Sikhism in Hong Kong: Difference between revisions

{{short description|Overview of the presence and role of Sikhism in Hong Kong}}

{{About|Sikhism in Hong Kong|mainland China |Sikhism in China |Sikhism as a religion|Sikhism}}{{Infobox religious group||group=Sikhism in Hong Kong<br>{{small|香港嘅錫克教}}|pop=12,000|langs=[[Punjabi language|Punjabi]]{{·}}[[Cantonese]]{{·}}[[Hindi]]{{•}}[[Urdu]]|image=HK SikhTemple.jpg|flag=Khanda (Sikh Symbol).svg|regions=|religions=[[Sikhism]]|image_caption=Khalsa Diwan Gurdwara, Wan Chai|flag_size=50px}}'''Sikhism in Hong Kong''' is a minority religion in [[Hong Kong]] ({{Lang-yue|香港嘅錫克教|translit=hoeng1 gong2 ge3 sek3 hak1 gaau3|label=[[Cantonese language|Cantonese]]}}). There are around 12,000 Sikhs in Hong Kong as of 2016.<ref name="stat2016">[http://www.gov.hk/en/about/abouthk/factsheets/docs/religion.pdf Hong Kong: The Facts – Religion and Custom] HKSAR Government Home Affairs Bureau, May 2016.</ref>

== History ==

[[File:Photograph of Sikh policemen in Hong Kong, ca.1870–72.jpg|thumb|Photograph of Sikh policemen in Hong Kong, ca.1870–72. This photograph was taken during the Tordenskjold's expedition to the east to lay undersea cables.]]

In the colonial-era, Sikhs in China were most prominent in Hong Kong, with [[Shanghai]] following next.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Kahlon |first=Swarn Singh |title=Sikhs in Asia Pacific: Travels Among the Sikh Diaspora from Yangon to Kobe |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2016 |isbn=9781351987417 |chapter=9. Sikhs in China: Sikh Migration of Great Historical Interest}}</ref>{{Rp|page=212}} During the 1800s and 1900s, many Sikh [[Punjabi people|Punjabi]] people were recruited from [[British India]] to work as officers for the [[Hong Kong Police]] and [[Shanghai Municipal Police]].<ref name=":4" />{{Rp|pages=216–218}} A contingent of Sikh policemen arrived in Hong Kong in 1867.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last1=McLeod |first1=W. H. |title=Historical Dictionary of Sikhism |last2=Fenech |first2=Louis E. |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2014 |isbn=9781442236011 |edition=3rd |series=Historical Dictionaries of Religions, Philosophies, and Movements Series}}</ref>{{Rp|page=107}}<ref name=":38">{{Cite book |title=The Sikh Diaspora: Migration and the Experience Beyond Punjab |publisher=South Asia Books |year=1989 |isbn=9788170010470 |editor-last=Barrier |editor-first=Norman Gerald |edition=1st |editor-last2=Dusenbery |editor-first2=Verne A.}}</ref>{{Rp|page=21}}

After the Indian police unit of the Shanghai Municipal Police force was disbanded in 1945, most of its former policemen were repatriated back to India or moved to Hong Kong or Singapore.<ref name=":8">{{Cite web |last=Vathyam |first=Meena |date=March 2016 |title=Sikhs in Shanghai |url=https://www.historic-shanghai.com/sikhs-in-shanghai/ |website=Historic Shanghai}}</ref><ref name=":03">{{Cite web |last=Vathyam |first=Meena |date=14 November 2016 |title=Sikhs: A piece of history that remains fragmentary |url=https://archive.shine.cn/feature/art-and-culture/Sikhs-A-piece-of-history-that-remains-fragmentary/shdaily.shtml |access-date=8 June 2024 |website=Shanghai Daily}}</ref><ref name=":024">{{Cite book |last=Vathyam |first=Meena |url=https://www.academia.edu/37962437 |title=Tears and Toil: The History of Shanghai Sikh Gurdwaras |work=The Shanghai Sikh Gurdwara |publisher=Academia.edu |year=2018}}</ref> After the [[Proclamation of the People's Republic of China|advent of Communist rule in 1949]], many Sikhs who had been employed as watchmen in mainland China departed for resettlement in Hong Kong, immigrated to [[Western world|the West]], or returned to India.<ref name=":43">{{Cite book |last=Kahlon |first=Swarn Singh |title=Sikhs in Asia Pacific: Travels Among the Sikh Diaspora from Yangon to Kobe |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2016 |isbn=9781351987417 |chapter=9. Sikhs in China: Sikh Migration of Great Historical Interest}}</ref>{{Rp|page=212}} Most of the remaining Sikhs left Shanghai in 1973 after the [[Sino-Indian War]] in 1962, these fleeing Shanghai Sikhs shifted to Hong Kong.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-11-11 |title=Sikhs: A piece of history that remains fragmentary |url=https://archive.shine.cn/feature/art-and-culture/Sikhs-A-piece-of-history-that-remains-fragmentary/shdaily.shtml |access-date=2019-06-28 |website=archive.shine.cn}}</ref><ref name=":82">{{Cite web |last=Vathyam |first=Meena |date=March 2016 |title=Sikhs in Shanghai |url=https://www.historic-shanghai.com/sikhs-in-shanghai/ |website=Historic Shanghai}}</ref><ref name=":11">{{Cite web |last=Almeida |first=Rhea |date=8 June 2018 |title=The Captivating History of Sikhs in Old Shanghai |url=https://homegrown.co.in/homegrown-explore/the-captivating-history-of-sikhs-in-old-shanghai-in-photos-and-text |access-date=25 May 2024 |website=Homegrown}}</ref> In contrast to the gurdwaras of mainland China, Hong Kong's gurdwaras still function normally.<ref name=":22">{{Cite web |last=Kaur |first=Anju |date=18 May 2011 |title=Shanghai's Secret Gurdwara |url=https://www.sikhchic.com/article-detail.php?id=2433&cat=20 |access-date=9 June 2024 |website=SikhChic (originally published on Sikh News Network)}}</ref>

== Gurdwaras ==

* [[Khalsa Diwan Sikh Temple]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Khalsa Diwan |url=http://www.khalsadiwan.com/ |publisher=Khalsadiwan.com}}</ref> – located on Queen’s Road East, Wan Chai and classified as a Grade II Historic Building and managed by the Khalsa Diwan.<ref name="stat2016" />

==References==

{{reflist}}

{{Asia topic|Sikhism in}}