The Unruly New Territories

The Unruly New Territories

Author: Malcolm Merry

Publisher: Hong Kong University Press

Published: 2019-05-06

Total Pages: 555

ISBN-13: 9888528327

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At the end of the nineteenth century a slice of imperial China was abruptly incorporated into the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong. It became known as the New Territories. The people of this remote and traditional corner of the Ching empire were not consulted about the annexation, initially resisted and long resented it. To placate them, the incoming authorities promised that little would alter and that their customs would be respected. The promise would not be fully kept but it became the source of the preservation of Chinese customary law in respect of rural land and the justification for privileges afforded to indigenous inhabitants. Their tenacious assertion of those rights and aversion to authority is detectible throughout the twentieth century and into the era of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; it permeates almost every aspect of policy and law relating to rural land. The Unruly New Territories is an account of the annexed area and of its special place in Hong Kong history and law. It recounts the customs and privileges, how they preserved a China that was elsewhere disappearing and how they gave—and, despite enormous changes, continue to give—leverage to indigenous representatives in dealings with government as well as handsome profits to rural landowners. ‘This fascinating and impressive book is a must-read for all who want to know more about the New Territories. Malcolm Merry traces, with his usual clarity and insight, its unique land history that blends, not always harmoniously, Chinese custom with the advance of common law and this area’s dramatic development.’ —Sarah Nield, University of Southampton ‘The Unruly New Territories covers various aspects of land law and custom in the New Territories and the history of this region in a thoughtful and provocative combined thesis. A must-read for anyone studying the laws and customs affecting land in rural Hong Kong and interested in the history of the New Territories.’ —Steven Gallagher, The Chinese University of Hong Kong


The Hong Kong Region 1850-1911

The Hong Kong Region 1850-1911

Author: James Hayes

Publisher: Hong Kong University Press

Published: 2012-05-01

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 9888139118

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First published in 1977, The Hong Kong Region is a historical reconstruction of long-settled vil­lage and township society in Hong Kong's New Territories between 1850 and 1911. The book's central argument is that the gentry and bureau­cracy played almost no role in these commu­nities, which were run by local peasants and shopkeepers who had to deal virtually unaided with routine administration and with every form of disaster, natural or man-made. A sub­stantial new introduction reviews the research and its wider implications for our understand­ing of traditional Chinese society in the light of later scholarly studies.


Making Hong Kong

Making Hong Kong

Author: Pui-yin Ho

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2018-09-28

Total Pages: 398

ISBN-13: 1788117956

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This insightful book provides a comprehensive survey of urban development in Hong Kong since 1841. Pui-yin Ho explores the ways in which the social, economic and political environments of different eras have influenced the city's development. From colonial governance, wartime experiences, high density development and adjustments before and after 1997 through contemporary challenges, this book explores forward-looking ideas that urban planning can offer to lead the city in the future. Evaluating the relationship between town planning and social change, this book looks at how a local Hong Kong identity emerged in the face of conflict and compromise between Chinese and European cultures. In doing so, it brings a fresh perspective to urban research, providing historical context and direction for the future development of the city. Hong Kong's urban development experience offers not only a model for other Chinese cities but also a better understanding of Asian cities more broadly. Urban studies scholars will find this an exemplary case study of a developing urban landscape. Town planners and architects will also benefit from reading this comprehensive book as it shows how Hong Kong can be taken to the next stage of urban development and modernisation.


Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Author: I.C. Jarvie

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-07-04

Total Pages: 436

ISBN-13: 1136234268

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This is Volume IV in a series of six on the Sociology of East Asia. Originally published in 1969, the aim was to fill the lack of sociological studies of Hong Kong at the time.


A Pattern of Life—Essays on Rural Hong Kong by James Hayes

A Pattern of Life—Essays on Rural Hong Kong by James Hayes

Author: Hugh D.R. Baker

Publisher: City University of HK Press

Published: 2021-02-13

Total Pages: 456

ISBN-13: 9629375532

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“For myself, however, it is the human element, the recollected words, the remembered faces, which give life to the printed record.” James Hayes’s many writings have made a major contribution to knowledge about life in rural Hong Kong. This book presents sixteen of his illuminating and original articles, each of which is rooted in his experiences as a district officer, administering and visiting villages under his care. His interest in the life and lives of the people went far beyond the formal demands of his official work, and Dr Hayes grew to admire and respect the villagers. As a result, his writings are suffused with his affection and esteem. Intended for scholars in the field of New Territories history as well as general readers interested in rural life in the region, A Pattern of Life provides a fascinating, academically important, yet highly readable picture of traditional life in rural South China and reinforces Dr Hayes’s reputation as one of the most important writers on the New Territories. “[James was] the archetypical example of those remarkable Colonial Service officers who became fascinated by, and deeply engaged with, the territories and people which it was their task to administer.” – Lord Wilson of Tillyorn Governor of Hong Kong (1987–1992)


The Great Difference

The Great Difference

Author: James Hayes

Publisher: Hong Kong University Press

Published: 2012-07-01

Total Pages: 487

ISBN-13: 9888139754

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James Stewart Lockhart called it "the great difference". Returned from an inspection tour of the newly leased extension to Hong Kong territory in August 1898, Lockhart, a senior Hong Kong colonial official, had used this phrase to describe the gulf between the New Territories and its people and the existing British colony of Hong Kong and its inhabitants. In this volume, James Hayes argues that this "the great difference" led the colonial government to administer the New Territories and its people differently from the old urban area from the outset, resulting in repercussions that affect present-day Hong Kong. The study covers the whole period of the Lease, with all its crowded events and dramatic changes, as they affected the native inhabitants and their relationship with the government and, over time, the many times larger new urban population. James Hayes (PhD Lond; HonDLitt, HK) is a scholar of the Hong Kong region and its people. He worked in the New Territories for almost half his thirty-two years of government service, and was Regional Secretary in charge of district administration there in 1985-87. His publications include Friends and Teachers: Hong Kong and Its People 1953-87 (Hong Kong University Press, 1996) and South China Village Culture (2001).


Settlement, Life, and Politics—Understanding the Traditional New Territories

Settlement, Life, and Politics—Understanding the Traditional New Territories

Author: Patrick H. Hase

Publisher: City University of HK Press

Published: 2020-11-01

Total Pages: 750

ISBN-13: 9629374412

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“Without a clear idea of the history of the New Territories, the history of Hong Kong as a whole would be impossible to bring to any sort of satisfactory completion. ... Elucidating the development of a village, a clan, a temple, or a market-town is also, in and of itself, real and valuable history, and abundantly justifies the time and effort spent on it.” This book is a history of village communities in the New Territories of Hong Kong, including those in the areas of Ha Tsuen, Hung Shui Kiu, and Sha Tin as well as those on the islands of Lamma, Ma Wan, and Tung Ping Chau. Elaborating on primary interviews with village elders, government documents, and public information, this book places the individual histories of each area into the context of Hong Kong’s rich past. The introduction sets up the rest of the book, outlining common themes and highlighting the dangers of using the communal memories of village communities while, at the same time, showing the valuable information doing so can bring. Each chapter provides a more detailed account of one specific area, concentrating on the settlement history, the lifestyle, and the politics of that area.


Colonial Administration and Land Reform in East Asia

Colonial Administration and Land Reform in East Asia

Author: Sui-Wai Cheung

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-07-14

Total Pages: 253

ISBN-13: 1351737899

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This book argues that as colonialism brought the concept of individual, as opposed to collective, land ownership to indigenous society, along with Western surveying techniques, the changes that resulted altered the relationship of the state to its citizens, and, thereby, the structure of local societies. The book considers these issues in all of East Asia, including China, Japan and Korea, focusing in particular on Hong Kong, which was subject to British rule from 1842 to 1997, and on Taiwan, which was subject to Japanese rule from 1895 to 1945. The book discusses how, although the main impact of land ownership by individuals and modern surveying were felt after colonialism had ended, it is by studying the introduction of these factors that their impact can be most clearly understood.


Hong Kong in the Shadow of China

Hong Kong in the Shadow of China

Author: Richard C. Bush

Publisher: Brookings Institution Press

Published: 2016-10-11

Total Pages: 255

ISBN-13: 0815728131

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A close-up look at the struggle for democracy in Hong Kong. Hong Kong in the Shadow of China is a reflection on the recent political turmoil in Hong Kong during which the Chinese government insisted on gradual movement toward electoral democracy and hundreds of thousands of protesters occupied major thoroughfares to push for full democracy now. Fueling this struggle is deep public resentment over growing inequality and how the political system—established by China and dominated by the local business community—reinforces the divide been those who have profited immensely and those who struggle for basics such as housing. Richard Bush, director of the Brookings Institution’s Center on East Asia Policy Studies, takes us inside the demonstrations and the demands of the demonstrators and then pulls back to critically explore what Hong Kong and China must do to ensure both economic competitiveness and good governance and the implications of Hong Kong developments for United States policy.