RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1964 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qz20zx09r 157 CHAN, L. CHAN, Hok-Lam CHAPMAN, Dr. G. W. - CHẦU, Hon. Sir Tsun-nin CHAU, Wah Ching CHEN, Yih CHENG, Dr. Irene CHENG, T. C. - CHESTERMAN, Prof. W. D. CHEUNG, Oswald CHING, Henry CHING, Joseph CHIU, Miss Bek To CHOA, Dr. Gerald H. CHOW, Edward T. CHUN, Dr. C. T. = CLARK, Mrs. E. E. CLARK, Mrs. N. E. + CLUTTERBUCK, Miss A. COBBAN, K. M. COHN, Dr. A. J. COLE, M. CRAGG, N. F. - - CUMINE, E. CUMMING, M. S. DAIKO, P. D'ALMADA, C. P. + - + - c/o Pfizer Corporation, G.P.O. Box 323, H.K. 3327 Graduate College, Princeton University, Princeton, N.Y., U.S.A. c/o The Nethersole Hospital, Bonham Rd., H.K. 8 Queen's Road, West, Hong Kong. English Dept. Chung Chi College, Ma Liu Shui, N.T. 406A Bank of East Asia Building, H.K. c/o Confucian Tai Shing School, H.K.L.L. No. 4405, Sam Po Kong, Kowloon. 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Secretary of any inaccuracy ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x 269 FURTHER TALES OF THE MAN THE EMPEROR DECAPITATED P.H. HASE In Vols 28, 29, and 34 of the Journal a series of folk-tales relating to Ho Chan, the Warlord of Canton in the late Yuan, and Earl of Tung Kuan under the first Ming Emperor were printed1. Recently a further version of one of the folk-tales has been seen, in the booklet issued by the Kau Sai Hung Shing Temple Restoration Committee to commemorate the re-opening of the Temple (March, 2000), and a translation of this version is given below. It will be seen that this is a version of the same story relayed by Tsim Fo-sang (Journal, Vol. 29), although it differs in a number of details: certain important details are also clearly related to parts of the story collected by Wong Wing-ho (Journal, Vol. 34). It seems likely that this story is essentially a boat-people's story from Kau Sai. Tsim Fo-sang in the years just before the coming of the Japanese used to carry fire-wood from his home village in Sha Tin across the mountains to sell to the boat-people in Sai Kung. It is likely that his version of the story was the one he heard in the late 1930s from his boat-people customers, the version given below is as the story is remembered today in Kau Sai2. “Talking about Tiu Chung Crag (吊鐘巖), the Sai Kung fisher-people have a strange folk-tale which has been handed down among them. In the Tiu Chung Crag there is a cave. It has been handed down that when the first ray of dawn enters the cave, the cave discloses what seems to be a Golden Bell hanging in the air: the island is believed to take its name (Tiu Chung Chau, 吊鐘洲, “Hanging Bell Island") from this. It is said that, at the end of the Sung, there was an official called Ho, who loved walking in the mountains and admiring the sea views. He came to Tiu Chung Chau. He considered the scenery there to be very fine. There was an old banyan tree growing in the centre of the island then, with roots wriggling in every direction like a young dragon. In particular, there were two roots, as thick as a thumb, which pierced through the top of the Tiu Chung Crag. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1999 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x 2 271 would still grow back! After the master said this, the fisher-people were very despondent, but they continued to hope for a solution. One day, the Fung Shui master saw his old dog, Ah Wong, dozing beside the door of his house, and he had a brain-wave, and at last came up with a clever solution. He quickly told the fisher-people what to do to implement his plan. That evening, after the fisher-people had all washed themselves, they returned home to rest until midnight, and then, in the dark, they sailed across to Tiu Chung Chau, and then, under the master's direction, before they cut the roots, they first of all took a large basin of the blood of a black dog, and sprinkled it over the roots. When the roots were then cut off, a great noise like a howl filled the valley. At the same time, the mountain shook. A huge gale sprang up. Sand fell out of the rocks, and the whole hillside collapsed. The old banyan tree fell, and a vast amount of sand and mud fell into the sea. Not long after, this official Ho lost his position, as a result of this. No-one knows where he fled to. This story is widely known. Chu Wai-tak (*), in his book “New Views of Old Hong Kong" () says, “I have attempted to locate this old grave, and have crossed to Tiu Chung Chau many times, going up to the summit of the crag. On the east side there remains the shape of a grave, although nothing is left of it, and so it seems to me that there is some basis for this story.” Ng Chuen-hi (47) Chairman, Kau Sai Hung Shing Temple Restoration Committee” D. Faure, "The Man the Emperor Decapitated”, Vol. 28, pp 198-203; P.H. Hase, "More on the Man the Emperor Decapitated”, Vol. 29, pp 388-289; Wong Wing-ho, "Yet More on the Man the Emperor Decapitated", Vol. 34, pp 179-181. Any further versions of stories about Ho Chan would be very much welcomed. Page 300 Page 301 ================================================================================