colonial-hong-kong-and-modern-china — Page 1

COLONIAL HONG KONG AND MODERN CHINA
Hong Kong University Press thanks Xu Bing for writing the Press's name in his Square Word Calligraphy for the covers of its books. For further information, see p. iv.
The contributors to this volume are:
Gillian Bickley Chan Kwok-shing Chan Lau Kit-ching Chung Wai-keung David Faure Fung Chi Ming Louis Ha Elizabeth L. Johnson Diana Lary Lee Pui-tak Bernard H. K. Luk Catherine R. Schenk Wong Man-kong


COLONIAL HONG KONG AND MODERN CHINA
Interaction and Reintegration
Edited by Lee Pui-tak
# * * . * i t US . *t HONG KON G UNIVERSITY PRES S
Hong Kong University Press
14/F Hing Wai Centre 7 Tin Wan Praya Road Aberdeen Hong Kong
c Hong Kong University Press 2005
ISBN 96 2 209 720 0
All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storag e or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.
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Secure On-line Ordering http ://w w w.hkupress. org
Printed and bound by United League Graphic & Printing Co. Ltd., Hong Kong, China.
Hong Kon g Universit y Pres s is honoured tha t Xu Bing , whos e art explores the complex themes of language across cultures, has written th e Press's nam e in his Square Word Calligraphy . Thi s signals our commitment to cross-cultural thinking and the distinctive nature o f ou r English-language book s publishe d i n China .
"At first glance, Square Word Calligraphy appears to be nothing more unusual than Chinese characters, but in fact it is a new way of rendering English words in the format o f a square so they resemble Chinese characters. Chinese viewers expect to be able to read Squar e Wor d Calligraph y bu t cannot . Wester n viewers , however are surprised to find they can read it. Delight erupts when meaning is unexpectedly revealed."
�X Britta Erickson, The Art ofXu Bing
Contents
List of Illustrations vi i
Acknowledgements i About the Contributors x x i
Introduction 1 History of Hong Kong and History of Modern China: Unravelling the Relationship Lee Pui-tak
Part I: Histor y of Hong Kong 7
1. Th e Common People in Hong Kong History: Their Livelihood 9 and Aspirations Until the 1930s David Faure
2. Religio n in Hong Kong History 3 Bernard H. K. Luk 9
3. Th e Sunday Rest Issue in Nineteenth Century Hong Kong 5 Louis Ha 7
4. Governorship s of Lugard and May: Fears of Double Allegiance 6 and Perceived Disloyalty Fung Chi Ming 9
5. Th e Making of a Market Town in Rural Hong Kong: 8 The Luen Wo Market Chan Kwok-shing 9

vi CONTENT S
6. Recordin g a Rich Heritage: Research in Hong Kong's "New 10 Territories" Elizabeth L. Johnson 3
Part II: Hon g Kong and Its Relations With Modern China 11 5
7. Th e Contribution Made by Frederick Stewart (1836-1889) 11 Through the Hong Kong Government Education System and Its Pupil, to the Modernization of China Gillian Bickley 7
8. Th e Use of Sinology in the Nineteenth Century: 13 Two Perspectives Revealed in the History of Hong Kong Wong Man-kong 5
9. Th e Guangxi Clique and Hong Kong: Sanctuary in a 15 Dangerous World Diana Lary 5
10. Busines s and Radicalism: Hong Kong Chinese Merchants 16 and the Chinese Communist Movement, 1921-193 4 Chan Lau Kit-ching 9
11. Mad e in China or Made in Hong Kong? National Goods 18 and the Hong Kong Business Community Chung Wai-keung 5
12. Hon g Kong's Economic Relations With China 1949-1955: 19 Blockade, Embargo and Financial Controls Catherine R. Schenk 9
Notes 21 9
Chinese Glossary 26 5
Bibliography 27 3

Index 29


List of Illustrations
Figures
11.1 Hon g Kong's promotion of Chinese products 18 9
11.2 Ti n Chu in Hong Kong 19 0
11.3 Ti n Chu and National Goods Movement 19 0
11.4 A guohuo label in Hong Kong I 19 5
11.5 A guohuo label in Hong Kong II 19 6
11.6 Strateg y of Chinese products in Hong Kong I 19 7
11.7 Strateg y of Chinese products in Hong Kong II 19 8
12.1 Ton s of cargo in junks leaving Hong Kong 20 4
12.2 Hon g Kong's trade with China 1949-55 20 5
12.3 Hon g Kong's trade with China as a % of total trade 20 5

Tables
5.1 Th e subscription of shares in 1948 9 5
5.2 Name s of the managing directors in the company 9 7
5.3 Name s of the chairmen of the board of directors 9 7
7.1 Influenc e of Frederick Stewart (1836-1889) on Hong Kong 11 8 education
7.2 A comparison of Hong Kong Chinese students studying 12 0 western knowledge, and learning a western language (usually, English) in 1893 and March 1997
7.3 Hon g Kong government Central School enrolments 12 1 1862-1905
7.4 Pupil s in the Hong Kong government education system 12 9 1862-1889
7.5 Frederic k Stewart and the Hong Kong government education 13 3 system's direct influence on educational institutions in Hong Kong and China, 1862-



Acknowledgements
Since the resumption of Chinese sovereignty in Hong Kong in July 1997, a series of conferences, workshops and seminars were held at the University of Hong Kong on the important topic of Hong Kong's position in modern Chinese history. Those events have inspired the publication of this volume, with a number o f well-known presenters updating thei r research an d contributing chapters.
My thanks are due to a number of people and institutions, including Professor Wong Siu-lun who has been a constant sourc e of help an d encouragement; members of the various event organizing committees; staff of the Centre of Asian Studies; and post-graduate students of the Department of History, The University o f Hong Kong, who have also assisted in the organization o f the conferences i n numerous ways ; The Lord Wilso n Heritage Trust, The University of Hong Kong Foundation for Educational Development an d Research, and New Asia Cultural Foundation Limite d which have kindly provided financial sponsorship . My research assistants Angel Shing , Edmond A u Yeung , Kat e Wong, an d Heste r Lam hav e provided assistance in the editing process. My sincere thanks go to the three anonymous reviewer s wh o provided man y valuabl e suggestion s t o th e chapter authors. I must also record my appreciation to all the contributors and the staff o f Hong Kong University Press, for their patience over the years in the preparation o f the manuscript. Needles s t o say, errors an d omissions are all mine.
Lee Pui-tak Centre of Asian Studies The University of Hong Kong March 2005


About the Contributors
Gillian Bickley Chan Kwok-shing Chan Lau Kit-ching Chung Wai-keung
David Faure
Fung Chi Ming Louis Ha Elizabeth L. Johnson Diana Lary Lee Pui-tak
Formerly Senior Lecturer, Department of English, Hong Kong Baptist University
Tutor, Chines e Civilizatio n Centre , Cit y University of Hong Kong
Formerly Professor, Department of History, The University of Hong Kong
Assistant Professor , Schoo l o f Economics an d Social Sciences , Singapor e Managemen t University
University Lecturer in Modern Chinese History and Fellow of St. Antony's College, University of Oxford; currentl y Chai r Professo r an d Head , Department of History, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Assistant Curator , Antiquities an d Monument s Office, Hong Kong SAR Government
Archivist, Hon g Kon g Catholi c Diocesa n Archives
Curator, Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia
Professor, Departmen t of History, University of British Columbia
Research Assistant Professor, Centr e o f Asia n Studies, The University of Hong Kong
Bernard H. K. Luk Associat e Professor, Department of History, York University, Toronto; currently Vice President, Hong Kong Institute of Education
Catherine R. Schenk Professo r of International Economic History, Department of Economic and Social History, University of Glasgow
Wong Man-kong Assistan t Professor, Department of History, Hong Kong Baptist University
INTRODUCTION
History of Hong Kong and History of Modern China: Unravelling the Relationship
Lee Pui-tak
The handover of Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty in 1997 marked a new phase in Hong Kong's history. Politically, the new Special Administrative Region governmen t wa s se t up, and the quasi constitutio n Basi c La w decreed that Hong Kong should be ruled under the principle of One Country Two Systems . Implicit was that China should keep its hands of f Hon g Kong's autonomous affairs. How have these political changes affected th e analytical perspectives of historians? Many will say they have not seen many changes. To me, a student of modern Chinese history, it is clear we are at a crossroads of colonialism and nationalism, not knowing very clearly which direction to take. We cannot cut off the history of Hong Kong from modem China. The colonial history of Hong Kong can be viewed as important to the nationalistic history of China, and likewise, the nationalistic history of China can be viewed as important to the colonial history of Hong Kong. The histories of Hong Kong and modern China have been interwoven since Britain began the colonization of Hong Kong during the Opium War (1839�X 1842).
Hong Kong wa s a British colony fo r more than 150 years . An interesting question is how a small number of the British could successfully rule over the predominant majority of Chinese in Hong Kong? Apparently, Chinese collaboratio n playe d a n important role . Hon g Kon g histor y
textbooks usually state that Britain used Hong Kong as a stepping-stone to the much bigger market in China. However, no historians have taken a close look at how Chinese merchants in Hong Kong followed the trail of the British. They had mutual benefits on the issue of China trade. We are accustomed to the idea that Hong Kong was a British colony, but actually it was a colony for China.1 Not only British and Chinese merchants, but also the Chinese government was inclined to maintain the status of Hong Kong as a British colony from the birth of the Chinese Republic in 1912, through the establishment of the People's Republic in 1949, and even to the 1970s.
It is interesting to know how the Chinese elites in this colony responded to China politically, socially, culturally and economically. Many of them were trained in colonial Hong Kong but tapped by Chinese regimes at different times . For example, Tang Tingshu worked for Li Hongzhang in the Self-Strengthening Movement's programme on economic affairs in the late Qing period. Wu Tingfang and Wang Chonghui helped the new Chinese Republic in the 1910 s to set up the diplomatic system , whereas Fu Bingchang an d Chen Jintao helped i n legal an d finance systems , respectively. During the Sino-Japanese War and Civil War, a number of communist organizations like the Yuehua Company, the Eighth Route Army Hong Kong Office, and Dade College were set up in Hong Kong to organize underground activitie s agains t the Japanese a s well a s against th e Guomindang in the colony. Comrades such as Liao Chengzhi, Lian Guan, Pan Hannian and Xu Dixin were sent to Hong Kong during that time.2 Hong Kong helped every political party or regime in China. Even at present, finance and legal talents like Anthony Neoh (Liang Dingbang) continue to help China modernize its market and formulate its national monetary policy.3 So, history shows that the role of Hong Kong in modernizing China has been persistent.4
This book is divided into two main sections: the history of Hong Kong, and the history of Hong Kong with modern China. Each section consists of six substantial chapters.
The first two chapters, contributed by David Faure and Bernard Luk, deal with the topic of social and religious history, by looking at details of a neglected aspect of Hong Kong's society. They attempt to give a macro-view of the characteristics of Hong Kong history: the close connection with China (particularly South China) and the unique society of accommodating multi-cultures (also religion), by taking a micro perspective. Faure describes the formative influences, which created a pattern of living for working emigrants from China during the period 1880s-1930s. He gives detailed information o n their housing, sanitation, employment, and wages, and
INTRODUCTION 3
assesses the contribution made by this common people to Hong Kong's development and prosperity. It is noteworthy that the identity and defining characteristics of "common people" emerged in the process. Luk provides an historical overview of the relationship between religion and Hong Kong society, focusing on Christianity, Buddhism and Daoism during the three key periods: the beginnings of the city, the mid-twentieth century, and the 1970s. Luk highlights major religious activities in Hong Kong history, including liturgical worship, spiritual guidance, community service and social action.
Drawing upon the cultural differences, political standpoints, and different economi c interests between the British and Chinese in the nineteenth century, Louis Ha and Fung Chi Ming provide full and interesting accounts of the debate at different level s of Sunday rest and double allegiance of the Chinese elites. Ha's chapter reviews arguments adduced by the opposing factions, against the background of Chinese religious and cultural difference, and the colonial government's need to balance Christian objections agains t local realties and the principal requirements of the growing port-city to secure its steady development. It is noteworthy that Hong Kong had an awareness in the 1870s of the potential competition from Shanghai in the shipping and harbour businesses. Fung's chapter describes the conflicting allegiances of the Chinese elites in the process of Sino-British diplomatic negotiations. He highlights the crisis, which occurred during 1911-1914 and describes how the two governors, Lugard and May, had different views over the issue.
Two chapters in this book touch on one specific region, the New Territories. Chan Kwok-shing's chapter demonstrates how the formation of Luen Wo Market was closely related to changes in agricultural land use in Hong Kong and to the government's agricultural policy which was made in response to the potential unrest in China in the late 1940s. The chapter also shows the dynamic process of creating and maintaining elite power on the local level in rural Hong Kong. Elizabeth Johnson's chapter provides a thoughtful survey of the historical, anthropological, cultural and religious studies of the New Territories' inhabitants, society and institutions, which have been conducted since the Second World War. Johnson emphasizes how research was naturally shaped by the political and economic development of the colony, and her chapter coincidentally complements well the one by Chan on Luen Wo Market.
Based upon archival and other relevant materials, Gillian Bickley provides a detailed account of the biography of Frederick Stewart (1836-1889), whose students contributed to the modernization of China during and
after his term as headmaster at Central School. Wong Man-kong discusses the different orientations and perspectives on the study of sinology by two prominent figures, James Legge (1815-1897) and Ernest John Eitel (1838�X 1908), both o f whom conducte d research an d developed career s in the colony of Hong Kong. This paper successfully draws our attention to how these tw o sinologists , wh o ha d exceptiona l Chines e languag e skills , promoted the missionary cause and assisted the colonial government. Most likely, Stewart, Legge, and Eitel shared the same view that understanding China is the first step to helping China, as they put effort into translating Chinese classics, compiling dictionaries, and promoting Chinese education in Hong Kong.
In the twentieth century, the relationship of Hong Kong with China entered a new phase as political chaos and social unrest persistently occurred in China . Different politica l parties or regimes in China competed t o establish their networks in Hong Kong. Diana Lary's chapter demonstrates that Hong Kong was a most useful refuge for China's southern warlords, an important channel for collecting and sharing information, fo r intrigue, and for the acquisition of money and armed supplies. These warlords, as Lary points out, "... had very little to do with Hong Kong's own history. They showed little interest in what was going on there ... Their only interest in the place was a stable, comfortable refuge." Lary shows that Hong Kong had not only played a positive role in the process of China's nation-building, but also played a negative role in bringing local chaos and civil war. Based upon different source s of information, Cha n Lau Kit-ching's chapte r provides a concise and convenient summary of the story of Hong Kong Chinese merchants' perception s of , an d response s to, the Chines e communist movement during 1921-1934. Chan persuasively demonstrates that th e colony' s Chines e merchant s an d populac e dreade d Chines e communism, and more importantly, that the anti-communist sentimen t during this period transcended social class division.
Chung Wai-keung discusses how Hong Kong presented itself to China and elsewhere in the world in terms of "guohuo" (Chinese national product), showing how problematic the notion of being "Chinese" could be in the colony. In this chapter, Chun g describes the adverse effects o n Chinese industrialists of producing manufactured good s in the British colony at a time of intense nationalist feeling among China's people and government, whereby their goods were not allowed free entry into the Chinese market. An ongoing campaign to publicize Hong Kong products as "national goods" failed i n Chin a bu t succeede d i n Southeas t Asia . This issu e i s quit e meaningful whe n today Hong Kong industrialists are encouraged by the
INTRODUCTION 5
newly launche d "CEPA " programm e (Close r Economi c Partnershi p Arrangement) to boost the sale of Hong Kong products in China's domestic market. Catherin e Schen k addresse s th e impact o f three shock s t o th e economic relations between Hong Kon g and China during the period of 1949-1955, namely as trade embargoes, the Guomindang blockade of 1949-1950, and the freezing of Chinese-owned US trade balances in 1950. Schenk argues that the Guomindang naval blockade and financial controls were the important factors affecting the relationship between Hong Kong and China, balancing attention paid previously to the US / UN embargoes on trade with China in the 1950s. In this chapter, Schenk also examines and assesses the impact of smuggling between Hong Kong / Macau and China, which is a common issue today when the integration of the economies of Hong Kong, Macau, and Guangdong province is considered.





PART I
HISTORY OF HONG KONG

1
The Common People in Hong Kong History: Their Livelihood and Aspirations Until the 1930s
David Faure
Several themes recur frequently i n the writing of Hong Kong's history .
G. B. Endacott began with government policies, James Hayes continue d with the history of the people of the New Territories, Elizabeth Sinn and Carl Smith described the elites, and now Ming K. Chan and Tsai Jungfang have started on the history of the working classes.1 In this chapter, I would like to blur the differences an d look for a common experience; one that despite income differences stretche d acros s class, and despite dialect differences reached beyond the ethnic identity. I am tempted to think that it might be characterized a s the experience of urbanization, the move fro m village to city and the change in lifestyle and worldview that such a move might imply. For much of Hong Kong's history, the common people of Hong Kong have been predominantly people who moved into the city, or who were descended no more than a generation from people who had done so. Concentrating on the 1880s to the 1930s, I would like to show in this chapter how in the time of just over a generation, the common people of Hong Kong came into their own and fostered a character that became very much recognized as part of Hong Kong itself.
Houses
The Chadwick Report
The Chadwick Report, 1882, is a useful starting point for its clear exposition of the layout of Chinese houses in Hong Kong. It described such subject s as house construction and drainage, formation of streets, public sewers or drains, water supply, scavenging and the removal of nightsoil. It commented on the defects of existing arrangements, and it concluded with a short section on village houses in Kowloon.2
The houses wer e no t congeste d b y the standards tha t Hong Kon g became used to. In four houses Osbert Chadwick went into in Taipingshan Street, h e counted about 1 0 to 11 people in each basement that was occupied, and between 14 and 20 people on the second floor. Where the ground floor was not used as a shop, it housed up to 30 people. Chadwick calculated how much space each person occupied in cubic measures, and he found that in these four houses, each person might have been given 300 to 400 cubic feet. If we assume that the ceiling was 10 feet, and a substantial amount of space must be subtracted from the overall average to make up the corridors and the kitchens, the bedrooms occupied by these inhabitants would have conformed to his description:
In the house in Kai-ming Lane, like the great majority of dwelling-houses, the upper floor is divided off by board partitions into cabins about 9 feet long and 10 feet wide. Each of these forms the dwelling of an individual family. These cabins do not extend to the full height of the storey. On the contrary they are but about 7 feet 8 inches high; for in order further to economise space a platform or floor, locally known as a "cockloft," is constructed above them. The cockloft is almost universal in dwellings of the middle and poorer classes.
In this house in th e upper floor only there were five familie s including 16 souls. There were here three cabins and a platform extending over them, and over the passage. Hence the total cubic space per head was 437-1/2 cubi c feet , an d thi s include s th e whol e domesti c accommodation, with the exception of the cookhouse, and not sleeping room only, which in the case of the cabins does not exceed 130 cubic feet per head. It must be remembered that the lower floor rarely belongs to the inhabitants o f the upper floors. Very frequently eac h floor is leased separately from the owner, or from his "comprador," and sublet again to individual lodgers.3
Elsewhere, Chadwick notes that the population of 106 000 of urban Hong Kong (including non-Chinese people) in 1881 occupied 6 402 houses,
THE COMMO N PEOPL E I N HONG KON G HISTOR Y 1
averaging 16. 6 persons per house. It would see m that the Taipingsha n houses represented the extreme of congestion rather than the norm. Because among the Chinese population, there were 67 000 men to 18 000 women and 17 000 children, it would also appear that many rooms would have been occupied b y small families. Many singl e men would have lived in bed spaces.
Hong Kong has since become used to tiny bedrooms and men living in bed spaces. Chadwick went into the state of the sewers and the drains in great detail. He insisted on standards and supervision:
In February last a new drain was being constructed in the following manner. The drain was square 1 foot 2 inches wide by 1 foot 3 inches high. The sides were of brick on edge, and did not rest on the tile which formed the sole ... Under these circumstances it need hardly be said that a great proportion of house drains are but elongated cesspools, the greater part of their fluid contents filtering into the subsoil. In one case a drain was found having no bottom but the natural soil.4
He commented on the state of the latrines, his precise descriptions bringing home with stark realism the bare necessities of life:
As a general rul e throughou t Hong Kong , i n accordanc e with time-honoured Chinese practice, human excreta are removed by hand, on what ma y b e called th e "pail "system . Neither deodorisatio n o r disinfection of any kind is attempted.
In many European houses waterclosets are used in connexion with the town drains, but they are for the use of Europeans only; the method just mentioned being used for the native servants.
In some public buildings the use of dry earth, or more properly decomposed granite, has been partially introduced.
As in the Chinese cities of the mainland, the men of the working classes resort to public latrines. Only in the houses of the more wealthy is there any latrine accommodation for men. Women and children of all classes use pots, generally kept under their beds. In coolie houses where there are no women, there is frequently a total absence of any provision for this purpose.
There are 25 public latrines in the city of Victoria, having in all 565 seats, the number in each varying from 2 to 51. These latrines are built and owne d by privat e person s a s a business speculation . Their construction and management is supervised by Government, who levy a tax of $0.60 per seat per annum. The latrine owner derives his profit (said to be very large) from the sale of the manure collected, and from fees of 1 or 2 cash paid by those using them, according as paper and
cigarette are furnished or not.
... On the whole the existing latrines are offensive and a nuisance,
both as to position and construction, and they are so crowded a s to
render improvements as to maintenance very difficult.5
Chadwick noted that manure was removed daily from the latrines, as it was from privat e houses. He also went into the question of cost of nightsoi l removal. Nevertheless, he settled in favour o f the construction o f hous e drains, arguing that the dry earth system solved only partly the problem of waste disposal. Although human excrement carried a commercial value as manure and was therefore profitably removed by nightsoil carriers, no-one collected slopwate r fo r th e disposa l o f whic h drain s wer e absolutel y necessary.
Chadwick observed that it was true that no epidemic had broken out that might be linked to sanitation, but he noted that the mean age at death for me n wh o survive d beyon d 2 0 wa s 4 2 year s an d wome n 46 . H e concluded tha t "th e dwellings o f th e Chinese working classe s ar e inconvenient, filthy and unwholesome."6

Background to the Chadwick Report: residential segregation
Osbert Chadwick was appointed by the Colonial Office a s a possible solution to a long-standing dispute between Governor of Hong Kong, Sir John Pope Hennessy (Governor 1877-1882) and his civil servants, notably the Colonia l Surgeo n an d the Surveyo r General . Th e issue s tha t th e Chadwick Report addressed were sores in the dispute, and they arose from precisely the questions of ventilation for congested houses, drains, sewage, and the disposal of human waste, the appropriateness of water closets fo r the Hong Kong environment figuring prominentl y among them. Dr. G.H. Choa, in his biography of Ho Kai, has gone into the Chadwick Report at length and discussed its consequences. A Sanitary Board was set up to which Ho Kai was appointed, and a Public Health Ordinance was enacted. One of Ho Kai's first fiery speeches was directed at precisely the issue of sanitary enforcements o n the Chinese population, an issue that could have come directly from Hennessy's argument with his civil servants. Ho Kai on the Sanitary Board, coming close upon the appointment o f Ng Choy on the Legislative Council , signalled the recruitment o f prominent an d highl y Westernized member s o f the Chinese community int o the Hong Kon g governing elite, and between them and the Chinese community a t large would have been opinion leaders around suc h characters a s Ho A-mei,
THE COMMO N PEOPL E I N HON G KON G HISTOR Y 1
vividly described by Carl Smith, and the Tung Wah Hospital directors, brought to life by Elizabeth Sinn.7
Yet the focus on the elite would have left behind the inhabitants of the houses that Chadwick described. He referred to them, when he did, as the chair coolies or the Chinese working classes but, if one would return to the reports of the Colonial Surgeon and the Surveyor General, they would have been none other than simply the Chinese. Some of the houses described , indeed, would have been among the worst in the urban districts in the 1870s and early 1880 s but, as Hennessy himself pointed out, although Chines e houses wer e increasin g i n number i n Hong Kong , the living quarter s attached to them were looked upon as temporary abodes by the shop owners. They did not build in Hong Kong what he referred to as "family houses," which he had noticed they did in overseas Chinese communities, in Labuan, Malacca, Penang or Saigon. "The wealthy Hong Kong Chinaman has a temporary abod e close to his stores, but his family hous e is in Macao or Canton."8
The background of the Chadwick Report revolved around a contest between Governor Sir John Pope Hennessy and some of his civil servants on what might be imposed on the Chinese residents of Hong Kong over matters that related to sanitation. The Surveyor General in 187 7 had laid out one issue. Ethnic segregation was implemented in Hong Kong through provisions in building leases. The lease specified that houses had to be built in conformity wit h the character and description of other houses in their neighbourhood, and this allowed government, "if it chose to avail itself of it, t o disallow th e erection o f Chines e tenement s i n purely Europea n quarters." He noted that the requirement had not restricted the spread of Chinese-type tenement houses, but matters were coming to a head because plans had been submitted to him by land developers who had purchased properties in the European quarters with the intention of converting them into Chinese tenement houses . He needed a ruling from th e Colonial Secretary on the issue because, "experience teaches that a European house standing next to or between Chinese properties, will not let as profitably as one standing among buildings of its own class." An interest in encouraging business suggested to him that Chinese shops be allowed to extend into the European business district, but the segregation policy was to continue in the location of residential houses. He continued:
There is no occasion for any sacrifice, because the case is not one of
native shops, but simply of native dwelling-houses, and there is ample
building ground for these in Syingpun [Saiyingpun] and other Chinese neighbourhoods. I think, therefore, we should not depreciate the value of th e English propertie s b y countenancin g th e erection o f Chines e dwellings in their midst, and consequently, I would venture to recommend that no permits shoul d be issued fo r th e latte r [i e Chinese houses ] anywhere, above a line running along Upper Wyndham street, Hollywood road, Aberdeen street, the back of the lots facing Caine and Bonham roads and High street.
The Surveyor General recommended along with this proposal that a high standard be required o f the Chinese houses built in this extension, bu t lamented tha t "i t would b e almost impossibl e t o avoid the swarm s o f swinging signboards and other features, peculiar to such tenements, the most striking o f whic h is , unfortunately, th e begrimed appearanc e o f thei r exteriors, there being nothing in the Statute Book authorising the Surveyor General to demand an occasional healthy coat of lime-wash or paint, or even a scrub with soap and water."9
The Registra r Genera l oppose d thi s proposal , bu t i t wen t t o th e Executive Council, which upheld the Surveyor General's suggestion. There the matter might have rested, but for the state of hygiene in Chinese style houses and the objection of the military to having such houses built near its barracks.

Background to the Chadwick Report: sanitation and Chinese houses
On the question of hygiene in Chinese houses, a report had been made in 1874 by the Colonial Surgeon. It outlined a sorry state of affairs that had to do with pigs, ventilation, drainage and the lack of toilets. The Colonial Surgeon discovered "that pigs were kept in houses all over the town, by the hundreds, and that pigsties were to be found unde r the beds and in the kitchens of first, second, and third floors." He said:
Imagine houses whose upper floors are constructed of thin boards, with wide interstices between them, and whose lower floors are mud, and the state they would be in under these circumstances, with pigs' urine, &c. dropping through from floor to floor. It is needless to observe that the minute this state of things was brought to the notice of Government, it was at once put a stop to, and that now all pigs found in houses are confiscated, and, on repetition of the offence, the owner is fined as well.
Ventilation was poor. Houses were either constructed back to back with no ventilation except from the front, or were separated only by a narrow and often clogged gully in between two houses.
THE COMMON PEOPLE IN HONG KONG HISTORY 1
He noticed the congestion:
The average size of the main rooms is 26 feet by 14 feet by 10 feet high, containing eight partitions, averaging 7 feet by 6 feet by 7 feet high, over which a sort of loft is often built to increase the accommodation, and in a room of this description, from 16 to 25 people live.
The houses were also dirty, for the brick walls were not whitewashed, wide interstices appeared between wooden planks that made up the upper floors, and the ground floor was made of mud. This construction made washing the floor impossible:
The first-floor tenants cannot wash their floors, because they are mud;
the upper-floor tenants cannot wash theirs, because they would, if they
attempted it, half drown the inhabitants of the floors beneath them.
These long, dark, poorly ventilated and dirty houses had no toilets. The men went to public toilets and the women and children used chamber pots kept under their beds. In a separate report, the Colonial Surgeon noted that he was not speaking of poverty. He had seen poorer people in London, but they did not live in such squalor. He was appalled that Chinese people paid high rent in return for such poor quarters, and he had begun to implement changes before Hennessy's arrival. It may well be that the changes did have some impact, for where he found pigs in all Chinese style houses, Chadwick did not report any.10
The pressure on the Governor had come also from th e War Office , which had writte n to the Colonial Offic e o n the complaint o f th e Commander of Forces in China and the Straits Settlement that congested Chinese-style tenement s wer e no w appearin g i n the proximity o f th e barracks. The complaint had been made on the principal ground that these unhygienic houses were a health threat to the troops and, it seems, because the Colonial Office had known of the existence of the Colonial Surgeon's report of 1874 on such issues, it was demanding to be sent a copy. The Governor sheepishl y di d as he was told, adding th e provision tha t th e Colonial Surgeon' s report had been found t o be misleading. In his own defence, the Governor pointed out that the new buildings near the barracks were built to higher-than-usual standards and that, if water closets were not installed i n them , i t wa s becaus e the y wer e unsuitabl e fo r th e loca l environment, and that thanks to consultations with leading Chinese residents in Hong Kong, he had succeeded in implementing useful changes. On this last point, it may be noted tha t in extending regulations regardin g th e building of verandas over the pavement, the Government could now demand that an open yard be incorporated into designs of buildings separating the kitchen from the rest of the house and this particular change introduced into building designs had long-lasting effects i n tenement houses built in Hong Kong.11 Consultatio n with Chinese land owners and residents, however, indicated to Hennessy that the Chinese were not in favour of the Western standards being imposed o n them. A memorandum fro m Chinese land owners and residents upon being shown a plan of these new houses by the Surveyor General expressed concern that these houses might become the new standard. The land owners agreed that these had been designed for "a very superio r clas s o f residence , tha t the y provid e fo r th e ordinar y requirements of Chinese tenants in a satisfactory manner, " and that they were "in no way deficient in regard to supplying the space for the admission of light and air which is required by their habits, ideas, and wants." But, they said:
These habits, although your memorialists are given to understand that they are condemned by the more recent rules of western science are, as a matter of fact, the outcome of a lengthened experience among the Chinese of living in large and crowded cities, and are as deep rooted as most of their customs, so that it is quite certain that the tenants for whom these houses are intended ... would not understand the reason, would in no way avail themselves of the facilities for the free access of light and air which the Surveyor General's proposed alterations would allow for them.
The windows looking out into the proposed alleys would be kept closed an d th e alley s themselve s no t bein g intende d fo r us e a s thoroughfares, would be made receptacles for the deposit of refuse and filth whic h would beyond questio n be suffered t o accumulate to an extent in itself dangerous to health.
Such in fact has been the practical result of providing similar alley ways in other parts of this city, as, for instance, in East and West streets, Taipingshan, where, owing probably i n great measure to this cause, epidemic diseases are frequent i n the hot season, and at times when houses in Tung-mun-lane, Gilman's Bazaar, and other streets leading from the Queen's Road to the Praya where houses have been built back to back, remain altogether free from such visitations.
The great cities in the mainland o f China, suc h as Canton and Fatshan, are singularly free also from epidemic disease; and there all along the streets and main thoroughfares it has been the practice from time immemorial to build the houses back to back.
THE COMMON PEOPLE IN HONG KONG HISTORY 1
There were other objections. Land was scarce and the alleys constituted a waste. They would not be properly lit and thieves would hide in them. The Chinese people in Hong Kong would not appreciate these new standards. Quite the contrary, they were "certainly calculated to alarm and irritate those interested in land and to depreciate the value of property." All this was put forward wit h ostentatious stylize d deprecation , fo r thes e memorialist s belonged "t o a law-abiding order , to whom ... factious opposition i s unknown, and they should not in this instance depart from their usual habit of silent submission to such laws and regulations a s are made for thei r obedience, if they did not feel strongly that the points apparently decided in the letter of the Honourable the Surveyor General tend to press with injustice upon them." The same objections were to be raised by Ho Kai in 1886 when he served on the Sanitary Board.12
The other seemingly innocuous subject of the water closet proved to be the matter of contention between the Governor, the Colonial Surgeon and the Surveyor General. In his report to the Colonial Office, the Governor had said on 29 April 1881 that he acknowledged he disagreed with the two men who had responsibilities over public health in Hong Kong:
...O n the serious question of preferring a n under-ground syste m of drainage i n a tropical colony to the Chinese house-bucket an d the dry-earth systems, I find that Mr Price's [the Surveyor General's] account of the disposal of house refuse in Hong Kong, as given in paragraphs 11, 12, and 13 of his letter, does not correspond with the account given by the Chinese themselves, nor with the reports of the inspectors of nuisances, nor with some facts that come occasionally before the police magistrates. A few months ago I had to draw Mr Price's attention, not for the first time, to the fact that the Government scavengers employed by his department had been fined by the police magistrate for deliberately emptying night-soil into the underground drains of the city of Victoria. Soon after I arrived in Hong Kong I had to point out to Mr Price and to Dr Ayres [the Colonial Surgeon] the danger to public health of allowing the Survey Department scavenger to empty every morning a considerable portion of the night-soil of the prisoners into the gaol drains, and to deposit night-soil in large quantities in a place chosen by the Survey Department at Belcher's Bay, near the west end of the city of Victoria. Though I then told him that every public institution in the colony should have dry-earth closets, and latrines only on the dry-earth system, he made an effort, som e months afterwards, t o get the Government to sanction water-closets in the new hospital, on the ground that Jenning's patent water-closets would provide such a large 'volume of water as to at once greatly deoderise the dejecta.'13
The Governor attached a report that shows 182 water-closets approved, all of which were located i n residential house s or offices belongin g t o Westerners. The first water-closet, it would seem, was fitted in the City Hall in 1869.14
The removal o f nightsoil continued in some Chinese tenements fo r decades. Well into the 1960s , the description o f toilet arrangements in a Wanchai tenement read:
There are no flush toilets and bathrooms. Dry-pan lavatories are used by the children and the very old. These are kept under the bed. The night soil is removed by the Urban Services Department without charge. The adults avail themselves of the nearby public conveniences. The kitchen serves as the bath-space also.15
By August 1881 , the Governor was falling ou t with both his ow n officers and the Colonial Office. The Surveyor General reported to London his disagreements with the Governor in terms that show quite unmistakably where he thought the fault lay:
I also enclose, for your Lordship's information, a copy, marked C, of the instructions to the Nuisance Inspectors, drawn up some years ago by the Colonial Surgeon and myself. These instructions were cancelled by Governor Hennessy two years ago, because his Excellency considered them oppressive to the Chinese, and because they did not conform to Chinese ideas of what the duties of a Nuisance Inspector should be. Many months after Governor Hennessy abrogated the instructions, and upon my application for some other sanitary code in substitution, his Excellency directed me, in an official letter (copy of which I will duly submit), to call on the Rev. Dr. Eitel, who, in consultation with the Chinese of the place, would give me my new rules.16
If hi s feeling s toward s th e Rev. Dr . Eite l an d th e Chines e wer e no t sufficiently clea r in this paragraph, he spelt them out in a later one:
The filthy condition of the cities and villages of Southern China, sickening and revolting beyond all power of language to describe, arising out of a combination of ignorance and neglect on the part of the authorities, and objectionable personal habits on the part of the people, should demonstrate that in a British colony like Hong Kong, with so many European lives to be jeopardised, it is not to a guild of native traders that the Executive should apply for its sanitary maxims. I cannot but think the wishes of your Lordship would be more correctly interpreted by Governor Hennessy
THE COMMO N PEOPL E I N HON G KON G HISTOR Y 1
seeking, i n preference, th e counsel an d assistanc e o f th e proper
professional officer s provide d fo r th e purpos e by He r Majesty' s
government, an d who by their experience and technical training ar e
likely to be better acquainted with the principles of public hygiene than
the Reverend Dr. Eitel and the Chinese, at present the only persons
consulted.17
At the Colonial Office, patienc e was also beginning to run thin. The dispute with the military had not blown over. The Commander of Forces had written to report that open space behind the newly built houses had been used "more or less as a latrine." Worse, when he complained about this to the colonial government, it built a urinal, "for the sole use of the Chinese" at the same spot.18 More to the point, the Colonial Office also found it hard to accept that the dry-earth system as favoured by the Governor should be an adequate sanitation measure: Hennessy's reports conflicted wit h those received fro m th e Colonial Surgeo n (no w dismissed) an d the Surveyo r General. Under these circumstances, it was necessary to send to Hong Kong an engineer from Britain , who would report independently o n the Hong Kong sanitation conditions. The Governor had wanted approval to set up an independent sanitation department, which would have to wait until the engineer had submitted his report. The engineer in question was Osber t Chadwick.19

People
The dispute with the Colonial Surgeon and the Surveyor General, and then the Colonial Office, had arisen because the Governor saw regulations that enforced Wester n standard s as restrictions on the Chinese. In his annual report in 1881 , he noted severa l such restrictions that he alleviated. No sooner had he arrived in Hong Kong, than the local Chinese people had complained about the draft "Rules and Regulations with respect to Chinese graves," which specified that "single graves shall not be more than 6 feet long by 2 feet wide, nor less than 5 feet deep." An ordinary Chinese coffin, it was described to him, measured 6 feet 6 inches in length and 2 feet 7 inches wide at the head, and longer and wider if the deceased was a person of importance. He referred als o to the question o f converting Europea n houses into Chinese houses in the city area, and the suggestion that the Hong Kong Governmen t shoul d registe r al l sleepin g partner s i n Chines e businesses, even though those in Western business houses would remain unregistered. Then he referred also to sanitation, which often consisted of recommendations on the "pulling down of Chinese houses, compelling the Chinese to adopt what are called the rules of western sanitary science, that is, to have underground drains, to build their houses after a system they do not like, and to conduct their domestic arrangements according to European and American models." The Governor consulted the Chinese on such issues, and he reported, "They said all this would only tend to drive them away, and they ventured, shrewdly I think, to say that their own system had some merits, and that the system to be substituted for their own had not worked well elsewhere, had caused typhoid fever, diphtheria , and cholera, fro m which the Colony and the neighbouring ports are free."
His report also built upon the increasing importance of Chinese people in Hong Kong. He noted, in particular, that the Chinese people were wealthy and were capable of spending vast sums purchasing land. Recognizing their commercial potential, he decided to open to them the possibility of building Chinese-style houses in the business area which had hitherto been limited to Western developments. In his speech to the Legislative Council in 1881, he noticed that in 16 months, the Chinese had purchased 1.7 million dollars' worth o f real estate from foreigners , eight times what the foreigner s purchased from the Chinese. Citing the statistics of the census returns, he enumerated the trades the Chinese of Hong Kong were engaged in: they operated 37 steam launches, 656 cargo boats, 2 088 sampans; they owned 395 trading companies in the Nam Pak Hong; 2 377 described themselves as traders, 455 brokers, 208 shroffs, 1 4 teachers of shroffing, 3 4 bullion dealers, 111 money changers, 55 bankers, 109 piecegoods dealers, 58 cotton yarn dealers, 51 tea merchants, 128 rice dealers, 20 coal dealers, 20 firearms dealers, 10 7 timber dealers, 15 6 drapers, 19 1 foreign good s dealers, 95 compradors, 113 ship compradors, and 41 ship charterers. In a population of 130 000, he enumerated the occupations, therefore, of about 7 000 people. If we could add to that number, women and children, shop workers and domestics, and on top of that, a substantial number of porters and builders, we have here a vivid description of the working population of Hong Kong.20
The Governor cited the statistics from the census report of 1881. As the censuses became more sophisticated, they became also more informative of the Chinese population. The census of 1911 reported that, of the "Chinese land population" (i.e. excluding boat people and New Territories villagers), 115 000 men were married but only 46 000 women were. That must mean that more than half the married men had left their families in China as they lived and worked in Hong Kong.21 However, a larger number of people now settling in Hong Kong translates into unanticipated statistics in the census. For example, the census of 1921 noted that the number of married women
THE COMMON PEOPLE IN HONG KONG HISTORY 2
compared to married men had increased slightly from 28 out of 100 in the married Chinese land population to 33 out of 10 0 in 1911 , but explained this as the result of an increase in the number of widows residing in Hong Kong by 15 9 percent. It says: "Formerly on the death of the husband the widow returned to the country; now she evidently remains in Hong Kong where she can if necessary fin d wor k in the various industries which are beginning t o sprin g up. " The sam e repor t note d tha t th e numbe r o f concubines was also rising, from 1 290 in 1911 to 2 974, "in addition to 79 concubines whose status was irregular."22
The history of the discovery of the common people in Hong Kong is usually described as the transition between the first few decades of Hong Kong's founding as a colony and the emergence of a Chinese mercantile class. In the early days of Hong Kong's history, British settlers in the colony, more used to the luxuries of life of the Chinese merchants of Guangzhou, quite openly declared their disdain for the Chinese people they found i n Hong Kong. Their view of the Chinese community was shrouded in fear of piracy or secret societies, and it was only when their attempt to restrict the Chinese community by legislation had failed that they came to terms with the economic life that the Chinese people had made possible in Hong Kong. Hennessy's governorship made a transition in this process, to the extent that he might find acceptable the views of Chinese people that were thought to fall short by Western standards.
Yet, throughout, one reads little of the common people, unless on e thinks of the enquiries into the sale of women, the incidence of venereal disease and so on. The petitions made by the Chinese people on questions of sanitation, as in reports by the Colonial Surgeon, however, suggest that the houses in dispute were not resided in only by the poor. And in this faceless crowd, the following extract coming from a law suit is illuminating:
The case for the plaintiff i s that Leung Kwong Chi had certain lands, Inland Lot No. 19 and Marine Lot No. 7 in Aplichau, and that he lived there and carried on a trade as a rope and sail maker till 1868, when he died from the result of an accident at the age of 61. It was alleged that the title deeds had been lost or taken possession of by some of his partners, and his wife named Lau Chuk Yee lived in the country at Nam Tau, and being ignorant of English law and usages, although she knew of the existence of the property, had taken no step till last year to recover it. She and an alleged adopted son, named Leung Fuk Yam, are admittedly the persons who would benefit by these proceedings, as the real son of the widow and the deceased, named Leung Hi Kwan, has not been heard of since 1869, and is supposed to be dead or to have emigrated
�X havin g disappeare d fro m Aplicha u abou t that time afte r collectin g debts due to his father Th e mother admits this and says she got some of the money collected
The adopted son, Leung Fuk Yam, is said to have been of surname Chan, and was adopted as the son of a concubine named Lai, who lived with the deceased as his so called second wife, the first or lawful wife , as is generally th e custom here, living a t her native village, and onl y periodically visiting Aplichau where her husband lived
Lau Chuk Yee, the widow of the deceased, say s she married he r husband under the name of Leung Kwong Chi, that he was called Leung Sui Wa also, and that he was also called Mang Wai, or blind Awai Sh e says he was also called Wai Kun (she means Wai Km no doubt) The y were married 43 years ago, and she did not come to Aplichau till 5 years after the marriage, although the concubine Lai went with the husband One o r tw o year s afte r th e marriag e th e husban d tol d he r abou t th e Aplichau propert y an d th e titl e deed s Th e witnes s admitte d i n cross-examination that she had given the name of Leung Chi Kwong to Mr Caldwell instead of Leung Kwong Chi, for it appears she had gone to him in the first instance, when she came from the country to seek her rights Sh e was told o f the m by some woman, who took he r to Taipingshan, where she found som e one who took her to the lawyers, she says
Leung Fuk Yam said he was the adopted son that he and Hi Kwan were present at the death of Leung Kwong Chi, as they lived with him and the 'small mother ' He says that the partnership between his father and others was dissolved before his father's death H e says the father was also called Hm Wa and Wai Km, that he had seen him write, and witness being asked to write 'Wai' write it thus a s did Lum Chiu Tin, another witness called by the plaintiff
Lam Chiu Tin says he is 39 years of age, says that he knew Kwong Chi, and wa s present whe n he died H e say s the deceased wa s i n partnership with Cheung A-tmg an d others, and that the business wa s called Leung Hop Li, but that before the death of Kwong Chi or Mang Wai the business was burnt down, and that no business was earned on after that H e also stated that Hi Kwan, the son, collected the father' s debts 23
So far , th e testimon y pointe d toward s a singl e direction , bu t evidenc e contrary to this was produce d
Cheng Yuk Cheung o r Cheng Chi Ting, who is 61 years o f age , and carries on rope business at Aplichau say s that the deceased was called Hm Wa and was his partner with others in rope and sail making under the name of Leung Hop Li, that they earned on business on Inland Lot
THE COMMON PEOPLE IN HONG KONG HISTORY 2
19, and that Hin Wa lived in the end house. He says that the partners were Leung Wa Chau, Leung Hin Wa, Mok Kwong Fat and himself Cheng Chi Ting. He said that Hin Wa had two shares, and that at the sale of the lots in 1861 the ground was bought as partnership property. He states that in the end of 1867 there was a large fire at Aplichau which burned them out, and that the title deeds were burned. He produces copies of the lease got from the Surveyor General's Office after the fire, and these have been in his possession ever since. He also produced the Crown rent receipts from the beginning of 1868, and states that after the fire the Leung Hop Li business was wound up, and that the deceased and the others apportioned the land amongst them, the deceased having his two shares in it.
He says that the characters Leung Kwong Chi written in the lease were written by him, and the Leung Kwong Chi was a made up name representing persons in the partnership. "Leung" being taken for the two partners of the Leung Hop Li, "Kwong" from a third, and "Chi" from his own, that they had agreed to take the leases in this way in the interest of all, and that by agreement he signed and took the leases thus.24
The trial judge accepted this version of events and came to the conclusion that "there was not a person of the name of Leung Kwong Chi, but that the characters represented a 'Tong.'" This does not alter some of the other facts in the case, that the rope maker from Nanto u (Cantones e Nam Tau) had worked in Aplichau not as an employee but as a self-employed artisan , holding a share in the partnership that was his business, leaving his wife back home and living with a concubine in Hong Kong. He was probably not rich by the standards of the Nam Pak Hong merchants, but he probably would not have been very different from the many craftsmen one might find near present-day Central District.
I have reproduced this case because the evidence that is available on occupants o f houses, of the sort described in Chadwick or the Colonia l Surgeon's reports , give s scan t persona l details . Yet som e shade s o f differences have now to be introduced because, somewhere in those details, we have the fine line developing between what might become the Chinese elite in Hong Kong and the common workmen. The Chinese land developers that Governor Hennessy had received petitions from were now busy in the Man Mo Temple, and associated with that, the Tung Wah Hospital and the Po Leung Kuk . Attached to these communal organizations, increasingl y receiving government sanction not only in Hong Kong but also in China, were the many guilds and commonplace associations that Elizabeth Sinn has documented.25 By 1912, the Registrar General produced a very interesting, though brief, report describing some 60 guilds. As he was looking more for indications of what trades they were engaged in than what their membership consisted of, he made no distinction between their status as employers or employees beyon d th e explicit declaration t o this effect b y the guild s themselves. Even then, he noted that the masons and the matpackers were divided into two guilds, one for masters and the other for employees. The benevolent societie s fo r "restauran t employees, " "cook s an d boys o n steamers" and "servants" were obviously made up of employees, but the members of the guilds of Californian merchants , and the Nam Pak Hong were almost certainly employers.26
The blurring of relationships between employers and employees wa s very much a feature of the artisans' employment market.27 Details in a small collection of guild regulations (in Chinese and English translation) among the Clementi papers should bear out this conclusion. The masons and the shipbuilders were divided into guilds for masters (employers) and artisans (employees), such guilds being generally known respectively a s dongjia hang (the eastern guilds) and xijia hang (western guilds). The regulations for bricklayers and carpenters pertain only to the artisans' guilds. The guild of contractors included the master carpenters a s should be clear from th e regulations of the carpenters' guild.28
The Master Masons' Guild was made up of 120 members. Some of the prominent members and committeemen lived near the business district, and others live d a t Thir d Street , Saiyingpun , Lowe r Rutte r Stree t o n Taipingshan, or Wanchai. The bricklayers, artisans, had a meeting house at No. 2 Upper Rutter Street, and four of the six prominent members cited gave this as their address. The bricklayers, the shipbuilders, the carpenters and the contractors, that is to say, both masters and artisans, celebrated th e festival o f the deity Lo Pan at the Lo Pan Temple at Shektongtsui. Th e master masons celebrated the Tin Hau Festival at Tanglunchau, while the artisans did not record in their regulations sacrifice at a temple. The Master Masons' Guild considered itself a branch of the Master Masons' Guild of Guangzhou, an d there they met at the guildhall (huiguan) a t the Lo Pan Temple at a location known as Sai Shek Kok. The other guilds were set up in Hong Kong.
The documents recording the guild regulations include, in quite a few instances, the names o f member s an d altogethe r recorde d ar e severa l thousand names. It would seem that these people were very much the type who had been livin g i n the tenement houses describe d i n governmen t records in the 1880s.
Portions of these regulations deal with fees, charges made to the guild,
THE COMMON PEOPLE IN HONG KONG HISTORY 2
conditions of work �X that is to say, hours of work and the amount of food to be provided o n a daily basi s �X and, importantly, the terms o f apprenticeship. An essential feature of the regulations is the assumption of short-term contractua l relationship . The Artisan Masons' Guild , whos e regulations were drawn up in 1889 , ruled that, "when a master-mason engaged an artisan for hire, the term of engagement would be held to be one month unless other wise stipulated." The rules of the Carpenters' Guild, drawn up in 1894, specified that engagement of work for one year would be considered long-term. Aside from this clause, the provisions for food and payment of wages suggest that the carpenters contracted their work by the day in the manner of "casual labour" (sangong), a term that was employed quite freely in these rules.
The question of wages deserves comment. Chadwick referred i n one case to a rent of 8.50 dollars per month that was paid by a tenant for a whole floor in a house in Peel Street. The house had a frontage of 15 feet and a depth of 50 feet, an d the whole of this floor was sufficiently larg e to be divided int o four room s o f 1 0 feet b y 1 0 feet. Th e tenant, wh o was a "fireman" on a local steamer, occupied one room and sublet the other three.29 The Bricklayers' regulations cite, for 1884 , wages of .216 tael per day for master-bricklayers and .144 tael per day for under-bricklayers. In a fully employed 30-day month, therefore, a master-bricklayer might receive
6.7taels or 9 dollars, and an under-bricklayer 4.3 taels or 6 dollars. Neither would have been able to afford an entire flat in Peel Street, but the master-bricklayer would have been comfortably off with a room.
The guilds exerted a "closed shop" on the people engaged in their trade. The Carpenters' Guild stipulates:
Arrivals from another port must enter their names in the guild ledger within te n days , otherwise thei r case will be considered i n genera l meeting.30
The Bricklayers' Guild, in regulations drawn up in 1902, sees an imposed fee on the hiring of labour as a service that the guild might provide:
A man who has not yet joined the guild but takes odd jobs in Hong Kong should be invited to join our guild. If he refuses to join, should our guild procure labourers for him, he will be charged guild-tax at the rate of .04 tael as guild-money; if employed by the guild as a master-workman, he must pay .0 1 tael as guild money; if employed a s an under-workman, at a daily wage of .08 tael, he must pay .005 tael as guild-money. If his daily wage is less than .08 tael, no charge will be made. All these charges are daily. If a stranger comes to Hong Kong from another port, no charge will be made for 7 days after his arrival: but after the 7th day, the full fee from the date of his arrival must be paid. If he works for a month he must enter the guild. Evasion of this rule will be considered and punished in general meeting of theguild.31
Despite the claim made on the right to work, the guilds quite possibly made room for place-of-origin differences . In the Masons' Artisans' Guild, such recognition was explicitly spelt out. The artisan masons of the Li surname from Jiaying, those of the Zeng surname also from Jiaying, and people of all other surnames from Jiaying belonged to three different "tong, " while among Huizhou artisans, those of the Zhang surname and people of other surnames belonged t o two different "tong. " No provision was made fo r artisans who had come from neither Jiaying nor Huizhou.
The regulation cited above from the Bricklayers' Guild should also be interesting for another reason: it is clear that it assumes that the artisan might also hire even though he belonged to an artisans' guild. The preamble to the Bricklayers' Guild, while accepting that it was an artisans' guild, states that there was no separate guild for masters. The Bricklayers' regulation s differentiate betwee n charges made on members who were masters fro m those made on members wh o were artisans, its members consistin g o f contractors, sub-contractors an d workmen. On e regulation distinguishe s between "big contractors" and "small contractors." "If a sub-contractor completes the work according to contract and hands it over to his employer, then being a subordinate artisan of small means his account should be settled and his wages paid up to date as soon as possible;" but "the big contractors deal necessarily wit h the big employers, but these latter usually have a number of master-bricklayers wit h whom they deal year after year , and whose wages will frequently b e in arrears." This particular clause bans members from finishing work left undone by "small contractors" who had not bee n paid, but accept s a s a necessity, arrangements with "big contractors." It might be argued from this description that the means that contractors were capable of varied over a fairly wide range, so that at the poorer end , th e artisa n an d th e sub-contracto r wer e probabl y littl e distinguishable.32
Another prominent feature indicated in the rules is the emphasis on a personal bond to the contractor or the guild. In the treatment of apprentices, this feature is explicitly spelt out. The rules of the Carpenters' Guild , fo r instance, put it in the following terms:
THE COMMO N PEOPL E I N HON G KON G HISTOR Y 2
All apprentices in Hong Kong must work 3 years (without wage), and are not permitted to leave while their term of apprenticeship is incomplete If they do, the men who brought them to Hong Kong (and stood guarantee for them) must refund the expense of their board33
This clause seems to assume that the "men who brought them to Hong Kong" and therefore stoo d guarantee for apprentic e carpenters wer e not themselves master carpenters, but the rules of the masons and ship-builders are worded m such a way as to suggest that the apprentices were bound directly to their masters Th e Master Masons' Guild further makes clear that the apprentice worked for the master to whom he was apprenticed, wh o could be a member of the artisans' guild, rather than the employer "I f a member of the artisan guild keeps an apprentice in the shop of his employer [1 e a master], he must pay to such employer $10 as board on account of such apprentice "34
The prevalence o f sub-contractin g necessaril y blur s the distinctio n between employer and workmen Th e possibility of bringing in friends and relatives from the country to supplement the labour needed in the fulfilment of work contracts contributed to a culture where workmen saw considerable scope in becoming contractors or sub-contractors I n the strikes for wages cited by the Registrar General's report of 1912, it would be quite in keeping with th e characte r o f sub-contractin g tha t th e sub-contractor s wer e considered among the employees
Little information i s available on what the common people of Hong Kong in the 1880s might have felt about living there Fo r this reason, the following singula r paragraph in a Guangdong genealogy is perhaps of interest
In the 13th year of Guangxu (1887), in the year Ting Hoi, Hong Kong celebrated its fiftieth anniversary A n exhibition added to the celebration and the view was pleasing I went with my aunt Madam Kam to Hong Kong for half a month This was the most enjoyable time of my life35
Madam Kam was married to a Hong Kong rice importer who had probably arrived m the 1850s Th e family had been poor in Xinhui county but four brothers, including the nee importer, settled in Hong Kong On e of these became an opium merchant, and another was successful as a mechanic B y the 1880s , the mechanic was moving u p in the world H e was soo n associated wit h peopl e wh o eventuall y forme d th e Societ y fo r th e Improvement of Engineering in Hong Kong and a son was to acquire a degree from Columbia Umversity I n the 1880s, such a family was only just about moving into the elite. A tinge of tourist interest from members of the family back home who had visited Hong Kong for a brief visit would probably have been quite fitting.
In 1931, of the 655 000 Chinese people who did not live on boats or in New Territories villages, 253 000 claimed to have lived in Hong Kong for less than five years, and another 15 7 000 for less than ten.36 This was an immigrant community and length of stay, it will be seen, had much to do with status.

The Immigrant Behind the Working Man
By th e 1920s , Hon g Kon g wa s movin g int o industria l society . Th e Economic Resources Committee set up by the Governor, which reported in 1920, provided a list of well over 200 industrial operations under Chinese management, manufacturin g ratta n furniture , biscuits , cigars, tobacco, preserved ginger , soap , vermilion, lard , singlets an d socks, blackwoo d furniture, leather , noodles, soy, in addition to machinery repair shops and iron and copper smiths. All this was reckoned quite apart from transport, or industries under Western management, which included the docks, Green Island Cement, China Sugar Refining, and the power companies. Through the 1910s , the cost of living and wages were both rising, and a major concern of the committee was the deterrence that increasing costs might pose for industrial growth. It was noticed that, where Hong Kong paid 50 to 90 cents in wages, in Guangzhou the worker would have received 50 to 70 cents, and elsewhere on the mainland (presumabl y i n south China or Guangdong itself) 4 0 to 60 cents.37 Strangel y enough, despite the interest in wage costs, the committee did not have access to information on wages other than what individual committee members had acquired from personal experience. The following exchang e of views makes it obvious that the Chinese elite was now quite isolated from the common worker:
Mr Ross Thomson:- ... It is a fact, is it not, that ordinary labourers, here in the City of Victoria, demand a very much higher wage than, for instance, they would get in Sha Tau Kok or in places in the hills over the other side.
The Chairman:- Of course, they have to pay so much more for rent.
Mr Chow Shou-son:- The cost of living is higher.
Mr Ross Thomson:- Is that enough to account for the difference or is it
simply a matter of combination?
THE COMMO N PEOPL E I N HON G KON G HISTOR Y 2
The Chairman - Then nee costs considerably more Mr Ross Thomson - But labour has gone up out of all proportion Mr Chow Shou-son - Necessities have gone up fifty per cent Mr Ross Thomson - Labour has gone up a hundred and fifty per cent The Charrma n gav e an example o f a chair cooli e no w paid $12 pe r
month as against $6 Mr Ross Thomson - Take bricklayers and carpenters, how their wages
have advanced Doe s anybody know7 It would be rather interesting to have information on that Mr Chan Harr - The advance in wages of bricklayers, carpenters an d
joiners within the last fifteen years, I should say, is from fifty to seventy per cent
Mr Ross Thomson -1 thought it was more
The Chairman - More A hundred per cent
Mr Chan Harr - No Mos t of the labour is contract, but taking the odd jobs, so far as I know from my own job contractors putting up jobs fo r my Company, they tell me, a few month s ago, that fifteen year s ag o they could get a bricklayer for 45 cents a day, he to find his own chow Now they want 75 to 80 cents a day
Mr Ross Thomson - And still gets his own chow*?
Mr Chan Harr - Yes
Mr Ross Thomson - Well, I may be mixed about the periods Yo u say fifteen year s I can't go back much earlier than that, but I know they were satisfied at one time with 20 cents a day
Hon M r Lau Chu-pak - Wages rose three years ago from 30 to 70 per cent
Mr Chan Harr - Living these four or five years is double
Mr Ross Thomson - Has not the cost of building a t the present tim e compared to what it was 20 years ago or 1 5 years ago been increase d more tha n i s represented b y the increase i n th e cost o f livin g o f th e labourers^
The Charrman - Yes
Mr Chan Harr - Yes
Mr Ross Thomson - Then it is due to combination �X
The Chairman - Combination of circumstances
Mr Ross Thomson - Combination of the workers
The Chairman - No, to combination of things The y have to pay more to import things, including material from up river, from Canton, etc , such as fir An d the Government is much more strict in carrying out the Building Ordinance than before
Mr Ross Thomson - Is not the contractors' business very much more remunerative today than it used to be9
The Chairman -1 cannot say
Mr Chow Shou-son - They pay their men in proportion
Hon Mr Lau Chu-pak - And they have to pay more for imported articles
After further discussion (on wages and cost of living),
Hon Mr Lau Chu-pak - The Chinese have been too much Europeamsed in the last few years They have taken to luxuries 38
The discussion concluded that the committee should look into the housing question I n further meetings, considerable concern was expressed over the cost of land
Rising rent in Hong Kong , as always, was caused by the influx o f population Th e population, reported at 270 000 in 1900, had expanded to 650 000 by 1920 Wages , nonetheless, fell behind rent increases, and it was argued that an impediment to building more houses m Hong Kong, quite aside from th e shortage o f land an d the lack of roads, came from th e shortage of skilled labourers to work on construction Th e argument crept in, in the 1920s, that Government should subsidize rent to keep the cost of living low for workmen and this is evident in the recommendations made to the Government by the Housing Commission in 1923
We also recommend that the Government build, in various districts, and rent out at cheap rents, houses for the occupation of Chinese workmen engaged m the building trades From the answers which we have received to question 1(6) m our circular letter of the 9th April, 1923, there seems to be little doubt that, if only sufficient accommodations were provided for labourers in the building trades at reasonable rents, a sufficient supply of skille d labourers fo r buildin g would be willing to come into the Colony O n this point the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce say, m their letter in Enclosure 1 "There is no scarcity of skilled labourers, and procuration of more such is not difficulty, but the labourers in the interior would always hesitate before coming to Hong Kong, considering the high rent and the high cost of living here " Later on in the same letter the Chamber state "Thi s Chamber is strongly of the opinion that the Government should be urged to build two or three hundred houses in
THE COMMON PEOPLE IN HONG KONG HISTORY 3
each of the following districts, namely, Causeway Bay, Kennedy Town, Yaumati and Mongkoktsui, etc.; and also extend the tramlines so as to make them easily accessible. The Government could build these houses at a cost of $4,000 to $5,000 each, reckoning on a 5% or 6% return, each house could be let at $20 to $30 a month. Thus the middle class and the working class inhabitants in the Colony will be rescued from the hardship of paying high and excessive rent, and simultaneously the rent in the whole Colony will be restored to its normal condition ...39
The sam e report als o reaffirmed th e need to provide for a European Reservation. But it added the argument that "in times of strike or other internal commotions, an aggregation o f British residents i n one distric t renders it easier for them to take common action for the defence o f the whole community against disorders."40
In the 1920s , political developments in China were fast creating the ideology of the working class, and the Housing Commission of 192 3 had very much in mind the seamen's strik e in 1922 . However, the idea that government should finance housing seems to have taken root, for the point was raised again in the Housing Commission's report in 1938, when the Hong Kong housing situation had come under much greater strain because of the population influx from China. This very important report put forward the suggestions that slums should be cleared to make way for new housing, that compensation be given for those cleared from the slums, that adequate housing be provided for the poor, that housing should not be left to private enterprise alone, and that areas outside the currently populated districts be found tha t might b e developed fo r industry. 41 Thes e very important suggestions became the bases of the Hong Kong Government's housin g policies in the 1950s.
Yet, in the 1950s , when housing had to be provided at low cost, the Hong Kong Government ignored an essential recommendation made in the memorandum writte n by the secretary of the commission, W. H. Owen, which was appended to the report:
The unit of occupation is the family and standards should be based on the requirements of family life.42
This general point is elaborated in the following terms:
The question of overcrowding is dependent to a great extent on unit of occupation adopted or implied. The Hong Kong Ordinances do not cater for the family a s a unit; nor do they give any consideration to the question of the sex separation. The overcrowding standard is based on so many square feet of floor space and so many cubic feet of air space per person. Given sufficient floor and air space any number of people, regardless of sex, may occupy one room. Applied to the normal tenement each floor of which is capable of accommodating 10 or 12 persons, and in many cases more, then, provided those numbers are not exceeded, there is no overcrowding. If the available accommodation be measured on this basis, then the 75,000 floors can accommodate 750,000 to 900,000 people and there is no housing shortage. The fallacy is obvious. It would be quit e impossible t o distribute th e populatio n evenl y amon g th e available houses. Family ties should frustrate any attempt to doso.43
The tradition from the Chadwick Report onwards, of course, was to consider housing needs in terms of "so many square feet of floor space and so many cubic feet of air space per person." Housed in private tenements, the poorer people of Hong Kong squeezed in as many bodies as possible within a flat, with the obvious result that families lacked privacy and a guarded family life. This situation was not corrected until the newer types of Government subsidized housing in the 1960s.
The political fervour of the 1920s subsided by the 1930s . Only in the 1930s are there available descriptions of working men in Hong Kong, and the best source for such descriptions is the report of the Labour Officer i n 1939.44
H. R. Butters was Hong Kong's first Labour Officer, an d reading the report, one can see the frustration of a writer who knew descriptions of trade unionism and labour legislation were incomplete without a sense of what the workers themselves were like. Yet he was frustrated becaus e he, too, had no access to such information. One sees the desperation behind the one-line introduction for the 20 cases he included in the report: "I have taken statements from twenty individuals chosen at random as representative of various classes of workers," for, immediately after this line he goes on to Case 1, one Yiu Sun, "male, age 30 (found buying cigarettes from stall in Hing Lun g Street , Hon g Kong , afte r carryin g vegetables.) " On e ca n visualize Butters grabbing Yiu Sun and thrusting at him questions on his livelihood. One can also hear the Cantonese in response that is reproduced in English in the report:
YIU SUN, male, age 30 (found buying cigarettes from stal l in Hing Lung Street, Hong Kong, after carrying vegetables) In Hong Kong one and a half years, came from Kong Moon, Kwangtung Province, to look for work; in Kong Moon was small farmer and gardener;
THE COMMON PEOPLE IN HONG KONG HISTORY 3
now tea-carrying coolie for Douglas boats, employed by coolie foreman Ng Pui who is employed by Tea Guild Wif e in country, no children, married four years, supports mother in country Live s 10 Chinese Street m cockloft on first floor which he shares with two fellow workers at one dollar each month Fiv e families, eighteen adults and six children, on floor Employment regular, paid once a week according to number of boxes earned, earns five to six dollars a week Whe n no tea ships, no tea-carrying, carries vegetables at thirty cents to a dollar a day Has two meals a day from street stall at twenty cents a meal Wear s clothes he brought from the country Ca n sometimes make two dollars a day I f sick, female cousin, 9 Chinese Street, whose husband is also a coolie, looks after him, if very sick would go to hospital Wif e in Kong Moon weaves at home, can earn very little, mother also weaves Send s them about ten dollars a month The y spend six to seven dollars and save the balance in case children are bom Since arrival in Hong Kong never been back to country, wife never been to Hong Kong Clansma n writes for him two or three times a month Travelling trader on board Kong Moon boat arranges his remittances and pays them in Chinese currency Expect s to go home on visit in a few months at Ching Ming Festival Bette r off here than in Kong Moon, does not smoke opium but spends three cents on cigarettes a day (six cigarettes) Hours of work 8a m -5pm, sometimes works late till 9pm Average earnings when working $1 60-$ 1 70 a day, Sunday a holiday
�X walks about the streets In the country worships idols, Gods of the sky, in Hong Kong does not care Cannot read or write When no work fellow workers come together and discuss affairs Winter clothing �X two singlets, two jackets and two trousers (one short), does not wear shoes Rises 6am, goes to bed 8pm,5pm -8p m take s a walk, has a bath at home every two days Clansman introduce d hi m to Ng Pui (hi s immediate employer ) half month after arriva l in Colony, clansman fed him for that half month Does not gamble, occasionally drinks five cents wine after hard work 45
Yiu Sun, who made his living carrying tea chests, worked for a "coolie foreman" who was a member of the Tea Guild H e was a new arrival from the country, having been in Hong Kong for only a year and a half Hi s family remained in the country, and for their livelihood, he sent them ten dollars every month, that being perhaps a quarter of his income Livin g alone m Hong Kong, he shared a cockloft with two fellow workers, paying 1 dollar per month. He had some relatives in Hong Kong, who might take care of him if he was ill. He smoked, spending 3 cents on cigarettes a day. Other than that, he seems to have had few amusements. He "walked about the streets" and chatted ("discussed affairs") with his mates.
In contrast to Yiu Sun, the description of a longer-term resident in Hong Kong show s that time in residence could have made a great deal of difference to livelihood:
LAM SANG, male, aged 34, joiner, Taikoo Dockyard:
Employed there for last nine years. Married, one son four years, residing 61 Main Street, Saiwanho, 1st floor. Principal tenant of floor, rent $14.50 (formerly $11.00), retains for self one cubicle and sitting room, has two subtenants at four dollars each. Bom San Wui, Kwangtung Province. Came to Hong Kong, aged 16, with a clansman as was poor in country. Apprentice for three years in furniture shop, Wanchai, Hong Kong, no pay, free boar d an d lodging; then nine dollars per month wit h fre e lodging but not free food. After two months left shop to look for odd jobs as pay was too low. After several years obtained work at Taikoo, at first unde r contractor ; thre e years ago joined permanen tstaff .Tim e work, $1.26 a day �X both under contractor and directly employed.
Hours: 7 a.m. - 12 noon, 1 p.m. -5 p.m. Sunday work �X time and half; over-time �X time and half.
If ill, leave but no pay.
Wages amount to about forty five dollars a month, paid monthly. Wife does no work except house work �X no servants. Not member of any union or guild. Food for family about eighteen dollars per month. Remits seven to ten dollars per month to mother in country. Can read and write Chinese: learned in country when boy. No savings.46
Quite apart from the likelihood of a higher income in return for regular work, Lam Sang, the joiner at Taikoo Dockyard managed to live in Hong Kong with his family. H e managed to pay the rent by making himsel f principal tenant, for his two subtenants paid him 4 dollars each, leaving him only 6.50 dollars for his share of the flat, which amounted to a cubicle and a sitting room. He also remitted 10 dollars to his mother in the country every month. The arrangement left him about 30 dollars a month for food and other expenses.
Yet a third case would show that, by the time the children were able to bring in an income, the family was decidedly well off:
THE COMMON PEOPLE IN HONG KONG HISTORY 3
CHAN PUI, male, 48 years, plater, Taikoo Dockyard:
Married: two sons, four daughters eldest aged 22, 48 Saiwanho Street ground floor. Principal tenant paying $11.50 per month, four sub-tenants from whom he collects from $8 to $9, retains one cubicle and bedspace, no servants. Two daughters work at Fung Keong Rubber Factory, earning thirty to sixty cents a day each which they hand over to him; he provides them with house, food and clothing.
Came to Hong Kong, aged 29, from Toi Shan, Kwangtung Province, as no work in country, learned trade for three years at Bailey's Shipyard at forty cents a day �X then in Kowloon Docks from two to three years �X fifteen years at Taikoo Dock, employed through a contractor, time work.
Hours: 7 a.m. - 12 noon, 1 p.m. -5 p.m. Wages $1.50 a day. Overtime
�X time and half, Sundays �X time and half.
Sent remittance to country monthly when mother was alive. Can read and write Chinese. Not member of any union. Eldest son, aged fourteen, goes to private school �X fees thirteen dollars a year. Only eldest girl went to school. Food for family forty dollars per month.47
Chan Pui, aged 48, had lived in Hong Kong for nineteen years. Less rent received from sub-tenants, he paid an effective ren t of approximately 3 dollar s fo r his share of the flat. Tw o grown-up daughter s contribute d their income to the family, amounting possibly to 15 dollars per month. His mother in the country had died, and so he no longer remitted money back home. It is not clear what his income was, but he paid just over 1 dollar per month for a son's schooling and 40 dollars per month for the family's food.
The able-bodied men employed as carrier-coolie or skilled labourers all fared better than the woman workers. Chan Pui's two daughters earned 30 to 60 cents per day at Fung Keong Rubber Factory. Another woman, Cheng Kwai Ying, a 22-year old outworker for Fung Keong Rubber Factory, made 70 cents to 1 dollar per day of 10 to 12 hours each, for which work she provided the sewing machine. Pang So Fong, aged 24, gummed shoes at Fung Keong for 1.20 dollars per day. (Her brother who had an office job also at Fung Keong, received 15 0 dollars per month.) The coolie women were as poorly paid as the factory wome n workers: Wong Tai, aged 36, "found carrying sand" received 40 cents per day; Leung Sam, aged 40, also "found carrying sand " was paid 30 cents a day, all of whom compared favourably to the domestic servant: Ng Wai, aged 34, "employed by Wong family at 6 Queen Victoria Street third floor, Hong Kong," who received 2 dollars per month. Ng served a master and mistress who occupied a cubicle and she slept in a camp bed outside it. She rose at 6 in the morning and went to bed between 9 and 10 in the evening.48
The stark details given in the report gives a sense of reality to the livelihood of working people in Hong Kong in the 1930s. Little was said about the conditions under which they worked, but the brief paragrap h below is as worth quoting as a part of their livelihood:
One of those inspected, a tailoring establishment, was so overcrowded that one male worker engaged in ironing was found suspended from the roof o n a beam with his ironing board suspended i n front o f him . Conditions in printing establishments and in many Chinese newspapers, most of which are concentrated in old property in the central district of Hong Kong, are generally bad.49
The description is surreal but, in view of the realism in the rest of the report, quite believable.
A substantial portion of the 540 pages of a manual for Chinese people living in Hong Kong under the title, What Hong Kong Chinese People Must Know i s made up o f Chines e translation o r summary o f rule s an d regulations, ranging from the registration of schools and shops to application for the transport of corpses back to China. Not a word is included in it concerning employment . Assistanc e i s provided, nevertheless , for th e application of what by the Rent Ordinance of 1883 was known as a "warrant of distress. " O n application fro m landlord s an d principal tenants , th e Supreme Court could issue a "warrant of distress" to allow for the auction of goods and furniture o n premises for which rent had not been paid. For rent owed from 1 dollar up to 500 dollars, stamp duty of 25 cents to 15 dollars had to be paid, 9.60 dollars for watchmen to keep watch on the premises for the required eight days' notice served and transport for th e bailiff to serve the warrant, of 40 cents on Hong Kong Island and 1 dollar in Kowloon. The accompanying explanation notes that the warrant migh t be applied for as long as rent had not been paid for a month. The moderate cost of effective eviction underlies the lack of security for the tenant.50

Concluding Remark s
Settling in Hong Kong, housing congestion, the lack of sanitation, but wages that surpasse d thos e found i n south China and the possibility o f rapi d mobility was very much a common experience that many Hong Kong families underwent, before the Second World War and after. It does not tell
THE COMMO N PEOPL E I N HON G KON G HISTOR Y 3
the entire story because it leaves out noticeably the seamy side of society, the prevalence of prostitution, control rackets, corruption and drugs. It also leaves out much of cultural life, the wealth of rituals structured aroun d temples and monasteries, the entertainment provided by the Chinese operas, and the increasing intrusio n o f the newspaper and , into the 1920s , the cinema. It gives weight to the history o f men at work at the expense of women at work, in the factory, as domestics, bonded servants, housewives or in the brothels. It stereotype s th e able-bodie d mal e a s the worker , discounting children at work and the handicapped. Despite the gaps, the impression comes through clearly that from the 1880s to the 1930s, as an elite emerged from among the Chinese population, a substantial number of people lived, not necessarily i n monetary poverty �X when wages ar e compared between Hong Kong and the mainland �X but under the burden of high rent that outstripped any improvement that wage increases might warrant. This setting highlights the difference between the new-comer and the long-term settler . The majority o f new-comers appear in Hong Kong without a hold on land, while the long-term settler might have, in pre-World War II years, turned himself int o a major tenant or sub-landlord. The effective reductio n i n rent made the difference betwee n bein g abl e to maintain a family in Hong Kong or having to leave wife and children in the village, and with that, the possibility of second-generation mobility into a new echelon of Hong Kong's rising elite. Rich or poor, second-generation mobility became an ideal the Hong Kong person lived for.

2



Religion in Hong Kong History
Bernard H. K. Luk
Organized religion is an important part of Hong Kong social life that has been overlooked by most historians of Hong Kong. This essay will attempt an historical overview of the relationship between religion and Hong Kong society, focusing on Christianity, Buddhism and Daoism during three key periods, viz., the beginnings of the city, the mid-twentieth century, and the 1970s.

Organized Religion in Hong Kong Today
Many religions co-exist i n Hong Kong ; some are more organized tha n others.1 Some of these religions had their origins in China, others overseas. Many o f them have undergone significan t change s sinc e the nineteent h century and, especially over the last 50 years, have become modernized and indigenized communities . They hav e played prominen t role s i n Hon g Kong's social development.
The largest organized religion in Hong Kong today is the Catholi c church, which has about a quarter of a million baptized members, accounting for 4 percent of Hong Kong's population. There is one diocese, divided into more than 60 parishes. The church is headed by a bishop, two auxiliary bishops, more than 300 priests an d 600 nuns. It is the largest Chines e Catholic diocese in the world.2
Other Christian confessions includ e the Anglicans, the Baptists, the Church of Christ in China, the Lutherans and the Methodists. Altogether there are a quarter of a million Protestants belonging to more than 40 denominations and about 1000 congregations.3 Each denomination follows its own rules of church governance. For instance, the Anglicans with about 20 000 served by three dozen ministers are organized as a province with three dioceses, under an archbishop and two suffragan bishops.
The Catholic and Protestant forms of Christianity were introduced by Western missionaries during the early years of the city one and a half centuries ago. Nowadays, they are all led by Hong Kong Chinese clergy and sustained b y loca l resources . Th e principa l languag e o f liturg y an d theological education is Cantonese Chinese.
The Christian churches enjoy a n influence in Hong Kong society out of proportion to the sizes of their membership in the population. During the 1950s to 1970s, the Hong Kong government needed voluntary organizations to help provide education and social services. The churches were in place to take on responsibility for schools, hospitals, and social service centres. Nowadays, the Protestant churches run a total of 120 secondary schools, 140 primary schools , seven hospitals an d 200 community centres , while the Catholic church operates eighty secondary school, 100 primary schools, six hospitals and a dozen community centres. Church-related schools account for 30 percent of the primary education provision, 40 percent of secondary education, an d one-sixth o f all hospital beds in Hong Kong . All thes e facilities are subvented and supervised by the government, but run by church agencies, and are open to the general public as part of the worldly service of the churches.4
The Buddhists and Daoists are not as tightly organized as the Christians and are not constituted as churches made up of all the clergy and laity. The Hong Kong Buddhist Association estimates that there are 800 000 Buddhists in Hong Kong, and that 70 percent of the Hong Kong population subscribe to either Buddhism or Daoism or both. However, there is no independent census which could ascertain these figures. As for Daoist followers, or even Daoist priests, it is even harder to find reliable statistics. About 360 Buddhist and Daoist temple s have been registered a s such with the Hong Kon g government; but there are in fact mor e than 500 Buddhist monasteries , convents and meditation centres, and some 120 Daoist places of worship, not counting smaller streetside shrines.5
Among the six to seven hundred places of worship, some are Buddhist,
RELIGION IN HONG KONG HISTORY 4
some Daoist, some have features of both, and some adhere to a combination of the 'Three Teachings' of Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism. In Hong Kong, as in Chinese tradition, the terms Buddhism and Daoism include both a minority of those devoted to philosophical study and spiritual cultivation, and a majority who take part in worship services to procure divine blessings. The former are represented in Hong Kong by the Buddhist schools of Chan (Zen), Tiantai, Pure Land, Huayan and Zhenyan as well as the Tantric sects. The Daoists ar e represented b y the Xiantian, Quanzhe n an d Chunyan g sects.6 As for the majority who adhere to what scholars of Chinese tradition call popular religion, they cannot be easily categorized by doctrine. Most Buddhists an d Daoists in Hong Kong adhere to popular religion; but in recent year s more an d mor e youn g peopl e hav e show n a n interest i n Buddhist teachings.
Hundreds of thousands of people worship at the 600 to 700 temples and shrines. Some do so on the first and fifteenth days of each lunar month and on major festivals; others do so irregularly. Yet others do not go to temple at all, and only offer incense at home in front of the tablets of deities and ancestors. Most of those who go to temple just pray for blessings or oracles; few atten d sermon s or ask for spiritua l guidance . O n the other hand, a number of monks and nuns do preach in places of worship or in public cultural centres . A few eve n do so on the electronic media. 7 Buddhis t literature i s als o widel y availabl e fo r fre e a t place s lik e vegetaria n restaurants. Regardless of the actual number of adherents, the influence of Buddhism and Daoism in Hong Kong society is considerable.
Buddhist and Daoist places of worship are independent of one another. There is no single organization embracing all the clergy and faithful of either religion. The Hong Kong Buddhist Association (established in 1945 ) and the Hong Kong Taoist Association (establishe d i n 1961 ) are the largest respective organizations.8 Thes e are not churches, but coordinating bodies for external relations, and bear no responsibility for religious doctrines or discipline. Nevertheless, both associations and other Buddhist and Daoist groups, like the Christian communities , have participated i n education , social welfare and health. Since they started later than the Christians, their enterprises though still substantial, are not as numerous. The Buddhists run more than 50 schools from kindergarten to post-secondary levels, a hospital (founded in 1971), and a number of social service agencies and retirement homes. The Daoists operat e seven primary an d secondary schools , and several medical clinics and retirement homes. These facilities, like their Christian counterparts, are government subvented and supervised, and serve the general public.9
The religious bodies have large and complex organizations with mass memberships and multidimensional interfaces with society, which testify to their dee p root s i n Hong Kong . Most academi c historians , wit h thei r 'secular' predispositions , which regard religions as anachronisms, tend to overlook the roles of organized religions in Hong Kong's history. Few of the published works discuss the relationship between Chinese traditiona l religion o r Christianity an d socia l development i n Hong Kong , except , respectively, Elizabeth Sinn on the Tung Wah Hospital and Carl Smith on Chinese Christians.10 This essay will discuss religion and society in the first few decade s o f the city, the mid-twentieth centur y immigrant s an d th e churches and temples, religious groups and social transformation during the 1970s, as well as the issue of colonialism and religion. The intention is not to apply value judgment to the legacies of the organized religions, but to highlight the significance of the religious bodies and their activities.

Religions and Society During the First Decades
Hong Kong before the Opium War was a sparsely populated corner on the coastal frontier of south China. For the inhabitants, as the saying went, "the mountain is high, the emperor is far away;" they had few contacts with even the provincial capital at Guangzhou and the Xin'an county seat at Nantou. The rural societ y was held together mainly b y patrilineal relations an d religion. The single-surname villages were founded b y individual clans, whose communit y lif e centre d o n the ancestral hall . In most villages , however, it was the local temple honouring Goddess of Heaven (Tianhou), Goddess of Mercy (Guanyin) or God of War (Guandi) which provided the location for community meetings, arbitration, schooling, mutual help, and the recording of major community events. Throughout the New Territories, hundreds of stone inscriptions at various temples are still extant to attest to the rural life i n the eighteenth an d nineteenth centuries , and many ol d traditions have survived to this day.11
When the British first took over the island of Hong Kong, there were only a few thousand farmers and fisherfolk scattered among small villages and moorings . There wa s no city. The city wa s built unde r Britis h sponsorship by migrants from th e Mainland. During the 1840s , tens of thousands of men from Mainland villages came to Hong Kong to make a living. There soon arose loose organizations of these migrants by place of origin or by trade; there were also some secret societies. But, apart fro m occasional outburst s agains t particularly irksom e policies of the British
RELIGION I N HON G KON G HISTOR Y 4
colonial authorities , ther e were no organizations, whic h brought the m together across the boundaries of home place or occupation. The colonial laws and political structure were of little use to them. There was also no pre-existing Chines e societ y o f Hong Kon g which coul d absorb them . Rather, they themselves had to create the structure of Chinese society in the emerging city.
The labourers an d traders who were building the city followed th e tradition in their home villages an d established thei r new communitie s around temples which they set up. The most prominent of these temples was the Man Mo Temple in the Taipingshan district which, by the end of the 1840s, had become the local centre where the Chinese people of Hong Kong worshipped, assembled , sough t arbitration an d mutual support . Temple s named "man mo" dedicate d to the gods of the literary (man or wen) and martial (mo or wu) arts, were by no means common in the neighbouring regions of south China. In the countryside, where the economy was simpler, there would usually be only one main economic activity in each area, and the local temple would be dedicated to the guardian god of that activity, such as Tianhou in the temples of fishing villages. Urban Hong Kong was much more complex economically even in the first decades, and the inhabitants belonged to different trade s and occupations. To appeal universally to all Chinese people from different home districts, occupations and interests, one could not rely on particular gods. "Man Mo" stood for all the occupations and origins, in other words, for all Chinese in Hong Kong.12
The Man Mo Temple was not a particular temple of any trade; nor was it a temple of the city god (chenghuang). The city god was the guardian god of a city in Mainland China, a divine projection o f the human county magistrate appointed by the emperor to govern the locality. The worship of the city god was a religious extension o f the centralized bureaucrati c government of the Chinese empire. The emerging city of Hong Kong, on the other hand, was not a city of the Qing empire. There were no mandarins appointed b y th e empero r and , therefore , n o divin e projection o f th e magistrate or city god. The Man Mo Temple was the social organization of Chinese people outside the jurisdiction of the Qing Empire and under the rule of the British colonial empire. This society was organized on the basis of popular religion. The temple became the centre of gravity of the Hong Kong Chinese in terms of worship, self-governance, medical care, education, philanthropy, culture and public security. It also became the main channel of communication between the Hong Kong Chinese and the British colonial authorities. Later on, the compradors an d other merchants becam e th e trustees of the Man Mo Temple, the / Tzi, the Tung Wah Hospital, the Po Leung Kuk and the District Watch force. The emergence of the interlocking trusteeship of these bodies could be considered class differentiation withi n the society formed around the popular religion of the village pattern.
Christianity, which was introduced to Hong Kong in the aftermath of the Opiu m War, als o played a n important role in socia l development . Christian missionarie s arrive d in Hong Kon g mainly t o propagate thei r beliefs in Mainland China; but some Catholic and Protestant missionaries did remain to work in Hong Kong. Apart from preaching the gospel, their most important work was education. Under British rule, the pre-existing Chinese village schools continued to function; some of them even obtained small subsidies from the colonial authorities. As the population increased, traditional Chinese schools were set up also in the emerging city. The small minority of Hong Kong Chinese parents who could afford anythin g more than the most basic schooling for their sons would send the boys back to China to train for the imperial civil service examinations. On the other hand, those who intended fo r their sons to pursue commercial careers in Hong Kong would send them to missionary schools. The Hong Kong government gave financial support to the missionary schools on condition that secular education and proselytizing should remain separate. These schools admitted students who had already attained the requisite levels in Chinese, and taught them English language and the Western disciplines of mathematics, science, history and geography.13
The missionary schools (along with the Central School �X later renamed Queen's College �X set up by the government), provided a bilingual, bicultural education intended to train the assistants of the British traders and missionaries. In effect, it gave rise to the bilingual elite of the Hong Kong Chinese, which included compradors, pioneers in the modern profession s (such as physician Ho Kai and lawyer Ng Choy [Wu Tingfang]), as well as reformers and revolutionaries in modern Chinese history (such as Sun Yat-sen). Some o f th e students o f th e missionaries wer e converted t o Christianity; many did not. But they all embodied the interflow of Chinese and Western culture s s o characteristic o f Hong Kong and o f their ow n careers either in Hong Kong or in China. In terms of Hong Kong's social development, the products of the mission schools played important roles as intermediaries between the Hong Kong Chinese community and the British colonial authorities, and as channels for Western ideas and technology in Chinese society.14 Whatever value judgment one may attach to these roles, they constituted the historically significan t littora l culture in nineteenth -century Hong Kong and the treaty ports, from whic h developed moder n Chinese societies.15
RELIGION I N HON G KON G HISTOR Y 4
The Christian churches in nineteenth-century Hon g Kong made other less direc t bu t no less significan t contributions . Fo r instance , Britis h missionary James Legge worked with Chinese scholar Wang Tao to translate the Confucian Classics into English. When Wang Tao returned from Britain, he established in Hong Kong the Tsun Wan Daily News, the first Chinese newspaper. This turned a new page in the history of Chinese journalism. With a daily newspaper published and edited by Chinese for Chinese, a qualitative change took place in the pattern of communication among the Hong Kon g Chinese. 16 Although th e introduction o f modern mass communication cannot be considered as a church legacy to Hong Kong's social development, the collaboration between Wang and Legge did take place within a missionary framework .
Hong Kong was founded as an emporium for the China trade. So it was natural for it to serve as a funnel for cultural exchange as well. As a British colony with a Chinese population, it was to be expected that a bilingual, bicultural Chinese elite would emerge. But without missionary schools , relying only o n the ver y limited facilitie s o f th e government, bot h developments would have taken much longer. Missionary activities could, of course, be interpreted as cultural imperialism, but they also manifested contradictions among the Western forces in Hong Kong. While the colonial officials, trader s and missionaries all came from the West (and moreover most Protestant missionarie s wer e British), the three groups ha d ver y different motivations , aspirations an d values. The Catholic missionarie s (mostly Italian s an d French) had longstandin g disagreement s wit h th e Protestant British officials ove r education policies.17 James Legge worked with British officials an d traders, but also had serious disagreements with them. Although these conflicts did not significantly diminis h the authority of the government, they did bring about a greater degree of diversity in the development o f Hon g Kon g educatio n an d cultur e tha n woul d hav e happened wit h only on e sourc e o f Western input . Greate r diversit y i n education nurtured broader horizons, which in turn contributed to economic and cultural development.
The formation o f society i n nineteenth centur y Hong Kong had its religious dimension as well as the better recognized economic and political dimensions. Both Chinese popular religion and Christianity from the West had important roles to play. During the twentieth century, however, th e transformation o f cultur e an d politic s i n Mainland Chin a had thei r ramifications in Hong Kong. Many of the radical changes had anti-religious components, such as the call to eradicate traditional superstitions and the anti-Christian movement during the 1920s. On the other hand, the Buddhist revival in south China during the same decade also appeared in Hong Kong, resulting, inter alia, in the founding o f a vocational school for girls.18 A number of Daoists also moved to Hong Kong where they could worshi p unperturbed. However, organized religions probably had less of an impact on social development in Hong Kong during the first half of the twentieth century than in the periods before or after.

Mid-twentieth Century Immigrants and Organized Religion
At the time of the Japanese surrender, the population of Hong Kong was half a million. Ten years later, in 1955, it was two and a half million, a fivehold increase. Demographically, the middle of the twentieth century was a new beginning fo r Hon g Kong history. During the Chinese civil wa r (1945-49), a million peasants, workers, merchants, soldiers and intellectuals fled south to Hong Kong. After 1949 , most of them decided to stay rather than to return. In Hong Kong, they struggled to survive, and raised children. The new generation embodied the new economy and new society of Hong Kong of the 1970s.
Among the mid-century immigrants, there were thousands of Buddhist monks and nuns and Daoist adepts. In her history of Buddhism in Hong Kong, the Reverend Dr. Wing Ming has a vivid description of their arrival:
The immigrant monks and nuns came from all over China �X from White Mountain and Black River, from inside and outside the Great Wall, from north and south of the Yangzi River, from Hunan and Hubei, from Guangdong and Guangxi ... The abbot and monks of the Tung Po To monastery responded to the desperate situation quickly and decisively: "Just as every blade of grass receives its drop of morning dew; every monk will have his mendicant bowl filled!" ...When the word spread, two thousand came in one day.19
As well a s Buddhists an d Daoists, there were als o many Chines e Christian clergy among the immigrants. And when the government of the People's Republic of China evicted the Western missionaries a few years later, most of them also were sent out via Hong Kong.
Many of the Chinese and Western religious personnel stayed in Hong Kong for only a short time before they went on to other places to offer their services. But there were also many others who decided to stay and work in Hong Kong . During the 1950 s and 1960s , Hong Kon g probably ha d a
RELIGION I N HON G KON G HISTOR Y 4
greater concentration o f Christian missionarie s tha n an y other missio n territory in the world. There probably were also more Buddhist monks and nuns and Daoist adepts than in any other Chinese-speaking city. Again to quote the Rev. Wing Ming:
The southward migration of Buddhist monks from Mainland China gave Hong Kong unrivalled advantages. Hong Kong at the end of the 1940s was uniquely endowed for a new era ... Buddhist talents from all over China concentrated in such a small territory accumulated the resources required for a full blossoming in the late 1980s and early 1990s.20
Hong Kong during the 1950s was full of empty-handed immigrants who had no social ties and did not know their way about the city. The sudden and massive increase in population and acute shortages in all kinds of social facilities calle d for utmost efforts fro m al l who had somethin g to offer . Among the immigrants, religious personnel tended to be better educated and better organized. In particular, the Christian clergy and lay leaders generally had had modern education, and could take up responsibility for such work immediately. There were relatively few Buddhist and Daoist personnel at that time who had attained modern professional training. At the same time, the Hon g Kon g colonia l governmen t wa s predispose d t o favou r th e Christians. Hence the Buddhist and Daoist groups did not play a big role in the socia l enterprise s unti l later . I n terms o f the history o f organize d Buddhism and Daoism, being committed to the school system and medical and social services in Hong Kong also constituted a major step in their own modernization.
After th e Second World War, the Hong Kong government began to provide mass education. Universal primary schooling was attained in 1971, junior secondary schooling in 1981 . Hundreds of primary and secondar y schools were opened during the 1950s and 1960s, requiring an ever bigger supply of teachers and administrators. The Christian churches filled the void, and came to be responsible for a large proportion of the schools receiving government subsidies.
The Buddhists and Daoists started somewhat later. Before the Second World War, there was only one Buddhist school. After the war, there were five more, and during the 1950s, another six more. But, since 1961, every decade has seen an increase of a dozen schools. A Buddhist hospital was first proposed in 1950, but it was not until 1965 that ground was broken for the building.21 During the 1950s and 1960s, the Buddhist and Daoist groups were still finding their feet in a rapidly industrializing Hong Kong society, and they focused on providing religious rather than social services.
Most of the mid-century immigrants had been adherents o f popula r religion back in Mainland China. After thei r arrival in Hong Kong, they naturally continued with their traditional worship for blessings and oracles. But, since they could not return to their home villages to worship there, the Wong Tai Si n Temple in Kowloon became a popular substitute . The worshippers of Wong Tai Sin had brought his image from Guangdong to Hong Kong early in the century, and set up a shrine outside the Kowloon Walled City in 1921. For the next 30 years, there were few new adherents other than the local villagers. But in the 1950s, more and more people came to identify with the myth of this refugee god who migrated to Hong Kong like themselves. The uprooted felt helpless and alienated in Hong Kong and could only lament, from a distance, the destruction of the temples an d ancestral graves in their homeland. They were impressed with the god who had arrived in Hong Kong ahead of them, and who was supposed to have performed miracle s agains t the Japanese occupation soldiers . Year afte r year, Wong Tai Sin worshippers increased; the temple soon became the most frequented Daoist shrine. With the opening of the Mass Transit Railway in 1980 the shrine, which is located on top of one of the stations, became even more of a magnet.22
In the early decades of urban Hong Kong, the Man Mo Temple brought together people of the various occupations, and became the centre of the Hong Kong Chinese society. In the middle of the twentieth century, th e Wong Tai Sin Temple became a symbol of the common experience of displacement and migration, and emerged as the new centre of gravity of popular religion. From the 1840s to the 1950s, ideas that enjoyed currency in Chinese society had become much more diversified. The population of Hong Kong also was no longer made up only of villagers from the Pearl River Delta. Popular religion could not now provide the unifying force for all Hong Kong Chinese. Nevertheless, Wong Tai Sin still offered solace and some sense of cohesion to the new immigrants in their journey from th e squatter huts to the concrete jungle, from being strangers in a strange land to full members of the emerging industrial society.
The rise of Wong Tai Sin in Hong Kong during the 1950s and 1960 s was not an isolated event. Rather, the Buddhists, Daoists, Catholics an d Protestants all gained large numbers of new adherents. The Catholics have kept the longest series of statistics. On the eve of the Japanese invasion , there were only 20 000 Catholics in Hong Kong. By the mid 1960s, there were over 200 000, a tenfold increase during the 1950s and 1960s. Critics at the time alleged that many Catholics were "eating" their religion rather than believing in it. Indeed, many people joined the church to receive aid
RELIGION IN HONG KONG HISTORY 4
packages donated by foreign Catholic charities, and have been described as flour Christians; but many others did take their faith very seriously and never lapsed from it.
With an unprecedented concentratio n o f religious personnel i n the crowded and decrepi t streets of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, one' s chances of encountering religion was enhanced. The churches offered, no t only education and social services, but also the occasions for people to meet one another an d establish social networks. The new immigrants fro m neighbouring Guangdong or further north in China often arrived as single persons or individual families in Hong Kong, with few friends or relatives and without the community that they had back home. Many of them had experienced unspeakable privations and trials during eight years of Japanese invasion and four years of civil war, which challenged whatever values and beliefs they might have held before. Their sense of loss and of emptiness called for spiritual solace and social intercourse. Religious doctrines could fill the spiritual vacuum, while religious assemblies provided the opportunity for community . Most people living in Hong Kong at the time were in a similarly desperate situation, and there were not many alternative providers of help. Since the religious personnel themselves were very often i n the same boat, and were inclined by both conviction and training to offer tha t help, their organizations quickly became the framework in which hundreds of thousands found personal contacts along with spiritual solace. In this way, the Buddhists, Daoist s an d Christian s contribute d t o the immigrants ' building of their own society in the new Hong Kong.
The 1950s and 1960s was when the industrial economy took off. Labour intensive manufacturing for the export market created jobs and wealth. The mid-century immigrant s worked very< hard and earned only exploitativ e wages; nevertheless, as the economy grew, standards of living did rise for the majority of the people. After the Star Ferry riots of 1966, the Hong Kong government began to increase rapidly year after year public spending on education, medical care, housing and social welfare. As the children of the mid-century immigrant s gre w u p durin g th e 1960s , those wh o wer e academically inclined an d whose families could afford i t all finishe d secondary school; a smaller number went on to complete tertiary education. These young people found fruitfu l employmen t in trade and industry, the professions an d the civil service, and formed Hon g Kong's new middl e class. In Hong Kong, schooling was the main ladder of success in society. The highly competitive Secondary School Entrance Examination enable d many children from poor families to attend the best secondary schools with government support (by the 1970, as secondary education became more and more accessible, the government introduced the Grants and Loans scheme for university students, which made it possible for many young people from working class families to attend the local universities). Among students who completed secondary school during the 1950 s and 1960s , nearly half had attended schools run by the Catholic or Protestant churches, and many of them became Christians. The emergence of the new middle class was to a large extent related to the church schools. The Buddhists and Daoists joined the education enterprise somewhat later, and also made their marks.
Religious activitie s ma y be divided into the categories o f liturgica l worship, spiritual guidance, community service , and social action arisin g from religious convictions. During the 1940s to 1960s, religious activities in Hong Kong were mainly worship and service. The service provided by organized religio n ofte n too k the form o f paternalistic charities . Wha t guidance there was tended to emphasize religious dogmas and was littl e informed b y social or psychological analysis . Social consciousness an d social action by and large had not yet made their appearance.

Organized Religion and Social Change
The changes of the 1970s transformed Hong Kong from an anthill of three million rootless immigrants in a colonial port into a metropolis with a modern society and economic system. This was the result of economic development, government policies, and the coming of age of the post-war generation. A number of religious groups also played catalytic roles in this process.
Among the mid-century immigrants, it was common for parents to tell their children that Hong Kong was British territory where they were aliens living on sufferance, an d had to accept anything as their lot. Hong Kong was only a refuge, not a home. But the younger generation who grew up soon realized that Hong Kong was the only society which they really knew. As they felt that they belonged in Hong Kong, their expectations also rose; they began to challenge the colonial set up, the capitalist exploitations, and traditional patriarchal authority. The 1970s was the era of peaceful protests by Hong Kong citizens for a better society.
These peaceful protests began with the Chinese Language movement. This wa s followe d b y th e Diaoyuta i movement , th e anti-corruptio n movement, an d a series o f strike s aimed at protecting th e rights an d improving the treatment of employees. These protests were organized by university students , school teachers, Christian social reformers, socia l workers, nurses, and labour unionists. They were peaceful, self-disciplined ,
RELIGION IN HONG KONG HISTORY 5
targeted and orderly movements. At first, the colonial authorities tried to repress them ; bu t soo n th e governmen t bega n t o mak e meaningfu l concessions. Over the decade, collective action from differen t sector s of society gradually changed the face of Hong Kong society and the mode of governance of the authorities. The people gained substantive improvements in their lives, and even more important, earned the social space where they could openly and collectively expres s their discontent with governmen t policies an d action s an d deman d changes . Hong Kon g evolved fro m a
'subject society' into a 'civil society.'
Like most people of their generation, the religious leaders during the 1960s and 1970s tended to be conservative and subservient to authority, and would not take part in social protests. But, from the late 1960s onwards, a number of religious groups (mostly Christians, but also some Buddhists) took on new directions with their sense of worldly mission. Many among Christian clerg y an d laity were inspired b y international movement s o f church renewal, and challenged by Hong Kong's socia l problems, to go beyond traditional charitabl e works. They wer e no longer content wit h providing free food an d medicine, but wanted to work for fundamenta l change towards social justice and peace. These Christians (and graduates of Christian schools who were not baptized) threw themselves into labour movements and community organizations. There were members of clergy who cast off thei r religious habits to live and work among the poores t citizens in the byways and tenements, in leaky houseboats or under road bridges. Many more students, teachers, social workers, nurses, doctors and members of other occupations continued in their jobs but volunteered their time and energy to take part in community work, in an effort t o "witness their faith" an d to help "conscientize " the people. These Christians an d Buddhists led or took part in the protest movements of the 1970s and 1980s, despite the criticism of more conservative elements of society or even within their own religious organizations.23
The civil society , which arose in Hong Kong during th e 1970s , gradually came to recognize that social action also could be a form of religious activity. Along with worship, guidance and the service enterprises, social action could be a legitimate and reasonable expression of a person's religious faith. Groups like the Hong Kong Federation of Catholic Students, the Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic diocese, and the Christian Industrial Committee among Protestants, became well-known advocates of social reform that provided clear and sustained critiques of capitalist and colonialist exploitatio n fro m thei r standpoint s o f religious faith . Thes e groups also took action to organize labour unions and other pressure groups to struggle for more reasonable wages and more humane treatment for the poor. Their efforts helpe d to bring about some substantive improvement s as well as further opening of social space.24
The 1970s was also the era of indigenization of organized religion. The mid-century immigrant s were beginning to retire. Christian missionarie s from the West, and Buddhist and Daoist leaders from the North, gradually passed on their positions to successors who were born or raised in Hong Kong. The new generation o f clergy had a deeper knowledge of local language and cultur e an d a more intuitive understanding of , an d identification with, local society. But they also differed amon g themselves with conservative o r progressive orientation s towards socia l issues an d social action . As Hong Kon g societ y became more diversified , s o did organized religion. This was true of the Christians as well as the Buddhists and Daoists.

Colonialism and Religion in Hong Kong's History
Over one an d a half centuries , organized religion s coexisted wit h colonialism i n Hong Kong . Since the Christian churche s arrive d wit h colonialism, man y critic s have assumed tha t they wer e instruments o f Western colonialism or cultural imperialism. But the relationship between British colonial rule and the Christian churches in Hong Kong was complex and often contradictory; it was not a simple one of actor and instrument. The following paragraphs will discuss this relationship, focusing primarily on the case of the Catholic church.
The West was not monolithic; nor were all missionaries identical. From the point of view of the history of Catholicism in Hong Kong, the West included at least Britain, the Holy See, Portugal, France, Italy, Catholicism, Protestantism, secularism and other elements. All these Western elements sometimes worke d together , more often the y tried to make use of on e another, or fought against one another, or were not on speaking terms at all. It would be quite wrong to treat them as one single entity.
The context of the founding of the Catholic church in Hong Kong was the struggle among Catholic powers in the West. The Holy See, desirous of propagating Catholic Christianity in Asia, was frustrated by the padroado, the claim of the Portuguese crown to protect all Catholic missions in Asia. Rome took the opportunity of the British occupation of Hong Kong to move its headquarter s o f th e Chin a missio n awa y fro m Maca u an d ou t o f Portuguese interference. 25 Afte r several decades of missionary work in
RELIGION IN HONG KONG HISTORY 5
China, Rom e foun d th e French claim s o f patronage t o be even mor e irksome, since the French government consistently exploited the 'missionary incidents' to squeeze more concessions from the Qing, hurting both China and the church. Rome, as well as the Catholic church in Hong Kong, which was headed by Italian missionaries, attempted time and again during the late Qing and early Republic period to establish diplomatic relations between China an d the Holy See , so as to free Catholi c missions fro m Frenc h government exploitation.26 On e could say that in the circumstances of the nineteenth century, the Catholic church unavoidably became involved with the various imperialist powers in order to further its religious mission, but at the same time tried to secure its own living space between the spheres of the Western empires.
During the nineteenth century, the backbone of the Catholic church in Hong Kong was made up of the Italian priests of the Milan mission, the Italian nuns of the Canossa mission, and the French nuns of St. Paul, who were supported by a small Chinese clergy. Missionaries from Britain or other British territories did not play any significant part. In Europe, there were longstanding conflicts between Italy and the great powers. After Italian unification i n 1870 , the Italian governmen t an d the Vatican remaine d enemies and refused to recognize each other. Hence, the Catholic church in Hong Kong was the mission that had the least powerful political patronage. From the beginning, the Catholic church in Hong Kong and the colonial state ha d a n unstead y relationshi p tha t fluctuate d betwee n limite d cooperation an d disagreement. The church needed British rule in Hon g Kong, otherwise it would not have been allowe d t o exist by the Qin g authorities. On the other hand, the Catholic missionaries had little trust for the British officials wh o were Protestants, secularists or liberals.27 Bisho p Raimondi quarrelled with the Hong Kong government for many years over the issue of secular versus religious education in government aided schools, and refused t o accep t an y fundin g formul a tha t he believed woul d b e detrimental to the religious upbringing of his students. 28 Although in a British colony, to have priests from English-speaking countries working in the mission obviously would be convenient, it was not until the 1920s, after Ireland had secured Home Rule from the United Kingdom, that the Catholic church invited Irish Jesuits to establish Ricci Hall at Hong Kong University, and eventually also to run the Wah Yan secondary schools. 29 From these examples, it is evidently unhistorical to assume that since the British colonial officials and Italian missionaries all came from the West, that they were all the same kind of people and had identical interests and aims. To be sure, the Italian missionaries in nineteenth century Hong Kong could not have opposed British colonial rule. Some of them also exhibited arrogant and Eurocentric behaviour. But that did not mean they all supported Britis h colonialism or every policy of the colonial government. Furthermore, many Western societies by mid-nineteenth century enjoyed diversity of thought and expression; even missionaries who were the same nationality a s the colonial officials di d not necessarily shar e their values and aspirations . Conflicts o f beliefs an d goal s als o existed betwee n Protestan t Britis h missionaries and government officials. James Legge was a case in point. Coming from a Nonconformist background , he was a minority both in Britain and in Hong Kong; despite his service as a missionary and education official i n Hong Kong, he had significant disagreement s wit h his fello w British missionaries as well as traders and officials.30
Just as the West was not monolithic, the church also did not remain static over one and a half centuries. Nineteenth-century Catholicism was constantly on the defensive in the West against the impacts of scientism and the French Revolution . Consequently , i t turned inward s an d becam e increasingly conservative in both dogma and liturgy. In both Europe and the mission areas, it focused on the sacraments and charitable works, and mostly avoided worldly issues. Organizationally, it stressed clerical authority. These tendencies were all the more pronounced in the mission areas. European missionaries took for granted that only they were qualified to represent the church. In the missions, the priests and nuns from the West enjoyed muc h higher status and power than the native priests and nuns. Among the laity, ranking depended on length of membership in the church, and people were treated unequally. Those who had been Catholics for generations, such as the Macanese were trusted to adhere to the faith more correctly and firmly, and ranked above new converts such as the Hakkas from Guangdong. In the nineteenth-century Hong Kong Catholic church, Italian or other Western priests and nuns ranked higher than local ones; European, Portuguese and Chinese Catholics were organized into different group s and attended mass separately.31 Suc h arrangements meshed with the racial discrimination and segregation of colonialism; but their origins were not so much the colonial rule as the insistence of a defensive church on the integrity and purity of its inherited dogma. There were many causes for the unjust and unreasonable practices of the church in the early generations; colonialism was only one of those causes.
Early i n th e twentiet h century , th e Vatica n bega n t o mak e an d implement policies for localization, and to consecrate local bishops. In the 1920s, Archbishop Costantin i was sent to China to take the first step s towards establishing a hierarchy of Chinese bishops. These moves were
RELIGION I N HON G KON G HISTOR Y 5
opposed by the French missionaries who formed the majority o f Catholic missionaries in China, and by the French government. It was the church in Hong Kon g tha t provide d th e loca l organizationa l suppor t fo r th e implementation o f the Roman policy, which eventually freed Chines e Catholicism from French imperialism.32
The Anglican church in Hong Kong also played its unique historical role. During th e Japanese invasion , Bisho p Ronal d Hal l ordaine d th e Reverend Florence Lee as a priest. This was the first female ordination in the Western church, a major step for gende r equality . Although thi s ordination wa s se t asid e by Canterbur y afte r th e war, nowadays i t is recognized as the first such ordination in the world.33 In the early postwar years Bishop Hall, as the leader of the British missionaries in Hong Kong, was very sympathetic to the leftist organizations and their activities, and was instrumental in the founding of the Mongkok Workers' Children's School, much to the chagrin of British officials and traders.34
During th e 1960 s an d 1970s , inspire d b y th e Catholi c renewa l movement of the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic church in Hong Kong basically completed the process of indigenization, which was in tune with the general development of Hong Kong society from th e 1960 s to 1980s. The other Christia n churche s underwent paralle l developments . Around th e world durin g th e past fe w decades , the Catholics an d th e mainline Protestant churches have shed much of their former conservatism, and have become muc h more open an d tolerant in their doctrines an d liturgies. They have become less Eurocentric and more diversified wit h indigenous characteristics . A t th e sam e time , Christian s o f variou s denominations, starting from their religious convictions, have worked side by side with other members of society for justice, peace, human rights and human dignity . In Hong Kong, these social actions of religious witnes s began in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and served to prod the Hong Kong government to reform itself. They also were catalytic in the evolution of Hong Kong as a diversified, free and decolonizing civil society.
The churches in Hong Kong worked with the government and accepted its subsidies to provide education, medical care and social welfare, following the general policies of the government. At the same time, some church groups took the initiative to open many new areas of service overlooked or neglected by the government, and eventually dragged the government along to provide such services. Yet other church groups took critical positions on government policies and organized mass protest movements. It is evident that church-state relations during the British colonial period were complex and diverse, and was not a simple one of instrumentation.



The Sunday Rest Issue in Nineteenth Century Hong Kong
Louis Ha
Holidays, although they provide the pleasure of being free from work, have often touched on religious, cultural, economic and politically sensitive issues when they involve edicts which allow or disallow labour. Much skill and political wisdom i s needed to launch a new holiday that is generally accepted by inhabitants. By government decision, the Birthday of Buddha was added as a holiday in Hong Kong starting from 1999. The decision was well considered, and welcomed by inhabitants for several reasons. Firstly, Buddhism had been integrated into Hong Kong culture and it was natural to have some kind of birthday celebration on that day; secondly, there was the political wish of China to make Hong Kong more Chinese and to balance the many existing holidays connected to Christianity which was regarded as Western; thirdly, the new holiday was within the usual quota of annual holidays enjoyed b y Hong Kong people which meant no extra financia l burden needed to be borne by anyone.1 Finally , the friendly relationshi p between different religious communities in Hong Kong meant the addition of the new holiday was not contentious.
In other places and other times, however, matters concerning holiday legislation have been controversial. For example, in European countries and Canada, Sunday legislation and whether or not to allow Sunday shopping has been debated for a long time.2 In Hong Kong, although Sunday rest is commonly accepte d an d expected by most people, there is no genera l prohibition on Sunday labour. In fact, starting from as early as 1875, all Sundays were prescribed by law as holidays and regarded as dies non in Hong Kong.3 But, while government departments, educational institutions, banking, buildin g an d tradin g companie s ar e closed, shoppin g malls , markets, restaurants , hotel s an d entertainmen t place s ar e open , an d transportation is running. The mix is a kind of hybrid of Sunday rest and Sunday labour, the origin of which can be traced back to the early years of the British colony.
The Early Years
To build houses and roads as quickly as possible in the early years of the colony, Sunday labour was a common practice. Only the few privileged westerners enjoyed a real Sunday rest . The first argument concerning Sunday rest began with a letter to the editor of the Friend of China published on 24 April 1844 . The writer cynically argued that Hong Kong was not a British colony because the government had not enforced the British law of Sabbath.4 One month later, another letter pointed out that 200 workers were employed by the government to dig on Sundays, probably levelling sites for building, causing great nuisance to the nearby chapel where the colonial chaplain preached. The argument was that the government was inconsistent in allowing Sunday labour while paying a chaplain to preach the Bible that forbids suc h practice. 5 The colonial chaplain was therefore blamed fo r neglecting hi s duty to promote the observance o f the Sabbath in Hong Kong.6 Th e wish of the letter-writers was to transplant the British system of Sunday observance to Hong Kong. The government certainly did not find it convenient to do so. Its position regarding labour was that of an employer among so many others. However, it agreed to give orders to government departments to observe Sunday rest, leaving the remainder of the society to the conscience of individual employers. To wash its hands of this matter, the government published for general information a n order to the Survey General dated 28 June 1844:
with a view to a better observance of Sunday throughout the Colony, that all Europeans in the service ... be thereby afforded an opportunity of attending Divine Service. In all contracts made in future ... Sunday is omitted in calculating the time necessary for the completion of the work contracted for.7
In additio n t o the Sunda y holiday , th e government late r extende d it s generosity to cover another half day of rest and declared all public office s closed o n Saturday afternoon s startin g from 2 9 April 1866 , except th e General Post Office.8 Th e government, however, did not care too much about whether the people or its employees really took the Sunday rest. On 16 October 1856 , a government notification show s that, despite clea r instructions, the Sunday rest was not observed completely in the government departments.
Whereas it has been represented to His Excellency the Governor that certain Government works are conducted on Sundays, His Excellency has instructed the responsible authorities to take such measures as shall prevent the desecration of that day in such respect; and as regards works carried on by private persons, His Excellency recommends to all Christian inhabitants, that the contracts with the natives shal l be such as may prevent the employment of workmen or labourers on the Sabbath day.9
The defenders o f Sunday labour argue d amon g others that keepin g restaurants open on Sundays was necessary for seamen to prevent scenes of drunkenness on the street for a better general observance of Sabbath. And since the Chinese were no Christians, to enforce Sunday observance on them and to suspend their work, which was usually paid by day, would be unjust, unwise an d woul d practically encourag e them to quit Hong Kon g b y compelling them to observe rules not of their religion. As for defenders of Sunday rest, their intention was to leave people, especially Christia n westerners, fre e fo r religious observance i n a worthy environment . Therefore, Sunday should be kept from the "noisy and disagreeable bawling of Chinese hawkers o n Sunday mornings, " at least during the hours of religious service.10
The Sunda y questio n cam e up again in October 1867 , when Joh n Charles Whyte,11 a police magistrate, contended in a case of gambling at the police court that an arrest on Sunday was illegal.12 It seems odd that the Sunday rest would have gone so far as to merit such interpretation. In fact, the Sunday observance was not on the books of Hong Kong law, but many believed that the law of England on Sunday observance should be respected in British colonies. 13 Onc e again people pointed out the inconsistency of government policy. They argued that on the one hand the government built Churches with public money for the spread of the gospel exhorting people to keep holy the Sunday, on the other hand it licensed drinking and gambling houses, which were open on Sundays.14 Accordingly , European business people als o adopte d contradictor y practice s regardin g th e Sunda y observance. They paid workmen to go on with building operations and stone chipping, whil e the y onl y kep t Sunda y res t whe n ther e wa s n o mai l departing the habour.15 Despite individual effort to persuade the government to enforce Sunday rest, pragmatism was the rule of the day. In the 1870s, the loadin g an d unloadin g o f ship s i n th e harbour , an d th e buildin g operations o n shore, increased drastically in pace with the prosperity of Hong Kong while taverns for the sale of alcohol were open during all hours of Sunday.16

Organized Pressure
At the end of the 1870s , a united force led by Christian leaders wa s organized to obtain legislation prohibiting Sunday labour. On 1 May 1879, a deputation consisting of the Anglican Bishop Burdon, the Catholic Bishop Raimondi, and the Rev. J.C. Edge of the London Mission Society presented to the governor a memorial signed by 110 companies, firms, merchants and residents, requesting the governor to enforce the existing English law on Sunday observance, the Act of Charles II Chap. 7, in Hong Kong.17 Th e effort, however , was in vain. It is true that Ordinance No. 6 of 1845, in establishing the Supreme Court, provided that British law should be in force in Hong Kong. This ordinance was amended by Ordinance No. 2 of 184 6 which limited the English law to "such of the laws of England onl y as existed" when the Hong Kong legislature was set up in 1843 . Both were repealed by Ordinance No. 12 of 1873. 18 The government easily ignored the request, even though eminent people of society made it, because by then Hong Kong had become a busy port where steamers hurriedly came and departed, with mail arriving almost every day. In these prosperous times, the government judged it not suitable to enforce the law of a general Sunday rest.19 No t even the devout Catholic governor, John Pope Hennessy, could afford to let Hong Kong workers free from Sunday labour. To the deputation he could only confirm that Sunday labour was absolutely necessary in all government departments except that of the Survey General.20
During the 1880s, the number of ships entering and clearing Hong Kong ranged from 5 700 to 8 500 with a total tonnage of 5 to 9 million, a volume that doubled that of the 1870s. 21 By this time, Sundays were already prescribed as public holidays. However, competition with Shanghai in the shipping business was so strong, and the workload in the harbour so heavy, that Sunda y labou r became indispensable fo r th e shippin g companies . Seamen and clerks employed by shipping companies worked all year round without a single day's break.22 The situation became unbearable for the workers.
In this continuous tension of work, the nature of Sunday rest gradually switched from a religious need to a physical one involving conflicting interests between workers and owners of the shipping trade. On 24 March 1888, A. G. Goldsmith, Chaplain of St. Peter's (Seamen's) Church, started a signature campaign among masters and officers o f ships visiting Hong Kong. The object was to petition the governor to obtain a system of Sunday observance that would remedy the evil of having employees work without any day of rest. The campaign collected 600 signatures.23 Th e effort wa s made on the part of workers. However, the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, which represented business owners, argued that the object was "worthy of every encouragement, but in review of the many conflicting interests involved," it could not support the legislation of total cessation of Sunday work in the harbour, "unless an unyielding law applicable to all classes and nationalities or vessels be passed."
Again, the petition did not bear any fruit. But the opposing positions of workers and employers were clear. On 18 April 1889, Governor G. W. Des Voeux (governo r fro m October 188 7 to May 1891 ) explained i n th e Legislative Council that, since Hong Kong was a free port without a customs house, the government could not stop work on Sunday in the harbour by simply closing the customs house. He pointed out that the only means to legislate the cessation o f labou r o n Sunday wa s either by fin e o r imprisonment. An d then, the law should be general enough to cover all vessels withou t exceptio n an d forbidding Sunda y labou r o n shor e too, otherwise it would be unfair. H e was convinced that Sunday rest would diminish the wealth and competitive power of Hong Kong, which would cause a violent change in the social condition.24
Change of Mind
Two years after this firm statement against Sunday legislation, however, the same governor hurried to pass a law prohibiting Sunday work in the harbour.25 The change of mind was a result of several factors. In England, the Duke of Edinburgh, speaking to the Missions to Seamen Society in April 1890, defended the right of British subjects to one day's rest in the week. He trusted that in colonies where the people had no votes, the duty of Her Majesty's government was to see that no injustice was done to the working classes.26 Tha t might have changed the attitude of the governor towards Sunday rest but that was not enough to move him to act. One month later in Hong Kong, the British Mercantile Marine Officers ' Associatio n wa s formed with an initial membership of ten, which increased to more than 100 in less than six months. Later, by alliance with the Liverpool Association, the number stood at more than 3 000 and it rose to 15 000 when the association joined the Federation of Shipmasters and Officers in London.27 The association then made some clever moves. It started with accepting only British people as members, making the association a body representing the interest of British marine officers. It also made use of two very powerfu l instruments: its network in England and the pressure of the local press, which was invited to cover all its ordinary meetings. The association was not a trade union, yet it had acquired certai n support an d therefor e bargaining power on the question of Sunday labour.
A series of actions to obtain Sunday rest was taken under the leadership of the charismatic Captain Samuel Ashton. A meeting was arranged with the General Chamber o f Commerce to discuss publicly th e question o f Sunday labour in the harbour on 17 October 1890; 28 later a meeting with the Acting Governor, Francis Fleming, on 18 November.29 Th e arguments raised during the meetings by both sides were later published in newspapers. On the one side, it was argued that seamen were not really free to refus e work on Sundays because their jobs would be at stake. Thus, Sunday work was forced labour and should be regarded as moral slavery, discrediting the British flag and the government of a crown colony.30 On the other side, it was argued that the problem of Sunday labour in Hong Kong was not acute, because it did not affect th e same group of British marine officers ever y Sunday i n the year. 31 Also , European supervision for the loading and discharging of cargo during Sundays could be dispensed with.32 Besides, it would be difficult to apply a law of Sunday rest to every vessel of whatever nationality and whatever design including Chinese junks, which sailed on the coast. The Chinese, having no reason to regard Sunday a day of rest, would oppose the stoppage of work on Sundays.33 The meetings did not obtain any substantial result for the legislation o f Sunday rest, but they caused exciting debates in the newspapers for several weeks, creating certain pressure both in Hong Kong and overseas.34
Eventually, the question of Sunday rest in Hong Kong was mentioned in Parliament i n London. But it was not discussed seriousl y enoug h to deserve any practical action. Difficulties i n prohibiting Sunday labour by law were raised there, and merchants and shipping agents were advised to reduce unnecessary Sunday labour on a voluntary basis.35 The real question was not tackled.
It was an article published in the October issue of the London Telegraph that first suggested the Queen could make a gift to Hong Kong on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversar y of the Colony (1841-1891).36 And the gift could be the Sunday legislation. The idea seemed to catch the fancy of British officers an d things started to move in favour of Sunday legislation. In Hong Kong, Bishop Burdon gave his own push in a sermon for the celebration of the Colony's jubilee on 21 January 1891 . He concentrated mainly o n th e issu e o f Sunda y rest , advocatin g i t a s part o f Britis h civilization and exhorting that Sunday rest would show the spiritual side of the British who could care "for something else beside buying and selling." The sermon received echoes of appreciation in the press.37 Another trivial, yet perhaps decisive, factor that hastened the legislation was that Des Voeux was to finish his term of governorship in May 1891. He might want to leave his signature on the gift of the Queen to Hong Kong.

Sunday Legislatio n
On 6 May 1891, the Sunday Cargo-working Ordinance was passed in the Legislative Council after it was first read one week earlier.38 The ordinance stipulated that;
no cargo shall be received on board, loaded, worked or discharged from any vessel, within the waters of this Colony on Sunday, unless a 'permit' from the Harbour Master has been first obtained. ... The penalty will be a fine of not over $1,000 or in default of payment to imprisonment for any period not exceeding one month.
One week before the ordinance was to be put in force on 1 August 1891, final views from Hong Kong were made to London by people against as well as for Sunday rest. The chamber of commerce representing the interests of employers presented a petition with 247 signatures against the ordinance requesting that the ordinance be disallowed or repealed. Another petition carrying 743 signatures was in favour of Sunday rest; among the signatories, 579 claimed to have been deprived of the "birthright of an Englishman to Sunday rest."39
The ordinance was not repealed. And ten months later, 20 permits for ships to discharge cargo on Sunday were issued. The permits were obtained by paying a charge ranging from $75 for ships under registered tonnage of 200, and $200 for the tonnage of 2 000 and over.40 The permit soon became a loophole for working on Sundays as the rapid increase of fees collected for permits showed. For 1891, fee collected amounted to $5 000. In the years 1892 and 1893 , it became $7 900 and $13 000, almost ten percent of the government revenue under the item of various fees.41 Shippin g companies were quick to propose a loose definition of the term "Sunday" to include only from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. and some others proposed the exemption of mail steamers and vessels discharging coal for the ship's own consumption from the fee or a reduction of it. To make the situation more acceptable, the Sunday Cargo Working Ordinance was amended in 1893 to allow all transit mail steamers to discharge and take in cargo without incurring fees imposed under the ordinance.42
From the fact that work continued incessantly in the harbour on Sundays despite the fee for permits, it shows that the effect o f the ordinance to disallow Sunda y work was minimal. Apparently, the only winner of the issue on Sunday rest was the government, which appeared to be civilized enough to promulgate an ordinance on Sunday rest as well as get the extra income from issuing permits.

Concluding Remark s
Sunday labour, or the prohibition o f it, was like a chronic illness that demanded attention from time to time in nineteenth century Hong Kong. It became the topic of prolonged discussion for editorials and letters to the editor at least once every decade. 43 Sunday rest, a practice with Western religious connotations , ha s been closel y linke d wit h socia l structure , economic interest and traditional custom.
In nineteenth century Hong Kong, however, Sunday was like any other weekday for the majority of inhabitants who were Chinese. They used lunar calendars and celebrated the new moon and full moon with big meals saving a long holiday of about 1 5 days in the beginning of the Lunar New Year. These traditional monthly and annual feast-days di d not fit well with the Sunday rest system. The long holidays during the Lunar New Year specially annoyed Westerner s wh o neede d th e service s o f th e Chinese . Thei r tumultuous publi c manifestations durin g thes e feast day s wer e merel y tolerated so far as they were kept within their own residential areas.
But for the small group of Europeans, Sunday was a day of rest and worship by tradition, and this tradition was meant to be kept to make Hong Kong a European city for their convenience. They were entitled to do so because, according to the mentality of those times, Hong Kong was afte r all a British colony . Western missionaries and devout Christians wer e specially intereste d i n promotin g Sunda y res t an d i n lobbyin g th e government to pass laws forbidding Sunday labour. What they desired was a favourable environment for Christian Westerners to keep their religious observance a s well a s to share the Christian fait h wit h the Chinese i n observing Sunday as a holy day.
Initially the social structure was not ready for Sunday rest by legislation. To compete with other Chinese coastal ports, the mail arriving at Hong Kong on Saturday or Sunday required immediate attention and goods on ships needed quick unloading and loading. At first, the discussion on Sunday rest was focused o n Sunday observance for Christians and on asking the "Christian government " t o provid e necessar y arrangement s fo r th e compliance o f suc h duty.44 Finally , in 1891, the government responded positively to the demand of the British mercantile marine officers wh o formed strong moral pressure in realizing their right of Sunday rest. An ordinance was passed, but Sunday rest was still not guaranteed or observed.
In the process o f debating the issue, Chinese inhabitants were ofte n mentioned. They were presented either as low-pay labourers who could not afford to rest on Sundays,45 or regarded as unable to work diligently if they were not forced to do so.46 This kind of argument must have been intended to ridicule the over-zealous Christians campaigning for Sunday rest rather than to insult the intelligence of the Chinese. At the time, the Chinese were not in an appropiate position to speak for themselves because they were de facto discriminated against by regulation which required them to carry a pass when they stayed out-doors in the city from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.47 This night pass regulation, which was in force from 1843 , was cancelled only in 1897,48 six years after the passing of the Sunday Cargo-working Ordinance.


Appendices �X newspaper clippings
Appendix I: Lette r to the editor, Friend of China, 4 May 1844.
Dear Sir, You are aware that the Government employ a Chaplain, for the purpose o f enforcing command s o f the Bible, and for this purpose tw o services are held by him at Hongkong every Sabbath. This is well; but, as if to counteract th e too zealous teachin g o f the sai d Chaplain , th e sam e Government have had employed, for the last few Sabbaths, in digging on Lord Saltoun's hill, about two hundred China Coolies, in full view of the place where the Chaplain preaches, and so near, that their noise and bustle can be distinctly heard by the audience in attendance upon the said religious services. Would it not be well for the Chaplain, som e of these days, to explain, from his pulpit, that part of the good book which says, that people must not only not work themselves on the Sabbath, but positively forbid s them also from employing ANY OTHER persons to carry on their work on that day? A long time ago I recollect reading something on this subject in the 20th Chap, of Exodus, and 10th verse. But, perhaps, the doctrine is in some other verse and chapter. Likely, however, you may have in you r possession som e good reasons for the above Government plan, or know better than I do how to reconcile the inconsistency. Yours, &c, EXODUS.
Appendix II: Lette r to the editor, China Mail, 25 Oct 1856.
Sir, it is to be hoped that your correspondent "An Englishman" has not the ear of Sir John Bowring, for it would be very much to be regretted should the spiri t o f the Sabbatarianism, whic h is so mischievous a t home, b e introduced here. To compel the Chinese, who recognise no Divine command for the observance of that day, to suspend their usual avocations, would be not only impolitic , bu t unjust , an d woul d ad d anothe r t o the alread y sufficient cause s of complaint which they have against the government of this Colony, and tend to promote emigration from rather than towards this island. Government and private works are all carried on by Chinamen, under Chinese superintendence, and the contracts are always taken by Chinese; and I am of opinion that we should make Christians of them before we enforce on them the observance of Christian holydays.
With considerabl e inconsistency , you r corresponden t suggest s tha t Englishmen an d Christians shoul d do business on Sunday i n order tha t sailors may get good tipple instead of bad. Whilst he would make the pagan peripatetic vendor from whom a good many of the Chinese obtain their food, observe the Sabbath strictly.
Hoping, Sir, that you will oppose in your columns an d tendency to such tyrannical and uncalled for legislation as that your correspondent proposes, I remain, yours obediently,
JUSTITIA.
P. S. �X Of course I am as much opposed as "An Englishman" to the convicts being made to work on Sunday, for I think it as wrong for a Christian to compel needless labour on the Sunday as to force pagans to cease their labours on that day.
(Notes b y th e editor ) Justitia , w e think , ha s misunderstoo d "A n Englishman"'s object-which was, he says, merely to prevent the noisy and disagreeable bawling of their wares by hawkers on Sunday mornings in the European part of the town �X if any part may be called so; �X he did not advocate the stoppage of building work, �X that had already been done by the Governor; and as for the "inconsistency" of which he is accused �X eating and drinking are, he adds, "works o f necessity" and the opening, during certai n hours o f the day, o f respectable an d well-conducte d refreshment-houses fo r seamen, would on the part of Government be a "work of mercy" calculated to prevent scenes of drunkenness in the public thoroughfares, and indeed to lead to a better general observance of Sabbath.
Appendix III: Editorial , Daily Press, 1 4 October 1867.
The great Sunday question, cropped up recently at the police court, when Mr. Whyte contended that no arrest can legally b e made on Sunday i n Hongkong.
On this point it may be best to say nothing, while the fate of the prisoners in the case we refer to, which is remanded, is still pending. The Attorney-General is to be consulted about the meaning of the ordinance under which they ar e charged, and if they are convicted afte r all , they will have the consolation o f knowin g tha t thei r punishmen t i s strictl y en regie. Meanwhile, they may hope, amongst other aspirations, that the reverence of old English lawgivers for Sunday, may do them good service, even out here, in this un-Sabbatarian colony, and that they may thus escape fro m custody befor e i t becomes th e duty o f the magistrate t o decided wha t retribution is deserved by people guilty of the frightful si n in which it is alleged that they had been detected �X gambling in an unlicensed house. In reference, however, to the characteristics of the Hongkong Sunday, to which attention is thus called, most English people here must have been conscious of conflicting emotions . There are Sundays o f many differen t kind s in different part s of the world. The English Sunday, which has been at one period o f our history a day o f th e most unrestrained and joyou s merrymaking, with a "Book of Sports" under Royal patronage to suggest amusements to the country people and laughing crowds on a thousand village greens; which at another time has been a gloomy interval of rampant fanaticism betwee n the recurring weeks, has become a compromise to a great extent, but is still a battle-ground between Sabbatarianism, and the irrepressible desire of hard-worked men and women for the excitement of pleasure, on the one day of rest from labour . The predominant religiou s impulses of the English people give the day a holy colouring, and there need be no fear that in our country, at any time, the Sunday pleasure seekers, however, completely emancipated from existing restrictions they may be, will eve r swam p th e worshipper s an d dethron e th e churc h fro m it s preeminence on Sunday. One by one those restrictions will be broken down, and religion wil l perhaps be the chief gainer , whe n Sabbatarianis m i s altogether beaten out of the field. On the continent of Europe there are many varieties of Sunday, and the orthodox British tourist sees much to horrify him, though it is often s o difficult t o distinguish his horror of the way in which "foreigners" desecrate the Sabbath by their amusements, from his still greater horror of the "Popery" which is infused into their proceedings when they keep it holy. The Scotch Sunday, perhaps one of the most unmitigated evils at present remaining in this world, is quite sui generis meanwhile, but the Hongkong Sunday is after all the oddest thing in Sunday's we have ever met ...
4


Governorships of Lugard and May: Fears of Double Allegiance and Perceived Disloyalty
Fung Chi Ming
Historical studie s of colonial Hong Kong that hint at, or raise questions about, the issue of multiple loyalties have focused on the leading members of the residing Chinese community, with an emphasis given to their dynamic adaptations to changing circumstances and situational factors.1 Despit e the new light they throw on elitist patriotism and leadership structures of early Hong Kong society, they leave certain important features and official views of the governing body still to be explored. This chapter makes particular inroads into the tensions and uneasiness arising from the perceived switch of allegiance of the eminent Chinese, on whom the British ruling class relied so heavily for views and information, and the specific steps of expedients adopted for striking an agreeable balance between their overlapping loyalties and conflicting roles . Specifically, thi s chapter provides a more focused explanation of how two British governors coped with their Chinese aides who had been nominated to various positions on the non-civil servant side of the colonial structure (henceforth, 'the Chinese Unofficial')2 a t the time of the Revolution of 1911 and the early years of the Chinese Republic, and how the y managed t o set up a modus vivendi b y which the politicall y disturbing effect s o n the British governanc e in Hong Kong could b e minimized. In so doing, we will hopefully delve a little deeper into a less noticed aspect of Hong Kong's colonial past.
Over the past decade or so, in the countdown to 1997 when Hong Kong was reverted to Chinese sovereignty, there has been a surge of interest in the Britain-China-Hongkong relations, which led to a rediscovery of the crucial part Hong Kong played in Anglo-Chinese diplomacy. Concepts of bi- and tri-lateral links have been widely discussed.3 However , "doubl e allegiance" has not emerged as a separate explanatory variable in analyses, even though its emergence (even if only in the imagination) necessarily had an important influenc e o n the workings o f government . Th e unsettle d conditions in China during the early 1910s raised once again this entangling question in Hong Kong, an issue that was much less sensitive as long as China and Britain were good neighbours and political friends. This paper will explore the governorships of Sir Frederick Lugard (1858-1945) and Sir Francis Henr y Ma y (1860-1922) , an d ho w thei r personalitie s an d backgrounds affected the means that they adopted to cope with the separatist tendency o f the Chinese Unofficials . Th e focus her e is more narrowl y limited t o what th e British governor s di d an d thought, a s revealed i n documentary archives, and less on the Chinese elites' double allegiance and the political influenc e the y exercised o n government decision-making . Clearly a sample of two is too small to allow any general conclusions for running through the colonial vicissitudes, but because Lugard and May had such contrasting temperaments it is possible to articulate a portrait of the relations between the rulers and the ruled under disparate gubernatoria l styles.
To put the elements o f the subject int o some sequence, in the firs t section, we start with an historical introduction to the colonial government structure and the ties of kinship and nationhood of the Chinese population of the colony at the turn of the twentieth century. Section two discusses the pro-republican rallies and demonstrations that initially operated in a political environment characterize d b y tolerance an d harmony wit h the colonia l administration. My inquiry in section three examines how and by whom the Chinese Unofficials wer e caught in the tugs-of-war between China and Britain, and how the latter managed to gauge their allegiance. Section four illuminates th e British perception o f the Chinese Unofficials ' mi x of loyalties that threw grave doubts on the suitability of allowing them to stay on in the colonial polity as "representatives of the Chinese" who must be "thoroughly identified with the interests of England in the East," at least in the perspective of the British ruling class.4 The forced retirement in 1914 of Sir Kai Ho Kai, better known as Ho Kai, will also be discussed. Finally, in the fifth section, we draw together some of the threads of our discussion with reference t o the features o f the colonial situation and Hong Kong' s metamorphosis fro m a British administered territory int o a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China.
Chinese People Under Colonial Rule
The British came ashore on Hong Kong Island in the early Victoria era to secure a station for the expansion of trade with China. On 26 January 1841, a British naval force led by Commodore Sir Gordon Bremer (1768-1850 ) raised the Union Jack at the area now known as Possession Point, Sheung Wan, thus heralding a century and a half of British colonial rule in Hong Kong. The next year, China and Britain drew up the Treaty of Nanking whereby Hong Kong Island was ceded to Britain. On 23 June 1843, Manchu special envoy Qi Ying (1790-1858) arrived in Hong Kong to complete the procedures of ceding the territory; afterwards the Royal Charter gave Hong Kong a crown colony status, and Sir Henry Pottinger (1789-1856) became the head of the colonial government. London ruled Hong Kong through a Governor who was chosen for his office by the Secretary of State and was appointed by the Crown. Aided by a handful of local councils, the Governor was given considerable powers of decision and action listed in the Letters Patent and the Royal Instructions.
The home government kept control from afar, through dispatches of the Governor an d replies from th e Colonial Office. Th e Executive Council , which advised the Governor on all matters of policy, had been made up of ex-officio members before it was enlarged in 1896 to include two nominated unofficials �X Sir C. P. Chater (1846-1926), an Armenian merchant fro m Calcutta, and J. Bell-Irving (1846-1925), a partner in the well-known firm of Jardine Matheson & Co. The Legislative Council assisted the Governor in law making and the management of public finance, and its composition remained practically unchanged until 1850 when two unofficials wer e nominated.5 Th e two councils had denied their membership to the Chinese and it was not until 1880 and 1926 that they were reconstituted to provide for permanent Chinese representation and to make the administration more efficient t o keep the Chinese under its sway. In 1884 , the Hong Kon g General Chamber of Commerce and the Unofficial Justice s of the Peace were each allowed to submit to the Governor the name of one of thei r members for nomination to the Legislative Council.6 Hong Kong was noted for it s lack o f democracy , a t least a s that term i s usually understood . However, given the sojourner mentality of the transient population, it was generally exempt from much internal pressure for constitutional reforms.7
During th e early 6 0 years or so of British rule, the overwhelmin g majority o f Hong Kong people were Chinese by race,8 wh o voluntarily chose t o leav e thei r homeland s fo r th e Britis h colon y i n searc h o f employment and income. Captain Charles Elliott (1801-75), who took over as British Plenipotentiary to China, proclaimed in 1841 that all natives of Hong Kong or of China thereto resorting would become "subjects o f the Queen of England" enjoying "full security and protection, according to the principles and practice of British law."9 The land and sea frontier with China was drawn somewhat artificially . Whethe r the Chinese inhabitants wer e settled or migratory, of high or low social status, very few o f them were completely indifferent to their mother country, to their compatriots and their problems. Notwithstanding thei r cultural closeness, politically mainlan d China wa s "foreign " t o Hon g Kong , a s Hong Kon g wa s "foreign " t o mainland China . Some of the colony's Chinese acquired somethin g o f a unique status as Chinese British subjects, either by birth or by naturalization. The Chinese majority in Hong Kong were practically ruled by British law and defined by Britain as members of the same nationality in the colonial times.10
Chinese inhabitants in Hong Kong had overlapping identities that were derived not only from the different socia l worlds in which they lived their lives but als o from thei r cultural root s mediated by some sense o f nationhood and common heritage in China. The influx of Chinese continued for some time after Hong Kong's founding as a British settlement. Coming from various localities, the bulk of them were sojourners in a British colony on Chinese soil, having left their home regions to seek a floating lif e elsewhere, but nevertheless without breaking from their original culture. The close linkage with their country of origin and, sometimes, with relatives there was preserved through remittances, often accompanie d b y famil y letters, periodic visits on festival occasions or personal events to be greeted by family members and kinsmen, and the repatriation of the dead sojourners' remains / bones for reburial i n their homeland. There wa s a mix o f affiliations and loyalties on the part of the Chinese inhabitants �X to family, clan and other customary bases of action �X alongside with an aspiration and longing for a strong China.11 When the chips were down, it was always national allegiance that superseded and took precedence over everything else.

Elite Cooption and Mutual Goodwill
The 1911 Revolution, something of a cause celebre in the world press, kept the patriotic feelings of the Hong Kong Chinese at a high pitch. Crowds of people, individuall y o r i n batches , "dail y gathe r outsid e th e nativ e newspaper office to learn the latest development."12 O n 6 November 1911, there was a false rumour of the capture of Peking by the revolutionaries. Without a clear leadership structure in place, the Hong Kong people in ever increasing number s swarme d int o the street s wher e they hel d victor y celebrations and expressed their joy, waving flags and holding high scrolls bearing the characters sayin g "Lon g Live the Han Dynasty" and "Th e Birthday of the Han Dynasty." The Europeans in Des Voeux Road, Central and Sheung Wan were dumbfounded b y the roaring fire-crackers an d the rousing shouts of slogans. The excitement was "running at fever heat." 13 Sir Frederick Lugard, Governor of the time, wrote of his eyewitness account of the scene:
This was the occasion of the most amazing outburst which has ever been seen and heard in the history of this Colony ... The cracker-firing was contrary to law but was so spontaneous and absolutely ubiquitous throughout the Colony that it would have been impossible to check it �X and an attempt to do so in the state of wild excitement which prevailed would probably hav e converted a thoroughly good-humoured an d peaceable demonstration into riots and bloodshed.14
Though being swamped in a raging sea of patriotic masses, Lugard gave orders that no attempt to check the rallies and demonstrations shoul d be made, "but that extra Police patrols should traverse the streets and see that no disturbance took place." He remained in communication with the Captain Superintendent of Police and "was prepared to call out a Military patrol in a moment's notice should occasion arise." 15 In a telegram drafted to the Colonial Office , h e described th e nature o f th e rallies an d stree t demonstrations as "ardently republican," to a great extent owing to "the very intimate connection" between Hong Kong an d China. 16 Although the cracker firing di d raise eyebrows a t the time, Lugard thought fit not to intervene except where the celebrations overstepped the bounds of law and order, as the prevailing aspirations were anti-Manchu instead of anti-British. This enabled him to react sensibly to the popular sentiment.
Canton, which wa s just nex t door, was politically unstable , reall y "looked upon as a kind of weather-vane to indicate which way the wind of revolt has veered."17 On the morning of 25 October, the new Tartar-General named Fung Shan was killed by a bomb on his way home, in spite of the presence of a strong bodyguard of soldiers. Then, the Canton merchants quickly took the lead in reaching a consensus on a peaceful transfer of power to the revolutionaries. Chang Ming-chi (1875-1945), the then Governor -General of Kwangtung and Kwangsi and the Viceroy of Canton, chose to step down fro m office , fleein g fo r safet y t o the British Consulat e an d choosing Hong Kong as a refuge.18 O n 8 November, Lugard sent his aide-de-camp on board to assure the ex-viceroy of protection and help him to take up temporary residence in a house prepared by a manager of the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank.19
How to protect Chang at a time when the vast majority o f the local Chinese was furious over the Manchu regime? Lugard had an answer to this question. On 9 November, as there was a meeting of the Legislative Council, Lugard took occasion to appeal to the Chinese to treat Chang as "a guest in distress who sought the protection of the British flag. " "It is a British tradition that hospitality is never refused to those who seek it in distress, & I have ever y confidenc e tha t the Chines e communit y o f this Colony , whatever their political sympathies may be, will be glad to afford hospitality to a guest who was lately a high official who has done his utmost to prevent bloodshed, and has, so far as we can judge, been wonderfully successfu l in his efforts to this end."20 Early next morning, the streets were plastered with posters [in Chinese] to inform the Chinese populace of the Governor's wish that no affront must be offered to the ex-viceroy.
Much to the credit of the influential opinion of the Chinese Unofficials, but evidently on the advice of Lugard, the Chinese populace did not use Chang's self-imposed exile as a rallying point to create disturbances. To the pleasure of Lugard, th e ex-viceroy "remaine d unmolested i n any way " before he left Hong Kong en route for Europe on 1 7 November.21 I t was later revealed that the Chinese Unofficials ha d come to know that "th e opening of prisons and the liberation of all the cut-throats and robbers" which had led to much "terror and danger at Canton" was the act of the ex-viceroy just before hi s departure. Because o f Lugard's appea l that th e ex-viceroy "should be accorded hospitality and safety in Hongkong," they had refrained fro m lettin g this be known by the public. Had it become known, "th e indignatio n woul d hav e bee n s o great tha t probabl y a n organized attack would have made upon his house."22 On this occasion, the Governor and the Chinese Unofficials co-operated to get things done.
On 12 November, a secret conference was held at Government House. In attendance were the Governor, the Colonial Secretary W. D. Barnes (1865-1911), the Registrar-General E. R. Hallifax (1874-1950), and the two
GOVERNORSHIPS O F LUGARD AND MAY 7
Chinese Unofficials the n serving concurrently on the Legislative Council, namely, Ho Kai (1859-1914)23 an d Wei Yuk (1849-1921).24 H o and Wei revealed that the local populace wished to hold a triumphal march through the streets to celebrate the establishment of the Canton Republic. Lugard declined "to wink at it" because he "could not give official sanctio n to a celebration of a partially effective revolution, while the Central Authority with whom [Britain ] had Treaty relations remained ostensibly in power." In reply, Ho and Wei assured Lugard that the celebration would be "apart altogether from politics." Relief came on learning that Canton, the home-town of most of Hong Kong inhabitants and their immediate kin and even friends, had changed hands without bloodshed,25 a request that Lugard could not in good faith totally reject. He yielded on this count by allowing cracker firing from 1 2 noon to 2 pm, but it must be made clear in the press that the real cause of rejoicing was the peaceful establishment of a new government in Canton.26
In this way, althoug h Lugard was far fro m entirel y relieved o f hi s anxiety with what he called "the state of wild excitement" that prevailed in Hong Kong, he was politically wise enough to adopt a conciliatory approach of compromise and to comply with the wishes of the local populace rather than turn up the heat.

Towards a Politics of Compromise
The pro-republican activis m in Hong Kong was surging forward an d developing in depth with the passing of time. Probably to the astonishment and displeasure of Lugard, the Chinese revolutionaries had set foot on Hong Kong to seek assistance from the local Chinese, especially those in higher positions, "both in advice and in money." There was a rumour that Ho Kai had been requested by a communication from Hu Hanmin, the newly elected Governor-General o f Canton, to accept the post of adviser in diplomatic matters. Two committees , forme d i n Hong Kong, raised a n enormou s amount of money to provide financial help to the Canton Republic.27 Indeed, there were volunteers askin g for subscription s o f money o n ships tha t navigated between Canto n an d Hong Kong . A newspaper report that appeared under the headline "Canton News" (South China Morning Post, 18 November 1911) revealed that some 1.5 million dollars "coming in from all quarters" had been raised and remitted from Hong Kong to Canton for the upkeep o f the newborn republic . The newspaper report mus t hav e embarrassed Lugard very much, as he had been left in the dark about most
of these activities until he learned them from the press, so much so that one
-ma y say that he had lost political control of the Chinese Unofficials in Hong Kong. Lugard was mindful of the existence of the aforesaid two committees, presumably launched with the support and advice of Ho Kai and Wei Yuk who came out in staunch support of the republican revolution on a visible level. The committees attracted suspicion over exactly what they were up to. The need to clear up doubts became all the more urgent when Lugard discovered tha t open truculence toward s the colonia l authorit y wa s a s prevalent i n Hong Kon g a s it was acros s th e border, a s show n i n th e occurrence of disputes over jurisdictional rights between China and Hong Kong along their shared border. On 14 November, 1 2 Chinese armed with rifles and claiming themselves as revolutionary troops crossed the frontier from Chines e territory. Noteworthy also is the fact that on 1 7 November four t o five fishin g boat s drove off th e Police Launch i n Mirs Bay fo r evading the customary collection of licence fees. The boat owners refused to pay and threatened to throw dynamite at the Hong Kong police, insisting that each of them had already paid five dollar s to the revolutionaries i n China.28 Lugar d could no longer sit on his hands. As there was plenty to keep him awake at night, Lugard cancelled his acceptance of the Viceroy of India's invitation to be present at the Delhi Durbar.
Would the Chinese Unofficials b e faithful an d bearing true allegiance to the Crown i f the demands o f China an d Britain upo n thei r duty o f allegiance came into conflict? On Sunday, 19 November, Lugard called an urgent meeting in the presence of Ho Kai, Wei Yuk and ten other prominent members of the Chinese community then serving on various Government boards and public committees, including but not limited to Lau Chu-pak (1867-1922),29 Chau Siu-ki (1864-1925),30 Ng Hon-tsz (1877-1936), 31 Chan Kai-ming (1859-1919),32 and Ho Fook (1863-1926)33 �X some of the most famous names that have left lasting impressions on Hong Kong. Well educated and fluent in the English language, they are well known and best remembered not only for their wealth, but for their philanthropic and public service to Hong Kong . Held in high esteem by their community, thes e influential magnate s ranked just below the ruling expatriates at the top of the hierarchy.
To show his sympathy to the unfolding revolution and the condition of affairs that had arisen in China, Lugard stated at the aforesaid meeting that the leading Chinese were "right" and "entirely at liberty" to sympathize with the Revolution "if they thought the movement was likely to benefit thei r country and race." Lugard told the Chinese leaders that he was prepared to withdraw th e prohibition o f Su n Yat-sen's landin g i n Hong Kong , o n conditions tha t h e di d no t resid e ther e o r carry o n hi s revolutionar y propaganda there. He also promised to resume the British side of the then government-owned Kowloon-Canton Railway, completed in 1910, which he had previously suspended upon the request of the Canton Government, if "the Canton Section were in a position to do so." Lugard added: "In all Executive and Administrative matters, I was ready to co-operate with the provisional Government fo r the public peace and the re-establishment of trade and prevention of famine."34
Significantly, Lugar d blew the warning trumpet by thrashing out his guidelines wit h the leading Chines e residing i n Hong Kon g who wer e prepared to get involved in Chinese politics. He told them he had heard of the formation of two committees in Hong Kong in connection with "Canton affairs." "So far their object was to re-establish trade, and put an end to the ruinous stagnation of the last few weeks, " he said, "they had [his ] entire support." "But so far as they were concerned with the purely political affairs of China, and were aimed at promoting the Revolution," he would consider that "they should not have their domicile in Hongkong." He made it clear that he had no objection to individuals sending their own money to Canton, for he was aware that "the provisional Government must be carried on in order to sav e life an d property i n which Hongkon g me n wer e deepl y interested, tha t th e soldier y mus t b e paid, o r there woul d b e terribl e bloodshed in which their own relatives would be in danger." But he advised that "no fund i n aid of the Revolutionary Governmen t could be properly started in Hongkong, and no such fund could be advertised, or any company or association formed to promote it." The leading Chinese were allowed to sit in on the meetings of these committees, but they could do so only in the region beyond Hong Kong.35
Lugard spelled out his reasons against Hong Kong's direct involvement in Chinese politics. In the first place , he said, "so long as the Manch u Government with [Britain] had treaties remained in power at Peking, and no recognised new Government had been set up, it would place the British Government in a difficult position if it could be alleged with truth that open and public support was being give n in Hongkong to the Revolutionar y party." Secondly, "foreign Powers �X Japan, Germany or others �X would have cause of complaint, and perhaps urge this as a reason for taking sides on the present conflict �X even for taking side with the Imperial Government against the new Party." So, he looked to the leading Chinese to support him in "maintaining a correct attitude vis-a-vis the Peking Government an d foreign Powers."36
In a nutshell, from the perspective of Lugard, there were requirements to meet and fulfil i f the Chinese Unofficials intende d to enjoy the benefits and privileges of retaining council seats and appointive positions on the non-civil servant side of the colonial government. In a telegram to the Colonial Office on 20 November 1911, Lugard wrote:
I had no hostility whatever to the movement provided that certain well defined lines were not over-stepped as regards the public attitude which it was incumbent on a British Colony to adopt. This being so I wished them not to act as though they were conspirators in secret, but to freely consult me, and inform me of their proposed actions and if I thought in any case that they were over-stepping the lines I had indicated I would tell them so and suggest a better course.37
Ho Kai and Wei Yuk were keen to profess their continued allegiance to Lugard and gave him full suppor t in his policies. Ho Kai, somewha t senior to Wei Yuk, was quoted as saying he had been elected to one of the aforesaid committees . However, he had withdrawn from it as soon as he knew that its emergence was in support of the efforts t o re-establish trade and freight traffic between Hong Kong and Shanghai and the other Chinese ports that had been brought practicably to a standstill due to political uncertainty and the general feeling of unrest. At the meeting, Ho Kai made it clear that he would not benefit in a material way from the committee, which was incompatible with his status as a lawyer and a medical doctor. The committee, he assured Lugard, was not political and would not discuss political matters without the Governor's consent.38
Lau Chu-pak, then a Member of the Sanitary Board (later renamed and developed into the Urban Council in 1936), echoed a similar view. While admitting hi s statu s a s th e chairma n o f on e o f th e committees , h e emphasized that the object of his committee was purely commercial �X "to ascertain how affair s wer e going on at Canton an d how trade could be revived." It did and would "keep entirely clear of the present Government of Canton, and be in no way mixed up with politics." At the end of the meeting Ho Kai and Wei Yuk remained behind and praised the Governor for having held a talk that "had done the greatest possible good" and "had crushed the differences in the bud."39
It is apparent that the words of the Chinese Unofficials wer e very pleasing to the ears of Lugard, who strongly believed that his remarks at the meetin g "wer e throughou t receive d wit h obviou s pleasur e an d concurrence" by the Chinese Unofficials. He "had listened with the utmost satisfaction t o the speeches made, and had heard with special pleasure of the correct attitude, and sound advice" given by them H e also felt that "the meeting broke up with much good-will," for they "all heartily agreed" to his opinion 40 His undisguised appreciation for the cooperative attitude of the Chinese elites is revealed in his letter to the Secretary of State
The situation here as you perceive is not without difficulty bu t the loyalty of the leading Chinese and their readiness to fall in with my wishes has surprised me Th e leading men here are looked to and consulted by th e Revolutionary leader s a t ever y ste p I n thes e circumstances it is not easy to sail an even keel, but I have every hope that I shall be able to control the situation satisfactorily and to retain the confidence of the Chinese population in the British Government41
Amid all the rejoicings fo r the triumph of the 191 1 Revolution on e cannot help regretting that the hectic demonstrations attracte d crowds of spectators at hand ripe for lawlessness Shop s were looted and policemen were stoned On e newspaper office, because of its loyalist attitude to the Manchu Dynasty, came under attack42 I n consequence, the policemen had orders to carry revolvers m self-defence Reinforcement s wer e brought in from India with a view to bringing an end to the "considerable amount of rowdmess " A Bill entitled "An Ordinance to amend the Peace Preservation Act, 1886 " was passed into law in one single sitting of the Legislativ e Council on 30 November 1911 , empowering magistrates to order flogging as punishment for criminals guilty of a number of offences including theft, assaults on the police, and refusing arres t Th e all-council acceptance for the bill was made possible by, as Lugard himself phrased it, the "most loyal co-operation from leading Chinese residents, of course including the two Chinese members of Council" who "have not only done their utmost to co-operate with the Government, but have also followed m y advice in many somewhat difficult matter s on which they have come and asked it "43 In anticipation of the return of more normal times to Hong Kong, Lugard wrote in a family letter to his younger brother Edward
The situation here demanded active measures I had daily route marches of troops with fixed bayonets through all the crowded thoroughfares , and adopted a thousand minor performances �X personally interviewed the leading Chinese (with admirable results) etc Th e result is I believe the thing is fizzling out rapidly, and what might have been a senous crisis, will escape almost unnoticedu
The leading Chinese who had pledged loyalty to the Crown Colony were awarded with official appointments in the immediate aftermath of the
Revolution. On 16 April 1912, Chan Kai-ming was gazetted a Member of the Sanitary Board for a term of three years, vice Lau Chu-pak, whose term of service had expired.45 N g Hon-tsz was re-appointed as a Member of the Sanitary Board for a further period of three years with effect fro m 15 October 1912, on the expiration of the period of his former appointment. 46 On 5 September 1913, Lau Chu-pak wa s appointed t o serve o n the Legislative Council in an acting capacity during the absence on leave of Ho Kai.47 O n 20 April 1914 , it was notified i n the Gazette H o Fook wa s appointed as a Member of the Court of the University of Hong Kong, under the provisions of Statue 4 of the University Ordinance, 1911 . Four days later, Chau Siu-ki and Ng Hon-tsz were re-appointed a s Members of the Court of the University of Hong Kong for a further term of three years, on the expiration of the period of their former appointments.48

Perceived Switch of Allegiance
Was it practically possible for the Chinese Unofficials t o develop political ties to the Mainland while in office bu t at the same time to continue in service under the British crown colony? The regretted departure of Ho Kai from the Legislative Council in 1914 is an eye-opener for us, showing how difficult i t could be to serve simultaneously two sovereigns and to keep a foot in both camps, a balancing act of considerable difficulty and delicacy.
The official reaso n fo r H o Kai's departure wa s that "owing t o indifferent health " he "would not be prepared to accept an invitation to continue his services upon the Council,"49 a statement that conceals more than it reveals. This notion later was taken by a local newspaper, which devoted an editorial to the retirement, describing it as "a matter of much regret, particularly as it has been necessitated by failing health."50 It would appear that Ho Kai was intent on standing down in style �X even if not in a manner entirely o f his own choosing. Saying farewell t o the Legislative Council at the end of his tenure of office, Ho Kai declared that "in the future, as far as my failing health will permit, I shall, to the best of my ability, over be ready t o co-operate wit h your Excellency an d the members o f thi s Council in promoting any measure for the good of this Colony."51 Ho Kai died on 21 July 191 4 at his residence in Robinson Road, at the age of 55, only five months after his retirement, and his rather premature death seemed to have reconfirmed the "health" reason for his stepping down from office .
There was a deliberate attempt to mislead the public as to the real reasons for Ho Kai's retirement, one-time the best kept secret in town. The funeral servic e of Ho Kai took place at the Protestant Cemetery, Happ y Valley, on 22 July 1914 . Those present included the Governor, Sir Francis Henry May , representative s o f variou s governmen t departments , th e professions o f law and medicine, and a large gathering o f influentia l Europeans and Chinese. The Legislative Council session held on 30 July 1914 was marked by a resolution of the chairman which was passed in silence: "It was only on the 25th February of last that this Council recorded its great appreciation of the eminent services rendered to it and to the Colony by Sir Kai Ho Kai during the long period of 24 years during which he had been a Member of the Council, his seat upon which he was obliged to resign owing to ill health." The chairman continued: "We have followed hi m to the grave with sorrow; we cherish his memory with respect; we treasure with admiration the example he has set us all of devotion to public duty."52
In fact, Ho Kai was denied a political role in the colonial government of Hong Kong. Lugard's successor , Sir Francis Henry May, who was in office between July 191 2 and February 1919 , decided t o carry out a rectification drive to flush out Chinese Unofficials of dubious or lukewarm loyalty to him. The de facto dismissa l of Ho Kai was all there in embryo well before the expiration of Ho Kai's fourth term of appointment to the Legislative Council. May sent a confidential dispatch to the Secretary of State on 16 June 1913:
I have had a conversation, in the presence of the Registrar General, with Mr. Wei Yuk ... In the circumstances I am willing to acquit Mr. Wei Yuk of disloyalt y .. . t o this Government . While Mr. Wei Yuk still retains as much of my confidence as experience proves that it is safe to repose in any Chinese, I regret to say that I cannot say the same of Sir Kai Ho Kai. I am unwilling to make a recommendation which may possibly result in making an enemy to the Government of so clever a man as Sir Kai Ho Kai. I have, therefore, been occupied in collecting facts on which to base such a serious recommendation and I hope to be able to lay these facts before you shortly.53
Two months later, after having caused integrity checks into Ho Kai, May submitted confidentially t o the Secretary of State to lay bare his decision on the issue:
I have the honour to inform you that, after very careful examination, I have come to the conclusion that I am unable, in the best interests of the Colony, to recommend that Sir Kai Ho Kai should be re-appointed to be a Member of the Legislative Council on the expiration of his fourth term of appointment in February 1914 ... This Government, I regret to say, has lost confidence in Sir Kai Ho Kai ... Sir Kai Ho Kai was intimately connected wit h al l the intrigue leadin g u p to the first revolutio n in Kwangtung: an d he has been intimatel y connecte d wit h the Canton Government eve r sinc e .. . Formerl y Si r Kai could be relied o n fo r information and advice when the Government wanted it. Now this is not so ... Indeed he has already applied for employment under the Chinese Government and was, I believe, offered a post but was not satisfied with the salar y attache d t o it .. .H e migh t becom e troublesom e t o this Government if he remained in Hongkong or obtained office in Canton.54
"Perhaps," it was believed, "Sir Kai Ho Kai's fall will have a good effect on Mr. Wei Yuk."55 Th e connection between the perceived disloyalty and the non-reappointment of Ho Kai is too evident to warrant further comment.
The two governors involved, Lugard and May, were uncomfortable with the Chinese Unofficials ' war m relations with China (or, to be precise, Canton) without their prior knowledge. However, owing to different caree r backgrounds, they held dissimila r opinion s o n the question o f doubl e allegiance. Lugard was a military commander whom Britain sent as empire-builder to Nigeria, once part of the British Empire, where he led military expeditions on the march and became High Commissioner of Nigeria from 1900 to 1906. Because of policy disagreements with the Colonial Office and the health of his wife, whom he married in 1902, he resigned his Africa n mandate and left Nigeria. He took the Governorship of Hong Kong in 1907 only because his wife was well enough to go with him to Hong Kong. His stay in Hong Kong between 1907 and 1912 was, to quote the late historian
G. B. Endacott, "a brief interlude in a brilliant African career." 56 Lugard spoke no Chinese and was not familiar with Hong Kong and Chinese affairs. On leaving for Hong Kong, he was faced with a new political career "for which I feel less aptitude, and from which I shrink more," as Lugard himself phrased it.57 Thi s point has been put well, in a rather different context, by his biographer Bernard Mellon
Nigeria an d Hon g Kon g were , o f course , pole s apart . Neithe r hi s experience in Africa, nor his official briefing before setting out, nor the papers he read about Hong Kong problems and about his heart rending typhoon disasters did much to prepare him for what he called the 'big subjects' that faced him from his first days in office and which would continue to cross his desk for most of it.58
In trying to resolve political uncertainties and put an end to lawlessness, Lugard resorted to the cooperation of Chinese elites and the introduction of tougher new measures, evidenced in the deployment of garrison forces and the infliction of whipping for criminal offences. This military-minded yet paternalistic approach to governance in Hong Kong blended easily with his method of administration in Nigeria where he had exercised "Indirect Rule" through the traditional authority o f the native notables.59 Lugar d did not make the least effort to hide his belief in the "most loyal co-operation from leading Chinese residents" on whom he relied so heavily and for whom he came to have affection an d respect.60 H e probably might have thought of the Chinese Unofficials, wh o helped him ruled Hong Kong and figure d prominently in their management of local affairs outside the formal organs of the colonial government, as primarily similar to the African tribal chiefs considered by Lugard to be fiercely loya l to their superiors i n ultimat e authority; hence his belief that he could nip the conflicting loyalties of the Chinese elite in Hong Kong in the bud, preferably reaching some kind of agreement and balance. The impact of his prior administrative experience in Africa is too obvious to be ignored, as indeed he testified to it in his diary (20 April 1892):
I regard them [the tribal chiefs in Uganda over whom Indirect Rule was exercised] as my best friends in the country, whose advice I always ask, but not as my rulers who shall dictate to me whether or not this or that course shall be pursued .. . it was not the British policy in the many countries I have lived in and seen to rule natives despotically where it was possible to rule them through their own chiefs and customs. Least of all here in Uganda where so elaborate a system of native administration existed ready to hand.61
Confronted wit h the troubled times of revolution in the closing months of 1911, Lugard asked the Chinese Unofficials t o avoid secret deals and to "regard [him] as a friend who could be freely consulted, and who would sympathise with their legitimate aspirations." 62 In return, the Chinese Unofficials gave him warm support and reassurance when it was most hoped for. Though not expressly stated as such, Lugard stressed the need for good faith on both sides.
In stark contrast, Sir Francis Henry May had a long service record in Hong Kong well before he took office a s Governor. He had embarked on Chinese studies before he joined the Hong Kong Civil Service as a Cadet Officer i n 1881, then a s Captain Superintendent o f Police an d Goal Superintendent. He was Colonial Secretary for almost a decade (1902-11) and twic e serve d a s Acting Governo r befor e leavin g Hon g Kon g o n promotion to the Governorship of Fiji (then a British crown colony) early in 1910. He made a name both for his detailed knowledge of the sentiments of the Hong Kon g Chinese and for his outstanding abilit y to handle the labour strikes against the health regulations for plague prevention in 1894 and the indigenous villagers' armed resistance against the British takeover of the New Territories in 1899. Thirty years of experience in ruling Hong Kong had taught him that the elite members of the Chinese community were politically sophisticated. It was written of him in 1938-39:
He ha d spen t ove r thirt y year s i n th e Colon y and , beside s lon g administrative experience and unrivalled local knowledge, he had studied the language and local customs. No doubt some will maintain, however, that intimate acquaintance with local problems and local personalities may be an embarrassment rather than an asset and that it is the width rather than the depth of the experience that counts.63
Equally important in this regard is that the formative years of his life and work in Hong Kong were full of racially offensive epithets and rampant xenophobia. He had been around long enough to witness the anti-foreig n sentiment of the local Chinese, expressed in a series of tumultuous protest movements �X including the anti-French Insurrection of 1884 , the anti-American Boycott of 1905-0 6 and the anti-Japanese Boycott of 190 8 �X which were suppressed only with difficulty. The protests gradually petered out, but not before causing considerable disruption to the British colony. He was away in Fiji in 1911-12 when the Manchu Dynasty was overthrown. On returning from Fiji on 4 July 1912 to assume the Governorship of Hong Kong, May immediately "noticed signs of aggressiveness and antipathy to Europeans on the part of the Chinese population,"64 whe n he was outraged by the fact that he almost fell victim to the bullet of a would-be assassin of Chinese descent.65 Thi s rendered the new Governor, of expatriate origin, politically even more isolated. He had to adapt to a new-look Hong Kong that would appear so more unsettled politically than the one where he had been living and working.
In the immediate aftermath of the 1911 Revolution, patriotic movements rebounded most remarkably and the rift grew between the ruling body and the Chinese populace. Hardly had Hong Kong started to get its breath back after the cold douche of the Revolution, when there occurred a boycott in 1912-13 against the Hong Kong Tramway Company for its refusal to accept silver coins (minted in Canton) in payment of tram fares. The new Governor soon cam e t o th e unhappy discover y tha t H o Ka i wa s "ver y closel y associated with " the behind-the-scenes instigator s o f the tram boycott , despite his later support fo r the passing o f the Boycott Prevention Bil l through the Legislative Council as a gesture to maintain a unified voice, particularly o n major issue s that came before th e legislature. The tram boycott, which calmed down in February 1913 , reflected very closely and in all seriousness the tenacity o f affection wit h which Ho Kai clung to China, something May had recognized for a long time and believed had been causing damage to the colonial government. It was doubtful tha t Ho Kai would fulfil all expectations of being a "representative of the Chinese," at least as that term was understood by the new Governor.
For H o Kai , the governorshi p o f Si r Francis Henr y Ma y wa s th e beginning of a new era. It was somewhat ironic but understandable that Ho Kai who had been bestowed a Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George (C.M.G.) in 189 2 and the dignity of Knighthood in 191 2 and very highly commented upon by successive governors for the many an d varied achievements and faithful servic e he had rendered to Britain and Hong Kong, was unfortunately expelle d from the nominated legislature in 1914 because the new Governor regarded him as an unworthy servant and did not trust him any more. The non-reappointment put an end to his 25 years of active participation i n the public life of the Crown Colony tha t began when he took his seat in the Legislative Council for the first time in 1890.

Concluding Remarks
An analysis of the conflicting allegianc e owed by the local elite has the potential to add a new dimension to the role of Hong Kong in Sino-British diplomacy, which was complex an d unstable, and often additionall y an d inextricably mixe d with interested group s and isolated individuals. The hearts of most of Hong Kong's population, either historically or today, have continued to beat for their ancestral land. In normal times, they remained comfortable wit h thei r Janus-face d identities . Ther e wer e moments , however, when they were caught between the ire of China's Scylla and the Charybdis of their British overlords who were anxious to know where they stood, and forced them to take a stand for that which was right, that which was good, for each of their masters. The crisis moments in 1911-1914 , arising fro m Hon g Kong' s vulnerabilit y t o political activitie s i n th e Mainland, brought the issue of double allegiance into sharper focus than it had eve r bee n before . Th e governor s wer e sensitiv e t o sovereignt y infringements even before they posed a real threat to usurp the powers of the colonial polity. The concrete manifestation o f double allegiance of the Chinese Unofficials was a source of embarrassment, as far as British ruling class was concerned. The train of events in early twentieth-century Hon g Kong is symptomatic of the occasional loyalty conflicts that went with the commonly founded multipl e office-holdings i n a host of quasi-political institutions, an issue to be reckoned with.
Lugard and May differed s o much in personality and background and, consequently, i n dealing wit h an occasion when the question o f doubl e allegiance wa s mor e heate d tha n i t eve r was . Hon g Kong' s direc t involvement in Chinese politics and the extension of political influence from up north into Hong Kong became apparent. Both governors were committed, to the utmost of their strength and ability, to put an end quickly to such a position. They would try and find room to accommodate certain demands as long as the government's positio n was not compromised. If the Chinese Unofficials allie d themselves with China instead of Britain, not only were they likely to go against the oath of loyalty to the British Crown they had taken upon becoming members of the Legislative Council, their function as legislators and policy advisors to the colonial government as a whole would become futile due to the switch of allegiance. Lugard expressed the belief that the political intrigues arising from the spillover of the 1911 Revolution, however serious , could be kept at arm's length and settled by amicabl e discussion. Unlike his predecessor, May was more skeptical of the integrity and loyalty of the Chinese elites, having permanent concern and crisis fear over the transfer o f allegiance . In this respect, the two governors wer e divided in their reactions to people and events.
When we digress into the issue of double loyalty, from multiple sides and settings, we could see beneath the surface of politics into the forces at work in government decision-making institutions. The colonial government ruled under a mandate from the British Crown, and its execution of power was morally justified by its claim to govern via consultation with community representatives. The Chinese Unofficials was a force to be reckoned with in Hong Kon g not just because o f their wealth but because they wer e a n important conduit between the top echelons of the British colonial elite and the wide section of local inhabitants. It was their nominated positions as Chinese spokesmen for the local populace at the Council and advisory board meetings, which adde d t o the political legitimacy o f th e colonia l administration. By their wide network of local contacts and their articulate command i n bot h Chines e an d Englis h share d b y ver y fe w o f thei r generation, they were enabled thereby to get close to the source of power. Nevertheless, for reasons quite extraneous to Hong Kong, they would at times appear to ally themselves with the neighbouring Chinese authorities. In illuminating the circumstances o f how the Chinese Unofficials wer e poised between two sovereigns and how they managed to come out with a reasonable balance between conflicting roles , not once but many times, it has something to reveal about the manoeuvres within the colonial power structure which had to be done behind closed doors.
The resounding events of the memorable 1910s are interesting not only for wha t the y tel l u s abou t th e divergen t personalitie s an d style s o f administration o f two British governors, but also for the extra light they throw on the passions and desires of the Hong Kong Chinese elites and the factors that would make them stay or quit. It is difficult to distinguish, necessarily, between what is right and wrong, or what is good and bad. Although very westernized themselves, scores of the Chinese Unofficial s were intent on playing a part in the modernization of China. And yet, as legislators and board members to whom the governance of Hong Kong had been committed, they had a duty, whether to Britain or to Hong Kong, to preserve an environment conducive to bringing affluence to Hong Kong, and to the Mainland as well. The option of withdrawal, through return to China for serving the new republic, could be curtailed by the aspiration to retain council seats and advisory board membership and, consequently, the pride inspired in the local community. Perhaps the Chinese elite in colonial Hong Kong wer e too complex fo r eas y generalization , fo r eve n withi n thi s relatively smal l grou p there existed differen t politica l orientations an d different level s of allegiance, as reflected in the variety of career paths of their choice.66 Hong Kong lacked the natural ties to bind the local elites, all had different interest s an d objectives, to the territory lik e a common citizenship.
One can say that the issue of multiple obligations that cropped up during the governorships o f Lugard and May can be seen in a contemporary context. Time and again when China and Britain were divided in their views about Hon g Kon g affairs , th e loca l Chines e migh t b e inherentl y an d ambivalently torn between two masters �X in a pattern that was only too obvious after the signing of the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration on the future status of Hong Kong, when new factors such as a vast realignment of power relations within Hong Kong were creeping into people's minds. In the lead-up to China's resumption of sovereignty, when arrangement s were mapped out for the smooth reversion of sovereign power from British to Chinese, this was the experience o f the civil servants, the busines s tycoons, and the functional organization s representing a complete cross-section of the society, ranging from hawker s associations to white-collar groups, and not of the Chinese Unofficials only . At all these levels, there was a test of people's allegiances. Now that the handover is past and the constitutional hnk between the Central and SAR Governments in the context of One Country, Two Systems is enshrined in the Basic Law, the questions of how to incorporate regional diversity withi n a n overarching politica l arrangement, an d how to bind together the whole an d the part into an effective entity, will remain a continuing debate within a living subject.


The Making of a Market Town in Rural Hong Kong: The Luen Wo Market1
Chan Kwok-shing
This essay aims to examine the economic and political meanings behind the building of a rural market town in Hong Kong's New Territories and the patterns and meanings of shares ownership of the market, which is run by a limited company.
William Skinner argues that analysing the Chinese marketing syste m can capture the peasant's socia l life beyond the narrow horizons of his village and the interlineage ties at regional levels. This approach challenges anthropological wor k o n Chines e society , whic h ha s focuse d almos t exclusively on the lineage village, thus distorting the reality of rural social structure.2 Unlik e Skinner, and also other scholars such as Fei Xiaotong, who have treated th e establishment o f the market tow n a s a natural development,3 Mauric e Freedma n rathe r pay s mor e attentio n t o ho w competition between lineage villages is manifested i n the formation an d control of the rural markets.4
Adopting Skinner and Freedman's analytical framework collectively in studying periodi c market s i n rural Hong Kong , scholar s highlight th e political and economic aspect s in delineating th e dynamic relationship s between the villages.5 However , unlike those previous works laying great emphasis on local conflict as a prime reason for establishing rural markets, this essay intends to demonstrate that the formation of Luen Wo Market was not only in competition with the neighbouring Shek Wo Market. In addition, it was also closely associated with a great change in agricultural land use in Hong Kong and the government's agricultura l policy in response to the political unrest in China in the late 1940s.
As the market was formed a s a limited liability company, in which company shares were sold to raise capital, this essay will address the extent of involvement of the villagers in this building project. Attention is paid to the villagers of the Pang lineage in Fanling, where I conducted my fieldwork from the end of 1993 to early 1995.1 argue that, though many rural markets in Hong Kong's New Territories were formed b y issuing shares to raise capital, scholars nevertheless have ignored or not attempted to examine the meanings o f the shares a s property to those shareholders an d how thes e meanings affect or shape the villagers' management of the property.6 A s a result, those studies portray the ownership of the shares as stable or static and that all shareholders assume the same meanings concerning the property. The stud y o f th e Luen W o Market scrutinise s th e process o f how th e shareholders manipulated or redefined company shares as power resources, family patrimony and inalienable property. It demonstrates the dynamics and patterns of shares ownership of a local market.
Profile of Luen Wo Market Town
Luen Wo Market town is located in Fanling, New Territories, near th e former Anglo-Chinese border. It was leased to Britain for 99 years in 1898. In 1947 , a group of local merchant-elite had come up with a plan fo r developing Fanling into an economic centre with a populous settlement . They were Pang Fu-wah, Li Chung-chong, Fung Ki-cheuk, Pang Lok-sam and Tang Fan-sun. Pang Fu-wah came from a wealthy family and was the village representative of the Pang lineage in Fanling from the mid-1940s to his death in 1969.7 Li Chung-chong was the chairman of the 1st Heung Yee Kuk (a significant governmen t consultative group speaking for the New Territories indigenous inhabitants' interests)8 an d the Justice of Peace. He lived in Ko Po village in Fanling, which had been settled only by people carrying the Li surname, and managed a salt business in Guangdong and Hong Kong.9 Tang Fan-sun was the chairman of the 6th and 7th Heung Yee Kuk and came from the Tang lineage in Tai Po. Pang Lok-sam lived in Lung Yeuk Tau, Fanling and was the founder of a Christian church there. Also, he was the chairman of the 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 9th Heung Yee Kuk.10 O f these market founders , the y wer e not onl y merchant s (a s registered i n th e company documents ) but also powerful loca l elite, many of whom ha d chaired the Heung Yee Kuk. They planned to spend about HK$110 000 on buying up a total of 73 plots of land (amounting to 610 442 square feet), and the estimated construction costs of the market was about HK$230 000.11 To implement this extensive project, they initially formed a limited liability company in the name of Luen Wo Land Investment Company Limited and issued shares for raising capital. The shares were subscribed in the names of individuals, villages, and ancestral trusts, by villagers largely from th e Fanling and Sha Tau Kok regions.
The Luen Wo Market was established in 1951. The name "Luen Wo" means "joined peacefully." The market is situated in a convenient location, about a 15-minute walk away from Fanling railway station, where villagers can easily commute to buy and sell. There were 59 stalls selling seafood , meat and vegetables, and 90 dwelling houses and shophouses built around the market in the 1950s. The shops included commodity stores, rice shops, wood and construction materia l shops , restaurants an d canteens, barber shops, photo-finishing shops, travel agents, dancing schools and a cinema.
Besides stalls situated in the central market with shelter, there were also a number of roofless stall s outside it. Most of the stalls and shophouse s started doing business on the market's opening day. Hugh Baker observed in the early 1960 s that the Luen Wo Market had to cater for a more cosmopolitan custom than did its neighbouring market�XShek Wu Market�X in Sheung Shui, and its amenities included bars, which were used almost exclusively by members of the British armed services stationed nearby.12 Later, native place associations of different regions such as Nanhai, Panyu, Shunde and Dongguan, the Commercial Chamber of Chaozhou an d the Fanling Rural Committee,13 were built. At night, vegetable farmers from the Fanling and Sha Tau Kok regions went to the market to sell their fresh and vegetables t o wholesalers comin g fro m urba n Hon g Kong . Al l thes e demonstrate that the Luen Wo Market, apart from providing local residents with a wide variety of goods and services, was also a meeting place as well as a political centre of the Fanling and Sha Tau Kok people.
Formation of the Market Town
The elderly Pangs o f Fanling reminisced that, in the past, they usuall y attended Shek Wu Market in Sheung Shui, less than 15 minutes away, which was controlled by the Lius. u Bu t they were charged a higher fee for the weighing services , and the weighing scal e was inaccurate. Though the y always complained to the market owner, nothing improved. Moreover, as Nicole Constable points out, "the fees collecte d from vegetabl e hawker s were spent on social welfare projects in the Sheung Shui area and did not benefit the people of Fanling."15 These factors helped motivate the people of Fanling to build and run a new market to protect their interest.
Nevertheless, establishing a market town, as in the case of Tai Po New Market,16 was an expensive venture and also probably politically dangerous. Therefore, the factor of discontent with the Ziws' power was not sufficien t enough in an economic sense to draw support from the Fanling people for the Luen Wo Market project . Th e building projec t wa s considere d a n attractive business ventur e only when two crucial external factors wer e emerging. They were: first, a major change in local agriculture as a result of the political unrest in China; and second, the Hong Kong government's changing agricultura l policy . Bot h factor s provide d a n attractiv e environment for the Luen Wo Market to be developed and to prosper.
At the end of the summer of 1950, approximately 700 000 Chinese fled to Hong Kong as they feared the Chinese Communist Party, which came to power in 1949.17 Most of these immigrants were expert vegetable growers and were mainly from Nanhai, Panyu, Shunde and Dongguan in Guangdong Province where there was a long tradition of vegetable growing for urban cities.18 Prior to the 1950s, more than 80 percent of agricultural land in the New Territories was reported to be under rice cultivation.19 But after that, the land for such economic activity dropped from 20 191 acres in 1954 to 16 796 in 1961 while the vegetable-growing area increased from 2254 acres in 1954 to 6172 in 1961. In the late 1940s in Fanling, for example, many plots of land with good water supply were rented to the immigrants fo r vegetable cultivation.20 They cultivated fast-growing vegetables (of around two to three months growin g period ) t o satisfy th e rapidly-increasin g demand for fresh vegetable s in Hong Kong.21 Th e attractive profit fro m vegetable growing was one factor that rapidly changed the land utilisation pattern of the New Territories within a relatively short period of time. In the 1950s in Fanling the average yearly income gained from rice cultivation was HK$161.2 1 pe r 0.16 6 acre s o f land , bu t fro m vegetable s i t wa s HK$558.7 in the same field.22 Th e indigenous rice peasants by and large did not switch to vegetable cultivation fo r two major reasons . First, by letting land to tenants for vegetable growing they made more money from their holdings than they could by cultivating rice.23 According to Lin Dao-yang's estimation of land rents in Fanling, tenants paid 18 1 catties of rice per 0.166 acres of rice land but 350 catties of rice for the same amount of vegetable land. Second, many of the indigenous rice peasants went to work in urban Hong Kong or overseas countries such as Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands where greater income could be earned.24
At the time, after harvesting their vegetables, farmers could sell them through the Vegetable Marketing Organisation, which was established by the government in 1946.25 In Fanling On Lok Tsuen, next to the market town, a collecting centre for vegetables was established. However, many farmers were reluctant to use the organization because it could not guarantee the sale of their vegetables at a good price26 and, at the same time, charged, for example, a 10 percent commission i n 1970 for sale s of vegetables. 27 Consequently, to make more profits, many directly sold their products and livestock during the day-time in an open space in Fanling, now the site of Luen Wo Market. Their profit-oriented action ultimately created a prosperous street bazaar, with the potential to develop into a market in Fanling.
Meanwhile, in response to the unstable political situation in China in the late 1940s, the Hong Kong government encouraged the establishment of rural markets by local people. The 1946 government report recorded that "in the course of the year I obtained approval of the principle that private markets should be recognised and encouraged ... I was impelled to follow this line because of the need for more market, the extreme likelihood that Government would not be able to build and administer them with a rapidity commensurate wit h the need."28 Th e government adopted this policy to make Hong Kong more self-sufficient sinc e political unrest in Chin a affected th e import of agricultural products to Hong Kong.29 At the same time, government officials claimed that "the filthiest and most indisciplined market town in the New Territories is, and remains, Shek Wu Hui (Stone Lake Market), near Sheung Shui ..." 30 The Luen Wo Market project was therefore welcomed by the government . All in all, as a result o f th e government's encouragemen t an d of the increasing numbers o f farmer s selling their fresh vegetables and livestock in the street bazaar of Fanling, an environment for a new market had been developed.
As mentioned, the Luen Wo Market project had the implication of economic competitio n wit h th e Lius o f Shueng Shui . This i s vividly manifested by it holding the same marketing schedule as Shek Wu Market and having no Lius to own shares in the company. In retrospect, holding the same marketing schedule as neighbouring markets is a common strategy used to gain profit at the expense of rivals. For example, Woon Yuen Fong's study in Kai-ping, China, demonstrates that the Kuans who had not been on good terms with the neighbouring Lis, allied with other surname groups to build a new market and hold it on the same days as the Lis', 31 in Hong Kong's New Territories, the Tai Po New Market competed with the Tai Po Old Market by holding the same market days, that is on a 3, 6, 9 schedule on the third, sixth, ninth (etc.) day of each lunar month.32 Similarly , Luen Wo Market was held on a 1,4, 7 schedule like Shek Wu Market, so villagers had to choose which market to visit. At that time, due to the inconvenience of local transportation, villagers would visit the nearest market but not both on the same day, especially whe n it s business hour s wer e quite short , normally from 6 a.m to 11 a.m. Therefore, it is not hard to imagine that the people of Fanling and Sha Tau Kok would most probably visit the Luen Wo Market, thereb y challengin g th e She k Wo Market's monopol y o f th e marketing business. Besides the clash of market days of these two markets, no Lius o f Sheung Shui owned share s in the Luen Wo Market Land Investment Company . On e o f th e Pan g villager s succinctl y put s it , "Everyone knows that the Luen Wo Market was to counter the Sheung Shui Lius' She k Wu Market . I t was formed b y shareholder s o f many loca l villagers except the Lius." The company documents supported his statement. They recorded that shareholders, by and large, were from the Fanling and Sha Tau Kok regions and no Lius from Sheung Shui subscribed to shares.33

Raising Capital: The Trend of Shares Subscription Rates
In 1948, "a suitable site (for building the Luen Wo Market) has been finally chosen on the north side of the Sha Tau Kok Road, a few hundred yards east of Fanling crossroad, the Luen Wo Land Investment Company started to buy up the private land involved," said the government official. 34
To implement thi s extensive building project, a limited liability company was formed to raise capital: 50 000 company shares (500 founders' shares and 49 500 ordinary shares) were issued at a cost of HK$10 each. A total of 500 founders' share s was subscribed by 11 5 villages, and 21 418 ordinary shares by villagers in names of ancestral estates or individuals (see Table 5.1).
Taking the Pangs of Fanling as an example. The Pang of Fanling Wai is a patrilineal descent group with corporate land holdings. As the 1905 land records show, one-third of the Pangs' land was set aside in a total of 115 ancestral estates, 36 but there were only 17 estates subscribing to 475 ordinary shares (see Table 5.1). The largest subscription was 10 0 shares; the remainder o f the estates owned 5 to 50 shares . Under individual holdings, a total of 621 shares was subscribed by 71 Pangs, but none of them subscribed to more than 50 shares. It manifests their lower subscription rate of shares in the name of ancestral estates and of individuals, as in the case of the Lius in the re-development of the Sheung Shui Shek Wu Market in the 1920s. Michael Palmer argues that, due to their conservative attitudes, the Lius perceive d th e buildin g project s a s a n uncertai n an d risk y investment.37 This monolithic explanation, however, does not apply well to the Pangs of Fanling. The Pangs recalled that their ancestral estates could afford to buy the shares but it took much time to call a meeting and have most trust members' consent. Due to these technical problems, many estates, with substantial land holdings in particular, did not subscribe to the shares. For instance, Tai Tak Tong, a lineage trust of the Pangs of Fanling with thousands of members, owned no shares in the company. Rather, buying shares by the individual Pangs wa s encouraged. It demonstrates that the Pang estates' limited involvement was due not to the villagers' conservative mentality but to the structural formalities of the trust constraining their use of the estate. So it explains why only 1 7 out of 11 5 estates of the Pangs were shareholders.
Table 5.1 Th e subscription of shares in 19482

Surname No. of shares subscribed No. of shares subscribed
by individuals in names of estates
Pang 621 475
Tang 944 178
Hau 35 10
Man 78 175
Li 1429 1874
Chan 2 121 60
Others 12 414 1004
Sub-Total 17 642 3 776 Total: 21 418

As for the Pang individuals, their poor economic status actually limited their subscription of shares. This was because, by and large, they eked out a precarious living from cultivating rice, so a surplus could hardly b e produced. Their indigent economic condition was evident in terms of the bulk records of trust members' deferred payment of land rent and monetary loans.38 As a result, the Pangs who could afford share s were limited. One of my elderly informants, for example, subscribed to five shares at a cost of HK$50 i n 1948 . H e remembere d tha t thi s subscriptio n wa s indee d considerable at the time. As the current rice price in the late 1940s was about 40 cents per catty, HK$50 could buy more than 120 catties of rice harvested from more than 0.33 acres of land.39 It cost a quarter of annual harvests of his approximate 1.4 9 acre s of land . He pointed ou t that he and othe r shareholders wer e motivate d b y sentiment s o f kinship t o suppor t th e building project whic h was initiated by one of their prominent lineag e members, Pang Fu-wah. In so doing, they had never considered that the shares would bring in a good or profitable return . In other words, their investments are not motivated by rational calculations of individual gain as neo-classical economists have suggested, but by the kinship sentiment. This echoes Karl Polanyi's idea of the embeddedness of economic behaviour in social relations. 40 This convincingly explains why 29 out of 71 Pang shareholders had only a small holding i n the company�X21 villager s subscribed to one shares and eight villagers to two shares.
As time went by, these Pang shareholders have come up with differen t managing strategie s o f the shares in defining the m as power resources, family patrimony and inalienable property. The following sections now turn to this discussion.

Shares as Power Resources: A Pang Family's Dominance of the Company
Though the Pangs had limited investment in the building project, they have actually played an active role in administrating the company and managing the market town. This has been the mode of Pang Fu-wah's family whos e members have manipulated the shares and kinship network to gain, maintain and strengthen their power in the company.
The company is managed by a board of directors consisting of ordinary and permanent directors.41 Director s have power in managing the market and even to appoint any other qualified person holding more than 50 shares as an ordinary director, either to fill a vacancy or as an addition to the Board. In retrospect, th e post o f company directo r in the 1950 s had not bee n monopolised b y an y particula r surnam e group . The Chans ha d thre e members as company directors; the Fungs, one; the Laus, one; the Lis, eight; the Pangs, six; the Tangs, two; and the Wongs, two. But in the 1990s, except for on e directo r whos e surnam e i s Wong , th e remainin g seat s wer e monopolised by the Pangs an d the Lis. Thes e two surname groups als o dominated the posts of managing directors and chairmen of the board of directors as shown in Table 5.2 and 5.3.
It is noted that Li Chung-chong is the father of Li Cheuk-nam and they come from Ko Po village in Fanling. For the Pangs, Pang Fu-wah and Chow Yin-cheong are a married couple. They had five sons, Hing-yin, Cheong-yin, Pun-wing, Pun-wai and Pun-ho. They were the members of the Pang lineage in Fanling.
Table 5.2 Name s of the managing directors in the company
Year Managing directos 1951-1969 Pang Fu-wah 1969-1977 Li Cheuk-nam 1978-1992 Pang Hmg-ym
Table 5.3 Name s of the chairmen of the board of directors
Year Chairmen of the board of directors
1961-1968 Li Chung-chong
1970-1977 Chow Ym-cheong
1978-1992 Li Cheuk-nam
1993-now Pang Hmg-yin

With special reference to Pang Fu-wah's family, Pang Fu-wah was an ordinary directo r i n the company fro m 194 7 to 1969 42 and managing director from 1951 to 1969. After his death in 1969, Pang Fu-wah's 1 000 shares were transferred to his wife who has been a company director since 1960. One year after her husband's death she was elected as Chairman of the board of directors and served in this position from 197 0 to 1977. Her eldest son, Pang Hing-yin, became managing director from 197 8 to 199 2 and has been chairman of the board of directors from 199 2 to the present; her second and third sons, Pang Cheong-yin and Pang Pun-wing, have been company directors from 198 1 to the present. The following paragraph s depict how th e Pang Fu-wah's famil y ha s manipulated th e share s an d kinship networ k t o gain, maintai n an d strengthe n thei r powe r i n th e company.
In 1965, the company stopped issuing more shares. Of Pang Fu-wah's family at that time, only he and his wife owned company shares. The shares held by Pang Fu-wah's fours sons were bought from other shareholders. In examining the shareholders' name lists from 1971 to 1993,43 a total of 2365 shares owned by individuals wer e subscribed by Pang Fu-wah's famil y members. That is, 1000 shares out of 2365 were transferred from Chow Yin-cheong to her second son, Pang Cheong-yin, in 1977; the remaining 136 5 shares were originally owned by the Pangs (1015 shares) and other villagers (350 shares). Since all the Pang shareholders are lineage members, kinship relationships are considered a major factor for these family members to manipulate in buying other Pang shareholders ' shares . Their continuou s subscription o f share s from othe r shareholder s wa s a strategy for th e maintenance and the increase of their domination in the company.
To reiterate, company directors are elected among shareholders holding more than 50 shares, or are appointed by the directors themselves fro m among thes e shareholders . When Pan g Fu-wah's son s were elected a s company directors in the late 1970s and the early 1980s, they already held a large number of shares. Pang Hing-yin had a total of 1000 shares in 1971; Pang Pun-wing, 690 in 1972 ; and Pang Pun-wai, 399 in 1977 ; and Pang Cheong-yin inherited 1000 shares from his mother in 1977. As a result of continual acquisition of other shareholders' shares, by 1993, Pang Hing-yin had increased his shares to 1560; Pang Cheong-yin increased his to 1016; and Pang Pun-wing and Pang Pun-wai increased theirs to 1000 each.
The company's regulations stipulate that for the election of directors, shareholders hav e on e vot e fo r th e firs t t o ten share s owne d an d a n additional vote for every ten additional shares. Therefore, the more shares a shareholder owns, the more votes he is entitled to at an election.44 Thu s when Pang Fu-wah's family members allied together to support each other in the elections, they could always and easily monopolise the post of director and play a dominant role in the company. When I examined the timing of their servic e a s company directo r i n relation t o th e numbe r o f thei r shareholdings, the result strongly supports my argument. In retrospect, Pang Hing-yin was elected as managing director in 197 8 only after he owned 1000 shares in 1971. In 1977, Pang Cheong-yin and Pang Pun-wing owned 1000 and 690 shares respectively, and three years later in 1981, they were also elected as company directors and have served at this post up to present.
In sum, the case of Pang Fu-wah's family demonstrates ways in which a famil y grou p manipulate d th e share s a s powe r resource s fo r th e maintenance an d the increase of its domination i n the company. Thei r continuous buying of the shares of other shareholders and the absence of shares t o outsider s suggest s tha t the y transforme d th e share s (wit h transferable and alienable essence) into family property, which essentially sustained their family's powerful role in the company. But, besides holding large numbers of company shares, wealth, power and prestige of this family group should be taken into account for its success. Pang Fu-wah was born into a rich family, allowing him and his family members to afford man y company shares. Moreover, his university education and knowledge of the world outside the village legitimised his active role in lineage affairs suc h as implementing the building of a lineage school in the 1930s and serving as village representative from the 1940s to his death. Furthermore, he was also the chairman of the 17th Heung Yee Kuk. His eldest son, Pang Hing-yin, inherited his status to serve as village representative from 1969 onwards and as the chairman of the Fanling Rural Committee from 197 0 to 1988 to secure the Fanling people's interests. As for Chow Yin-cheong, she was the founder and chairman of the New Territories Women Welfare Association in the late 1960s. All in all, their active participation in local politics and community tasks, in fact, gradually garnered the villagers' support, thereby paving the way for them to maintain and increase their domination in the company.
As scholars have demonstrated, the Chinese elite must control certain resources, be they material, social, personal or symbolic, to enhance and maintain their dominance.45 Th e case of the local-elite family of Pang Fu-wah succinctly demonstrates that company shares are new but significan t resources to be manipulated by those in south China, particularly where the lineage organisation and the ideology of patrilineal descent have been so powerful. In Fanling, Pang Fu-wah's family used the shares strategically to create, enhance and maintain their dominance. More significantly, the case of Chow Yin-cheong revealed that company shares could enable a married-in woman to gain and exercise formal political and economic power, even beyond the village level, which were customarily denie d o r suppresse d within the partrilineal structure . The patterns of shares ownership in this family case demonstrated the dynamic process of creating and maintaining elite power . I t capture d furthe r th e diversit y o f Chines e loca l elite' s strategies and patterns of dominance.


Shares as Family Patrimony
Company documents recorded three cases of the Pangs (besides Pang Fu-wah' s family) transferring share s from father to son. But, as many Pangs pointed out, there was a large number of such transfers without registration in th e company . Th e ai m o f thi s sectio n i s not t o test whethe r mal e inheritance of shares was a common practice but to demonstrate the process of how the male inheritance of shares was negotiated and manipulated.
The elderly Pang, as mentioned earlier, holds five shares and a passbook of shares issued by the company to record dividends he has claimed. He points out that, though his five shares' value in 1948 was considerable, the total dividends he received from 196 5 to 1974 amounted to HK$37.5 only. Despite this, he has been holding the company shares for more than 40 years with no intention of selling. What is his motivation for keeping the shares? In ever y conversatio n wit h hi m abou t th e market, h e mentione d hi s subscription o f th e share s t o financ e th e building o f the marke t an d enthusiastically showed me the certificate and passbook of his shares. Based on this observation, I would argue that this Pang elder defined the shares as valuable property not in terms of its intrinsic economic value but in terms of its social value, which manifests or identifies his contribution to the Luen Wo Market project. Moreover , h e does not care which so n inherits th e shares, obviously leavin g his daughters ou t o f his consideration . Thi s manifests the way in which he is defining his shares as a patrimonial legacy attesting his contribution to the Luen Wo Market project.

Shares as Undivided Property
As mentioned, there were 500 founders' shares subscribed in the names of villages and 3776 ordinary share s in the names of ancestral estates . The Fanling Pangs, and also other villagers, have kept their founders' share s undivided since the formation of the market. This inalienable characteristic is ascribed not only to the lack of economic incentive for dividing the small value of shares among a large number of owners but also to its entitlement for the shareholders to bids for a weighing-scale franchise. In the Luen Wo Market, the right to collect public weighing-scale charges has been put out for bids and only villagers of the founders' holder s are allowed to make a bid. Since the highest bidder can get a sizeable revenue in his exclusive right to collect weighing charges and is allowed to pay the remaining (two-thirds) amounts of the bid in ten monthly instalments, the founders' share s are therefore intentionall y kep t undivided b y th e Pangs fo r th e potentia l economic benefits that entails.
The inalienable characteristi c i s also found i n the ordinary share s subscribed by the Pang estates as the company records show that from the 1950s to 199 3 no shares had been transferred. I t suggests that when the Pangs held shares, like land, in the name of a trust, they became indivisible and inalienable property, income derived perpetually from whic h was to support ancestral worship. For example, Lun Sin Tso has 50 shares in the company. Its account book recorded that by 197 1 the trust had claimed a total of HK$120 in dividend on shares paid for the period 1958-1969. This sum of money was saved to subsidise the ancestral worship. Of course, the dividend was small even in comparison to trust land rent which amounted to HK$1638 in 197 1 but, up until now, no shares have been sold out. It demonstrates that the Pangs have defined their shares as corporately-owned and inalienable property, just like the land held in trust, to support collective worship in perpetuity.

Concluding Remark s
This essay has demonstrated that the Luen Wo Market was established at the historical juncture where the lineage villages' economi c competitio n interwove with a major change in agricultural land use and the associated government policy in response to the political unrest in China. The villagers implemented this building project by forming a limited liability company to issue shares to the public for raising capital. The shares were subscribed in the names o f village, ancestral estates , and individuals, by villager s largely from Fanling and Sha Tau Kok regions. Shareholders manipulated the shares as inalienable and indivisible property for collective interest, as patrimonal legacy memorializing one's contribution to community through the building project, or as power resources to build up and perpetuate their dominance beyond the village level through their large holdings of shares, which enabled them to manage and control the company.




Recording a Rich Heritage: Research in Hong Kong's "New Territories"
Elizabeth L. Johnson
Introduction: Research About Research
Research is influenced, perhaps more than we care to admit, by historical and political circumstances. These present opportunities, impose constraints, and influence what we study. These circumstances not only include trends within our disciplines, but also the contexts within which our work is done.
The New Territories, defined physically and temporally by colonialism, has presented one such set of circumstances. This small area of southeastern China has been the intense focus of research, in various disciplines, during the past 50 years. In many ways it was singularly accessible, providing a research setting that was virtually isolated from the political and economic changes affecting th e rest of China, an d see n a s providing a sort of laboratory for the study of traditional south Chinese society. In the period leading to the reunification of Hong Kong with China, growing awareness of its distinctive identity not only provided an impetus for the development of museums devoted to the history and culture of Hong Kong but also led to a search for sources of information about its society and history.
It was the Museums Section of the Regional Services Department (later the Hong Kong Heritage Museum) that proposed that a book be written that would make accessible to the people of Hong Kong the research that had been done in the New Territories. The results of this research were widely scattered, published in articles and books printed in a number of different countries. The Heritage Museum asked that I do the survey of this literature and write a book that would synthesize the research that had been done. In 2000, the Hon g Kon g Heritag e Museu m publishe d Recording a Rich Heritage: Research on Hong Kong's "New Territories."
The book that was published, and this chapter, present my overvie w and analysis of research done there; it presents the results of research about research. The analysis that I present is my own. There may be others who do not shar e this perspective, although man y Ne w Territorie s scholar s contributed their responses to this project. I can only briefly summarize the results of a complex, challenging, and rewarding project, and in so doing I hope that I do not misrepresent others' work. In a relatively brief chapter, I cannot possibl y d o justice t o the richness o f th e research tha t has bee n done.
It is important t o credit Barbara Ward , th e first anthropologis t t o undertake research in Hong Kong, with first proposing such a project. In a paper read at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1981, she argued that information resultin g from research that had been done, and informatio n held in government files, should be brought together and published because, she said, we probably "know a great deal more about the New Territories than we ourselves actuall y realize." She argued that the resulting boo k should be written for a general readership, including ordinary people in Hong Kong.1 She had planned to do such a project, but was prevented from doing it by her untimely death.
So, I approached this project with considerable trepidation, knowing that it had been proposed by such an experienced scholar. Its completion was made possible only with the generous help of many people. Most of the scholars represented not only contributed photographs bu t also read portions o f the manuscript an d gav e valuable feedback . Som e wer e especially generous in reading and commenting on the entire book. I would not have had th e confidence t o submi t it without th e benefit o f thei r considered comments.
It was David Faure who reminded me that we must always remember to credit the sources of our information: th e New Territories people who have, over the years, recorded their own histories and customs and their guidelines fo r managin g thei r loca l society . The y hav e mad e thei r documents, inscriptions, and oral accounts available to us, and have allowed us to interview them and observe their daily life and ceremonial occasions, thus making our research possible.
RECORDING A RICH HERITAGE 10

The Historical Development of New Territories Research
Due to the parameters of this particular writing project, the area included was not the entire New Territories, ceded by China on limited term in 1898. Research done south of the Kowloon hills was excluded, because it does not fall under the present Regional Council administration. This is logical, also, because the former villages in north Kowloon have had a very different administrative history from the rest of the New Territories. The research area was the n divide d accordin g t o th e presen t Regiona l Counci l distric t boundaries, which helped to make the project manageable.
When I began this project, I thought I was reasonably familiar with most of the published information on the New Territories. I found, in fact, that there was far more, reflecting, in part, Barbara Ward's stated concern that books and articles have been published in widely scattered places. Joanne Poon, my research assistant, spent some months compiling the bibliography, and found 375 books, theses, and articles in English, 35 in Chinese, and nine in Japanese. I have since received a bibliography from Segawa Masahisa citing his four books and 15 articles that had not been found in our search. We cannot claim to have located everything, and I particularly regret that I do not have the language skills to include the Japanese sources, or to do full justice to those in Chinese.
The research reflecte d i n this extensive body o f publications an d unpublished theses has been done by scholars in many disciplines, including history, anthropology , geography , planning , sociology , education , ethnomusicology, and law. Archaeological excavations also have been done in the New Territories, but these projects, and their findings, fall outside the scope of the project.
Although the research that has been done was focused on a small region of China, and done within the space of a few decades, I would not say that the resulting publications form a coherent body of literature. This may, in part, reflect the fact that the scholars were based in diverse disciplines and were from various countries. There are few overt debates among the writers, and less building on each others' ideas and findings than one might have expected. There have been fruitful collaboration s among the historians, but not among the anthropologists, although a number were influenced by the work of an early researcher, Maurice Freedman. Their publications result, in my opinion, in a patchwork of information about the New Territories rather than a coherent body of knowledge.
The earliest published research was in the field of local history during the immediate pre-war period. This was done by the educator and amateur historian, Sun g Hok-pang, whose articles appeared in both Chinese and English. During the 1950s, Lin T'ien-wei, Lo Hsiang-lin, Siu Kwok-kin and their students continued in the study of local history. Lo and Lin also began the important collection of local genealogies now housed at Hong Kong University.
In the late 1950s, James Hayes wrote the first of his impressive number of insightful article s and books, recording and analyzing information tha t he had gleaned from villag e documents, and learned from th e ordinar y people and local leaders with whom he came in contact in the course of his work a s a government officer . Much o f his work has focused o n the relationship between government and people, advancing his thesis that in the pre-colonia l an d earl y colonia l period s loca l communitie s wer e substantially self-governing . H e als o ha s analyze d thei r mor e recen t interaction with government during the rapid economic development of the New Territories. During th e 1970 s he collected books, documents an d genealogies that are now in public repositories.
Later historians, particularly Davi d Faure , not onl y di d importan t original research but also trained local university students and enlisted their help in research on New Territories history. In the early 1980s they began the collection and compilation of impressive bodies of information that now offer the potential for further research. One such project, begun in the late 1970s, resulted i n the publicatio n o f thre e volume s o n the historica l inscriptions o f Hong Kong, 2 while the other, the Oral History Project, involved extensive interviews with local people in various districts. This research has resulted in detailed publications.
Barbara Ward was the first anthropologist to do research in Hong Kong, arriving in 1950. She returned periodically, and also engaged students in the anthropology of local society when she taught at Chinese University in the early 1980s. There was a rather long gap between her initial fieldwork and the work of other anthropologists, which did not begin until the 1960s . Marjorie Topley began her work on topics in religion and agriculture at this time. Many of the anthropologists working in the 1960 s were students of Maurice Freedman, whose emphasis on lineage organization influence d others to study this topic. Freedman himself was prevented by poor health from spending much time in Hong Kong, but his influence was significant. During the past 20 years, the topics studied by anthropologists have become much more diverse, moving away from the earlier emphasis on lineages, although som e student s hav e continue d t o examin e the m i n thei r contemporary context.
At The Chinese University of Hong Kong, faculty in the Department
RECORDING A RICH HERITAGE 10
of Sociology began doing survey research in the New Territories in the 1960s. Students participated in this research, and some went on to work independently. Both local and foreign sociologists worked there at that time, doing research particularly on the changes in Tai Po district that resulted from th e emigration o f local people, immigration fro m China , an d th e building of the Plover Cove reservoir that necessitated the relocation of remote villages to the town of Tai Po.3
As programmes in local history, anthropology, and related disciplines have developed and strengthened i n Hong Kong universities, a greater proportion of research and teaching in these disciplines has been done by scholars of Chinese origin, although some also have been trained abroad. Their language skills, cultural knowledge, and local contacts are great assets in their work. In recent years, some have been using the video recording of local events and ceremonies to great advantage.4 Earlier research in these disciplines wa s fairly evenl y divide d amon g scholar s from Britain , th e United States, and Hong Kong with only a very few from other countries. Many Japanese scholars have been working in the New Territories in recent years, but some work was done by them as early as the late 1970s.
It is important to take note of work on the legal and political history of the New Territories done in other disciplines. These publications form a small part of the whole, but are significant contributions. One major work is the book Unequal Treaty, by Peter Wesley-Smith, first published in 1980, which examines the legal status of the New Territories from a historical perspective5. Another is Lee Ming-kwan's study of the evolution of the Heung Yee Kuk, a body that became a powerful force in New Territories politics.6

The Politics of Research and Its Context
Why were the New Territories suc h an attractive place for research o n Chinese society? Scholars' written reports rarely state why they made the decision to work there, rather than in Taiwan, the principal alternative until the 1980s . Certainly there were very few, i f any, deterrents for foreig n researchers. Official permissio n fo r research wa s not required. Distric t officers made us welcome, and facilitated our research by introducing us to local people and giving access to the land records that were such important evidence of lineage and family economic relations. There was no official or unofficial expectation that research results be retained or made available in Hong Kong . Furthermore, th e fac t tha t Englis h wa s the language o f
government mad e this a comfortable working environment fo r man y
' outsiders . Barbara Ward drew attention to what she called "the paradox of the preservation of the traditional" as a result of colonialism.7 This included conscious suppor t for Chinese "customary law," although recent writings have shown the pitfalls inherent in defining and implementing this concept.8 The New Territories government also has consistently recognized the land rights of the pre-1898 inhabitants, although they may have disagreed over their definition . Thi s ha s mean t tha t negotiation s precede d villag e relocations, tha t village s wer e relocate d rathe r tha n dispersed , tha t compensation wa s awarded for loss of agricultural land, that geomanti c concerns wer e acknowledged , an d tha t appropriat e ceremonie s wer e included in compensation terms. The earlier distinction between subsoil and surface rights was not maintained by the British, however, a policy that undermined the power of the powerful lineage s that had charged rents on the basis of their claim to subsoil rights.9
Because o f thi s paradox , i t is my sens e tha t muc h researc h wa s motivated by a sense of urgency, the need to record what remained of a distinctive way of life, somewhat artificially preserved, before it disappeared under the impact of rapid urbanization, immigration from China , and the emigration of New Territories people to Europe. This has meant that more effort has gone into the salvage of evidence of "traditional" indigenous New Territories life than to studying the course of rapid contemporary change, or the adaptations of recent arrivals.10 In saying this, I do not mean to imply criticism. I n recent year s w e have become increasingl y awar e o f th e enormous diversity �X by region, ethnicity, social class �X that has existed within the unity that is Chinese society. By surveying the research done on the New Territories, I have learned that this is true even within this relatively small area and that, although we have a substantial body of information, there are many mor e questions tha t one would have liked to have had answered, but for which it is almost certainly too late.
New Territories anthropology, as published to date, does not seem to show the reflexivity an d the concern wit h voice and authorit y an d th e protection o f informants ' right s tha t are pervasive i n North America n anthropology. Why might this be? Does it reflect th e colonial context of research, in which few questions were raised? Does it reflect the pervasive Chinese respect for scholarship and academic authority? Are these concerns in fact there, but not yet expressed in publications?
It is my observation that the effects of the colonial context upon local life hav e not always been fully acknowledged , an d that we often hav e
RECORDING A RICH HERITAGE 10
assumed that our research areas were "purely Chinese." This is less true for scholars working in the disciplines of sociology, law, and planning, and in those areas of history or anthropology that have been directly affected b y government policies, such as land rights or emigration. In these cases, the colonial context , an d th e impact o f specifi c policies, ar e explicitl y addressed.11

What Do We Know? Divisions and Districts
To the extent that we have a coherent picture of New Territories society, much of this perspective has been provided by recent research in history. This research offers the advantage not only of considerable time depth, but also of addressing whole districts or regions.12 Furthermore , Hong Kong historians have used an impressive combination o f information sources : gazetteers, local documents, and oral testimony. The use of this challenging mix of official an d unofficial source s has made for a rich and highly informative set of histories. Thanks to the diligent work of a relatively small number of historians, and the students of some of them, we have a good overview o f the history o f most of the New Territories, with material s collected that will enable this work to proceed further .
Hong Kong anthropologists, many of them with an impressive command of written Chinese, also have made good use of documentary materials . Those working more recently have made creative use of both historical and anthropological perspectives. 13 Anthropologica l research, by the nature of the discipline, is almost always focused on the village community or market town as the unit of study, with little comparative perspective. Furthermore, these studies often portray a community at one particular moment, and a diachronic perspective i s gained only if the anthropologist returned fo r further research , as did Rubie and James Watson, for example. What one gains from anthropologica l studies is the immediacy of direct observation and experience of daily life, with all its complexities and contradictions, and a depth of insight into the workings of particular communities.
One of the great benefits of doing this project was that it impressed on me the diversity of New Territories society, despite its small geographical area. This diversity has many possible bases: time depth of settlement , ecological relationships and the richness or poverty of the subsistence base, sub-cultural differences based on dialect or occupation, power relationships with other communities, and ease of communication with market towns and the growing urban areas of Hong Kong and Kowloon.
It is my view that there is growing evidence for a hypothesis first advanced by James Hayes and later articulated by others:14 that two rather fundamentally differen t manifestation s o f Chines e society ma y hav e developed in the New Territories. It is hard to present this without risk of over-simplification an d over-generalization, but the existing researc h suggests strongly that the long-settled and wealthy single lineage Cantonese speaking communities of the plains were quite different fro m those of the later arrival s wh o settle d the poorer hill lands. The former wer e well -connected to gentry and powerful higher-orde r lineages elsewhere in the delta, and exercised power throughout many areas of the New Territories by claiming sub-soil rights. They competed with each other for power and territory, and most were also characterized by extreme internal inequality.15 At present we lack adequate information on the lower class people within these communities , an d o n thei r nearb y tenan t villages , althoug h considerable work has been done on hereditary slavery and bonded servitude in this context, primarily by James Watson.
The communities of the hill lands and islands were more likely to be Hakka and multi-surname. From about the beginning o f the nineteent h century they began to gain power, and formed defensiv e alliances 16 that eventually divided the New Territories into a changing pattern of nesting and interlocking groups . The evidence that we have suggests that thei r internal relations, and relations with each other, were characterized more by cooperation than by competition, and that internal class distinctions were relatively unimportant.
Another important distinction within New Territories society was that between land- and water-based people, deriving from the demands of their occupations. Despite earlier assumptions to the contrary, the water-based people were indisputably Ha n Chinese in their socia l organization an d cultural patterns. 17 They were economically interdependent with land people, an d sometime s cooperate d i n temple renovations. They live d separately, however, and were kept separate by discriminatory practices . There is ample evidence for this,18 and the stigma has diminished only as their distinctive way of life has disappeared. Those land-based people who supplemented thei r livelihood wit h maritime pursuits di d not share this stigma except, perhaps, for those people known as "Hoklo," who lived and worked at the margins between the two subsistence types, and about whom we know little.19
One of my concerns in approaching this project was the requirement that the information be organized by district. Would there be a reasonable balance o f information amon g th e nine districts? Would ther e be an y
RECORDING A RICH HERITAGE il
information a t all for some districts? To what extent are they natural units of social organization, focused on market towns? I found publications on all districts, although three are less well-represented than the others. One of the three is Tuen Mun, which is the product of a fairly recent demarcation; here there is substantial information on the former boat dwellers of Castle Peak Bay published by Eugene Anderson,20 bu t little yet published on the land population. Sh a Tin is also under-represented, bu t we have Gora n Aijmer's work on immigrant vegetable farmers an d Hakka hill villages,21 and publications by Patrick Hase, who continues to write on this area. David Faure also includes Sha Tin in his comprehensive study of the eastern New Territories. Another under-represented distric t is the recently demarcate d Kwai-Tsing District , wher e Dougla s Spark s di d wor k o n Chiu Cha u immigrants, but this deficiency i s counterbalanced by the weight o f information on Tsing Yi and adjacent Tsuen Wan, contributed particularly by James Hayes, who was district officer an d town manager there.22 It is Hayes wh o also provided most of the available information o n Island s District, although others have also contributed.
Several other districts have a reasonable balance of information , although in each case this is primarily the result of the work of a small number of people. For Sai Kung we have information o n boat dwellers23 and on ethnic relations amon g land people in the market town, 24 wit h historical and comparative perspective provided by David Faure's work,25 as is also the case for Tai Po and North districts. Anthropologists have also worked in these two districts, on Hakka and immigrant communities26 an d large lineage villages.27 Patric k Hase has published on Sha Tau Kok, in North District, and it is his work, and Fame's, that suggests that this district, of all of them, may be the most artificial, having the least resemblance to a natural region. It is divided between the Hakka communities in the eastern mountainous are a bordering Mirs Bay and oriented to the Hakka market towns to the east, and the communities of the plains, formerly oriented to Shenzhen. Furthermore, it has three significant marke t towns, while the other districts have only one.
Yuen Long district was also formerly oriented to Shenzhen as its major market, although Yuen Long was a substantial market town i n its own right. There is rich information fo r thi s district, particularly du e to the prolific publications o f Rubie Watson and James Watson, but also in the work of many other anthropologists and some historians. Through Howard Nelson's work, we have insight into a small muiti-surname village cluster,28 but mos t wor k i s focuse d o n th e larg e an d powerfu l single-lineag e communities.
What Do We Know? Research Topics
If one focuses on economic life, and its social correlates, there is a surprising amount of information on boat-dwelling people, deriving from Ward's work in Sai Kung and Anderson's research on the more recent arrivals to Castle Peak Bay. As this way of life underwent dramatic change, and now has virtually disappeared, their work is especially valuable. There is, in contrast, relatively little information on the economics of agriculture and other land-based productive activities , such as handicrafts an d various trades. The annual rhythms of rice agriculture disappeared in the 1960s, undermining the associated ceremonial life.29 Most research on agriculture is concerned with the transition to vegetable farming, primarily by immigrants, and it is this literature30 tha t helps to correct the disproportionate overall emphasis on peopl e descende d fro m th e pre-189 8 inhabitants . Studie s o f th e developing "new towns" also address the changing society of immigrants to Hong Kong 31 and the relationships between them and the earlier inhabitants.
The emigration of New Territories people to England is an economic adaptation of the past 40 years that has been facilitated by their particular political status. It is a difficult subject to study because the research must be done abroad as well as in Hong Kong, but it is a highly important feature of contemporary New Territories society. James Watson addressed this in both his original and later research, and at least one other study has included this topic.32 The extent of earlier emigration from some districts is known primarily from temple inscriptions and oral accounts.
There is relatively little detailed information o n the earlier marketing patterns, marriage networks, and market areas in the New Territories and adjacent regions of China, although many authors refer to them, as well as to the changes tha t resulted fro m th e tightening o f the border an d th e growing attractio n o f Hong Kong's urbanizing areas . Some authors als o include information o n struggles fo r control o f market towns in thei r analyses of inter-lineage competition.33 A n important original contribution is James Hayes' proposa l o f the concept "coastal market town" for th e distinctive daily markets that served both land and boat people, as opposed to periodic markets.34
With regard to social organization, one term that we have used almost without question is "village." One might say the same for "household, " except for Nelson's important work on village houses.35 Many writers draw attention to the various Chinese terms for the residential clusters that we lump under the English term village, but this concept merits further analysis.
RECORDING A RICH HERITAGE 11
Two recent theses have drawn attention to the difference between two types of houses in lineage villages: those that can be sold and those that ar e considered to be inalienable ancestral property.36
With respect to ethnicity, there is now a growing body of literature on Hakka people, 37 counterbalancin g th e earlier emphasis on Cantonese speakers. Some of this literature explicitly addresses questions relating to the distinctiveness of Hakka identity and self-definition. Several studies are concerned with ethnic relations, focusing on both indigenous and immigrant
38
groups.
Gender has been a relatively neglected topic, although recent work has begun to correct this imbalance, especially as women's rights to land in the New Territories have become a political issue. One can think of various explanations fo r this neglect: the fact tha t most historical documentar y materials were written by and for men, that most researchers have been male, and that the earlier preoccupation with lineages and property would lead to an emphasis on men. In recent years there have been publications on marriag e pattern s an d women' s kinshi p relation s and obligations , women's economic roles, and their songs and laments.39 The importance of women's role in the domestic worship of gods and ancestors has long been recognized, although not studied in detail. We do have detailed information, however, on women's roles as shamans or spirit mediums, through the work of Potter and Liu.40
With regard to religious practice, one insight that emerges from research is its embeddedness in social relationships, and its association with social events. In disciplinary terms we often treat religion as a separate topic, but this seem s inappropriat e i n th e Ne w Territorie s context . Religiou s ceremonies tha t honour deitie s als o serve to express the unity of thei r sponsoring social groups �X villages, village alliances, and market towns �X and emphasize the social bonds associated with territory.41 Ancestor worship at all levels, from the household to the higher-order lineage, emphasizes another organizing principle, that of kinship. Occupational groups and other types of associations als o have their own regular ceremonies . From th e literature, one is continually reminded that offering an d sharing food , specifically pork, are fundamental features of these ceremonies, and heavily charged with meaning.42
Since many of these types of ceremonies continue at present, it may be possible to record details of religious practice that we still, surprisingly, do not have. There are very good analyses of death ritual,43 but we still lack detailed descriptions of the various forms o f ancestor worship, as well as many of the other types of annual and occasional rites, all of which should be analyzed in comparative perspective. An exception is the ta tsiu, which has been well studied and recorded in various media by both local and Japanese scholars.44
A significan t bod y o f publication s exist s analyzin g th e oper a performances that are an essential part of ceremonies honouring deities and appeasing ghosts. Barbara Ward wrote insightfully o n the ritual function s of these performances and the priest-like activities of the actors who conduct them. Chan Sau-ya n an d his student s hav e studied th e improvisationa l aspects of these rural operas.45

Concluding Remarks. The Demarcation of Research: Borders
For nearly 10 0 years, the New Territories was separated from the rest of China by an artificial border, the nature and permeability of which changed over time. It is now changing again, and this is reflected i n some recent research, which includes the broader adjacent regions of the Pearl River Delta and eastern Guangdong. One such recent publication is appropriately entitled Unity and Diversity*6 an d as such research progresses we shall gain a better understanding o f the broad unities underlying th e increasingl y evident diversity in this complex region of China.
This chapter and the publication on which it is based are also artificially bounded by the terms under which the research was done. This no doubt limits their usefulness, as the New Territories has not existed in isolation, but I hope that they may provide a foundation for building connections with the broader region.



PART I I
HONG KONG AND ITS RELATIONS WITH MODERN CHINA


The Contribution Made by Frederick Stewart (1836-1889) Through the Hong Kong Government Education System and Its Pupils, to the Modernization of China1
Gillian Bickley
Given the feeling (particularly intense at the time when the United Kingdom handed Hong Kong back to Chinese sovereignty at midnight on 30 June 1997) that Hong Kong has played and can still play a part in influencing the development of China, it is interesting to consider what influence the Hong Kong government education system may have had on China in the second half of the nineteenth century (shortly after Hong Kong came under a British administration) and also what the influence was of the man whom contemporaries calle d the "Founder o f Hong Kong Education." Do the results of such a study give any clue as to the future influence of the Hong Kong government education system within China?
Such a study does not seek to ignore the contribution of Hong Kong's first western managed schools, which were conducted by missionaries, but more attention has previously been given to their history.2 And in any case, after the first few years of the period under study, these schools also came under the government system which, from then onwards, has given them a valued and financially supportive framework for their operation.
Personal influence is unquantifiable but may be testified to in various ways. As for the influence of a foreign education system on members of another culture, this seems likely to be related to numbers exposed to the system, including its organization, curriculum and target languages taught.
Also relevant are expressions of motivation and result, as perceived fro m both sides of the situation.
At a time when intercourse between China and the West was increasing, following the signing of the Convention of Peking, Frederick Stewart arrived in Hong Kong in February 186 2 as the first headmaster of the new Hong Kong Government Central School for Boys, and inspector of all Hong Kong government schools, to implement a new Hong Kong government initiative in education fo r Chinese in Hong Kong . His personality an d work soo n inspired confidence, praise and admiration and, on 30 June 1865, he became the first head of the government Education Department.3 Promote d outside the department in 1881 , Stewart continued to be the government's prim e advisor on educational matters until his early death in September 1889. 4 Stewart's position was unique. Never again would a single individual have sole responsibility for the entire Hong Kong government education system, including the headship of its premier school.
Table 7.1 Influenc e of Frederick Stewart (1836-1889) on Hong Kong education
Hong Kong Government A 1 5 February 1862 R-7 March 1878 R
Central School B 7 March 1878R-19 May 1881R
C 1 9 May 1881 R- 29 September 1889R
Hong Kong government education D 1 5 February 1862 R-7 March 1878 R
(omitting the Central School) E 7 March 1878R- 25 March 1879 R
F 2 5 March 1879 R- 29 September 1889 R
0 Arriva l in Hong Kong
R Departur e on home leave
R Replace d as Inspector of Schools
R Resignatio n as headmaster
R Deat h
Frederick Stewart's direct influence on Hong Kong education operated in two main spheres: the Hong Kong Government Central School (of which he was headmaster) and the remainder of Hong Kong government supported education (which included the government village schools and the non-government grant-in-aid schools, which �X as Inspector of Schools �X he examined and inspected).
In 1879, his alma mater, the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, awarded him the honorary degree of LL.D, "in consideration of his general ability and attainments and his success in furthering the interests of education"5 in Hong Kong. A scholarship, which his Chinese former pupils founded in his honour in 1884 , was accompanie d wit h an address, speaking o f "thei r grateful regard and profound esteem for yourself personally, and your most valuable services and work in connection with education in this Colony during a period of more than twenty years."6 After his death, the official
THE CONTRIBUTIO N MAD E B Y FREDERICK STEWAR T 11
British organ, The Pall Mall Gazette, published an obituary which read: "In Dr. Frederick Stewart... the colony loses one of its ablest officials, and one of the most modest of men. He first went to Hong Kong nearly thirty years ago as inspector of schools and headmaster of the Central School, and the very high position which that institution has attained is due entirely to his efforts."7 Georg e Bateson Wright, Stewart's successor as headmaster, asserted that "Dr. Stewart will ever be famous as the Founder of Education in the Colony".8 Th e Aberdeenshire newspaper, The Fraserburgh Herald, wrote: "During his short, and eminently useful career he has done a work in this important colony [Hong Kong], which few could have accomplished in a long lifetime, a work whose influence is being felt all over the Asiatic Continent."9 For well over half a century, a notable personal tribute was consistently made by former pupil, Sir Robert Ho Tung, the first Chinese to be knighted by the British Crown, and Stewart's pupil at the Central School for several years. From Stewart's death up to at least the second world war, he took his family twice a year to pay respects at Stewart's grave in the Hong Kong Protestant Cemetery, and provided in his will for the continuing maintenance of the grave, along with his father-in-law's and his own.
Earlier History of Western Involvement in Education in Hong Kong; and the Continuing Western Desire that Education Should Play a Role in Christianizing, Westernizing or Liberalizing
Schools had been established in Hong Kong from 1841 onwards by western missionaries. But by the time Stewart arrived, the most prominent had been discontinued. This was partly fo r reasons o f finance an d personnel, but mainly because they had failed in their primary objective, which was to train a native ministry fo r th e conversion o f China. The scale of missionar y endeavours had been comparatively modest, however. No early missionary school had offered a western education to such large numbers as the Hong Kong Government Central School for Boys was to do.
From 1848, responding to the suggestion of its Chinese Secretary, the independent missionary Kar l Giitzlaff, th e Hong Kong government ha d given an annual subsidy to some traditional Confucian schools, established by the Chinese themselves, and consequently, the government also exercised a degree of inspection. Several years later, a very little English was being taught in these schools, by pupils of St. Paul's ( a missionary college of which the Anglican Bishop George Smith was Warden, ex officio). Fo r various reasons, successive suggestions for a government school, where English would be taught, did not bear fruit until 1861, when the government adopted the Board of Education's proposal to centralise the teaching of English in one superior government school, and discontinue it in the existing government aided schools. This proposal, written by the Rev. James Legge, of the London Missionary Society, contained various supporting arguments. The school would improve the standard o f English attained, elevate by example the other schools in Hong Kong, and improve communication and understanding betwee n th e government an d Chinese residents o f Hon g Kong. It would als o send out an influence beyon d the territory o f Hong Kong, "which shall be widely felt in China, enlightening an d benefitin g many of its people."10 The chairman of the Board of Education was George Smith, missionary Bishop of Victoria (wit h authority ove r Anglicans in China as well as in Hong Kong) and he recommended the appointment of Frederick Stewar t fo r thi s work. The participation o f these two leading missionaries i n the establishment o f th e new Hong Kon g governmen t education system indicates their approval. In fact, they were glad to see the task of general western education finally taken into the government's hands. On the other hand, the vision that they had for the system was that it would lay the groundwork of westernization and liberalization, which they believed would lead in due course to the Christianization of the Chinese mainland.
Table 7.2 A comparison of Hong Kong Chinese students studying western knowledge, and learning a western language (usually, English) in 1893 and March 1997

Studying "Western Knowledge" 1893 2 357 maxR March 1997 126 694 maxR
Learning a Western Language 1677 maxR 126 694 maxR

R I n all classes in all schools, some would have been non-Chinese R Onl y those then enrolled as candidates for HKCE English Language form five (age approx. 15-16) examination. Some would have been non-Chinese
Like the missionary educator s wh o preceded him , Stewar t himsel f arguably sought initially to bring knowledge of the Christian gospel. 11 Certainly he later focused on the enrichment of the individual personality, which was made possible by education. "Education is intended first for the benefit of the taught,"12 he wrote.
THE CONTRIBUTION MADE BY FREDERICK STEWAR T 12
The Central School
Over the years, various individuals repeated the view that the Hong Kong Government Centra l Schoo l (whic h later changed it s name to Victori a College and then to Queen's College, the name it still bears) was a means of influencing China.
Table 7.3 Hon g Kong Government Central School enrolments 1862-1905

Calculated by adding 1862-March 187 8 1862-end 188 9
annual enrolment figures 4 369 11584
Indicated by school roll by 3 March 187 8 5 April 188 4
information and other sources 2 000+R 2 746R
Indicated by Headmaster Bateson 3 February 190 5
Wright's annual report 1416+Rc. 9 000R
c. 10 400R
The number of individuals on R Addres s to Frederick Stewart
the school roll is significantly R Su n Yat-sen's number and date of enrolment
smaller than the sum of annual R Numbe r currently on the roll
enrolment totals. R Approximat e number that had left the school
R Approximat e total number of individuals on
the cumulative roll

Writing in 1869, Frederick Stewart himself said, "the more the boys are scattered over the [Chinese] Empire the greater, it is to be hoped, will be the good done, and the better will the school and the instruction given in it be appreciated."13 I n 1877, Hong Kong Governor Sir Arthur Kennedy saw Stewart's Government Central School as "an atom to leaven the whole mass of China sooner or later; if a sensible educational system be persevered in here."14 A formal address written in Chinese, presented to Stewart, in March 1878, by "Chinese merchants, parents of children who are being, or have been, educate d a t th e school, " announced : "You r fam e ha s sprea d throughout the Middle Kingdom."15 In early 1884, when many of Stewart's former pupils subscribed to establish the Central School Stewart Scholarship in hi s honou r (al l 2 3 committe e member s an d 5 6 subscriber s wer e Chinese),16 severa l westerners were roused to enthusiasm by the spirit, which this seemed to indicate. It was well-recognized that "China ... does not take to Western science as a cat laps milk";17 but the foundation of the scholarship seemed to indicate that a breakthrough had been achieved, by which, ultimately, western education might be welcomed in the vastness of China itself. Sir George Phillippo, the Chief Justice, explained his own view of the harmonizing role which education could play in the mutual relations of Britain and China; and he expressed the hope that, "a mutual respect will be felt between the Government of China and Hong Kong, and that not only we but the whole of the scholars of the Central School will be appreciated throughout that vast empire ...," 18 Phillippo was, of course, conscious of difficulties i n the relationship particularly of Britain and China, and hoped that, "th e difficultie s w e have experienced i n the long past will all evaporate."19 H e hoped tha t th e forme r pupils o f th e Hong Kon g Government Central School would be instrumental in promoting this new harmony.20 In January 1888, Hong Kong Governor Sir William Des Voeux said (as quoted in 1905): "The chief point I consider admirable about this school is its missionary purpose and work. The young men that complete their course of studies here are scattered over the vast empire of China and cannot fail to disseminate those western ideas that they have acquired in this school and that appreciation of British Government impressed upon them by their residence in this British colony."21 In January 1905, George Bateson Wright agreed with this view. "His Excellency rightly grasped the situation, but I venture to doubt that its full magnitude could have been realised by him. Say 9,000 boys have left this College and one-third are scattered on the mainland: then we have a small army of 3,000 unpaid missionarie s spreading Western ideas."22 Eighteen years earlier, in 1887, Stewart's school had provided a nucleus of pupils for the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, which in turn led to the establishment of the University of Hong Kong in 1911, and the later growth of the modern tertiary sector in Hong Kong. When each of these institutions was founded, people spoke out then also with a similar vision of mutually beneficial interaction with the Chinese Mainland.
The curriculum, which Stewart initiated, managed and developed at the Central School was bilingual and bicultural, with equal time given to the Chinese and English languages and to the Chinese curriculum and western studies. Explicit evidence of his reasons for this has been preserved. Stewart did not wish to denationalize the boys and also he considered that a good knowledge of ones own language (in this case, Chinese) was a precondition for learning a foreign language (in this case, English). It may be supposed also, that Stewart shared the views previously expressed by the missionaries, who had earlier promoted a bilingual and bicultural education in their now defunct schools . They believed that, unless the Chinese boys (whom they hoped would be the conduits for the transmission of Christianization to the Chinese Mainland) had a sound traditional Chinese education, they would be despised by their fellow countrymen and have no influence among them.
THE CONTRIBUTION MADE BY FREDERICK STEWART 12
Quite possibly, Frederick Stewart, also, took into account a similar point. Without a sound Chinese education, his Central School pupils would not be valued, might not readily be employed in China and would consequentl y have limited opportunity to transmit to their fellow countrymen the western education and western ideas which they had received at their Hong Kong school.
Certainly, Hong Kong Government Central School pupils did obtain employment, influence and prosperity in Hong Kong, the Chinese Mainland, and beyond. Stewart's Annual Reports a s Inspector of Schools for 1868 , 1870 and 1871 give general information abou t this . The 1868 report indicates that the employment desired by pupils was at "mercantile houses" and the Chinese Customs Service.23 The 1870 report states: "In the course of the year, 95 boys left school . Of these, forty ar e in business, some as interpreters, som e as clerks, som e as assistant compradores , som e a s assistants in Chinese shops, some as brokers, printers, and so on. Some have gone to California, som e to Japan, others to Tientsin (Tianjin), Shanghai , Foochow (Fuzhou) , Canton (Guangzhou) , Macao, Saigon, Annam, an d Bombay, while 25 remain in Hong Kong."24 The report for 1871 states: "Of the .. . boy s who left durin g the year, fifty ar e known to have obtaine d lucrative employment ... Of those who have obtained employment, 33 are known to be in Hong Kong, Canton and adjacent places; two in Swatow (Shantou); one in Foochow; seven in Shanghai; three in Japan; one in San Francisco; one in Annam; one in Singapore; and one in Bombay."25
The reputation an d influence o f the school continued to spread. As evidence of this, on 21 January 1876 , The China Mail reported that, "On the gate of the Government Central School buildings, an official notificatio n is posted up, couched in Chinese, informing the parents of boys on the roll of the school that the Chinese Government wishes to select thirty scholars of the Central School for employmen t i n connection with the Foochow Arsenal. Parents desirous of having their boys included in the list to be forwarded t o the Chinese Government fo r selectio n o f candidates, ar e requested to send an application to that effect t o the Head-master of the Central Schoo l in the course o f the first wee k afte r th e Chinese Ne w Year."26 Th e following day, The China Mail commented further o n this: "The fac t tha t a n officia l notification , invitin g thirt y candidate s fo r employment in connection with the Foochow Arsenal, should be posted at the gate of the Government Schools [.sic],27 is a gratifying evidence that... our school syste m has achieved a marked success. Established, a s it primarily was, to confer on the native population the blessings of education, the Chines e provincia l authoritie s hav e thu s intimate d i n a mos t unmistakable manner their belief in its satisfactory working. Nor is this all. The effect of this recognition upon the status of the school, will, as regards the Chinese population of the Colony, be of immense value. Hitherto the education imported under Mr Stewart's auspices has been rather deemed a stepping-stone to foreign employment than to the much-coveted posts at the disposal of the Chinese Government. ... the step now taken by the Foochow authorities has ... satisfactorily recognised the value of our local institution, and we have little doubt that its results will be beneficial. This is not, indeed, the first time that scholars have been similarly invited to come forward, but it is, if we recollect rightly, the first tim e that the invitation ha s bee n conveyed in a formal manner, and the solution placed in the hands of the Inspector of Schools." On 2 March 1876, The Daily Press reported that 28 had been "drafted fo r servic e in the Foochow Arsenal." 28 A s The Daily Press wrote : "It must be gratifying t o all concerned that the Chinese Government have such a keen appreciation o f the acquirement of the scholars educated in these schools as to draw from them so many of the native clerks for the customs, and most of the engineer and naval cadets for their various arsenals."29
In December 1876 , His Excellency Kuo Sung Tao visited the Central School on his way to take up the position of first Chinese Ambassador to the Court of St James (that is, to England) and was highly interested and impressed by what he saw.30 A year later, at the Central School Prize Day held on 26 January 1877, Governor Sir Arthur Kennedy commented on the "list of the boys who left the school during the year 1876", saying, "I think that if there was any argument needed to show the very great use this school has bee n t o the community generally , an d to the Chinese communit y especially, we have it in simply looking over this list. I see that no less than 23 have gone in one batch I believe to the Foochow Arsenal. The parents of those boys must know very well that their sons would never have been selected and accepted for employment in that place but for the education received in this school. I am reminded that this is really the only institution in China[,] in this vast country containing a population of some 400,000,000 of inhabitants where people at the Arsenal could have found boys competent to undertake the duties which have been assigned to these 23 boys. This fact speaks volumes for the utility of the Central School. Looking down the list I se e tha t som e hav e gon e awa y t o discharge th e dutie s o f clerk s i n mercantile houses, banks, and s o on; some a s engineers �X clerk t o merchants, clerk to storekeepers, 'assistan t in his father's shop, ' 'cler k to his uncle,' are among the entries. The education these boys have received here ha s fitte d the m fo r thes e duties , an d there ca n b e no doubt tha t
THE CONTRIBUTIO N MAD E B Y FREDERICK STEWAR T 12
education will form a great bond of union between the Chinese community and this school. Another entry here is 'clerk at the Civil Hospital,' another 'clerk to merchants at Shanghai'; 'clerks in various places.'"31
In March 1878 , 13 7 of "the old Chinese Pupils of the Governmen t Central School, Hong Kong" had their names inscribed on an elaborate 26 inch high silver cup, which they presented to Frederick Stewart prior to his return to Britain on his first home leave after 16 years' work in Hong Kong. The Stewart Cup also bore the words, "We have all benefited by your timely instruction".32 It seems likely that even more than this number had achieved significant success and prosperity by this time.
When on his way to Britain two weeks later, Robert Hart, inspecto r general of the Imperial Customs in China, spent 20 to 22 March in Hong Kong, an d expresse d gratitud e t o Hon g Kon g Governo r Joh n Pop e Hennessy, "for what had been done for the Foochow Arsenal, for the works at Tientsin, by the Government Schoo l of Hong Kong. At the Foochow Arsenal and at Tientsin and the other places where the Chinese have works the Chinese youths educated here were found most useful in the sphere they were there placed in."33
Subsequently, in 1879, a newspaper article stated that, "large numbers leave [the Central School] every year to occupy important and responsible situations in connection with the Chinese Government. The training they receive make s the m mos t valuabl e acquisition s t o th e authoritie s a t Peking".34
The careers of a few former pupils of the Central School have been documented in detail by a handful of scholars,35 although much more work could be done. They became prominent in many areas. Like Sir Robert Ho Tung, Central School pupils Ho Kai (1870-1872) and Wei Yuk were also knighted. Both became members o f the Hong Kong Legislature. Man y became compradores and successful businessmen.

A Leavening Proces s
Apart fro m helping thousand s o f individuals t o personal fulfilment , employment and various degrees of success in their individual careers, what further influenc e di d th e schoo l actuall y have ? Di d thi s matc h th e expectations that had been held? There is some evidence that it did. A newspaper article, published in 1879, at the time of the award to Frederick Stewart by the University o f Aberdeen of an Honorary LL.D. (Doctor of Laws), states: "not a little of that struggle after liberty and advancement which is now becoming visible in the mass of Conservatism in China can be traced to the influence o f the Hong Kong Central School. In fact, fo r many years a leavening process has been going on in the southern provinces of the Empire; and Sir Arthur Kennedy, the late [i.e. former] Governor of Hong Kong, on a notable public occasion,36 sai d that for this state of things credit was mainly due to Mr Stewart and his labours."37
It seems true that Stewart's Central School provided part of the whole cluster of western influences, which �X in symbiotic relationship with many other factors �X led to vast changes in China. It contributed, for example, towards the revolutionary idea s of Sun Yat-sen. Sun joined the Central School two months after the establishment of the Central School Stewart Scholarship. Possibly he was influenced to do so by the publicity then given to the School and to its possible influence on China. In 1911, he overthrew the Manchu Empire and founded the Chinese Republic. In 1923, two years before his death, Dr. Sun visited the University of Hong Kong. In the speech he gave there, Sun expressed the debt that he owed to Hong Kong for the example it provided him with of a liberal society. He said that, when as a young man he formulated his ideas for change in China, "He thought of the beautiful street s [of Hong Kong], the artistic parks and wondered why Englishmen could do such a thing on this barren rock within seventy or eighty years. Why could not China, in the last four thousand years have a place like this?"38 Further, Sun attributed the plans he then formed, to work for th e overthrow o f the Imperial regime in China, to the force o f thi s example. "He got the revolutionary idea in this very place, in the colony of Hong Kong." 39 Hundreds of other young men who, like Sun, were also educated i n Hon g Kon g durin g th e period o f Stewart' s directio n an d influence in Hong Kong education, also played a role in the modernisation of China. A thesis devoted to the study of Chinese revolutionaries in Hong Kong describes a total of eight revolutionary attempts, directed against the Chinese Manchu Empire, which were directly organised in Hong Kong, during the period 1895-1911.40
Only some of the pupils of the Central School became revolutionaries, however. Many were loyal servants of the Qing Dynasty and many, equally, of the Hong Kong colonial government. Many were prominent in public life. Some became philanthropists. For example, Ho Kai founded th e Alic e Nethersole Hospital, named after his English wife. Robert Ho Tung became prominent in educational philanthropy. Very many had an influence through
THE CONTRIBUTION MADE BY FREDERICK STEWART 12
the professions an d mercantile activities in Hong Kong, on the Chines e Mainland, and beyond.

Extension of the Influence of the Hong Kong Government Education System as a Whole
As for Frederick Stewart's influence in and through the field of Hong Kong education as a whole, this may be considered in several areas, of reducing intensity and increasing diffusion. 41 A t the core is his work at the Hong Kong Government Central School, which he founded in 1862. At the same time, there were the other government managed an d government aide d schools, two categories of which Stewart managed or supervised also from 1862. From 1873 , when Stewar t established th e Grant-in-Aid Scheme , which was offered to all non-government schools that wished to participate and were willing to do so in accordance with the provisions of the scheme, the number of schools, school personnel and pupils, who came under his direct personal inspection, partial direction, and influence, increased steadily and continually. Even prior to the introduction of the Grant-in-Aid Scheme, Stewart had already exerted an influence on non-government schools �X the Catholic Schools for example �X by the pattern he offered, particularl y as shown at the Central School. 42 The anonymous pamphlet, The Central School, Does it Justify its Raison d'Etre? b y a Catholic apologist, similarly understands that the Central School had a role as an example to indicate to the Chinese Schools what a good school should be like.43
As a consequence of the introduction of the Grant-in-Aid Scheme, with its "standards" and "payments for passes" in the various standards, it was necessary to provide graded class-books for use in the Chinese-mediu m schools, in the "subjects of the standards". This was done; and the books were used beyond the Hong Kong government education system, not only in those Chinese-manage d Hon g Kon g schools , whic h ha d mad e th e decision to remain unaided by, and thus beyond interference from, the Hong Kong government, but also in schools within Imperial China itself.44 A s early as 1878 , Stewart wrote: "The School Book Committee's serie s is rapidly advancing in public estimation. Several of the Missions in various parts of China have introduced the books into their schools, and speak highly of them."45

Extension of Western and Western-influenced Curriculum Content to Greater Numbers in Hong Kong, Including Girl s
When the Hong Kong government education system was initiated in 1862, the Central School became not only the single government school in Hong Kong where the English language and western knowledge were taught to Chinese boys, but the largest school in Hong Kong as a whole, teaching these subjects in conjunction wit h Chinese subjects to Chinese pupils. In 1873 and 1874 , several further initiative s were taken, which also led to considerable change. The introduction of the Grant-in-Aid Scheme in 1873 resulted i n a much higher percentage o f the Hong Kong school-ag e population (includin g girl s as well as boys) attending school . The ne w graduated textbooks , alread y mentioned , writte n fo r voluntar y use , t o support the graded examinations held under the Grant-in-Aid Scheme, were expected also to spread into the government village schools as a whole.46 Also i n 1873 , Stewart's re-introductio n o f instructio n i n the Englis h language into one village school47 (a t Aberdeen),48 was seen by him as an experimental first step towards reintroducing it more widely in the village schools (some already attended by girls) as a whole. The following year , 1874, afte r Stewar t stresse d th e importance o f the western subjec t o f geography (not part of the traditional Confucian curriculum) , some village schools introduced th e subject.49 Muc h later, in 1888, shortly before his death, Stewart supported a renewed initiative to offer a western education to Chinese girls through the medium of English. His 27 years' contribution to the development of education in Hong Kong thus saw a gradual extension
�X to an increasing number of schools (including schools which remained outside the government system) �X of both western-style education and the teaching of the English language; over the same period, there were increases in the overall numbers of pupils attending school, as well as in the number of girl pupils, both in absolute terms and as a percentage of the school-age population.

Overall Numbers in Hong Kong Government Schools
When seekin g to evaluate influence, a s already stated , the question o f numbers seem s important . Bu t i t i s impossible t o giv e eve n a n approximately precis e estimate either of the numbers o f pupils in Hon g Kong itself who were reached by the Hong Kong government educatio n
THE CONTRIBUTION MADE BY FREDERICK STEWART 12
system under Frederick Stewart, or �X from 186 8 (when the Central School was first opened to non-Chinese boys) �X of those among these who were Chinese. What is clear, however, is that the number of Chinese reached by any formal wester n educational influence the n was very small compare d with today.
In 1862, when the system began operation, the total enrolment for the year in the government schools as a whole �X all of which Frederick Stewart either managed or supervised �X was 733. These schools included th e Central School and the so-called village schools.50 In 1877 �X the last year in which Stewart enjoyed stable and continuous work directly involved in Hong Kong education �X the annual number enrolled in Hong Kong government schools as a whole was 2 146.51
Table 7.4 Pupil s in the Hong Kong government education system 1862-1889

Grant-in-aid schools R 1873-1877 1873 to end 188 9
(by annual enrolments) 3 500 41766
Government-aided school s 1862-March 187 8 1862 to end 188 9
17 600R 41000R
Central SchoolR As of 3 March 187 8 By 15 April 188 4
(snippets of information ) 2 000+ 2 746
numbers of individuals on (Sun Yat-sen's enrolment)

the cumulative roll R
0 N o means of knowing how many were Chinese / non-Chinese. Most Chines e
pupils studied a Chinese curriculum. R Mainl y Chinese / Eurasian; but a sizeable proportion was non-Chinese R Th e education of Chinese / Eurasians at this school, 1862-1889 at least, was at a
higher level than elsewhere in the education system.
R A few (probably fewe r than 50) of the 17 600 enrolments pre March 187 8 represent Chinese pupils who learnt some English. (In 1873, English was added to Chinese instruction in the government school at Aberdeen.)
R Som e of the 23 400 enrolments post February 1878 represent Chinese pupils who would have learnt some English. In 1878, English Teaching was introduced into government schools in Wongneichung, Wanchai and Saiyingpun (ISsRepl879, para. 4). In August 1883, Bateson Wright, when Acting Inspector of Schools, observed some boys at the government district schools at Saiyingpun, Wanchai, etc. "who possessed a sufficient knowledge of English to do themselves credit by a more advanced Course of Study at the Central School. " (HdCScRepl883, para. 5, HKGG, 3 May 1884, pp. 501-502.)
Although the Central School roll has not survived, indications of the number of individuals who attended the school can be found.52 Th e lyrical translation from the Chinese of the parting congratulatory address of, "th e teachers [mos t of them Chinese] of the Central School and Governmen t Schools throughout Hong Kong", delivered on 3 March 1878, four days before Stewart went on home leave for the first and only time, contains a plain fact: "A multitude, upwards of two thousand in number, have listened to your words." 53 Sun Yat-sen joined the school on 15 April 1884 . His enrolment numbe r was 2746. 54 Stewart's successor, George Bateson Wright's annual headmaster's report for 190 4 suggests that the number of individual pupils who had been enrolled in the school was now well over 10 000. The number currently on the roll was 1416, and, he speculates, "Say 9,000 boys have left this College ,.."55
From 1867 , the school had been open to pupils other than Chinese. From time to time, an d i n varying numbers , pupils wh o were British, German, Hindu, Japanese, Jewish, Korean, Parsee, Portuguese, and Eurasian
�X these last, children of mixed English and Chinese background �X also attended. Eurasians may have been admitted earlier than 1867. No data exist to indicate the proportion of total enrolments represented by the Chinese alone during the whole period 1862-1889, or even the proportion of Chinese and Eurasians taken together. There is no doubt, however, that Chinese and Eurasians were the majority. This point is important to the view we take of the contribution made by the pupils o f the Hong Kong governmen t education syste m to the modernisation o f China, given the reasonabl e assumption that Chinese persons would have had more influence on China than non-Chinese: an assumption that Christian missionaries then, as now, share an d which inform s thei r concern t o establish an d extend churc h leadership by the Chinese themselves.
As fo r th e number s wh o attende d th e government-aide d an d government-supported village schools, during the period of Stewart's direct influence, the total enrolments �X again calculated from figures given in the category, "Total Enrolment for the Year" �X were as follows.56 From Stewart's arrival in Hong Kong in 1862, up to just before his departure on leave in March 1878: a maximum, say, of 17 600;57 and from 1878 up to the end of 1889, just after his death: a maximum, say, of 41 000.58 These pupils, probably with few exceptions, were Chinese. As in the case of the Central School, there is no way of using the figures i n the Inspector of Schools' annual reports to calculate how many individuals these enrolments represent. I n the cas e o f th e Central School , however , th e additiona l information, already described, shows that the number of individuals on the school role is significantly fewer than the sum of annual enrolment totals over a period of years. In other words, if a pupil remained, for example, two years at the school, his presence contributes twice to any such periodic total, based on the annual enrolment figures . The Inspector of Schools'
THE CONTRIBUTION MADE BY FREDERICK STEWART 13
reports and other sources suggest that most pupils at the village school s remained a very short time. If pupils stayed on average only one year, then the enrolment numbers and the numbers of individuals who attended the schools during this period are the same. If they stayed an average of two years, the numbers shoul d be halved; i f they staye d a n average o f si x months, doubled. If re-enrolments of the same pupil, within a year, were counted separately, the total numbers would be lower.
As for the schools, which joined the important and influential Grant -In-Aid Scheme introduced in 1873, the number of enrolments for the school years 1873-1877, inclusive, up to the time Stewart departed on home leave in 1878, calculated from figures in the Inspector of Schools' official reports, was 3500; and up to the end of 1889, the year Stewart died, as 41 766.59 In the cas e o f thes e school s also , there i s n o wa y o f sayin g ho w man y individuals these total enrolments represent, nor how many of them were Chinese pupils.
For many of these individuals who attended the village schools and the grant-in-aid schools, the direct impact of the Hong Kong education system for westernization , modernizatio n o r liberalization wa s probabl y no t profound. Indeed, in 1895, Governor Sir William Robinson, made conscious of the conservative attitude of the people through their non-cooperation with government measures to contain a recent outbreak of bubonic plague, ruled that government subsidie s in future woul d be given to support teachin g which would "ten d to educate the rising generation o f Chinese to more enlightened view s an d ideas , an d t o dispe l th e ignoranc e an d blin d superstition, which have proved, and still are proving, such a stumbling block t o the promotion o f thei r moral an d physical well-being." 60 Nevertheless, spending time within a system produces an effect, howeve r intangible. An d wh o know s wha t resonance s wer e produce d b y th e government inspector' s regula r inspections an d examinations, given his well-documented kindliness , courtesy an d ability, his scholarshi p an d discipline? Certainly, as shown in his annual reports as inspector, Stewart himself responded vividly to the pupils and teachers he met in the schools. Who knows what impact their encounters with him had on each of them?
We have seen that, although it is impossible to determine with much accuracy how many Chinese individuals (nor how many individuals in total) received som e schoolin g within the Hong Kong governmen t educatio n system during Frederick Stewart's time, it is possible to establish maximum numbers. Similarly, although it is also impossible to deduce how man y Chinese pupils were educated in western knowledge, and how many studied a western language, during this period, a maximum number can again be suggested.61 Additionally, if we extend our period of enquiry to read through the reports of the Education Department, following Stewart's death, we find that for the one year 1893, there is a crude indication of what the answers might be for that year alone. The Inspector of Schools' report for 1893 62 indicates that there were in 1893 at most 1677 Chinese pupils63 at all stages studying th e Englis h language ; an d a t mos t 235 7 studyin g wester n knowledge64 from its most rudimentary levels up to a level approximately equivalent to Form Five level in modern Hong Kong (and British) terms; Grade Nine, in American terms. The present writer is confident in asserting that the number of pupils as a whole (including Chinese pupils) studying at the higher levels would have been very few indeed. As we know, the Central School, which Stewart founded, continue d to offer (unde r the successive new names of Victoria College and Queen's College) the highest level of western education in Hong Kong to Chinese pupils. Yet in the same year, 1893, only 42 pupils presented themselves for examination in the top class at that School (all 42 of these took colloquial, reading, arithmetic, dictation, grammar, geography , composition , history , algebra , Euclid , genera l Intelligence, Shakespeare; half took English to Chinese translation, Chinese to English translation and bookkeeping, and five took Latin.).65 The other government and government-aided schools would have had no pupils at all working at this, the highest, level. Of the 152 Chinese pupils undergoing a European education in Chinese in government-supervised schools, only six passed at the highest standard of the Grant-in-Aid Scheme.66 Quite likely, of the 1677 pupils67 reported as studying English in 1893, most left school with wha t the nineteenth centur y referred t o as "a smattering" only of English.
As for the total number of Chinese living and working in nineteenth century Hong Kong, while the numbers were relatively few compare d to today, they were steadily increasing, although impeded on a number of occasions b y extraordinar y events , which temporaril y interrupte d thi s development (th e outbreak o f Buboni c Plague i n 1894 is a notable example).68 Th e fact that the Hong Kong government education syste m accommodated th e population change s o f both the nineteenth an d th e twentieth century, while remaining today essentially recognisable as the system that Frederick Stewar t put in place, suggests that he created a n efficient an d appropriate system that is still capable of continuing to grow and develop and to embrace ever greater and greater numbers.
THE CONTRIBUTIO N MAD E B Y FREDERICK STEWAR T 13
Future Influenc e
On his first day in the Hong Kong Government Central School classroom, in 1862 , Stewar t an d th e assemble d Chines e pupil s ha d n o commo n language. During the remainder of the nineteenth century, the total number of Chinese in Hong Kong who learnt some English clearly numbered several thousands, but �X most probably �X there were not nearly as many as one hundred thousan d o f them, in all, perhaps no t 5 0 000, who learnt an y English at school. By March 1997, however, the situation had changed. In that one year alone, 126 694 people felt sufficiently confiden t to register to si t an English languag e examination a t school-leaving (For m Five ) level. Additionally,69 th e number of full-time equivalent students in Hong Kong degree-awarding institutions in the one academic year 1996-199 7 was 62 673, and most of these tertiary students �X mainly Chinese �X needed to read English language texts in their studies. In other words, the increase in the numbers of Chinese people in Hong Kong who have learnt some English (and who have also studied western �X which we no w consider international �X knowledge) and also of those who have learnt the English language to a fairly high level is vast. The possible degree of influence of the Hong Kong government education system on the continuing modernization o f their Chinese motherland, through them, must also be vastly greater than during Frederick Stewart's time. Yet, as we have seen, the influence of the Hong Kong government education system, then, through its pupils, was considered remarkable enough.
Table 7.5 Frederic k Stewart and the Hong Kong government education system's direct influence on educational institutions in Hong Kong and China, 1862 -Most influence
Hong Kong Government Central School, 1862R-
�X> Medical College for Chinese (1887)
�X> University of Hong Kong (1911)
Existing schools that later joined the Grant-in-Aid Scheme, 1862R-
Grant-in-aid schools, 1873R-
Government-managed and government-aided schools, 1862R-
Other schools in Hong Kong, 1862R-
Mission schools in China, 1878 R-
Least influence
R Frederic k Stewart's arrival in Hong Kong
R Introductio n of the Grant-in-Aid Scheme
R Stewar t reports that several mission schools in China have introduced the school
textbook committee's books into their schools
In 1992 , Hong Kon g columnist, Margare t Ng , suggeste d he r ow n perception tha t i n speeche s mad e i n 198 7 an d 1989 , Hon g Kong' s penultimate Governor, then Sir David (no w Lord) Wilson, revealed, "a n almost romantic determination to deck out Hong Kong like a glittering bride for her historical destiny," her return to China.70 Such a view (whether really held by Lord Wilson or not) implies a desire that Hong Kong should become finished an d complete. However, the documented attitud e that has bee n attractive to more people, and which has been returned to again and again during the period from 1841 , has been that which perceives the value of Hong Kong to lie in its being always in the process of growth; as being indeed tied to, but nevertheless separate from, or special in China.
Up to midnight, 30 June 1997 , several o f Hong Kong' s citizen s expressed view s to indicate their hope that, on the expiry o f the Ne w Territories lease on 30 June 1997, modern Hong Kong as a whole, shaped by its extensive contact with the western world, would continue to be a leaven fo r China . Ther e i s no doub t tha t th e process an d conduc t o f education will again be crucial in contributing to or denying this outcome.
Acknowledgements: Th e author wishes to thank Dr. Verner Bickley, MBE, for his continuing interest in her work on Nineteenth Century Hong Kong education and his valuable contributions to its understanding. She also thanks Miss Nicol e Ho for he r assistance in the creation o f the table s provided with this chapter.


The Use of Sinology in the Nineteenth Century: Two Perspectives Revealed in the History of Hong Kong1
Wong Man-kong
Of th e thre e reason s fo r th e "eventua l acceptanc e o f Sinolog y a s a n academic subject, " a s suggested by Wolfgang Frank e (1912- ), the third reason, "practical requirements in the wake of colonial expansion,"2 i s of particular relevanc e fo r student s o f Hon g Kon g history . Thi s chapte r investigates the historical connotations of "practical requirements" that made possible the pursuit of sinology, as illuminated through the cases of James Legge (1815-1897) and Ernest John Eitel (1838-1908).3
Legge and Eitel had worked for the London Missionary Society (LMS) for about 30 years and 14 years respectively before the former became the first Chinese professor at the University of Oxford for 21 years and the latter a civil servant of the Hong Kong government for 1 8 years. LMS Chin a missionaries began studyin g the Chinese language from th e 1810s . This paper thus begins with an attempt to outline the origin of the use of sinology among LMS China missionaries. The latter part tackles questions about the uses of sinology for the missionary cause and the colonial administration in Hong Kong. This chapter also examines the uses of sinology, or practical requirements behind their pursuit of sinology, and covers briefly thei r academic contributions.4
The Origin of the Use of Sinology in LMS's China Missions
LMS started its China missions in Southeast Asia while China was not open to Christian missions. To be equipped with skills and knowledge in Chinese language and culture was a feasible objective. The foremost example was Robert Morriso n (1782-1834) , wh o wa s considere d "th e firs t reall y professional English sinologist."5 H e dubbed himself "an Anglo-Chinese."6 Of course, it was not to denationalize his British identity; rather, he wanted to show his sympathetic attitude toward Chinese to his western audience. He applied his sinology for missionary the cause through translating the Bible and writing religious tracts. More importantly, he founded the Anglo-Chinese College in Malacca, and contributed generously to its library. In 1823, the library holdings reached 3 380 volumes in which there were 2 850 Chinese titles. After a decade, its holdings increased to "several thousand volumes" of which most were "scarce and valuable."7 The library suffice d the college a centre for "sedentary scholar-missionaries" nurturing the first generation o f missionary-sinologists, who were able in "bridging the gap between scholar-missionary and itinerant preacher."8 Notable ones included William Miln e (1785-1822) , Walter H . Medhurst (1796-1857) , Davi d Collie (d. 1828), and Samuel Kidd (1804-1843).
They promoted the missionary cause with the assistance of Sinology. They translated the Bible, wrote religious tracts, and edited the Chashisu Meiyue Tongjichuan, a periodical known as Chinese Monthly Magazine in English, an d th e Indo-Chinese Gleaner. 9 O f the enormous amount of religious tracts,10 those compiled and written by Medhurst were especially noteworthy while he modified the way by which the religious message was presented. H e considered tha t the Chinese were proud of their cultura l heritage, therefore the focus of his tracts was to "appeal to the Chinese by portraying missionarie s a s scholar-teachers simila r to those in Chines e traditions." In doing so , he placed a n "increasing emphasi s o n secula r subjects, such as history, geography and matters of general interests in his writings."11 Furthermore, they translated popular texts and wrote sinological essays to promote studies in Chinese society and culture. Examples als o include Milne's translation of the Sacred Edict, Collie's translation of the Four Books and Kidd's encyclopedic piece �X China. Moreover, the use of sinology was thought to deepen the roots of the missionary cause. Milne expected th e nex t generatio n o f China missionarie s woul d b e abl e t o "thoroughly leam to speak, read and write the language of the people among whom they are to labor;" and to "labor for a full acquaintance with their [Chinese] religion, customs, laws, and modes of thinking; and endeavor to
THE USE OF SINOLOGY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 13
state the holy doctrines , and precepts o f Christianity , wit h the utmos t possible simplicity, taking Jesus and the Apostles and their examples."12 In other words, Milne considered the need to be equipped with sinology was of equal importance with cultivating Christian religiosity.
In addition, some missionary-sinologists assiste d western traders and diplomats. Morrison was again an outstanding example. When he began his missionary work, he faced a lot of restrictions from the Qing government and the East India Company (EIC). After he was hired by the EIC, many barriers were removed.13 He felt a profound tension, however. The more he partook of diplomatic work, the less he could directly involve himself i n missionary work . Havin g bee n appointe d th e "Chines e Secretar y an d Interpreter" of the British diplomatic mission to China led by William John Napier (1786-1834), he felt a struggle in his mind. His reflection reads: "I am to wear a vice-consul's coat, with king's buttons ... It is rather an anomalous one for a Missionary. A vice-consul's uniform instead of the preaching gown!" 14 He led himself out of his profound tension through promoting the study of Chinese language in Britain. This could be vividly illustrated in a conversation that he had with his children,
John: What is the use of studying Chinese, Papa?
Father: Chin a and all that concerns it, are of considerable commercial importance to England, and knowledge of commercial affairs is promoted by knowledge of the language. To the Christian Philanthropist, there is no other living language of equal importance, because there is no other language so extensively known amongst men, as the Chinese, I therefore infer that the utility of studying Chinese is very great.
John: But there is no use in everybody studying it.
Father: Certainl y not; but I should like to see ten or twenty good Chinese scholars in England. It is said that his present Majesty, when a Prince, was very fond of Chinese architecture, furniture, &c. I wish King George the Fourth would endow a Chinese fellowship or two ...
Mary: Why, there is a Dr. Morrison knows a good deal about Chinese, and has written and published an English and Chinese Dictionary, and some other books about Chinese.
Father: Yes ; but he lives in China. I want some Chinese scholars in England.15
Probably due to persuasion from Morriso n an d George Staunton(1781�X 1859), the University College, London, began Chinese language courses. Returned fro m Malacca, Kidd became the first professo r o f Chines e language an d literature a t the University College. 16 But the chair had remained vacant since he died in 1843. Sinology in Britain was at low ebb. Denis Twitchett (1925- ) laments:
The early incumbents of the new posts taught basic Chinese to a handful of aspiring missionaries, consuls and diplomats, but they did little to persuade their academic colleagues of the importance of their studies, and cannot be said to have established a profession.17
While Chines e languag e trainin g i n Britain remaine d almos t non -existent, wester n merchant s an d officials i n China had to depend o n a handful of western linguists �X merchants, missionaries, or diplomatic staff
�X wh o had accomplished certai n proficiency i n the Chinese language . While this group of people was small in size, it had been very difficult fo r the Hong Kong government to recruit them as they had better opportunities in Shanghai and other treaty ports in China. The Hong Kong government thus sought assistance from China missionaries, like Karl Giitzlaff (1803 -1851), William Lobscheid, Legge and Eitel.
The Use of Sinology for the Missionary Cause: James Legge
When Legge began his pursuit of sinology, its use for the missionary cause was direct. Kidd taught him some Chinese at the University College. After he began his missionary work in Malacca, he had more opportunities and resources to learn the language. It took him less than two years to finish a lexicon, whic h wa s indee d t o appen d th e phrase s i n th e dialect s o f Guangdong and Fujian to "a collection of English and Malay Phrases." The collection was at first compiled in 1840 by Alfred North (1807-1869), an American missionar y i n Singapore . Whil e ther e wa s n o standar d orthography of Chinese characters, he conformed to the method by Samuel Brown (1801-1880) and Elijah Coleman Bridgman (1801-1861) in their handling of Cantonese, and the method by Medhurst, Samuel Dyer (1804-1843), and David Abeel (1804-1846) i n their handling o f the Fujianese . Noting the shortcomings, Legge commented on his work as follows,
The Editor has in conclusion t o request the indulgence o f scholars , better acquainted with the Chinese language than himself, to the many errors that they will discover in the work. He trusts notwithstanding these things that the book will be found serviceabl e in Schools, fo r
THE USE OF SINOLOGY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 13
which it is principally got up, and to those who are beginning to lisp
their ideas in Chinese.18
A book review criticized that the lexicon was of a loose structure, and it was considered to be rather useful for the Chinese to learn English.19 It was indeed adverse to the original design �X to equip its readers to learn Chinese. Consequently, it was never reprinted.
What came next in print by Legge was the Rambles of the Emperor Ch'ing Tih in Keang Nan, whos e role was to copy-edit the text that Ho Tsun-sheen (1817-1871 ) translated . Legge's origina l objectiv e wa s t o translate the Chinese classics, and his first choice was the Shujing. But he knew he was unable to complete it all by himself. While Ho Tsun-sheen had accomplished certai n proficiency i n English fro m Calcutta , Legg e sought help from him. But Legge soon realized that Ho's knowledge about the Chinese classics was not enough to translate the Shujing. Instead , he chose a popular ramble, the travel account of Zheng De emperor (1492-1521, reign 1506-1521).20
After th e Opium war, missionaries projected a good prospect fo r Christian missions in China. The re-translation of the earlier version of the Chinese Bible that Morrison and Milne produced was one of key issues. They had the first working meeting in Hong Kong. The project, however, caused endless debates over the accurate translation of "God" in Chinese, generally know n a s the Term Question. The Term Question reinforce d Legge's interest in studying the Chinese classics. Early in 1844 he followed Morrison's renderin g an d use d th e ter m Shen. Fro m 184 8 onward s throughout his missionary and academic career, he used a different term , Shangdi. To his growing knowledge of Chinese culture, the term Shangdi shared significant parallel s with the divine in Christian connotations. In 1852, Legge wrote, "My thesis is �X that the Chinese possess a knowledge of the true God, and that the highest Being whom they worship is indeed the same whom we worship."21 In 1877, Legge remarked again, "there is so much in Confucianism abou t God, of which we can avail ourselves in setting forth ou r fuller truth." 22 In doing so, it would be beneficial fo r missionary cause, as Legge argued,
Of course the missionary mus t condemn all this worship of inferio r beings; but in doing so, let him freely recognize the difference that there is in Confucianism between God and them. The worship of them will disappear whe n th e Christia n syste m ha s bee n full y mad e know n throughout the empire. It is contrary to Christianity, just as the Roman Catholic worship of saints and angels is contrary to it. Possibly traces of it may long remain in the literature and directories of worship of Christian China, just as traces of the Popish errors of our forefathers in England and other Protestant countries remain in their literature and ecclesiastical directories to the present day.23
While Legge considered that Shangdi meant the Supreme Deity in Chinese culture, he translated the term Shangdi as "God" in the Texts of Confucianism, a part of the Sacred Books of the East. An anonymous writer published an open lette r t o F. Max Mulle r (1823-1900) , professo r o f Comparativ e Philology at the University of Oxford and the general editor of the Sacred Books of the East, in which he criticized Legge's usage of the terms "God" or "Heaven" in rendering Di or Shangdi i n the Chinese classics.24 Legg e regarded his translation accurate as it matched the Chinese theory about the divine. He wrote that "I took no advantage of my position to introduce a new rendering of Ti [Di] and Shang Ti [Shangdi] so as to give to the book a coloring of my own views." He also thought that Chinese scholars supported his position over the Term Question. He claimed that "a majority of Chinese scholars accept my rendering with approval."25 I n addition, he mentioned that "a great majority of the Protestant missionaries in China use Ti [Di] and Shang Ti [Shangdi] as the nearest analogue for God."26
Here, it is not intended t o examine i f Legge's ide a concerning th e Confucian notion of the Supreme Being was empirically accurate.27 Rather, it is meant to emphasize that Legge wanted to place the missionary cause within Chinese culture while he rendered God as Shangdi i n the Chinese language. In his inaugural lecture at the University of Oxford in 1876 , he spoke o f his intellectua l odysse y i n which h e acknowledge d ho w hi s missionary career in Hong Kong transformed him as a student of Chinese classics. He said as follows,
in order to [achieve] our permanent success, all the classical books of the Chinese, covering the whole field o f thought through which the sages of China had ranged, and containing the foundations of the religious, moral, social, and political life of the people, should be translated and discussed b y som e one scholar more fully an d critically tha n singl e books had been dealt with by individuals ... I never wavered in my conviction that such an undertaking was good, and even necessary to the success of missionary labor in China.28
In 188 0 when he defended his position in the Term Question in 1880 , he again stressed the value and the need to study the Chinese classics for the missionary cause. He explained,
I entered forty years ago on a careful examination of the classical books of China with no other purpose but to qualify myself to fulfill to the best advantage the duties of a missionary. When I began to publish the result of my studies, I had the benefit of missionaries more than of any other class of possible readers in my mind.29
Like his translation of the Confucian classics, his comparative study of Confucianism an d Christianity serve d missionary caus e as well. He firs t presented his ideas to his missionary colleagues. In 1877, although he did not attend the general conference of the Protestant missionaries in Shanghai, he wrote a paper to be presented at the conference, in which he discussed three issues in Confucianism, namel y God, man, and the moral duties and social relations of man. He concluded his paper with an urge to evangelize China as well a s to embrace a respect among the missionaries fo r th e Confucian teachings. He explained:
Let no one think any labor too great to make himself familiar with the Confucian books. So shall missionaries in China come fully to understand the work they have to do; and the more they avoid driving their carriages rudely over the Master's grave, the more likely are they soon to see Jesus enthroned in his room in the hearts of the people.30
Later, he published his essays on the comparative stud y of Chines e religions in a substantial volume. It was originally a collection of lectures delivered at a Presbyterian college in 1880. He gave altogether four lectures with an emphasis on Confucianism an d its religious elements. He also studied Taoism. Doubtless, his lectures reaffirmed Christianity the superior position over Confucianism and Taoism.31
On the other hand, he considered that studying Chinese religions would help deepen one's understanding of Christian theology. He pointed out:
The study of them [Chinese religions] continues to be a duty, full of interest and importance. The result of it will throw light on the religious nature an d want s o f man , and show how adapted Christianity i s to supply those wants and satisfy that nature. They will even help to give us, I believe a better understanding of Christianity itself, and a more vivid apprehension of its doctrines.32
In 1883, he presented the Religious Tract Society a synopsis of his reflections o n the whole duty of man as prescribed by Confucianism an d Christianity. This tract consisted of two parts. First, Legge showed that there were religious elements in Confucianism. Second , he examined in what ways Christianity was superior to Confucianism. I n short, he outlined the following grounds on which Christianity is better than Confucianism .
I. It is superior to the Confucian teaching because it attaches so much greater importance to the duties of religion, and gives so much fuller a disclosure of their reasonableness and nature.
II. The Christian teaching is superior to the Confucian because it makes God the Guardian of all the duties obligatory on men even in their social relations.
III. Stil l looking merely at the duties springing out of the social relations, the Christian teaching is superior to the Confucian, because the motive on which it requires their discharge is nobler and more powerful.
IV.
The Christian teaching in regard to the five relations of society themselves is better than the Confucian.

V.
The Christian teaching of human duty is superior to the Confucian, because it is commended and enforced b y the perfect example of its Author.33


Legge consistentl y asserte d an d acte d upo n hi s convictio n tha t Confucianism occupied an important position in Chinese history and culture. While he examined the value of Fa Xian (337ca- 422ca)'s travel account, he again stressed that Confucianism was "the orthodoxy of China."34
As a China missionary fo r more than three decades, Legge was interested in the history of Christianity in China. In 1888, his translation of the inscription of the Nestorian tablet in Xian was published, in which he also wrote an essay on the significance of the tablet and outlined the history of Christian missions in China. Of the different issues that he mentioned in the history, his view on the Rites Controversy is of special significance. The Rites Controversy and the Term Question are, in some ways, parallel to each other because both touched the question of the extent to which Christia n beliefs t o be adapted to various aspects of Chinese culture. He asserted, "during the K'ang-hsi [Kangxi 1654-1722, reign 1662-1723], evils that had been growin g amon g th e missionarie s themselve s reache d a head. " Following that, he wrote,
Ricci [1552-1610] had been too liberal in his views about the use of
religious terms and ritual practices, not only for the Dominicans and
Franciscans, but also for some of his Jesuit brethren. Did the Chinese
really mean GOD when they spoke of Tien [Tian] (Heaven) and Shang
Ti [Shangdi] (the Supreme Ruler)? And might the converts be permitted still to use those terms? Was it really religious worship which they paid to Confucius, and to their parents and ancestors in their mourning rites, or merely the expression of their grateful homage to the Sage, and of their filial piety? Ricci had replied to these questions in the affirmative. About the terms I entirely agree with his opinion, nor do I altogether differ fro m hi m about the ritual practices. But as time went on, the differences among the missionaries became wider, and their controversies waxed hotter.35
Furthermore, as mentioned in the essay, some missionaries whom Legge admired wer e all his predecessors, suc h as Morrison, Milne, Dyer, an d Medhurst. They achieved well in sinology. He reminded China missionaries to cultivate care and sympathy toward the Chinese. He also advised them to avoid competition among themselves. These were admonitions that an experienced missionary would offer. He concluded:
The Empire is in fact being covered with a network of small churches, gathered from among the middle classes and poor. Of the real Christianity of the majority of their members I have no doubt ... If none of them have declared themselves fully and like Hsu Kwang-hsi [Xu Guangqi, 1562-1633] on the side of Christianity, some of them are efficient helpers in the benevolent and medical departments of the missions ... There are many great scholars and skilful organizers in the Protestant camps; some contemplating institutions of a higher educational character than have yet been established. Success to every well-contrived endeavour! Yet their dependence must be on the power of truth; their armour must be that of righteousness; their weapons must be forbearance and sympathy.36
His professorial career with a strong orientation towards Confucianis m at the University of Oxford from 187 6 to 1897 was indeed an extension of what he had begun in Hong Kong between 1843 and 1873. Apparently, the intention to achieve a lasting Christian impact among the Chinese strongly reinforced him to study the Chinese classics and Chinese religious traditions. A China missionary himself for more than 30 years, he developed an interest in revisiting the history of his predecessors in China.
The Use of Sinology for the Missionary Cause: Ernest John Eitel
The origin o f Eitel's pursui t o f sinolog y wa s rooted i n his missionar y activities. In 1862, he arrived in China a s a missionary o f the Basel
Missionary Society , an d h e began hi s missionar y wor k i n Lilang o f Guangdong wher e he started to nurture his profound interes t in thing s Chinese. He taught in Chinese while other German missionaries did it by the Lepsius, a method of transliterating Chinese characters by Germa n alphabets. I t wa s encouragin g fo r hi m t o se e his pupil s mad e bette r
37
progress.
Furthermore, his interest in Hakkalogy was profound, a result of his extensive missionary experience among the Hakkas. From 1862 to 1865, he preached amon g the Hakkas in Lilang. As he later joined the LMS, he preached in Boluo of Guangdong where many Hakkas inhabited.38 Thoug h in 1870 he moved to Hong Kong where he took charge of the mission office, he was still responsible for the Boluo mission. He studied the history of the Hakkas by collecting "both oral tradition and these genealogical records."39 He developed a sympathetic attitude towards the Hakkas. He considered that the Hakkas would have been successful i n overthrowing the Qing throne with the Taiping rebels. "The fact that a handful of Hakkas contrived to raise such a powerful rebellio n which but for the ill-advised an d thankles s interference of the foreign powers would most certainly have resulted in the downfall o f the Manchu dynasty, " he wrote.40 Hi s thought was that the Taiping would have advanced the progress of Christianity in China. "Due to the local wars between the Hakka and Punti in Guangdong and Guangxi, and the prominent Hakka involvement in the Taiping Rebellion," a recent article pointed ou t "th e Hakkas drew the attention o f foreign scholars , missionaries, travelers, and writers."41 Eitel was certainly one of them.
Another reason for his interest in Hakkalogy was to better understand this ethnic group whose religious orientation was different from that of the native Han of Guangdong and Fujian. Eitel considered that the Hakkas were less bigoted, which meant that they had "a tendency towards monotheism, less emphasis on the worship of state-sanctioned deities, and less emphasis on Buddhist tha n Taoist beliefs." 42 Indeed, there were a number of missionaries, Rudolf Lechler (1824-1908) being the prominent example, who also thought better of the Hakkas.43
Moreover, he was a student of Chinese Buddhism. In 1870 he compiled the Handbook for the Student of Chinese Buddhism, which qualified him a PhD to be awarded by the University of Tubingen, his alma mater. Legge found it very useful and wrote that "the difficulty occasioned by the Sanskrit words and names was removed."44 The handbook is still regarded a standard reference fo r studie s in Chinese Buddhism.45 Th e handbook laid down a solid foundation fo r him and others to study Chinese Buddhism, and it brought him a greater respect among the westerners in Hong Kong. From December 187 0 to February 1871 , for instance , he was invited to giv e lectures on Chinese Buddhism in the City Hall, a centre for cultural activities in Hong Kong.46 His lectures were later published, Buddhism: Its Historical, Theoretical and Popular Aspects. 47 I n the first part, "An Historical Event in History," he paralleled the life of Buddha with that of Jesus. He distorted the Buddhist image:
Shakyamuni Buddha �X we are told �X came from heaven, was born of a virgin, welcomed by angels, received by an old saint who was endowed with prophetic vision, presented in a temple, baptised with water and afterwards baptised with fire, he astonished the most learned doctors by his understandin g an d answers , h e wa s le d b y th e spiri t int o th e wilderness, an d havin g bee n tempte d b y th e devil , he wen t abou t preaching and doing wonders. The friends of publicans and sinners, he is transfigured on a mount, descends to hell, ascends up to heaven, �X in short, with the single exception of Christ's crucifixion, almos t every characteristic incident in Christ's life is also to be found narrated in the Buddhist traditions of the life of Shakyamuni Gautama Buddha.48
When he looked into the history o f Buddhist missions in China, he compared i t wit h th e history o f Christia n mission s i n East Asia . H e considered that the two missionary movements shared some similarities. He wrote, "these Buddhist missionaries went out, in the first instance, with even greater self-abnegation than Roman Catholic priests, as mendicant monks; secondly, they followed in the wake of trade; and thirdly, they were backed by imperial influenc e an d diplomacy." 49 Moreover , he believed that Christian missions had a potential for a greater success in China than that achieved by Buddhism. He wrote that "it took Buddhism three hundred years before i t obtained officia l recognition , an d many centurie s more , before the mass of the people was influenced by it; and who will then speak of the failure of Protestant Missions, which during the first forty years of their operations in China gathered over 15,00 0 native communicants int o the Christian Church?" 50 He concluded his argument with a claim that Buddhism was introduced into China to prepare the ground for Christianity. He eve n considere d tha t Buddhis m "acte d lik e a dissolvin g acid , undermining the existing religious systems, and thus preparing the way for a new religion to enter, �X for Christianity."51
In the second part , "theoretica l system " o f Chinese Buddhism, h e evinced hi s stron g reservation s i n relation t o Buddhist doctrines . H e considered that there were two fundamental weaknesse s o f Buddhist doctrines. First, he regarded that "Buddhist scripture did not observe the wise reticence with regard to natural science." Second, Buddhism could not be the real healing to human weakness which ultimately made the morality impossible, despite the fact that "the strong point of Buddhism lies in its morality."52 After all, he explicated his total rejection of Buddhist doctrines. He regarded it "a philosophical myth."53
Having deplored the doctrines, he criticized Buddhist religious practices as polytheist. He wrote as follows,
You have seen multitudes of men and women bowing down before idols of clay, offering their gifts, addressing them in earnest words of prayer and praise and thanksgiving, consulting the oracle by throwing lots in their presence and receiving a slip of paper issued in the name of the individual deity in the ambiguous terms of Delphi; you have noticed the reverence, the trust, the fervour with which �X not the priests indeed �X but the common people appeal to these legions of god.
Surely many, even of the common people, may be able to distinguish the idol from the divinity it represents, but it is undeniable that even they have before their minds during the act of worship the idea of a personal bein g o f grea t power , might y t o save , t o bless , t o aver t misfortune. .. . Buddh a is to them simply the highest God, the Deus maximus. Bodhisattvas (and Arhats) are demi-gods. The former is God in esse, the latter are gods in posse. Both Buddha and Bodhisattvas, are worshipped and relied on as God by Northern Buddhists.54
On the other hand, he affirmed that there were six merits in the Buddhism. First, "it started with the recognition o f sin and evil as the heir-loom of mortal man. " Second , "i t pointe d ou t i n th e stronges t term s th e impermanency and hollowness of everything earthly." Third, "it exhorted its devotees to extend love and charity to man and beast." Fourth, "it marked selfishness, lus t and passion as the chief enemies of human happiness." Fifth, "i t pointed ou t the superiorit y o f th e inward lif e ove r outwar d existence." Sixth, "it taught its adherents to look away from earthly sensual objects to regions invisible and inspired them �X at least to a certain extent
�X with hopes of immortality."55 No t surprisingly, he meant merits by a Christian standard. The first and fourth merits can be understood along with the Christian teaching that human nature being sinful; then, the second and sixth merits matched the Christian teaching that man needed eternal life . And, the third merit coincided with the Christian teaching that man should love one another and God's creatures.
From the scholarly point of view, his lectures on Chinese Buddhism were les s meticulou s tha n th e Handbook for the Student of Chinese Buddhism. However , his lectures were certainly much favoured fro m a missionary point of view. In evaluating Buddhism, both its weakness and its merits, he unfailingly used Christianity as his measure. Where Buddhism appeared unlike Christianity, i t was weak. He also used the history o f Buddhism in China to project that the future o f Christian missions would be an even greater success in the future. In so doing, the value and the need of the Christian missions in China was reinforced.
In December 1872, he gave his public lectures on Feng Shui at the City Hall, which he published in the subsequent year.56 He confronted Feng Shui in his missionary work. "Since my arrival in China I have had a great many practical collisions with Feng-shui, and having for many years collecte d notes on the subject and studied its literature in all branches," he wrote.57 He had a sympathetic attitude towards the philosophy behind the practice of Feng Shui. He considered it a "Chinese physical science" that was also a Chinese "emotional conception of nature." As a missionary, he had no hesitation to denounce that "the deepest root of the Feng-shui system grew out o f tha t excessiv e an d superstitiou s veneratio n o f th e spirit s o f ancestors."58 H e regarded Feng-shui a "foolish daughter " from "a wise mother," to vividly express his mixed judgement, out of which he elaborated as follows:
It starts with a few notions of astronomy or rather astrology, hazy, and obscure, but respectable enough, considering that it was more than two thousand years ago that the Chinese took hold of them. It is based on a materialistic scheme of philosophy, which had studied nature, in a pious and reverential yet in a very superficial and grossly superstitious manner, but which trusting in the force of a new logical formulae and mystic diagrams, endeavoured to solve all the problems of nature and to explain everything i n heave n abov e an d o n th e earth belo w with som e mathematical categories.59
If what has been mentioned about his use of sinology for the missionary cause can be regarded a s indirect use, what follows woul d probably b e regarded as direct use. Like Legge, he was involved in the debates of the Term Question. In 1876 he made a short but critical two-paged comment in the annual report of the English Religious Tract Society. Henry Blodge t (1825-1903), a senior American missionary, refuted it in a seven-page counter-argument and published it in London.60 At the beginning of his two-page comment, Eitel remarked that the interpretations and their application in cultural adjustment with the Chinese culture had been a source of conflict and division among the Catholic missionaries during the late Ming and the early Qing China. He used "the learned Jesuits" to represent the English and German missionaries, who supported the use of the term "Shangdi." On the other hand , h e labelle d th e America n missionarie s "th e ignoran t Dominicans." "They then adopted the word 'Shin ' [Shen], ... whils t the phrase 'Pa i shin' [Baishen], i.e 'worshipping 'shin ' [shen], is the standing idiomatic designation of idolatrous worship all over China," he remarked.61 Finally in his statement, he hoped that the question could be settled in 1877 when the general conferenc e o f Protestant missionarie s wa s held i n Shanghai. His choice of "Shangdi" was for rendering "God" and "shen" for "god/ false god/ gods."62 Not surprisingly, Blodget was mad at the notion of the American missionaries being "the ignorant Dominicans."63
Moreover, anothe r notabl e accomplishmen t o f Eitel' s pursui t o f sinology was A Chinese-English Dictionary in the Cantonese Dialect. Like many China missionaries who tried to remove the language barrier,64 h e understood that a good dictionary would promote the missionary cause by helping its readers become acquainted with the Chinese language. At first, the Tonic Dictionary of the Chinese Language in the Canton Dialect tha t Samuel Wells Williams (1812-1884 ) compile d was used as the base on which Eitel commence d hi s dictionar y project . Bu t after tw o years o f research an d study, he found tha t "part of it which refers t o the written language, had to be entirely recast." Eventually, he finished a Cantonese-English dictionary, which he believed to be useful for "the students of the Cantonese Dialect" and the "students of the general written language of China." I n addition , Eite l earne d hi s reputatio n a s a knowledgeabl e sinologist i n Hong Kong . The fact tha t the dictionary receive d publi c funding in Hong Kong revealed that sinology was perceived to be of a wider use. "I owe a debt of gratitude to the Legislative Council of this Colony and to the Hongkong General Chamber of Commerce for the material assistance granted me at the outset, without which encouragement I could not have ventured upon the undertaking of this work," he acknowledged.65
Both Legge and Eitel developed their sinology to serve the missionary cause, but the government sought assistance from them, for their sinology would hel p consolidate th e colonial administration . Afte r th e office o f Superintendent of Trade moved to Shanghai in 1854, "there was, apart from the Missionaries, not a man left in Hongkong thoroughly acquainted with both the written and spoken and languages of China."66 The lack of properly trained interpreter s created a gap in the communication between the government and the people. Reported by William Tarrant (d. 1872), a short story had it as follows:
Magistrate: Collins, �X Collins, I say.
Collins: Your Honor!
Magistrate: Di d not that witness say fan kwai in his evidence?
Collins: He did, your Honor!
Magistrate: Then take him out of the Court and give him three lashes!
(Lashes administered).
And now, Interpreter, tell the witness that when he speaks of an English in this Court he must call him hung mo kwai. The truth probably was that the witness said, after having given his evidence, 'fan kwai" i.e. "may I go home?" for the words fan kwai "foreign devil," mean, when pronounced in a different tone, fan kwai, to go home.67
Apparently, the case was innocent, and the message behind the story was to call for effective communications between the government and the Chinese people. In addition to their participation in the development of education, both Legg e an d Eite l serve d i n othe r capacitie s wher e a n advance d understanding of the Chinese language and culture was necessary.

The Use of Sinology for the Colonial Administration: James Legg e
When Hercules Robinson (1824-1897) became the Governor of Hong Kong (1859-1865), he introduced reforms. Robinson carried out two schemes, namely the founding of the Central school and the cadet system. Legge was connected with Robinson's administration in an unofficial capacity . He served on the Board of Education (whic h on an advisory basis) through which he proposed establishing the Central school. The school became a major channel for the Chinese to receive modern and English education.68
Legge also trained newly recruited civil service cadets. The objective was "to supply the Civil Service in Hong Kong with an efficient staf f of Interpreters." More importantly, it prepared the capable cadets to hold "the higher offices i n the Civil Service of Hong Kong" after the y passed the Chinese language requiremen t an d two years o f "approve d Servic e a s Interpreters."69 A certain level of proficiency in the Chinese language was required for cadets to be promoted to senior positions in the government. This proposal was at first brought to the attention of the Legislative Council in March 1861, and Robinson officially submitted the scheme to London in July 1861. The scheme was approved, and its regulations were announced to the public in the Hong Kong Government Gazette on 12 October 1861. Next year, the Hong Kong government recruited three graduate cadets from the University o f Cambridge, namely Malcolm Struan Tonnochy (1840 -1874), Walter Meredith Dean e (1840-1906), and Cecil Clementi Smit h (1840-1916).70 Whe n these three cadets reported for duty in Hong Kong, Legge began to teach them the Chinese language. No doubt, Legge was the best choice at that time in Hong Kong while his voluminous essays on the Term Question and parts of The Chinese Classics were published. It was always his wish to see the cultural and language barriers removed between the colonial government and the Chinese population. He wrote, "My idea from 184 4 was that the administration o f th e Colony would not b e thoroughly satisfactory , til l many of the offices i n it were filled by me n having a practical knowledge of the Chinese language, and a sympathy with the people."71
Textbooks for teaching Chinese language to the cadets were both the Chinese and the English versions of the Bible as well as Legge's translation of Confucian classics . His choice of textbooks well reflected th e use of sinology a t the time. At one level, sinology served the missionary cause . The translation of the Bible was a good example. By 1862, there had already been a few editions of the Chinese Bible. From various editions of the Chinese Bible, Legge had good and bad examples of translation ready in hand. The cadets graduated fro m th e University o f Cambridg e and , accordingly, were members of the Church of England.72 Because they were familiar with the Bible, they could focus on Chinese language usage while reading th e Chinese Bible . At another level , Legge intended t o bridg e cultural differences between China and the West. His translation of Chinese classics was a good example, and he used his work with the intention of conveying to the three cadets a sympathetic and understanding attitud e towards the Chinese people.73
After h e took up the professorial chai r of Chinese at Oxford, th e Colonial Office onc e explored the feasibility o f sending successful Hon g Kong cadets to Oxford to receive a year of training in the Chinese language under Legge. Not a single cadet was, however, sent to study under him at Oxford.74

The Use of Sinology for the Colonial Administration: Ernest John Eitel
Eitel was at first invited by Arthur Edward Kennedy (1810-1883, Governor of Hong Kong: 1872-1877) t o serve the government in an unofficia l capacity. First, he was appointed chairman of the Schoolbook Comrnitte e
THE USE OF SINOLOGY I N THE NINETEENT H CENTUR Y 15
to prepare "a set of three graduated readers after th e pattern of the Irish National Schoolbook Society's publication." This appointment was aimed at helping "conciliate objections" to the grant-in-aid scheme introduced in 1873, which caused bitter opposition from the Catholic Church and some Westerners in Hong Kong. 75 The origin of the problem was that proper textbooks for secular education in the Chinese language were not adequate. Therefore, the use of Confucian or any other Chinese texts in aided school was regarded as the government's promotion of "heathenish" education. Being a missionary and sinologist, Eitel knew the sensitivity in the religious and education sides.
In addition, Eitel served on the Board of Examiners. The board was created to monitor the progress of in-service Chinese language training and to manage and issue the "certificates of proficiency in Chinese Colloquial." It came into being because Governor Kennedy used it in lieu of hiring cadets from Britain to save money. Besides, the office o f the Superintendence of Chinese studies was created, Eitel held the office in an unofficial capacity.76
In 1879 , Eitel resigned from the LMS and took up the office o f the Inspector of schools. At one time, he was the Governor's Chinese secretary. Some of his studies in sinology began to bear a clear implication for political needs. He studied the Mui-tsai problem, a subject of immediate political importance in Hong Kong. 77 B y that time there was pressure from Hong Kong and London to check against the kidnapping, selling and buying of young girls and women. John Pope Hennessy (1834-1891 ; Governor of Hong Kong: 1877-1882 ) paid special attention to this problem. Chines e merchants and social leaders met and petitioned Hennessy to form the Po Leung Kuk with the aim of suppressing the selling and buying of kidnapped persons. In so doing, they could "stamp out a vicious trade" and "retain the custom of Mui-tsai, a custom which mattered only to Chinese families rich enough to purchase unwanted girls or girls from impoverishe d homes as bond servants until a marriageable age."78 Eitel was appointed a member of the "committee of enquiry into the related question of the kidnapping of girls." One of his important duties was to translate all correspondence s relating to the issue. He studied the notions of social institutions in Chinese societies, and asserted that the time for any legislation to abolish the Mui-tsai system was premature. His conclusion reads:
1. Chinese domestic servitude is so peculiar, and differs so widely in its essential characteristics from negro slavery, that it cannot be logically brought under the provisions of any English enactment regarding that form of slavery. Police prosecution of Chinese domestic servitude under any law made with reference to negro slavery would therefore constitute
an act of very doubtful legality.
2.
Chinese domesti c servitud e appear s to be a low form o f social development whe n judged b y th e advance d standar d o f Europea n civilization, bu t whe n judged b y th e relativ e standar d o f Chines e civilization, founded on entirely different principles, it has its legitimation as the best possible form of social development under the circumstances. Absolute condemnation of Chinese domestic servitude would therefore be an act of moral injustice.

3.
Chines e domestic servitude is not an excrescence on but a necessary part of the patriarchal order of things which characterizes the social life of the Chinese residents of Hong Kong. To prohibit Chinese domestic servitude in toto would therefore constitute an act of violence, as striking at the very roots of the social organism, the results of which would in all probability b e harmful t o th e Chines e an d embarrassing t o th e Government.

4.
Chines e domestic servitude, hitherto upheld in Hong Kong by the conservative tendencies of the patriarchal organism in China, is bound by the laws of nature to yield eventually to the progressive tendencies of modern society. Undue interference with this process would therefore be an act of injudicious intolerance.79


The report served as the base on which the government tolerated the Mui-tsai problem. "As a result of its report," according to George Endacott (1901-1971), "the Po Leung Kuk, a society for the protection of women and girls, came into being."80
Furthermore, Eitel took the subject of "slavery in China" seriously. He examined Chuo Geng Lu that was written by Tao Zongyi (1316ca.-1402). Tao studied different notion s of slaves in Chinese history. Eitel translated parts o f Chuo Geng Lu to illuminate the differences o f the following: "captives whose lives have been spared," "prisoners of war," "free man, " "male and female slaves, " "convicts," and "children to the manor born." Besides, he discussed the ways that slaves could be released: "liberation and exemption from th e status of slavery, " and "discharging slave s as free d man."81 Hi s translation supported his former claim that the Mui tsai wa s not a Chinese equivalent of the western institution of slavery.
In 1886 , Eitel finished a study on the Chinese law of testamentary succession. He examined th e Lu, Statu e Law, from whic h he translated relevant part s for western readers. He considered suc h a study t o be significant in Hong Kong. "By the law of the Colony any will or testament made by a Chinese resident of Hongkong will have to be interpreted and dealt with, by the Supreme Court of Hong-kong, if I am not mistaken, in
THE USE OF SINOLOGY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 15
accordance with the principles of the law of inheritance as understood in China," remarks Eitel.82



Concluding Remarks
Last but not least, he wrote Europe in China, a comprehensive history of Hong Kong. Alan Birch (1924-1999) reviewed Eitel's skills and knowledge as a historian.83 Here, it is only meant to highlight his use of history for the justification o f British rule . He considered that Britain has a "divine mission" t o civiliz e Asia. 84 Furthermore , h e merge d hi s religiou s commitment into his historical perspective. "If the reader is once clear as to what it is that the past of history of Hongkong shew s the purport o f the establishment of Hongkong to have been in the providence of God, he will have no difficulty i n determining, with regard to the public measures or public men of any period, whether they marred or promoted the Colony's progress towards fulfilling its divine mission," he writes.85 It might be taken as his justification fo r leaving the missionary work and spending 1 8 years to work for the Hong Kong government.
Legge and Eitel represented different scholarly orientations in sinology, and thei r academi c contribution s wer e different . Legg e studie d an d translated th e Chinese classics, extended his scope to compare Chines e religions, and to reflect on the history of Christian missions. Eitel studied the Hakkas, Chinese Buddhism, Fung-shui, Cantonese dialects, and Chinese customs. How to account for their differences is an interesting question, and it is here intended only to do it from th e perspectives o f circumstantia l factors. Legge took up a "sedentary" approach to observe Chinese culture, like his predecessors di d it in Malacca through reading an d translatin g Chinese scriptures an d books. When he moved to Hong Kong in 1843, Legge continued what he had been doing at Malacca. It should be noted that the Hong Kong that he encountered wa s a changing world where th e population grew rapidly from 1 6 000 in 1843 to 117 500 in 1867, and to be around 124 200 in 1873 due to the great influx of immigrants.86 Instead of studying what the immigrants brought with them to this rapidly changing world in Hong Kong, Legge seemed to be more interested to return to the Chinese scriptures where he saw the persisting elements in the Chinese culture. On the other hand, Eitel entered into the interior parts of Guangdong province in the 1860s, an unchanging world as a sharp contrast with Hong Kong, where the practices of Chinese religions and customs confronted his mission work . H e supplemente d hi s "sedentary " approac h wit h
"participating" observation in his quest of knowledge about the popular practices in Chinese Buddhism and Feng Shui. Despite their differences i n the scopes of their studies, they both took up subjects in a meticulous and scholarly manner. This might be due to their disposition and their substantial education background.87
The missionary cause was at first a major practical requirement behind their pursuit of sinology. The consolidation of the colonial administratio n became another practical requirement, although none of them would have originally anticipated it . Compared to Legge, Eitel developed a deeper connection with the colonial administration. So did his sinology. From a broader view o f Hong Kon g history, the consolidation o f the colonia l administration required a better communication between the British and the Chinese people . Improvemen t i n communicatio n ha d t o begi n wit h education, with reform of the colonial administration, and with the reliable and faithful translatio n of messages being put through Government House and the court. Legge helped establish the Central School and train civi l service cadets. Eitel helped on similar platforms and served the following positions: examiner of officials wh o received in-service language training, translator and editor of textbooks to be used in schools, inspector of schools, and interpreter of Chinese customs and institutions.


The Guangxi Clique and Hong Kong: Sanctuary in a Dangerous World
Diana Lary
A House in Hong Kong
In the spring of 1929, Li Zongren slipped into Hong Kong, and established himself i n his house at 92 Robinson Road . His great venture to control central China had just collapsed in ruins, and his home province, Guangxi, was about to fall into the hands of rebellious subordinates. Li's Robinson Road house was a roomy, three storey foreign-style house, rented for the sum of HK$90 per month. It was on the slopes of the Peak, cool and breezy (essential in the days before ai r conditioning) an d yet quite close to the centre of Hong Kong. Li needed a lot of space, because his entourage, the people who were sharing his exile in Hong Kong and depended on him for support, numbered more than 20. They were his close family and some of his immediate subordinates.1
Li Zongren was one of the leaders of the New Guangxi Clique (xin guixi), a group of young officers who had joined the Guomindang in 1925, played dramatic roles in the Northern Expedition to unify Chin a between 1926 and 1928, and then fallen out with Chiang Kai-shek as he tried to exert absolute control over the Guomindang military an d political world. The outcome of the falling out was defeat and exile.
Li was not the first defeated warlord 2 to live in the Robinson Road house. It was the house in which Chen Jiongming lived when he fled from Guangdong in 1925 after his defeat at the hands of Guomindang forces as they unified the province before the Northern Expedition. Nor was Li the last warlord to live there. Li Jishen, a major Guangdong military figure and close associate of the clique, moved into it when he was released from house arrest in Nanjing i n 1931 . He actually bought the house, for HK$20 000, and owned it until the early 1950s ; by that time he had gone over to the communist side and was living in Beijing. He sold the Hong Kong house in an exccess of patriotism during the Korean War and gave the proceeds to the PLA.3
The house was one of many Hong Kong houses and flats maintaine d by warlords from sout h China as second residences, for times when they needed to escape from hot water on the Mainland. Warlord careers wer e inherently insecure ; they soare d rapidly an d just a s rapidly plunged t o disaster and even total collapse. These careers could as easily be revived �X but only if the warlord could first escape from the jaws of defeat, and avoid falling int o the hands of his enemies. The first impulse when faced wit h imminent defeat was to flee. Few warlords were killed by their victorious opponents, but the warlord system was built on mistrust, and most warlords instinctively shied away from running the risk of throwing themselves on the mercy of their victors. Detention or house arrest became a danger under the Guomindang. Li Jishen was arrested in Nanjing in early 1929 when he appeared to side with the clique in their conflict with Chiang Kai-shek.4
Republican China was an insecure place for men involved in political and military affairs. One historical twist, which saved them from the worst of the vicissitudes that such careers involved, was that along the fringes of China there were places of refuge, where a politician or a warlord could find safety fo r long enough to recoup his position. These places of sanctuar y allowed many careers to continue which might otherwise have been ended much sooner. By extension they perpetuated the divisions of China in the 1920s and 1930s.

Warlord Refuges
Warlords were quite sanguine about the likelihood of defeat. When it came they saw it as temporary, a prelude to a comeback �X in the ancient saying, "the easter n mountai n rise s again " (dongshan zaiqi). The y had well -rehearsed scenarios to deal with a defeat. Escape from China was the first priority. From south China this was usually quite easy, given the large
THE GUANGXI CLIQUE AND HONG KONG 15
number of exit routes available. The second priority was to have a suitable refuge prepared . The retreat had to be a strategic one, not a panicky one, with destitution lurking in the immediate future. Warlords had to preserve their status and their face by living a dignified life while away from home. They needed adequate facilities to house and support their family and close retainers adequately �X i.e. a large house, which would also be a base from which to keep in touch with their armed forces at home, and a suitable place in which to receive those with whom they would negotiate their returns. All this presupposed housing arrangement s made in advance, with adequat e funds in place to maintain it and its temporary inhabitants.
Defeated warlords did not want to go far away from China. The political situation was bound to change rapidly, and if they were too far away they would be in no position to return to power. For the southern warlords, Hong Kong was the ideal choice for refuge. A base in Hong Kong was a form of insurance i n the risky busines s o f warlordism, a haven fro m almost inevitable defeat or betrayal, a place to keep in touch easily with friend s and colleagues still at home, and the place from which to plan and launch their comeback. Hong Kong was a home away from home.
Huang Shaoxiong, with Bai Chongxi Li Zongren's closest associates, was disarmingly frank in defining what Hong Kong meant to the warlords of South China:
Because Hon g Kon g wa s th e backstag e fo r politica l activitie s i n Guangdong and Guangxi, if we wanted to find a political way out [from our difficulties in 1929] we had to go there.5
Political and military figures in flight made for a foreign-controlled part of China. Huang Shaoxiong again:
In various places in China foreigners had arranged cosy nests (anlewo) as refuges for Chinese military and political power holders. Men falling from power in Guangxi or Yunnan went to Vietnam; men falling from power in Guangdong went to Hong Kong; men falling from power in the Yangzi Valley went to Shanghai; men falling from power in North China went to Tianjin; men falling from power in the Northeast went to Dalian. Heaven never sealed up all the exits. Once you reached a leased territory or a colony, so long as you did not annoy the local authorities, all of them offered some kind of welcome.6
Without places of refuge the warlord system, which lasted in its intense form from 191 6 to 1928, and in modified form from 192 8 to 1949, would
have been much less durable. Very few warlords managed a whole career without having to flee to areas under foreign control. Many of the northern warlords were in and out of power so often that they were like jack-in-the-boxes �X a period in power, followed by time out in their villas in Tianjin and Dalian. Feng Yuxiang followed a typically idiosyncratic path; when he fell from power in 1925, he went to the Soviet Union. He was back again in less than a year.
Guangxi warlords sometimes had to leave Guangxi by the province's back door, through Vietnam, but they did not stay there. Hanoi offered n o refuge; they were harassed by French officials an d hurried on their way. Their resting place while they were out of power, the place where they could recuperate, rebuild their careers and cultivate their connections and alliances was Hong Kong. Its location, in a period when travel was still by water, was critical. Hong Kong was the focal point for the West, North and East Rivers; it was connected north up the coast to Fujian and Shanghai, west to Beihai and Hanoi. All waterways led to Hong Kong.
The Guangxi warlord s used Hong Kong as a place of retreat an d recuperation fo r most of their careers. Their sojourns i n Hong Kong are mentioned in the many biographies of the Guangxi Clique members, some published lon g ago and now reissued, others stil l coming ou t from th e prolific pen of Cheng Siyuan, Li Zongren's long time lieutenant, at that time a very young aide to Li and now, at an advanced age, still writing about the clique in Beijing.

Hong Kong as a Refuge
Hong Kong had a long history of giving sanctuary to political dissidents. It had been the base for the anti-Qing, pro-Republican movement, in the late 19th century and early 20th century. The activities of Sun Yat-sen and his followers wer e centred in Hong Kong, which was the base for the many small-scale anti-Qing risings in Guangdong. Hong Kong was the channel for financia l support , th e place for training , and for th e collection an d purchase of arms . It was a centre for the publication o f revolutionary materials. Sun himself was banned from Hong Kong for a long period,7 bu t its role in the revolutionary movement was not diminished by his absence. Later on, in the early Republic, Hong Kong continued to be a place from which Sun masterminded his repeated essays on establishing a base in Guangdong, though Sun also spent long periods in the French Concession in Shanghai. The Chinese political and warlord worlds were not sealed off
THE GUANGXI CLIQUE AND HONG KONG 15
from each other. Sun Yat-sen often had to make deals with warlords in his efforts t o establish himself i n Guangzhou, with the Yunnan and Sichua n warlords, who helped him to power and then betrayed him in 1918, and with Chen Jiongming, who did the same in 1922. The negotiations usually started in Hong Kong.
The balance could shift the other way. Chen himself had to flee to Hong Kong in 1923. He was an exception to the comeback rule. He never returned to power, and spent the rest of his life in Hong Kong. He died in poverty in Hong Kong in 1933, so poor that his family could not afford a new coffin, and he was placed in the coffin, which his aged mother (then over 80) had already prepared for herself.8
After the establishment of the Guomindang capital in Nanjing (1928 ) Hong Kong' s rol e expanded ; i n additio n t o defeate d warlords , mor e numerous than ever after the unification of China, losers in the Guomindang faction fighting , especiall y fo r thos e wh o wer e Cantonese , starte d t o establish bases in Hong Kong. Wang Jingwei had a permanent establishment there, which he needed given the ups and downs of his career. In 1929 he set up an "alternative" Guomindang government in Hong Kong, at his house in Happy Valley.
The details of warlord intrigue covered in the now extensive literature on the period can be mind-numbing, and often impossibl e to keep clear. Books on warlords tend to cover all the ins and outs of individual careers, with details so profuse that they obscure the larger and general aspects of the warlord system. Here we will try to simplify the complexity, by looking only at a brief period, the crisis year for the Guangxi Clique, 1929, and show how a complex serie s of events was resolved, and also what a key, if inactive, role Hong Kong played in the resolution of the crisis.

The 192 9 Crisi s
The players
Settling the 1929 Crisis involved a large cast of players, typical for the complex negotiations that the "rearrangement" of a warlord career demanded. These were the players directly involved in the 1929 crisis:
Chiang Kai-shek , th e leader o f th e Guomindan g Governmen t i n Nanjing, leading a campaign to subdue his recalcitrant warlord allies. Men who had joined the Guomindang between 1925 and 1928 but had never fully submitted to central authority.
Li Zongren, Bai Chongxi an d Huang Shaoxiong , the leaders o f th e Guangxi CUque, and of the main warlord groups opposing Chiang. The three had worked together for five years, and had most recently controlled an area from Beijing to Guangxi, with Bai in Beijing, Li in Wuhan and Huang in Nanning.
Chen Jitang, the recently established warlord of Guangdong, still with only a tenuous hold on power, and apparently favouring Nanjing .
Wang Jingwei , Chiang' s mai n contende r fo r leadershi p o f th e Guomindang, now temporarily eclipsed, but actively planning his comeback and looking for military allies.
Lu Huanyan and Yang Tenghui, junior Guangxi officers temporaril y in charge in Guangxi (fro m Jul y 1929) . They wer e formally allie d wit h Chiang Kai-she k bu t wer e anxious t o bring Li , Bai an d Huang bac k t o power.

Guangxi Clique's defeat
In early 1929, the Guangxi Clique lost its power in central and north China, the bridgehead s i n Wuha n an d i n Beijin g i t had wo n contro l o f a t th e end of the Northern Expedition. The clique had become increasingly open in its challenge to Chiang's authority, and in its desire for autonomy. Chiang moved against the clique as a first step in eliminating independent warlord power withi n his nominal spher e o f rule . The nex t candidate s fo r subordination wer e Feng Yuxiang an d Yan Xishan . By June 1929 , the clique had been kicked out of central and northern China and was abou t to los e contro l i n Guangxi , betraye d b y subordinate s wh o wen t over t o Nanjing.
Li Zongren managed to get to Hong Kong from Wuhan without major problems, but Bai Chongxi barely escaped from Beijing. When he saw the danger he was in, he went into the German hospital there, and immediately left by the back door, wearing a false beard and dark glasses. He was then smuggled out of Beijing in a packing case, to Tianjin where he slipped on to a southbound steamer.9
In defeat, the clique showed its ability to operate as a troika: as soon as he got to Guangxi (via Hong Kong) Bai Chongxi went to the army, and launched a n abortive attack into Guangdong; Huang Shaoxion g wa s in Nanning, the capital of Guangxi, "attending to financial affairs; " an d Li Zongren was settled in Hong Kong to deal with "foreign affairs" (waishi). He started a preliminary round of complex negotiations and intrigues aimed at restoring the Guangxi Clique's to full power. All three failed i n their
THE GUANGX I CLIQU E AN D HON G KON G 16
efforts. In July the clique lost Guangxi and Bai and Huang were forced to withdraw, and joined Li in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong negotiations
Once the clique had lost its last hold on the Mainland, the negotiations for its return to Guangxi went into high gear. Now all the players listed above were either in Hong Kong or had personal representatives there. In what amounted t o a prolonged informal conference , they me t each othe r separately in an extended round of dinners, teas and meetings, to explore possibilities for alliances, to work out terms and conditions and to look for possibilities of compromises. The negotiations were delicate and intricate; the various players carried on competing and contradictory negotiation s simultaneously, a form of international bargaining in miniature.
Other warlords (or their representatives) besides the key players tried to get involved in the process, creating new possibilities but ones which advanced their own interests more than they did the clique's. The only group not represented in Hong Kong was the one which had precipitated the final stage of the crisis �X the young officers who actually overthrew the clique in Guangxi, and were then themselves driven into the west of the province by Lu and Yang. Li Mingrui and Yu Zuoyu had turned to communism. By late 1929 they were in a remote area of westernmost Guangxi with a young communist cadre from outside �X Deng Xiaoping �X and were about to set up their own soviet.
The negotiations in Hong Kong set the Guangxi Clique on a new tack �X one in which they tacitly accepted a reduced role for themselves in Chinese affairs. They rejected the blandishments of the many potential allies who approache d the m (se e below), an d instea d concentrate d o n th e arrangements necessary to reestablish themselves in their own province. These were achieved by the end of the year the clique leaders had regathered their strength and were back in Guangxi. The Guangxi Clique's time out was over, and they were once again established as the unquestioned leaders of the province.
The crisis of 192 9 continued into 1930 , with many twists an d turns and much bad blood. Back in control of their forces, the clique moppe d up their opponents. The communists were ejected fro m the province and set out on a mini Long March through the hills to Jiangxi, where they joined the central Soviet. The officers who had rebelled against the clique were either killed in fighting o r had to flee to Hong Kong. Yu Zuoyu' s cousin, Yu Zuobo, who had paved the way for his cousin's adventure, fled to Hong Kong i n lat e 1929 . There wer e casualties . In June 1930 , Lu Huanyan was shot by his bodyguard in the New Asia Hotel in Guangzhou.10 In August, Yu Zuobo was murdered in Shenzhen.11 Th e instigators of the murders were not named �X but they stood as a warning of how nasty the warlord gam e could be .