Ancestral Images A Hong Kong Collection

A new edition in one volume of Hugh Baker's celebrated three volumes of Ancestral Images originally published in 1979, 1980 and 1981. The 120 articles and photographs explore everyday life, customs and rituals in Hong Kong's rural New Territories. Each mouthful is complete in itself, but together the articles amount to a substantial feast. They investigate religion, food, language, history, festivals, family, strange happenings and clan warfare. The book documents much that can no longer be found. But it also provides an understanding of a world which has not yet entirely disappeared, and which still forms the background for life in modern, urban Hong Kong. Esoteric nuggets of information are scattered through the book: How do you ascend a Pagoda with no staircase? How can you marry without attending the wedding? When is it wrong to buy a book?