RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1964 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qz20zx09r 52 K. M. A. BARNETT (which would be amusing if it did not add so much to the difficulty of gathering information) where a district representative at a public function used in his speech a name for a certain mountain and ten minutes later, in conversation, denied ever having heard the name. For many years, while I was still adding to my field notes on the subject, I refrained from naming in any published material the villages where I found positive evidence of the former cult of Pan-ku. But now that I have applied the test to every village I do not think that future workers will be seriously hampered if I now disclose the result. The test is positive, on this score, for only three out of nearly a thousand villages. They are the sub-village of Tsau Uk160 on Ping Chau Islandt09 in Mirs Bay,41 where the stone associated with Pan-ku is in a small grove of trees immediately east of the village; the village of Pak Mong5 on the north shore of Lantao Island, where it is behind the village on the southwest side, but I could not get my informer to take me to the actual place; and in the village of Nam Shan Tung97 on the north side of the Saikung126 peninsula, where the grove is said to have been behind the present village of Pak Sha O,7 half a mile down the hill to the northeast. If to these three villages we add the villages still identified by the name of yonge we have positive identification for a little over 1%. Identification by the word kan53 is inconclusive, as the word has been borrowed into both the local Cantonese and the local Hakka dialects, but the abandoned village of Shek Shui Kan129 in the Sha Tau Kok114 peninsula, from what I might call its "anti-fung-shui" location seems unlikely to have been a Chinese site. Another word which is definitely identified by Chinese books of reference as having connexion with the Yao is che.19 Though a recent change in Cantonese pronunciation has now obscured the fact, this word was unique in both local dialects and therefore was evidently taken into Cantonese and Hakka without substantial alteration, and was also given a character of its own, which is not to be found in the Kanghsi Dictionary150 but is to be found in the Tzu Yuan24 and Tzu Hai,25 where the meaning assigned is hill-land cultivated in the manner I have described. Hill paddy is also known to Chinese agriculturalists by the name of che10,21. Locally however the word che has been given a new meaning, being used by all our farmers to mean that type of terraced land ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 O.S. 97 to 5885 98 tong 肚塘 HONG KONG PLACE NAMES 153 S.S. Meaning or Remarks troo3 tronq A narrow valley. See (112). tronq A small level basin; a threshing floor. See also (90), and wo-tong (116). 99 tong 堂 tronq A large building, hall. 100 tsai 仔 zae Diminutive suffix. Often used for (3). See also (84), and tsz (103). 101 tsang * zhanq Stake-net. 102 tso 早 200 Taboo-substitute for hon (11). 103 taz 梓紫 zir In some places interchangeable with (3) and (100). 104 tum 墩塾 dheonn2 塾 A round-topped hill. Confused with (94) and (96). 105 tung 峒洞 drungv A side valley. One of the local government divisions under the Manchu government. 106 tE 凸 dungy A peak, (See note to Sam Toi Tung, p. 50 of the Gazetteer). 107 uk 屋 qhuk3 A grave. 108 wai 圍 wray A walled village. 109 wan 灣 whaanni To anchor; an anchorage. But occurs in a few names of hill villages, unexplained. 110 wan 環 wraann Alternative to (8). 111 wang wranq Occurs in many place names and must mean something similar to (97). 112 wat 窟 whats 6 Alternative to (8). ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 230 NOTES AND QUERIES Government to the representatives of the community for a Chinese school in 1847. (See "Notes on Chinese Temples" in the 1973 Journal of Hong Kong Branch, Royal Asiatic Society). Thus the roots of the College goes back to the first community-organised effort of the Chinese in urban Hong Kong to provide education. (5) VISIT TO CERAMIC FACTORY AND SAM TUNG UK (NEW TERRITORIES) On 16th November 1974, members of the Oriental Ceramics Society and of the Royal Asiatic Society visited the ceramic factory, Cerrarts, at Hung Shui Kiu in the New Territories and the village of Sam Tung Uk at Tsuen Wan. Cerrarts Mr. Lam, the owner, possibly one of the most experienced ceramists in Hong Kong, was a former student of St. John's University, Shanghai studying civil engineering. He was the first ceramist in Hong Kong to produce ceramics for the local and overseas market. He learnt his basic skill more than 30 years ago in China, continued making ceramics as a hobby, becoming more and more involved and eventually turned professional about 12 years ago. His interest has also influenced his son and daughter, who are now lecturers in ceramic and pottery in overseas universities. 44 'Any clay can be made into a fine piece of ceramic, given the correct treatment,” he said as he gently put down a freshly-painted Tang horse. He gets his clay from the hillsides around Hong Kong and adds chemicals to them e.g. refined powder cement. Through the addition of chemicals to the clay, the properties of the clay are changed. The type of chemical added also depends on the form required; e.g. for a Tang horse, dark clay and sand are used. Firstly, a mould is made. The form is shaped from clay and covered with plaster. When the plaster dries, it is removed from the form. It then gives an excellent imprint of the form and is used as the mould. An opening is produced on the mould and water-diluted clay is poured into it. The mould is then left to stand, with the opening at the lowest position. Any clay not sticking to the side of the mould is then drained through the opening. When the clay is dried, the mould is opened, and the bare body is taken out of the mould. Pieces are then pasted to the body to produce the ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 232 Sam Tung Uk NOTES AND QUERIES The Sam Tung Uk (village), is a small, square-walled lineage village dating back to the 18th century. It was settled by the Chan (陳) family. Before the Ch'ien Lung period of the Ch'ing Dynasty (清朝), the Chan clan lived in Ning Fa District, Ting Chow prefecture in Fukien Province (福建省). One of the branches then moved to Lo Fong, of Po On District* in Kwangtung Province (廣東省). Later Chan Yam Shing (the 13th generation) came to Tsuen Wan (old name Chin Wan meaning shallow bay) with four sons. Guided by his uncle (ancestor of Kwan Mun Hau Village, Tsuen Wan), they took up farming. They worked very hard, put up sea walls, reclaiming much land, and were content. Straw huts were built firstly at Lo Uk Cheung (羅屋丈) (where Block 2 of Tai Wo Hau Estate, Tsuen Wan, is now located) in the 22nd year of Ch'ien Lung, (1757). The elder son, Kin Sheung (堅常) was a herbalist doctor, renowned in fung shui and possessed a wealthy home. The other sons, Ying Sheung (應常), Wai Sheung (維常) and Cheuk Sheung (卓常) were farmers, living moderately. Kin Sheung, after settling down, searched around Tsuen Wan hoping to find a suitable site to establish a village. He found that a piece of land situated on the right side of Ngau Kwu Tun (牛牯墩) (present site of Tsuen Wan Government Secondary Technical School) would be the best, but it belonged to the Sun clan of San Tsuen at that time.† His brothers were told to contact the Sun family, hoping for a possibility to purchase it. One day a member of Sun clan turned up being, at that time, urgently in need of money. He offered to sell the much-desired land but no decision could be made as Kin Sheung was not at home. Mr Sun then said that he would go to Shing Mun to consult with other rich men who were likely purchasers. The brothers debated what should be done but in their elder brother's absence were unable to make any decision. When their elder brother returned home and heard of the Sun Clan's proposal, he was delighted and rushed to Wo Yee Hop (old name Woo Lee Hop meaning Fox's Valley), and the bargain was made. * Strictly speaking, San On (新安) at that time. †新村孫旗 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1974 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077 NOTES AND QUERIES 233 The fung shui name of the selected spot was known as "Sleeping Beauty" (*) Her legs were in the crossed position, and the selected point for the erection of the village was at her thigh. The village was to be pointed 256° at the west, to accept the incoming water from Kap Shui Mun, and would rest on a hill at the back (local name Lion Land *), with the hills of Tsing Yi Island to the left and Fa Shan to the right. The frontage of the village was to face the water channel. It was a glorious view showing the sun setting with the sails of homeward-bound fishing craft, especially in the Spring and Autumn seasons. When the sun is just lowering on the horizon, millions of golden beams reflect from the sea, shining at the village. It is really an excellent site for a village to be established. That is perhaps why Sam Tung Uk and Yeung Uk Village are facing west while the other villages in Tsuen Wan are facing in a south direction. A well was constructed on the right, apart from the north corner of the village, for drinking purposes, just below the Sleeping Beauty's lower part. This well never dries up even in the driest seasons. Even when the supply of water was given once in every 4 days in the 1963 drought, the water was still adequate for use by all the surrounding villagers. How wonderful to find that it is 95% full of water even in the dry season to-day. To suit the fung shui requirement, all members of the family started to work jointly, after farming hours, to lower the site. This task lasted for several years, and was very arduous labour. They then began building the super-structures. Solid walls 16 inches thick were formed with a mixture of lime, clay and straw. The entrance to the Chi Tong (ancestral hall) was partly decorated with long hand-hewn granite stone blocks. Roof tops were constructed with wooden beams and clad with Chinese tiles. The entire structures in the village are approx. 17 feet high, of one storey. No height addition or alteration has since been made. Stone steps were laid to the door-way of every house. The structures proved to be strong and stable for nearly 200 years. There were three rows of houses built in the first instance and for this reason it was called Sam Tung Uk (A). After the construction work was completed, they moved in on a lucky day, in the 51st year of Ch'ien Lung (1786). The Chan Sze Pit Tong (), shown in the land record of District Office, Tsuen Wan, was formed by the four brothers at the time of village establishment. Another row of ================================================================================ 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-1975 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j0995146d and 1860s. Like Hung Shing, its image is taken out in procession on the major festivals and placed in the seat of honour at opera performances given on the island and in neighbouring Aberdeen. Members also visited a soy sauce factory, a shipyard specialising in fishing boats and a fishing store. In November, Miss Werle arranged another visit, to a ceramics factory at Yuen Long, and to the single lineage village of Sam Tung Uk in Tsuen Wan, a joint excursion with the Hong Kong Ceramics Society. In January this year, I arranged a visit to the Sikh temple, with the kind cooperation of Mr. Pritham Singh, who is an active member of the temple. Sikh religion is a revisionist movement from within Hinduism, founded formally at the close of the seventeenth century as a reaction to what the Sikhs saw as the ritual and social excesses of orthodox Hinduism. There are some 2,000 Sikhs in Hong Kong. The occasion this time, we had a previous visit last year, was the birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708), the last Guru of the Sikhs. Members of the Society attended part of the religious service at which members of the congregation came up to the altar to sing sutras, give comments or make observations relating to their religion, or play musical instruments and sing. We were then invited to the vegetarian curry luncheon prepared and served by members of the congregation for the congregation. Finally, in March, we were invited by our Council member M. Geoffroy-Dechaume, the French Consul-General, to his house in Old Peak Road. This is one of the few surviving old houses on the Island. Built in 1895 by Messrs. Leigh and Orange, still one of the large architectural firms in the Colony, on a piece of land acquired by Sir Paul Chater, it was named Victoria Lodge and has been the home of successive French Consuls since the earliest part of this century. Tea was kindly provided by Madame Dechaume. FILMS Most of our film shows were arranged by Miss Werle and shared with members of the Hong Kong Arts Centre, with which Miss Werle is professionally associated. In May, we had an evening of Japanese films, one on Noh drama, one on Kabuki and one on Japanese print-making, all in English and supplied by courtesy of the Information and Cultural office of the Consulate-General of Japan. A highlight of our film programme was a film made by Mr. Hugh Gibb, an old friend and member of the Society, whose ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q 165 Originally, many Sai Kung villagers owned their land only indirectly. In a system of multiple ownership, the Lius of Sheung Shui and the Tangs of Lung Yeuk Tau, as registered land-owners, collected rent in many places in Sai Kung. Sai Kung villagers who paid rent to them nonetheless held their right to the land in perpetuity, and the registered land-owners merely paid the tax and kept the balance from the rent. When the land was registered by the Hong Kong Government, the Lius and the Tangs lost their tax collection rights, and the Crown Rent that was collected by the Hong Kong Government was usually smaller than the former rent that had been paid. For many villagers, then, this must have meant an increase in income.12 Elderly villagers in Sai Kung still remember the "taxlords". Eighty-seven year old Mr. Wong of Tam Wat had heard of the "great red hats", and Mr. Lam Kaap Shau of Tai Long of the "Koreans" who came here to collect the tax. Mr. Cheung Kau of Ping Tun had heard of the Sheung Shui people collecting rent here, and elderly Mr. Cheung of Tai Po Tsai (near Tai Mong Tsai) of the Lius and the Tangs doing so. Mr. Cheng Yung of Uk Tau called them the "Heung Shui Lo", and knew that they collected rent in his village in his grandfather's days, while Mr. Yau T'aam Shang of Wong Keng Tei actually saw his father among a group of villagers who drove out the rent-collectors from Sheung Shui after the villagers started to pay Crown Rent directly to the Hong Kong Government.13 Yet another influence that affected some villages, although it left no impact on Sai Kung District as a whole (except in the field of education), was the introduction of Christianity. As early as 1861, a Roman Catholic priest had reached Wun Yiu in Tai Po. In 1873, the records of the Roman Catholic Church noted that a priest from Sai Kung visited the San On magistrate. In the 1870's, Sai Kung was noted as one of three centres of the Church in the New Territories, the Sai Kung church being responsible not only for the eastern New Territories but also for Wai Chau and Hoi Fung. By 1934-35, Roman Catholic communities were established in Sai Kung Market, Yim Tin Tsai, Wong Mo Ying, Pak Tam Chung, Long Ke, Leung Shuen Wan, and Kei Ling Ha. There were also converts in the 1930's ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q NOTES AND QUERIES Vol. No. Village (and Gazetteer reference) 299 Surname 41. Tong To (p. 217) Yau 余 42. Shek Pik (p. 73) Tsui 徐 43. Tap Mun Sheung Wai (p. 244) Lai 黎 44. Ha Yau Tin (p. 167) Tsui 徐 45. Sham Chung (p. 192) Lei 李 46. Sham Chung (p. 192) Lei 李 47. Chung Mei (p. 193) Lei 李 48. 49. Kei Ling Ha San Wai (p.183) 企嶺下新村 Ho 何 50. Kei Ling Ha San Wai (p.183) 企嶺下新 Ho 何 51. Pak Sha O Ha Yeung (p.189) 白沙澳下洋 52. Lo Uk Tsuen (p. 171) 羅屋村 Chuk Hang (p. 170) Yung 翁 Lo 羅 Tang 鄧 53. Shek Po Tsuen (p. 163) 石壆村 (2 vols.) Lam 林 54. 55. 56. 57. Kan Tay Tsuen (p. 212) 簡堤村 So Lo Pun (p. 219) 莽魯半 Mong Tseng Wai (p. 165) 輞井圍 Lo Shue Ling (p. 215) 羅樹嶺 Wong 黃 Tang 鄧 To 陶 Lau 劉 58. (Tai Po Tau (p. 174)) ✯ Tang 鄧 (Tai Po Shui Wai (p. 174)) ***@ [Not a genealogy: listing of ritual forms etc.] 59. Kau Tam Tso (p. 194) Lei 李 60. Heung Sai (not in New Territories) Cheung 張 61. Lung Kwu Tan (p. 160) Ho 何 Lau 劉 62. San Tin (p. 203) Man 文 63. Lau Clan Association Handbook Lau 劉 (Hong Kong Branch) 香港劉氏宗親會特刊 64. Sam A (p. 221) Tsang 曾 (4 vols.) 65. Che Ha (p. 183) Lei 李 66. She Shan (p. 200) Chan 陳 67. Kat O (p. 221) Lau 劉 68. Yung Shue Au (p. 219) Wan 溫 69. Hang Ha Po (p. 200) Lam 林 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1976 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q 300 Vol. No. NOTES AND QUERIES Village (and Gazetteer reference) Surname 70. Fan Leng (p. 208) # 71. Fan Leng (p. 208) 72. Wai Tau Tsuen (p. 200) Pang 彭 Pang Cheung 張 73. Tai Kei Leng (p. 167) #4 Chung 鐘 74. Tin Sam (p. 171) Tsoi 蔡 75. Ha Wo Hang (p. 216) F** Lei 李 75.* [Duplicate] 76. Kwu Tung (p. 205) Lei 李 moved from Sham Chun area. 77. 78. Sha Lo Tung Lo Wei (p. 198) ***ŁE Lei # Lin O (Map ref. 070854) Lei 李 79. Ha Tsuen (p. 164) Tang 鄧 80. Kat Hing Wai (p. 172) N Tang 鄧 81. 82. Kat O Au Pui Tong (p. 221) *** Sheung Tsuen (p. 171) # Lam 林 Tse 謝 83. Nai Wai (p. 162) 84. 85. Later additions 86. Man 87. 88. 89. 90. 91. a 1st generation Cheng group now living in Hong Kong City. 92. 賴氏族譜 (mainland China) 93. 94. (2 vols.) Ng Uk Tsuen (p. 169) A** Ping Yeung (p. 214) ** of San Tin (p. 203) Pro- vided by Dr. James L. Watson 廣東番禺潭山許氏族誌 Unidentified: surname Taam possibly from Kwan Mun Hau, Tsuen Wan. 四必堂陳氏族譜誌 (the same as 89). [***] Sheung Tsuen (p. 171) Graham E. Johnson, Courtesy of Dr. U.B.C. Received from Dr. H. D. R. Baker Census of Lin Fa Tei village (p. | From Mr. 171) drawn up for the Ta Chiu of | H. G. H. Nelson 1967. To Ng 吳 Chan 陳 謝陶 Page 315 Page 316 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1977 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n Table 2 Villages with Populations Above 100 in 1911 175 Males Females Total Sai Kung Market 320 192 512 Mang Kung Uk * 207 227 434 • Ho Chung Hang Hau • Sha Kok Mei Nam Wai · • Tseng Lan Shue Tseung Kwan O Pak Kong · Ha Yeung Pan Long Wan Tai Po Tsai 159 259 418 262 125 387 152 194 346 178 146 324 124 152 276 · 90 103 193 • · • 75 115 190 93 91 184 86 92 178 • 77 95 172 Yim Tin Tsai 79 83 162 Seung Sz Wan Wong Nai Chau Lan Nai Wan Tai Mong Tsai Tai Wan Tau Yau U Wan ... 79 66 145 Tai Hang Hau • Tai No • 72 70 142 • • 77 65 142 • 75 63 138 · 53 64 117 • • . 355 53 63 116 51 57 108 55 53 107 • D Source: 1911 Census Ho Chung, and the Tsik Shin T'ong, that owned the land on which the Ch'e Kung Temple was built, the furniture and dinner utensils needed for village feasts that all members of the village could make use of, and the village school. Nonetheless, without any doubt, the Ch'e Kung Temple was an institution not of the Cheung lineage but of the entire village and surrounding villages. Hence, in the decennial ta tsiu, all the surname groups in Ho Chung and related villages participated. Nam Pin came to the ta tsiu, because it was related to the Tses of Ho Chung. Tai Po Tsai (near Deep Water Bay) and Tai Nam Wu came, because they were related to the Wans, and the Lams of Seung Sz Wan came, because they were related to the Lams of Ho Chung. Mok ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1977 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n 178 DAVID FAURE Table 3. (Translation) Front: Annual festival 19th First Month, 15th Second Month, 23rd Third Month, 5th Fifth Month, 14th Seventh Month, 24th Twelfth Month, Tung Chi in Eleventh Month, Night of 30th Twelfth Month; she t'au (leaders of the she); ALL THOSE WHO LIVE IN PAK KONG VILLAGE HAVE THE RESPONSIBILITY TO SERVE THE AFFAIRS AND PUBLIC INTEREST OF THIS VILLAGE; work collectively for the achievements of this village, do not follow the Monroe [Doctrine]. Back: GOLD Cheng Tso On, Cheng Chung, Lok Tso Po, Cheng Woh, Cheng Chan Ip, Lau T'in T'ing; WOOD Lok Shek Kam, Lok T'aai Ts'eung, Lok Shue Kam, Lok Foh Kau, Lok Yau T'aai, Lok Shai Ngau, Lok Tak Kwong; WATER Lok Ting Ngau, Lei Lam, Lei Kau, Lok Kam, Cheng Tso Ning, Lok T'aai Hei; FIRE Lok Tak Lam, Lok Shiu Ch'oh, Lok Lam Kwai, Lok Kam Uen, Lok Chi K'eung, Lok Shang, Lok Uet T'aai; EARTH Lok Fuk Shing, Lei Iu, Lei Kw'ai Cheung, Lok Kau Kei, Lok Tso On, Lei Shek, In a slight variation, in Tai Po Tsai (near Tai Mong Tsai) and Wo Mei, instead of collecting money to buy the pig at the time it had to be slaughtered, villagers bought a piglet at the beginning of the year and participating families took turns to feed it during the year. By the end of the year, it would be slaughtered, and the meat divided. In Wo Mei, the five lineages of the village also gathered into the Ng Woh T'ong for matters that affected the entire village.42 Less formal but not less important were the "marriage clubs" (lo p'oh wooi) found in many villages, such as Mang Kung Uk and Hang Hau, consisting of the unmarried young men of the village. The young men of the club were obliged to help the bridegroom during wedding ceremonies, and they themselves would be helped when their turn came. In general, village ceremonies, not only weddings but also funerals, required the participation of members of the village, including those outside the immediately affected lineage. It was commonly understood that on these occasions members of the village had the right and duty to participate and to help. 43 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1977 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n 179 Among smaller villages, arrangements for co-operation often extended beyond the village itself. Hang Hau and nearby Seung Sz Wan, for instance, were closely involved in each other's celebrations. When there were celebrations in one village, members of the other village could come without invitation.44 Inter-village co-operative arrangements of one sort or another were sufficiently strong for most of the smaller villages to identify themselves as being parts of permanent village alliances. Tai Mong Tsai, Tai Po Tsai, Shek Hang, Tit Kim Hang, Tam Wat, Wong Mo Ying, Ping Tun, and She Tau formed the Paat Heung (Eight Villages); Nam Shan included also Fu Yung Pit, Kak Hang Tun, Keng Pang Ha, and Lung Mei; Pak Tam Chung included Pak Tam, Tsak Yue Wu, Wong Keng Tei, Sheung Yiu, Wong Yi Chau, and Tsam Chuk Wan; and Ngong Wo, Wo Liu, Shan Liu, Tai Wan, Tso Wo Hang, Sha Ha, Nam A, Wong Chuk Yeung, Long Keng, and O Tau formed the Shap Heung (Ten Villages). The Paat Heung had a joint school in Tai Mong Tsai; the Pak Tam Chung villages jointly worshipped the Great King earthgod near Sheung Yiu; the Shap Heung had its joint school in Tai Wan, and used to maintain collectively the T'in Hau Temple at Wong Chuk Yeung (now ruined). The larger villages, e.g. Ho Chung, Mang Kung Uk, Sha Kok Mei, Nam Wai, Tseng Lan Shue, and Pak Kong, were apparently not parties to such alliances, but regarded themselves as forming complete units in themselves.45 Inter-village disputes were not common, but there were some long-standing ones. Sha Kok Mei disputed with Nam Shan over tree-cutting rights. Nam Wai and Ho Chung fought over a quarrel that had started when the cows of one village damaged the crops of the other.46 Festivals and customs The major festivals in the village were the New Year, and the T'in Kei (birthday of Nui Woh, the Earth Goddess), Ts'ing Ming (spring worship at the ancestral graves), Dragon Boat, Tsat Tse (Seven Sisters), Mid-Autumn, Double-Ninth (autumn worship at the ancestral graves), and Tung Chi (winter solstice) festivals, the temple festivals of the local temples (in this area Ch'e Kung, T'in Hau, Koon Yam, and Hung Shing), the festivals of the local ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1977 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n 192 NOTES AND QUERIES Continuously to the present, since elders in both communities were boys and reportedly before, worship of these heroes has been carried out twice a year, at the times of the first and second padi harvests (described as 春分*). It even continued throughout the Japanese Occupation, a hard time when traditional practices were sometimes dispensed with and not taken up again. Such practices, whilst tending to keep each community together, also had the effect of perpetuating a rift; and the existence of such shrines did nothing to reduce the endemic bickering that characterized much of local society at that time. NOTES 1 Sessional Papers 1928 (see the District Officer North's report which follows at Part C to the Notes for this Visit). 2 See Gazetteer of Place Names in Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories (Hong Kong Government Printer, n.d. but circa 1960): 148-152. 3 Copies of genealogies of the Cheng (#) Tang (*) and some other local lineages have been recently deposited in the Chinese Library, University of Hong Kong. 4 They also went to Tai Po Market and to North West Kowloon. 5 YEUNG Kwok-shui (#) of Yeung Uk, a small single lineage settled since the Ch'ien Lung period. 6 Local place name of the district city of Hsin-an. 7 Gazetteer: 154. * Gazetteer: 150. Lo Wai is claimed to be the oldest of the Tsuen Wan villages. 9 See e.g. G. N. Orme's Report on the New Territory 1899-1912 in the Hong Kong Government's Sessional Papers 1912: paras 58-60; and the file CSD1903 Ext/17, minutes of 6 April and 5 May 1905 in Public Records Office of Hong Kong. 10 Gazetteer: 150-151. 11 GR. 12 Shek Lei Pui (†) was the name of a village moved to Sha Tin in the 1920s to make way for an extension to the Kowloon Reservoir. See H.K. Government's Administrative Reports 1924, page Q146, para. 4. 13 Gazetteer: 151. 14 The Tin Hau Temple inscription says a wooden tablet, worshipped for 70 years. 15 of Sam Tung Uk, Chairman of the Tsuen Wan Rural Committee and Chairman of the New Territories Heung Yee Kuk, died 15th October, 1956: para. 119 of District Commissioner, New Territories' Annual Departmental Report 1956-57. 16 From the names listed it seems likely that, as stated by informants, friends and relatives of the Shing Mun people from the Pat Heung (Gazetteer: 170) aided them in the war against Tsuen Wan. 17 According to the Tsuen Wan tablet, the fighting took place with sharp weapons. (i). 18 This name was a purely Shing Mun description and does not appear in Gazetteer which only refers to the other Pat Heung to the north. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1978 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8g84t8593 186 in the district.68 DAVID FAURE On its way to Kowloon, the Japanese army looted Ho Chung. Mr. Tse Ming recalled that the Japanese came in groups, and took away the villagers' food. This continued for about a week. Tseng Lan Shue and Pik Uk, the next stop on the route to Kowloon, probably suffered more than other villages in Sai Kung, for Japanese troops stayed there for more than twenty days. The troops disturbed the women, took most of the crop that had just been harvested, and burnt the doors and furniture in the village houses for firewood. It seems that only scattered units of the Japanese army went into the Hang Hau area. Mr. Leung Chiu Man of Hang Hau saw some fighting between British and Japanese troops but recalled that the Japanese did not greatly disturb the village.69 The bandits After the Japanese came the bandits. Mr. Chau T'in Shang's impression in Sai Kung Market was that the bandits came many times and took away all the residents' valuables. Mr. Cheng Ip of Pak Kong remembered that it was Tung Chi (winter solstice) when the bandits first came. They were armed with guns, and they forced the villagers to carry their grain to Kei Ling Ha where they departed by boat. Mrs. Ts'ui of Sai Kung Market, whose husband was a fish-monger, remembered that many bandits came, and soon she was required to deliver a fixed quantity of fish every month to them. She fled to Yim Tin Tsai for two weeks, and then went up to P'ing Shan on the Chinese side of the border for three months, before she dared return to farm on her own land at Pak Kong. Mr. Hoh King of Nam Shan had just returned from Kowloon, and learnt that his name was on a list drawn up by the bandits of people they wanted to hold for ransom. He left Sai Kung with the proprietor of Kwong Tak Lung, whom he knew well, for the villages near Sham Chun, and stayed there for a month before he returned to Nam Shan. Even then, he did not stay in the village, but lived for a while up on the hillside.70 Bandits were reported throughout Sai Kung District, from Clear Water Bay, Junk Bay, to Long Harbour, in both the poorer villages and the richer ones and the market towns. According ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1980 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/kh04md207 207 36 1911 Census. 37 For a brief discussion of these ideas, see David Faure, "Hongkong and China in the village world", JHKBRAS 21 (1981). A noteworthy variation is the shrine for the Taai Shing Yan Kung Ma at Luk Mei Village, which is both an ancestral figure and a territorial god. See research notes on Ue Lan Festival at Luk Mei, 5-7.8.81. * Ints. Mr. Cheung T'o 29.5.81, 15.6.81, Mr. Cheung Ts'oi 20.6.81, Mr. Tse Ming 8.81, and notes on the ta tsiu at Ho Chung, 27.12.81 - 31.12.81. For the donations of the Uens towards the repair of the temple, see Ch'e Kung Temple tablet and ints. Mr. Uen Chi Ming 16.1.81, 13.2.81, 7.3.81. Our interviews did not discover if only villagers of Ho Chung contributed towards the annual Ch'e Kung Festival, or if other villagers in the villages that took part in the ta tsiu also did. 3 Int. Mr. Chan P'aang Hing 29.5.81. 40 Ints. Mr. Cheng Ip 14.5.81, Mr. Lei Yiu T'ing 23.6.81, Mr. Lei Kau 23.6.81, Mr. Lok Kau Kei 26.6.81, 21.7.81. 41 Ints. Mr. Tse Wing 9.6.81, Mr. Tsang 25.6.81, Mr. Tsang Yung 25.6.81, Mrs. Wai 27.6.81 42 Ints. Mr. Cheung Ts'oi 20.6.81, Mr. Cheung Wing 1981; see also Mr. Sung Kw'an 23.6.81 for similar arrangements for raising pigs in Tit Kim Hang, and Mr. Shing Uen Wan 10.7.81 in Pik Uk. 43 Ints. Mr. Shing Ip On 14.6.81, Mr. Leung Yung Hei 16.6.81. Every year, on the 28th of the First Month, all the five surnames of Mang Kung Uk joined in the worship of the earth god. A matshed was built in the village, on which lanterns were hung. See int. Mr. Ue Shun Hing 10.7.81. See also Patrick Hase, “Observations at a Village Funeral", presented at the Conference on Hong Kong Society and History at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, December 1981, (papers to be published shortly). 44 ** Mr. Leung Yung Hei 16.8.81. * Ints. Mr. Sung 22.6.81, Mr. Tang Kei Faat 25.6.81, Mr. Hoh King 24.6.81, Mr. Yau T'aam Shang 8.5.81, Mrs. Lau Lei Loi T'aai 28.6.81, store keeper at Wong Chuk Wan 28.6.81, Mrs. Hoh née Lau 29.6.81, Mr. Kuet Po Shing 2.7.81, and notes on the ruined temple at Wong Chuk Wan 28.6.81. The composition of the Shap Heung given by Mrs. Hoh née Lau and Mr. Kuet differs slightly from that in the text here. Other village groups in the Sai Kung area include one that consists of Tse Keng Tuk, Chiu Hang, Ta Ho Tun, and Ma Nam Wat (int. Mr. Chan Uet Shing 24.6.81), another that consists of the three villages at Man Yee Wan (int. Mr. Lei Shiu Yam 8.5.81), yet another the seven villages that made use of the sugar press at Ko Tong (int. Mr. To 19.6.81). Apparently, Tai Long, Pak Tam Au, and Chek Keng, and then Sham Chung, Lai Chi Chong, and Pak Sha O were two groups of villages that had close social ties (int. Madam Chiu I Mooi 7.5.81). 48 Ints. Mr. Tse Wing 20.6.81, Mr. Yau 28.7.81. Fung shui was involved in the dispute in Sha Kok Mei. The villagers considered that part of a hill nearby, known to them as the "tiger's land" (foo tei) was essential to the fung shui of the village. Sha Kok Mei would not permit burial, grass or tree cutting on the foo tei. "Mr. Chau T'in Shang 9.7.81, Mr. Lok Kau Kei 26.6.81, Mr. Yau Taai Hin 8.81, Mr. Tse Ming 8.81. Major temple celebrations before World War II were held in at least the following places: Leung Shuen Wan, Sai Kung, Tai Miu, Hang Hau, Pan Long Wan, Tseung Kwan O, Kau Sai. Pak Kong and Ho Chung had a ta tsiu every ten years, and ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1980 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/kh04md207 209 22.7.81, Mr. Yau Taai Hin 23.7.81, 8.81, Mr. Lau 24.7.81, Mrs. Yau née Lau 13.8.81, and Hong Kong Government Administrative Report, 1934 p. M101. 5. For the work of the village teacher, see ints. Mr. Tse Wing 9.6.81, and Mr. Cheng Yung 23.6.81. For naam yam in village, see Mr. Yau T'aam Shang 22.5.81, and Mr. Sung Kw'an 22.6.81. 60 Mr. Chau T'in Shang's father, for instance, owned one of the shipyards in Sai Kung Market, but his mother and his sister-in-law farmed (see int. 3.6.81), and Mr. Lei Shiu Yam entered his father's herbalist's store at eighteen, married at nineteen, and continued to work in the market while his wife farmed in the village at Man Yi Wan (see int. 8.5.81). For shortage of rice see Mr. Chan T'in Po 12.5.81, Mr. Wong Yung Ts'ing 20.5.81, Mr. Lok Shaang 21.5.81, Mr. Sung 22.6, Mrs. Lau 1.7.81. In the 1920's and 1930's, each load of firewood carried into Kowloon sold for 25 to 40 cents, pigs were sold in Sai Kung at approximately 18 dollars per picul, which was the weight of one pig, and rice for 3 to 4 dollars per picul. It was possible for a family to carry firewood into Kowloon quite a few times every month for about five months per year, and to sell two to three pigs. The cash income would have been 50 to 80 dollars per year, enough to buy 15 to 20 piculs of rice, enough for about five adults for the year. In addition, daily wages were 30 cents, and there was employment in the limekilns and in construction. Money was not short for daily necessities, but for weddings, in which the present to the bride's family alone would have been 200 to 300 dollars, many families would have had to resort to borrowing. See ints. Madam Laai Hung Tai 8.5.81, Mr. Lei P'aang Kei 12.5.81, Mr. Chan Tin Po 12.5.81, Mrs. Lau 14.6.81, Mrs. Kong Lei San Kiu 21.6.81, Mr. Kong Hei 21.6.81, Mrs. Cheung 24.6.81, Mr. Lau Hing Lung 16.6.81, Mr. Lei 29.6.81, Mr. K'uet Po Shing 2.7.81, Mr. Cheung Ts'oi 20.6.81, Madam Lo Koon Mooi 21.6.81, Mr. Lau Lui Faat 23.6.81, Mr. Lei Yau 28.6.81, Mr. Yau T'aam Shang 22.5.81, Mr. Lok Foh Kau 20.6.81, Mrs. Tse 21.6.81, Mr. Tsang 25.6.81. For a descriptive account of village production, see Mr. Cheng Ip 4.5.81. 01 Ints. Mr. Yau Taam Shang 8.5.81, Mr. Lei Yau 28.6.81, Mr. Lai Foh 8.5.81, Mr. Hoh Taai 10.6.81, Mr. Cheung T'o 15.6.81, Mr. Hoh Shang 20.6.81, Madam Wan née Lau 21.6.81. 02 Int. Mr. Sung 22.6.81. 03 Yield on good land was 3 piculs of grain per harvest, i.e. 6 piculs per year. In addition to this, there were several piculs of sweet potatoes. On poorer land, e.g. near Mang Kung Uk, it could be as low as 1 to 2 piculs per harvest. Rent was half the produce of grain, and somewhat less if the land was rented from the ancestral trust. See ints. Mr. Sung 22.6.81, Mr. Lau Lui Faat 23.6.81, Mrs. Tse née Lau 24.6.81, Mr. Tse Shui Kam 24.6.81. 04 Madam Yau 10.7.81, and cf. Mrs. Tse 22.6.81. 05 65 Int. Mr. Chung P'oon 13.11.80. 00 ibid. 07 Mr. Chau T'in Shang 13.11.80. 08 Mr. Wan Ts'eung 31.11.80, Mr. Cheung Wing 81, Mr. Tse Koon K'au 9.6.81. 60 6 Mr. Tse Ming 15.1.81, Mr. Yau Kei 8.7.81, Mr. Shing 20.7.81, Mr. Leung Chiu Man 25.7.81. 70 Mr. Chau T'in Shang 13.11.80, Mr. Cheng Ip 14.5.81, Mrs. Tsui née Lei 20.5.81, Mr. Hoh King 5.6.81. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1981 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ff36bt18m 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 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-1982 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p Chinese University's History Department and editor of our 1981 Journal, spoke on Saikung district during World War II: the district being a regular escape route for prisoners of war from Kowloon. After a summer break we began again in October with Professor Shih Hsio-yen, Head of Department of Fine Arts at Hong Kong University, talking on recent Chinese archeological finds and how the Chinese on the mainland look at their origins. In December Dr. James Hayes led a tour of the New Territories, which included Sam Tung Uk village built in the eighteenth century and scheduled as a museum and cultural centre, and Tsuen Wan, with a vegetarian lunch at the Yuen Yuen Hok Yuen, Tsuen Wan, a temple complex belonging to a Chinese syncretic religious group. Also in December, Professor Rulan Chao Pian, Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations and of Music at Harvard, and currently visiting Professor of Music at the Chinese University, spoke on traditional forms of dance narrative in North China. Her talk was illustrated with video tape material. Finally, in January Dr. Graham Johnson, Associate Professor in Sociology at the University of British Columbia, talked on the Chinese in Canada, discussing their history from the early rural migrants who worked in the goldfields and on the railway, to the more sophisticated urban migrants going to Canada after 1967, many from Hong Kong. There was very poor response to the two overseas tours offered through, or by, the Society during the year. The tour to India had to be cancelled through lack of sufficient numbers, and the tour of the Pearl River Delta consisted of six persons only, including the leader, Dr. Michael Lau, to whom I express my thanks. This year about seven members will be joining a tour arranged by Dr. Brian Shaw for late March-early April. The group will witness the annual sacred masked dance festival at Paro in Bhutan and also visit other places in Bhutan, and Darjeeling and Kalimpong. Other tours may be arranged by Dr. Shaw during the coming year, and Mrs. Craig will also be offering tours to members, who will be kept informed. As the year progressed we found it increasingly difficult to obtain bookings at the Volunteer Officers' Mess due to heavy ix ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1983 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v its street traders, and will continue working eastwards in preparation for the second book, Other activities Apart from the more routine aspects of our work, this year has been a busy one for the Council in other respects. A number of new proposals took shape and have either produced results or show promise for the future. Perhaps the most successful has been a series of eight 15-minute talks on buildings of historical significance, broadcast on English Channel 4 of Radio Hong Kong in February and March 1984. The subjects included Government House, the Supreme Court, Flagstaff House (formerly the General's residence), the Bishop's House and St. Paul's College, together with a number of Chinese buildings, Sam Tung Uk Village, the Man Mo Temple in Hollywood Road, Tsang Tai Uk at Shatin and Tai Fu Tai at San Tin. With one exception, these talks were undertaken by Council members of the Society, and the fact that we were able to produce them upon request underlines the Council's combined expertise in this line. I should add that we received excellent support on the production side from Ms Tisa Ng, editor of the series and her staff. This venture has been taken a step further by a proposal to publish the talks in an expanded form with plenty of photographs, and the Hon. Editor has this in hand. We have also been considering a monograph series of publications, reprinting with commentary basic interesting documents from the past, such as the 1899 Lockhart Report on the New Territories and the 1882 Chadwick report on the sanitary condition of Hong Kong. In this connection, we have hopes of entering into a project with Oxford University Press, Hong Kong, whereby we will produce a number of monographs for consideration with a view to yearly joint publications with the Press. Meantime the University Press has requested us to consider sending their annual catalogue of books on oriental studies, mostly on China and Hong Kong, to our members. On the basis of this expected cooperation, and in view of the OUP's prestige and impressive publication programme, we thought it sensible to agree to this proposal. It will benefit members, and all mailing costs are paid by the Press. xi ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1984 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/5h73wh572 269 My notebook says “We had tea at all these villages all locally grown". The list includes Tai Hang Hau, Sheung Sze Wan and Ha Yeung, but I visited others in the group without making special mention of tea. At Ha Yeung I was told that they had 100 trees of what they called shan cha (山茶) (“hill tea”), not wild but planted by themselves. Tai Po Tsai, one of the larger villages of the area, claimed to have 50 trees, but the largest village settlement, Mang Kung Uk, reported "only a few tea bushes not many." However, the little island settlement of Fu Tau Chau in Junk Bay gave me hill tea to drink, from its own trees. Further towards Sai Kung Market, I was given hill tea to drink at Nam Wai, and also at Pak Kong Au, though the village reported "only 8 to 10 trees". East of Sai Kung, people in the hamlet of Shan Liu said that “tea was formerly grown (i.e. cultivated) but only wild bushes are now harvested”. But it was at Nam A, east of Sha Kok Mei, that I learned most. "A really nice, almost English village", I wrote enthusiastically. "We drank hill tea (excellent) from trees planted twenty years ago in the hills behind the village, but not many. It is best brewed in porcelain, they said. Their supply lasts six months in all, but is harvested four times a year - once in the winter months, once at Easter and twice in the summer. The best is the Easter crop.” Nothing was said, or asked, about preparation but each crop was kept in a drawer for two months. My note ends "The cows like to eat it!”. On Lantau, the villagers of Pa Mei, otherwise known as Shan Ha, said they collected hill tea from Tai Tung Shan Keuk (大東山腳), that is the north western slopes of Sunset Peak. On South Lantau the people of the Pui villages also went up to Tai Tung Shan to collect leaves from wild bushes there in the second to fourth moons. Previously there had been many trees, but hill fires had reduced their number. It was used as leung cha (涼茶) for cooling the system. At Tong Fuk my notes state, "they gather tea leaves from bushes on the hill and use it a lot. The tea comes from the Fung Wong Shan peak behind the village, and the leaves used are plucked in the second and third moons.” Rather surprisingly, the villagers of Upper and Lower Keung Shan, though located on the mountain slopes of a sheltered valley with good tree cover, had never cultivated tea bushes, or at least not within living memory. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1987 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/rx919b522 270 Well, I found that this was just not so in Tsuen Wan. Practically all the lineages there had had a genealogy at one time, and about two-thirds of them still have. Moreover, if you consult the 1905 Block Crown Leases for land in Tsuen Wan, and look at the descriptions of house lots in the villages of the sub-district, you will get the impression that there were not any ancestral halls in places like Tsuen Wan. This again turned out to be quite wrong. Going through the villages, old people would say "This is our ancestral hall" or more often "That was the site of our ancestral hall”. Even a small clan with, say, only 5 or 10 houses at the turn of the century had its own ancestral hall. Also, there were old schoolrooms and other institutions which indicated that the infrastructure of local village society was greater than the written records would show. My third point and I am just over my time concerns another clue to the nature of local society. I had done collecting in "Town", i.e. Hong Kong's central areas, at second-hand bookshops, stalls and so on and I had found quite a lot of printed guides to letter writing, social etiquette, and how to carry out a wide range of family, village and business affairs. I thought "Surely these must have existed in the villages too, and it would be interesting to find if they have the printed versions or the manuscript versions of them, or both". To cut a long story short, there were such guides to be found in the Tsuen Wan villages. They were practically all of the hand-written type, copied no doubt from generation to generation. They were often kept by the school teachers, and (I was told) dictated to promising pupils or passed on to them. Some elders also possessed them. So these were the sort of things I found in Tsuen Wan over my seven year stay. The only other thing worth noting in this connection is that we were in the business of trying to preserve a few old villages, and that in fact we managed to preserve two. One of them, Sam Tung Uk, was located in the middle of Tsuen Wan, right next to the new Mass Transit Railway. Another was up in the hills at a place called Yuen Tun where the main block has been preserved. It is inside the Civil Aid Services camp site, and is a magnificent building to go and look at. I say that with enthusiasm. It is a perfectly ordinary village building, but is a fine example of its kind. These initiatives came mainly from a few officials. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 13 153 PP. 12 The inscription recording the rebuilding is at Faure, Luk and Ng, op. cit. Vol. I, 128-129, but it is unreadable through weathering, except for the heading and date. (4). Loe An-lim (羅安廉) (42), Qianren Wenxian (千人文献), ÑÍAL. [Collected Writings of Men of Past Ages], unpublished manuscript collection, Vol. 2, ff. 75a. (Copy in library of Royal Asiatic Society, Hong Kong Branch, Kowloon Central Library, Hong Kong). Lee An-lim was a villager of Sheung Wo Hang. (3) Lee An-lim, Qianren Wenxian, op. cit. ff 73-78. + As honour board recording the donors to the 1920 repair has recently been found. It lists the donors by village. Every village in Ta Kwu Ling donated (except Ping Che, Chuk Yuen, Nga Yiu Ha, very probably included with their lineage brethren in Tong Fong, Law Fong, Ping Yeung), as did the villages close to the road both in the Sha Tau Kok area (Shan Tsui, Yim Tso Ha, Yim Tin, Wo Hang, Nam Chung, Luk Keng, Wu Shek Kok and Sha Tau Kok Market) and in the Sham Tsun area (Sham Tsun Market, Lo Wu, and Wong Pui Ling). Shek Wu Hui from further away also donated. See Win Wen Wei Pao (SCHEW) of 17 September, 1991. U¿÷ 16 Detail from the tablets commemorating the departed leaders of the monastery, and from information given by the recently deceased resident nun. The tablet of Kuk Shan Kit reads: 羅浮山寶積古寺監裤正宗第上三代主持上谷下山潔老和尚莲座. The tablet Kuk Shan Kit placed to commemorate his deceased predecessors names the "ordained monks" HIBA · MAZA + J # and Ki£*, all of whom were dead by the date of erection + 1 of the tablet, and ✯, at that date still alive, as well as predecessors as rulers of this monastery" ALLKILMINER and "those monks who founded this monastery", A WILDFORIKA BAIMM- L 17 See P.H. Hase, “Notes on Rice Farming in Shatin', in Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 21, 1981, pp. 196-206; D. Faure, The Rural Economy of Pre-Liberation China: Trade Increase and Peasant Livelihood in Jiangsu and Guangdong, Oxford University Press, Hong Kong, 1989, pp. 46-57 and 212; and Hong Kong Annual Report: Report by District Commissioner, New Territories for Year Ending 31st March, 1950, Noronha and Co., Hong Kong, 1950, p. 5. TH The Ho clan of Tsung Yuen Ha descends from Ho Chan, the Earl of Tung Kuan in the early Ming, and the Ho family history (CBMGKR — a manuscript volume in the University of Cambridge Library) suggests this area was in Ho Chan's hands before the end of the Ming. It was certainly in Ho family control before 1393 when Ho Chan's family were proscribed. The Tang family has occupied the Lung Yeuk Tau villages, Loi Tung and Tai Tong Wu since the fourteenth century at the latest. A Tang clan also occupies Au Ha (PUF Aoxia) and Wang Kong Ha (Huanggangxia). I have not been able to discover if these two villagers are genealogically connected with the Loi Tung and Lung Yeuk Tau clan, although this is unlikely. The Man family has occupied Ping Che for **18 generations", according to village elders, i.e. probably from the fourteenth century. The same family occupies Tong Fong, Heung Yuen Wai, and Lin Tong, Liantang), and a branch of it was resident at Man Uk Pin (**Man Family Houses") before the present residents, the Chung (鍾) clan moved there in the early eighteenth century. The To clan has been resident at Chau Tin village for **500 years". Local villagers consider that the Lei family has been resident at Lei Uk for as long as the To and Man clans have been at Chau Tin and Ping Che. All these clans are Punti, although sections of the Man clan at Tong Fong, and those at Heung Yuen Wai and Lin Tong, now speak Hakka. Shan Kai Wat (Lam surname, 林), Fung Wong Wu (Yip surname, 葉), and Law Fong (Law surname, 羅), are all included in the list of villages in existence in 1661 included in the 1688 Hsin An County Gazetteer, along with Au Ha, Tsung Yuen Ha, Ping Che (Ping Yuen 平遠), and perhaps Ping Yeung (坪洋) (Gazetteer, Ch. 3, f 12-13). Other Punti clans in the Ta Kwu Ling area (Wong, 黃, Chan, 陳, and Law, 羅, at Kan Tau Wai, and Hau, 侯) ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 155 27 As noted above, 20,000 people a month used the Miu Keng pass. Probably as many again used the road from Ping Che to Kan Tau Wai, or started their journey within Ta Kwu Leng. 40,000 users of the ferry a month is a likely figure. Probably 25% of them carried goods. This represents more than $50 a month income, or about $600 a year. Even depreciating heavily for the salary of boatmen and costs of maintenance, $400 a year clear profit seems likely. The date of this war was probably in the 1860s, as Faure, The Structure of Chinese Rural Society, op. cit., p. 104, shows. 29 For the arrangement of the Yeuk, see map. The information in this section comes from Mr. Chan Yau-tsoi and Mr. Chan Wa-chun of Ping Yeung, Mr. Man Kam-muk of Ping Che, Mr. Yeung Choi of Fụng Wong Wu, Mr. Man Lei-wa of Tong Fong, and Mr. Hau Foh-tai of Law Fong, all very knowledgeable elders. I met them as a group, and include here only what they were unanimous in agreeing was the case. I would like to express my particular thanks to them for the several hours of discussion they had with me. As to Sai Ling Ha, this village, although it lay within the Ta Kwu Ling hills, supported Wong Pui Ling in the fighting, I was told. It had no part in the Luk Yeuk. However, when the Communists took over, most of the inhabitants of Sai Ling Ha crossed into Hong Kong, and set up homes in Ping Che. They were then allowed to become part of the Luk Yeuk, as part of Ping Che Yeuk. The account of the Luk Yeuk given here differs in detail from that given in Faure, op. cit., pp. 103-104. +1 - 30 The deaths are recorded in the "Heroes Shrine" () in the Tin Hau Temple at Ping Che, which was the community temple of the Ta Kwu Ling area. 23 names of the **Heroes who died in protecting the villages, who knew how to perform the duties of filial piety", or the "Heroes who defended the Yeuk" as they are named in two inscriptions *澳四總鎮源樂友例段英雄履考之神位 and "MX") are recorded. Of these, 3 (all surnamed Chan) came from the Ping Yeung Yeuk, 4 (3 surnamed Tang and 1 surnamed Chau) from the Lin Tong Yeuk, 4 (1 surnamed Chau and 3 surnamed Lei) from the Lei Uk Yeuk, 4(2 surnamed Yiu and 2 surnamed Hau) from the Law Fong Yeuk, 2 (both surnamed Yip) from the Lo Shue Ling Yeuk and 4 (2 surnamed Wong and 2 surnamed Man) from the Ping Che Yeuk. One Law died he came either from Law Fong (Law Fong Yeuk) or Kan Tau Wai (Ping Che Yeuk). A Lau Ah-ngau (劉亞牛) also died -- he could have been from Wo Keng Shan (Ping Yeung Yeuk), where there was a tiny clan of Laus, or could possibly have been a servant, as his name suggests his name is entered last on the tablet. 23 deaths suggests very bloody fighting. It is unlikely that the population of the whole of Ta Kwu Ling in 1860 was higher than 1750 (representing an average village population of about 80, or perhaps 12 households), and the adult males could not have been more than a quarter of that (440). The young men of fighting age were probably no more than about 200. 23 out of 200 is about 11.5% deaths of those involved, which is a very high percentage. The population of the Ta Kwu Ling villages within the New Territories totalled 1441 in the 1911 Census (Sessional Papers, 1911, no. 17, Noronha & Lo, Hong Kong, 1911, "Report on the Census of the Colony for 1911”, Table XIX p. 103 (32)). + - Loi Tung, with its lineage brethren of Lung Yeuk Tau, and the small villages between them, formed the Sze Yeuk (四約, “Alliance of Four''), which was, to a large degree, designed to ensure that the ancient enmity of the Tangs of Lung Yeuk Tau and Loi Tung with the Pangs of Fan Ling was tilted in favour of the Tangs. The Pangs supported the Luk Yeuk in its fight with the Cheungs this almost certainly means that the Sze Yeuk supported the Cheungs, as did Sheung Shui, the other ancient enemy of the Pangs. Man Uk Pin was a Yeuk of the Sha Tau Kok Shap Yeuk, as well as forming a part of the Sze Yeuk. The Shap Yeuk were dubious about the activities of the Luk Yeuk. Free travel between Sha Tau Kok and Sham Tsun was vital to the Shap Yeuk. With the Cheung Shan Kwụ Page 180 Page 181 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 156 Tsz people controlling the pass and the Cheungs controlling the river crossing; no one group had total control of the road; but if the Luk Yeuk controlled both the pass and the bridge, then the Shap Yeuk's interests could well have been at risk. Lin Ma Hang of the Shap Yeuk actually fought alongside Wong Pui Ling; the rest of the Shap Yeuk was probably friendly to the Cheungs, or at least neutral in the dispute. The Sze Yeuk were allied with the Tangs in their opposition to the establishment of the Tai Po New Market by the Tsat Yeuk; as is to be expected, Fanling and the Luk Yeuk supported the Tsat Yeuk. 32 33 It is unclear if the inscription still survives or not. They were Man Fuk-ting (Tong Fong, Chairman); Lei Yi-wa (Lei Uk); Chan Kwok-cheung (Ping Yeung); Tang King-shiu (Au Ha or Wang Kong Ha); Law King-fan (Law Fong); To Kan-yeung (Tin). 14 Between 1911 and 1924 Chan Ping-kei (Chau ...) and Chan Tai [or Ting]-cheung ... (+ [Chinese characters unknown]) were managers, and as such appear on the Land Memorials. 35 It was put up by Lin Tong and Wang Kong Ha villages, in "The Shing Ping She Shrine of Righteousness".ĦTH, Faure, Historical Inscriptions, op. cit., Vol. 3, p. 850. 36 37 Faure, The Structure of Chinese Rural Society, op. cit., pp. 104-105. Chau Tin village owned a small temple, or San Teng (神廳), as did Kan Tau Wai and Law Fong. Kan Tau Wai in addition owned a small house as a meeting place for its elders. None of these communal facilities had any income-producing land attached to them, except for the Law Fong and Kan Tau Wai temples, which owned 0.05 and 0.12 acres respectively. The Ping Yuen temple manager was registered only for the single temple building, but not for any income-producing land, although the temple did buy a piece of land (0.72 acres) from a Ping Che villager in 1906. See DD82, houselot CT20; lot 759; DD78, lot 1158; DD82, houselot KTW13; houselots PC1-3; Memorial 2744. Memorials 24058 (20 April 1913), 27471 (4 June 1914), 45919 (7 December 1920); see also Memorial 17779 (17 October 1911) for the succession of the She to a house at Tong Fong. 19 For the Po Tak Old Alliance, see Faure, The Structure of Chinese Rural Society, op. cit., pp. 128-140. 40 41 See R.G. Groves, "The Origins of Two Market Towns'', loc.cit. For the Tung Ping Kuk and the Tung Wo Kuk, see Faure, The Structure of Chinese Rural Society, op. cit., pp. 128-140. 42 (唔出嫁嘅女) 43 44 Sung Hok-p'ang, Legends and Stories of the New Territories: Kam Tin, op. cit. It should be noted that these nunneries are often called Tsz (寺) in ordinary speech and documents. This character strictly means "monastery", but, in this area, this does not necessarily imply that the religious living there were men. Thus the Cheung Shan Kwu Tsz is almost always so called, as in the document printed in the Appendix. The use of the more correct character Am (庵, 'nunnery') is almost entirely limited to Ch'ing official documents (especially the County Gazetteer) and, sometimes, on bells. 45 46 loc.cit. See Faure, Luk and Ng, Historical Inscriptions of Hong Kong, op. cit., Vol. 3, p. 669. It is called Miu (廟, "temple") in Hsin An County Gazetteer, 1922, ch'uan 4 and 7, pages 49-50 and 82 of the Chung Lap Pao edition, 1979, and in the 1688 Gazetteer. 47 Ling To is called Tsz (寺) in the Hsin An County Gazetteer, 1819, at ch'uan 18 and 21, pages 148 and 174 of the Chung Lap Pao edition, 1979, and, given the care with which... ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 266 about a mile below the Sha Wan River, and finally the Ching Shui River which drains the northern part of the valley from Po Kat (Buji) down, and which enters about half-a-mile below the Sheung Yue River. The main river is navigable for small skiffs as far as Kim Hau, but for junks only as far as the confluence of the main river and the Ching Shui River. However, the river at the mouth of the Ching Shui River is not navigable for junks at low tide. Furthermore, the navigable part of the river is not wide enough for a junk to turn around in easily when under sail. The Ching Shui River, at the junction with the main river, splits into two branches, with a low, marshy island between them and the main river.* Junks could come up the main river, enter the Ching Shui River, pass behind the marshy island, and back into the main river via the second branch of the stream, thus turning round without cutting across the channel, using a "one-way" system. The landing place used by the cargo junks and ferry boats, therefore, was the channel of the Ching Shui River behind the island. Junks would come up the river with the tide, and would load and unload while at rest on the mud at low tide, and would cast off and go down the river with the next high tide. Three significant roads pass through the valley, crossing at Sham Chun: the Yuen Long to Wai Chow (Huichou), Nam Tau (Nantou) to Sha Tau Kok, and Po Kat to Kowloon roads. In the Ming, this valley had a number of markets, of which Sham Chun was only one. There was another at Kim Hau, and others to the west, including one at Lung Tsun Hui (Longjinxu), which was part of the Fuk Tin (Futian) village cluster. By the nineteenth century, however, all these other markets had either become extinct, or else survived only in a very small way as satellites of Sham Chun. Sham Chun had developed until it had become a very large market, with probably 500 and more shops. The market was ringed by large villages of rich clans—the Cheungs at Wong Pui Ling (Huangbeiling) about a mile to the east, the Tsois at Tsoi Uk Wai (Caiwuwei) about half a mile to the south-west, the Wongs at Fuk Tin about a mile to the south-west, the Yuens at Lo Wu (Lohu) about half a mile to the south and the Hos at Sun Kong (Sungang) about half a mile to the north. These rich and ancient clans were almost perennially in dispute, as they jostled for power and position in the district. * See Map. ================================================================================ 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-1992 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qf85tx75x 178 NOTES 1 Said by one of the Tangs of Ha Pa. The father had won a Jockey Club lottery ticket Mrs Wong Chau Yuk-bing, 10 July 1991 I once became concerned with a grave on a hill above Tsuen Wan. There had been a mistake and confusion when exhuming illegal graves and removing the remains to an authorized cemetery. My subsequent enquiry showed that this slope contained a number of graves of Chans of Sam Tung Uk, repaired in 1919, and another old grave belonging to their cousins from Kwan Mun Hau, a recent reburial of another of their graves whose old site had been required for development; the earth grave with stone tablet dated 1954 belonging to another local lineage recently taken up and remains placed in an urn (whose removal caused all the trouble); and a Tsang grave dated 1909 but removed at some time previously. The enquiry showed that the hill was a favoured burial site, that it was mostly monopolized by the Chans of Sam Tung Uk; that they had received objections from Kwan Mun Hau to a new grave and had not used it but found another site. 4 The exercise was prompted by what I personally felt was the misguided notion that all the owners of old graves could, and should, one fine day be asked to exhume them. 4 This was still felt to be the case, even though some leading members of the clan were Christians, with forebears who had also been members of the local protestant Chuen Yuen Church, established in Tsuen Wan about 1905. + Addressed to DOTW but sent to NTA HQ. See Secretary for the NT's NT L/M No.(172) in E/948/78 to TM&DO TW dated 11 December 1980, enclosing Chinese letter dated November 1980. + Chinese letter from Mr. Wong Kit-hung, Village Representative of Shui Pin Village, Yuen Long, dated 14 January 1980. "Wong Cho-yip and 22 other villagers of this place are the owners of the grave of Ancestor Shui-tai at Tsing Lung Tau. Ancestor Shui-tai was buried there in the tenth month of the first year of Tung Chih [1862], so that the grave has a history of 120 years. The villagers have recently learned that the government will resume the land there for development. They fear that great damage will be done to the fung-shui [of the clan] if the grave is destroyed. We entreat you to remedy the situation quickly [by cancelling the notice] or by compensating for this loss, so that they may choose a lucky day for the removal of their ancestral grave (and another auspicious burial ground for). M Chopped DOTW Inward. Serial No. 1861 of 17 August 1963. The District Commissioner gave an account of a ceremonial visit following damage to a grave. See Annual Departmental Report, District Commissioner, New Territories, 1955-56. 4 ADR, DCNT 1955-56, para. 87. Mr Wong Kwai-chi, Land Inspector, Class 1. He and I had been colleagues and friends since we first served together in the District Office South, twenty years before. || DOTW file TW6/WL/71, Chinese letter dated 4 May 1971. 1: See JHKBRAS, Vol. 17 (1977), p.189 for background. File TW130/983/77, for China Light and Power Company's electricity supply sub-station on NE Lantau. 14 This was partly their own fault, as owing to a particularly intense intra-lineage feud, all through the late 1970s and most of the 1980s they could not agree on removal terms, ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1994 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g 159 The Museum of History is also planning a museum of coastal defence of the Hong Kong region, to be built at the site of the former Lei Yue Mun fort, The Regional Council runs three historical museums. The first was the Sam Tung Uk Museum, housed in a restored Hakka walled village built in 1786. It was opened in 1987 as a folk museum specializing in the history of Hong Kong's rural areas. The Railway Museum is centred on an old railway station, and the Sheung Yiu Folk Museum is housed in an old fortified Hakka village. Together, the museums are the main venues where ordinary citizens, not to mention tourists, can learn about Hong Kong's past. Clearly it is not just exhibits that make a museum. Research is indispensable to provide support for any exhibition. The steady expansion of museums in the last decade had entailed much research input both by the museum staff and by commissioned researchers. The Museum of History, for example, in preparing for the opening of the museum of coastal defence, is busy sourcing for military items such as medals, guns, uniforms and so forth. At the same time, it is also conducting a full-scale two-year oral history project interviewing both civilians and military personnel on the Japanese invasion and the occupation period, to support the effort. Antiquities and Monuments Office 10 Another centre of local history research is the Antiquities and Monuments Office. Founded in 1976 initially to conduct archaeological work and conserve historical monuments, its work has become more diversified in the last few years. Through exhibitions, guided tours, publications, local studies and community involvement projects, it has helped to spread the message of heritage conservation. But, as in the case of the museums, its work cannot be done without research, and it is now also commissioning researchers to back up its routine work and special projects. Together, through publication, activities and exhibitions, the publicizing of local history by the museums and the AMO is being carried out with increasing efficiency and on a growing scale. All these activities, however, have placed great demands on those working on local history. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1994 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g 187 In Ho Sheung Heung, the 'guarding star' at the entrance to the village is a bamboo. However, it is not always the case that a tree growing beside a shrine has any relationship to that shrine. At Ho Sheung Heung trees besides the southern Pauk Kung have no fung shui significance and have simply grown up there. At Tar Om trees near the main shrine have grown up in the seventy years since the shrine was built and have little, if any, fung shui importance. None of the villagers questioned thought that the fung shui woods had any sacred or spiritual value outside their fung shui importance. Another important reason for the protection of large, old trees was that they had been planted by the ancestors. Examples are at Man Uk Pin, Ma Mat Wai, Ping Kong, and Ma Tsuek Leng. Few of these trees were individually venerated except for the 'grandfather tree' at Kuk Po which was planted by the founders of the village to honour the local earth gods. Villages often have examples of many types of fung shui tree. An example is the village of Sheung Wo Hang which has an inviolable fung shui wood in which all vegetation is protected, in addition to ancestorally planted trees which guard particular shrines and which reinforce certain fung shui locations, as well as earth god trees without shrines. In some cases, shrines may not be dedicated to an earth god. At She Shan Tsuen in Lam Tsuen valley, a small shrine at the edge of the fung shui wood makes the spot at which hunters would gather to make offerings before the hunt. There is a parallel here with those shrines in the sacred forests of Nepal at which hunters gather to worship (Mansberger, 1991). Both Tar Wong and Paak Kung shrines guard the important places and fung shui points of the village, such as the wells, irrigation dams, "dragon veins" and especially the entrances to the village. The latter are often marked by a Tar Wong shrine. Where a path or road leaves a village, invariably where an approaching path curves around the end of a fung shui wood, the site is known as "the mouth of water", (the flow of a road symbolising water). The site is often associated with a clump of bamboo, a large rock or a large camphor or banyan tree, or sometimes all three, known as a "guarding star" in fung shui terms, as it guards against excessive outflow of chi from the village. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1994 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zk522640g 188 These sites and their associated trees, which are usually of a great age and which villagers often claim were planted when the village was founded, are of fundamental importance to the fortunes of a village, more so than the fung shui woods themselves. In some villages, such as Ma Mat Wei, during the last war fung shui woods were felled so that rice could be bought for the impoverished villagers. The important individual fung shui trees, however, were never felled. Villagers will go to great lengths to protect these sites from private development and from government projects. Roads may be diverted to avoid harming such sites. While the importance of certain trees can be determined on fung shui principles, villagers who do not possess any fung shui knowledge may just call any tree they want to protect a "fung shui tree". Shrines are in various states of repair or dilapidation according to the devotion and resources of the villagers and shrines may sometimes be completely rebuilt, such as at Tai Om where one of the main shrines was first built seventy years ago, but was rebuilt in the last few years and is surrounded by a small garden. Sometimes shrines may also be relocated, usually because of a road widening scheme, and the relocation of a shrine is a very serious fung shui matter. The relocation shrine at Wo Hop Shek, near Fanling, is an example. Occasionally a shrine may be abandoned, presumably due to a loss of efficacy by the residing deity. The Tai Wong shrine in the wood at Ho Sheung Heung is no longer worshipped, while it is the earth god, Fuk Tak Gung, who resides in the comfort of the village temple. There are also three Tze Jik shrines, which are more important than Paak Kung, protecting the village to the north, east and south. These shrines are particularly worshipped by farmers and protect the whole community. A typical layout of village shrines may be seen at Man Uk Pin, north east of Fanling. The Tai Wong shrine on the northern arm of the fung shui wood protects the whole village. The water spirit Paak Kung, by the dam on the stream which borders the fung shui wood, ensures the safety of the drinking water supply. There are also four other Paak Kung facing each of the four directions, with trees planted to protect them, including two within the fung shui wood, and one in the middle of the village. The villagers of Man Uk Pin take their spiritual protectors very seriously. Several villagers claim to have seen the spirit of Tai Wong himself while they were walking along the path at night. He was seen to be dressed in ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1996 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/3n209j641 77 Appendix I Villages with Low Male: Female (Less than 47%) Population Ratios, 1911 District Village No. of males Total population Age of males N San Tong Po 15 47 31.9** N Ngau Ha 6 16 N Sam Tam Lo 1 6 33.3** N Mo To Hang 2 6 33.3** N Ko Tan 8 21 38.1** N Tsiu Keng 15 43 34.9** N Wo Hop Shek 21 48 43.8 N Sheung Tan Chuk Hang 43 102 42.2 N Ping Che Yuen Ha 27 61 44.3 N Tai Po Tin 25 56 44.6 N Fung Wong Wit 39 84 46.4 N Lo Shue Ling 98 209 46.9 N Lei Uk Tsuen 41 94 43.6 N Chuk Yuen 18 44 40.9* N Tsung Yuen Ha 39 85 45.9 N Muk Wu 81 174 46.6 N Luk Keng 182 484 37.6** N Yim Tso Ha 18 47 38.3** N Shek Kiu Tau 37 98 37.8** N Ma Tseuk Ling Tai Long N 47 125 37.6** N Ha Wo Hang 20 46 43.5 N Sheung Wo Hang 66 160 41.3 N Nam Chung 175 443 39.5* N Wu Kay Tang 152 348 43.7 N Lin Ma Hang 165 423 39.0** N Ha Wang Shan Keuk 199 516 38.2** N Ha That Muk Kiu 16 43 37.2** N Kau Tam Tso 27 76 35.5** N Kai Keuk Shue Ha 13 42 31.0** N Fung Hang 47 108 43.5 N Kuk Po San Wai 61 143 42.6* N Tong To 56 126 44.4 N Shan Tsui 47 104 45.2 N Kong Ha 162 367 44.1 N Pok Wai 63 135 46.7 N Tai Che 100 225 44.4 ST Ngau Kok Wo 7 18 38.9** ST Tsung Tau Ha 3 8 37.5* ST 3 9 33.3** The table has been reconstructed for better readability while maintaining the original content and order. The column headers have been inferred as "District", "Village", "No. of males", "Total population", and "Age of males" based on the content. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1996 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/3n209j641 Tai Hang Tsz Tong Tsuen TP 29 77 37.7** Tai Hang Chung San Wai TP 52 112 46.4 Tai Hang Fui Sha Wai TP 47 117 40.2* Sha Lo Tung TP 120 307 39.1* Fung Yuen TP 60 133 45.1 Ha Hang TP 40 97 41.2* Shuen Wan Tseng Tau TP 21 48 43.8 Shuen Wan Tung Tsai TP 14 43 32.6** Shuen Wan Po Sam Pai TP 70 156 44.9 Ting Kok TP 301 669 45.0 Shek Tau Pai TP 25 56 44.6 Ko Tong TP 34 80 42.5* Tai Tai TP 12 35 34.3** Pak Sha Au TP 52 117 44.4 Nai Tong Kok TP 19 48 38.8** Kam Chuk Pai TP 39 93 41.9* Yeung Shu Long I 5 13 38.5** Kau Lung I 2 6 33.3** Mau Tat I 23 69 33.3** Upper Tung Oi I 18 44 40.9* Lo So Shing 30 75 40.0* Luk Chau 16 54 29.6** Tai Ping I 49 113 43.4 Pak Kok 15 52 28.8** Tai Wan 52 113 39[+] Wang Lung [?] 17 50 34.0** San Tsuen I 61 133 46.2 Luk Tei Tong I 23 76 43.4 Leung Uk I 46 104 44.2 Kau Pa Kong SSP 73 165 44.2 Pak Shue Long SSP 61 151 40.4* Aberdeen Old Village HKI 74 164 45.1 Aberdeen New Village HKI 45 98 45.9 Hok Tsui Wan HKI 15 39 38.5** Villages with severe shortage of males (43% or less) * Village with extreme shortage of males (39% or less) ** ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x were also to be found in Ta Kwu Leng and Ma Tau Wai. 23 It will be seen that Kowloon City, Kowloon Market, and the suburban villages around them, apart from Sha Po, (that is, Tung Tau, Sai Tau, Hau Wong, and Hoklo Villages) had no part in the League of Seven. These areas were considered to fall immediately under the control of the Sub-Magistrate in Kowloon City, or under the control of the Kowloon Market Kaifong. Apart from these places, the League of Seven covered all the area around Kowloon City. The Kowloon City and Kowloon Market areas worshipped at the Hau Wong Temple outside the Walled City, and did not worship at the Nga Tsin Wai Tin Hau Temple. There was a Tin Hau Temple at Sha Po where the residents in the Market also worshipped. Ma Tau Wai had a temple of its own: this was to Pak Tai, worshipped under the title Sheung Tai (7). Only the gate pillars of this temple survive today, in the Lomond Road Garden. To the east of the area of the League of Seven was the large and ancient village of Po Kong, belonging to the Lam (*) clan. Po Kong never joined the League of Seven. Po Kong had its own temple (it was dedicated to Tin Hau), and the Po Kong people did not go to the Tin Hau Temple at Nga Tsin Wai. Chuk Yuen and Sha Tei Yuen were genealogically connected with Po Kong. According to the Nga Tsin Wai elders, the villages of Po Kong, Chuk Yuen, Sha Tei Yuen, Nga Yiu Tau, Ngau Chi Wan (including its "Mau Tsuen” of Pak Uk Tsai, or Ping Shek), and Yuen Ling (both the Upper and Lower Villages) formed an inter-village alliance of their own, the Six Villages Alliance (AM). Ngau Chi Wan had its own temple, to the Sam Shan Kwok Wong - this temple still survives. According to Ngau Chi Wan village elders, there was no Six Villages' Ta Tsiu, but Ngau Chi Wan conducted these rituals on its own every ten years. Ngau Chi Wan also held the She (£) feast before their higher earth god, every year, when every family made an offering of food, which later formed the basis of the communal feast. Ngau Chi Wan was, clearly, rather independent where the worship of the deities was concerned, and may well have been rather less well-integrated into the Six Villages than the villages closer to Po Kong. Ngau Chi Wan was a Hakka village, founded in the very early eighteenth century. It was founded by the Lau (1) clan, but the To (†), Yeung (), Tsang (4), and Yip () clans joined the Laus during the ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2000 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/nk328168n 270 connection, as my mother was a Yip from Chan Uk Village, also at Nam Tau. There were over ten families of Ng in Kowloon Tsai, but we had no ancestral hall there. There were two parts to the village, an upper and lower part - Sheung and Ha Wai. We lived in the Ha Wai. There was a Tin Hau temple at the village, and we had puppet shows on the goddess' birthday every year when I was young. We also had a Ta Chiu in the village every ten years. 'I was married to a Li of Sheung Sha Po Village when I was 18. My husband was a revenue officer in the Customs service. We had three houses in the village, but they were all demolished for the airfield extension. We were sent first to a vacant tenement house in Cheung On Street [not identified in a modern street guide, but very likely to have been in nearby suburban Kowloon] whose owner had left. We were there for 4-6 months, before moving to Model Village. 'I am Shing Sung, now 55, a Hakka. I was born at Nam Tau and came to Kowloon when I was 18 to join my uncle who owned a wooden house at Tsat Kan Uk [The Seven Houses], a place north of old Kowloon Tsai Village. I later built a wooden hut there for myself. I came to Model Village after the war. I remember that there were private fields in the general area, as well as government land. People named Fung, Hui and Tsang owned fields there before the war. 'I am Madam Law Mui, aged 57, also Hakka. I was born at Nam Tau, and came to Kowloon when I was 20, to marry Shing Sung's elder brother - also to The Seven Houses. We farmed government land there, for which we had a permit and paid fees, both before and after the war. There were many people at Ap Tsai Wu (Duckling Pond), the name of the general area where we lived and farmed. They were scattered here and there, because we were all vegetable farmers and you built your own house beside your own plot of land. Like Shing Sung, we moved to Model Village after the war. 'I am Madam Kwai-fung, aged 64. I am a Hakka, born at Sha Po Tsai, Kowloon, where my family had lived for several generations. My father kept a store in Lower Sha Po, near Blacksmiths' Street in the Kowloon City suburb. When I was 22, I was married to Ng Sam-hong, a Punti, of Old Kak Hang Village, next to Nga Tsin Wai, when we had gone to live in a newly repaired house. We had two houses of our own at the ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2003 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2v242g390 7 which contained tsuen and wai, was an important administrative unit; yeuk were alliances formed by weak lineages as a means to oppose the stronger lineages. Tai Long Wan belongs to the Sai Kung Nam Yeuk (meaning Sai Kung South Alliance) which is originally formed by more than thirty Hakka settlements spreading all over the south-eastern part Sai Kung peninsula. Likewise, such groupings of Hakka communities were commonly found in the eastern part of the New Territories (about a similar traditional Hakka village settlement in Sha Lo Tung in Tai Po, also see Gee 1995). Divided by the mountain range on the eastern side of Pat Heung that is almost in the middle of the whole area, we find the north-western side of the New Territories is fertile flat land consisting of a few early settled clans such as Tangs, Mans, Haus, Lius, and Pangs. As distinct from the lineage-oriented village settlements of the north-western part of the New Territories however, we find the eastern and south-eastern parts of the New Territories are characterized by settlements that were regionally grouped in multiple lineages/villages together. As informed by Mr. Cham, one of the indigenous inhabitants of Tai Wai (sometimes called Tai Long by non-residents), one of the five villages in Tai Long Wan, there are altogether 700 to 800 villagers currently belonging to Tai Long Wan, even though most of them did not live inside the village. He estimated that about 500 villagers are now living in the UK and about 300 villagers are now living in the urban areas of Hong Kong. So many residents had moved out of Tai Long Wan because of the inconvenient transportation between the villages and the residents' working places and their children's schools. Mr. Cham told me that villagers from Tai Long Wan were mostly poor, and this explained why the last one-storey small-house built in Tai Long Wan was in the mid-1970s. Therefore, even though the villagers were asking for house land available for 370 units, he mentioned that the actual number would be much smaller and the potential applicants might be more in the next ten years. Regarding the indigenous rights in small-house policy, he emphasized that although 70 per cent of the potential applicants were living in UK, their rights to build houses on the homeland should be respected. Furthermore, he added that some retired villagers even came back to Hong Kong 2 to 3 times a year and some villagers had work that there might come back every year as well. ================================================================================