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Through reviewing existing documentation and conducting interview, this article reconstructs the history of deaf education in Hong Kong in the early days, investigates how the development of Hong Kong Sign Language was related to the language policies different deaf schools, and finds out deaf people's view on the issue of medium of instruction. According to the information collected, formal deaf education in Hong Kong began in 1935 with the establishment of the first deaf school. Although that school prohibited the use of signs, deaf children spontaneously developed a gestural system of communication among themselves due to the pressing needs for communication. This gestural communication system can he viewed as an early from of sign language, ht the postwar period, the number of deaf schools gradually increased. Some of them introduced the Nanjing/Shanghai variety of Chinese Sign Language, which influenced the subsequent development of Hong Kong Sign Language. Through our interviews, we found that the majority of the deaf interviewees, whether they graduated from oral or signing schools, fell that the use of sign language could enhance their learning and that they could turn back time, they wished their hearing teachers could use sign language as the medium of instruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]