Sources evaluation and assessment methods

¶ … Lowe, Kate. "Hong Kong's Missing History." History Today, 41.12 (1991) [8 Jun 2012]

http://www.historytoday.com/kate-lowe/hong-kongs-missing-history

Category of the source

"Hong Kong's Missing History" is an electronic version of a journal article. History Today is a journal that is geared towards a popular audience, but is written by journalists with strong academic backgrounds in history.

This article was written upon the eve of the takeover of the prosperous, capitalist British colonial possession of Hong Kong by China. It suggests that the cosmopolitan identity of Hong Kong is unique, and still evolving, and cannot be subsumed under either a British or a Chinese national character.

Q3. A quick list of key points

Hong Kong's status as part of China is described as inalienable, in terms of legitimate historical clams. However, despite the dubious nature of Great Britain's dominion over Hong Kong for so many years, the people of Hong Kong did not necessarily embrace Chinese rule with eagerness. The embarrassment of Britain's former colonial past prevented Britain from allowing the residents to declare national independence vs. automatically allowing Hong Kong to be subsumed into China without a referendum.

Q4. How (specifically) this source can be useful to write history?

This source paints an evocative picture of recent history: it illustrates the anxieties many Hong Kong residents felt about China assuming control over their nation and some of the historical background and controversies that have since been forgotten, now that Hong Kong is part of China.

Q5. The specific limitations or drawbacks of the source

There are two main drawbacks. 1. The source obviously does not provide information on the immediate, contemporary context of Chinese rule over Hong Kong. 2. Although it is written by an academic, it is not from a peer-reviewed journal and lacks a bibliography and citations useful for research.

Q6. Contextual information that you find relevant: the biography or credentials of the author, the expertise or reputation of the publication (for a journal or magazine, etc.), how it contributes to an existing conversation.

Kate Lowe was a History Department lecturer at The University of Hong Kong (1985-1988).

Source 2

Kan, Flora & Edward Vickers. "One Hong Kong: Two Histories 'Chinese History' and 'History' in the Hong Kong School Curriculum. Paper presented at the Australian Curriculum Studies. Association Biennial Conference, Perth, September 29 -- October 2, 1999. [8 Jun 2012] http://www.acsa.edu.au/pages/images/99_kan_one_honk_kong.pdf

Q1. Category of the source

This is a paper that was presented at an educational conference.

Q2. Summary of the source

The construction of history shapes how citizens educated within a nation's educational system view their lives and leadership. In the Hong Kong curriculum, 'history' and 'Chinese history' are separated as two different subjects. This paper examines why and how this division evolved and the consequences of this for Hong Kong.