Shouson Chow

2025-03-19T06:26:35Z

219.76.34.69:

{{EngvarB|date=June 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{More citations needed|date=January 2009}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-prefix=
|name=Shouson Chow
|honorific-suffix=
|image=Shouson Chow1952.jpg
|caption=Sir Shouson in 1952
|office=Unofficial Member of the [[Executive Council of Hong Kong|Executive Council]]
|term_start=9 July 1926
|term_end=8 July 1936
|appointed= Sir [[Cecil Clementi]]<br>Sir [[William Peel (colonial administrator)|William Peel]]
|predecessor=[[Paul Chater]]
|successor=[[Robert Kotewall]]
|office1=[[Senior Chinese Unofficial Member]]
|term_start1=1922
|term_end1=1931
|predecessor1=[[Lau Chu-pak]]
|successor1=[[Robert Kotewall]]
|birth_date={{birth date|df=yes|1861|3|13}}
|birth_place=[[Wong Chuk Hang]], [[Hong Kong Island]], British Hong Kong
|death_date={{death date and age|df=yes|1959|1|23|1861|3|13}}
|alma_mater=[[Queen's College, Hong Kong]]<br>[[Winsted Local Grammar School]]
}}
{{Infobox Chinese
|order=ts
|t=周壽臣
|s=周寿臣
|j=zau1 sau6 san4
|p=Zhōu Shòuchén
|altname=Chow Cheong-Ling
|t2=周長齡
|s2=周长龄
|j2=zau1 coeng4 ling4
|p2=Zhōu Chánglíng
}}
'''Sir Shouson Chow''' ({{zh|t=周壽臣|p=Zhōu Shòuchén}}; 1861–1959), also known as Chow Cheong-Ling ({{zh|t=周長齡|p=Zhōu Chánglíng}}), was a Hong Kong businessman and politician. He had been a [[Qing dynasty]] official and prominent in the [[Government of Hong Kong]].

==Family==
Chow is said to have been born in [[Wong Chuk Hang San Wai]], a village at the foot of present-day [[Shouson Hill]]. Wong Chuk Hang San Wai was a village of a [[Zhou (surname)|Chow]] lineage.<ref>[[Antiquities and Monuments Office]]. [https://www.amo.gov.hk/form/san_wai_201301.pdf Wong Chuk Hang San Wai], amo.gov.hk. Accessed 8 August 2023.</ref>

His father was [[compradore]] of the [[Guangzhou|Canton]]-based Canton and Hong Kong Steamship Company. His grandfather was the head of "Little Hong Kong", who helped [[Charles Elliot]] post the first official proclamation of [[Hong Kong Island]] in 1841. He had a son, named Chow Yat-Kwong.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

==Career==
Among the [[Chinese Educational Mission|third group of Chinese students]] sponsored by the [[Qing]] government to the United States in the 1870s,<ref name=CEMC>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20131004215346/http://www.cemconnections.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=62 ''Chinese Educational Mission Connections 1872–1881 – Chow Chang Ling'']}}</ref> Chow left China in 1874 and studied at [[Phillips Academy, Andover]] (class of 1880)<ref>[http://www.andover.edu/About/NotableAlumni/LongList/Pages/1800s.aspx Phillips Academy Notable Alumni: 1800s] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105222945/http://www.andover.edu/About/NotableAlumni/LongList/Pages/1800s.aspx |date=5 November 2013 }}</ref> After his graduation, he was originally granted admission offer of [[Columbia University]], but his studies ended due to recall of students by the Qing government. Then he worked for the Qing government after returning to China.

In 1881 he joined the Korean Customs Service under [[Yuan Shikai]]. Later he was the president of the [[China Merchants Group|China Merchant Steam Navigation Company]] of [[Tianjin]] from 1897 to 1903, and the managing director of the [[Kaiping Tramway and Imperial Railways of North China|Peking-Mukden Railway]] between 1903 and 1907.

He was the Customs and Trade Superintendent and Counselor for Foreign Affairs in [[Niuzhuang]] between 1907 and 1910. During this period he was promoted to Mandarin of the Second Rank. He left government service after the [[1911 Revolution]] and became director of various companies and charities.

==Public Service==
{{More citations needed|section|date=August 2023}}
[[File:Grantham and Chow.jpg|thumb|right|Sir Shouson with Sir [[Alexander Grantham]], the Governor of Hong Kong, in 1952]]
[[File:Shouson Chow, Justice John Wood and Chief Justice Henry Gollan.jpg|thumb|Chow with Justice John Wood and [[Henry Gollan]] CJ in 1929 at the funeral of Mr H.P. White]]
Chow was appointed a [[Justice of the Peace]] in Hong Kong in 1907. He was subsequently elected to membership of the [[North British Academy of Arts]].<ref name=CEMC/><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Ytg98pAFdk4C&dq=%22Chou+Show+Son%22&pg=PA118 ''Document III.1: Mr. Chou Show Son'' p118-9 in ''A Documentary History of Hong Kong Society'', ed David Faure, Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong 1997]</ref>

In 1918, he founded the [[Bank of East Asia]] with three Chinese partners where he was the chairman of the board from 1925 to 1929. In 1922 he was appointed a member of the [[Sanitary Board]], the precursor of the [[Urban Council]], and the [[Legislative Council of Hong Kong|Legislative Council]], where he served until 1931.

In 1926, he became the first Chinese member of the [[Executive Council of Hong Kong|Executive Council]], and was knighted. In 1933, he was awarded an honorary [[Doctor of Law|Doctorate of Laws]].

During the [[Japanese Occupation of Hong Kong]], Chow and other leading Chinese figures joined the [[Chinese Cooperative Council]] founded by the [[Imperial Japanese Army|Japanese military]] which he was the chairman to maintain public order among the Chinese population. They did not suffer punishment for this collaboration after the return of British rule.

He was publicly and privately connected with various branches of philanthropic activities. He was the President of the Hong Kong Society of the Protection of Children and Patron of the Chinese Mission to Lepers, member of the District Watchmen Committee, Permanent Advisor of the [[Tung Wah Hospital]], Public Dispensaries, and the [[Po Leung Kuk]]. He was also advisor of the [[Chinese General Chamber of Commerce|Chinese General Chamber of commerce]] and Honorary President of the [[South China AA|South China Athletic Association]] and the Chinese Recreation Club.

He was awarded Order of the Chia Ho (Excellent Crop) Third Class by President [[Yuan Shikai|Yuan Shih-kai]]. In 1918 he was awarded Second Class of the same Order, and the Second Class Medal of Brilliancy by President [[Xu Shichang|Hsu Shih-Chang]] in 1919. He was knighted in 1926 and awarded the Order of the Silver Jubilee in 1935 by [[George V|King George V]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The Prominent Chinese in Hong Kong (1937) |date=16 April 2019 |publisher=Sunyata |isbn=9789888582655}}</ref>

==Memory==
[[Shouson Hill]], in the south of [[Hong Kong Island]], is named after him.

==External links==
* [https://www.thechinastory.org/ritp/chow-cheong-ling-zhou-changling-周長齡/ Chow Cheong-ling (Zhou Changling) 周長齡] from ''Biographies of Prominent Chinese'' c.1925.

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

{{Commons category|Chow Shouson}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|hk}}
{{s-bef | before = [[Ho Fook]]}}
{{s-ttl | title = Chinese [[Unofficial Member]]
| years = 1921–1931}}
{{s-aft | after = [[Chau Tsun-nin]]}}
{{s-bef | before = [[Lau Chu-pak]]}}
{{s-ttl | title = [[Senior Chinese Unofficial Member]]
| years = 1922–1931}}
{{s-aft | after = [[Robert Hormus Kotewall]]}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef | before = [[Catchick Paul Chater]]}}
{{s-ttl | title = Unofficial Member of the [[Executive Council of Hong Kong]]
| years = 1926–1936}}
{{s-aft | after = [[Robert Hormus Kotewall]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chow, Shouson}}
[[Category:1861 births]]
[[Category:1959 deaths]]
[[Category:Members of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong]]
[[Category:Members of the Executive Council of Hong Kong]]
[[Category:Members of the Sanitary Board of Hong Kong]]
[[Category:Hong Kong businesspeople]]
[[Category:Hong Kong collaborators with Imperial Japan]]
[[Category:People from Bao'an County]]
[[Category:Bank of East Asia]]
[[Category:Hong Kong expatriates in China]]
[[Category:Hong Kong expatriates in Korea]]
[[Category:Hong Kong Anglicans]]
[[Category:Hong Kong justices of the peace]]
[[Category:People from British Hong Kong]]
[[Category:Chinese Educational Mission students]]

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Shouson Chow