Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Foreword
- Introduction
- 1 Captain Broughton, HMS Providence (and her tender) and his voyage to the Pacific 1794–98
- 2 The ‘Bankoku Shimbun Affair’: Foreigners, the Press and Extraterritoriality in Early Modern Japan
- 3 Japan undermines extraterritoriality: Extradition in Japan 1885–1899
- 4 British Journalists in Meiji Japan
- 5 The Tokyo Embassy, 1871–1945
- 6 Captain Francis Brinkley (1842–1912): Yatoi, Scholar and Apologist
- 7 William Keswick, 1835–1912: Jardine's Pioneer in Japan
- 8 The Era of the Unequal Treaties, 1858–99
- 9 Ernest Cyril Comfort: The Other British Aviation Mission and Mitsubishi 1921–1924
- 10 Korea, Taiwan and Manchuria: Britain's Consular Service in the Japanese Empire, 1883–1941
- 11 John Carey Hall (1844–1921): A Career in the Japan Consular Service
- 12 Memories of the Past: The Legacy of Japan's Treaty Ports
- 13 The Centenary of Korea-British Diplomatic Relations: Aspects of British Interest and Involvement in Korea, 1600–1983
- 14 The Anglican Cathedral Seoul 1926–1986
- 15 British Public opinion and the Korean War: A preliminary survey
- 16 A Brush with History: Opening the British Embassy Pyongyang, 2001–02
- 17 Potboiler Press: British Media and North Korea
- 18 Reflections on North Korea: Myths and Reality
- 19 Twenty Years a-Stagnating – The Lost Opportunity of Britain's Relationship With the DPRK
- 20 Building politics: The British Embassy Peking, 1949–1992
- 21 Diplomacy in the East: Seoul, Beijing and Pyongyang 1981–2002
- 22 Odd Arne Westad. The Global Cold War
- 23 Charles Stephenson. Germany's Asia-Pacific Empire: Colonialism and Naval Policy, 1885–1914
- 24 Gordon Pirie. Air Empire: British Imperial Civil Aviation 1919–1939
- 25 Margaret Hall. The Imperial Aircraft Flotilla: The Worldwide Fundraising Campaign for the British Flying Services in the First World War
- 26 Richard T. Chang. The Justice of the Western Consular Courts in Nineteenth Century Japan
- 27 Michael Auslin. Negotiating with Imperialism: The Unequal Treaties and Culture of Japanese Diplomacy
- 28 Ian Nish. The Japanese in War and Peace 1942–1948: Selected Documents from a Translator's In-tray
- 29 Hugh Cortazzi, ed. Carmen Blacker – Scholar of Japanese Religions, Myth and Folklore: Writings and Reflections
- 30 Christian Polak, ed., with Hugh Cortazzi. Georges Bigot and Japan 1882–1899: Satirist, Illustrator and Artist Extraordinaire
- 31 Anthony Farrar-Hockley. The British Part in the Korean War. Vol. I: A Distant Obligation; Vol. II: The British Part in the Korean War. Volume II: An Honourable Discharge
- 32 Erik Cornell. North Korea under Communism: Report of an Envoy in Paradise
- 33 Valérie Gelézeau. Séoul, ville géante, cites radiuses
- 34 Donald N. Clark. Living Dangerously: The Western Experience in Korea 1900–1950
- 35 Jane Portal. Art under Control in North Korea
- 36 Felix Abt. A Capitalist in North Korea: My Seven Years in the Hermit Kingdom
- 37 Kevin O’Rourke. My Korea: 40 Years without a Horsehair Hat
- 38 Arissa H. Oh. To Save the Children of Korea: The Cold War Origins of International Adoption
- 39 Keith Howard. Songs for ‘Great Leaders’: Ideology and Creativity in North Korean Music and Dance
- 40 Michael Lindsay. The Unknown War: North China 1937–1945
- 41 P. D. Coates. The China Consuls
- 42 Michael J. Moser and Yeone Wei-chih Moser. Foreigners within the Gates: The Legations at Peking
- 43 Hsiao Li Lindsay. Bold Plum: With the Guerrillas in China's War against Japan
- 44 Hugh Baker. Ancestral Images: A Hong Kong Collection
- 45 Robert Bickers and Isabella Jackson, eds., Treaty Ports in Modern China: Law, Land and Power
- 46 Odd Arne Westad. Empire and Righteous Nation: 600 Years of China Korea Relations
- Notes
- Index Names
- Index Places
44 - Hugh Baker. Ancestral Images: A Hong Kong Collection
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 February 2024
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Foreword
- Introduction
- 1 Captain Broughton, HMS Providence (and her tender) and his voyage to the Pacific 1794–98
- 2 The ‘Bankoku Shimbun Affair’: Foreigners, the Press and Extraterritoriality in Early Modern Japan
- 3 Japan undermines extraterritoriality: Extradition in Japan 1885–1899
- 4 British Journalists in Meiji Japan
- 5 The Tokyo Embassy, 1871–1945
- 6 Captain Francis Brinkley (1842–1912): Yatoi, Scholar and Apologist
- 7 William Keswick, 1835–1912: Jardine's Pioneer in Japan
- 8 The Era of the Unequal Treaties, 1858–99
- 9 Ernest Cyril Comfort: The Other British Aviation Mission and Mitsubishi 1921–1924
- 10 Korea, Taiwan and Manchuria: Britain's Consular Service in the Japanese Empire, 1883–1941
- 11 John Carey Hall (1844–1921): A Career in the Japan Consular Service
- 12 Memories of the Past: The Legacy of Japan's Treaty Ports
- 13 The Centenary of Korea-British Diplomatic Relations: Aspects of British Interest and Involvement in Korea, 1600–1983
- 14 The Anglican Cathedral Seoul 1926–1986
- 15 British Public opinion and the Korean War: A preliminary survey
- 16 A Brush with History: Opening the British Embassy Pyongyang, 2001–02
- 17 Potboiler Press: British Media and North Korea
- 18 Reflections on North Korea: Myths and Reality
- 19 Twenty Years a-Stagnating – The Lost Opportunity of Britain's Relationship With the DPRK
- 20 Building politics: The British Embassy Peking, 1949–1992
- 21 Diplomacy in the East: Seoul, Beijing and Pyongyang 1981–2002
- 22 Odd Arne Westad. The Global Cold War
- 23 Charles Stephenson. Germany's Asia-Pacific Empire: Colonialism and Naval Policy, 1885–1914
- 24 Gordon Pirie. Air Empire: British Imperial Civil Aviation 1919–1939
- 25 Margaret Hall. The Imperial Aircraft Flotilla: The Worldwide Fundraising Campaign for the British Flying Services in the First World War
- 26 Richard T. Chang. The Justice of the Western Consular Courts in Nineteenth Century Japan
- 27 Michael Auslin. Negotiating with Imperialism: The Unequal Treaties and Culture of Japanese Diplomacy
- 28 Ian Nish. The Japanese in War and Peace 1942–1948: Selected Documents from a Translator's In-tray
- 29 Hugh Cortazzi, ed. Carmen Blacker – Scholar of Japanese Religions, Myth and Folklore: Writings and Reflections
- 30 Christian Polak, ed., with Hugh Cortazzi. Georges Bigot and Japan 1882–1899: Satirist, Illustrator and Artist Extraordinaire
- 31 Anthony Farrar-Hockley. The British Part in the Korean War. Vol. I: A Distant Obligation; Vol. II: The British Part in the Korean War. Volume II: An Honourable Discharge
- 32 Erik Cornell. North Korea under Communism: Report of an Envoy in Paradise
- 33 Valérie Gelézeau. Séoul, ville géante, cites radiuses
- 34 Donald N. Clark. Living Dangerously: The Western Experience in Korea 1900–1950
- 35 Jane Portal. Art under Control in North Korea
- 36 Felix Abt. A Capitalist in North Korea: My Seven Years in the Hermit Kingdom
- 37 Kevin O’Rourke. My Korea: 40 Years without a Horsehair Hat
- 38 Arissa H. Oh. To Save the Children of Korea: The Cold War Origins of International Adoption
- 39 Keith Howard. Songs for ‘Great Leaders’: Ideology and Creativity in North Korean Music and Dance
- 40 Michael Lindsay. The Unknown War: North China 1937–1945
- 41 P. D. Coates. The China Consuls
- 42 Michael J. Moser and Yeone Wei-chih Moser. Foreigners within the Gates: The Legations at Peking
- 43 Hsiao Li Lindsay. Bold Plum: With the Guerrillas in China's War against Japan
- 44 Hugh Baker. Ancestral Images: A Hong Kong Collection
- 45 Robert Bickers and Isabella Jackson, eds., Treaty Ports in Modern China: Law, Land and Power
- 46 Odd Arne Westad. Empire and Righteous Nation: 600 Years of China Korea Relations
- Notes
- Index Names
- Index Places
Summary
It was always worth going to hear a lecture by Hugh Baker, now Emeritus Professor of Chinese at the School of Oriental and African Studies. He had the knack of picking out the interesting tit-bit that turned a scholarly presentation into a performance delivered with verve. There was no doubt about the scholarship but he went beyond mere knowledge, bringing things Chinese to life.
The same is true of Ancestral Images. In one sense, this is not a new work. Back in the 1970s, Baker did a series on Hong Kong television on Hong Kong life and history, which drew on his research work in a clan village in the New Territories. From this developed a series of short pieces in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), which were subsequently published in three slim volumes, with the same title as the present book. These went out of print when the SCMP withdrew from book publishing. A selection appeared in 1990, published by the Hong Kong University Press, which has now decided to publish all the original 120 articles in one volume. We are the beneficiaries. Baker has slightly revised the articles, to make them reflect the huge changes that have taken place in Hong Kong and the New Territories since the 1970s, but their essential freshness is there. Baker's own photographs provide charming illustrations. Baker is somewhat dismissive of his photographic skills but the pictures chosen are apt and informative. They are also historical records in their own right, since much of what they depict has long since disappeared. The material is primarily concerned with Hong Kong, but the reader will find many reflections on Chinese society more widely, historical matters, such as the Imperial Customs Service, and the wrestling of Chinese students with the vagaries of the English language. There is no claim to original scholarship, but one would have to put in many long hours to accumulate what Baker presents in easily understood and digestible form. Food and death and burials are perhaps the most recurring themes, but there are also many reflections on gods and religion. Baker is always stimulating, occasionally provocative, but never boring. Reading the collection straight through throws up some repetition but, taken as it should be, dipping in here and there, one does not notice this but rather enjoys the clever linking of the past and the present.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- East Asia ObservedSelected Writings 1973-2021, pp. 358 - 359Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2023