From Social Outcast to Colonial Elite : The Rise of an Eurasian Entrepreneurial Family in Hong Kong...
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Transcript of From Social Outcast to Colonial Elite : The Rise of an Eurasian Entrepreneurial Family in Hong Kong...
From Social Outcast to Colonial Elite : The Rise of an Eurasian Entrepreneurial Family in Hong Kong
Louella CHENG & WONG Siu-lunCentre of Asian Studies
Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities & Social SciencesThe University of Hong Kong
Rising Dragons, Soaring Bananas International ConferenceAuckland, New Zealand, 17-19 July 2009
INTRODUCTION
Hong Kong as British colony 1842-1997 A new social group: the Eurasians Dubious origins and doubtful prospects Success story of two brothers Sir Robert Ho Tung ( 何東 1862-1957) Walter Bosman ( 何啟佳 1867-1946)
Theoretical Ideas
Ronald Burt : social network analysis
Structural hole : buffer between two clusters
Social Brokerage : linkage between disconnected subjects
Social innovation : Vision of options otherwise unseen
Individual brokerage : middlemen and compradores
Institutional brokerage : entrepôts and regional hubs
Historical Background
China, Britain and Hong Kong : a profitable triangle
Hong Kong as regional broker Special status of Hong Kong Independent trading unit : Chinese Maritime
Customs Hong Kong dollar : unique economic role China’s gateway to world markets
Eurasians in Hong Kong
Demographic landscape in 1845 :Chinese inhabitants 95.7%Expatriate community 2.9%British Indian troops 1.4%
Gender imbalance in 1872 :Sex ratio for Chinese 7 : 2Sex ratio for expatriates 5 : 1
Sexual liaison across racial divide :Tabooed but inevitable
Emergence of Eurasians as separate social category in 1850s :“a dangerous element out of the dunghill of neglect”(Endacott 1958)
Two Brothers: Ho Tung & Walter Bosman
Father : Charles Henry Maurice Bosman (1839-1892)
Mother : Madame Sze Ho Tung : initiated a “compradorial” family
leading figure of Chinese community twice knighted
Walter Bosman : trained as engineer in England
served as captain in Boer War
Director of Public Works in Zululand
Ho Tung’s mother, Sze, c. 1890
Source : Frances Tse Liu 2003:10.
Compradores in Ho Tung Family
何東 Ho Tung Jardine, Matheson & Co.何福 Ho Fook Jardine, Matheson & Co.何甘棠 Ho Kom Tong Jardine, Matheson & Co.何世亮 Ho Sai Leung Jardine, Matheson & Co.何世耀 Ho Sai Iu Jardine, Matheson & Co.何世榮 Ho Sai Wing Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank何世儉 Ho Sai Kim Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank何世光 Ho Sai Kwong E.D. Sasson & Co.何世奇 Ho Sai Ki E.D. Sasson & Co.何世卓 Ho Sai Cheuk Merchantile Bank何世華 Ho Sai Wah Merchantile Bank
Ho Tung in Western Costume: Early 1900’s
Source : Irene Cheng 1976 : opposite p.1.
Ho Tung in Chinese Costume, 1924
Source : Frances Tse Liu 2003:19.
Robert Ho Tung
Source : Florence Yeo 1994:164.
The Defiant Fourth: Walter Bosman 何啟佳
Source : Frances Tse Liu 2003:13.
Walter Bosman 1940
Source : W. Bosman 1940 : cover page.
Brokerages and Innovation
Economic brokerage : compradores Legal brokerage : British subjects Socio-political brokerage : Central
School Institutional innovation : rhizomic family
mother figures
Thank You