History of Hong Kong - From Pre-Historic Village to British Colony

We dive into the history of Hong Kong from the stone age to the beginning of the British colonial period. Part 2 will explore the more modern development of the reegion.

Credits
Research: Invicta
Script: Invicta
Art: Invicta
Editing: Invicta
Music: Dreamnote

Bibliography
A History of Hong Kong by Frank Welsh
A Concise History of Hong Kong by John Carroll
A Modern History of Hong Kong by Steve Tsang

[Mattk_]

I think Squarespace alone funds my entire sub box.

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Holy crap, this is interesting.
I never knew about the history of Hong Kong past the British, but I’m barely a few minutes in and this is already gripping me.

[jacobgibson]

I really need Invicta to do a battle strategy of the siege of Area 51 in September.

[gurukimci]

You didn't mention the role of the pork bun.

A man without pork bun is never a whole man.

[Wanderer]

Fun fact, seeing as Hong Kong was to be given to the UK in perpetuity, they were, technically speaking, under no obligation to give it back to the Chinese. However much of Hong Kong's critical infrastructure such as water treatment planets were built in the New Territories, which were under the ninety nine year lease, making any thought of keeping Hong Kong proper and only giving the new territories back rather untenable as the Chinese could simply shut off supplies to the city.

[royriley]

I'm glad you understand that these kind of long view perspectives can never be done well with a single upload and I respect the effort you're putting in for the sake of a detailed and nuanced picture of events.

[bandit]

"Now for a quick and dirty review of Hong Kong's history..."
Yo that was quick but I'm still waiting for that dirty part.

[benc]

There’s a great exhibition in the Hong Kong history museum detailing its Neolithic history - there’s loads of artefacts from human settlement around the time of the European Stone Age. It also houses some cool photographs of early british settlement and a full-sized replica of a colonial high street.
Nice to see a new style of video. Very much enjoyed watching that.

[aprilisthecruellestfool]

Hong Kong and Canton were cradles of revolutions (or rebellions) in the early modern China. Would love to see more of that side of the story!

[wakuzaki]

Can you add the year you're talking about to the corner of the video, so it's easier to remember how much time has passed with each new development you bring up?

[SeeIAmDead]

This is seriously the greatest timing in my life! Just arrived in Hong Kong for a short vacation, this video certainly helped with the understanding of Hong Kong and the museum that's located there too!

[arokjuata]

Qing:"You call this a diplomatic solution?"
Brit:"no, i call this an aggresive negotiation"

[timchiu]

I’ve been subscribed for a long time and I am so impressed that there’s a video about my home! The video is quite accurate but however missed out the fundamental issues that caused all these chaos in these days—distrust of the Hong Kong people towards the PRC due to their ancestral roots.
Most of the Hong Kong people are descendants of refugees, asylum seekers and capitalists who fled from China after 1949. Many of them had suffered during the early days of the reign of Communist China, where the nightmare of famine, political prosecutions and confiscation of private properties still haunted them.

[lfabc]

Actually, Portuguese has occupied a part of Hong Kong for a brief period from 1514 to 1522. They only went to Macau because they were defeated by the Ming Dynasty.

[SleepingDragn]

I like how you skipped over the illegal drug smuggling part of the Opium Wars and justified it as British protecting their own interest.

[yungfaas]

Hitting it with the frequent uploads, love it man!

[jandevries]

Thx. Amazing content. Hong Kong is a very interesting subject. I am looking forward for the next episode.

[dreadjack]

Hey man just wanted to say, you're my favorite history YouTube channel by far

[AgakAgakEngineer]

Video made it sound like southern China were not mixed up with the rest of China until the Han dynasty

Look up King Goujian of Yue and his nemesis King Fuchai of Wu

Wu and Yue were firmly players in Spring and Autumn politics by that time

Even earlier, Fuchai's father King Helu of Wu, together with Wu Zixu, an exile from state of Chu, built Wu into such a prominent state that King Helu was sometimes considered one of the Five Hegemons of that era

In fact, Wu was on the verge of subjugating Chu, a state located near present day Hubei and Hunan provinces in China, before Chu managed to beat them back by asking and getting help from the state of Qin (yes, THAT Qin)

[johnkelley]

What a interesting tutorial. I had no idea how Hong Kong came about but this answers a lot of my questions. Thanks for sharing this.