The great difference : Hong Kong's New Territories and its people, 1898-2004

The study covers the whole period of the Lease, with all its crowded events and dramatic changes, as they affected the native inhabitants and their relationship with the government and, over time, the many times larger new urban population. In 1898 Great Britain added to its colony at Hong Kong a 368-square-mile expanse of mountainous countryside and islands, leased from China for a term of 99 years, which became known as the New Territories. The colonial official, James Stewart Lockhart, after an inspection of the newly acquired extension, called it “the great difference”. He was describing the gulf between the people of the New Territories and their counterparts in the existing, largely urban, British colony. In this book, James Hayes argues that “the great difference” led the colonial government to administer the New Territories and its people differently from the old urban area from the outset, with repercussions that continue to affect present-day Hong Kong. First published in 2006, and now appearing in this paperback edition with a new preface, The Great Difference covers the whole period of the lease and embodies the fruits of its author's studies of the territory and its indigenous population over several decades. While not a formal history of the New Territories, it is intended to provide an intimate and knowledgeable overview of this fascinating area, and to assist other researchers, paving the way for the general history that has yet to be written. The Great Difference - Hong Kong's New Territories and Its People 1898-2004 4 Copyright 5 Contents 8 Preface 10 Abbreviations and Romanization 14 Introduction 18 1. The Leased Territory in 1898 22 2. The Existing British Crown Colony and “the Great Difference” 34 3. Survey, Land Court, Registration, and Customary Law 46 4. “Give and Take” in the New Territory up to 1941 60 5. New Territories People and the Japanese Occupation 1941–1945 76 6. An End to Subsistence Farming: Opening the Way for Urban Development and Country Parks 88 7. Village Removals for Water Schemes 1923–1974: Resitings and Compensation 102 Plate Section 114 8. Village Removals for New Town Development 1960 Onward: Resitings and New Modes of Compensation 138 9. The Rural Contribution to Community Building in the New Towns, and Its Background 156 10. Village Communities in Change 168 11. Identities: Staying Chinese during the Lease 186 12. Convergence and Divergence: A Deteriorating Relationship 200 Notes 220 Bibliography 298 Glossary 318 Index 322