Settlement, Life, and Politics: Understanding the Traditional New Territories (Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Studies)

“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.

Patrick H. Hase is a part-time lecturer at Lingnan University, Hong Kong. He is also the past President and Honorary Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society, Hong Kong Branch; Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London; Honorary Advisor to the Museums Service, Leisure and Cultural Services Department, Government of Hong Kong; Honorary Advisor to the Peoples Government of Shenzhen (Zhongying Street History Museum) China; Honorary Advisor to the Peoples Government, Kaiping Municipality, China; and Chairman of the History Department Advisory Board, Lingnan University, Hong Kong.