ENG-1981 — Page 317

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History

THE dynamic drive of its people and their determination to survive a continual barrage of problems - mainly caused by external influences - has led to Hong Kong's reputation as being a leading international financial and trading centre.

It has had to face massive influxes of immigrants (both legal and illegal) and refugees which placed increased social pressures on its people. And as a financial and trading centre, it has had to adapt quickly to international monetary fluctuations and trade restrictions.

When Hong Kong Island was founded a British settlement 140 years ago, the population was about 3 650 people living in 20 villages and hamlets and 2 000 fishermen living onboard their boats in the harbour. Today, with a land area of 1 060 square kilometres (including the New Territories), the population is some 5.1 million.

Paradoxically, in its early days Hong Kong was not viewed as a desirable place to inhabit. Prior to its cession to Britain by China in January, 1841, the territory was regarded as an uninviting prospect for settlement. Mountainous and deficient in fertile land and water, it possessed only one natural asset, its fine and sheltered anchorage. Largely the reason for the British presence, Victoria Harbour was strategically located on the trade routes of the Far East and it was soon to become the hub of burgeoning entrepôt trade with China.

Its history has been one of material and social improvement; the expansion of its city and towns by cutting into rock and by reclaiming the land from the sea, the building of homes, schools, hospitals and other forms of public service to meet the demands of the expanding population.

Its people, by their industry and business acumen developed the infrastructure and services which allowed the small territory to thrive.

Archaeological Background

Archaeological studies in Hong Kong, which began in the 1920s, have uncovered Stone Age artefacts at numerous sites scattered along the winding shoreline, testifying to events stretching back over several thousand years. More recently, extensive excavations at Sham Wan on Lamma Island and Chung Hom Wan on Hong Kong Island have revealed two main neolithic cultural traditions lying in stratified sequence. At lower levels there is coarse, cord-marked pottery together with finer decorated pottery, and chipped and polished stone tools. Cultural comparisons supported by several scientific datings indicate that the beginning of this culture in the area may have been around 3 000 BC. The evidence from the pottery shapes and decorations suggests that they may have been the result of contacts with the northern Chinese Stone Age cultures of Longshan (Lung-shan).

At the higher level, a cultural change is noticed when the pottery, soft and hard, is decorated with stamped geometric designs. This geometric tradition, of which the best