Ancestral Images: The Complete Hong Kong Album

405 Pages·2011·4.29 MB·English

by  Hugh Baker

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A Hong Kong Collection
Hugh Baker
Foreword by Lady Youde
Hong Kong University Press
14/F Hing Wai Centre
7 Tin Wan Praya Road
Aberdeen
Hong Kong
www.hkupress.org
© Hugh D.R. Baker 2011
ISBN 978-988-8083-09-1
All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed and bound by Paramount Printing Co., Ltd. in Hong Kong, China
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Foreword by Lady Youde ix 19. Protection 57
Preface xi 20. Jesuits 60
1. Land 1 21. Feet 63
2. Lovers’ Rock 4 22. Funeral 66
3. Kowtow 7 23. Water 69
4. Puppets 10 24. Congratulations? 72
5. Scholar Stones 13 25. Street Trader 75
6. Daai Si 16 26. University 78
7. Customs 19 27. Ching Ming 81
8. Tree 23 28. Feast 84
9. Pigs 26 29. Pedicab 87
10. Moat 29 30. Islam 90
11. Anti-corruption 32 31. Fertility 93
12. Barrier 35 32. Lantern 96
13. Ancestral Trust 38 33. Grave 99
14. Chair 41 34. Fish 102
15. Local Government 44 35. Magic 105
16. Geomancer 47 36. Lion-heads 108
17. Duck 50 37. Incantation 111
18. Gambling 53 38. Law 114
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39. Arch 117 61. Wedding Party 184
40. Tablets 120 62. Nuns 187
41. Stake-net 123 63. Snakes 190
42. Marsh 126 64. Temple 193
43. Beam-raising 129 65. Hakka 196
44. Mud 132 66. Leadership 200
45. Birthday 135 67. Yearly Blessings 203
46. Wealth God 138 68. Dragon 206
47. Pagoda 141 69. Sun Yat-sen 209
48. Red 144 70. Fire Engine 213
49. Earth God 147 71. Taoists 217
50. Flower Boards 150 72. Zombies 220
51. Shrimps 153 73. Market 223
52. Music 156 74. Patron Gods 226
53. Heaven 160 75. Typhoon 229
54. Double Yang 163 76. Footpath 232
55. Rain God 166 77. Soy 235
56. Bamboo 169 78. Schoolgirl 238
57. Smoke 172 79. New Year Biscuits 241
58. Offerings 175 80. Dan Ger 244
59. Landscape 178 81. Charity 247
60. Mourning 181 82. Isolation 250
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83. Birth 253 105. Wall 324
84. Reverence 257 106. Burial 327
85. Journey 260 107. Eyes 330
86. Yin and Yang 263 108. Feuds 333
87. Kowloon 266 109. Kitchen God 336
88. Gates 270 110. Catholic Church 339
89. Soul 274 111. Actors 342
90. Picnic 277 112. Hell Bank Note 345
91. House Re-warming 280 113. Incense 348
92. Cemetery 284 114. Concern 351
93. Water Buffalo 287 115. Well God 354
94. Buddhism 290 116. Ruins 357
95. Tin Hau 293 117. Women 360
96. Hall 296 118. Rice 363
97. Village 299 119. Sojourners 366
98. Procession 302 120. Wires 369
99. Dotting 305 Endnotes 372
100. Hundred Surnames 308 Further Reading 377
101. Vegetables 312 Index 381
102. Talisman 315
103. Exhumation 318
104. Suicide 321

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by Lady Youde
In these times of rapid change, every day sees another link with the past
broken and it is not surprising if the newcomer to the city of Hong
Kong, faced with its spectacular modern architecture looming over the busy
harbour and surrounded by crowds of fashionable young people equipped
with every latest electronic gadget, does not at first notice the ubiquitous but
inconspicuous traces of the old ways. Perhaps at the back of a shop a small gold
shrine gleams in the dim light of a tiny red bulb, a dark doorstep half hides a
little figure beside a scrap of red paper, and gradually more and more puzzling
glimpses of unfamiliar objects begin to reveal that many traditional practices
are still observed even in the busy city.
As soon as visitors venture into Hong Kong’s countryside in the New
Territories, they will be struck by the fact that even though life there has changed
dramatically in the fifty years since the material for this book was collected, a
great deal still remains to be rediscovered by the interested observer. Professor
Baker’s rare understanding of Hong Kong and the New Territories life during
the 1960s and 1970s comes from his unique experience of having lived for
eighteen months in a traditional Chinese clan village studying their language,
history and culture. There he had unprecedented access to a now rapidly
vanishing vibrant and colourful way of life that he describes with sympathy
and humour in these snapshots of everyday family life, taking the reader all
the way from birth, through family duties and the preservation of traditions,
religious ceremonies with their required food and clothing, and finally to death
and the continuing obligations of looking after family members in the afterlife,
many centuries after their departure. Even today hundreds of New Territories
clan members who have migrated all over the world journey home every ten
years to take part in the traditional and often spectacular clan celebrations
held in honour of the memory of their venerated ancestors.
Here in more than a hundred lively and entertaining articles and
photographs Professor Baker makes it possible to recognize what still
remains of the architecture, agriculture and traditional dress of this historic
area and also to understand something of the unique way of life followed