Hong Kong Hydrarchy: the British and Qing Maritime State in the Seas around Hong Kong, 1841-1899

Abstract

The British colonisation of Hong Kong represented an intrusion into seas hitherto principally under Chinese control. The British were quick to attempt to establish their sovereignty over the island and inhabitants of Hong Kong and to project that power seawards through what Linebaugh and Rediker deem ‘imperial hydrarchy’ or the maritime state. Having built a maritime empire in both the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, the British had much experience to draw from when they attempted to establish an imperial hydrarchy off the China coast. However, this region was part of a distinctive world order defined and dominated by the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). In dealing with the piratical challenges to Qing authority in the China Seas, particularly in the late-seventeenth early-nineteenth centuries, the Qing developed their own methods for suppressing piracy and enforcing their own imperial hydrarchy. Such tactics however proved ineffective against the gravest maritime threat ever faced by the Qing: that of the British Empire. Despite their maritime experience and naval superiority, the British proved incapable of establishing and maintaining order in the China Seas. The problem of piracy posed problems for the regimes on both sides of Victoria Harbour. This common scourge catalysed the development of modus vivendi between the British and Qing Empires for the suppression of piracy. This modus vivendi in turn helped create a collaborative imperial hydrarchy whereby British and Qing officials cooperated in maintaining order in the China Seas.