View source for Six-Day War (1899)

{{Short description|1899 conflict in Hong Kong}}
{{Other uses|Six Day War (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Use Hong Kong English|date=April 2019}}
{{stack begin}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict   = Six-Day War of 1899
| image      = British take over the New Territories.jpg
| image_size = 300px
| caption    = The ceremony marking the assumption of British control in the New Territories (1899)
| date       = 14–19 April 1899
| place      = [[New Territories]], [[British Hong Kong]]
| result     = British victory
| territory  = Acceptance of British control in the New Territories between the [[Sham Chun River]] and [[Boundary Street]]
| combatant1 = {{flagcountry|UKGBI}}
* {{flagcountry|British Hong Kong|1876}}
|combatant2  = ''[[Punti]]'' clans
* [[Ping Shan]]
* [[Ha Tsuen]]
* [[Kam Tin]]
* [[Pat Heung]]
* [[Shap Pat Heung]]
* [[Tai Po Tsat Yeuk]]
[[Dongguan|Tungkun]] clans
* Ngan Tin
* Wai Tak
| commander1 = {{Plainlist}}
* [[Henry Arthur Blake]]
* [[James Stewart Lockhart]]
* [[Francis Henry May]]
* [[Roger Keyes, 1st Baron Keyes|Roger Keyes]]
* [[William Julius Gascoigne|William Gascoigne]]
* Nicholas Purcell O'Gorman
* Captain Berger
* Arthur Leonard Barrett
* C. S. Simmonds
{{Endplainlist}}
| commander2 = {{Plainlist}}
* Tang Sai-ying
* Tang Hau-ying
* Tang Yi-yau
* Tang Fong-hing
* Tang Chiu-yi
* Tang Sek-leung
* Tang Tsing-wan
* Ng Shing-chi
* Man Tsam-chuen
{{Endplainlist}}
| strength1 = ~525 troops
| strength2 = ~2,600 [[militia]]
| casualties1 = 2 wounded{{sfn|Hase|2008|p=103}}
| casualties2 = ~500 killed{{sfn|Hase|2008|p=116}}
}}
{{stack end}}

The '''Six-Day War''' was a brief [[war]] fought between the [[British Empire]] and several ''[[punti]]'' clans of the [[New Territories]] in [[British Hong Kong|Hong Kong]] from 14–19 April 1899.<ref>Hase, Patrick H. The Six-Day War of 1899: Hong Kong in the Age of Imperialism. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. 2008. {{ISBN|9789622098992}}.</ref> Several ''[[punti]]'' clan leaders were opposed to the British takeover of the New Territories, which had been approved by the [[Qing dynasty]] via the [[Second Convention of Peking]]. Fearing the loss of their traditional [[Land law|land rights]], a force of 2,600 [[militia]]men attacked nearby British forces before being quickly beaten back, suffering 500 dead in the process. Governor [[Henry Arthur Blake]] took a conciliatory stance towards the ''punti'' clans, agreeing to acknowledge their land rights, which continue to be recognised into the present day. 

==Background==
[[File:New Territories Proclamation (English).png|thumb|The proclamation of the [[New Territories]] of Hong Kong by [[Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong|Colonial Secretary]] [[James Stewart Lockhart]].]]

On 9 June 1898, the [[British Empire]] and the [[Qing dynasty]] signed the [[Second Convention of Peking]], granting Britain a 99-year lease of the [[New Territories]] as part of [[British Hong Kong]]. Feeling abandoned by the [[government of the Qing dynasty]] and fearing the loss of their traditional [[Land law|land rights]], several ''[[punti]]'' clans mobilised a force of 2,600 [[militia]]men which had been trained and equipped to defend against longshore raids by [[Piracy|pirates]] and attempted to resist the British takeover of the territory.<ref>{{cite web |last=Chung |first=David Wong Wing |date=March 1998 |title=The reason behind the resistance by the New Territories inhabitants against British takeover in 1899 |url=http://hk.geocities.com/yingconghk/NT.htm |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091027114956/http://hk.geocities.com/yingconghk/NT.htm |archive-date=27 October 2009 |access-date=10 June 2017 |via=[[Wayback Machine]]}}</ref> 

==War==

The war began on 14 April 1899 when the militia burnt down the matshed the British had prepared for a flag-raising ceremony at the [[Flagstaff Hill, Tai Po|Flagstaff Hill]] in [[Tai Po]]. 125 Indian soldiers of the Royal Hong Kong Regiment<ref group="notes">Disbanded in 1902, this regiment is not to be confused with the later [[Royal Hong Kong Regiment]] formed from the body of the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps consisting primarily of Europeans and Chinese.</ref> were sent to Tai Po on 15 April and were soon besieged by the militia. They were rescued after the [[Royal Navy]] destroyer [[HMS Fame (1896)|HMS ''Fame'']] shelled the militia's positions.{{sfn|Hase|2008|p=15}} On 17 April, British forces launched an attack against the militia in [[Lam Tsuen Valley]] and chased them up nearby hills, eventually defeating them. 

On 18 April, about 1,600 militiamen attacked a British force at [[Sheung Tsuen]] but were quickly beaten back. Further resistance was ended when British forces brought up artillery against the punti [[Walled villages of Hong Kong|walled villages]], and the militia surrendered on 19 April. Most prominent of the villages in the resistance [[Kat Hing Wai]], of the [[Tang clan]], was symbolically disarmed, by having its main gates dismounted and removed. During the war, the militia suffered 500 men [[killed in action]] and the British suffered 2 men [[wounded in action]].

==Aftermath==

Suspicious of the Qing government's support for the ''punti'' clans during the war, British forces entered the [[Kowloon Walled City]] in May 1899 and expelled the Chinese garrison.<ref name="簡明香港近代史（增訂版）">{{cite book |author=蕭國健 |title=簡明香港近代史（增訂版） |date=2021 |publisher=三聯書店（香港）有限公司 |isbn=978-962-04-4764-8 |location=香港}}</ref><ref name="klcd">{{Cite web |title=《九龍城區風物-{志}-》 |url=http://www.districtcouncils.gov.hk/kc/tc_chi/links/files/KCD_Heritage_Txt.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208163057/http://www.districtcouncils.gov.hk/kc/tc_chi/links/files/KCD_Heritage_Txt.pdf |archive-date=2015-12-08 |access-date=2015-11-28 |url-status=live}}</ref> After the war, Governor [[Henry Arthur Blake]] adopted an amiable co-operation policy with the villagers and it remained the official policy of the colonial government on the New Territories throughout almost the entire period of British rule in Hong Kong.{{sfn|Hase|2008|p=16}} The British made the concession of allowing the [[Indigenous inhabitants of the New Territories (Hong Kong)|indigenous inhabitants]] to retain traditional laws and customs to land inheritance, land usage and marriage, these differed from the laws made for Kowloon and Hong Kong proper and the legacy of which continues to this day.

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=notes}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |title=The Six-Day War of 1899: Hong Kong in the Age of Imperialism |first=Patrick H. |last=Hase |author-link=Patrick Hase |year=2008 |publisher=[[Hong Kong University Press]] |location=Hong Kong |isbn=9789622098992 }}
{{refend}}

{{British colonial campaigns}}

[[Category:1899 in Hong Kong]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1899]]
[[Category:British Hong Kong]]
[[Category:History of Hong Kong]]
[[Category:New Territories]]
[[Category:Six-day events]]
[[Category:Wars involving Hong Kong]]
[[Category:Wars involving the United Kingdom]]