Three tablets in the temple compound, however, provide some interesting information. The first of these tablets shows that in the second year of the reign of the Emperor To Kwong of the Ching Dynasty (1823) over three hundred prominent residents and shopkeepers of Kowloon City contributed over one thousand dollars towards the cost of rebuilding what was then an old temple.
Each of these benefactors contributed either five or ten dollars and their generosity was amply rewarded by the temple authorities who caused the names of the donors to be inscribed on a tablet.
Standing by the side of this tablet is another which bears the date of 1860. In this year, further repairs were undertaken and the names of the donors were again inscribed on the tablet. Eighteen hundred and sixty was the ninth year of the sovereign rule of the Emperor Ham Fung, also of the Ching Dynasty. He ruled from 1851 to 1862, while To Kwong, whose name is found on the first tablet, reigned from 1821 to 1851.
Around the walls of the Hau Wong Miu are to be found many scrolls pasted on wooden boards, giving the names of some famous people who came to worship. Of particular interest is the name Ip Tai-pang. When the history of pirate and bandit suppression in South China comes to be written, the name of Ip Tai-pang will figure prominently. His Imperial Master in Peking had charged Ip with ridding the coast of pirate bands, and to the best of his ability he carried out his orders. Such good work did he do that the infamous Bias Bay was named after him. The Chinese name for this blot on the South China coast is Tai-pang-wun.
It is more than likely that Ip Tai-pang made Kowloon City his temporary headquarters. It is known, at least, that he stayed there for some time, for he presented the temple with a set of wooden scrolls, praising the building and its priests.
The third tablet, erected in the temple compound as late as 1917, is the most interesting. It tells how the temple first came to be named. According to this third tablet, Hau Wong was a famous Duke in the Sung Dynasty which ruled China Proper about 600 years ago. Heu Wong, known to his colleagues as General Yeung Leung Chit, was the greatest single power in the land before the Sung Dynasty was forced to remove its capital to Foochow. General Yeung was made a Duke for his military services, which were so highly praised by his colleagues, that the common people came to regard him as a deity.
According to the tablet, after the Yuan troops invaded Foochow, Yeung Leung Chit fought his way into South China. Tradition has it that Yeung visited Kowloon City for a brief period before he pushed further into the South, where he died.
The tablet states that the natives of Kowloon City were so impressed by the visit of such a distinguished general