* The research for this paper was made possible through a London-Cornell Research Fellowship tenable in Hong Kong, April 1968–August 1969. The assistance of Mr Wong Sheung-yan is gratefully acknowledged. John Gittings and David Wilson were kind enough to offer comments on earlier drafts. A preliminary version of the paper was presented at the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Association for Asian Studies, Washington, D.C., 29–31 March 1971.

1. See Rear, John, ”The law of the Constitution,” in Hopkins, K. (ed.), Hong Kong: The Industrial Colony (Hong Kong and London: Oxford University Press, 1971), pp. 378–82Google Scholar; The point is also made in Hong Kong Government, Hong Kong 1973: Report for the Year 1972 (Hong Kong, 1973), pp. 206–207Google Scholar;

2. The New Territories is composed of seven administrative areas, of which Tsuen Wan District is the smallest in terms of area (73·56 sq. km.), although the largest in terms of population (271,892 in 1971). The District extends westwards from New Kowloon along the southern coast of the New Territories. It is backed by a series of hills stretching from west to east and these form the northern boundary. Taimoshan, the highest mountain in the colony, is the most magnificent of these hills. Its eastern boundary is a little beyond the town of Sham Tseng. It includes the islands of Tsing Yi and Ma Wan and the northern-most part of Lantao. The District is centred on Tsuen Wan town which contains the bulk of the population and the greater part of the economic enterprises within the District. The town is now contiguous with the wholly new settlement of Kwaichung. Most of the analysis in this paper deals with the town rather than the District although it must be emphasized that the town is in no way administratively distinct.

3. Hayes, J. W., “The pattern of life in the New Territories in 1898,” Journal of the Hong Kong Branch: Royal Asiatic Society, No. 2 (1962), pp. 75–102Google Scholar;

4. A commentator in the 1920s suggested that “… each village has its elders or headmen (kaifongs [sic]) who manage its affairs and assist the District Officer in settling disputes. A number of these headmen have been specially appointed by the Governor of Hong Kong. They usually meet in temples.” de Rome, F. J. et al. , Notes on the New Territories of Hong Kong, 3rd ed. (Hong Kong: Ye Old Printerie, 1937), p. 22Google Scholar;

5. For a representative work see Kung-ch'uan, Hsiao, Rural China: Social Control in the Nineteenth Century (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1962)Google Scholar;

6. See Nelson, H. G. H., “British land administration in the New Territories of Hong Kong and its effects on social organization.” Unpublished paper delivered at the London-Cornell Project Conference, St Adele-en-Haute, Quebec, 08 1969Google Scholar;

7. For a general account of economic change in Hong Kong since the Japanese occupation, see Phelps-Brown, E. H., “The Hong Kong economy: achievements and prospects,” in Hopkins, , Hong Kong, pp. 1–20Google Scholar; and N. Owen, “Economic policy in Hong Kong,” ibid. pp. 141–206.

8. See my “From rural committee to spirit medium cult: voluntary association in the development of a Chinese town,” Contributions to Asian Studies, Vol. I (01 1971), pp. 123–43Google Scholar;

9. Ibid. p. 130.

10. See, e.g., Crissman, L., “ The segmentary structure of Overseas Chinese communities,” Man, Vol. 2, No. 2 (06 1967), pp. 195–204CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Willmott, W. E., “Congregations and associations: the political structure of the Chinese community in Phnom-Penh, Cambodia,” Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol. 11, No. 3 (06 1969), pp. 282–301CrossRefGoogle Scholar;

11. For a general comment on the political structure of the New Territories, see Freedman, M., “Shifts of power in the Hong Kong New Territories,” Journal of Asian and African Studies, Vol. 1, No. 1 (1966), pp. 3–12CrossRefGoogle Scholar;

12. I do not wish to suggest that elections to the office of village representative are not keenly contested. Despite an apparent harmony at an election the process of selecting a candidate can be a long and arduous one. This is especially so where the kinship structure of a village presents no figure who can neatly fit as a village “head” and appease all factions. In 1967 a new element entered the equation of formal political leadership when, perhaps for the first time, the government made a loose ideological sympathy with the British authorities a qualification for the status of village representative. Its effect was, in certain villages, to complicate an already complex internal political situation.

13. The Public Scale Commission is a traditional element in Chinese markets. In this instance the Rural Committee puts the responsibility for weights and measures up for competitive tender, and has a handsome annual income as a consequence. The successful bidder has the responsibility to oversee weights and measures in the market during the year and can charge for use of the public scale.

14. In the summer and autumn of 1967 PSAAs were set up throughout urban Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories. They were disbanded in late 1969.

15. The full text can be found in Hua-ch'iao jih-pao (Overseas Chinese Daily), 20 September 1968.

16. I interviewed 91 “leaders” out of a total of a little under 300, i.e. all chair officers of the 92 associations in Tsuen Wan. The details of the survey can be found in Natives, Migrants and Voluntary Associations: in a Colonial Chinese Setting (Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Cornell University, 1971)Google Scholar;

17. I interviewed all but eight. Of these eight, two were dead (!), one had recently migrated to the U.S., two were former (left-wing) members of the Rural Committee, who would not consent to interviews, and three (Shanghainese) businessmen who were rarely in Hong Kong during the period of my field work.

18. Some senior members of the Hong Kong Government Service can sit as Justices of the Peace (JPs). Prominent residents are sometimes appointed as “unofficial” JPs, i.e. JPs who are not in government service. JPs can deal with traffic offences and sit in the Juvenile Court. Appointment as an unofficial JP carries a good deal of prestige.

19. The catchiest response was a play on words that does not translate well into English: “Leaders don't spend much money, don't make an effort; all they do is make a lot of noise!” (“pu ch'u ch'ien, pu ch'u li, ch'u sheng!”).

20. Lethbridge, H. J., “Hong Kong under Japanese occupation: changes in social structure,” in Jarvie, I. and Agassi, J. (eds.), Hong Kong (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1969), pp. 77–127Google Scholar; M. Topley, “The role of savings and wealth among Hong Kong Chinese,” in ibid. pp. 167–227.

21. Skinner, G. W., Leadership and Power in the Chinese Community of Thailand (Ithaca, NY.: Cornell University Press, 1968), esp. pp. 118–26Google Scholar;

22. Hong Kong Government, Report of the Working Party on Local Administration (Hong Kong, 1966)Google Scholar; The report has never been acted upon.

23. Freedman “Shifts of power in the Hong Kong New Territories.”

24. Ibid. p. 11.

25. An example of this aspect of native leadership could be seen in a dispute with a ferry company that cut a service between Hong Kong island and Tsuen Wan, thereby causing an uproar. The details of the dispute are not important here, but in a very short space of time native leadership had mobilized support across the spectrum of native and outside leadership. Within the month, operating through the Heung Yee Kuk, a settlement was reached to the benefit of native members of the community and affecting the company but little, but which severely affected the (largely outsider) Tsuen Wan commuter. For a full account see Hua-ch'iao jih-pao: Hsin-chieh pan (New Territories Section), 20 April 1969; also ibid. 22–24 April 1969 (the issue), 3 May 1969 (the Heung Yee Kuk press conference) and 11 May 1969 (the agreement).

26. Some, but not all, principles of New Territories consultation are reflected in the idea of “city district officers.” See Secretary for Chinese Affairs, The City District Officer Scheme (Hong Kong, 1969)Google Scholar;

27. The Northern Chinese Welfare Association is the major landsmannschaft for migrants who are not natives of Kwangtung province. It is dominated by Shanghainese migrants and its membership consists largely of operatives in the various textile and enamelware factories; its leadership is dominated by Shanghainese entrepreneurs.

28. See my “In-migration and community expansion in Hong Kong: the case of Tsuen Wan,” Journal of Oriental Studies, Vol. XI, No. 1 (01 1973), pp. 107–14Google Scholar;

29. In 1973 a part of one of the villages did accept a settlement and was relocated on the outskirts of Tsuen Wan town, adjacent to the three villages that had moved in the middle 1960s.

30. Freedman, , “Shifts of power in the Hong Kong New Territories,” p. 10Google Scholar;

31. See Baker, H. D. R., A Chinese Lineage Village: Sheung Shui (London: Cass, 1968), pp. 132–52Google Scholar; where he offers information on a similar process in another area of the New Territories.