ENG-1962 — Page 65

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POPULATION

and multi-clan villages also occur. By custom men are compelled to marry outside their own clan. It is believed that there is no intermarriage between land and sea-dwellers.

The Cantonese occupy the best part of the two principal plains in the north-west of the New Territories and own much of the most fertile land in other areas. They are also the majority com- munity on the principal islands. Their oldest villages, those of the Tang clan in Yuen Long district, have a history of continuous settlement since the late eleventh century. On Lantau Island there are Cantonese villages near Shek Pik and Mui Wo dating back to about the same time, while some in the Tung Chung Valley date back to the late thirteenth century.

The Hakka began to enter the region at about the same time as the Cantonese, but the latter were the more successful settlers and where both groups live side by side the Hakka are always found upstream, usually on the poorer land. After a period of subservience to the powerful Cantonese families, the balance was restored by heavy immigration and the Hakka are now almost exclusive possessors of the Sha Tau Kok, Sai Kung and Hang Hau peninsulas, and of the foothills of Tai Mo Shan. They are the biggest community in Tai Po and Sha Tin, and on the islands of Tsing Yi and Ma Wan. There is a history of strife between Hakka and Cantonese, but their relations are now peaceful. Intermarriage is not uncommon and some villages are now shared between the two groups.

The Tanka, who comprise a majority of the boat-dwellers, have been in the region since time unknown. They are the principal seafaring people of South China, owning large sea-going junks and engaging in deep-sea fishing. Usually their entire families live afloat, but at Tai O 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 mud creek. The Hoklo have also been in the region since time unknown. They are less numerous than the Tanka and are mostly found in the eastern waters of the Colony. However, in some places they have been settled ashore for several generations and there are influential Hoklo land communities on Cheung Chau and Peng Chau, and at Silver Mine Bay.

In the years since the Chinese revolution the influx of people into the New Territories from China has been so great that only