THE FAR EASTERN REVIEW - Hong Kong Articles & Reports

Guest author Peter Crush introduces a little-known resource with valuable information about the development of Hong Kong's industry and infrastructure in the early 20th century.

THE FAR EASTERN REVIEW
(Monthly Journal published in Manila & then later Shanghai 1904 - 1941)

The logo of The Far Eastern Review and examples of front covers

Introduction

Over the past 24 months I have created a number of Gwulo forum ‘Topics’ as well as posting individual images selected from this journal (hereafter the “FER”). Administrator David asked if it would be possible to prepare an index of Hong Kong-related extracts and post this as a forum topic for the benefit of followers and other researchers of Hong Kong history. I initially baulked at this suggestion bearing in mind that the entire run of 37 annual volumes (each, with a few exceptions, having twelve monthly issues) has overall about thirty thousand pages if advertisement pages are included. It had taken me some twenty years on and off to trawl through this journal looking for any pages containing any mention of early Chinese railway construction, which is my own area of special interest. I eventually finished my index project for Chinese railways within the FER last year. That project was not made easy by the FER’s own poorly constructed and inconsistent indexes, which in some in some years were entirely completely lacking.

After further consideration I have prepared a provisional index for Hong Kong related reports within the FER based upon those annual Indexes or ‘Contents’ lists where they do exist. I have also utilized my accumulated knowledge of how this journal mutated and evolved in style over the years to search in other sections for likely references to Hong Kong (or rather “Hongkong”, as was the normal spelling in this era).

The list below should not be regarded as exhaustive. In the first few years there were no annual indexes but (sometimes) short “Contents” lists which were limited to major articles. Many shorter reports were not listed but were published within sections of the magazine captioned (inconsistently) as Railway News, Engineering News, Construction News, Mining News, Shipping News or Commercial & Financial Reports etc.

For more detailed information about this journal including its history, evolution and how to find access to library holdings it is suggested that researchers should first read the Wikipedia page about The Far Eastern Review (follow this link) which was also created by Wikipedia & Gwulo contributor ‘Chinarail’.

(Above) Examples of FER front covers containing articles about Hong Kong

Articles & Reports within the FER relating to Hong Kong

NOTES:

1. Topics typed in italic text have been digitally scanned by Gwulo contributor ‘Chinarail’ and may be downloaded from the “Research.org.”academic website free of charge. Follow this link ( https://www.researchgate.net/project/The-Far-Eastern-Review-Research-Notes-on-Chinese-railways ) and navigate your way to Chinarail’s RESEARCH / PROJECTS / and click on PROJECT LOG / and then select the appropriate pdf file downloads by date. These scans covering some 35 years of reports within The Far Eastern Review between 1904 and 1941 are to confined to the development of China’s railways ( including Hong Kong) . Because of the large pdf file sizes the project has been split into multiple sections (15 Parts)

2. A selection of topics not related to railways but concerning Hong Kong’s industrial history has also been scanned and provide the basis for some Forum Topics posted on Gwulo. Where this is the case in the above list, active hyperlinks to the relevant Gwulo (or external ) websites are highlighted. To read the specific topic just click on the highlighted link. Note, however that posts only include illustrations and limited extracts of the original text and illustrations. For the full publication researchers should resort to accessing the relevant full editions of The Far Eastern Review

3. A full Contents and Index project for almost the entire run of the journal. This is also downloadable as a pdf file from the Researchgate.org.’s website: https://www.researchgate.net/project/THE-FAR-EASTERN-REVIEW-INDEXES-CONTENTS-PAGES ( follow the link and select the appropriate Project Log for the download ). However, bear in mind this project is not comprehensive and is based upon the indexes if and when published and many shorter reports within the FER were omitted.

Thanks to Peter for the considerable effort involved in compiling the above list, and for generously sharing it with us.

Peter came to Hong Kong from U.K in 1965 as a trainee police inspector after completing sixth-form science studies at the King’s School Macclesfield. In 1972, having resigned from the police force he went on to have a twenty-year career with HAECO at the former Kai Tak Airport. While serving with this company he also invested in his own businesses, one of which was the establishment of The Railway Tavern, in Tai Wai.

Descending from a family with a long railway background he has also found time to pursue an interest in researching Chinese railway history and rail-spotting around China. Over a thirty-year period, he has accumulated a large collection of photographs, documents and ephemera associated with this hobby, a resource which is now increasingly consulted and cited by other historians in publications and exhibitions. He has two books published on Chinese railways history and is Honorary Curator to the Kailuan Mine Park  (开滦国家矿山公园 ) and associated railway museum in Tangshan, north China and has recently been appointed as Honorary Research Fellow of the Macau University of Science &  Technology’s Tong King Sing Research Centre.  Peter is also a Wikipedia on-line encyclopaedia contributor and writer.

In the initial introduction Peter mentioned he has contributed several pages to Gwulo, often based on clippings from the FER. Here is a list of the pages he has created and / or contributed to, under his pen name 'Chinarail'.