hong kong history essay topics

Hong Kong History

Themes in Global Perspective

Man-Kong Wong 0 ,
Chi-Man Kwong 1

Department of History, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon, Hong Kong

You can also search for this editor in PubMed Google Scholar

Offers an overview of topics about Hong Kong at a pivotal moment for its history.

Highlights the particularities and uniquenesses of Hong Kong’s historical experience, particularly its connections with the world.

Explores the diversity of Hong Kong’s people, culture, and society

Part of the book series: Hong Kong Studies Reader Series (HKSRS)

10k Accesses

6 Citations

Table of contents

About this book

Editors and affiliations, about the editors, bibliographic information.

Publish with us

Buying options

Available as EPUB and PDF
Read on any device
Instant download
Own it forever
Compact, lightweight edition
Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
Free shipping worldwide - see info
Durable hardcover edition

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check for access.

Table of contents (11 chapters)

Front matter, politics and public administration.

Man-Kong Wong

Military History

Chi-Man Kwong
Lawrence Ka-Ki Ho

Cold War and Decolonisation

Built heritage.

Lachlan B. Barber

China’s Intellectuals and Chinese Culture in Hong Kong

Kenneth Kai-Chung Yung

Culture and Identity

Catherine S. Chan

Re-thinking Popular Culture

Lok-Yin Law
Chun-Wing Lee

Chinese Martial Arts

Kai-Yiu Lau

Public Health and Infectious Diseases (1842–1970)

Yuen-Han Law

This book aims at providing an accessible introduction to and summary of the major themes of Hong Kong history that has been studied in the past decades. Each chapter also suggests a number of key historical figures and works that are essential for the understanding of a particular theme. However, the book is by no means merely a general survey of the recent studies of Hong Kong history; it tries to suggest that the best way to approach Hong Kong history is to put it firmly in its international context.

reunification with China
colonial histories
history of finance
globalization

Man-Kong Wong, Chi-Man Kwong

Man-kong Wong is Professor of History at Hong Kong Baptist University & Honorary Research Senior Fellow in History at The University of Queensland, Australia.

Chi-man Kwong is Associate Professor of History at Hong Kong Baptist University.

Book Title : Hong Kong History

Book Subtitle : Themes in Global Perspective

Editors : Man-Kong Wong, Chi-Man Kwong

Series Title : Hong Kong Studies Reader Series

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2806-1

Publisher : Palgrave Macmillan Singapore

eBook Packages : Political Science and International Studies , Political Science and International Studies (R0)

Copyright Information : The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022

Hardcover ISBN : 978-981-16-2805-4 Published: 11 November 2021

Softcover ISBN : 978-981-16-2808-5 Published: 12 November 2022

eBook ISBN : 978-981-16-2806-1 Published: 10 November 2021

Series ISSN : 2523-7764

Series E-ISSN : 2523-7772

Edition Number : 1

Number of Pages : XX, 284

Number of Illustrations : 1 b/w illustrations

Topics : Asian Politics , Asian History , Urban History

Policies and ethics

Find a journal
Track your research

Hong Kong’s Handover History and Development Essay

Intorduction, works cited.

Hong Kong came up as a coastal island located in the Southern part of China, having begun fishing as the main economic activity and it later engaging in salt manufacturing and trading. It later emerged to be one of the most strategic military ports in Asia. These factors made Hong Kong to flourish so much that it became one of the most flourishing economies enjoying a very high GDP. It also engaged in an active trade with China where it accounted for about a third of the total exports in the country (Ingham 234). The archeological discoveries date to about three hundred centuries back when tools made of stones that were used during the Old Stone Age were discovered in Sai Tung and Wong Tei Tung. Religious artifacts have also been found in the region but recently, some findings were made that suggested that Wong Tei Tung could have been one of the earliest settlements in Hong Kong. This paper will discuss the surrender or handover of Hong Kong during the 20 th century and its effect on the economic and social development of the country.

Hong Kong was included in the Oin dynasty of China in 221BC-206Bc and it was strongly established under the governance of Nanyue. Archeologists also excavated the tomb at Lei Cheng UK in order to assess the possibility of salt mining having taken place in the region. China also used the Tai Po Hoi Sea to search for pearl and this is dated back to the Han and Ming dynasties between 1368 and 1644 (Ingham 234). The Guangdong region of China greatly flourished during the Tang Dynasty and grew up to become an elaborate trade center. The Tuen Mun region, forming part of the new territories in Hong Kong, acted as a seaport nautical base, a salt manufacturing center and also served as a major region where pearls were hunted. In 1276, the Mongols invaded Southern Song Dynasty thereby making the court to be transferred to Fujan, later to Lantau and finally it got established in Kowloon. During this period, there was a significant rise in the population of Hong Kong as a large number of immigrants entered it from China where they were escaping war, unemployment and hunger. Most people depended on fishing, pearl hunting and salt production as a source of livelihood. During this time, a number of people constructed walls around villages for protection purposes. Oing Dynasty was the last to be involved with Hong Kong, since later, Hong Kong became colonized by Britain and a lot of attention around the world was turned to it (Ingham 244).

At the start of the 19 th century, the British Empire was importing tea from China while exporting watches, clocks and the likes, but since China was in need of enormous amounts of silver which Britain could not export; this resulted in the evolution of the opium trade in China. As a result of this, Lin Zexu informed Queen Victoria that the Oing State was not in support of the opium trade, this led to a war between China and Britain leading to the surrender of Hong Kong by China to Britain in 1842. The rule by the British was never readily accepted by the inhabitants of Kam Tin who waged a war against Britain which did not really turn successful.

After this takeover by Britain, Hong Kong greatly transformed into a modern society. A number of factories were put up. Other developments that occurred were the change in the way of thinking and the introduction of western system of education by Fredrick Stewart; this greatly distinguished Hong Kong from China which had been affected by the collapse of the Oing dynasty. During this time too, Hong Kong was affected by the bubonic plague that had originated from China, this therefore resulted in racial segregation in settlement regions in order to prevent the spread of the plague. As the world war one began in 1914, Some Chinese left Hong with the fear of being attacked. It is worth noting that the internal and external issues that were affecting China made it possible for Hong to be a possible target for the Japanese.

The Japanese waged war in Hong and finally they took control over it in 1941 when the British empire ceded Hong Kong to the Japanese; this was December 25 th , 1941, a day commonly known as the black Christmas by the locals of Hong Kong. The Japanese stayed in Hong Kong until 1945 and during their reign in Hong Kong, the country experienced a serious economic downturn and lack of sufficient food supplies. They also replaced the Hong Kong dollar with Japanese military yen. However, in 1945 as the world war ended, the British and the Chinese troops recaptured Hong Kong from Japan. At the end of the world war, the population of Hong Kong had significantly reduced but as China got taken over by the Communists, a number of people moved out of China into Hong Kong and the population steadily rose (Tsang 342).

As the Chinese moved into Hong Kong, they brought with them a lot of skilled labor that readily helped in reviving the economy. This growth led to the transformation of Hong Kong from sea port activities into industrial manufacturing of plastics, electrical appliances and shoes among other things as many investors relocated to Hong Kong from China. Due to this largely increasing population, a lot of squatter settlement centers emerged and as a result, instances of fire tragedies became the norm. The government reacted by constructing better housing facilities, the tourism sector also was booming and the local opera shows were replaced with the movies on screens. In the 1960s, the industrial sector grew with the textile industry being thee starting point, the concerns around this time was the effect of the industrialization on families which now had to spend more time at the factories that they did at home. Margaret Thatcher who was by then the British prime minister felt that the increased transparency between Britain and China would enable Britain to retain its authority over Hong Kong (Ngo 205).

The Sino-British declaration was commonly known as the joint declaration of the governments of the UK and Ireland and the PRC on the question of Hong Kong. The declaration was signed by the prime ministers of China and Britain, Margaret Thatcher and Zhao Ziyang respectively. The declaration became effective as from May 27 th 1985 and was recorded by both governments. In the declaration the PRC had declared they had decide to regain authority over Hong Kong as from July 1 st 1997, the PRC also included in the declaration a list of policies that it was planning to establish in Hong Kong (Ngo 205). The UK also stated in the declaration that it was ready and willing to surrender Hong Kong back to China. In line with the declaration, the two countries also agreed that the one country-two systems rules would apply in Hong Kong and so PRC would therefore not be allowed to establish its socialist ideologies in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. They also agreed to have the capitalist system and the lifestyle of the inhabitants of Hong not to be interfered with for a period of fifty years (Ngo 208).

The declaration was signed as a result of the lease agreement between China and Britain over the new territories. After the first and the second opium wars, Britain was able to capture both Hong Kong Island and Kowloon under the Nianjing and the convention of Beijing treaty respectively. The new territories on the other hand were leased out to Britain by PRC for ninety nine years after negotiations between the British government and the Guangxu who was the emperor of China at that time. The signing of this declaration led to a lot of criticisms from some Britons who were asserting that Margaret Thatcher should not have given in to demands of the communist China. As much as some Britons felt that Thatcher should not have signed the declaration, Britain had a weaker stand in the deal at this point because Hong Kong could not be defended by the military. In addition, it depended on China for most of its water and food supply. The analysts therefore argued that it may not have been an economically wise decision to have Britain retaining Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon while ceding only the new territories to PRC (Carrol 4).

As the end of the lease period drew closer, there were a lot of issues concerning Hong Kong that started surfacing with one of the major problems being the complications brought about by the personal land leasing which were meant to become null in duration of less that a week before the new territories agreements expires. The cause of worry was that the Hong Kong government would be unable to offer new leases after 1997; and this, as a matter of fact, was going to interfere with the investor assurance in the place. The conclusion on this was made after a research was done which showed that the investor assurance would start to decline in the 1980s as a result of the 1997 closing date. In line with this, the governor of Hong Kong paid a visit to the Chinese foreign trade minister to discuss the issue of the expiry of the land leases in order to charter a way forward on the issue. From that date onwards, people became more aware of the necessity to do away with the improbability that the deadline was creating over Hong Kong, and therefore the Chinese and the British government came up with proposals to have negotiations between the two of them in order to solve the crisis.

As a result of this, the British prime minister visited China in September 1982 in order to start negotiations with the Chinese government, the result of which was the agreement between the British prime minister and Chinese Prime Minister, Xiaoping, on 24 th November 1982 that the two countries had concurred on getting into diplomatic agreements in order to maintain the solidity and development in Hong Kong. As the negotiations continued, it became quite clear that PRC was not ready in any way to let the British to continue their rule in Hong Kong after 1997. As the negotiations between the governments continued, the queen also insisted that it was important that whichever decision reached at be agreeable to the people of Hong Kong.

The handover of Hong Kong back to the Chinese by the British took place on July 1 st 1997 and Chris pattern became the last governor of Hong Kong. He was a diplomat who introduced democracy in Hong Kong and this encouraged negotiations between China and Britain thereby promoting a smooth handover of power to the Chinese (Herschensohn 134). The handover ceremony occurred at the Hong Kong convention and exhibition centre on June 30 th 1997. In attendance was the queen of the United Kingdom, the Prime Minister Tony Blair and Chris pattern among several other dignitaries. From the Chinese side was Jiang Zemin the President of PRC and Tuang Chee-hwa (Herschensohn 134).

The handover of Hong Kong has had a lot of changes on the country though it is also worth noting that there are some things that have remained the same. For instance, the schools still teach English as one of the languages, the boundaries between Hong Kong and mainland China are still under the watch of the police just like they used to be, the names of streets named after the British officials have remained unchanged and the statues have also been left uninterffered with. The country has also joined international organizations such as worlds Trade Organization as an individual member and not as part of PRC. The transportation system and rules have also remained the same, for instance, in Hong Kong, drivers continue to keep to the left although in PRC it is the opposite, and again the country has retained its agreements with the other countries on international flights. Moreover, the flights between China and the country are actually treated as international flights and not local ones. The country has also retained its own telephone code which is different from that of China and the calls between the two countries are regarded as international calls. Another notable difference between the two countries is the fact that Hong Kong, unlike China, is allowed of political liberty as well as freedom of press which is not the case in China.

It is also important to note though that a number of things have remained the same. There are also a number of changes that have occurred and these include the fact that, earlier on the governor of the region was always chosen by the United Kingdom government unlike now where the governor is elected by a group of committee members in Hong Kong from across various fields. Instead of having the British flag being flown in public places, the Chinese flag and the Hong Kong SAR are the flags being flown in public places while the British flag is only flown in the British offices and their trading buildings. Since the money used in Hong Kong had earlier on bore the portrait of the queen, this has changed with most of the notes being taken out of circulation. The use of the word royal has also been abandoned in a number of institutions and organizations where it had been used except for a few cases. In addition, all the public holidays which were in connection to the British government have been replaced with those of PRC and Hong Kong. The red mail boxes of the British government have been repainted green while the British citizens are no longer able to work in Hong Kong for a whole year without a visa (Herschensohn 134).

Hong Kong came up as a coastal island located in the Southern part of China. Archeological findings in the region were made but they never got to the public until China and Britain plaid a role in having this happen. The country began with fishing as the main economic activity and it later engaged in salt manufacturing and trading before later emerging as one of the most strategic military ports. The archeological discoveries date to about three hundred centuries back when tools made of stones that were used during the Old Stone Age were discovered in Sai Tung and Wong Tei Tung. Religious artifacts have also been found in the region but recently, some findings were made, which suggested that Wong Tei Tung could have been one of the earliest settlements.

Carrol, Mark. A concise history of Hong Kong . London, Rowman and littlefields. 2007

Herschensohn, Bruce. Hong Kong at the Handover. Lexington Books. 2000.

Ingham, Michael. Hong Kong: a cultural history . London, Oxford University Press US. 2007.

Ngo, Tak-wing. Hong Kong’s History: State and Society under Colonial Rule . London, Routledge. 2002

Tsang, Steve. A Modern History of Hong. London, I.B.Tauris. 2007.

Chicago (A-D)
Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2021, December 13). Hong Kong’s Handover History and Development. https://ivypanda.com/essays/hong-kongs-handover-history-and-development/

"Hong Kong’s Handover History and Development." IvyPanda , 13 Dec. 2021, ivypanda.com/essays/hong-kongs-handover-history-and-development/.

IvyPanda . (2021) 'Hong Kong’s Handover History and Development'. 13 December.

IvyPanda . 2021. "Hong Kong’s Handover History and Development." December 13, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/hong-kongs-handover-history-and-development/.

1. IvyPanda . "Hong Kong’s Handover History and Development." December 13, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/hong-kongs-handover-history-and-development/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Hong Kong’s Handover History and Development." December 13, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/hong-kongs-handover-history-and-development/.

Nursing Handover and Verbal Communication
Hong Kong in Hong Kong: Watching the Handover from the US
Margaret Thatcher Biography
"The Longest Nite" by Tat-Chi Yau
Chinese Cinema Industry Review
"Ching Kang Shan" by Mao Tse-tung
The Case of Margaret Thatcher: The Iron Lady Speaks
Handoff Communication in the Clinical Setting
The ISBAR (Communication) Framework in Australia
Diagnostics: Medical Imaging Errors
Samurai: Precepts and Ethical Codes
Tanzimat and Zionist Movements
The Ottoman and Mughal Empires
Democratic Empowerment via Village Elections During Imperial China
Zheng He's Expeditions as a Diplomat

The history of Hong Kong, visualised

The ‘special status’ of this powerful global city is the result of two centuries of growth, turmoil, and change..

Hong Kong has been wracked by a recent series of protests in support of self-determination for ...

Home to over seven million people , Hong Kong teems with life. For weeks, it has also roiled with pro-democracy protests as millions take to the streets to demand political self-determination and personal autonomy. They’re not the first. The history of Hong Kong is one of rapid growth, political turmoil, and continual demands for change. Here are 25 powerful moments from Hong Kong’s long history:

Imperial China
Ancient History
Governments
People and Culture

Getting Started
Course / ASIA 373/HIST 373 / Resources
Reference Sources

Primary Historical Documents

Online Resources
Photography Archives
Art and Culture
Basic Law Drafting History Online This is an online resource providing information and materials from the drafting history of Hong Kong’s constitution, The Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China. Four databases are currently available for free public access: Drafting Materials, News Coverage, Legco Database, and Textual History.
Bibliography on Hong Kong Studies Part of the Hong Kong History Project based at Bristol, aims to encourage and facilitate the study of the history of Hong Kong in the UK.
Historical Laws of Hong Kong Online The Historical Laws of Hong Kong Online is a full-text image database providing access to past revised editions of Hong Kong Laws. The database comprises a total of seven consolidations of the laws of Hong Kong: 1890, 1901, 1912, 1923, 1937, 1950, and 1964 (last updated to 1989).
Hong Kong and the West until 1860 The "Hong Kong & the West until 1860" database was created by the University of Hong Kong Libraries. A total of forty-two titles, mostly in English and published before 1860, the database provides online access and retrieval to a variety of valuable information, including sketches, maps, and accounts of western visitors and settlers about early Hong Kong. The year 1860 has been identified as the cut-off date because it marked the end of the first phase of Hong Kong history. Geographically and politically, the territory of Hong Kong was confined to Hong Kong Island until 1860 when the Convention of Peking was signed under which Kowloon became part of the territory.
Hong Kong Collection - The University of Hong Kong The Hung On-To Memorial Library, or popularly known as Hong Kong Collection, well known for its comprehensive holdings of pre-war materials (pre-1945 Hong Kong sources) which include books, government publications, journals, print newspapers, manuscripts, grey literature, ledger books, archival materials, etc.
Hong Kong Government Reports Online (1853-1941) Hong Kong Government Reports Online (HKGRO) is a full-text image database providing online access to pre-World War II issues of four major government publications, namely, Administrative Report, Hong Kong Sessional Papers, Hong Kong Hansard and Hong Kong Government Gazette. It contains a wide range of information, such as official notifications, proceedings of the Legislative Council, statistics, and reports of government departments and special committees, which are essential to students and scholars in conducting research on Hong Kong.
Hong Kong’s War Crimes Trials Collection The HKWCT Collection is part of a project funded by the Hong Kong SAR government’s Research Grant Council. The Collection’s website provides details of, and access to, the case files of 46 trials involving 123 persons who were tried in Hong Kong for war crimes committed during the Second World War.
Land Deeds and Family Papers A remarkable donation of some 360 Chinese land deeds and 1,500 family documents from the late Mr Tin-Pong Chow (鄒殿邦先生), the then Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce of Guangzhou in the 19th to early 20th Century. These documents dated from 1920 to late 1940, provide important data on the economic development of China, particularly Guangdong and Hong Kong.
Po Leung Kuk 保良局 Opened to the public, this collection houses a great variety of historical records of the Kuk since its establishment in 1878. The archive includes Exchange of correspondence between the Secretary for Home Affairs and the Kuk, Exchange of correspondence between the Kuk and overseas associations, Record books and Minute books, Registry of women and children admitted, Refugee records, Donation records, Legal statements, Rules and regulations, Registers of marriage, adoption and fostering, Oral Statements of the refugees, shelter women and orphans and much on.
Public Records Office ( part of the Government Records Service ) Central Preservation Library for Government Publications (CPL) which contains selected government publications, reports and printed material on Hong Kong to preserve local documentary heritage.
Tung Wah Group of Hospitals (東華三院): Records and Heritage The Tung Wah Group of Hospitals with a long history from 1800, is the oldest and the largest charitable organization in Hong Kong. Two important records for scholars who research on local history include Oral History Archives (Chinese version only, an Oral History Research Project in collaboration with The University of Hong Kong), and Articles of Tung Wah Coffin Home (showing Tung Wah engaged huge resources to arrange bone repatriation of Chinese from all over the world to their birth place on the Mainland).

►Personal Research Projects :

Elsie Tu Digital Collection
Gwulo: Old Hong Kong Search form Search There is an excellent website devoted to Hong Kong history which sometimes carries discussions of Stanley Camp.
Hong Kong's First This blog by Rudi Butt and other contributing authors provides rich resources of the Hong Kong history beginning 1278 to the present with digital archives based three periods labelled by author: Nothing Happened, Cultural Fusion, and Identity Crisis.
Hong Kong War Diary Hong Kong War Diary is a project by Tony Banham documenting the 1941 defence of Hong Kong, the defenders, their families, and the fates of all until liberation. This page is updated monthly with a record of research and related activities. Pages on the left cover the books that have spun off from this project, and a listing of each and every member of the Garrison.
The Industrial History of Hong Kong Group This research project blog is created for anyone who has knowledge of, or who wishes to learn about, Hong Kong’s wide-ranging industrial history began in the 3rd century BC, from incense to textiles, cameras to rickshaws, also covers many aspects of agriculture and fishing, food and beverages, mines and quarries, shipbuilding and ship breaking, technical education, telecommunications, traditional industries, transport and utilities.
In The Dark World’s Fire: Thomas and Evelina Edgar in Occupied Hong Kong This blog focuses on the experiences of the author Brian Edgar's parents Thomas and Evelina Edgar in Hong Kong 1941-1945. The blog provides a full picture of their life at the time in the context of what is known about the general history of war-time Hong Kong, and his parents’ experience.
U. S. Intelligence on Asia 1945-1991 Particular emphasis is given to America’s principal antagonists in Asia during the Cold War era: the People’s Republic of China, North Korea and North Vietnam. However, countries such as Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Australia are covered as well.
WW2 People's War Gathered by BBC, this is an archive of WW 2 memories of Hong Kong.
<< Previous: Reference Sources
Next: Online Resources >>
Last Updated: Sep 15, 2023 3:34 PM
URL: https://guides.library.ubc.ca/hongkong

Home — Essay Samples — Geography & Travel — Hong Kong — Hong Kong: History, Economy, Political System

Hong Kong: History, Economy, Political System

Categories: Constitution Economy Hong Kong

About this sample

Words: 1309 |

Published: Nov 7, 2018

Words: 1309 | Pages: 3 | 7 min read

History of hong kong, economic partnerships, economic situation, political system of hong kong, cepa - closer economic partnership agreement., fta’s - free trade agreements, dta‘s- double taxation agreements, asia pacific economic cooperation (apec), pacific economic cooperation council (pecc), united nations conference on trade and development (unctad), world trade organisation (wto).

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Verified writer

Expert in: Law, Crime & Punishment Economics Geography & Travel

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

5 pages / 2354 words

2 pages / 1077 words

1 pages / 592 words

6 pages / 2513 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Hong Kong: History, Economy, Political System Essay

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on Hong Kong

China is currently one of the most populated places in the world. Although this country is highly populated, there is a lot of diversity amongst the different cities located within. Large cities come in different sizes when it [...]

Syed Nasir Raza Kazmi was a renowned Urdu poet of Pakistan. He should be ranked among those of our writers who were not destined to live long but who, during their limited span, wrote extensively and touched the heights of [...]

The paper seeks to analyze the British Rule in India, the discrimination, the violence, and the various reforms carried out by them. The question about whether India really benefited from the Colonized rule, or whether the [...]

The way Ahead Goods and Service Tax (GST) was rolled out in India on July 1st 2017, after several rounds of dead lock in the parliament. Observers have described the reform as the most meaningful change to India’s tax regima [...]

This paper deals with the effect of education on economic growth. It studies education as a factor of economic growth and sustainable development. It aims to reveal the relationship between education and growth of the economy. [...]

Despite the fact that Urdu is the national dialect of Pakistan, however, English is the dialect which is formally utilized as a part of all private and in addition government authorities. In Pakistan, English language aptitudes [...]

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

Instructions Followed To The Letter
Deadlines Met At Every Stage
Unique And Plagiarism Free

Featured Publications

A Concise History of Hong Kong

Author: John M. Carroll

John M. Carroll (2007) Hong Kong University Press; ISBN: 978-962-209-878-7, https://hkupress.hku.hk/a_concise_history_of_hong_kong

When the British occupied the tiny island of Hong Kong during the First Opium War, the Chinese empire was well into its decline, while Great Britain was already in the second decade of its legendary “Imperial Century.” From this collision of empires arose a city that continues to intrigue observers. Melding Chinese and Western influences, Hong Kong has long defied easy categorization. John M. Carroll’s engrossing and accessible narrative explores the remarkable history of Hong Kong from the early 1800s through the post-1997 handover, when this former colony became a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China. The book explores Hong Kong as a place with a unique identity, yet also a crossroads where Chinese history, British colonial history, and world history intersect. Carroll concludes by exploring the legacies of colonial rule, the consequences of Hong Kong’s reintegration with China, and significant developments and challenges since 1997.

John M. Carroll is professor of history at the University of Hong Kong.

SHKS Book Series
Announcements
Annual Conference 2024
Call for Submissions
In the spotlight
SHKS partners
Archives & Bibliography
Member log-in

History Subject Guide: Write a paper

Background Info & Books
Find materials
Organize & cite your sources
Write a paper
Find reliable Internet sources

Research your topic

research your topic.

After conducting some preliminary background reading, form your research question . This can guide you through the rest of the process.

Check out this great interactive tutorial on how to develop a research question (Thanks to Arizona State Library for creating this tutorial and making it freely available!)

Once you are clear on what you are researching, use the resources described in this guide to find background information , books , and articles .

Work through the sources that you find systematically. You cannot include everything in your essay, so select only the most important sources for inclusion. Linear reading (i.e. reading a whole article/book from beginning to end) is not a good strategy. Instead, actively skim the sources you find using the following methodology:

Analyze the title and subtitle
For books, examine the table of contents. For articles, read the abstract
Read the last section first
Read the introduction
Target the most important chapters of a book, or sections of an article

Make notes as you read. Good notes are essential to avoiding plagiarism when it comes time to write. Use online tools to help you make and organize notes.

Look for both quality and quantity in sources. Can you find enough sources to write about your proposed topic, or are there so many that the topic needs to be narrowed further?

When in doubt, ask a librarian!

The above advice is adapted from Writing History and Grad School Essentials

Write your assignment

write your assignment.

Common types of essays assigned in history courses:

Book reviews: Require not just a summary of the book, but a detailed analysis that places the work in the context of the arguments of other historians
Short analytical essays: Require a specific type of analysis of one or more historical source
Research essays: Longer assignments that provide more freedom in identifying a topic and forming a hypothesis

For all of the above types of essay, consider the following advice:

Create an outline of your essay, including how you will move from one section to another
State your thesis early and try to grab your reader's attention
Define key terms early
Use an appropriate tone: Avoid the first person singular and try to be dispassionate
Logically transition from the preceding paragraph
State the argument of the paragraph
Present evidence to support that argument
Lead your reader to an interesting conclusion

The above advice is adapted from Writing History

Turnitin is an online plagiarism prevention platform that can c ompare submitted academic assignments against an extensive database of published and unpublished information, and provide a report on the degree of similarity between the assignment and the material in that database.

According to University policy , students should be able to submit their assignments to Turnitin and review the similarity report prior to final submission. To facilitate this, the Library maintains a practice Turnitin Assignment on a designated course site on HKBU Moodle . Students can self-enroll into this course to submit their assignments.

Click here for more information about Turnitin

<< Previous: Organize & cite your sources
Next: Find reliable Internet sources >>
Last Updated: Mar 5, 2024 3:49 PM
URL: https://hkbu.libguides.com/hist

Essays on Hong Kong

Home / Essay Samples / Geography & Travel / Asia

Hong Kong Essay Examples and Topics

Government censorship as a prominent issue in china.

Great Firewall of China Government censorship has always been prominent in China. With the new growing age in technology, governments are frantically trying to approach methods to either allow the growth of Internet freedom or to completely censor and control this flow of information. In…

The Application of Labelling Theory in the Riots in Hong Kong

There are different reasons why people commit crime, some of them are caused by inner factors like psychology and emotion, however, on the other hand, some others may become crime due to outside factors like the label given by the society or authority. And that’s…

End of Life Care in Hong Kong

Introduction Death can be a difficult issue for the elderly, some of them may not want to discuss it because of the traditional culture. However, there are thanatologists who study death and dying issues, they have shown that death can be classified into two types…

Voluntary Non-Remunerated Blood Donation, Pros, Cons, Challenges in Hong Kong

Introduction Blood transfusion services always play a consolidate role in healthy system, according to World Health Organization definition, Voluntary Non-remunerated blood donation is meaning that donor gives blood, plasma or cellular components with his/her own wills and receive no payment for it, either in the…

Compare and Contrast Analysis of the Culture of Hong Kong and Japan

Hong Kong and Japan are the popular spots for travelling, while is known as ‘Shopping Paradise’ and Japan is the favourite place of the tourist. However, their culture is the most fascinating place. Hong Kong is a cultural salad bowl which allows distinct communities keep…

Analysis of Festive Korea and Hong Kong Contemporary Art Fair in Terms of Promoting Cultural Exchange and Diplomacy

This research is the first research made on promoting cultural exchange and diplomacy of South Korea in Hong Kong, in particular with the annual focused event, Festive Korea, making it significant to be the first step in the study. It is believed to be useful…

The Impact of Information Asymmetry on Stock Market Efficiency of Shanghai and Hong Kong Stock Markets

The demand for plausible measures of information asymmetry is becoming high due to the level of roles private information plays in finance settings. According to Kyle (1985), and Glosten & Milgrom (1985), strategic trading is basically information-driven in that informed investors adopt the strategy of…

The Impact of the Minimum Wage on Hong Kong Society

I will discuss in detail in this article the impact of the minimum wage on Hong Kong society. I will make a detailed analysis of two aspects such as society aspect and economy aspect. Moreover, i will deeply talk about related problem. Hong Kong is…

Framing Hong Kong Occupy Central Movement: a Comparative Analysis of Newspapers

This dissertation intends to explore how different English-Language newspapers in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan frame the Occupy Central Movement that took place in Hong Kong in 2014. The entire study is based on theories and ideas of news frame and social movement news framing….

Inflation Rate and Its Reasons in Hong Kong

In 1998, inflation rate decrease during financial crisis, a huge capital outflows from Asian region. HK dollar cannot be devaluated, prices and wages adjust downwards. Demand from overseas buyers has decrease, exporters lower the price and try to cope with the reduce demand. Soon, producer…

Business Pattern of Hong Kong

Hong Kong is an individual government state of the people’s republic of china. It became a part of China in the year of 1997. Under the “one country, two systems” agreement, China guaranteed not to force its communist approaches on Hong Kong and to permit…

Words & Pages

We use cookies to offer you the best experience. By continuing, we’ll assume you agree with our Cookies policy .

Choose your writer among 300 professionals!

You cannot copy content from our website. If you need this sample, insert an email and we'll deliver it to you.

Please, provide real email address.

This email is exists.

Home / Essay Samples / World / Asia / Hong Kong

Hong Kong Essay Examples

The reasons hong kong’s housing market being extremely expensive.

The city of Toronto feels immensely crowded all of the time. With traffic, construction, and 2. 8 million people crammed into a 630km2 space, it’s impossible not to feel like a sardine packed in a tin can. Even with all this said, it could be...

Hong Kong Culture Today: Biological Sex as Fundamental Identity

The Hong Kong electronic environment culture affects the values for the public. First, Hong Kong is a modern society and media saturated environment. The media plays a significant part in the construction of appropriate or inappropriate gender roles and that can be found at everywhere....

The Use of Subword-based Audio Indexing in Chinese Spoken Document Retrieval

This research is based on local Hong Kong television news broadcasts in Cantonese, the predominant Chinese dialect used in Hong Kong, Macau, South China and many overseas Chinese communities. Cantonese is monosyllabic with a rich tonal structure which are approximately 1,600 distinct tonal syllables with...

The Academic Inflation Problem in Higher Education in Hong Kong – Having University Degrees is Already not an Assurance of Future Career

Work chances should be guaranteed for university graduates. However, in Hong Kong, students’ job opportunities cannot be guaranteed even though they are highly educated due to the academic inflation problem, which has recently given rise to “anger generation”, producing negative economical and phycological impacts to...

Problems Which Art Institutions Face in Hong Kong When Carrying Out Cultural Exchange Projects

Entrepreneurship in Goldsmith University of London, highlighted two difficulties faced by art institutions in Hong Kong when carrying out cultural exchange projects, the first one is funding. With financial burden being a great concern when holding art events, funding is always the main issue to...

Community Housing Movement – a Light in the Darkness of Housing Shortage

It’s undeniable that Hong Kong is a densely populated international city with strictly limited land space, makes the shortage of the affordable housing always a serious problem. However, we have realized this problem for nearly 20 years, but the issue of housing shortage is still...

The Situation at Hkust University of Hong Kong with Regards to the Enormous Paper Waste & the Handling of This Situation

Hong Kong, as a whole, has a huge paper waste problem. In the paper waste census of 2009, it was found that 20% of the commercial and industrial waste disposed at landfills are paper waste. Universities in Hong Kong, including HKUST are no exception to...

A Study on Green Building Design in Hong Kong

Green Building is an interdisciplinary theme in which the concept of a green building contains elements, components and procedures that fall apart from several subtopics that form the concept of a green building. In general, green buildings are considered as environmental factors because green building...

The Issue of the ‘hidden’ Elderly in Hong Kong

Some college gerontology professors say there are about 70,000 to 80,000 'hidden ' elderly who are frail, living alone and not using social services in Hong Kong. 'Elderly invisible' refers to the elderly who are isolated from society and do not know how to seek...

Garbage Problems in Hong Kong and Possible Solutions to It

Municipal solid waste includes all the waste from domestic buildings, non-domestic building or public facilities. However, it excludes construction and chemical wastes. Household waste is the highest of the three types of discarded waste. Hong Kong people indeed need to reduce waste at the source...

Trying to find an excellent essay sample but no results?

Don’t waste your time and get a professional writer to help!