{"id":17996,"date":"2018-06-07T18:53:33","date_gmt":"2018-06-08T01:53:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=17996"},"modified":"2018-06-07T18:53:33","modified_gmt":"2018-06-08T01:53:33","slug":"everything-i-didnt-know-about-how-hong-kong-came-to-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/everything-i-didnt-know-about-how-hong-kong-came-to-be\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything I didn’t know about how Hong Kong came to be"},"content":{"rendered":"

Surprisingly, Steve Tsang\u2019s Modern History of Hong Kong, A: 1841-1997<\/em> was actually pretty readable for containing a boatload of history packed into one book. I learned some interesting facts about China and Britain that I will highlight and comment on. The first starts with the following: \u201cAt the height of its power in the early fifteenth century, China was the only country that had the capability to deploy a naval task force of an estimated 317 ships and 27,000 men across great distances, as its navy sailed as far as Malindi on the east coast of Africa, just north of Mombasa.\u201d[1]<\/a> I knew China was powerful but did not realize how far ahead of other countries they were. The author mentions that other countries did not match this capability until over half a century later.[2]<\/a> This fact became ironic when later in the book the author documents how a small British Navy fleet forced China to surrender, which ended with the Treaty of Nanking in 1840 and the British occupation of Hong Kong.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I thought it was pretty classic that China\u2019s tea trade to Britain became one of the most important imports for the country. Tsang explained, \u201cThe tea trade was important not only because tea had become practically a daily necessity in Britain by the 1830s, but also because the import duty London extracted from it was so high that it had also become a significant source of government income.\u201d[4]<\/a> Not only did they need tons of tea for daily \u201chigh tea\u201d, but they relied heavily on the import duty to help run their government. I wonder if this explains why tea became such an important element of British culture. It was also interesting to read about how integrally involved China and Britain were due to extensive trade agreements before the war and the British occupation of Hong Kong. Due to this trade relationship and the monetary result for each country, the pressure was high to keep the products and the money flowing. The problem came when China decided they did not want opium coming into their country any longer due to the destructive nature of the drug on the Chinese culture.[5]<\/a> The author highlights the sad reality concerning the results of the opium epidemic. \u201cSince opium was not even mentioned in the treaty, it continued to be imported into China by British smugglers working with the cooperation of their Chinese partners and corrupt Chinese officials. Its illicit nature meant that it remained a source of tension.\u201d[6]<\/a> After reading Jackie Pullinger\u2019s story, it is also sad to see what this drug did to imprison many people in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Another interesting topic highlighted by the author was the difference in how the British and Chinese functioned within their respective legal systems. \u201cAlthough the Chinese legal system was not simply primitive, arbitrary and barbaric, as it was generally seen by the British at the time, but was in fact highly developed and rationally based, it worked on principles fundamentally different from the British system.\u201d[7]<\/a> The way the Chinese approach the law reminded me of our discussion of how the Chinese use shame in their culture. \u201cTo the Chinese, justice was deemed to have been done not when the law had run its course but when the right decision was reached and implemented, whether this was achieved by strict adherence to the law or not.\u201d[8]<\/a> It appears that because their focus is on making the right decision, this puts the pressure on that person making the \u201cright\u201d decision, thus fearing the shame of a \u201cwrong\u201d decision instead of letting the law run its course. After reading Grassroots Asian Theology<\/em>, I realized how ingrained the shame mentality is in the Chinese culture, and how this filters into every aspect of their lives. As I think about how our laws in America are interpreted by our judges, I realize how much we rely on them to make the \u201cright\u201d decision and interpret the laws fairly and justly. China today seems to be all about strict adherence to the law and severe punishment for those who break the law, which seems to cause most to live in fear along with the shame.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Allen Chun, one reviewer of the book, made the following profound statement about this transition from Chinese rule to British colonial rule. \u201cWhile one cannot deny the tremendous transformations of colonial rule from its racist origins and brutal enforcement to its gradual incorporation of local Chinese into \u2018indirect rule\u2019, the legalization that paved the way for social restructuring and modernization of all kinds, and the glorious achievements brought about by capitalist progress that raised standards of living and reshaped Hong Kong\u2019s future, many other \u2018general\u2019 aspects of this history still reek of hypocrisy.\u201d[9]<\/a> This hypocrisy leaves a bad taste in many people\u2019s mouths even though some would like to overshadow this dark cloud with the economic growth and success the British brought to Hong Kong. This is especially ironic when the island of Hong Kong was initially dismissed by Palmerston, the Foreign Secretary for the British empire at the time, as \u201ca barren island with hardly a house upon it\u201d.[10]<\/a> Overall, the book was helpful in understanding the details surrounding the occupation of Hong Kong by the British and how Hong Kong came to be the thriving metropolis it is today.<\/p>\n

___________________________________<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [1] Steve Tsang, Modern History of Hong Kong, A: 1841-1997<\/em>, (I.B.Tauris, Kindle Edition), Locations 209-212.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [2] Ibid., 211.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [3] Ibid., 480.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [4] Ibid., 262-263.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [5] Ibid., 359.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [6] Ibid., 500-503.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [7] Ibid., 337-339.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [8] Ibid., 339-341.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [9] Allen Chun, Book Review of Modern History of Hong Kong, A: 1841-1997, <\/em>East Asia: An International Quarterly, March 1, 2006, 87.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [10] Steve Tsang, Modern History of Hong Kong, A: 1841-1997<\/em>, (I.B.Tauris, Kindle Edition), Locations 483-486.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Surprisingly, Steve Tsang\u2019s Modern History of Hong Kong, A: 1841-1997 was actually pretty readable for containing a boatload of history packed into one book. I learned some interesting facts about China and Britain that I will highlight and comment on. The first starts with the following: \u201cAt the height of its power in the early […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2,1260],"class_list":["post-17996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dminlgp","tag-tsang","cohort-lgp8"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17996"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17996\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17997,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17996\/revisions\/17997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}