305
THE SOLDIERS AT THE TUNG CHUNG FORT ON LANTAU ISLAND IN LATE CH’ING TIMES
JAMES HAYES
In the 1968 Journal (Vol. VIII, pp. 165-167) I gave an account of the naval and military garrison at the Tung Chung Fort, taken from an old lady born at Tung Ching in 1877 and married into another village in the area. A few years later I found, and was able to speak several times with, another old lady from the Tung Chung valley. She was born at Ngau Au village in 1879 and like the other had married into Sheung Ling Pei (at age 22 sui). She had this to say about the fort and its garrison, and her account both corroborates and adds to the earlier account. I have run the text of our conversations together, and they amount to the following:
"The fort was there to protect us villagers. They were successful in this. When I was young there were no robbers and pirates, though I heard that there had been many before I was born. There were lots of soldiers, about 70 to 80, under an officer called a sau fu (少府). The soldiers wore robes. Their superiors were better dressed and had horses to ride. These officers had some contact with the elders of the villages of Tung Chung area, but did not speak with the younger men or the women. The soldiers' supplies were brought in. There was no need for us to give or sell foodstuffs to them, and the soldiers didn't have to do any cultivation themselves. They were all Kwangtung men and spoke in Punti. Some were even local villagers. The soldiers had many flags, over ten of them at least. The men of the garrison went to worship at our Hau Wong Temple on the 1st and 15th of each month, and joined in the opera show that was held yearly at the temple on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month. There were wind and steam driven military vessels in the anchorage, and I remember that some were blown onto the adjoining San Tau beaches in a typhoon."
This old lady also had interesting things to say about the temple inside the walls of the fort. It was, she said, a Sham Shing Miu (神聖廟) but only worshipped by the officers and troops of the
305
THE SOLDIERS AT THE TUNG CHUNG FORT ON LANTAU ISLAND IN LATE CH’ING TIMES
JAMES HAYES
In the 1968 Journal (Vol. VIII, pp. 165-167) I gave an account of the naval and military garrison at the Tung Chung Fort, taken from an old lady born at Tung Ching in 1877 and married into another village in the area. A few years later I found, and was able to speak several times with, another old lady from the Tung Chung valley. She was born at Ngau Au village in 1879 and like the other had married into Sheung Ling Pei (at age 22 sui). She had this to say about the fort and its garrison, and her account both corrobo- rates and adds to the earlier account. I have run the text of our conversations together, and they amount to the following:
"The fort was there to protect us villagers. They were success- ful in this. When I was young there were no robbers and pi- rates, though I heard that there had been many before I was born. There were lots of soldiers, about 70 to 80, under an officer called a sau fu (FK). The soldiers wore robes. Their superiors were better dressed and had horses to ride. These officers had some contact with the elders of the villages of Tung Chung area, but did not speak with the younger men or the women. The soldiers' supplies were brought in. There was no need for us to give or sell foodstuffs to them, and the soldiers didn't have to do any cultivation themselves. They were all Kwangtung men and spoke in Punti. Some were even local villagers. The soldiers had many flags, over ten of them at least. The men of the garrison went to worship at our Hau Wong Temple (E) on the 1st and 15th of each month, and joined in the opera show that was held yearly at the tem- ple on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month. There were wind and steam driven military vessels in the anchorage, and I remember that some were blown onto the adjoining San Tau beaches in a typhoon."
This old lady also had interesting things to say about the temple inside the walls of the fort. It was, she said, a Sham Shing Miu (9) but only worshipped by the officers and troops of the
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