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私人檔案 Personal archive, 1875-1962, undated

 Series

Scope and Contents

馬敘朝的私人檔案包括從1904年至1959 年間從中國大陸、北美、英國、東南亞、香港等地的馬氏家庭成員、遠親和朋友寄給馬敘朝的信件,約有900張,當中以1930 年代和1950 年代的數量最多。內容有些是交流營商消息和想法,但更多的是談及在國內或海外生活的艱苦情況,希望得到金錢支援或介紹工作。海外信件還有另一個目的,就是透過馬敘朝匯錢回國給家鄉的親人。在這近900 張信件中,只有大約10%找到相連信封。不過,檔案中另有約500個已開的信封,大多數信封的背面都寫有寄信人的姓名、支票號碼、支票金額等,相信是收信人拆閱後寫下,作為記入銀信數簿的依據。

資料中另有兩批書信,較大的一批約有 400 多張,是寄給馬敘朝的弟弟馬敘韜的信。信件內容與上述寄給馬敘朝的類同。這些信件中,大約 12% 有相連的信封,另有188 個已開的信封。較小的一批約有 100 張,是寄給馬敘朝其他家族成員的,主要從中國大陸寄來。

馬敘朝私人檔案中還有算命書、先祖生卒資料冊、馬敘朝家譜、嫁娶婚書、迎親帖、墓穴圖則等與禮俗、傳統和信仰相關的文檔,也包括馬氏族人在家鄉台山一些訟案文件 (1904,1905)。此外,檔案中有27張用墨書寫昌華有限公司、昌華置業按揭有限公司等以及墓旁石碑字樣的紅紙或國畫紙,原件捲起,也有一字一張,估計是分別為昌華有限公司製作銅字招牌及鑿碑之用。

Ma’s personal archive consists of a large quantity of some 900 letters sent from members of his extended family, close and distant relatives and friends in Mainland China, North America, England, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong et cetera spanning from 1904 to 1959 with bulk in 1930s and 1950s. The contents are either on exchanging business news and ideas or, for the majority letters, on sharing feelings about the toughness of life in China or abroad, and the need for financial help or employment. Letters from overseas carried another mission: to remit money back to the kinsfolk in China through Ma Tsui Chiu. Of these 800 letters, only about 10% comes with envelops. Nevertheless, about 500 other envelops with no letters inside were found in the materials. At the back of most of these envelops, the sender’s name, cheque number, cheque amount were marked down presumably after the letter was read. This served as collation material for the remittance book at the time.

There are two other bulks of letters in this series. The larger one, of more than 400 letters, addressed to Ma Tsui Chiu’s brother, Ma Tsui Tao. Contents of these letters are similar to those of Ma Tsui Chiu described above. Of these letters, about 12% has corresponding envelops. Likewise, 188 other envelops which have no letters inside are also kept. The smaller bulk, comprising about 100 letters, is for members of Ma’s extended family. They were sent chiefly from Mainland China. This series also comprises documents featuring the etiquette, traditions and beliefs of the Ma family such as fortune-telling reports, genealogy, marriage papers, sketched plan of graveyard and many others. There are records of the family’s lawsuit case and clan disputes in Ma’s native town in Toi Shan as early as in 1904. Also available in this series is a collection of original Chinese calligraphy pieces written with brush and ink on red paper or Chinese painting paper totaling 27 pieces of different sizes kept in scrolls. Written on the pieces are word samples for making brass signage of Cheong Wah Company Limited and for an ancestral gravestone.

Dates

  • 1875-1962, undated

Creator

Language of Materials

From the Collection:

Majority in Chinese, some materials in English and Japanese

Extent

From the Collection: 282 Linear Feet

Repository Details

Part of the HKUL Special Collections Repository

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