THE HONG KONG ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY
AND THE HONG KONG MUSEUM OF HISTORY
PRESENT
An Anthropological Talk by Youping NIE
Two Stone Lion Deities in a Chinese Village: A Hydro-Cosmopolitical Account
Friday 10 April 2026, 7:00pm
Hong Kong Museum of History
Lecture Hall, Ground Floor, 100 Chatham Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
The stone lion is a widespread spiritual symbol found across the rural Dongting Lake basin in the middle Yangtze region. Drawing on ethnographic data obtained from 2017 to 2022, this lecture explores the intersection between a pair of stone lions, climate change, and state governance in a Chinese village. It delineates how these lions transitioned from water deities protecting against flooding to no more than generic stones during the Cultural Revolution. During the shift, one lion was submerged in the river it once tended. Amidst worsening droughts in the decades since, the remaining lion has been seen as a malicious spirit. Villagers believe that misfortune will befall their families if the surviving lion's gaze falls upon their farmhouses, and villagers repeatedly relocate the lion to avoid being watched. The interplay between the villagers and the stone lions mirrors growing anxieties and uncertainties over intensifying climate challenges in contemporary rural China.
Youping NIE earned her PhD in anthropology from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Her research examines the intersection between local cosmology, climate challenges, and state governance in Central China.
THE HONG KONG ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY
AND THE HONG KONG MUSEUM OF HISTORY
PRESENT
An Anthropological Talk by Patrick HASE
Market Towns of the New Territories
Friday 1 May 2026, 7:00pm
Hong Kong Museum of History
Lecture Hall, Ground Floor, 100 Chatham Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
This lecture will discuss the foundation and growth of market towns in the New Territories, looking at their plans, society, and economy in the period up to 1911, and their relationship with the city of Hong Kong. It will show that the oldest of the market-towns were Kowloon City, Tai Po, and Yuen Long, in existence from the twelfth century, while others such as Shataukok and Ma Wan date only from the nineteenth century. The relationships of these towns with the rural societies they served will be looked at, discussing those market-towns founded by the surrounding villages, and distinguishing them from those founded by groups of merchants. The lecture will also explore the traditional management systems of these towns, and will consider traditional local industries (salt-working, boat-building, rattan-weaving, leather-tanning, refining of spirits, the trade in salt-fish and firewood, etc.), as well as epidemics of typhoid and plague, and outbreaks of disastrous fires. The lecture will be copiously illustrated by plates and maps.
Dr. Patrick HASE is a local historian, and has been working on the history and historical anthropology of the New Territories since his arrival in Hong Kong in 1972. He is Past President of the Royal Asiatic Society, Hong Kong Branch. His most recent books are Settlement, Life and Politics: Understanding the Traditional New Territories CityU Press, 2020, and Villages and Market Towns in Hong Kong: Settlement and History, Chinese University Press, 2025 (also published in Chinese as 香港的村落與墟鎮:聚落與歷史, Chung Hwa, 2025). He is currently working on a book on Village Scholars and Traditional Village Scholarship and Education.
THE HONG KONG ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY
AND THE HONG KONG MUSEUM OF HISTORY
PRESENT
An Anthropological Talk by Reynold K. W. TSANG
Peeking at Cannibals and Competing for Stouts: Asian Spectators in Colonial Museums of Hong Kong and Singapore
Friday 5 June 2026, 7:00pm
Hong Kong Museum of History
Lecture Hall, Ground Floor, 100 Chatham Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
The nineteenth century saw the emergence of museums across the British Empire, including Hong Kong and Singapore. The first public museums in the two colonies, the Old City Hall Museum and the Raffles Museum, were established in 1869 and 1874, respectively. While they were planned for and curated by the British, they drew an overwhelmingly Asian audience. This lecture examines the Asian museum-goers within these colonial museums, moving beyond the colonists' vision to look at the colonised experience. From searching for "cannibals" on display to guessing attendance numbers to win free stout, Asian visitors actively reinterpreted the museum space defined by the British on their own terms. Through a historical and anthropological lens, this lecture explores how these visitors subtly challenged British authority and turned a tool of imperial dominance into a site of indigenous subversion.
Youping NIE earned her PhD in anthropology from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Her research examines the intersection between local cosmology, climate challenges, and state governance in Central China.
The HKAS is a member of the World Council of Anthropological Associations