UGEC 2945

History of Hong Kong

(Term 1, 2022-2023 )

Classroom: LSK 514 & 515

Time: 14:30-16:15 (Monday)
Medium of Instruction: Cantonese

Lecturer: Ms. Emily CHEUNG Ching Man (Office: KHB 113 Email: emilycheung@cuhk.edu.hk)

Course Description
This course introduces the history of Hong Kong from a British colony to the Special Administrative Region of
China. It covers major events and issues of Hong Kong, emphasizing the development of political system,
social structure and economic pattern, and evaluate the role of Hong Kong in modern China, in the Asian-
Pacific region and in the world. The course critically examines how colonial governance and Sino-British
relations affected Hong Kong, offering students a multi-perspective in understanding how Hong Kong has
become what it is today. This course is relevant to three Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly in
the area of SDG#8 Decent Work and Economic Growth by looking at the development of Hong Kong from an
entrepôt to a global financial centre, SDG#10 Reduced Inequalities by looking at how Hong Kong evolved from
a society of racial segregation to social inclusiveness, and SDG#16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions by
looking at the public policy in promoting social reform and social justice.

Learning Outcomes
1. Have a better understanding on the history of Hong Kong.
2. Recognize and critically analyze how and why various contexts affecting the development of Hong Kong.
3. Identify and examine the economic roles and positions of Hong Kong in modern Chinese history and in a
global context (SDG#8 Decent Work and Economic Growth).
4. Articulate fair evaluation on issues surrounding the daily life in Hong Kong (e.g. inequalities in economic
and political power, housing problem, etc.) after understanding their origins, and able to reflect on how
to promote social reform and justice based on the experience of the past (SDG#10 Reduced Inequalities
and SDG#16 Peace, Justice and Social Institution).

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Course Syllabus
Part I - Hong Kong: From the Opium War to the Second World War

(1) Introduction (5 September 2022)

(2) Opium War and the Opening of Hong Kong (19 September 2022)
o British Trade in China Before 1830s
o The War and the Cession of Hong Kong
(3) The Early Development and Colonial Setting (26 September 2022)
o From Barren Island to Entrepôt: The Early Development of Hong Kong
o Colonial Governance
(4) State and Society in Colonial Hong Kong (3 October 2022)
o Segregated Rule and the Formation of the Chinese Community
o Becoming Elite: Chinese Merchants and Their Organizations
(5) Hong Kong in the Interwar Period (10 October 2022)
o Livelihood in the 1920s
o Imperialism and Chinese Nationalism: The Strike and Boycott of 1925-26
(6) The Battle of Hong Kong and the Japanese Occupation (17 October 2022)
o Japanese Invasion and the Fall of Hong Kong
o Hardship and Resilience under the Japanese Occupation

Part II – Post-war Hong Kong

(7) Post-war Hong Kong: Socio-political Development (24 October 2022)

o The Young Plan: A False Dawn?
o Settling the Emigrants: A Shift in Hong Kong’s Housing and Social Policy
(8) Post-war Hong Kong: Economic Takeoff (31 October 2022)
o Positioning Hong Kong in the Korean War and Cold War
o “Made in Hong Kong”: Post-war Industrialization
(9) Unrest and Crisis: Hong Kong in the 1960s (7 November 2022)
o A Changing Society: Tension, Frustration and Hostility
o The 1967 Riots and After
(10) The MacLehose Years (14 November 2022)
o Building a Welfare State? – Social Reforms in the MacLehose Years
o Combating Corruption: Establishment of ICAC
(11) Sino-British Negotiation and the Joint Declaration (21 November 2022)
o Conflict and Cooperation: Sino-British Negotiation
o Hong Kong Citizen’s Attitude Towards the Joint Declaration
(12) Towards 1997: Hong Kong in the Transitional Period (28 November 2022)
o Challenges and the Last Years of Colonial Rule
o 1997 and Beyond

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Required and Recommended Reading
Weekly Required Readings

Opium War and the Opening of Hong Kong

o Frank Welsh, A History of Hong Kong (London: HarperCollins, 1993), chapters 1-4.
The Early Development and Colonial Setting
o John M. Carroll, A Concise History of Hong Kong (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007), chapter 2.
o 丁新豹：〈歷史的轉折：殖民地體系的建立和演進〉
，載王賡武編：《香港史新編》(香港：三聯書店(香港)有
限公司，1997 年)，59-130。
State and Society in Colonial Hong Kong
o Steve Tsang, “Governance in a Colonial Society,” in Governing Hong Kong: Administrative Officers from the 19 th
Century to the Handover to China, 1862-1997 (London: I. B. Tauris, 2007), chapters 1&2.
o 羅永生：《勾結共謀的殖民權力》(香港：牛津大學出版社，2015 年)，第一章。
o Elizabeth Sinn, Power and Charity: A Chinese Merchant Elite in Colonial Hong Kong (Hong Kong: Hong Kong
University Press, 2003), chapter 4.
Hong Kong in the Interwar Period
o 蔡榮芳：〈省港大罷工(1925-1926)及其後之社會文化：新解釋與評估〉
，《香港人之香港史 1841-1945》(香
港：牛津大學出版社，2001 年)，121-172。
o Ming K. Chan, “Hong Kong in Sino-British Conflict: Mass Mobilization and the Crisis of Legitimacy, 1912-26,” in
Precarious Balance: Hong Kong between China and Britain, 1842-1992 (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press,
1994), 27-57.
The Battle of Hong Kong and the Japanese Occupation
o 鄺智文、蔡耀倫：
《孤獨前哨：太平洋戰爭中的香港戰役》(香港：天地圖書有限公司，2013 年)，157-318。
o 小林英夫、柴田善雄著，田泉、李璽、魏育芳譯：《日本軍政下的香港》(香港：商務印書館香港有限公司，
2016 年)，第四至六章。
o 鄺智文：《重光之路：日據香港與太平洋戰爭》(香港：天地圖書有限公司，2015 年)，410-449。
Post-war Hong Kong: Socio-political Development
o G. B. Endacott, “The ‘Young’ Plan of Constitutional Reform,” in Government and People in Hong Kong, 1841-1962
(Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1964), chapter 11.
o Alan Smart, “Housing in Hong Kong,” in Making Room: Squatter Clearance in Hong Kong (Hong Kong: Centre of
Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong, 1992), 30-65.
Post-war Hong Kong: Economic Takeoff
o 黃紹倫著，張秀莉譯：《移民企業家 : 香港的上海工業家》(上海：上海古籍出版社，2003 年)，第二章。
o Leo F. Goodstadt, “Industrial Take-off: Cut-price and Self-financed,” in Profits, Politics and Panics: Hong Kong’s
Banks and the Making of a Miracle Economy, 1935-1985 (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2007), 97-114.
o David R. Meyer, “Industrial Metropolis,” in Hong Kong As A Global Metropolis (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2000), 143-178.
Unrest and Crisis: Hong Kong in the 1960s
o 張家偉：《香港六七暴動內情》(香港：太平洋世紀出版有限公司，2000 年)，第十二及十六章。
o Lawrence Cheuk-yin Wong, “The 1967 Riots: A Legitimacy Crisis?” in Robert Bickers and Ray Yep, eds., May Days in
Hong Kong: Riot and Emergency in 1967 (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2009), 37-51.
The Maclehose Years
o Roger Buckley, “Transformation: the MacLehose Years, 1971-82,” in Hong Kong: The Road to 1997 (New York:
Cambridge University Press, 1997), 84-103.
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o Lui Tai-Lok and Ray Yep, “Revisiting the Golden Era of MacLehose and the Dynamics of Social Reforms,” in China
Information, 2010-11, Vol. 24 (3), 249-272.
o Ray Yep, “The Crusade Against Corruption in Hong Kong in the 1970s: Governor MacLehose as a Zealous Reformer
or Reluctant Hero?” in China Information, 2013-07, Vol. 27 (2), 197-221.
Sino-British Negotiation and the Joint Declaration
o Robert Cottrell, The End of Hong Kong: The Secret Diplomacy of Imperial Retreat (London: John Murray, 1993),
chapters 6-9.
o James T. H. Tang and Frank Ching, “The Maclehose-Youde Years: Balancing the ‘Three-legged Stool’, 1971-86,” in M.
K. Chan, ed., Precarious Balance: Hong Kong Between China and Britain, 1842-1992 (Hong Kong: Hong Kong
University Press, 1994), 107-129.
o Mark Chi-kwan, “Decolonizing Britishness? The 1981 British Nationality Act and the Identity Crisis of Hong Kong
Elites,” in Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 2020, Vol. 48 (3), 565-590.
Towards 1997: Hong Kong in the Transitional Period
o Frank Ching, “Towards Colonial Sunset: The Wilson Regime, 1987-92,” in M. K. Chan, ed., Precarious Balance: Hong
Kong Between China and Britain, 1842-1992 (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1994), 173-198.
o 劉兆佳：《過渡期香港政治》(香港：廣角鏡出版社有限公司，1996 年)，1-26。
o 呂大樂：〈思想『九七前』與『後九七』香港〉，謝均才編：《我們的地方、我們的時間：香港社會新編》(香
港：牛津大學出版社，2002 年)，450-475。

General Reference

o Bickers, Robert and Ray Yep, eds. May Days in Hong Kong: Riots and Emergency in 1967. Hong Kong: Hong Kong
University Press, 2009.
o Carroll, John M. Edge of Empires: Chinese Elites and British Colonials in Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Hong Kong
University Press, 2007.
o Chan, Lau Kit-ching. From Nothing to Nothing: The Chinese Communist Movement and Hong Kong, 1921-1936.
Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1999.
o Chan, M. K. ed. Precarious Balance: Hong Kong Between China and Britain, 1842-1992. Hong Kong: Hong Kong
University Press, 1994.
o Endacott, G. B. A History of Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 1958.
o Endacott, G. B. Government and People in Hong Kong, 1841-1962. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1964.
o Faure, David (ed.). Hong Kong: A Reader in Social History. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 2003.
o Faure, David. Colonialism and the Hong Kong Mentality. Hong Kong: Centre of Asian Studies, University of Hong
Kong, 2003.
o Goodstadt, Leo F. Profits, Politics and Panics: Hong Kong’s Banks and the Making of a Miracle Economy, 1935-1985.
Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2007.
o Goodstadt, Leo F. Uneasy Partners: The Conflict Between Public Interest and Private Profit in Hong Kong. Hong Kong:
Hong Kong University Press, 2009.
o Ho, Pui-yin. The Administrative History of the Hong Kong Government Agencies, 1841-2002. Hong Kong: Hong Kong
University Press, 2004.
o Kwan, Daniel Y. K. Marxist Intellectual and the Chinese Labor Movement: A Study of Deng Zhongxia (1894-1933).
Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1997.
o Meyer, David R. Hong Kong As A Global Metropolis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
o Miners, Norman. The Government and Politics of Hong Kong. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1981.
o Morris, Jan. Hong Kong: Epilogue to an Empire. London: Penguin Books, 1997.
o Roberti, Mark. The Fall of Hong Kong: China’s Triumph and Britain’s Betrayal. New York: J. Wiley, 1996.
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o Roberts, Priscilla and John M. Carroll. Eds. Hong Kong in the Cold War. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press,
2017.
o Schenk, Catherine. Hong Kong As an International Financial Centre: Emergence and Development, 1945-1965.
London: Routledge, 2001.
o Smart, Alan. The Shek Kip Mei Myth: Squatters, Fires and Colonial Rule in Hong Kong, 1950-1963. Hong Kong: Hong
Kong University Press, 2006.
o Smart, Alan. Making Room: Squatter Clearance in Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Centre of Asian Studies, University of
Hong Kong, 1992.
o Tsang, Steve. A Modern History of Hong Kong. London; New York: I.B. Tauris, 2004.
o Tsang, Steve. Governing Hong Kong: Administrative Officers from the 19 th Century to the Handover to China, 1862-
1997. London: I. B. Tauris, 2007.
o Wang, Gungwu, Wong Siu-lun. Eds. Hong Kong’s transition: A Decade After the Deal. Hong Kong: Oxford University
Press, 1995.
o 王賡武編。《香港史新編》(上、下冊)。香港：三聯書店(香港)有限公司，1997。
o 余繩武、劉存寬編：《十九世紀的香港》。香港：麒麟書業有限公司，1994 年。
o 余繩武、劉蜀永編：《二十世紀的香港》。香港：麒麟書業有限公司，1995 年。
o 李明堃：《變遷中的香港政治香社會》。香港：商務印書館，1987 年。
o 周弈：《香港左派鬥爭史》
。香港：利文出版社，2002 年。
o 麥志坤：《冷戰與香港：英美關係 1949-1957》
。香港：中華書局香港有限公司，2019 年。
o 黃紹倫著，張秀莉譯：《移民企業家 : 香港的上海工業家》
。上海：上海古籍出版社，2003 年。
o 蔡榮芳：《香港人之香港史 1841-1945》
。香港：牛津大學出版社，2001 年。
o 鄧中夏：《中國職工運動簡史》
。北京，人民出版社，1949 年。
o 鄭宇碩：《八十年代的香港：轉型期的社會》
。香港：大學出版印務公司，1981 年。
o 鄺智文、蔡耀倫：
《孤獨前哨：太平洋戰爭中的香港戰役》
。香港：天地圖書有限公司，2013 年。
o 鄺智文：《重光之路：日據香港與太平洋戰爭》。香港：天地圖書有限公司，2015 年。
o 羅永生：《勾結共謀的殖民權力》。香港：牛津大學出版社，2015 年。

Assessment
In-class Quizzes Open-book Quiz #1 (10%) Open-book Quiz #2 (20%)
30% o Date: 31 October 2022 o Date: 28 November 2022
o Scope: Topics covered in Part I o Scope: Topics covered in Part II
o Format: Online Short Question o Format: Online Short Question
o Duration: 10 minutes o Duration: 20 minutes

# Please bring your own laptop/electronic device for the quizzes.

Final Paper o With reference to the suggested topics, students are required to formulate a research topic
70% of your own, and complete a research paper.
o Length: [CHI] 3500-5500 or [ENG] 3000-5000 (excluding footnotes and bibliography)
o Deadline: 23:59 of 12 December 2022
o Submission: Via VeriGuide (Assignment No. 1). No printed version is required.
o For the suggested topics and other details, please refer to “Final Paper Guidelines” on
Blackboard.

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Academic Honesty and Plagiarism
o Attention is drawn to University policy and regulations on honesty in academic work, and to the disciplinary
guidelines and procedures applicable to breaches of such policy and regulations. Details may be found at
http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/policy/academichonesty/.
o With each assignment, students are required to submit a signed declaration (attachment 1) that they are aware of
these policies, regulations, guidelines and procedures. For group projects, all students of the same group should be
asked to sign the declaration.
o For assignments in the form of a computer-generated document that is principally text-based and submitted via
VeriGuide, the statement, in the form of a receipt, will be issued by the system upon students’ uploading of the soft
copy of the assignment. Assignments without the receipt will not be graded by teachers. Only the final version of
the assignment should be submitted via VeriGuide.

Online Course and Teaching Evaluation (OCTE)

o Course and teaching evaluation survey will be conducted in the second last week of the course. Details can be
found at https://www.cuhk.edu.hk/proj/octe/OCTEUserGuide-Students-streamline.pdf. Students are reminded of
their responsibility and right to give feedback to facilitate enhancement of the course.
o Students are welcome to give feedbacks to the course teacher at any time in person or through emails.