The Fiery Era — HKU Students and 1970s Social Movements

Wild-history zone · Module 14 · one of the in-depth entries. This piece attributes statements according to the strength of the evidence, sets differing accounts side by side, and does not adjudicate between them. Individuals are referred to throughout as "Mr. [Surname]"; current leadership office-holders are referenced by title only, not by name; content related to Hong Kong independence or unrest is, per §6.2, link-only (see Module 18). This piece concerns historical events of the 1960s–70s.

# 1. What Was the "Fiery Era"

According to the Wikipedia entry on 1970s Hong Kong student protests^※, from the late 1960s into the 1970s, student movements in Hong Kong (including at HKU) entered their most active period, later referred to as the "Fiery Era" (Fiery Era / 火紅年代). Its main threads were said to be: criticism of colonial governance, concern for the working class and grassroots welfare, the push for statutory status for Chinese, and influence from global left-wing student movements and political currents in mainland China at the time.

According to the Wikipedia entry on Undergrad^※, the HKU students' union publication Undergrad (學苑) is described as having had "considerable influence on social movements" and as having "provided guiding ideas for the student movement," with involvement across the Defend Diaoyutai campaign, the Golden Jubilee (金禧) incident, anti-corruption activity, and campus-governance disputes.

# 2. The Chinese Language Campaign (1967 petition → 1974 Official Languages Ordinance)

# Origins: HKU Students' Union petitions first

According to research on the Chinese language campaign published in The China Quarterly (Cambridge)^※, in 1967 the HKU Students' Union was, according to this account, the first to call on the government to give Chinese status as an official language; the following year (1968), the Chung Chi College Students' Union at CUHK is reported to have raised the same demand. According to the Wikipedia entry on Undergrad^※, Undergrad is described as having first proposed, already in the 1960s, that Chinese be placed alongside English as an official language, "sparking what is described as the first movement in Hong Kong's modern history to defend the status of Chinese" — the Chinese Language Campaign.

# Scale and outcome of the campaign

According to The China Quarterly research^※, the campaign as a whole is reported to have involved "at least 330 organisations" across various sectors of society; sustained effort over several years is credited with leading the colonial government to recognise the official status of Chinese in 1974. The research also notes that the campaign's focus was on Cantonese (in contrast to the direction of the mainland's Putonghua-promotion policy).

According to the text of the Official Languages Ordinance 1974 (Wikisource): the Ordinance declares Chinese and English to be co-official languages of Hong Kong for communication between the government or public officers and the public^※. The Ordinance took effect in 1974, ending the arrangement under which English alone had been the sole official language of Hong Kong since 1883.

Background note (per The China Quarterly research): at the time, HKU admissions were formally restricted to graduates of English-medium secondary schools, and English is described as having functioned as a "passport" into elite professions such as medicine and law — a linguistic stratification identified as a key driver of the Chinese Language Campaign.

# 3. The Defend Diaoyutai Campaign (1971)

# February 1971: Action committee formed

According to the Wikipedia entry on the Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS)^※, on 14 February 1971 the "Hong Kong Action Committee for Defending the Diaoyutai Islands" was formed, with HKU students and the Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS) described as among the core participants.

# The 7 July Victoria Park incident (7 July 1971)

According to the Chinese-language Wikipedia entry on the Defend Diaoyutai movement^※, on the evening of 7 July 1971, HKFS held a large rally in Victoria Park in support of the Diaoyutai campaign. The Urban Council is reported to have refused the application on the grounds that the assembly would obstruct public recreational use and damage the lawns; a large number of police officers arrived that evening and dispersed the crowd.

According to several Chinese-language sources: these accounts state that more than a thousand people took part in the Victoria Park rally, that police deployed at a ratio described as close to one-to-one to disperse the crowd, and that a number of protesters were struck with batons, with some accounts reporting head injuries and bleeding; this incident is widely described as the event that opened the wave of Hong Kong student activism in the 1970s. One person who at the time held a leadership role in HKFS's Diaoyutai working group (unnamed here) is, per these accounts, reported to have sustained a head injury and bleeding after being struck with a baton during the rally.

This event is widely regarded as the turning point at which the Diaoyutai campaign moved from a marginal activity to a cross-class, cross-professional movement framed by participants as patriotic. Accounts differ and are set side by side here; this entry does not adjudicate the historical assessment.

# 4. Anti-Corruption Campaign, "Catch Godber," and the Founding of the ICAC (1973–74)

According to the Wikipedia entry on 1970s Hong Kong student protests^※, in the early 1970s, tertiary students — with CUHK's students' union described as prominent, and HKU students also participating — organised large anti-corruption rallies directed at Chief Superintendent Peter Godber, who had fled to the United Kingdom amid corruption allegations. Public anger over Godber's flight is described as one direct driver behind the Hong Kong government's establishment of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) in 1974. According to the Wikipedia entry on Undergrad^※, Undergrad is also described as having participated in the discourse and mobilisation around the "Fight Corruption, Catch Godber" campaign.

# 5. The Boat-Dweller Incidents (1971–72; 1978–79)

According to the Wikipedia entry on 1970s Hong Kong student protests^※, the "Yau Ma Tei boat-dweller incidents" are described as occurring in two waves (1971–72 and 1978–79), in which students and social-movement activists pressed the colonial government to house boat-dwelling residents (艇户) in public housing. This campaign is presented as illustrating the Fiery Era's shift from campus issues toward concern for grassroots livelihood.

# 6. The Golden Jubilee (金禧) Incident (1977–1978)

According to the Wikipedia entry on the Golden Jubilee incident^※, Precious Blood Golden Jubilee Secondary School was founded in 1973. Beginning in June 1977, teachers and students at the school are reported to have clashed repeatedly with the school administration over suspected financial irregularities (including alleged withholding of staff salaries, alleged profiting from mandated textbook purchases, and alleged misappropriation of funds).

# Escalation and support from tertiary students

According to the Wikipedia entry on the Golden Jubilee incident^※, the Education Department was accused of favouring the school administration, which is described as having triggered a broader student movement; a series of rallies, petitions, and hunger strikes followed. Students' unions at multiple tertiary institutions, including HKU's, issued statements, organised support delegations, and held sit-ins and marches together with teachers, students, and parents, calling for the school's reopening. Following the incident, the Hong Kong government appointed the then HKU Vice-Chancellor to chair an inquiry and produce a report, which is regarded as a significant case in Hong Kong education governance in the late 1970s.

Accounts from the teachers and students involved, the school administration, and the Education Department diverge; this entry attributes the sequence of events strictly according to source, and does not adjudicate between the parties.

# 7. Factional Divisions: The "Nationalist" Faction, the Social-Action Faction, and the Trotskyists

According to the Wikipedia entry on 1970s Hong Kong student protests^※, the Hong Kong student camp of the Fiery Era is broadly described as falling into three currents:

• The Maoist / "nationalist" faction (國粹派): aligned in sympathy with mainland China and the Cultural Revolution's orientation, described as having held considerable influence in a number of students' unions (including HKU's) in the mid-1970s. According to the Wikipedia entry on HKFS^※, the HKFS standing committee is reported to have, for a period in 1975–76, taken a position supportive of the Cultural Revolution in China, which is described as having drawn objection from some students.
• The social-action faction: described as advocating a Hong Kong–rooted focus, concern for grassroots livelihood, and social reform, without a stated allegiance to any particular political authority, and as actively involved in the boat-dweller, anti-corruption, and Golden Jubilee campaigns.
• The Trotskyist / anarchist faction: described as smaller in number but active in radical publications and theoretical debate.

According to the Wikipedia entry on 1970s Hong Kong student protests^※ and a 2024 study in Cogent Arts & Humanities^※, following Mao Zedong's death and the arrest of the "Gang of Four" in 1976, the Maoist/nationalist faction is described as having lost morale and influence rapidly, with the social-action faction becoming the mainstream current in the student movement thereafter. From the 1980s, the factions are reported to have divided further over the question of Hong Kong's future.

Note on anonymisation: Individuals named in this article in connection with factional leadership, participation in the Diaoyutai campaign, and similar contested contexts are referred to without full names, or as "Mr. [Surname]." Names of organisations, publications, and movements are recorded as given. Events of the 1960s–70s are presented here as attributed by source; differing assessments are set side by side without adjudication.