RED BOAT TROUPES AND CANTONESE ... - University of Georgia

Chapter Seven
Hong Kong— Social Issues that Influence Cantonese Opera
I will attempt to examine some social issues, particularly those regarding gender and
class associated with Cantonese opera in Hong Kong. Just like Hong Kong set fashion trends for
Guangdong, Hong Kong Cantonese opera set the standard for Guangdong, South East Asia, and
other parts of the world. Hopefully some findings of this study in Hong Kong will shed light on
problems that have hindered the progress of this sophisticated art.
In the last one hundred years, Chinese have gradually attained equal treatment in Hong
Kong. Private clubs used to discourage the Chinese from joining by requiring new recruits to be
sponsored by a few existing members. Ethnic Chinese were prohibited from living above the
mid-level on the mountainous Hong Kong Island before the intervention of Sir Ho Tung (1862-
1956). Ho, of mixed Chinese and Dutch heritage began his work for the British company,
Jardine Matheson, as a translator. He soon became a high level Chinese manager in the
company. In 1906, Ho was successfully granted permission to live in the Mid-level on the Hong
Kong Island by the Executive Council and governor of Hong Kong. 134 He soon quit the job at
Jardine Matheson, started his own business, and became the richest Chinese in Hong Kong. The
Ho Tung Garden where his estate is situated hosted Irish writer George Bernard Shaw. The cool
and spectacular view that faces the South China Sea and Victoria Harbor used to house only the
British and non-Chinese. The coastal area facing the Victoria Harbor and below the Mid-level
were crowded streets and living quarters for ethnic Chinese. Some theaters were built on the
slopes below the mid-level in the first few decades of the 20 th century.
134 http://baidu.com/view/88146.htm, accessed Mar. 6, 2010.
62