1903 - 7 districts of the City of Victoria

Submitted by annelisec on Sun, 05/23/2010 - 19:42

Europe in China - Eitel - published 1895

In 1844, when the previously existing popular terms were officially adopted they were (original spellings used):

Sheungwan - West of Aberdeen Street

Chungwan - Aberdeen Street to Glenealy

Hawan - East of Glenealy

As the city grew, the discricts were further refined in 1903:

Transcribed from the book "City of Victoria"

Western circuit
    1 yeuk     Kennedy Town to Shek Tong Tsui
    2 yeuk     Shek Tong Tsui to Sai Ying Pun
    3 yeuk     Sai Ying Poon

上環 - Upper circuit (Sheung Wan)
    4 yeuk     eastern half of Connaught Road West
    5 yeuk     Western Market     Central Market

中環 - Central circuit (Jung Wan)
6 yeuk Central Market to Arsenal Street

下環 - Lower circuit (Ha Wan, not commonly used)

7 yeuk - Arsenal Street to Wan Chai Road

Not part of a circuit

8 yeuk - Wanchai Road to Bowerington Canal
9 yeuk - Bowering Canal to Causeway Bay

Observation Point to Tin Hau Temple in Causeway Bay, Kellett Island (commonly know as Lantern Island)

re: 7 districts of the City of Victoria

hi Annelise,

Anything we can help with?

Regards, David

Before the reclamation ...

One of the reasons that Hong Kong has an artificial feel is that much of the land is reclamation - not "real" at all. Hills have been leveled for 150 years. I'd like to go back to the land before reclamation, outline the sections, the neighbourhoods, the original streams and find the tie to the real land. I can do that out here in Stanley, but on the North Shore of HK Island, "if its flat, it isn't real" prevails.

We cavalierly say "Morission Hill was tossed into the harbour to make Wanchai", and "East Point Hill was demolished for housing". All well and good. It is the Hong Kong way. But the spirit of the hills remain in the curve of the roads that used to skirt them.

I've found a reference to the seven original districts, but don't know their actual boundaries. What were they, and what were their boundries. (using the Admin tool to outline them on a map, like you did with East Point Hill) would be good.

re: Before the reclamation

The introduction to the book City of Victoria says:

Meanwhile, the Chinese had different names for the City of Victoria and its environs, calling it "Four Circuits and Nine Yeuks".

It goes on to give rough outlines of each one, but maybe they are already too late for you, as the city was already being built.

For even earlier Hong Kong, the presentation slides and the first video from Dr Patrick Hase's talk might have some useful info too.

Regards, David

PS On a related topic I've often thought it would be good to see a colour-coded map of Hong Kong & Kowloon, where you don't see the usual colours representing the current height of the ground. Instead colours show how many metres a piece of land today is lower than it was before any construction started.

7 districts of the City of Victoria

Don't have the boundaries, but if not already known, the districts were Kennedy Town, Shektongtsui, Sei Ying Poon,Tai Ping Shan, Sheung Wan, Choong Wan and So Kon Po.

7 districts of the City of Victoria

I have seen various old maps of the City of Victoria. The name and number of districts changed over time.

Also, I also wonder how the "Four Circuits and Nine Yeuks" came about and whether they correspond to the districts as defined by the colonial government. I think the four circuits are themselves districts, and the nine yeuks seem to have been sub-districts. Does this guess make sense?

1844 - 3 districts

The division of the town into the present three districts (Sheungwan, Chungwan, Hawan), the lines of demarcation being Aberdeen Street in the West and Elliot's Vale (the present Glenealy ravine) in the East, dates from July 24, 1844, when the previously existing popular terms were officially adopted.

Europe in China - published 1895

eBook - read the original text http://www.archive.org/stream/europeinchinahis00eiterich#page/220/mode/…

Sheung Wan - 上環 ( 上 upper, 環 circuit, or loop)
Chung Wan - 中環 ( 中 middle, 環 circuit, or loop)
Ha Wan - 下環 ( 下 lower, 環 circuit, or loop )

District (Yeuk) 1 - Sai Ying Pun - 1857

Sai Ying Pun was designated as District No. 1 in 1857 when Hong Kong was divided into seven urban districts. The exact boundaries of the original district are not known, as the earliest sources make reference to the western boundary as being at the former village of Cow Ee Wan (exact location unknown) and running to the location of the current Bonham Strand.

http://www.epd.gov.hk/eia/register/report/eiareport/eia_1532008/EIA-pdf/Appendix/app%206.2.pdf

The present districts of Victoria

As Victoria has grown a lot since its foundation in the 1840s, the boundaries of Victoria and its various districts have changed a few times over the years. Below are the maps of the districts of Victoria today: the districts' boundaries are highlighted by maroon lines, while the areas shaded in light pink are Google Maps' own understanding of the locations and boundaries of the districts concerned; right click on the image and click 'Open link in new tab' on the menu to view the image in full size. There're now nine districts in Victoria: Kennedy Town, Shek Tong Tsui, Sai Ying Pun, Sheung Wan, Central, Wan Chai, Causeway Bay, Hill Above Belcher's, and Mid-levels.

1. Kennedy Town district, Victoria