A History of Hong Kong

Description

In 1842 a barren island was reluctantly ceded by China to an unenthusiastic Britain. Hong Kong , grumbled Palmerston, will never be a mart of trade . But from the outset the new colony prospered, its early growth owing much to the energy and resourcefulness of opium traders, who soon diversified in more respectable directions. In 1859 the Kowloon Peninsula was sold to Britain, and in 1898 a further area of the mainland, the New Territories , was leased to Britain for 99 years - the arrangement from which the present difficulties spring. Despite its extraordinary economic success, which has made it one of the world's leading commercial centres, Hong Kong has never quite shaken off the raffishness of its early days. It has continued to be a source of embarrassment to British governments, and now, as its enforced return to China approaches, its future is the focus of worldwide attention and speculation. This work is an evocation of Hong Kong and the characters of those who shaped it, from its buccaneering origins to its post-war growth. A HISTORY OF HONG KONG......Page 3 THE COLONY OF HONG KONG, 1993......Page 10 By the same author......Page 4 Copyright......Page 6 CONTENTS......Page 7 FOREWORD......Page 13 FOREWORD TO THE REVISED EDITION......Page 17 Unwilling parents......Page 19 The last dynasty......Page 29 Scholars and gentlemen......Page 34 An empire acquired in a fit of absent-mindedness......Page 36 A cross and costly voyage......Page 43 The plant of joy......Page 50 Insolent, capricious, and vexatious procedures......Page 56 I never saw a chest of opium in my life......Page 59 A set of popinjays......Page 65 ANCHORAGES IN THE CANTON DELTA 1840......Page 67 A snug business......Page 68 Who can desire a war with China?......Page 75 The epitaph drear: 'A fool lies here / Who tried to hustle the East. ' Rudyard Kipling, 'Naulahka'......Page 80 A matter of national prestige......Page 86 Not to lose the enjoyment of what we have got......Page 89 Your most humble and obedient servant......Page 94 The War of Lancelot Dent 's Collar......Page 97 A Truly and Willing Bond......Page 109 Opium and whisky......Page 115 A proteaing joss......Page 119 Guns at the Porcelain Tower......Page 132 The Poppy War is ended......Page 138 An umpire between the empires......Page 143 A free and inexpensive asylum......Page 150 Methods of proceeding unknown in other British colonies......Page 161 Respectable and opulent Chinese......Page 170 A negro streaked with leprosy......Page 173 The dreadful sight of an Englishman being hanged......Page 179 Sulphur, pitch; beer or porter - and opium......Page 185 If they attack our people, they will be shot......Page 193 Houses of bad fame, billiard rooms and boats......Page 206 Quack Doctor Bowring......Page 214 Chinese 2: Plenipotentiary 1......Page 221 A reckless spirit of hostility......Page 233 Kowloon......Page 245 Not too Scotch......Page 255 Unlawful games......Page 258 A royal visit......Page 264 The evils of sewage flushing......Page 274 The Commissioners do not appear to appreciate that syphilis is only communicable by contact......Page 283 I have had my eyes on those junks for a quarter of a century......Page 288 Travellers ' tales......Page 302 The defence of greater Britain......Page 306 In search of la gloire......Page 311 General Sargent 's guns......Page 318 The politics of plague......Page 323 A suitable occasion for action......Page 339 The lease hath all too short a date......Page 347 Scoundrelly leaders of secret societies......Page 360 Sir Matthew s railway......Page 368 Pernicious parliamentarians......Page 373 An act of high patriotism to fornicate......Page 378 Faces shut like doors......Page 404 A war with Japan! But why should there be a war with Japan?......Page 416 Little sisters......Page 423 Stumbling towards the twentieth century......Page 429 A passive and shameful acquiescence......Page 435 Essentially a blockade......Page 440 Thanks to Japan, we are now a free people......Page 447 The British Empire has been entirely written off......Page 453 The electorate of Britain didn't care a brass farthing about Hong Kong......Page 464 Anglo-Saxon attitudes......Page 472 Autodecolonization......Page 490 Stiff upper lips......Page 500 The judicious application of cash......Page 509 HONG KONG HARBOUR RECLAMATION......Page 518 'Corruption, the most infallible symptom of constitutional liberty' Edward Gibbon......Page 523 Losing nerve......Page 528 'Now, when you say that, you don 't have to go into, tos ay, well now, precisely what is the nature of this link and the nature of the law and so on. ' Margaret Thatcher, BBC World Service interview, 1 November 1983......Page 537 Further Proceedings Stood Postponed......Page 552 Tanks in Tiananmen Square......Page 557 Voluntas Populi Suprema Lex?......Page 569 EPILOGUE......Page 578 Picking up the pieces......Page 587 Upstanding, flourishing and trading......Page 593 APPENDICES......Page 601 APPENDIX A British Governments and Prominent Chinese......Page 602 APPENDIX B Governors of the Colony of Hong Kong......Page 608 CHAPTER 1......Page 609 CHAPTER 2......Page 611 CHAPTER 3......Page 613 CHAPTER 4......Page 615 CHAPTER 6......Page 618 CHAPTER 7......Page 620 CHAPTER 8......Page 621 CHAPTER 9......Page 623 CHAPTER 10......Page 624 CHAPTER 11......Page 625 CHAPTER 12......Page 627 CHAPTER 13......Page 628 CHAPTER 14......Page 629 CHAPTER 15......Page 631 CHAPTER 17......Page 633 EPILOGUE......Page 634 BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 636 ILLUSTRATIONS......Page 653 INDEX......Page 655