tomb or a residence was being sited. See Maurice Freedman, 'Chinese Geomancy: Some Observations in Hong Kong', in The Study of Chinese Society: Essays by Maurice Freedman, selected and introduced by G. William Skinner (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1979), pp. 189-211. 15 In the Cantonese vernacular, "horse-boy" also means “minion”. 14 The various page numbers included in parentheses refer, of course, to the original 1904 edition of English Made Easy. 17 Other examples of simple errors, which have little to do with local knowledge, include "grosery", "Bigonia", "Spinage", "Carret", "Pumpkin", "Thrimp fritters", “Calway seeds”, “Pate foi gras", "Sarsaparilla", “Cut dough or spargetty", etc. 18 A common expression, especially in business circles, for present, treat, "sweetener", close to the conceptual borders of bribe. 19 Anthony Sweeting, 'Hong Kong', in R. Murray Thomas & T. Neville Postlethwaite (eds.) Schooling in East Asia: Forces of Change (Oxford, Pergamon Press, 1983), p. 275. 20 Smith (1985) p. 103f. 21 An expression used by Carl Smith to mean educated through the medium of the English language in one of the leading “Anglo-Chinese" schools in Hong Kong at the time, e.g., the Morrison Education Society School, St. Paul's College, Ying Wah College, the Diocesan Home and Orphanage, the Central School (renamed Victoria College in 1887 and Queen's College in 1894), and St. Saviour's College (renamed St. Joseph's College in 1875). 22 Smith (1985) pp. 143-171. 24 Who's Who in the Far East, (Hong Kong, China Mail, 1906), p. 233. The first Prefects were appointed on Empire Day, 1911, received gilt badges to denote the importance of their office, and were known ironically as "Mr. Ralph's peerage", presumably to signify that this new pupil aristocracy was the brainchild of Mr. Edwin Ralphs, the popular Second Master. See Gwenneth Stokes, Queen's College 1862-1962 (Hong Kong: Queen's College, 1962), p. 282. 25 These included the Morrison Scholarship, donated by the Morrison Education Society in 1873; the Government Scholarship, instituted for pupils at the Central School in 1874; several Belilios Scholarships established by E.R. Belilios in 1882 when his offer to erect a statue in honour of Viscount Beaconsfield, recently Prime Minister of Great Britain, was politely declined; the Stewart Scholarship, estab- ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1987 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522 87 NOTES “Wong Tai Sin” is the most common transliteration in Hong Kong of the god's name. The pinyin transliteration is Huang Daxian. For Chinese names with a conventional Hong Kong transliteration which differs from the pinyin form, we will begin with the pinyin forms followed by the Hong Kong forms within brackets. For names and places in China, and for subsequent references to Chinese names and terms used in Hong Kong (except for place names such as Hong Kong and Kowloon), only pinyin system will be used. On the reasons for the growth in popularity of Huang Daxian in Hong Kong, especially since the late 1940's, see Graeme Lang, and Lars Ragvald, “Upward mobility of a refugee god: Hong Kong's Huang Daxian," The Stockholm Journal of East Asian Studies. Vol, 1, 1988. We have called Huang Daxian the “refugee god” both because his cult was imported into Hong Kong early in this century during a period of persecution of traditional religion in China, and also because the god's success can be attributed in part to the refugees who flooded into the area around the temple in the late 1940's. Key decisions made by the management of the temple were also very important. Our discoveries regarding the ruined temples to Huang Daxian in Guangdong, and a second visit to these sites in 1987, will be reported in a forthcoming article. There are undoubtedly many intriguing stories about Huang Daxian which could be collected by researchers in Guangdong province. For instance, one story connecting Huang Daxian to legends about the founding of Guangzhou was related to the first author by the manager of a local company near Guangzhou, who as a child had played in an old Huang Daxian temple in the Fangcun area (on which, see the first author's forthcoming paper). According to this story, Huang Chuping of the Jin dynasty had found the way (Tao) and become a saint at Mt. Luofu. He then, it is said, shouted at five pieces of hard rock turning them into five fairy-sheep and also ordered five fairies dressed in red, yellow, blue, white and black respectively to drive the sheep. This unlikely flock descended in the midst of Guangzhou. Huang Daxian then chanted, "I wish that Guangzhou from now on shall enjoy bumper harvests, timely wind and rain, be prosperous and at peace, and never suffer famine or disaster”. This tale was related as explaining the origin of the old names Wuyang Cheng (City of the five sheep) and Suicheng (Ear of grain city). The story is clearly modeled on the old (documented) tales of the five saints on ram-back who brought the five ears of grain to Guangzhou. It is not clear where the manager got his story, but it may have been stimulated by an obscure phrase on one of the pillars of the main gate of the old Fangcun Huang Daxian temple. In any case, we expect that there are many such tales which remain to be uncovered. The versatile Huang Daxian, with his several incarnations and his ability to absorb stories from other traditions, may continue to surprise students of his cult for years to come. In the present paper, however, we focus only on his merger with another Taoist figure at Mt. Luofu. 5 Several cases of apparently similar confusion or merging of legendary Taoist figures on the basis of similar surnames have been documented in S.H. Wong. “A study of Huang Ta-hsien [Daxian].” The Journal of the Institute of Chinese Studies of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, XVI, 1985, pp. 223-239. Mt. Luofu, some 100 kilometres northeast of Guangzhou, is historically the most important site in the history of Taoist worship and practice in Guangdong province. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1987 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522 122 order the suspension of the ordinance. When the crisis passed the measures it provided to control the Chinese population would no longer be needed, however, they would remain on the statute books to be reintroduced by the Governor in Council if a future situation warranted it. Once enacted, however, they were never officially suspended. Instead they came to be regarded as a way of reducing crime at night, though for long periods there was great laxity over its enforcement. The introduction of the rule that the Chinese must carry lights and passes at night was the result of the outbreak of the Sino-British conflict, sometimes referred to as the Second Opium War. The spark which set fire to the smouldering tensions created by the frustration of the foreigner in his desire to force open China to unrestricted trade was the seizure at Canton in October 1856 of the crew of a Hongkong-registered vessel, the Arrow. The Chinese authorities claimed the crew members were pirates. Their detention and the alleged hauling down of the British flag provoked an escalating series of demands, threats and incidents between the British and Chinese. These eventually climaxed in the looting and burning of the Imperial Summer Palace at Peking in 1860. The Chinese would not meet the demands for an apology for "the insult to the British flag" nor the return of the crew in a manner satisfactory to the English. To force the issue, the British breached the walls of Canton, penetrated to the Viceroy's stronghold and then withdrew. They met no resistance. Then boats were seized, forts were shelled, troops marched back and forth. For the British it all seemed like a military lark, with their superior power meeting no resistance from the Chinese, but only threatening proclamations issued by the Viceroy urging the destruction of the barbarians, with a price set upon the heads of certain prominent foreigners. Affairs took a more serious turn when the area along the river at Canton, where the foreigners lived and did their business, was ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1987 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522 182 for support in opposing the appointment. Ho A-mei's advice to his countrymen was: “All Chinese merchants, who have any regard for themselves, should refuse to assist in the consummation of an act that is wrong. Let them be peaceful and law-abiding, but with enough pride as Chinese to stand for what was their nation's due.” The letter evoked critical comment from "Brownie," who wrote the newspaper column, "Fragrant Waters Murmur." He questioned Ho A-mei's motives. According to him, a consul had always been A-mei's "pet scheme.” In fact, Brownie said he was sometimes facetiously called the "Chinese Consul" because of his close relations with Chinese officials. He sometimes acted for them in an unofficial capacity. Brownie thought these connections should have made Ho A-mei fully aware of “the devious ways of Chinese officialdom.” Certainly he could not really believe that a consul would benefit Chinese residents. An editor, commenting on A-mei's letter, implied that its author had himself had an unhappy experience with Chinese mandarins. He pointedly asked: "Were you, Mr. Ho A-mei, ever fined a large sum of money for your temerity in presenting a work or despatch of yours to the Viceroy and did you think it fair treatment?" Under the caption, “How rich Hongkong residents are squeezed," the China Mail published a chapter from a work entitled: Chips from the workshop of a self-sacrificing officer. It related the difficulties the Li Sing family encountered at the time of the Second Opium War, when the Chinese Government put pressure on members of the family to make large "contributions” to the Ch'ing Government. At the time, the family was accused of collaboration with the British against the Chinese. The example was interesting inasmuch as Ho A-mei had a long ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1987 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522 257 expert knowledge to do anything about it. Long afterwards, about 1977, when I had taken things as far as I could, I became aware that David Faure and his colleagues Bernard Luk and Alice Ng at the Chinese University were becoming interested in such relics and beginning to relate them to their own professional teaching of Chinese history, and in particular the history of South China. I turned over the documents to them and suggested that what we ought to be doing was to send their students round to check on the texts and, hopefully, publish them. Earlier - and I'll finish at this point - I had got help from another source. In 1974 the Hong Kong Tourist Association got impatient at the neglect of historical Chinese buildings in the New Territories. They provided $10,000 for a project, and I was an adviser to a survey which Patrick Lau of the University of Hong Kong did with his students in 1975. Based on its results, that splendid book Rural Architecture in Hong Kong was published by the Government Information Services in 1979. I shall now turn you over to David Faure who can tell you something about setting up his project. It led in time to collecting a mass of historical material about the New Territories that might otherwise have been lost for ever. David Faure I came with some notes, I think I always speak better with them. Let me just say a few things before I go on with this. I think in all fairness, some credit should be given to people who worked on these things before the Second World War. Sung Hok-pang, who was working in the Government, must have been a rather rare specimen at that time. He collected a lot of legends from the New Territories and wrote many articles about Hong Kong subjects. However, it is generally true, and I see it all the time, that Chinese scholars trained in the orthodox tradition do not think very highly of village studies. You mention the villages to them — but everything there is too common. The Chinese texts that you find in village books are not literary enough. Errors creep in here and there, they write the characters poorly, and so on. I may touch on ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1987 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522 263 This old lady said "Well, if you want my history, I can sit down here and talk for days and days—but I am not giving it to you". Of course, you know very well, the moment she said it, that she means she wants a listener. She doesn't want us to get information too easily. So you hang on and stay there, and learn to be fairly thick-skinned. Presently, she began a fascinating story of what happened to her during the Second World War. What happened also illustrates what happened in the family. I won't go into details; but just to give you a clue, she married the youngest and least important son of a very unimportant family in the village. To make things worse, she was a refugee from China at the beginning of the war, and her family was so poor (I can always remember the line she gave me) that she had to go up to her future husband's family to ask for the other five dollars that they owed her as part of the “bride price”. You can imagine the loss of 'face' that was associated with a woman coming up to the door of her future husband to ask for the last five dollars! Worse still, her husband was taken away by the Japanese and she was there on her own ever after. It is one of these very very sorrowful stories you hear when tears actually flowed; and I think not only from her but also from some of the people who were with me. We called our project the ‘Oral History Project', as we began thinking that we would rely primarily on interviews. Of course we couldn't use a detailed questionnaire with people of this kind, so I drew up a list of topics we would need to get information on, such as the outline history of the area. We supplemented those with other things which we could ask people as we got to know them better. Very soon, it was clear that village festivals were important events from which much could be learned about village organisation and history, and I began to make a point of going to them. It was not always possible to adhere to a plan of working only within a designated district. At times, you get to be told of a contact elsewhere who is willing to be interviewed; and if he is 85, you don't want to wait another five years before you go to him! You take whatever opportunity that comes up, and that often takes you out of your way. And so before very long, we were doing three lines of research work at the same time. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1987 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522 295 on 1 October 1930. The Chinese, in the opinion of Dr. Atwell, had not done their homework. The administrator sent by the central government was a naval officer. Instead of working within the framework of local traditions, the central government chose to embark on a programme of immediate modernization and reform, doing away with practices of many centuries, leading to deprivation and resentment. Economic and social conditions continued to deteriorate. The area was again occupied by Japanese forces when the second Sino-Japanese War began in 1937. If Dr. Atwell's work had to be faulted at all, it would be on her preponderant reliance upon British documents. Even what Chinese policies were and how people felt about them were discerned from Foreign Office records. Motivations and reasons for adoption of certain policies, therefore, were not exactly taken from the horse's mouth, so to speak. Dr. Atwell has a more than respectable command of Chinese, and could have investigated more Chinese sources in greater depth. Perhaps her mentors at the University of London did not encourage consultation of Chinese historical archives. Perhaps the documents were not accessible. In addition, it must have been a disappointment to Dr. Atwell and a loss to the readers that she was denied access to some important personal papers of Lockhart. It must also be noted that Chinese central governments did not normally look at localities except as a small part of the whole. Policies and programmes were adopted for the entire country, and Weihaiwei came only as a part of it. It was, as Dr. Atwell has pointed out, T. V. Soong, Minister of Finance, therefore, rather than the local administrator, who determined fiscal policies for Weihaiwei. The National Government was following the time-honoured tradition of giving priority to the total policy over individual localities. Perhaps, had British administrators followed modernization programmes adopted elsewhere in China, Chinese rulers after 1930 would not have needed to use such drastic means. Scholars in future may examine Chinese materials more fully, including extant archival sources which are becoming routinely consulted in Chinese historical research, and may find some of the answers raised by Dr. Atwell's investigations. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1987 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522 296 Individual treaty ports in China as well as other parts of Asia, large and small, are receiving attention from scholars. Meanwhile, British Mandarins and Chinese Reformers should be read by all who are interested in modern China or who are interested in the British in Asia. Dr. Atwell has made a significant contribution to our knowledge of how the British administered one small locality and coped with demands of modern forces. Her work can be used as a guide or springboard for comparison of British colonial policy in various East Asian places, such as Brunei and the Straits Settlements, Hankow, Tientsin, and Shanghai, say, with Hong Kong tossed in for good measure. WEI PEH T'I* Steven A. Leibo, Transferring Technology to China, Prosper Giquel and the Self-strengthening Movement, China Research Monograph 28, Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley, Center for Chinese Studies, 1985. Prosper Giquel, edited by Steven A. Leibo, A Journal of the Chinese Civil War 1864. Honolulu, University of Hawaii Press, 1985. These two works, one of compilation and assessment based on a doctoral dissertation, the other of translation (with the help of Debbie Weston) and annotation with a lengthy introduction, have a considerable intrinsic interest because they deal with a rather extraordinary man. They have also a degree of relevance, over a century later, for the West's involvement with present-day China's modernizing programme. They are to be read in conjunction with other modern works on this period of China's self-strengthening efforts, including those listed in Dr. Leibo's introduction to Transferring Technology. Prosper Giquel, a French naval officer, came to China during the Second China War. After service with the Joint Commission * Wei Peh T'i is Honorary Lecturer, Department of History, and Research Associate, Centre of Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong. She is the author of Shanghai: Crucible of Modern China (1987). ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1988 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q 16 NOT SO CALM AN ADMINISTRATION: THE ANGLO-FRENCH OCCUPATION OF CANTON, 1858-1861 STEVEN A. LEIBO* One of the more persistent myths of early Sino-European relations is the calm which is said to have prevailed during the three year long Anglo-French occupation of Canton, 1858-1861. As described by one of the best recent histories of modern China: A few years later when Canton was occupied by the British in 1857, the Cantonese showed no sign of unruliness and foreigners could walk about unmolested, without the slightest sign of resistance or animosity. The reality, though, was far different. The Cantonese, long resistant to British demands that they allow foreigners within the walls of their city, continued for quite some time to make life very difficult for the occupying forces. In fact, very considerable resistance was carried out against the foreign military establishment and the mixed units of Sino-European police which worked with them. The purpose of this essay is to illustrate elements of the allied occupation, the administrative structure established for the city's governance and the various issues, among them the occupation itself, and the coolie trade, which at times made Allied control of Canton considerably more precarious than we have been led to believe. The initial occupation The origins of the Second Opium War, or Arrow War as it is often called, are well known and need no more than adumbration here. Certainly, the allied sense that the Opium War treaties, signed more than a decade before, needed revision, as well as long running difficulties between the British and the Cantonese over the right of the former to * Associate Professor, Dept. of History, Russell Sage College, New York. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1988 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q 149 Upon receiving word of the unexpected death of Second Paternal Aunt, Father decided to take a trip to China to see his remaining brothers and sisters. Passage by boat after the First World War was difficult to secure, but reluctant to change his schedule and to inconvenience the bank, he accepted steerage accommodation and left in April 1919 on the Shinyo Maru. Before the ship arrived in Japan some ten days later, he had seen 19 passengers die from influenza and he had himself fallen ill. He debarked in Japan to seek medical care, but as he had difficulty communicating with the Japanese doctor, he proceeded to Shanghai so that Second Paternal Uncle could take care of him. The weather in Shanghai proved to be too cold, so he decided to go to Hong Kong to stay with First Paternal Uncle. There a doctor Koch diagnosed Father as suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis. When his fingers began to swell, relatives believed the sulphur content of the water in Hong Kong was not beneficial and arranged to move him to my maternal grandfather's home in Shekki, occupied then by his widow and son. It was then that Father sent for Mother. With the help of C. K. Ai, Mother was able to obtain passage, again steerage, on the S. S. Nanking for herself, Dora, and me. Ruth and Helen were left in the care of the Ais. It must have been difficult for them, especially for Helen, to be separated from Mother under such stressful circumstances. On shipboard we were one of three families in a large cabin, sharing one bath. There was much noise and activity in and outside of this cabin, but we kept much to ourselves because Mother was very much worried about Father and left Dora, who cried a good deal, probably from seasickness, to my care. One day Mother suffered such severe gastric pain that she thought she would die and gave me instructions as to what to do. The ship's doctor was able to ease her pain. It was a frightening experience and the trip was a traumatic one for all three of us. Years later, Dr. Samuel Yee found that Mother had had a healed perforated gastric ulcer and I wondered if it had occurred then. Since we were total strangers in a different world, First Paternal Uncle thoughtfully accompanied us from Hong Kong to join Father in Shekki. We travelled over the ocean and up river to our destination on a crowded junk or "doo", to be greeted joyfully by Father. Chinese herbs and good food, however, had not been able to restore Father to good health. So my parents decided to return to Honolulu, hoping that a stay at the Leahi ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1988 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q 161 faith, the Lam Toy's and Lam Quan's, who became our life-long friends. By this time Chinese women were freer to visit with each other, and Mrs. Lam Quan taught Mother how to sew Western style dresses for us children, to bake cakes, to make delicious ice cream (which was a great treat in those days), and to use Western medicine. When Mr. and Mrs. Ai took a trip to China in 1913, their son, Samuel, would often play with me or Helen. One afternoon while he, Mung Yee Yap and I were playing ball, the family dog, tied to a mango tree, bit Samuel repeatedly when he tried to retrieve a stray ball. I stood immobilized and horrified by his screams. He happened to be wearing clothes his friend had loaned him when his head became wet while playing in a stream, and the unfamiliar scent must have provoked the dog. Fortunately his sister Bessie, who happened to come to the front door, rescued him. It was also traumatic to hear Samuel's scream while he was being treated on the back porch by Dr. Francis Wong-Leong. Among Mother's non-Christian friends was the first Mrs. Siu Kit who lived in a small lane behind the Dutro's. She had come from China with her oldest child to join Mr. Siu, who ran a butcher shop at the corner of King and Aala Streets. She bore five more children, but the youngest died of whooping cough before he was even a month old. After the death of this infant, Mrs. Siu seemed to have no will to live, and, again, pregnant, became very ill, possibly from influenza. She died in 1919, insisting to the end that Mr. Siu had taken in a concubine in his village. There was no foundation to her accusations, because only after her death did he go to Japan, where he met and married a young girl from the village selected by his family to be his second wife. This second Mrs. Siu also became our life-long friend, who looked upon Mother as a surrogate parent and was always generous and thoughtful. She found the care of five undisciplined stepchildren and seven of her own a difficult responsibility. When the exchange rate was very favourable, Mr. Siu retired to Shekki with his whole family but gradually sent his children, two or three at a time, back to Honolulu. He died during the Japanese occupation of China. Mrs. Siu returned to Honolulu after the Second World War to live with her daughter, Siu Ying Chun, and died in 1985 while on an extended visit in California. This was a worry-free and happy period of my life in spite of the fact that occasionally I had a stormy time with Mother, who did not spare ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1988 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q 165 Chinese girls there. Very feminine and attractive, she had no end of male admirers, much to Mother's anxiety. 1 On February 6, 1932, young and inexperienced, Helen was married to Edmund Tin Wai Tong W, who was some years her senior and much more sophisticated. He had been educated at Lingnan University in Canton and at the University of Pennsylvania, and was working for the Chinese-American Bank, of which his father, Tong Phong, was president. This union was pleasing to both my Mother and to the Tong Phong's. A son, Edmund Yee Sing, was born on 28 September 1933. Following the failure of the bank when it encountered financial difficulties, Helen and Tin Wai were divorced on 18 January 1937. This was a disappointment to the parents on both sides, but the in-laws remained good friends. With the passage of time, Helen and Tin Wai are now on friendly terms. Helen began her working career as a kindergarten teacher for a year and a substitute teacher at a junior high school for about half a year. For a year in 1937 to 1938, she went to San Francisco to attend a fashion designing school as well as a business school. She returned to Honolulu to work along these lines, first for others, then for herself in a dressmaking business, until the Second World War when she worked for the Office of Civilian Defense in a secretarial capacity. When the war ended, she accepted a civil service position as a statistician with the Territorial Bureau of Sight Conservation and later as a clerk-stenographer with the Territorial Board of Health. Due to the fact that she failed to receive child support, as ordered by the Court, from Edmund's father, Helen was forced to change jobs whenever a better paying one opened to her. Alone she eventually saw Edmund go through college with a degree in dentistry from the University of Illinois. In 1946 on a vacation trip to Chicago to visit Dora, Helen met and married Tso-yu Futon on 14 March, 1947. He came from Wen Chou, Yung Chia Hsian, Chekiang Province MT and owned a Chinese art business, which ended when no merchandise could be imported from China. At the time of his death on 14 March, 1971, as a result of an automobile accident, he was a managing editor of a Chinese newspaper. After two more children, Lynnette Wen-chu X, born on 29 July, 1948, and Russell Wen-chau M born on 10 September, 1951, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1988 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q 189 A great many books are missing; a circumstance which has been duly recorded by the Council, and against the occurrence of which such measures have been taken as will prevent in future any further similar loss.13 Apparently Haas' efforts to tighten up went too far because his successor, F. Hirth reported in 1879 that "the Library is too sparingly used by the members of the Society”, and even that was "somewhat disorderly, not to say, unconscientious". He went on to state that an honorary librarian could not be expected to oversee the operation at all public hours, nor during those times when the Chinese servants were cleaning it. He proposed that the Shanghai Library, which was leasing space in the society's building, take over its operation and run it as a non-circulating reference collection. The society would continue to seek donations and exchanges, and its members would continue to have borrowing privileges. In 1881 this transfer took place and this arrangement continued for the next two decades until the Shanghai Library became a true public library and moved to other facilities. 15 These were slow years in the development of the library, and the annual reports complained of few donations and included such statements as “it is remarkable and no less a matter of regret, that our excellent library is so little used”. In 1887 the society issued its first catalogue of Chinese language publications, a two-page list of sets which totalled 1,497 volumes. In 1894 a third edition of the printed catalogue of Western language books was issued, which showed 1,324 titles, up only about thirty percent in a quarter of a century. 17 By the beginning of the twentieth century the library was embarking on its second growth cycle. There were now exchanges with "about 60 learned societies and journals”, from such diverse places as Hong Kong, Holland, Portugal and French Indo-China, as well as the United States, Great Britain, and Germany. There was an assistant librarian, a Miss Backet, who was compiling indexes of articles on Asia appearing in European journals. 19 Another recataloguing of the collection took place in 1907, this time according to the Dewey Decimal System, "upon the recommendation... ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1988 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q 247 Third, it serves as an alliance across common surname groups. Fourth, it represents a claim to official status. In no case is it a substitute for the territorial community. The territorial community is represented by a different religion. It may be subsumed under the lineage; it often is in the case of single-lineage villages, (p. 166) The transition from bad anthropology to good anthropology is a difficult one, even for anthropologists. I suggest therefore that Faure drop the anthropology altogether.' With regard to the second dimension of Faure's work, I am somewhat disturbed by Faure's argument that the ancestral halls and grand written genealogies produced during the period of "The Five Great Clans” were simply status symbols which were meant to provide a kind of facade in dealing with official policy at the time. This is like saying people starch their shirts and blow dry their hair because it is the “in-thing" to do. It hardly suffices as any kind of serious explanation. Historians and anthropologists of China have known for a quite long time that large-scale agnatic organization of the kind which has typified the Chinese lineage is for the most part a phenomenon seen no earlier than the Ming. I think Faure's criticism of historians who have been content to focus purely upon the "visible" aspects of the lineage as text in the form of ancestral halls and genealogies is a legitimate complaint. But I think we are far from pinpointing the ideological and sociological roots of that phenomenon. More than just ancestral halls, genealogies and official policies, there exists in other words a whole complex of factors which underlies that total social phenomenon. On a methodological note, there is a further danger in Faure's insistence that ancestral halls and genealogies were just public status symbols, to wit the following: Nevertheless, the establishment of these ancestral halls represented an important stage in lineage-building because they provided symbols of territorial and lineage unity: fronts, if one wishes to call them that, behind which the segmented bodies tracing common descent might appear as corporate bodies in regional politics and in dealings with the yamen. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 8 00 # HONG KONG, 26 JANUARY 1841: HOISTING THE FLAG REVISITED* K. J. P. Lowe This article will attempt to investigate the circumstances surrounding the ceremony of the hoisting of the British flag on Hong Kong Island on 26 January 1841, following the cession of the island in the treaty of 20 January 1841. It will in the process shed light on some of the more immediate British reactions to the acquisition of the island. The first Opium War and the subsequent Chinese expedition of 1840-1 form the immediate background to this event, and these subjects are well covered in the contemporary China-coast English-language press, in quasi-governmental sources and in memoirs by those involved. Negotiations leading to the cession were carried out by Captain Charles Elliot1 for the British, and the Chinese commissioner Ch'i-shan. Yet the hoisting of the flag itself seems largely to have been ignored or played down at this stage, even though Hong Kong was taken by the British as a direct result of successful military action and the ceremony should have been an important gesture of victory. I wish to posit that although Elliot and J. Gordon Bremer, the naval commodore, were proud of the acquisition of Hong Kong (and steamed all round their island at the first opportunity2), most people were not, and considered it of little consequence. The downplaying of the formal possession ceremony in contemporary accounts reflects this, and it was only when the colony started to be a financial success and stable social entity in the 1870s that the ceremony of possession took on a new significance.3 6 Reminiscences of the Chinese expedition by officers in the navy and the army are common. Good examples of this type of literature by naval officers are the books by Edward Belcher of HMS Sulphur,4 by John Elliot Bingham who had been first Lieutenant of HMS Modeste,5 and by William Bernard who had been on board the Nemesis. Of these three, unfortunately only Belcher was in Hong Kong on the requisite day to witness the ceremony because Elliot had commandeered the Nemesis to take him to the Second Bar for his meeting with Ch'i-shan (also on 26 January), and Elliot Bingham had fractured a leg during enemy action on 10 January and had been taken to Macao. Belcher * I should like to thank Jardine Matheson and Co. Ltd. for permission to use their archives, and Eugene McLaughlin for his help. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 14 48 to have been a more junior soldier such as a drill or colour havildar who would have been ordered to hoist the flag. At the moment it is not possible therefore to say whether Mohammed Arab hoisted the Union Jack on Hong Kong or not, but what is undeniable is that by his death in 1878 Hong Kong had prospered and grown in importance to such an extent that he and the wider community in the colony considered that whoever had hoisted the flag that day had done something of interest to posterity. If it had been Mohammed Arab, it would have been a foretaste of the multiracial legacies that colonialism would leave to the island. 49 50 The other candidate for the honour of hoisting the flag is a far more conventional one. In his guide to Hong Kong of 1893, William Legge wrote: 'In January [1841] . . . the British Ensign was hoisted on Possession Point . . . by midshipman Dowell (now Admiral Sir William Dowell KCB)'. William Montagu Dowell was born on 2 August 1825 and was made a lieutenant in the Royal Navy in 1847, rising to be vice-admiral in 1880 and admiral in 1885. In January 1841 he would have been fifteen, so it is possible that he could have been a midshipman at that date and could have been among the group landing on Hong Kong to hoist the flag. More important than whether Dowell raised the flag or not is the fact that the author wished to associate a famous person with the act. William Dowell had been involved in the Second China War of 1857, he was at Shimoneseki in Japan in 1864 and he returned to the Far East as commander-in-chief of the navy in China between January 1884 and September 1885; his naval career had also included spells at the Cape of Good Hope, on the West coast of Africa and on the Egyptian expedition of 1882. By claiming an admiral and a knight as the perpetrator of the deed, the author may have been expressing a desire that Hong Kong's rise in importance should be seen to be mirroring that of Dowell. 51 52 It is extraordinary that historians have paid so little attention to the acquisition of Hong Kong and that so little effort has been expended in trying to establish the manner in which Hong Kong came to be possessed by the British, and contemporary reactions to that possession. Such omissions might perhaps have been more understandable had Hong Kong at this stage only been thought of as a temporary possession. But by the 1870s it was clear that Hong Kong had become a permanent and financially successful part of the Empire, and certainly by the twentieth century it could have been expected that there would have been considerable interest in constructing a colonial history. That such a history ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 61 THE KIUKIANG INCIDENT OF 1927 P. H. MUNRO-Faure The turgid waters of the Yangtze rolled by to the sea, four hundred and eighty miles away. They swirled past the two hulks, alongside which river steamers came to discharge the cargoes of cotton material, hardware, salt, and those edible sea-products so dear to the heart of the Chinese gourmet; loading in return tea, porcelain, grass-cloth, and camphor. Inshore small wavelets glistened in the wintry sun, and lapped along the edge of the dark mud, which sloped down to the water in front of * Editor's Note. Paul Hector Munro-Faure was born in 1894 of Swiss/Scottish parentage. Educated in England, he entered the Supplementary Army Reserve in 1912, and volunteered on the outbreak of War, being commissioned in the Sherwood Foresters. He was wounded on the Somme in 1916, and, on his recovery, was attached to the King's African Rifles, with whom he saw action in Tanganyika. By the end of the War he had risen to the rank of Captain. He was Mentioned in a Despatch for distinguished services in the field, and was commended in writing by the Secretary of State for War. After the War, he joined the Asiatic Petroleum Company, and remained in their service until the outbreak of the Second World War, as Manager of one or other of their offices in China. In 1937 he established a Chinese Refugee Safety Centre in Shanghai, and was later decorated for this by the Chinese Government with the Brilliant Star with Ribbon. In 1938 he was connected with the International Relief Committee in Nanking, by whose Chairman he was commended for his work for the displaced. He was also commended at this date by the Secretary of the Admiralty for his work in evacuating from that city civilians at risk. On the outbreak of the Second World War he was commissioned as Major (shortly afterwards Lieutenant-Colonel) in the Special Operations Executive. He worked at first in the Bush Warfare School at Maymyo, Burma, which trained Chinese guerillas for behind-the-lines work. (For this school, see "Prisoners of Hope", Michael Calvert, (London, 1951), where Lt. Col. Munro-Faure is mentioned at p. 11). He then opened a similar school near the front lines in the Hangchow-Nanking area. For this he was awarded an OBE in 1943. Later still he worked between the front lines on the north-east frontier of Burma, attempting to ensure the continuing support for the British of the native princes of the region, in the face of Japanese, and particularly Chinese, attempts to replace the British as the dominant local power. He was commended for this work by his Commanding Officer. In 1944, he was recalled to England. After the War he was seconded as Oil Attache to the British Embassy in Romania. He retired in 1949, and died in 1956. Lt. Col. Munro-Faure wrote a book of Memoirs in 1944-1945, in 11 chapters, covering his experiences in the Kiu Kiang Incident (1927), and between 1937 and 1944, together with an exposition of his views on the proper role of foreigners in China. The text is in the Imperial War Museum, London, Because of the immensely valuable picture these Memoirs paint of the Kiu Kiang Incident (in which the writer was closely involved), of China during the early War years, and of the border areas of Burma during the period when the present troubles in the area were first developing, it is proposed to print them as a series in this and the next several issues of the Journal. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 102 War (see Table 1). Table 1 Year of Entry of the 60 Joss Stick Factories Interviewed Year of Entry Number of Joss Stick Factories Number of Mills Before 1920 2 0 1920s 3 0 1930s 5 0 1940s 3 2 1950s 9 0 1960s 17 1970s 1980s 9 5 Source: Fieldwork, Hong Kong, 1987. The reason for their entry into the business was attributed to the expansion of the market. Instability of the political situation and uncertainty about the future in the immediate pre-War period, and again in the 1960s, had driven many people to rest their fate on the Gods. This, of course, led to the consumption of large quantities of joss sticks. During the Second World War, the Hong Kong joss stick industry, just like many other industries, was greatly impaired by the Japanese Occupation. Many factories were closed down during the War as the industry faced a period of exceptionally lean years. Some of the factories relocated to the New Territories where the larger and more open area offered better shelter. The majority of the factory proprietors fled to Mainland China. The years of stagnation continued until the end of the War as, after all, joss sticks were not basic necessities to living. In times of war, few people had the spare time and money to spend on such items. After the period of Japanese Occupation, the joss stick industry was slow to recover. The Hong Kong Annual Report states in 1946, the production of joss sticks was seriously affected by the internal strife in Indo-China which was formerly the principal market for the export trade".27 The situation was no better in 1949. The Report for the Year 1949 of the Hong Kong Chinese Chamber of Commerce summarized the business condition of the Joss Stick Merchants' Union, From the beginning of the year, the industry was having a ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 199 -- it may, however, improve on further acquaintance but we had no other opportunity of judging during the evening". The "Turkophonini” could be heard in a solo with variations and it was deemed "by far the most perfect and pleasing instrument of the two`. The Shanghai Redowa Waise (Redowa: a Bohemian dance) which had been "composed expressly for this Concert and dedicated to the Ladies of Shanghai — as the programme informed us", also performed on the Turkophonini was not thought of "very highly”, but it convinced the reporter that "the instrument is well adopted for that class of music". Obviously not everyone in the audience was of the same view, for the editor wrote in the Herald of September 27: "The critique of our reporter has been much discussed in fashionable circles and the correctness of his judgement as to the perfection of these new instruments questioned. Knowing his high attainments as a musician, we defer to his opinion. Matters of taste do not admit of dispute. De gustibus non est disputandum. We may all enjoy our own and as a second glass of wine enables us to pronounce better judgement as to its quality, so will this second performance (on September 29) by familiarizing us with the instruments enable us better to decide upon their excellence". In Hong Kong the China Mail could not speak "in very warm terms of praise at least as regards their suitability for solo performances" (CM 21.8.1856). On the other hand it admitted that "by men of cultivated taste M. Ali's talents are fully appreciated and it will be long ere those who have had the pleasure of listening to his performances will forget the sweet but powerful tones of the Turkophone or the duleet melody of the Grand Clarionet and Turkophonini" (CM 16.10.1856). Ali Ben Sou Alle was assisted by local amateurs who played a number of pieces including two Rossini overtures on the piano; and "very creditably" sung Mendelssohn's "The Fairest Flower". The evening was attended by a "numerous audience, comprising the beauty and fashion of our Settlement'' (NCH 20.8.1856). 29.9.1856 (Mon) A second concert by Ali Ben Sou Alle. No review was published in the Herald, only an announcement (NCH 27.9.1856). 18.2.1857 (Wedn) D. BOUCICAULT & C. MATHEWS: "Used Up" (1846) T: Comedietta (2 acts) J.M. MORTON: “Box and Cox" (1847) T: Farce (1 act) C: Amateurs F: Prologue Th: N.N. (C) ― R: The season opened both under the new management of "Peter PROTEUS" (again: a stage name, Proteus being an old Greek who could assume different shapes, as some actors are able to; also a character from Shakespeare's "Two Gentlemen of Verona') and with a new theatrical reviewer in the Herald: "The Man on the Bund" (for the current season only). And although some months later he was heavily criticized because of some strictures he made about the choice of plays, in general his articles in a highly personal style were a mere continuation of the "nothing but praise" attitude that so prevailed. Thus Used Up was "rendered with unquestionable ability by Mr. Peter Proteus, the manager" who himself played Sir Charles Coldstream; and Mr. CLAY gave the part of the forlorn, but blunt and honest blacksmith Ironbrace with much skill and effect". Making her debut Mrs. NESBIT impersonated Lady Clutterbuck: "One would not have thought that so much deceit could lurk under so smooth and charming a face". She brought to this part "not only much cleverness and knowledge of the feminine heart but a very imposing person and decided good looks; and one could not help thinking the baronet might have stumbled upon a less pretty face in his ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 203 21.1.1858 (Thur) Entertainment by Mr. George Henri. R: As there appeared no review of Mr. George HENRI's miracles on December 29 there is some doubt as to whether they were indeed performed on that date: perhaps they were postponed to January 21. Then the Herald showed itself “so astonished that had he asked us what we wished him to do next we should have requested him to produce Yeh before our eyes". This alluded to Yeh Ming-ch'en, the Chinese Imperial Commissioner for Foreign Affairs who had played a major role in the second Anglo-Chinese war. He had been captured on January 5 1858 and taken to Calcutta by the British. (NCH 23.1.1858). 9.2.1858 (Tue) T.J. DIBDIN: "The Birthday” (1799) T: Comedy (3 acts) C. DANCE: "The Dustman's Belle" (1846) T: Comedy (2 acts) J. KENNEY: "Raising the Wind" (1803) T: Farce (2 acts) C: Officers of H.M.S. Pique Th: On board ship R: The description of the circumstances under which the Herald's reporter was drawn to the "Pique" (a British frigate with crew of 350) is too vivid for the reader to forgo: Tuesday last was a depressing day for a melancholic tempered man, and even we, not constitutionally sad, felt its influence. The morning dawned through an atmosphere in which rain and mist were struggling to see which should do its worst to make everything look disagreeable. As the day moved on, the rain gained the ascendancy and pelted down most pitilessly; overhead the sky looked dull and murky; underfoot the soil of Shanghai, mingling lovingly with the weeping clouds, produced a mixture as tenacious as the grasp of a miser, and dirty as the soul of a time-serving parasite. The mail, with the usual fatality which crowds one mishap upon another, though overdue, had not arrived. To take the gun was simply to commit a felo de se in a sea of mud; and to hum a snatch of a tune was as great an exertion as to dance an Irish jig in fetters, or laugh at the present Sir R. Peel's facetiousness.* In this desolate mood we were plunged, when suddenly a bright recollection flashed upon us. We rose hastily from our chair and consulted a paper which had been lying neglected in a corner: it was the Pique's playbill. The sight of the 'Birthday', the 'Dustman's Belle' and 'Raising the Wind' acted like a charm upon us, and a few minutes afterwards we had crossed the Bund, escaped the insidious dangers of those man-traps of jetties which the Municipal Council are daily suffering to grow more and more like that bridge with many pitfalls invented in the vision of Mirza (this is a reference to "The Vision of Mirza" by Joseph Addison, first published in "The Spectator" in 1711 and reprinted in 1856 – JH); and committed the safety of our person to a China-boatman and his magnified eggshell. The rain pelted, but we laughed at it; the gusts blew spitefully, but we clutched the tighter and defied them; the darkness did its best to mislead us, but the bright glow from a sailor's pipe guided us with more trustworthiness and safety than a beacon light under certain auspices could have done, and we reached the Pique in safety. Here we found all light, bustle and tiptoe expectation. The main deck had been cleared of its grim everyday tenants - the cold frowning implements of old Mars and their room occupied by the flimsy, but joy-inspiring fripperies of Thespis. We passed along row after row of happy, eager faces and took our seat in front, amongst the guests whom the ship's company of the * Sir Robert Peel (1822-1895), diplomat and politician; popular in social life and gifted with "rare powers of irony, but also "absence of dignity" and a "want of moral fiber in his volatile character" (Dictionary of National Biography, Vol. 44, p. 223-224). ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 210 Bagshaw and Bradshaw, the critic had to admit that "what it was all about we were utterly unable to discover" (NCH 4.6.1859). 15.2.1860 (Wedn) L.S. BUCKINGHAM: "Take that Girl Away" (1855) T: Comedy (2 acts) C. SELBY: "A Fearful Tragedy in the Seven Dials" (1857) T: Farce (1 act) C: Amateurs Th: N.N. (F) N: First performance of the season R: The new theatre was only a small one and therefore it was announced in the Herald of February 11 that "admission will only be given to ticket holders. Tickets will be distributed with the Bills to the various Hongs and any Gentleman who may be accidentally omitted will be supplied on written application to the Manager". From time to time politics continued to turn up in the playhouse. It was the time of the English and French wars in China; the United States was not taking part in them, only sharing in the spoils, yet the following remark closed the review: "We beg permission to observe that we should have been glad to have seen the 'Star Spangled Banner' floating over the proscenium along with the colours of France and England. All honour to the Anglo-French Alliance! But our American cousins form, in every respect, so important a section of this community that the absence of their flag on an occasion like Wednesday evening would seem to be a discourtesy of which we feel very sure that the worthy management never was intentionally guilty". Tonight, and on March 15, the faces of Messrs. PICKWICK, BRUSHWOOD, and TINTINNABULUM as well as that of Mrs. NESBIT were absent from the stage; others like Miss WALTERS and Mr. PETREL had remained. Making their debut were Mr. ADOLPHE, "gifted with both self-possession and a good voice"; Mr. WITHAM who, as Cuttle (in Take that Girl Away) "displayed a steadiness and a clearness of enunciation calculated to make him a valuable actor in 'utility' parts"; and Mr. NATIVE whom the reviewer thought "better fitted to shine as a sentimental than as a grotesque lover". Miss WALTERS was "dressed to perfection, played as well as ever (can we say more!) and was charmingly feminine". In A Fearful Tragedy in the Seven Dials, there was the first night of Mr. C. AITCH as Slumpington for whom **a great future success in 'character parts' was predicted. These hopes were not realised, however, for I have not found his name again. For the umpteenth time, the Herald judged the pieces that were represented weak - to put it mildly. (NCH 18.2.1860). 15.3.1860 (Thur) T. TAYLOR: "Still Waters Run Deep" (1856) T: Comedy (3 acts) J.M. MORTON: "Poor Pillicoddy" (1848) T: Farce (1 act) C: Amateurs F: Music by the band of H.M.S. Imperieuse Th: N.N. (F) N: Second performance of the season R: This second night took place in a house that was "crowded in every part" and proved "in every respect highly successful". The "Man on the Bund" had no longer a say in the theatrical reports, and the piece about which he had been so dissatisfied (see 23.4.1857), Still Waters Run Deep got a far better critique now: "in that scene in the second act in which the villain Hawksley is unmasked, the interest was raised to an exciting pitch and sterling dramatic ability displayed by the performers". No actors were mentioned, but in Poor Pillicoddy, a "young gentleman made his first appearance ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 212 26.12.1861 (Thur) Concert by Signor Robbio, violin, and some local amateurs, Programme: 4 L. VAN BEETHOVEN; Trio for strings in E-flat opus 3, V. BELLINI: “Norma”, the aria 'Casta Diva' arranged for violin, C.A. DE BERIOT: Tremolo", C. GOUNOD: **Meditation upon J.S. Bach's first prelude", i.e., the famous Ave Maria, C.M. von WEBER: "Der Freischütz”, cavatine (presumably "Und ob die Wolke sie verhülle”, act III), arranged for cello and piano. Sir Henry BISHOP: "Home sweet home" (from the opera "Clari, the maid of Milan'), Sr ROBBIO: "Grande Valse Diabolique“, In addition: some quartet and solo singing by amateurs. Th: N.N. R: Today the second concert by the violinist Signor ROBBIO came off "for a very large audience". In November he had made his debut in Shanghai but because of a gap of three November issues in the file of the Herald I have been using no details can be given. Once more, however, the paper seems to have been discontented with the selection of the pieces. Not so tonight, with the exception of one composition by Sr Robbio himself, **a work of the Paganini school” of which the critic was evidently not a lover. About the interpretations by the violinist, though, there was but praise; e.g. "he greatly charmed his audience by the power and feeling with which he executed the beautiful air from Norma, 'Casta Diva'". So all was enjoyable, the more so as "for the moribund piano used at the last concert a fine 'Broadwood' was substituted, which displayed to great advantage the admirable playing of the gentleman to whom St Robbio was so much indebted for his accompaniment". One letter writer went even so far as to exclaim that such delights in Shanghai are indeed 'like angels' visits few and far between' "' (NCH 28.12.1861). February and March 1861 Performances by "Lewis' Australian Hippodrome” Loc: Commercial House in Hongkew - ― וי N: During the months of February and March "Lewis' Equestrian Australian Troupe" gave a large number of performances, of which the first one was announced for February 15 and the last for March 17. The public was entertained with horses and artists, among whom Mr. and Mrs. COUSINS, Mr. BARLOW, Senior RAPHAEL, Jessi GARDONI, **Austin Shanghai**, and “Little Ella". For all, benefits were held in March. It was not the first time that the troupe had operated on the China Coast. In December 1859 they had visited Hong Kong (CM 15.12.1859, 22.12.1859). 13.2.1863 (Fri) J.M. MORTON: "Our Wife, or the Rose of Amiens" (1856) T: Comic drama (1 act) H A. MAYHEW & H. SUTHERLAND EDWARDS: The Goose with the Golden Eggs T: Farce (1 act) C: Amateurs (Local and British officers) 13.2.1863 (Fri) J.M. MORTON: "Our Wife, or the Rose of Amiens" (1856) T: Comic drama (1 act) A. MAYHEW & H. SUTHERLAND EDWARDS: "The Goose with the Golden Eggs' T: Farce (1 act) C: Amateurs (Local and British officers) F: Music by the band of the 67th regiment Th: Theatre Royal (G) N: First performance of the season R: Casts: ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 342 The festival was estimated to cost a total of more than one million dollars. The opera cost $357,000, paper images $150,000, temporary structures $150,000, and the puppet theatre $110,000. The opera was paid for, as is the tradition, from the funds of two lineage trusts, those of the Naam-Kai jou and Ching-Lok jou. Each contributes $180,000. For the other expenses, each of the villagers paid a subscription of $300, with the no. 1 to no. 15 ritual representatives each paying an extra $500, 50 The main participants were the Dang villagers of Kam Tin. For the purpose of organizing the jiu the villagers were divided into five gu sections. Each section corresponded to a village, except that the Tai Hong gu included, besides Tai Hong Wai, Ko Po, Kam Hing Wai, Tsi Tong Tsuen and Tai Hong Tsuen. Also taking part were the villagers of Ying Lung Wai, the settlement of the second branch of Hung-Yi's lineage outside the heung of Kam Tin. They paid half subscriptions and got the last three places among the 60 ritual representatives. Some of the non-Dang residents in the heung also participated. Those include the Sa Bui Leng villagers and post-War and later immigrants from China who operated farms and shops in Kam Tin. These "outsiders", however, could not become ritual representatives. The ritual representatives were to stand for all the villagers in the Taoist rites and in some of the rites the villagers performed on their own. There were also religious activities conducted by every household. At three points of the festival, i.e. the opening day, the main day, and the concluding day, every household came, family by family, to worship at the various ritual sites, and a priest visited each house on the last day to purify the family altar. In addition, each and every person was named in the ritual memorials which were read aloud and sent by fire to heaven, with a copy posted in the ritual area for all to read and check. Many other villagers in the area were also peripherally involved. They offered their congratulations by having fa-paai banners set up in the festival site, and by paying a formal visit to the site on the main day with their lion/unicorn dances. To wait to receive them the elders of Kam Tin lined up in cheung-saam, B. Ritual Area The festival site was beside the Jau and Wong Temple. A large paang temporary structure was erected. Outside the main structure were three small linked temporary structures for first-aid, the fire services, and the ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 416 October 1930. The Chinese, in the opinion of Dr. Atwell, had not done their homework. The administrator sent by the central government was a naval officer. Instead of working within the framework of local traditions, the central government chose to embark on a programme of immediate modernization and reform, doing away with practices of many centuries, leading to deprivation and resentment. Economic and social conditions continued to deteriorate. The area was again occupied by Japanese forces when the second Sino-Japanese War began in 1937. If Dr. Atwell's work has to be faulted at all, it would be on her preponderant reliance upon British documents. Even what Chinese policies were and how people felt about them were discerned from Foreign Office records. Motivations and reasons for adoption of certain policies, therefore, were not exactly taken from the horse's mouth, so to speak. Dr. Atwell has a more than respectable command of Chinese, and could have investigated more Chinese sources in greater depth. Perhaps her mentors at the University of London did not encourage consultation of Chinese historical archives. Perhaps the documents were not accessible. In addition, it must have been a disappointment to Dr. Atwell and a loss to the readers that she was denied access to some important personal papers of Lockhart. It must also be noted that Chinese central governments did not normally look at localities except as a small part of the whole. Policies and programmes were adopted for the entire country, and Weihaiwei came under them only as a part of the whole. It was, as Dr. Atwell has pointed out, T. V. Soong, Minister of Finance, therefore, rather than the local administrator, who determined fiscal policies for Weihaiwei after 1930. The National Government was following the time-honoured tradition of giving priority to the total polity over individual localities. Perhaps, had British administrators followed modernization programmes adopted elsewhere in China, Chinese rulers after 1930 would not have needed to use such drastic means. Scholars in future may examine Chinese materials more fully, including extant archival sources which are becoming routinely consulted in Chinese historical research, and may find some of the answers to the questions raised by Dr. Atwell's investigations. Individual treaty ports in China as well as other parts of Asia, large and small, are receiving attention from scholars. Meanwhile, British Mandarins and Chinese Reformers should be read by all who are ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 417 interested in modern China or who are interested in the British in Asia. Dr. Atwell has made a significant contribution to our knowledge of how the British administered one small locality and coped with the demands of modern forces. Her work can be used as a guide or spring board for comparison of British colonial policy in other East Asian places, such as Brunei and the Straits Settlements, Hankow, Tientsin and Shanghai, say, with Hong Kong tossed in for good measure. WEI PEH T'I, Centre of Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong Steven A. Leibo, Transferring Technology to China, Prosper Giquel and the Self-strengthening Movement, China Research Monograph 28, Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley, Center for Chinese Studies, 1985. Prosper Giquel, edited by Steven A. Leibo, A Journal of the Chinese Civil War 1864. Honolulu, University of Hawaii Press, 1985. These two works, one of compilation and assessment based on a doctoral dissertation, the other of translation (with the help of Debbie Weston) and annotation with a lengthy introduction, have a considerable intrinsic interest because they deal with a rather extraordinary man. They have also a degree of relevance, over a century later, for the West's involvement with present day China's modernizing programme. They are to be read in conjunction with other modern works on this period of China's self-strengthening efforts, including those listed in Dr. Leibo's introduction to Transferring Technology. Prosper Giquel, a French naval officer, came to China during the Second China War. After service with the Joint Commission that guided the administration of the city of Canton during its four year occupation by the Allies, during which he laid the foundations of his knowledge of written and spoken Chinese, he joined the Chinese Maritime Customs at Ningpo. When that city was captured by the Taiping Army, he assisted the Sino-French "Ever Triumphant Army” to recapture it, and later commanded it in the operations that led to the recapture of Hangzhou, for which he received high rank and honours from the appreciative Ch'ing government. Contacts made during this time led to employment after the Rebellion, in and outside China, that lasted until his death in France in 1886. His principal achievement was the construction and ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 OBITUARY HUGH GIBB Mr Hugh Gibb, a long-term Member of Council of the Royal Asiatic Society, Hong Kong Branch, died in August 1990. With the permission of The Daily Telegraph, we reproduce here an obituary which appeared in that newspaper on Friday, August 24, 1990. HUGH GIBB, who has died aged 75, was a maker of sensitive documentary films, chiefly about Asia, which combined artistic distinction, rigorous research and a strong cultural message. His much applauded seven-part series, The Borneo Story, made in the mid-1950s, won a Grand Prix award at the Cannes Film Festival. Another seven-parter, Images of the East shot in Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand for BBC television during the 1960s gave a unique record of the old Indo-China, particularly of the monuments at Angkor in Cambodia. Gibb was re-working his Angkor films, in the hope that they would widen sympathy for the Cambodian people and perhaps lead to the neutralisation of the site under UNESCO's aegis, when he was struck down by a sudden illness. A stickler for detail, Gibb was perhaps the last of the "one-man" producers: he did the research, wrote the scripts, filmed, edited, wrote and even spoke the commentaries of his films. His style on location was exigent, authoritarian and sometimes irascible, and this discouraged many of his would-be collaborators. Gibb's extreme individualism perhaps accounts for the incomplete state of his later work. Several ambitious films about China, particularly its great waterways, were never finished. A Lloyd's broker's son, Hugh James Gibb was born in London on March 15, 1915, and educated at Rugby and Oriel College, Oxford. He followed his father into Lloyd's before enlisting in the Royal Artillery on the outbreak of the Second World War. Page 15 Page 16 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 45 group, headed by the Nestorian patriarch. Although they were not permitted to convert Moslems, Nestorian missionaries were otherwise given a free hand, and by the end of the twelfth century Nestorian churches could be found in Egypt and Cilicia, in Persia and Mesopotamia, in India, Ceylon and Socotra, and in much of Turkestan. All these churches, organised into at least twenty, and possibly as many as thirty, metropolitan provinces, recognised the authority of the Nestorian patriarch or catholicus, who ruled from Baghdad, the capital of the Abbasid caliphate. The Nestorian church enjoyed a final period of expansion under the Mongols. For a while, during campaigns against Moslem enemies, the Mongols saw that Christian support could be valuable to them, and the Nestorians were able to take advantage of the Mongol unification of Asia from the Euphrates to the Sea of Japan to establish themselves in strength in China in the second half of the thirteenth century. The Nestorian church now reached its greatest geographical extent. But appearances were deceptive. As Mongol power waned throughout Asia the vacuum was filled not by Christianity, but by Islam. The Nestorian church in China did not survive the Mongol Yüan dynasty, and in central Asia most Nestorian Christians apostasised in the face of Moslem persecution in the middle years of the fourteenth century. Any surviving communities of Christians were almost certainly either wiped out or converted to Islam during the terrible campaigns of Timur Leng towards the end of the fourteenth century. Apart from a tiny offshoot in India, the church which dominated Asia in the middle ages survives today only in Kurdistan, uneasily placed astride the borders of the modern states of Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Iran. Emigration from Kurdistan during the last two centuries has also created a Nestorian diaspora in the United States, Europe, and Australia. The total membership of the Nestorian church was reckoned in 1989 at about 1,770,000. The Nestorians in China For more than two hundred years during the T'ang dynasty (618-906), and for a further sixty or seventy years during the Mongol Yüan dynasty (1260-1368), Nestorian Christians could be found in significant numbers in China. The dates are not entirely certain. As far as the T'ang period is concerned, the first officially-recognised Nestorian ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 50 us to re-date two Nestorian manuscripts discovered in Tun-huang in 1980, and suggests contexts for their composition. Best of all, it throws valuable light on one of the most appealing Nestorian missionaries of the T'ang period, Adam, archbishop of China and composer of the celebrated Sian tablet inscription. As will become clear, Adam possessed an extraordinary talent for the art of public relations. The 'Syrian Brilliant Teaching' The main source for the Nestorians in Tang China is the Sian tablet.* The tablet, discovered in 1625, was originally set up in 781 by the elders of the Nestorian church on the premises of a Nestorian monastery in the city, then China's capital. It was probably buried by Sian's Christian community during a period of persecution or unrest to save it from destruction, but we do not know when: possibly as early as 845, possibly as late as the 980s. Christians in Yüan China knew nothing of it, and appear to have believed that they were the first to bring the Gospel to China, so we can safely conclude that when Marco Polo arrived in China in 1279 the Sian tablet had been long underground. Its discovery in 1625 caused a sensation, both in China and Europe. In China, Christianity enjoyed a short wave of popularity, and the Jesuit missionaries found that for a few years they were making converts in far larger numbers than previously. In Europe, the discovery stimulated scholarly interest in the history of the separated eastern churches. Forays were made into the Middle East in the early eighteenth century by antiquarians in search of old texts. These expeditions came none too soon, and it is in large measure due to the efforts of the scholars of the Age of Enlightenment that the history of the Nestorian church has been preserved in more than its mere outlines. The Sian tablet carries a long inscription in Chinese, supplemented by a few sentences in Syriac, and we learn from it that the monastery in which it stood had been founded in 638, on the orders of T'ai-tsung, the second emperor of the T'ang dynasty, in response to a petition from a Nestorian monk named Reuben.2 It is implied, though nowhere explicitly stated, that this monastery was the first Christian foundation in China. The inscription, apparently aimed at satisfying the curiosity of visitors to the monastery, includes a brief sketch of * See Plate 1 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 61 His father, Jazedbouzid, seems to have been bishop of Ch'ang-an in 781, and paid for setting up the tablet. The main inscription, in Chinese, contains a section devoted to the praises of a certain I-ssu whose numerous benefactions to the Nestorian church in China are listed. Jazedbouzid has been identified, probably correctly, with this benefactor. Certainly, as he paid for the tablet's construction, we would expect his generosity to be recognised somewhere in the inscription, and the section praising I-ssu, ‘our great donor', is the only part of the inscription where such an acknowledgement is given. If I-ssu and Jazedbouzid are one and the same person, the fulsome tribute to Jazedbouzid's virtues, in an inscription which he himself paid for, may seem rather immodest, but is understandable. I-ssu's career was impressive. He was high in the favour of the emperor Su-tsung (756-762) and was appointed second-in-command (chieh-tu-fu-shih) of the Shuo-fang army group in 756 on the outbreak of a major rebellion by a number of frontier armies under the command of the Sogdian general An Lu-shan. The Shuo-fang armies, adjacent to the three north-eastern army commands which supported An Lu-shan, remained loyal to the throne and, led by the respected general Kuo Tzu-i, put in some hard fighting against the rebels. According to the Sian tablet inscription, I-ssu had a good war: "When duke Kuo Tzu-i, secretary of state and prince of the Fan-yang region, was first put in charge of military operations in Shuo-fang, Su-tsung ordered him to accompany the duke to his command. Though he enjoyed the privilege of access to the duke's sleeping-tent, he made no difference between himself and others on the march. He was teeth and nails to the duke, and ears and eyes to the army. The rebellion was finally crushed in 762 and I-ssu emerged from the war with a considerable reputation, and a number of military and civil decorations, listed in detail on the Sian tablet. There is no reason why he should not later have become a bishop in the Nestorian church, and if Jazedbouzid was indeed I-ssu it is not surprising that he considered himself of some consequence. It is just possible that Adam, metropolitan of China, and Adam, son of the war-hero Jazedbouzid, were the same person. The rarity of the name Adam among the Nestorians certainly encourages us to ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 89 CHINA ON THE BRINK OF WAR* Nanking 1937 P. H. MUNRO-FAURE In 1937 my business took me to Nanking, to which the government of General Chiang Kai Shek had some time previously removed the capital. His government was now known as the "Central" government, not so much to distinguish it from other governments which might pretend to a share of control at the fringes, but rather to identify it with all China; for the character "chung", which in the past had been translated "middle", as in "Middle Kingdom", was used by the Chinese to represent their country. Thus historically the translation "China" government would have been more accurate than "Central" government. This government in the ten short years from 1927 had achieved the most astonishing improvements. It had certainly not attained standards of nation-wide control, justice, individual freedom, fair taxation, or even public works, of the excellence taken for granted in the more advanced democracies of the west, but it had given ample proof of a capacity for progress. One weakness in the Chinese administrative system had been the failure to separate the judicature from the executive. The magistrate who tried a case also prosecuted, and then carried out the sentence. The system, of course, gave rise to many abuses. But now a beginning was made with the establishment of independent courts, known as "Modern" courts, whose officials had purely judicial functions. These courts were still few in number, the judges were inexperienced, and because they were very poorly paid they were open to corruption; but it was a sound beginning. Similarly the lack of a stable civil service had meant that whenever an official was changed, whether, for instance, the magistrate of a country district, or the Commissioner in charge of the former Concession at Kiu Kiang, or the Minister for War, the new man * This is the second extract of Col. P.H. Munro-Faure's Memoirs. See the Editor's Note at p 61, Vol. 29. [Editor] ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 127 The Taoist temple, a centre of superstition, visited by the people of the village at certain seasons and particularly popular with the old women, is usually larger than the ancestral hall. It can be distinguished from the rarer and finer Buddhist temples by its walls of red. The Buddhist colour is yellow. Both Taoist and Buddhist temples prefer remote sites, often amidst the crags of tree-clad hills, but their colour apart are difficult to distinguish the one from the other. They are equally filled with images, from the fearsome spirits that guard the entrance hall, and the divers gods in the succeeding halls, to the Great Buddhas in the main hall, behind which there will be a very demoniacal representation of the Buddhist hell. The temples to Confucius contain no images. They are to be found in the larger towns, amidst ancient trees and stately courtyards. They are now generally used to shelter government offices or schools. Wherever there are troops, the temples are their barracks; and they provide convenient cover for forlorn travellers. On the second evening we reached Kanchow, the wealthy city in south Kiangsi, where the Generalissimo's elder son has been appointed Commissioner in charge of a group of magistracies. While in Russia, where he spent a number of years, he had married a blonde Russian wife. The two have set themselves to converting their district into a model area. No mercy is shown to opium smokers: they are executed. Dishonest officials are inexorably punished. Wealthy merchants, who have profited by holding stocks for a rise, are made to contribute heavily for the benefit of local services, and the sons of the influential are not allowed to dodge conscription. The dispensation is popular with the poorer classes, but not with the privileged. The Generalissimo is proud of his son's work, and one day sent a foreign reporter, who had been critical of Chinese administration, to investigate. He returned with a glowing report. Would that there were more districts in China, where honesty is the rule! Unfortunately, since 1937, there has been a relapse. The improvisations of war have left increasing spheres of administration in the hands of the military, and graft is again the order of the day. It is another of those Chinese anomalies that the Generalissimo, the relentless opponent of Communism, should be proud of a son who unquestionably is influenced by Russian ideology. Conscription in China is not applied in our sense of the term. There Page 150 Page 151 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 138 might be more useful outside. The Japanese had not yet occupied all the coast; foreign ships were still sailing to the unoccupied ports. I slipped out to Ningpo, intending to remain a few days while watching to see which way the cat jumped: but instead of attacking Hongkong, the Japanese landed at Chinhai, at the mouth of the Ningpo river, and I was thus cut off. After a fortnight they withdrew, leaving guard ships to watch the approaches. In the meantime the Chinese had mined the Ningpo river to deny entry to Japanese ships. I was shut in at Ningpo for three months during the heat of the summer. It was my first contact for two years with unoccupied China. With the restrictions imposed, first by the impediments arising from the Japanese war with China, and in the second place by the shortage of shipping and exports consequent on the war with Germany in Europe, British trade in the interior of China was at a standstill. The large British firms found it commercially unprofitable to keep their staff in many of the remaining treaty ports of free China, and withdrew them to Shanghai and Hongkong. British opinion thus, on the one hand, tended to lose touch with conditions in free China, while, on the other, was increasingly exposed to impression by the Japanese, who swarmed so actively in the occupied ports. The British were no more at fault than the Americans or the French, but for the Americans the balance was to some extent redressed by their larger and more vocal upcountry missionary organisation; as British interests out-numbered those of the other powers, so did the Chinese tend to concentrate criticism on them for continued failure to realise that China was fighting the battle of the democracies. A particularly unfortunate failure was the continued indifference shewn to the Chinese Government at Chungking. While it was still in Nanking, with branch divisions in Shanghai, foreign firms had extensive contacts with all the various departments, but when the Government was driven first to Hankow, and then to Chungking, no attempt was made to follow and nurse those contacts. The Chinese Government in its extremity would have welcomed any display of sympathy and was affronted by this neglect, but the large firms continued to treat their business in the Capital at the level of the small and remote treaty port, which Chungking had been. One consequence, for instance, occurred in 1943, when the two leading British banks belatedly decided to open branches in Chungking. The Chinese kept them waiting six months on the doorstep. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 NOTES 167 From manuscripts in the John Fryer Papers, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. The title on the holograph was added in pencil at the top of the page and underlined; a pencil was used to cross out the salutation, probably at the time when the title was added prior to typing many years later. In transcribing this material I have followed the holograph document. Minor changes have been made to bring punctuation and use of numbers into conformity with modern usage and to improve readability. Editorial additions are in square brackets. Fryer tended to write run-on paragraphs; a caret indicates where long paragraphs have been broken up. Colons and semicolons are not easily distinguished in the holograph; Fryer was inconsistent in his use of the apostrophe. 1 Fryer mentions below that it has been a fortnight since his arrival. This would place the date for this letter around August 13, 1861. 4 A sketch of the general plan of St. Paul's College, drawn in ink and tinted with watercolors by Fryer, accompanies the holograph document. See Plans in text, redrawn from Fryer's sketch plan. 4 Fryer generally wrote "&" in his handwritten letters, but converted these to "etc." and "and" in his typewritten transcriptions. Fryer became engaged to Anna Roleston of Chudleigh, Devon, before embarking for Hong Kong, The Second Anglo-Chinese War, 1858-1860, which led to a stoppage of much of the trade of Hong Kong with China to 1861. # This is one of the rare examples of Fryer's use of hyperbole; other examples can be detected below. HI The Reverend George Smith, Bishop of Victoria. Rev. William Roberts Beach arrived in Canton in 1853 sponsored by the Wesleyan Missionary Society. He joined the Church of England in 1855. In 1857 he became Warden of St. Paul's College and Chaplain to the Bishop of Victoria. His other appointments included a period in Macao as Missionary Chaplain in 1857, and service as Chaplain to the Forces under Sir Hope Grant in 1861. He was appointed Colonial Chaplain and Canon of St. John's Cathedral by the Rev. Alford, who in 1867 became "Lord Bishop of the see of Victoria, and Warden (for the Church Missionary Society) of St. Paul's College'. (see E. J Bitel, Europe in China, Hong Kong: Kelley and Walsh, 1895. p. 466.) Alford was Principal of Highbury Training College, London, at the time when John Fryer was enlisted for work at St. Paul's College. || This was the College in Staunton Street, later renamed St. Saviour's (1863), and then (1875) St. Joseph's. זן Fryer travelled to Hong Kong on the sailing ship Prince Alfred. Published in Volume 29 (1989) of the Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. 14 See Plans in Text. 15 See Plates 2-4. 16. Charles R. Alford; see note 10. דן * "animals" standard English school master-speech for "schoolboys". श्र Possibly the British Museum. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 212 Kong CT. London Missionary Society Archives, South China, April 24, 1845: Legge writes to the headquarters, sending copies of Collie's work to them. C Andrew J Nathan, "The Place of Values in Cross-Cultural Studies: The Example of Democracy and China", in Paul A. Cohen and Merle Goldman, eds., Ideas Across Cultures: Essays on Chinese Thought in Honor of Benjamin I. Schwartz (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1990), pp. 293-314. I quote here the three relevant sections. **After World War II] relativism especially recommended itself as a corrective to our society's nineteenth and early twentieth-century missionary impulses... that their way of life was not going to sweep the world.... (Ibid. p 296). **The relativist position |-| adopted in order to prevent missionary zeal from clouding our understanding of the non-Western world |. led in some cases to an equal but opposite kind of self-deception”. (Ibid. p 304). "Evaluative universalism by no means requires a return to the missionary mode of promoting Western values. It is not a call for proselytism but an expression of the belief, first, that value differences when they exist can, and can only, be honestly expressed, and second, that beliefs originating in different societies can fruitfully be confronted with one another, compared, and judged, even though disagreement is expected to persist”. (Ibid. pp 312-313). Recorded in Legge's autobiographical account entitled "Notes of My Life" (pp. 25-27), kept now in the Bodleian Library in Oxford. 12 These books are Paraphrasis Psalmorum Davidis Poetica (n.p., 1566) and Rerum Scoticorum Historia (ed. apud A. Arbuthnetum, 1582). English translations of both were available in Legge's time. Li This version was apparently intended as a replacement of the earlier rendition of The Book Of Poetry published by Legge in 1871. It was a completely revised text of both the verse and the commentarial notes. Because it only included the English text and not the Chinese text which appeared in the first edition, however, the later Oxford edition of 1893-1895 republished the earlier text. A comparison of this earlier rendition with the second edition (which others called Legge's "metrical“ Shijing "jén) would display the kind of discipline Legge had as a translator of classical texts. See James Legge, The Chinese Classics: translated into English, with Preliminary Essays And Explanatory Notes – Vol III: The She King; or, The Book Of Odes (London: Trübner & Co., 1876). See also Alfred Lister, "Dr. Legge's Metrical Shi-King", The China Review 5:1 (July 1876), pp. 1-8. 11 This Hebrew Psalter was prepared with a twenty-seven page introductory essay which included some critical commentary, and over three hundred pages of metrical paraphrases of the Psalms. Legge's position in presenting the Psalter was primarily meditative and not textual-critical; neither did this tome contain the kind of extensive commentarial apparatus which The Chinese Classics always included. Perhaps it is for some of these reasons that the manuscript was never published. It is now kept in the library of New College at the University of Edinburgh. 14 The printed text of this poetic summary of Chinese history I found in the Oriental Studies Library in Oxford. It was clearly planned and printed as part of some larger work. For the value of "cherishing the old", see the Analects 2:11, The Chinese Classics: Vol 1, op. cit., p. 49. Han Yu's opposition to Buddhist and Taoist superstitions, his courageous attack on their spiritual deceptions, and his consequent punishment must have stood as a courageous example to Legge. Han's specific interest in the old style, and his influence in stimulating interest in the renewed study of ancient texts and writing styles, parallels some of Legge's own interests. 17 After graduating from King's College, the young James spent time with his father ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 214 last in the Hok-keen and Canton dialects (Malacca, 1841), 111 pages. The breadth of Legge's vision is fully realized in the extensive studies and translations of his later career. A testimony to this fact is found in the current editions of The Chinese Classics (first prepared in the 1960 edition published in Hong Kong) which include tables locating parallel passages in all other major translations. Legge is the only non-Chinese scholar who has translated all of the major Confucian classics. In some standard Confucian lists, two classics on the rites are included which Legge did not translate: The Rites of Zhou (Zhouli) and The Rites on Etiquette (Yili). This in itself is a feat, but when one recognizes the further achievement of the extensive commentarial apparatus, it is easy to understand why one missionary-scholar referred to Legge in the 1870s as the greatest sinologist in the Western world. 1 James Legge, “A Fair and Dispassionate Discussion of the Three Doctrines Accepted in China", sometime in the 1880s (1881?) to an Orientalist Conference. I have seen the published article, but could find no precise reference for it. In addition, Legge published an annotated translation of a Korean recension of a text important for the understanding of Chinese Buddhism. A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms, being an Account by the Chinese Monk Fa-Hien of his Travels in India and Ceylon (AD 399-414) in Search of the Buddhistic Books of Discipline (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1886), which included at the end a copy of the Chinese manuscript. ++ George Baker, author, James Legge trans., Graduated Reading, comprising a Circle of Knowledge in 200 Lessons: Gradation 1 (Zhihuan qimeng shuke chubu) (TER224) (Hong Kong: London Missionary Society Press, 1856, second printing, 1864). This monthly magazine was entitled Xidi quanzhen (遠邇貫珍) Penetrating Treasures from Far and Near which Legge edited from mid-1855 to mid-1856, Hì While remaining a patriot of Great Britain, and feeling at times that war was a necessary means for promoting international justice in the specific case of relations with Guangdong provincial leaders, Legge questioned the employment of war for the sake of "stimulating the economy". For this reason, he challenged the Hong Kong government's militarism in 1856 (the Arrow affair) as well as its questionable motives. In addition, he argued that China had good reason to fear and hate the English because of the evils of opium trade, comparing her response to that of Japan, where opium trade had been made illegal from its very beginnings. See James Legge, "The Colony of Hong Kong". Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 11 (1971), [reprint from The China Review of 1872-3, see n. 2 above] pp. 185-191. In the prolegomenon of the first volume of The Chinese Classics, Legge explicitly argued that the colonial responsibilities Great Britain had assumed in India and China would best be put into the hands of governors who, as if following the dictates of benevolent government advocated by Confucius, were worthy examples of moral, ethical, and political well-being. A criticism of some of the British imperialistic intentions and its accompanying evils could not be put more plainly by a loyal citizen. See The Chinese Classics: Vol 1, op. cit., p. 105. Theodore Hamberg, The Visions of Hung Siu-Tshuen (Hong Kong: 1854). J7 44 At the end of his missionary career, Legge could still speak of Hong Rengan with some affection. In public Legge praised his intelligence and amiability; see Legge's "The Colony of Hong Kong". The Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, op. cit., p. 186. In private notes found in the Bodleian Library entitled "Reminiscences", Legge tells how they would walk, arms across each other's shoulders in close friendship, and how adept Rengan was when they performed Christian Ministry together. See James Legge, "Reminiscences", manuscript in the Bodleian Library, pp. 13-14. 典 In his lecture on the history of Hong Kong in 1872, Legge indicated his satisfaction in seeing the rearrangement of all Chinese schools. E. T. Eitel also discussed Legge's ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 By the 1970s, it was no longer such a competitive and profitable organisation and its operations were scaled down. A purpose-built factory was completed on Tsing Yi island in 1991. Although the Swire Group over five generations has always had its head office in England, it has interests throughout Asia and the South Pacific, as well as in North America and Australia. Its China Navigation Company began operations on the Yangtze River in 1872. In World War II, more than half of Swire's ships were lost. A dockyard (of which more later) was established in Hong Kong at the turn of the century. The group, which adopts a relatively low profile, has about 28,000 employees in 1988, and is the second largest employer in Hong Kong after the Government. Its complement included, up to 1990, 78-year old Madame Ho Sau-King who had worked at Taikoo Sugar Limited since 1928. In 1981 John Bremridge (later Sir John), Taipan of Swire's, became Government Financial Secretary for a term of five years. This was an unprecedented appointment as previous 'FSs' had been promoted through the ranks of the civil service. Like the son of the founder of Swire's, Sir John Bremridge writes and speaks to the point”. The conglomeration of interests of this (still largely) family firm and private limited company includes an elite collection of Hong Kong enterprises. Swire's has a controlling interest in Cathay Pacific Airways, founded in 1948, as well as in HAECO aircraft maintenance company. Property is also big business and about 45 per cent of the group's net asset value is in bricks and mortar. Other interests include container terminals, technology, engineering, air catering, investment banking, travel and general trading. Sir Adrian and Sir John Swire have a family fortune estimated at HK$6.3 billion, and in 1989 Sir John was quoted by the Sunday Times Magazine as being Britain's 12th richest person, a position he held jointly with his brother. Dodwell's W.R. Adamson and Company (later, Adamson Bell and Company), the forerunner of Dodwell's, was founded as a result of the efforts of a group of Cheshire weavers who needed to increase supplies of ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 320 who acted upon them. By piecing together this information, Bartlett has begun the reconstruction of the inner, secret workings of the Qing government. We can build from this base to explore other crucial issues. MICHAEL IPSON Arthur Power Dudden. The American Pacific: From the Old China Trade to the Present. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992. xx + 314 pp. Index. When Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas, he was attempting to find an alternative sea route to the exotic trading wealth of Cathay, as Westerners then called China. It is perhaps symbolic that 1992, the quincentenary of his momentous voyage, should finally bring the publication of a work which summarizes between one pair of covers the history of American involvement in the Pacific. Despite a plethora of monographs, many of them excellent, on almost every aspect of this topic, and several fine works on American relations with particular Pacific countries, there has long been a need for such a volume. Both Arthur Power Dudden, the Fairbank Professor of History at Bryn Mawr College, situated in a city with more than two centuries of activity in the China trade, and Oxford University Press, are to be thanked for producing this survey. General readers and college students in search of an introductory survey will unite in welcoming The American Pacific. For more than two centuries, the United States has been active in Pacific affairs. From the late eighteenth century onwards, the Pacific was the major focus for American missionary endeavours and an important venue of United States commercial activities. The Philippines, by far the most substantial American "colony", were acquired in 1898. In the twentieth century, the Pearl Harbour attack would impel the United States into war against both Japan and Germany. Under the pressure of the Cold War, within the next three decades Americans would engage in costly interventions in civil wars in both Korea and Vietnam, in the second case destroying much of their own self-confidence in their imperial mission. Today many Americans see the economic power of Japan as the most serious international threat to their own country, while Asian immigration has dramatically changed the racial mix of the United States. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 322 was also the proximate cause of American entry into World War II. Not until 1959, however, did it become one of the United States. In Hawaii there was an important, American-backed annexationist movement; the Philippines, by contrast, were acquired largely due to the accident of the Spanish-American War of 1898, when Commodore (later Admiral) George Dewey sailed south from Hong Kong and defeated the Spanish fleet at the Battle of Manila Bay. American troops initially cooperated with the Filipino insurgents who had for some time rebelled against Spanish rule; within a few months, however, Congress, after fierce debate, decided to keep the islands, the beginning of the most significant formal colonial episode in United States history. American involvement in the Philippines would illustrate both the strengths and weaknesses of the American approach to international affairs. The Filipino insurrection, led by Emilio Aguinaldo, was brutally suppressed by Arthur MacArthur (father of Douglas), yet American rule was in many respects benign; indeed, the supposed American overlords were frequently manipulated by members of the Filipino elite for their own political ends. Even so, American possession of the Philippines fostered an unhealthy sense of dependency among Filipinos, still not entirely dissipated today, while overextending the United States strategically. As Theodore Roosevelt had foreseen more than thirty years earlier, in World War II the islands would prove indefensible, a military hostage and the United States' "Achilles' heel". Although Dudden fails to cite recent works by Ralph Eldin Minger on William Howard Taft's and Jack C. Lane on Leonard Wood's gubernatorial efforts in the Philippines, the early sections of the book are thorough and well-researched. Regrettably, the standards slip in his chapters on American relations with China and Japan in the decades before Pearl Harbour. Here, indeed, his determination to deal with each country in turn is a defect, since by World War I, if not before, United States policies towards China, Japan, and the Philippines were closely inter-related. The resulting repetition leads to a somewhat confused narrative. Dudden's grasp of the financial dealings between the United States government and private American bankers and China and Japan is shaky; the American Group of the Second China Consortium had not collapsed by the end of World War I, but was about to be established. His understanding of the complexities of interwar American State Department and governmental Page 345 Page 346 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 323 attitudes towards China and Japan is equally poor. He shows little appreciation of the effective American acquiescence in Japanese expansion during most of the 1930s, nor of the manner in which private American investments in and commerce with Japan undercut the professed United States policy of building up China. He gives one little sense of the dynamics of the inter-relationship between domestic American politics and the government's role in the Far East, nor of the manner in which the international crises in Europe and the Pacific were interconnected. To judge by the sources cited in the notes, he did not consult the works of Irvine H. Anderson, Jr., Roberta A. Dayer, Michael H. Hunt, Jerry Israel, David Reynolds, Jonathan G. Utley, or Paul A. Varg, but relied largely on a traditional and dated interpretation of United States policies towards both Japan and China. One hopes that, should a second edition appear, these chapters will be rewritten to take these factors into account. Happily, Dudden escapes from these doldrums to give a workmanlike account of the familiar territory of the Pacific War, the effect of the developing Cold War, the American occupation of Japan, the Communist takeover of China, and American intervention in Korea and Vietnam. This was the period in which American involvement in the Pacific region increased exponentially, so that by the mid-1950s the United States was the guarantor of the security of Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and most of the Southeast Asian nations, and had bases scattered through the Pacific. While he does not, perhaps, bring out the theme of the extent to which American policies in Asia were generated by considerations arising from developments in Europe, his survey is solid and thorough. One may perhaps regret that he apparently did not make use of recent works by such scholars as Bruce Cumings, Rosemary Foot, and Christopher Thorne, but his coverage of the period of maximum American military commitment to Asia is essentially sound. Dudden's final chapter, on the 1970s and 1980s, is inevitably inconclusive. The growing United States tendency to turn inwards and concentrate on the country's own domestic problems; the commercial rivalry with its ally and protégé Japan, and to some extent with South Korea and Taiwan; the love-hate relationship between America and China, particularly since the Tiananmen Square Incident of June 1989; the ambivalent relationship between the United States and the Philippines, still fatally ready to make their old colonial sovereign ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 326 as the author makes clear. All of the families discussed had absolutely no males who were not either old, sick and ill, or frauds, scoundrels, and crooks, or weak and ineffective. This is too thin a foundation to build a major edifice on, and the statistics and other documents lightly touched on in the remaining third of the book do not justify any assumption that the families described in depth were typical of families with Mui-tsai. The author has thrown a strong ray of light on what life was like for some Mui-tsai, for those at the blacker, although not the blackest end, of the continuum of possibilities. It would be unwise to assume that all girls known as Mui-tsai had lives and hardships of this sort. The publishers of the book are a specialist publishing house dealing in Women's Studies, and using the sign for "female" as their corporate logo. The study, perhaps not unexpectedly in these circumstances, treats Mui-tsai as just one type of female exploitation, specifically the exploitation of poor females by wealthy men and their women-folk. It was, but it was other things as well, and it would be desirable for these other aspects of the institution to be given more space. Charity to the poor on the part of wealthy families was not always merely a cover for getting domestic help on the cheap, neither was the rule that Mui-tsai ought to be decently married when they reached the appropriate age quite so uniformly broken as suggested. By no means all Mui-tsai ended as prostitutes or concubines. Further work on Mui-tsai is desirable, so that a broadly based and detailed view of the whole spectrum of Mui-tsai and their lives can be had. This book is a far better than merely worthy first step towards this end. It is indeed, as Prof. James Watson calls it, “an important addition to the ethnographical literature on South China”. No-one who has any interest in the society of the area can afford to ignore it. But it is not the whole picture. P.H. HASE Phillip Bruce, Second to None: The Story of the Hong Kong Volunteers, Hong Kong, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 1991. 317 pp illus. Abbreviations, Sources Index. In the early 1800's the expansionist power of the British and ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 344 REVIEW NOTES The following books have been received by the Journal from the publishers and are briefly noted here. Titles of immediate interest to the region are in bold letters; others are in standard type. All the books noted here have been placed in the RAS Library. THE BOOK REVIEW EDITOR Balfour-Paul, Glen, THE END OF EMPIRE IN THE MIDDLE EAST: BRITAIN'S RELINQUISHMENT OF POWER IN HER LAST THREE ARAB DEPENDENCIES, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1991. xxiii + 279pp. Notes. Bibliography. Comparative chronology. Index. The three Arab dependencies from which the British withdrew after World War II were the Sudan in 1955, South West Arabia (Aden) in 1967, and the Gulf States in 1971. Bernstein. Gail Lee, JAPANESE MARXIST: A PORTRAIT OF KAWAKAMI HAJIME 1879-1946. Paperback. Cambridge (Mass); Harvard University Press, 1976. Second Printing 1990. xiv + 221 pp. Notes. Bibliography. Glossary. Index. The subject, a professor at Kyoto Imperial University who embraced Marxism at the age of 40, is especially interesting in the context of his samurai family and early 20th century Japan. Blake, Stephen P., SHAHJAHANABAD: THE SOVEREIGN CITY OF MUGHAL INDIA. 1639-1739, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991. xvi + 226 pp. Glossary. Bibliography Index. This is a study of the old capital city of Old Delhi as a symbol of the power and influence the Mughal rulers were extending over their states in Pre-modern India. Brodie, Patrick, CRESCENT OVER CATHAY: CHINA AND JCI, 1898-1956, Hong Kong, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1990. Chan, Wing-tsit (editor), CHU HSI AND NEO-CONFUCIANISM, Honolulu, University of Hawaii Press, 1986. xii + 644 pp. Notes. Glossaries. Appendixes. Index. This is a comprehensive and extremely important publication on Neo-Confucianism, comprising more than 30 papers presented at an international conference on Chu Hsi (Zhu Xi; 1130-1200) at the University of Hawaii in the summer of 1982. The papers, by noted and respected contemporary scholars in the field in Chinese, English, and Japanese, are presented in English in this volume. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1991 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j themselves they had to turn to migration to urban centres and overseas emigration, and to nonfarm work in the villages. Following the path of the traditional junk trade, overseas emigration was common in southern Fukien (Fujian) and eastern Guangdong in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, but it did not spread to the rest of Guangdong until the nineteenth century. In the 1860s, when the European powers were initiating mining and plantation projects in Southeast Asia, and when the American continent was building transcontinental railways, China became a popular source for labour recruitment. There were three major emigrant areas in South China: first, southern Fujian and eastern Guangdong; second, the western part of the Pearl River delta and Siyi, namely Kaiping, Enping, Xinhui, and Xinning (later renamed as Taishan); and third, northeastern Hainan Island. People from the first area were the first to emigrate because of the junk trade with Southeast Asia. The Nanking (Nanjing) Treaty following the Opium War in 1842, which stipulated the establishment of treaty ports along the coast of China, broke the Canton monopoly. The newly opened ports of Shanghai, Ningbo, Fuzhou and Amoy (Xiamen) competed with Canton for China's foreign trade. With the rich Yangzi River valley as its hinterland, Shanghai soon began to fulfill its extraordinary potential as a port of trade. By 1850 the volume of trade in Shanghai had surpassed that of Canton. Trade routes were diverted to these cities, causing a lot of porters and boatmen to lose their jobs. Canton was no longer a recipient of any substantial foreign investment. It went either to Shanghai or Hong Kong. The development of Hong Kong with a shift of British interest from Macau and Canton also attracted many Cantonese merchants to search for economic opportunities. For instance, Cantonese traders, artisans, and laborers from all neighbouring districts followed the British merchants in flocking to the British colony. Moreover, Hong Kong had become a major centre of Cantonese emigration abroad. The high points of overseas emigration came between 1890 and 1904. Between 1885 and 1900, a total of 1,830,572 Chinese emigrants embarked at the port of Hong Kong. The overwhelming majority of the Cantonese emigration came from the Pearl River delta region, particularly from the counties shown in figure 1. The Xinning, Xinhui, Kaiping and Enping were known collectively as Siyi while Panyu, Nanhai and Shunde were Sanyi. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1991 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j 6 Cantonese Compradors Canton, the first Chinese city opened for foreign trade, has a long history of interacting with the West. The Co-hong which was set up by the Qing government, had created a system of hong merchants, linguists and compradors in response to the quest for foreign trade. As William Hunter mentions, the position of a comprador in a foreign mercantile house was important. Almost everything around the house, varying from examining silver, internal accounting, employing servants, cooks and coolies, to interpreting and even mediating with Chinese merchants were the responsibility of the comprador. Though the Co-hong system was terminated after the first Opium War, compradors still survived and started a new era of development. It was natural that Cantonese compradors formed a dominant group at the beginning of the Canton system, since most of the Chinese foreign trade was conducted in Canton. However, to account for the rise of Cantonese compradors in modern China, several factors should not be ignored. First, recruitment of new compradors by personal or regional ties, when compradors became private merchants. Before 1843, compradors had been licensed by the government and guaranteed under the officially dictated hong merchant hierarchy. Second, the disappearance of the limited trading system in Canton and opening of Hong Kong and other Chinese coastal cities accelerated the increase in the number of Western mercantile firms. Third, Western merchants, particularly the British, relied upon Chinese compradors in conducting business. Guarantorship How did a person qualify as a comprador? First, proficiency in English was preferred but business connection was considered more important by the Western merchants. Personal trust was usually critical. The Nanjing Treaty privatized Chinese foreign trade. Compradors replaced the hong merchants as agents for foreign firms and as guarantors for Chinese merchants doing business with foreign merchants. After 1842 with the abolition of the Co-hong system, some of the former hong merchants engaged in private tea or silk business, and compradors became private agents for foreign firms rather than government-mandated agents. Former linguists, after leaving the hong merchants, served mostly as clerks of the new maritime customs or as customs brokers. As scholars pointed out, more than a mere recommendation from a former hong merchant or another Cantonese known to the agency house, personal guarantee 1 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1991 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j Cantonese, while only four out of 16 compradors from Russell & Co between the 1830s and 1870s were non-Cantonese. Jardine, Matheson & Co. employed 18 Cantonese from its total 32 Chinese compradors between the 1850s and the 1900s, however only three out of the rest were non-Cantonese and 11 were from uncertain native places. Dent & Co. totally had twenty-one compradors in the period of the 1830s to the 1860s. Non-Cantonese were not recorded but nine were reported as of uncertain native places. Moreover, as Hao pointed out, Cantonese had a supremacy amongst Chinese compradors not only in China but also in Southeast Asia and Japan. They were regarded to have talent in tea trade, whereas Zhejiang compradors were especially skilled in silk trade and banking business. Zhejiang compradors overshadowed their Cantonese counterparts in Shanghai by the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth century. It is of interest that Western merchants always went to explore business in Asia with their Cantonese compradors, particularly in Yokohama and Nagasaki. Perhaps this might be linked to the local influence of Cantonese merchants in the above places. The comprador system was soon imported to Hong Kong when British firms flocked to open their business there. It lasted until the Second World War; longer than at any other Chinese coastal city. During the growth of early colonial society in Hong Kong, by the 1850s the Chinese community was beginning to develop leaders and most of them were successful compradors, merchants, and contractors. Typical of this emerging Chinese middle class were Cantonese compradors like Wei Yuk (Wei Yu), Robert Ho Tung (He Dong), and Law Pak Sheung (Luo Bochang). They formed the core of leadership in the local Chinese community. Wei succeeded his father Wei Kwong who came from Choy Mei village near Macau as the comprador of the Chartered Mercantile Bank of India, London, and China in Hong Kong in 1879. In 1896, he was appointed an unofficial member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council, being the fourth Chinese to this post (the first was Ng Choy [Wu Tingfang]). Wei held a lot of appointments in public and private organizations and represented Chinese interests in the government. He Dong acted as Jardine's Hong Kong comprador from 1883 to 1900. He was among the richest of the Chinese compradors in the treaty ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1991 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j 35 Faure, David W. 1990. The Rice Trade in Hong Kong Before the Second World War. In Between East and West Aspects of Social and Political Development 216-25. Edited by Elizabeth Sinn. Hong Kong: Centre of Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong. Fok, Kai-cheong. 1988. Wanqing qijian Xianggang dui neidi jingji fazhan zhi yingxiang (The influences of Hong Kong on the economic development of mainland during the late Qing period). In Xueshu Yanjiu 1988/2 70-4. 1989. Xianggang huaren zai jindaishi shang dui Zhongguo de gongxian shixi (A preliminary study on the contributions of Hong Kong Chinese to China in modern history). In Huaren Yanjiu | 81-8. 1990a. Lectures on Hong Kong History Hong Kong's Role in Modern Chinese History. Hong Kong: Commercial Press. 1990b. Private Chinese Business Letters and the Study of Hong Kong Industry: A Preliminary Report. In Collected Essays on Various Historical Materials for Hong Kong Studies. Edited by Hong Kong Museum of History. Hong Kong: Urban Council. 1992. Xianggang yu Jindai Zhongguo (Hong Kong and modern China). Hong Kong: Commercial Press. 1993. Nineteenth Century Hong Kong: China's Gateway to the Western World of Business - themes and sources. Unpublished paper presented at the 34th International Congress on Asian and North African Studies. Hong Kong. Gaw, Kenneth. 1988. Superior Servants: the Legendary Cantonese Amahs of the Far East. Singapore and New York: Oxford University Press. Godley, Michael R. 1981. The Treaty Port Connection: An Essay. In Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 12/1 248-59. Hamashita, Takeshi. 1991. Higashi Ajiashi ni okeru Honkon no ichi (The role of Hong Kong in East Asian history). In Sōbun 320 1-8. Hamilton, Gary Glen. 1991. Edited Business Networks and Economic Development in East and Southeast Asia. Hong Kong: University Press. Hao, Yen-p'ing. 1969. Cheng Kuan-ying: The Comprador as Reformer. In Journal of Asian Studies 29/1 15-22. 1970a. The Comprador in Nineteenth-Century China: Bridge Between East and West. Cambridge and Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. 1970b. A New Class in China's Treaty Ports: The Rise of the Comprador-Merchants. In Business History Review 44/4 446-59. 1970c. Maiban shangren wanqing tongshang kouan yi xinxing jieceng (Comprador-merchants: "new class" in late Qing treaty ports). In Gugong Wenxian 2/1 35-44. 1977. Zhongguo jindai yanhai shangye de buwenling-sheng (Commercial uncertainties along modern China's Coast). In Shihuo Yuekan 7/8-9 1-11. 1979. Commercial Capitalism along the China Coast during the Late Qing Period. In Proceedings of the Conference on Modern Chinese Economic History 303-27. Edited by Chi-ming Hou and Trong-shian Yu. Taiber: Institute of Economics, Academia Sinica. 1982a. Entrepreneurship and the West in East Asian Economic and Business History. In Business History Review 56/2 149-67. 1982b. The Compradors. In Maggie Keswick (edited) 85-102. 1986. The Commercial Revolution in Nineteenth-Century China: The Rise of Sino-Western Mercantile Capitalism. Berkeley: University of California Press. Hayes, James. 1979. The Nam Pak Hong Commercial Association of Hong Kong. In Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. 19/2 16-26. 1984. Collecting Business Papers of Chinese Enterprises in Hong Kong. In Research Materials for Hong Kong Studies 47-55. Edited by Alan Birch. Hong Kong: Centre of Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong. He, Wenxiang. 1989. Xianggang Jiezushi (History of Hong Kong's big families). Hong Kong. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1991 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j 113 Be born in Soochow; Live in Hangchow; Eat in Kwangchow; Die in Liuchow, The first is noted for beautiful women, the second magnificent scenery, the third tastiest cuisine, and the last durable timber for making coffins. In 1988 coffins ranged from about $2,500, for a humble pine ‘box', to $300,000 for one smelling of eucalyptus. The coffin in this study cost $7,200. Coffins, known in slang as 'four half boards' (*), come, basically, in either Chinese or western styles. Timber for western coffins, say teak or rosewood, is often imported from Malaysia. For Chinese coffins, boards can be roughly hewn, up to four or five inches thick, retaining the curved outside of the tree trunk and hollowed out on the inside. Good quality China fir (**) from Luchow, in Kwangsi Province, can last, buried, for up to 100 years as demonstrated by old buildings in Hong Kong with their China Fir, piled, foundations. There are a number of coffin shops, some watched over by Ts'oi Shan the God of Wealth, at the western end of Hollywood Road. Many coffins with their white or yellow cloth linings are imported from China. 23 By comparison, a British coffin is normally made of English oak (elm was used for cheaper coffins before World War II) with boards one-inch thick.24 This is usually rendered watertight with pitch or mastic and lined with a bed of sawdust, white drapery and a pillow stuffed with fine wood shavings. Because of space, in present day Hong Kong it is not practicable for the elderly to have coffins made in advance and stored in an ancestral hall or at home, as was the custom in old China. They were revarnished every year. But if a person is too interested and 'finds the smell of coffins more appealing than the smell of cooked rice' (聞見棺材香過飯) the gods may come after him. (Similar words are occasionally uttered as a curse.) Some believe a small piece of coffin wood, if boiled and the water drunk, will keep away ghosts. Continuously, from three o'clock the day before to the actual funeral ceremony in this study, relatives and friends visited the hall to give face to the family and the departed. It is a greater offence not to attend a person's funeral than not to attend his wedding. The author recalls ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1991 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j I should like here to explain that the Japanese intelligence service is efficient; very little that goes on in China is not quickly known to it. But obviously considerations of security, no less than a courteous regard for a great Ally, require a severe discretion in what may or may not be mentioned while a war is still in progress; unperceived by the reader there will be gaps in the story which follows, a story of some minor assistance given to our Chinese Allies in the 3rd War Zone by the British, when themselves hard-pressed during 1942. For similar reasons, where persons are concerned, I propose to refer to them by their Christian names. I had asked that the Chinese government should provide me with an interpreter for my trip; but Michael was much more than that. He had been educated in Peking and at the Chelu University in Tsinanfu, and was the type of modern young Chinese patriot, on whose enthusiasm, integrity, and sense, the future of China depends. The horizon of these young Chinese is only too often limited by the fact that not only have they never travelled outside China, so that their knowledge of the foreigner is confined to the few they may have met in their schools or in their immediate environment, but also they know so little of their own enormous country. The displacement of schools brought about by the Japanese aggression has helped much to overcome the second difficulty; and it is to be hoped that far more extensive opportunities will be provided after the war to enable the youth of China to visit foreign countries. In the past, by reason of proximity, Japan has received most Chinese students; followed by the United States, where special endowments, arising initially from the excessive claim made for indemnity at the time of the Boxer trouble, and the facility of “earn while you study”, have attracted students. A few, far too few, have come to England. Michael spoke fluent English, had seen much of his own country, and for his years carried a wise head on his shoulders; he had, moreover, a most engaging personality. For a year he was my constant companion, on whose advice I came to rely much. I found also awaiting me at Kweilin members of General Ku Chu Tung's staff. We left for Hengyang by train, and thence motored a thousand kilometres to Shangjao, the headquarters of the 3rd War Zone. I was the first foreign officer, Russian liaison officers apart, to visit the 3rd War Zone in two years: I was, in fact, a visible token of the assistance which China might now expect from her new allies, and my reception was correspondingly cordial. I was shown everything; the Arsenal, in a cave; The Prisoners of War cage, where some twenty Japanese were kept pending transfer further west; ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1992 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qf85tx75x 2 of bonnes bouches relating to him and his family. The information, its presentation and language tell us more about William Mesny than about Chinese life. A considerable part of his writings consisted of piecemeal notes or essays written to emphasize, probably unconsciously, both his prominent standing with important Chinese and his foresight as a man of ideas. He played up so many of the episodes in which he was involved that it is difficult not to minimise and even to discount what in practice must have been his quite significant achievements. Three major subjects regularly featured in Mesny's Miscellanies, his economic and political foresight which was inevitably spurned by westerners and Chinese alike; his activities as part of the Chinese imperial military forces in Kueichou quelling a rebellious minority ethnic group; and his wives and women in general. In one of his forthright, self-congratulatory moments he wrote, "The Editor of Mesny's Chinese Miscellany feels that he has a sort of an inspired mission in China to set forth, preach and proclaim the inspiring and magic-working words of Reform and Progress to the inquiring multitudes amongst China's 400 million black-haired people.' William Mesny (pronounced “May-knee' in Jersey), was brought up in the bilingual Channel Island community speaking English and French. He left home when he was nearly twelve to travel far afield but without ever losing pride in being a Jerseyman and British. Mesny was born at La Croiserie Vingtaine in the parish of Trinity in Jersey on 9 October 1842, the eldest son of William Mesny of Alderney and Marie Rachel née Nicolle, second daughter of Philip Nicolle of du Nord, Jersey. Mesny's father was described in one place as a cobbler, a local preacher preaching several times a year in French and English Wesleyan chapels, and a member of the Royal militia (probably the Jersey Militia). Mesny writing elsewhere in his Miscellany described his parents as poor; his mother was 'bed-ridden' and his father, though a Wesleyan local preacher, was forced to work for a living in attendance on divers engaged in the harbour works, and often repaired his own shoes to save the expense of having them repaired at a shoemaker's. Mesny's father and his grandfather, Guillaume Mesny, were both said to be of St Martin, Jersey, whilst Mesny himself claimed that his roots lay in the ancient family of Megny d'Auregny [i.e. Auregny Alderney]. It has also been recorded that Mesny's father and grandfather had both been born and brought up in Alderney with the father moving to Jersey at some stage. Guillaume's brothers included the great grandfather of Miss Lucie ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1992 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qf85tx75x 4 off with a whole pound, 'the foundation of his fortune' which induced him to go to sea as a sailor. He then sailed away, at the age of 12, and in the course of the next six years visited various parts of the world including Australia, Africa and the Americas before finally settling in China in 1860 during the last days of the Arrow War [better known perhaps as the Second Opium War]. Mesny arrived in China at the start of the era known to the Chinese as the 'post-unequal treaties', an extraordinary period of readjustment in Chinese thinking. He arrived in a China whose rulers were an alien dynasty, the non-Chinese Manchus from Manchuria whose dynasty, the Ch'ing, ruled China between 1644-1911. Mesny's era covered the gradual collapse of the dynasty and its fall, followed by the first years of the Republic. William Mesny spent a total of 59 years in China during which time he first, for some thirteen years, led a life of high adventure and, later, one which he lived to the full but at the same time one which appears to have fluctuated between the verge of success and pathetic failure. As it stands the later years of Mesny's life, following his short military career, fall into four periods; first, trekking across China, second, his life in Shanghai whilst still hoping to make his fortune; third, his time there when that hope had all but disappeared and finally, his last days, apparently alone in Hankow. The story contains elements which can only be guessed by reading between the lines in his Miscellanies, sadly without the help of other written or oral records. I have attempted to provide a chronology of Mesny's life from the multitude of snippets and asides he provided in his Miscellanies. This will be found at Appendix B. The great majority of the research in the UK has been carried out by Dr R G Tiedemann of SOAS in the University of London to whom I am also greatly indebted for both his advice and comments, as I am too to Miss Lucie Mesny of St Lawrence in Jersey, for her memories and photographs. However, any errors are mine alone. Apart from the autobiographical portions of the Miscellany we have to rely upon the tiny smattering of family memory still available, two obituaries from Shanghai English language newspapers and what little has been written about Mesny by others who knew him in China. It is unfortunate that other living descendants of William Mesny have fought ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1992 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qf85tx75x 8 regular references to his deep knowledge of things Chinese and in particular, their formal rituals. As with many foreign writers on China and the Chinese, Mesny frequently implied exclusive access to hidden corners. This was indisputable because, whilst most foreigners who pride themselves on having Chinese friends and have visited them at home, even perhaps having stayed with them, few have the opportunity afforded to Mesny when he served with the Chinese military forces and lived as one with them on the staff. However, in retrospect we can see that Mesny knew little of the private life, thoughts and policies of the native Chinese higher classes, or more importantly, of the ruling Manchus, simply through his lack of access. The great majority of foreigners in China were dependent upon what they could glean from their native interpreters whose depth of understanding was limited by their lack of knowledge, especially about state policies. Such people as Mesny, foreigners who spoke and read Chinese and had Chinese contacts, were one up on the foreigners who heavily depended upon their Chinese employees, but for Mesny to maintain his credibility with possible foreign investors he had to clutch at any crumb from the tables of the great and worthy, hence his repeated name dropping. It is also well nigh impossible to judge simply from his own account of events the extent to which Mesny understood the power politics of senior Chinese Imperial military officers or the nuances of the accusations aimed at a number of the generals. If he did, then his poignant description of the removal and demotion of his own Commander-in-chief from his command in Kueichou is very sympathetic. Shanghai, where Mesny spent many of his later years, was one of the first Treaty Ports, opened in 1842, and by the turn of the century the largest foreign settlement in the East with a western population of many thousands. Mesny spent all but five of his last thirty-three years in the city. A Briton, Oliver Ready3, writing in 1904 of the time when Mesny first reached China said, 'Forty odd years ago, at the close of the second great war [i.e. 1860, the year in which Mesny reached the China coast], China was a veritable Eldorado for Europeans, where all turned to gold beneath the slightest touch of alien hands. Fortunes were made with startling rapidity, and money came in so freely that the standard of living amongst foreign merchants and their employees reached such preposterous heights of luxuriousness, that even when the inevitable reaction set in, want, and even ruin, supervened where plenty should have been found. Forty years ago the foreign trade was practically monopolised by Englishmen, who only had to place their goods on the market of ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1992 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qf85tx75x 39 She was his maternal cousin, and his parents were keen that he should return from China to marry her. He said that he had made many lame excuses—which his parents had interpreted to be that his business was going so well that he dare not leave it [his usual ebullient tendency to exaggerate doubtless led them to assume he was making a fortune, and his brother, John, was therefore persuaded by their parents to travel out to China to let Mesny return home to marry]. However, Mesny's business was not sufficiently adequate for him to consider marrying anyone, not even the girl in Hankow, despite the Hankow girl having money of her own, and in addition, Mesny did not feel ready to marry and did not do so. He tells us that the Hankow girl went down to Shanghai, where she married a young man ‘whose name was still [in 1899] a household word, though husband and wife had long since been absent from the scene of their former experience in matrimony and other matters.' Despite the view he held about marrying a girl from his own country, he married Chinese women, one immediately after the other. The local girl back in the Channel Islands, his cousin, Lydia, whom his parents wished him to marry, appears to have dropped out of the picture in the late 1860s or early 1870s, when he married his first Chinese woman, probably by Chinese rites first, followed by a western marriage at the Hankow Consulate some years later. He was still sending verses to Lydia in 1868 and, incidentally, writing a letter a month to his old father in Jersey. We have little idea what happened to either his first or second wife. We know that the second was legally separated from him and had taken half his worldly wealth with her. Why did he move back to Hankow for his last years? He left Shanghai in 1914... the unanswered question is whether his wife's obtaining a legal separation led to his move from Shanghai to Hankow? Another oddity involved his only son, who moved from Hankow to Shanghai to work, in his early thirties, at about the same time as his father moved back to Hankow from Shanghai. Mesny's son-in-law was a British businessman who, at some stage, lived and worked in Ningpo, not too far from Shanghai, and yet Mesny moved in the other direction to Hankow, where he had acquired a menial job with a long-standing British firm until he died. We do not know anything about his relationships with his son and daughter, particularly in later years. At the time of his death, his only son would have been 34 and probably married. His daughter, Marie, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1992 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qf85tx75x 58 [8] Notes on Official Rank and Degrees [in China] [9] Notes on Ranks and Duties of Customs Officials [A subject on which Mesny would be an authority in his own right] [10] Notes on Manners and Customs of the Chinese [11] Notes on the Cycles of Cathay for nearly 5,000 years [12] Notes on the Chinese Army and Navy [13] Law of the Ch'ing dynasty Many of the items on Chinese lore printed in 1905 were individually dated 1895 and had obviously been prepared at the time Mesny was producing Volumes 1 and 2. During the publication of the four volumes he described a large number of items such as the towns and cities of various provinces, one by one, with their longitude and latitude, ancient name, distance from Peking in 'li', their allotment of literary and military undergraduates every three years, and their produce. These must have been culled from a Chinese official source either direct or, perhaps, second hand, just as he must have culled a fair number of small items from other publications. He explains that he kept notes during his travels against the day when he would write it all up but regrettably he lost a number of his notes first in Tai-yuan in 1881 and again in Chungking in 1885. There is always the question of how reliable his memories of 30 - 40 years earlier were, and how much they were coloured by later events and changes in his own thinking. He wrote several book crits under Editorial Notes in the final volume, books which obviously had attracted him personally such as the one in February 1905 on the book Les Chinois, Peints par Eux-memes by the Chinese General, Tcheng Ki-tong.' He explains that Tcheng was the Attache of the Chinese Legation in Paris and a first rate French scholar. However, Mesny doubted whether the General had the ability to write such a book unassisted by a Frenchman of considerable literary attainments. The book was in its tenth edition; it was,' wrote Mesny, 'well written, and gave a very good account of China or the Chinese as they were in Fukien, although many of the manners and customs ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1992 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qf85tx75x 63 1881 April June 1882 February March Spring 1882 November 1882/1883 1883 May 1833 Autumn 1883 ca 1883/1884 Early 1884 1884 July Arrived Hami Passed through Shensi and Kansu to Turkestan he tried to push on through Central Asia to India but was stopped; again, tried to push on to the Russian frontiers via Ili and Tarbagatai but was stopped, visited Hami [HQ Chinese Army]. Residence in Hami where he said he remained until the Treaty of Livadia [2-10-79] was signed and where he learned a number of Turkish words. [Mesny claimed that in 1882 returning from Kashgaria he stayed in Tso Tsung-t’ang's camp. [Tso was recalled from Hami to Peking in late 1880] Departed Hami and retraced his steps leisurely across the Gobi desert to Kansu, on to northern Tibet (visited old fashioned gold diggings) and back to Kan-chou to refit before continuing into Tibet a second time in another direction. He then, travelled through the Kokonor region ending up at Lanchou, February 1881, via Hsi-ning. Departed from Northwest China for Peking, via Si-an, Ho-nan Fu, Tai-yuan Fu and Pao-ting Fu. Whilst in Si-an Mesny visited the Nestorian Cross, later, on his first evening in Taiyuan he lost 640 pages of notes, the journal of his Journey to Hami from Canton Arrived Peking Visited Tientsin to await the first steamers of the season carrying mails Returned to Tai-yuan in Shansi and Pao-ting Fu, and again visited Si-an. Visited the famous Shao-lin monastery in the Sung-shan [Mountains] near Ho-nan Fu and invited to settle down for a couple of years with the monks. Departed Shansi for Canton; however, Visited Yunnan province at the invitation of T'ang Chung to assist in the development of natural resources of the province The French authorities in Tongkin insisted that Mesny leave the province Passed through Ch'engtu and Yunnan Fu heading for Canton via Po-se, Nanning Kuangsi [Kuei-hsien, where he spent three to four months whilst the Franco-Chinese war raged in Tongkin), Kueichou and the West River. He travelled much of the way by large house boat. He took careful notes which he offered to the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce but failed to receive any encouragement Arrived Canton, then visited Hong Kong, Macau, Swatow, Amoy and Foochou [Viceroy Chang Chih-tung retained Mesny at Canton for one year and ten months (nfd) He lived in an hotel unable to get an appointment from Chang he eventually withdrew. Mesny met Kung Chao-yuan, the Commissary General at Shanghai for Formosa, at the Kiangnan Arsenal in Shanghai Visited tomb of Su Hsiao-hsiao near Hangchou. (a celebrated courtesan of the 11th century AD) Departed Canton via Hong Kong for Foochou and Shanghai [elsewhere he noted that he had been recommended for the post of Foreign Superintendent of the Arsenal at Foochou during his visit there in 1883) In Wu-chang and Han-yang ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1992 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qf85tx75x 64 September 1885 March June ca 1885 1886 January ca 1886 ca 1886 1887 1889/1890 1889 23 January 1890 Lived in the Chang-fa Chen, an hotel in Shanghai His first child, Pin Mesny, also known as Hu-sheng, born in Shanghai Departed Shanghai aboard the Yangtze for Canton and appointed for service in both Arsenals [claimed that during the years 1884/1887 whilst living in Canton, he suffered from boils, eczema and prickly heat] Many of Mesny's notes lost in Chungking during the destruction of the CIM missionary premises. Mesny had left them for safe keeping with the Rev G Nicoll Office Bearer of the Keystone Royal Arch Chapter of Masons in Shanghai Promoted to the brevet rank of Lieutenant-General [ennobled for three generations: previously claimed to have been bestowed in 1879] In charge of the China Branch of the New York Life Office, in Shanghai Representative of the Lartigue Railway Construction Company in Shanghai Intention to publish a monthly magazine in Shanghai to be called Yüleh Pao together with Chiang Chao-ling (friend and sworn brother). to be the organ of the Reform Party Made two journeys through Anhui and northern Kiangsu in connection with famine relief Journey through Anhui, around Lake Chao from Wu-hu to Lu-chou Fu, returning 5 February 1889 Visited Wu-chang to warn Chang Chih-tung that he was erecting the Iron and Steel Works in Wu-chang in an unsuitable place 1891 7 September Typhoon destroyed the Olympia Skating Rink, his property in Lloyd 1892 January 1894 May 1895 September 1896 Mar/Sep 1898 May/June December 1899 Mar/Oct Road, Shanghai, ruining him financially. Mesny involved in the Mason case Invited to organise a naval brigade for service on the Hsiang and Han rivers Stormy interview with Li Hung-chang in Tientsin Visited Peking and had breakfast with Manchu Prince Su Claims to have volunteered for service in Manchuria [Sino-Japanese War] En route to Manchura: Visited Liu K'un-1, Generalissimo of Chinese Forces [afloat and ashore] at his headquarters at Shan-hai-kuan Mesny refused permission to visit camps of Wu Ta-cheng and Wei Kuang-tao at or near to T'ien-chuang-tai Liu advised Mesny to return to Tientsin. His second and only other child, his daughter, Marie Wan-er, born in Shanghai Began the publication of his Chinese Miscellany Volume 1 in Shanghai Publication of Volume 2 of his Chinese Miscellany Legally married to Lady Han, mother of Hu-sheng [or Pin] and Marie Wan-er Trip by chartered boat to Hangchou Visited Nanking Publication of Volume 3 of his Chinese Miscellany ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1992 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qf85tx75x 68 rendered as brevet rank, which Mesny did. 'Ts'an-chiang is an assistant regional commander [tsung-ping kuan], rank 3a in the Chinese forces called the Green Banner. However, according to Brunnert and Hagelstrom, [Present Day Political Organisation of China [1911], translated from the Russian], it equated to Lieutenant Colonel. Mesny lists it as 'Colonel, the lowest grade of general. By the latter days of the second Kueichou campaign he appears to have been promoted to the rank of Major-General, and some twelve years later was awarded the rank of Brevet Lieutenant-General, bearing the title for the remainder of his life. As he is portrayed in foreign-style uniform in a photograph in the Miscellany and yet occasionally refers to himself wearing Chinese attire with his Chinese buttons of rank, it is far from clear whether these were genuine ranks or honorary ones awarded to an attached civilian. It is noteworthy that he never refers to himself wearing a mandarin square [the chest badge], though he does mention his cap button. His uniform as an instructor in the army of Tso Tsung-tang consisted of a cap of the French kepi pattern, ornamented with the Chinese coat of arms [two dragons struggling for a burning globe], with a coat and trousers of dark blue navy cloth, ‘nicely braided front, back and sleeves. Mesny explained that between 1868-1871 for two or more years he was in one corps of fifteen2 battalions styled the Ko-i Ch'üan-chün [brigade], part of the Shu-chün, the Szechuan Army Corps; and another for four years with a corps styled Wu-tzu Ch'üan-chün741, also in Kueichou, i.e. from 1871-1874. The latter corps was also in the original Hsiang-chün, [the Hunan Army]. Regrettably this confuses his story rather than clarifying it, as we do not know when he served with the Hsiang-chün unless he means the Wu-tzu corps which in another part of his Miscellany he noted to have been part of the Hunan Force. As far as can be ascertained from the jigsaw pieces he has supplied us with, Mesny, when he was with the Szechuan Army Corps in the first campaign in Kueichou province from 1868-1871, and again during the second campaign from 1871-1876 with the Wu-tzu Hunan Army Corps, almost certainly served with one of the new provincial armies which he refers to in his Miscellany as Disciplined Army Battalions.3 At no point does he actually say so in so many words, but bearing in mind the grades he gave for the ranks and styles of the senior officers in his Force and as he was particularly scathing about the proficiency of the ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1992 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qf85tx75x 89 Chang was the first scholar in the land. Sir Everard Fraser, the Consul-General in Hankow for ten years [1901-1911], was an excellent scholar. He once told Green that he had taken a despatch in Chinese to Viceroy Chang, of Wuchang, who had become a friend of his when he was in Hankow, for his opinion on it. The Viceroy read a few lines, and then taking up his brush-pen began to edit. ‘And then,' said Sir Everard, ‘I had the finest lesson in Chinese that I ever got.' Chang was that rara avis, the official who scorned to enrich himself. Chiang Chao-ling #*# @ Chiang Pa-hsia (1846-1891) A native of Szechuan, Chiang met Mesny when he, Chiang, was travelling to Yunnan to take up an appointment as County Magistrate of Hsi-o Hsien. He and Mesny were thrown out of the province at the behest of the French in Tongkin. They met again in Canton and Shanghai where Chiang's pursuit of reform was not appreciated by other officials. He died in Peking. Mesny and Chiang were to have started a monthly magazine in Shanghai in 1887 to be called the Yueh Pao ♬ which was to have been the organ of the reform party. Chiang was to have been the chief editor and Mesny the registered owner and business manager. Mesny intended to use his nom-de-plume of Meng-hua # but in the event the magazine appears not to have been published. Cooper T.T. Visited Hankow and asked Mesny to accompany him on a trek to India. Mesny refused as the fees offered were too low. He later expressed regret at having refused as he 'had missed an opportunity to travel.' Damström Captain Damström was referred to by Mesny three times during his times in Hankow in the mid 1860s. Once as a gunnery officer on one of the first steam boats ever owned by the Chinese, at Ningpo, and later as Captain of the S.S. Pao-hua [nfd]. Mesny took him along together with a Captain Dix to offer their services to General Tso of the Imperial Force in the Northwest of China. Tso offered all three of them positions as instructors but we never hear the outcome as far as Damström and Dix were concerned. The second occasion was when Damström went off with the other ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1992 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qf85tx75x 90 Three Bold Adventurers to fight alongside the Nien rebels. After being captured and carried to Chin-chiang in a cage, he was saved by two British artillery officers serving with the Taiping forces. The third time was in Hankow when Mesny took Damström along with him as a heavy-weight. The incident occurred after Mesny 'arrested' the dishonest Chinese merchant who had swindled Dupuis. [These incidents are probably not in temporal order]. Dupuis, Jean A French merchant born ca. 1828, who arrived and lived in Hankow in about 1860. He built up a thriving trade in armaments. Fluent in Chinese, he introduced Mesny to the Szechuanese officials whose invitation to serve with the Szechuan Force changed his life. Mesny remarked that Dupuis was a distinguished explorer and 'conqueror of Tonkin.' Gill, William J: born Bangalore 1843 Served in India after being commissioned into the Royal Engineers. Inherited a fortune and indulged his passion for exploration. One of his travels was through north Szechuan province, where first he travelled alone and then later with Mesny to Burma. He wrote The River of Golden Sand in 1880, and after several other travels, in Tripoli and Afghanistan, he was murdered by Bedouins in 1882. Giquel, Prosper M. [1835-1886] A French naval officer who arrived in China during the Second China War. Formerly Commissioner of Imperial Maritime Customs at Ningpo and Hankow. He assisted the Sino-French 'Ever Triumphant Army' that fought alongside Tso Tsung-t'ang's force in Chekiang province to recapture Hangchow and Ningpo, and later commanded the force in operations that led to the recapture of Hangchow, for which he received high rank and honour from the Ch'ing government. His principal achievement was the construction and administration of the Foochow Arsenal in 1866, and dockyard with its fleet of warships. He was the only foreigner besides Gordon to receive the honour of the Yellow Riding Jacket. Page 105 Page 106 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1992 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qf85tx75x 320 MESNY'S CHINESE MISCELLANY. The total strength of the regiment is thus: One Colonel, one Second-Major, two Captains, four Lieutenants, four Sub-Lieutenants, two Sergeants, four Corporals, two Lance Corporals and about 650 to 700 men. The strength of this regiment is, however, very much increased by over one hundred and thirty gun-boats and a score or so of old ones. Each new gun-boat is manned by one officer and nine men on a peace footing, to which are added one officer and five men in times of war. The old gun-boats have two officers and over twenty men each, and some of them cruise down in the neighbourhood of the Bogue Forts. The new gun-boats thus give a complement of 1,300 officers and men in times of peace and over 2,000 in times of war, to be added to the strength of the above naval regiment, besides a proportionate number of commissioned officers. 1439. PAN FEI-A favourite concubine of Tung Hun Hou, the last but one of the Sovereigns of the Ch'i dynasty, A.D. 499-501. The practice of cramping the feet of Chinese girls is ascribed to her by some writers. Mayers says: "She is celebrated for her beauty and grace, and it is related of her (but on untrustworthy grounds) that the practice of artificially cramping the feet was introduced under her auspices See Yao Niang. Her imperial lover is said to have uttered one day, when gazing at her performances in the dance upon a platform ornamented with golden lilies the amorous expression: 'Every footstep makes a lily grow!' and hence the term Chin Lien metaphorically used for the feet of women is said to have taken its rise. In allusion to the same traditions the expression Lien Kou (lily hooks) is also applied in celebrating this charm of woman-kind." The term Chin Lien really means Golden Lotus, not Golden Lilies, frequently translated by foreign writers, and in like manner means the term Lien Kou Lotus Hooks. I have often heard the nicely cramped feet of women described as I tui lien hua, i.e., a brace or pair of lotus flowers. 1440. CHOU TICH CHÈN : The battle name of Chou-han the malicious. The rabid anti-foreign Hu-nan man, who has done so much harm to China and to the Chinese by stirring up animosity against foreigners instead of friendliness, adopted as a battle name the characters Tich-chen, which means True as Iron, or "True as steel" Chou Han has now fallen, and is ruined, and he is bound to die a miserable death, like everybody else who gets in the way of Christian progress. The following two characters-Tich-chen —may now be substituted for the two so boastfully selected by himself. Hu-nan is bound to be opened to foreign trade and friendly intercourse with foreign nations. No mortal man even yet kicked against Christianity without hurting himself. Chou Han is as good as dead, or he ought to be dead. 1441. AI YEH -The leaves of Artemisia Moxa, q.v. This is considered a lucky plant. On the fifth day of the fifth moon every family gets a few leaves to hang over the house doors. When dry and rubbed up it answers the purposes of punk or tinder, and may be lighted with flint and steel by striking fire over the punk in the usual manner. It is also burnt to drive away insects, or mosquitoes at least, and is very useful as such. 1442. I-TS'AO-Healing Herbs, Medicinal Herbs, Drugs, Artemisia Moxa, q.v. 1443. AI-HO-Punk made from the dry leaves of the Artemisia Moxa, q.v., and used as a cautery in various cases of disease, and burning the scars seen on the head of all properly initiated Buddhist priests. Each scar represents a vow to abstain from evil and perform good deeds. A full Index will be issued every Six Months. Jan. 9th, 1896. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1993 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302 33 The time frame in the sample designates five days before and ten days after each event. That is to say, it includes the latest preparations for and the treatment of the results obtained in the Games. These inclusions are necessary on two counts. First, during the pre-Games period, a set of expectations of the Chinese athletes would most likely be formed and announced. These could be compared with the announcements of the results to detect the use of face strategies. Likewise, there may be some matches which would be held towards the end of the Games, the results and comments of these matches may come after the official close of the Games because of the time lag in newspaper reporting. There may also be overall comments and reports after all the medals have been counted. Thus time has to be allowed for these inclusions so that comparison of which could be made with prior expectations, specific or overall. Second, usually the athletes would arrive at the venue a few days earlier and return to China soon after the Games. The way they have been treated, the way the media present them to the readers before and after the Games could also be regarded as pertinent to the events concerned. Thus, they should be included as far as possible in the sample. The People's Daily is chosen because it can be regarded as the most important national paper. It is directly controlled by the party. Its total distribution averages 5 million copies per issue (or 1,825,000,000 totally) for the year in 1986, and has been the largest one for years in terms of distribution. The readers of the People's Daily are spread throughout China. The paper also publishes an overseas edition for subscribers outside China. Most important of all, the People's Daily represents the view of the leading or the ruling forces. It is listed under the category of national press organisations (1986 Zhongguo Xinwen Nianjian 283). Structurally, the journalists are mostly cadres. In terms of substance, the reports and comments of this paper are quoted in other papers, and even other media. The paper contents may provide a general picture of how the press in general would report the same event. It is also a general newspaper in which views of various fields can come into play. This may not be found in specialist papers which often approach affairs and issues from a specific perspective. Tryubao, for ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1993 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302 214 Mr. Lee settled down in Hong Kong working as the manager of the Sincere Company (Perfumery) Manufacturers Ltd. He eventually fathered five sons and two daughters by his first marriage, and one son by his second marriage. He is proud that there have been four generations of Christians in his family with one of his sons becoming a minister. He remained in Hong Kong during the Second World War, when times were hard. The Japanese inspected his factory and allowed it to continue to operate. 'During the war there were no imports of cosmetics. Our Hong Kong manufactured products sold well. We did good business.'” 'Because Hong Kong was more exposed to the outside world,' Mr. Lee maintains, 'Japanese atrocities in the Colony were never as bad as they were in China.' REFERENCES:- Gillingham, Paul, At the Peak, Hong Kong Between the Wars, MacMillan (1983) Leeds, P.F., The Development of Public Transport in Hong Kong - An Historical Review, a paper presented to the Hong Kong Section of the Chartered Institute of Transport (November 1974) ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1994 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g 7 Gutzlaff was not unaware that his Union needed closer supervision. He appealed to German missionary societies to send out agents to assist him in his project. In response the Rhenish Missionary Society at Barmen and the Basel Missionary Society each sent two men in 1847. After a brief orientation period in Hong Kong, they were sent into China where they worked severally in areas where Cantonese, Hakka and Tiu-chau speakers lived. During the second Sino-British war they weathered out the war in Hong Kong and Macao. It was also the time when some took home leave. On the return of Rev. Rudolph Lechler of the Basel Missionary Society in 1861, he built a mission house, school and chapel at Sai Ying Pun. The church and school served the Hakka speaking community in Hong Kong. The congregation is now the present Kau Yan Church on High Street. The Rev Heinrich Cocking, also a medical doctor, arrived in Hong Kong in 1855 as an agent of the Berlin Missionary Society. He opened a small dispensary and hospital in 1858 at the foot of Morrison Hill in Wanchai. It was principally for Chinese but German sailors were also treated there. Agents of the Berlin Ladies Mission for China opened a home for foundling children on the top of Morrison Hill. The Berliner Frauenverein für China had been organised in response to the Rev. Charles Gutzlaff's appeal for support for his vision of the speedy conversion of the Chinese nation. The home was moved to No. 1 High Street in 1861 where it had built a large building, which was named Bethesda. It was not far from the mission house and chapel of the Basel Missionary Society. Before the removal to High Street of the Berlin foundling home, German speaking services were held on Sundays at their establishment on Morrison Hill. At an earlier time these services were held in a tavern on Queen's Road East operated by a German. The Rev. Philip Winnes, of the Basel Mission, reported in 1858: “In this manner, I preached until the sailors had enough, and that they had quite soon". The Hong Kong Blue Books in their ecclesiastical returns list a place of worship for Europeans from 1871 at the chapel of the Berlin Mission House on High Street. A small chapel was built beside the foundling home in 1881. Its entrance was off Bonham Road. The services were moved to the hall of Union Church on Kennedy Road in 1902. They remained there until 1904 when they were moved back to the Bethesda Chapel where services were held. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1994 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g subject when Governor John Pope Hennessy planned to appoint him as His Excellency's personal secretary in charge of affairs relating to the Chinese. The British merchants were opposed to the Governor creating an office where he would have more direct communication with the Chinese. Due to their opposition, Eitel never occupied such a position. In 1895, he published Europe in China, a detailed history of Hong Kong up to that date. Club Germania A club for Germans was started in 1859 in Wanchai in an unpretentious building. The German-speaking population at the time would have been very small. There were three German firms and two stores conducted by Germans. Within two years, the community almost doubled. It was small, but still large enough to provide a social centre for the community. In 1865, George Michelmore advertised the opening of a hotel in premises "which were formerly known as the German Club". It was below the Headquarters House, now Flagstaff House, off the present Cotton Tree Drive. This may have been the second location of the Club, as an article written in 1909 states that the first building was in "an outlying section of Wanchai", a description which does not fit a location on what is now Cotton Tree Drive (DP, 17 May, 1865). The club moved in 1865 to a new building erected by Gustav Overbeck at the top of Wyndham Street, just south of D'Aguilar Street. But the German population was increasing, and the Germania Club decided to build a more commodious building. This was on the east side of Wyndham Street off Queen's Road. The new building was opened in 1872. It was a brick building in the Gothic style. The architects were Messrs Wilson and Salway. The cost was $21,000. Thirteen granite steps led to the entrance, and the main hall. On either side of the hall was a billiard room and a reading room. On the same level was a library room and a bar. The Concert Hall was approached by a flight of seven-foot-wide stairs. The Hall accommodated 275 persons; on either side was a drawing room and a dining room. There were accommodations for sixty in the dining room. Four bowling alleys were in the rear of the building (HKT, 27 Nov. 1909). The building served the community well until again it became too small, and another building was erected on Kennedy Road. This building became enemy alien property in 1914 and passed into the hands of St. Joseph's College. The College is still located in the building. Page 30 Page 31 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1994 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g 36 Paul Ehlers opened an office in Macao in September 1858 as a general agent and commission merchant (FC 9 Sept. 1858). This was during the Second Opium War when foreign merchants who had been trading at Canton had to locate in Hong Kong or Macao. After the British forces occupied Canton, some of the merchants moved back; Paul Ehlers moved on 9 December 1858 (FC 9 Dec. 1858). In January 1859, he and Theodore Hesse entered into partnership as Hesse, Ehlers and Co. (GG 8 Jan. 1859). Mr. Ehlers returned to Europe in 1865 and withdrew from the firm. It continued under the name of Hesse and Co. (GG 18 Nov. 1865). Five years after his departure from China, Mr. Ehlers returned and began conducting business under his own name at Hong Kong (GG 14 May 1870). In 1872, Paul Ehlers and Carl Robert Meuser formed a partnership. Meuser had been doing business on his own account since October 1871 (CM 3 Jan., 20 Oct. 1872). The firm went into liquidation in 1874. The business was taken over by a former employee, Justus Peter Lembke of Hamburg (CM, 29 Sept. 1875). He continued doing business in Hong Kong as Justus Lembke and Co. until 1890, when he transferred the business and goodwill to the China Export and Import Bank Compagnie. Mr. Lembke was appointed the manager of the new Hong Kong office of the Hamburg-based firm, and Hermann Witte and Ernest Brubitz were authorised to sign for the firm (HKT 3 Mar. 1890). Since writing this article, I have received from Mr. Alfred Schmitt, of Hoechst China Ltd, a history of the firm entitled Die China Export-Import-und-Bank-Compagnie, undated but recently published. After the First World War, the company was re-established in Hong Kong with its head office in Shanghai and branches also at Canton, Tientsin, Osaka, and Tokyo. When Paul Ehlers returned to Europe in 1865, the business of Hesse, Ehlers and Co. was continued by Theodore Hesse under the name of Hesse and Co., with Herman Peter Hase in charge of the Canton office. Under his full name, Anton Hermann Peter Hase, he was admitted a partner in 1867 (GG 5 Jan. 1867). Six months later, Mr. Hesse withdrew, and it was continued under the same name by Mr. Hase. Hase died at Marseilles in December 1873. He named Hermann Stolterfoht, an assistant in his firm, as the executor of his will (PRO Will File No. 221 of 1874 [4/274]). Leonard Stael became a partner of Hesse and Co. in 1869 and retired in 1879 (GG 3 July 1869, DP 1 Jan. 1880). Hermann Stolterfoht was admitted a partner in Hesse and Co. shortly after the death of the senior partner in 1873. Charles Joseph Hirst joined ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1994 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g 103 if you wait long enough of what is prophesied is inevitable (Freedman, 1976:228). And to those who express doubts, in answer to the question 'Does fung shui work?' a master once replied: 'Do you ever ask your physician whether his treatment will be effective?' The Chinese, including the 50 million odd diaspora, by and large, are industrious; deep down they are believers in the capitalist system. They are achievement orientated; they set great store by education and the advantages it can bring to the person with drive. After all, man is at his best when he has a strong sense of purpose. Carrying on from there, some Chinese believe 'good joss' is the just and inevitable reward of the diligent and skilful. Nevertheless, many still also believe in what can be styled the cruel apportionment of fate. This means, in effect, that when a baby 'comes down to earth and cries three times' his or her life pattern has already been decided. Yet, contrarily, most Chinese believe fate can be ameliorated by enlisting the powers of a fung shui master. 'First is birth, second is luck, third is fung shui, fourth are good deeds on earth, fifth is studying.' If your fortune is good and you were born under a lucky star, that's fine. But a fung shui master can make things even better. It may take time. Investment does not always show immediate returns. 15 Lin Yutang (Lin, 1936:301) wrote, '... although geomancy is undeniably a superstition, it has great spiritual and architectural value.' It is, of course, far more than that, and full advantage is usually taken by a competent practitioner of the interplay between luck and natural forces. A large amount seems to depend upon the cultivation of a sixth sense. Some Westerners say too much depends upon intuition and too little on logic. A Chinese might reply by asking in what other way can you handle an ancient, classical system with a name directly translated as 'wind and water'? A wind that Westerners cannot comprehend and water they cannot grasp. Like many doctrines where one is told 'to have faith', philosophical beliefs, so often, depend upon unprovable statements. Eugene Ho (Ho, 1987) asks, in his letter to the editor of the South China Morning Post, why Saint John's Cathedral, which has stood for so long, was cited by a previous Chinese letter writer as standing on a fine site which is protected by the 'dragon's vein'? Why is it not protected by the Christian God, who ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1994 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g 132 This is perhaps an appropriate place in which to put my last remembrance of a grand old man. In the mid 1980s, on one of my visits to New York, when he was approaching his 90th year but was yet active in mind and body, we had lunch together in the faculty club at Columbia. We then adjourned to a drawing room, to enable him to look at a draft paper I was preparing for publication, on which I had asked his advice. A watery sun shone through the fading curtains, onto the rather elderly carpet and furnishings in the large and otherwise deserted room. Goodrich looked through the long draft for about twenty minutes without saying a word, then told me that it was on the right lines and worth pursuing. It was good of him to take the trouble at his age, though I have since found that "Fu Hsien-seng", as he was called by his devoted former pupils, had a great reputation as a teacher and friend, 19 Our Printer Like many editors, I have been fortunate with printers, one of whom deserves a special mention. Lam Yung-fai ("Y.F." to his friends) was our RAS printer from the very first issue of the Journal in 1960. He was works manager of Ye Olde Punterie, Ltd., in Duddell Street, and printed the Journal and all other RAS publications almost up to his retirement in the early 1980s. From first to last, "Y.F." took a keen personal interest in our printing work. In those days, his firm's compositors were all elderly and experienced men. They were very efficient, but I knew that "Y.F." used to help me out by doing preliminary proof-reading, so that when I got to see the galley-proofs the number of errors in them was usually small; far less than when, facing rising charges after his firm was reorganized and re-equipped around 1980 and he went on semi-retirement, we turned to other printers. "Y.F." was a Hong Kong man, born and bred. Before the Second World War, he had been with the South China Morning Post, and was among those employees who helped bring out the first issues of the newspaper after the Colony was liberated at the end of August 1945. He gave me copies of these historic news-sheets, which are now in the Hong Kong Collection (Special Collections) at the Library of the University of Hong Kong, or the Museum of History, I forget which. One or two rare book items were also handed on for the Special Collections, and I had the satisfaction of looking at one recently, noting the Page 150 Page 151 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1994 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g 194 Baddeley, John Frederick (1854-1940) ed, Russia, Mongolia, China, London Macmillan, 1919 (NY B Franklin 1967 mostly memoirs of Russian envoys from beginning of 17th century to end of reign of Alexander I). Baikov, Feodor Isakovich, An Account of Two Voyages. First of Feodor Isakovitz Backhoff to China, Second Zachary Wagener, a Native of Dresden also in China, in Churchill, Awnsham, compilers, A Collection of Voyages and Travels. London, 1744, v 2, 474-478 Ball, Benjamin Lincoln, Rambles in Eastern Asia, Including China During Several Years' Residence (1848-1850), Boston J French, 1856. Barnett, Eugene Epperson. As I Look Back, Recollections of Growing Up and Twenty-six Years in Pre-Communist China 1888-1936, typescript Barr, Patricia Miriam, To China with Love, the Lives and Times of Protestant Missionaries in China 1860-1900, London Secker and Warburg, 1972 Barrow, Sir John, Travels in China, London T Cadell and W Davis, 1806 (Listed in Yale University Library catalog as Some Account of the Public Life, and Selection from the Unpublished Writings, of the Earl of Macartney and the date of publication is given as 1807) Barzini, Luigi, Pekin to Paris, An Account of Prince Borghese's Journey Across Two Continents in a Motor-Car, translated from the Italian, London, 1907, Bates, Lincoln Wallace Jr, The Russian Road to China, Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin, 1910. Beattie, Hilary J, Protestant Missions and Opium in China, 1858-1895, Papers on China, 22A 115-156 (1969) Becker, C H, et al, The Reorganization of Education in China, Paris. League of Nations, 1932 Bell, John, A Journey From St Petersburg to Pekin 1719-22, edited with an Introduction by J L Stevenson, Edinburgh Edinburgh University Press. (NY Barnes and Noble reprint 1966) Bennett, Adrian A, John Fryer the Introduction of Western Science and Technology into Nineteenth-Century China, Cambridge, Mass. Harvard University Press, 1967 Bergeron, Marie Ina, Letters a Yeou-wen, Souvenirs de Chine, Tours Mame, 1973 Berry-Hart, Alice, Ching-a-Ring-a-Ring-Ching or Three Victorian Sisters in Shanghai, London. Rex Collins, 1977) Billingsley, Phil, Bandits in Republican China, Stanford Stanford University Press, 1988 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1995 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/95941j25g 70 of that street is practically shut up. The mortality here was very great. The inhabitants were principally night-soil coolies and almost all died. The occupants of houses in Third Street, adjoining this were also numerously attacked " (Lowson, 1895, P5) In 1895, plague cases were found centred in First Street and several streets not far from the Civil Hospital. In 1902, a group of cases were discovered round Pokfulam Road and Second Street. Infected rats were also found in that area. After the breaking out of the plague, thousands of panic-stricken people began to leave Hong Kong. They left in every sort of conveyance: sampans, boats, junks, and river steamers. People of Sai Ying Pun could also leave by ambulance boats, which came to the China Merchants Wharf at 4 p.m. each day, on which the people were towed to Whampoa or Canton. At 1901, the population of the district was 44,722, a decrease of 848 people when compared with the 1897 figure. Dr Lowson in 1895 and Dr Simpson in 1902 had both made a number of strong recommendations as to the measures which should be enforced to prevent further outbreaks of bubonic plague. According to them, back-to-back houses should be demolished. Basements should not be inhabited. Disinfected or rat-ridden houses should be either closed or walled in or thoroughly sprayed, fumigated, chlorinated, scrubbed, and lime-washed. Latrines and public markets should be maintained by the authorities in a clean condition. The last recommendation was particularly important to the district. A latrine in the Sai Ying Pun Market was situated only three yards distant from a large quantity of meat which was often hanging for hours at a time. On the other hand, hot water tanks and bath houses, for the purposes of promoting cleanliness among the Chinese and thus preventing the spread of plague among them, were established in Second and Third Streets in 1903. A Public Health and Building Ordinance was passed in order to better sanitary conditions in Hong Kong. Unlike Tai Ping Shan district, Sai Ying Pun was excluded from schemes of resumption. However, at that time, most of the houses in Sai Ying Pun did need destruction and resumption rather than improvement of the sanitary arrangements. Actually, a few areas in the ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1995 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/95941j25g 137 Rambles in Eastern Asia. B. L. Ball MD. Pb. James French & Co. Boston, 1855 79 (1848) Capem, hab pilort? Capem, hab pilort? 85 The Chinese servants are called "boys". It makes no difference if they are fifty years old; they are still called boys 87 Boy, go catchee two piecey tea 87 No can; that no my pigeon. My talkee that cooly man, he belong that pigeon... No can, no can I no sarvey that cooly man pigeon. I talkee he-he come chop-chop. 91 I saw a Chinaman who spoke good English, and appeared so polite that I stopped a while, and entered into conversation with him. He told me his name was Ayou, and that he had lived two years in Boston; that formerly he was a comprador to Mr. Cushing at Canton, and afterwards lived with him in America. Preferring his own country, he returned, and now has a large alum establishment, in which, he says, he is doing good business; he added that a Chinaman who speaks both English and Chinese can make "plenty money" in China. 95 Pay my money! Pay my money! 100 Goo' morning, Sar! Kom in my shop? Have got plenty pooty things! Can sell um chipp! Kom make see, spose likee can do, spose no likee marsakec. 107 Goo' morning, sair! How do, sair? Kum min' my shop now? Muchy curious thing, Ivery, motherer purl Kum make see litty! 108 I no likey too muchy boberry my, I too muchy fear bad man have catchee you; hai ya, I too much glad you no makee spile 'um. 118 Bum bye you kum my housy second teem. Two piecey man have got one teem. (there are two gentlemen together to see you.). 127 I thinkee no makee boberry you, s'pose Cheenaman sarvey you. You `Mercky man; but no can sarvy true; alla same fashion, same facey, same closey, same lookey, no different fashion that Ingliss. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1995 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/95941j25g 200 3 and four belong to German prisoners. The remainder are Allied servicemen's graves. The headstones, including those of the Chinese Labour Corps members, are of the usual Portland Stone with the Commonwealth War Grave standard segmental curve on the top (see Plates 1 and 2). This distinguishes them from graves for civilians which are curved but with a piece notched out at each top corner. Stones for Royal Air Force graves are 'winged', with curved tops sweeping upwards slightly at each side.* Few if any of the Chinese who served in Europe in the First World War, one assumes, were Christians. There are no crosses on their gravestones. Of the two Chinese graves in this cemetery one is unnamed (see Plate I), although there is an army number. This is not unusual. When Chinese labourers were first recruited, pigtails, which could still be found in China at the time, were cut off. Thumbprints were then taken and numbered wristlets were riveted on. The inscription on the first gravestone reads, in Chinese and English, 'Faithful unto death'. The second headstone (see Plate 2) is in memory of Wong Fuk-hing with the proverb, 'A good reputation endures forever.' Wong came from Shan Tung Province, Yeung Sun county. A Chinese person's native place is important enough to be inscribed on his or her headstone. Traditionally, Chinese like to be buried on their native soil. Not far from Foncquevillers Military Cemetery is an old farm house which, in 1916, stood near the front line of the First Battle of the Somme, the largest land battle Britain has ever fought. Some 57,470 British soldiers were killed on July 1, 1916, the first day of this action. The cellar at the time, linked by a tunnel to the trenches which crisscrossed the area, served as a battlefield operating theatre. On March 19, 1916, two British soldiers were shot at dawn, close by, for desertion. Although my son and I visited this old house owned by Avril Williams, which now serves as a guest house and English tea rooms, she was unfortunately not at home. Her daughter showed us around. The chief reason that Avril Williams came here, from England, was so she might visit and tend the graves of those who fought and died: 'So we might continue to live the way we do.' On the headstone of Private George Palmer's grave, who was killed in 1917, a request from his mother is inscribed. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1995 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/95941j25g 218 The book is a remarkably accurate and sensitive account of life as a public servant in the Colony of Hong Kong (this term with its perceived pejorative overtones was de-emphasised in the eighties in favour of Territory; Now, of course, we have become a Region) in the decades after the Second World War. Hong Kong in the fifties, when James arrived, was far from what we know it to be today: still recovering from the ravages and privations of the Japanese occupation; swamped with hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing the civil war and subsequent revolution in China; tuberculosis and other diseases rampant; people living from hand to mouth; the squatter areas - the list of maladies could go on. Amongst other things which come out vividly in this book is how well Hong Kong has done. There has always been a tendency amongst Westerners to compare the worst in Hong Kong with the best elsewhere, which is unfair. Hong Kong has had more than its share of problems but now has the money to minimise them. In the fifties and sixties, the wealth was simply not there. The author came to Hong Kong as a “Cadet”, the rather noisome name given to members of the Administrative Service. As such, in James' words, he “…belonged to a grade of the civil service that was generalist in nature, whose members were moved around, filling middle and upper level posts in key departments and in the Government Secretariat.’ The Administrative Service is a proud, elite force which produces most of Hong Kong's public sector leaders but it is often criticised for this 'Jack of all trades, master of none' mentality; its members being likened by its more vocal critics to 'lighthouses in the desert' (brilliant but useless). This is going altogether too far. Like all organs of Government, the Service has had its share of incompetents, but James was demonstrably not one of them. James also accurately describes the ethos in post-war Hong Kong and how it has evolved. Many, if not most, expatriates existed in small, enclosed, expatriate ‘rings’, almost completely cut off from the real Hong Kong. It was rather like living in a cocoon. To the modern-day observer, this lack of contact, other than professional, between the main ethnic groups seems amazing. But when you get down to it, have things changed that much? There was also, at any rate below the surface, a fair amount of racism, parochialism and delusions of grandeur around. It has been said more than once that many allegedly competent and successful, and certainly senior, British Hong Kong civil servants ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1996 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/3n209j641 198 were named the "South-west militarists". Concerning how these governments sustained themselves, I have selected four possibilities for discussion. They are taxation and provincial remittances, customs surplus, foreign loans, and internal loans. 1) Concerning provincial remittance and taxation, the government in Beijing enjoyed a limited amount from those provinces it managed to control. The southern government, however, failed to get any taxation from other provinces. 2) About customs surplus, collected by foreign authorities to guarantee payment of the Boxer indemnity, this was returned only to the Beijing government, the only legitimate government recognized by the foreigners. In the South, when Sun Yat-sen threatened to seize the customs in Guangdong, Canton was surrounded by British and American gunboats. 3) Foreign loans were monopolized by a "Financial Consortium", formed by major western banks aimed at avoiding mutual competition. As the consortium recognized only the Beijing government, all foreign loans to China were monopolized by Beijing. This picture, however, was upset by the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. Money was then moved away from the Far East to Europe again. As a consequence, by about 1915, the Chinese governments, in Canton and in Beijing, were increasingly dependent on domestic loans. The Chinese merchants were a major source for these domestic loans. 4) Domestic loans are where the role of Chinese merchants came into play. Generally, three important groups of financiers can be identified. They centred around Tianjin, Shanghai, and Canton-Hong Kong. One common feature of these regions was the foreign presence, which secured a base for final retreat. Understandably, many Chinese companies were registered in the foreign concessions even though they operated outside them. Political Investment in the Hong Kong - Canton Region Against this background, I will focus the second part of my article ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1996 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/3n209j641 212 the return of Chen Jiongming from the neighbouring province of Fujian. Chen was the Governor-General of Guangdong in 1912 and 1913. After the failed "Second Revolution" in 1913 against Yuan, he escaped to Malaysia (while Sun to Japan) and developed his own anti-Yuan organization independent of Sun's party in Japan. When the Canton Government was established in 1917, nominally under Sun Yat-sen, he returned to Canton only to find that the guest armies had real control over the province. As a result, he gathered a small troop of soldiers made up of native Cantonese and moved to Fujian in early 1918, where he strengthened its fighting potential. Chen Jiongming's return was financially supported by a group of Chinese bankers, who were affiliated with Liu Zhubo, in Hong Kong. They advanced to Chen Jiongming an amount of $200,000 and promised to pay the Guangxi troops a “give-way fee”, if the armies retreated to their home provinces. The fighting could not wait for bargains, as in late October Chen Jiongming's army had forced its way into Canton. The Guangxi guest armies obtained the "overdue army expenditure" through a different means. The guest armies retreated westward to Guangxi, looting all the way home. The return of the Cantonese troops under Chen Jiongming was welcomed by the Cantonese. The atmosphere in Canton, as reviewed in the newspapers, was that Chen Jiongming should be the Provincial Governor. Funds for a new government were promised by the merchants. At this juncture, on November 25, Sun Yat-sen and his key supporters left Shanghai and triumphantly returned to Canton. He prepared to assume power again. After all, Chen was Sun's subordinate in 1913 and 1917. The situation Sun found on his return to Canton was not to his liking. Sun was made Director and Minister of the Interior in the restored government. Wu Tingfang was made Minister of Foreign Affairs. But Chen Jiongming had been planning for the future in Canton, and his list of titles was impressive. Chen was the Minister of War, Governor of Guangdong, Commander in Chief of the Guangdong Army, and High Inspecting Commissioner of Guangdong and Guangxi. In January of 1921, Sun summoned all available parliamentarians to a meeting in Canton. There was no quorum, but they voted anyway. At the end, the Parliament elected Dr. Sun Provisional President of China. Chen Jiongming was in no hurry to act, nor was he ready to listen to Sun. In an interview with the British Consul, Sun described his ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1996 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/3n209j641 221 Thus, a new political language, clustered around the ideas of labour and trade unions soon overshadowed the existing political language, which was introduced in the late Qing and clustered around the ideas of merchants and chambers of commerce. To curb the political power of merchants, the Canton government dissolved all the existing merchant associations in Canton. The directorship of the Canton General Chamber of Commerce was abolished and the Canton government appointed their own supporters to the Chamber. Liao Zhongkai even went to the extreme of making legislation in 1925 to prohibit "compradore merchants” from taking up government posts. Political regulations were changing fast during these years. Trade unions continued to expand and were politically active in Canton. This eventually led to the 1925 General Strike which in Hong Kong involved a total of 300,000 labourers. It was known as the greatest and largest strike which had ever occurred in China, and retrospectively, the Chinese Communist Party would time and time again herald its success. As for the Cantonese merchants and the Communication Clique, they retreated from Canton to Hong Kong after 1924. I have tracked down a very beautiful piece of information from 1941 - on a Julao Hui (九老會), or the Nine Elders Club. The club was formed by the retired leaders of the regional Chambers of Commerce. These retreated Cantonese, despite their previous competition, joined together as a social club to celebrate the abundance of their offspring and their own longevity. These nine gentlemen enjoyed a total age amounting to 676 by 1941. On this occasion, Liang Shiyi sent them a couplet. It read: The three of us in person congratulating the nine elders, altogether in one hall we celebrate our thousand years. As far as this small circle is concerned, it sounds like a happy ending. Beyond this circle, all we can see is a Hong Kong society with its members, for a long period of time, showing little interest in the issue of constitutional reform, representative or self-government, as their Indian, African, or Malay counterparts did. Even during those noisy years after the Second World War while the issue of decolonization was very much talked about and the British Empire actually collapsed, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1997 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579 2 Councillors (of whom 20 would be elected from both Chinese and expatriate jurors, or property-holders of a certain value with residential qualifications), and potentially extendible functions. However Young's successor, Sir Alexander Grantham, soon had second thoughts which were warmly shared by his Executive Council (Exco) advisers, and the plans were put into cold storage, to be quietly forgotten. They had seemed to reduce the wholly centralised powers of the Governor-in-Council, besides being of apparently little interest to a mobile and volatile Cantonese population, passing by customary right freely to and fro across the international border, and more concerned with rebuilding their lives after the war's privations. Besides, the Communist victory over the Chiang Kai-shek Nationalists, and the declaration of the People's Republic in 1949, created a new set of problems. It became common parlance that Hong Kong was "different." Unlike African, Caribbean, Asian and Pacific colonies, it could not be built into a Nation. In facing such a novel threat there were cultural divisions within Hong Kong's administration in the 1950s and 60s that commentators have often overlooked. The most obvious was that between those prisoners-of-war or internees during the Japanese occupation who had been judged physically fit to return to post-war duties, and their colleagues who either had fought throughout (in China or in other theatres) or had been recruited subsequently but had served in no other territory. They might differ in their views of what threatened stability, but were in agreement that nothing should, in the cant phrase of the time, "rock the boat." All tended to accept what is now dubbed the economic 'trickle-down' theory, that what was good for the businessmen who dominated the Colony's appointed Councils was good for their employees - and equally for a large proportion of the population that had voted with its feet by flooding into Hong Kong to escape Communism, and also to find employment until it might seem safe to exercise their right to cross the border again and go home. But it seemed to some observers that those who claimed to understand and to love the Colony best had least faith in its unsinkability. A smaller but growing subset consisted of those colonial servants who had been transferred to Hong Kong within Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service (HMOCS) from other territories, usually upon the grant of independence, or who had accepted fixed renewable contracts as mature entrants ("retreads"). Such officers might well have learnt in ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1997 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579 64 to Leng Shan in Fanling from Dongguan in 1190.5 In 1220, they were then driven out and moved to Fan Ling Lau, as their residence was appropriated by neighbouring Tangs. In the Ming Dynasty, due to population pressure, some Pangs moved to what is now called Fanling Wai and built forty-two houses and the village walls. Fanling Wai is composed of a walled village and its extensions which are referred to by the Pangs as Wai Noi Tsuen, Nam Bin Tsuen, and Pak Bin Tsuen. The houses in the past were built one-storey high of clay bricks with tiled roofs. Wooden ancestral tablets were placed at the center of the house for worship. Nowadays, due to population growth, nearly two hundred village houses stand in a row in the village. They have been built and rebuilt into two- or three-storey cement houses since the 1980s, and they contain paper-made ancestral tablets for veneration. The Pangs call this type of house zu wu (literally means the ancestor's house) and point out that they should be passed down the male descent line, usually from fathers to sons, for maintaining the Pangs' lineage community. Outside the walled settlement, there are many village houses with dark-red tiled roofs, white walls, and a balcony. Villagers call it the Spanish style. These houses were mainly built in the 1980s, under the 1972 Small House Policy. The policy allows every New Territories male villager, whose ancestor had settled there before the British Government took over the lease in 1898, to apply for building a house in his village. The house is allowed to be built of no more than 25 feet in height (three storeys) and 700 square feet covered area. Since this type of village house is built by male inhabitants (nan ding), villagers colloquially call these houses ding wu (male's house). From the 1980s onwards, the Pangs have rented out their available village houses for profit when the demand for rural housing increases substantially. After the Second World War and the unstable political period in China in 1949, a huge influx of immigrants from China to Hong Kong, together with the subsequently increased birth rate, exacerbated the housing problem in Hong Kong's urban area. In order to relieve the over-crowded living conditions, the government has not only provided low-cost public housing but also commenced the development of satellite towns (nowadays called new towns) in the New Territories. Housing is nevertheless still in substantial demand because of its inadequate supply. In the 1980s, the private housing ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1997 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579 151 from the Colonial Office, in London, for the setting up of a Botanical Garden. This garden, which still flourishes today, finally came into being in 1862. But, skipping a hundred years to the Branch's second time around, quite a lot else has been achieved. For example, the RASHKB has built up a respectable library of books on Asia. This is on permanent loan to the Urban Council, at the City Hall, and members of the general public are welcome to refer to it. On the shelves of the RASHKB Collection one can find many old, valuable titles, such as: A Narrative of the British Embassy to China in the Years 1792, 1793 and 1794, by Aeneas Anderson (1795) (then in the service of Earl Macartney), and Narrative of a Voyage Round the World, by Captain Sir Edward Belcher RN (1843), in two volumes. Some books in the RAS Collection bear interesting chops (stamps), such as from the old Canton Reading Room and the South China Morning Post's pre-World War II Library. In addition RASHKB Archives, including files, photographs and papers, are deposited with the Government Public Records Office (PRO). Other Branch possessions are on long-term loan to the Hong Kong University. These include the F.A. Nixon, Buddhist, Tang Dynasty Scroll and the 38 M.A. McMullen Bills of Lading, relating to shipments in China from 1825-73. Also held by the University on behalf of the RASHKB are microfilms of 1847-59 Branch procedures and the Nixon Photographs of 991 bronze Nestorian crosses. Although the Society is basically apolitical, and occasionally thought of as being pro-establishment, it has not been afraid to take up cudgels when it felt there was a cause. As examples a letter was sent, in May 1995, to the Hong Kong Government pressing for the retention of the spirit hall and historical and architectural artefacts when the old Nga Tsin Wai Walled Village, in East Kowloon, is demolished. Also, because of some government intransigence at the time, a small group of RASHKB members appeared twice before a Legislative Council committee to press for a properly established Public Records Office. When a purpose-designed, reasonably accessible, PRO opened in June 1997 at Kwun Tong, many members liked to think the RAS played a part in this successful outcome. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 33 Then there is another tale which goes as follows (Giles, 1925: Joke64): A Chinese chess player was proud of his ability, although on one occasion he lost three games in a row. The next day a friend asked him how he got on. 'I didn't win the first game,' he replied, and my opponent didn't lose the second.' 'As to the last game, I asked him to agree to a draw but he wouldn't.' Many Westerners talk as if face, which really amounts to 'worth' in the eyes of others, is only important to Asians. U Thant, the Burmese diplomat who was made Permanent Secretary-General of the United Nations in 1962, was fond of saying: 'Face is very important to Europeans.' While the author does not disagree, it would appear Asians place even more emphasis on it than do Westerners. Much has been made recently by the media about senior civil servants not being tolerant of Radio Television Hong Kong's political satire when the foolishness of the establishment has been highlighted in an amusing way (Yeung, 1998a). It amounts to what is accepted (especially in the West) as good clean fun being taken seriously by some Hong Kong government servants (Yeung, 1998b). It largely boils down to the fact that, when the joke is on them and they lose face, civil servants are unable to accept it in good heart. Although a bit of a struggle at first, many Japanese politicians have now, apparently, learned more recently to accept criticism, passing it off by describing it as a form of 'art' and saying the attention he receives shows that he must be popular.10 'After all, we do not criticise those who we do not think much of, but we do criticise those who we love and esteem.' When China's President, Jiang Zemin, visited Hong Kong in 1998, a photograph in the Hong Kong Standard, on July 1, showed him travelling in the back of a car with his seat-belt unbuckled. Most Europeans (and some more westernised Chinese too) took this as good, mischievous fun. A letter in the same newspaper, on July 5 from a Chinese living in the United States, however, asked whether, if during colonial days a member of the British Royal Family who was visiting Hong Kong, or a British governor were caught not wearing a seat-belt, whether it would have been publicised (and by implication made fun of) in a similar way. This Overseas Chinese felt it was wrong to publish the photograph of Jiang Zemin in the Standard. In fairness, of course, until ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 52 Ssu and the Pi-yun Ssu. They were first placed there some three hundred years ago, towards the end of the last fully Chinese dynasty, the Ming and before the overthrow of the Ming by the non-Chinese Manchus. The Two Temples in the Western Hills The old Kuan Yin Hall of the Ta Pei Ssu X, the fourth of the Eight Great Places in the Western Hills of Peking, is sealed off and not available to the general public. It contains a modern image of the major deity, the bodhisattva Kuan Yin with a Thousand Arms and a Thousand Eyes together with old but refurbished images of the Deva with their name in Sinicised Sanskrit but without providing any hint as to their origins and legends. The statues of the Deva were originally made during the Ming, ca. 1500 AD, and consist of clay reinforced with hemp. They are referred to in temple literature as the Group of 28 Great Immortals +. The image of the Thousand Arm and Thousand Eye Kuan Yin was replaced by the Japanese after the Second World War in an attempt to make amends for having taken the original and melted it down for the brass content during the War. The Kuan Yin Hall in the Ta Pei Ssu contains in addition to the one bodhisattva, Kuan Yin, twenty-eight images, which can be categorised as follows: twenty-six deities with Sanskrit titles including the five T'ien-wang [Guardians] together with two Chinese folk religion deities. Of the twenty-six, five are deities specifically referred to separately in the Eight Classes of Supernatural Beings? [Deva, Mahoraga, Kinnara, Asura and Gandharva] It is lamentable that the Kuan Yin Hall is closed to the public; however, fortunately, there is also a Hall of Bodhisattvas in the second temple, the Pi-yun Ssu #, some five kms. to the north of the Ta Pei Ssu, which is open to the general public and it too contains the Twenty-eight Deva; however, the images here have all been made within the past fifteen years, probably replacements for the original images destroyed during the Cultural Revolution and yet again without any signs to indicate that they are anything other than Chinese deities. The fact that all but three were originally Hindu deities brought to China by Buddhism is not explained in temple literature, though the monks un- ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 109 ships of the line. The largest ships employed were the equivalent of battleships. They were mounted with up to 74 guns generally of a size of 32 pounders (the calibre of guns was usually quoted as the weight of the round shot, the cannon ball, which they fired), but up to 64 pounders. Field pieces were of smaller size so that they could be moved about the countryside. The forces in the first China war had six and nine pounders as well as 12 pounder howitzers. The main projectile was round shot. The guns would fire round shot to demolish the walls of forts etc. and they could do this very effectively, especially with the larger sizes of shot. Round shot would also plough through troops. The other projectiles that the cannon used were shells and grape or canister. The common shell was filled with explosive which exploded when the fuse burnt down. The early fuses were not very reliable and it was not until the 1850s that accurate and reliable fuses had been developed. However, even in the first war, there are reports of shells being effective against the Chinese forts. In the second war, the Chinese were surprised by the effectiveness of the improved fuses, when their troops were shelled behind Canton. Caseshot, grapeshot or canister was also used, which was a tin of the size of the bore filled with bullets which burst open as it left the muzzle allowing the bullets to spread out in an arc. The number of bullets used varied, but the following were the normal loads: 9 pounder gun 41 5-oz. bullets 6 pounder gun 41 1-oz. bullets 100 2-oz. Bullets 24 pounder howitzer A variation of caseshot was the spherical caseshot which was fitted with a fuse so that the casing did not burst until it was well on its way to the target, thus increasing the effective range. Grapeshot could be used to clear men from the decks of ships as well as any massing on shore. Lieutenant Ouchterlony describes the effect that it could have in a confined space: "The effect was terrific, for the street was perfectly straight, and the enemy's rear, not aware of the miserable fate which was being dealt out to their comrades in the front, continued to mass forward, so as to force fresh victims upon the mound of dead and ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 116 There was a gap of nearly twenty years between the first and second China Wars. It would have been expected that, in this period, the Chinese would have updated their arsenals and have been able to defend themselves more effectively. Whilst, as already seen, this was done to a degree, they were not able to overcome all the problems. The biggest problem was probably the attitude of those in charge, which is so often difficult to alter in any institution, particularly the armed forces. Hence, in the second war the story was much the same, although the batteries at the Pei Ho river were able to repel the European navies and delay the end of the war by a year. In conclusion it can be seen that not only did the Chinese suffer a great disadvantage in the technology of their weaponry, but they also were behind in training and discipline, factors which turn brave men into efficient troops. Obviously there is more than fighting to any war, and political, economic and social factors all have an influence on events. However, in order to gain a full insight into the wars between China and the Western powers, it is necessary to understand the military aspects. Fortunately the military men, like so many Victorian travellers, have left records of their experiences. This paper draws on some of those records and aims to put them in context with the development of weapon technology that was taking place at the time. The range of weapons being used by the two sides spanned centuries of development and their coming together is, in itself, a fascinating story. NOTES 1 Keith Stewart Mackenzie, Narrative of the Second Campaign in China, London 1842, p. 92 notes "the Tartars making a most determined resistance, standing by their guns till the sailors cut them down, hand to hand." 2 Captain Granville G. Loch R.N., The Closing Events of the Campaign in China: The Operations in the Yang-Tze-Kiang and Treaty of Nanking, London 1843. P. 107. Loch is horrified by "old men, women and children, cutting each other's throats, and drowning themselves by the dozen." 3 Loch R.N., op. cit., p. 113. 4 Mackenzie, op. cit., p. 62 notes "for both (Admiral) Kwan and his second in command, fell by bayonet wounds received in their breasts, whilst gallantly ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 117 leading their men to an attack. 5 Mackenzie, op. cit., p. 138. 6 Lord Jocelyn. Six Months with the Chinese Expedition. London, 1841, p. 41. 7 Although the benefits of rifling to give more consistent trajectories were known, no one had yet been able to come up with a practical means of taking advantage of it in a cannon. 8 Lieutenant John Ouchterlony, The Chinese War: An Account of all the Operations of the British Forces from the Commencement to the Treaty of Nanking, London 1844, p. 98 notes that at Tycocktow the Gunboat Nemesis "threw shells into the upper fort." D. Bonner-Smith & E.W.R.Lumby. The Second China War 1856-1860. London, 1965, p.53 records that Rear Admiral Seymour reports that "The Barracuta at the same time also shelled the troops in the hills at the back of the city, from a position at the head of Sulphur Creek." 19 D. Bonner-Smith, op. cit., p. 173 records that Commander Forsyth of the Hornet reports "..commenced firing grape and shrapnel, with ricochet shot,into the whole mass of junks, which must have done dreadful execution, as they were crowded with men to excess." Ouchterlony, op. cit., p. 239. 12 Mackenzie, op. cit., p. 23 reports "a Congreve rocket, which was fired at the Admiral's junk, went through the deck into the magazine, upon which she immediately blew up." 13 Loch, op. cit., p. 40. 14 Mackenzie, op. cit., p. 149 notes "In artillery they are very backward, their guns being of enormous weight in proportion to their calibre; some of the pieces of ordinance which we captured weighing seven ton, although only 42 pdrs; yet notwithstanding the immense thickness of metal in many cases the guns burst." 15 Mackenzie, op. cit., p. 157 notes "in the great arsenal at Amoy, a large two-decked junk was found nearly ready for sea with guns, as well as something bearing a resemblance to gun-carriages." ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 NATURALIST, AUTHOR, ARTIST, EXPLORER AND EDITOR AND AN ALMOST FORGOTTEN PRESIDENT Arthur de Carle Sowerby 1885-1954 President of the North China Branch of The Royal Asiatic Society 1935 - 1940 KEITH STEVENS 121 Although the lives of many Western expatriates who lived in China and experienced the excitements and horrors of travel and the exoticism of the old civilisation cry out to be recorded, most expatriates lived mundane, cliché-ridden existences, apart from the occasional excitement caused by the troubles and emergencies of the times, brigandage, rioting, and war. They never, or only very rarely, ventured far from their Treaty Port and certainly not into the dark hinterland of China. Should they have ventured anywhere at all, it would have been to hunt or shoot in the immediate area of the Port or go to a nearby beach or classical tourist site, such as Nanking or Soochow. And of all, only a mere handful of those who did venture far afield have left sufficient records to enable a portrait of their life to be disentangled and recorded. Arthur de C. Sowerby was one such venturer. Before the centenary of his and his family's fortunate furlough in 1900 passes, I wanted to pay a debt of pleasure to the author and publisher, Arthur Sowerby, on behalf of all those who gained some insight into a China now long departed. I have unorthodox reasons for taking a special interest in Arthur Sowerby. Beginning some years ago, a train of circumstances led me to him when I bought several unbound second-hand copies of the China Journal published by him and his wife in Shanghai in the 1920s and 30s. I was then drawn by a series of coincidental incidents to the fascinating and exciting period of his life, his early years. Each of these incidents has had some significance to me, ranging from the city of ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 122 his birth and childhood, and my favourite stamping ground in China Taiyuan, the capital of Shansi province, to his first wife, the daughter of John Mesny, a junior employee of the Chinese Imperial Customs Service, the life of whose elder brother, William Mesny, was the subject of my earlier research [vide.: my paper in the Journal of the RAS HK Branch: Volume 32, 1992]. Sowerby roamed far and wide throughout northern China before serving for a while in France as an officer with the Chinese Labour Corps [vide: my Note on Chinese Labour Corps Graves in England in the Journal of the RAS HK Branch Volume 29, 1989]. He then visited Fukien province and met Caldwell whose book on the Blue Tigers of that province had intrigued me when I was much younger. Finally, I was drawn to Sowerby's life story because he was not only a dedicated member of the North China Branch of the RAS in Shanghai for whom he wrote prolifically and eventually became its President, an honour he held for some five years, 1935-1940 but also because he produced his fascinating bimonthly journal on both everyday and exotic Chinese subjects. Since his death nearly fifty years ago he has faded into insignificance and is forgotten by all but those who happen to come across his books and journals. Arthur Sowerby was an explorer and author who lived through very exciting times, first as the son of a Christian missionary in the Chinese interior at the time of the decline of the Manchu dynasty, through the Revolution of 1911 and the fall of the Manchu dynasty to the War Lord period during which he roamed some of the more remote areas of northern China. This was followed by the crises and struggle between the Nationalists and the Communists, the incursions and eventual full-scale invasion by the Japanese, his incarceration in an internment camp in Shanghai during the Second World War, ending with learning during his latter years in retirement, first in England and then in the United States, of the Communist victory in 1949 and, just before his death, of the Korean War when China sent its "Volunteers" to aid the North Koreans against the South Koreans and their allies which included the Americans and British. During the last thirty-five or so years of his life he suffered great pain wracked as he was by arthritis. It was said that he could speak Chinese ‘like a Chinese.' There is no reason to doubt this as he must have learned it at his ayah's knee though he appears never to have made any effort to learn to read and write the language. During his life in China, the next forty or so years, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 125 notes on nature and hunting in Manchuria. He founded the first natural history museum in China, at the Anglo-Chinese College and this brought him to the notice of directors of museums in the United States and England. We have little idea what he did between his return from the Duke of Bedford's expedition and the start of the next expedition nearly three years later, the Clark expedition of 1908/9, which again sought specimens. This time they again set out from Taiyuan to the west, across the Yellow River into Shensi and then on to the north-west, into Kansu province travelling up the Silk Road as far as Lanchou. It was a well-financed private expedition with Sowerby taken on as the Naturalist and though not spelled out - the interpreter. Their route took them through Yulin, a city in the Ordos desert in Shensi province, noted for its large Buddhist temple. This was selected as the first main stopover where they remained undisturbed within the temple compound. Sowerby, brought up in Taiyuan, spoke the local dialect and was able to converse with the local officials and obtain their co-operation and assistance. They remained in Yulin over the winter during which time the Emperor and the Empress Dowager died in Peking. This event brought the second most senior Chinese official in Yulin to the compound to break the news and warn the party of the general apprehension that the deaths of their Majesties might bring about a revolt against the dynasty. Clark, who was also an amateur astronomer, had been seen by Chinese peering through his telescope at the night sky leading the second most senior Chinese official to ask Sowerby whether Clark had foreseen this calamity? Sowerby's answer that he had foreseen it led the official to demand to know why Clark had not passed on the warning to him. Sowerby was able to answer that the official knew full well that it would have been treason for anyone to even suggest that such a thing would take place before it happened. This satisfied the awed official, though the warning of possible unrest left the expedition in a quandary. They decided that the best move would be to set off at once for Sian [now known as Xi'an], the provincial capital, where they would expect to have better protection. On reaching Yenan, some short distance to the south of Yulin, en route for Sian they were assured that the situation was stable and once more settled down for a while, hunting and prospecting locally. After several weeks of visits to Loyang and Honan Fu [now Chengchou] in a neighbouring province, whilst Clark returned to Shanghai to settle a family matter, they continued on to ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 132 Arthur Sowerby was recorded in the Directory & Chronicle of China, Japan, Corea, Indo-China, etc. for the years 1932 and 1938 as manager of China Industries Ltd, with an office in Museum Road, Shanghai and in 1938, as a director of the Post-Mercury Company Inc., USA in Avenue Edward VII, also in Shanghai. The latter was involved in printing and advertising. Arthur was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, a Fellow of the Zoological Society, a member of the RAS North China Branch and also President [1928] of the China Society of Science and Arts [in Shanghai], as well as being Honorary Director of the Shanghai [RAS] Museum. iii He married three times, the first time in about 1910, at the age of twenty-five, to Mary Anne Mesny, the daughter of John Mesny of the Chinese Customs Service. She would have been just about the same age as Arthur though more than likely his elder by a few years. She seems to have disappeared from the scene almost immediately, perhaps dying comparatively young but not before she bore him a son. She does not appear in any notes after their marriage even when his parents and sisters were evacuated from Taiyuan to the safety of Tientsin during riots. This suggests that she was no longer present after about 1911 or 1912. As Mary Anne's father, John Mesny, was married to a Chinese lady whom he married in Hankow in 1866, Mary Anne was half-Chinese. This was a time when mixed marriages and even more so, marriage to someone with native blood, was frowned upon by the more bigoted expatriates. His second wife, to whom he was married at the age of forty-two in 1927, was Clarice Moise, the American with whom he founded the China Journal. Clarice died in 1944 during the Japanese occupation of Shanghai. His third wife was Alice Cowens, an old friend and the lady who had nursed Arthur's brother when he had been gassed during the First World War. She was invited to join Arthur in Shanghai in the Autumn of 1946 at a time when he was too ill to travel back to England alone and promptly flew out, first to Hong Kong and then, five days later, she arrived in Shanghai and married him. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 134 have therefore added it here for the record. The Sowerbys were an old family of Saxon stock that can be traced back to the time of Edward the Confessor, and possibly earlier to the first kings of Kent in the fifth century AD. Arthur de Carle Sowerby was the great grandson of James Sowerby, who died in 1822, the botanist who wrote English Botany and was one of the founder members of the Geological Society. His son in turn continued his work and helped organise the Royal Botanic Society and Gardens in Regent's Park. On his mother's side Arthur was descended from Pierre Séguier, the Chancellor of France in the reign of Louis XIII; he was also the great grandson of Anthony Stuart, the miniature and portrait painter of the early Victorian period. Arthur's uncle was part-founder and first Keeper of the National Gallery of Portraits in Trafalgar Square. At the end of his schooling he began his training to be an artist but soon left it for that of a scientist, working for his BSc. at Bristol. He returned to China having dropped out of College and after his arrival back in China he was appointed in 1906 in the double capacity of lecturer and curator on the staff of the Anglo-Chinese College in Tientsin. He served in France during World War 1 as Technical Officer in the Chinese Labour Corps, and on his return to China made his headquarters in Shanghai where he remained until the end of the Second World War. He developed an interest in Chinese Art and was impressed by the accuracy of ancient Chinese craftsmen in modelling pottery animals for the tomb, an accuracy that enabled him as a naturalist to identify the breeds of various domestic animals in use in ancient China. He wrote a series of articles for the China Journal on Birds in Chinese Art; the Owl in Chinese Art; The Flora in Chinese Art; Rocks, Mountains and Water in Chinese Art; Animals in Chinese Art; as well as Animals in the Myths, Legends and Fairy Tales of China. His interest in craftsmanship also led him to write a series of articles on Chinese arts and crafts, including four papers on the Chinese ivory industry. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 307 Report of the Committee of the Shanghai Cricket Club and a Statement of Accounts for 1940. Articles on cricket include, Days of Yore, China Coast Cricket (1922-23), A Brief History of Cricket in Hong Kong, by Peter Hall, written in the 1990s, and Cricket in Shanghai (2 pages). In 1981, Arnold Graham donated a large collection of cricketing books and magazines to the Hong Kong Cricket Association. In fact, when Arnold Graham came to play cricket in Hong Kong in 1933, he was married in Saint John's Cathedral and there is a wedding photograph to prove it. Another of Arnold Graham's pastimes appears to have been the Garrison Players and, on different occasions, he played the role of both producer and actor. Various plays, mostly with a British ring about them, were staged. These included HMS Pinafore, Trial by Jury, Merrie England (1926) and The Scarlet Pimpernel. In the box sent by Arnold Graham's daughter there were also a number of photographs and snaps of places like Hangchow (1932 and 1933) and the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank on the Bund. Also included is what could have been a soccer team where all players are Chinese, except for one European. There are also photocopies of pictures of groups of people taken at the Hankow Races in 1888, the Hankow Club in 1934 and 1935, and a picture of the stewards of the Shanghai Paper Hunt Club, season 1926-27. Many of the pastimes, years ago in Shanghai, were similar to those of Europeans in Hong Kong. Arnold Graham also spent much of his spare time with the Shanghai Volunteer Corps, over a period of 13 years, and there is a paper about the socio-military history of the Corps (14 pages). There are photographs of a military tattoo and another of a group of officers, mainly Europeans (one presumes of the Corps), taken in 1937. There is also a large, dark-blue epaulette, which appears to have been cut from a uniform, embroidered with a gold dragon. Having had only one home leave in 13 years he managed to persuade his employer to grant him furlough during the Second World War, whereupon he joined the army in New Zealand. For the latter part ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 347 As can be imagined, this news was met with somewhat derisory comments. To give due credit to the long-suffering guides, permission was eventually obtained (thanks to a half-hour conversation on a mobile phone) for our bus to travel through the town and past the railway station, but we could not take any photographs. I somewhat facetiously asked if the four of us who looked the part could take pictures, and the answer was that they could! Well, this was China, after all! The first attractions of the day, however, were a couple of hill-top forts. Not only were these open to all and sundry, but they were also very well maintained and signposted. It seems that every hilltop around Port Arthur had a fort or gun emplacement on its summit. The first we visited was the North Fort on East Cockscomb Hill, to the north-east of the town. This features a very extensive fort (dilapidated rather than ruined, but very clean and well looked after) and a small Museum of the Japanese-Russian War. A good view could be had from here over the bay in which Captain Arthur moored and of the rest of the town of Lushun. Most of the hills around have some sort of monument or obelisk on the top, and this one is no exception. Strangely, however, the obelisk here was erected by the Japanese and has a long Japanese inscription, all of which is intact. No surprise, therefore, that there were coachloads of Japanese tourists (from the Imperial Asiatic Society, no doubt). The second hill was the famous 203 Hill, so named because it is 203 metres high. This hill is a bit nearer to the town, and so a clearer view could be had of the forbidden territory. Atop this one was a 20-foot high metal obelisk resembling a rifle bullet. The inscriptions here were Chinese, but there was a fair amount of graffiti including some in Russian. Also on view was an anti-aircraft gun (our so-called experts had not even heard of the Russian air attacks in 1894!) and well-preserved assault trenches. Next came the hard-earned whizz through the town, with the four of the party designated as photographers for the rest of us. The sole object of this foray was the railway station, the actual end of the line that linked this extreme end of the Russian empire to Moscow. More symbolic than beautiful, the station was well worth the trouble it took just to see it. Very small and twee, it is only about the length of two modern-day railway carriages, but the small hall is topped by an onion ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 369 ANOTHER DILEMMA FOR TODAY'S YOUTH IN CHINA Keith Stevens and Jennifer Welch During a recent RAS [HK BR] tour of the Museum of the Humen People's Resistance against the British in the Opium War [1840-1842] at Humen [Bocca Tigris], a small town about sixty miles south-east of Canton on the east coast of the Pearl River, we entered the old temple dedicated to the Northern Emperor [Bei Di] in the grounds of the Museum. The main altars of the temple were not in any way unusual in that it had the central altar with the image of the Northern Emperor, Bei Di, and two flanking side altars, one dedicated to Lü Dongbin, the doctor in the group of the Eight Immortals and the second dedicated to Guan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy. However, there were two further glass cabinets, identical with the form of the main altar, one on either side wall. Against the wall, stage left, was an image of Lin Zexu, the Imperial Commissioner despatched by the Emperor to Guangdong province in 1839 with instructions to stamp out the opium trade. His destruction of the stocks of opium held by British, American and other foreign traders led to the so-called Opium War [in British parlance, the First China War]. The cabinet against the temple wall, stage right, contained three images of Chinese officials involved in the War. They were Admiral Guan; The Governor of the Two Guangs and a General Chen who, captured by the British, is now remembered as the prisoner taken by his captives, together with his loyal horse, to Hong Kong where he died. Before both side cabinets, which had baldachin and silken hangings in front of the altar tables bearing honorifics as do temple altars virtually everywhere, were altar tables with red spirit tablets bearing their honorific titles, as well as offerings of fruit, bottles of wine and incense pots. What proved so interesting was the indecision manifest amongst Chinese visitors who, having not hesitated to bow and offer incense before the images of the three main deities, Bei Di, Lü Dongbin and ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 383 MONUMENT TO THE WESTMORELAND REGIMENT THE 55TH REGIMENT OF FOOT IN DINGHAI CITY ON ZHOUSHAN ISLAND KEITH STEVENS AND JENNIFER WELCH In October 1998 the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society organised a visit for members to Ningbo [Ningpo] and Zhoushan Island [Chusan Island] off the East coast of China in the archipelago of the same name. The object of the visit to Dinghai, the county capital of the archipelago, was to try and follow the course of the British military campaign there during the First and Second China Wars, the First being the so-called Opium War of 1840-1842 and the Second, the Arrow War of 1856-1860, and see if any monuments to the British victory and subsequent occupation remained. In particular we were looking for the military cemetery and tombstones. The Chinese guide who met us in Ningbo and who was to accompany us to Dinghai was most doubtful about our mission. We did not think she was even aware that the British Army had been on Zhoushan 150 years ago. However by the time our ferry docked at Dinghai, maps relating to the campaign, which had been brought along with us, had been studied in detail, together with an account by the Reverend Wright. In Dinghai our first call was at the local museum where we collected the Curator. We were most fortunate in that he was interested in the China Wars, and not only knew the accounts - albeit from the Chinese point of view - but was able to lead us to the sites of action, and to the one remaining monument to the British. During the two China Wars Zhoushan had its moments of glory in history after which both conflicts gradually faded from both British national and Chinese local memories. Between the 5th of July 1840 when the city of Dinghai fell before a British attack for the first time, and the 5th of June 1846 when the British restored Zhoushan to the Chinese, the island was ruled twice by the British with its claim to fame as the first Chinese territory ever to be occupied and controlled ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 384 by the British. By the turn of the century folk memory in Zhoushan itself of the battles and occupation by the British had disappeared much as it has today in Weihai in Shandong province, which had been a British naval base, with a colonial governor, leased at the same time as the New Territories of Hong Kong in 1898 and held until handed back to China in 1931, The British captured and occupied Zhoushan on two separate occasions during the First Opium War. The first occupation was short and brutal, ending with an agreement ceding Hong Kong to the British, the reopening of Guangzhou (Canton) to foreigners for trade and an indemnity in exchange for the restoration to the Chinese of Zhoushan. Both sides promptly repudiated the agreement but not before Zhoushan had been handed back. The Chinese commissioner, Qi Shan was recalled to Beijing (Peking) in chains and charged with treason having surrendered Chinese soil. The War restarted some six months after the first retrocession by the British and the city of Dinghai was once more taken. The second occupation of nearly four years was longer but much more amicable on both the British and Chinese sides. The British appear to have failed, intentionally or otherwise, to extend their control far beyond the city of Dinghai and were at the mercy of the local Chinese tradesmen who controlled the victuals required to maintain the British occupation forces. This, however, does not appear to have led to trouble as doubtless the local Chinese were comparatively well paid for their provisions. Once the third and final British occupation ended, that is after the Second China War in 1860, there would appear to have been neither routine British consular presence on Zhoushan nor representatives of the foreign-run Chinese Maritime Customs on Zhoushan. These were stationed in Ningbo, the city on the mainland a mere couple of hours sailing away. However, there was a lighthouse on Zhoushan run by westerners of the Chinese Maritime Customs though this would seem again to have been directed from Ningbo, and at one stage there was a small American Christian missionary presence contrary to official agreements between the Chinese and Western nations, as well as a Lazarus Mission of Roman Catholics; in practice no Christian missionary presence on the archipelago had been authorised by official agreements. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 396 A week or so later I spent a second afternoon in Saint Michael's Roman Catholic Cemetery. With the help of the Cemetery Attendant, Mr Law, the register was referred to and I managed to trace one more grave. This is recorded as follows: Knox, Lucy Elizabeth, 18 September 1937, Section 9, Grave 6501 It has a granite headstone and the grave has been 'slabbed' over and rendered with Shanghai plaster. Although the grave has settled it is still in reasonable condition. The following words may be read on the headstone: For all your patient care, For every anguished prayer, For tact with awkward ways, For love on wayward days, For all you ever thought, For all you ever wrought, We thank you Mother dear, For every anguished prayer. Having traced four graves, with three remaining, I sought the help of the Reverend Carl T. Smith, Honorary Vice-President RASHKB. He soon responded by saying he had found some details of one of the remaining three deceased in his card-index system. This was concerning Thomas Tolliday whose death had been given by his relatives, in England, as at some time between 1893 and 1899. From the details of the copy of the newspaper cutting filed by the Reverend Smith, it was possible to establish that Tolliday had died on 9 August, 1895, in Ning Po (Ningbo), China. There is no record of his body having been brought to Hong Kong. He had joined the China Maritime Customs in 1862 and, late in his career, he became their Chief Examiner. Now that, out of the seven names, four graves and brief details of Tolliday's death have been traced, two graves remain. Of these, both persons died after World War Two. They are: Knox, Ivy Muriel, 15 March 1976; and Moss, Lilly Beatrice, exact date unknown but, given by a relative ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x THE BATTLE OF HONG KONG: A NOTE ON THE LITERATURE AND THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE DEFENCE LAWRENCE LAI WAI-CHUNG 115 Abstract From the stance of a person growing up in Hong Kong, this short note re-assesses the Battle of Hong Kong of December 1941 as recorded in the English and Chinese literature largely found in the University of Hong Kong Library. It examines the views of political leaders, war historians, veterans, and civilians of different persuasions and makes some informed speculation about their focus. It argues that a common omission is the relative fighting power of the defender of Hong Kong. The essay argues that the performance of the Hong Kong garrison was much better than the defenders of Crete or Singapore. It makes a few speculative suggestions as to the effectiveness of the defence and concludes by making a case for further research into the Battle from historical and military science points of view. Introduction "Memories of the war in Hong Kong, of the sharp and bitter struggle which ended with the capture of the Colony on Christmas Day, are kept on a more realistic plane than most other places....It was by tacit agreement decided that the war in Hong Kong had best be forgotten.” This statement in a publication of Ricci Hall of the University of Hong Kong (Ricci Hall 1954) reflected the peculiar political context of Hong Kong as a Crown Colony in China. The Union Jack as a symbol of British reign in Hong Kong has gone, and the ruins of the Second World War, associated with Hong Kong's immediate colonial past, lie wasting. The military cemeteries in Stanley and Sai Wan, however, have been as well maintained as before. The respect for those who sacrificed their lives for a just cause has not been altered by a change in governance. Authors from the belligerent countries have intensively studied military operations in Europe and North Africa in the Second World War since the end of hostilities. The intensity of the studies is ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x 120 exception was the Chinese translation of Walter Easey's Hong Kong Today published in 1977 (Easey, 1977). The last seven years of the so-called "transition period," i.e. the 13 years from the 1984 Sino-British Agreement on the return of Hong Kong to China on 1 July 1997 witnessed another boom in literary output related to the fall of the Colony to the Japanese and its aftermath. The first work was Bruce's Second to None: the Story of the Hong Kong Volunteers of 1991 (Bruce, 1991). The second work was Rollo's The Guns and Gunners of Hong Kong (Rollo, 1992). Next came a Chinese work on the communist guerrillas that operated in occupied Hong Kong, Tsui's Partisan Activities in Hong Kong (Tsui, 1993), published in 1993. The following year saw the work of Wright-Nooth, Prisoner of the Turnip Heads: the Fall of Hong Kong and Imprisonment by the Japanese (Wright-Nooth, 1994). In 1995, two more Chinese works appeared, Ko and Tong's Hong Kong: Japanese Occupation Period (Ko and Tong, 1995) and Tse's The Fall of Hong Kong (Tse, 1995). Ruins of War; a Guide to Hong Kong's Battlefields and Wartime Sites, written by Ko and Wordie (Ko and Wordie, 1996), was the major last work of this period. The publications in this period are generally less restrictive than earlier works in that they (a) give due credit to the Chinese defenders in the Battle and communist partisans, with their base in Sai Kung, New Territories, during the occupation; (b) spell out the potential and actual contribution of Chinese soldiers in the Colony; and (c) give sympathetic consideration to the Chinese civilians. The same is true of general history books on Hong Kong such as Cameron (Cameron 1991), Welsh (1997), Morris (1997) and Chan (1990). Churchill's Wisdom of Defending Hong Kong in Retrospect The recurrent theme of unofficial publications is that the fall of Hong Kong was inevitable and its belated reinforcement by the two Canadian battalions was pointless. I would suggest that in this regard a more comprehensive view of the battle requires an appreciation of the post-war history of British Hong Kong. The books referred to above have not discussed the political consequence of not fighting an impossible battle. One may speculate that had the British Administration given up the Colony without a fight, it would have lost the Colony forever. The ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x 130 Cameron, N. An Illustrated History of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Oxford University Press, 1991. Chan Lau, K.C. China, Britain and Hong Kong, 1895-1945, Hong Kong, Chinese University Press, 1990. Carew, T. The Fall of Hong Kong, London, Anthony Blond, 1960. Churchill, W.S. The Second World War Vol. 3, Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1950. Coates, A. A Mountain of Light, Hong Kong, Heinemann, 1977. Courtauld, C and Holdsworth, M. The Hong Kong Story, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1997. Crisswell, C. and Watson, M. The Royal Hong Kong Police (1841-1945), Hong Kong, Macmillan, 1982. Davis, C.B. Review on Endacott's Hong Kong Eclipse, The American Historical Review, Vol. 84, 3 (June 1979): 828-829. Easey, W. Hong Kong Today, Hong Kong, The 70's Publisher, 1977. (Chinese translation) Endacott, G.B. A History of Hong Kong, 2nd ed., Hong Kong, Oxford University Press, 1964. Endacott, G.B. and Birch, A. Hong Kong Eclipse, Hong Kong, Oxford University Press, 1978. *English, J.A. and Gudmundsson, B.I. On Infantry, 1994, Chinese translation by Rye Field Publishing, Taipei, 1999. (Chinese publication) Ferguson, T. Desperate Siege: the Battle of Hong Kong, Toronto, Doubleday, 1980. Fung, Y.L. A History of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Shanghai Book Store, 1967. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x 233 Essays and Notes (London, John Murray, 1865) [same] China, During the War and Since the Peace (London, Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans, 2 vols., 1852) Captain Arthur Cunynghame, An Aide-de-Camp's Recollections of Service in China (London, 2 vols, 1844) K.S. Mackenzie, Narrative of the Second Campaign in China (London, 1842) Granville G. Loch, The Closing Events of the Campaign in China (London, 1843) Alexander Murray [Lt. In the 18th Regt. (Royal Irish)], Doings in China (London, 1843) Lord Robert Jocelyn, Six Months with the Chinese Expedition (London, 1841) “A Field Officer", The Last Year in China (London, 1843) Armine S.H. Mountain, Memoirs and Letters (London, 1857) ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2000 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/nk328168n 25 “As you wish, madame.” He gave us a second-class cabin, looked at our son doubtfully. "Tall for his age, isn't he? Only four and something, did you say?" And another, equally persuasive fragment: In Singapore we were refused a room at the English hotel, and the Chinese ones were very hot and uncomfortable; there was opium-smoking, prostitution and gambling all round us. Marguerite had prickly heat, and our son cried all night long. Our clothes were all too heavy for the damp, hot weather Having returned home as a former engineering student from Belgium, Han Suyin's father was then employed by the Belgian company developing a railway network throughout the Chinese interior. There are many fragments in the pages of her books, referring to this period in her and her family's lives. A happy one is given already in Chapter One of The Crippled Tree: Railways meant a lot to my father, and they were also part of the climate of my growth since my childhood was spent in small or large railway stations. Even now, whenever I hear the siren hoot of an engine, my childhood comes cantering back to me. Inequality between Western high school diplomas granted to the Chinese and to the whites was indisputable, self-evident and absolutely “natural,” and was thus quite impossible to argue against. The Chou family was confronted with this inequality right from their re-settlement to China. In Chapter Nineteen of The Crippled Tree, Han Suyin mentions: It was in the yellow plains of Honan; not far from it, the Yellow River had burst its dykes and gone flooding once again, and there were many displaced peasants and also bandits and soldiers, the latter more than the former and more to be feared. The little station was safe, however. There the Big Engineer, whose name was spoken of with indrawn breath and a small pause of respect because he was a Belgian and had a large salary, stayed in a new brick house constructed specially for him on a small hill. Mama and Papa lived in a small Chinese house of earth walls on the other side of the railway, about two miles away ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2000 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/nk328168n 57 an auspicious location to build a palace [of peace] where all the world's powers could meet and create a peace that will last ten thousand years. The second letter is not addressed to any specific addressee with the writer also signing himself 'The Spiritual Man Yuan Chun`. Sir, Your humble disciple learned that your righteous attempt to bring peace to Europe was rebuffed. Your setback was not due to your lack of sincerity for peace, but is due to the Western people's desire for war. Sir, you know that the Chinese people [in Europe] have been placed in great danger by the war. We believe in your powers to make further attempts for peace, and to ensure our safety and our eventual return to China. The third letter is addressed to His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief and is unsigned: The current situation is one of utter chaos; the people's lives are very hard and we have waited in vain for the government to alleviate our difficulties. Our country is weak and the people disunited. Now is the time for an heroic brave man to take command and launch a crusade to stabilise the nation and unite the people. I hope Your Excellency will not hinder my efforts to carry out this righteous duty and I ask for your assistance in this endeavour. I wonder if any of the above letters were sent and, if so, whether the contents had any result on the final cessation of hostilities. Whilst writing this article I was fortunate to find a book on the life of Two-gun Cohen, the well-known personage with strong ties to China. Morris Abraham Cohen was born on 3rd August, 1889 in Stepney, London's East End, of an immigrant Jewish couple from Poland. He was shipped to Canada at the age of 16 after having come into conflict with the authorities. In Canada he learnt to ride, shoot and gamble, and ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2000 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/nk328168n 93 Waters, D. D: The Chinese labour Corps in the First World War : Labourers buried in France : Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society: Vol. 35 : 1995 The Commonwealth War Graves Commission, 2 Marlow Road, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 7DX United Kingdom Tel: 44-1628 634221 Fax: 44-1628 771208 Imperial War Museum NOTES 1 3 Lambeth Road, London, SE1 6HZ Tel. 020 7416 5000 Liang Shiyi (1869-1933). Chinese government official and financier. Under the Qing government, amongst his financial dealings, he helped found the Bank of Communications (1907). He was President of the Board of Communications (1912), Chief Secretary in the Presidential Office and General Manager of the Bank of Communications, acting Finance Minister (1913-1915); Director-General of the National Revenue Administration and Director-General of the Domestic Loans Office. He was linked with Yuan Shikai and in 1916 fled to Hong Kong. He formed the Wei Min Corporation for the recruitment of Chinese labourers to serve in France, as a proponent of China's entry into the war. Returning to Beijing in 1918, he was made Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Communications; Speaker of the National Assembly; Director of the Domestic Loan Bureau (1920); and Prime Minister (1921-1922). After exile (1922-1925) he again served in the Beijing Government under both Duan Jirui and Zhang Zuolin. He retired to Hong Kong in 1928 after the Northern Expedition reached Beijing. This was usually referred to by “real” soldiers as the Crosse and Blackwells, as this British provision company had a very similar crest. Lt Col. Bryan Charles Fairfax, a Yorkshireman, was born on 12th September 1873, the second son of Col. T.F. (or L?) Fairfax of the Grenadier Guards and passed through the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, being commissioned on 8th March 1893 into the Durham Light Infantry (DLI). He was posted to the 2nd Battalion, then serving in India. In 1898 he volunteered for service with the newly raised 1 Battalion, The Chinese Regiment of Infantry, stationed in Weihai ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2000 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/nk328168n 257 Han Suyin was the daughter of a Belgian (Dutch/Flemish) mother, Marguerite Denis, and a Chinese father, Chou Yen Tung, (a railway engineer) and one of eight children. She was born in Sinyang, Henan Province. Her parents met whilst her father was studying at university in Belgium. In 1932, she started work as a typist at the Peking Union Medical College to earn money to study. She entered Yenching University in 1933. She transferred to the University of Brussels in 1935 but abandoned her studies in 1938 and returned to China after the Japanese invasion. The same year, she married a Kuomintang officer, Tang Pao Huang, who rose to the rank of general before he was killed during the Civil War in 1947. Tang served for a period as a military attaché in London during World War Two. Before his death, they adopted a daughter, Mei. Han Suyin, aged three (second from left) with her father behind her In 1944, she entered the School of Medicine, University of London and in 1948 graduated M.B., B.S. (Hons.). She took an appointment as a paediatrician at Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong, in 1949. After Mr. Morrison's death in August 1950, she continued working in Hong Kong and married Leonard (Leon) F. Comber, an English publisher, on 1 February 1952, in Hong Kong. She spent the next 10 years in Johore Bahru, Malaysia, working at an anti-tuberculosis clinic. Mr. Comber was a Special Branch officer (assistant superintendent) in Malaya between 1948 and 1960. It was in Malaysia, also, that she met her current husband, an Indian Army colonel Vincent Rathnaswamy. There is a confusing report that she practiced medicine in China until about 1961. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2001 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g 19 very useful in the depression, and the factory would provide employment for 100 Africans." Hong Kong was also seen as a special case where the decline of the entrepôt trade with China justified the policy of fostering industrial development. After much discussion the only specific recommendation made by the committee was that when a protective tariff was granted an excise duty equivalent to the import duty should always be imposed. The final report of the committee was never published and apparently was never considered by the cabinet. So the Colonial Office continued to vet proposals for new industries according to the guidelines laid down in the 1934 Report, that manufacturing should not be 'artificially encouraged'. Officials were concerned to safeguard colonial revenues at a time when most colonies were in financial difficulties as a result of the world depression. The Colonial Office insisted that budgets must be balanced, to avoid the need for a grant from the British government and the consequent Treasury control of the colony's finances. The Colonial Office had no money available in its own account to subsidise ingenious schemes, such as a project put forward by an entrepreneur from Trinidad to produce newsprint paper from bagasse and to power the factory with anhydrous alcohol distilled from sugar cane juice.70 Governors could apply for funds from the Colonial Development Advisory Committee which provided £36,500,000 for development assistance from 1929 to 1939. But this fund was originally set up to alleviate unemployment in Britain and no application for industrial development would be entertained which would be likely to compete with British industry.? Officials believed that by discouraging uneconomic industrial development they were acting in the best interests of the native inhabitants. An assistant secretary minuted, 'Manufacturing industry, which can be established in a colony only at the price of a monopoly protected by a high tariff, ends in producing a locally manufactured article which is too expensive for the primary agricultural producers to buy.' Governors were more suspicious of the motives of Colonial Office officials. The governor of Sierra Leone complained that any industrial project was approached from the standpoint that British trade interests must rank first, dominions' interests second and those of the colonies last. Perhaps the fairest summary of Colonial Office policy was made by a junior official: 'Generally speaking we do not want to encourage industrial development in the colonial empire, but we are reluctant to go so far as actually to prohibit it.'" Why then was it that Hong Kong was able to develop a flourishing export-oriented industry without any subsidy or assistance from the colonial government whatsoever when in all the other dependent territories the development of manufacturing industry was derisory, and the few factories that were established were heavily dependent on protective tariffs, special ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2001 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g 50 Li Deyu died in exile in 849, in Hainan some 57 years before the end of the Tang dynasty. He was born in AD 787, the son of a minister of state, and rose to become a great minister. In his heyday he was pre-eminent in China serving six emperors faithfully, including being chief minister to Tang emperor Wu Cong. Impeached as the President of the Board of War he was banished to Hainan where his spirit withered. He was not only a fine scholar but also favoured Daoism in the rivalry with Buddhism to influence the Court. He would appear to have had a comparatively close friendship with the Mao Shan sect of Daoists and is even thought to have encouraged the persecution of Buddhism and the imperial eunuchs. He was also an untiring opponent of eunuch influence. His achievements as a poet were recognised as was his contribution to horticulture. Li Guang was born in Fujian province in 1085 and died in a monastery in Hangzhou in 1140, having been an Imperial Censor and Minister of State. He is renowned for his opposition to the encroachment of the Jin Tatars and in particular the peace proposals by which Qin Gui earned his unenviable notoriety. In 1126 he commanded troops defending the capital and succeeded in defeating the Jin Tatars with great slaughter. He was impeached in 1127 after only a matter of months as Minister of State for irregularities in connection with the purchase of horses and levies of troops, and was exiled for a while before moving to a monastery where he lived out the rest of his life. Li Guang [1077-1159] was born in Yuezhou in Zhejiang. He was also a scholar-official, but of the earlier Northern Song. He also appears to be feted in Hainan for sharing Hu Quan's rigorous opposition to any kind of accommodation with the Jin invaders and his dislike of Qin Gui. The latter earned him demotion to Jianning military district, and later still another demotion. He was, however, rehabilitated to his original position in 1158 but died the following year while travelling to Jiangzhou. Hu Quan [1102-1180] was a scholar-official of the Southern Song from Luling in Jizhou, Jiangxi province, who received his appointment in the second year of Jianyan emperor. Before taking up his duties, the Jin armies crossed the River and Hu raised his own army to defend the area. He too is famous for his stubborn opposition to any kind of peace dealings with the Jin invaders. He petitioned for the ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2001 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g 339 Paying respects to the deceased in this deeply Confucian society is still a very important construct of time-space, with families streaming out of cities to return to patrilineal villages particularly at the lunar festival of Chusok. From family grave to columbarium, there is a progressive divorce from ancestral territory (the family graveyard in the patrilineal village) and from social context (lineage). This study of South Korea concluded this cycle of research. I had hesitated to embark upon it, as I knew little about South Korea. I wanted to attempt it because I sensed that I would find there a continuation of ancient practices and associated deathspaces inherited from beliefs arising from Confucian traditions. Indeed, this turned out to be the case. Such a continuation had been impossible in mainland China, and it had been disrupted in Hong Kong because of the refugee origins of much of the Territory's population and because of the post Second World War transformation of its economy and land use. The research that examines the relationship between contemporary practices and spaces connected with death in South Korea, and their (possibly considerable) parallels in pre-modern China, remains to be carried out! ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2001 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g 396 heal up, but hope to resume filing about Thursday. Another bullet grazed side without doing any damage, After the Second World War he spent some months in India reporting the growing agitation for independence and spent six months travelling in China in 1948, reporting the progress of the Chinese civil war for The Times. In between specific assignments he was stationed in Singapore, where he lived with his Czech wife, Maria, and their two children. On Thursday, 29 June 1950, a few days after the outbreak of the war in Korea, Mr. Morrison was telegraphed by The Times and asked if he would be willing to cover the war for the paper. He never hesitated. He flew to Hong Kong on Sunday 2 July and spent the night with Han Suyin. The following day he bade farewell to Han Suyin and flew to Tokyo, and thence to Korea. Han Suyin never saw him again. His first report was published in the paper on July 10. On Saturday, August 12 he was killed, along with Colonel M. K. Unni Nayar, and Christopher Buckley. CABLE & WIRELESS LTD Ian Morrison's cable to The Times agreeing to go to Korea Han Suyin, circa 1952 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2001 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g 423 Valery M. Garrett. Heaven is High, the Emperor Far Away, Merchants and Mandarins in Old Canton, Oxford University Press [Oxford University Press (China) Ltd., 2002] xiv, 210, Mrs. Garrett has put a lot of loving effort into this book, and it shows. She made many visits to Canton during its years of gestation, and the contents fully endorse her claim (Introduction, xiii) that "instead of discovering that all had been swept away, I found that much had survived.' We are also in her debt for another reason. She has provided wealth of description from older works obtained during her searches in the second-hand and rare book market, many of them never reprinted, and hence scarce and expensive to buy, if you can find them! One such book is by the American, Osmond Tiffany Jr. (Boston, 1849), which has supplied the two little gems given on pages 79 (on the Parsee merchants of Canton) and 90 (on Chinese shopmen). The result is a lively, informative, and very readable account of a City, once famous across the Four Seas, which has been long neglected and deserves to be again better known. No matter - as the author has felt obliged to add that a visit there is "like an audience with a grand old lady who has had too many face-lifts". She is still worth cultivating, for all that! The long history of Canton is given in outline, but the focus is on its 18th and 19th centuries "heyday," when the city was the only port on the long Chinese seaboard open to foreign trade: and as promised in the sub-title, here we have 'merchants and mandarins' superabundance, firmly set within the geographical, social, and historical context of their times. I liked the book's organization. Its three parts, with fourteen chapters and accompanying notes, together with an Introduction, cover the subject very neatly, whilst each chapter is long enough to impart adequate information, but not to the point when it becomes too much to handle. I also like the illustrations, especially the three sections in colour. All very well reproduced and including some that (I predict) many ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 However, in response to a petition by European merchants in 1835 to the EIC against piracy, some action on the part of the Indian government was taken, through the use of steam warships (for example, the Diana and HMS Wolf). These ships were effective in fighting piracy, and according to LA Mills, 'piracy in the Straits greatly decreased for several years... Conditions never became as serious as they were before 1836.'38 However, Turnbull says that these measures only gave temporary relief and that, within a few years, the position deteriorated. Moreover, in the 1850s, a new breed of pirates began to haunt the merchants' commerce. They came from China, and the Chinese imperial government was too weak to suppress them. The main theatre of Chinese operations was the Gulf of Siam, although many vessels were captured near Singapore.40 The Indian government did not pay much attention to the problem as it was involved in the second Anglo-Burmese war at that time, and as Calcutta had passed no laws to detain suspicious vessels, there were no legal means to curb piracy. In 1857, the Indian legislative council had passed an inadequate law which permitted the right of search, but did not solve the problem of proving intent. No improvement was made to the naval force in the Straits Settlements in the last ten years of Indian rule, which consisted of only three gunboats (a 'lilliputian fleet'41). Eventually the Chinese pirates were gradually eliminated from the Straits waters as a result of a series of treaties and agreements between China and other western powers (such as with Prussia 1861, Denmark 1863, the Netherlands 1863, Spain 1864, Belgium 1865, Italy 1866, and Austria-Hungary 186942), the contents of which included co-operative measures to wipe out piracy. The Hong Kong 'Ordinance for the suppression of piracy' was the first real blow delivered against Chinese piracy.4 The Indian government played a minimal role with regards to the combat of piracy in the Straits. The problem was brought under control through a list of other factors, including foreign treaties and ordinances, and hence, the merchants' complaints were not without reason, as little credit can be attributed to the Indian administration in this respect. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 47 Harbour, and engulfed everything in their way up to a quarter mile (400 meters) inland. At least 200 people were killed (a heavy loss, considering that the area was sparsely populated back then), and the Tai Po Road (one of Hong Kong's few major roads at the time) and KCR were temporarily put out of commission, which isolated the survivors from the rest of Hong Kong for two days.26 In Victoria Harbour (between Kowloon and Hong Kong Island), 28 of the 101 steam vessels present were stranded, resulting in five deaths. Shore facilities on both sides of the harbour were wrecked, including Kai Tak Airfield. Fortunately for this part of Hong Kong, which was and remains the most congested part of the territory, no tidal wave struck here because the eastern entrance at Lyemun Pass was too narrow for enough water to break through. But Victoria Harbour was still vulnerable to strong winds and rough seas, which were what caused all that damage in its vicinity.27 The implications that the "Great Typhoon of September 1937” (typhoons didn't acquire female names until after the war) had on a potential Allied landing in Hong Kong were profound. First, all kinds of operations would be impossible during a typhoon. Everyone would worry about how to take shelter from the storm rather than fight the enemy. Given the expected relative positions of the two sides, the Allies were sure to be more exposed to the elements than the Japanese because they were on the offensive and had to establish LoC inland. Second, Hong Kong was intended to serve as a port of entry for LoC into China. With its extensive waterfront facilities, Victoria Harbour would have served as the primary berthing area for ships, and Tolo Harbour was considered a good secondary anchorage. Depending on the path of any typhoon that hits Hong Kong, Victoria Harbour may be afforded some protection by the mountains that surrounded it on the Kowloon side.28 Tolo Harbour (and neighbouring Plover Cove) was roomy and calm enough for ships - as long as there was no typhoon.29 Once a typhoon hits Tolo Harbour, as it did in 1937, this area is at a disadvantage. Typhoons usually approach Hong Kong from the east or southeast, and Tolo Channel and Tolo Harbour are in the eastern part of Hong Kong. The winds in a typhoon blow in an anti-clockwise direction, which is an arc-like motion from east to west when one is facing north. In the case of Tolo Channel (which is the outlet to the sea ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 55 became more secure. This allowed the Chinese to reoccupy some of their lost territory as 1945 progressed. Talks of an attempt on Hong Kong from the interior of China were revived, although a Hong Kong in Allied hands was now considered a luxury rather than a necessity. The USN was still expected to make a contribution, even if it was only to finally open up a port in China to further alleviate her supply situation, and the possession of which would complete the blockade around Japan and the Inner Zone,55 Whether the USN, the chief underwriter of the Allied offensives in the Pacific, had enough resources for only a luxury objective was another story. As the Allies neared Japan, they encountered the wrath of two types of "divine wind." The first was man-made in the form of massed Japanese suicide plane attacks on the USN and Britain's Royal Navy (RN). This was the Kamikaze, and was the ultimate desperation measure employed by the Japanese in a bid to stem the Allied advance. While the measure eventually failed, it proved extremely nerve-wracking for the Allies to face it down, and men and ships were lost in fighting off this threat. The prospect of more Kamikazes awaiting an invasion of Japan did not sit well with the USN. The second was the more natural typhoon. The USN's Third Fleet had the misfortune to be caught in two of them during the last nine months of the war. The first typhoon hit the Third Fleet in December 1944 off the Philippines with winds of 125 knots. It claimed three destroyers sunk and 28 other ships damaged, 146 aircraft destroyed, and almost 900 dead or wounded. The second typhoon struck in June 1945 off Okinawa. This one wasn't as deadly, with winds kept below 100 knots, but it still damaged 33 ships, destroyed or damaged 92 aircraft, and killed or wounded 10 men.56 The Japanese could not have done so well in a conventional attack by this stage of the war. The end of the war did not spare the USN from further punishment. In October 1945, a large assembly of support vessels was struck by a typhoon off Okinawa. Winds of 100 knots and waves as high as 35 feet (almost 11 metres) combined to damage, ground, or sink almost 270 ships, most of which were amphibious vessels. The typhoon also damaged over 60 aircraft and inflicted almost 200 casualties, including 36 dead. Shore facilities and supplies were also extensively damaged or destroyed. Fortunately, the war was over, or else the loss (even ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 197 Promises were made that other colporteurs would continue to stop by Poklo, and so Ch'ea left his Hong Kong connections to return to an uncertain future. PART THREE: Darkness outside, light within: Chinese cultural rejections of Ch'ea's Christian way No further contact with Ch'ea occurred for nearly a year after he left for Poklo, partly because of changing circumstances in Hong Kong that prevented any more aggressive strategies from taking shape. Legge himself had already been living as a widower since October 1852, his wife Mary Isabella (1817-1852) succumbing to what was probably advancing tuberculosis during a burdensome delivery of a stillborn child.34 Longing to see his children who had been receiving their education in Scotland since 1853, but also anxious to show the first fruits of his plans for the Chinese Classics to the London Missionary Society Directors, Legge was predisposed to staying close to Hong Kong and not taking trips into the nearby mainland. The Arrow Lorcha affair in October 1856 heightened the political tensions over supposed conflicts in treaty provisions between the Qing and British empires, lending just enough reason for British officials to initiate full-scale war in December. Whatever plans there were for "nurturing" and "supporting" Ch'ea, the declaration of war made travel inside China for foreigners literally impossible. 35 In the meantime, Ch'ea had to make his own way. Soon after he returned to Poklo he officially gave up his "employment in the sacred temple [of Master Kong]" and apparently devoted his free time to reading the books brought with him from Hong Kong. Family members charged him with following a foreigner's religion, suggesting that he had given up his allegiance to the Manchurian empire. Neighbours and others considered him either to be mad or possessed, the latter group throwing water on him (blessed in one of the Daoist temples?) to cast out the demons. What is significant, and may not be fully understood at first notice, is that these reactions occurred months before any outright military hostilities had begun (the so-called Second Opium War). "Following ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 221 research and cross-cultural studies on an international scale. There is much of lasting value which has been gained here. For the light of this story is full of mottled shades, helping to expose the cultural complexities of the second generation of missionaries and indigenous Christians among Protestants in China as well as highlighting the work of one of their most creative and unexpected indigenous missionaries. Furthermore, it reveals a purposefully hidden event in the very early era of the post-Opium War treaty situation which has been all but forgotten. Now there is even more evidence to consider, far more than has previously been available, to indicate how and why the interacting forces of foreign military, local mandarin, Hong Kong missionary and Chinese local populations struggled through this very murky period in modern Chinese history. NOTES 1. Further details about Legge's missionary-scholar career can be culled from my two-volume work entitled Striving for "The Whole Duty of Man”: James Legge and the Scottish Protestant Encounter with China (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang), forthcoming in May or June 2003. Images of some of the other deaths surrounding Legge's later life while a professor in Chinese language and literature at Oxford can be culled from Norman J. Girardot's The Victorian Translation of China: James Legge's Oriental Pilgrimage (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002). An earlier version of this paper was read at the International Conference on James Legge held in the University of Aberdeen in April 1997. 2. See George Legge, Lectures on Theology, Science, and Revelation, eds. James Legge and John Legge, with introduction by James Legge (London: 1863). 3. In the five-volume set of William Canton's A History of the British and Foreign Bible Society (London: John Murray, 1904-1910), only two pages are devoted to recounting the basic elements of Ch'ea's Christian life and martyrdom, all being completely dependent on previous published sources in English. While a full chapter is devoted to Ch'ea in Helen Edith Legge's James Legge: Missionary and Scholar (London: Religious Tract Society, 1905), her account suffers from a lack of chronological consistency, some misrepresentation of facts, and a lack of understanding of the broader circumstances influencing the events leading to his murder. 4. An immense amount of literature in the general area of Protestant missionary studies, for example, and two monumental works on Legge's two distinct careers as a missionary for the London Missionary Society in Hong Kong and as the first professor of Chinese language and literature at Corpus Christi College in Oxford (by Pfister and Girardot respectively), have highlighted these matters. For those interested in the more general trends of missionary studies ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 224 (Sevenoaks: Hodder and Stoughton, 1981), the first volume subtitled Barbarians At The Gates, pp. 143-147, 174-175, 224-225. 11. Both Hong Réngan and He Jinshan have been discussed in detail in Pfister's Striving for "The Whole Duty of Man", especially chapters 4-6. A more thorough study of He Jinshan's contribution to Chinese Christian history by Lauren Pfister is an essay entitled "A Transmitter but not a Creator: The Creative Transmission of Protestant Biblical Traditions by Ho Tsun-Sheen (1817-1871)” in Irene Eber, et. al., eds., Bible in Modern China: The Literary and Intellectual Impact (Nettetal: Steyler Verlag, 1999), pp. 165-197. 12. The name of Ch'ëa Kam-Kwong is constituted by particular Chinese characters Legge described as the "Golden Light Chariot," a way of expressing in English what the common meaning of each character is. Unfortunately, two misspellings have predominated in other literature, one in English and one in Chinese. In English, we surmise that Helen Edith Legge put together the typescript entitled "Che'a Kin-KWáng," horribly mixing up the transliteration with something like the proper name in Hoklo dialect, but the given name in Mandarin. Legge never uses these transliterations in his own writings. In Chinese, Wáng Tão wrote the wrong characters for the name in his personal diary for 1862 when he had first come to Hong Kong, showing also his struggle in understanding Cantonese pronunciations, making his given name "Embroidered River" (M. Jinjiang, C. Gam-gong) presumably by guessing from the sounds he heard from other Hong Kong Chinese Christians who referred to him. Consult Fang Xing and Tăng Zhijūn, eds., Wáng Tão rìjì (Wáng Tāo ’s Diary) (Beijing: Zhōnghuá Book Store, 1987), pp. 196-197, record for the date of the 10th month and 15th day of the lunar calendar (or a day in September, 1862). 13. There is no study of Ch'ea Kam-Kwong in Chinese language sources as far as I know, and very little published about him in English after the 1860s. Part of the reason, as will be argued below, is that his murder became an embarrassment to both the British embassy and the Qing dynasty at the time. 14. Legge wrote memorials for his elder brother, an important Congregational minister in Great Britain, George Legge (1802-1860), and his co-pastor, Hé Jinshan, published in 1863 and 1872 respectively. See the typescript on the "Sketch of the Life of Ho Tsun-sheen" in SOAS/CWM/South China/Personal/Legge/Box 7, the original manuscript on Ch'a being held in the Bodleian Library (the second item in MS Eng. misc. c. 865, fol. 1-19). Consult the long introduction written for George Legge's Lectures on Theology, Science and Revelation already mentioned above. The text of "Che'a Kin-KWáng” is a compilation done most likely by his daughter, Helen Edith Legge. It uses many original and secondary sources citing her father's and other missionaries' writings, but also includes some perspectives and interpretations which may not portray the full story. 15. The story of their visit to Daoist and Buddhist sites on Mount Lo-fow is described in Legge's "Journey of a Missionary Tour along the 'East River' of Canton Province," China Mail, Supplement to #853 (June 20, 1861), p.4 (covering events of May 22-23, 1861). This is the full text from which extracts were and published in EMMC/MM, No.304 (New Series, No. 21) for September 2, 1861, pp. 249-260. made ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 231 Henan province to Legge in Hong Kong. It is very unclear who that might be, since the London Missionary Society did not have regular workers in inland China, or even more north along the eastern coast of China, until after the settlement of the second Opium War in 1860. Nevertheless, the writer speaks about "old Chow" (lǎo Zhōu, accepted as an intimate expression between friends and not merely descriptive of age), an elder Chinese Christian in their church, who became so interested in the Poklo movement that he visited Ch'ëa independently in 1858 and found what had been said to be the case. 54. For further comments on Hannah Mary Legge's life as a missionary wife and spouse of an Oxford University professor, see Lauren Pfister, Striving for the "Whole Duty of Man": James Legge and the Scottish Protestant Encounter with China (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, forthcoming 2003), vol. 2, chapters 5 and 6 in passim, and Norman J. Girardot, The Victorian Translation of China: James Legge's Oriental Pilgrimage (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002), pp. 55-56, 62, 84-87, 150-151, 194-196, 455-456, 506-509. 55. Legge wrote, “Since his baptism in 1856, Ch'ëa has spent a large portion of his time in travelling, and making known the things which he believes, entirely without fee or reward. Our Church came to the conclusion that we ought, in accordance with the principle that the labourer is worthy of his hire, to do something for him; and he has gone back home the Agent or Missionary of our Chinese brethren here, for a period of three months. At the end of that time we are to see him again, when it may be advisable to take measures to prosecute the work in Pok-lo on a larger scale than the small means of my people can attain to." EMMC/MM 24 (February 1860), p. 39. 56. These statistics are summarized from the annual report of Legge and Chalmers written on January 14, 1861 (CWM/South China/Box 6/Jacket B/Folder 3) and Legge's "Journey of a Missionary Tour". 57. The subtleties of translation here are also important. Did Ch'ea actually use a word for "Papists," or was this derogatory term the European translators' replacement for a more neutral phrase for "Catholics" like Tiānzhǔjiào tú? 58. See EMMC/MM (September 1857), p. 207 for details. It should be mentioned, though it may be obvious to some, that the previously described persecutions of 1856 when Ch'ea self-consciously remained silent before his "persecutors" in the government was also an imitation of Christ's silence before the Sanhedrin. 59. Selected from EMMC/MM (September 1857), p. 208. 60. This scene and the subsequent information from Mr. Kot appear in the translation of the dictated account of his conversion published in EMMC/MM (September 1857), pp. 208-209. 61. There are later examples of sermons dealing with the topic of providence, for example, which probably reflect earlier teachings at Union Chapel. For Legge's sermons touching themes of divine providence see "The Review and Meaning of the Past" (on Deuteronomy 8:2, dated January 1, 1871, found in CWM/South China/Personal/Legge/Box 4), "The Rationale of the Divine Judgments" (on Psalm 119:75, dated September 17, 1871), and "The Doctrine of a Particular Providence" (on Psalm 37:38-40, dated January 28, 1872, both this and ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 234 man with a classical Ruist phrase, "Rotten wood! You cannot be carved" (see Analects 5:9, CC1, p. 176). The implication was immediately understood by Ch'ea, who flashed back his response, "Teacher, I was not sleeping; I was praying." Both Legge's self-deprecating irony and Ch'ea's response manifest much about the character of each man. See Legge, Che'a Kin Kwáng, typescript, p. 6, also Helen Edith Legge, James Legge: Missionary and Scholar, p. 117. 79. See EMMC/MM26(January 1862), p. 15. 80. Later Legge received a "copy of part of a placard posted in Wye-chow” which offered "50 dollars" for the "death of every foreigner coming among them, and “20 dollars" for the "death of every Chinese aiding in bringing the foreigner there, or in circulating his books." Quoted from EMMC/MM26(January 1862), p. 18. 81. These mixed emotions Legge states in the context of his own missionary goals. "I was really overwhelmed with astonishment at the course of things, and could hardly arrange my thoughts to acknowledge aright the wonderful ordering of events in the providence of God. Never was I so disgusted with the deceit in which the higher classes of the Chinese are steeped; never did I feel so much the renewing work which is necessary for all the people." This was a particularly poignant statement on the ethics of Ruist officials since Legge had only months before charged Master Kong with moments lacking in truthfulness, moments that had become standards of behaviour among the Chinese literati. See EMMC/MM26(January 1862), p. 16, and CC1, prolegomena, p. 101 (the 1861 first edition being much harsher in its judgments at this point than the 1893 second edition). 82. Described with clear logic and suitable illustrations in Paul A. Cohen, China and Christianity, pp. 149-169. 83. See the description in Legge, Che'a Kin KWáng, p. 7, and Helen Edith Legge, James Legge: Missionary and Scholar, p. 118. 84. In a letter to Arthur Tidman, Secretary of the London Missionary Society, dated October 31, 1861, and published in EMMC/MM26(January 1862), pp. 17-19, here p. 17. This letter is still very tentative in its allegations, Legge only indicating what he has heard from various secondary sources, and fearing that the worst had come to past. In the typescript, Che'a Kin Kwáng, the tone is far more certain and reflects on details not accessible to Legge at the end of October that year. 85. On May 8th, 1861, the missionary group including Ch'ea and Legge had travelled to the small hilly area named Nam-poon-leng where a wealthy farmer named Wong (M. Huang) lived with his extended family. Ch'ea had visited them many times, and the colporteur had spent a significant amount of time with them in 1860. As a consequence, when Legge and Chalmers joined the others in returning to the area, they found seventeen of the extended family ready to be baptized. See Legge, Journal of a Missionary Tour. 86. This bit of information came to Chalmers through "A-wai,” apparently the colporteur who first met Ch'a in 1856. This and the subsequent details are drawn from Legge, Che'a Kin Kwang. See also Legge, Reminiscences, p. 15. 87. This quotation and the previous information comes from Legge, Che'a Kin KWáng, pp. 8-9. 88. See Legge, Che'a Kin Kwáng, pp. 9-10, and the same wording in Helen Edith Legge, James Legge: Missionary and Scholar... Page 300 Page 301 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 310 Buddhist temple. The party ended the day at the sunset service at which, in the twilight, before three huge statues of the Buddha, stood the abbot surrounded by serried ranks of robed monks. The whole service was beautifully done with only one incongruity—a small boy walked past with a basket of bean curd wrapped up in a copy of the Los Angeles Daily Herald. The Inspection party continued their journey on to Nanjing that evening. A typical announcement in the China Inland Mission journal, China's Millions, noted that "In August 1932 Communist activity in North Anhui had prevented four lady workers of the CIM appointed to that part of the field. They had continued their language training in Chinkiang through the summer". The policy of the then central government of Chiang Kai-shek placed blame for any banditry on the shoulders of the Communists who were then based in Jiangxi province. Zhenjiang was one of the cities overrun during the Japanese advance on Nanjing in the December of 1937 when the former Concession was largely destroyed in the hostilities between China and Japan. However, Zhenjiang appeared on the international scene at least once more during the run up to the Second World War. In their drive south in April 1938 the Japanese 5th Division crossed the Yangzi at several places including Zhenjiang and pushed on forcing the KMT [Chinese Nationalist] divisions along the River Huai defence line to the south to crumble. To frustrate Japanese use of the Yangzi as a route by which to advance into central China the KMT forces sank a number of ships at strategic points including a number near Zhenjiang. To ensure that freight got through Butterfield and Swire transhipped cargo brought down from up-river on to a dedicated boat they kept moored between Zhenjiang city and the entrance to the southern part of the Grand Canal, and then once more transhipped it on to junks which carried the cargo down the Canal south to Shanghai. Parts of Zhenjiang, including the B & S office, were destroyed during the comparatively short period of heavy Japanese bombing preceding the eventual capture of the city and their advance up the River. The small British B & S staff simply moved to the APC installation outside the city. 43 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 326 so "starchy" and where you did not have to dress for dinner. French ships called at Saigon and Jibuti and the voyage ended at Marseilles. Italian ships berthed at Genoa. Other passengers preferred freighters. These were more relaxed still and life was not so "organised.” Not more than 12 passengers were allowed or there had to be a doctor on board. Whereas most airports look similar, with a freighter you called at interesting, out-of-the-way little ports, each with its own special smell. By freighter, the journey from Britain to Hong Kong could take up seven or eight weeks. Halcyon days indeed! Hong Kong to When I arrived in Hong Kong World War Two had ended less than a decade before. Yet some Britons living here still believed there were two kinds of expatriates. There were those who had been “in the bag" (prison camp) (where, in Stanley for example, some of my younger friends were born) and, secondly, those of us who came to Hong Kong after the War. The fact that some of us in the second group had seen more action than many of those who had been interned did not really count as far as old Hong Hands were concerned. The camaraderie which develops when people face danger or privation together came to the fore when I received a ticket for parking in King's Road. When I later told my old boss he said, 'Pity: the case has gone too far now. If you'd told me earlier I could have got it quashed." My boss had a friend, a senior police officer, who had been in prison camp with him. In 1954, Hong Kong's population was something like two-and-a-half million, compared with 600,000 at the end of the War. Immigrants were coming here from China in frantic attempts to evade communism. Accommodation was terribly overcrowded with people in some cases sleeping, on a shift basis, three to a bunk. With China all but cut off from the rest of the world we had lost our entrepôt trade and, with backs to the wall, it was a case of export or starve. There was considerable unemployment. Religion was burgeoning although many were said to be 'rice Christians.' Namely, joining for the handouts. People knew life in Hong Kong was not perfect. But it was a jolly sight better than living ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 328 There was a great deal of respect for Britain in the 1950s and when I bargained with a stall holder to buy a piece of electrical equipment he said to me: “This is not Japanese you know. It's best quality. It's British!' As late as the mid-1960s one of my Chinese staff, teaching surveying, refused to use a theodolite because it was made in Japan. War time memories died hard! Almost wherever one went in the colony during the 1954-55 winter one could hear the song, Whatever will be, will be, blaring out over loudspeakers or being hummed or sung. I was told that I should not tip more than 20 cents for odd tasks and, at the end of the month, I should tip my hotel room boy and my waiter each $10. I could go out then and have a haircut, a shave, a shampoo and a manicure for $2.80, and, being a generous sort of chap, I gave the 20 cents change as a tip. As I have said, I did not arrive immediately after the Second World War when people were prepared to work for two bowls of rice a day. There was no income tax in Hong Kong until 1939 when a 10 per cent "war tax" was levied. This was supposed to come off when the war ended but it never did. When I arrived in the mid-1950s the maximum salaries tax one could pay was 12 per cent. It had been increased from 10 per cent in 1950. 1 2 I started teaching at the old Technical College in Wood Road, Wan Chai. On my first visit a "big man coolie team" was grunting and manhandling heavy engineering equipment up the stairs. We did not move to Hung Hom until 1957. With the help of "academic drift” my old College became the Polytechnic University, on the Hung Hom campus, in 1994. Shortly after I arrived in the colony there was a rumour a leopard was on the prowl in the New Territories. It was probably no more than a rumour but I do believe that there were instances of South China Tigers briefly visiting the New Territories in the 1950s. If you don't believe me you should read The Hong Kong Countryside, by zoologist GAC Herklots (1951). I was taken the rounds of Hong Kong by a Yorkshire colleague within a few days of my arriving. First we went to the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China (as it was known then) where I opened an ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2003 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2v242g390 Roderick O'Brien, LL.B. (Adelaide), M.A. (Hong Kong), Postgraduate Certificate in Ethics (Griffith), has been a life member of HKBRAS since 1976. He is an Australian lawyer, and currently teaches international law at the Northwest Institute of Politics and Law in Xian, China, where he lives. He travels widely in China. Jonathan Parkinson, was born in Trinidad in 1939 and educated in England. He started his maritime career in the shipping business in Sarawak between 1960 and 1964, and thereafter was based in the Bahamas, South Africa, Belgium and the U.S.A. He retired to Johannesburg in 1987 where he spends many hours a week happily engaged in aspects of Naval research (jmp@iafrica.com). Keith Stevens, B.A., was born in 1926 on Merseyside, Great Britain where he lived until he enlisted in the Royal Navy during World War II. He later transferred into the Indian Army and then in 1948 joined the British Army as a career soldier. He read Chinese at both London and Hong Kong Universities, before going onto a second career with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office serving, altogether, more than 25 years in the Far East. He first became interested in Chinese iconography in 1948 and has been compiling a Who's Who of Chinese deities for more than 30 years. He has visited around 3,500 temples in Mainland China, Taiwan, the Hong Kong and Macau Special Administrative Regions, and across South-East Asia, gathering material. His personal collection includes more than 1,000 images (statues) of Chinese deities, 30,000 photographs of temples and their images, and he has documented the legends and folk law surrounding approximately 2,500 gods. In addition he has written prolifically on modern Chinese history. His publications include Chinese Gods: The Unseen World of Spirits and Demons and Chinese Mythological Gods (chgods@btopenworld.com). Elizabeth Kenworthy Teather, Ph.D. (Lond.), LRSM, FRGS, was previously Senior Lecturer in the School of Human and Environmental Studies, University of New England, Australia. She was Scholar in Residence in the David C Lam Institute for East-West Studies, Hong Kong Baptist University (1995-97, 1999-2000 and 2001-02). She now lives in Canberra, Australia, where she is enjoying the delights of the University of the Third Age (courses on the Silk Route in 2003 and Chinese History in 2004). A summary of her research into deathspace xviii ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2003 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2v242g390 2003 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE FRIENDS OF THE HONG KONG BRANCH OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY (UK) Although the number of Friends' activities during the past year cannot compete with those in Hong Kong, it is nevertheless pleasing to report that the quarterly meetings which have taken place have been of a very high standard. They started in May 2003 with a bold and forthright talk by Dr. Francis Wood, entitled 'Marco Polo and Me.' Dr. Wood is curator of Chinese Collections at the British Library and author of 'Did Marco Polo Go To China?' and 'No Dogs, Not Many Chinese: Treaty Port Life in China 1843-1943.' Her talk was very convincing and one was left in no doubt that there are still many unanswered questions about Marco Polo's trips to China. The second event took 35 Friends to Bath and Bristol for two days in early October, 2003. Bath has an excellent Museum of East Asian Art, originally set up by Mr. Brian McElney, who lived in Hong Kong for many years in the 1960s and 70s. He became a well-known collector of Chinese artefacts. The museum now houses a wide range of Far Eastern art, including items from South Korea and Japan. Our visit coincided with the very well presented exhibition 'Death and Burial: The Chinese and the Afterlife.' The Friends were particularly impressed by the emphasis on education and the museum's outreach to local schools. The day ended with a very authentic Chinese meal at the Cathay Rendezvous in Bristol. The following morning the Friends met at the Empire and Commonwealth Museum, which was opened in Bristol three years ago, with a great deal of local and overseas backing, including the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. It was particularly pleasing to see Dr. Dan Waters' name inscribed in the entrance hall. The exhibition portrayed in very enlightened and balanced ways a history of the Commonwealth countries, as seen by many of the local people who lived there. The items on display showed that the build-up of Empire and Commonwealth was a remarkable achievement, but there were clearly some aspects which did not come up to the high ideals many expected - this precipitated a lively topic for discussion during the lunch that followed after the visit and the subsequent river cruise through the old town of Bristol. xlvi ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2003 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2v242g390 'Rare plant delays zoning decision' (by A. So, South China Morning Post, November 4, 2000) With the intensive rural development and increasing land demand in Hong Kong from the late 1970s, policy related to land use became a more complicated task as people paid much more attention to the prime land than ever. The government has been putting efforts in environmental conservation; however, society's development continuously needed more land for both industrial and residential purposes. Adding to the dilemma, the government's claim to use of indigenously held land (either for conservation or development) was strongly rejected by the land's owners and dwellers. One of the main grounds for challenging the government has been the small-house policy enacted in 1972. Being able to build small houses within the village zone has been considered the indigenous rights claimed by local inhabitants in the leased territories; however, the increasing demand of house land requires village zones to be re-drawn. As we have seen from the case of Tai Long Wan, villagers expected to have some farm land converted into house land in order to have enough land for potential small-house applicants, yet, the government and many conservation groups have other considerations. In 2001, a village in Tai Long was graded as a historical settlement but future directions of restoration were not discussed yet. Pak Lap During the late seventeenth century, the Qing court encouraged migration to the coastal region after the Ming loyalist regime under Zheng Chenggong on Taiwan was pacified. Therefore, Hakka villages spread all over the eastern New Territories in Hong Kong including Sai Kung were mostly founded around that period. The second village, Pak Lap, shared a similar historical background with Tai Long Wan; more importantly, as far as I know, it is the only traditional village settlement in Hong Kong restored and developed into a small-scale rental-based resort houses. (for more information, see their homepage at: http://go.to/paklap). However, it was not planned in that way at the very beginning of the restoration. The story goes back to the early 1980s when Hong Kong was enjoying its economic achievements through the development of trading, finance, banking, and tourism industry. Page 60 Page 61 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2003 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2v242g390 23 The second courtyard is flanked on the left side by a two-story wooden Drum Tower (Gu Lou) and on the right by the matching two-story wooden Bell Tower (Zhong Lou). On the first floor of the Zhong Lou is a glass case holding a golden effigy of Kshitigarbha (Di Zang). Dizang is the bodhisattva who has the special power to rescue departed souls from Hell, and thus plays an important role in Buddhist funeral ceremonies. Upstairs on the second floor is the bronze bell which can be rung for a fee of 50 Rmb. On New Year's Eve this bell is rung 108 times at midnight. It is considered good luck to be there to hear it ring, and even better luck to be the one who rings it. The Zhong Lou was rebuilt by Qing Emperor Guang Xu in 1895, following the Taiping destruction of the temple in 1860-1862. The bell itself was made in 1894, during the 18th year of the Guang Xu reign of the Qing Dynasty. Beside the Zhong Lou is a Ming-style stone stele with a partially legible inscription which has been damaged. On the first floor of the Gu Lou is a glass case containing a golden effigy of Guan Yu, the God of War. In the Ming and Qing dynasties Guan Yu had temples dedicated exclusively to him in every city in China. The former Guan Di Miao can still be visited in Shanghai's Nanshi District. The second floor of the Gu Lou cannot be ascended, and it no longer seems to contain a drum. Beside the Gu Lou is a Ming-style stone stele with a lengthy inscription in very good condition. The present Gu Lou dates from an 1895 reconstruction, following the Taiping destruction of the temple in 1860-1862. Across the second courtyard from the Mi Le Dian is the Hall of the Four Heavenly Kings (Si Tian Wang Dian). This hall dates from an 1881 reconstruction, when it was rebuilt to replace an earlier structure destroyed during the Taiping rebel attacks on Shanghai in 1860-1862. The hall was last restored in 1981. The hall contains enormous gilded wooden statues of all four kings, two on each side of the hall. All four wear crowns on their heads and are dressed in heavy armor. One holds a four-string guitar and has a light green face, another holds a sword in his right hand and has a black face, a third holds an umbrella in his right hand and a small stupa in his left hand, and has a white face, while a fourth holds a snake and has a black face. This depiction is somewhat different than in the past. In the centre of the Tian Wang Dian are two glass cases containing golden effigies of two rather obscure Buddhist deities. Tian Guan Mi Le, a variant incarnation of Mi Le Fo, is depicted. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2003 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2v242g390 33 residence of factors or agents, and not because anything was manufactured there. Built and owned by the merchants charged with the conduct of foreign trade, they were let out to the foreign merchant houses, and comprised a series of 13 hongs placed side by side of each other, which formed a terrace fronting the river.15 (Plate 4) Each Hong consisted of a series of buildings placed one behind the other from the river backwards, for a depth of from 550 to 600 feet to the first street running parallel to the river.15 Spread over 21 acres, the factory grounds and buildings were rented from the Chinese merchants charged with the conduct of the foreign trade. They impressed visitors, especially in contrast with their proximity to 'low, dingy Chinese houses on the one hand, and the densely populated river on the other', and as another newcomer put it, 'sparkling like diamonds in a heap of old rubbish'." (See Plate). Like the Old China Trade itself, the Factories are long gone. They did not survive the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Chinese War in 1856 (the so-called "Arrow War," after the vessel which became the casus belli) when they were destroyed by fire on the orders of the Chinese authorities. However, they have been immortalized in the many pictorial representations that have come down to us of the sights and scenes of Old Canton. These are known collectively as "China Trade Pictures" because they were objects of trade, painted to order for the foreign merchants and ships' crews connected with the trade. The earliest panoramas date from the mid-eighteenth century, and from them we can trace the Factories' architectural history, notably the re-buildings that followed periodic disasters, such as the fires of 1822 and 1842.18 19 A salient fact is that most of these paintings are by Chinese, sometimes associated with a particular school of professional painters and sometimes unidentified. Such works were in the Western style, meant to suit Western tastes. Traditional Chinese style "views" were, of course, very different. Honam Part of Honam Island, on the south side of the Pearl River, opposite ================================================================================