126
NOTES AND QUERIES
Modifications were later made in the Big House. Partitions were put up in the large study, parlour and sitting rooms in order to rent the additional space to outsiders. These were mostly refugees from Hainan Island and provinces near Kwangtung and Hunan and who had formerly worked in official and military professions. There are about 600 people living in the Big House, only half of whom are descendants of Tsang,
The iron gate of the Big House is huge. With the thick wall built of bluish bricks, the Big House looks like a fortified castle. In days when war and bandits prevailed, the Big House always remained intact and unmolested.
During the last hundred years, the iron gate of the Big House was closed at 9:00 p.m. every night. Any occupant of the house who returned at a later hour had to be identified to the gateman in person before being admitted. The gate was dislocated when the Big House was damaged by Typhoon Wanda in 1962. Since then it has remained open and the occupants are free to enter or leave at any hour of the day.
There are two wells in the Big House running to a little more than ten feet in depth. The water in the well always remains clear and has never dried up. Even during the worst dry season in Hong Kong, the occupants of the Big House never faced a water problem.
The early Tsangs made very comprehensive plans for their descendants. Not only in housing, in the digging of wells and in the planning of productive resources, but also for the education of their children. A school named Kwan-man was established in celebration of Tsang's ancestors. This was enlarged in 1961 with Government aid. A new school also was built near the hillside outside the Big House amid a very beautiful environment. It has four classrooms, capable of accommodating 350 students in both morning and afternoon sessions.
Translated, edited and condensed from the Kung Sheung Daily News, 4th November 1964.
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Page 136
126
NOTES AND QUERIES
Modifications were later made in the Big House. Partitions were put up in the large study, parlour and sitting rooms in order to rent the additional space to outsiders. These were mostly refugees from Hainan Island and provinces near Kwangtung and Hunan and who had formerly worked in official and military professions. There are about 600 people living in the Big House, only half of whom are descendants of Tsang,
The iron gate of the Big House is huge. With the thick wall built of bluish bricks, the Big House looks like a fortified castle. In days when war and bandits prevailed, the Big House always remained intact and unmolested.
During the last hundred years, the iron gate of the Big House was closed at 9:00 p.m. every night. Any occupant of the house who returned at a later hour had to be identified to the gateman in person before being admitted. The gate was dislocated when the Big House was damaged by Typhoon Wanda in 1962. Since then it has remained open and the occupants are free to enter or leave at any hour of the day.
There are two wells in the Big House running to a little more than ten feet in depth. The water in the well always remains clear and has never dried up. Even during the worst dry season in Hong Kong, the occupants of the Big House never faced a water problem.
The early Tsangs made very comprehensive plans for their descendants. Not only in housing, in the digging of wells and in the planning of productive resources, but also for the education of their children. A school named Kwan-man was established in celebration of Tsang's ancestors. This was enlarged in 1961 with Government aid. A new school also was built near the hillside outside the Big House amid a very beautiful environment. It has four classrooms, capable of accommodating 350 students in both morning and afternoon sessions.
Translated, edited and condensed from the Kung Sheung Daily News, 4th November 1964.
Page 135Page 136
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