Refugees and Religion in Hong Kong: 1945–1960

Abstract

This article points to the importance of religion for refugees and the migration process. After World War II and civil war in China, many refugees flocked to Hong Kong (HK) for safe haven in the British colony, and possible subsequent migration abroad. Christian congregations in HK, and missionaries who themselves were refugees from China, offered hospitality and support services across refugee groups. They advocated for the colonial government to help settle refugees by building low-cost urban housing, schools, medical clinics and new infrastructure. This new workforce was crucial to HK’s industrialization which took-off in the 1950s. With the decline of HK’s trade economy due to the Cold War embargo of China, many refugees became entrepreneurs-of-necessity by starting family businesses that absorbed migrant labour. Religiously-inspired assistance to refugees, from within one’s group and beyond, made a big difference in assimilating newcomers and helping them to rebuild their lives in adverse conditions. Beyond Christian responses, the article also explores the role of the Wong Tai Sin Taoist temple in Kowloon, itself uprooted from Guangzhou and replanted in HK. It reassured displaced people with cultural continuity to their ancestor halls and offered psycho-social assistance through spirit-writing divination, herbal medicine and Taoist worship adapted from rural Chinese villages to urban workers struggling to improve their lives and adapt to Hong Kong.