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.
Author(s): Frank Welsh
Edition: Revised Edition
Publisher: Harper Collins
Year: 1993
Language: English
Pages: 692
City: London
Tags: Hong Kong, Colonial Period, British Empire, British Crown Colony
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
