Market Towns of the New Territories: An anthropological lecture by Patrick HASE
Schedule
Fri, 01 May, 2026 at 07:00 pm
UTC+08:00Location
Hong Kong Museum of History 香港歷史博物館 | Hong Kong, HK
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The Hong Kong Anthropological Society in association with The Hong Kong Museum of History* Presents: Market Towns of the New Territories:
An anthropological lecture by Patrick HASE
Friday, 1 May at 7:00 p.m.
Hong Kong Museum of History
Lecture Hall, Ground Floor, 100 Chatham Road South, Tsim Sha Tsui
All are welcome! Space, however, is limited to 139 seats.
The lecture is conducted in English.
This lecture will discuss the foundation and growth of market towns in the New Territories, looking at their plans, society, and economy in the period up to 1911, and their relationship with the city of Hong Kong. It will show that the oldest of the market-towns were Kowloon City, Tai Po, and Yuen Long, in existence from the twelfth century, while others such as Shataukok and Ma Wan date only from the nineteenth century. The relationships of these towns with the rural societies they served will be looked at, discussing those market-towns founded by the surrounding villages, and distinguishing them from those founded by groups of merchants. The lecture will also explore the traditional management systems of these towns, and will consider traditional local industries (salt-working, boat-building, rattan-weaving, leather-tanning, refining of spirits, the trade in salt-fish and firewood, etc.), as well as epidemics of typhoid and plague, and outbreaks of disastrous fires. The lecture will be copiously illustrated by plates and maps.
Dr. Patrick HASE is a local historian, and has been working on the history and historical anthropology of the New Territories since his arrival in Hong Kong in 1972. He is Past President of the Royal Asiatic Society, Hong Kong Branch. His most recent books are Settlement, Life and Politics: Understanding the Traditional New Territories CityU Press, 2020, and Villages and Market Towns in Hong Kong: Settlement and History, Chinese University Press, 2025 (also published in Chinese as 香港的村落與墟鎮:聚落與歷史, Chung Hwa, 2025). He is currently working on a book on Village Scholars and Traditional Village Scholarship and Education.
For more information, please contact [email protected], www.cuhk.edu.hk/ant/hkas,
www.facebook.com/hkanthro,@HKASTalks
* The Museum makes no representations on the content of this lecture.
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Where is it happening?
Hong Kong Museum of History 香港歷史博物館, 香港九龍尖沙咀漆咸道南100號,Hong KongEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
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