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NOTES AND QUERIES
tional times, the social community tended to be isomorphic with the territorial unit, but times have changed, and territorial definition no longer counts. Outsiders in Fung Yuen, whether other New Territories villagers now resident in the valley or immigrants from across the border, never worship at these shrines or participate in any of the annual ceremonies performed to honor these gods.
The remaining, somewhat abbreviated ceremonies of the tun fu took place at important sites scattered throughout the valley. The sequence in which they were conducted seemed to follow the shortest path covering all sites, rather than any rank order of significance. The point of interest in these ceremonies is that certain pots (and their associated bamboo stalks and charms) protect residential units, while others protect units constituted socially, represented symbolically in a shrine or hall of some religious significance. Some pots embody both dimensions simultaneously, and every household requires protection of both sorts; inclusion in a social unit that is symbolically protected apparently must be supplemented by having a charm in close proximity to one's own home.
When the 1905 Block Crown Leases were prepared, most villagers lived together in a nucleated cluster of six rows of terraced houses at the back of the valley. One of the lineages had already begun to splinter off into a single-surname hamlet in front of the old village, however, and in the early decades of this century that move was completed. A second lineage hived off at about the same time to form a separate hamlet along one edge of the valley. Since it was essential that protection be afforded equally to all Fung Yuen people, incense pots and bamboo fronds had been placed at strategic points in each of the three hamlets in previous tun fu ceremonies, and these now had to be reconsecrated. Though all hamlets received equal protection, however, the number and placement of the pots varied in each.
In the old village there is a community hall, the center for lunar new year rituals in which all of the four lineages share equally. One tun fu pot was placed in front of this house, signifying protection for all members of the multilineage alliance that is formalized in this building and in land held in trust to support its rituals. This single pot is, it seems, able to offer protection at two other levels as well, however. Next to the community hall stands the
150
NOTES AND QUERIES
tional times, the social community tended to be isomorphic with the territorial unit, but times have changed, and territorial defini- tion no longer counts. Outsiders in Fung Yuen, whether other New Territories villagers now resident in the valley or immigrants from across the border, never worship at these shrines or participate in any of the annual ceremonies performed to honor these gods.
The remaining, somewhat abbreviated ceremonies of the tun fu took place at important sites scattered throughout the valley. The sequence in which they were conducted seemed to follow the shortest path covering all sites, rather than any rank order of signi- ficance. The point of interest in these ceremonies is that certain pots (and their associated bamboo stalks and charms) protect residential units, while others protect units constituted socially, represented symbolically in a shrine or hall of some religious sign- ficance. Some pots embody both dimensions simultaneously, and every household requires protection of both sorts; inclusion in a social unit that is symbolically protected apparently must be sup- plemented by having a charm in close proximity to one's own home.
When the 1905 Block Crown Leases were prepared, most villagers lived together in a nucleated cluster of six rows of terraced houses at the back of the valley. One of the lineages had already begun to splinter off into a single-surname hamlet in front of the old village, however, and in the early decades of this century that move was completed. A second lineage hived off at about the same time to form a separate hamlet along one edge of the valley. Since it was essential that protection be afforded equally to all Fung Yuen people, incense pots and bamboo fronds had been placed at strategic points in each of the three hamlets in previous tun fu ceremonies, and these now had to be reconsecrated. Though all hamlets received equal protection, however, the number and placement of the pots varied in each.
In the old village there is a community hall, the center for lunar new year rituals in which all of the four lineages share equally. One tun fu pot was placed in front of this house, signifying protec- tion for all members of the multilineage alliance that is formalized in this building and in land held in trust to support its rituals. This single pot is, it seems, able to offer protection at two other levels as well, however. Next to the community hall stands the
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