18
Untypical is the temple at the end of the central spinal lane: in other walled villages this site is occupied at most by a "God-house" (7), since the villagers tended to feel that to have a full-scale community temple inside a walled village was improper, as access was thus reduced for non-villagers. The absence of a well is another uncommon feature of the two villages - most walled villages, for obvious reasons, find space for one (the Nga Tsin Wai villagers, if besieged within their walls, as they were in 1854, dipped water from their moat). Moats are quite common, and are not special to these two villages.
The village was built to house far more people than can possibly have been Nga Tsin Wai villagers in 1570. 130 houses is a very large number. It is probable that it was always assumed that each village family would occupy several houses, some as residences, some as barns, some as pigsties or cattle sheds. It is likely that the large number of houses was designed to allow the other villages of the Kowloon plain to flee inside the walls when problems arose, and that at least those members of the three clans of the village living outside the walls in the other villages of the area always assumed they could find shelter there at a pinch. When the walls were rehabilitated in 1724 they certainly sheltered far more people than were then needed - the Ng clan then consisted only of some eight households, and the other two clans of no more than three or four each. Without question, the elders of 1724 were looking to the long term in rebuilding so lavishly, and must have had the defences of more than just Nga Tsin Wai in mind.
At both Nga Tsin Wai and Tai Wai, the villagers started to build houses outside the walls in the late eighteenth century at Tai Wai, more probably during the early nineteenth century at Nga Tsin Wai. These houses were larger and airier than the houses within the walls, and were built by the wealthier villagers as residences - normally these families retained one or more houses within the walls as well. By 1902 there were thirty house-lots just outside the walls at Nga Tsin Wai, mostly on the east of the village, between the moat and the river. Some were very large (see Map 2). The first of these houses were built by 1846, as several are shown in the 1846 drawing mentioned above but more were added between then and 1902. It is likely that houses built by members of the village clans in Sha Po were originally seen as no different from the houses built between the walls and the river: they were both "houses outside the walls". It was only at the end of the
18
untypical is the temple at the end of the central spinal lane: in other walled villages this site is occupied at most by a "God-house" (7), since the villagers tended to feel that to have a full-scale community temple inside a walled village was improper, as access was thus re- duced for non-villagers. The absence of a well is another uncommon feature of the two villages - most walled villages, for obvious reasons, find space for one (the Nga Tsin Wai villagers, if besieged within their walls, as they were in 1854, dipped water from their moat). Moats are quite common, and are not special to these two villages.
The village was built to house far more people than can possibly have been Nga Tsin Wai villagers in 1570. 130 houses is a very large number. It is probable that it was always assumed that each village family would occupy several houses, some as residences, some as barns, some as pigsties or cattle sheds. It is likely that the large number of houses was designed to allow the other villages of the Kowloon plain to flee inside the walls when problems arose, and that at least those members of the three clans of the village living outside the walls in the other villages of the area always assumed they could find shelter there at a pinch. When the walls were rehabilitated in 1724 they certainly sheltered far more houses than were then needed - the Ng clan then consisted only of some eight households, and the other two clans of no more than three or four each. Without question, the elders of 1724 were looking to the long term in rebuilding so lavishly, and must have had the defences of more than just Nga Tsin Wai in mind.
At both Nga Tsin Wai and Tai Wai, the villagers started to build houses outside the walls in the late eighteenth century at Tai Wai, more probably during the early nineteenth century at Nga Tsin Wai. These houses were larger and airier than the houses within the walls, and were built by the wealthier villagers as residences - normally these families retained one or more houses within the walls as well. By 1902 there were thirty house-lots just outside the walls at Nga Tsin Wai, mostly on the east of the village, between the moat and the river. Some were very large (see Map 2). The first of these houses were built by 1846, as several are shown in the 1846 drawing mentioned above but more were added between then and 1902. It is likely that houses built by members of the village clans in Sha Po were originally seen as no different from the houses built between the walls and the river: they were both "houses outside the walls". It was only at the end of the
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.