The Village Scholar - by Patrick H Hase & James W Hayes (Hardcover)

About the Book

The authors argue that the traditional educational system has enabled New Territories society to exhibit widespread male literacy and a strong capacity for social self-governance.

Book Synopsis

In the historical study of ordinary people who lived in traditional villages and followed the age-old customs of their society, literacy is a very important aspect in Hong Kong traditional societies. Historians have been asking if these communities were illiterate, semi-literate, or generally literate, and if written words dominated such societies or just played a very small part within them. For over a century, the Chinese rural poor being uniformly (semi-)illiterate has been the widespread view, but this is worth questioning and reevaluating.

This book is an anthology of articles written over a span of fifty years. Part I begins by discussing the 1911 and 1921 Hong Kong Censuses, on what they tell us about literacy and education in the New Territories before any emergent changes in traditional education and scholarship. Part II introduces and analyzes indigenous village books and book collections compiled by village scholars in the New Territories, telling us the significance of such manuscripts to village life and culture. Part III explains how poetry and song are vital in New Territories culture transcending differences in gender and literacy, and how their oral and textual transmission bridged cultural knowledge among literati and the general populace. Part IV discusses literacy and self-management of traditional village society through uses of documents regarding rent and credit arrangements, tree conservation, divination, and so forth.

Through overviews and case studies, the authors argue that the traditional educational system has enabled New Territories society to exhibit widespread male literacy and a strong capacity for social self-governance.

About the Author

Patrick H. Hase received his PhD in History from the University of Cambridge before coming to live and work in Hong Kong in 1972. He was a part-time lecturer and the advisory board chairman of the Department of History, Lingnan University. He serves as an honorary advisor to the governments of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Kaiping, and is the past president and honorary fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong, among others. His publications include The Six-Day War of 1899: Hong Kong in the Age of Imperialism (2008); Forgotten Heroes: San On County and Its Magistrates in the Late Ming and Early Qing (2017); and Villages and Market Towns in Hong Kong: Settlement and History (2024).

James W. Hayes (1930-2023) is an official-scholar on Hong Kong region and its people, with a PhD from University of London and an Honorary Doctorate of Letters bestowed by the University of Hong Kong in 1992. In his 32 years of government service, he mainly served in the New Territories and was Regional Secretary New Territories, heading the District Administration there during 1985-1987.

His publications include The Hong Kong Region: Institutions and Leadership in Town and Countryside (1977, reprinted 2012); Friends and Teachers: Hong Kong and Its People 1953-87 (1996); and The Great Difference: Hong Kong's New Territories and Its People 1898-2004 (2006).