In history, in addition to some of the large cities we are known for, there have been many dark corners that the light has not yet reached.
Especially before the formation of world peace, there were many unmanaged areas during that chaotic period, and the Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong was one of them.
This place is full of legends, and few people can fully see the internal situation at that time, and as a "three-way" area that everyone ignores.
The loss of power humiliated the country, and the land-cutting treaty was constantly signed
We all know that the Qing Dynasty was the last feudal dynasty in China, in fact, in the early and middle period of the Qing Dynasty was very rich, even if the policy of closing the country was carried out, but it also had a strong national strength at that time and did not have any impact on its own national strength.
But in the late Qing Dynasty, such an influence gradually appeared.
After the Opium War of 1842, China and Britain signed the first Treaty of Nanking, which ceded Hong Kong Island to the British, and Hong Kong entered the colonial era.
In the Second Opium War of 1860, the Treaty of Beijing existed, and the Kowloon Peninsula was ceded to the British side.
In fact, the Chinese and British signed a lease of Kowloon, Hong Kong and the New Territories, but in the battle with the British side, in order to prevent the British army from continuing to invade the north of our country, a walled city was built on the fortress site of the Song Dynasty to fight against the British on Hong Kong Island, which is the initial prototype of the "Kowloon City Walled".
The situation is chaotic in many ways, and no one dares to take care of the area
In 1899, our army actually deployed a part of the Qing troops in the Kowloon Walled City to garrison this place, but the British government believed that this place belonged to itself.
Therefore, the Qing dynasty officers and soldiers stationed in the local area were rudely expelled, and although the Qing soldiers were driven out of the Kowloon City Walled City, they did not intend to let go of the ownership of this place.
So the two countries negotiated which country this place belonged to, but the world situation at that time was very chaotic, and everyone would not be entangled for this place, so the British army withdrew from this place and let the Qing troops settle in.
But it doesn't really make much sense.
In 1912, the Qing Dynasty came to an end, at this time the Republic of China government did not have the heart to effectively manage this Kowloon City Walled City, so this place almost always belonged to a borderless land, naturally developed under its own rules, until the founding of New China, kowloon City Walled city has become a dark corner that makes people feel frightened.
After the Second World War, the number of people in kowloon walled cities began to increase exponentially, and by 1993, the population of this 0.062 square kilometer area had reached more than 50,000 people, which was about 1.9 million people per square kilometer.
And the number of people is large, the area is unchanged, so here is even more mixed, coupled with the early war, this three-way place has poured in a lot of people who cannot survive under the formal social legal system, and it has become a gathering place for gangsters and lawbreakers, and under the influence of the three religions and nine streams, it has become a "dark corner".
It was eventually demolished, and the legend has been passed down to this day
From many Hong Kong movies, we can see the big, in this Kowloon walled city, the police have little deterrent effect, the biggest person in power is all kinds of gangster forces, and even those who commit heinous crimes, as long as they can escape into this walled city, they do not have to face legal sanctions, and suddenly become a zone that no one dares to take care of.
In such a situation, even the British army wanted to occupy it again, it seemed a bit clumsy, the regular army was no longer the opponent of these outlaws, so the plan to recover this corner was delayed again and again, making this corner a gathering place for dark forces and homeless people.
It was not until 1980 that the Hong Kong government wanted to tear down this stubborn dark corner before returning to the embrace of the motherland, a plan that lasted for a long time, until 1993, when it was completely demolished with the help of many parties, and now it has become a grand new park, showing us the ruins and style of that year.
brief summary
In fact, from a certain point of view, this Kowloon Walled City is a turning point connecting the Qing Dynasty and our current era, and its fantastic social model and cultural education contain crime and darkness that we cannot look at directly.
But it is also a microcosm and inheritance of an era, a historical memory that we cannot abandon or even cherish.
Reference: Modern Chinese History