My heart is like a small wooden boat...
Hong Kong was born by accident of history. Over the past hundred years or so, it seems that no special force has ever managed or cared about this place. Therefore, Hong Kong is like a small wooden boat floating in the vast ocean. This may be the “fate” of Hong Kong, or an important component of the collective unconsciousness of Hong Kong society.
Author: GUDORDI | 2022-10-04
The cession of Hong Kong Island actually involved a lot of mistakes and even confusion. (Shutterstock)
Continuing from the previous article: “An “unexpected” future”
My heart is like a small wooden boat, with no vision, but still moving forward;
who controls my life, struggling every day, in the sea of people…──”Time flies”, composer: Kitaro; lyrics: Zheng Guojiang; lead singer: Mei Chanfang
In the above article, the author mentioned that “accidents” are an important clue to understanding Hong Kong’s origin and development, and may also have a subtle yet important relationship with the “collective unconscious” of Hong Kong society. This time, I will talk about this again. Basically, the author believes that Hong Kong’s birth in 1841 and its subsequent development had many accidental or accidental elements. There are three main reasons:
The Treaty of Nanjing only confirmed the fait accompli
First of all, the top brass of the British government at the time may not have really wanted to acquire Hong Kong, and the process of Hong Kong’s cession also had many accidental or unexpected elements. It is worth noting that the Treaty of Nanjing, which formally ceded Hong Kong, was signed on August 29, 1842, but as early as January 25, 1841, the British flag had already been planted at Possession Point in Sheung Wan, Hong Kong today. . Therefore, from a certain perspective, the provisions of the Treaty of Nanjing regarding the cession of Hong Kong only confirm a “fait accompli”, and the emergence of this fait accompli may be purely related to Charles Elliot’s personal background, experiences and opinions. relation.
It is worth noting that before becoming the British Commercial Director in China, Yilu was in the navy, and Rear Admiral George Yilu, who first served as the commander of the British Navy, was his cousin. During the Opium War, his cousin became seriously ill, and Elliot replaced his cousin as the commander-in-chief of the British Navy. According to records, Yilu has always had strong opinions on Macau’s monopoly on China’s foreign trade, and has had various disputes with Macau many times. Once, he was forced to leave Macau and live on the coast of Hong Kong Island. This experience may be This is the reason why Yilu first learned about Hong Kong, and it may also constitute his first impression of Hong Kong Island.
In fact, Elliot occupied and landed in Hong Kong without authorization from the British government and planted the British flag. According to records, after landing on Hong Kong Island, Yilu emphasized that nothing would change, except that torture was cancelled. Historically, the first Governor of Hong Kong appointed by the British government was Pottinger, but in actual implementation, perhaps we can say that the first Governor of Hong Kong was actually Charles Elliot. In any case, the cession of Hong Kong was indeed related to Ethical laws are closely related.
Charlie Elliot. (Wikimedia Commons)
The ending of the agreement between Yilu and Qishan
This also extends to the second reason why the origin of Hong Kong has many accidental or accidental elements, which is that the separation of Hong Kong may be to a certain extent just the outcome of the agreement between Yilu and Qishan. According to records, when the British navy invaded Tianjin in August 1840, the Qing court was shocked. Therefore, it immediately dismissed Lin Zexu and sent him to Xinjiang to exile the army. He also sent Qi, who was born in the aristocracy, to use Huairou methods to try to persuade the British army to return to the south. .
According to records, Qi Shan was willing to talk about almost anything in order to persuade the British army to withdraw. However, in fact, Emperor Daoguang did not give Qi Shan much space, and he could not even mention the degrading land cession. Emperor Daoguang actually did not Knowing that troops were approaching the city at that time, the Qing court had no ability to bargain, but the ministers of the Qing Dynasty did not dare to tell Emperor Zhiguang the truth. Therefore, we can see from historical archives that Qishan used various methods to cover up the failure, report and shirk, and guide Emperor Daoguang to gradually accept the use of land to “appease the barbarians”, but at the same time, he wanted to make the emperor feel that he was still Being aloof, all the conditions to be promised are just like the Qing court’s generous favors to the barbarians. Anyone who has carefully read these seals may have a deeper understanding of China’s official culture and why the Qing Dynasty declined.
Although Qishan may be a master of the Qing Dynasty officialdom, Yilu is not like him. Not long after, Yilu felt that Qi Shan was just delaying, so he launched a surprise attack on Humen on January 7, 1841, and captured Guangzhou at any time. Qi Shan was so frightened that he hurriedly sued for peace and signed the Chuanbicao Pact with Yilu. “(Convention of Chuanbi), in which the cession of Hong Kong was one of the terms. British troops also landed on Hong Kong Island on January 25 and planted the British flag. From this perspective, it was the Treaty of Chuanbi and not the Treaty of Nanjing that really cut off Hong Kong.
An oil painting depicting the signing of the treaty between the two sides on the Khan Hua Zhen. (Wikimedia Commons))
Hong Kong Island or Aberdeen?
Interestingly, at that time, the Qing government had not yet realized that it wanted to cede land. At that time, Qishan’s term was just “Fu Yi”. The general idea was that the Qing Dynasty was a big country and there was no need to care about the barbarians. It was better to give a small land that was of no use at all. The barbarians moored their boats and sent them away, and that was it. It is worth noting that the Qing Dynasty’s survey map manufacturing technology was very backward at that time. In the eyes of the Qing court, it may not have known that there was a Hong Kong Island adjacent to Victoria Harbor, and thought that what was given to the barbarians was only the much smaller Aberdeen Island (this This may also be the origin of the name “Aberdeen”).
But when Emperor Daoguang learned that the “Hong Kong” given to the barbarians turned out to be a much larger area, he was furious and immediately dismissed Qishan and ransacked his home. On the other hand, Charles Elliot was not having a good time either. The British Foreign Secretary felt that the Hong Kong Island he acquired was just a “deserted island with almost no room for a house”, so he was dismissed and recalled to the country. Lin Zexu, Qi Shan, and Charlie Elu all ended up being dismissed. It can be seen that dealing with Hong Kong affairs in the cracks of major powers is not an easy task. In any case, after the British dismissed Charles Elliot, they immediately appointed Potian Chad as commander-in-chief and sent their troops northward, which ended with the signing of the Treaty of Nanjing.
But looking at the above two points alone, we can also see that the cession of Hong Kong Island actually involved a lot of mistakes and even confusion. In the next episode, the author will make more points to prove that birth in Hong Kong does have many accidental elements. It can be said that Hong Kong was born by accident of history. In the past hundred years or so, it seems that no special force has ever managed or cared about this place. Therefore, Hong Kong is like a small wooden boat floating in the vast sea. This may be the “fate” of Hong Kong, or an important component of the collective unconsciousness of Hong Kong society.
Next time, the author will talk about the implications of this unexpected fate for Hong Kong today and in the future.
“Hong Kong’s Legendary Future” Series 5
Contact the author: Gudordi@proton.me
