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 83 overlooking various approaches in connection with the maritime defence of the Chu Kong estuary.2 In the past vessels proceeding towards Canton from northerly points used two main routes. The first was an inner route through Fat Tong Mun1 into Kowloon Bay by way of Lei Yu Mun, after which a stop was made near the present day Kowloon City. Vessels then proceeded through what is today's Hongkong harbour towards Kap Shui Mun. Continuing northwestwards, they negotiated the inner Tai Yu Shan passage towards Lung Kwu island, using for their landmark Castle Peak (1, Shing Shan) the same landmark that Sung sailors used centuries ago to pinpoint the then bustling emporium of Tuen Mun, located near its base. From then on, ships continued towards their destination, stopping either at Lin Tin or at Nam Tau with a final clearance at Fu Mun. A second approach used by vessels was to raise their landfall at Pak Tsim, Yung Hai, or at Tam Kong (see page 87 for these places), and thence to proceed through the Sam Chau Mun picking up the twin-peaked heights of Fung Wong Shan, the highest point in the Tai Yu Shan, as a navigational landmark. On this bearing, ships entered the estuary of the Chu Kong at a point below Fan Lau fort. From Fan Lau they set course for Lung Kwu, before continuing up the estuary to Fu Mun and then to Canton. The importance of Fan Lau to the Chinese coastal defence system lies in its location athwart the entrance of the Chu Kong estuary. The headland of Fan Lau too, made an excellent navigational landmark for ships approaching the estuary. Fan Lau fort The fort is sited on high ground about 235 feet above sea level. The exterior dimensions are 155 feet by 70 feet. The stone walls vary from 3 to 7 feet in width depending on the extent to which the existing walls have crumbled (plate 7). The height of the walls also varies, being higher at the southern end facing the sea than at the northern end. The area inside the fort covers no more than 7,380 square feet (123 feet by 60 feet). The smallness of this area suggests that the structure was a small outpost fitting the description of “guard-station" rather than "fort", although it appears on a map in the Kwong Tung Tung Chi as the Tai Yu Shan pao tai (*: literally "Tai Yu Shan gun terrace"). ================================================================================ 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 87 Using the Ching dynasty maps from the District Gazetteers and the Provincial Gazetteer, I identify the places on the Chu Kong estuary section on the Mo Pei Chi charts as follows: (see map 4)— Po Toi Shan 蒲胎山 an island south of Hongkong. Now written 蒲台 Tung Keung Shan 東姜山 Yung Hai Shan 翁鞋山 Fat Tong Mun 佛堂門 Pak Tsim 北尖 Lang Tin Shan 小溪山 + ++ Tam Kon islands 檐桿 Yung Hai 湧鞋 or Hai Chau 鞋洲 retains the same name, Fat Tong Mun 佛堂門 retains the same name, Pak Tsim 北尖 as the "outer Lintin", Ngoi Ling Tin 外伶仃 as the "inner Lintin”, Ting Lin 伶仃 "Lantau", Tai Yu Shan 大嶼山 "Fan Lau", Kai Yik Kok 雞翼角 Nam Tin Shan 南停山 Tai Kai Shan 大溪山 Siu Kai Shan 小溪山 Kwun Fu Chai 宮富寨 + present day "Kowloon City", Kau Lung Shing 九龍城 Tung Kwun Sor 東莞所 District of Tung Kwun, Tung Kwun Yuen 東莞縣 Heung Shan Sor 香山所 District of Heung Shan, Heung Shan Yuen 香山縣 The absence of any mention of the San On district (新安縣) on the charts is significant. It is highly improbable that the compilers of the charts would have deliberately omitted or accidentally overlooked that district. Now, we know that the San On district was detached in 157310 from the Tung Kwun district to form two separate districts, the Tung Kwun and the San On districts, a circumstance which confirms the suggestion that the Mo Pei Chi charts were drawn at least before the creation of the San On district. If this were the case, the Kai Yik Kok fort must also be dated before 1573, which would make it a Ming dynasty fort. Between 1805 and 1810 control of the Chu Kong estuary slipped from the forces of the government. A new pirate leader, Cheung Po-tsai 張保仔 became master of the seas around Tai Yu Shan. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1978 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8g84t8593 210 NOTES AND QUERIES fort in 1923. However, it is now ruined. The whole area is covered with shrub and mangrove. Before the Ming Dynasty, there was no military post on the island. It was not until the late Ming Period that a guard-station or shuen, which was administered by the commander of the Nam Tau Walled City, was set up.2 Before then, the area had only patrol-boats, probably stationed at Tun Mun.3 During the early Ch'ing Period, because of the increased strength of the pirates along the coast, more forts and guard-stations were set up. The Fat Tong Mun Fort on the Tung Lung Island was erected during the K'ang Hsi period (1662-1727)3, and a garrison of 25 soldiers under one pa-tsung or sergeant Tai Pang Battalion✯ was stationed there.6 The fort remained a strong outpost along the east coast of Hong Kong for nearly a hundred years. Then, in the 15th year of the Ch'ia Ching rule (1810), the fort was evacuated and finally abandoned.7 A new fort was built at the place of the present Hong Kong Marine Police Headquarters at Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon. The fort remains in ruins till now. Hong Kong, 1979. SIU KWOK-KIN NOTES 1 See note 4 of Mr. JAO Tsung-i's Kowloon in Historical Records of the Sung Dynasty九龍與宋季史料, 饒宗頤著 2 Chapter 8 of the San On Yuen Chi, K'ang Hsi edition, records, "In the 19th year of the Man Lik Period of the Ming Dynasty, guard-stations were established at Fat Tong Mun, Tor Ling Ngor Kung O, Kowloon, Tun Mun, Kap Shui Mun, Tung Sai Chung, Ngor Kung Tau, Chak Wan, Lo Man Shan and Long Pak." In the same chapter, it is also recorded, "Six guard-stations were set up during the Ming Dynasty. They were Fat Tung Mun, Lung Shun Wan, Lok Kat, Tai O, Long To Wan, and Long Pak. These guard-stations were administered by the commander at the Nam Tau Walled City." Thus, we know that the Fat Tong Mun Guard Station was established in the 19th year of the Man Lik period of the Ming Dynasty; but the fort must have been built at a later time. 3 Chapter 5 of the Cheong Wu Chung Tuk Kwun Mun Chi records, "Patrol boats from Nam Tau were stationed at Tun Mun. Some sailed through Fat Tong Mun to the region as far east as Tai Pang." The book was completed in the 32nd year of the Chia ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1983 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v 248 agents of incense merchants and conveyed by land to Tsim Sha Tau (now Tsim Sha Tsui) whence it was transported by junks to Shek Pai Wan (now Aberdeen) and thence to mainland China, southeast Asia and places as far away as Arabia. Hence Shek Pai Wan was known as "Incense Harbour" or "Heong Kong” the harbour of Incense or "Heung" produce, and the whole island eventually came to be known as "Hong Kong”. The cultivation and trade in "Kuan-heung" reached the height of its prosperity during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 A.D.). However, during the reign of Emperor K'ang Hsi (R) of the Ch'ing Dynasty (1662-1722 A.D.), the Manchus, as a preventive measure against counter attacks from Taiwan, where Cheng Shing-kung (*), a faithful vassal of the Ming Dynasty still held sway, adopted a "scorched earth strategy" by destroying everything within 50 Li (Chinese miles) of the coast, including incense trees, before the inhabitants were evacuated inland. Thus the industry suffered a stunning blow, and then, as the coastal areas were subsequently infested by pirates, its doom was finally sealed. The "Incense Tree" (**, £*) is a medium-sized evergreen tree with a small compact crown. Leaves are oval in shape, about 6 cm long and 3 cm wide, with a pointed tip, and shiny on both surfaces. Flowers are small, scented yellowish-green, borne in clusters on the ends of the branch, and open in May. The fruit is a woody capsule, shaped like a compressed egg about 3 cm long, densely covered with short grey hairs and can be seen dangling from the branch tips when ripe. It is a rather slow-growing, insignificant tree whose presence in the open countryside is often masked by more vigorous plants. The statement that it was introduced from North Vietnam must be questioned. Aquilaria sinensis is in fact a species indigenous throughout this region, and it may be found growing wild in many different places and at different altitudes in Hong Kong. The misunderstanding may have been caused by the reference to another incense-producing tree (Aquilaria agallocha) which was commonly grown in the western part of Kwangtung, and in Hainan Island, North Vietnam and Thailand. Page 270 Page 271 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 96 There are four reasons why this area developed incense wood cultivation. Firstly, the area is extensively underlain by igneous rocks, the disintegration of which forms sands and silts: an ideal soil type for the growth of the incense tree. Secondly, the long history of cultivation of incense trees in Tung-kuan had enabled the cultivators to accumulate the necessary experience in the technique of incense tree cultivation. Moreover, the fact that most of the cultivators inherited their business from their fathers suggests that they were highly skilled in the cultivation of incense trees, and the tapering and cutting of incense wood.2 In addition to these physical and historical factors, the market for incense products was large. There was a high demand from the inland areas of Kuang-tung, Chiang-hsi and Che-chiang which consumed large quantities of incense wood annually. The Hong Kong area, being geographically accessible, collected incense wood logs in Tsim Sha Tsui (then called Tsim Sha T'ou or Hsiang Pu T'ou) from where it was shipped by small boats to Shek Pai Wan (near Aberdeen) and then reshipped by Chinese sea-going junks to Canton. From this place, incense wood was transported northward overland to Chiang-su and Che-chiang. Thus the cultivation of the incense trees also stimulated the development of the small local ports. It has been suggested that the cultivation of and trade in incense trees gave rise to the name of Hong Kong (literally meaning "Incense Harbour", #), 香港 Little Hongkong, or Heung-kong-wai, is said to have been so-called on account of the quantity of Pak-mu-heung-shu then growing there, the wood of these white-wood fragrant trees is called “Nga-heung” (i.e. fragrant wood white as a tooth), is odoriferous when burnt, and although now the woodcutters have left but few trees there and at Wong-nei-chung, yet formerly it grew abundantly there. In the time of the Han Dynasty, this wood, it is said, was highly valued, and formed an article of tribute. 5 >>4 It seems that before the mid-seventeenth century, the incense industry, though one of the three major industries of Hong Kong, was not engaged in the manufacture of joss sticks. For example, Fêng K'ê-pin of the Ming Dynasty has 22 prescriptions for the use of incense powder, but none refers to the manufacture of joss sticks.* ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 TABLE 1: VILLAGE WARS IN THE HONG KONG AREA 279 Antagonist Lo Wu Antagonist Tsoi Uk Wai Date Source Comment 18.36 Above Over control of landing place Lo Wu Wong Pui Ling 1856-75 Ahove Ta Kwu Ling Wong Pui Ling TRGON Hase 1989 Sheung Shui Wong Pui Ling VERSOS Baker 1967 1979 Sheung Shui Ho Sheung Heng long-term Baker 1966 Over control of landing place Over control of river-crossings. 23 dead on TKL side alone. Hero shrine. Over control of irrigation systems San Tin Ping Kong 1851 Kam Tsin Baker 1966 1968 San Tin Ping Shan 1851 Baker 1968 Hero Shrine Shup Pat Heung San Tim Ping Shan 1851 Watson 1982 Over control of ferries Ha Tsuen Baker 1968 Sha Tseng Pok Tau Kong 185.3 Krone (above) Po Kat neighbours 1853- Above Sheung Shun Fanling long-term Ping Kong Fanling Baker 1966 Over control of market Earthwall on border Ho Sheung Heung Long Yeak Tho Fanling long-term Oral Par Fleung ?Kam Tia Tinid 19 Hero Shrine Sheung Tsuen Wang Tei Shan 2nud (19 Oral Lam Tsuen Hero Shrine Tsuen Wan Shing Mun Tsim Sha Tsui neighbours Tai Wai Cheung Sha Wan Keng tam 1862-4 1862 mid-late c19 Haves 1983 Hero Shrines Hayes 1983 Paure 1986 Hero Shrine Kak Tin Shek Pik Sha Lo Wan נִי Hayes 1983 Pui O San Tsuen Pui O La Wai 1930 Hayes 1983 Kam Tin Ping Shan Chan 1989 Heroes worshipped Pat Heung Kam Tiu Ping Shan long-term mid c19 Chan 1989 # [Baker 1966 = "The Five Great Clans of the New Territories", H.D.R. Baker, Journal. Vol. 6, 1966, pp. 25-49; Baker 1968 = H.D.R. Baker, Sheung Shui: A Chinese Lineage Village, London, 1968; Baker 1979 H.D.R. Baker, Chinese Family and Kinship, London 1979; Faure 1986 = D. Faure, The Structure of Chinese Rural Society: Lineage and Village in the Eastern New Territories, Hong Kong, 1986; Hayes 1983 = J.W Hayes. The Rural Communities of Hong Kong: Studies anet Themes, Hong Kong. 1983; Watson 1982 = Rubic S. Watson "The Creation of a Chinese Lineage: The Teng of Ha Tsuen, 1669-1751", Modern Asian Studies, Vol. 16(1). 1982 pp 69-108; Chan 1989 = "The Tangs of Kam Tin and their Jio Festival", Chan Wing-hoi, Journal, Vol 29, 1989. pp. 302-376.] ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1995 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/95941j25g 147 incense or joss sticks. According to Lo (1959, quoted in Iu, 1983), these trees were introduced into Guangdong Province from Vietnam in the Tang dynasty (619-907 AD) and were planted in large numbers in the New Territories during the Sung dynasty (960-1279 AD). In the late Ming period, the county of Tung-kuan was renowned throughout China for the quality of its incense. Until 1572, Tung-kuan county included the area subsequently forming the county of Hsin-an (including the present day New Territories) (Chan, 1989). In the Kuang-tung hsin-yu (Ch’u, 1974), it is noted that many people in Tung-kuan made their fortune from Kuan-heung (meaning incense from Tung-kuan) which was so popular that the annual sales values amounted to tens of thousands of taels. Incense trees were very suitable for the decomposed granite soils of the area and were particularly grown in the area of Shatin and the lower part of Lam Tsuen valley, whose name means "forest village", and around Tung Chung and Sha Lo Wan on Lantau. Interestingly, Schofield (1983) referring to the fine fung shui wood at Sha Lo Wan adds “In a suitable light, ancient log slides can be seen running straight down the steepest hills on this stretch of coast", although whether these have anything to do with the incense trade may never be known. The successful cultivation of the incense tree depended on three conditions, the suitability of the soil, adoption of proper methods of cultivation and the mastering of tapping and cutting methods for the collection of resin, which had a medicinal use. The general name of the varieties of incense produced in Tung Kwun, Po On districts, which included Hong Kong and the New Territories in those times, was "Kuan-heung" (Iu, 1983). The logs were collected at Tsim Sha Tsui from where it was shipped by small boats to Shek Pai Wan near present day Aberdeen on Hong Kong Island, where it was re-shipped onto Chinese seagoing junks to Canton, SE Asia and as far away as Arabia. It has been suggested that the cultivation of and trade in incense trees gave rise to the name of Hong Kong (meaning incense harbour). "Little Hong Kong, or Heung-kong-wai, is said to have been so-called on account of the quantity of Pak-miu-heung-shu then growing there, the wood of these white-wood fragrant trees is called "Nga-heung" (i.e. fragrant wood white as a tooth), is odoriferous when burnt, and ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x Live A Drawing of the Nga Tsin Wai Area From Sha Tin Pass, 1846 Lt W. Collinson : Ma Tau Kok The Po Kong Feng Shui HIA " (The Village is out of sight on the steward side) Fort of 1811 Kowloon Market Sha Po The Sacred Hill!!! (Sung Wong To) Kowloon City (The Wall were – built in 1847) Kak Hang Village Fung Shai Trees Nga Tsin Wai and its Mont Tsim Sha Tsui Ma Tau Wai Village Ta Kwa Leng Village Fung Shui Trees The Kwun Yam Temple, Tin Wan Shan Footpath to Sha Tin 79 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x 08 MAP 1 The Kowloon City Area about 1905 Tai Wai Chok Yoen Siu Lek Yuen Tai Po Diamond Hill Hau Wong Ta Kwa Leng (Nga Yau Tau) Hau Wong Temple Kowloon City Sai Tau Tsuen Nga Trin Long Kai Kwy Lung Pa Kong Kak Hang Nga Trin Wai Kowloon Market Kan Pui Shek Tung Tau Tsuen Sheung Hok Lo Tsuen Pier Waste Land Tai Hom Yuen Ling Wai Ping Yi Tsai Tau Sha Tei Yuen Kowloon Bay Customs Pier Sai Kung Ngee Chi Wan Pak Uk Tsuen (Ping Shek) Lei Yue Mun Shau Kei Wan Tau Ngan Kok Hill Sham Shui Po Tsuen Wan Yau Ma Tei Ma Tau Wai Hau Pui Long Yi Wong Tin Tsim Sha Tsui Sacred Hill (Sung Wong Toi) Kilometres Ma Tau Kok Coastline in 1905 Buildings 1905 Footpaths Edge of Hill Marshes Kowloon Market ================================================================================