Six-Day War of 1899

The British ceremony in Tai Po, assuming control of the New Territories in 1899
Date14–19 April 1899
Location
New Territories, Hong Kong
Result British victory
Territorial
changes		 Acceptance of the British takeover of the New Territories between the Sham Chun River and Boundary Street
Belligerents

 British Empire

Qing dynasty Hongkongan Villagers

Qing dynasty Tungkun Reinforcements

  • Ngan Tin
  • Wai Tak
Commanders and leaders
  • Tang Sai-ying
  • Tang Hau-ying
  • Tang Yi-yau
  • Tang Fong-hing
  • Tang Chiu-yi
  • Tang Sek-leung
  • Tang Tsing-wan
  • Ng Shing-chi
  • Man Tsam-chuen
Strength
~525 troops ~2,600 village braves
Casualties and losses
2 wounded[1] About 500 killed[2]

The Six-Day War of 1899 was fought between the British Empire and the major punti clans of the New Territories in Hong Kong on 14–19 April 1899.[3] The British quickly and decisively ended armed resistance from the punti clans, but to prevent future resistance made concessions to placate the indigenous inhabitants. Despite losing to the better-equipped British military, they achieved their ultimate goals: to preserve their land rights, land use, and traditional customs. The special status and rights of the minority indigenous people of Hong Kong are extant to this day. The battle resulted in two wounded on the British side and about 500 dead on the Chinese side.

Background

The proclamation of the New Territories of Hong Kong by Colonial Secretary James Stewart Lockhart.

On 9 June 1898, the British and the Qing government signed the Second Convention of Peking, granting the British a 99-year lease of the New Territories as part of Hong Kong.

Feeling abandoned by the Qing government and fearing for their traditional land rights and land use, the punti Chinese clans mobilised the clan militias[4] which had been trained and equipped to defend against longshore raids by pirates and attempted to resist the British takeover of the territory.

Events

The war began on 14 April when the insurgents burnt down the matshed the British had prepared for a flag-raising ceremony at the Flagstaff Hill in Tai Po.

125 Indian soldiers of the Royal Hong Kong Regiment[notes 1] were sent to Tai Po on 15 April and were soon besieged by the villagers. They were rescued after the Royal Navy's HMS Fame shelled the insurgents' position.[5] On 17 April, the British forces launched an attack on the insurgents in Lam Tsuen Valley and chased them up the hill. On 18 April, about 1,600 insurgents assaulted the British troops at Sheung Tsuen but were soon defeated. Further resistance was ended when British artillery was brought up against the punti walled villages, and the insurgents and villagers surrendered on 19 April. Most prominent of the villages in the resistance Kat Hing Wai, of the Tang clan, was symbolically disarmed, by having its main gates dismounted and removed.

Aftermath

Suspicious of the Qing government's organized support of local villager's uprisings, British troops entered the Kowloon Walled City in May 1899 and expelled the officers and soldiers inside, making the Kowloon Walled City a state of anarchy.[6][7]

After the war, Governor Henry Arthur Blake adopted an amiable co-operation policy with the villagers and it remained the official policy of the colonial government on the New Territories throughout almost the entire British rule.[8] The British made the concession of allowing the indigenous inhabitants to retain traditional laws and customs to land inheritance, land usage and marriage, these differed from the laws made for Kowloon and Hong Kong proper and the legacy of which continues to this day.

Notes

  1. ↑ Disbanded in 1902, this regiment is not to be confused with the later Royal Hong Kong Regiment formed from the body of the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps consisting primarily of Europeans and Chinese.

References

  1. ↑ Hase 2008, p. 103.
  2. ↑ Hase 2008, p. 116.
  3. ↑ Hase, Patrick H. The Six-Day War of 1899: Hong Kong in the Age of Imperialism. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. 2008. ISBN 9789622098992.
  4. ↑ Chung, David Wong Wing (March 1998). "The reason behind the resistance by the New Territories inhabitants against British takeover in 1899". Archived from the original on 27 October 2009. Retrieved 10 June 2017 – via Wayback Machine.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. ↑ Hase 2008, p. 15.
  6. ↑ 蕭國健 (2021). 簡明香港近代史（增訂版）. 香港: 三聯書店（香港）有限公司. ISBN 978-962-04-4764-8.
  7. ↑ "《九龍城區風物-{志}-》" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  8. ↑ Hase 2008, p. 16.

Bibliography

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.