From Social Outcast to Colonial Elite The Rise

From Social Outcast to Colonial Elite : The Rise of an Eurasian Entrepreneurial Family in Hong Kong Louella CHENG & WONG Siu-lun Centre of Asian Studies Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities & Social Sciences The University of Hong Kong Rising Dragons, Soaring Bananas International Conference Auckland, New Zealand, 17 -19 July 2009

INTRODUCTION n Hong Kong as British colony 1842 -1997 n A new social group: the Eurasians n Dubious origins and doubtful prospects n Success story of two brothers n Sir Robert Ho Tung (何東 1862 -1957) n Walter Bosman (何啟佳 1867 -1946)

Theoretical Ideas Ronald Burt Structural hole Social Brokerage : social network analysis : buffer between two clusters : linkage between disconnected subjects Social innovation : Vision of options otherwise unseen Individual brokerage : middlemen and compradores Institutional brokerage : entrepôts and regional hubs

Historical Background n China, Britain and Hong Kong : a profitable triangle n Hong Kong as regional broker n Special status of Hong Kong n Independent trading unit : Chinese Maritime Customs n Hong Kong dollar : unique economic role n China’s gateway to world markets

Eurasians in Hong Kong n Demographic landscape in 1845 : Chinese inhabitants 95. 7% Expatriate community 2. 9% British Indian troops 1. 4% n Gender imbalance in 1872 : Sex ratio for Chinese 7: 2 Sex ratio for expatriates 5: 1 n Sexual liaison across racial divide : Tabooed but inevitable n Emergence of Eurasians as separate social category in 1850 s : “a dangerous element out of the dunghill of neglect” (Endacott 1958)

Two Brothers: Ho Tung & Walter Bosman n Father : Charles Henry Maurice Bosman (1839 -1892) n Mother : Madame Sze n Ho Tung : initiated a “compradorial” family leading figure of Chinese community twice knighted n 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 何福 何甘棠 何世亮 何世耀 何世榮 何世儉 何世光 何世奇 何世卓 何世華 Ho Ho Ho Tung. Jardine, Fook Jardine, Kom Tong Sai Leung Sai Iu Sai Wing Sai Kim Sai Kwong Sai Ki Sai Cheuk Sai Wah Matheson & Co. Jardine, Matheson & Co. Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank E. D. Sasson & Co. 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 n Economic brokerage : n Legal brokerage : n Socio-political brokerage : n Institutional innovation : compradores British subjects Central School rhizomic family mother figures

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