Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch is an organisation to encourage interest in Asia broadly, with an emphasis on Hong Kong. The society was founded in 1847 and folded 1859. It was revived on December 28, 1959. Its parent association is the

Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, commonly known as the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS), was established, according to its royal charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the en ...

. The Society is open to all with an interest in the art, literature and culture of China and Asia, with special reference to Hong Kong.

History

In 1847 the Hong Kong branch of the Royal Asiatic Society was founded under its parent society, the Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. The latter had in turn been founded in 1823 by Sir

Henry Thomas Colebrooke Henry Thomas Colebrooke FRS FRSE (15 June 1765 – 10 March 1837) was an English orientalist and mathematician. He has been described as "the first great Sanskrit scholar in Europe". Biography Henry Thomas Colebrooke was born on 15 June ...

and others. In 1824 the Asiatic Society received a Royal Charter from patron

King George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...

and was charged with ‘the investigation of subjects connected with and for the encouragement of science, literature and the arts in relation to Asia.’ In around 1838, branches were formed in Mumbai and Chennai, and Sri Lanka in 1845. The Hong Kong branch followed in 1847, with further branches in Shanghai, Japan, Malaya, and Korea being founded before the end of the 19th century. The Hong Kong branch folded in 1859, and was revived on 28 December 1959. The Hong Kong Branch was based upon the structure of the Royal Asiatic Society in London. Sir John F. Davis, Governor of Hong Kong, was asked to be President, more for his interest and learning than for his office. The Society was made a Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, which Davis had helped to found. The Asiatic Society became the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society in January 1847. Davis and his successor Sir

John Bowring Sir John Bowring , or Phraya Siamanukulkij Siammitrmahayot, , , group=note (17 October 1792 – 23 November 1872) was a British political economist, traveller, writer, literary translator, polyglot and the fourth Governor of Hong Kong. He was a ...

, also a scholar as well as Governor of Hong Kong, kept the Society active through their personal energy. Early officers of the Society included Thomas Francis Wade, who later created the Wade system of

romanization of Chinese Romanization of Chinese () is the use of the Latin alphabet to transliterate Chinese. Chinese uses a logographic script and its characters do not represent phonemes directly. There have been many systems using Roman characters to represent Chin ...

. Governor George Bonham granted the Society use of space in the Supreme Court building, but when Bowring left Hong Kong in May 1859 the Society folded.

James Legge James Legge (; 20 December 181529 November 1897) was a Scottish linguist, missionary, sinologist, and translator who was best known as an early translator of Classical Chinese texts into English. Legge served as a representative of the London ...

, as well and later Harry Parkes were not successful in their efforts to revive it. The Hong Kong Branch was resuscitated a century later, on December 28, 1959.

Publications

The original Society published six volumes of Transactions, the first in 1847 and the last in 1859. The revived Society's ''

Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch is an organisation to encourage interest in Asia broadly, with an emphasis on Hong Kong. The society was founded in 1847 and folded 1859. It was revived on December 28, 1959. Its parent association is the Roya ...

'' has been placed online by

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the fi ...

. Access is free for issues three years after the publication date.

People

Former presidents include: * Sir John F. Davis * Sir

James W. Hayes James William Hayes is a Hong Kong historian and retired civil servant. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of London.The University of Hong KongJames William Hayes Doctor of Letters ''honoris causa'' Citation by Professor Lee Ngok, 1992 Biograp ...

(1983–1990) * David Gilkes *

Deric Daniel Waters Deric Daniel Waters or Dan Waters (; 5 November 1920 – 27 January 2016) was a British educator, scholar of building science and heritage conservationist. He was the founding principal of the Morrison Hill Technical Institute in Hong Kong ...

(1996–2001) *

Patrick Hase Patrick H. Hase () is a historian specialized in the history of the New Territories, Hong Kong. He is a retired civil servant of British Hong Kong, living there from 1972 to present (as of 2020). Biography Patrick Hase started working in Hong Kong ...

Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong – Officers
/ref> * Robert Nield * Michael Broom

References

External links

Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch Website
{{Authority control Learned societies of Hong Kong Organizations established in 1847 1847 establishments in Hong Kong Organisations based in Hong Kong with royal patronage