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Chapter One EARLY SETTLEMENT
- Hong Kong University Press, HKU
- Chapter
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C H A P T E R O N E EARLY SETTLEMEN T ItisoftensaidthatHongKongwasafishingvillagebeforetheBritisharrived ontheislandi n1841.Thedescriptionraise stheimageoffishingboatsand stakenetsalongthewaterfront,ramshacklehousesbeyondthereachofhigh tide,fish—dead,rotting,salted—andshrimpandseaweedbeingdriedon thebeach ,andmen ,womenan dchildren ,manylivin gonrathe rthanof f theboatsoftensidebysidewiththeircoopedchickensintheirholds.There musthavebeensuchvillagesontheisland,foritisknownthattheyexisted inmanyinlet sontheoutlyingislandsoftheHongKongregion,suchasTai O,CheungChau,LeungShuenWan,orKa tO.Bu tsettlementsofChines e peopleo nHon gKon gIslan dwer emor etha nfishin gvillages .Therewa s farmland,eve nb yseasid evillage ssuc ha sChekCh u(late rStanley )an d ShekPa i(Aberdeen) .Som eo fth evillage swer elocate dinland ,a t Wongneichong(HappyValley)andPokfulam.Farmingcongersupadifferent imageofthevillage:theseasonalrhyth mo fcropgrowing,landright san d taxes,villagealliance sfo rth esafeguar do fwater,access ,firewood,grav e sites.IntothissettingcametheWesterners.TheywerenotnewtotheChina scene,havingwithdrawntothisforlornislan dfromthehustleandbustleof Guangzhouwher eth eforeig n'factories 'ha dbee nestablished .Ther ei n Guangzhouthe yha dmixedi nthecompany,no toftheofficials,butofthe 'Hong'merchants,whowereamongthewealthiestpeopl ei nthewholeo f theChineseempire.Havingbeenwinedanddinedinthefineprivategardens ofGuangzhou ,theyha dcomeupo nHon gKon gwithth efirmconvictio n thatlittl eculturewastob efoundamon git srusticpopulation .Thecolon y wast ogro wi nisolatio nfro mthi sunrecognizabl ecommunity ,th enativ e Chinesepopulationtocomeattachedtotheforeignestablishmentashangerson ,alongwithman yotherssoontofollowfro macrosstheharbou ro nth e mainland.ThissenseofdisdainfuldisregardoftheChinesecommunitywas tocontinueunti lsom eamongtheChinesenew-comer sprove dthati nthe realmofbusiness,theywereatleasttheforeigner'sequal. 16 Society a. Villager s an d Immigrant s Bythenineteenthcentury,landrightstiedmanyout-of-the-waycommunitie s totheChineseimperialadministration.Buttheimperialadministrationha d workedonl ybecaus epowerfu lfamilie smight ,workingthroughit ,viefo r influencean dexchang ecomplianc efo rta xprivileges .Th eBritis hentr y ontoth escen eupse tlong-establishe dpattern so fpowe rrelationships ,t o thedetrimentoftheland-holderwhohadclaimedownershiponthestrength ofregistrationatthecountygovernment,andtothebenefit,perhaps,ofthe tenantwh ofoun dhimsel ftransforme dint otheresiden towne ro flan dh e hadtilled .Understandably ,th eorigina lland-holder sprotested .Ha dth e observerbee npresen ti nth epreparatio no fth efollowin gdocumen t submittedtothecountymagistratein1844,hemighthaveheardtheoriginal ownero fthefarmlanda tWongneichongVillag eexclaiming,'Myland' ,as hemadehi sclaim. 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...