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LEGENDS AND STORIES OF THE NEW TERRITORIES.
II.
1TS'ING SHAAN OR CASTLE PEAK.
SUNG HOK-P'ANG.
The original name of Tsing Shaan was Yeung 'Haang 'Shaan () meaning "Ship or Goat Ditch Hill," and nearby there is still a village called Yeung Siu 'Haang () "Ship or Goat little Ditch;" but later on the Peak was called simultaneously Shing 'Shaan (li) “Saint Hill," and T'uen Moon 'Shaan () "Military Colonist Gate Hill." The latter name was given because in olden times the Chinese Emperor sent soldiers there to cultivate the soil, and at the same time protect the country-side from the numerous pirates that infested the coast.
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In A.D. 428 a certain monk named 'Pooi To () became abbot of the monastery, and then the name of Pooi To Shaan () was used.
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Nearly five and a half centuries later, in the 12th year of Taai Po (A) of Naam Hon () dynasty, on the 18th day of the 2nd month (A.D. 969) the Emperor gave the hill the special name of Sui Ying 'Shaan () "Good omen hill," and caused a stone tablet to be erected on which was carved the history of the monastery. This stone recorded that in the 11th year of, K'in, Woh (2) A.D. 954 a military officer named, Ch'an Ts'un () had paid a stone mason to carve a figure of Pooi To which he put in a cave near the monastery, and which can still be seen. In the 4th year of Yuen Yau (πi) A.D. 1089 of "Sung (✯) dynasty a general in Canton named "Tseung Chi K'ei (2) wrote an account of the hill, and put it on a stone tablet in place of the old one. This second
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one has now disappeared, but fortunately the account is in the "History of of the 'Sun 'On district," and from it can be learnt that formerly there was a castle at the north of the hill, and to the west of the castle a Po To Haai () or "arrest bandit station." No trace is left of either of these buildings, but undoubtedly this is the origin of the English name of Castle Peak.
The history of the monk Pooi To is a curious one, and the stories of the miracles he did, are very numerous. It is not known what his real name was, Pooi To being his Bhuddist name. He is supposed to have lived in the "K'ei 'Chau () district at first, which is between Shantung () and Chili () provinces. He was an uncultivated man, without (山東) family, wandering from place to place, and asking shelter from house to house. Once when he went to the then capital city of China (Sung dynasty) Kin Hong() he was described as looking about forty years old. He used a rope instead of a belt, his coat was all torn. He was easily pleased, but quickly angered. Sometimes he talked a lot, at other times he remained silent for whole days, and when it was very cold he would often roll in the snow. He would climb the hills in rough wooden clogs or walk about the town barefoot. He was not a vegetarian like other Bhuddist monks, but ate and drank as an ordinary man. His only possessions were a rice basket and a wooden
The Hong Kong Naturalist.
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