Chapter 31 The Hong Kong Correspondence of The Times in the Nineteenth Century

The Hong Kong Correspondence of The Times in the Nineteenth Century In 1859, the "Times and Earth" in London, England, published a story that had been published in their newspaper. China Communications Collection.The reporter who wrote the book was George Wingrove Kirk (George Wingrove Cooke).He was the special correspondent sent by The Times to China at that time.This correspondence set is his The correspondence draft written was sorted out and printed as a separate booklet, formerly known as: "China: The Times in 1855 Special Correspondence from China Between 1970 and 1958" (China: Being The Times Special

Corre-spondence From China).It is divided into thirty-three chapters, the content is very rich, although it is not All are related to Hong Kong, but most of the things described involve Hong Kong. From 1857 to 1858, the seven to eight years of Xianfeng in the Qing Dynasty, for the Qing Dynasty at that time, it was just too much. difficult year.British businessmen had several disputes and disputes with Qing officials in Guangzhou over the issue of Guangzhou entering the city. armed conflict.Later, under the pretext of the "Yaro" incident, a war was formally launched against Guangdong and the coastal areas.

This is the so-called Second Opium War.Ye Mingchen, governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, was captured by the British during this war to go. These events, the author of this book Kirk are personally involved.When Ye Mingchen was captured and sent to India, Garr When Kota was imprisoned, Kok went with him on the same boat, and later went to interview him in person, and he wrote all these in letters and sent them to Published in The Times.Therefore, in terms of materials, the materials of this communication set are very rich. and all of which cannot be found in China itself. Chapters 2, 6, and part of Chapter 7 in this Chinese correspondence from The Times

The points are all reports on the situation in Hong Kong at that time and descriptions about Hong Kong.because cork was in the second opium war In the early days, except for going to Guangzhou with the army for interviews, the rest of the time was spent in Hong Kong.until later the war The point moved north before he left Hong Kong.This book is indexed, and references to Hong Kong You only need to look through the index "Hong Kong" at the end of the volume to know. Cork, a journalist, arrived in Hong Kong in an atmosphere filled with gunpowder. Of course, he supports the use of guns.

The warship came to open the door of the Qing Dynasty, which was a colonial trade policy of force, so he, like ordinary foreigners, Use a prejudice and self-righteous psychology to observe everything about Chinese people.But it's still the first time When I came to my country, I saw that what the Europeans were doing here was quite different from what they were doing at home. Surprised, and somewhat dissatisfied.Therefore, after he arrived in Hong Kong, he did not have the impression of Hong Kong. it is good.In the correspondence he sent back, he talked about the Chinese compradors in Hong Kong who relied on foreigners for food at that time, and about the

After mocking the "coolies" who came to make a living in Kowloon, they did not spare the foreign businessmen at that time. Really made a few sarcasm, and even expressed dissatisfaction with the construction and management of the colony itself in Hong Kong. In Chapter 6 of this book, Kok expressed his dissatisfaction with the general life and environment in Hong Kong at that time. The letter reads: "I cannot report satisfactorily on the animals and plants of the island. The ornamental trees are artificially planted and cultivated Underneath, it looks good.From a remote and secluded place, next to a barren village and squalid dwellings

Some flowers may be gathered in a place called 'Happy Valley'; but the wild plants seem to be only It's rough moss that even livestock won't eat. "Speaking of livestock, I have never seen a single animal Grazing on the hills.Only when it rains, I can see the gradually converging mountains and rivers.sometimes, A buffalo can be seen on the island, but it is mostly on the way to the slaughter house.but i never see There was a cow, but here too there was milk.However, few people eat this kind of milk. There are many people.Where the milk comes from is the best kept secret of the Hong Kong market.The only possible production of this 'milk'

His livestock are sows.Because there are indeed many sows on the island.Just another whispered exhortation, He squinted at the milk jug and said: The Chinese housekeeper herself... well, no need to say more.fortunately Except for canned milk, very few people eat this kind of milk. "Winged cockroaches breed and develop in such a way that you can see them all day long, in the most beautiful In my living room, daylight ran around on the floor and on the table, as big as a little mouse.Hitting the lampshade at night, big Be like a bird.The spiders are so big that you have to wonder if they are so fat, but

There are still so many flies left.Mosquitoes' tricks for attacking your gauze fortress, and how Solicitously sucking your flesh, making you welcome the dawn with the heart of an old Abyssinian bull. " Regarding food, Kok once praised Chinese food, saying that although Chinese food is not as good as French dishes, but much better than their British dishes.However, when he mentioned the abundance of rats on the island, But said the locals like to eat rats.He said that more than 200 can be caught in the prison in one night, and the Chinese prisoners I was so greedy for it that I even reported it to the authorities, asking for a reward for them to eat, so as not to spoil things like this.he

There is no mention of eating snakes and eating "three six" (dogs), probably because the timing is not coincidental, and it has not been at its peak. Cork's reports on the living habits of Hong Kong and Chinese people at that time, we read now, since However, it is not difficult to distinguish those that are real and those that are exaggerated by his pen.But as in the Second Opium War Correspondence of a foreign correspondent in the war, especially about Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Ye Mingchen's arrest The post-capture life situation is worth reading.