| History of Hong Kong |
|
|
|
Prehistoric |
|
|
|
|
|
Education – Geography – Politics Hong Kong Portal |
The History of Hong Kong in Imperial China began in 214 BC under the Qin Dynasty. The territory remain largely unoccupied until the end of the Qing Dynasty when Imperial China lost the region to the British Colony in the 19th century.
Contents |
Prior to the Qin Dynasty, southern China was populated by a large family of non-Chinese tribes known as the Yue people (Chinese: 越; Jyutping: Jyut6). Little is concretely known about the Yue peoples other than information from ancient Chinese records and modern archaeological excavations. Their language is believed to have been an Austro-Asiatic language, though no clear consensus has yet been reached on its more specific aspects.
Shortly after consolidating his rule over China in 221 BC, the First Emperor Qin Shi Huang sent a 500,000-man army to conquer the Baiyue tribes and bring what is now southern China under Chinese control. In 214 BC, Chinese armies defeated the Yue tribes, and the area was annexed into Chinese territory.[1][2][3] The Qin Dynasty organized its territory into "Commanderies" (Chinese: 郡; Mandarin Pinyin: jùn; Jyutping: gwan6) - roughly equivalent to provinces - and the territory of what is now Guangdong and Hong Kong became part of the Nanhai Commandery.
The First Emperor's death in 210 BC precipitated a number of revolts and insurrections throughout China. Zhao Tuo, a Han Chinese general who had marched south with the Qin army, declared the founding of a kingdom called Nanyue, with himself as king, with a capital at Panyu (modern Guangzhou). Nanyue was a successful kingdom that had a mostly Han Chinese ruling elite with a large number of native Yue inhabitants as lesser leaders and officials. Artifacts from the period have been found throughout the larger Guangzhou area, but none have yet been found in Hong Kong.[4]
Nanyue was conquered by the Han Dynasty around 112 BC. In the 1950s, the tomb at Lei Cheng Uk, a tomb dating from the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25 – 220), was discovered and excavated. Artifacts found in the tomb caused some archaeologists to believe that salt production flourished in the area during the time period, though conclusive evidence has not yet been found.[5] The first Han Chinese settlement of the Hong Kong area likely dates to this period.
During the Tang Dynasty, the Guangdong region flourished as an international trading center. The Tuen Mun region in what is now Hong Kong's New Territories served as a port, naval base, salt production centre and later, base for the exploitation of pearls. Lantau Island was also the salt production centre where the salt smugglers riots broke out against the government.
The earliest known written reference to an event in Hong Kong is part of a 108-character stone inscription (now a declared monument of Hong Kong) on the southern tip of a peninsula in Joss House Bay, east of Tseung Kwan O. It refers to the construction of a stone pagoda on adjacent Tung Lung Island in the fifth year of the reign of the Emperor Chen Chung, of the Northern Sung, in 1012 AD. The engraving itself is dated to the Jiashu year of Xianchun's reign in the Southern Song Dynasty (i.e. 1274 AD), making it the oldest historical relic with a definite date in Hong Kong and Kowloon.[6][7][8]
During the Northern Song Dynasty, village schools like Li Ying College were established around 1075 in the New Territories to provide Imperial Chinese education.[9]
In 1276, during the Mongol invasion, the Southern Song Dynasty court moved to Fujian, then to Lantau Island and later to today's Kowloon City, but the child emperor, Zhao Bing, after being defeated in the Battle of Yamen, committed suicide by drowning with his officials. Tung Chung valley, named after a hero who gave up his life for the emperor, is believed to have been a base for the court. Hau Wong, an official of the emperor is still worshipped in Hong Kong today. By the end of the Song Dynasty, the first major clan to arrive was the Tang's (Deng, 鄧). They mostly settled in the valleys and plains of the New Territories area.[10]
However, during the Mongol period, Hong Kong saw its first population boom as Chinese refugees entered the area. Five families of Tang (Deng, 鄧), Hau (Hou, 候), Pang (Peng, 彭) and Liu (Liao, 廖) and Man (Wen, 文) were claimed to be among the earliest recorded familial settlers of Hong Kong.[10] While they are recognised by family surnames, they arrived first mostly in the form of clans. Despite the immigration and light development of agriculture, the area was still relatively barren and had to rely on salt, pearl and the fishery trades to produce income.
In the early 16th century during the Ming Dynasty, Hong Kong's earliest recorded non-Asian visitor came from the Portuguese mariner Jorge Álvares who arrived in 1513.[11][12] After his settlement, Portuguese merchants began trading in Southern China. At the same time, they invaded and built up military fortifications in Tuen Mun. Military clashes between China and Portugal ensued and the Portuguese were expelled. In the mid-16th century, the Maritime Prohibition came into effect. Designed to prevent contact with foreigners, it also restricted local sea activity. Villagers in Hong Kong coastal areas were ordered to move to mainland China. To further reduce the population of an estimated 16,000 in the territory, the transition from Ming to Qing Dynasty led to the flushing out of Ming rebels. Qing officials forced many Hong Kong villagers back to the mainland with destruction of villages, crops and famine.[10]
From 1661 to 1669, the territory was affected by the Great Clearance, ordered by Kangxi Emperor, which required the evacuation of the coastal areas of Guangdong. It is recorded that about 16,000 persons from Xin'an County were driven inland and 1,648 of those who left are said to have returned when the evacuation was rescinded in 1669.[13] What is now the territory of Hong Kong became largely wasteland during the ban.[14] In 1685 Kangxi became the first emperor to open limited trade on a regular basis starting with Canton territory. He imposed tough terms for trades such as requiring non-Asian traders to live in restricted areas. They could only stay during the trading seasons. They could not bring in firearms, warships or women. Trading was to be done in silver.[15]
The British East India Company made the first sea venture to China in 1699, and Hong Kong's trade with British merchants grew rapidly thereafter. In 1711, the Company established a trading post in Canton. Hong Kong was governed under Xin'an County (新安縣) and became one of the foremost military outposts for Imperial China. By 1773 the British reached a landmark 1,000 chests of opium in Canton with China's consuming 2,000 chests yearly by 1799.[15]
The Hakkas became the dominant group to occupy the territory,[10] and were referred to as the "gypsies of China". They made an art of salting and preserving ingredients. While their Hakka cuisine today is recognised as serving offals such as deep fried intestines (炸大腸), salt baked chicken (鹽焗雞) and poon choy (盆菜).[16] It may be difficult to prove these were the actual diets of the old Hakka custom, giving any insight to the first generation of cuisines. Henry Pottinger would be on his way to Asia, eventually becoming the first governor of Hong Kong.