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was dangerously exposed to storms behind low and flimsy buns. This little temple almost certainly dates from the original reclamation for the saltpans.
The ferry pier and the Tin Hau Temple were built on the foreshore, about 200 yards from the town proper. Chan Hip-tsun and the other elders of the Shap Yeuk had designed the town proper as an approximately square walled enclosure, with two east-west streets, joined by a north-south street somewhat east of the centre of the town.* The town had four gates, two each to the east and the west. The most important was the Upper East Gate, which faced the fine three-span granite bridge built by the Shap Yeuk over the often violent waters of the Sha Tau Kok River,
The Shap Yeuk had built the walls and roads of their new market, but the shop units were built by investors from villages of the Shap Yeuk area willing to take them up. These investors then built over their lot, from the road back to the already completed wall.
Once the Shap Yeuk had succeeded in their political aims of freeing their district from the influence of outsiders, and had founded their market and its temple, they thereafter ran the district and market through the Council of the Shap Yeuk (the Tung Wo Kuk, "The Council for Peace in the East"). The day-to-day management of the market was handled by a Headman, appointed by the Tung Wo Kuk. He adjudicated minor disputes, and had at his disposal certain trust funds, and the income from the ferry tender, and from rent of the town weigh-beam. He let tenders to sweep the streets (the street-sweeper was expected to reimburse himself from the sale of the wastes as fertiliser), and supervised the Town Watch, recruited from youngsters of the surrounding villages, whose job was to maintain order, especially at night. The Council of the Shap Yeuk, the Headman, and the Town Watch, are all mentioned by the Basel missionaries in the 1850s, and there can be no doubt that the management structure of the town and district was in place from the first foundation of the town.
The market founded by the Shap Yeuk was called by them Tung Wo Market, “Eastern Peace Market”, but it was more usually
1
* See Map 2, taken from a map of 1853 prepared by the Basel missionaries.
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was dangerously exposed to storms behind low and flimsy buns. This fittle temple almost certainly dates from the original reclamation for the saltpans.
The ferry pier and the Tin Hau Temple were built on the foreshore, about 200 yards from the town proper Chan Hip-tsun and the other elders of the Shap Yeuk had designed the town proper as an approximately square walled enclosure, TM with two east-west streets, joined by a north-south street somewhat east of the centre of the town. * The town had four gates, two each to the cast and the west. The most important was the Upper East Gate, which faced the fine three-span granite bridge built by the Shap Yeuk over the often violent waters of the Sha Tau Kok River,
The Shap Yeuk had built the walls and roads of their new market, but the shop units were built by investors from villages of the Shap Yeuk area willing to take them up. These investors then built over their lot, from the road back to the already completed wall
Once the Shap Yeuk had succeeded in then political aims of freeing their district from the influence of outsiders, and had founded their market and its temple, they thereafter ran the district and market through the Council of the Shap Yeuk (the Tung Wo Kuk, "The Council for Peace in the East" "). The day-to-day management of the market was handled by a Headman, appointed by the Tung Wo Kuk He adjudicated minor disputes, and had at his disposal certam trust funds, and the income from the ferry tender, and from rent of the town weigh-beam. He let tenders to sweep the streets (the street-sweeper was expected to reimburse himself from the sale of the wastes as fertiliser), and supervised the Town Watch, recruited from youngsters of the surrounding villages, whose job was to maintain ordet, especially at night. The Council of the Shap Yeuk. the Headman, and the Town Watch, are all mentioned by the Basel missionaries in the 1850s, and there can be no doubt that the management structure of the town and district was in place from the first foundation of the town 20
The market founded by the Shap Yeuk was called by them Tung Wo Market, fll, “Eastern Peace Market", but it was more usually
1
* See Map 2, taken from a map of 1853 prepared by the Basel missionaries
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