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C H A P T E R O N E EARLY SETTLEMEN T It฀is฀often฀said฀that฀Hong฀Kong฀was฀a฀fishing฀village฀before฀the฀British฀arrived฀ on฀the฀island฀i n฀1841.฀The฀description฀raise s฀the฀image฀of฀fishing฀boats฀and฀ stakenets฀along฀the฀waterfront,฀ramshackle฀houses฀beyond฀the฀reach฀of฀high฀ tide,฀fish฀—฀dead,฀rotting,฀salted฀—฀and฀shrimp฀and฀seaweed฀being฀dried฀on฀ the฀beach ,฀and฀men ,฀women฀an d฀children ,฀many฀livin g฀on฀rathe r฀than฀of f฀ the฀boats฀often฀side฀by฀side฀with฀their฀cooped฀chickens฀in฀their฀holds.฀There฀ must฀have฀been฀such฀villages฀on฀the฀island,฀for฀it฀is฀known฀that฀they฀existed฀ in฀many฀inlet s฀on฀the฀outlying฀islands฀of฀the฀Hong฀Kong฀region,฀such฀as฀Tai฀ O,฀Cheung฀Chau,฀Leung฀Shuen฀Wan,฀or฀Ka t฀O.฀Bu t฀settlements฀of฀Chines e฀ people฀o n฀Hon g฀Kon g฀Islan d฀wer e฀mor e฀tha n฀fishin g฀villages .฀There฀wa s฀ farmland,฀eve n฀b y฀seasid e฀village s฀suc h฀a s฀Chek฀Ch u฀(late r฀Stanley )฀an d฀ Shek฀Pa i฀(Aberdeen) .฀Som e฀o f฀th e฀village s฀wer e฀locate d฀inland ,฀a t฀ Wongneichong฀(Happy฀Valley)฀and฀Pokfulam.฀Farming฀congers฀up฀a฀different฀ image฀of฀the฀village:฀the฀seasonal฀rhyth m฀o f฀crop฀growing,฀land฀right s฀an d฀ taxes,฀village฀alliance s฀fo r฀th e฀safeguar d฀o f฀water,฀access ,฀firewood,฀grav e฀ sites.฀Into฀this฀setting฀came฀the฀Westerners.฀They฀were฀not฀new฀to฀the฀China฀ scene,฀having฀withdrawn฀to฀this฀forlorn฀islan d฀from฀the฀hustle฀and฀bustle฀of฀ Guangzhou฀wher e฀th e฀foreig n฀'factories '฀ha d฀bee n฀established .฀Ther e฀i n฀ Guangzhou฀the y฀ha d฀mixed฀i n฀the฀company,฀no t฀of฀the฀officials,฀but฀of฀the฀ 'Hong'฀merchants,฀who฀were฀among฀the฀wealthiest฀peopl e฀i n฀the฀whole฀o f฀ the฀Chinese฀empire.฀Having฀been฀wined฀and฀dined฀in฀the฀fine฀private฀gardens฀ of฀Guangzhou ,฀they฀ha d฀come฀upo n฀Hon g฀Kon g฀with฀th e฀firm฀convictio n฀ that฀littl e฀culture฀was฀to฀b e฀found฀amon g฀it s฀rustic฀population .฀The฀colon y฀ was฀t o฀gro w฀i n฀isolatio n฀fro m฀thi s฀unrecognizabl e฀community ,฀th e฀nativ e฀ Chinese฀population฀to฀come฀attached฀to฀the฀foreign฀establishment฀as฀hangerson ,฀along฀with฀man y฀others฀soon฀to฀follow฀fro m฀across฀the฀harbou r฀o n฀th e฀ mainland.฀This฀sense฀of฀disdainful฀disregard฀of฀the฀Chinese฀community฀was฀ to฀continue฀unti l฀som e฀among฀the฀Chinese฀new-comer s฀prove d฀that฀i n฀the฀ realm฀of฀business,฀they฀were฀at฀least฀the฀foreigner's฀equal.฀ 16฀ Society a. Villager s an d Immigrant s By฀the฀nineteenth฀century,฀land฀rights฀tied฀many฀out-of-the-way฀communitie s฀ to฀the฀Chinese฀imperial฀administration.฀But฀the฀imperial฀administration฀ha d฀ worked฀onl y฀becaus e฀powerfu l฀familie s฀might ,฀working฀through฀it ,฀vie฀fo r฀ influence฀an d฀exchang e฀complianc e฀fo r฀ta x฀privileges .฀Th e฀Britis h฀entr y฀ onto฀th e฀scen e฀upse t฀long-establishe d฀pattern s฀o f฀powe r฀relationships ,฀t o฀ the฀detriment฀of฀the฀land-holder฀who฀had฀claimed฀ownership฀on฀the฀strength฀ of฀registration฀at฀the฀county฀government,฀and฀to฀the฀benefit,฀perhaps,฀of฀the฀ tenant฀wh o฀foun d฀himsel f฀transforme d฀int o฀the฀residen t฀owne r฀o f฀lan d฀h e฀ had฀tilled .฀Understandably ,฀th e฀origina l฀land-holder s฀protested .฀Ha d฀th e฀ observer฀bee n฀presen t฀i n฀th e฀preparatio n฀o f฀th e฀followin g฀documen t฀ submitted฀to฀the฀county฀magistrate฀in฀1844,฀he฀might฀have฀heard฀the฀original฀ owner฀o f฀the฀farmland฀a t฀Wongneichong฀Villag e฀exclaiming,฀'My฀land' ,฀as฀ he฀made฀hi s฀claim.฀ DOCUMENT Lai : M y land , 184 2 (source : Guangxu ershi nian chongchao Daoguang ershi er nian buzheng liangdao Guangfu Xinan chenggao zhaolu, (A record of the petitio n submitted t o Provincial Administration Commissioner an d the Grain Intendant fro m Xin'an county in Guangzhou prefecture i n the 22nd year of Daoguang, recopied in th e 20th year of Guangxu), photocopy o f manuscript include d i n The Historical Literature of the New Territories: Kam Tin, vol . 1 , deposited a...

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