(A)What is History?

Three meanings of the word ‘history’

  1. History as

An event is a human activity. Any human activity that has happened – is history.

  1. History as of past events

To remember past events, we need to make a record of them.However, we only record the important ones.

  1. History as the of the records of past events

To understand the importance of past events and to learn from them, we must study their records.

(B)Why do we study school history, Hong Kong history, Chinese history andWorld history?

  1. We can understand the present through its past.

The current school badge is used from 1 July 1997 onwards.

To understand why this happened, we have to go back to the time when British started ruling Hong Kong.

  1. History lets us understand our own culture

History shows how the culture to which you belong has come into being.

By studying the history of King’s College, we understand why there are six Houses in our school. By studying the history of Hong Kong, we understand whyHong Kong is a special place in which Eastern and Western cultures meet.

  1. Through history, we can learn the skills of historians

Historians check different and find as much as possible to support their conclusions. They do not believe in everything right away.

The study of History helps us decide what is right and wrong, true and false and distinguish opinions from facts (Refer to p. 10). It makes us think before accepting something and helps us make our own judgements.

(C)Counting Time:

When we study history, we need to know the time when an event happens.

We can classify our school events according to the principals’ term of office or pre-war and post-war period as follows:

Before the War
January 1927 – June 1934 / Mr. Alfred Morris
June 1934 – March 1939
March 1935 – November 1935
March 1937 – December 1937 / Mr. William Kay
Mr. W.L. Hadyside (Acting)
Rev. G.E.S. Upsdell (Acting)
March 1939 – November 1941 / Mr. H.G. Wallington
After the War
October 1946 – July 1947 / Mr. J.J. Ferguson
August 1947 – September 1951 / Mr. J.M. Wilson
September 1951 – July 1954 / Mr. C.W. Sargison
July 1954 – January 1957 / Mr. F.K. Leung
January 1957 – July 1960
July 1958 – March 1959 / Mr. C.W. Sargison
Mr. G.S. Coxhead (Acting)
September 1960 – June 1967
January 1963 – August 1963 / Mr. G.S. Coxhead
Mr. P.R. Halliwell (Acting)
June 1967 – June 1971
April 1969 – January 1970 / Mr. H.W. Clarke
Mr. H.N. McNeill (Acting)
June 1971 – October 1977 / Mr. D.R. Madan
October 1977 – August 1986 / Mr. K. F. Chu
September 1986 – December 1996
January 1997 – August 1997 / Mr. W. T. Poon
Mr. C.W. Leung (Acting)
September 1997 – Present / Mr. Y. S. Ho

Historians divide history into different periods.

  1. Prehistoric Times and Historic Times

a)Prehistoric Times (史前時期)

This is the period before writing was invented.

b)Historic Times (信史時期)

This is the period after writing was invented.

  1. Christian Dating Method

a)BC or Before Christ (公元前)

the years before Christ’s birth. The ‘BC’ years are counted .

b)AD or Anno Domini(公元)

the years after Christ’s birth. The Latin words ‘Anno Domini’ mean ‘In the year of our Lord’. The ‘AD’ years are counted .

If an event happened 150 years before AD 1, it occurred in 150 BC.

We can also say that it happened about 2154 years ago, based on this:

From AD 1 to this year =About 2,007 years

From AD 1 to 150 BC =About 150 years

Total= 2,157 years

In AD 1926 King’s College was established. This means that the event took place in the 1926th year after AD 1.

Remarks:For the AD years, sometimes we can omit ‘AD’ to make things simple.

For BC years, however, we must not omit it.

(D)Use of sources

In the study of history, we may use

  1. Non-written Sources

These sources refer to the material remains of the past. Examples of non written sources of our school history include

  1. Written Sources

Written sources appeared only after the invention of writing in about 4000 BC. Example of written sources of our school history include

  1. Primary Sources (原始資料)

These sources are accounts by the people who lived through the eventsin history.

During the Second World War, our principal, Mr. G. X. Coxhead (1958-67) kept adiary while imprisoned by the Japanese. In the diary, he wrote down events in the war days and the days as a prisoner-of-war in Innoshima, Japan. This diary is a primary source of Mr. Coxhead’s own personal history, Hong Kong history and King’s College history.

  1. Secondary Sources (二手資料)

These are accounts by the people who have not taken part in the events.

If you write a piece of article about Mr. Coxhead’s experience during the Second World War. That is a piece of secondary source.