\
INTRODUCTION
'inferior' persons who needed his help customarily made use of 'go-betweens', middle-men who were often lesser officials or aspiring candi-dates for civil service honours. Lower down the academic ladder, even teachers in the traditional village and lineage schools, and later in the primary and secondary schools, would be treated with respect, offered tidbits and other presents as well as fees.
Several families from the Hong Kong region can boast of scholastic successes via the traditional civil service examinations in a roll of honour going back many centuries. Although the individual scholars then spent their working lives outside the district, the families accumulated prestige, and motivation for learning was fanned. Magistrates and other officials came to the Hong Kong region from elsewhere in China. Some of these contributed to the promotion of education. There can be little doubt that the custom of using go-betweens was used in Hong Kong for educational purposes, as well as others. Veneration of, and obedience to, local teachers has had largely stultifying effects on the curriculum and on teaching styles. In post-1841 Hong Kong, however, the 'face' and privileges given to teachers was tempered with the patronizing, sometimes disdainful, attitudes of many foreigners and some visiting Chinese literati62. Ironi-cally, perhaps, neither respect nor contempt for teachers advanced the cause of professional preparation. There was no provision for teacher education per se in pre-colonial Hong Kong. And for many years in the history of colonial Hong Kong the emphasis has been not so much on in-service or on pre-service training, as on lip service to the idea63.
Multiplicity of Agencies and Arenas for Decision-making
For educational decision-making, the interests of the individual, the
62.
As a preliminary step, see Evidence 13 in this Chapter and Evidence 6(a) in Chapter 3.
63.
See Evidence 1(b) in Chapter 4, and note how the 'pragmatic' attitude of many Hong Kong parents and pupils tended to undermine Stewart's pupil-teacher scheme, which was in itself, an adaptation of the monitorial system then popular in Britain. The 'Normal School' established in 1881 by the enthusiasm of Governor Hennessy and Inspector of Schools, Eitel, survived for only two years and actually produced only two teachers! Thereafter, teacher training in Hong Kong was confined to a 'normal' class of ten students in the Central School, until the establishment in 1907 of part-time evening classes at the newly-founded Technical Institute. The Department of Education at the University of Hong Kong was established in 1916. It offered education courses to undergraduates in the Faculty of Arts. The Vernacular Normal Schools for Men and for Women were opened in 1921 and the Government Taipo Vernacular School for Teachers in the New Territories in 1925. The inadequacy of provision of teacher education in Hong Kong was, however, highlighted both in the Burney Report of 1935 and, more specifically, in the Lindsell Report of 1938.
While recognizing the deficiencies in the Hong Kong situation, one should, as a necessary corrective, also note the lack of provision for teacher education during most of this period in China, in comparable colonies such as Singapore, and even in Britain (at least for most of the nineteenth century).
family, the lineage, the village, the local and central governments have not always converged. After 1841, there were also opportunities for friction between the plans concocted by colonial administrators, the aspirations of missionaries, and the efforts at supervision by the Government in Britain. Conflicts of interests and intentions were sometimes productive of change. More often, they led to obfuscation and inertia. The fact that educational argument could take place in so many different arenas �X homes, ancestral and other halls, committees, councils, and corridors �X meant that they were often protracted. Typically, they involved disputes over jurisdiction.
In summary, then, education in Hong Kong has been marked by several interesting ploys. These have included a 'beat-the-system' atti-tude, and strategies which could be summarized as 'make use of go-betweens', 'be privately enterprising and publicly benevolent7. Partly be-cause so many of the inhabitants of Hong Kong have in most historical periods been recent immigrants, the work ethic has been strongly es-poused, particularly in relation to education as a key to social mobility.
28. Selected statistics.
(a) Tables
Statistical information is capable of providing interesting insights into the educational situation. In the case of Hong Kong, no reliable statistics exist for schooling in the region before 1844, and, even after 1844, the figures must be treated with caution. Much of the data tabulated below has been selected from the Hong Kong Government publication, Historical and Statistical Abstract of the Colony of Hong Kong, 1841-1930,3rd edn. (Noronha & Co., Government Printers, 1932). It has been supplemented and checked by reference to Government Blue Books, Administrative Reports, and Financial Esti-mates. Even so, vagueness of definitions and changes in procedures and organization, the tendency of many Hong Kong people to hide the truth from inspectors, census-takers, et al., plus a variety of 'unknowns', suggest that inferences derived from educational statis-tics in Hong Kong should be tentative and should be tested against evidence from other sources.**
64. There is little doubt that small traditional schools escaped the attention of Government data collectors in the earliest period and, therefore, figures even for the number of schools are probably under-estimations. Attendance records are even more notoriously fallible. Several of Stewart's early reports mention the tricks that teachers resorted to for the purpose of presenting a spuriously impressive picture of attendance at their schools in the days when their own salaries depended on pupil attendance (see, for example, Chapter 4, Evidence 1(a)). Evidence 29 in this chapter and Evidence 27 in Chapter 5 illustrate more modern examples of by-passing officialdom. In Tables 1-4, the column 'Grand Total' has been included under 'Attendance', where possible, to emphasize that the aggregate of pupils attending Government schools and pupils attending Grant-in-Aid schools was never
INTRODUCTION
equivalent to the grand total number of pupils attending all schools in Hong Kong, even though it was included in the tables produced by the 1932 Historical and Statistical Abstract as Total'. Precisely the same point is true about the 'No. of schools' column. Estimates of expenditure depend, of course, on exactly what is included under the various headings. Although the 1932 Historical and Statistical Abstract, for example, refers in its tables to the proportion of public expenditure devoted to 'public instruction', it seems clear that this figure comprises only the amounts spent on the Education Department. Also see f.n. 66 below.
Table 1.1 demonstrates the difficulties of using incomplete and inaccurate (or uncer-tain) sources. As mentioned above, the basic source used to construct all of the tables and charts in this chapter is the Hong Kong Government's Historical and Statistical Abstract of the Colony of Hong Kong, 1841-1930, 3rd edn. (1932). In the statistical tables offered by this publication, there are no data about the numbers of Government schools or Mission schools and no information about the pupil attendance at Government schools and Mission schools for the years 1844-50 and 1857. In order to insert this data, the present author checked the original Blue Books for these years. These include all the relevant statistics. Unfortunately, the annual Blue Books also suggest that the 'No. of schools' entries for the period included in the 1932 edition of the Abstract are inaccurate (mainly under-estimations) and that the same is true of the entries for Total attendance'. Table 1, therefore, includes the Government's 1932 version and, in parenthesis, the contemporary estimates, also produced by the Hong Kong Government for this early period. A comparison of these figures will show that the compiler of the 1932 Abstract tended to confuse Total schools' and Total attendance' with Mission schools' and 'Attendance at mission schools'.
Even with the amendments produced in Table 1.1 below, there remains the likelihood that, largely because of the tendency of the local population not to cooperate fully with fact-finding officials, the figures for number of schools and number of pupils fail to represent the whole truth. At least, however, they represent in this amended form, what official observers at the time believed to be the truth.
Date
1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860
Gvt. expnd (Total)
53,108 72,841 60,351 50,960 62,309 38,986 34,314 34,115 34,766 36,419 34,635 40,814 42,426 65,498 62,979 66,109 72,391
% expnd
p. instrn
2.40 1.13 1.26 1.32 1.32 2.04 1.97 2.68 2.70 1.83 3.17 2.15 2.36 1.93 2.69 3.07 2.53
No. schls
5(12) 4(15) 4(18) 4(13) 6(17) 9(10) 12 11 12 10 11 11 14 (20) 18 23 35
Table 1.1
No. No. Gvt schls Mssn schls
(0) (5) (0) (4) (0) (4) (0) (4) (3) (6) (3) (6) 4 8 6 5 6 6 6 4 6 5 8 3 9 5 (14) (6) 16 2 20 3 21 14 Attendance
Gvt schls
(0) (0) (0) (0) (95) (76) 70 143 158 155 134 185 237 (526) 608 977 1001 Mssn schls
(119) (100) (102) (118) (146) (130) 157 154 158 92 113 139 126 (209) 54 109 326
Total Atendance
117(208) 100(250) 102(283+) 118(283) 146(263) 223(218) 227 297 316 247 247 324 363 (735) 662 1086 1327
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Date Gvt. expnd % expnd No. No. Total No. Attendance Total
(Total) p. instrn Gvt.schls Mssn schls schls Gvt schls Mssn schls Attendance
1861 536,234 1.56 20 20 40 796 523 1,319
1862 631,260 1.76 20 19 39 889 443 1,332
1863 586,566 1.84 16 22 38 577 653 1,230
1864 763,308 1.53 12 22 34 392 759 1,151
1865 937,805 1.37 12 16 28 546 782 1,328
1866 936,955 1.28 11 12 23 623 616 1,239
1867 730,917 1.68 11 15 26 700 735 1,435
1868 991,311 1,46 14 17 31 916 827 1,743
1869. 912,853 1.83 17 14 31 942 743 1,685
1870 877,224 2.16 22 13 35 1,302 701 2,003
1871 894,209 2.15 26 13 39 1,292 755 2,047
1872 835,698 2.45 30 12 42 1,480 619 2,099
1873 789,874 2.78 30 21 51 1,838 808 2,646
1874 921,480 2.56 30 17 47 1,931 1,067 2,998
1875 869,823 3.04 30 22 52 1,927 1,136 3,063
Table 1.3
Date
1876 1877 1878 1879
1881 1882 1883 1884
1886 1887 1888 1889
1891 1892 1893 1894
1896 1897 1898 1899
Gvt. expnd (Total)
869,624 902,500 873,208 910,523 926,868 948,014 981,582 1,094,805 1,342,299 1,595,398 1,621,250 2,020,862 2,023,002 1,992,330 1,833,719 1,915,350 2,449,086 2,342,837 1,920,524 2,299,096 2,972,373 2,474,910 2,641,410 2,841,805 3,162,792 3,628,447 % expnd
p. instrn
3.04 2.85 2.84 3.41 3.72 3.84 3.95 4.07 3.93 3.09 3.07 2.42 2.46 2.77 3.28 3.91 3.23 3.85 4.17 3.53 2.08 3.16 2.83 2.61 2.43 2.25
No. No. Gvt.schls GinA schls
30 9 30 11 30 15 30 17 31 19 36 27 35 37 39 41 39 48 35 55 35 55 34 56 33 61 34 63 35 69 36 76 36 81 36 95 24 102 20 99 16 106 16 101 16 96 16 97 13 96 13 82
Total No. schls
39 41 45 47 50 63 72 80 87(190) 90(190) 90(190) 90(201) 94(204) 97(206) 104(211) 112(223) 117(215) 131(229) 126(277) 119(232) 122(236) 117(215) 112(224) 113(221) 108(208) 95(236)
Attendance
Gvt schls
1,118 1,192 1,241 1,130 1,130 1,212 1,210 1,235 1,229 1,224 1,206 1,321 1,333 1,425 1,565 1,732 1,626 1,793 1,576 1,248 1,422 1,181 1,659 1,453 1,622 1,750
GinA schls
460 517 625 700 939 1,098 1,598 1,974 2,162 2,471 2,535 2,889 2,871 2,834 3,218 3,514 3,529 3,968 4,234 3,211 3,737 3,134 3,732 3,581 3,211 3,870
Total Attendance
1,578 1,709 1,866 1,830 2,069 2,310 2,808 3,209 3,391 3,695 3,741 4,210 4,204 4,259 4,783 5,246 5,155 5,761 5,810 4,459 5,159 4,315 5,391 5,034 4,833 5,620
Grand Total
7,758 7,885 7,633 8,062 8,272 8,717 9,681 9,644 10,119 10,940 12,123 10,750 10,721 9,686 11,177 11,171 11,299 11,365
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Table 1.3 (Continued)
Date Gvt. expnd % expnd No. No. Total No. Attendance Total Grand
(Total) p. instrn Gvt.schls GinA schls schls Gvt schls GinA schls Attendance Total
1901 4,111,722 2.16 14 78 92 1,557 3,197 4,754
1902 5,909,549 1.59 13 67 80 1,664 3,107 4,771
1903 5,396,669 2.46 13 90 103 1,618 3,342 4,960
1904 6,376,235 2.43 12 69 81 1,665 3,305 4,970
1905 6,951,275 2.33 12 70 82 1,797 x 3,556 5,353
1906 6,832,611 2.39 14 67 81 1,932 3,564 5,496
1907 5,757,203 3.20 14 65 79 2,144 3,780 5,924
1908 7,929,478 2.59 14 59 73 2,251 3,927 6,178
1909 6,542,839 3.35 12 58 70 2,326 4,234 6,560
1910 6,907,113 3.27 14 55 69 1,960 4,337 6,297
1911 7,077,177 3.36 14 53 67 2,120 4,183 6,303
1912 7,202,543 3.38 14 61 75(377) 2,024 4,309 6,333
1913 8,658,013 3.19 14 50 64(584) 1,855 4,514 6,369
Table 1.4
Date
1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940
Gvt. expnd (Total)
10,756,225 15,149,268 11,079,915 14,090,828 16,252,172 17,915,925 14,489,594 15,739,652 18,563,003 21,571,904 26,726,428 28,266,818 23,524,716 20,845,065 21,230,242 21,983,257 28,119,646 31,160,774 32,050,284 31,149,156 31,122,715 28,291,636 29,513,521 32,111,222 37,175,898 37,949,116 64,787,556
% expnd
p. instrn
2.72 2.17 2.90 2.35 2.11 2.00 3.72 3.75 3.92 3.97 3.55 3.61 3.86 5.24 5.19 5.24 5.91 5.48 5.45 5.72 6.00 6.02 6.31 6.34 5.75 5.66 4.21
No. No. Gvt.schls GinA schls
17 49 14 45 14 49 14 34 14 33 14 64 14 64 16 64 16 271 16 287 18 288 18 324 19 314 19 319 19 334 19 327 19 304 19 16 19 16 19 16 19 17 19 18 20 19 20 18 20 18 21 19
Total No. schls
66 59 63 48 47 78 78 80 287 303 306 342 333 338 353 346 323 35 35 35 36 37 39 38 38 40
Attenc Jance Total
Gvt schls GinA schls Attendance
1,673 4,533 6,206
2,409 3,614 6,023
2,433 3,500 5,933
2,757 3,447 6,204
2,813 3,314 6,127
2,882 5,016 7,898
2,929 5,438 8,367
2,844 5,841 8,685
3,169 13,005 16,174
3,480 14,778 18,258
3,458 16,005 19,463
2,901 14,869 17,770
3,188 16,690 19,878
3,402 18,397 21,799
3,636 20,601 24,237
3,893 21,440 25,333
4,115 21,374 25,489
4,559 5,980 10,539
4,602 6,753 11,355
4,517 7,169 11,686
4,683 7,127 11,810
4,519 7,360 11,879
4,665 7,670 12,335
4,772 8,299 13,071
5,167 9,109* 14,576
5,251 9,809 15,060
Grand Total
19,381 19,856 21,103 23,935 25,544 25,786 28,707 35,282 39,214 42,452 46,933 39,075 37,354 49,111 56,301 58,245 62,997 68,593 71,223 72,917 73,348 75,480 78,679 86,993 104,134 118,193
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INTRODUCTION
79
(b) Charts
Simple pie-charts have the virtue of indicating proportions or 'the slices of the pie' quite dramatically. However, when used about a period of time (as they are used here), they do not provide information about the changing size of the pie. Such information is available in the tables above. As in the case of the tables, similar caution needs to be exercised when interpreting the charts.65
Government Expenditure, 1844
58.17% t^E^^E^^^.t 24.38% 1.64% 2.48% E3 General Admin O Public Health E3 Public Instruction �Gz] Public Order H Public works
/ 21.41%
Chart One
65. The basic problem again derives from definitions, in particular, the precise accounting definition of 'Public Instruction'.
Government Expenditure, 1866
1.47%
18.21%
truo
>ctzz
/�G-�X
:::::w .' \ -1 ->: [nl Non-effctve chgs ^3 General Admin
/>sl-32.72% L ~^ [U Public Health
�E*>*''\^\'
-
Eg| PubUc Instruction
Er^zrOr^rErzrz. ;jr i j'/>
^^ k g PubUc Order
Lovy-:^
25.51% l^E^^E^HB g | Public works
WE
H Defence
26.82%
Chart Two
Government Expenditure, 1882
3.54%
9.99%
fH Non-effctve chgs 19.45% 27.96% m General Admin u Public Health Public Instruction
R
PubUc Order
H
Public works
Defence
B
29.71%
Chart Three
INTRODUCTION
Government Expenditure, 1894
16.57%
11.81% E^H^E.
17.87%
14.88%
38.48%
fgj Non-effctve chgs 0 General Admin O Public Health [�G3 Public Instruction g Public Order HI Public works P Defence
7.41%
Chart Four
16.16% Government Expenditure, 1902 6.47%
38.22% 27.64% fg] Non-effctve chgs [3 General Admin O PubUc Health E3 PubUc Instruction g PubUc Order �� PubUc works H Defence
11.26%
Chart Five
Government Expenditure, 1922
6.63% 7.65%
TS O
4T T "h\o 01 Non-effctve chgs
7.48% A^tt-t r"K�X �X E�G*# 17.80%
IV )n
I I no H General Admin \ 00
LZ O PubUc Health gvj Public Instruction g PubUc Order
I_!_J :UJ-U,
p^ Public works
5.35%
H Defence Q GvtUndertkgs
3.92%
29.40%
12.49%
Chart Six
Government Expenditure, 1930
4.66%
12.29%
14.87%
fH Non-effctve chgs
O General Admin
(0 Public Health
gj] Public Instruction
28.16%
S PubUc Order II Public works
22.93% t^r^r^rzr
�G3 Defence 0 GvtUndertkgs
7.31& 12.67%
5.91%
Chart Seven
INTRODUCTION
29. From family records.
Education in Hong Kong, as elsewhere, concerns not only public policy, but also every family. Every family, therefore, possesses interesting historical source material. The ex-amples below are included, not so much for their intrinsic importance as for their represen-tativeness.
The first photograph (Illus. 1.5) is one of an unregistered school in the 1920s. The Headmaster was a graduate the University of California (Berkeley), who also gained Masters' degrees at New York University and Columbia University. He had been sent to America by the Imperial Government of the Qing Dynasty in 1910. He returned to China in 1919 and came to Hong Kong in the mid-'twenties as a personal response to the rioting in Canton and the generally chaotic conditions in southern China typical of the 'Warlord Period'. Once in Hong Kong, he made his living by running a school on Hill Road. As will be seen, the school enrolment was not large. The Education Ordinance required all schoob with an enrolment of more than ten pupils to be registered with the Education Department. Unregistered schools would not, of course, have been counted in the educational statistics of the time.
The second photograph (lllus. 1.6) displays one of the Chinese qualifications of the Headteacher of this unregistered school. It tells of a mark of over 90% in a Chinese History examination during a teacher education programme at Peking University.
Illus. 1.5 The Headmaster and his pupils of an unregistered school in the 1920s.
Illus 1.6 The Chinese qualifications of the Headteacher of the unregistered school.
30. A jaundiced view of schooling in Hong Kong.
Caricatures and cartoons tend to exaggerate, of course, but they may also help to sharpen focus. Below is an attempt to summarize graphically some of the problems facing pupils and teachers during much of Hong Kong's colonial period. To acquaint readers with the cartoon-style, this first sample (lllus. 1.7) receives a little further exposition, even at the risk of redundancy. The 'bubbles' represent aspirations. In the case of the pupils, these appear to focus on financial gain and socio-economic elevation; in the case of the teacher, a concern to spread the Christian religion is combined with a need for money. There seem to be communication difficulties. Equipment is basic, or conspicuous by its absence. The teacher's social status is, to say the least, dubious. There is not a pervading sense of enjoyment by either the teacher or the pupils. The teacher's style may be textbook-oriented; the pupils' learning strategies basically receptive and passive.
INTRODUCTION
Illus. 1.7 Aspirations of teacher and pupils.
Chapter Two
EDUCATION IN PRE-COlONIAl HONG KONG 7-1841/1860/1898
COMMENTARY
The actual beginnings of educational activities in the region now known as Hong Kong are very difficult to trace. Even though the Xin'an1 district of Guangdung province was not particularly prosperous and did not figure prominently in Chinese Imperial archives, one can be sure that some educational provision was made from very early times, even from pre-Chinese times. Certainly from the Han Dynasty onwards, this educational provision varied from the traditional village schools (established to teach reading and writing to village children through classical texts) to more vocationally oriented temple or monastery schools, and in parts of the district, to study halls and colleges designed to prepare students for the Civil Service Examinations.
There were, of course, differences between the three main parts of what was to become the colony of Hong Kong: the areas later known as Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories. Not the least of these differences derives from the fact that the areas were first occupied by the British at different times �X Hong Kong Island in 1841, the Kowloon peninsula in 1860 and the New Territories in 1898 �X therefore, Chinese educational developments continued for different du-rations.
Small village schools with single teachers who usually returned to the main-land during the fishing season, existed on Hong Kong Island before 1841. Accord-ing to Eitel, who had access to sources no longer available, there were village schools in Chek Chu (later called Stanley), Shek Pai Wan (later known as Aber-deen), Heung Kong Tsai and Wong Nai Chong. There may well also have been such schools in Shau Kei Wan and Kung Ngam. An English visitor to Hong Kong Island a few weeks after the first official landing there by the British remarked on the similarity of a village school to the village schools in his homeland.2 The Chinese Repository reports the existence of 'a few native schools, perhaps eight or ten, in various parts of the island, chiefly in Victoria' in August 1843.3 One can
1.
Xin'an (or 'Hsin-an') has a quite complex administrative history. See Evidence 2(b) in this chapter for the various names by which the region was known earlier than the Qing Dynasty.
2.
See Evidence 1(a) in Chapter 3.
3.
The Chinese Repository contained frequent reference to education, both pre-existing Chi-nese and the attempts of missionaries to start schools in the region. This particular mention
assume that not all of these were founded immediately after and as a result of the British arrival. In addition, schools affiliated to temples are likely to have been located in various parts of the island as well as in Kowloon and what later became known as the New Territories.4 There were certainly several larger schools, col-leges, study halls and other tutorial establishments in Kowloon and in the sur-rounding rural areas. The Li-ying College and the Chou-Wang-Erh-Kung College at Kam Tin had quite venerable histories, though by the nineteenth century only ruins of the former survived. But numerous study halls as well as institutions like the Lung-chin Free School at Kowloon City were supported enthusiastically by the wealthier local residents.5 Modern research, especially when related to the obser-vations of Charles Gutzlaff, James Legge, Wilhelm Lobscheid and other earlier or contemporary commentators, offers interesting answers to questions about the curriculum, teaching and learning methods, purposes and conditions of these traditional schools;6 and these answers do not consistently support the more dismissive or patronizing comments of some missionaries and colonial officials.
of Chinese schools on the island of Hong Kong appears in Article III, 'Religious and Charitable Institutions in Hongkong: Churches, Chapels, Schools, Colleges, Hospitals, etc/ of the August 1843 issue, p. 440.
4.
According to Eitel, for example, The Chinese, who had already four temples from 75 to 100 years old, viz. one at Aplichow (dating from 1770 A.D.), one at Stanley, one in Spring Gardens (Taiwongkung), and one at Tunglowan (Causeway Bay), commenced building their City Temple (Sheng-wong-ming)... [in 1843]' (E.J. Eitel, Europe in China, p. 190). Other sources suggest that the original building belonging to the Tin Hau Temple at Joss House Bay in what was later the New Territories was constructed in 1266, that the Pak Tai Temple on the island of Cheung Chau was built in about 1783, that Castle Peak Monastery can trace back its ancestor-buildings about 1,500 years, and that the Tin Hau Temple at Stanley is now at least two hundred years old. It is also generally accepted that most temples and monasteries had schools and libraries affiliated to them. For an introduction to the temples and monasteries of the Hong Kong region, see Joyce Savidge, This is Hong Kong: Temples (Hong Kong: Government Information Services, 1977).
5.
Lo Hsiang-Lin, Hong Kong and Its External Communications before 1842 (Hong Kong: Insti-tute of Chinese Culture, 1963), pp. 133 ff.
6.
See, for example, Lo Hsiang-Lin, Hong Kong and Its External Communications before 1842 (Hong Kong: Institute of Chinese Culture, 1963), esp. pp. 133 ff.; Sung Hok-Pang, Legends and Stories of the New Territories: Kam Tin', Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 13 (1973), 130-32, and 14 (1974), 160-85; Ng Yuk-lin, 'Hong Kong before 1842: The 1819 Edition of the Hsin-an Hsien-chih: Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories, 1644-1842' (unpublished M.A. thesis, University of Hong Kong, 1961); and Peter Y.L. Ng, New Peace County: A Chinese Gazetteer of the Hong Kong Region (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1983), esp. pp. 56-61; Alice Ng, Traditional Education in Rural Hong Kong' and Bernard Luk, Traditional Education in Urban Hong Kong', presented in the Conference on Hong Kong History and Society in Change, 1981; Alice Ng Lun Ngai-ha, 'Village Education in the New Territories Region under the Ch'ing' and Bernard H.K. Luk, T,u Tzu-Chiin and Ch'en Jung-Kun: Two Exemplary Figures in the 'Ssu-shu' Education of Pre-War Urban Hong Kong', in David Faure, James Hayes and Alan Birch (eds.), From
There is a temptation to treat the whole of pre-colonial education in the Hong Kong region as one simple, unchanging 'situation', unworthy of serious study or respect. Some commentators have not only succumbed to this temptation but have advanced a contemptuous myth not dissimilar to the 'Dark Continent canard about pre-colonial Africa. The educational situation in the Hong Kong region before the arrival of foreigners was elementary and unvarying, they claim. Then foreigners arrived to impose their will for the purpose of bringing enlightenment. As Ernest Eitel exclaimed about a related matter,7 o sancta simplicitas!
Part of the attractiveness of both the temptation and the myth comes from a need to assert racial superiority. Part comes from an attempt to disguise ignorance. In fact, there was a college near the village of Kam Tin, for example, about four hundred years before Eton College was founded in England and six hundred years before any school worthy of the name was established in North America. This college was the Lik Ying Tsai (or Li-ying College) and it was famous for its library, containing many thousands of volumes and for the academic, literary, and administrative successes of a number of its ex-students. Its founder, Tang Foo (Tang Fu Hsieh) was possibly the first of the Tang family to settle in the area. During his retirement from government work, he occasionally lectured in the college himself, but he also paid for full-time teachers to be employed there and was probably responsible for training some of them. He built several hostels for the students to live in and used the income from his ownership and cultivation of the neighbouring fields to set up scholarships for poor students.
Thanks to the work of such modern scholars as those listed in f .n. 6, and pre-eminently to the work of Sung Hok-P'ang and Lo Hsiang-Lin, much more is known about education in pre-colonial Hong Kong than was known in the earliest
Village to City: Studies in the Traditional Roots of Hong Kong Society (Hong Kong: Centre of Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong, 1984); Government Information Services, Rural Architecture in Hong Kong (Hong Kong: Government Information Services, 1981), esp. pp. 73-101; David Faure, The Structure of Chinese Rural Society: Lineage and Village in the Eastern New Territories (Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 1986); James Hayes, The Rural Com-munities ofHong Kong: Studies and Themes (Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 1983); Sally Borthwick, Education and Social Change in China: The Beginnings of the Modern Era (Stanford: Hoover Institution Press, 1983), esp. pp. 14-37; and W. Lobscheid, A Few Notices on the Extent of Chinese Education and the Government Schools of Hong Kong (Hong Kong, 1859), pp. 12 ff. Also see the Evidence section of this chapter.
7. The related matter was the view held by Hong Kong's second Governor, Sir John Davis, that 'if these Schools [those which he suggested should receive Government aid] were eventually placed in charge of native Christian teachers, bred up by the Protestant Mission-aries, it would afford the most rational prospect of converting the native population of the Island'. Eitel adds the Latin tag, meaning 'Oh Blessed Simplicity!', to comment on his quotation of this extract from a despatch written by Sir John Davis to the Colonial Office on 13 March 1847, in Chapter XIV of his Europe in China (first published by Kelly and Walsh in 1895, more recently reprinted with the addition of an Introduction by H.J. Lethbridge, by Oxford University Press, Hong Kong, 1983), p. 247. The full despatch from Davis is in CO 129/19, pp. 239 ff., and also appears as Evidence 5(a) of Chapter 3.
colonial years. One may even gain a fascinating glimpse into the Tiidden curricu-lum' and the folklore of student-life in the story Sung Hok-P'ang tells of 'standing on the turtle-head rock',8 a game not dissimilar to T'm King of the Castle'! More literal glimpses of early educational architecture are still available to the visitor in parts of the New Territories. Credit should be given to the work of Patrick Lau, James Hayes, Victor Kwok and Dominic Lam in making more permanent such insights.9
Even though it is true that there was little change to the formal curriculum in traditional Chinese schools and colleges from the Han Dynasty onwards (until the later nineteenth century and early twentieth century), this does not provide suffi-cient grounds for an assertion that education in pre-colonial Hong Kong was stagnant or even moribund. In such a long period, there were bound to be times of hiatus in development. There were also times of increased activity. Thus, the creative energies of Tang Foo (Tang Fu Hsieh) are in some ways typical of the revival of education in China generally during the Sung Dynasty.10 But, certainly by the early nineteenth century, only the ruins of his famous college were to be
t seen. Obviously, the coastal evacuation of Xin'an ordered by the Qing Imperial Government in 1662 and 1664 as a 'scorched earth'-type defensive strategy against Ming loyalists had disastrous effects on schooling in the area, but after the evacu-ation order was lifted in 1669, educational as well as other developments were re-newed.11 On the whole, these development followed the general trend in China towards the formalization of education:
The growth of shu-yium [academies] in late imperial times also re-flected the steadily increasing prominence of the examination system. With the government's growing reliance on examinations as the chief means of recruiting bureaucrats, and with the construction of examination sheds in virtually every capital throughout the empire, higher education inevitably focused more sharply on preparation for the imperial
8.
See Sung Hok-Pang, Legends and Stories of the New Territories: Kam Tin', Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 13 (1973), 118. Much of the foregoing descrip-tion of the Lik Ying Tsai is taken from this article and its sequel by Sung, extracts from which appears as Evidence 6 in this chapter. For relevant extracts from and comments on the 1819 Gazetteer of the Xin'an County, see Peter Y.L. Ng, New Peace County (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1983), pp. 59-60, and for further details of the Li-ying College and other schools, see Lo Hsiang-Lin, Hong Kong and Its External Communications before 1842 (Hong Kong: Institute of Chinese Culture, 1963), pp. 136-45.
9.
See Rural Architecture in Hong Kong (Hong Kong: Government Information Services, 1981), esp. pp. 72-99. See also Evidence 5 in this chapter below.
10.
For example, see Joseph Needham, Science and Civilization in China, Vol. 1 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1954), p. 137, and Thomas H.C. Lee, Government Education and Examinations in Sung China (Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 1985), pp. 20 ff.
11.
See Sung Hok Pang, Ts'in Fuk', Hong Kong Naturalist 9 (1938), 37-42; and Peter Y.L. Ng, New Peace County (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1983), pp. 26-27.
examinations. Shu-yuan, originally places of free discussion among literati and local officials, and in some respects centres of learning for learning's sake despite their de facto role in training school teachers, began to place increasing emphasis on training students to pass examinations.12 Classical education, formerly an end in itself in terms of social standing, now became a means toward the ultimate status symbol �X the graduate de-grees of chii-jen [juren] and chinshih [jinshi] attainable only through the imperial examinations.13
As Peter Ng notes, Chapter 15 of the 1819 Gazetteer demonstrates the results of Xin'an's educational efforts in terms of these 'ultimate status symbols'. In the period from 1573 to 1819, sixty-two men became juren and ten of those went on to pass the jinshi degree.14
Developments continued after 1819 in all of the three main areas of what was to become Hong Kong, i.e. the island, the peninsula of Kowloon and the New Territories. In the case of the latter two areas, the developments included the founding of schools, such as the Lung-chin Free School in Kowloon City after the British occupation of Hong Kong Island. The reports of missionaries provide some impression of educational endeavours in districts which were not yet part of the colony of Hong Kong, even though at times, their own special motivation encour-ages them to be less than objective as observers.15 Other very valuable information may be garnered from the work of modern anthropologists, sociologists, and local historians, especially those who incorporate an oral history approach.16
12.
As many modern students, teachers, and observers of education in Hong Kong will be quick to attest, this emphasis has not been invariably or effectively replaced since that time.
13.
T. Grimm, 'Academies and Urban Systems in Kwangtung', in G.W. Skinner (ed.), The City in Late Imperial China (Stanford University Press, 1977), pp. 477-78.
14.
See Peter Y.L. Ng, op. cit., p. 61. He also points out that 'humble Hua Xian in the same period produced just four jinshi, but Xiangshan achieved fourteen, neighbouring Dongguan seventy and Shunde well over a hundred'. More details about the individual degree-holders from Xin'an County may be found in Lo Hsiang-Lin, Hong Kong and Its External Communications before 1842 (Hong Kong: Institute of Chinese Culture, 1963), pp. 137-45 and Sung Hok-P'ang, legends and Stories of the New Territories: Kam Tin', Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 14 (1974), 170-77.
15.
See, for example, Chinese Repository 1 (December 1832), 305; 2 (October 1833), 249-51; 4 (1836), 1, 7 and 167; 6 (1837-38), 229; 14 (September 1840), 286; and the Rev. R. Krone, 'A Notice of the Sanon District', reprinted from Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society 6, 71-106, a lecture read before the Society on 24 February 1858, in the Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 7 (1967), 104-37. See also Evidence 7 and 8 in this chapter below.
16.
A pioneer of this work is Hugh D. Baker. See especially his 1968 book, A Chinese Lineage Village: Sheung Shui (London: Frank Cass, 1968), and also The Five Great Clans', based on a lecture delivered on 1 March 1965, Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 6 (1966), 25-47. Other important works containing evidence and comments on this field
Even so, there are still large gaps in our knowledge of education in pre-colonial Hong Kong. Therefore many questions suggest themselves. Outside the serendipitous discovery of old documents or archaeological sites, most of these questions can now only be tackled at all by means of the oral history approach especially to family-history in the New Territories and this will have to be accom-plished quickly, before the ever-increasing pace of urbanization overtakes memo-ries of village traditions and customs. Many details are at present missing, with sources such as genealogies presenting problems of conversion to the modern dating-system,17 and the large general questions remain.
*
In what ways did the development of education in pre-colonial Hong Kong reflect the trends analyzed for China as a whole? In what ways did develop-ments in the Hong Kong region differ from the general national trends?
*
What were the principal learning and teaching strategies in the schools of the region? How did these differ in the various levels of schooling (e.g., between the elementary ssu-shu (private school) or chia-shu (family school) or i-hsueh (charitable school) and the more academic and collegiate shu-yiian)?
*
How did the various components of the 'hidden curriculum' reveal them-selves in Hong Kong schools? What changes, if any, took place in the formal curriculum and why was there change (or no change)?
*
Was any use made of early forms of educational technology (e.g., the abacus, early maps, paintings, puppets, other forms of symbolic representation)? How leacher-centred and examination-oriented was schooling in the region? In-variably?
include James Hayes, The Hong Kong Region, 1850-1911 (Hamden: Archon Books, 1977), and The Rural Communities of Hong Kong: Studies and Themes (Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 1983); David Faure, The Structure of Chinese Rural Society: Lineage and Village in the Eastern New Territories (Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 1986); David Faure, James Hayes and Alan Birch (eds.), From Village to City: Studies in the Traditional Roots of Hong Kong Society (Hong Kong: Centre of Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong, 1984); Ng Lun Ngai-ha, 'Village Education in Transition: The Case of Sheung Shui', Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 22, (1982), 252-70. The last-named provides evidence about the number of first degree (sheng-yuari) holders who were members of the Liao lineage, Hakkas who had settled in Sheung Shui. She records these by generation, while admitting that the data are not completely reliable, especially for the generations before the 14th (mid-18th Century), but also provides an approximate indication per century as follows: 17th Century �X16; 18th Century �X 25; 19th Century �X19.
17. As Peter Ng remarks, The layman receives little enlightenment from "the first year of the Kangxi reign", and even the specialist will have to go to his reference tables to discover which year of the Western calendar that was. Yet it is not strictly accurate to translate that date as "A.D. 1662", because while it began in 1662 it did not end until 7 February 1663/ (New Peace County (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1983), p. 5.)
*
What was the social class background of pupils and teachers in pre-colonial Hong Kong? How widespread was literacy?
*
Who provided opportunities for informal education in pre-colonial Hong Kong (e.g., via opera troupes, puppet-shows, the exhortations of officials, games, the paintings of historical and religious themes, poems and carvings on the walls of private houses and pubic buildings and other literate or non-literate activities)?
*
In what ways, if any, were schools in Kowloon and the New Territories in the post-1841 but pre-colonial period affected by (a) the presence of foreigners on Hong Kong island, and (b) the Self-strengthening Movement in China?
CHRONICLE
c.1075: Li-ying College was founded at Kam Tin by Tang Fu Hsieh, a native of Kiangsu province. Its fame was increased by its large library of Chinese classics.
1259: According to official documents, the earliest degree-holder from the re-gion later known as Hong Kong was Huang Shih, who earned the degree of chin-shih in this year.
15th, 16th and early 17th Centuries: Several local scholars gained the awards of the chu-jen degree.18
1685: Tang Wen Wei, from Kam Tin, a descendant of Tang Fu Hsieh, attained the degree of chin-shih and was appointed to a district magistracy in Chekiang.
1754: Chiang Shih Yuan of Tai Po won the degree of chin-shih and became well-known in southern China for his literary accomplishments.
1789: Tang Ying Yuen (Tang Kuen Hin), a well-known local calligrapher, passed his military examination (the chu-jen). He later built the So Lay Yuen Study Hall at Shui Tau Tsuen in Kam Tin.
18. See Sung Hok-Pang, legends and Stories of the New Territories: Kam Tin', Journal of
the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 14 (1974), 171-77, and Lo Hsiang-Lin, Hong Kong and Its External Communications before 1842 (Hong Kong: Institute of Chinese Culture,
1963), pp. 137-45, for further details about local scholars who gained honours through the Civil Service examinations. See also Evidences 3,6 and 8 below.
1840: The Sin Sui Study Hall in San Uk Tsuen, Fanling, was constructed. It now possesses some of the finest wood carvings in the New Territories.
1847: The building of the Kowloon City Free School (the Lung Chun Yi Hok or 'Dragon Ford Charitable School') was completed. A memorial tablet was composed to commemorate its construction by the district magistrate of Xin'an, Wang Ming-Ting. The tablet is dated the autumn of 1847.
1864: Tang Yung Keng, from the Tung Kwun district, passed his Kui Yan degree. He later (1871) became Tlon Lam Yuen Shue Kat Sz', held the office of Provincial Judge of Kiangsu province and during the Boxer troubles (1900) was appointed Superintendent of Volunteers in Guang-dong.
c.1870: A type of honours board was erected in the Yau Sin Study Hall at San Wai, a Tang family village near Lau Fau Shan. The actual building of the Study Hall, itself, may well be considerably older.
Late 19th century: Several study halls were built in what was to become the New Territories and rented free to the teachers who charged their pupils fees. The Keng-Yung Shue-Uk at Sha Tau Kok is particularly notable as having grown out of a small ssu-shu (which itself had been rebuilt in the eighteenth century). It was expanded into a two-storey building which contained six separate classrooms as well as boarding facilities and ac-commodated over a hundred students. As Alice Ng points out, it became well-known for more advanced studies and attracted students from as far away as Taipo, Shatin and Tsuen Wan.19
EVIDENCE
1. The basis' of traditional Chinese education.
If a person were to opt for one piece of evidence about the beginning of formal Chinese education, then it must be the opening pages of The Tri-metrical (or Three Character) Classic. Historically, these characters represented the beginning of educational endeavour for countless millions of Chinese. Nineteenth century missionaries tended to scoff at the content, declaring it totally unsuitable for young children and emphasizing that, at first, Chinese children learned by rote to recognize the shape of the characters and to mouth the sounds that they were meant to make, without understanding the meaning. But, as F.T.
19. See Alice Ng Lun Ngai-ha, 'Village Education in the New Territories Region under the Ch'ing', in David Faure, James Hayes, and Alan Birch (eds.), From Village to City: Studies in the Traditional Roots of Hong Kong Society (Hong Kong: Centre of Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong, 1984), pp. 109-10.
95
Cheng suggests, the thought that 'man is by nature virtuous' may not be educationally inferior to such pieces of information as 'the cat sat on the mat' or 'Tom eats two eggs a day; you see how fat he is'20-
The extracts included below (Illus. 2.1) are (a) thefirstpage of 'The Three Character Classic, (b) a later page from the same book, (c) a page from The Thousand Character Classic, and (d) a page from The Beginning Learner's Textbook. They may be trans-lated as:
(a) From The Three Character Classic:
Men at their birth are naturally good. Their natures are the same; their habits become widely different. If foolishly there is no teaching, their nature will deteriorate. The right way in teaching is to attach the utmost importance to thoroughness ...
(b) ... If the child does not learn, this is not as it should be. If he does not learn while young, what will he be when he is old? If jade is not polished, it cannot become a thing of use. If a man does not learn, he cannot know his duty towards his neighbour. He who is the son of a man, when he is young should attach himself to his teachers and friends and practise ceremonial usages.
(c) From The Thousand Character Classic:
. . . Earth and sky are yellowish, the universe is bare. The sun and moon have their eclipses. Stars shine. Winters come as summers go. Autumn is the season for harvesting while winter is for hibernating. The accumulation of extra days from Leap Years makes up for an extra year. Music harmonizes the human world.
(d) From The Beginning Learner's Textbook
. . . The Emperor values bold heroes and would have you learn writing. Other occupations are lowly in rank; study alone is high.
2. Official views of education in Xin'an County.
Gazetteers were, in Peter Ng's words, 'collections of facts and fantasies relevant to a particular area', compiled by officials and read by the relatively small number of literati in the area covered, as well as by incoming appointees to local government posts. This 1819 edition of the Gazetteer for the county, which included the region later to be known as Hong Kong, offers evidence about educational and other conditions before the arrival of the British.'
20. See F.T. Cheng, East and West: Episodes in a Sixty Years' Journey (London: Hutchinson,
1951), p. 42. See also Evidence 20 in Chapter 1 above.
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(a) From the Commemorative Stone for the building of the Fenggang Academy, included in the 1819 Gazetteer of Xin'an County; in Peter Y.L. Ng, New Peace County: A Chinese Gazetteer of the Hong Kong Region (Hong Kong: Hong Kong Univeristy Press, 1983), pp. 124-25.
The Fenggang academy was located in Nantou (or Xin'an city) just outside what became the New Territories of the colony of Hong Kong, but this source has been quoted to throw light on pre-colonial educational developments in the whole region. It might be noted that it was proximity to Nantou which at least partly accounted for the popularity of the Keng-Yung Shue-Uk at Sha Tau Kok. The passage may help to dispel the myth that education in pre-colonial Hong Kong was merely an unchanging 'situation' confined to a very elementary leuel.
.. . The county lies right on the coast and its inhabitants are farmers and fishermen, but they are not unmindful of study. Thus the old gazet-teer [1688] records the existence of the Bao'an academy (now long since derelict) and in the south-west corner of the city [Xinan] there was the Wengang Academy, of which only the foundations survive, the rest hav-ing fallen down with age. In 1802 the former County Magistrate Wang took advantage of the abandonment of the Dongguan Salt Offices in the city, subscribed a major sum, encouraged all the local gentry to come in with smaller amounts, and so was able to purchase the site for the Fenggang Academy. Work was begun in February/March 1806.1 happened to come to office at that time, and wanting to promote culture and men of worth I looked for ways to provide scholarship money. I found that local people such as Lui Zhuanghua had in the past given endowments of land specifi-cally for academic purposes, but fluctuations in the rental income had made disbursements unreliable. Now I have cleared up the accounts and after payment of essential charges all other moneys are to go to the academy for its use. Accordingly I have drawn up the regulations control-ling income and expenditure and they are to be permanently displayed here.
(b) Table of Xin'an County's administrative history, translated from the 1819 Gazetteer, in Peter Y.L. Ng, New Peace County: A Chinese Gazetteer of the Hong Kong Region (Hong Kong: Hong Kong Univeristy Press, 1983), pp. 79-80 (Illus. 2.2).
This extract from the 1819 Gazetteer illustrates concisely the changes in name and administration affecting the 'Hong Kong region' since earliest times.
EDUCATION IN PRE-COLONIAL HONG KONG Table of the county's administrative history
Period Administration Translator's notes
In the days of Nan Jiao Mythical rulers. According
Yao and Shun to Qu Dajun, Guangdong
xinyuy p.30, Nan Jiao was
the same as Yue # , the
ancient name for south
China.
Three Dynasties Southern Yangzhou The three dynasties were
Xia (19894559 BC?)
Shang (15584051 BC?)
and Zhou (1050-222 BC)
Qin Panyu District of 221-207 BC
Nanhai Department
Han Boluo County 206 BC - AD 219
Three Kingdoms Boluo County AD 220-264
Jin Bao'an District of AD 265-419
Dongguan Department
Song Bao'an County of AD 420-478
Dongguan Department
Qi Bao'an County of AD 479-501
Dongguan Department
Liang Bao'an County. In the AD 502-556
period 502-519 the name
Dongguan ^IET was changed
to Dongguan ~&% but
Bao'an was unaffected
Chen Bao'an County of AD 557-588
Dongguan Department
Sui Bao'an County of AD 589-617
Guangzhou. In 589
Dongguan was abolished
and the county was given to
Guangzhou. Then in 607
Guangzhou Prefecture was
abolished and the county
came under Nanhai
Department
Illus. 2.2 Table of Xin'an County's administrative history.
Table of the county's administrative history
p.66
Period Administration Translator's notes
Tang Dongguan County. AD 618-906
In 757 it came under the
jurisdiction of Guangzhou
Prefecture
Five Dynasties Donguan County of AD 907-959
Xingwang Prefecture
Song Dongguan County of AD 9604279
Guangzhou Prefecture
Yuan Dongguan County of AD 1280-1367
Guangzhou Division
Ming Xin'an County. In 1573 AD 13684643
it was created from the
Dongguan County frontier
guard area, and put under
the control of Guangzhou
Prefecture
Qing As previous. In 1666 it was AD 1644-0911)
abolished and became part
of Dongguan County, but
was reinstated in 1669.
Illus. 2.2 {Continued)
(c) Maps of Xin'an County, 1688 and 1819; from Peter Y.L. Ng, New Peace County: A Chinese Gazetteer of the Hong Kong Region (Hong Kong: Hong Kong Univer-isty Press, 1983), Map 1 and Map 3 (Illus. 2.3a & b).
These maps may have aesthetic and 'atmospheric' effect. They provide little detail or precise information, especially about schooling. It may, however, be significant to notice that Hong Kong Island does not appear as such on either map. Clearly, and to say the least, the island was not regarded as noteworthy by the Chinese of the time.21
21. See also Peter Ng, op. cit., p.l.
&
v
105
3. Extract from the Tang Family History, a much revised and treasured manu-script produced within the family (Illus. 2.4).
The following extract and translation from a family source may also add verisimili-tude and specificity to the treatment of pre-colonial education in Hong Kong which this chapter offers. The Tangs trace their roots in the Hong Kong region (and more specifically in villages in or near Kam Tin, Yuen Long and hau Fau Shan in what later became known as the New Territories) to the Sung Dynasty. One of the early clan-leaders married the daughter of the Emperor, a later Tang was supposed to have owned the whole of the island of Hong Kong, and Tangs in most generations gained civil service examination honours and, thereby, scholastic, social and politico-administrative status. The family history proudly records these successes and, as will be seen below, can be 'triangulated' with other primary sources, such as tombs, records in ancestral halls and study halls, as well as such respected (and non-Tang) secondary sources as Sung Hok P'ang's articles on Legends and Stories of the New Territories.
The page reproduced here provides a geneology of the first generations of the Tang family, including Tang Fu Hsieh (fourth generation) who actually came and settled in Kam Tin and, later founded the Li-ying College, as well as his father, whose tomb can be seen in Evidence 4(a). Roughly translated, the relevant portion of the genealogy reads: 'Tang Fu Hsieh. He was awarded the Zun Shi degree in the fourth year of the Ch'ung-ning era in the Sung dynasty (1105 A.D.) and assigned to rule Yang Chun county [in Kiangsu province!'.
4. Photographic evidence.
(a) The 'Boon Yut Chiu Tarn' or tomb of Tang Yat Yuk, Tang Fu Hsieh's father, near Tsuen Wan in the New Territories (Illus. 2.5).
The poem engraved on this grave was composed by Pak Yuk Shim, a renowned poet of the Sung Dynasty and revered artist and scholar to whom magical powers have been attributed. According to Sung Hok-P'ang, this poem is 'remarkable for the curious allusions that were made to the future'. Sung's translation ofand comments12 on each line of the poem follow:
1.
Tut out the left hand as far as Sing Hill,
2.
running as far as to Tsing I island was it in the green waves/ (These two lines refer to the position of the grave.)
3.
'In deep night one harbour all the stars appear/ (Alluding to the lights of Hong Kong harbour in the future.)
22. See Sung Hok-P'ang, 'Legends and Stories of the New Territories: Kam Tin', reprinted in Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 13 (1973), 115. A discrepancy can be detected between Sung's own transcription of the poem and the markings which can now be seen at the tomb itself. In the second line, he inserts and translates the character for 'running', when, in fact, and as a balance to the first line, the actual character in the second line which can be seen today represents 'on the right hand'. This character is identified in a photograph below.
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Illus, 2.4 Extract from the Tang Family History.
4.
Inside harbour there will be ten thousand ships passing to and fro .' (The trade that was to come to Hong Kong.)
5.
If anyone can find the proper site of the grave,
6.
In thirteen years' time his descendants will pass the highest degree of Government examinations/ (This came true in so far as the Tang family were very successful in passing examinations and some of them became high officers and men of rank.)
7.
'If people in the world try to find, and are unable to find it,
8.
turn your head and ask the young fisherman/ (Referring to the grave again. When Tang Fu Hsieh was finding the place for the grave the local villagers pointed out to him a stone known as the Fishing Stone which helped him to decide the site.
m
Illus. 2.5 The tomb of Tang Yat Yuk near Tsuen Wan.
(b) Photographs of wood-carvings in Sin Sui Study Hall, San Uk Tsuen (Illus. 2.6).
The villagers' interest and pride in education receive impressive confirmation via the quality of the decorative material still to be found in some of the study halls. There can be little doubt that both representational and symbolic enrichments to the learn-ing/teaching environment, themselves, had educational as well as purely ornamental purposes.
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Illus. 2.6 Wood-carvings in Sin Sui Study Hall, San Uk Tsuen.
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1.
Screen decoration detail.
2.
Decoration detail on a screen panel.
3.
Intricate carvings from the ancestral shrine.
Illus. 2.6 (Continued)
(c) Examination successes.
The pride with which honours from success in the civil service examination was regarded is shown clearly in the fact that the original emblems of these successes are often still preserved and displayed in ancestral hails in the New Territories (Illus. 2.7).
Illus. 2.7 Emblems recording successes in civil service examinations.
Illus. 2.7 (Continued)
(d) Ssu-shu and study halls (Illus. 2.8).
The remains of both the humbler 'ssu-shu', where children learned their first formal lessons in Chinese culture, and the more scholastic-type study halls may be discovered in many parts of the New Territories. Many of these date back to pre-British times. To counter the prevailing conviction that all Chinese education was textual and highly formalized, it might be noted that outside almost all ancestral halls is a quite large stretch of flat ground, intended to be used (and actually used through-out the generations) for children's play. Nowadays, some of these play areas have been appropriated for other purposes (such as car parks) and the children confined to much smaller and morerigidlyformalized playgrounds.
Illus. 2.8 Ssu-shu and study halls in the New Territories.
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Illus. 2.8 (Continued)
5. Play, work and leisure apparatus.
Kicking a type of shuttlecock to keep it under control required considerable agility and skill. It was a popular pastime for Chinese children in Hong Kong. The abacus was a necessary implement for traders and training in its use, even if ignored by formal instruc-tion, was clearly indispensible. A type of family-based vocational training would also have been required for initiates into the fishing or farming occupations. Performance on one of the traditional Chinese musical instruments also required training, as well as skill. Public performances by opera troupes and puppeteers provided a form of informal education for the non-literate. The evidence for these forms of informal education includes a brief extract from an early encyclopedic book on the Chinese by a Western observer23 and the copies of several lithographs (Illus. 2.9), some of which were produced before the British officially took possession of Hong Kong Island.
SHUTTLECOCK. �X The usual reverse occurs in China with regard to some of the games that happens with many other things in this land of contrarieties. Instead of shuttlecock being more especially a game for girls, it is more especially a game for boys, lads, and men. No girls ever play it. It may almost be said to be the national game of China, and kite-flying the national pastime. The latter is indulged in in autumn; the former in winter, though it is played at other times as well. What seems curious about the two is, that, though children find an amuse-ment in them, they are largely enjoyed and indulged in by those who can scarcely be described as children, except with the qualifying phrase 'of an older growth' appended.
There is no battledore used by the Chinese, but the shuttlecock is kept up in the air by the foot, the broad white sole of the Chinese shoe acting admirably for the purpose. Two, three, four, or more players get together; and, if two, stand opposite each other, if three or more, they form an irregular ring and kick the shuttlecock up into the air in such a manner that it may fall near another player, so that there is no violent exercise except what is necessary for the kicking. If a foot stroke is impossible, when the shuttlecock is falling near one, then it is allowable to keep it up hitting it with the hand and thus send it to another player, or to bang it into the air in such a way that it may return in a position to be easily hit by the foot. There are several foot-strokes �X the most common being with the inner side of the sole of the right shoe. A hit is sometimes made with the outer side of the sole of this shoe. Another hit that must require some dexterity (if we may be allowed to use such a word in connection with the foot) is given with the right foot
�X with the inner side of the sole of the right shoe �X from under the calf of the left leg. The most usual form of this stroke is as follows: the left leg is doubled round so that the foot is in front of the body and about ten or twelve inches from the ground: this is done while the shuttlecock is descending: and, when it is almost
23. J. Dyer Ball, Things Chinese; or, Notes connected with China, 5th edn., revised by E. Chalmers Werner (Shanghai, Hongkong and Singapore: Kelly and Walsh, 1925, reprinted, with an Introduction by HJ. Lethbridge, by Oxford University Press, Hong Kong, 1982).
Playing at Shuttlecock with the Feet
Kite-flying at Hae-kwan on the Ninth Day of Ninth Moon
Illus. 2.9
Scene from the Spectacle of "The Sun and Moon"
Dyeing and Winding Silk Illus. 2.9 (Continued)
117
near enough to hit, a spring is taken off the ground with theright foot last, and the shuttlecock is immediately hit by the inner side of the sole of the right shoe from under the left calf. Another variety of this stroke is to stretch the leg out in a sloping direction downwards from the body with the foot a few inches above the ground, and then a similar stroke is made as described above. Another stroke is made with the sole of the right foot from behind the body, the foot in delivering it being kicked backwards and upwards. With many of the strokes delivered from the feet, the shuttlecock is sent up some ten, twenty, or thirty feet into the air, though occasionally a forward kick is given which directs it towards another player, with perhaps a slightly rising direction. The play often begins by one player tossing the shuttlecock with his hand up in the air toward another player opposite him. The object of the play is, of course, to keep the shuttlecock up as long as possible. The shuttlecock itself is rather different in construction from that in use the West, no cork being used; but a number of layers of skin are employed, the two outer being snake's skin and the inner ones are said to be shark's shin, there being from eight or ten to twenty layers. The feathers used are duck's feathers and three in number.
6. Extracts from Sung Hok-P'ang, legends and Stories of the New Territories: Kam Tin', reprinted from the Hong Kong Nauralist 6 (1935), 213-18; 7 (1936), 31-36,159-62 and 249-56; and 8 (1937-38), 106-10 and 201-207; and in Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 13 (1973), 118-20 and 14 (1974), 170-77 (Illus. 2.10).
Sung Hok-P'ang (1880-1962) was a respected scholar who took pains, in the tradition of Wang T'ao, to impart a knowledge of Chinese culture to Westerners. He held a number of senior educational appointments with the Hong Kong Government, including Head-master of Belilios Girls' School, Inspector of Schools in the New Territories, Senior Vernacular Master attached to Queen's College, Senior Vernacular Master at King's College and Adviser of Chinese Affairs in the Governor's House. A memoir of his life and achievements by Lo Hsiang-Linis appended to the first (Volume 13) part of the reprint. His articles combine scrupulous attention to written source material with an enthusiastic collection of folk and family lore.
[2]
Kwai Kok Shaan where Tang Foo built his school is one of the five famous hills of San On, and is mentioned in the book of "To Shue Chaap Shing". The name was originally Kwai Kok ( �G �Gj), ^ Kwai meaning sceptre made of jade; but later it was changed to Kwai Kok ( ^ $ ), �G�G being the Chinese name for olea fragrans, a flower that is considered to be very lucky. There is an old saying,
Illus. 2.10 Extracts from Sung Hok-P'ang, 'Legends and Stories of the New Territories: Kam Tin'.
Shim Kung Chit Kwai (��ifj#r;j�G), "eager to break a branch of the Kwai from the Palace in the Moon." Shim Kung means Toads Palace. According to an old Chinese legend the moon was inhabited by a toad, who was originally Sheung Ngoh (if^ ) the wife of a feudal prince and famous archer named Ngai (^f) who lived in the time of the Emperor Yiu (^ ) B.C. 2357. Ten suns are said to have been in the sky at that time, and the heat was so great that all the grass was burnt up. The emperor commanded Ngai to shoot the suns down which he did, and as each sun was inhabited by a large crow their feathers all fell down on the earth. Nine suns were shot down, but one was too far away to be reached, and that is the sun that still remains to this day. Ngai was very afraid of dying, and he went to a fairy called Sai Wong Mo (\�� JL# ) who gave him some medicine for long life. Sheung Ngoh stole it, and took it in secret. She became lighter and lighter and eventually floated up to the moon where she became a toad. She had a palace to live in which was called the Shim Kung. Another story tells of a Kwai tree growing in the moon, 5,000 Chinese feet tall. A man called Ng Kong (^#|), who had been sent to the moon as a punishment by the gods for having committed something wrong when learning to become an immortal, was always chopping it with a large chop-per. He never managed to cut it down, because as soon as a cut was made in the trunk, it instantly grew together again. Thus the saying "Shim Kung Chit Kwai" which applied to those who passed the highest government examinations, gradually came into use since the T'ong (yg) dynasty, A.D. 618. There were many Kwai trees on the hillsides of Kwai Kok Shaan, either planted by Tang Foo or someone later, and the teachers are supposed to have sent their pupils out from the school to pluck the sprigs of flowers with the idea of encouraging them to further effort.
Another name for the hill is Ngo T'aam Shaan (jj$;]$ih ), turtle pool hill. There is a pool still to be found on the hillside, which, according to one story, used to have turtles living in it. Another story says that it had a rock looking like the head of a large turtle. In olden times all the successful candidates who had passed the government examination, Tsun Sz (ig,-�G�E) went up to the emperor's palace to sit for a further examination named Tin Shi ( $�G1^0' Those who passed had their names put in order of merit on a list written on gold paper, and at a ceremony known as Ch'uen Lo ( flf-$|) the names were read out. The two candidates at the top of the list were led up the steps of the palace by the master of ceremonies, who then presented the first candidate, called the Chong Yuen (/j�G X,), with the list. At the top of the stairs was a turtle carved in
Illus. 2.10 (Continued)
stone, and finally the Chong Yuen was caused to stand with his foot on its head. Thus he was known as "Tuk chim ngo t'au ( $��= solely, alone, �G = occupy %=turtle, jjg =head.)" The scholars at Kwai Kok Shaan when wandering on the hillsides would amuse themselves by standing on the turtle-head rock and shouting "I am the only man to put his foot on the head of the turtle!" Though the name of the hill "Ngo T'aam Shaan" is almost unknown by most of the New Territory people now, a village near, formed re-cently by people returned from California and elsewhere, still fol-lows the name of the hill "Ngo Taam", but the villagers in the New Territory dialect mispronounce the character % ngo=turtle to ^ ngau=bovine animals and give the name of the village ^^4 -(Ngau T'aam Mei), the end of the bovine animals pool, instead of % ^ >C (Ngo T'aam Mei), the end of the turtle pool.
This pool is also called Lit Nui T'aam {fJSck^) meaning vir-tuous girl pool. About the time of the Sung dynasty there was a village girl called Man Kam So (x4^$f ).w^�X wa s about eighteen years old and very beautiful. One day she was out grass-cutting with several older women when she happened to stray away from them, and found herself near the pool. Suddenly she was accosted by a youth, she shouted to her companions for help, but in her terror she did not hear their answering shouts, and to save her virtue she sprang into the pool and wast drowned. It is said that the name actually was given by the scholars themselves in her honour, and the pool was also called Yat Waan T'aam (�Xjf Jjfi), one coil pool. In those days married women had their hair done up in a series of coils, while the unmarried girls put it up in one coil only.
The word Kok means horn. Thus according to the "T'o Shue Chaap Shing" the Kok in Kwai Kok Shaan referred to the two peaks of the hill that look like a pair of horns. The book also mentions that if the hill was clouded rain would certainly come. On the hill is a stone called the fairy hair-dressing stone, Sin Nui Soh Chong Shek ({Or^ifclM?), and at the bottom of the hill a stream called Kwai Kok Ts'uen (iiffi^O, which is a famous place of scenery. It is recorded in "T'o Shue Chaap Shing" and other books, where it is said that the fountain is sweet and smooth for the tongue. Even now when the scholars of Kam T'in happen to call there, they draw some water from the stream and drink it, saying ffc y}L jg ffi Yam shui sz yuen, "in drinking the water think of its source," which is a Chinese maxim, or adage for descendants in remembering the virtue and the good work done by their ancestors. Almost at the
Illus. 2.10 (Continued)
top of the hill are two big rocks one on top of the other looking like huge grinding stones about 50 Chinese feet tall, with a passage through. A family of tigers are said to have lived there once, so it is called Lo Foo Ts'z T'ong (%jfifc]'k)> tiger hall. The floor of the cave is quite smooth with a lot of small stones almost like a mosaic. Though the actual site of the school is not known, old tiles have been found from time to time on the hillside, and one of these can be seen in a house called Ch'eung Ch'un Yuen (-^4^R ) of Shui T'au (y^MH) village. In the same house is a flower vase of interest that was dug up on Hong Kong island about 30 years before the British settled there.
As mentioned before, four of the "five Yuens" eventually left Kam T'in and founded branches of the Tang family elsewhere, and it has even been said that Yuen Leung, the ancestor of the Kam T'in branch, moved to Mok Ka Tung (-H-^M ) near Shek Lung, but this removal is generally attributed to Yuen Leung's daughter-in-law, a princess of Sung dynasty whose story reads almost like a romance. She was a daughter of the Emperor Ko Tsung (% ^) of Sung Dynasty, who before becoming emperor of China was Prince Hong Wong (^i) . The Tartars at that time were attacking the North of China, and in the 2nd year of Tsing Hong (j^ijt.) A.D. 1127 they entered the Sung capital, captured the two emperors Fai Tsung (#:^ ) and Yam Tsung ($:^ ) together with both the mother and wife of Hong Wong, who was himself away in another part of the kingdomfighting the Tartars as he held the appointment of T'in Ha Ping Ma Taai Yuen Sui ( ATA^^iX.^l the com-mander in chief of all the emperor's forces. Hong Wong's little daughter was only ten years old and she was protected by her women servants who fled with her to the South. In the 3rd year of Kin Yim (jfcjl) A.D. 1129 they arrived in the Kiangsi province where Yuen Leung was district officer of Kung Yuen (if H) district. He was very zealous to help the Emperor and had collected together an army of soldiers, with the intention of marching North. Kiangsi was full of the Tartar forces, and the princess found herself sur-rounded by enemies. One day she saw the Sung flag over the encampment of Yuen Leung's army and she went to him for pro-tection. She stayed with Yuen Leung, moving about with his soldiers, and eventually when he returned to Kam T'in he brought her back with him. He did not know who she was, as the servants had told him only that she was the daughter of a high official in the North. The princess found happiness and security in Kam T'in. She was like a daughter in Yuen Leung's house, helped with the household duties and was quite content.
Illus. 2.10 (Continued)
[5]
During and since the Ming dynasty Kam T'in has been able to boast of many scholarly and notable sons.
Tang T'ing Ching $$& �G who passed the Kui-yan ^LA degree in the 7th year of Shing Fa fci& of Ming 0/] dynasty, A.D. 1471, was appointed to the office of Kau Yue $fc.2fr of Maan On &�G�E$$ district in Kiangsi province, promoted later to District Magistrate of T'ang Yuen jfc. ||Kwangsi. He was a great friend of Hau Kui ^Jg-a well known poet of the New Territories. His poems are included in an anthology named "Ling Naam Chue Yuk" %&)3fc 3�� and also in the Record book of San On and among them is a poem written as a farewell to Tang T'ing Ching when he left to take up his new official post. The oldest family tree book of the Tang family of Kam T'in in existence now was compiled by Tang T'ing Ching.
Tang Leung Sz $p %.$b passed Kung Shaang ^ �G. degree in the 38th year of Maan Lik J | /f of Ming dynasty, A.D. 1610, and held the office of Fan-to i>\\ *fc .
Tang Yue Cheung |�GJa-# took his Sau-t'soi -% j[ degree in the 2nd year of Yung ching % JL of Ts'ing ?��- dynasty A.D. 1724 and in the following year became a Lam Shang J$ �G.. In the first year of Kin-lung l^ggr A.D. 1736 he passed Kui Yan, second in the list of successful candidates, but just failed to pass the Wui Shi ^$ �G examination the following year. However his name was put on the Ming T'ung Pong list Hflii# and he was appointed as Hok-ching fr JL of Tak Hing Chau & �G H\, in Kwangtung province. Tang Yue Cheung's name in the San On Record book^j-^^^ is among the "Heung Yin" $p ^ or "village worthies," and it is said there that: �X Tang Yue Cheung was a scholar of a very kind and honest nature. He was very "taan-chik" JR. j [ ("to wear the heart upon the sleeve for daws to peck at") and his knowledge of learning was very wide. In all his dealings with his friends he was sincere and faithful, and as a Hok-ching he was very diligent. Once some of his students fell out with the authorities, and found themselves faced with a
false accusation, but were too afraid to defend themselves. Tang
however at once entered into the dispute, and through his clear-
headedness kept his students out of trouble. In the 17th year of
K'in Lung A.D. 1752 Tang was called to the capital to attend an
examination, but he died there, and Fung Shing Sau <J$/K/f*fKa Hon
Lam 4&-f�G graduate) wrote the epitaph "for his name lives for ever,"
to be carved on his grave.
Illus. 2.10 (Continued)
tne on
Tang Man Wai $H$iJ& wa s ty Tsun-sz 3�G i graduate to come from the New Territories, and his name is recorded in the San On book under the column devoted to hang yee fjt�G "men of high repute." He was left fatherless at an early age, and had to work with the fishermen and wood-cutters in great poverty, to earn money to support himself and his mother. But all the while he was a scholar at heart and in his spare time he read his books and people said that he could he heard continually humming his lessons on the road, as he carried wood or worked with the fishermen. His uncle Tang Chan Ng i*p^# a Lam Shang, helped him, and his success in later years was greatly due to the old man's teaching. In the 14th year of Shun Chi))% % A.D. 1657, Ts'ing dynasty, he passed his Kui Yan degree, but later failed for Tsun Sz and so returned to Kam T'in where he passed twenty years or more, living as a hermit. He then returned to the capital, and stayed in General Ngai's ^ house where he was able to make friends with many famous scho-lars. He wrote a book named "Yin t'oi san ngai" $t*i:$t# which had a preface written by Ts'oi Shing Yuen j^ft jt> Noi Kok Hok Sz ^fi a political minister of high rank. Three years later Tang passed his Tsun sz degree, and was appointed district magistrate of Lung Yau Yuen ftSN$ i n Chekiang province.
Tang Man Wai was of a kind hearted disposition and some say that through this the wall of T'aai Hong Wai was built. The story goes that when Tang passed his Sau Tsoi degree he was sent to Kwai Shin If .��- district, now Wai Yeung % !���E, to collect the rent due on cultivated lands, belonging to his family property. While there he came across a young man named Lei Maan Wing ^-Un-hanging upside down as a punishment. On asking the reason why, Tang learnt that Lei had contracted gambling debts and was unable to pay them. Tang was sorry for the young man, paid all his debts and was able to use his influence in obtaining a military post for him. This happened during the end of the Ming Dynasty. Later on when the Manchus drove out the Mings in the North and the Ming Emperor Wing Lik ^ f% had retreated to Kwangtung, Lei was a colonel under Cheung Ka Yuk %L%L5. who wasfighting against the Manchus. When Cheung was defeated in battle in the 4th year of Shun Chi j\%% A.D. 1647 of Ts'ing dynasty, and drowned himself, Lei, who was with him, fled with about a hundred soldiers. Gradu-ally many of Cheung's soldiers were able to rejoin him, and with a strong army he attacked both Tung Kwun ^| �G and San On #j-.g-districts. He drove out the Manchus, and made his headquarters in what is now known as the New Territories. One of Lei's camps
IUu��. 2.10 (Continued)
was situated in the district round K'ei Lun Wai Jt^Hl P'ing Shan ^j_ , and T'sing Leung Fat Yuen jf ?�G-;�G-&. Before the latter, which is a nunnery, was built, the locality had been known as Ying P'oon Tei *f* JIA , "The ground of the camp," and while the build-ing was in progress the workmen dug up many old coffins which were supposed to be those of Lei's soldiers. Among them was found a general's sword, broken in many pieces. Anyone going to Kwun Yam Shaan ^L^>li to visit the Ling Wan monastery ^#4 * would notice half way up Taai Mo Shaan, far above the cultivated land, a stretch of hillside that has been terraced and flattened out in some former time. This is supposed to have been another of Lei's encampments. Lei burned and pillaged, and most of the inhabitants of the New Territories fled. It was said that for three years the country presented the appearance of a battle-field, "The ground was covered with bones, in the day time nothing could be heard but the hum offlies, and at night the voice of weeping." Kam T'in might have shared the same fate as the other villages but for Tang Man Wai. Lei, remembering his former kindness, forbade his soldiers to go near the place, and seeking out Tang he taught him how to build strong walls to protect his village from other marauders. This story is still told by old people in the New Terri-tories now, and, if true, what was stated in H.K.N. Vol. VII, page 255 ... . "during the civil wars of the Hong Hei years A.D. 1662-1721 of Ts'ing dynasty these three villages were walled . ... " is not correct. Lei Maan Wing occupied the New Territories from
A.D. 1647 until he surrendered to the Manchus in A.D. 1656 which means that the walls of Taai Hong Wai, at least, were built some time during that period. Tang Man Wai is also remembered for having built the old Yuen Long Market % ^ $&, in the 8th year of Hong Hei A.D. 1669. The date is inscribed on a tablet in the wall inside Taai Wong temple ^ .�G jgj in the market. Tang also made three fish ponds to the west of the market place which can still be seen by the side of the main road.
Tang Fong Sp^ was a notable scholar who passed his Kui Yan degree in the 27th year of Kin Lung of Ts'ing dynasty, A.D. 1762. He studied a great number of books especially the canons of Con-fucius and Books of Histories, and was considered very skilful in writing both poetry and prose. While he was still a Lam Shang he was employed as a professor of arts in Man Kong Shue Yuen X. H
�E^ g�G a high grade school in San On district situated in Naam T'au Shing & Jj[^ the capital city. Students were prepared there for the Sau-tsoi examination, and it was said that while Tang Fong was there "learning was at its highest pitch."
Illus. 2.10 (Continued)
Tang Ying Yuen $p�G?L was a military officer and passed his Mo Kui Yan ^dfLA degree in the 54th year of Kin Lung A.D. 1789 of Ts'ing dynasty. Although of a martial disposition, Tang was fond of books and his penmanship was highly thought of. Some of the characters that he wrote to be carved on stone tablets can still be seen in Ling Wan & jb nunnery on Kwun Yam Shaan $a
�E^^ and in So Lau Yuen tff^ffl and Tsoi Shui Yat Fong && �X -% both school buildings in Kam T'in. He was a simple man and used to help his grandfather in the fields, working like the farm labourers and he was much beloved in Kam T'in. In the 15th year of Ka Hing A.D. 1810 the coast of San On was repeatedly attacked by a large fleet of pirate ships, and the district magistrate asked for sanction from the throne to move the fortress then existing at Fat T'ong Moon \% %; f5 near Lyemun to Kau Lung Ju$l (Kowloon) city. This was granted, but money to do the work was scarce. The magistrate went to Tang in his difficulty; Tang said, "The hill round Kau Lung are full of large stones. Why not explain to the local masons that they should work on such an important matter for their country, for low wages." The magistrate, knowing that Tang had a great gift of persuasion with the country people, begged him to undertake the task. Tang was successful, the stone masons agreed to do what he suggested and when the fort wasfinished Tang wrote four big characters Chan Hoi Kam Tong ^.^-^ ^ . Chan to guard, Hoi the sea, Kam the city was built by strong metal, T'ong hot water; i.e. the water in the city moat is like boiling water that no enemy would dare to cross. These characters were carved on a large stone tablet which was built in the wall of the fort; unfortunately it is no longer to be seen. The public dispensary outside the Kowloon city wall now occupies the original site. Another useful public work that Tang Yin Yuen was responsible for, was the rebuilding of Man Kong Shue Yuen X.ffl^ g�G the high grade school for San On district. This building was originally inside the West gate of the capital city of San On, and owing to the low-lying ground it was most unhealthy for the teachers and students. A desirable site was inside the South gate but objections were raised by a native of the town who declared the land to be his own property. Tang went to law on his own responsibility, and when the district magis-trate declared himself unable to give judgment he took the case to a higher court. He won and the new building was completed in the 11th year of Ka Hing J . j | A.D. 1806. A new name was given to the school, Fung Kong Shue Yuen Jt,$)#K and Tang carved �X MtX-% yat ch'an pat yim, "not soiled by a particle of dust" over the top of the main door. Before he died Tang wrote in his will
Illus. 2.10 (Continued)
that he hoped one day one of his descendants would teach in the school and help to train good citizens. This wish was granted in 1904 when his great grandson Tang Wai Man ^^f^went to teach in the school where he stayed seven years. Tang Ying Yuen helped to compile the "History of San On," and his house is still to be found in Wing Lung Wai where his portrait in military officer's uniform is to be seen.
Tang Ming Luen $$% % the son of Tang Kuen Hin was another military officer. He was a very powerful man with exceptional strengh in his arms. When he was young and before he studied the military arts, he came across, one day, two water buffaloes fight-ing in a road. The people standing by were unable to pass and yet could do nothing to separate the animals. Tang Ming Luen seeing this, seized each buffalo by the horn, wrenched them apart, and stopped the fight. It happened that a newly passed Kui Yan named Tang T'in K'ei fp^ m who came from Tung Kwun district was visiting Kam T'in to worship at the ancestral hall, and, according to old Chinese custom, to report the good news of his degree to his ancestors. He witnessed Tang Ming Luen's feat of strength and greatly admiring him, he encouraged him to study for the army, giving him ten taels of pure silver sycee as a reward. Tang Ming Luen passed his Mo Sau Tsoi in the 25th year of Ka Hing A.D. 1820, and the Mo Kui Yan in the following year. There is another story that Tang Ming Luen dug up some hidden treasure in his orchard, which was near Sui T'au Ts'un. To the North of the garden there was a large banyan tree and close by it a rock covered with creep-ing plants. On dark days it was said that a light used to shine near this rock and at a distance it apppeared like a big white horse. One day Tang told a labourer to dig a hole for planting a fruit tree in a corner of the garden where a lot of long grass was growing. In doing so the man dug up a large earthenware jar with a lid on it, which was full of silver sycee. He seized a handful of them and started to carry them home, but at once his eyes became dim-sighted and he was unable to see his way. Thinking that it must be a punishment for trying to take money that did not belong to him, the man put the coins back in the ground, asd his sight recovered at once. When he told Tang of his discovery, Tang had the ground thoroughly dug, and many more jars, each full of silver coins, were found.
Tang Kuen Hin ^p^^f was born in the 20th year of Kin Lung,
A.D. 1755, and he built a school called So Lau Yuen ff fa g) in Shui Tau Tsuen, one of the Kam T'in villages. This building has a
Illus. 2.10 (Continued)
curious carving inside, rather like the face of a clock with Roman lettering on it, the origin of it being unknown. Another building called Ch'eung T'sun Yuen -^ ^ ffl was built by one of his descen-dants, a picture of this is shown on plate. Tang Kuen Hin was very rich and was very proud of his family. He had four sons and twenty-four grandsons and the number of his family and servants together are said to have totalled two hundred. To the northwest of Yuen Long market are some very fine fish ponds situated in particularly pleasing scenery. This land was Tang Kuen Hin's pro-perty, it now forms part of the "Ching Sheung" $L f entailed pro-perty, the proceeds of which are applied to ancestral worship.
Notes on Some of the Government Examinations of China. The Sau-ts'oi ^> -% was the first examination and in many res-pects could be likened to that which is held for the Bachelor of Arts degree. The Candidates for this examination, which was held in the capital and several other towns of each province, were very numerous, as all with any pretence to education, were anxious to graduate in Sau Ts'oi. In consequence it was necessary for each candidate to be guaranteed by a man specially appointed to the office called "Lam Shang," j^. �G. whose duty it was to stand as surety for the identity of each of his examinees. Another examination, Heung Shi #p ^ , to be attempted was for the Kui Yan ^L A degree which was also held in the capital of each Province. Possessed of this degree a man was eligible to hold the office of District Magistrate, etc. Between Sau Ts'oi and Kui Yan were five different titles of Kung Shaang -jf>�G the holders of which could be appointed as District Magistrates, etc. Wui Shi ^: R was a higher examination held in the Capital of China. The degree which was known as Tsun Sz ^-i , was institu-ted in A.D. 606, and could be compared with a Doctorate. Can-didates who failed in this examination, and yet had written papers of a high standard could have their names put on a list called Ming T'ung Pong a$ i4# , which made them eligible for holding the posts of Hok Ching Jj^jL, the Director of studies in a "Chau" jf| or de-partment, or in the Imperial Academy, and Kau Yue ^fc-jgf, the Director of studies attached to a District. After a man passed Tsun Sz degree he attended an examination in the Imperial Palace. This was called Ch'iu Haau .$>$�E, Court examination. If he passed he then obtained the title of Shue Kat Sz j& -# �� . He then went to the Hon Lam Yuen4lbfcl% where he
Illus. 2.10 (Continued)
stayed for several years drafting documents for the Emperor and when he had finished, he received a good appointment in a Govern-ment post.
The examinations that it was necessary to pass before a military post could be obtained, were similar to these, the name of each one being the same with the prefix of mo ^ ; thus mo sau tsoi, mo kui yan etc.
[6]
If one walks through Kam T'in Market ( gfyw ip)9 turns to the right, and reaches Shui T'au Village OJc5j[#) a fifteen minutes walk will bring one to an old bridge, which is mentioned in the San On Record book (^j-^-^ ^ ) and which is held in much respect by the New Territories people, as an example of filial duty done by a good son of Kam T'in. The bridge is called Pin Mo K'iu (^-��r#-) "bridge for the convenience of my mother," and it was built in the 49th year of Hong Hei (% JR) A.D. 1710 of Ts'ing dynasty, by Tang Tsun Yuen (Sp^L^L). a nineteenth generation decendant of the "Five Yuens."
Tsun Yuen was born in the ninth year of Hong Hei, A.D. 1670 and died in the ninth year of Yung Ching (0,JL)9 A.D. 1731. The original home of his family was in Shui T'au Village (^IR # ) b ut his mother, who was a widow, moved to T'aai Hong Wai C^ ^ 8)) with her two sons. When Tsun Yuen married he rebuilt the old house and returned to Shui T'au but his mother stayed on with her younger son in T'aai Hong Wai as there was not room enough for them to live all together. But every day the mother wanted to go to Tsun Yuen's house to see her young grandsons, and to get there she had to cross the stream. Tsun Yuen used to go to the stream at a certain hour each day and wait there till she came, and wading into the water, he would carry her across on his back. The visit ended, he would escort her to the stream again, and take her across. When the tide rose it was sometimes too deep for him, so he would stay with his mother on the shore and wait with her till the tide fell and he was able to get across. This went on for a long time but he had made up his mind that, although he was poor, he would save up his money to pay for the building of a bridge, and at the end of six years he was able to do so, much to the admiration of the Kam T'in villagers. The elders in later years often used this story when teaching the young people, as an example of a good son.
Illus. 2.10 (Continued)
7. Extracts from the early issues of Chinese Repository, 1832-41.
The following extracts provide some indications about missionary attitudes towards Chinese education and may help as a 'bridge' into Chapter 3.
(a) I (1) (May 1832), 6 ff, and 15.
.. . Review .. . citing from an 'Ancient account of India and China by two Mohammedan travelers who went to those parts in the 9th century, translated from the Arabic by the late learned Eusebius Renaudot...
. . . There are schools in every town for teaching the poor and the children to write and read, and the masters are paid at the public charge.
(b) I (8) (December 1832), 305.
.. . The Chinese have four degrees of literary rank; 'Sew-tsae', 'talent flowering'; 'Kew-jin', 'a promoted man'; Tsin-sze', 'introduced scholar'; and Tian-lin', 'ascended to the top of the trees'. By the first, the individual rises one step above 'the simple people/ and becomes a candidate for the second degree; which, when obtained, makes him eligible for office. By the third, he is qualified for an introduction to the imperial presence; and by the fourth, raised to the summit of literary honor. The Chinese have always paid great attention to learning. 'Of old, families had their schools; villages, their academies; districts, their colleges; and the nation, her uni-versity; of consequence no one was left uninstructed. Not exactly so now; for although the schools, both public and private are numerous, yet they are poorly conducted; besides, probably not less then two-tenths of the male and nine tenths of the female population, are utterly destitute of instruction.
(c) II (6) (October 1833), 249-51.
.. . To qualify the young for these [civil service] examinations, and thereby prepare them for rank and office in the state, is a leading object of the higher schools and colleges among the Chinese. But a great majority of the schools in Canton are designed only to prepare youth for the common duties of private life. These latter, as well as many of the higher schools are private establishments. And though there are teachers appointed by gov-ernment in all the districts of the empire, yet there are no public or charity schools for the benefit of the great mass of the community. Whatever may be his object and final destination, almost every scholar in Canton com-mences his course at some one of the private schools. These, among the numerous inhabitants of this city, assume a great variety of form and character, according to the particular fancy of individuals...
Children are not generally sent to school until they are 7 or 8 years old: they enter, usually, for a whole year, and must pay for that term whether they attend regularly or not. The wages of the teachers vary greatly: in some instances (and they are not infrequent in the country) the lads pay only 2 or 3 dollars, but generally 15 or 20 per annum.* when the teacher devotes his whole time to 2 or 3 pupils, he often receives a hundred dollars or more from each.
The ordinary school room, with all its defects, presents an interesting scene. At the head of it there is a tablet, on which the name of the sage �X 'the teacher and pattern for myriads of ages' �X is written in large capitals; a small altar is placed before it, upon which incense and candles are kept continually burning. Every morning when the scholar enters the room, he bows first before the tablet and then to his teacher; the former is not merely a tribute of respect, but an act of worship, which he is taught, nay, compelled to pay to Confucius. The boys usually continue in school from six o'clock in the morning until six in the evening, except two or three hours which they are allowed for their meals. When in school they all study aloud; and each one raising his voice at the same time, and striving to out do his fellows, the noise of the whole is very great.24 Upon those who are idle or disobedient, the teacher plies the rattan with woeful severity. Every lesson must be committed perfectly to memory; and the lad who fails in this, is obliged to bow down and learn it upon his knees; and those who are the most incorrigible are made to kneel on gravel and small stones, or something of the kind, in order to enhance their punish-ment.
The San-tsze-king, the famous 'three character classic/ is the first book which is put into the hands of the learner. Though written expressly for infant minds, it is scarcely better fitted for them, than the propositions of Euclid would they be thrown into rhyme. But 'it is not to be understood' at first; and the tyro, when he can rehearse it correctly from beginning to end, takes up the Four Books and masters them in the same manner. Thus far the young learners go, without understanding aught, or but little of what they recite; and here, those who are not destined to a literary course, must close their education. The others now commence the commentary on the Four Books, and commit it to memory in the same way; and then pass on to the other classics. The study of arithmetic, geography, history, and so forth, forms no part of a 'common school' education.
The high schools and colleges are numerous; but none of them are richly endowed, or well-fitted for the purposes of education ...
24. Cf. Stewart's bewilderment over the noise of the Central School pupils when he first arrived in the school. See Evidence 12 in Chapter 1 above.
(d) III (7) (May 1834), 42^3.
[Citing a 'communication... from the pen of a Christian lady, who for a few years back has been engaged in educating Chinese girls] .. . In attempts to turn it [the Chinese Empire] to Christ, female instruction should not be undervalued; females have a great influence upon both the morals and the politics of a nation. Youth are generally under the superin-tendence of the female sex. But how ill qualified is the Chinese woman for this or any moral duty!...
It is an important question what can be done for the improvement of the circumstances of Chinese females in the present state of China Proper? There are systems of exclusion and seclusion there, which prevent at present much being actually attempted for their improvement. Moreover the sex is generally and greatly despised. Very few females in China can either read or write ...
(e) IV (1835-36), 1, 7-8, and 167.
Education among the Chinese, from time immemorial held in high esteem, has always exerted a dominant influence on the manners, habits, and policy of the nation .. . According to native historians, 'Families had their schools; villages, their academies; districts, their colleges; and the nation her university: and consequently no individual in the empire was left uninstructed ...
.. . By neglecting to educate females, and to take proper care of chil-dren in the first few years of their lives, the foundations of society are corrupted, and the way is prepared for all those domestic, social, and political evils, with which this land is filled. Such are some of the particu-lars in which education among the Chinese is defective in regard to its extent.
Equally deficient are the purposes and the means of education in this country... In short, it seems to us that in no one particular, are the means of education commensurate with the wants of the people.
... No book can be read or understood till the forms and significations of several hundred characters, some of which are very complicated and difficult, have been committed to memory. This, probably, has led the Chinese generally to defer the commencement of education,25 till the child is six or eight years of age...
25. This comment, like the similar one in Evidence 7(c), is confined to formal schooling and ignores the informal education which took place within the extended family. It may, however, help to explain the relative slowness with which many Chinese took up opportu-nities for formal, institution-based early childhood education such as kindergartens.
(f) V (1836-37), 147-48.
[Citing the Malacca Observer and Chinese Chronicle for 10 April 1827] . . . The comparatively little regard which the Chinese pay to the sense of the authors they profess to teach, in the first instance, is a capital defect in their system. They are not so anxious to fill the mind with ideas as to load the memories with sounds and crowd the imagination with symbols. It is somewhat singular, since the Chinese are reputed for their sagacity in conducting pecuniary matters, that no provision whatever is made in their schools for teaching the science of numbers; even their swar pwar is not taught the boys, their education comprising writing and read-ing only. Abstract science of any description has little or nothing to do with their education ...
(g) VI (1837-38), 235-36.
[From the first annual report of the Morrison Education Society, read before a general meeting convened in Canton, 27 September 1837 by the Rev. Mr. Bridgeman.]
.. . The method of teaching has, no doubt, been modified by the char-acter and style of the books used. When the pupil enters school he com-mences learning from the diction of the master, the latter reading, and the former, endeavouring to imitate his teacher as perfectly as possible. As soon as he is able to read a few lines or sentences, the child is seated by himself and continues the repetition, until the lesson becomes so familiar that he is able to back it, ie., repeat it with his book behind his back. Book after book is backed in this manner. In the mean time, lessons are begun in writing. The Chinese paper, used for this purpose, is so thin; that, perfect copies being placed beneath it, the pupil can trace the letters with his pencil, and so take off a facsimile of the copy. After having pursued this course for a year or two, and become familiar with the forms of a few hundreds, or perhaps thousands of characters, the teacher commences a course of explanatory lessons, proceeding over the ground already trod, and explaining, word for word, and phrase after phrase, what has already been committed to memory...
In the country, each village, or subdivision of a village has its own school room. Some of the apartments of temples, especially those dedi-cated to ancestors, are frequently employed for school rooms . . . The scholars are not arranged into classes but are seated promiscuously, the old and the young together. Each has his own table, which is about three feet long and one and a half broad, furnished with a drawer and writing apparatus. The boys are seated on bamboo stools, most of them with faces towards the master, who occupies an elevated seat at one of the corners of the room...
8. Extract from the Rev. R. Krone, 'A Notice of the Sanon [Xin'an] District7, re-printed from Transactions of the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 6, 71-106, a lecture read before the Society on 24 February 1858, in Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 7 (1967), 104-37; this extract pp. 126^29 (Illus. 2.11).
Rudolph Krone was a German missionary of the Rhenish Missionary Society who first arrived in Hong Kong in 1850. Like Eitel and others, he took up his work on the mainland, in what is now known as the New Territories and, therefore, although containing a number of errors, his work offers interesting insights into missionary views of educational condi-tions in the district nearly a half-century before much of it was leased to Britain. It also suggests comparisons with data from the Chinese sources, especially the 1819 Gazetteer of the region.
Let us now direct our attention to the Schools, Teachers, and the class of Literati. There is no lack of schools; in the first place there are numerous elementary schools, in which boys in bodies of from ten to thirty, are taught to read and write the characters. The teacher in these schools receives an annual salary from the parents of his scholars, varying from 20,000 to 50,000 cash; besides this he is found in rice, and if he does his duty well, and makes himself popular, he receives presents in kind, and is also invited by turns to dinner. The places which serve for school-rooms are generally the ancestral halls; but sometimes temples, and occasionally vacant private houses, are used for the purpose. Regular school-rooms are scarce in the villages, but are found in towns and larger places. Each boy brings his own table to the school, and very often lives altogether at the place, so that he may continue his studies with less interruption. The pupils attend the school on an average for eight months of the year, the other four months 'being spent in field labour.
The books taught are, the Trimetrical Classic JL ^ *S., the
anc* lne
Thousand Character Classic ^^% . Tau-hok i$Q ; after the boys have committed these to memory, they proceed to learn the Four Books, and finally the Five Classics.' AH the boys how-ever do not devote so much time to study; such as afterwards engage in trade or learn a handicraft usually only remain at school from two to four years, during which time they acquire sufficient knowledge of the characters to carry on business, write letters, and make out accounts, &c.
Illus. 2.11 Extract from the Rev. R. Krone, 'A Notice of the Sanon'.
If a boy intends to devote himself entirely to study, he enters a higher school in which graduates train young men for the examina-tions. Such schools exist at Namtow, Sai-heong, Kap-shui-hau, San-keaou, and many other places. Kap-shui-hau ^ 7^ x* > is famous for these schools, and, as the Chinese say, "diffuses the fragrance of pen and ink." Many youths repair thither to study; many inhabitants of the village itself have succeeded in obtaining a degree; and several flag-staffs in it bear witness to the rank of the person over against whose dwelling they are erected.
The method of teaching observed in these schools is the following: The student is made thoroughly acquainted with the contents of the Four Books and the Five Classics. The teacher explains each passage, and the pupils are required to repeat the explanations on the following day. As the knowledge of the student increases, he is instructed to write essays on a given theme. To acquire expertness and fluency of style, the student obtains a large number of essays, which he must read and commit to memory. He is also instructed in versification. Writing essays and making verses are the two principal requirements in the examinations at Canton for the degree Sew-tsai. Arithmetic, geography, astronomy, or other sciences, are not taught, and are not considered necessary in education.
The first examination, by which no degree is obtained, is held
in the district city by the "Che yuen" �G�E % P^�Xor district ma-
gistrate. About 300 young men attend this examination, and
about one-half of these, who have some hope of obtaining a degree,
proceed afterwards to Canton, to undergo the examination of the
Foo �X under the superintendence of the Prefect. These examina-
tions take place three times in two years. The number of gra-
duates to be chosen at each examination from the applicants from
the district of Sanon, amounts to ten persons �X eight of whom
must be Pun-ti, and two Hak-ka. There are in the district about
150 Seu-tsai % $ , and the village of San-keaou boasts of having
produced the largest number of them. There is a difference of
rank among the Seu-tsai, twenty of the senior bearing the title of
Nam-shang. These Nam-shang JL �G have a small pension from
Government, and receive some fees from the aspirants to the
examination at Canton, who have to procure from them a certi-
ficate in reference to their character and acquirements.
There are only four Keu-jin ^. A in the district; these are all
Puntis, and from its western part. They are all engaged in teach-
ing.
Illus. 2.11 (Continued)
There is only one individual in the district who possesses the degree Tsin-tze ig,-��-, the famous Chan-kwei-chik f^i^k H of Sha-tsing. This man held office in Peking, but was obliged to retire on account of the decease of his parents. One of his parents dying just as the time of mourning for the other had expired, his exclusion from office was protracted to the term of six years. During this period he led rather an indolent life, occasionally en-gaging in the healing art; but he was never much known till the time when the differences between the British and the Canton authorities commenced in 1856.
He then offered his services to the Governor General, promising to inflict severe injuries on the British. To effect this, he organised a force of village braves, and endeavoured to stop the supply of provisions to Hongkong. The district magistrate was not at all pleased with the ascendancy of this man, and in several instances showed his dissatisfaction and disapprobation of Chan-kwei-chik's plans. The latter, however, having been invested with dictatorial powers by the Viceroy, exercised them according to his own discretion, and cared nothing for the approbation of the district magistrate, who was at this time his inferior.
The measures which he adopted were however unpalatable to the people, who rose against him in the district city, and forced him to retire to his native place. It is said that he also got into the bad graces of the Viceroy, who accused him of having squan-dered public money, and drawn large sums without effecting anything against the enemy. Chan-kwei-chik is still in retirement in Sha-tsing, and amuses himself by playing on the seraphim which he stole from Mr. Genahr's house in Sai-heong.
No natives of the Sanon district at present hold any high office in other provinces. Since the commencement of the present dynasty (1644), six natives of this province have obtained the degree of Tsin-tze, and 54 that of Keu-jin.
In ttie superior grades of the military, the natives of this district did not show at all well during the first two centuries of this dynasty, for during this time they could boast of only two military Tsin-tze, and twenty-four military Keu-jins. Forty years ago a more military spirit seems to have arisen amongst them, and the examinations for military degrees have been better attended.
Illus. 2.11 (Continued)
135
9. Statistics.
The population statistics provided in Table 5 are taken from Peter Y.L. Ng's transla-tion of the 1819 Gazetteer (Illus 2.12).26
Ming Dynasty
Qmg Dynasty
Year 1573 1582 1593 1603 1613 1622 1632 1642 16 (44-61)" 1662 & 1664
1667 1672 1669-1671
1673-1685
Popt ilation f o
Households
7608 7752 7752 3572 3500 3500 3491 3589 2966 after 2 evacuations
there still remained �X �X
Persons
33971 34520 13202 16675 16696 16248 16992
17871 6851
�X 3972
4525
Males Females
�X �X
19627 1488326
�X �X
�X �X
�X �X
�X �X
�X �X
�X �X
5567 1284
2172
2255 1412
�X �X
1648 returned from evacuation
1501 assessable for salt tax.
957 returned from evacuation, and were newly added to the register.
1585 assessable for salt tax.
Illus. 2.12 The population statistics provided in Table 5 of Peter Y.L. Ng, New Peace County: A Gazetteer of the Hong Kong Region.
26. Peter Y.L. Ng, New Peace County: A Gazetteer of the Hong Kong Region, prepared for press
and with additional material by Hugh D.R. Baker (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1983), pp. 90-93.
Year
1686-1711
1713
1716
1721
1726 ]
1731
16864731
17364761
17414761
1766
1766
Households
new registrations
were by imperial decree no liability for tax on any future increase in population by birth
new registrations
graciously exempted
from tax
newly registered
returnees
original assessment
plus new registrations exempt from tax and
all new registrations
made up of
+
exempt new registrations
+
new registrations a prosperous age with
many new births
registered (assessable for
salt tax) a reduction of (salt tax quota)
a reduction of
The actual increase by birth was: (salt tax quota) and it was graciously
decreed that there should be no further tax quota increases
a prosperous age: new registrations
Persons
-
�X
�X
�X
7289 �X
�X �X
�X
�X �X �X �X
�X �X
�X
Males Females
303 359
�X �X
11
5
�X ~ \ 5332 1284
11 303 359
2855
(730) 208 (10) 75
2572 (720)
407
Illus. 2.12 (Continued)
Households Persons Males Females Year
1771 a reduction of �X 88 -the actual increase by birth was �X 319 -
it was graciously
decreed that there
should be no further
tax quota increase
1771 a prosperous age: new registrations �X 402 -it was graciously decreed that there should be no further tax quota increase Incorporated on the closing of the Dong-guan Garrison 46.828
1772 from this year the practice of registering numbers of new births ceased. They were no longer entered in the main books but in separate annual reports29
1772 The first such report:
civilians &L salt-workers 30373 21121 9252 garrison personnel 1821 1356 465
17734818 Discounting deletions the actual number of new births plus those originally reported was:
civilians & salt-workers 225979 146922 79057 garrison personnel 13136 8298 4838
Illus. 2.12 (Continued)
10, A balanced education in pre-colonial Hong Kong (Illus. 2.13).
Although there is little doubt that schools in Hong Kong, as in the rest of China, became even more rigidly formalized and Confucian text-based during the Qing Dynasty, this is only part of the story as far as 'education' in pre-colonial Hong Kong is concerned. Evidence 5 suggests reasons for believing that, in addition to the formal schooling system, there were many opportunities for informal education of a wide variety of types. Many of these operated within the family. They included what later became called 'family life education', types of unformalized vocational training whereby the young learned farming, fishing or trading skills from their elders, such aspects of physical education as the kicking of a shuttlecock, tai-chi, kung-fu and other martial arts, a whole range of aesthetic educa-tion such as learning to play one or more of the traditional Chinese musical instruments, as well as learning and practising calligraphy and other fine arts, and non-literate means of edification like puppet and vpera troupes. The cartoon below is meant to restore the balance of Chinese traditional education and to infiltrate some doubt about the typical Missionary dismissal of the traditions as unthinking formalism.
TRADITIONAL CHINESE EDUCATION
FORMAL INFORMAL Illus. 2.13 A balanced education in pre-colonial Hong Kong.
Chapter Three
VARIATIONS ON A MISSIONARY THEME 1841-65
COMMENTARY
From the very first British efforts to gain 'possession' of Hong Kong and certainly during the early insecure years of its colonial administration, no one regarded it as a typical colony. Individuals might disagree about whether the island was of some use primarily as a trading depot or as a military and naval base, but nobody seriously argued in favour of its potential value for the settlement of population or for the long-term commitments that this encourages. From the outset, the prospect of returning the island to China was a real one. To several individuals, especially those concerned about health conditions and/or disappointed in personal ambi-tion, the prospect was also an attractive one.
In this context, especially in a period when the outcome of trading was uncertain and the possibilities of profitable industry rare, it is hardly surprising that the provision of new educational opportunities appeared to be relatively low on many people's lists of priorities. Even in the best of times, it was not exactly a consuming interest or pressing concern 'at home' in Britain.
One group of people, however, came to Hong Kong, struggled with variable success against the medical and economic 'climate', and strove to establish schools. These were missionaries. They arrived in Hong Kong from various parts of the world and they represented many different Christian denominations. But they shared one common desire �X to evangelize through education. Their efforts were not always welcomed, especially in years of economic and political insecurity. Not all the people they were trying to save appreciated their attempts. The 'variations' of the chapter-title were, therefore, partly 'fluctuations' on a missionary theme and these fluctuations were influenced by the nature and size of the Hong Kong population.
The population of Hong Kong increased from an estimated 5,650 in 18411 to
1. The first Gazetteer and Census of Hong Kong, dated 15 May 1841, claimed that the 'actual present population' totalled 7,450, but by 24 June 1845, the Registrar-General, Samuel Fearon, could write: 'Before the cession of Hongkong to the British Crown, its population amounted to about Four thousand souls. Of these 1500 perhaps were engaged in the cultivation of rice; about 2,000 in the fisheries and the remainder gained a subsistence by furnishing supplies to the fishing vessels resorting to the harbour.' (CO 129/12, p. 305)
Eitel suggested that the figures provided by thefirst Gazetteer and Census were inaccu-rate; he disputed in particular its attribution of the status of 'capital, a large town' and the estimate of 2,000 inhabitants to Chek Chu, see Eitel, Europe in China (Oxford University Press, reprint of the 1895 Kelly and Walsh edition, 1983), p. 171.
about 15,000 in 1842, 23,000 in 1845,39,000 in 1853, 75,000 in 1858, 94,917 in 1860, 119,321 in 1861 (after the cession of the Kowloon peninsula) and 125,504 in 1865. In 1841, the Chinese population comprised mainly fishermen and peasants. In the years following British occupation, numerous labourers, artisans and shopkeepers flocked into Hong Kong, the population remaining predominantly male and adult (and, of course, Chinese). Several contemporary observers, some of whom felt they had reason to be embittered, commented on the low social calibre of the population.2 Questions could certainly be posed on the effects this may have had on the motivation for providing and utilizing schools. Deprivation in socio-eco-nomic terms and, especially, isolation in ethnic terms, might have encouraged some Chinese and later Eurasians to seek advancement through the radically new educational opportunities presented by the arrival of foreigners.3 In the late 1850s, a few wealthier Chinese merchants used Hong Kong as a sanctuary from the troubles caused by the Taiping Rising. Questions also suggest themselves about the attitudes they may have developed towards the various options open to them for the education of their children and how these attitudes differed, if they did, from those held, for example, by unskilled labourers.
Hong Kong's early years as a colony were characterized, as mentioned above,
The statistics quoted for the other years are taken from official reports by the Regis-trars-General, found in the various Blue Books and CO 129 files.
2. For example, R. Montgomery Martin, the Colonial Treasurer, wrote on 17 June 1844:
T cannot estimate with any accuracy the amount of revenue which these
different sources of taxation might produce for several reasons.
1st. The unsettledness of the Chinese population who are continually moving
to and from the Colony and who have no interest at stake in its prosperity.
2nd. The notoriously profligate character of the Chinese inhabitants of
Hongkong, which is evidenced by the murders, attempts at murders, Piracies,
Burglaries and Robberies which have been committed in the Colony without any
effectual discovery of the perpetrators.
3rd. The absence of Chinese of respectability and prosperity and even of
married men of the humbler classes who are more afraid of the predatory and evil
habits of the population than Europeans are ... ' (CO 129/6, p. 309)
It might be noted, however, that, as Sir John Davis pointed out, Martin's 'remarks were written after only a few weeks' residence under circumstances of very indifferent health' (CO 129/7, p. 44) and that his views about Hong Kong were so jaundiced that he soon commenced a protracted campaign against Davis and the very existence of Hong Kong as a colony.
On the other hand, comments about the low calibre of the Chinese population were not uncommon in the 1840s. See Evidence 10 below.
3. Some support for the hypothesis that members of the 'marginal' population, such as boat-women, were particularly anxious to take advantage of the new educational opportunities for their (often Eurasian) children may be garnered from the opinions of E.J. Eitel (see Evidence 5 (b) in this chapter) and the research of Carl Smith (e.g., in Carl Smith, Chinese Christians .. . (Oxford University Press, 1985), p. 170).
VARIATIONS ON A MISSIONARY THEME
by uncertainties, both political and commercial. These were reflected in the vicissi-tudes of the early schools. As might be expected in a period which witnessed two Anglo-Chinese wars, relations between the Chinese and the British in Hong Kong were not always harmonious.4 As might also be expected in a small, but heteroge-neous population of foreigners, there was considerable social fragmentation among the non-Chinese in Hong Kong.5 The objectives of Government officials, military officers, missionaries, taipans and 'bong-ban'6 were certainly not identical or, at times, compatible, even in the field of education. One may wish, therefore, to examine contemporary records to discover what influence these ethnic and social tensions had on the development of, and attitudes towards, schooling and also opportunities for informal education.
More specifically, a study of the 'missionary theme' and its Hong Kong vari-ations is likely to be very rewarding. As already intimated, there can be no doubt that much of the initiative and energy for establishing schools during the first years of British administration came from missionaries �X Protestants of various denominations and Roman Catholics of various orders. On the other hand, there can be no doubt that some missionaries were interested primarily in the mainland of China and considered the field offered by Hong Kong too limited and uncer-tain.7 It is also true that, even if they were prepared to devote themselves to Hong Kong, an excess of proselytizing zeal was sometimes considered to be counter-productive. Thus, Sir John Bowring, Governor of Hong Kong from 1854 to 1859, suggested that 'the missionaries alone give active assistance, yet they have special objects that unfit them for general and popular education'.8 Despite the sympa-
4.
The most dramatic manifestation of the lack of harmony was probably the attempt at mass-poisoning of the Europeans in 1857. See G.R. Sayer, Hong Kong, 1841-1862: Birth, Adolescence and Coming of Age (reprint of the 1937 OUP edition, Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1980), p. 181 and Additional Note 5, p. 21.
5.
For a sociologist's comments, see for example, H.J. Lethbridge, Hong Kong: Stability and Change (Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 1978), esp. pp. 9 ff. and pp. 163 ff.
6.
'Bong-ban' is a Cantonese expression referring to Europeans of lower socio-economic status, many of whom were employed in supervisory and uniformed occupations, e.g., police. See also HJ. Lethbridge, op, cit., esp. pp. 190 ff.
7.
See for example, George Smith to Earl Grey, 16 January 1847, in CO 129/22, pp. 269 ff., and George Smith, A Narrative of an Exploratory Visit to Each of the Consular Cities of China, 1847 (Seeley, Burnside, & Seeley, Fleet Street; Hatchard & Son, Piccadilly; J. Nisbet & Co., Berners Street, London, 1847, reprinted by Ch'eng Wen Publishing Company, Taipei, 1972), pp. 71 and 507 ff.
8.
Sir John Bowring to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Henry Labouchere, 11 August 1857, in CO 129/64, p. 80. A little earlier in the same despatch, Bowring commented: To confess the truth, I have wholly failed in discovering any really efficient cooperation in this important work [Education]. You will better estimate the difficulties of this question when I mention that for the last six years �G250 a year has been voted by Parliament to the Bishop's College [St. Paul's] for the education of 6 persons destined for the public service and not a single individual from that college has yet been declared competent to undertake even the
thies of a religious-minded Education Committee9 Treaded in the 1850s by the Anglican Bishop' and including Dr James Legge of the London Missionary Society (after 1853), several mission schools foundered in this period.10 Most notable amongst them were the Morrison Education Society School and Legge's Ying Wa (Anglo-Chinese) College. One may wish, therefore, to ask from contemporary documents what they reveal about the playing out of the missionary theme, its variations and counterpoint. Why was a man like James Legge, for example, eventually ready to press for a secular type of education centred on a consolidated Government 'Central School'? And why was the Government itself willing, in the early 1860s, to give in to this pressure?
Other questions which could illuminate the examination of documentary extracts from the period and more recent research about the period include:
*
What were the factors influencing Hong Kong Chinese opinion on efforts to establish schools in the period 1842-65?
*
What were the reasons for the slow and fluctuating educational developments in the 1840s and 1850s?
*
Why did the Hong Kong Government accept James Legge's 'scheme' in 1861, having rejected his proposals in 1845, and what were the reactions of the Chinese population of Hong Kong to this scheme?
*
How did Frederick Stewart's opinions about the education of the Chinese change in the first few years of his experience in Hong Kong?
*
What were the principal motives of the educators and the educated, and how did these affect the curricula of the early schools?
*
How similar are educational developments in Hong Kong during this period to educational developments in other small colonies, e.g., Singapore?
*
In what ways did occurrences on the Chinese mainland affect schooling in Hong Kong?
*
What comparisons, if any, can be made between educational practices and assumptions in Hong Kong and those of contemporary Britain?
meanest department of an Interpreter's duty, though I have no doubt of the Bishop's zeal and wish to show some practical and beneficial result from the said Parliamentary Grant.
9.
A major Variation' on the missionary theme. For further data and comment on the role of the Government in evangelizing the Chinese population, see the Commentary in Chapter 1 and this chapter and Evidence 5(b) in this chapter below.
10.
See the Chronicle for 1849 and 1856 for explanations of these failures.
VARIATIONS ON A MISSIONARY THEME
CHRONICLE
1841: Tuesday, 26 January witnessed the first official British landing to take possession of Hong Kong Island. Starting in February, during the spring and summer there were several 'reconnaissance' visits to Hong Kong by (mainly Protestant) missionaries from Macau. There is no record, how-ever, of any school being founded, at least by members of the European community.11
1842: Land was granted in February by Sir Henry Pottinger to the trustees of the Morrison Education society for the purpose of establishing a school in Hong Kong.12 The school (with 11 pupils) opened in temporary premises in November, having been transferred from Macau.
Land was also granted to Mgr. Theodore Joset for the establishment of a church and a seminary to train Chinese Catholic priests.
1843: 4-6 new Chinese elementary schools opened to cater for children of shop-keepers and artisans 'chiefly in Victoria'.
The Morrison Education Society School was established on Morrison Hill (24 pupils under the Rev. and Mrs S.R. Brown from Yale). An annual grant of $1,200 was offered to Morrison Education Society by Pottinger in his capacity as Superintendent of Trade.
The Catholic Church and Seminary opened in Pottinger Street.
The suggestion appeared in the missionary publication, Chinese Re-pository that the Government should appoint an Education Committee to supervise the 'native schools'.
The Rev. Vincent Stanton, who as British Chaplain at Macau, had been kidnapped and imprisoned by the Chinese in 1840, arrived in Hong Kong to take up his post as the first Colonial (Anglican) Chaplain. He immediately began negotiating for land to establish a school for the Chi-nese according to Anglican principles.
The Rev. James Legge arrived from Malacca via Macau in May and planned to open a seminary to train Chinese ministers for the London Missionary Society and a preparatory school (Ying Wa Shu Un or the An-glo-Chinese College). He also began negotiating for land.
11.
Eitel provides a very plausible explanation for this �X the pre-occupation of the Euro-pean community with the business of actually moving to Hong Kong and the transient, mainly adult male and lower class characteristics of the in-coming Chinese population who 'naturally had neither time nor inclination to think of the education of the young'. (Eitel, op. cit, p. 309 and Chapter 1, Evidence 1)
12.
The Morrison Education Society had previously (1839) opened a school in Macau. See Evidence 4(a) below.
13.
According to the Blue Book for 1846, this school was opened in November 1844. The Blue Book for 1844 includes reference to a school run by the London Missionary Society with James Legge as Headmaster, in the Western District.
14.
Colonial Office records, including various departmental minutes, a minute by Earl Grey and his official reply to Sir John Davis of 12 August 1847, indicate that officials in England
144 EDUCATION IN HONG KONG - PRE-1841 TO 1941
1844: This year may count as the effective opening of the Anglo-Chinese College (Ying Wa) under James Legge (18 pupils).13
Several other small and short-lived Protestant missionary schools
were opened (including three by American missionaries).
Stanton raised money in Britain for the opening of an Anglican school
but land was not yet granted and Stanton was informed that 'the Gover-
nor would consider very favourably the claims of any institution which
would embody a scheme to remedy the want of any means of education
for the children of the European residents here, the Government consider-
ing this want as a defect which operated as materially against the prosper-
ity and best interests of the Colony .. /
1845: Stanton opened a 'Children's School', attended by 40 English children (23
boys and 17 girls). The Roman Catholic Society de Propaganda Fide or-
ganized a school for English children (7 pupils).
The annual grant to the Morrison Education Society from the Superin-
tendency of Trade was discontinued.
Stanton was promised land for his Chinese Anglican school.
9 Chinese (Confucian) schools were reported to be in existence, with
an average total attendance of 149. Charles Gutzlaff, the Governor's 'Chinese Secretary7 , proposed that
the Government should provide financial assistance for the Chinese vil-
lage schools. This suggestion was referred to England, together with the
Governor's support for Stanton's request that his Anglican school for the
children of European police, clerks and other relatively lowly paid work-
ers be subsidized by the Government.
James Legge proposed that the Government should establish a free
school for Chinese. This proposal was rejected.
1846: A girls' school (7 pupils) was added to the Anglo-Chinese College (Ying
Wa). The Roman Catholic school was reported to include Chinese pupils
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