The Liu Man Shek Tong Ancestral Hall in Sheung Shui
I have long wanted to visit the Liu Man Shek Tong Ancestral Hall in Sheung Shui because it is quite close to home. On this sunny spring day I finally went to learn about the Lius and their history at the beautiful, near-majestic Liu Man Shek Tong.
The History of the Lius in Sheung Shui
Along with the Tangs, Pangs, Mans, and the Haus, the Lius are considered one of the “five great clans of the New Territories.” These five great clans are considered indigenous inhabitants, and at law the male descendants have the right to land provision. The Tangs and the Mans have mostly settled down in the Yuen Long and Tai Po areas, the Pangs in Fanling, and the Lius have a prominent presence in Sheung Shui along with the Haus. In Sheung Shui Heung, where the Liu Man Shek Tong is, the Lius are particularly populous and influential.
During the Song dynasty, the Lius lived in Fujian. In the middle of the Yuan dynasty (13th to 14th centuries), the ancestor Liu Chung-kit moved southward and settled down in this part of southern China. The Lius eventually founded their first village, Wai Loi Village. Then they took over the surrounding areas of Po Sheung Tsuen, and Mun Hau Tsuen as the clan grew in numbers. This area of Sheung Shui became known as Sheung Shui Heung.
As the largest ancestral hall of all the Lius in Sheung Shui, the Liu Man Shek Tong Ancestral Hall celebrates a lineage that had exceptional beginnings. Many of the Liu ancestors were government officials and their learnedness is celebrated in the Liu Man Shek Tong Ancestral Hall.
The History of Liu Man Shek Tong Ancestral Hall
The Liu Man Shek Tong Ancestral Hall was built in the 16th year of the Qianlong Reign during the Qing dynasty (1751). Unlike most other ancestral halls in the New Territories, where they bear the name of a certain accomplished ancestor, the name Man Shek in this ancestral hall has a special story. According to the description on site,
Literally meaning 10,000 shi (“shek” a unit of measure for grain), the name “Man Shek” dates back to the Song dynasty… a distant ancestor of the clan, Liu Kong, and his four sons were all high government officials who each earned an annual salary of 2,000 shi of cereal, thus 10,000 shi in total. Their descendants named the ancestral hall “Liu Man Shek Tong” in their honour.
When the Lius have well-settled in Sheung Shui Heung for centuries, they began the construction of the Liu Man Shek Tong Ancestral Hall during the 18th century. Besides the five original ancestors that inspired the name of this first ancestral hall for the Lius in Hong Kong, there were some 47 members who have made notable achievements in the imperial examinations in the clan’s history. As will be discussed below, one can tell that the Lius are very proud of their scholarly achievements as learnedness is celebrated in the Liu Man Shek Tong Ancestral Hall.
In 1932, the Liu Man Shek Tong Ancestral Hall was turned into a kindergarten in an effort to promote modern education. This kindergarten would eventually develop into the Fung Kai Liu Man Shek Tong Secondary School.
To this day, the Liu Man Shek Tong Ancestral Hall is still the venue for holding the Lius’ spring and autumn ancestral rites.
Photo: A time capsule is laid at the Liu Man Shek Tong Ancestral Hall.
The Architecture of the Liu Man Shek Tong Ancestral Hall
At the grand entrance to the Liu Man Shek Tong Ancestral Hall is hung two large red lanterns with the character of the surname “Liu” on them. This feature is unusually grand even for all the ancestral halls of the New Territories.
As such, with just a cursory look at the building, I could observe that the Liu Man Shek Tong Ancestral Hall is very special. There are many, many ancestral halls in the New Territories villages, and most of them come with a two-hall one-courtyard layout. The Liu Man Shek Tong Ancestral Hall is a three-court two-courtyard structure. That means it is bigger.
I said earlier that it is near-majestic because the experience of walking through two courtyards and three halls itself is unusual. As I did walk through the three halls, it reminded me of my previous visits of former palaces in Asia, where halls stand after halls seeming innumerable in an endless series of structures.
At a previous visit in the Mei Fung Hau Ancestral Hall in Kam Tsin Village, I learned that the two red sandstone pillars were the most expensive material used in the ancestral hall. The red sandstone is also featured at the Liu Man Shek Tong Ancestral Hall, but as the material that was laid on the groundwork in the rear hall, where the ancestral altar is located. This also shows the wealth of the Lius in Sheung Shui.
In terms of other architectural features, the Liu Man Shek Tong “is richly embellished with plaster mouldings, wood carvings and murals of auspicious motifs. The tiled roofs are supported on stone and wooden columns and an intricate system of carved wooden trusses and brackets.”
In the rear hall, many wooden plaques featuring different levels of scholarly accomplishments are hung on the wall. They are grand testaments to the scholarly accomplishments of the Liu ancestors.
A major restoration of the Liu Man Shek Tong Ancestral Hall took place in 1985 with the advice of the government.
A visit at the Liu Man Shek Ancestral Hall will take at least half an hour if you read through the exhibits showing the story of the Lius in the rear hall.
How to Get There
From the Sheung Shui MTR station, it takes about 15-20 minutes to get to the Liu Man Shek Tong Ancestral Hall. Google Map should be able to take you there, but from Shek Wu Hui (the old market area of Sheung Shui), make it out to San Fung Road.
Photo: On San Fung Road, make a left here onto Po Wan Road (see also photographs below).
Make a left onto Po Wan Road, then cross the street.
Next, cross the street on Po Shek Wu Road. After crossing Po Shek Wu Road, make a right. Keep on going. You will come across this large traffic signage.
Afar you will see the Fung Kai Liu Man Shek Tong Secondary School.
Make a left here and enter into the village.
Keep on going. You will see some other antique monuments on the way, such as the Old Sheung Shui Police Station (now the site for Junior Police Call, JPC).
You will then come across the trash collection point. Keep on going to your left.
You will walk by a village park.
Then you will come across the signs for Liu Man Shek Tong Ancestral Hall inside the village.
Sources
Descriptions on site at the Liu Man Shek Tong Ancestral Hall
The History of Liu Man Shek Tong at the Fung Kai Liu Man Shek Tong Secondary School (Chin).