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NOTES AND QUERIES
To the north of Chun Fa Lok on the mainland side are Kwai Chung 葵涌 and Chin Wan 淺灣.* Kap Shui Mun 急水門 lies to the south-west. South of the Kap Shui Mun is the Yeung Shun Chau 仰船洲?
Judging from the position shown on the map, Chun Fa Lok's location is probably the same as that of Tsing Yi Island today. And from the present day maps of Hong Kong, we can find the name Chun Fa Lok on the east coast of Tsing Yi Island.
I have twice visited the present Chun Fa Lok on Tsing Yi Island, once with Dr. James Hayes, and found that the huts there belong to one family, surnamed Chung. They came here a few decades ago, after the Second World War. Now, they are the second generation here. I was told that before the present reclamation there was a pier quite close to the village, and the seashore in front.
Nothing about Chun Fa Lok itself is recorded in the local histories, but in the San On Yuen Chi, 1819 edition, it is recorded, 'In the 12th year of the Chia Ch'ing period of the Ming Dynasty, pirates called Hui Chat-kwai and Wan Chung-sin 溫宗卷 invaded Tung Kwun county. Ku Sing 顧晟, a military officer of Tsin-wu † rank, tried to capture them at Chun Fa Yeung ***, but was killed in the fight, Kong Leung-choi ‡, commander of the naval forces of that region, defeated them." Can Chun Fa Yeung be the waters near Chun Fa Lok of Tsing Yi Island today? This needs further proof.
The names of Tsing Yi Mun 青衣門 and Tsing Yi Tam 青衣潭 appear in the local history books written in the later part of the Ch'ing Dynasty, but nothing about Chun Fa Lok is mentioned. Is Chun Fa Lok the old name of Tsing Yi? The local elders have been unable to state the connection, when consulted on this point, though confirming that Chun Fa Lok is an old place name.
Hong Kong, April, 1980
ANTHONY K. K. SIU
1 Yuet Tai Kei NOTES was written by Kwok Fai in the Wan Li reign (1573-1620) of the Ming Dynasty. The map of the Kwangtung Coast is shown at the end of Chapter 32.