Office hours: Mon 11:30-12:20; Mon 14:30-15:20; Tue
11:30-13:20; Wed 14:30-15:20; Wed 16:30-17:20
1. New Territories People
1.1.
Patriotism as a theme of “Hong Kong history”
1.2.
“Patriotic” historiography connects historical plots
into a “proof” of Hong Kong’s patriotism.
1.3.
Fact: in 1898, Britain forced the Chinese government
to sign the Convention of Peking and lease 356 square miles of land south of
Shenzhen River to the British government for ninety-nine years. In 1899, the local inhabitants fought
severely against the British government.
1.4.
“Patriotic history”: NT people’s resistance showed
their patriotism
1.5.
Alternative history: However, according to Elizabeth
Sinn and Tsai, the local inhabitants resisted against the British government
because they feared that the British government might interfere with their
established rights and customs.
1.6.
A missing part of history:
The following paragraphs printed on the steel gate of
吉慶圍 can illustrate their mentality twenty five years
after the confrontation:
「… …清政府將深圳河之南隅，租與大英國。那時清政府未將明令頒布，故當英軍到時，各鄉無知者受人煽惑，起而抗拒，我圍人民，恐受騷擾，堅閉鐵閘以避之，而英軍疑有莠民藏匿其間，遂將鐵閘攻破；…
…現二十六年傳孫伯裘，代表本圍人眾，稟呈港政府，蒙轉達英京，將鐵門發還，照舊安設，以保治安，所有費用，由港政府支給，又蒙史督憲親臨敝村行奠基禮，足見英國政府深仁大德，亦表現吾民對於英政府之誠心悅服矣。」（1925）
1.7. Local identity: The NT local people seem to be
identifying themselves with their family, clan and village rather than
“nation”.
2. Alternative II: Collaborationist nationalism （「漢奸民族主義」）
2.1. Tsai Jung Fang’s historical works： 香港人之香港史
and Hong Kong in Chinese History.
2.2. Compradors 買辦
and collaborationist nationalism
2.3. Since the beginning of the colonial rule, there
were a lot of Chinese helping the British people in trading, consulting,
contacting local people, etc.. Although these compradors Chinese sided with the
British colonialists, they showed their nationalism by supporting the
revolutionaries led by Sun Yat-sen.
2.4. Before 1911, Ho Kai and other Chinese elites had
written public letters to call on the British government to cooperate with the
revolutionaries to topple the Qing Dynasty. They believed that British interference into Chinese affairs
would cause regeneration of this country.
“We must admit, however reluctantly, the weakness and
inability of China by herself to reorganize her fragmentary army… … In
suggesting therefore that China’s army should be organized under the English, I
think that it will be seen that, apart from the nation’s friendliness, they
have furnished examples both of India and Egypt that should have satisfied even
the most sceptic minds” (Ho Tung China Mail Jan 23 1899)
“It is also clear that without external aid or
pressure China is unable to effect her own regeneration. For obvious reasons – personal gain and
aggrandizement – those who hold high office, those who constitute her ruling
class, do not desire Reform; those in humble life, forming her masses, wish
Reform, but are powerless to attain it.
In this predicament, we venture to think that England, having the
predominant interest in China, and being the country most looked up to and
trusted by the Chinese, should come forward and furnish the assistance and
apply the requisite pressure.” (Ho Kai and Wei Yuk 1899 “Letter to Rear-Admiral
Lord Charles Beresford”)
2.5. Tsai’s plot of Chinese elites, such as Ho Kai,
enables him to construct alternative story to the mainstream and patriotic
one.
3. Multiplicity of identities in history
3.1. Hong Kong history cannot and should not be
reduced to a single subject, no matter whether “Hong Kong” or “Chinese”.
3.2. The identities are situational and conditional,
and always strategic for dealing with different problems. Likewise, their narratives cannot be
combined into a single story line.
4. History of Hong Kong, by Hong Kong, for Hong Kong:
Impossible projects
4.1. Nationalist biases
4.2. 香港本位之香港史？(王宏志
and 蔡榮芳)
4.3. Is so-called “本位”
a historical subject?
4.4. Impossible project: e.g. Hong Kong’s “origin”.
4.5. Histories about Hong Kong
《細路祥》and 《花樣年華》