Floating World lost
Subtitle: a Hong Kong fishing community
By: Eugene N. Anderson
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: University Press of the South
Published: 2007
Place of publication: New Orleans, LA
Language: eng
Number of pages: 206
ISBN-13: 9781931948517
Copyright date: 2007
Subjects: Tanka (Chinese people); Social life and customs; Fishers; Boat living; Social conditions
Description: "Castle Peak Bay, in the Western Territories of Hong Kong, was once home to a teeming population of fishermen and cargo carriers who lived on their boats and rarely came on shore. They made up a separate community, calling themselves seui seung yan, 'people on the water.' They, and the shore-dwellers around them, considered themselves to belong to a separate ethnic group, defined by residence on the water more than by language or culture. They dwelt in boats, or in pile houses built over the water. They were part of a vast array of boat-dwelling people who wandered widely over the rivers and seas of China." "Today, the boat community is no more. The boat families moved on shore and merged with the general Cantonese population of Hong Kong. The bay itself no longer exists. It was filled in, providing level space for high-rise apartments. Descendents of sea captains now live twenty floors above the rocky fill, and commute to jobs assembling electronics or programming computers. The bay, formerly isolated, has become part of the vast urban agglomeration that is modern Hong Kong." "This book, Floating World Lost, then records a vanished way of life. Boat-dwelling fishermen still number in the millions in China, southeast Asia, and elsewhere, but the boat people of the Hong Kong area had their own special ways of being human. They have much to teach us. Their knowledge of fish and fishing was unsurpassed. Their society was well-run in spite of lack of government and police. Their social values and ethics were striking and original. Above all, the boat people of Castle Peak Bay recall to us the ancient value of humility. The boat-dwellers created lives of beauty, glory, and satisfaction in the face of overwhelming challenges. They 'raised a Heaven in Hell's despite.' They deserve to be remembered."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 196-206).
Table of contents: title: Ch. 1.; title: People On The Water --  -- Ch. 2.; title: The Strait That Disappeared --  -- Ch. 3.; title: Structures Of Everyday Life --  -- Ch. 4.; title: Family And Kin --  -- Ch. 5.; title: Emotions In The Household --  -- Ch. 6.; title: Fishermen In A Wider World: Community And Politics --  -- Ch. 7.; title: Religion At Castle Peak Bay --  -- Ch. 8.; title: Fishing People's Medicine --  -- Ch. 9.; title: Conclusion: Variations On Chinese Themes --  -- App. 1.; title: Salt Water Songs --  -- App. 2.; title: Life Histories.