ENG-1955 — Page 47

POPULATION

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The Hoklo have frequented the area since time unknown. They are traditionally boat-people, but in some places they have been settled ashore for several generations. There are influential land communities of them on Cheung Chau and Ping Chau. Their name suggests that they originated from Fukien Province (Hokkien), but this is probably a misnomer, Fukien being only one of their places of origin. Their language belongs to the Min group, found all along the South China coast from Fukien to Hainan Island. The more primitive types of Hoklo dwelling are distinguishable by the use of thatch and mud bricks, instead of tiles and stone.

The Tanka (egg families) are boat-people who very seldom settle ashore. They are the principal seafaring people of South China, owning large sea-going junks and engaging in deep-sea fishing. Their entire families live afloat. Until the Chinese Revolution of 1912 they were outcasts, not permitted to live ashore, engage in trade, or send their children to school. Like the Hoklo, whom they resemble in many respects, they have been in the area since time. unknown. Chinese records suggest that they originally spoke a non-Chinese language. At present they speak their own distinctive dialect of Cantonese, which they appear to have adopted early in the fourteenth century, during the Yuan dynasty. At Tai O, on Lantao Island, there is the rare instance of a fairly large group of Tanka living ashore, or rather half-ashore, in huts built on stakes over a muddy inlet.

Certain parts of the New Territories mainland have been affected by the great numbers of refugees who, since 1937, have come to the Colony from all parts of China. In general where they have settled in the country, it has been in assimilable numbers; but certain groups of Tungkwun and Chiuchow cultivators, and of miners from North China, have resisted assimilation and preserved a refugee mentality. These however form only a very small minority of the total rural population.

An increasing number of city-dwellers, of all nationali- ties, have in recent years been building bungalows and small weekend residences in the New Territories. Most of these are along the main roads, particularly at Shatin, Taipo, near the Fanling golf courses, and along the road to Castle Peak. On the islands the principal areas affected are Cheung Chau and Silver Mine Bay.