RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1966 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/bz60k0811 OLD BRITISH KOWLOON 133 NOTES The place names are all in Cantonese and can be found in the Hong Kong Government's publication The Place Names of Hong Kong and the New Territories (1960). Where not otherwise stated my authority for information given in the paper comes from the old people mentioned in note 16. The aim of this article is to recover as much of the pre-1899 past of the Hong Kong region as possible, with special reference to the nineteenth century. 1. E. J. Eitel, Europe in China, London: Luzac & Co., 1895, p. 360. 2. The Convention of Peking, 9 June 1898. The text can be found on pp. 198-199 of the Hong Kong Government's Sessional Papers, i.e., papers laid before the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, 1899. 3. Report on the Sanitary Condition of Hong Kong and Kowloon for 1864... presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of Her Majesty in 1865 to be found in Parliamentary Papers, China, 1861-66, p. 16. 4. C.O.129/85 in the Public Record Office, London. 5. The Commissioners sent an abstract of these documents to London. These were as follows: "No. 1 | List of Red Deeds Owners not belonging to the Teng Family—contains 91 Deeds, comprising an area of 176 acres value computed at $25,865.32 No. 2 List of Deeds belonging to the Two Branches of the Teng Family contains 78 Deeds comprising an area of 276 acres value computed at $40,561.52 No. 3 List of squatters showing the number to be 222—spread over 90 acres value computed at $13,226.16* The "Teng" family mentioned in Nos. 1 and 2 above is the Tang (*) family of Kam Tin, who are Cantonese and are the oldest, richest and best-known of the New Territories landed families. See SUNG Hok-Pang. "Legends and Stories of the New Territories" Parts III-IV, Kam Tin, in The Hong Kong Naturalist, Vols. VI and VII. 6. Hong Kong Government Gazette, Government Notification 41 of 1860, dated 24 March 1860. The population at this time contained a preponderance of men; 3356 to 971 women and 778 children (Hong Kong Government Gazette, 22 February 1862). 7. For instance, the genealogies (##) of the Ng (吳) clan of Nga Tsin Wai and Sha Po and the Lam (林) clan of Chuk Yuen and Po Kong show that their settlement dates back to this period. 8. I base this statement on personal knowledge of the fifty or more Hakka villages in the Sai Kung district of the New Territories. 9. Hong Kong Government Blue Book for 1871 p. 148. 10. See G. N. Orme's "Report on the New Territories 1899-1912" in Sessional Papers 1912 p. 55 and J. H. Stewart Lockhart in Sessional Papers 1899, p. 189. My second statement is based on conversations with families of Hakka stonecutters at Ngau Tau Kok Village, Kowloon. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1968 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833948d FAN LAU AND ITS FORT $9 i.e. great island, by the Chinese; the town Toongchung on the north shore opposite Chulocock I. is the largest on the island" On the other hand, it seems by this date that the fort was already abandoned since one of the British officers who came out to China for the hostilities of 1841-42, has this to say of it in an account of his experiences: 14 At the S.W. part of Lantou (sic) we saw, on a height, the remains of an old walled fort, supposed to have been one of the haunts of the famous Coxinga, the pirate However, the fort could not have been abandoned for very long since a repair tablet inside the Tin Hau temple at Fan Lau dated the 2nd summer month of the 25th year of Chia Ch'ing (11th June -9th July, 1820) records contributions by officers of the 21 as it is described thereon. Both these records can only apply to the Fan Lau fort.'5 When the Hong Kong Government surveyors arrived at Fan Lau in 1904 after the New Territories were ceded to Britain, they found the fort still abandoned. In the Block Crown Lease Survey, it is described as "old fort, ruins, waste".16 It had probably not been re-occupied since the early part of the 19th century. It can now be argued that the Kai Yik Kok fort is a Ming dynasty fort built sometime before 1573, possibly abandoned, but rebuilt again in 1730, captured by pirates and re-taken by govern-ment forces sometime between 1810 and 1815, and then refurbished, refortified, and garrisoned until some time before 1841-42, by which time it was already again abandoned. NOTES 1 Also known to the villagers as Yuen To Shan (#ll) or "the hill from which to watch the arrival of distant boats". There is a level spot high above the village, which, according to tradition, was used by observers to watch for incoming vessels proceeding up the Chu Kong or Pearl River estuary. 2 The locations of these various strongpoints can be plotted from the text and maps in the Coastal Defence sections of the 1864 edition (map circa A.D. 1822) of the Kwong Tung Tung Chi the 1819 edition of the San On Yuen Chi M £ M ; the 1827 edition of the Heung Shan Yuen Chi ₺ 4B #; and the 1800 edition of the O Mun Kei Leuk * 1938 #. The last three works contain maps of varying dates from earlier editions. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1968 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/66833948d 90 ARMANDO M. DA SILVA It will suffice here to say that the exterior defence of the Chu Kong estuary consisted of a series of forts, customs-stations and guard-posts in the Lo Man Shan 老萬山, Kai Pong 鷄澎, Sam Chau Mun 三洲門, Ngoi Ling Ting 外伶仃, and the Tam Kon ## groups of the outer off-shore islands. The civil administration ruled from Nam Tau, the district city of the San On district. The military administration was centred at Tai Pang, on the western arm enclosing Tai Pang Hoi (Mirs Bay). The civil administration operated on a north-south axis, as against the east-west axis of the military coastal defence system. This is understandable when one realizes that the military could facilitate their control of the coast-line by establishing easy communications by water running the length of the coast-line from strongpoints on strategic head-lands and the offshore islands. 3 For the Chinese characters of place names of some locales in the vicinity of Tai Yu Shan see map 3. For names of places within the present territory of Hong Kong see A Gazetteer of Place Names in Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories (Hong Kong, Government Printer, 1960). 4 So far as I know there has been no published study of this fort by Hongkong's local historians, except for a brief mention in one work which states that Kai Yik Kok fort was of Ch'ing dynasty date. Lo Hsiang-lin, Hongkong and its External Communication before 1842, (Hongkong, Institute of Chinese Culture, 1963) p. 172. 5 The principal ingredients of this cement are clam and oyster shells which are crushed and burnt to produce slaked lime. The lime is then mixed with fine sand to produce a holding cement. Shells and fine sand are common to many local beaches and are, apparently for this purpose, used in lime kilns. 6 San On Yuen Chi, kuen 22, under section on Coastal Defence reads: 看復界後海絮籹寧而設險更捻周密雖今之汎地 及設兵皆與舊制不同而大嶼山雞翼角炮臺南頭 炮臺赤濘炮蠱最為餓要 7 Fan Lau is also known as Shek Sun meaning "boulder growths", a reference to the numerous residual boulders at Kai Yik Kok, 8 Luis Gomes, Monografia de Macau (Macau, 1951), a Portuguese translation of the O Mun Kei Leuk p. 70. "No 7° ano de long Tcheng (1730) construiram-se fortalezas nas duas montanhas, distribuiram-se as guarniçoes para a sua defensa e foram reforçadas as tropas que guarneciam Tai-U-San formando assim como que um angulo semelhante ao que e constituido pelos chifres dum boi, para servir de defensa exterior de Macau e o Boca Tigre", 9 J. J. L. Duyvendak, "Sailing directions of Chinese voyages" T'oung Pao, vol. 34 (1938) pp. 230-237; and "The true dates of the Chinese maritime expeditions in the early fifteenth century", T'oung Pao, vol. 34 (1938), pp. 341-412. 10 The district of San On (新安) was formed in the sixth year of Lung Hing (隆慶) ie. 1572-73, Fourteen years later, in 1587, the San On district gazetteer was written by Yan Tai-kon (縣太君), the District Magistrate. Various editions followed. The latest edition was published in 1819. This gazetteer provides the best primary source of information on pre-British Hongkong. Chapters (kuen) XIV and XXII deal with Coastal Defence. These are chapters of special interest to historical geographers. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1973 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r CONTENTS PRESIDENT'S REPORT FOR 1972 - HON. TREASURER'S REPORT FOR 1972 - THE LIBRARY, 1972 - ARTICLES: Page 1 Transactions of the China Medico-Chirurgical Society, 1845-46 — H. A. RYDINGS 11 The Yaumatei Typhoon Shelter, Hong Kong, 1900-1915 A. J. S. LACK 13 The Kam Tin Gates PETER WESLEY-SMITH 28 Early Steamships in China-A. D. BLUE 41 45 Persians, Arabs and Other Nationals In T’ang China CHIU LING-YEONG 58 Swatow (Ch'auchow) Horizontal Stick Puppets - HELGA WERLE 73 Five 19th Century Kwangtung Art Catalogues CHUANG SHEN 85 REPRINTED ARTICLES Legends and Stories of the New Territories: Kam T'in SUNG HOK-P'ANG (with a memoir of the author by Lo Hsiang-lin) 111 NOTES AND QUERIES Notes on Chinese Temples in Hong Kong — CARL T. SMITH 133 'Ling Chih' at Canton, 27th May 1886 Hai Ju; Ming Patriot, Spark for Revolution and God 139 KEITH STEPHENS 144 Another Volontieri Map? - William Thomas Mercer (1822-1879) Hong Kong's Poet Laureate? HENRY JAMES LETHBRIDGE 146 Old Bills of Lading (McMullen Collection) — H. A. RYDINGS 151 Visit to the Sukhothai Sites in Thailand — MICHAEL SMITHIES 154 Deep Bay Marshes 163 168 BOOK REVIEWS 169 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1973 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r The Kam Tin Gates Peter Wesley-Smith* Behind the parked tourist buses at Kam Tin, behind the blue-rinsed American ladies and the orderly rows of Japanese camera-clickers and the outstretched palms of Hakka crones, the adventurous visitor will find a plaque on the Kat Hing Wai wall telling the story of the famous pair of gates which adorn the entrance. It is the purpose of this brief article to amplify the few facts engraved on the plaque.1 Kam Tin is the principal settlement of the New Territories Tangs and consists of several separate villages. Kat Hing Wai is the oldest: built in the 15th century it has been reasonably well preserved and is now a major tourist attraction.2 The road from Shek Wu Hui to Yuen Long separates it from Tai Hong Wai, a sister village whose walls have been partly demolished and which boasts no gates. The Hong Kong Government knew little about neighbouring San On in June 1898, when a large slice of the Chinese county was transferred on lease to Great Britain. J. H. Stewart Lockhart was therefore temporarily relieved of his duties as Colonial Secretary and Registrar General and sent on a fact-finding tour as Special Commissioner. During August 1898 he visited various parts of the area and in general was given an "excellent reception" by the inhabitants; but the villagers at Kam Tin were less polite. Unimpressed by the sight of the first steamer ever to navigate their river, they drove away the Commission's chairs and carriers and refused to provide replacements. The elders did not deign to present themselves. A journalist of the time reported that 1,000 villagers, "preceded by vigorously beaten gongs", gave a rousing welcome, "but in place of chin-chins and flowers they came with cries of 'ta' and 'foreign devils.'" Nothing is said here of the rotten eggs that emphasized these cries, but the gates of the village were closed and the Commission could not enter. According to a journal kept of the trip the gates were opened after "a clear explanation" by Stewart Mr. Wesley-Smith is LL.B., B.A., (Adelaide) and Lecturer in Law at the University of Hong Kong. He is currently Editor of the Hong Kong Law Journal. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1973 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r 42 PETER WESLEY SMITH Lockhart, A contemporary newspaper, however, revealed the true nature of the explanation: 75 marines and two Maxim guns.7 The Special Commissioner was appalled by the discourtesy of the villagers. They were reported to the Viceroy at Canton, who was to "deal with the matter in a proper manner", and a deputation from Kam Tin was obliged to apologize in Hong Kong. Such punishment failed to impress the inhabitants with the error of being disrespectful to British officials, for when occupation of the New Territories commenced in April 1899 the Tangs of Kam Tin were foremost in organization of the resistance movement. Again, therefore, stern reprimands were required, this time by the use of gunpowder. On April 18 a party of sappers from the Hong Kong Regiment blew down the walls flanking the gates of both Kat Hing Wai and Tai Hong Wai, and a few days later the villagers themselves, as an act of submission, carried the two pairs of gates to Flag Staff Hill (Tai Po).10 There they were admired by Governor Sir Henry Blake who, wrote Stewart Lockhart, “instructed me to forward to him a pair of gates from Kam Tin". This was duly done in May, though the villagers had to be reminded to send in a socket.12 The two sets of handsome gates were both defective, one wing of each having suffered from the back-scratching of generations of itchy Kam Tin pigs.13 The remaining gates in good condition were combined to make a pair and were appropriated by Blake for "Myrtle Grove", his home in the Irish county of Youghal. In 1924 the residents of Kam Tin petitioned for the return of the gates. They were supported by the District Officer (North), who referred to the gates as objects "of pride to the inhabitants on account of their workmanship and antiquity”, and the Assistant Superintendent of Police (New Territories) recalled their whereabouts. His wife had formerly been maid and companion to Blake's daughters, and she remembered seeing the gates at Myrtle Grove in 1902. Stewart Lockhart, then retired after serving for many years at Wei Hai Wei, was asked to approach Lady Blake for their recovery.1 His mission was successful, but when the gates arrived back in Hong Kong the Tai Hong Wai villagers recognised their half and claimed possession. Long negotiations ensued between elders of the two villages, and eventually, reports O'Dwyer, "the amount of face that would be gained for the whole clan by their erection as a ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1973 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r The Kam Tin Gates 43 composite whole, was put forward so convincingly that it carried the vote. And so the work was completed just in time for the ceremony of re-opening. Thus, on May 26, 1925, Governor Sir Reginald E. Stubbs and his entourage arrived at Kam Tin for the ceremonial return of the revered gates. They were greeted by a Chinese salute of small guns and firecrackers and were presented with an Address which stated: "We shall always now remember, how when your royal chair did pass, children and women left all the lanes deserted to come to bid you welcome, and when your car of state did stop, the neighbourhood was filled with joy"16 There were "expressions of goodwill and loyalty heard on all hands"17, and the Government congratulated itself on a fine public relations exercise. Is there anything in this episode which gives it more than a mere antiquarian interest? Perhaps it illustrates the increasing readiness of the Hong Kong Government to accommodate the wishes of the local population; certainly, Governor Stubbs intended to impress upon the Kam Tin villagers his Government's munificence. He had gone to a good deal of trouble to ensure the gates' return, and the whole operation was paid for out of public funds. The Hong Kong Telegraph commented that "there has perhaps been no incident in the whole history of Hongkong and of the New Territories which has more eloquently and genuinely revealed the Government's friendly feeling and sympathy towards the Chinese of the New Territories"18. Yet within a month the anti-British strike and boycott of 1925-26 had commenced, and relations with the local Chinese thence rapidly deteriorated. One can also detect in Stewart Lockhart's Papers the Special Commissioner's disapproval of Blake's appropriation of the gates. The Governor and his deputy were at odds on several matters relating to the early administration of the New Territories, and there is evidence that differences of opinion regarding policy occasioned some personal animosity. Perhaps the episode of the gates from Kam Tin was a contributing factor. NOTES 1 And to correct them. According to a translation deposited in the Colonial Secretariat Library, Hong Kong, the Kam Tin villagers offered resistance to the British in 1899 because the Ch'ing Government had not previously proclaimed the fact of the New Territories lease. This is false, for a proclamation had been issued by the San On Magistrate. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1973 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8910rj06r 44 PETER WESLEY-SMITH 2 See Wong Chung Hong, "Walled and Moated a Hong Kong Village" Arts of Asia, Vol. 1, No. 4, July-August 1971. This article is accompanied by architectural drawings of Kat Hing Wai. See also Sun Hok-p'ang, "Legends and Stories of the New Territories. III. Kam Tin” Hong Kong Naturalist, Vol. VIII, Nos. 3 and 4, December 1936, pp. 255-6. 3 Stewart Lockhart's Report is relatively well known; it is published in Confidential Print, Eastern No. 66, Serial No. 51, p. 83: C.O.882/5, 4 "Journal of Inspection through the Newly Leased Territory”, and Stewart Lockhart to Acting Colonial Secretary (undated), Nos. 27 and 29 in "Papers Regarding the New Territory, Hong Kong", in Stewart Lockhart's Papers, Vol. 3. These papers are deposited in the National Library of Scotland, Acc. 4138, and are used here with permission. 5 Hongkong Weekly Press. Vol. XLVIII, September 17, 1898, p. 239. 6 See note 4 above. 7 See note 5 above. 8 Serial No. 172 (see note 3 above). 9 See R. G. Groves, "Militia, Market and Lineage: Chinese Resistance to the Occupation of Hong Kong's New Territories in 1899” JHKBRAS, Vol. 9 (1969), p. 31. 10 Stubbs to Thomas, No. 246, June 7, 1924, enclosure 3: minute by W. G. Gerrard, Assistant Superintendent of Police (New Territories), dated June 2, 1924: Stewart Lockhart's Papers, Vol. 5. The Hon. Mr. Bird incorrectly recalled at the re-opening ceremony in 1925 that he saw the gates carried into the Tai Po camp on the day the Union Jack was hoisted there (that is, April 16, 1899). He also stated that it took ten coolies to carry each gate: Hong Kong Telegraph, May 27, 1925. 11 Entry for May 4, 1899, in a diary kept by Stewart Lockhart and contained in Vol. 36 of his Papers. 12 See entries for May 9 and May 29, 1899, in ibid. 13 K. O'Dwyer, S. J., "Kam T'in. Memories and Legends" The Rock, April, 1940, pp. 157-62. 14 A. E. Collins to Stewart Lockhart, August 19, 1924: Stewart Lockhart's Papers, Vol. 5. 15 O'Dwyer, op. cit., p. 162. 16 A translation of this Address is in the Colonial Secretariat Library, bound together with the official programme for the ceremony and the Hong Kong Telegraph's report of the proceedings. 17 Hong Kong Telegraph, May 27, 1925, 18 Ibid. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 168 SUNG HOK-PANG the heart in his mouth went off with it. The villagers gave chase but after a while there was a terrific gust of wind and the dog disappeared. The present Kam T'in is divided into two distinct districts. The South, Naam Wai (南圍) was originally a large common or open space of grassland; the North, Pak Wai (北圍) was hilly country surrounded by mangrove swamp. The principal villages of Naam Wai are Kat Hing Wai (吉慶圍) the first village on the right-hand side as one approaches from the main road, which was built by Tang Paak King (鄧伯經) and two other men during the Shing Fa years 1465-1487 of Ming Dynasty; Wing Lung Wai (永隆圍) the village at the end of the road on the left-hand side, facing the open green where football is now nearly always in progress, which was started by Tang Shiu Kui (鄧紹舉) and seven others; and T'aai Hong Wai (泰康圍) the large walled village on the left just before one reaches the Cottage Hospital, which was founded by Tang Ts'ung (鄧聰) and four other contemporaries. Later on during the civil wars of the Hong Hei years 1662-1722 of Ts'ing dynasty these three villages were walled to protect the inhabitants from marauding bandits and soldiers. Tang Man Wai (鄧文蔚) and Tang Kaai Yuet (鄧啟悅) built the wall of T'aai Hong Wai; Tang Sui Ch'eung (鄧瑞昌) and Tang Kwok Yin (鄧國賢) built that of Wing Lung Wai and Tang Chue Yin (鄧珠彥) and Tang Chik Kin (鄧積堅) walled Kat Hing Wai. About the same time Tang Yuet Man (鄧悅民) of Kat Hing Wai and Tang P'ooi Hing (鄧培慶) of T'aai Hong Village both formed the village of Kam Hing Wai (錦慶圍), which is on the north of Kam T'in market; and Tang Chau Man (鄧秋文) of Kat Hing Wai built the village of Ko Po Ts'uen, on the left-hand side of the main road, on the west of Kam T'in market. These walls in many places are in a wonderful state of preservation to-day. Kat Hing Wai and Taai Hong Wai have very strong iron chain gates, and a tablet fixed in the wall outside the gateway of Kat Hing Wai explains the story of them. It can be roughly translated as follows: "The inscription on the tablet of Kat Hing Wai:— Since Foo Hip, the ancestor of our family Tang who was a Government officer, came from Kiangsi to Kwang Tung in the years of Sung Ning of Sung dynasty, we lived in both waais (villages) ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 234 NOTES AND QUERIES houses were built later at the back when they had more descendants. That is the entire village even to this day. There are 42 dwelling houses within the village, divided by 5 lanes and ten gates; measuring 162'-3" in width and 125'9” in depth. The idea of this layout would seem to have been to protect themselves from pirates, when the whole family stayed inside. The Chi Tong is located in the centre with three roofs and two light wells (#). There is a village school 150 feet from the southern corner for primary education of their children, and a Tin Hau Temple within 500 feet to the northeast for worship. Land Registration took place in 1906 in Tsuen Wan after the Lease of the New Territories. The village was recorded from Lot No. 1528 to 1559 (Lot No. 1546 excluded) in Demarcation District No. 449 in the Block Crown Lease, totalling 0.43 acre of house land and 0.03 acre of waste land, all belonging to the Chan family. It is a pity that 0.135 acre of house land were sold to outsiders since 1937 otherwise the village would still remain solely in the hands of the descendants of the founder. Chan Kin Sheung, the founder of Sam Tung Uk, was awarded a portrait by Chien Lung of Ch'ing Dynasty, worded "Heung Yam Tai Bun” (means Honourable Guest in Village Parties). To everyone's sorrow and great loss it disappeared during the Japanese Occupation of Hong Kong. There have been very many big changes in the area surround-ing the village since re-development of Tsuen Wan. Fung shui trees at the back were felled, village type houses were built around, roads were constructed in front, multi-storeyed buildings were erected with obstruction of the front view. Ngau Kwu Tun, the small hill by the left, was removed to make way for a school building, and the hill at the back was partly cut off for construction of the Rapid Gravity Filter. Even the grave of the village founder was affected as it was in the same line and over-looking the village. The name in fung shui was called "Lion over-looking the village platform" (獅子瑩樓台) It is to be hoped that the Walled Village can be retained as a historical relic in Tsuen Wan, even if the whole area is to be re-developed. God has blessed it for over two centuries and it is hoped will continue to do so. Text and visits are organized and prepared by Mak Kai Yim, A. H. Mackreth, Brian Liu and Helga Werle. Page 240 Page 241 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q SOCIAL RESEARCH IN THE N.T. OF HONG KONG, 1963 229 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 chose the tail because she preferred her descendants to stay humble, she herself having suffered so much. See Sung Hok-p’ang, ‘Legends and Stories of the New Territories”, IV. Kam T'in (continued)', The Hong Kong Naturalist, vol. VII, no. 1, April 1936, pp. 34f.) 62. The term fung shui is often used to mean simply a grave, and there is no need to stress the point that burial lies at the heart of geomancy. But in fact fung shui covers all aspects of men's dwellings on earth. Every territorially defined unit of society has its fung shui, from the household up to the state. The residence of the head of the state affects the prosperity of the country. (For this reason great emphasis is often placed on the geomantic excellence of Government House). The fortunes of cities, towns, and villages depend on their physical arrangement and dominating buildings. Political units take their fate from government offices. (The fung shui of the new Fanling District Court has impressed many locals). The fung shui of an ancestral hall determines the fortunes of members of the clan. (For this reason it is hardly ever to be found inside a wai, a walled enclosure; it must have free access to its site). A house shapes the destiny of its master and those for whom he is responsible. Consequently, geomancers are often employed to advise on the siting, orientation, certain architectural features (especially height), and work—and opening-dates of domestic and other buildings. Indeed, there appears to be some specialisation among fung shui sin shaang in the New Territories, some of them putting themselves out to be experts on graves and others on buildings. 63. Burial and the fung shui associated with it differ markedly in city and countryside. Only the rich among the people in the urban area can afford to escape the regimentation of their dead in cemeteries and seek geomantically favourable sites in private plots. (Some in fact acquire the right to bury their dead in land forming the traditional preserves of village communities. They may have to pay dearly for the privilege. Along one of the main roads in the New Territories there stands a pavilion, now many years old, which was put up as part of the compensation to the local people for the geomantic disturbance caused them by the burial in their area of a ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1977 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n 150 W. SCHOFIELD morning visiting Nei Kwu Chau to discuss the problem of their fifteen children. They had been taught by a private teacher in the ancestral temple: but he had left, and the Education Department were asked to find someone to replace him. They had replied that the children would have to go to Cheung Chau, thus raising in an acute form the problem common in villages all over England to-day. Few if any teachers would volunteer to teach fifteen children in so poor an island as Nei Kwu Chau in those days. The problem of providing one was then found insoluble, and as the only means of transport to Cheung Chau was by junk or sampan, I fear the rate of literacy on Nei Kwu Chau must have declined badly. Another event which affected life in Cheung Chau in 1925-6 was the change of Governor in November 1925, during the great Communist-inspired but mainly Nationalist strike which started in June that year. Sir C. Clementi increased the D. O. South's public works vote from the absurdly small figure of $400 to $1000 or more. This made it possible to repave some of the chief streets of the village with granite blocks set in concrete, which cost about $800. He also paid a State visit to the island in the summer of 1926. Flags and decorations were put up, and practically all the proceedings were in Chinese, including a lengthy prepared speech by H.E., written out in characters by (I believe) Mr. Sung Hok Pang. He walked through the main streets, keeping up conversation with the Kaifongs, and showing that despite a long absence in British Guiana and elsewhere his Chinese scholarship had undergone no observable decline. The chief impression of the day that remained with me was the heat! While I was District Officer South I attended two other functions of importance, both in the Northern district. In 1925 the Government had had the imagination and sympathy to restore to the Tang clan the village gates of Kam Tin, removed in 1899 because of the clan's opposition to the original leasing of the New Territory and taken, as I heard, to Sir Henry Blake's estate in Ireland. The ceremony of reopening the restored gates took place in May, just before the big Strike began: its central point was to be the opening of the gates to admit H.E. Sir R. Stubbs. As he rose up from his seat the local band struck up, and this so startled a small pig rooting in the moat that he fled for shelter over the causeway to his sty in the village, just getting ahead of H.E. and bursting through the gates! The reward for the Government's attitude was seen in the autumn ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1977 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n 206 NOTES AND QUERIES a temple outside Tung Kwun city whose upkeep and ritual observances were financed by large joint landed estates. 14. Yeung-leung's son, Tsz-ming (8) was married off, albeit unwittingly, to a princess of the Sung Dynasty. I have little to add here that Sung and O'Dwyer do not mention, but I believe it is important to stress that this tale (popularly known as the Wong Ku (*) story) served the important function, at least prior to the 1930's, of defining Tangs relative to outsiders (the powers-that-be) and locals (especially surrounding great and small lineages). 14. a. The San On gazetteer (a rare copy of which exists in the Fung Ping Shan Library of Hong Kong University), compiled in 1819, gives the tale in complete detail. 14. b. The Rev. Krone's "A Notice of the Sanon District," published in the Transactions of the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1859, contains the following passage: "The inhabitants of a pretty little village on Deep Bay called “Kam-Tin”... also trace their origin up to the Sung dynasty. A high mandarin, they say, of the name of Tung, came to San On from the interior of China, and was so much pleased with the county around Deep Bay, that he settled down and made himself very popular, by giving gratuitous instruction. The grandson of this man having done some meritorious service to the State, the emperor Ko-tsung of the Sung dynasty, gave him his daughter in marriage.' 14. c. It will also be noted that the plaque commemorating the return of the iron gates to Kat Hing Wai makes especial reference to the tale. Several elders of neighboring villages, when asked why the Tangs were so powerful as to be able to concentrate five wais (walled villages) in the district, cited this imperial kinship link. 15. The second major migratory movement of the Tangs occurred during the generation of Wong Ku's sons. Lam (*) settled at Lung Kwat Tau (##), Kei (*) settled in Tung Kwun at Shek Tseng &✯✯, Wai (*) established the Tang branch-settlement at Tai Po Tau (†). Chi (#) remained in Sham Tin. [Chi's grandson Chu-on (₫) established the Ha Tsuen lineage-village.] * Reprinted in JHKBRAS 7(1967). See p.134. † See P. Wesley-Smith's article in JHKBRAS 13, 1973: 41-44. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1977 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n 210 NOTES AND QUERIES ritual obligations for Kam Tin, officiating at the Kam Tin ta chiu ceremonies. 21. d. The changing of the name of Sham Tin to Kam Tin dates from 1587. We collected a variant of the tale related by Sung. In this account, the magistrate never leaves San On at all, but is moved to praise the delicious quality of their rice. Hence, the name Kam Tin. In general, this tale illustrates the extent of the wealth and power of the Tangs, and their intimate relationship with the local magistracy. 22. Expansion out of the Pat Heung basin into neighboring heung of Yuen Long Valley, Kowloon Peninsula and Hong Kong Island continued throughout the early years of the 16th century. Sung (p. 205) notes that the appropriation of Hong Kong island was completed by the Wan Li reign of Ming Dynasty (app: 1573-1620), as references exist in the Tung Kwun Leung Chak (ĦM) of that date. Our own evidence (see San On Land Dispute below)* suggests an even later date. In any case, the oft-made assertion that Tang land holdings steadily decreased from large Sung grants is clearly in error. 23. The period coinciding with the fall of Ming and the establishment of Ch'ing [especially the K'ang Hsi reign] although devastating in its consequences for most of the lineages of the present day New Territories (southern San On), left untouched—indeed enhanced—the basis of Tang power in the area. 23. a. Sung spends quite a bit of time (as does O'Dwyer) on the tales surrounding Tang Man-wai (*)† This man was a large landowner and eminent scholar who is remembered for 1) his relationship with the rebel Lei Man-wing (‡✯✯), 2) the building of Tai Hong Wai (✯✯✯) dating from 1647-1656, and 3) the establishment, in his pen-name (*) of the Tong which financed and operated the Yuen Long Old Market. It is clear that, throughout the imperial era, whenever the central government was threatened or weakened by rebellion, the Kam Tin Tangs accommodated and shared power with rebel forces. [The extent to which this fact justifies its characterization by surrounding lineages as a "bandit clan" remains in doubt.] 23. b. As Hugh Baker notes in Sheung Shui A Chinese Lineage * See paras 24-29 below. † JHKBRAS 14 (1974): 172 - 174. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1980 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/kh04md207 FUNG SHUI; ILLUSTRATED BY KAT HING WAI, N.T. Kai Hing Wat. the walled Hamlet of Good Fortune 83 Kat Hing Wai, Walled Hamlet of Good Fortune, is the residence of an extended family of the Tang lineage. All the people who live here are closely related in Chinese kinship terms. It is situated in the middle of the Kam Tin Valley separated from most of the Tang hamlets by a modern highway. The dwelling units built by the clansmen during 1465–1487 are flanked by a fortified wall and moat of later construction, 1662-1721. The walls, measuring 275 feet by 290 feet, form roughly a square plan with gun towers about 25 ft at the four corners. Along the 18-ft high walls there are gun slots near the parapets. The moat of about 20 ft width is crossed by a stone bridge at the entrance, fenced by a pair of wrought iron gates. The entire hamlet with its main entrance and the entrances of the houses orient toward the west instead of the usual southerly orientation. The layout of the hamlet is highly formalised and symmetrical. The main street, 10 ft wide, running from the entrance gate to the shrine at the opposite end, forms the central axis. On both sides of the main street are row houses with 10 units per row, six rows on each side, and three foot lanes separating the rows. All public facilities such as storerooms, washing facilities and animal shed are located on the periphery walls enclosing the compound. Guarding the main entrance is the shrine of the Earth God. There is no commercial establishment within the hamlet. It is a kind of communal dwelling similar to others in Kwangtung and Fukien. Shared facilities such as the market square, schools and ancestral temples are not found within the hamlet, but are located in proper places where governed by fung-shui principles, as indicated on the map. According to the villagers, there were as many as 600 members living here at one time; the present population is about two hundred. All individual dwellings are identical in size and layout, with the exception of those in the first and last row where the front room is missing. It is basically a three-part house with a front room 10 ft wide by 12 ft deep, a t'ien-ching (courtyard) of 10 by 8 in the middle and a back room equal to the size of the front room. A Kat Hing Wai Kam Tin 錦田 fung-shui * t'ien-ching # ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1981 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ff36bt18m 212 DAVID FAURE Dates Name (and village) Mr. Chung P'oon (Wong Chuk Shan) interviewed INTERVIEW RECORD Name (and village) Dates interviewed 13.11.80 Madam Chiu I Mooi (Chek Keng) 7.5.81, 18.7.81 Mr. Chau T'in Shang 13.11.80, Mr. Lau Shaang 8.5.81 (Sai Kung Market) 18.5.81, (Sai Kung Market) 3.6.81, Mr. Yau T'aam Shang 8.5.81, 9.7.81 (Wong Keng Tei) 15.5.81, Mr. Lei Yau 13.11.80, 22.5.81, (Tso Woh Hang) 28.6.81 26.5.81, 31.7.81 Mr. Lee Yun Shau, J.P. 14.11.80 (Man Yee Wan) Mr. Wong Yung Ts'ing 8.5.81, Mr. Tse Kw'an 16.11.80 (Wong Yi Chau) 20.5.81 (Tan Ka Wan) Madam Laai Hung Tai 8.5.81 Mr. Shek Kwong Lin 16.11.80 (Sai Kung Market) (Kau Lau Wan) Mr. Lei Shiu Yam 8.5.81 Mr. Shek Fuk Fung 16.11.80 (Man Yee Wan) (Kau Lau Wan) Mr. Lai Foh 8.5.81 Mr. Chan Shing (Sai Kung Market) 21.11.80 (Tai Long) Mr. Chiu Lin Shing (Chek Keng) 11.5.81 Mr. Cheung Hing 28.11.80 (Tai Long) Mrs. Chiu née Cheung 11.5.81 (presently of Tai Po) Mr. Wan Ts'eung 31.11.80 (Tai Po Tsai) Mr. Lei P'aang Kei 12.5.81, (Shuen Wan) 19.5.81 Mr. Paul Tsui 1.12.80 Mr. Chan T'in Po 12.5.81 Mr. Wan Yat Ngo 15.1.81 (Ho Chung) Mr. T'ong (headmaster, 12.5.81 Yim Tin Tsai) Mr. Tse Ming 15.1.81 (Ho Chung) Mr. Cheng Yip 14.5.81 (Pak Kong) Mr. Uen Chiu Ming 16.1.81, (Mok Tse Che) 13.2.81, Fr. Lau Wing Yiu 18.5.81 7.3.81 Mr. Cheung 19.5.81 Mrs. Uen 17.1.81 (Sai Kung Market) (Mok Tse Che) Miss Fung Ping I 19.5.81 Mrs. Uen 18.1.81, Mrs. Ts'ui, née Lei 20.5.81 (Mr. Uen Tak 24.1.81, (Pak Kong) Ming's mother, 7.3.81 Mrs. Liu 20.5.81 Mok Tse Che) (Sai Kung Market) Madam Yung 18.1.81 Mr. Cheng Chung T'ing 21.5.81 (Mok Tse Che) (Pak Kong) Madam Chan 22.1.81 Mr. Lok Shaang 21.5.81 (Ho Chung) (Pak Kong) Madam Lok 22.1.81 Mr. Hoh King 27.5.81 (Ho Chung) (Nam Shan) 5.6.81 Mr. Chiu Sz 7.5.81 Mr. Chan Tsz K'eung 28.5.81 (Chek Keng) Madam Yung A Lin 7.5.81 (Chek Keng) (Sai Kung Market) Mr. Chan Kei Shang (Yim Tin Tsai) 28.5.81 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1981 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ff36bt18m 213 Name (and village) Dates interviewed Mr. Chan P'aang Hing (Ho Chung) 29.5.81 Name (and village) Mr. Lok Foh Kau (Pak Kong) Dates interviewed 20.6.81 Mr. Cheung T'o (Ho Chung) 29.5.81, 15.6.81 Mrs. Lei, née So (Nam Shan) 20.6.81 Mr. Chung (Kau Sai) 3.6.81 Mr. Hoh Shang (Nam Shan) 20.6.81, 24.6.81 Mr. So T'in Loi (Kau Sai) 3.6.81 Mr. Lok Kau Kei (Pak Kong) 20.6.81, 26.6.81 Mr. Lei Chi Hei (Sha Tsui) 5.6.81 21.7.81 Mr. Cheung Ts'oi 20.6.81 Mr. Lam Kaap Shau (Tai Po Tsai) (Tai Long) 8.6.81 Mr. Wong (Shan Liu) 20.6.81 Mr. Cheung Ming Shing 8.6.81 Mrs. Lau, (Leung Shuen Wan) 21.6.81 Mr. Lok Tsau On Mr. Tse Koon K'au (Pak Kong) (Tan Ka Wan) 9.6.81 Mrs. Tse (Pak Kong) 21.6.81 Mr. Tse Wing (Sha Kok Mei) 9.6.81, 20.6.81 Mrs. Kong Lei San Kiu (Lung Mei) 21.6.81 Mr. Hoh Taai (Ko Tong) 10.6.81, 21.6.81, 22.6.81 Mr. Lo Koon Mooi (Long Mei) 23.6.81 Mr. Cheung Kin Wa 10.6.81 Mrs. Wan, née Lau (Sai Kung Market) (Nam Shan) 21.6.81 Mr. Ue (Mang Kung Uk) 14.6.81 Mr. Kong Hei (Lung Mei) 21.6.81 Mrs. Ue (Mang Kung Uk) 14.6.81 Mr. Wong (Tam Wat) 22.6.81 Mr. Shing Ip On (Mang Kung Uk) 14.6.81 Mr. Sung Kw'an (Tit Kim Hang) 22.6.81 Mrs. Lau (Ha Yeung, near Seung Sz Wan) 14.6.81 Mr. Sung (Tit Kim Hang) 22.6.81 Mr. Lau Hing Lung (Pan Long Wan) 16.6.81 Mr. Uen Chan Wan (Ta Ho Tun) 22.6.81 Mr. Lau (Pan Long Wan) 16.6.81 Mr. Sham Kin K'eung (Hung Fa Tsun) 23.6.81, 1.7.81 Mr. Leung Yung Hei (Hang Hau) 16.6.81 Mr. Lei Yiu T'ing (Pak Kong) 23.6.81 Mr. Lei Kau (Pak Kong) 23.6.81 Mr. Lei Kan (Wo Liu) 19.6.81 Mr. Wong Ts'ing (Nam Shan) 23.6.81 Mr. Hui Lam (Cheung Sheung) 19.6.81 Mr. Lei Faat (Kak Hang Tun) 23.6.81 Mr. Wong (Ko Tong) 19.6.81 Mr. Chan Shau (Pak Tam Au) 19.6.81 Mr. Cheng Yung (Uk Tau) 23.6.81 Mr. To (Ko Tong) 19.6.81 Mr. Lau Lui Faat (Pak Kong Au) 23.6.81 Mr. Wong Shek (Ha Yeung, near Ko Tong) 19.6.81 Mr. Tang (Wong Mo Ying) 23.6.81 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1981 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ff36bt18m 214 DAVID FAURE Dates Dates Name (and village) interviewed Name (and village) interviewed Mr. Tsang Yau (Tai Mong Tsai) 23.6.81 Mrs. Cheung, née Chan 27.6.81 (Sha Kok Mei) Madam Tsang, Mr. Liu 27.6.81 23.6.81 Madam Cheung (Cheung Muk Tau) (Wong Mo Ying) Mr. Wong (Sha Ha) 27.6.81 Madam Lau 23.6.81 Mrs. Lau Lei Loi T'aai 28.6.81 (Pak Kong Au) (Wong Chuk Wan) Mrs. Loh, née Tsang 23.6.81 Store-keeper 28.6.81 (Tai Mong Tsai) (Wong Chuk Wan) Madam Cheung 24.6.81 Visit to temple at 28.6.81 (Sha Kok Mei) Wong Chuk Wan Mr. Wong Yung 24.6.81 Mr. Foo Ts'ing's funeral (Tung Sam Kei) 28.6.81 Mr. Chan Uet Shing 24.6.81 Mrs. Tsang, née Lei, 28.6.81 (Tsiu Hang) Mrs. Hoh, Mr. Tse, née Lau 24.6.81 née Lei (Tai Tan) (Che Keng Tuk) Mrs. Cheng née Mo 28.6.81 Mr. Tse Shui Kam 24.6.81 (To Kwa Ping) (Che Keng Tuk) Mr. Wong Ping Lin 29.6.81 Mr. Hoh (Ha Yeung, 24.6.81 (Tai Wan) near Ko Tong) Mrs. Wong, née Sin 29.6.81. Mr. Wong (Ha Yeung, 24.6.81 (Tai Wan) near Ko Tong) Mr. Lei (Wo Liu) 29.6.81 Mrs. Wai, née Lei 25.6.81 (Sha Kok Mei) Mr. Chung Kam Faat 29.6.81 (Ma Nam Wat) Mr. Tsang 25.6.81 Mr. Wan 29.6.81 (Sha Kok Mei) (Ma Nam Wat) Mr. Tsang Yung 25.6.81 (Sha Kok Mei) Mrs. Hoh, née Lau 29.6.81 (O Tau) Mrs. Siu (Pak Tam) 25.6.81 Mr. Wan Koon Fuk 31.1.81, (Wong Mo Ying) 25.6.81 (Tai Nam Wu) 6.81, 5.8.81 Mr. Tang Kei Faat Mr. Lau Wan Hei 25.6.81 Mrs. Lau, née Lei 1.7.81 (Pak Kong Au), (Hei Tsz Wan) Mr. Kong Sai P'ing (Lung Mei) Mrs. Lau 1.7.81 (Hei Tsz Wan) Mr. Cheung Kau 26.6.81 (Ping Tun) Mr. Lei (Wong Chuk Yeung) (1) 1.7.81 Mrs. Cheung née Wan 26.6.81 (Ping Tun) Mr. Lei (Wong Chuk Yeung) (2) 1.7.81 Mr. Cheung 26.6.81 (Tai Po Tsai) Mr. Lei 1.7.81 Mr. Lei 26.6.81 (Tsak Yue Wu) (Muk Min Shan) Mr. Lei (Wo Liu) 2.7.81 Madam Keung 26.6.81 Mr. Lau Yun Shang 2.7.81 (Muk Min Shan) (Wong Chuk Wan) Mrs. Wai 27.6.81 Mrs. Yung, née Wan 2.7.81 (Sha Kok Mei) (Hoi Ha) ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1981 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ff36bt18m Dates 215 Name (and village) Dates interviewed Name (and village) interviewed Mr. K'uet Po Shing (Nam A) 2.7.81 Mr. Lok (Seung Sz Wan) 17.7.81 Mr. Yung (Hoi Ha) 2.7.81 Mr. Lau (Sheung Yeung) 17.7.81 Mr. Ip Wan (Pak Sha O) 2.7.81 Mr. Lok Tak K'ei (Seung Sz Wan) 17.7.81 Visit to church in Pak Sha O 3.7.81 Mr. Lam (Seung Sz Wan) (2) 17.7.81 Mr. Yau Kei (Tseng Lan Shue) 8.7.81 Mr. Lau Kwong (Ha Yeung near Seung Sz Wan) 20.7.81 Mr. Cheung Loi Yau (Sha Kok Mei) 9.7.81 Mrs. Wan (Mang Kung Uk) 20.7.81 Mr. Shing (Ha Yeung near Seung Sz Wan) 10.7.81 Mr. Shing Uen Wan (Pik Uk) 10.7.81 Mr. Wong Kam Tai (Hang Hau) 20.7.81 Mrs. Yau (Mang Kung Uk) 10.7.81 Mr. Shing (Pik Uk) 20.7.81 Mrs. Yau, née Tse (Tseng Lan Shue) 22.7.81 Mr. Ue Shun Hing (Mang Kung Uk) 10.7.81 Mr. Chan T'aai (Tseung Kwan O) 22.7.81 Mr. Cheng Yung (Uk Tau) 10.7.81 Mr. Yau Yan (Tseng Lan Shue) 22.7.81 Mr. Uen Kwai Naam (Mau Wu Tsai) 14.7.81 Mr. Chung (Yau Yue Wan) 22.7.81 Mr. Tsang Shui On (Ma Yau Tong) 14.7.81 Mr. Chung Wai I (Yau Yue Wan) 22.7.81 Mr. Wan Yau (Wong Chuk Long) 14.7.81 Mr. Yau Taai Hin (Tseng Lan Shue) 23.7.81 Mr. Tsang Wan (Ma Yau Tong) 14.7.81 8.81 Mr. Lau (Po Toi O) 24.7.81 Mrs. Tsang, née Shing (Ma Yau Tong) 14.7.81 Mrs. Chung (Po Toi O) 24.7.81 Mr. Ng (Tseung Kwan O) 15.7.81 Mrs. Sit (Tin Ha Wan) 24.7.81 Madam Chan (Tseung Kwan O) 15.7.81 Mr. Ip (Tin Ha Wan) 24.7.81 Mr. Leung Chiu Man (Hang Hau) 25.7.81 Madam Wan (Tai Wan Tau) 16.7.81 Mr. Yau Koon K'au (Tseng Lan Shue) 27.7.81 Mr. Lau (Tai Wan Tau) (1) 16.7.81 Mr. Yau Tai On (Pak Shek Wo) 27.7.81 Mr. Lau (Tai Wan Tau) (2) 16.7.81 Mr. Yau (Nam Wai) 28.7.81 Mr. Lam (Seung Sz Wan) (1) 17.7.81 Mr. Yau T'aai Hong (Nam Wai) 28.7.81 Madam Chan (Mang Kung Uk) 17.7.81 Mr. Lau (Tai Au Mun) 29.7.81 Mr. Lau K'in Tsun (Ha Yeung) 17.7.81 Mr. Lau (Siu Hang Hau) 30.7.81 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1981 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ff36bt18m 40 EDGAR WICKBERG The small Hakka village of Shui Lau Tin was quite different. This was essentially a two-lineage village. The Tsois was the more numerous and owned most of the houses. But the one Tang lineage was quite prosperous as were many of the Tsois. Yet, while the largest landowners among both Tsois and Tangs owned much of their lands away from the village, and more to the west near Yuen Kong, other lineages and other villages owned land right up to the walls, so to speak, of Shui Lau Tin. Without tracing the affiliations of each of these surname groups it would be difficult to classify Shui Lau Tin in any typology of New Territories lineage villages. Finally, the large village of Yuen Kong, a mixed Hakka-Punti village nearest to Kam Tin of any I have looked at. Here, the Leung surname was preeminent, since Leungs owned almost 30 percent of the houses in the village, twice as many as any other of the major surnames of the village, and they also owned 26 percent of the cultivated land in the village area. There were seven lineage trusts - one for each of the major surnames and five religious associations. 75 percent of the cultivated land around the village was locally-owned, but there were important enclaves of ownership by the Kam Tin Tangs, the Wang Toi Shan Tangs, and individuals from Shui Lau Tin, Lin Fa Tei and Sheung Tsuen. Having surveyed the area in this way, I find myself puzzled by what appears to have been an absence of Kam Tin influence east of Kam Tin, other than in the way we know about: that is, the earlier overlordship. Is it possible they never held land in the Pat Heung other than within a mile or two of their own gates? To the west of Kam Tin there were Tang branches, large-scale land ownership, market control, and overlordship over ha-lu. It would seem that the Kam Tin Tangs expanded to the west, but not much to the east. If so, why? Surely, the Pat Heung, a fertile area, was attractive. I can think of some possibilities. One might be united local opposition. We know that, strong though they are, Tang branches could be successfully opposed when several groups united. The Pat Heung opposition to overlordship discussed above is one instance; the Taipo Market case is another. Was there a united Pat Heung organization well before 1900 and well before the opposition to Tang overlordship, perhaps centering on the Tong Yick Tong, or something like it, that could prevent sales of land to Kam Tin? A second possibility: were there, perhaps, village-level agreements not to sell land to Kam Tin, but rather, if one must sell, to sell to another surname in the ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1988 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q 206 hand in their rent. These turned into very serious conflict. The Hakkas made themselves bows and arrows and started a war with the village. They shot arrows into the village and used stones to bombard it. But the village was not easily conquered. It had a moat, four strong towers and a citizen force to defend the village, so the Hakkas could not achieve much. But then they thought of a method, a way which is still used by Chinese to get enemies into trouble. "Among the Hakkas there was an old childless couple. The husband was named Tai and his wife was of the Lo family. They were too old to work and tried to get money by begging. It was proposed to them that they take poison and die in front of the village gates, then the Puntis would be accused of their murder. The old couple were told that they would have to die anyway in the course of events and they had no descendants to sacrifice at their grave. If they accepted the plan of their fellow Hakkas, a temple would be built in their honour and every two years a theatrical performance would be held for them. The old couple were at first not willing to agree to the proposal, because they wanted to continue to live and not die so early. Repeated requests finally caused them to agree. So one evening they were given a very good meal and afterward they took poison and died before the village gate. Immediately all forty-eight Hakka men attacked the village and brought the villagers before the judge who lived at Schau Kin, accusing them of murder. "There was a long court proceeding because accusation of murder had great consequences in China. The Puntis paid over a lot of money and went to court to defend themselves. While they were there, their village was burned down by the Hakkas who took over the place. The Puntis became impoverished by the court case. They dared not return to Pu Kak. They settled in [place not given in manuscript] where their descendants again became wealthy and respectable and they produced literary graduates. Many congratulated themselves that their ancestors had been driven out of the village as they have now much better land. "The Hakkas took over the village and surrounding fields. As they had promised the old couple, they built a small temple and honoured the Fuk tei kung and Fuk tei poh, the grandfather and grandmother who give blessings. Later a new temple was built for them near the ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 132 and then went through Tan Tsz Hang to join the Sha Tau Kok to Sham Tsun road just before the nunnery. The other went through Lung Yeuk Tau to Hung Leng, before turning north along a line close to that of the present-day Ta Kwu Ling road, to join the road from Sha Tau Kok at Kan Tau Wai. The section of road past the nunnery, therefore, was part of the most important east-west route in the county, and at the same time part of one of the most important north-south routes, as well as being of great local significance. Sha Tau Kok was, in effect, the port for Sham Tsun to the east. Most of the fish for Sham Tsun was landed at Sha Tau Kok and carried inland by coolies. The 19 acres of saltpans at Sha Tau Kok produced considerable quantities of salt, and most of it was, again, taken inland by coolies to Sham Tsun for sale in the town and from the town to the other markets further north. Excess rice, too, from the whole of the Mirs Bay area, was landed at Sha Tau Kok and sent to Sham Tsun, which was the centre of a rice shortage area. There was, therefore, in the early part of this century, a steady flow of people passing the nunnery, and eager to avail themselves of the rest and shelter it offered. This traffic must, presumably, have been less in the eighteenth century, when local populations were much lower, and the infrastructure not yet fully developed - the saltpans, for instance, were only established in the years after 1825 - but was probably significant from early on. It remained significant right until the Law Fong bridge was effectively closed in 1950, although coolie traffic had by then been declining steadily for some time in favour of rail traffic over the Lo Wu bridge and truck traffic over the Man Kam To bridge, particularly after the opening of the Sha Tau Kok road in 1928. But at all dates from the late eighteenth century to 1950 the nunnery's shelter was a significant local factor. The role of the nunnery as a place of shelter is stressed in the couplet placed at the main entrance to the monastery at its reconstruction in 1868. This reads: 長亭惜別古道膽歧雨笠麈襟人日日 山鳥鳴春寺公送曉煙鍾風我年年 * Or, 長亭惜别占道臨歧雨等應襟人日日。山島鳴春寺聲送嶢煙鋪風磬我年年, See A (Ming Pao) 10.10.1991. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 147 The Magistrate's influence seems to have deferred the success of the Tsat Yeuk in by-passing the Tai Po ferry from about 1840 to 1892, but otherwise it does not seem to have played any significant part. The Magistrate seems to have played absolutely no role at all in the dispute between the Luk Yeuk and Wong Pui Ling. The main gentry organisations in the area were the Po Tak Temple Old Alliance and the Community School (1) in Sham Tsun, which was managed by the Tung Ping Kuk (T5, "Council for Peace in the East"), consisting of all the Punti degree holders in the Sham Tsun area, who sat in the school in rotation to adjudicate disputes. The political effectiveness (as opposed to their effectiveness in settling inter-personal disputes) of these gentry bodies in ordinary times was slight. The predominant membership of the Community School rota was from Sheung Shui, Lung Yeuk Tau, Wong Pui Ling and Sham Tsun itself, and their mutual enmities rendered it helpless in most major local political crises. The Po Tak Temple was similarly divided. The Sham Tsun Community School was, furthermore, ignored by the Hakka degree-holders, who had a similar, but weaker, body connected with the school in Sha Tau Kok, and known as the Tung Wo Kuk (†1⁄2, “Council for Peace in the East”). 41 The Nuns and Their Background The nuns of the Cheung Shan Kwu Tsz were local Punti girls. This was a common feature of the pre-British Buddhist institutions in the area. The Ta Kwu Ling villagers believe that all the nuns, at all dates, were Punti. They were "women who refused to marry". This was the same at all the indigenous nunneries in the New Territories. The Tang lineage owned three nunneries: the Ling To nunnery being owned by the Ha Tsuen branch of the lineage, the Ling Wan nunnery by the Kam Tin branch, and the Lung Kai nunnery by the Lung Yeuk Tau branch. Village elders of all three villages say that, before they were taken over by immigrant monks (or, in the case of the Lung Kai nunnery, became ruined), they were all houses of nuns, and that, while girls from other places were not debarred from becoming nuns there, effectively all the nuns were Tang girls from the branch of the lineage owning the monastery in question, girls, that is, who “refused to marry". Similarly, the nuns of the Kim Ho monastery at the Law Fong bridge were, according to Law Fong village elders, girls from Punti ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 303 THE DANGS AS A LINEAGE Although a survey on occupations and land ownership was not part of the brief project on which this report is based, some of my interviews bear on the economic aspects of life in Kam Tin. While the Dangs of Kam Tin are well known as a wealthy lineage that has produced many imperial degree holders, in fact very few of the lineage were landlords/scholars. The vast majority of the Dangs earned their living as farmers, and most of them did not own much farm land. There seems to have been a large gap between the rich and the poor amongst the Dangs. Replying to my questions about ha-fu, or hereditary servants to the Dangs, a Mrs. Dang added her observations on the inequality among the Dangs themselves. The majority, the poor Dangs, were at the beck and call of the minority of the wealthy Dangs. She cited the example of her father-in-law, who worked on rice fields rented from a rich Dang as well as his own. He also took risks to hide the valuables of the rich man during the Japanese war. When asked why he did all this, she explained that obviously this was done in case he needed to borrow rice from the rich man in the future, which he actually did. The family of another Mrs. Dang I interviewed had rented farm land from the same rich man, Dang Baak-Kau. She took care to lower her voice when saying this, and added: “Villagers of Tsi Tong Tsuen, Kat Hing Wai, and Tai Hong Wai — actually, all over Kam Tin people had rented his farm land”. Dang Baak-Kau had been a major leader of the Dangs of Kam Tin during his time. He represented the Dangs of Kam Tin in 1925 to petition the Hong Kong government to return the iron gates of one of the main Kam Tin villages taken away in 1899 when the British took over the New Territories. He was also one of the two Dangs named after the formal head of the lineage in a 1941 petition to the New Territories administration against the division and sale of an ancestral trust property. The dominance of the segment descended from him in lineage affairs is evident in the Ching Lok Ancestral Hall ritual manual, to which has been added, after entries giving two or one and a half catties of ritual pork to descendants of the six Dangs responsible for the initial building and rebuilding of the hall, an entry giving two catties of roast pork to his descendants in the Spring and Autumn rites. Before this Dang died some 30 years ago, he was awarded a "higher medal" in about 1933 by the British administration, according to a genealogy he commissioned. One can see at the same ancestral hall a ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 335 A. Places of worship The gods worshipped in Kam Tin can be divided into four categories. They are gods housed in temples, localized gods in outdoor space, gods on family altars, and the general gods of Heaven. The gods of heaven (Tin-San) are worshipped outside the house door, often with a tablet saying "Blessings from the Gods of Heaven" (Tin-Gwun Chi-Fuk). More important for the community as a whole are temple gods and localized gods. Firstly there are the Ling-Wan Monastery and the Jau and Wong temple, which were important to the Dangs of Kam Tin as a whole. Stone inscriptions show that villagers of Kam Tin as a whole contributed money for rebuilding or repair, doing so on the basis of villages and higher order lineage estates, notably Ching-Lok Jou and Naam-Kai Jou. According to Sung (1973 and 1974) and the Si Kim Tong genealogy the Ling-Wan Ji was established by the Dangs of Kam Tin for the second wife of their founding ancestor Hung-Yi. But it is probable that Sung's source for this information was the author of the Si Gim Tong genealogy himself, and other villages seemed less aware of the connection of the monastery with their ancestor. Perhaps even more important is the idea that Ling-Wan Ji was the jyu-lou, or “head” of Kam Tin. That is why, a Mr. Dang explained to me, all the village gates should face Kwun Yam Shan, where Ling-Wan Ji is, and there is no need for a tall san-teng. Ko Po and Wing Lung Wai are exceptions to this rule. He knew that the position of the gate in Wing Lung Wai had been altered. He thought that the direction of the Ko Po one had been altered too. Interestingly the Xin'an gazetteer has no entry for the Ling-Wan Monastery under that name, but records the existence of a Gwun-Yam Temple on Kwun Yam Shan at the foot of Tai Po Shan, which matches the location of the monastery. The Xin'an gazetteer of 1688 is probably the earliest document mentioning the temple. Under the entry for the temple it mentioned a man of Dongguan county in the Ming dynasty who had lived there. It is not completely clear if this man was a Daoist. When Dang Si-daan's uncle donated the bell now at the monastery in 1755, the inscription referred to the place as the nunnery at Kwun Yam Shan. No one had heard about the temple named in the gazetteer, but Gwun-Yam is worshipped in the monastery, with various other gods such as Gwaan-Dai, and it is the goddess who has a central position, with Page 360 Page 361 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 337 The Jau and Wong Temple also used to house spirit tablets to "heroes". The tablets (three in total, without names) were moved to the Yau-Leun Tong from the side altar in the temple about 50 years ago because they were siu-yan (“small people”), and it was unseemly to house them in the same temple as the two great men (daai-yan). As mentioned before, villagers agreed that the “heroes” were those who had died in fighting (da-saat) between Kam Tin and its enemies. Kam Tin has quite a number of other temples. There are the Man-Cheung Temple and Hung-Sing Temple in Shui Tau, and the Tin-Hau Temple in Shui Mei. Many of the other villages, e.g. Kam Hing Wai, Tai Hong Wai, Kat Hing Wai, Tsi Tong Tsuen, and Wing Lung Wai, which do not have “standard” temples, have a san-teng, a house with an altar for a spirit tablet for about ten popular temple gods. The gods of some of the vanished temples, which include a Yeung-Hau Temple and a Bou-Dak Chi in Shui Mei, and the Hung-Fan Taam Temple of Shui Tau, are still worshipped in the jiu festival, as are the gods of two nunneries, in Shui Mei and Tai Hong Wai respectively, which no longer exist. These temples and nunneries hold tablets or images of some 20 different gods, if we are to include the Earth God for temples, and Wai-To for Buddhist establishments. The other 18 include the popular temple gods Yeung-Hau, Tin-Hau, Bak-Dai, Man-Cheung, Gwun-Yam, Gwaan-Dai, Hung-Sing, the God of Wealth, Gam-Fa, Taai-Seui, the Dragon King, and the Buddha. The Bou-Dak Chi housed spirit tablets for Jau and Wong. There is not much information about this other temple dedicated to Jau and Wong, but it was worshipped probably only by the villagers of Shui Tau, where it was situated. Fui-Sing, and Fa-Gung Fa-Mou are probably respectively responsible for success in imperial examinations and the health of children. Hoi-Saan Suk-Lou is a title found in some other local temples as well, and represents the earliest settlers of the place. Hong-Wong is a title that I have not seen elsewhere in the New Territories. The titles of localized gods found in most of the Kam Tin villages include the God of Earth and Grain, the Water God of wells, and the Earth God for the gates of the walled villages. There are, in some of the villages, a Tree God and Earth Gods for bridges and for the gate to a complex of houses. In addition, there are Ngau-Wong and Pun-Gu, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 348 D. The Taoist Priests and Their Rites The Taoist priests who performed the rites in this festival were hired on a contract basis. More than ten of them were involved, among whom four were in a senior position. The oldest of the four, Mr. Lam Pui, born before 1910, was from the New Territories. Another, Mr. Jeung Hoi, was from a village just across the present Chinese border. Mr. Lam Choi was probably from the New Territories too. Both were born about 1920. These three had been active as ritual experts in the area since when they were young, and had been in leading positions at least in the last few decades. The four had all performed in the 1965 celebration of the Kam Tin jiu festival. The other senior priest, Mr. Chan Gau, was from Sa Jeng in the western area of Bao'an county. He had come to Hong Kong more than ten years ago and since then has worked in the New Territories. Mr. Leung Tung, though not a priest by profession, had been working with this group of priests as a musician, and had trained in an early stage of his career in ceremonial music bands in the Bak Bin villages. Chan Gau, Jeung Hoi and Lam Pui were the partners who undertook to provide the priestly services on this occasion, and the other members of the team were hired to help. Besides the three-times daily Scripture chanting and small processions to make offerings at different spots, the priests performed about 20 rites in the festival. About ten of them were more elaborate and were considered to be the main ones. Each of the four senior priests took the leading role in different rites. Mr. Lam Pui, being the oldest and the most knowledgeable, acted as the high priest in most of the main rites, including the Opening Rite, the Purification of the Ritual Area, the Posting of the Placard, the Escort of the Holy Ones, and the Great Offering to Ghosts. Mr. Chan Gau, being younger and good at acrobatic feats, took care of the more martial rituals: the martial arts section of the Purification of the Ritual Area, and Going through the Gates of Life and Death, and headed the team for the Dipper Rite. Mr. Jeung Hoi acted as the main priest in some of the other important rites. Mr. Lam Choi, partly because he was not one of the partners, played secondary roles. The morning, noon-time, and afternoon Scripture chanting and offerings were performed by the more junior members of the team, as were the short concluding rites on the last day. 60 Although the rites differ one from another, there were many elements ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794 242 agreeable in appearance. We barely made it back to the European quarter and went into a hotel kept by a Pole. He said he had lived in Moscow for two years, when he was about fourteen and now he was over forty. I wanted to speak to him in Russian but he doesn’t remember a word. In a room closed from the heat, we were served a lunch of tender tasty fish and tough ham, which however we didn’t touch. P. then got into a sedan chair and ordered himself to be taken to some banker or other, while I set off further down the street to some superb quadrangular barracks. I passed an avenue with miserable scraggy trees and then walked along the water’s edge. It was no longer so hot, with a cool breeze coming from the bay. At the sea front I saw numerous large red insects flying from spot to spot. I wanted to catch a few and take them to G. Chasing after them I was unwittingly drawn to the gates of the barracks and found myself in a huge courtyard, which serves as a training area for the regiment. Some English officers saw me from the balcony, came down and invited me to join them, ‘to drink a glass of wine.’ We went into one of the rooms where the furniture, the crockery — everything confirmed what is said about the splendour of the officers’ way of life. Silverware and the finest linen are the normal accoutrements of their messes and dining-tables. The officers eat together at the one table and they adhere so strictly to this officer-family way of life that they are rarely absent from dinner. A spacious balcony, or verandah, where the masters of the barracks lazily doze during the hours of siesta, runs round the whole building. I declined the wine and was treated to some lemonade. It was late and a sensuous, glittering and captivating night had descended when I returned to the pier, where I found P., waiting for the ship’s dinghy. Meantime a Chinese boat stood there before us; in the moonlight we could see two female figures in it. “What do we need the dinghy for?” I asked. “These women can ferry us across: let’s get in?” We got in and both women, holding on to the one oar, attached to the stern, began turning it briskly to right and left. The moon shone right in their faces: one was old, the other about fifteen, pale, with black, narrow, but nevertheless beautiful eyes; her hair was fastened at the back with a silver pin. “Take us to the Russian frigate!” we said. “Two shillings!” The young one named their price. “A hundred pounds sterling for some— ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x 28 of Cheung Yuk-tong (E) arrived (presumably this relieving force came from the garrison at the County City of Nam Tau), and retook the Walled City after a day of very heavy fighting, in which two of the Government soldiers died, and "over 30" bandits. Presumably, the successful defence of Nga Tsin Wai took place during this same seven-day period, in September - October 1854. There were probably other occasions when bandits were forced away. For instance, the villagers of the Siu Lek Yuen inter-village alliance in Sha Tin have a story of a heroic fight by their combined manpower against a gang of bandits in the 1860s or 1870s. The Siu Lek Yuen villagers, having killed a number of the bandits, forced the rest to flee over the mountains to Nga Tsin Wai, where the Siu Lek Yuen villagers left them to the further attentions of the men of the League of Seven27. The Nga Tsin Wai villagers also remember an attempt by the Tang clan (probably of Kam Tin) to impose Tang clan political control on this area. They relate that the elders of the League of Seven met the Tangs, and showed them the bags in which the silver which had been gathered by the League as a defence fund was kept, and the guns and gunpowder at their gate. "Every tsin of silver, and every grain of gunpowder will be spent to fight you off", the elders said, and the Tangs eventually left, with their tails between their legs2. The last time the Nga Tsin Wai villagers closed and barred their gates against attack was in 1967, during the Riots. When the Riots broke out in San Po Kong, the villagers closed their gate, and put themselves into a position of defence, although their valour was not then put to the test. Nga Tsin Wai's position at the head of the League of Seven put it into a very important position in the traditional politics of the Kowloon area. The Chief Elder of the League of Seven - usually the Chief Elder of Nga Tsin Wai - was one of the two or three most important figures in the district. The Sub-Magistrate would certainly have included him whenever he needed to consult the gentry of the district. As noted further below, Nga Tsin Wai village trusts were the subsoil land-owners of a good deal of the land in the area, especially in the Market, and at Sha Po, thus reinforcing their predominant local political position. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278 224 (Sevenoaks: Hodder and Stoughton, 1981), the first volume subtitled Barbarians At The Gates, pp. 143-147, 174-175, 224-225. 11. Both Hong Réngan and He Jinshan have been discussed in detail in Pfister's Striving for "The Whole Duty of Man", especially chapters 4-6. A more thorough study of He Jinshan's contribution to Chinese Christian history by Lauren Pfister is an essay entitled "A Transmitter but not a Creator: The Creative Transmission of Protestant Biblical Traditions by Ho Tsun-Sheen (1817-1871)” in Irene Eber, et. al., eds., Bible in Modern China: The Literary and Intellectual Impact (Nettetal: Steyler Verlag, 1999), pp. 165-197. 12. The name of Ch'ëa Kam-Kwong is constituted by particular Chinese characters Legge described as the "Golden Light Chariot," a way of expressing in English what the common meaning of each character is. Unfortunately, two misspellings have predominated in other literature, one in English and one in Chinese. In English, we surmise that Helen Edith Legge put together the typescript entitled "Che'a Kin-KWáng," horribly mixing up the transliteration with something like the proper name in Hoklo dialect, but the given name in Mandarin. Legge never uses these transliterations in his own writings. In Chinese, Wáng Tão wrote the wrong characters for the name in his personal diary for 1862 when he had first come to Hong Kong, showing also his struggle in understanding Cantonese pronunciations, making his given name "Embroidered River" (M. Jinjiang, C. Gam-gong) presumably by guessing from the sounds he heard from other Hong Kong Chinese Christians who referred to him. Consult Fang Xing and Tăng Zhijūn, eds., Wáng Tão rìjì (Wáng Tāo ’s Diary) (Beijing: Zhōnghuá Book Store, 1987), pp. 196-197, record for the date of the 10th month and 15th day of the lunar calendar (or a day in September, 1862). 13. There is no study of Ch'ea Kam-Kwong in Chinese language sources as far as I know, and very little published about him in English after the 1860s. Part of the reason, as will be argued below, is that his murder became an embarrassment to both the British embassy and the Qing dynasty at the time. 14. Legge wrote memorials for his elder brother, an important Congregational minister in Great Britain, George Legge (1802-1860), and his co-pastor, Hé Jinshan, published in 1863 and 1872 respectively. See the typescript on the "Sketch of the Life of Ho Tsun-sheen" in SOAS/CWM/South China/Personal/Legge/Box 7, the original manuscript on Ch'a being held in the Bodleian Library (the second item in MS Eng. misc. c. 865, fol. 1-19). Consult the long introduction written for George Legge's Lectures on Theology, Science and Revelation already mentioned above. The text of "Che'a Kin-KWáng” is a compilation done most likely by his daughter, Helen Edith Legge. It uses many original and secondary sources citing her father's and other missionaries' writings, but also includes some perspectives and interpretations which may not portray the full story. 15. The story of their visit to Daoist and Buddhist sites on Mount Lo-fow is described in Legge's "Journey of a Missionary Tour along the 'East River' of Canton Province," China Mail, Supplement to #853 (June 20, 1861), p.4 (covering events of May 22-23, 1861). This is the full text from which extracts were and published in EMMC/MM, No.304 (New Series, No. 21) for September 2, 1861, pp. 249-260. made ================================================================================