Hèunggóngyàhn: On the past, present, and future of Hong Kong identity

Abstract

On 1 July 1997, Hong Kong was returned to China after a 150-year interlude as a British colony. This transition is not only political in nature, it is also a cultural transition. At present, two broad constructions of Hong Kong cultural identity vie for the allegiance of Hong Kong's people: “Hong Kong as a part of China” and “Hong Kong as apart from China.” These constructions of identity present are reflected in vying constructions of identity past: British-influenced historians and Chinese-influenced historians offer very different interpretations of Hong Kong's precolonial and colonial history in their arguments over whether or not Hong Kong is truly a “Chinese” city. These different interpretations point to a larger fact: between the competing hegemonies of the British and Chinese empires, Hong Kong people have only lately begun to define themselves as having an autonomous cultural identity. “Hongkongese” as a cultural identity involves a “Chineseness plus” that has three clusters of meaning: “Chineseness plus affluence/cosmopolitanism/capitalism,” “Chineseness plus English/colonial education/colonialism,” and “Chineseness plus democracy/human rights/the rule of law.” This article examines the cultural identity of the people of Hong Kong and argues that the survival of Heunggongyahn/Hongkongese as a cultural identity depends on whether or not the voices of democracy will continue to be heard in Hong Kong.On 1 July 1997, Hong Kong was handed over from Great Britain to China, an extraordinary development in the world history of colonialism. Mass media throughout the world have been focusing on the political issues of the handover, the jockeying of Great Britain and China over how Hong Kong is to be ruled. But the issue of Hong Kong's handover is not only political but also cultural: how, in light of their change of rulers, do Hong Kong's people identify themselves? Who do Hong Kong's people think they are? In this paper I examine two dominant conflicting discourses of Hong Kong's cultural identity, Hong Kong as apart from China and Hong Kong as a part of China; and I examine the past, present, and possible futures of heunggongyahn (Hong Kong people), the identity of being Hongkongese.