RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1963 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/4m90m091v 102 J. W. HAYES 36 shops from Hong Kong, 28 from Peng Chau and 15 from Tai O contributed to the Po On study (presumably all or mainly of Tung Kwun origin); a few outside shops sent donations to repair the Tin Hau temple; hardly surprisingly no outside shops contributed to the Defence Bureau; but the subscriptions for the Fong Pin hospital came from a wide area and the list included over 20 shops and 40 individual persons (including 2 tongs from Tung Kwun and Hok Shan), from Canton, Pun Yue, Tung Kwun, Nam Hoi, Shun Tak, Macau, and other areas of the province, Most of the temples still contain tablets and other dated items which record their repair from time to time. However, the series is far from complete and many tablets have been lost. A typical instance is the loss of commemorative tablets from the Tin Hau Temple at Tai Shek Hau (the local place name). A prominent citizen remembers seeing a whole row of them fronting an outside wall when he was a young man, about thirty years ago, but they have now all vanished without trace. 15 For mention of these Cheung Chau posts see the following tablets: salt (Tin Hau and Fong Pin), stamp (Tin Hau and Fong Pin), customs, e.g. tax on kerosene (Fong Pin). There was also a customs post on Lamma (Fong Pin), and there were various patrol boats (both tablets). The officer in charge of the military post on Cheung Chau is mentioned on the Tin Hau tablet, whilst the Fong Pin tablet lists eight officers of the Tai Pang battalion. 16 Only the defence bureau tablet gives donors their official ranks, though comparison with others shows that some of the graduates are mentioned there without their titles, i.e., persons mentioned in these tablets may also have been graduates. A comparison of the Tong's genealogical record with the names on the tablets is at first sight disappointing. The genealogical record does not record titles for the later generations, i.e. those of the generation whose names appear on the tablets. An additional confusion is that the clan generation names may not have been used on the tablets where business or personal names may have been recorded instead. However, I think we can be fairly certain that most of the WONGS on the tablets belonged to the Tong. 17 I have translated "WU" as "petitioned the district magistrate". 18 See Kung-Chuan HSIAO Rural China; Imperial Control in the Nineteenth Century, (Seattle, University of Washington Press 1960), pp. 294-306 for defence organisations in this period. 19 His precise title was described on the Cheung Chau tablet as 城鎮 *which was probably the equivalent of colonel. A few years later he presented a large painted wooden commemorative tablet to the Hau Wong temple outside Kowloon City, on which his rank is described as tsung-ping or brigadier-general (see Ralph L. Powell The Rise of Chinese Military Power 1859-1912 (Princeton University Press, 1955) pp. 15 and 367). "The brigadier-generals were semi-independent, yet their units were scattered and practically sedentary," ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1964 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qz20zx09r 148 NOTES AND QUERIES abandoned, broken-down, and over-grown with trees and scrub, probably because it lies in a more remote and less populous part of Lantau, so that there would be no use for it after the garrison left. An interesting feature of the Tung Chung fort is the presence of six old muzzle-loading cannons on its walls, each fixed to a cement base. (There are now none at Fan Lau). How these were preserved at Tung Chung is told in the following extract from the 1918 Administrative Report of the District Officer, South: Miscellaneous Receipts show an increase of $5,000 odd, due to the sale of old cannon for $5,265 which had previously remained neglected in the district. In this connection, it may be noted that any specimens of interest were retained, and that six guns were selected for mounting upon the wall of the old Yamen — the present Police Station — at Tung Chung, Lantau. So the guns at Tung Chung may not always have been there, but may have come from elsewhere, some perhaps from Fan Lau. The cannons vary in weight from 1,000 to 2,000 catties, i.e. between 12 and 24 cwts., and are quite large. An interesting comparison is the Ming cannon dredged from Kai Tak Bay in 1956 during the construction of the new runway, which weighs 500 catties and is now mounted outside the Colonial Secretariat. All six pieces carry inscriptions, of which only four are now legible. A typical description reads as follows (though there is room for dispute as to the precise translation): Cannon; weight - 2,000 catties (23-8 cwts.) YIK, Border Pacification General by Imperial Appointment. CHAI, Minister of Constant Support, Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent and Viceroy of Kwangtung and Kwangsi. LEUNG, Assistant Minister of Defence and Governor of Kwangtung. LAU, Acting Prefect of Fat Shan Prefecture. CHEONG, Hoi Fung District Magistrate, on Reserve, supervised its manufacture in the 21st year of Reign of To Kwong, 10th Moon (1842) by Cannon Artisans LI, CHAN & FOK. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1967 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/0c488p70g HONG KONG MAMMALS 13 Carnivores visited Hong Kong but they have not been seen now for many years. The last one was shot at Stanley during the war and its skin, now somewhat decayed, is still present in the temple at Stanley. The Shing Mun tiger of May 1965 has the characteristics of a well-planned hoax. All the prints were of the same pad and in all probability they were made by a tiger's paw on the end of a stick. That people should claim to have seen the tiger is not surprising; a large ferocious dog in thick undergrowth can be just as frightening as a tiger, especially when there is a tiger scare, and these people probably genuinely believe that they saw one. Leopards also visited the Colony until fairly recently. Both tigers and leopards are good swimmers and can travel from island to island. The last sighting of a leopard was in 1957 and shortly afterwards one was shot 8 miles inland from Sha Tau Kok. It was probably the same leopard and its skull and tail were brought back to the Colony and donated to the University of Hong Kong. Today only the smaller carnivores are present in Hong Kong: the tiger-cat or Chinese leopard cat, civets and ferret-badger. There are only a few tiger-cats surviving (Plate 2). There are probably none on Hong Kong Island. In the wild they live mostly on rats but also catch birds and chickens. In captivity they do not fare well due to their extreme nervousness which is often mistaken for fierceness. They become so frightened that they spit and growl until they are exhausted and may die of shock. Also they are susceptible to cat 'flu and other diseases in captivity. They are however very splendid animals, being one of the most graceful and beautifully marked of all the wild cats. Another carnivore, and one which plays an important role in reducing the rat population, is the South China Red fox. Several pairs are still living in the New Territories. The female is a light sandy colour, whereas the male is more brightly coloured with a reddish head and tail and grizzled grey flanks and legs. At a distance they resemble small wolves. (Plate 3 shows three young foxes). It is rumoured that European foxes were introduced just before the war for hunting, but the latter was not successful. The steep Hong Kong countryside was advantageous to the fox. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1968 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833948d 82 FAN LAU AND ITS FORT: AN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ARMANDO M. DA SILVA* Site and Situation Fan Lau is located at the extreme southwestern tip of Tai Yu Shan or Lantau Island. It is almost equal in distance from Hong-kong and Macau and it is situated about twenty-five miles due east of the latter. Fan Lau can be reached by sampan or fishing boat either from the market towns of Cheung Chau or Tai O, or by walking along the water catchment from Shek Pik reservoir to a point above and beyond Kau Ling Chung, and then by descending a steep stony path towards the settlement. Another route is to strike out from Tai O, taking the coastal footpath through Yi O, and thence to Fan Lau. There is no motor road to Fan Lau. The area of Fan Lau includes a headland known as Kai Yik Kok (†) meaning "chicken wing point" where an old fort is located (see map 1).† The high point of the Kai Yik Kok promontory rises to about 380 feet above sea level. In the north of this headland lies the cultivated waist of Fan Lau where a small settlement is located. Looming above the settlement is Kai Yik Shan1 from which two streams supply irrigation water to the padi fields. Two fine beaches, Tung Wan and Sai Wan, flank the waist of the peninsula. Tung Wan, though exposed to prevailing easterly winds and a long fetch from the village, can accommodate deep-draught junks. The actual territory associated with the village extends beyond the physical boundaries of the settlement. Fan Lau villagers, for example, cultivate fields located in Tsin Yue Wan (see map 1) and records show that, at least in 1904, padi fields in Kau Ling Chung (since abandoned) were also cultivated. Situated at the entrance of the Chu Kong or Pearl River estuary, Fan Lau enjoyed a strategic location in the past. This position was reflected in the construction of numerous forts and guard stations * Mr. da Silva has a Master's degree from the University of California at Berkeley and is at present with the Department of Geography, University of Hawaii. † Maps 1-4 are located at pp. 92-95. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1968 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833948d 90 ARMANDO M. DA SILVA It will suffice here to say that the exterior defence of the Chu Kong estuary consisted of a series of forts, customs-stations and guard-posts in the Lo Man Shan 老萬山, Kai Pong 鷄澎, Sam Chau Mun 三洲門, Ngoi Ling Ting 外伶仃, and the Tam Kon ## groups of the outer off-shore islands. The civil administration ruled from Nam Tau, the district city of the San On district. The military administration was centred at Tai Pang, on the western arm enclosing Tai Pang Hoi (Mirs Bay). The civil administration operated on a north-south axis, as against the east-west axis of the military coastal defence system. This is understandable when one realizes that the military could facilitate their control of the coast-line by establishing easy communications by water running the length of the coast-line from strongpoints on strategic head-lands and the offshore islands. 3 For the Chinese characters of place names of some locales in the vicinity of Tai Yu Shan see map 3. For names of places within the present territory of Hong Kong see A Gazetteer of Place Names in Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories (Hong Kong, Government Printer, 1960). 4 So far as I know there has been no published study of this fort by Hongkong's local historians, except for a brief mention in one work which states that Kai Yik Kok fort was of Ch'ing dynasty date. Lo Hsiang-lin, Hongkong and its External Communication before 1842, (Hongkong, Institute of Chinese Culture, 1963) p. 172. 5 The principal ingredients of this cement are clam and oyster shells which are crushed and burnt to produce slaked lime. The lime is then mixed with fine sand to produce a holding cement. Shells and fine sand are common to many local beaches and are, apparently for this purpose, used in lime kilns. 6 San On Yuen Chi, kuen 22, under section on Coastal Defence reads: 看復界後海絮籹寧而設險更捻周密雖今之汎地 及設兵皆與舊制不同而大嶼山雞翼角炮臺南頭 炮臺赤濘炮蠱最為餓要 7 Fan Lau is also known as Shek Sun meaning "boulder growths", a reference to the numerous residual boulders at Kai Yik Kok, 8 Luis Gomes, Monografia de Macau (Macau, 1951), a Portuguese translation of the O Mun Kei Leuk p. 70. "No 7° ano de long Tcheng (1730) construiram-se fortalezas nas duas montanhas, distribuiram-se as guarniçoes para a sua defensa e foram reforçadas as tropas que guarneciam Tai-U-San formando assim como que um angulo semelhante ao que e constituido pelos chifres dum boi, para servir de defensa exterior de Macau e o Boca Tigre", 9 J. J. L. Duyvendak, "Sailing directions of Chinese voyages" T'oung Pao, vol. 34 (1938) pp. 230-237; and "The true dates of the Chinese maritime expeditions in the early fifteenth century", T'oung Pao, vol. 34 (1938), pp. 341-412. 10 The district of San On (新安) was formed in the sixth year of Lung Hing (隆慶) ie. 1572-73, Fourteen years later, in 1587, the San On district gazetteer was written by Yan Tai-kon (縣太君), the District Magistrate. Various editions followed. The latest edition was published in 1819. This gazetteer provides the best primary source of information on pre-British Hongkong. Chapters (kuen) XIV and XXII deal with Coastal Defence. These are chapters of special interest to historical geographers. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1968 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833948d PLOVER COVE VILLAGE TO TAIPO MARKET 99 Generally speaking the interviewees were cooperative, although suspicious of the interviewers. There were refusals, of course, but we fulfilled our scheduled interviews in all but one old village group where we were completely unsuccessful except for being able to interview (in lieu of his ill father) a twenty year old son.4 That our failure rate should be so high in the one village is worthy of considerable note but thus far no satisfactory reason has been ascertained. Among the other villagers the male respondents were more reluctant than the females, whom we interviewed when no male was available. Due to the suspicion which we encountered in our first interviews, we modified our research plan and decided to shift temporarily away from interviewing housewives, and begin instead with the interviewing of children at the school (and at other schools where children of these families studied),5 We interviewed the children on the school grounds during recess periods in one day, and hoped that the children would tell their mothers of this unusual event, thus making access to the mothers easier during the next interview wave. The strategy worked very well and the cooperativeness of the women whom we interviewed during the following week was very good." Table I summarizes the number of interviews accomplished in each village during this early phase of the research. It does not include the numbers of children, and other status group members not discussed in this paper as most of this interviewing is still going on. TABLE I Where Living: Households Sampled Interviews with: Village* Out In Two Respondents Wife Only Husband Only Siu Kau 41 73 2 3 Tai Kau 48 97 3 IN 2 Kam Chuk Pai and Tai Lung 161 107 2 4 I Wang Leng Tau and Nai Tong Kok 98 125 Chung Mei · Chung Pui NN 22 62 73 134 TOTALS 443 598 NUN 2 0 3 2 * These place names are in Cantonese romanisation and, together with their Chinese characters, can be found in the Hong Kong Government's publication A Gazetteer of Place Names in Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories (Hong Kong n.d, but 1960) at pp. 193-194. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1970 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ww72j0241 132 HENRY D. TALBOT Lo cheou-Lo Chau (Beaufort Island) = Mers Bay Mirs Bay Mew Is.-Mo Chau Nako chau-Papai (Nei Kwu Chau or Hei Ling Chau) Nine-pin-Ninepin Group Po-ke-long Point=Lei Yue Mun Point Psang-chau-Kau Yi Chau Ragged Island Steep Island Rat Island or Ling Ting-Ling Ting R. Povado or Iron River-Hebe Haven Sin-can-hien-Hsin-an Hsien (San On Yuen) or, rather, the district city of Hsin-an Singan Islands-Siu Chau and Tai Shan Shu-lap-ko Is.-Chek Lap Kok Island Sui-pak Siu Kau Yi Soko Cheou Is. the Soko Islands Song-kco Sung Kong Ta baco=Chung Chau Tat-hong Moon-Tathong Channel = Tay Pak Peng Chau Tay-pak-hoe Green Island (or perhaps the sea between Hong Kong and Lantao Islands) Tsa-cheou Is. =Sha Chau Tsan-Cheou-Kau Pei Chau (off Cape D'Aguilar) Tysa=Small island 1⁄2 mile south of East Brother Wang Laang-Waglan Island NOTES 1 Cf. The British Museum General Catalogue of Printed Books (London, 1961) Vol. 100, Col. 222. The British Museum Catalogue of Printed Maps. Charts and Plans (London, 1967) Vol. 7, Col. 359, Morse, H. B. The Chronicles of the East India Company Trading to China 1635-1834 (Oxford, 1926-29) Lists of Ships. 2 Cf. Bonacker, W. Kartenmacher Aller Lander und Zeiten (Stuttgart, Hiersemann, 1966) p. 200, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1971 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/z029vt43g ترا 11 May 22 June Dr. Hu Shiu-ying "Flowering Plants of Hong Kong.” Dr. Chiu Ling-yeong +4 Two Views on the Modernization of China." 21 September Mr. Kwok On 7 November 12 December (Talk, Demonstration and Performances) "Puppet Show." Mr. James Hayes (Organiser) Excursion to Tung Lin Kok Yuen, the Tam Kung Temple, Happy Valley and the Tin Hau Temple, Causeway Bay, Mr. David Gilkes (Organiser) Excursion to Tao Fong Shan, Shatin. (The Christian Mission to Buddhists). Taking into consideration the variation in the popularity of subjects and in the availability of lecturers, the lectures last year were on the whole as well attended as could be expected, and this raises two points of special interest to our Society. One is the availability of suitable halls at the times we want them, and the other the choice of subjects. Regarding the former, it is becoming more difficult to make short-notice bookings of lecture halls in Hong Kong and this is due partly to the increasing demand and partly to long-term block booking by some organizations. This is going to remain a permanent difficulty, and an increasing one too, and the only answer I can see to it is the ultimate acquisition of our own premises, which incidentally would solve one of our library problems as well. Regarding the choice of subjects, popularity of the subject is not the only point taken into consideration by your Committee when arranging the lecture programmes. Our chief aim is to cater during each year for as many tastes among our members as possible, and hence variety of subjects, rather than popularity, is the main criterion. A glance at the above list will, I think, convince you that that is what we are achieving. Your Committee would therefore welcome suggestions or requests from members ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1973 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r 114 SUNG HOK-P’ANG to Kam T'in he was much taken by it, considering the people were more friendly and honest than those of his own country, and it was said that he came to live there in the 6th year of Hoi Po (HT) A.D. 973 of Sung dynasty. During the 8th year of Shing Fa (APC) A.D. 1472 of Ming dynasty when the Kam T'in people revised their family tree, they added a note which cast doubt on the veracity of this, and instead they were inclined to believe that Tang Foo (#) the great grandson of Tang Hon Fat was really the first to come to Kam Tin, and that he transferred the bones of his father, grandfather and great-grandfather to Kwangtung from Kiangsi. Be that as it may, and although there is no actual proof that one or other was the original Tang to settle in Kwangtung, Tang Hon Fat remains a "first ancestor" as his is the oldest Tang grave near Kam T'in. It can be found at Ah Kai Shaan (Y), Waang Chau (H) village. Six generations after Tang Hon Fat there were two brothers, Kwai (3) and Sui (). Kwai had two sons called Yuen Ying (* ) and Yuen Hei (†), both of whom left Kam T’in and founded branches of the family elsewhere. Sui had three sons, Yuen Ching (元祯), Yuen Leung (元亮) and Yuen Woh (元和). The first and last of these also left for other districts but Yuen Leung remained behind, and the Tangs in Kam T’in to-day are his direct descendants. These five cousins were known as the "Five Yuens", and after their death their descendants who by then were scattered in various parts of China built an Ancestral Hall, common to all the Yuens, called To Hing T'ong (*). It is at the South gate of the district city of Tung Koon (✯✯), on the Kowloon-Canton railway not far from Sheklung (). In the hall Tang Hon Fat has been given premier place, but the "Five Yuens" are venerated in the same way as he and Tang Yue are, as being "first ancestors”. As mentioned before, Tang Foo, the great grandson of Tang Hon Fat is said to have found the sites for the graves of his father, grandfather and great-grandfather, himself. They were all acknowledged as being lucky places by the "fung shui" men, who were, of course, consulted. That of Tang Hon Fat is called Yuk Nui Paai T'ong (£#*) jade girl reverence; and his son's grave which is on Yuen Long Hill (₪), is called Kam Chung Fau Tei () gold bell cover ground. The grave of Tang Foo's father is called Poon Yuet Chiu T'aam (#AM) half moon shine lake, Page 120 Page 121 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1973 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r 126 SUNG HOK-P’ANG The history of the three younger sons is not known, but of Lam, who was born some time during the reign of Shun Hei (FR) A.D. 1174-1189, it is recorded that he held the office of Ts'im P'oon (僉判) and received honour as Tik Kung Long (迪功郎). He was rich and very charitable and he contributed a lot of money towards the building of T’ung Tsai (通濟) and Tak Shaang (得勝) bridges. He also built a pagoda called Ngaan Taap (雁塔) for the public; a house called Ling Yuen Kok (靈隱閣) and gave liberally towards the repairing of a main road which was formerly the haunt of robbers. The Tung Tsai bridge is still in use in Tung Kwun (東莞) and is at Woo Sha (烏沙) in the South-west part of the district. Though the record stone of the Tak Shaang bridge is lost, fortunately there is a copy of it written by Leung Koi (梁楷) the district magistrate of Lai Ling Yuen (東莞縣), a famous scholar and “Tsun Sz” (進士) of the 7th year of Ka Ting (嘉定) A.D. 1214, of Sung dynasty. He knew so much that his nickname was Shue Sz (書廚) "book case"! Tak Shaang bridge was a very old bridge over the stream Foong Shaang K'iu Ho (放生橋河). This stream was originally called Chaak Mut (釋物) “kindness to creatures". It was the custom on the birthday of the Emperor for the magistrate and elders to come to the bridge and there set free birds from cages and put living fish in the stream. This was to show the Emperor's love for living things, and the name of the ceremony was Foong Shaang (放生), "to set free living creatures". The bridge was situated at the South gate of the district city of Tung Kwun, and there were many well-built houses by it. The date of when it was originally built is not known, but it was first repaired by Cheung Fan (張範) the district magistrate of Tung Kwun in the 2nd year of Shui Hei (紹熙) A.D. 1191, of Sung dynasty. This repair was done in wood, but later, in the 2nd year of Shiu Ting (淳祐) A.D. 1229 of Sung dynasty, it was rebuilt in stone. This was carried out by Chiu Yue Hon (趙與諴) the district magistrate, who did his best to meet the expenses incurred with money from his government funds. This he found impossible to do, so he appealed to Tang Lam and another wealthy man named Ng Hak Foon (吳學文) who between them promised to pay all the expenses themselves. It is still the most famous bridge in Tung Kwun district. The Ngaan Taap or “wild goose" pagoda was built on To Ka Shaan (道家山) in FL on the western side of Tung Kwun city. The original Ngaan Taap pagoda was built in A.D. 652, the Wing Fai (永徽)... ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 158 138. K. M. A. BARNETT 141 Lantao ★ Draaijryrshaano, earlier ★ Draaixrayshaann p. 142 Lung-hu Irunqwruuv ♬ p. 157. 143 Lung Kwu Lrunqgwuur p. 157. 144 Lung Kwu Tan Lrunqgwuurthaann ### p. 157. 143 Ma mraah p. 157. 146 Majen mraarjrann App. 139, 157. 147 Man mraann p. 139 and passim. 148 Man mraan (43). 149 Man mrann p. 156. 150 Man-shu Mraannshyh p. 139. 151 Ma Shi Chau Mraarsirzhaw 152 Ming mrenq p. 138. A p. 136, and see (42), (81). 153 Mirs Bay * . The English name may be a corruption of 4% see Ma Shi Chau, supra 151, p. 136. 154 muong (47 Rem.). 155 nam (51 Rem.). 156 Nam Tau Nraammtraw ♬ A sub-dialect of Tung Kwun pp. 136, 143, 156. 157 paen, as in paendin. (66 Rem.). 159 Pak braak p. 156. 159 Pan-ku Pruunn'gwuur £& p. 138. 160 Punti buurndrei *, possibly a corruption of a Yao179 word for plainsmen, p. 138 and passim. 161 Pun Yue Phuunnjryhv * p. 136. 162 Sai Kwan Shaygwhaann, before 1911 the Belgravia of Canton, p. 136. 163 Sha Lo Tung Shaahlrohdrungy p. 157. 164 Sha Lo Wan Shaahlrohwhaann # p. 157. 165 Shan-lao Shaannloo 4 pp. 138, 139. 166 shut seoe * p. 157. 167 Southem Han p. 138. 168 Sung sung p. 139. 169 Sung Hok Pang Sung Xrokpranq *** · 170 Taipo Draaibrou by old inhabitants, Draaibou by newer ones P. 138. 171 Tai To Yan Taidhowjran #7 p. 137 and see (117). 172 tam traamm p. 156. 173 Tang Drang #p. 156. *For the script for Nos. 154, 155 and 157 above see Mary R. Haas, Thai-English_Student's Dictionary, Stanford University Press, 1954, pp. 410, 269 and 175 (both entries) respectively. Ed. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 LEGENDS & STORIES OF THE NEW TERRITORIES 161 Another ancestral hall, built by the Tang family was less fortunate. The story goes that in the 1st year of Ka Hing (✯✯) A.D. 1796 of Ts'ing dynasty, the sons of Tang Yue Cheung (**) decided to build an ancestral hall worthy to house the tablet of their illustrious ancestress, the princess. So they built a house of “kak muk” (**) in T’aai Họng (✯✯✯) village, and in shape the house was like a king's palace. At that time the district magistrate of Sun On was a man nicknamed “Hungry Bug" on account of his habit of collecting "squeeze" wherever he could. When he heard of the new building being erected in Kam T'in, and how magnificent it was, he scented a chance to make money. So he sent a message to the Tangs to say he would like to inspect their new acquisition. The Tangs were much dismayed; being familiar with the character of their district officer they knew quite well the object of his visit, they did not want to pull down the house yet its very existence was an indication of their wealth and prosperity. In the village of Lung Kwat T'au (#) where the villagers are Tangs too, being descendants of the first son of the princess, there was a portrait of the princess and the Tangs of Kam T'in borrowed it and hung it up in the entrance of the hall. When the district officer saw it he was filled with awe, and hastily made obeisance to it. He was so impressed that he dared not demand money from the descendants of so distinguished a lady, and after making a show of being pleased he stayed one night, and then took his departure. Eventually the picture had to be returned to its rightful owners, and the Kam T’in men fearing further trouble, pulled the hall down, but the foundation stones, overgrown with weeds and grass can still be seen. The legends of Kam T'in are curiously mixed up with tales of buried treasure. One story tells how at the end of the Ming dynasty the Tangs wished to build an ancestral hall for the tablet of their eleventh ancestor, Tang Kwong Yue ( ). Tang Ping Yee (*) (a grandson of Tang Kwong Yue) and eight of Tang Ping Yee's cousins chose what was, according to one "Fung shui" man, a very lucky day to put up the central beam of the house, but a few days later they found that the beam was putting forth shoots. The people considered this to be a bad omen, so they consulted a more reliable fortune-teller, who declared that the day had been a lucky day, but for building boats, not houses! The people at once pulled down the beam, the time happened to be the season of the dragon boat festival, and the villages decided to make the discarded ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 170 SUNG HOK-PANG Shui T'au village in the Shing Fa years of Ming dynasty, and at the same time, Tang Wan Kuk #Tang Shuk Lun and Tang Kwai Yin started the village of Shui Mei, while Tang Chung, Tang Shue and eight others formed the village Ying Lung Waai near Yuen Long Market. When these villages were built on the advice of “fung shui" men a pagoda was also erected to the west of them, called Man Ch'eung Kok. In the 30th year of To Kwong, A.D. 1850, of Ts'ing dynasty the Tang family seemed to have reached the height of their prosperity. Many of them had passed the highest government examination and a census taken in that year shewed that there were more than eighteen hundred males living, belonging to the family. Not content, the elders consulted with ignorant "fung shui" men as to how to increase their numbers even more. They were advised to pull down the pagoda, to alter the course of the river, making three ponds, and to build a school that would hide part of the river from the view of the village. From that time the family decreased considerably, and many of them regretted having taken the advice of the "fung shui" men. In 1930, however, they repaired the banks of the river and built houses called Ch'eung Ch'un Lei near where the pagoda had stood, and since then the Kam T'in people declare that more male children have been born and family is once again on the increase. [5] During and since the Ming dynasty Kam T'in has been able to boast of many scholarly and notable sons. Tang T'ing Ching who passed the Kui-yan degree in the 7th year of Shing Fat of Ming dynasty, A.D. 1471, of Maan On was appointed to the office of Kau Yue district in Kiangsi province, promoted later to District Magistrate of T'ang Yuen Kwangsi. He was a great friend of Hau Kui, a well-known poet of the New Territories. His poems are included in an anthology named "Ling Naam Chue Yuk" and also in the Record book of San On and among them is a poem written as a farewell to Tang T'ing Ching when he left to take up his new official post. The oldest family tree book of the Tang family of Kam T'in in existence now was compiled by Tang T'ing Ching. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 LEGENDS & STORIES OF THE NEW TERRITORIES 171 Tang Leung Sz passed Kung Shaang degree in the 38th year of Maan Lik♬ of Ming dynasty, A.D. 1610, and held the office of Fan-to. Tang Yue Cheung took his Sau-t'soi✯✯ degree in the 2nd year of Yung Ching of Ts'ing dynasty A.D. 1724 and in the following year became a Lam Shang. In the first year of Kin-lung✯✯ A.D. 1736 he passed Kui Yan, second in the list of successful candidates, but just failed to pass the Wui Shi examination the following year. However, his name was put on the Ming T'ung Pong list and he was appointed as Hok-ching of Tak Hing Chau in Kwangtung province. Tang Yue Cheung's name in the San On Record book is among the “Heung Yin" or "village worthies," and it is said there that:— Tang Yue Cheung was a scholar of a very kind and honest nature. He was very "taan-chik”✯✯ ("to wear the heart upon the sleeve for daws to peck at") and his knowledge of learning was very wide. In all his dealings with his friends he was sincere and faithful, and as a Hok-ching he was very diligent. Once some of his students fell out with the authorities, and found themselves faced with a false accusation, but were too afraid to defend themselves. Tang, however, at once entered into the dispute, and through his clear-headedness kept his students out of trouble. In the 17th year of K'in Lung A.D. 1752 Tang was called to the capital to attend an examination, but he died there, and Fung Shing Sau (a Hon Lam graduate) wrote the epitaph "for his name lives for ever,” to be carved on his grave. Tang Man Wai was the only Tsun-sz come from the New Territories, and his name is recorded in the San On book under the column devoted to hang yee "men of high repute." He was left fatherless at an early age, and had to work with the fishermen and wood-cutters in great poverty, to earn money to support himself and his mother. But all the while he was a scholar at heart and in his spare time he read his books and people said that he could be heard continually humming his lessons on the road, as he carried wood or worked with the fishermen. His uncle Tang Chan Ng, a Lam Shang, helped him, and his success in later years was greatly due to the old man's teaching. In the 14th year of Shun Chi A.D. 1657, Ts'ing dynasty, he passed his Kui Yan degree, but later failed for Tsun Sz and so returned to Kam T'in where he passed twenty years or more, living as a hermit. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 172 SUNG HOK-PANG He then returned to the capital, and stayed in General Ngai's house where he was able to make friends with many famous scholars. He wrote a book named "Yin t’oi san ngai” which had a preface written by Ts'oi Shing Yuen ## Noi Kok Hok Sz a political minister of high rank. Three years later Tang passed his Tsun sz degree, and was appointed district magistrate of Lung Yau Yuen in Chekiang province. Tang Man Wai was of a kind-hearted disposition and some say that through this the wall of T'aai Hong Wai was built. The story goes that when Tang passed his Sau Tsoi degree he was sent to Kwai Shin district, now Wai Yeung, to collect the rent due on cultivated lands, belonging to his family property. While there he came across a young man named Lei Maan Wing * hanging upside down as a punishment. On asking the reason why, Tang learnt that Lei had contracted gambling debts and was unable to pay them. Tang was sorry for the young man, paid all his debts and was able to use his influence in obtaining a military post for him. This happened during the end of the Ming Dynasty. Later on when the Manchus drove out the Mings in the North and the Ming Emperor Wing Lik✯✯ had retreated to Kwangtung, Lei was a colonel under Cheung Ka Yuk ✯ who was fighting against the Manchus. When Cheung was defeated in battle in the 4th year of Shun Chi A.D., 1647 of Ts'ing dynasty, and drowned himself, Lei, who was with him, fled with about a hundred soldiers. Gradually many of Cheung's soldiers were able to rejoin him, and with a strong army he attacked both Tung Kwun ✯✯ and San On ✯* districts. He drove out the Manchus, and made his headquarters in what is now known as the New Territories. One of Lei's camps was situated in the district round K'ei Lun Wai LP'ing Shan A and T'sing Leung Fat Yuen ****. Before the latter, which is a nunnery, was built, the locality had been known as Ying P'oon Tei, "The ground of the camp," and while the building was in progress the workmen dug up many old coffins which were supposed to be those of Lei's soldiers. Among them was found a general's sword, broken in many pieces. Anyone going to Kwun Yam Shaan to visit the Ling Wan monastery would notice half way up Taai Mo Shaan, far above the cultivated land, a stretch of hillside that has been terraced and flattened out in some former time. This is supposed to have been another of Lei's encampments. Lei burned and pillaged, and most of the + ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 176 SUNG HOK-PANG dants, a picture of this is shown on plate. Tang Kuen Hin was very rich and was very proud of his family. He had four sons and twenty-four grandsons and the number of his family and servants together are said to have totalled two hundred. To the northwest of Yuen Long market are some very fine fish ponds situated in particularly pleasing scenery. This land was Tang Kuen Hin's property, it now forms part of the "Ching Sheung" * entailed property, the proceeds of which are applied to ancestral worship. Notes on Some of the Government Examinations of China. The Sau-ts'oi was the first examination and in many respects could be likened to that which is held for the Bachelor of Arts degree. The Candidates for this examination, which was held in the capital and several other towns of each province, were very numerous, as all with any pretence to education, were anxious to graduate in Sau Ts'oi. In consequence it was necessary for each candidate to be guaranteed by a man specially appointed to the office called "Lam Shang," whose duty it was to stand as surety for the identity of each of his examinees. Another examination, Heung Shi, to be attempted was for the Kui Yan degree which was also held in the capital of each Province. Possessed of this degree a man was eligible to hold the office of District Magistrate, etc. Between Sau Ts'oi and Kui Yan were five different titles of Kung Shaang the holders of which could be appointed as District Magistrates, etc. Wui Shi was a higher examination held in the Capital of China. The degree which was known as Tsun Sz, was instituted in A.D. 606, and could be compared with a Doctorate. Candidates who failed in this examination, and yet had written papers of a high standard could have their names put on a list called Ming T'ung Pong ", which made them eligible for holding the posts of Hok Ching, the Director of studies in a “Chau” or department, or in the Imperial Academy, and Kau Yue, the Director of studies attached to a District. After a man passed Tsun Sz degree he attended an examination in the Imperial Palace. This was called Ch'iu Haau, Court examination. If he passed he then obtained the title of Shue Kat Sz 庶吉士, He then went to the Hon Lam Yuen 翰林院 where he stayed for several years drafting documents for the Emperor and ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 180 Note. SUNG HOK-PANG Sze Taan is the man to whom the silver coins flew through the air (see “Ngan Tau Laan” (✯✯) H.K.N. VII pp. 251, 252 and VIII plate 8).* This is the only record that we can find which proves that Sz Taan was alive in the 47th year of Kin Lung, A.D. 1782. Many of Tang Kwong Yue's descendants are rich men, and fine scholars, having passed the Sau Ts'oi (††) and Kung Shang (†*) degrees. Sz Shing Tong (A) is the ancestral Hall of Tang Ts'ing Lok (***) and is to be found at the western end of Shui T'au. Tsing Lok was the grandson of Tang Hung Yee (*) and the son of Tang Yam (#), (see H.K.N. VII pp. 161 and 251). The Hall was built by Tang Mung Woo (*) and Tang Mung Pik (*), and later repaired by Tang Mung Siu (†), Tang Mung Hung (p), Tang Wun Yat (−) and Tang Kwing Yue ($). A rule was made that on every Ts'un Fan (✯✯), vernal equinox and Ts'au Fan (✯✯), autumnal equinox, the two great days of reverence to ancestors, a certain amount of roast pork was to be presented to the above men or their descendants in recognition of their merit in building and repairing the hall, and this custom is carried on up to the present time. The date of the building of the Hall is not known, but a large tablet which is hung inside with the three characters Sz Shing T'ong is dated the 2nd month of the 59th year of Kin Lung (A.D. 1794). These characters were written by a high government official, Ch'oh P'aang Ling (✯✯✯), a native of Loi Yeung district (*) in Shangtung province. He was a Hon Lam Yuen P'in Sau (✯✯E*) during the Kin Lung period. For a reference to Hon Lam Yuen (see H.K.N. VIII, p. 110). A Pin Sau was a second class Hon Lam compiler. Ch'oh Paang Ling held the office of Yue Sz (#), a member of the "To Ch’aat Yuen” (**) (Court of Censors) at Peking, whose duty it was to keep the Emperor informed on all matters of public importance. He had the good name of Kang Chik Kam Yin (✯✯✯), “one who has the courage of his opinions," and finally he was given the high office of Kung Po Sheung Shue (***), the President of the Board of Works, in Peking. His written characters are not easy to come across now, so the tablet in Sz Shing Tong is very much valued in Kam T'in. *See p. 163-4 above, and Plate 35. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 182 SUNG HOK-PANG Tak (£), A.D. 1513, of Ming dynasty, because there is evidence that after that year the direction of the grave was altered. The grave was repaired in the 12th year of Kin Lung, A.D. 1744, of Ts'ing dynasty, and the inscription on the tablet was composed by Tang Yue Cheung (§§#), a noted Kam T'in scholar. Tang Wan Kuk is supposed to have owned the whole of Hong Kong island, and his great, great grandsons Tang Shing Ngok (# *) and Tang Yuen Fan (1) both very rich men during the Maan Lik period (A.D. 1573-1620) of Ming dynasty, appeared to have shared the island between them, three-quarters belonging to the former, and the rest to the latter. There seems to have been some rivalry between these two gentlemen, and a story often repeated by Kam T'in villagers to-day, tells how when Tang Shing Ngok built a big hall in Shui T'au village, Tang Yuen Fan's youngsters were filled with admiration. Tang Yuen Fan exclaimed, "Don't waste your time admiring it, but let us do the same thing." So he started building a hall equally big and grand, and at the present time Tang Shing Ngok's hall is no longer to be seen, but the old ruins of Tang Yuen Fan's still remain. Tang Shing Ngok's grave was in Sheung To (E✯), now Hung Heung Lo temple (#), Wong Nai Ch'ung (✯✯✯). It was repaired in the 16th year of Kin Lung, A.D. 1751 and the name of the grave was Maau Yee Sai Min (#✯6) "the cat washes its face." The people of early times called it Tsau Ma Hoi Kung (ŁSH) "to draw the bow to shoot at a galloping horse." T'o Shi (A), the wife of Tang Shing Ngok, was buried in Kai Lung Wan (#), her grave being repaired in the 14th year of Kin Lung, A.D. 1749. Both the inscriptions of these graves are still visible. During the Ming dynasty Hong Kong island was known as Ch'ek Ch'ue Shaan (1) "red pillar hill,” (Stanley is still called Chek Ch'ue), and it was under that name that the island was referred to in the records of the lands owned by the Tangs. Even in the map contained in the San On Record book, published as late as the 24th year of Ka Hing A.D. 1819, of Ts'ing dynasty, the island is called Chek Chue Shaan. The land owned by the Tangs amounted to several tens of “King” (4) (one "king" equalled one hundred Chinese acres) and was mentioned under different localities, the names of which are familiar to us now, such as Taai T'aam (✯✯), Wong Nai Ch'ung (✯✯), K'wan Taai Lo (***) “skirt string ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 184 SUNG HOK-PANG again, and the judas tree revived, and soon it was covered with blossoms and looked a beautiful sight. From this story the three Tangs had learnt a lesson, and realizing that any one branch of the family was unable to build a hall alone, they combined together and completed one hall, naming it Mau King T'ong "The luxuriant judas-tree Hall.” Although there is no record of the year that the hall was completed, the following is what is known of its history. The building was started by Tang Mau Wai, who passed the Tsun Sz degree in the 24th year of Hong Hei, A.D. 1685. The hall was rebuilt by Tang Shiu Chau (RA) who passed Sui Kung A† degree in the 1st year of Kin Lung, A.D. 1736; and was repaired twice, first by Tang Hei Sui (###) who passed Yan Kung Shaang in the 21st year of Ka Hing, A.D. 1816, and secondly by Tang Ming Shiu (*) a Lam Shaang during the To Kwong period (the 1st year of To Kwong was A.D. 1821.) The T'in Hau Temple (A) Queen of Heaven Temple, in Shui Mei village, was first built during the Hong Hei period (A.D. 1662-1722) of Ts'ing dynasty and possesses a fine bell of 180 catties in weight which was presented by Tang Ch'un Fooi (**) a Kung Shaang in the 10th year of Kin Lung, A.D. 1745. It is said that the tone of the bell is very clear and can be heard from ten Chinese miles away. The Kam T'in people say that one of the past Governors of Hong Kong heard about it and visited Kam T’in to try the bell, which he agreed was as beautiful as reported. For a long time the temple was in a bad state of repair, and the bell had to be kept in a private house where those wishing to, were allowed to see it. Lately the temple has been repaired and the bell re-instated in it; also an incense burner that was presented by Tang Yiu King (*) and his son Tang Chan Suen (**) in the 11th year of Kin Lung A.D. 1746, Kwong Yue T'ong (***) in Taai Hong village is the ancestral hall of Tang Man Wai, who was the only man to pass the Tsun Sz degree in the New Territories (See H.K.N. IV. p. 106). The building is quite a large one, and the ancestral fund belonging to this hall is a very large sum and is considered the richest in the New Territories. For many years $100 was given each year to each family of Tang Man Wai's descendants for their New Year expenses. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1975 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j0995146d 5 films have been shown many times. This time—in June—we had a new film on the boat people of Hong Kong "Dragons of the Sea" made with Miss Barbara Ward, an anthropologist and also an old friend of our Society. We were invited together with many of the boat people and others in Hong Kong who had helped make the film a success. In July one of Mr. Brian Brake's films "Borobadur, Cosmic Mountain” was reshown. Borobadur is one of the world's greatest Buddhist monuments, situated in central Java. Mr. Brake is well-known for his documentary art films. In September another of his films "Ramayana” a major epic of the Far East was shown. Ramayana has culturally influenced Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia and other parts of the East and has been represented many times in paintings, sculptures, dances and theatrical performances. In December films on Taiwan were shown in connexion with our excursion to Taiwan over the Christmas holidays led by Miss Werle. The Taiwan visit was a great success I understand (I never seem to be able to go on overseas trips myself owing to family commitments during the holiday seasons). Members visited Hualin, Taipei, the National Palace Museum and the Peking Opera School; various temples; and Tainan where a shadow puppet performance was seen. It was with great reluctance that we had to cancel our proposed visit to Borneo over the Easter holidays, owing to insufficient numbers. We realise, of course, that for many people this is not a “free” time and the possible lack of response was due to this fact. PUBLICATIONS Several of our talks for 1974 will be published in our coming 1974 journal, which will also include, apart from several original articles, two valuable reprints, one on the Tang Family of Kam Tin by the late Sung Hok-pang, and another on place names of Hong Kong and the New Territories by Mr. K. M. A. Barnett. Most of the items have already been passed to the printer and it is hoped the Journal will be ready for distribution by June this year. Also in press now, are the papers relating to the two symposia we held: Hong Kong, Chinese tradition and the Development of a Town; and The Flora of Hong Kong. Professor Lofts' symposium on the Fauna of Hong Kong is also in preparation. ARTS CENTRE As old members will recall, the Society is a constituent member of the Hong Kong Arts Centre. For new members our object is ================================================================================ 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 319 Tai Kok Tsui in 1880 and in 1898 the Green Island Cement Company moved its works from Macao to Hung Hom. This fact helps to explain the predominantly male population in the census. The Hung Hom community was among the largest of these new commercial and industrial settlements. By 1897, its population was 5,876, standing second only to Yau Ma Tei with 8,051 (SP1897 p.485). (1) Details of the earliest settlement up to 1898 The first list of occupants of Hung Hom is the 1867 Return of Squatter's Licences.* This shows that the village was composed of forty-four premises held under licence by thirty-four individuals, of whom eleven bore the surname Tsang and nine Lee. Near the village was 31 mow of land under cultivation. These also were largely held by the Tsang and Lee families. As the village grew, due to the growth of the Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock Yard with its opportunities for employment and for providing services for its ever-growing staff of employees, the amount of land under cultivation declined; only three years after the 1867 list, the amount of cultivated land had been cut in half. Between 1867 and 1874 the number of listed properties remained fairly constant, but in 1875 there was an increase from fifty-four to seventy-five. In succeeding years, however, the number of individuals occupying land by squatter's licences slowly declined. The first collection book for Village Rates in Kowloon is dated 1873.† It lists the occupant of the premise, with the use of the premise, its value, and the owner. Aside from the Dock Company's extensive establishment, thirty-nine buildings are listed. These included the Police Station (at the time unoccupied), a dwelling used as a school, six chandlery shops, one shop dealing in sundries, two carpenter's establishments, a fruit seller, and a barber. Of the shops, only three were rented out; the others were occupied by their owners. The remaining premises were all small family residences occupied by their owners. In two years, the properties upon which rates were collected had increased by twenty-five. Among the new premises listed was a Joss House rated at $50 and a house for the Joss House keeper, * H.K. Public Records Office, H.K. Record Series 183. † H.K. Public Records Office, H.K. Record Series 83. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q # THE TEOCHIU: ETHNICITY IN URBAN HONG KONG 35 a reflection of the general mutual animosity between Teochiu and other Chinese. Any further discussion of general patterns becomes less meaningful given the variation within the Teochiu population. The discussion in one of the following sections of the Teochiu population in one resettlement estate considers this variation and the processes discussed above in a particular social setting. The geographical distribution of Teochiu in Hong Kong in 1971 is presented in Table 1. The only area of heavy Teochiu concentration in Hong Kong Island is the West census district, which of course includes Nam Pak Hong, the oldest area of Teochiu concentration. Hung Hom is the only area of substantial Teochiu settlement in the Kowloon census districts. More than one half of the Teochiu recorded in the census reside in the New Kowloon census districts, with one-fourth of all Teochiu in the Kai Tak district and almost one-fourth in Ngau Tau Kok and Lei Yue Mun districts. The Kai Tak census district includes Kowloon City, an area of heavy Teochiu residential concentration. The Ngau Tau Kok and Lei Yue Mun census districts roughly correspond to the industrial town of Kwun Tong. Thousands of Teochiu squatters were resettled into Kwun Tong's resettlement estates, particularly Ngau Tau Kok Resettlement Estate. Another census district in New Kowloon with significant Teochiu concentration is Shek Kip Mei; many Teochiu in this district reside in the Shek Kip Mei Resettlement Estate. The only areas of significant Teochiu concentration in the New Territories are Tsuen Wan and Yuen Long. Again, many Teochiu in Tsuen Wan reside in resettlement estates, mostly in Kwai Chung. Personal experiences in Tsuen Wan suggest that the actual number of Teochiu in Hong Kong is greater than the 1971 census figures. Table II indicates that more than 39% of Teochiu land domestic households are located in resettlement estates and almost one-half are located in one kind of housing estate or another. I would estimate that at least one half of Teochiu households at one time or another resided in squatter structures. In 1971 over 8,000 Teochiu households resided in "temporary housing" and another 4,700 households in "stone structures". These two categories refer primarily to illegal squatter structures, which suggests that a fairly large number of Teochiu are still squatters. 1 The information in Table 1 and in the other tables was very kindly provided by Mr. M. C. Leong, Statistician, Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong Government. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q 50 DOUGLAS W. SPARKS TABLE I Teochiu Population by Census District (N.T. & Marine in Census Area) — 1971 Census Census district/area No. of persons Central 1,352 Sheung Wan 5,844 West 27,557 Mid-levels & Pokfulam 2,634 Peak 115 Wanchai 4,966 Tai Hang 5,309 North Point 8,359 Shau Kei Wan 13,641 Aberdeen 13,141 South 1,352 HONG KONG ISLAND 84,270 Tsim Sha Tsui 6,744 Yau Ma Tei 6,575 Mong Kok 4,731 Hung Hom 13,132 Ho Man Tin 4,129 KOWLOON 35,311 Cheung Sha Wan 12,048 Shek Kip Mei 21,827 Kowloon Tong 1,170 Kai Tak 100,935 Ngau Tau Kok 46,507 Lei Yue Mun 34,889 NEW KOWLOON 217,376 TSUEN WAN 27,496 YUEN LONG 13,365 TAI PO 6,552 ISLANDS 4,575 SAI KUNG 835 MARINE 1,674 COLONY TOTAL 391,454 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1977 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n 176 DAVID FAURE Tse Che and Man Wo (both single surname villages of the surname Uen) also attended, not because they were related to surname groups in Ho Chung, but because they were located nearby. These last two villages contributed to the repair of the Ch'e Kung Temple in 1934. Besides the decennial ta tsiu, the entire village donated towards the costs of worship at the annual Ch'e Kung Festival.38 The Cheungs had settled in Ho Chung for several hundred years. It is instructive to see how the Chans, a new-comer lineage, were integrated into the village. They came in the middle of the nineteenth century, and built an ancestral hall of their own in the village, decorated with exquisite carvings.* They were accepted firstly because they were invited to Ho Chung by the Lais, who had been among the first to settle in the village. Secondly, they were rich, and when they settled in the village, they set up the Luen Hing T'ong, which functioned as a money-lending trust in which other villagers of Ho Chung could hold shares. At the end of each year, the T'ong slaughtered a pig and divided the meat among the share-holders. Thirdly, as already noted, they were connected with officialdom, and were people of some influence in the county.39 Other villages had institutions similar to Ho Chung's. Pak Kong had a village-wide institution known as the "tso she" ("celebration at the earthgod's shrine" or "communal celebration") which consisted of a religious homage and a feast at the earth-god's shrine on the Festival of the Great King Earthgod on the 15th of the Second Month. A five-year rota was set up whereby villagers took turns to be responsible for the feast. The rota was written on a wooden board that was kept in the Loks' ancestral hall. The group of villagers responsible for the worship in any year would collect the money contributions due from the other villagers, would provide and slaughter the pig that was needed for the worship, and would then mount the feast.40 In Sha Kok Mei, the term "tso she" was not used, but a small wooden board was circulated among resident households that took turns in groups of three to be responsible for communal worship at the beginning and the end of the year, and for worship of T'in Hau on her Festival Day at her temple at Leung Shuen Wan. Apparently, * Plate 3. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1977 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n 179 Among smaller villages, arrangements for co-operation often extended beyond the village itself. Hang Hau and nearby Seung Sz Wan, for instance, were closely involved in each other's celebrations. When there were celebrations in one village, members of the other village could come without invitation.44 Inter-village co-operative arrangements of one sort or another were sufficiently strong for most of the smaller villages to identify themselves as being parts of permanent village alliances. Tai Mong Tsai, Tai Po Tsai, Shek Hang, Tit Kim Hang, Tam Wat, Wong Mo Ying, Ping Tun, and She Tau formed the Paat Heung (Eight Villages); Nam Shan included also Fu Yung Pit, Kak Hang Tun, Keng Pang Ha, and Lung Mei; Pak Tam Chung included Pak Tam, Tsak Yue Wu, Wong Keng Tei, Sheung Yiu, Wong Yi Chau, and Tsam Chuk Wan; and Ngong Wo, Wo Liu, Shan Liu, Tai Wan, Tso Wo Hang, Sha Ha, Nam A, Wong Chuk Yeung, Long Keng, and O Tau formed the Shap Heung (Ten Villages). The Paat Heung had a joint school in Tai Mong Tsai; the Pak Tam Chung villages jointly worshipped the Great King earthgod near Sheung Yiu; the Shap Heung had its joint school in Tai Wan, and used to maintain collectively the T'in Hau Temple at Wong Chuk Yeung (now ruined). The larger villages, e.g. Ho Chung, Mang Kung Uk, Sha Kok Mei, Nam Wai, Tseng Lan Shue, and Pak Kong, were apparently not parties to such alliances, but regarded themselves as forming complete units in themselves.45 Inter-village disputes were not common, but there were some long-standing ones. Sha Kok Mei disputed with Nam Shan over tree-cutting rights. Nam Wai and Ho Chung fought over a quarrel that had started when the cows of one village damaged the crops of the other.46 Festivals and customs The major festivals in the village were the New Year, and the T'in Kei (birthday of Nui Woh, the Earth Goddess), Ts'ing Ming (spring worship at the ancestral graves), Dragon Boat, Tsat Tse (Seven Sisters), Mid-Autumn, Double-Ninth (autumn worship at the ancestral graves), and Tung Chi (winter solstice) festivals, the temple festivals of the local temples (in this area Ch'e Kung, T'in Hau, Koon Yam, and Hung Shing), the festivals of the local ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1977 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n NOTES AND QUERIES 193 For the general background the reader is referred to pp. 419-433, 697-700 of Kung-chuan Hsiao's monumental study of late imperial China Rural China: Imperial Control in the Nineteenth Century (University of Washington, Seattle, 1960). Also to Chapter X of Frederic Wakeman Jr.'s Strangers at the Gate, Social Disorder in South China 1839-1861 (University of California Press, 1966): 'Class and Clan' 109-116. It is of interest that as late as 1905 and 1908 villagers of Honam Island, Canton were fighting out their feuds on the campus of the Canton Christian College, the future Lingnan University: see Lingnan University by Charles Hodge Corbett (New York 1963) p. 40. The self-government of Chinese villages existing alongside what A. R. Colquhoun styles ‘a long common frontier' with 'centralised autocracy', i.e. the situation which allowed this kind of independent action to subsist, is interestingly handled in his China in Transformation (London, 1898): 238-288. Hong Kong, December 1977. C. MOVE OF THE SHING MUN VILLAGES* JAMES HAYES The Shing Mun villages of Shing Mun Lo Wai, Pak Shek Wo, Pei Tau To, Shek Tau Kin, Fu Yung Shan, Nam Fong To, Tai Pei Lek and Ho Pui contain about 855 Hakka Chinese, mostly named Cheng but having among them also Cheung's, Ko's, Lo's, Tang's and Tsang's. In a hollow in the hills about two miles broad by two and a half long, formed by Tai Mo Shan, Grassy Hill and Needle Hill, and sloping from Lead Mine Pass southwards to Pineapple Pass and Tsun Wan, the inhabitants of these villages own 180 acres of agricultural land, 1180 acres of forestry rights and 42 acres of pine-apples. The whole of this area will have to be evacuated, and after careful search in co-operation with the villagers, suitable sites have been found to accommodate them at Kam Tin, Wo Hop Shek, Nam Shui Po, Tsat Sing Kong, Ping Kong, Fung Yuen (Yue Kok), Shek Ku Lung, and Pan Chung, and to these it is proposed to move all the inhabitants of the Shing Mun valley above Pineapple Pass. Details of the transfer are as follows:--- * Taken from the Hong Kong Government's Sessional Papers 1928. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1977 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n 194 NOTES AND QUERIES FROM PERSONNEL. TO Shing Mun Lo Wai 251 Pak Shek Wo Pei Tau To Shek Tau Kin Fu Yung Shan S | Kann Tie 3H Wo Hop Shek Nam Shui Po Tsat Sing Kong Ping Kong Fung Yuen (Yue Kok) Shek Ku Lung 5 | Pan Chung 25 276 31 13 44 126 126 82 7 27 116 46 51 27 124 Nam Fong To 28 28 Tai Pei Lek Ho Pui 4 11 15 11 23 46 46 126 540 79 11 23 46 46 7 103 855 persons The greater part of the new village sites is on Crown land. It has been necessary to purchase a small area of private land included in the sites, at a total cost of $1,055.51. A further sum of $2,783.80 compensation for fruit trees unavoidably involved brings this figure to $3,839.31. Site Preparation: The cost of preparing the sites for the new villages is shown in the following table: --- Kam Tin $ 5,000.00 Tsat Sing Kong 1,300.00 Pan Chung 10,000.00 Shek Ku Lung 500.00 Ping Kong 1,000.00 Wo Hop Shek 1,700.00 Nam Shui Po 5,000.00 Fung Yuen 7,000.00 $31,500.00 This work will be done exclusively by Government, and provision has been made in the 1928 Estimates to cover the expenditure. Page 210 Page 211 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1977 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n NOTES AND QUERIES 195 Wells: The cost of making eight wells at Kam Tin, Pan Chung, Wo Hop Shek, Ping Kong, Yu Kok, Tsat Sing Kong and Nam Shui Po is $2,400. Houses: Free sites are given in exchange for land on which houses now stand and the question of compensation for building land resumed at Shing Mun should not arise. The existing dwellings at Shing Mun have been measured and it is necessary to provide for the erection of buildings of the same cubic content in the new villages subject only to approval of plans. It is proposed to allow the villagers to construct their own houses, Government paying in accordance with the following table, for (1) Dwellings, by contract (contractors engaged by villagers) as the work proceeds, at a flat rate of 12 cents per cubic foot. (2) Outhouses, roughly constructed by the villagers themselves, at their value as they now stand in Shing Mun. Cost of New Dwellings Compensation for Outhouses Kam Tin $106,056 $4,838 Pan Chung $22,463 $891 Wo Hop Shek $9,022 $926 Shek Ku Lung $1,745 $71 Ping Kong $10,564 $759 Yue Kok $9,152 $491 Tsat Sing Kong $6,458 $161 Nam Shui Po $2,814 $209 Compensation (Outside owners) $1,874 Total: $170,148 $8,346 There being now 200 dwellings, this works out roughly at $850 a house including temples, and should ensure a good type of building throughout. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1979 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2801w5938 197 were killed by the guerrillas. The occasion highlighted the importance of the Chamber of Commerce in Sai Kung Market. Local people could not come out to fetch water, and Mr. Lei Shiu Yam and Mr. Lok Kau Kei of the Chamber of Commerce were given permission to distribute water to the shops and the households.97 "Smuggling" The fundamental cause that gave rise to smuggling on a massive scale in Sai Kung in the years of the occupation was the rice shortage in Hong Kong. Before the War, Hong Kong imported much of its rice from South-east Asia. The outbreak of the War disrupted supply from this source, hence a shortage developed. Rice was abundant across the border in China, in Sha Yue Ch'ung on Mirs Bay and in Wai Chau. But trade was forbidden between these guerrilla-held places in China and Japanese occupied Hong Kong. The trade that developed had to be regarded as "smuggling".98 There were three kinds of people involved, and the first was the "travelling merchant" (shui haak). Not all "travelling merchants" were engaged in smuggling rice. Mr. Shing of Mang Kung Uk, who was a "travelling merchant" with little capital, bought secondhand clothes from the pawnshops in the city, and carried them on foot to Sha Tau Kok. From Sha Tau Kok, he went into China. Then he would buy fish from Yim T'in, in China, which he sold in Lung Kong, also in China. He did not travel by boat because, as he put it, “Only rich people could take the boat."99 Mr. Chan T'in Po of Yim Tin Tsai was also a "travelling merchant". He bought secondhand clothes in Sai Kung Market. He said this had to be done carefully without the notice of the Japanese. He would carry the old clothes himself to To Kwa Ping, where he would take the boat to Sha Yue Ch'ung. The boat was operated by someone from a nearby village. He would sell his goods at Sha Yue Ch'ung or Kw'ai Ch'ung, and return to Yim Tin Tsai with oil, rice, or sugar. Mr. Lau Lui Faat of Pak Kong Au was also a "travelling merchant" on this route. He said he usually boarded the boat at night, and sometimes he came back with cash.100 He ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1979 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2801w5938 The Tung Chung Fort NOTES AND QUERIES Tung Chung15 is a valley which lies on the north coast of Lantau Island. It is surrounded by hills on three sides,16 facing the sea on the north. The valley is well-drained by streams, giving fertile farmlands to the people. A century or so ago, there was a walled area, called the Tung Chung Walled City; and a fort which guarded the coast, the Shek She Fort A6. The Tung Chung Walled City was erected between the Sheung Ling Pei village #17 and the Ha Ling Pei village 下嶺皮村 T## 18. During the early years of K'ang Hsi period, there was only the Tung Chung Shuen (post)✯✯ under a Tsin Tsung +(or lieutenant) of the Tai Pang Battalion 19. However, the post was quite isolated, and it was far from Tai O where there was the Tai Yue Shan Shuen 大嶼山汎20. After the surrender of Cheung Po-tsai in the 15th year of the Chia Ch'ing reign2, foreign intercourse and influence increased; and fortifications along the coast were strengthened. In the 22nd year of the Chia Ch'ing reign (1817), the Tung Chung Walled City and the Shek She Fort were erected 22. The Walled City and the Fort remained strongholds on the island until 1898, when the New Territories were leased to the British. Then the Walled City was used as the Police Station and later as the Wah Ying School **** during the Second World War.23 It is now the site of the Tung Chung Rural Committee's office and the Tung Chung Public Primary School. The Walled City measures 225 feet by 265 feet. It is backed by the Tai Tung Shan. It has three rubble walls: its front wall is about 15 feet thick. The building stone of the walls came from Chik Lap Kok Island.24 The Walled City has three gateways: The East Gate was called Chip Sau ✩✩, the West Gate was called Luen Kun, and the Main Gate, Kung Sun. The East and West Gates are now blocked by bricks, and the main gate is used as the entrance to the Rural Committee and the Public School. Inside the Walled City, there is a playground. Behind the playground, there are two old houses, which are the remains of the guardhouses built during the 22nd year of the Chia Ch'ing reign.25 These houses are now used as the office of the Tung Chung Rural Committee. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1979 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2801w5938 20 See note 13. NOTES AND QUERIES 199 21 See Ch'ing Hoi Fan Kei recorded in Chapter 33 of the Tung Kwun Yuen Chi ★★ 1911 edition. 22 Chapter 125 of Kwong Tung Tung Chi (1822) stated, “The Shek She Fort of Tung Chung Kau, Tai U Shan, was built in the 22nd year of the Ch'ia Ching reign (1817). It was proposed and built by Viceroys Cheung Yau-koot and Yuen Yuen.' Chapter 130 of the same book recorded, "In the 22nd year of the Chia Ch'ing reign, Viceroys Cheung Yau-koot and Yuen Yuen proposed to build eight guard-houses at Tung Chung Hau, and two fortresses, seven guard-houses, and an ammunition store at the foothill of the Shek She Shan. The proposal was carried out by Pang Chiu-lun, Reserve Prefect of Kwong Chow Fu. The eight guard-houses at Tung Chung Hau were those inside the Tung Chung Walled City. The two fortresses, with seven-guard-houses and an ammunition store at the foothill of Shek She Shuen formed the Shek She Fort of Tung Chung Kau. 23 See Wong Pui Kai's "Tung Chung of Tai Yue Shan", published in Volume 86 of Tai Fung Pun Yuet Kan, ⭑「大公報·文教半月刊」第八十六期。 24 Chik Lap Kok Island lies to the north of Tung Chung Bay. The island is famous for the production of granite used in building purposes. 25 See note 22. 26 See my article: "The Cannons on the Wall of the Tung Chung Fort", JHKBRAS vol. 18: 1978. 27 See note 22. 28 The stones of the wall had been taken away by the monks of Tai Tong Tsai ## for the building of the Ma Wan Chung Bridge. It is now called the Lai Luk Bridge. 29 See note 22. TWO EXAMPLES OF CHINESE RELIGIOUS INVOLVEMENT WITH ISLAM Although Chinese folk religion and Islam have next to nothing in common, two examples of Chinese reaction to Islam are afforded to us in present day South East Asia; one in Singapore and Malaysia where the image of Muslim appears on Chinese altars, and the other in Thailand where a local Chinese folk religion cult has developed around a Chinese girl who killed herself because her brother was being converted to Islam. Chinese immigrants brought their beliefs and their gods with them to South East Asia, but one further and special deity has been added to their pantheon. This is a Malay, depicted on the altar as having a very dark skin, often jet black, and wearing the Malay ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1981 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ff36bt18m 214 DAVID FAURE Dates Dates Name (and village) interviewed Name (and village) interviewed Mr. Tsang Yau (Tai Mong Tsai) 23.6.81 Mrs. Cheung, née Chan 27.6.81 (Sha Kok Mei) Madam Tsang, Mr. Liu 27.6.81 23.6.81 Madam Cheung (Cheung Muk Tau) (Wong Mo Ying) Mr. Wong (Sha Ha) 27.6.81 Madam Lau 23.6.81 Mrs. Lau Lei Loi T'aai 28.6.81 (Pak Kong Au) (Wong Chuk Wan) Mrs. Loh, née Tsang 23.6.81 Store-keeper 28.6.81 (Tai Mong Tsai) (Wong Chuk Wan) Madam Cheung 24.6.81 Visit to temple at 28.6.81 (Sha Kok Mei) Wong Chuk Wan Mr. Wong Yung 24.6.81 Mr. Foo Ts'ing's funeral (Tung Sam Kei) 28.6.81 Mr. Chan Uet Shing 24.6.81 Mrs. Tsang, née Lei, 28.6.81 (Tsiu Hang) Mrs. Hoh, Mr. Tse, née Lau 24.6.81 née Lei (Tai Tan) (Che Keng Tuk) Mrs. Cheng née Mo 28.6.81 Mr. Tse Shui Kam 24.6.81 (To Kwa Ping) (Che Keng Tuk) Mr. Wong Ping Lin 29.6.81 Mr. Hoh (Ha Yeung, 24.6.81 (Tai Wan) near Ko Tong) Mrs. Wong, née Sin 29.6.81. Mr. Wong (Ha Yeung, 24.6.81 (Tai Wan) near Ko Tong) Mr. Lei (Wo Liu) 29.6.81 Mrs. Wai, née Lei 25.6.81 (Sha Kok Mei) Mr. Chung Kam Faat 29.6.81 (Ma Nam Wat) Mr. Tsang 25.6.81 Mr. Wan 29.6.81 (Sha Kok Mei) (Ma Nam Wat) Mr. Tsang Yung 25.6.81 (Sha Kok Mei) Mrs. Hoh, née Lau 29.6.81 (O Tau) Mrs. Siu (Pak Tam) 25.6.81 Mr. Wan Koon Fuk 31.1.81, (Wong Mo Ying) 25.6.81 (Tai Nam Wu) 6.81, 5.8.81 Mr. Tang Kei Faat Mr. Lau Wan Hei 25.6.81 Mrs. Lau, née Lei 1.7.81 (Pak Kong Au), (Hei Tsz Wan) Mr. Kong Sai P'ing (Lung Mei) Mrs. Lau 1.7.81 (Hei Tsz Wan) Mr. Cheung Kau 26.6.81 (Ping Tun) Mr. Lei (Wong Chuk Yeung) (1) 1.7.81 Mrs. Cheung née Wan 26.6.81 (Ping Tun) Mr. Lei (Wong Chuk Yeung) (2) 1.7.81 Mr. Cheung 26.6.81 (Tai Po Tsai) Mr. Lei 1.7.81 Mr. Lei 26.6.81 (Tsak Yue Wu) (Muk Min Shan) Mr. Lei (Wo Liu) 2.7.81 Madam Keung 26.6.81 Mr. Lau Yun Shang 2.7.81 (Muk Min Shan) (Wong Chuk Wan) Mrs. Wai 27.6.81 Mrs. Yung, née Wan 2.7.81 (Sha Kok Mei) (Hoi Ha) ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1981 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ff36bt18m Dates 215 Name (and village) Dates interviewed Name (and village) interviewed Mr. K'uet Po Shing (Nam A) 2.7.81 Mr. Lok (Seung Sz Wan) 17.7.81 Mr. Yung (Hoi Ha) 2.7.81 Mr. Lau (Sheung Yeung) 17.7.81 Mr. Ip Wan (Pak Sha O) 2.7.81 Mr. Lok Tak K'ei (Seung Sz Wan) 17.7.81 Visit to church in Pak Sha O 3.7.81 Mr. Lam (Seung Sz Wan) (2) 17.7.81 Mr. Yau Kei (Tseng Lan Shue) 8.7.81 Mr. Lau Kwong (Ha Yeung near Seung Sz Wan) 20.7.81 Mr. Cheung Loi Yau (Sha Kok Mei) 9.7.81 Mrs. Wan (Mang Kung Uk) 20.7.81 Mr. Shing (Ha Yeung near Seung Sz Wan) 10.7.81 Mr. Shing Uen Wan (Pik Uk) 10.7.81 Mr. Wong Kam Tai (Hang Hau) 20.7.81 Mrs. Yau (Mang Kung Uk) 10.7.81 Mr. Shing (Pik Uk) 20.7.81 Mrs. Yau, née Tse (Tseng Lan Shue) 22.7.81 Mr. Ue Shun Hing (Mang Kung Uk) 10.7.81 Mr. Chan T'aai (Tseung Kwan O) 22.7.81 Mr. Cheng Yung (Uk Tau) 10.7.81 Mr. Yau Yan (Tseng Lan Shue) 22.7.81 Mr. Uen Kwai Naam (Mau Wu Tsai) 14.7.81 Mr. Chung (Yau Yue Wan) 22.7.81 Mr. Tsang Shui On (Ma Yau Tong) 14.7.81 Mr. Chung Wai I (Yau Yue Wan) 22.7.81 Mr. Wan Yau (Wong Chuk Long) 14.7.81 Mr. Yau Taai Hin (Tseng Lan Shue) 23.7.81 Mr. Tsang Wan (Ma Yau Tong) 14.7.81 8.81 Mr. Lau (Po Toi O) 24.7.81 Mrs. Tsang, née Shing (Ma Yau Tong) 14.7.81 Mrs. Chung (Po Toi O) 24.7.81 Mr. Ng (Tseung Kwan O) 15.7.81 Mrs. Sit (Tin Ha Wan) 24.7.81 Madam Chan (Tseung Kwan O) 15.7.81 Mr. Ip (Tin Ha Wan) 24.7.81 Mr. Leung Chiu Man (Hang Hau) 25.7.81 Madam Wan (Tai Wan Tau) 16.7.81 Mr. Yau Koon K'au (Tseng Lan Shue) 27.7.81 Mr. Lau (Tai Wan Tau) (1) 16.7.81 Mr. Yau Tai On (Pak Shek Wo) 27.7.81 Mr. Lau (Tai Wan Tau) (2) 16.7.81 Mr. Yau (Nam Wai) 28.7.81 Mr. Lam (Seung Sz Wan) (1) 17.7.81 Mr. Yau T'aai Hong (Nam Wai) 28.7.81 Madam Chan (Mang Kung Uk) 17.7.81 Mr. Lau (Tai Au Mun) 29.7.81 Mr. Lau K'in Tsun (Ha Yeung) 17.7.81 Mr. Lau (Siu Hang Hau) 30.7.81 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1982 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p Chinese University's History Department and editor of our 1981 Journal, spoke on Saikung district during World War II: the district being a regular escape route for prisoners of war from Kowloon. After a summer break we began again in October with Professor Shih Hsio-yen, Head of Department of Fine Arts at Hong Kong University, talking on recent Chinese archeological finds and how the Chinese on the mainland look at their origins. In December Dr. James Hayes led a tour of the New Territories, which included Sam Tung Uk village built in the eighteenth century and scheduled as a museum and cultural centre, and Tsuen Wan, with a vegetarian lunch at the Yuen Yuen Hok Yuen, Tsuen Wan, a temple complex belonging to a Chinese syncretic religious group. Also in December, Professor Rulan Chao Pian, Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations and of Music at Harvard, and currently visiting Professor of Music at the Chinese University, spoke on traditional forms of dance narrative in North China. Her talk was illustrated with video tape material. Finally, in January Dr. Graham Johnson, Associate Professor in Sociology at the University of British Columbia, talked on the Chinese in Canada, discussing their history from the early rural migrants who worked in the goldfields and on the railway, to the more sophisticated urban migrants going to Canada after 1967, many from Hong Kong. There was very poor response to the two overseas tours offered through, or by, the Society during the year. The tour to India had to be cancelled through lack of sufficient numbers, and the tour of the Pearl River Delta consisted of six persons only, including the leader, Dr. Michael Lau, to whom I express my thanks. This year about seven members will be joining a tour arranged by Dr. Brian Shaw for late March-early April. The group will witness the annual sacred masked dance festival at Paro in Bhutan and also visit other places in Bhutan, and Darjeeling and Kalimpong. Other tours may be arranged by Dr. Shaw during the coming year, and Mrs. Craig will also be offering tours to members, who will be kept informed. As the year progressed we found it increasingly difficult to obtain bookings at the Volunteer Officers' Mess due to heavy ix ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1982 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p 258 The first British District Officer of the region had the following remarks:17 Education of any kind has always appealed powerfully to Chinese, and they are probably more ready than any other people to defer to the voice of learning. In every village appeal is made to the lettered man to settle points of dispute, and he receives the place of honour in all local gatherings. It must be admitted that this respect was formerly due not only to his intrinsic merits and his superior knowledge, but to the advantages that he possessed in being able to write and thus to draw up petitions in proper form and present the case of litigants to the courts. With the coming of British rule these advantages have largely disappeared except that it is still usual for a litigant or other petitioner to submit his petition in due form. The completion of the railway from Lo Wu to Hung Hom in 1910 and its extension to Tsim Sha Tsui in 1916 brought Sheung Shui into direct connection with urban Hong Kong and Kowloon. Extension of the Tai Po Road into a ring road also connected the village with many of the main population centres in the New Territories and Kowloon. The 1921 census shows a small decrease of the population in the village from 1440 to 1400, but in the whole New Territories, there was an increase from 80,622 to 83,163.18 The village economy was still predominantly agrarian. Yet opportunities for taking other employment must have increased. The decrease in population must have been due to the numbers of people leaving the village for the cities, as oral recollections of the period do not include any memories of any decrease in the size of the clan overall. The increased contact with the outside world and new employment opportunities must have exercised considerable influence on the local popular literacy. Another stimulant was to come from the educational policy of the Hong Kong government. The early laissez-faire policy began to give way to some degree of concern, After a survey made by Sung Hok Pang of the conditions of rural schools in 1913, the government decided to give a subsidy varying from $5 to $10 per month each to fifty selected schools in the ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1983 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v 10 Occupation 1941-45 due to a desire to avoid political exploitation and incorporated in May 1959. — This school, together with another Buddhist school in Sham Shui Po, Kowloon, take it in turns to provide Buddhist services for the souls of the dead at the Race Course Fire Victims' Memorial Pavilion (c above). Known as ta chiu (打醮) these rites are performed at Ching Ming (March-April) and last 7 days. According to Holmes Welch, writing on Hong Kong's Buddhist institutions in Vol. I of the RAS Journal, Hong Kong Branch, the principal religious role of Buddhist organizations in Hong Kong is "to provide funeral ceremonies and care for the souls of the dead”. The annual service at the Race Course Fire Victims' Memorial mentioned above is not the only one performed. "In January 1960, the Hong Kong Jockey Club after a series of mishaps during the racing season, in the last of which a prominent jockey had been killed (the fourth since the war), invited the Buddhist Association to arrange for appropriate rites of exorcism. For three days and four nights some 68 monks and 44 nuns performed elaborate ceremonies at altars set up on the Club's premises. They prayed continuously in teams, not only for the repose of the souls of the jockeys, but also for those of the 2,000 persons [actually 600] who lost their lives in the grandstand fire of 1918, and for any other souls whose welfare was brought to their attention by relatives. According to the local press, some 40,000 persons attended." In addition, there is an annual public service for the souls of the (general) dead every Remembrance Day at the Tung Lin Kok Yuen, founded by Lady Clara Ho Tung at Happy Valley in 1935, (g) The Shing Kwong Church of the Church of Christ in China (h) St. Mary's Anglican Church ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1983 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v In fact it has almost as many people as Lamma, nine times its size and close to Hong Kong. Its average elevation is about 100 feet, and there are three villages. Many other islands lie outside the British boundary. Of them I can say practically nothing, as I have never visited them, and there are no large-scale maps of them. They remain a rich field for enquiry and research in every direction. In conclusion, I can only hope I have not bored you unduly; if I have, I can only say that having known and visited the islands for twenty years, I find them more interesting every year, and if I have interested some of you, I shall feel this afternoon has not been spent in vain. 9th August 1937 I NOTES See J. Dyer-Ball's Things Chinese or Notes Connected with China fifth edition, revised by E.T.C. Werner (1925), re-issued by OUP, Hong Kong, 1983, pp. 297-8. * Yuen Chau Tsai, ("Little Round Island"), where the residence of the District Officer was is now the home of the Secretary for District Administration. The adjacent anchorage was reclaimed a few years ago. * Naikwuchau is now called Hei Ling Chau ("Happy Island"). This followed its early postwar lease to the Leprosy Mission (Hong Kong Auxiliary) which resulted in the change of name, intended to reflect the "healing" nature of the work and the improvement in the patients' lives. * Now the Rural Committee Offices. * Tai Ho at present uses for its name characters meaning "Big Oyster". * The yamen is usually now called the Tung Chung Fort, or Tung Chung Walled City. * At Tei Tong Tsai ("Little Pits"). * Ngong Ping (“High Plain"). * Dedicated to Yeung Hau Wong. * Tsin Yue Wan at present uses for its name characters meaning "Fried Fish Bay". * Now usually called Fan Lau ("Divided Streams”). * This fort is known as Kai Yik Kok Fort (“Chicken's Wing Point"). On it, please see A.M. da Silva Fan Lau and its Fort, an Historical Perspective, in Vol. 8 (1968) of this Journal pages 82-95. * Tai Long Wan ("Big Wave Bay"). ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1985 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gt54s866x Wai bund. Constructed in 1916, this encloses the large area of fish ponds that will become the site of Tin Shui Wai new town by the late 1980s. On this visit we also went to a lookout point above Deep Bay and entered the Mong Tseng Village with its interesting temple. On 23 November 1985, over 80 members of the Society attended, by invitation, the 10 yearly Ta-chiu (FTA) rituals at the Kam Tin group of villages in the New Territories. This was a splendid opportunity to attend and understand a long-established important local event which is now in its 31st cycle, the latest in a series begun in 1685. On 7 December 1985, Dr. Michael Lau, Curator of the Fung Ping Shan Museum and one of our Councillors, arranged a tour of the museum including an exhibition of paintings by Lui Shau Kwan. The tour was conducted by Miss Flora Chan, a former pupil of the artist. On 11 December 1985, Professor Cameron Hurst III, the Japan Foundation visiting Professor in History at the University of Hong Kong, gave a talk entitled "Martial arts and the martial way - the Samurai martial culture in Japan". On 7 January 1986, follow-up talks entitled "Kam Tin Revisited" were held at the Museum of History by Drs. Patrick Hase and David Faure and Mr. Chan Wing Hoi who had all led the group to Kam Tin in November. On 22 February 1986, Major Willie Shiel and Mr. Philip Bruce conducted a successful visit attended by 50 members to Lei Yue Mun Fort, a late 19th century imperial coastal defence project of considerable interest. On 22 January 1986, Mr. Jeff Lanham of the Hong Kong Polytechnic gave an interesting talk on the Fanling-Sha Tau Kok branch line of the old Kowloon Canton Railway 1910-1928. On 21 February 1986, Mr. John Lundin, US Consul at Canton, gave an illustrated talk on the history of the Shameen viii ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1987 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522 112 A HOKLO WEDDING VALERY M. GARRETT During one of our many visits to Sha Tau Kok with Roger, my Hoklo-speaking assistant, to seek out traditional Chinese clothing for the Hong Kong Museum of History, we learned that a wedding would take place on Tuesday, 24th May 1988, for one of the families living in the squatter area of Yim Liu Ha. This is a district within Sha Tau Kok populated by approximately 3,000 Hoklo people who were due to be transferred to new blocks of rural housing during the latter part of 1988 onwards. We were advised to arrive early, and so at 9:30 am on the appointed day we made our way through the village. It was easy to spot the home of the bridegroom, a hundred yards down one of the narrow streets, for around the doorway was draped a narrow length of red cotton, while in the centre, hanging from the lintel, was a freshly cut leg of pork. This was the home of Mr. Lee Sau Choy (李壽財), aged 29, who lived with his parents, three younger brothers, and two younger sisters. His parents were former boat people who had come ashore and settled in Yim Liu Ha some thirty years ago, although his father had continued to go to sea until fairly recently. Mr. Lee worked in Fanling as a fireman, and it was near there, at Kwan Tei, that his bride lived, Miss Lai Miu Han (黎妙嫻), aged 27 and a locally born Cantonese. The marriage had already been registered in Tai Po, and the question of dowry settled. This had been in two parts: the first was a sum of money paid directly to the bride's family of several thousand dollars; the second part consisted of some gifts of gold jewellery given to the bride which, combined with the bride's family's gift of jewellery, would be brought back to the bridegroom's home that morning. Inside the house, on both the left and facing right wall, was hung a blanket known as hei-pei (喜被). Upon each blanket was stitched a cut-out double-happiness character in silver paper, with dragon and phoenix painted on it. Above the character on the blanket on the left-hand wall were stitched two rows of four $500 notes, while ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1988 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q 86 TS'IN, FUK (津復)* (being an account of how part of the coast of South China was cleared of inhabitants from the 1st year of Hong Hei (康熙) 1662 to the 8th year of Hong Hei 1669.) Sung Hok-P'ANG (宋學鵬) + The word "Ts'in" (遷) is a short form of "Ts'in Hoi" (遷海) a historic term which means "to shift inland people living by the coast". "Fuk" or Fuk Ts'uen (復遷) means "allow the people to return to their own villages", and the two words together is the term applied to that incident in Chinese history when part of the coast of South China, including the New Territories, was completely cleared of inhabitants by order of the Emperor. Although an incident of not much importance in Chinese history as a whole, yet the Ts'in Fuk caused much suffering and loss of life to many people. In the book Kwong Tung San Yue (廣東新語)* by Wat Taai Kwan (屈大均) a great scholar of early Ts'ing (清) dynasty, there is a passage referring to Ts'in Fuk which says **自有粵東以來 生靈之禍,莫慘於此** "since the establishment of the province of Kwangtung none of the calamities of human beings can be worse than this". The cause of Ts'in Fuk was Cheng Shing Kung (鄭成功) a Ming (明) general and native of Naam On (南安) district in Fukien province who since the rise of the Manchu Emperors continually attacked the coast of South China with his powerful navy. Using Formosa as his base he harassed the Ts'ing army from Kiangsu to Kwangtung and found the inhabitants of the country on the coast very sympathetic towards the Ming cause, and ready to help him. Cheng Shing Kung's father, Cheng Chi Lung (鄭芝龍) was responsible for the first Chinese settlers in Formosa and had been made P'ing Kwok Kung (平國公), a title conferred on him by the Ming Emperor Lung Mo (隆武). When Lung Mo was killed at Foochow by the Ts'ing army in the 3rd year of Shun Chi (順治) 1646, Cheng Shing Kung put his navy at the disposal of Emperor Wing Lik (永曆), his successor. Fifteen years later Cheng took Formosa, * The Hong Kong Naturalist November 1938. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1988 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q 88 panic; many of the people abandoned their homes without taking food or money, and with their wives and children were driven towards the boundary. Destitute, many of them died on the road, while a few managed to escape to Kwai Shin district and other places as far away as they could. A year later the boundary was moved a further 30 Chinese miles inland. The new boundary ended to the west at Taai Ch'ung Hau and Sha T'ong Fong and to the east at Taai Shaan Ha and Paak T'au Shaan, a flag being put up at each of these places. Almost immediately the district magistrate of Tung Kwun made a personal inspection of the places where the flags were erected and he reported that the people in Taai Chung Hau had not moved so the flag was taken from Sha Tong Fong and hoisted on top of Shek Shaan. Thus the six villages Ch'ung Hau, Lau Ka Haang, Chaak Mei, K'iu T'au and Tau Ch'ung all had to be moved, but at Kiu T'au a rope was put between it and the boundary and half only of the village was shifted. The Viceroy Lo Shung Tsun quite sympathized with the people, and joined with other high officials in sending a memorial to the throne, stating how miserable the people were, and begging that fewer villages should be caused to move. In the 10th month of the same year (1663) two head boatmen, Chau Yuk and Lei Wing revolted against the Ts'ing Government in Kwangtung. These two men were the owners of fleets of several hundreds of junks that usually fished in the rivers of Poon Yue district. All the junks had long oars as well as three sails so they were very fast. In addition they stored a lot of arms on board. Both Lei and Chau had a military title of Yau Kik bestowed on them by the P'ing Naam Wong, as their sailors had proved themselves of great assistance in fighting sea-battles against the Ming soldiers. When, however, the order was issued preventing boats from putting out to sea the junks of Chau and Lei were detained in the rivers and their families forced to live in Canton city. Chau and Lei pretended to get leave to go home and bury the bones of their ancestors. Secretly they took their families away from Canton, and collecting all the boatmen they put out to sea. Then openly they attacked the Ts'ing forces, capturing many of their ships and burning the guard stations along the coast. They never ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1988 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q 100 Unfortunately Ngit Chiu, who went to Honolulu and worked as a carpenter, became addicted to opium. A burial permit dated 15 November 1924 states clearly that he had died of an overdose. Whenever he visited us, and that was not often, he would borrow from Father, who would give him only a few dollars since he disapproved of Ngit Chiu's drug habit. In 1919 when I visited his foster mother in the village, she inquired about him because she had not heard from him for many years, but I was forewarned not to tell her about his circumstances. Jok King, the fifth son, also died in his 20s and left a daughter, Iu Dai, but no male issue. Likewise, Jok Sau ‘gave' another of his sons, Dai Geng, to this brother. Dai Geng did not live long and left a widow with several sons in Canton where he had been working in a bank. Jok King's widow and daughter remained in the village. They were both quite agitated the day Aunt Auyoung and I visited them, as they related how someone had tried to get into their home by ladder via a rear window. Aunt Auyoung did not seem to feel the incident really happened, tried to be very reassuring and told them no one would dare to harm them because First Uncle would not allow it. Iu Dai is said to be the first and only old maid in our village. Because her mother was so selective of a husband for her, when she reached 18, she was considered too old to be sought after. Even though she was a victim of an old culture, the village youths would tease her about it. During World War II when no one could send support to her, I heard that she had to go out to beg for food. After Great Grandfather's death, his business continued under Jok Jun, after whose death Grandfather took over. The business failed under his management, reportedly due to a bad loan to Grandmother's family for the operation of an oyster farm. This is the reason given why no photographs of grandmothers in our family were preserved – certainly misplaced hostility. Grandfather therefore decided to emigrate to Hawaii to seek a livelihood and hopefully to be able to return the depositors their money. According to Second Uncle's wife, when she was left in the village, she often had to hide from the creditors. Many years later, First Uncle paid these debts on a percentage basis. My grandmother, surnamed Au, was born on 23 January 1846. She was a native of Joo Poo Tau Village, and was related to... ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1988 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q 212 agricultural calendar, this falls in September rather than July as in Yunnan. Needham was able to find no references from the north of China to hot air balloons, and this local custom in the New Territories may well be yet one more case of the New Territories villagers sharing with the South Chinese minority tribes a traditional practice not known to the Chinese north of the Kwangtung-Fukien mountains. P. H. Hase + NOTES J. Needham Science and Civilization in China Vol. 4 Part 2, 1965, pp. 595-599 I have not been able to spot any references to hot air balloons in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which contains most of what is told about Chuko Liang. The germ of the connection may be the night signal of seven lamps" which Chuko Liang used at Ch'ishan (Chapter 103, Romance of the Three Kingdoms). Detail in this Note is taken from interviews with Mr. CHÔI Kam-chuen, retired village representative of Tai Wai, Sha Tin, and other Sha Tin and Tuen Mun villagers, and particularly with Mr. LEE, village representative of Wo Hang, Sha Tau Kok, and other Wo Hang villagers. My particular thanks are due to Mr. LEE Man-yip of Wo Hang. + On the importance of those practices, which required the co-operation of village youths, see the author's "Observations at a Village Funeral" in From Village to City ed D. Faure, J. Hayes, A. Birch, Hong Kong 1984, pp. 129-163, espec. pp. 129-137, and also D. Faure The Structure of Chinese Rural Society, Hong Kong, p. 96. Needham op. cit. The Yunnan hot air balloons are quoted by Needham from J. Goullart, The Forgotten Kingdom 1955, p. 178. The Yunnan balloons were fired by bundles of splintered pine twigs, and were able to fly for only a few minutes. The Yunnan balloons. like those in the New Territories, were made of paper pasted over hoops of split bamboo: presumably the hoop was a rim-hoop. A SILVER BRACELET WITH AN ANCIENT GREEK COIN FOUND IN WEWAK, EAST SEPIK PROVINCE, PAPUA NEW GUINEA A silver bracelet was found in the sand on a raised beach in Wewak, at a depth of approximately 0.5 m in disturbed ground. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1988 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q 226 to this one, although the bamboo arm-rest was a bit of a luxury not always found! This latrine was probably built early this century. Sheung Wo Hang had 30 latrines to service its approximately 100 families at the time of the Block Crown Lease in 1905; the great majority of them were very close in style and construction to this one. NOTES P. H. Hase 2 Journal Vol. 23, 1983, p. 241-246. My thanks are due to Mr. M.Y. Lee, of Sheung Wo Hang village, for drawing the latrine to my attention, and for helping me to measure it. See plan attached, and plate 11. 4 See plate 12. A NOTE ON RICE HULLERS (RE) In March 1972, I visited the New Territories' village of Ma Yau Tong, situated off the Po Lam road leading to Rennie's Mill in Junk Bay. I knew the village representative, Mr. Li Tak (...) from my days as District Officer South, 1957-60. He was aged 79 in 1972. With friends from Ngau Tau Kok old village in East Kowloon, who knew the Ma Yau Tong people, I looked carefully round the houses, paying special attention to old ones and their contents. Like most N.T. villages, Ma Yau Tong had been a rice-growing settlement, but in their case they had stopped planting some 10 to 15 years before my visit. I was interested in the farming tools and equipment, and made notes on a pair of rice hullers that we saw. However, we were only able to learn the details about one of them. The other was much older, and had been in the house longer than the old lady who lived there. As she had already lived in the village for 48 years, after marrying into one of the village families when she was 20 years old, it had obviously been made before about 1920. “About 100 years", they guessed, but ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 23 March Dr. Elizabeth Sinn "Management of the Chinese in 19th Century Hong Kong and the Role of the Tung Wah Hospital” The following Visits were made: 29 April 6 May 24 June 1 July Anita Wilson and Dr. James Hayes Visit to the Pottery Kiln at Tuen Mun, Ha Tsuen Tang Ancestral Hall and Old Market, Ling Wan Monastery (with vegetarian lunch), Lai Family Study Hall and Mansion at Sheung Tsuen, Hakka Mansion at Sham Ka Wai, and Yuen Long Old Market Dr. James Hayes and Ted Brown Visit to Kowloon Walled City, Again! Phillip Bruce Visit to Old Marine Police Headquarters at Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon Phillip Bruce Repeat of the Visit of 24 June 14 September Dr. Patrick Hase and Lee Man-yip Visit to Wo Hang for the Hot Air Balloon release at Mid Autumn Festival 25 November Dr. James Hayes 9 December Visit to places of interest on Hong Kong Island, including Waterfall Bay, the Aberdeen Country Park Management Centre, Chung Hom Kok, Shek O Village and Lei Yu Mun Barracks and Leisure Centre Rosemary Lee and Richard Gee Repeat of the N.T. Visit of 29 April 13-14 January Anita Wilson, Dr. Dan Waters, Rev. Carl Smith and Dr. Joseph Ting 22 January 18 February Week End Visit to Macao Phillip Bruce Visit to some interesting Naval and Military Graves in the Colonial Cemetery Phillip Bruce and Dr. Anthony Siu Visit to the Tung Chung Area, the site of Hong Kong's Future Replacement Airport This varied and interesting programme has again been due to the Activities Committee, which has worked hard under Dr. Elizabeth Sinn's ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 265 Kok and Ta Kwu Ling people had established a trust to collect cash and construct this bridge: Chan Sheung-yan (of Luk Keng in the Sha Tau Kok area), and Lei Tsok-san (of Lei Uk in the Ta Kwu Ling area) were the two Chief Managers of this trust, representing the totality of the people of the two areas. P.H. HASE I NOTES "Cheang Shan Kwa Tsz. An Old Buddhist Nunnery in the New Territories, and its Place in Local Society”, Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 29, 1989, pp 121-158. The documents are contained in a recently recovered genealogy of the Chan clan of Luk Keng. I understand that a copy of this genealogy will be placed on record in the collection of Hong Kong historical documents held at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in due course. I am indebted to Mr. Chan Wing-hoi for drawing my attention to these documents. II I am indebted to Mr. P.L. Lau for assistance in the translation of this document. The Sha Wan River, unlike the main branch of the Sham Chun River, which flows in a deep and well-defined channel, was a shallow and ill-defined stream, which meandered through a broad valley which it often flooded. This river has now been dammed off to form the Shen Zhen Reservoir. See the paper at n. 1 for details of the loss of life in this War. A VILLAGE WAR IN SHAM CHUN The Rev. Carl Smith has drawn attention to the great wealth of material available in the Basel Mission Archive on the history of the Hakka people of Kwangtung Province. When looking through his notes and summaries of important documents I saw a summary of an important document on an inter-village war in Sham Chun (深圳). Through the courtesy of the Mission Archive, a photostat of the document was received, translated, and is published below. Sham Chun lies at the centre of a broad and fertile valley, drained by the Sham Chun River. This river has four main tributaries: the stream which drains the Ta Kwu Ling valley (this stream is considered as the headstream of the main river), the Sha Wan River, which joins the first stream at Kim Hau (or) at the entrance to Ta Kwu Ling, the Sheung Yue (or Beas) River which drains the Sheung Shui/Lung Yeuk Tau area and which enters the main river ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 266 about a mile below the Sha Wan River, and finally the Ching Shui River which drains the northern part of the valley from Po Kat (Buji) down, and which enters about half-a-mile below the Sheung Yue River. The main river is navigable for small skiffs as far as Kim Hau, but for junks only as far as the confluence of the main river and the Ching Shui River. However, the river at the mouth of the Ching Shui River is not navigable for junks at low tide. Furthermore, the navigable part of the river is not wide enough for a junk to turn around in easily when under sail. The Ching Shui River, at the junction with the main river, splits into two branches, with a low, marshy island between them and the main river.* Junks could come up the main river, enter the Ching Shui River, pass behind the marshy island, and back into the main river via the second branch of the stream, thus turning round without cutting across the channel, using a "one-way" system. The landing place used by the cargo junks and ferry boats, therefore, was the channel of the Ching Shui River behind the island. Junks would come up the river with the tide, and would load and unload while at rest on the mud at low tide, and would cast off and go down the river with the next high tide. Three significant roads pass through the valley, crossing at Sham Chun: the Yuen Long to Wai Chow (Huichou), Nam Tau (Nantou) to Sha Tau Kok, and Po Kat to Kowloon roads. In the Ming, this valley had a number of markets, of which Sham Chun was only one. There was another at Kim Hau, and others to the west, including one at Lung Tsun Hui (Longjinxu), which was part of the Fuk Tin (Futian) village cluster. By the nineteenth century, however, all these other markets had either become extinct, or else survived only in a very small way as satellites of Sham Chun. Sham Chun had developed until it had become a very large market, with probably 500 and more shops. The market was ringed by large villages of rich clans—the Cheungs at Wong Pui Ling (Huangbeiling) about a mile to the east, the Tsois at Tsoi Uk Wai (Caiwuwei) about half a mile to the south-west, the Wongs at Fuk Tin about a mile to the south-west, the Yuens at Lo Wu (Lohu) about half a mile to the south and the Hos at Sun Kong (Sungang) about half a mile to the north. These rich and ancient clans were almost perennially in dispute, as they jostled for power and position in the district. * See Map. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1993 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302 16 Sham Chum Tsuen Ferry De Weng Tau Street Ta Yue Tin Ta Pang Upper Street Upper Street Lower (Main) Street Market Tower Old Street Upper Earthgod Babault's House Lower East Gate Map 2: Sha Tau Kok (Tung Wo) Market, 1853 Sha Tau Kok (Tung Wo) Market 1853 * 220 40 0 Tower 152 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1993 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302 158 Kong waters. This petition was probably written because of fears as to the practical problems they would face if they lived in British territory, and their market was in Chinese territory. "In the early years after the lease, grievances over the Customs remained at high heat. In the winter of 1906, the villagers from the New Territories went on strike, and refused to go to market. In 1907 there was a full-scale riot, triggered by a Customs official beating a villager for not paying duty. Later that same year, the elders of the Shap Yeuk petitioned to the authorities at Canton, begging that the Customs officials at Sha Tau Kok be restrained.4 Later, relations with the Customs improved a little, but the duty demanded from villagers remained a major irritant and grievance throughout the period from 1899 to 1951. Another irritant, and brake on economic development, was the political chaos in the border area of China. As can be seen from the Calendar of Border Disturbances at Appendix 1, political trouble in this area began even before the Revolution of 1911. An abortive rebellion in the Wai Chau (Huizhou,H) area in 1900 saw the Ch'ing Government lose control of the wild lands east of Yim Tin. A second abortive rebellion was centred in these hills, at Sam Chau Tin (Sanzhoutian,E), in 1904-1905. A second period of disturbance came after the Revolution, during the years 1911-1928, when the area immediately north of the frontier was the plaything of various competing political groups and would-be warlords, passing from one to the other week by week - 'In those days, when we went to market, the soldiers would be wearing yellow, but the next week, they would be wearing brown'. This period was marked by large-scale banditry, piracy, and general turmoil. With the large garrison of Customs and military personnel at Sha Tau Kok, bandits never threatened the town itself, but the Yim Tin Customs post was sacked by bandits in 1913 and (three times) in 1916, Nam O (Nanao,) Customs post at the entrance to Mirs Bay, was sacked in 1913 and 1914, Chan Hang in 1915, and, a little east of Chan Hang, Kai Chung (Xichong,) Customs post was sacked in 1916 and 1917. The Customs post at Sha Yue Chung (Shayuchong,) was sacked in 1919 and 1920, while the Sha Yue Chung Ferry (the lifeline of the market to the east) was captured by pirates in both 1921 and twice in 1922. For nearly one and a half years in 1918-1919, indeed, all the Customs Stations in Mirs Bay east of Yim Tin were forced to close, so lawless had the area become. The irregular soldiers ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1993 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302 159 posted in the market by various warlords and factions had an extremely bad reputation. They were not locals (they were mostly Mandarin speakers), indulged in looting the shops in the market, and were generally believed to be behind some at least of the bandit raids. The District Officer, New Territories, specifically accused Chinese irregular soldiers of mounting eight cross-border armed bandit raids in 1924. The Kuomintang forces eventually secured the area in 1925-1926, but the irregulars were only replaced by regular soldiers in 1928, when the irregulars at Sha Tau Kok were punished for some of their misdeeds. The period of post-Revolutionary chaos along the border came to a peak in 1925, when the Kuomintang finally secured Sha Tau Kok, but immediately used it as a base for the General Strike boycott against Hong Kong. The 1925 Boycott caused serious problems for the villagers in the Sha Tau Kok area. If they loathed the Customs for insisting that their daily marketing was dutiable, they were even less enamoured of the view that their every-day shopping constituted "trading with the enemy", which should be stopped by whatever terrorising tactics could be brought to bear. The strikers seem to have taken over the Customs Station in Sha Tau Kok, and it is clear that local trade, and with it the villagers of the area, suffered greatly. 17 A third period of disturbance on the frontier was 1928-1937, in every year of which, except one, smuggling was noted as being a greater problem than in the previous year. During this period, further rebellions (by Communist-inspired guerrillas) in the area east of Yim Tin caused problems, which were then exacerbated with the attacks on the area by the Japanese from 1938. The closure of the Mirs Bay Customs stations in 1938 marks the date when the Kuomintang Government finally took control of the area - the Customs reopened the Sha Yue Chung station in 1939, but only following an "agreement" with the guerrillas, who were by then the only effective government there. 40 Although the western, Yuen Long, area of the frontier was the worst smuggling centre, major battles with smugglers/pirates took place in waters close to Sha Tau Kok in 1928, 1932, 1935, and 1939, and a major battle with smugglers in the Ta Kwu Ling area in 1932. Kai Chung Customs post was sacked by bandits - presumably a smuggler gang - in 1932 as well. From about 1937 smuggling of strategic goods to Sha Yue Chung, for the guerrilla rebels, and later of goods to be slipped through the Japanese lines, became a major business at Sha Tau Kok - this trade was centred on the Sha Yue ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1993 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302 160 Chung Ferry. Finally, the Japanese attacked Sha Tau Kok in 1938, 1939, and 1940, before taking it over late in 1940, 41 These periods of disturbance caused serious problems to the Sha Tau Kok villagers. Their sole desire was to sell their vegetables and firewood, and buy their salt and household goods, but this was, year after year, interfered with by political problems. Sha Tau Kok was rarely - except during the Boycott - the centre of the disturbances, but it was almost always "in the front line", full of intrigue, nervous military, and difficulties. A market shop-owner in Sha Tau Kok was executed by the military in about 1935, in an event still a talking point in the villages, probably for being involved with the rebels to the east. An underground Communist cell was established in the 1930s in the market, centred on one of the teachers in the Tung Wo School, with the job of encouraging smuggling of strategic goods to Sha Yue Chung and the guerrillas, and of indoctrinating suitable youngsters, to prepare for an extension of rebel activity to the immediate Sha Tau Kok area. 41 The elders of the Shap Yeuk continued to function throughout this troubled period as the managers of the market at Sha Tau Kok, but less effectively than before. The strong military presence in the town, the close Government interest in it, and the elders' inability to control the Customs, greatly weakened the Shap Yeuk as the effective local administration. The guns which had been placed by the Shap Yeuk in the gun-towers they had built to guard the bridge were confiscated very soon after the 1911 revolution, and the eastern gun-tower, at the front of the Tung Wo School, was taken over as the military barracks at about the same time. The warlord and Kuomintang administrations were usually unwilling to discuss problems with the local elders - noticeably so compared with the District Officer in the New Territories - and so the elders and their Council declined to having responsibility, effectively, only for those things the officials could not be bothered to interfere with, especially the running of the market night-watch and cleaning services. By 1910, the elders were already talking of moving the market over the frontier into the New Territories, with its better security, better villager-administration relationships, and absence of Customs problems. Nothing, however, was done until 1925, when the chaos of the Boycott started to push the market across the frontier. Shops began to be built on the New Territories side of the border street in 1925, and this process ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1993 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302 161 continued without break until 1932, when the street was completely lined with shops on the New Territories side. The border street, however, could not provide sufficient space for all the shops of the market. In 1931, a reclamation project began just west of the town, along the frontier, to allow a second border street to be built. This was completed, and the shops on San Lau Street built, in 1933-1934. This project included a new pier and fish market, and allowed the fish wholesalers in the market to cross over into the New Territories as well. By 1935 only a few shops were left operating in the old market in Chinese territory, mostly those (like the pawnshop, the boatyard, and the opium divan) which could not move because of physical or legal restraints. A terrible typhoon and storm-surge on 2nd September 1937 destroyed most of what was left of the old market: it never recovered. The effect on the market of the new frontier was not, however, entirely negative. In 1899 it is unlikely that the town housed more than about 500 people; the 100 Customs staff, 30 or so soldiers, and 25 or so Hong Kong Police who became stationed there represented a significant increase in the town's population. The local market for fuel, vegetables, and daily necessities grew sharply, bringing benefits to both the market shopkeepers and to the villagers. Uniforms required repair, bringing work to tailors and cobblers. Even blacksmiths and carpenters found increased work opportunities. The Customs steam-launch brought new engineering skills to the town, and provided a new market in coal. Shortly after the Customs steam-launch was domiciled in the town, the Sha Yue Chung Ferry took advantage of the presence of these new skills and converted to a steam vessel - one of the earliest regular steam ferries in the New Territories area. Other modern developments reached Sha Tau Kok early because of the needs of the frontier. Thus, the telegraph line reached the town in 1899, and the telephone in 1900. Electric light was provided to the town in 1933. While the construction of the railway was predominantly due to economic factors, again the needs of the frontier were among the reasons for this early extension of modern facilities to the town. 47 As in most garrison towns, however, it was the entertainment industry which most benefited from the new frontier. Very soon after the new frontier was established, prostitutes from Hong Kong saw the opportunities, and set up house in the market. From the present-day elders' recollections ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1993 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302 162 of what they were told by their fathers, there had been no prostitutes here before 1898. The prostitutes' clients were mostly soldiers and Customs staff - the prostitutes spoke Cantonese, not the Hakka spoken by all the locals. A gambling house (opened in 1904), and an opium divan came at about the same time as the prostitutes - these served people from Hong Kong as well as the garrison. Most New Territories towns had at most one or two winemakers; Sha Tau Kok in the 1920s had four at least, of which one was solely in the wine trade, unlike most local distillers, who combined this business with a general grocery. Similarly, Sha Tau Kok's three restaurants (including a cold drink and coffee shop), two tobacco dealers, and two cakeshops, is more than is found in most of the local towns at this period. The three or four guesthouses in Sha Tau Kok were also more than usually found - when military officers of rank came to Sha Tau Kok on inspection, they did not share the barracks with their men, but stayed in the private rooms in the guesthouses, so here, too, the presence of the garrison probably led to an economic expansion. Some of these service industries had been in Sha Tau Kok before 1898. There had certainly been a guesthouse here in the 1850s, and a noodle shop in the 1880s. **It is unlikely that there were prostitutes, or a full-time gambling house or opium divan there then, although gambling and opium smoking certainly took place in the town at that date. The early presence of some service industries in the town before 1898 was a consequence of traffic on the Sha Yue Chung Ferry, but it is reasonable to see the establishment of the new frontier as having led to an economic growth in the town in the years following 1898. The smuggling industry also produced considerable profit, especially during the 1930s. The new frontier, therefore, caused many problems. To the villagers, the need to pay duty on day-to-day purchases far outweighed any advantages gained from having a larger population to sell things to. For the shopkeepers, the economic advantages were similarly more than offset by the prevailing political chaos and uncertainty. It is not surprising that the main effect of the exclusion of Sha Tau Kok Market from the New Territories in 1898 was to force a re-location of the market over the frontier into the New Territories a generation later, Roads and Ferries: Sha Tau Kok and its Hinterland Sha Tau Kok stood at a nodal point in the local road system, and it was this factor which brought about the town's prosperity in the century after Page 180 Page 181 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1993 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302 164 its foundation. There important roads used to meet near here. The most important was the main east-west road in the county, which connected the county city, Nam Tau (Nantou, ), with the Deputy Magistrate's city of Tai Pang (Dapeng, ), via the important market of Sham Chun. * Because of the greater desirability and comfort of water-borne traffic, the section of this road along the north shore of Mirs Bay was not much used. Instead, much of the traffic went by a ferry that ran parallel with the shore, from Sha Tau Kok to Sha Yue Chung. At Wo Hang Au, a few miles west of Sha Tau Kok, the road was joined by another important east-west route. This was the road from Yuen Long to Sha Tau Kok via Tai Po. The third route was the main road from Kowloon to the north-east. This road carried the traffic from Kowloon to Wai Chau. This road crossed Sha Tin Pass to reach the coast of Tolo Harbour at Yuen Chau Tsai. A ferry carried the traffic from Yuen Chau Tsai across Tolo Harbour to Ang Chung (Chung Mei, near Bride's Pool). From Ang Chung, the road climbed steeply past Bride's Pool and Ah Ma Wat, and then down to the shores of Starling Inlet at Kuk Po. Another ferry then took the traffic across Starling Inlet to Sha Tau Kok. There was also a road which ran from Ang Chung through Luk Keng and Nam Chung, to join the Nam Tau and Yuen Long roads at Shek Chung Au, thus avoiding the second ferry. From Sha Tau Kok the Wai Chau road crossed the shoulders of Ng Tung Shan, and so down to Wang Kong (Henggang, ), and thence to Wai Chau. A branch of this road ran from Sha Tau Kok to Po Kat (Buji, ). This Kowloon to Wai Chau road was more important than might be expected - the long ferry sectors made it more comfortable than the land-based alternatives. The Basel missionaries regularly used it when travelling between Hong Kong and Po Kat, for instance. 50 This system of roads and ferries was in existence from the Ming at the latest. It will be noticed that the roads do not cross at Sha Tau Kok. Sha Tau Kok stands, however, in the centre of the few miles of road where all the roads run together for a short distance. The site of the market, therefore, was a good one commercially. * See Map 3. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1993 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302 The road and terry junction in this area attracted attention from the military authorities from an early date. While the Salt Commission and the Pearl Monopoly were active in Mars Bay, law and order were probably maintained by the special salt and pearl troops. After these were withdrawn, a military post was established at Shek Chung Au, with a watchtower nearby. This was close to the Wu Shek Kok ferry pier, and near to the road junction at Wo Hang Au. Other troops were established at Yim Tin. In various formulations and strengths, this military position remained at Shek Chung Au for several hundred years, until the mid-nineteenth century - eloquent testimony to the continuing importance of this traffic node. Sha Tau Kok's position in the road system of the area gave it two economic advantages. The first was the Sha Yue Chung Ferry. There was only one a day in the early twentieth century, and this can safely be assumed to have been the case earlier as well. Many travellers, therefore, would be obliged to spend the night in Sha Tau Kok, or at least several hours, waiting for the ferry, and, if the weather was bad, these enforced waits could stretch out to several days. There was, as a result, plenty of opportunity for merchants in the town to profit from servicing travellers held up there. As noted already, in the 1920s Sha Tau Kok had more guesthouses, restaurants, and entertainment facilities than most towns in the area, and although most of those facilities were new, servicing the new frontier garrison and Customs staff, some at least were certainly a feature of the town from an earlier period. The other great economic advantage was the geographical location of Sha Tau Kok in relation to Sham Chun. Sham Chun was at the head of navigation on the Sham Chun River, and was a busy port for the small junks that came up the river from Deep Bay. Sham Chun was, therefore, well located as far as water-borne traffic from the west went. But Sham Chun had no water route to the east, to Mirs Bay. By sea from Sham Chun to Sha Tau Kok is a good hundred miles: by land, barely seven. There were three important commodities not available in the Deep Bay area which could be had from the Mirs Bay area - rice, some sorts of quality fresh fish, and salt. Sha Tau Kok was, in effect, the port of Sham Chun to the east, where these commodities in particular were landed, and then carried by coolies over the Miu Keng pass to Sham Chun. Mirs Bay was usually - despite occasional famines - a rice surplus area. The Sham Chun and Deep Bay area was a rice shortage area, even ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1993 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302 168 China through the centre of the area caused some of the routes to reduce in importance, and made others more important, reflecting the new political realities. From the late 1920s, and especially from the 1930s, the new motor roads and other new routes, which ran on very different lines from the old roads, also caused major changes to traffic flow in the area. After about 1925, the old carrying trade to Sham Chun rapidly declined away to almost nothing, and the market at Sha Tau Kok began to decline in importance as a result. In 1926, a new ferry to Sha Yue Chung, direct from the mainline railway station at Tai Po Kau, was introduced, which immediately took a great deal of the traffic away from the Sha Tau Kok to Sha Yue Chung ferry. After 1949, when the border was effectively closed to local traffic, Sha Tau Kok became far less important as a traffic nodal point. Nonetheless, from the establishment of the market at Sha Tau Kok down to about 1925, the prosperity of the town rose from its location at the junction of the district's land and sea traffic routes. Sha Tau Kok Market in 1925 Topography The aim of this section is to outline what the market was like in 1925, about a hundred years after it was first founded, on the eve of the move of the market across the frontier. It is drawn principally from the oral testimony of village elders who can remember the old market. This oral testimony is supplemented, in particular, by the 1924 aerial photograph, which forms the basis of Map 4. In 1925, the market consisted essentially of four streets. These were the three streets of the original market - Upper Street (E), Lower, or Main Street (下街, 正大街), and Old Street (老街) - together with Wang Tau Street (王頭街).* In 1853, this last had been an open track leading past the western edge of the market, and running down to the Ferry Pier. By 1925 it had become lined with shops on both sides, all the way to the seafront. At some stage, the three or four shops at the western ends of Upper and Lower Streets had been demolished and rebuilt facing into Wang Tau Street. This gave them a far shorter depth of building lot - only about 45 feet instead of the 65 or more of most shops in 1853. On these shorter lots, two or three storey shop-houses had been built, with a * See Map 4 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1993 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302 184 preoccupied with the fuel trade to have any spare time to enter the carrying trade. Especially in the 1930s, one of the biggest coolie trades was smuggling, although it was of significance earlier as well. Villagers smuggled their own purchases back over the frontier (the bridge carrying the footpath over the border river near the Sha Tsui temple was a commonly used route, as it was not continuously guarded by the Customs), but bulk smuggling (mostly of sugar, kerosene, tobacco, and also opium) was organised by the shops in the market, especially the tobacco dealers. These treated their trade as any other carrying trade, with village women being hired ad hoc to carry loads to customers across the frontier, or across the lines to Sha Yue Chung. Most village women active in the coolie trade took part in this smuggling business. The society of the market at Sha Tau Kok was entirely dominated by the local Hakka of the surrounding villages. The Tanka - the boat people - were, as always, regarded as somewhat second-class, even though their presence was essential to the economic success of the town. The perceived inferiority of the boat-people may well be the reason that few of them lived in the market at Sha Tau Kok: they preferred to live at Kat O, a few miles off-shore, outside the Shap Yeuk area. Even more regarded as second-class, however, were the Hoklo saltworkers. These groups of workers, living for the term of their contract away from their families in their miserable huts on the saltpans, had no status at all. Of the total population of the town, perhaps as many as one fifth were saltworkers (assuming five workers per salt-works). The Hakka villagers owned the salt-works, but left them entirely to the contract overseer and his hired staff, so long as the rent was paid. No-one remembers the names of any of these salt-workers, nor can anyone remember any marriages between local Hakka or Tanka girls and these Hoklo labourers. The villagers kept away from them, and their only contact was the exchange of fuel or vegetables for salt at Yim Liu Ha. The salt-workers were important to the economy of the town, but they were treated as being the very bottom of the social scale. At the other end of the social scale were the teachers at the Tung Wo School. The Shap Yeuk elders had wanted to ensure that the district had at least one first quality school, and had consequently built the school to ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1993 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302 186 # APPENDIX I ## Calendar of Disturbances in the Border Area, 1899-1940 (Orme = Papers Laid Before the Legislative Council of Hongkong, 1912, (Sessional Papers 1912, printed by Noronha and Co, Government Printers), No 11 of 1912. "Report on the New Territories, 1899-1912” (The Orme Report), pp 43-63, SP = Papers Laid Before the Legislative Council of Hongkong (Sessional Papers), STJLS = Shatinjiade Lishe, op cit. AP = Administrative Reports, "Report by the District Officer New Territories", JLHG = Judonghaiguan Baoguan Dashiji op cit. Note JUHO is limited in material for 1921-1927, and AP has little to say on the border 1931-1938, except to comment on the levels of smuggling) Year Event Source 1900 Abortive Rebellion in Wai Chan Sham Chun valley in turmoil Sam Chau Ti in revolt 5 piracies in Hong Kong waters SP 1901 STJLS Orme 1901 Chinese military patrol formed on frontier SP 1902 1905 Most serious crime in New Territories caused by cross-border gangs these impeded by new blockhouses at Ta Kwu Ling Second rebellion at Sam Chau Tin Orme STJLS 1906 Market strike at Sha Tau Kok STJLS 1907 Riot against Customs at Sha Tau Kok STJLS 1911 Law Fong, Chor Uk Wai, Shu Tau Customs Stations sacked by bandits Law Fong Customs Station destroyed by bandits JLHG 1912 Fighting in area near border Increase in banditry and piracy In Hong Kong, military assistance needed by Police Law Fong, Lin Tong, Sha Tau Customs Stations sacked by bandits, at Law Fong claiming to be "new revolutionaries" Situation confused Executions in Sham Chun SP 1912 AR JLHG 1913 Nam O, Yun To Customs Stations sacked by bandits JLHG 1914 Nam O attacked and sacked by night Tai Chan, Chek Wan Customs Stations sacked by bandits JLHG 1915 Chan Hang (Siu Mui Sha) Customs Station sacked by bandits 1916 Increase in smuggling opium into China Bad outbreak of cross-border crime, due to "lack of any reasonable system of policing" on the Chinese side Yum Tin (3 times), Kai Chung, Lung Tsun Hui Customs Stations sacked by bandits (40 men attack Kai Chung, up to 200 Yum Tin, and 150 at Lung Tsun Hui) All Customs firearms removed to Hong Kong for safe-keeping (until 1932) JLHG AR JLHG 1917 Hakkas fleeing disturbances in Waichau arrive in New Territories Outbreak of crime in New Territories by "undesirables" from across border Kai Chung, Lung Tsun Hui, Sha Tau Customs Stations sacked by bandits AR JLHG 1918 Times "very disturbed" on border Outbreak of cross-border crime "half the offenders come from Chinese territory" Kai Chung, Tip Fuk, Ha Sha JLHG Customs Stations forced to close (April) Sha Yue Chung and Kai Miu Customs Stations sacked by bandits and forced to close (August) AR JLHG ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1993 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302 Year Event Source 1919 8 serious cross-border armed robberies. The Customs Stations closed in 1918 re-opened (August). AR JLHG 1920 Refugees flee to New Territories from communal fighting in border area. Assisted cross-border crimes increase. Sha Yue Chung Customs Station sacked by bandits. AR 1921 Increase in smuggling native tobacco from China. 4 piracies (including of the Sha Yue Chung Ferry). Further armed cross-border banditry. AR 1922 2 piracies on the Sha Yue Chung Ferry. Fighting between pirate bands in Mirs Bay. AR 1923 Large increase in smuggling, due to disturbances in the border area. Serious cross-border armed raids, an execution in China as a result. AR 1924 Unsettled conditions, due to continuous fighting between Sun and Chen Faction armies for control of district. Upsurge in cross-border crime, including 8 armed raids, some mounted by Chinese irregular soldiers. AR 1925 Boycott causes considerable trouble in Sha Tau Kok. Huge crime wave of cross-border crime. "Quite 90% of crimes committed in the New Territories could be traced to persons coming from over the border". Sinkers enter and terrorise New Territories villages. British troops sent to Sha Tau Kok to restore order. Hoi Luk Fung Soviet rebellion affects Mirs Bay area. JLHG 1926 Conditions better, but disturbed conditions across the border lead to boom in New Territories because of the number of refugees seeking houses. Many matsheds erected for refugees. Heavier border policing needed. Mirs Bay fishermen unable to fish except close inshore because of "disturbed conditions". AR 1927 Conditions better, but still troubled near border. Attempted piracy of Tolo Harbour ferry junk. Heavier policing of Sha Tau Kok border area reduces cross-border crime. Border patrol constructed in New Territories. AR 1928 Increase in smuggling. Violence against recent refugee arrivals in New Territories. Chinese irregulars replaced by regulars and disciplined at Sha Tau Kok – Major piracy in Mirs Bay ("Fean" case). Hoi Luk Fung Soviet rebellion affects Mirs Bay area. ASR 1929 Customs seek major increase in staff because of increased smuggling (every year until late 1910s). Much better conditions on border because of better policing on Chinese side of border. AR 1930 Increase in smuggling. Kai Miu Customs Station sacked by bandits. AR, JLHG 1931 Increase in smuggling, especially sugar. Sha Tau Customs Station sacked by bandits. 2 Battles with smugglers off entrance to Pearl River ("Loser Maru" case). Inadequate customs staff members leads to problems. AR JLHG 1932 Increase in smuggling, especially sugar and cloth. Smuggling on Railway a growing problem. Smuggling through Lok Ma Chau and Sheung Shui a growing problem. Smuggling on Shan Chun River a growing problem. Kai Chung Customs Station sacked by bandits. Gun battles with smugglers at Law Fong (twice), Chek Mei, Man Kam To. AR, JLHG 187 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1993 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302 188 Year Event Source 1933 Mounted Horse Patrols instituted to control smuggling. Guerrillas active in Bias Bay area Gunbattle with "uniformed smugglers" off Tai Mu Sha AJ, JLHG 1934 Increase in smuggling Gunbattle with smugglers in Hong Kong waters Automobile Anti-smuggling Patrol instituted AR 1935 Continuing influx into the New Territories of poor Hakkas, refugees from neighbouring districts, living in matsheds Chinese erect steel fence from Sham Chun to Sha Tau Kok Guerrillas active in Bias Bay area Gunbattle in Mirs Bay with smugglers. In gunbattle at Sha Tau Kok, an innocent bystander is killed JLHG 1936 1937 Increase in smuggling after slight drop in 1935 (District Officer) Customs revenues rise as smuggling is "brought under control” (Customs) Increase in immigration into the New Territories of poor Hakkas Guerrillas active in Bias Bay area AR JLHG 1938 Increase in smuggling Destitute refugees in New Territories Gang crime wave there "Abnormal conditions" in China cause more refugees to arrive Cross-border thieves set on and beaten to death by New Territories villagers AR JLHG 1979 1940 Refugees from Japanese increase population of New Territories by 1/2 Many squatter matsheds, but no increase in New Territories crime, except that some cross-border gangs cause trouble. Kai Wong, Tip Fuk, Customs Stations closed. – Kai Miu Customs Stations destroyed in Japanese attack Japanese enter Sham Chun and all Customs Stations closed Japanese attack Sha Tau Kok, Sham Chun, Mirs Bay and Deep Bay, damaging all Customs Stations, then relieve Customs stations reopen at end of year Fishing, other than inshore, greatly hampered by Japanese attacks. Many refugees in the New Territories die of starvation AR JLHG Increase in smuggling and piracy, due to confused situation in border area Guerrillas come to agreement with Customs on operation of Sha Yue Chung Customs Station - goods for guerrillas to be duty-free Japanese take Nam Tau, attack Sham Chun, then enter Sham Chun - all Customs Stations except Sha Yue Chung close Japanese retire, and all Customs Stations reopen battle with smugglers off Yau Tam JLHG Japanese re-enter Sham Chun All Customs Stations close, then the Japanese retire, and Mirs Bay Customs Station re-open with assistance of guerrillas All Stations damaged Heavy smuggling of strategic goods to Sha Yue Chung, Mui Sha, Chan Hang Japanese again invade Sham Chun, and attack Mirs Bay Mirs Bay Customs Station able to operate at night only Sha Tau Kok captured by Japanese JLHG ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1993 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302 193 H Details of the early Hakka examination successes are known from a recently recovered genealogy, of the Chan (陳) lineage of Nam Chung. It is understood that a copy of this genealogy will be deposited with the Hong Kong Museum of History. I am indebted to Mr Chan Wing-hot for drawing my attention to the information in this genealogy. Q Seen 8 At the time of the Block Crown Lease (1905), 12.68 acres of saltpans were recorded. However, the serious inadequacies of the first survey here led to another being conducted in 1912, when 17.11 acres were recorded. However, in 1912 two areas were left unclaimed, probably because storms had breached their bunds and ruined them. These two areas totalled about 3.3 acres. In addition, there were about 0.6 acres of houses, huts, and waste within the saltpan reclamation, which, therefore, totalled about 21.2 acres. The saltpans were very valuable property in the nineteenth century - the Basel missionaries (see below, n. 17) record the sale of a share by a Tam Shui Hang villager in 1882 for "several hundreds of dollars" (Basel Mission archive, doc. AT-16, Nr. 45). In the 1920s, however, and still more in the 1930s, cheap imported salt caused ever-growing problems, which led to the closure of the saltworks before the War. A bridge was built to the saltpans in 1934 (Administrative Reports for the Year 1934, App. J, "Report on the New Territories for 1934", p. J17). After the War, the abandoned saltworks became the site of a major squatter settlement, recently cleared. Today, the saltpan area has disappeared under new reclamation, and all that remains is a new Tin Hau Temple, replacing the old one previously on the saltpans, built on a new site on the new waterfront. For details of the history of the temples in the area, on the settlement of the Hakka in the area, the reclamation projects they undertook, the founding and management of the market at Sha Tau Kok, and the functioning of the Shap Yeuk as the district management body, see P.H. Hase, "The Alliance of Ten Settlements and Polities in the Sha Tau Kok Area", in D. Faure and H.S. Siu, eds., Down to Earth: The Territorial Bond in South China, Stanford University Press, 1995. 12. No details on the earlier history of the temple survived the very full restoration of 1894, but Shan Tsun elders believe it to be very old. 13. In the 1688 Gazetteer (Ch. 3) a ferry “along the coast” is mentioned called the "Ma Tseuk Ling Ferry". There can be no doubt that this is the ferry to Sha Yue Chung (Shayuchong, etc.), 12 miles down the coast. Ma Tseuk Ling, at the head of Starling Inlet, is the nearest old village to the Wu Shek Kok Temple (Wu Shek Kok village - probably a foundation of the early nineteenth century). The coasts of Starling Inlet within two or three miles of Ma Tseuk Ling were blocked with mudflats and mangrove everywhere except at Wu Shek Kok, where alone a hill falls steeply into the sea. Wu Shek Kok is, therefore, the only possible site for a "Ma Tseuk Ling Ferry" landing place. The Ma Tseuk Ling villagers owned the Wu Shek Kok Temple, and the Ma Tseuk Ling military post (1688 Gazetteer, ch. 7), was at Shek Chung Au, just a few hundred yards from Wu Shek Kok. These Ma Tseuk Ling connections with the Wu Shek Kok area strongly suggest that the Wu Shek Kok hill was regarded as forming part of the Ma Tseuk Ling area. Later, Wu Shek Kok formed part of the Ma Tseuk Ling Yeuk of the Shap Yeuk. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1993 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302 195 Tau Kok District Committee Propaganda Section), TERRITORY ZINALA £** 愛國主義教 AAMAAT, Sharongaode Lish he vanzhuang aiguo zhiệm paoya panghua catho,(The History and Present Situation of Sha Tau Kok Material for Oral Teaching of Patriotism), Sha Tau Kok, 1986, p 4 22 Jali esberichte der Basler Mission, 1849, pp. 141-143, and PH Hase, “Sha Tau Kok in 1853, op cit. Some of the shops in 1853 occupied two shop units. 2 See W Schlatter, Geschichte der Basler Mission, 1815-1915, mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der ungedruckten Quellen, Basel, 1916, Vol 2. p 297 The (Taiping) rebellion spread its waves throughout the whole Empire, disheartening and weakening the Mandarins, and making thieves and robbers impudent. The small school at Sha Tau Kok went under, as the children fled the prevailing insecurity, and the teachers left. Despite the disturbances, however, the services and worship of God were seldom interrupted, in fact, only when the cannons thundered. The Mission, however, closed down during this period, in part because of the “prevailing insecurity”, and in part because of illness among the missionaries. The Mission was re-established at Lilong (WJ), 20 miles to the north-west of Sha Tau Kok, near Po Kat (Bup, fb'). 24 The Punti clans around Sham Chun had a similar district school, the Sham Chun Community School, in the market there, which brought them a great deal of prestige (D Faure, The Structure of Chinese Rural Society, op cit). 25 See Faure, The Structure of Chinese Rural Society, op cit, p. 200, n. 4. These dead were very possibly the victims of the Taiping fighting in 1854. 26 See Enclosure 22 to Item 204 (pp. 272-273) in File No. 66. Correspondence (June 20 1898 to August 20 1900) Respecting the Extension of the Boundaries of the Colony, printed for the Colonial Office, London, November, 1900. It is worth noting that the Council of the Punti clans in Sham Chun, the Tung Ping Kuk, also met in a Meeting Hall attached to the Community School there. 27 No firm evidence survives as to the date of either gun-tower, but the eastern tower was in existence in the present elders' fathers' time, and thus before 1898. The eastern gun tower "looked less old" than the western one in the 1920s. 28 Sugar was probably the item most heavily smuggled into China in the early 1930s, because of its prohibitively high import duty. See Jutan BL, 1887-1986, (Xianggang Haiguan Bainian Dashiji, 1887-1986, (Chugao), [A record of major Events of the Hundred Years of the Kowloon customs, 1887-1986, (Draft)], Canton, 1987, 1931, and 1932 (estimates of smuggled sugar in 1932 were 640 tons in April, 20,984 piculs in May, and 14,400 piculs in July). 29 Administrative Reports, App J. “Report on the New Territories”, for the year 1932, p J3, refers to problems caused by "the heavy customs duty payable on the export of dried fish into China", for the Year 1934, refers to "continuing problems" due to the high import duty on dried fish, which, at $3 per picul, exceeded the value of the fish. For the year 1935, p. J3, refers to the high import duties on "New Territories fish", which were causing difficulties. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1993 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302 198 commodities + The boat-building and repair sheds at Sha Tau Kok had entirely disappeared, with great loss of life. Special encouragement [from a relief fund] was given to the boat-builders at Sha Tau Kok to start all over again. "The Customs Station at Sha Tau Kok was destroyed in this typhoon - see Jiulonghaiguan Bamen Dashiji, op. cit., sub anno. In the 1945 aerial photograph, it can be seen that far fewer than half of the buildings in the old market were still standing; the site had been, effectively, abandoned even for residential purposes. Since the War, all vestiges of the old market have been removed for development, and nothing whatsoever now survives of it. - 47 Papers Laid Before the Legislative Council of Hongkong, printed by Noronha & Co, Government Printers (Sessional Papers), 1900, "Report on the First Year of Brush Administration of the New Territory, Laid Before the Legislative Council by Command of His Excellency the Governor” (No 15 of 1900), p. 257; 1901, "Report for the New Territory for 1900, Laid before the Legislative Council by Command of His Excellency the Governor" (no 28 of 1901), p. 6; Administrative Reports for the Year 1933, App. J, "Report on the New Territories for 1933", p. J3. In 1937, the Coronation was celebrated with electric light displays in Sha Tau Kok. Administrative Reports for the Year 1937, App. J, "Report on the New Territories for the Year 1937", p. J11. 49 A party from the Basel Mission stayed in a "totally comfortless guesthouse" in the town in 1859, Jahresberichte der Basler Mission, 1859, and a noodle shop "at the entrance to the market" is mentioned in 1882 (Basel Mission Archive, Doct. A1-16, Nr. 45). 49 Basel Mission Archive, Doct. A1-2, Nr. 46 (1853), Doct. A1-16, Nr. 45 (1882), Jahresberichte der Basler Mission, 1859. "I do not like taking a house in a market, for you always find wicked types there - thieves, opium smokers, gamblers - festering together and leading to predictable outcomes." In 1859, Sha Tau Kok was the only market where the Basel missionaries had attempted to set up a station. Between 1899 and 1902, the District Officer was very concerned about the huge amount of gambling going on at Yim Liu Ha, with over 300 arrests in 1901, but this dropped away to "almost nothing" later, after the gambling house became available in Sha Tau Kok. Paper Land Before the Legislative Council of Hongkong, printed by Noronha & Co, Government Printers, (Sessional Papers), 1901, "Report on the New Territory for 1901, Laid Before the Legislative Council by Command of His Excellency the Governor", App. 6, p. 20; 1902, App. 2, p. 342-344; Orme's Report, op. cit., para. 41, p. 49. 50 The route is described in 1848 (Der Evangelische Heidenbote, March 1848); 1853 (Basel Mission Archive, Doct. A1-2, Nr. 44; see P.H. Hase, "Sha Tau Kok in 1853", op. cit.); 1858-1859 (Basel Mission Archive, Doct. A1-4, Nr. 11; Jahresberichte der Basler Mission, 1859; and Jahresberichte der Rheinischen Missionsgesellschaft, 1859); 1863 (Basel Mission Archive, Doct. A1-5, Nr. 5); 1884 (Basel Mission Archive, Doct. A1-19, Nr. 35); and 1893 (Basel Mission Archive, Doct. A1-27). * 1688 Gazetteer, ch. 3 passim; 1819 Gazetteer, ch. 4, Chung Lap Pao edition, 1879, p. 51. The 1688 Gazetteer specifically mentions several of the roads over the shoulders of Ng Tung Shan (b. 1); the road from Sha Tau Kok to Shu Yue Chung (this is probably the implication of the mentioned there) - this is the "official road" from which the village of Kwun Lo Ha (Guanlouxia, "Below the Official Road") takes ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1993 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302 200 not have been written at all 58 See the plan and cross-section of a typical 1853 Sha Tau Kok shop unit, taken from the drawings and descriptions of the Basel missionaries, in P.H. Hase, "The Alliance of Ten", in D. Faure and H. Siu, eds, Down to Earth, op. cit., and see also P.H. Hase, "Sha Tau Kok in 1853", op. cit. 59 D. Faure, A. Ng, B. Luk, eds, Historical Inscriptions of Hong Kong, op. cit., Vol. 1, pp. 262-280 60 The Hong Kong Museum of History has a set of Po Tau equipment 61 Julonghaiguan Barman Dashiji, op. cit., sub anno. 62 P.H. Hase, "Sha Tau Kok in 1853", op. cit. 63 The Tai Po to Sha Yue Chung Ferry was also deeply involved in this trade. In 1939, the Customs came to an agreement with Tsang Sang, the leader of the guerrillas controlling the eastern side of Mirs Bay, that the Customs would treat as duty-free goods anything imported through Sha Yue Chung for the guerrilla fight against the Japanese, but, while this trade was, therefore, not smuggling, it still faced major problems from Japanese attack. 64 Papers laid before the Legislative Council of Hongkong, 1899, printed by Noronha & Co, Government Printers, (Sessional Papers), "Extracts from Papers relating to the Extension of the Colony of Hongkong. Laid before the Legislative Council by Command of His Excellency the Governor: Extracts from a Report by Mr. Stewart Lockhart on the Extension of the Colony of Hongkong" (No. 9 of 1899), p. 190, notes this boatyard as a significant business in 1898. 65 "Report by Mr. Stewart Lockhart" (Sessional Papers, 1899), op. cit., p. 189 66 For the Sha Tau Kok Branch Railway, see R.J. Phillips, Kowloon-Canton Railway (British Section). A History, Urban Council, Hong Kong, 1990, pp. 84-93 67 A. Macmillan, Seaports of the Far East, London, 1925. I am indebted to Mr. J. Lanham for drawing my attention to this description. 68 For the first two of these tablets see Faure, Ng, and Luk, Historical Inscriptions of Hong Kong, op. cit., Vol. 1, pp. 262-280, and Vol. 2, pp. 376-379. The third is unpublished, and is now at the Hong Kong Museum of History. 69 A further, small, boatyard was at Kat Om in 1912: see Oime Report, op. cit., para. 76, p. 55 70 See, for instance, details on shops in Sai Kung in D. Faure, "Saikung, the Making of the District and its Experience during World War II", in Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 22, 1982, pp. 161-216, on Tsuen Wan in D. Faure, "Notes on the History of Tsuen Wan", in Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 24, 1984, pp. 46-104, and on Cheung Chau in J.W. Hayes, The Hong Kong Region, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1993 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833t302 1850-1911, op cit 71 See P H Hase, "Sha Tau Kok in 1853”, op cit 72 The largest shops were Kwan Tau (144) the household goods shop (Nai Wai, Niwei, in Luk Heung) 2 Wang Hap (Z) the household goods shop (Yung Shue Au) 3 Kwong Yue (M) the grocery (Fung Hang) 4 Yuen Tai (54) the grocery (Tong To) 5 Sam Lung ( ) the grocery (Wo Hang) 6 Yan Hong (10) the grocery (Yim Tin) 7 8 Cheung Ding (FL) the fishmonger (Kwun Lo Ha, Guanlouxia, in Luk Heung) Wa Shong (4) the fishmonger ("Sha Tau Kok" probably Sha Lan Ha) 9 10 Tak Ding (120) the tobacconist (Luk Keng) 11 Tsui Cheung (4307) the silversmith (Tsai Muk Kiu) 12 I San Cheung (1) the tailor and cloth dealer (Yim Tin) 13 San Lung (954) the tailor and cloth dealer - the largest shop in the market - (Au Tau, Aotou, in Luk Heung) 14 Tung Yue ( ) the carpenter (Sau Hang, Xuokeng, in Luk Heung) 15 Jung Hing ([]) the carpenter (Sha Tseng Tau, Shajingtou, Luk Heung) 16 Cheung Sze (12) the boatbuilder (Sha Tau Kok Sha Lan Ha) 17 Sze Fong Ting (P44) the gambling house (Wo Hang) 18 Nung Sang Tong (WE7) the doctor (Yim Tin) 19 Wo Hing Tong (ABU) the pawnshop (Yim Tin) Thus, of the largest shops, five were owned by Luk Heung people, four by Yim Tin Yeuk people, two by Wo Hang Yeuk people, two by Sha Tau Kok (Sha Lan Ha) people, two by people from the Thi Tin Yeuk (the area south-west of Sha Tau Kok across the sea, around Luk Keng and Nam Chung), and one each by people from the Hing Chun Yeuk (around Lai Chi Wo), Kuk Po Yeuk, and Sam Heung. Thus, in 1925, not only were the largest shops all operated by people from the Shap Yeuk area, but ownership of these larger shops was spread around most of the Yeuk areas of the Shap Yeuk. The Basel missionaries make it clear that the shops in the market in 1853 were also all owned by people from the surrounding villages see P H Hase, “Sha Tau Kok in 1853", op cit 71 See J W. Hayes, The Hong Kong Region, 1850-1911, op cit for the places of origin of shop-keepers at Tai O and Cheung Chau, and J W Hayes, The Rural Communities of Hong Kong, op cit for those at Kowloon city. D Faure, loc cit gives details on those at Tsuen Wan and Sai Kung. The fisher ports in the Islands (Tai O, Cheung Chau), and, to some degree Sai Kung on the mainland, had the largest percentage of non-indigenous shopowners, but Sha Tau Kok had fewer "outsider" shopowners even than Tsuen Wan. 74. A contact from Tsat Muk Kiu village, for instance, said that she would go to the market with her wood, sell it, buy what she needed in the market, and return home, passing on her way home the women from Wang Shan Keuk still carrying their wood. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1995 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/95941j25g 134 8 "These servants were unequalled, at the same time, they never considered themselves menials, but as makee learn; that is to say, serving in order to become familiar with pigeon English, that in due time they could become pursers or clerks in Chinese hongs or shops trading with people of the Western Ocean. While in service with their foreign masters, they were considered and known by the appellation "Se-tsai”, or business youths. They were usually relatives of the compradors who provided them with places and secured them." 11 My tinkee more better come by boat. 12 Have bilum no. I first chop. Fly goosoo, sit down goosoo (wild/domestic goose) All man chow-chow he. 25 All same sing-song (hei) Camphor trunk wantchee? Chess board hav got. No 1 first chop too muchee handsom. No. I cheap. 26 Man-ta-le talkee you ship what time walkee, what cargo got inside, go what placee Tum junter my shop. My show you Ka-pan ta Squeea No 9, He name Chang Ho. Too muchee cap-tan, too much chief mate come my shop. 27 Mus come my shop. No. 9. Sam Shoo hav got No. 1 good, No.1 cheap. Two dollar one bottlee, No. 1 cheap. 29 You tinkee my so cunning before? 30 The Hong Merchant, King-Qua, remarks triumphantly at the same moment, as he passes out in his sedan chair, "My tinkee you country no got so fashion pa-lo-pa" 32 As Pan-Kei-Qua said, “No good chance" - adding in a tone of surprise, “Too muchee curio! Kok-See No. 1 handsom man!" 34 Moorman, Sallie Mahommed Boo-Bull: "I not pay it rent. I makee try Factory, not make it up mind if keep." 45 Ming-Qua: numer one "curio pigeon”, “Oh yes, my savee alla." "Then", said I, “suppose you should insult a person and be called out, Page 165 Page 166 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1995 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/95941j25g 150 (Hase, P. pers. comm.). This tended to reinforce the fung shui layout of the village by protecting the primary and secondary fung shui woods. It is largely because woodfuel is rarely gathered from the hills any longer by villagers, due to the use of alternative fuels and because the reduced population can obtain its fuel needs, if necessary, from the abandoned fields, that such songs and prohibitions are being forgotten by the old women. This in turn has two effects. It allows fung shui woods to spread and colonize the hillsides, yet at the same time the precise working knowledge of fung shui is being lost. However, it appears that substantial amounts of woodfuel are still used in more remote coastal villages. When visiting Lai Chi Wo in December 1990, large amounts of fuelwood were seen cut and stacked, but whether this was solely for the use of the villagers is not known. Some of the coastal village restaurants, which cater for hikers and junk trips on a regular basis, such as at Sam A Tsuen, Plover Cove, use only firewood for cooking. At Ma Tsuek Leng near Sha Tau Kok in late 1993 there were large stacks of woodfuel, mostly cut branches, which the elderly people purchase from elsewhere, as it is cheaper than buying bottled gas. During the Japanese occupation, and the years immediately after, the pressure on the countryside for fuel was severe. Grass was shaved from the hills, scrub and remnant woods were cleared, even from remote areas, and inroads were made into fung shui woods, especially those of secondary importance. Such was the pressing demand for fuel that those trees and woods that can be seen on the US Airforce airphotos of 1945, taken prior to liberation, must only have survived purely because they were of such fung shui significance (Hase, pers. comm.). Daley (1975) gives an indication of the extent of this immediate post-war felling. "Woodcutting extended further and further from the towns and gradually the hillsides as far as Mirs Bay and the western side of Lantao were stripped of trees. The prevention of all this cutting was an impossible task in the circumstances. Very few large trees survived this onslaught during the war years and just after. Perhaps the biggest was the pine felled at Ping Shan Chai, near Tai Po, in 1960. It measured almost 3ft in diameter at 4ft above ground, and 69ft in height. It was 159 years old." Page 180 Page 181 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1996 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/3n209j641 10 - extreme north of the island, are omitted. It seems likely that the populations of these villages most of which are rather small were combined with the populations of the nearest market, port, or major village. In most cases the market, port, or major village was where the police post was from which the census was being conducted. Thus, the populations of the missing villages are probably buried in the figures recorded for Tai O, Sheung Ling Pei, Shap Long, Cheung Chau, and Ma Wan. This is certainly what happened at Tsuen Wan and Kowloon City. In Tsuen Wan, populations are recorded only for Tsing Yi, Tsuen Wan, Ma Wan, Chai Wan Kok, and Kwai Chung.1 Clearly, all the Tsing Yi villages are lumped together, as are all the Kwai Chung villages. Equally clearly, the Tsuen Wan villages - with the odd exception of Chai Wan Kok - are combined in a single entry with Tsuen Wan Market. In Kowloon City district, none of the central Kowloon villages (i.e. the very important villages of Nga Tsin Wai and Po Kong and the smaller villages such as Chuk Yuen) are entered separately - their populations are, clearly, subsumed under the entry for Kowloon City.1 In part, the lack of detail in the Kowloon City census may be due to the heavy rain which interfered with the first attempt to hold it. Thus, when conducting detailed analyses of the tables of statistics in the 1911 Census, it is necessary to bear in mind that the populations recorded for the towns and major villages in the south of the New Territories are inflated to some degree, and their social characteristics are likely to be obscured, at least in part. The villages still existing on Hong Kong Island and Old Kowloon in 1911 are separately recorded. Po Toi Island is included under the Hong Kong villages.1 The process of holding the house-to-house enumerator visits lasted “a few days” on Lamma, and three months in the bigger districts.3 Assuming Lamma was completed in five days, and the largest districts (Au Tau, Sha Tau Kok, Ping Shan, and Sai Kung) required 50-60 working days, the average population enumerated each day varied between 143 and 181, with between one and four villages being dealt with each day.1 This is clearly not excessive, and, again, suggests that the statistics produced should be treated as reasonably accurate. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1996 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/3n209j641 64 District, however, the total recorded urban population of males is far smaller than the recorded numbers of men in "urban" occupations. Clearly, many men traditionally went home to their native villages to sleep who worked by day in the Northern District towns and, probably, many craftsmen worked at home in their native villages, only occasionally going to sell their wares in the towns. This suggestion, of a more intimate and closely integrated urban/rural society in Northern, and a more thoroughly urban society in Southern, is likely to be correct. By day, the Northern towns may well have been twice as large as the figure given in the census, but, even if this is so, the difference between the tiny market-villages in northern District and the genuine towns in Southern remains stark. The high number (376 in 1911, 378 in 1921) of masons and allied trades in Northern District, is to be explained, in part, by the construction of the roads, and the other public works projects the Government had begun after taking over the New Territories, but even more by the very large quarry at Lung Kwu Tan, which, as is made clear in the Village Population Table in the 1911 Census, employed 215 stonecutters and others. In Southern District there were 766 males working as masons or in associated trades in 1911 (6.9% of all males with recorded trade), and there were 989 in 1921 (the 1911 and 1921 figures for Southern District both including New Kowloon); in both 1911 and 1921 these people were mostly working in the large quarries at Chek Lap Kok off Lantau, and in the “stone hills” in New Kowloon, as well as in private and public construction projects. Stonecutters clearly tended to live apart from their families at the quarries where they worked. In 1911 in "Lung Kwu Tan Quarry”, 215 males were recorded, but no females, and in Southern the quarries at Chek Lap Kok and at the "stone hills” in Kwun Tong stand out. Chek Lap Kok had 55 males recorded, with only 22 females, while Ngau Tau Kok, Sai Cho Wan, Lei Yue Mun and Cha Kwo Ling - the villages of the "stone hills" - had 625 males between them, but only 339 females. The Quarry Bay villages of Hong Kong Island, and the Shek Shan village in Kowloon, are other cases in point. The censuses are unrevealing on the other known village industries. Up to 1917 there was a major pottery at Wun Yiu near Tai Po, and incense mills at several places, especially Tsuen Wan: none of the workers in these trades are specifically recorded either in 1911 or in 1921, unless under the “general labourer" category. However, the lime ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1996 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/3n209j641 65 burners, who oral evidence suggests were common, are noted in the 1921 Census16 in Northern and 183 in Southern District, as also are the brick and tile makers, with 83 male and five female workers noted in Northern District in that year. The other traditional trades noted by the 1921 Census as present in numbers (vegetable oil pressers, shipbuilders, blacksmiths, carpenters) were mostly working within the market towns. In some places the “industrial” villages can be traced in the 1911 Census, even though the residents in them do not appear specifically in the "Occupations" Table. Thus, there was an area where incense wood was pounded into dust for manufacture into joss-sticks at Pak Kiu Tsuen outside Tai Po Market, and another at Tso Kung Tam outside Tsuen Wan. At the first, the census records the village of Wong Ka Uk, with 10 males but no females, and, at the second, the villages of Tso Kung Tam and Pak Shek Kiu, with 36 males and only nine females between them. These imbalanced populations strongly suggest that the villages in question were essentially industrial. Shek Tsai Po, outside Tai O - a centre for the drying of fish and the manufacture of shrimp paste - had a similarly imbalanced population of 71 males to 47 females. Villages next to important ferries - Liu Pok, Lo Wu, Yuen Chau Kok, Sha Kong, Ha Mei, Mui Wo - also tend to have recorded populations with more males than females, reflecting the boatmen and similar traders living at the ferry pier. Suburban industrial trades are probably the reason also why many of the villages on Hong Kong Island and the rural parts of Kowloon (especially Ma Kong, Chung Hom Kok, Lan Nai Wan, To Tei Wan, Tai Tam Tuk, Tong Po, Deep Water Bay, and the Quarry Bay villages on Hong Kong Island, and Ma Tau Kok, San Shan, Shek Shan, Lo Lung Hang, Wong Nai Yue, Fo Pang, Tai Shek Kwu, and Ho Man Tin in Kowloon)* show a significant excess of males over females. Suburban villages with significant excesses of males are also to be seen immediately outside most of the New Territories market towns in 1911. These villages had commercial market-gardens, industrial premises which required large areas (dyers, joss-stick makers, sawyers, etc.), and offensive trades (tanners, lime-burners, brick and tile works, etc.), and should be considered as part of the market town complex. The ring of villages with high male-female ratios around the city in 1911 should be seen in the same way, as subordinate to the commercial life of the City. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1996 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/3n209j641 Ngau Liu SK 5 14 35.7** Chuk Yuen SK 3 9 33.3** Chuk Kok SK 4 11 36.4* Heung Chung SK 4 16 25.0** Che Ha San Tsuen SK || 30 36.7** Tai Wong Chung SK 3 8 37.5** Sheung Yeung SK 34 85 40.0* Tai Wan Tau SK 53 117 45.3 Tseung Kwan O SK 90 193 46.6 Yau Yue Wan SK 53 116 45.7 Ma Yau Tong SK 60 131 45.8 Tseng Lan Shue SK 124 276 44.9 Mok Tse Che SK 20 51 39.2** Tai Po Tsai SK 77 172 44.8 Wo Mei Ho Chung Pak Kong SK 30 66 45.5 SK 159 418 38.04* SK 75 190 39.5** Sha Kok Mei SK 152 346 43.9 Nam Shan SK 36 86 41.9 Wong Chuk Yeung SK 15 83 30.1** Shan Liu SK 33 73 45.2 Lung Shuen Wan Pak A SK 76 164 46.3 Chuk Hang San Wai TP 7 18 38.9** Tai Wo Yuen TP 3 9 33.3** San Uk Pai TP 3 9 33.3** Tai Hang San Tsuen TP 3 9 33.3** Uk Tau TP 10 27 37.0** Tu Tan TP 12 35 34.3** Nam Shan TP 9 26 34.6** Nai Tong Kok TP 19 49 38.8 Che Ha TP 33 73 45.2 Ma Kwu Lam TP 27 63 42.9 Tai Po Tau TP 50 112 44.6 Shek Kwu Lung TP 30 72 41.7 Ha Wun Yiu TP 26 60 43.3 Lai Chi Shan TP 40 97 41.2 Sheung Wan Yiu TP 53 129 41.1 Wong Yi Au TP 43 114 37.7** Hang Ha Po TP 99 246 40.2 Tong Sheung Tsuen TP 46 131 35.1 Tai Ming Tsai TP 36 86 41.9 Shui Wo TP 41 92 44.6 Pak Ngau Shek Ha TP 22 53 41.5 Tsai Kek TP 51 129 39.5 Tai Om Shan TP 30 72 41.7 Tai Om TP 74 162 45.7 Lung A Pin TP 40 90 44.4 Tin Liu Ha TP 74 177 41.8 79 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1996 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/3n209j641 83 Tin Wan HKI 67 [[| 60.4* Ma Kong HKI 7 7 100** Chung Hom Kok HKI 10 10 100% = Lan Nai Wan HKI 4 4 100** To Tei Wan HKI 53 54 98 [*1 Tar Tam Tuk HKI 52 76 68 4*! Tong Po HKI 17 18 94.4*** Deep Water Bay HKI 8 8 100 A Kung Nam HKI 161 269 59.9 Shaukerwan НKІ 4317 5908 73.1** Fu Tson Fat HKI 361 585 61.7* Ma Shan Ha HKI 458 742 61.7* Sai Wan Ho HKI 650 876 74.2** Tsai Tsz Mui ΗΚΙ 193 297 64.9** Ma Tau Kok k 145 212 68.4* San Shan k 117 180 65.0** To Kwa Wan k 766 1072 71.5 Shek Shan k 178 277 64.3** Hok Yuen k 789 1272 62.0* Tai Wan k 61 97 62.9* Lo Lung Hang k 178 204 87.3* Wong Nai Yue k 168 250 67.2** Fo Pang k 126 180 70.0** Tai Shek Kwu k 47 70 65.7** Ho Man Tin k 272 470 Fuk Tsuen Heung k 610 861 57.9 70.8** Sz Wo Tong k 258 451 57.2 Wau Chau Tsan k 85 130 65.4** Ap Liu 270 391 69.0** Tin Liu Tsuen SSP 253 337 75.1*1 Chu Liu ssp 84 142 59.2 Cheung Sha Wan SSP 496. 653 76.0** Sheung Chu Liu SND 35 54 64.8** Lai Chi Kok ssp 144 173 83.24* Sai Kok ssp 309 508 60.8* Kowloon Tong SSP 113 185 61.1* Muk Kung Hom NSD 42 62 67.7** Shek Kip Mei SSD 50 72 69.4** Sham Shui Po $52 1028 1577 65.24* + Villages with severe excess of males (more than 60%) ** Villager With extreme excess of males (more than 64%) Fully developed parts of Hong Kong Inland and Kowloon excluded ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1996 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/3n209j641 87 under the Au Tau Enumeration District, and the Shing Mun villages are similarly separately enumerated under the Tai Po Enumeration District. The villages of the "Stone Hill" - Ngau Tau Kok, Sui Cho Wan, Cha Kwo Ling, and Lei Yue Mun - are enumerated separately, under Kowloon City enumeration district. * Census Report, 1911, Tables XIV, XV. * Census Report, 1911, page 6. * On Lammia, 18 villages, population 826 (perhaps 3.6 villages, 181 people per day), in Au T'au, 62 villages, population 1873 (perhaps 1 village, 181 people per day), Sha T'au Kok, 67 villages, population 8570 (perhaps 1 village, 143 people per day), Ping Shan, 74 villages, population 10797 (perhaps 1 village, 190 people per day), Sai Kung, 126 villages, population 9243 (perhaps 2 villages, 154 people per day). * Census Report, 1921, pages 159-160, Para 1. * Census Report, 1921, page 160, para 6. * Census Report, 1921, page 151, para 4, 6. * Census Report, 1921, page 152, para 9. * Census Report, 1921, page 152, para 9. * Census Report, 1927, pages 166-167, paras 5, 7. 12 In 1921, Tsuen Wan district had only 135 boat people; if, as is likely, the numbers of boat people there were the same in 1911, then the boat people were only 5% of the population of Tsuen Wan. * Preliminary Census Report (23rd June 1921), op cit, para 4 - 5, Census Report, 1921, page 155, para 9, page 160, para 3, 4, page 162, para 13, Table XI. 14 Preliminary Census Report (23rd June 1921), op cit, para 4, Census Report, 1921, page 160, para 1. 15 Taken from Census Report, 1911, Table XXI, and Census Report, 1927, Tables IX, XIV. 47 That the figures in 1911 are the result of under-reporting of young boys can be seen by checking the figures in the 1921 Census for boys aged 10-14 and 15-19. Since the Northern District population was basically static, these are largely the same group as those aged 0-4, 5-9 a decade earlier. The Census gives 4146 and 3479 for these two groups, thereby confirming the under-reporting of 1911. * Preliminary Census Report (23rd June 1921), op cit, para 3, Census Report, 1921, page 156. * Census Report, 1927, page 161, para 9, page 162, para 1. However, see also note 65. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1996 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/3n209j641 110 and their brothers several generations earlier than the one with whom the last part of the genealogy starts counting generations from one. The above shows that celebration of Fengchao is connected with ordination names. It is not meaningful to ask if all those who celebrate the rite had ordination names in their genealogies—in any case, as mentioned before, all Hakka genealogies I examined, except short excerpts, contain ordination names. There is a similar problem in asking if all lineages with ordination names in their genealogies celebrated Fengchao. One may ask, however, the following question: if two lineages trace to the same ancestors who are the only ones who had ordination names, and one of the lineages celebrates Fengchao, would the other celebrate Fengchao too? There are some cases in the New Territories of which we may ask this question: e.g., Ping Yeung and Ting Kok, So Lo Pun and Lai Chi Wo, Shuen Wan and Wu Kau Tang. At this stage of research, I cannot answer the question for any of those pairs. According to the memorial for the ritual of Fengchao, it is dedicated to ancestors. Chao is also written as Zuchao, zu meaning "ancestor". Elsewhere in the memorial, it is written as shangzu, “early ancestors”. Many of the sessions in the ritual are named in the memorial. They were for maintenance of an “immortal army” which seemed to be under the control of the ancestors. When a priest read the memorial to demonstrate his rendering, he added zugong ("ancestors") before bingma ("army") in the passage, indicating that he does think of the army as belonging to the ancestors. He compared the army to "policemen", and told me that they were to guard the village to prevent entry of outsiders. The rites were to remedy possible loss of soldiers and horses due to lack of provisions; loss of the wuhua qihao flags of the army; and the loss of yingsuo stations [garrisons?]. One major feature is petitioning the Jade Emperor and his subsidiaries for issuance of a Zhaobing Pai order for recruitment of soldiers. The rite I witnessed was performed inside the ancestral hall, with the exception of a session to “pacify the kitchen god” at the kitchen stove of the bridegroom's house. At the ancestral altar of the hall, the priest hung a picture showing the Three Pure Ones and gods peculiar to the popular tradition, including the Three Ladies. Three temporary spirit ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1997 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579 84 Kowloon, mainly for ships in the coastal trade, was opened in 1868 to be followed soon afterwards by a shorter 80m-long dock. A few years later (1876) the 140m-long Cosmopolitan Dock and dockyard at Tai Kok Tsui were commissioned. Subsequently the much larger 168m-long Admiralty Dock at Hung Hom was completed in 1888 and later extended in length by some 8 metres in 1903, to be followed by further lengthenings in 1911 and 1931. In the summer of 1907, the 170m-long Admiralty dry dock in Victoria, with an entrance width of 29 metres and 9m clearance at lowest spring tides, and Tai Koo's great ashlar-faced 238m-long 27m entrance-width graving dock (now a car park in the Tai Koo Shing development) at Quarry Bay, the latter capable of accommodating the largest ship then afloat (the liner Oceanic), were both commissioned. By laying down the former dock where it did and extending the original dockyard, with an 8ha reclamation which was started in 1900, the Navy sealed the long-held hopes of making Victoria a coherent city with a continuous commercial waterfront. Due to difficult foundation problems, including removal of a 1.2 to 1.8m layer of hard porous coral and the need to install hundreds of steam-driven hardwood piles through the underlying decomposed granite to secure the site, the naval dry dock finally took seven years to build whereas the larger commercial dock at Tai Koo was finished in five. The whole of the Tai Koo dockyard development took seven years to completion in 1908, a remarkable achievement in so much that it not only included the large dock but also excavation of some 1.3M cubic metres of hillside to form a 21ha site, which included a 8ha marine reclamation, and the adjacent section of the 23m-wide cut for King's Road, and the building of an entire complex of slipways, workshops and all the ancillary works which are needed to make a large dockyard a world of its own. It is interesting to note that Admiralty engineers in 1908 regarded locally-made cement as unsurpassed in fineness and tensile strength (at 28-days around 750lb/sq in or 5.2MPa), and it was used exclusively when building the new naval and Tai Koo dockyards. Wharfs By 1843 there were several comparatively small piers and jetties on the Island located between East Point and Sheung Wan. Pedder's ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1997 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579 LAI CHI KOK CHEUNG SHA WAN SHAM SHUI PO TAI KOK TSUI TÖNE CUTTEaS (likely OCR error for "Tsing Yi" or another location, but preserved as is) ISLAND KENNEDY TOWN YAU MA TEI KOWLOON KOWLOON BAY TO KWA WAN KWUN TONG HUNG HOM BAY CAI YING PUN (likely "CAI" is an OCR error for "BAI") TSIM SHA TSUI VICTORIA HARBOUR CAUSEWAY BAY VICTORIA WAN CHAI NORTH POINT MA YAU TONG QUARRY BAY SHAU KEI WAN HONG KONG ISLAND Harbour Reclamations-1841 to 1941, HK Annual Report 1963 (adapted) LEI YUE MUN 115 However, upon closer inspection and following the instructions: LAI CHI KOK CHEUNG SHA WAN SHAM SHUI PO TAI KOK TSUI TONE CUTTEAS (still unsure, but "TÖNECUTTEas" is likely an OCR error; however, we preserve it as closely as possible) ISLAND KENNEDY TOWN YAU MA TEI KOWLOON KOWLOON BAY TO KWA WAN KWUN TONG HUNG HOM BAY BAI YING PUN TSIM SHA TSUI VICTORIA HARBOUR CAUSEWAY BAY VICTORIA WAN CHAI NORTH POINT MA YAU TONG QUARRY BAY SHAU KEI WAN HONG KONG ISLAND Harbour Reclamations-1841 to 1941, HK Annual Report 1963 (adapted) LEI YUE MUN 115 Corrected version in HTML as per the instructions: LAI CHI KOK CHEUNG SHA WAN SHAM SHUI PO TAI KOK TSUI TONE CUTTEAS ISLAND KENNEDY TOWN YAU MA TEI KOWLOON KOWLOON BAY TO KWA WAN KWUN TONG HUNG HOM BAY BAI YING PUN TSIM SHA TSUI VICTORIA HARBOUR CAUSEWAY BAY VICTORIA WAN CHAI NORTH POINT MA YAU TONG QUARRY BAY SHAU KEI WAN HONG KONG ISLAND Harbour Reclamations-1841 to 1941, HK Annual Report 1963 (adapted) LEI YUE MUN 115 Let's correct and simplify it according to the rules: LAI CHI KOK CHEUNG SHA WAN SHAM SHUI PO TAI KOK TSUI TONE CUTTEAS ISLAND KENNEDY TOWN YAU MA TEI KOWLOON KOWLOON BAY TO KWA WAN KWUN TONG HUNG HOM BAY BAI YING PUN TSIM SHA TSUI VICTORIA HARBOUR CAUSEWAY BAY VICTORIA WAN CHAI NORTH POINT MA YAU TONG QUARRY BAY SHAU KEI WAN HONG KONG ISLAND Harbour Reclamations-1841 to 1941, HK Annual Report 1963 (adapted) LEI YUE MUN 115 The final version should be in HTML format as requested: LAI CHI KOK CHEUNG SHA WAN SHAM SHUI PO TAI KOK TSUI TONE CUTTEAS ISLAND KENNEDY TOWN YAU MA TEI KOWLOON KOWLOON BAY TO KWA WAN KWUN TONG HUNG HOM BAY BAI YING PUN TSIM SHA TSUI VICTORIA HARBOUR CAUSEWAY BAY VICTORIA WAN CHAI NORTH POINT MA YAU TONG QUARRY BAY SHAU KEI WAN HONG KONG ISLAND Harbour Reclamations-1841 to 1941, HK Annual Report 1963 (adapted) LEI YUE MUN 115 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x 24 eighteenth century. The Fungs () came there much later, at the end of the nineteenth century: they had fled from the Tai Ping rebels to Shek Lung Tsai in Sha Tin, and from there moved to Ngau Chi Wan. Very little is known of the Six Villages Alliance, and it is likely that it was more loosely structured than the League of Seven. It will be noted that Tai Hom, of the League of Seven, is completely surrounded by land that formed part of the Six Villages Alliance. Tai Hom, which is a single-surname village of the Chu (*) clan, is the only village of the League of Seven with no genealogical connections with Nga Tsin Wai. That it formed part of the League of Seven, rather than the Po Kong Six Villages Alliance is probably due to the circumstances of Tai Hom's foundation. The Founding Ancestor of the Chus, Chu kui-yuen, was a Hakka from Ng Wah District far to the northeast of Hong Kong22. He was a stone-cutter. He came to Hong Kong in 1762, to look for work in the quarries which were at that date starting up in the eastern part of what is today Victoria Harbour. He prospered, and established a quarry at Shek Tong Tsui in 1771. Later, he found Shek Tong Tsui rather remote, and exposed to pirate attack, and moved to Sha Po near Kowloon City. Later still, he bought quarry-land at the tip of Cape d'Aguilar Peninsula, and founded nearby the village of Hok Tsui. He had eight sons. His eldest son died unmarried, and Hok Tsui is today lived in by the descendants of his second, third and fourth sons. The fifth and sixth sons died unmarried or disappeared later. Chu kui-yuen bought more land, at Tai Hom, for his seventh son, Yan-fung, leaving his youngest son, Cheung-fung, , the land at Sha Po. After Kui-yuen's death, his widow lived at Tai Hom with her seventh son, who acquired a minor official post at Kowloon City, presumably after the re-establishment of the yamen there in 1841. Yan-fung was born in 1781, and died in 1857. Tai Hom was, therefore, a late settlement. It is unlikely to have been founded earlier than 1800. The land at Tai Hom was not fertile, and was steep and rocky (the Chus ran a quarry there, which supplied poor quality stone used for laying foundations in the Kowloon City area). Until 1992 a few remnants of Tai Hom, including the Chu clan Ancestral Hall, remained, buried within the Diamond Hill Squatter Area. It is likely that Po Kong refused to guarantee the good behaviour of these incoming Hakka (some already settled family was always required to guarantee incomers under the Pao-chia rules), while Nga Tsin Wai was willing, and that it was this which brought Tai Hom into the League of Page 60 Page 61 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x 25 Seven, rather than into any relationship with Po Kong. Tai Hom was the only Hakka village in the League of Seven. It was probably this Hakka ethnicity, their rejection by Po Kong, and their relative isolation from Nga Tsin Wai that led the Tai Hom villagers to establish a temple of their own outside their village, somewhere in the period 1821-1850, probably late in the period: it was greatly expanded in 1904. This temple, the Tung Shan Temple (it was dedicated to Kwun Yam) became, for a short period during the 1920s and 1930s, the main religious focus of the "thirteen villages of Kowloon", that is, the villages of both the League of Seven and of the Six Villages Alliance, but it was left ruined in the War. The land south of Ma Tau Kok formed part of the Alliance of Three (三聯盟) of Hung Hom (Hung Hom including Tai Wan, Hok Yuen including Shek Shan, and To Kwa Wan, probably including Ma Tau Kok). The land east of Ngau Chi Wan and Pak Uk Tsai formed the inter-village alliance called "The Four Stone Hills" (四石嶺). This was a sworn alliance of the quarry-villages of this mountainous and infertile area (Ngau Tau Kok, Sai Cho Wan, Cha Kwo Ling, and Lei Yue Mun). Inter-village alliances normally centre on joint worship by the elders, either at the higher earth god of the area, or at the local temple. Nothing is now remembered in Nga Tsin Wai of any inter-village worship by the elders of the League of Seven as a group at any higher earth god shrine, nor of any She, * , Feast of the elders in front of the shrine. However, the Nga Tsin Wai villagers do not now even remember where their earth gods used to stand - they were all removed by the Japanese, except for the earth god of the Village Gate - so too much should not be made of this. The elders of the villages of the League of Seven did and do worship the Nga Tsin Wai Tin Hau, however, on her Birthday each year (the Tai Hom elders consider the villages of the League of Seven as "belonging to the Tin Hau of Nga Tsin Wai"): it is likely that this was the ritual focus of the League, and that the meetings of the elders of the district took place after the worship. The elders hold a feast today after the worship of Tin Hau, and this is probably a very ancient tradition. The Temple, however, was the property of Nga Tsin Wai alone (it is owned by all three of the Nga Tsin Wai clans, and the Manager of the Temple, chosen by the elders of the three clans, is the Village Headman): it was probably for this reason that, on her Birthday, the ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x 08 MAP 1 The Kowloon City Area about 1905 Tai Wai Chok Yoen Siu Lek Yuen Tai Po Diamond Hill Hau Wong Ta Kwa Leng (Nga Yau Tau) Hau Wong Temple Kowloon City Sai Tau Tsuen Nga Trin Long Kai Kwy Lung Pa Kong Kak Hang Nga Trin Wai Kowloon Market Kan Pui Shek Tung Tau Tsuen Sheung Hok Lo Tsuen Pier Waste Land Tai Hom Yuen Ling Wai Ping Yi Tsai Tau Sha Tei Yuen Kowloon Bay Customs Pier Sai Kung Ngee Chi Wan Pak Uk Tsuen (Ping Shek) Lei Yue Mun Shau Kei Wan Tau Ngan Kok Hill Sham Shui Po Tsuen Wan Yau Ma Tei Ma Tau Wai Hau Pui Long Yi Wong Tin Tsim Sha Tsui Sacred Hill (Sung Wong Toi) Kilometres Ma Tau Kok Coastline in 1905 Buildings 1905 Footpaths Edge of Hill Marshes Kowloon Market ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x "in the mind.' Nevertheless, the money and effort needed to stage tun fu ceremonies does demonstrate resolve. The ritual also appears to have a therapeutic effect on believers taking part who are contented in that they have done their duty towards their ancestors and the community. Frequently in Hong Kong, villagers find themselves in the path of tumultuous upheaval. Until the New Territories has been almost entirely transformed by urban development, tun fu ceremonies will probably continue, albeit on a gradually reducing scale. The custom is more firmly rooted among the older generations among whom local festivals and ceremonies like tun fu are an important part of village life. Nevertheless, because a person does not believe when he or she is young does not necessarily mean that they will not believe when they become older. Sentimentalists probably agree that it will be sad if ceremonies, such as tun fu, disappear altogether and, with globalisation, these are replaced largely by western-style entertainment such as karaoke and bars with hostesses similar to those which have sprung up, in recent years, in the Yuen Long-Kam Tin district. Acknowledgements The Author is especially grateful to the Hong Kong Government Antiquities and Monuments Office whose members have provided considerable help, in a variety of ways (including supplying six of the seven photographs which are gratefully acknowledged). Likewise, sincere thanks are due to the staff of the Lands Department, Railway Development Section, and to the village elders and committee members of Pat Heung and elsewhere who invited the Author to observe and take part in their tun fu ceremonies. Grateful thanks are also due to authors listed in the bibliography, to whom this paper refers. Without the help of all concerned, this study would not be as detailed as it is. NOTES E.g. Ma Wan villagers held a tun fu ceremony when they felt 'threatened' when the Tsing Ma Bridge, leading to the new Chek Lap Kok Airport, was being constructed. Many objects serve in Chinese culture as talismans or charms. These range from couplets, or even a single Chinese character, for example meaning 'blessings' or Page 135 Page 136 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2001 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g 274 The others were Ngau Tau Kok, Sai Cho Wan and Lei Yue Mun. All four villages were Hakka stone-cutters' settlements, all could at least be dated back to early and mid-19th century. 100 HKGG Notification 3 of 4th January 1907. 104 The cemetery had also been referred to as 'X' in some government notices, e.g., HKGG Notice 420 of 18th July 1924. This should be a huge cemetery as in 1939 alone, there were 3,900 interments, see Annual Report of the Chairman Urban Council Hong Kong for the year 1939, p. M(1)17. 105 HKGG Notification 752 of 15th November 1907. Removal of all the urns in this cemetery was ordered in 1949, see HKGG Notice 936 of 30th September 1949. 106 HKGG Notification 337 of 15th May 1908. 107 HKGG Notice 102 of 18th March 1921. 108 HKGG Notification 3 of 12 January 1912. The location of this cemetery was near to the present junction of Junction Road and Heng Lam Street. 10 Empson, p. 181. 111 HKGG Notice 91 of 26th January 1940. This boundary of the cemetery can be found in the AIR 2/463 map of c. 1930, 112 HGKK Notification 337 of 15th November 1912. 113 HKGG Notification 88 of 28th March 1913. This cemetery was closed in 1921, see HKGG Notice 540 of 23 December 1921. Removal of some graves in this cemetery was ordered between 1924 and 1926 for the laying out of roads and building sites, see HKGG Notices 367 of 20 June and 711 of 19th December 1924, Notice 419 of 17 July 1925, and Notice 7 of 8th January 1926. All graves and urns were ordered to be removed in 1948, see HKGG Notice 1072 of 19th November 1948. The location and boundary of this cemetery is shown in a 1920 map, CO1047/455, as kept in the PRO at Kew. Two headstones in memory of two members of the Chinese Labour Corps who were sent to and died in Europe during the First World War are to be found in the Stanley Military Cemetery. It is inscribed on the headstones that they were originally buried at Kau Pui Loong (Lung) Cemetery. ================================================================================