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Sayer's Map of Hong Kong 1841-1855, the place was marked with the words Sai Yang Pun. Even in Sheet 19 of the 1957 edition 1 to 25,000 official maps, the place was named Sai Ying Poon.
Then, was the place named by the Chinese in the early twenty years of the nineteenth century or by the Chinese in the early years of the British occupation? I cannot provide the exact answer to this question but I prefer the first hypothesis i.e. Chang Po Tsai the pirate did establish a fortification in Sai Ying Pun around 1806. The reasons to support this argument are again not difficult to find.
First, according to the Chinese folklore, at the beginning of the present century (1800 - 1810), the present Victoria Peak formed the look-out and fortified headquarters of a pirate named Chang Pao. Moreover, the name Chang Pao Tsai is frequently mentioned by the indigenous population of Hong Kong. Even the early Chinese of the island were frequently being looked upon as pirates and robbers.
Secondly, there are many historic relics left behind by the pirates. Apart from the famous Chang Pao Tsai treasure caves in Cheung Chau and Lamma Island, there is the Chang Pao Tsai relic path (or the old road of Chang Pao Tsai) which is about half way up Mount Gough and starts between May Road and Kotewall Road. Chang Po Tsai was claimed to have erected forts there and old inhabitants of Hong Kong can still point out the sites of the forts. It is also said that Man Mo Temple in Hollywood Road was first built by Chang Pao Tsai.
It is not easy to tell why Chang the pirate had to build fortifications on Hong Kong Island and why the pirates chose the place Sai Ying Pun. I have worked out three probabilities.
Firstly, the pirates chose it because the place was located in the northern part of the island. The pirates used the island as a sort of naval base. They had to build fortresses to accommodate themselves. According to Miss K. Y. Woo, during the early years of Chia-ching period, Chang and his followers occupied the area around Chek Chu (Lo, 1963, P. 108). They were afraid that the Ching army would attack them from the Kowloon side. So they had to build two fortifications on the northern side of the Island. So some pirates could station there and try to hold back any attacks by the Ching army. A more detailed