Six-Day War (1899)

The Six-Day War was a brief war fought between the British Empire and several punti clans of the New Territories in Hong Kong from 14–19 April 1899. 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 rights, a force of 2,600 militiamen 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


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 rights, several punti clans mobilised a force of 2,600 militiamen which had been trained and equipped to defend against longshore raids by pirates and attempted to resist the British takeover of the territory.

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 in Tai Po. 125 Indian soldiers of the Royal Hong Kong Regiment 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 shelled the militia's positions. 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, 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. 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. The British made the concession of allowing the 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.