Bulletin Number Four 1984

has recounted for us his experience in the founding o f Wah K iu Yat Po nearly sixty years ago and the fate o f his paper under Japanese occupation and in the post-war period. Mr. Jia gave us a very clear account o f Sing Tao's chief editors in succession, while Mr. Poon clarified for us some dubious points in the present history o f journalism. These are undoubtedly very valuable historical data. Since our ultimate aim is to compile a history o f Hong Kong's newspapers, there remains a lo t to be done and we w ill continue to interview more veteran journalists. Q ： Are there any other topic studies you have carried out? Ng: They are mainly related to education, especially education in the New Territories. We have completed some reports and published a number o f papers, among which are: 'Literacy o f the New Territories in 1910's’ by David Faure ， 'Village Education in the New Territories Region under the Qing' and 'Village Education in Transition: The Case o f Sheung Shui' by myself. As for conference papers, we have presented: 'Traditional Education in Urban Hong Kong' (by Luk Hung-kay), 'Traditional Education in Rural Hong Kong' (by Ng Lun Ngai-ha), 'Popular lite racy in Late Qing and Early Republican Period: The New Territories as a Case' (by David Faure and Ng Lun Ngai-ha) and 'The Village and the Village Scholar' (by Ng Lun Ngai-ha and Patrick Hase). Q: I t seems that most o f your studies are on the rural history o f the New Territories. Luk: Studies on the New Territories are o f special significance to the history o f Hong Kong, South China and even China as a whole. China is an agricultural country and the rural community constitutes the vast majority o f her population. In the history o f China, there had been times when national upheavals were sparked o ff by disturbances in the villages o f various prefec­ tures. However, Chinese History in the past seldom covered the happenings in areas outside the capital and the attention o f most historians was focused on the Imperial Court, the Central Government or matters that were o f interest to the literati. In recent decades, although the emphasis o f historical research has been shifted to local gazetteers, such as provincial and prefectural gazetteers, information on the life o f the rural community and social organizations o f villages in the prefectures are still lacking. The aim o f our research is to collect historical data o f villages for the writing o f local history. This w ill fill in the blanks in the history o f prefectures. Ng: Talking about blanks in the history o f prefec tures and villages, it is in fact a world-wide phenomenon. Take the U.S.A. as an example, documenting history on the local level suffers from the same problem. In recent years, especially after 1979 ， the application o f the oral historical method to the study o f local history has become a universal trend. Now, many governments are financing their own oral history research projects undertaken by historians as well as sociologists, architects and town planners, etc. Q: Why especially after 1979? Ng: I guess it has something to do w ith the publicity given to the book Roots published in 1979, and the attention it has drawn. Q: Have you encountered any difficulties in your oral history research ？ Ng: We have encountered some difficulties when we interviewed the villagers o f the New Territories. It was found that most o f the villagers under the age o f fo rty know very little about the traditional village life and we have to race w ith time to interview as many old people as possible before anything happen to them. We are fu lly aware that once they pass away, we shall miss the chance o f digging into the history o f the New Territories. Luk: The lack o f knowledge o f the past on the part o f the younger generation is understandable. As a result o f rapid modernization and the difference between the living standard o f the city and villages, most o f the young people prefer city life to village life and some o f them have moved into the city. They have not learned to treasure their past tradition, especially when their education is o f a strong urban background. Q: D id your interviews fo llow strictly a prepared framework? Ng: In interviews there is one thing we should observe: we should not control but only guide the interviewees. It is only when they speak freely that we can obtain more additional information. Huang-fu: When we interview the well-known 16 ACADEMIC/CULTURAL EVENTS