East River Column

East River Column PDF Author: Sui-jeung Chan 陳瑞璋
Publisher: Hong Kong University Press
ISBN: 9622098509
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 209

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Book Description
Hong Kong's story in the Second World War has been predominantly told as a story of the British forces and their defeat on Christmas Day 1941. But there is another story: the Chinese guerrilla forces who harassed the Japanese throughout the occupation played a crucial part in the escapes from Hong Kong's prisoner of war camps and in rescuing Allied airmen. This neglected part of Hong Kong's war is Chan Sui-jeung’s topic in this pioneering book informed by his many contacts with participants in the guerrilla warfare. The guerrilla group usually described as the East River Column gathered momentum in 1937 after China and Japan embarked on full-fledged war. Chan reports on its precursors and the formation of more formal structures that provided the basis for the guerrilla activities in Hong Kong between 1941 and 1945. Just as the guerrilla's story starts before the Second World War, so it goes on after 1945 and is entwined with the civil war and the establishment of the People's Republic of China. An important and valuable part of this book recounts how the leaders of the East River Column fared in the period up to and after the Communist victory. The book also sheds new light on the struggle between the Guangdong party members and the cadres from the north and "the problem of Guangdong" as it was characterized by Mao Zedong. This book thus finally gives due prominence to the role of the Chinese guerrillas in Hong Kong during the war, while at the same time setting that struggle into the broader contexts of Guangdong province, the long war between China and Japan, and the victory of the Communists and the early years of their rule in the South.

East River Column

East River Column PDF Author: Sui-jeung Chan 陳瑞璋
Publisher: Hong Kong University Press
ISBN: 9622098509
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 209

Get Book Here

Book Description
Hong Kong's story in the Second World War has been predominantly told as a story of the British forces and their defeat on Christmas Day 1941. But there is another story: the Chinese guerrilla forces who harassed the Japanese throughout the occupation played a crucial part in the escapes from Hong Kong's prisoner of war camps and in rescuing Allied airmen. This neglected part of Hong Kong's war is Chan Sui-jeung’s topic in this pioneering book informed by his many contacts with participants in the guerrilla warfare. The guerrilla group usually described as the East River Column gathered momentum in 1937 after China and Japan embarked on full-fledged war. Chan reports on its precursors and the formation of more formal structures that provided the basis for the guerrilla activities in Hong Kong between 1941 and 1945. Just as the guerrilla's story starts before the Second World War, so it goes on after 1945 and is entwined with the civil war and the establishment of the People's Republic of China. An important and valuable part of this book recounts how the leaders of the East River Column fared in the period up to and after the Communist victory. The book also sheds new light on the struggle between the Guangdong party members and the cadres from the north and "the problem of Guangdong" as it was characterized by Mao Zedong. This book thus finally gives due prominence to the role of the Chinese guerrillas in Hong Kong during the war, while at the same time setting that struggle into the broader contexts of Guangdong province, the long war between China and Japan, and the victory of the Communists and the early years of their rule in the South.

East River Column: Hong Kong Guerrillas in the Second World War and After (Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Studies Series)

East River Column: Hong Kong Guerrillas in the Second World War and After (Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Studies Series) PDF Author: Sui-jeung Chan
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781282704046
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description


War and Revolution in South China

War and Revolution in South China PDF Author: Edward J. M. Rhoads
Publisher: Hong Kong University Press
ISBN: 9888528661
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 219

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Book Description
In War and Revolution in South China, Edward Rhoads recounts his childhood and early teenage years during the Sino-Japanese War and the early postwar years. Rhoads came from a biracial family. His father was an American professor while his Chinese mother was a typist and stenographer. In the late 1930s and the 1940s, the Rhoads family lived through the turbulent years in southern China and Hong Kong. The book follows Rhoads’ childhood in Guangzhou, his family’s evacuation to Hong Kong, his father’s internment and repatriation to the United States, and his and his mother’s flight to Free China. He recalls his reunion with family members in northern Guangdong Province in 1943, their retreat to China’s wartime capital of Chongqing, where his father worked for the American government, and how they returned to Guangzhou after the war. The Rhoads family then witnessed the socioeconomic recovery in the city and the regime change in 1949. The book ends with their departure from China to the United States in 1951, a year and a half after the Communist revolution. The book fills an important gap in the scholarship by examining the impact of the Sino-Japanese War in southern China from the perspective of one family. Rhoads reveals that the war in this region, while often neglected by scholars, was in fact no less turbulent than it was in northern and central China. He combines autobiography with serious historical research to reconstruct the lives of his family, consulting a large number of archival documents, private correspondence, and scholarly literature to produce a rare study that is both scholarly and accessible. “This book is a very timely reminder that one should look at the experience of China during the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Second World War from a regional perspective in order to understand the diverse historical experience of the people from different geographical, ethnic, cultural, and social backgrounds.” —Chi-man Kwong, Hong Kong Baptist University “A pleasure to read and of compelling interest, Edward Rhoads’ book explores the more benign side of the foreign influence in modern China: the introduction of modern educational institutions. The intriguing lens through which we look is his biracial family, their multiple flights across southern China as refugees escaping war, and their eventual expulsion from China.” —Stephen Davies, The University of Hong Kong

Watching Over Hong Kong

Watching Over Hong Kong PDF Author: Sheilah E. Hamilton
Publisher: Hong Kong University Press
ISBN: 9622099009
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 243

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Book Description
In this pioneering study, Sheilah Hamilton shows that, from the earliest days of British rule, the colonial administration introduced harsh legislation to control Chinese watchmen who were employed to protect the fledgling colony's property in the absence of an effective public police force. She examines the growth in different Hong Kong Government departments of what would now be regarded as 'hybrid' police and argues that the existence of such posts within the civil service resulted in greater social control of the local Chinese community at minimal extra expense. Amongst the topics of private security explored are: the impact of the few private security personnel engaged by local Chinese organizations such as the Nam Pak Hong, Tung Wah Hospital and Po Leung Kuk; the evolution of the District Watch Force from a force engaged in purely local security duties to an arm of the Hong Kong Government involved in non-security matters such as controversial sanitary inspections; and the unique system of village guards and scouts in the New Territories. A particular focus is the early maritime security problems and the internal security forces of Hong Kong's shipping companies. A final chapter compares the situation in Hong Kong and explores the similarities and differences with Shanghai during the period.

A Death in Hong Kong: The MacLennan Case of 1980 and the Suppression of a Scandal (2nd Edition)

A Death in Hong Kong: The MacLennan Case of 1980 and the Suppression of a Scandal (2nd Edition) PDF Author: Nigel Collett
Publisher: City University of HK Press
ISBN: 9629375575
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 552

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Book Description
In January 1980, a young police officer named John MacLennan committed suicide in his Ho Man Tin flat. His death came mere hours before he was to be arrested for committing homosexual acts still, at that point, illegal in Hong Kong. But this was more than the desperate act of a young man, ashamed and afraid; both his death and the subsequent investigation were a smokescreen for a scandal that went to the heart of the establishment. MacLennan came to Hong Kong from Scotland during a tumultuous time in Hong Kong’s history. The governorship of Sir Murray MacLehose was to be a time of reform and progress, but with that remit came the determination of many to suppress scandals and silence those who stirred up trouble. Both the life and death of John MacLennan seemed to many of those in power to threaten the stability of one of Britain’s last colonies. The second edition includes a foreword by Christine Loh (former undersecretary for the environment, former legislator, and founder of Civic Exchange) as well as updated information from new interviews with key people involved in the case. With endorsements from human rights researchers and the local community, this book provides insight into Hong Kong during a time of social unrest and corruption scandals, a time when homosexuality and paedophilia were often considered interchangeable and both offered easy targets for blackmail. “Collett’s vivid account of the MacLennan case and its aftermath allows us to rediscover an episode that is important not only to Hong Kong gay history but to the history of law and criminal justice in a colonial context more broadly. A fascinating read.” – Dr Marco Wan, Associate Professor of Law and Director of the Programme in Law and Literary Studies, University of Hong Kong “Nigel Collet has written a period masterpiece.” – Christine Loh, Former undersecretary for the environment, former legislator, and founder of Civic Exchange

A Pattern of Life—Essays on Rural Hong Kong by James Hayes

A Pattern of Life—Essays on Rural Hong Kong by James Hayes PDF Author: Hugh D.R. Baker
Publisher: City University of HK Press
ISBN: 9629375532
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 456

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Book Description
“For myself, however, it is the human element, the recollected words, the remembered faces, which give life to the printed record.” James Hayes’s many writings have made a major contribution to knowledge about life in rural Hong Kong. This book presents sixteen of his illuminating and original articles, each of which is rooted in his experiences as a district officer, administering and visiting villages under his care. His interest in the life and lives of the people went far beyond the formal demands of his official work, and Dr Hayes grew to admire and respect the villagers. As a result, his writings are suffused with his affection and esteem. Intended for scholars in the field of New Territories history as well as general readers interested in rural life in the region, A Pattern of Life provides a fascinating, academically important, yet highly readable picture of traditional life in rural South China and reinforces Dr Hayes’s reputation as one of the most important writers on the New Territories. “[James was] the archetypical example of those remarkable Colonial Service officers who became fascinated by, and deeply engaged with, the territories and people which it was their task to administer.” – Lord Wilson of Tillyorn Governor of Hong Kong (1987–1992)

Settlement, Life, and Politics—Understanding the Traditional New Territories

Settlement, Life, and Politics—Understanding the Traditional New Territories PDF Author: Patrick H. Hase
Publisher: City University of HK Press
ISBN: 9629374412
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 748

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Book Description
“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.

Resist to the End

Resist to the End PDF Author: Charles Barman
Publisher: Hong Kong University Press
ISBN: 9622099769
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 349

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Book Description
At the end of the battle, with his fellow soldiers he became a prisoner of war, but he continued somehow to maintain his diary. He spent most of the war in the Argyle Street camp and provided the most complete coverage of life there. This is one of the fullest descriptions of the fighting in Hong Kong and subsequent imprisonment, but in addition it is exceptional in being the view of a mature professional soldier, one who had signed on in 1919 and in his long service had seen much including time on the North West Frontier in India. It is also unique for Hong Kong in being a record from the Royal Artillery.

Portugal, China and the Macau Negotiations, 1986-1999

Portugal, China and the Macau Negotiations, 1986-1999 PDF Author: Carmen Amado Mendes
Publisher: Hong Kong University Press
ISBN: 9888139002
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 172

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Book Description
On December 20, 1999, the city of Macau became a Special Administrative Region of China after nearly four hundred and fifty years of Portuguese administration. Drawing extensively on Portuguese and other sources and on interviews with key participants, this book examines the strategies and policies adopted by the Portuguese government during the negotiations. The study sets these events within the larger context of Portugal's retreat from empire, the British experience with Hong Kong, and changing social and political conditions within Macau. A weak player on the international stage, Portugal was still able to obtain concessions during the negotiations, notably in the timing of the retrocession and continuing Portuguese nationality arrangements for some Macau citizens. Yet the tendency of Portuguese leaders to use the Macau question as a tool in their domestic political agendas hampered their ability to develop an effective strategy and left China with the freedom to control the process of negotiation.

Southern District Officer Reports

Southern District Officer Reports PDF Author: John Strickland
Publisher: Hong Kong University Press
ISBN: 9888028383
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 399

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Book Description
This is a collection of administrative dispatches from the 1910s through the early 1960s which illuminate not only rural life in Hong Kong but also Hong Kong government policies during the post-World War II period. The authors of the reports include such notable figures as Eric Hamilton, Walter Schofield, S. H. Peplow, Paul Tsui, Austin Coates, and James Hayes. The volume is another important addition to the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Studies series, which has played a vital role in reviving and sustaining local history.