The Tree House of Kam Tin
Kam Tin, in the much older times, was known as Shum Tin. During the Ming Dynasty in 1587, a severe drought in the Baoan County depleted the granaries. The magistrate requested the villagers to submit grain. The results were poor, with the exception of the grain given by Tang Yuen-fan of Shui Mei Tsuen. He gave 120,000 catties of grain to the local government. The magistrate was very impressed, naturally, and renamed Shum Tin as Kam Tin, meaning fertile fields.[i]
And indeed, when I walked around the villages of Shui Tau Tsuen and Shui Mei Tsuen (in Chinese, the names mean the “head of water” and the “tail of water” respectively), I gathered a distinct impression of affluence. The village is well-populated. The indigenous villagers restored their houses recently. Most of them seemed to have been restored within the last twenty years. Besides beautiful houses, the villagers had very nice cars as well.
I decided to do a heritage walk this sunny autumn day at the Shui Tau Tsuen and Shui Mei Tsuen villages in Kam Tin. What I looked forward to seeing the most was the Tree House.
The Kam Tin Tree House
Some say the original house was a Tin Hau Temple. Some others say that it used to be a study hall. Whatever it used to be, time has done its wonders on the structure. The banyan tree next to the house slowly grew, over a few hundred years.
During the early Qing Dynasty, the Qing Government issued an imperial edict for coastal evacuation in order to quell the resistance by remnant supporters of Ming Dynasty, as they were known to be exceptional seafarers with naval power. As such, the owner of this brick house abandoned it and has never returned since. The banyan tree grew its aerial roots and effectively “devoured” the house.
Now the bricks and mortar of the house are barely visible anymore. The crown of the tree must have grown ten folds, extending its foliage well over to the park next to it. It stands tall, both literally and figuratively, as the foremost witness to the history of the coastal evacuation. The edict has dislocated many, many villages in the New Territories and caused them to lose their homes and livelihood.
The Heritage of Shui Mei Tsuen
Besides the Tree House, Shui Mei Tsuen has a few other interesting heritage sites. I visited the Tin Hau Temple, right across from the lake. The village commons is also nearby.
I then walked further from the Tree House and arrived at the Tang Chan Yui Kuen Ancestral Hall.
Then I headed back toward the main village road and found the Bin Mo Bridge (the Mother Bridge) and the nearby Chau Wong Yi Kung Study Hall.
The Bin Mo Bridge
There is a moving story behind the Bin Mo Bridge. In Chinese, the name means “for the convenience of my mother.” In the 49th year of the Kangxi Reign, villager Chun-yuen Tang built this bridge in order for his mother to visit him. His mother brought him and his brother up as a widow. After he had his own family, he lived across the stream. He wanted his mother to be able to visit him, so he built this stone bridge.[ii] There is a stone tablet that memorizes the construction of the original bridge. In 1959, the bridge was restored, with also another stone tablet memorializing the restoration. Now there is a pavilion by the stream next to the bridge too. The ambiance is beautiful.
Photos: The Bin Mo Bridge and the Wong Yi Kung Study Hall at Shui Mei Tsuen Village
The Heritage of Shui Tau Tsuen
This is the checklist for the Shui Tau Tsuen heritage: Yi Tai Study Hall, So Lau Yuen, Tang Kwong U Ancestral Hall, Lik Wing Tong, Hong Shing Temple, Cheung Chun Yuen and Tang Ching Lok Ancestral Hall. They are all within a few minutes’ walk of each other.
The Yi Tai Study Hall
The Yi Tai Study Hall with its air of scholarship was particularly fascinating to me. Indeed, I gathered the most of my learning of the Tang clan of Kam Tin here as well. The petite exhibition on site shows various aspects of Kam Tin’s history, its land, its people and its development.
The name “Yi Tai” means the “study hall of the two immortals.” It refers to the two gods, the literary and the martial gods, that guarded a pagoda built exclusively to bring good feng-shui to the villagers who sat for the Imperial Civil Service Examinations of the Qing Dynasty. After the destruction of the feng-shui pagoda, the two gods found their home in this newly built (during the Daoguan Reign of the Qing Dynasty) Yi Tai Study Hall. However, the original statues were stolen in 1978.
The Yi Tai Study Hall was the venue of academic learning and scholarship for the village. Not only were students educated there, but also scholars would arrive from many other locations to give lectures as well. There was a period of vibrant activity and usage during the Qing Dynasty. In the early 20th century, the Hong Kong Colonial Government introduced modern education. The Yi Tai Study Hall continued to serve its scholarly mandate, and primary education convened there as well. During the Japanese Occupation of 1941-1945, education stopped. Although there is still worship at the Yi Tai Study Hall, its education purpose fell into disuse since the Second World War.[iii]
The study hall has the layout of antique wooden desks and chairs. It takes no imagination to sense the seriousness of the learning that once took place here.
The Gold Fish of Cheung Chun Yuen
Cheung Chun Yuen is a beautiful hall but I was not able to gather what purpose it served. Once exiting its gates, you may want to see the gold fish gargoyle on the side of its walls. A gold fish gargoyle is perhaps very unusual in Hong Kong, or even in the architecture of the world. To be honest, I much prefer this fish over the gothic gargoyles of western castles. A tour guide was explaining to a private tour group. This fish gargoyle has been there for a long time. Yet it looks so beautiful still because the villagers hire a restoration expert from Chinese University to do touch ups on the fish once every five years. On rainy days, the fish “spits out water” as the tour guide described.
Photos: Cheung Chun Yuen and the Goldfish Gargoyle
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Photos: Heritage Sites at the Shui Tau Tsuen Village
How to Get There
A good look-around of all these heritage and cultural sites would take at least two hours on foot. On the day that I went, a number of the sites were not opened. For example, the Hung Shing Temple only opens on the 15th of the first month of the year on the lunar calendar when the villagers gather for new year worship. Other sites are generally open on public holidays, but with a lunch break.
A bike tour around the village would be an excellent alternative. I did see a few groups on their bike when I toured.
I went by private car and please park at the free parking at Kam Tin Country Club. All other parking areas are restricted to residents only. Follow these signs to get to the carpark.
By public transport, green top minibus Route 601 runs between Yuen Long and Shui Mei Tsuen. Green top minibus Route 601B runs between Kam Sheung Road Station and Shui Mei Tsuen.
[i] Exhibition on site at the Yi Tai Study Hall.
[ii] Exploring the History of Hong Kong, available at http://www.hkhistory.org.hk/download/history1.pdf.
[iii] Exhibition on site at the Yi Tai Study Hall.