Bao'an County , formerly named Xin'an County is a historical region of South China. It is the predecessor of the modern city of Shenzhen.
During the Han Dynasty, and at the time of the Three Kingdoms, the later Bao'an County, together with those of Dongguan and Boluo, formed only one large district, bearing the name of Boluo .
In 331, the Eastern Jin Dynasty established Bao'an County, which was one of the six counties under Dōngguān Prefecture. This prefecture's area covered modern Shenzhen and Dongguan. Since the second year of the Zhide of of the Tang Dynasty , Dōngguān was renamed to Dōngguǎn . Hongwu Emperor, the founder of the Ming dynasty , found it necessary in the 27th year of his reign to appoint an officer with the title "Shou-yu-suo" - ''Protector of the region'', in order to protect the population, which was rapidly increasing, against the bands of robbers and vagabonds which infested the district.
During the age in Ming Dynasty, Bao'an County was renamed to Xin'an County in 1573 AD. Its areas covers modern Shenzhen and Hong Kong.
In Qing Dynasty, the Xin'an County, to which the mainland opposite to the Island of Hong Kong belongs, was one of the fourteen districts of the department of Guangdong. From 1842 to 1898, 1055.61 km2 out of 3076 km2 of Xin'an County was ceded to United Kingdom to form Hong Kong.
After the Republic of China was founded, the name of Xin'an was changed back to Bao'an in 1913.
In 1979, Bao'an County was renamed to Shenzhen City and became a Special Economic Zone.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Wanshan Archipelago Campaign
Campaign was a campaign fought between the communist and the forces during the Chinese Civil War for the control of Wanshan Archipelago , and resulted in communist victory. The archipelago consists of 48 islands strategically located at the mouth of the Pearl River, a chokepoint on the communication lines to Hong Kong and Macau. The largest island is the Laurel Mountain Island, which was formerly known as Trash Tail Island. Other major islands included Outer Linding Island, Dong’ao Island, Tri-gate Island, Greater Ten-thousand Mountain Island, Lesser Ten-thousand Mountain Island, Burden Pole Islands, and Jianpeng Islands.
After Hainan Island had fallen into the communist hands, the 3rd Fleet withdrew to Wanshan Archipelago and together with the various nationalist units as the local garrison, the nationalists planned to blockade the mouth of the Pearl River and cutting off the maritime links between the mainland and Hong Kong and Macau. The naval commander-in-chief Gui Yongqing organized the Wanshan Defense Command, and named commander-in-chief of the 3rd Fleet Qi Hongzhang as the commander, who set up his headquarter on board the frigate Taihe , the largest warship among more than three dozen naval vessels in the region, and the flagship of the 3rd Fleet. In response, the communist force decided to take the archipelago and eliminate the threat and crush the blockade of the mouth of the Pearl River. The communist deputy corps commander Hong Xuezhi was named as the commander of the Riverine Defense Force of the Cantonese Military Region to be in charge of the incoming operation, and the commander of force began to mass at Zhongshan on May 8, 1950 after a joint command headquarter was setup.
order of battle
Around 4,000, including:
*1 Marine regiment
*1 battalion from the 208th Division of the Youth Army
*6 infantry companies of various units
*Units of the Cantonese Assault Army
*The 3rd Fleet
**More than 30 naval vessels, later increased to more than 40.
Communist order of battle
Around 10,000 total, including:
*2 regiments from the 131st Division of the 44th Army
*1 Artillery battalion of the 132nd Division
*1 Artillery company of the 130th Division
*1 Artillery company of the South-central Military Region with 100 long range cannons
*1 Artillery company from the 50th Army with recoilless guns
*1 Artillery regiment of the Pearl River sub-Military Region
*Riverine Defense Force of the Cantonese Military Region
**5 gunboats
**1 Landing ship
**10 Landing craft
**8 Transports
The communist task force sailed to Wanshan Archipelago at the dawn of May 25, 1950. Shortly before dawn, the advance guard of the communist force in charge of fire support reached the anchorage at the Laurel Mountain Island. The communist gunboat Liberation, a former gunboat named Dancing Phoenix defected to the communist side commanded by its former commander, Captain Lin Wenhu , a brilliant naval officer, launched a surprise attack on the naval force at the anchorage under the cover of darkness. Fully aware that his 25-ton gunboat was completely incapable of sinking its large opponents each displaced over a thousand tons, Captain Lin skillfully ordered his crew to concentrate fire on the superstructures of larger enemy ships. Nearly every large warship in the anchorage had its bridge struck, and the flagship, the frigate Taihe suffered the most: nearly everyone on the bridge was either killed or wounded, and Qi Hongzhang , the commander-in-chief was severely wounded himself. With the commander-in-chief severely wounded and most of his staff killed, the command in charge of both land and naval defense was thus effectively paralyzed. The confined space of the anchorage severely limited the maneuverability of the warships for fearing collision in the darkness, and the communist gunboat was able to utilizing the blind spots of the larger naval guns by fighting at extremely close quarter when engaging the larger enemy ships after sinking a gunboat. In the meantime, two other communist gunboats, Vanguard and Struggle, managed to sunk two gunboats east of Ox Head Island, while two battalions of the communist landing force took Green Islet and Triangle Island.
After the sunrise, the fleet discovered that there was only a single small communist gunboat fighting them, and as the enraged sailors attempted to avenge the deaths of their comrades-in-arms, every naval vessel available joined the chase of the communist 25-ton gunboat Liberation. However, unbeknown to the fleet, it was drawn to a temporary but carefully and skillfully designed trap devised by the communist gunboat captain, who was luring his opponent away from the islands, thus opening the way for the communist landing force. Once the fleet realized its mistake, it was too late: although the fleet managed to severely damage the communist landing ship Guishan in the chase, the communist landing ship nonetheless successfully beached itself and unloaded all of the landing force it carried.
The fleet was soon faced another dilemma: continue fighting the two communist naval vessels or saving the dying sailors, including the severely wounded commander-in-chief, who was out of consciousness by already this time. The loyal subordinates of the commander-in-chief chose not to let their commanding officer to die like many other wounded sailors, and speed away from the battlefield to seek better medical help in attempting to save those who were dying. Fearing additional communist naval units that may launch another round of attack, all other naval vessels retreated from the battlefield around an hour after the first shot was fired, protecting the wounded flagship from possible enemy attacks, thus enabling the 25-ton communist gunboat Liberation to safely return to its mainland base in a hero’s welcome, but naval force nonetheless succeeded in killing the communist deputy political commissar of the flotilla on board the gunboat.
Unfortunately for the s, due to the chaos of the battle and the damage to the communication gears on board most of its naval vessels, the decision for the naval units to retreat from the battlefield to save the dying sailors and commanders was not relayed to force on the island, where the defenders interpreted such retreat as fleeing and abandoning them, and the morale of the land force collapsed as a result. In the meantime, the communist troops landed on the island believed the same and their morale was drastically boosted and their pressure on the defenders intensified. The demoralized defenders had managed to hold on their positions until the nightfall, and then asked and was allowed retreated from the island under the cover of darkness.
Once the main anchorage of the Wanshan Archipelago , the Laurel Mountain Island fell into the enemy hands, many other islands fell in a domino effect. From May 25, 1950 thru May 28, 1950, Ox Head island, Spider Islet , Dalu , Large Head Islet and other small islets fell into the enemy hands.
On May 28, 1950, the naval force at the region was reinforced by 3 frigates, 2 landing ships, 4 , and several gunboats newly arrived from Taiwan. The naval force cruised in waters north of Little Green Islet and Ox Head island, attempted to bombard the enemy positions on lands and the transport fleet. As the enemy gunboats came out to meet them, the force still weary of previous naval engagement three days ago withdrew to open ocean, where the conditions favored the larger fleet because there was more space to maneuver. However, the enemy gunboats did not pursuit because the communists were fully aware their meek naval strength and once the mission of preventing the naval fleet from bombarding the communist assets was completed, the communists gunboats withdrew.
Although the bombardment mission ended early and thus was not a success, the s were quick to devise a plan based on the experience to counterattack by wiping out the enemy naval force after luring it out to the open ocean, and then retake the islands from the enemy who would not have any naval support of their own. However, the enemy also learned from earlier experience and reached the conclusion of not to engaging the much stronger naval force in the open ocean where the condition favored the latter. In attempt to search the enemy, a detachment of the fleet ventured too close to shore and three ships suffered damages from enemy shore batteries on the Large Head Islet and Triangle Island on May 30, 1950. The s consequently changed their tactics by letting the enemy come to them at the waters favored the s, instead of going to the enemy’s turf to seek out the enemy in the coastal regions that favored the enemy.
However, the enemy had learned from the engagement as well and correctly deducted the objective, and thus made a plan of their own to counter that of the : instead of falling into the trap by fighting the way s had wanted, the best way to engage the superior naval fleet was to utilize the long range shore batteries, and the much weaker naval force would act as auxiliary to the shore batteries.
On June 5, 1950, the enemy force adopted the leapfrog tactic under the cover of shore batteries on adjacent islands and islets close by, succeeding in taking Dong’ao Island, Greater Ten-thousand Mountain Island, and Lesser Ten-thousand Mountain Island, forcing the to withdrew to Outer Linding Island, Burden Pole Island and other outlaying islands. At the night of June 26, 1950, the enemy had secretly set up the long range shore batteries on Tri-gate Island under the cover of darkness, and the enemy gunboats were also deployed accordingly.
Unaware the enemy’s plan, the naval fleet carried out their original plan with the help of three more warships newly arrived from Taiwan, including destroyers. More than a dozen warships were deployed in waters near Outer Linding Island, Burden Pole Islands, attempting to lure out the enemy naval units. In the early morning of June 27, 1950, the hidden enemy shore batteries suddenly opened up on the unsuspecting fleet, and defenders on the held islands, the fierce fight lasted for more than five hours.
After numerous extraordinarily brave but completely futile attempts to approach the shore to support the defenders on land which resulted in one gunboat sunk, one destroyer, two large patrol craft two and two gunboats damaged, it was painfully clear that the outgunned fleet must withdraw to the open waters further away in order to avoid annihilation by the superior enemy artillery on land. The enemy’s tactic of using numerically superior land artilleries with greater range than that of naval guns proved to be a great success and prevented any naval attempt to support their comrades-in-arms on lands. With the cover of superior firepower from the lands, the enemy was able to deploy the leapfrog tactic to take the remaining islands in the hands. By July 1, 1950, the Outer Linding Island fell into the enemy hands, and by August 3, 1950, Burden Pole Islands also fell. On August 4, 1950, Direct Bay , Northern Sharp , and Temple Bay and other islands fell into the enemy hands. Finally, on August 7, 1950, the communist campaign to take the Wanshan Archipelago ended in total victory after taking the Mosquito Tail Islet
The communist takeover of the Wanshan Archipelago eliminated the threat to its vital shipping lines to Hong Kong and Macau and crushed blockade of mouth of the Pearl River. The Wanshan Archipelago Campaign was the first combined army and naval operation for the communists and in addition to damaging and sinking enemy ships, eleven enemy ships were captured and they provided valuable local defense asset once they were completely repaired and returned to the active service in the communist fleet. One of the major contributor to the success was the correct tactics of not engaging the overwhelmingly superior opposing naval fleet, but instead, utilizing the numerically and technically superior shore batteries that the communists did enjoy to engage opposing naval targets that were outgunned. The largest island, the Trash Tail Island, was renamed Laurel Mountain Island, in honor of the landing ship Laurel Mountain , the largest communist naval vessel participated in the conflict.
The control of the Wanshan Archipelago was mostly symbolic for political propaganda and the battle for the control of thearchipelago was destined to fail for the same simple reason just like the earlier Battle of Nan'ao Island: the location was just too far away from any friendly bases and thus it was difficult to support in war, and when the support was available, it was rather costly. Although the largest island provided a relatively good anchorage, there was just not enough land to build any comprehensive facilities and infrastructures to support a fleet. As a result, many of the repairs that could be done locally had the comprehensive facilities and infrastructures been available would require traveling back to the distant friendly bases, thus greatly increased cost. When a major damage occurred, tugs were needed to tow the damaged vessel, and in the event of war when tugs could not be available, the damaged vessels had to be abandoned. In contrast, the enemy had comprehensive facilities and infrastructures on the mainland and since the archipelago at the enemy’s doorstep, they could simply recover the abandoned vessels and repair them after taking them back to the mainland, and put them back into service to fight against the former owners of these vessels, as the case of the eleven naval vessels abandoned by the s after the battle.
As for the blockade of the mouth of the Pearl River, it certainly caused difficulties for the enemy. However, these difficulties could be overcame because there were and still are link between the mainland and Hong Kong, and Macau via land, and for the maritime traffic, the naval force could only cover the coastal region outside the effective range of the enemy’s land batteries and the enemy could simply move a little deeper into the Pearl River to avoid the naval force. Though this did indeed increased the cost for the enemy, the price tag for the operation of the naval task force performing this duty so far away from any support base was far greater comparatively speaking, because enemy transportation was mostly by wooden that only required wind, while the modern navy required much more, such as fuel and maintenance supplies. Many strategist and naval commanders had pointed out this disadvantage and along with the geographically disadvantage , wisely and correctly suggest to withdraw from the Wanshan Archipelago in order to strengthen the defense elsewhere, but their requests were denied because holding on something at the enemy’s door step would have a significant symbolic meaning of great political propaganda value, but when the inevitable fall had finally occurred, the resulting disaster had negated any previous gains in political and psychological propaganda.
Prelude
After Hainan Island had fallen into the communist hands, the 3rd Fleet withdrew to Wanshan Archipelago and together with the various nationalist units as the local garrison, the nationalists planned to blockade the mouth of the Pearl River and cutting off the maritime links between the mainland and Hong Kong and Macau. The naval commander-in-chief Gui Yongqing organized the Wanshan Defense Command, and named commander-in-chief of the 3rd Fleet Qi Hongzhang as the commander, who set up his headquarter on board the frigate Taihe , the largest warship among more than three dozen naval vessels in the region, and the flagship of the 3rd Fleet. In response, the communist force decided to take the archipelago and eliminate the threat and crush the blockade of the mouth of the Pearl River. The communist deputy corps commander Hong Xuezhi was named as the commander of the Riverine Defense Force of the Cantonese Military Region to be in charge of the incoming operation, and the commander of force began to mass at Zhongshan on May 8, 1950 after a joint command headquarter was setup.
Order of battle
order of battle
Around 4,000, including:
*1 Marine regiment
*1 battalion from the 208th Division of the Youth Army
*6 infantry companies of various units
*Units of the Cantonese Assault Army
*The 3rd Fleet
**More than 30 naval vessels, later increased to more than 40.
Communist order of battle
Around 10,000 total, including:
*2 regiments from the 131st Division of the 44th Army
*1 Artillery battalion of the 132nd Division
*1 Artillery company of the 130th Division
*1 Artillery company of the South-central Military Region with 100 long range cannons
*1 Artillery company from the 50th Army with recoilless guns
*1 Artillery regiment of the Pearl River sub-Military Region
*Riverine Defense Force of the Cantonese Military Region
**5 gunboats
**1 Landing ship
**10 Landing craft
**8 Transports
First stage
The communist task force sailed to Wanshan Archipelago at the dawn of May 25, 1950. Shortly before dawn, the advance guard of the communist force in charge of fire support reached the anchorage at the Laurel Mountain Island. The communist gunboat Liberation, a former gunboat named Dancing Phoenix defected to the communist side commanded by its former commander, Captain Lin Wenhu , a brilliant naval officer, launched a surprise attack on the naval force at the anchorage under the cover of darkness. Fully aware that his 25-ton gunboat was completely incapable of sinking its large opponents each displaced over a thousand tons, Captain Lin skillfully ordered his crew to concentrate fire on the superstructures of larger enemy ships. Nearly every large warship in the anchorage had its bridge struck, and the flagship, the frigate Taihe suffered the most: nearly everyone on the bridge was either killed or wounded, and Qi Hongzhang , the commander-in-chief was severely wounded himself. With the commander-in-chief severely wounded and most of his staff killed, the command in charge of both land and naval defense was thus effectively paralyzed. The confined space of the anchorage severely limited the maneuverability of the warships for fearing collision in the darkness, and the communist gunboat was able to utilizing the blind spots of the larger naval guns by fighting at extremely close quarter when engaging the larger enemy ships after sinking a gunboat. In the meantime, two other communist gunboats, Vanguard and Struggle, managed to sunk two gunboats east of Ox Head Island, while two battalions of the communist landing force took Green Islet and Triangle Island.
After the sunrise, the fleet discovered that there was only a single small communist gunboat fighting them, and as the enraged sailors attempted to avenge the deaths of their comrades-in-arms, every naval vessel available joined the chase of the communist 25-ton gunboat Liberation. However, unbeknown to the fleet, it was drawn to a temporary but carefully and skillfully designed trap devised by the communist gunboat captain, who was luring his opponent away from the islands, thus opening the way for the communist landing force. Once the fleet realized its mistake, it was too late: although the fleet managed to severely damage the communist landing ship Guishan in the chase, the communist landing ship nonetheless successfully beached itself and unloaded all of the landing force it carried.
The fleet was soon faced another dilemma: continue fighting the two communist naval vessels or saving the dying sailors, including the severely wounded commander-in-chief, who was out of consciousness by already this time. The loyal subordinates of the commander-in-chief chose not to let their commanding officer to die like many other wounded sailors, and speed away from the battlefield to seek better medical help in attempting to save those who were dying. Fearing additional communist naval units that may launch another round of attack, all other naval vessels retreated from the battlefield around an hour after the first shot was fired, protecting the wounded flagship from possible enemy attacks, thus enabling the 25-ton communist gunboat Liberation to safely return to its mainland base in a hero’s welcome, but naval force nonetheless succeeded in killing the communist deputy political commissar of the flotilla on board the gunboat.
Unfortunately for the s, due to the chaos of the battle and the damage to the communication gears on board most of its naval vessels, the decision for the naval units to retreat from the battlefield to save the dying sailors and commanders was not relayed to force on the island, where the defenders interpreted such retreat as fleeing and abandoning them, and the morale of the land force collapsed as a result. In the meantime, the communist troops landed on the island believed the same and their morale was drastically boosted and their pressure on the defenders intensified. The demoralized defenders had managed to hold on their positions until the nightfall, and then asked and was allowed retreated from the island under the cover of darkness.
Once the main anchorage of the Wanshan Archipelago , the Laurel Mountain Island fell into the enemy hands, many other islands fell in a domino effect. From May 25, 1950 thru May 28, 1950, Ox Head island, Spider Islet , Dalu , Large Head Islet and other small islets fell into the enemy hands.
Second stage
On May 28, 1950, the naval force at the region was reinforced by 3 frigates, 2 landing ships, 4 , and several gunboats newly arrived from Taiwan. The naval force cruised in waters north of Little Green Islet and Ox Head island, attempted to bombard the enemy positions on lands and the transport fleet. As the enemy gunboats came out to meet them, the force still weary of previous naval engagement three days ago withdrew to open ocean, where the conditions favored the larger fleet because there was more space to maneuver. However, the enemy gunboats did not pursuit because the communists were fully aware their meek naval strength and once the mission of preventing the naval fleet from bombarding the communist assets was completed, the communists gunboats withdrew.
Although the bombardment mission ended early and thus was not a success, the s were quick to devise a plan based on the experience to counterattack by wiping out the enemy naval force after luring it out to the open ocean, and then retake the islands from the enemy who would not have any naval support of their own. However, the enemy also learned from earlier experience and reached the conclusion of not to engaging the much stronger naval force in the open ocean where the condition favored the latter. In attempt to search the enemy, a detachment of the fleet ventured too close to shore and three ships suffered damages from enemy shore batteries on the Large Head Islet and Triangle Island on May 30, 1950. The s consequently changed their tactics by letting the enemy come to them at the waters favored the s, instead of going to the enemy’s turf to seek out the enemy in the coastal regions that favored the enemy.
However, the enemy had learned from the engagement as well and correctly deducted the objective, and thus made a plan of their own to counter that of the : instead of falling into the trap by fighting the way s had wanted, the best way to engage the superior naval fleet was to utilize the long range shore batteries, and the much weaker naval force would act as auxiliary to the shore batteries.
Third stage
On June 5, 1950, the enemy force adopted the leapfrog tactic under the cover of shore batteries on adjacent islands and islets close by, succeeding in taking Dong’ao Island, Greater Ten-thousand Mountain Island, and Lesser Ten-thousand Mountain Island, forcing the to withdrew to Outer Linding Island, Burden Pole Island and other outlaying islands. At the night of June 26, 1950, the enemy had secretly set up the long range shore batteries on Tri-gate Island under the cover of darkness, and the enemy gunboats were also deployed accordingly.
Unaware the enemy’s plan, the naval fleet carried out their original plan with the help of three more warships newly arrived from Taiwan, including destroyers. More than a dozen warships were deployed in waters near Outer Linding Island, Burden Pole Islands, attempting to lure out the enemy naval units. In the early morning of June 27, 1950, the hidden enemy shore batteries suddenly opened up on the unsuspecting fleet, and defenders on the held islands, the fierce fight lasted for more than five hours.
After numerous extraordinarily brave but completely futile attempts to approach the shore to support the defenders on land which resulted in one gunboat sunk, one destroyer, two large patrol craft two and two gunboats damaged, it was painfully clear that the outgunned fleet must withdraw to the open waters further away in order to avoid annihilation by the superior enemy artillery on land. The enemy’s tactic of using numerically superior land artilleries with greater range than that of naval guns proved to be a great success and prevented any naval attempt to support their comrades-in-arms on lands. With the cover of superior firepower from the lands, the enemy was able to deploy the leapfrog tactic to take the remaining islands in the hands. By July 1, 1950, the Outer Linding Island fell into the enemy hands, and by August 3, 1950, Burden Pole Islands also fell. On August 4, 1950, Direct Bay , Northern Sharp , and Temple Bay and other islands fell into the enemy hands. Finally, on August 7, 1950, the communist campaign to take the Wanshan Archipelago ended in total victory after taking the Mosquito Tail Islet
Outcome
The communist takeover of the Wanshan Archipelago eliminated the threat to its vital shipping lines to Hong Kong and Macau and crushed blockade of mouth of the Pearl River. The Wanshan Archipelago Campaign was the first combined army and naval operation for the communists and in addition to damaging and sinking enemy ships, eleven enemy ships were captured and they provided valuable local defense asset once they were completely repaired and returned to the active service in the communist fleet. One of the major contributor to the success was the correct tactics of not engaging the overwhelmingly superior opposing naval fleet, but instead, utilizing the numerically and technically superior shore batteries that the communists did enjoy to engage opposing naval targets that were outgunned. The largest island, the Trash Tail Island, was renamed Laurel Mountain Island, in honor of the landing ship Laurel Mountain , the largest communist naval vessel participated in the conflict.
The control of the Wanshan Archipelago was mostly symbolic for political propaganda and the battle for the control of thearchipelago was destined to fail for the same simple reason just like the earlier Battle of Nan'ao Island: the location was just too far away from any friendly bases and thus it was difficult to support in war, and when the support was available, it was rather costly. Although the largest island provided a relatively good anchorage, there was just not enough land to build any comprehensive facilities and infrastructures to support a fleet. As a result, many of the repairs that could be done locally had the comprehensive facilities and infrastructures been available would require traveling back to the distant friendly bases, thus greatly increased cost. When a major damage occurred, tugs were needed to tow the damaged vessel, and in the event of war when tugs could not be available, the damaged vessels had to be abandoned. In contrast, the enemy had comprehensive facilities and infrastructures on the mainland and since the archipelago at the enemy’s doorstep, they could simply recover the abandoned vessels and repair them after taking them back to the mainland, and put them back into service to fight against the former owners of these vessels, as the case of the eleven naval vessels abandoned by the s after the battle.
As for the blockade of the mouth of the Pearl River, it certainly caused difficulties for the enemy. However, these difficulties could be overcame because there were and still are link between the mainland and Hong Kong, and Macau via land, and for the maritime traffic, the naval force could only cover the coastal region outside the effective range of the enemy’s land batteries and the enemy could simply move a little deeper into the Pearl River to avoid the naval force. Though this did indeed increased the cost for the enemy, the price tag for the operation of the naval task force performing this duty so far away from any support base was far greater comparatively speaking, because enemy transportation was mostly by wooden that only required wind, while the modern navy required much more, such as fuel and maintenance supplies. Many strategist and naval commanders had pointed out this disadvantage and along with the geographically disadvantage , wisely and correctly suggest to withdraw from the Wanshan Archipelago in order to strengthen the defense elsewhere, but their requests were denied because holding on something at the enemy’s door step would have a significant symbolic meaning of great political propaganda value, but when the inevitable fall had finally occurred, the resulting disaster had negated any previous gains in political and psychological propaganda.
Wa Sau Toi
Wa Sau Toi was a monastery on the sacred mountain Luofushan.
It was destroyed in 1949.
The teacher and Dragon Kung Fu master Tai Yuk was a monk at Wa Sau Toi.
Lai Chi, the founder of the Wu Jo An nunnery in Guangzhou, was 35th generation in the Caodong school of Buddhism from Wa Sau Toi.
It was destroyed in 1949.
The teacher and Dragon Kung Fu master Tai Yuk was a monk at Wa Sau Toi.
Lai Chi, the founder of the Wu Jo An nunnery in Guangzhou, was 35th generation in the Caodong school of Buddhism from Wa Sau Toi.
Swatow Operation
The Swatow Operation, was part of a campaign by Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War to blockade China to prevent it from communicating with the outside world and importing needed arms and materials. Control of would provide a base to make the blockade of Guangdong province more effective.
Part of Goto Detachment and a part of Sasebo 9th landed on the east coast on June 21st near the airfeild east Swatow. Other Japanese troops in more than ten motor boats
proceaded up the Han river and landed at Mei-hsi cutting the road between Swatow north to . A coordiated attack by the Japanese drove the Chinese defenders, Hua Chen-chung's Brigade and local militia units, from the city of Swatow. They fell back to a line Yenfu–Meihsi on June 23rd.
The Japanese also had landed at Jiao Yu, the island south of Swatow, on June 22nd. They occupied whole island on June 24th. The Chinese fell back to on the 24th to block the approaches to Chao-chow as the Japanese landed reinforcements.
Proceading north in pursuit the Japanese also sent forces up the river and landed to the Chinese rear, part of the Chinese force then fell back into the city while the remainder moved into the mountains northwest of the city. The Japanese advancing from the west captured Chao-chow by June 27th after heavy street fighting. Later the Chinese sent reinforcements of the 5th Reserve Division, and 1st Advance Column to block the Japanese from further advances and conduct guerrilla warfare on their positions and lines of communications.
Sources
*Hsu Long-hsuen and Chang Ming-kai, History of The Sino-Japanese War 2nd Ed. ,1971. Translated by Wen Ha-hsiung , Chung Wu Publishing; 33, 140th Lane, Tung-hwa Street, Taipei, Taiwan Republic of China. Pg. 492-493
* 中国抗日战争正面战场作战记 China's Anti-Japanese War Combat Operations
** Author : Guo Rugui, editor-in-chief Huang Yuzhang
** Press : Jiangsu People's Publishing House
** Date published : 2005-7-1
** ISBN 7214030349
** Online in Chinese
*** Shantou battles
*
Order of battle Swatow Operation
Part of Goto Detachment and a part of Sasebo 9th landed on the east coast on June 21st near the airfeild east Swatow. Other Japanese troops in more than ten motor boats
proceaded up the Han river and landed at Mei-hsi cutting the road between Swatow north to . A coordiated attack by the Japanese drove the Chinese defenders, Hua Chen-chung's Brigade and local militia units, from the city of Swatow. They fell back to a line Yenfu–Meihsi on June 23rd.
The Japanese also had landed at Jiao Yu, the island south of Swatow, on June 22nd. They occupied whole island on June 24th. The Chinese fell back to on the 24th to block the approaches to Chao-chow as the Japanese landed reinforcements.
Proceading north in pursuit the Japanese also sent forces up the river and landed to the Chinese rear, part of the Chinese force then fell back into the city while the remainder moved into the mountains northwest of the city. The Japanese advancing from the west captured Chao-chow by June 27th after heavy street fighting. Later the Chinese sent reinforcements of the 5th Reserve Division, and 1st Advance Column to block the Japanese from further advances and conduct guerrilla warfare on their positions and lines of communications.
Sources
*Hsu Long-hsuen and Chang Ming-kai, History of The Sino-Japanese War 2nd Ed. ,1971. Translated by Wen Ha-hsiung , Chung Wu Publishing; 33, 140th Lane, Tung-hwa Street, Taipei, Taiwan Republic of China. Pg. 492-493
* 中国抗日战争正面战场作战记 China's Anti-Japanese War Combat Operations
** Author : Guo Rugui, editor-in-chief Huang Yuzhang
** Press : Jiangsu People's Publishing House
** Date published : 2005-7-1
** ISBN 7214030349
** Online in Chinese
*** Shantou battles
*
Punti-Hakka Clan Wars
Punti-Hakka Clan Wars or Hakka-Punti Clan Wars refers to battles or conflicts between the Hakka and the Punti in Guangdong , China, between 1855 and 1867, during the Qing Dynasty. The wars were particularly fierce in the area around Pearl River Delta, especially Taishan of Sze Yup. The war's estimated death toll was roughly about a million, with many more fleeing for their lives.
Hakka literally means guest family, and Punti literally means original land. The Punti are also referred to by the dialect they speak, which is . The basis of these bloody conflicts were the Punti’s resentment against the Hakka that they were increasing dramatically in number, and encroaching on their land. From the Hakka’s point of view, they were marginalized, discriminated against, and had to farm left-over or unwanted, hilly land.
When the Ming Dynasty was overthrown by the Qing Dynasty, Ming loyalists, notably Zheng Chenggong , fled to Taiwan to raise troops in the hope of eventually retaking China for the Ming. The Qing emperor, in order to stymie these efforts, twice commanded all residents of the coastal areas of Guangdong and Fujian Provinces to move inland by 50 ''li'', approximately 30 km, resulting in a large number of deaths amongst the Punti people. After the rebels in Taiwan were pacified, the Qing emperor rescinded these edicts.
However far fewer Punti people returned than expected, so the Qing emperor provided incentives to repopulate these areas. The most visible of those who responded were the Hakka people. For some time the Punti and Hakka lived together peacefully, the population of Guangdong Province soared, life became increasingly difficult and unrest broke out.
In 1851, the Taiping Rebellion, led by a Hakka Chinese, Hong Xiuquan, erupted in Guangxi Province and quickly spread throughout Southern China. The rebellion was finally suppressed in 1864. In 1854, during the rebellion, a local anti-Qing took the opportunity and rebelled, attacking Heyuan and Foshan. This Red Turban Rebellion was finally suppressed in 1857.
During the rebellion, the Hakka in the Pearl River Delta had helped the imperial army to suppress the rebellion; the imperial official decided to keep the area clear of rebellion participants and raided the Punti villages. This caused hostility between the Hakka and the Punti, and the Punti attacked Hakka villages in revenge.
Bloody battles raged, with both sides fortifying their villages with walls, and raising armies as best as they could. Of course, entire villages would be involved in the fighting, and all able-bodied men were called on to fight against the other side. For the Punti, money for armaments was forthcoming from their relatives in Hong Kong, and abroad.
The conflicts escalated into large-scale clan wars.
The clan war is related to the Chinese Diaspora in the 19th century. Some of those who lost in the clan wars were sold to Cuba and South America as coolies via Hong Kong and Macau, and some females were sold to Macau as prostitutes.
The war reached devastating scales and large number of people died, fled, and were sold. Thousands of houses were destroyed.
Because the population of Punti outnumbered the Hakka's, the Hakka suffered more losses in the clan war. The Qing government implemented the strategy of segregation to cool the conflict, and the Hakka were relocated to Guangxi Province. After the clan war, the population share of Hakka in the Sze Yup area dropped to 3%.
The hostility between the Hakka and the Punti could be found also in overseas communities in the early 20th century.
Hostility was also present in Taiwan; the Hoklo people from Fujian and the Hakkas from Guangdong frequently fought against each other. Although much alleviated, the hostility between the Hoklo and the Hakka is still present in the community of Taiwan.
Hakka literally means guest family, and Punti literally means original land. The Punti are also referred to by the dialect they speak, which is . The basis of these bloody conflicts were the Punti’s resentment against the Hakka that they were increasing dramatically in number, and encroaching on their land. From the Hakka’s point of view, they were marginalized, discriminated against, and had to farm left-over or unwanted, hilly land.
Background
When the Ming Dynasty was overthrown by the Qing Dynasty, Ming loyalists, notably Zheng Chenggong , fled to Taiwan to raise troops in the hope of eventually retaking China for the Ming. The Qing emperor, in order to stymie these efforts, twice commanded all residents of the coastal areas of Guangdong and Fujian Provinces to move inland by 50 ''li'', approximately 30 km, resulting in a large number of deaths amongst the Punti people. After the rebels in Taiwan were pacified, the Qing emperor rescinded these edicts.
However far fewer Punti people returned than expected, so the Qing emperor provided incentives to repopulate these areas. The most visible of those who responded were the Hakka people. For some time the Punti and Hakka lived together peacefully, the population of Guangdong Province soared, life became increasingly difficult and unrest broke out.
In 1851, the Taiping Rebellion, led by a Hakka Chinese, Hong Xiuquan, erupted in Guangxi Province and quickly spread throughout Southern China. The rebellion was finally suppressed in 1864. In 1854, during the rebellion, a local anti-Qing took the opportunity and rebelled, attacking Heyuan and Foshan. This Red Turban Rebellion was finally suppressed in 1857.
Clan war
During the rebellion, the Hakka in the Pearl River Delta had helped the imperial army to suppress the rebellion; the imperial official decided to keep the area clear of rebellion participants and raided the Punti villages. This caused hostility between the Hakka and the Punti, and the Punti attacked Hakka villages in revenge.
Bloody battles raged, with both sides fortifying their villages with walls, and raising armies as best as they could. Of course, entire villages would be involved in the fighting, and all able-bodied men were called on to fight against the other side. For the Punti, money for armaments was forthcoming from their relatives in Hong Kong, and abroad.
The conflicts escalated into large-scale clan wars.
The clan war is related to the Chinese Diaspora in the 19th century. Some of those who lost in the clan wars were sold to Cuba and South America as coolies via Hong Kong and Macau, and some females were sold to Macau as prostitutes.
End of the war
The war reached devastating scales and large number of people died, fled, and were sold. Thousands of houses were destroyed.
Because the population of Punti outnumbered the Hakka's, the Hakka suffered more losses in the clan war. The Qing government implemented the strategy of segregation to cool the conflict, and the Hakka were relocated to Guangxi Province. After the clan war, the population share of Hakka in the Sze Yup area dropped to 3%.
The hostility between the Hakka and the Punti could be found also in overseas communities in the early 20th century.
Similar conflicts in Taiwan
Hostility was also present in Taiwan; the Hoklo people from Fujian and the Hakkas from Guangdong frequently fought against each other. Although much alleviated, the hostility between the Hoklo and the Hakka is still present in the community of Taiwan.
Nanyue
Nanyue was an ancient kingdom that consisted of parts of the modern Chinese provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan and much of modern northern Vietnam. The kingdom was established by the Han Chinese general Zhao Tuo of the Qin dynasty who assimilated the customs of the and central China in his territory. Its capital was named Panyu , in today's Guangzhou, . In Vietnam, the name Tri?u Dynasty is used to refer to the lineage of kings of Nanyue, and by extension the era of Nanyue rule.
The record of the kingdom are in Chinese characters. As all Chinese characters do not reflect their pronunciation and the actual pronunciation at the time of kingdom is not known, the modern transcription of 南越國 in Latin letters might vary greatly from language to language.
The history of Nanyue was written in Records of the Grand Historian by Han Dynasty historian Sima Qian, between 109 BC to 91 BC.
After the first Emperor of China Qin Shi Huang united China by conquering all six kingdoms in 219 BC, he ordered his generals to conquer the regions of present-day Guangdong and Guangxi. The conquest was completed in 214 BC. A new administrative unit, Nanhai Commandery was formed to rule the area corresponding approximately to present-day Guangdong. Zhao Tuo was appointed to manage a Longchuan , a strategic place in the military. He asked Qin Shi Huang to send 500 thousand people from Central China to Nanhai to assimilate the culture of Central China and Yue.
After the death of Qin Shi Huang, a wave of anti-Qin riots swept across central China and the Qin Dynasty soon capitulated. In 208 BC, the head of Nanhai Commandery, Ren Xiao , appointed Zhao Tuo to succeed his position and suggested that Zhao establish a country in the south and take advantage of the mountainous boundary with northern China. Zhao soon reinforced the defences in the mountain passes north and replaced the Qin officials with his own followers. In 203 BC, he conquered another two commanderies, Guilin and Xiang ''"Elephant"'' , at the south of the mountain. The new kingdom of Nanyue was born, with as the capital; Zhao Tuo declared himself Wu Wang of Nanyue.
Liu Bang, after years of war with his rivals, established the Han dynasty and reunified Central China in 202 BC. Liu and his successors adopted a policy of peace to give his empire time to regenerate. In 211 BC, the emperor Liu sent Lu Jia to Nanyue to appoint Zhao Tuo as the King of Nanyue. Trade relations were established at the border between Nanyue and the Han kingdom of Changsha. Although formally a Han subject state, Nanyue retained a large measure of effective autonomy.
After the death of Liu Bang in 195 BC, the government was put in the hands of his wife, Empress Lu Zhi, who served as empress dowager over their son Emperor Hui of Han and then Emperor Hui's sons Liu Gong and Liu Hong. Zhao Tuo believed that Wu Chen , the Prince of Changsha, had made false accusations against him to get Empress Dowager Lu to block the trade between the states and to prepare to conquer the Nanyue to merge into his principality of Changsha. In revenge, he then declared himself the emperor of Nanyue and attacked the principality of Changsha. Lu sent general Zao to punish Zhao Tuo. The hot and humid weather made soldiers fall ill and the army unable to go south of the mountains. The army withdrew. With the military success, Zhao Tuo took in the surrounding states of Minyue in the east and Ouluo in the west as subject kingdoms. The empress dowager then killed some of Zhao's clan members within Han territory and damaged his ancestors' tombs.
In 179 BC, Liu Heng ascended the Emperor of Han. He reversed the policy of the empress. He ordered officials to visit the family town Zhending , garrison the town and make offerings to his ancestors regularly. His prime minister Chen Ping suggested sending Lu Jia to Nanyue as they were familiar with each other. Zhao Tuo felt surprised on Lu's arrival. He then withdrew his title of emperor and Nanyue became Han's subject state.
In 137 BC, Zhao Tuo died. His grandson Zhao Mo succeeded the king of Nanyue. Ying Xing , the king of Minyue, attacked Nanyue. Zhao Mo asked the Emperor Liu Che to send troops to halt the attack of Minyue. The emperor sent two generals to Minyue. Before Han's advancing to Minyue, Ying Xing's younger brother Yu Shan killed Ying Xing and surrendered.
The emperor Liu Che sent Zhuang Zhu to Nanyue. Zhao Mo thanked the Emperor and sent his son Zhao Yingqi to the Han capital, Chang'an. He also wanted to go Chang'an but was stopped by his minister for fear that he could not return and it would be the end of the kingdom. He thus pretended to be sick and stayed in Nanyue. He really fell sick later for over 10 years and died. He got his posthumous name Wen Di .
Zhao Yingqi returned to Nanyue and succeeded the king. He married a woman of family Jiu from Handan and born a son Zhao Xing when he was in Chang'an. He asked the Emperor to appoint Jiu as his queen and Zhao Xing his crown prince. He sent his second son to Chang'an. Zhao Yingqi died with posthumous name Ming Wang .
Zhao Xing succeeded Zhao Yingqi as king. As the king was young, the king's mother Jiu took control of the kingdom. In 113 BC, the Emperor sent Anguo Shaoji to Nanyue ask the king and the king's mother to visit the Emperor. Anguo Shaoji was in fact Jiu's lover when she was in Chang'an. They renewed their affair which made the subjects mistrust the king's mother. To secure their positions, the king and his mother wanted Nanyue to be a kingdom within the Han Empire. The king, his mother, and Anguo Shaoji tried to persuade Lu Jia and other ministers to follow. Lu Jia stood and left. The king's mother tried to kill him but stopped by the king.
Lu Jia refused to meet the king and planned to revolt. As he knew the king had no intention to kill him, the plan was not carried out for months.
The minister Lu Jia revolted and killed the king and the king's mother. He named Zhao Jiande , the eldest son of Zhao Yingqi, to be the king of Nanyue. In autumn 112 BC the emperor sent a navy of a hundred thousand strong to attack Nanyue. In winter 111 BC the capital Panyu fell and many surrendered. Lu Jia and Zhao Jiande fled out to sea but were captured soon. Nanyue was officially incorporated into Han.
In June 1983, The tomb of Zhao Mo , the second king, was found in Guangzhou. Thousands of artifacts were found, including bronze ritual utensils, musical instruments, weapons, farming utensils, lacquer, silk, and jewelry of jade, gold, silver, and ivory. Others were also found buried with the king. In addition, the gold seal of Wen Di was unearthed.
Nán/Nam means in the south and Yuè/Yuet/Vi?t means Yue/Yuet/Viet people and the place of Yue/Yuet/Viet people. Nam Yuet/Viet is a southern country in the place of Yuet/Viet people.
The Chinese character 越 and its homonym variant 粤 , were used in ancient times to refer to people or peoples inhabiting southern China: see Yue for details. Today, the former character refers either to the people, culture, and languages of Zhejiang province or Vietnam, while the latter character refers to those of Guangdong province.
After the Han Chinese controlled the Nanyue area for nearly 1000 years, people in northern Vietnam were partly sinicized while the areas of present-day Guangdong and Guangxi were largely .
The people in what is now northern Vietnam broke away from China in 938 AD after their victory at the . They formed their own kingdom and called it ??i Vi?t . This kingdom grew stronger; it expanded south and conquered the Champa kingdom and most of the Khmer empire , forcing the Khmer to migrate. In 1800s, Nguyen Anh, a Vietnamese king, wanted to change his kingdom's name from Dai Viet to Nam Viet. However the Qing Emperor at that time did not want to confuse it with the ancient kingdom thus changing the name to Viet Nam . The people form the modern majority ethnic group of Vietnam.
[]
The record of the kingdom are in Chinese characters. As all Chinese characters do not reflect their pronunciation and the actual pronunciation at the time of kingdom is not known, the modern transcription of 南越國 in Latin letters might vary greatly from language to language.
History
The history of Nanyue was written in Records of the Grand Historian by Han Dynasty historian Sima Qian, between 109 BC to 91 BC.
After the first Emperor of China Qin Shi Huang united China by conquering all six kingdoms in 219 BC, he ordered his generals to conquer the regions of present-day Guangdong and Guangxi. The conquest was completed in 214 BC. A new administrative unit, Nanhai Commandery was formed to rule the area corresponding approximately to present-day Guangdong. Zhao Tuo was appointed to manage a Longchuan , a strategic place in the military. He asked Qin Shi Huang to send 500 thousand people from Central China to Nanhai to assimilate the culture of Central China and Yue.
Establishment
After the death of Qin Shi Huang, a wave of anti-Qin riots swept across central China and the Qin Dynasty soon capitulated. In 208 BC, the head of Nanhai Commandery, Ren Xiao , appointed Zhao Tuo to succeed his position and suggested that Zhao establish a country in the south and take advantage of the mountainous boundary with northern China. Zhao soon reinforced the defences in the mountain passes north and replaced the Qin officials with his own followers. In 203 BC, he conquered another two commanderies, Guilin and Xiang ''"Elephant"'' , at the south of the mountain. The new kingdom of Nanyue was born, with as the capital; Zhao Tuo declared himself Wu Wang of Nanyue.
Liu Bang, after years of war with his rivals, established the Han dynasty and reunified Central China in 202 BC. Liu and his successors adopted a policy of peace to give his empire time to regenerate. In 211 BC, the emperor Liu sent Lu Jia to Nanyue to appoint Zhao Tuo as the King of Nanyue. Trade relations were established at the border between Nanyue and the Han kingdom of Changsha. Although formally a Han subject state, Nanyue retained a large measure of effective autonomy.
After the death of Liu Bang in 195 BC, the government was put in the hands of his wife, Empress Lu Zhi, who served as empress dowager over their son Emperor Hui of Han and then Emperor Hui's sons Liu Gong and Liu Hong. Zhao Tuo believed that Wu Chen , the Prince of Changsha, had made false accusations against him to get Empress Dowager Lu to block the trade between the states and to prepare to conquer the Nanyue to merge into his principality of Changsha. In revenge, he then declared himself the emperor of Nanyue and attacked the principality of Changsha. Lu sent general Zao to punish Zhao Tuo. The hot and humid weather made soldiers fall ill and the army unable to go south of the mountains. The army withdrew. With the military success, Zhao Tuo took in the surrounding states of Minyue in the east and Ouluo in the west as subject kingdoms. The empress dowager then killed some of Zhao's clan members within Han territory and damaged his ancestors' tombs.
In 179 BC, Liu Heng ascended the Emperor of Han. He reversed the policy of the empress. He ordered officials to visit the family town Zhending , garrison the town and make offerings to his ancestors regularly. His prime minister Chen Ping suggested sending Lu Jia to Nanyue as they were familiar with each other. Zhao Tuo felt surprised on Lu's arrival. He then withdrew his title of emperor and Nanyue became Han's subject state.
Zhao Mo
In 137 BC, Zhao Tuo died. His grandson Zhao Mo succeeded the king of Nanyue. Ying Xing , the king of Minyue, attacked Nanyue. Zhao Mo asked the Emperor Liu Che to send troops to halt the attack of Minyue. The emperor sent two generals to Minyue. Before Han's advancing to Minyue, Ying Xing's younger brother Yu Shan killed Ying Xing and surrendered.
The emperor Liu Che sent Zhuang Zhu to Nanyue. Zhao Mo thanked the Emperor and sent his son Zhao Yingqi to the Han capital, Chang'an. He also wanted to go Chang'an but was stopped by his minister for fear that he could not return and it would be the end of the kingdom. He thus pretended to be sick and stayed in Nanyue. He really fell sick later for over 10 years and died. He got his posthumous name Wen Di .
Zhao Yingqi
Zhao Yingqi returned to Nanyue and succeeded the king. He married a woman of family Jiu from Handan and born a son Zhao Xing when he was in Chang'an. He asked the Emperor to appoint Jiu as his queen and Zhao Xing his crown prince. He sent his second son to Chang'an. Zhao Yingqi died with posthumous name Ming Wang .
Zhao Xing
Zhao Xing succeeded Zhao Yingqi as king. As the king was young, the king's mother Jiu took control of the kingdom. In 113 BC, the Emperor sent Anguo Shaoji to Nanyue ask the king and the king's mother to visit the Emperor. Anguo Shaoji was in fact Jiu's lover when she was in Chang'an. They renewed their affair which made the subjects mistrust the king's mother. To secure their positions, the king and his mother wanted Nanyue to be a kingdom within the Han Empire. The king, his mother, and Anguo Shaoji tried to persuade Lu Jia and other ministers to follow. Lu Jia stood and left. The king's mother tried to kill him but stopped by the king.
Lu Jia refused to meet the king and planned to revolt. As he knew the king had no intention to kill him, the plan was not carried out for months.
Zhao Jiande
The minister Lu Jia revolted and killed the king and the king's mother. He named Zhao Jiande , the eldest son of Zhao Yingqi, to be the king of Nanyue. In autumn 112 BC the emperor sent a navy of a hundred thousand strong to attack Nanyue. In winter 111 BC the capital Panyu fell and many surrendered. Lu Jia and Zhao Jiande fled out to sea but were captured soon. Nanyue was officially incorporated into Han.
Kings
Archaeological findings
In June 1983, The tomb of Zhao Mo , the second king, was found in Guangzhou. Thousands of artifacts were found, including bronze ritual utensils, musical instruments, weapons, farming utensils, lacquer, silk, and jewelry of jade, gold, silver, and ivory. Others were also found buried with the king. In addition, the gold seal of Wen Di was unearthed.
Guangdong and Vietnam
Nán/Nam means in the south and Yuè/Yuet/Vi?t means Yue/Yuet/Viet people and the place of Yue/Yuet/Viet people. Nam Yuet/Viet is a southern country in the place of Yuet/Viet people.
The Chinese character 越 and its homonym variant 粤 , were used in ancient times to refer to people or peoples inhabiting southern China: see Yue for details. Today, the former character refers either to the people, culture, and languages of Zhejiang province or Vietnam, while the latter character refers to those of Guangdong province.
After the Han Chinese controlled the Nanyue area for nearly 1000 years, people in northern Vietnam were partly sinicized while the areas of present-day Guangdong and Guangxi were largely .
The people in what is now northern Vietnam broke away from China in 938 AD after their victory at the . They formed their own kingdom and called it ??i Vi?t . This kingdom grew stronger; it expanded south and conquered the Champa kingdom and most of the Khmer empire , forcing the Khmer to migrate. In 1800s, Nguyen Anh, a Vietnamese king, wanted to change his kingdom's name from Dai Viet to Nam Viet. However the Qing Emperor at that time did not want to confuse it with the ancient kingdom thus changing the name to Viet Nam . The people form the modern majority ethnic group of Vietnam.
Gallery
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Miss Macao
Miss Macao was a seaplane, owned by Cathay Pacific and operated by a subsidiary. On 16 July 1948 she became the victim of the first of a commercial aircraft.
The ''Miss Macao'' was on a routine flight from Macau to Hong Kong. She was hijacked a few minutes after take off by four men carrying guns, one of whom demanded that the co-pilot surrender the controls. The co-pilot refused and was shot. The pilot, Dale Warren Cramer, who had been up in the dome of the PBY, jumped down to see what was going on and was shot five times in the back by a Chinese man with a machine gun. He then collapsed onto the flight controls. The plane went into an uncontrolled dive and crashed into the sea. Twenty-six of the 27 people aboard died in the crash. The only survivor was the leader of the hijackers . The motives of the hijackers are not known. They may have been Chinese s, with an economic rather than political motive .
The lone survivor, Huang Yu , was brought to court by the Macau police, but the Macau court suggested that the prosecution should be brought in Hong Kong instead, since the plane was registered in Hong Kong and most of the passengers were from there. However, the British colonial government in Hong Kong stated that the incident happened over Chinese territory in which the British have no jurisdiction. In the end, Huang was acquitted.
The ''Miss Macao'' was on a routine flight from Macau to Hong Kong. She was hijacked a few minutes after take off by four men carrying guns, one of whom demanded that the co-pilot surrender the controls. The co-pilot refused and was shot. The pilot, Dale Warren Cramer, who had been up in the dome of the PBY, jumped down to see what was going on and was shot five times in the back by a Chinese man with a machine gun. He then collapsed onto the flight controls. The plane went into an uncontrolled dive and crashed into the sea. Twenty-six of the 27 people aboard died in the crash. The only survivor was the leader of the hijackers . The motives of the hijackers are not known. They may have been Chinese s, with an economic rather than political motive .
The lone survivor, Huang Yu , was brought to court by the Macau police, but the Macau court suggested that the prosecution should be brought in Hong Kong instead, since the plane was registered in Hong Kong and most of the passengers were from there. However, the British colonial government in Hong Kong stated that the incident happened over Chinese territory in which the British have no jurisdiction. In the end, Huang was acquitted.
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