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LEGENDS AND STORIES OF THE NEW TERRITORIES
I
TAI PO 大埔*
SUNG HOK-P'ANG
The original name of Tai Po (大埔) meaning big slope, was Tai Po (大步) meaning big stride. There is a story that many thousands of years ago there was a dense forest where Tai Po now stands. It was infested with wild and dangerous creatures, and the villagers round about were afraid to go in it. If they had to go they warned each other, saying "Take long strides, otherwise the tigers and snakes will get you!” So that gradually the place became known as Tai Po. Although the story has been handed down from generation to generation, there is some indication of truth in it, in the fact that when the present road was made through the district the roots of huge trees were dug up. What might be a further proof that the district was originally a densely wooded one, is the fact that there is a hill just outside Tai Po Market known as Kam Shaan (錦山) (embroidered mountain) which until quite recently was very thickly covered with trees. It was originally called Kam Shaan (禁山) (forbidden mountain) being held in veneration as Fung Shui by the villagers of Tai Po Tau, (大埔頭) who had protected the trees for many centuries, until they were cut down and houses built on the hill a few years ago.
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From the fourth year of Hoi Po (A.D. 971) of Sung dynasty until the twenty-fourth year of Ka Hing (A.D. 1819) of
* Sung Hok-p'ang wrote a number of articles on the history of the New Territories which were published in The Hong Kong Naturalist between May 1935 and November 1938. Owing to the difficulty of finding copies of the originals, these articles have been reissued in the Journal. The articles on the history of Kam Tin were reissued in Vol. 13, pages 111-129 and Vol. 14, pages 160-185. The following short articles complete the reissues. The attention of readers is drawn to the Editor's note at Vol. 13, page 111, and to the Note, Sung Hok-p'ang (宋學鵬) (1880-1962) A Memoir by Lo Hsiang-lin, in Vol. 13, pages 130-132. This article on Tai Po was originally printed in The Hong Kong Naturalist for May 1935. Ed.