Name: Class:________________ ( )

History
Form 2
Topic 8: Growth and Development of Hong Kong

WB HO VD QZ
Growth and ■ Establishment of Colonial P.2-3 ✔
development Rule P.10-
of Hong Kong 11
■ Social and economic P.4-6 ✔
conditions P.12-
13
■ Contribution of P.7 ✔
non-governmental P.12-
organization to Hong 13
Kong

WB: Workbook
HO: Handout
VD: Video
QZ: Quiz

A. Establishment of British colonial rule

1. Hong Kong coming under British rule

War between Britain and Treaty signed Content of Treaty

China
 First Opium War Cession of Hong Kong
Island
Second Opium War Cession of Kowloon
Peninsular
(south of Boundary Street
and Stonecutters Island)
/ Convention Respecting an Lease of the New
Extension of Hong Kong's Territories for 99 years
Territory (north of boundary street
and south of Shenzhen
River and the surrounding
islands)

2. Establishment of government structure and institution

The government structure of Hong Kong under British colonial rule

The structure of HKSAR government nowadays

What are similarities and differences of structure of government between British
colonial rule and nowadays?
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(i) The Governor

⮚ Representative of

⮚ of Hong Kong Government

(ii) The Executive Council and Legislative Council

⮚ Advisory body of Governor

⮚ Members appointed by Governor

⮚ Two type of members: (government official) and members (social

elites)
⮚ Function of the Legislative Council:
⮚ Function of the Executive Council:

(iii) The Judiciary

⮚ British judiciary system
⮚ Fair trial and rights of appeal

⮚ Supreme Court of Hong Kong (highest judiciary)

3. Feature of early British administration

(i) Great power of Governor
Power of Governor:
⮚ Chairman of the two Councils

⮚ decision on bills

⮚ Control local executive, economic and social affairs

⮚ power: pardoned criminals and reduced penalties

⮚ Command British troops stayed in Hong Kong in times of emergency

(ii) British dominated government

⮚ Great power of British government (Colonial Office):
● Choose governor and appoint principal officials
● Amend, abolish and make laws of Hong Kong
● Control military and diplomatic affairs of Hong Kong
⮚ High-ranking officials and members of the two Councils were mostly

⮚ Unofficial members were mainly British merchants

⮚ Chinese was in government

B. Economic and social conditions

Shortly after Hong Kong became a free port, British companies such as Jardine,
Matheson & Co. and Dent & Co. set up bases along the north coast of Hong Kong
Island for the opium entrepot trade.
Opium was first imported into Hong Kong from India and later re-exported to
the coastal regions of China. Opium was one of Hong Kong's major export items.
According to official statistics, opium accounted for 86.5% of the value of Hong
Kong's total exports in 1847. In 1913, China banned the import of opium. Hong
Kong’s opium entrepot trade then went into decline gradually.
From the source, what was the role of Hong Kong in international trade? What was
the function of the role?
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(i) Reason for Entrepot trade

⮚ Geographical location: main gate to southern China
⮚ Free port policy: No

(ii) Development of Entrepot trade

⮚ Important Entrepot between mainland and world market

⮚ Foreign and Chinese trading companies 🡪 tax revenue

⮚ Pillar of Hong Kong's economy

⮚ Increasing international trading partner and trading

(iii) Entrepot trade promoting related industries

⮚ Shipping industry

⮚ Shipbuilding and ship repair industries

⮚ Banking industry

(iv) Rapid Population growth

⮚ From 10,000 in 1841 to 170,000 in 1898

⮚ Push factor from China: wars and famines in mid-19th century

⮚ Pull factor from Hong Kong: Economic growth

⮚ Multi-ethnic society

(v) Poor hygiene

⮚ Bubonic plague

⮚ The Sanitary Board failed to solve hygiene problems

Economic condition and livelihood

Self-directed learning
Go home and watch the video about the 1894 Plague in
Hong Kong and answer the following questions.

1. The 1894 Plague happened in

A. The Peak District
B. The Tai Ping Shang District
C. Kowloon West District

2. What perception did the Chinese community have

towards the western hospital
A. It appeared to serve only the westerners
B. It proved to be inefficient.
3. Did the colonial government directly intervene (干預) in the medical services in
the Chinese community in 1870 according to the video? (2:00-2:50). What did the
government do?

4. Apart from medical services, the Board of Directors (總理) of Tung Wah Hospital
was also
A. the agent (中間人) between the new immigrants and local Chinese
B. the agent between the colonial government and the Chinese community
C. the governor of the Chinese community

5. After the plague, the government changed its policy from indirect rule to direct

⬜
rule in medical and public health aspects. What did the government do?

⬜ Instruct Tung Wah Hospital to include Western medicine

⬜
⬜
Tell every Chinese to have a vaccination against the plague
Set up Bacteriological Institute to prevent the plague
To provide cheap Western medicine by setting up a Western hospital for
the Chinese community

Evidence: Economic condition and livelihood

The Plague of 1894 In Hong Kong

Excerpt 1:
In May 1894, Hong Kong was stricken with the bubonic plague that may come from
Canton. The plague killed 3500 people alone. Like most colonial governments, the
Hong Kong government had never taken a very great role in the public health system.
Until the mid-1800s, colonial medicine had been concerned mainly with protecting
Europeans from the harmful effects of the tropical environment. … The plague also
reaffirmed many Europeans’ conviction that they needed to stay as far away as
possible from the Chinese because they had little understanding of western
sanitation. -- 'John M, Carroll, Colonialism and nationalism, A Concise History of
Hong Kong, 2007’
Excerpt 2:
The most notorious is probably the 1894 outbreak of bubonic plague, which killed
3,500 people that year alone – the vast majority of them in the neighbourhood of Tai
Ping Shan(太平山區，現為太平山街附近), on Hong Kong Island. Tai Ping Shan was
overcrowded, partly because the colonial system of racial segregation made it one of
the few places where Chinese people could live. The Peak was only for the White.

New building codes were finally drawn up to require minimum standards of

ventilation（抽氣） and drainage（排污）, with a Sanitary Board given new powers to
enforce rules against overcrowding. The government opened Hong Kong’s first public
toilet on Pound Lane （磅巷，在上環）in 1904. It was very popular, with one-third of
the city’s population becoming regular users in its first two decades. The plague also
led to the construction of the Bacteriological Institute—today the Museum of
Medical Sciences—on a hill above Tai Ping Shan, where scientists examined rats for
the bacteria that cause the plague, as well as inspecting water and food for other
pathogens.—‘Christopher Dewolf, How Epedemics Shaped Hong Kong, Zolima City
Magazine, April 2021’

Read the above excerpts and respond the following questions:

‘Colonial government in Hong Kong had made mistakes in coping 1894 plague in the
and also learnt from their mistakes.’ Answer this question by using the source and
your own knowledge (you have to do research and provide 1-2 points)

From the source (Mistakes):

(1)

(2)

From the source (Learnt a lesson):

(1)

(2)

From your knowledge (research) (4)

(vi) High-handed policies toward ordinary Chinese

Compared the policies toward Europeans and Chinese in Hong Kong from two
sources:
Europeans Chinese in Hong Kong
Night activities Europeans allowed to go on until Chinese theatre had to be
one in the morning closed at 11:00 pm

Light and Pass No requirements Required to carry lamp and

Ordinance written pass to go out at
night
Residential area Could live in the Peak Could not live in the Peak

⮚ Social Segregation: European District Reservation Ordinance

⮚ Strict control: Police had the power to search Chinese home
Chinese were not allowed to take part in public meeting
Light and Pass Ordinance and Night activities
⮚ Limited political participation: No Chinese could be important government
officials
⮚ Harsh penalty: different penalty for Europeans and Chinese from the court
Source A The use of congues

Source B: ‘A paradise for rascals’: Colonialism, punishment and the prison in Hong
Kong (1841-1898), Frank Dikötter, 2004

⮚ According to Sources A and B, punishments on Chinese offenders were usually

lenient/ public/ humiliating/ private in nature. (Circle the correct answers)
⮚ It is c______________punishment.
⮚ According to your knowledge, what may be the possible reasons for the
differential treatment of punishments on Chinese and Europeans in the early
colonial period?
1. __________________________________________________________________
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2. __________________________________________________________________
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(vii) Cooperation with Chinese elites and leaders

⮚ Chinese as unofficial member of Legislative Council
⮚ Chinese leader as Justice of Peace
⮚ Chinese leader as member of Sanitary Board

C. Contributions of non-governmental organizations to Hong Kong

(i) Tung Wah Group of Hospitals

Source A The following passage is about the Tung Wah Hospital.
Since the establishment of the Tung Wah Hospital in February 1872, the
purpose of its establishment has been not only to provide free medical
treatment and free medicine but free burial sites for the poor Chinese.
Therefore, it started to provide homeless and poor Chinese with burial service.
Following the medical service, the burial service had been for years the most
costly service provided by the hospital, which had been in accordance with the
rationale of the Tung Wah Hospital: taking care of those who live and to let the
 deceased rest in peace.
Source B The following passage is also about the Tung Wah Hospital.
Many Chinese were resistant to the unfamiliar British laws and courts, and the
corrupted court clerks. When they had civil disputes, they would rather let it
be judged by the Board of Directors of the Tung Wah Hospital. The Tung Wah
Hospital also helped manage the Chinese population, especially the huge influx
of Chinese immigrants from Guangdong in the mid-19th century. For the
colonial government, this was regarded as a very precious service provided by
the hospital.

Source C The following is extracted from the Basic Law

Article 144 
The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall maintain the
policy previously practised in Hong Kong in respect of subventions for
non-governmental organizations in fields such as education, medicine and health,
culture, art, recreation, sports, social welfare and social work. Staff members previously
serving in subvented organizations in Hong Kong may remain in their employment in
accordance with the previous system. 

Article 145 
On the basis of the previous social welfare system, the Government of the Hong Kong
Special Administrative Region shall, on its own, formulate policies on the development
and improvement of this system in the light of the economic conditions and social
needs. 

Article 146 
Voluntary organizations providing social services in the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region may, on their own, decide their forms of service, provided that
the law is not contravened. 

(a) According to Source A, what kinds of service did the Tung Wah Hospital
provide
to achieve its rationale?
(3 marks)

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(b) According to Source B, why did the Chinese let the civil disputes be judged by
the Board of Directors of the Tung Wah Hospital?
(3 mark)

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(c) How did the Tung Wah Hospital help the colonial government govern the
Chinese community? Explain your answer with reference to Sources A and B?

(5 marks)

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(d) Do you think the Tung Wah Hospital could continue to serve Hong Kong society
after 19th century? Explain your answer with reference to Source C as well as
your own knowledge.
(5 marks)

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(ii) Po Leung Kuk

(iii) The Lok Sin Tong Benevolent Society, Kowloon
(iv) District Watch Force
(v) Foreign religious organizations
⮚ Taking care of orphans and disabled people
⮚ Providing education
⮚ Founding hospitals