GEJC1020 Lecture 2: HK as a Crown Jewel of the British Empire (2024-25) PDF

1 GEJC1020 Hong Kong Story LECTURE 2 HK AS A CROWN JEWEL OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE: COLONIAL HISTORY AND LEGACY Lecture outline 2 Early colonial history 1. Colonial history of HK in S.D. image 2. H.D. image 1: Britain wanted Hong Kong? 3. H.D. image 2: East...

1 GEJC1020 Hong Kong Story LECTURE 2 HK AS A CROWN JEWEL OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE: COLONIAL HISTORY AND LEGACY Lecture outline 2 Early colonial history 1. Colonial history of HK in S.D. image 2. H.D. image 1: Britain wanted Hong Kong? 3. H.D. image 2: East meets West ‐ harmonious greetings? Any conflict that directly arose from early colonization? 4. H.D. image 3: Benevolent rule at the start? Colonial state and society relation? Social class in early Hong Kong?  3 Part 1 Colonial history of HK in standard definition What makes Hong Kong a success story?  Hong Kong’s Success Story 4 ‐ Official ‘winning formulae’?  This is a Chinese city. Its success is the result of the hard work and skill of its Chinese men and women. It is also a city over which, for a century and half, Britain has held stewardship. We have tried to exercise that stewardship in a way which has been true to our political values. Those values have been institutionalized in the rule of law and a meritocratic, politically neutral Civil Service … The framework of social, legal and economic values and policies created here has given the men and women of this city the opportunity to make the most of their formidable energy and talents, to thrive, excel and prosper in a fair, ordered and orderly society. (Chris Patten LegCo Sitting (Hansard) 2 Oct 1996) 28. Hong Kong’s Success Story ‐ LegCo Sitting (Handsard) 2 Oct 1996 http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr96-97/english/lc_sitg/hansard/han0210.htm  5 http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD /9706/23/hongkong.patten/ind ex.html The Hong Kong Success Story is 6 echoed in local school textbooks Similar terms are found in textbook about Hong Kong’s success:  Geographical advantage: natural harbor for trade + fish village (reasons for acquiring HK)  Economic development: government stewardship  City: generations of hard working people  Standard definitions image? SD1: Hong Kong history as a 7 history of modernization?  Hong Kong’s natural habitat brought colonization upon it and in turn brought modernization to HK.  Follows an universal and linear modernization model of the West.  Society advances in stage, naturally, without much obstacles.  Like the staged history description in a museum: pre-modern: primitive agricultural society  modern: industrialization High definition image 1: 8 - Any ‘de-tour’ in the course of early development? - Apart from the natural habitat, why was Hong Kong wanted by the British (as a trade port)? Who actually wanted Hong Kong, and, who didn’t? -  Second S.D. – a harmonious greeting or a conflictual one - the ‘modernization’ superimposed on HK a new kind of political and social order? SD2 & 3: An ordered society 9 without conflicts - The East meets West was a harmonious one. - British colonial governance was benevolent; and… - Local Chinese largely accept the imposed order, albeit a colonial one; resulting in… - The two remained largely peaceful without much social conflicts. High definition images 2 & 3: 10 Exploring the early state-society-market relations: HD2:  Was there any global or regional geo-political events/ history that shaped Hong Kong’s formation? What was Hong Kong’s positions in these contexts?  Was there any conflict that directly arose from early colonization? HD3:  To what extent the early colonial governance was benevolent?  How were social class formed in early Hong Kong, and their relation with the colonial state? Hong Kong Chronicles: 11 Overview & Chronology  Published by the Hong Kong Chronicles Institute  Year by year events  English version available  Access: https://www.hkchronicl es.org.hk/en/overviewc hronology.php  12 Part 2 HD1: British wanted Hong Kong? The Hong Kong Story (History of HK 1841-1997) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk6gfAtwZ7Q Birth of the former colony 13  Clashes between the East (Qing China) and the West (United Kingdom) over trade resulted in wars and three unequal treaties and conventions :  Treaty of Nanking (Nanjing)南京條約, 29 Aug 1842.  Convention of Peking北京條約(Beijing) 1860, to ratify Treaty of Tientsin天津條約.  Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory展拓香港界址專條, 9 Jun1898 (see part 3)  Selected events happened 14 in Britain (Industrialization 1.0)  1834 the new Poor Law ensured the poor were housed in workhouses.  20 June 1837 Victoria came to the throne after the death of William IV.  1 August 1838 Slavery was abolished in the British empire  17 September 1838 London-Birmingham line opened and the railway boom started (surplus?)  FIRST OPIUM WAR (1839-1842) - Treaty of Nanking (Nanjing)  September 1845 Irish potato famine started.  30 June 1846 Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel resigned after the Corn Laws (1815) were repealed  28 March 1854 Britain and France declared war on Russia and the Crimean War began (meanwhile, Taiping Civil War/Rebellion 1850-1864)  SECOND OPIUM WAR (1856-1860)- Convention of Peking  10 May 1857 Members of the Bengal army mutiny in India (end of East India Company rule)  17 November 1869 Suez Canal opened, linking the Mediterranean and the Red Sea (Around the World in Eighty Days, 1873)  13 July 1878 Congress of Berlin aimed to settle European problems (vs. Russian expansion)  Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory (1898) https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/timeline/victorianbritain_timeline_noflash.shtml Treaty of Nanking 1842 15  To abolish the Canton System : the Chinese Cohong and Thirteen Factories in Canton monopolized foreign trade.  Triggering point: Chinese official Lin Zexu ban opium trade, which led to First Opium War (1839-1842) with the United Kingdom.  The Treaty ‘ceded’ the Hong Kong Island to Britain, officially became a Crown Land 1843  Five treaty ports were opened (Canton, Amoy/ Xiamen, Foochow/ Fuzhou, Ningbo and Shanghai).  But first, was it Hong Kong that 16 the British want – a barren rock ?  (left: map of Chushan Islands, or Zhoushan舟山)  Sir Charles Elliot, Chief Superintendent of British Trade in China, negotiated the cession of Hong Kong in the Convention of Chuenpi with Qishan in 1841, Chinese Imperial commissioner.  But Elliot’s act was deemed ‘disobedience' by Lord Palmerston (British Foreign Secretary). Elliot was dismissed. CHINA, SHEET VIII, EASTERN COAST, HIESHAN ISLES TO THE YANG-TSE-KIANG INCLUDING THE CHUSAN ISLANDS SURVEYED BY CAPTAINS KELLETT & COLLINSON R.N (@http://oldprintshop.com) A barren rock : HK as a place of 17 irritation British portrayal – an uninviting prospect for settlement? “A barren rock with nary a house upon it. It will never be a mart for trade.”‐‐ Lord Viscount Palmerston, 1841 (Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs) Village survey: 3650 Villagers + 2000 fishermen (total >7k) Image: http://www.china‐mike.com/ A barren rock : HK as a place of 18 irritation “Hong Kong is nothing now but a depot for a few opium smugglers, soldiers, officers and men‐of war’s men.”— The Economist, August, 1846 “You may go to Hong Kong for me” – Lyrics of A popular song in London music halls Cited in Carroll, John. A Concise History of Hong Kong, p.20 But first, did British want Hong 19 Kong?  The British government eyed on Zhousahan, a cluster of islands (1391) near nowadays Zhejiang (浙江), which had already been occupied by British army during the First Opium War.  Closer to the political centre of Qing to the north and a direct contact with the major trade ground in core economic cities of China (e.g. via the Grand Canal (大運河).  The British, as it argued, wished for more ‘open ports’ and favorable trade rights, not colonies that was considered expensive to maintain. Occupied Zhoushan was the bargaining chip.  Hong Kong was not wanted initially!!! 梁曉遴 解構香港割讓來看身份定位（二）：由舟山到香港島的曲折轉換 2015/1/15 @ www.thestandnews.com/politics Who wanted Hong Kong? 20 Navy, Traders…  Charles Elliot. As a navy officer at the frontline, realized a military port (to the south) was essential to strategic success.  Zhoushan was considered ‘dangerous’ to navigate, and locals strongly resisted British rule.  Requested for Hong Kong Island instead of more ports opening or to retain Zhoushan.  View was rejected by British government. First Governor Henry Pottinger, only after seeing that Hong Kong had become the unsinkable ‘opium smuggling fleet’, advised a continual development of the island.  Notably, it was elite traders William Jardine and James Matheson, Scottish Britain and future no.1 Taipan in HK, Jardine Matheson & Co – strongly advocated for acquiring Hong Kong even before the First Opium War. 梁曉遴 解構香港割讓來看身份定位（二）：由舟山到香港島的曲折轉換 2015/1/15 @ www.thestandnews.com/politics  21 1860 Map of Hong Kong in First Convention of Peking Convention of Peking 22 (Beijing) 1860  To end the Second Opium War (Anglo-French joint force, 1856-1860) – the British was not satisfied with the terms in the Treaty of Nanking.  The Convention comprised of three distinct unequal treaties with the United Kingdom, France and Russia.  Eleven more ports opened for foreign trade.  Qing ceded south of Boundary Street, Kowloon and Stonecutter’s island to Britain.  Hong Kong as a military and trade port was further secured by occupying both sides of the harbor and the setting up of four Kowloon cannon stations.  23 Part 3 HD2: A Harmonious East meets West? Was there any conflict that directly arose from the ‘colonial modernization’? Hong Kong is not a just a fishing village – there’s 24 another rock lying directly across the habour: the Song Wong Toi ‐ The Song Dynasty court moved to Hong Kong during the Mongol (Yuan) invasion in 1276. ‐ There were large settlements and villages in HK Island (Stanley) and TST. The TST one were evacuated to establish the militarized zone (see previous map) Image: www. wikimedia.org/ Prepare for Pun Choi Dinner. Photographer: Wong Chi Keung. http://promotions.scmp.com/women/photo/results/adultCategory02.html HD: Global – the harmonious East 25 meets West?  Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory 《展拓香港界址專條》  Signed in Peking, June 9, 1898  The New Territories — comprising the area north of Kowloon up to the Shum Chun (Shenzhen) River and 235 islands — was leased for 99 years.  Geo‐politics: the move was directed against France and Russia. Fear arose as warships of these two were allowed to use the wharf at Kowloon City by Qing government.  The ‘depth’ of New Territories provided a military buffer zone for potential warfare. It also supplied the colony with its daily needs.  26 Ceremony at Taipo of the New Territory (新界), April 1899 HD: Global – the harmonious East 27 meets West? Resistance in the New Territories (The Six‐ Day War of 1899) Image: http://sparkpost.w ordpress.com/ Hase, Patrick H. 2008. The Six-Day War of 1899. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.  28 Conflict zone British British advanced advanced Over 5 hundreds of villagers and mercenaries died. Image: wiki Why SD image? Playing 29 down the event – both sides  There was some opposition when the British took over the New Territories in April 1899, but this eventually dissipated. The area was declared to be part of the overall territory of Hong Kong but was administered separately from the urban area.  在此之前，英國人已於一八九九年四月接 管新界。接管初期，尚有零星反抗，但後 來終告停止。  Government Year Book 2006 (Note: after 1997!) https://www.yearbook.gov.hk/2006/en/21_04.htm  HD: Global – the harmonious East 30 meets West? Governor Sir Henry Blake explained the principles on which the NT would be governed to the gentry and elders in the meeting at Ping Shan in 1899. The Ping Shan police station (top left) Traditional laws and placed at the top of the local “fengshui” hillcustoms to land retained. http://www.landreg.gov.hk/ HD: Colonial ruling strategy: 31 Exploiting local cleavages ‐ The local “Great Five Clans”‐ Hau, Liu, Man, Tang and Pang ‐ Impact of The Great Clearance 遷界令(Qing 1662‐ 1669) and the coming of the Hakkas http://www.wikimedia.org/  HD: Colonial ruling strategy: 32 Exploiting local cleavages Divide and rule: government soon conducted land survey and assigned all unclaimed land to immediate cultivators. Yim Tin Tsai (Sai Kung) ‐ established at around 1700, by 1875 all Hakka villagers converted Hakka‐Punti Clan War 土客械鬥 (1855‐1867) to Catholic A summary: back to the 33 ‘linear history’ argument  The imposition of the following suggested a break from ‘linear’ and ‘smooth’ development:  World history - European nations contest for power played out in the colonies.  Land survey – Crown’s land, private land vs. traditional bottom soil and top soil right.  Police station – modern policing institution.  Time-ball – integrating early HK with global system.  Six-days War - a ‘double movement’ resistance against the onslaught of ‘modernity’ (protecting local society from free trade, capitalism)?  Western medicine vs. Chinese medicine (TWGH)  34 Part 4 HD3: Benevolent rule at the start? Colonial state and social class in early Hong Kong. Population rapidly increased from 35 1841 to 1931 Year 1841 1851 1861 1871 1881 Popul. 7,650 32,983 119,321 124,198 160,402 1851–1864 Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Rebellion Year 1891 1901 1911 1921 1931 Popul. 217,936 300,660 456,739 625,166 878,947 HD: Formation of the early 36 social class in Hong Kong Formation of early social structure:  The British and European Class (upper class and working class).  The Chinese Class (upper and working).  The life of working class rarely mentioned in archives, limited detail.  A different kind of ruling strategy in the urban area? Rule by (de facto) segregation? (Myth or real?)  The British Class – actually, Scottish: 37 Jardine Matheson Group thistle The story of Jardine Matheson Group 38 (怡和洋行，前名「渣甸洋行」)  1832 July 1st, William Jardine and James Matheson, Scottish Britain, set up JM & Co in Canton (Guangzhou).  As said before, in 1836 the Firm promoted the founding of Hong Kong. The Chinese name 'Ewo‘ (和) was adopted, meaning 'happy harmony‘. (1840s)* http://www.jardines.com/the‐group/history/summary.html Some of the 1 st for JM & Co 39  The first plots of land in HK were purchased in 1841 by JM & Co at East Point for £565.  Note: Hong Kong was officially declared a colony in 1843 under the Treaty of Nanjing (signed in 1842).  The first foreign trading house to establish in Japan acquiring Lot No.1 in the first Yokohama land sale (1850s).  The first inter‐office telegraph in HK 1869.  First ice‐making factory in Hong Kong in 1879, later to be amalgamated(合併) with Dairy Farm.  First sugar mill in Hong Kong. The British Class‐ JM & Co as 40 core of the network  [Helped ]Tramways (1884) and Hong Kong Wharf and Godown Company (1886,香港九龍碼頭及貨 倉有限公司, Sir Catchick Paul Chater)  Helped established Dairy Farm company (Sir Patrick Manson and five prominent Hong Kong businessmen) with 80 head of cattle in 1886.  Hongkong Land(置地公司) in 1889 (Sir Paul Chater, in partnership with JM & Co Taipan James Johnstone Keswick). The British Class‐ 41 The ruling elite network HK Club: Membership was restricted to British elite merchants and civil servants inc. governors (established in May 1846)  An obsession with ‘social class’: 42 Zoning Legislations Peak District European District Reservation Ordinance, Reservation Ordinance, 1904 (till 1930) 1888  Peak District, 788  Parts of City of Victoria, feet above, unlawful to comply with to let such land or European-style houses building or any part (single family) model for the purpose of (vs. Chinese model). residence to Chinese.  Rent automatically Not applicable to went up and excluded ‘servants, coolies, mostly Chinese. labourers, etc.’ Peak 1,811 ft. vs. 788 ft. 43 Hong Kong 1920s  The British Class – 44 Royal HK Jockey Club 1884: intertwining network and power  "Power in Hong Kong resides in the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club; Jardine, Matheson & Co; the Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corporation; and the Governor – in that order”‐‐ An old joke in Hong Kong. Hughes, R. (1976). Borrowed place, borrowed time: Hong Kong and its many faces. Deutsch. The British / European / Eurasian 45 class and the working class  European soldiers, police*, sailors, wanderers, smugglers, sex workers.  The Eurasian (Ho Tung’s family) – major compradors in the colony (western education and religion)  Ethnic minorities: Parsi from India  More of their stories will be covered in ‘migration’ lecture. The Chinese Working Class – 46 Migrant labors and segregation Coolie trade and port labors - a new form of slavery (as slavery banned) - imported from China and India, exported to British colonies as well as US  47 Not much about them were told in archive. Tung Wah – maintaining Chinese root and traditional culture http://app1.rthk.org.hk/special/hkhist ory/photo_group.php?group=6&phot Early life and death of coolies o_id=117&offset=0 The Chinese Working Class ‐ 48 Case of Mui Tsai www.quazoo.com First ordinance to ban Mui Tsai (only) in 1938 – 8-5th HD: Early colonial rule in urban 49 area  Indirectrule by the Chinese elite  Example: rule of law and the Chinese merchant class (exercising their power via the Man Mo Temple)  Marginalization and incorporation (administrative absorption)  Example: social history of public health in early colony. Utilization of ‘bio power’ to achieve colonial objectives. Indirect‐rule by the Chinese elites? Rule 50 of law & Chinese Merchant Class  Chinese merchants and the Man Mo Temple in Sheung Wan (1847) – an arbitration system for local Chinese http://www.heritage.gov.hk/en/online/press2010/ManMo _Front2.htm Indirect‐rule by the Chinese elites? Rule 51 of law & Chinese Merchant Class  Colonial government ‘laissez faire’ attitude. Vacuum of social and political power within the local Chinese society.  Loo Aqui, a dockyard worker, and Tam Achoy, a Tanka fisherman, got rich by servicing the British army during the Opium War and to gentrify with charity work – set up the Man Mo Temple.  An arbitration system for different lineages – Man Mo Temple in 1847 to arbitrate, by religious rituals, local Chinese disputes. (story of the judge sending civil disputes to MMT). Sinn, Elizabeth. 2003. Power and Charity. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. P.84.  52 Management scandal of the Kwong Fook I-tsz (1851-) Indirect‐rule by the Chinese elites? Rule53of law & Chinese Merchant Class Leaded to The Tung Wah The Mui Tsai (妹仔): the Group of Hospitals: system was challenged in Chinese didn’t trust late 1870s (locally); again western medicine. in 1920s-30s (globally) Marginalization and incorporation 54 : Rising threats of TWG  Only the most successful merchants with the most influential network in the society would be elected into the Tung Wah Group.  By 1881 local Chinese merchants were the largest owners of real estate in Hong Kong and contributed to 90 percent of the colony’s revenue.  So did the power of the Tung Wah Group in overseeing Chinese affairs in the colony. Frequently seek backing from Qing government (e.g. donate money to purchase official Qing costume) Marginalization and incorporation :55 Administrative absorption  Establishing ‘committees’ and boards to intervene local Chinese affairs.  Committee members: absorb Chinese elite whom underwent Western education.  Example: Sanitary Board (former of Urban Council) in 1883. Sir Kai Ho, the first Chinese Sanitary Board member.  The Eurasian elites ‐ Ho Tung : established the Chinese Club – 1899.  District Watch Force – became the highest consultancy among the local Chinese society to give advice to the colonial regime. http://sparkpost.wordpress.com/ Marginalization and incorporation :56 Marginalization – The Plague  Target: Tung Wah Groups  Plague happened in 1894 and rumors was spread against Western medicine.  Deprived of political power. [coerced by the colonial state to] recognize western medicine and publicly clarify the rumors.  After then, Tung Wah focuses only on social service, education and hospital service, and retreated from political scene. Source: Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences In short, colonial rule was 57 a complicated one  Frequent utilization of ‘bio power’ to achieve objective of colonial rule.  Cooperation and incorporation by administrative means.  Conflict and suppression, followed by not so ‘benevolent’ policies.  Marginalization, divide and rule.  Social class of different ethnicity lived largely segregated life in the early colony. References 58 1. Sinn, Elizabeth. 2003. Power and Charity. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. 2. Carroll, John. 2013. “Early colonial Hong Kong” and “State and society.” P.9-62 in A Concise History of Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. 3. Ngo, Tak-wing. 1999. “Colonialism in Hong Kong revisited.” P.1-12 in Tak-wing Ngo (edited). Hong Kong’s History: State and Society under Colonial Rule. London: Routledge. 4. Hase, Patrick H. 2008. The Six-Day War of 1899. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. 5. Tsang, Steven. (2004). A Modern History on Hong Kong. Hong Kong University Press. 6. Charles Munn, Christpher. (1998). Anglo-China: Chinese People and British Rule in Hong Kong, 1841-1870. PhD Thesis. University of Toronto