The Hong Kong Region 1850-1911 (2nd ed.)

In this classic study (1977), James Hayes examines local leadership in six villages and townships in Hong Kong's rural New Territories during the late Qing. Drawing on a wealth of documentary sources and on fieldwork carried out while serving as a district officer, Hayes makes a powerful argument for the part played by ordinary men peasants and shopkeepers in running their own communities almost without interference from either the gentry or state officials. This new edition has a substantial ne