LEGENDS & STORIES OF THE NEW TERRITORIES: KAM TIN
the Emperor Sung Kwong Tsung (***). After her death her eldest son Lam (†) took a letter that she left behind to Sung Kwong Tsung, who ordered that honours should be paid to the dead princess, the name of Wong Kwu bestowed on her, and a thousand Chinese acres of cultivated land given to Lam, the income from which to be spent on her grave for customary rites and worship. The To Shue Tsaap Shing which was written in the 4th year of Yung Ching (£) of Ts'ing dynasty, A.D. 1726, mentions the fields as being still used for this purpose.
The princess was very famous for her humility. When she first came to Kam T'in she willingly helped to do the servants' work in the house, and showed no pride in her high birth. There are two sentences referring to her in a poem written by the poet Kan Sz Leung (MA) which run:—
1. 金枝玉葉無人偶,
2. 凄絕農家執箕帚。
which roughly translated read:
1. Gold branch jade leaves no one dare to make a pair with.
2. Sad utmost farmer family hold dustpan and broom.
When the princess became very old a site for her grave was chosen by a famous "fung shui" man named Lai Paak Shiu (16 #). He selected a hill called Sz Tsz Shaan (#) in Shek Tseng (#) near Shek Lung, which was supposed to resemble a lion, but he first asked her if she would prefer to be buried on the lion's head or its tail. She asked what difference it would make, and she was told that if her grave was on the head her descendants would be very great men; but if on the tail they would be more humble people, perhaps officers of low degree, and, although prosperous, none would succeed to high rank. The princess at once said, “I do not want my descendants to become great. They could never be as high as an Emperor's daughter, and yet even I was in danger of my life. I wish them to enjoy the red rice and the shiny scale fish (the unhusked rice and herrings, farmers' food). If they have that they should be content." So she was buried on the lion's tail, and two more sentences were written about her,
1. 紅米之飯錦鰍魚,
2. 田家風味甘有餘。
LEGENDS & STORIES OF THE NEW TERRITORIES: KAM TIN 123
the Emperor Sung Kwong Tsung (***). After her death her eldest son Lam (†) took a letter that she left behind to Sung Kwong Tsung, who ordered that honours should be paid to the dead princess, the name of Wong Kwu bestowed on her, and a thousand Chinese acres of cultivated land given to Lam, the income from which to be spent on her grave for customary rites and worship. The To Shue Tsaap Shing which was written in the 4th year of Yung Ching (£) of Ts'ing dynasty, A.D. 1726, mentions the fields as being still used for this purpose.
The princess was very famous for her humility. When she first came to Kam T'in she willingly helped to do the servants' work in the house, and showed no pride in her high birth. There are two sentences referring to her in a poem written by the poet Kan Sz Leung (MA) which run:—
1. 金枝玉葉無人偶,
2. 凄絕農家執箕帚。
which roughly translated read:
I
1. Gold branch jade leaves no one dare to make a pair with. 2. Sad utmost farmer family hold dustpan and broom.
When the princess became very old a site for her grave was chosen by a famous "fung shui" man named Lai Paak Shiu (16 #). He selected a hill called Sz Tsz Shaan (#) in Shek Tseng (#) near Shek Lung, which was supposed to resemble a lion, but he first asked her if she would prefer to be buried on the lion's head or its tail. She asked what difference it would make, and she was told that if her grave was on the head her descendants would be very great men; but if on the tail they would be more humble people, perhaps officers of low degree, and, although prosperous, none would succeed to high rank. The princess at once said, “I do not want my descendants to become great. They could never be as high as an Emperor's daughter, and yet even I was in danger of my life. I wish them to enjoy the red rice and the shiny scale fish (the unhusked rice and herrings, farmers' food). If they have that they should be content." So she was buried on the lion's tail, and two more sentences were written about her,
1. 紅米之飯錦鰍魚,
2. 田家風味甘有餘。
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