Cantonese people in Hong Kong

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

Cantonese people represent the largest group in Hong Kong. The definition usually includes people whose ancestral homes are in Yue Chinese speaking regions of Guangdong province, specifically the guangfu (廣府) region, although sometimes Sze Yap people, the Hakka people or Teochew people (Chiu Chow/Teochew) may be included.[1] Historic Hong Kong censuses distinguished people of Guangdong origin into Guangzhou and Macau, Sze Yap (Siyi), Chaozhou, and Hainan origins, as well as the Indigenous people of the New Territories.

When the population census was first conducted in 1881, it found only 3668 people, with over 95% percent of the population being from Guangdong Province.

Gregory Guldin describes a "Cantonese chauvinism" where the Cantonese are seen as superior to the other Chinese groups in Hong Kong.[2]

In the first few post-war decades, there was an economic rivalry between the Cantonese and the minority Shanghainese. Cantonese could be said to be less willing to work with the British colonizers in their business dealings, and subsequently were less preferred to become representatives to the Legislative Council.[3][full citation needed]

Statistics

[edit]

1961 Census data of Cantonese speakers by district

[edit]
Hong Kong Island % Kowloon % New Territories % Islands %
Central 90.5 Tsim Sha Tsui 69.7 Tsuen Wan 58.6 - 68.6
Sheung Wan 89.5 Yau Ma Tei 91.8 Tsing Yi 56.6
West 79.8 Mong Kok 87.2 Ma Wan 60.4
Mid-levels/Pok Fu Lam 77.2 Kowloon City 75.1 North 59.1
Peak 44.4 Sham Shui Po 80.2 Sai Kung 35.0
Wan Chai 91.2 Kwun Tong 61.7 Sha Tin 68.9
Tai Hang 81.3 Wong Tai Sin 68.0 Tai Po 48.8
North Point 74.9 Tuen Mun 66.5
Shau Kei Wan 86.2 Yuen Long 71.9
Aberdeen 87.9
South 72.5

Average: 78.98

Standard Deviation: 14.8

Coefficient of Variation: 0.21



See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ City on the Rocks: Hong Kong's Uncertain Future - Page 196 Kevin Rafferty · 1990: quote: Wu's admirers describe him as the man of the future and ( forgetting Li Ka - shing ) as Hong Kong's first Cantonese billionaire
  2. ^ Guldin, Gregory Eliyu (1997). "Hong Kong Ethnicity of Folk Models and Change". In Evan, Grant; Tam, Maria (eds.). Hong Kong : the anthropology of a Chinese metropolis. Richmond: Curzon. p. 27. ISBN 9780700706013.
  3. ^ Goodstat

Sources

[edit]
  • Goodstadt, Leo F. (2010), "The Shanghainese: Colonial Allies, Colonial Heirs", Uneasy Partners: The Conflict Between Public Interest and Private Profit in Hong Kong, Hong Kong University Press, ISBN 978-988-8028-09-2
  • Topley, Marjorie. Cantonese Society in Hong Kong and Singapore: Gender, Religion, Medicine and Money. Hong Kong, Hong Kong University Press, 2011.