Fanling Wai is a village in

Fanling Fanling ( zh, t=粉嶺; also spelled Fan Ling or Fan Leng) is a town in the New Territories East of Hong Kong. Administratively, it is part of the North District. Fanling Town is the main settlement of the Fanling area. The name Fanling i ...

, North District,

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

, built by the Pang ()

Clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning ...

. It is composed of a

walled village A walled village () is a type of large traditional multi-family communal living structure found in China, that is designed to be easily defensible. It is completely surrounded by thick defensive walls, protecting the residents from the attack o ...

and its two extensions: Ching Wai or Chung Wai ( or ) - the only walled hamlet of Fanling Wai and also the first hamlet to be built, Pak Wai (), and Nam Wai ().Historic Building Appraisal
Pang Ancestral Hall, Fanling Pak Wai, Fanling
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History

Fanling Wai is the centre of the Pang Clan, who arrived in Hong Kong during the

Southern Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

(1127-1279). The ''wai'' (walled village) was constructed in the early part of the

Wanli Wanli was the era name of the Chinese Ming dynasty. Wanli may also refer to: *Wanli Emperor (1563–1620), the 14th emperor of the Chinese Ming dynasty *Wanli District, Nanchang, district of Nanchang, Jiangxi, China *Wanli District, New Taipei, a ...

(1572–1620) reign of the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

Antiquities and Monuments Office The Antiquities and Monuments Office (AMO) was established in 1976 under the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance to protect and preserve Hong Kong's historic monuments. Housed in the Former Kowloon British School, the AMO is responsible for iden ...

Fanling Ching Wai - History
/ref> The ancestors of the Pang Clan of Fanling Wai were settled in

Gansu Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibet ...

province, in China, and moved to

Jishui County Jishui () is a county located on the Gan River in Ji'an city, Jiangxi province, China. It has an area of and a population of 480,000. It is located central of Jiangxi (central east of Ji'an city), south of the provincial capital of Nanchang, a ...

Jiangxi Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...

province in 739, and later, during the

Northern Song dynasty Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

(960- 1127), they moved successively to

Chaozhou Chaozhou (), alternatively Chiuchow, Chaochow or Teochew, is a city in the eastern Guangdong province of China. It borders Shantou to the south, Jieyang to the southwest, Meizhou to the northwest, the province of Fujian to the east, and the Sou ...

and

Dongguan Dongguan (; ) is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. An important industrial city in the Pearl River Delta, Dongguan borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the north, Huizhou to the northeast, Shenzhen to the s ...

. Pang Kwei (), the founding ancestor of the Pang Clan, moved from Dongguan to Lung Shan (), now known as

Lung Yeuk Tau Lung Yeuk Tau (), commonly known as Lung Ku Tau () and also called Lung Ling () is an area located northeast of Luen Wo Hui in Fanling, New Territories, Hong Kong. Administration For electoral purposes, Lung Yeuk Tau is part of the Queen's Hil ...

of Fanling, in 1190. He then moved to Fan Leng Lau in 1220 and established a village over there. As the population of the clan increased, they moved westward to settle in Fanling Wai and other places.Brief Information on Proposed Grade III Items. Items #978, 979, 980.

Features

Fanling Chung Wai is recognisable with the distinctive pond and layout including features such as cannons and watchtowers. All these elements were crafted to form an integral part of the village setting. The entrance is at the central axis of the walled village with village houses built connected to the walls and seven rows on the left and right of the central axis. Three circular gun holes are on the façade wall of the entrance gate-tower with three painted white circles for feng shui reasons. The cannons of Fanling Wai were buried during the

Japanese occupation of Hong Kong The Imperial Japanese occupation of Hong Kong began when the Governor of Hong Kong, Mark Aitchison Young, Sir Mark Young, surrendered the British Crown colony of British Hong Kong, Hong Kong to the Empire of Japan on 25 December 1941. The surr ...

(1941-1945), and were only excavated in 1986. They are now on display on a cement platform in front of the walled settlement. The Pang

Ancestral Hall An ancestral shrine, hall or temple ( or , vi, Nhà thờ họ; Chữ Hán: 家祠户), also called lineage temple, is a temple dedicated to deified ancestors and progenitors of surname lineages or families in the Chinese tradition. Ancestra ...

(), also called Tai Tak Tong (), is located in Fanling Pak Wai. It was moved to the present site in 1846 due to feng shui reasons. It was rebuilt in 1884. The Tsz Tak Study Hall () in Fanling Nam Wai was built in 1846. It provided education for the village children, with 20 to 30 children being taught there. In 1936, it housed the government subsidized Fanling Public School. Its function as a school ceased in 1957, when a separate school complex was constructed to its north-east. The hall is also used for ancestral worship of the Sze-yan lineage. A Sam Shing Temple (), dedicated to

Pak Tai Hēidì () or Hēishén (), who is the Běidì (, Cantonese: ''Pak Tai'') or Běiyuèdàdì () is a deity in Chinese religion, one of the cosmological " Five Forms of the Highest Deity" (). He is also identified as ''Zhuānxū'' (), today frequ ...

Kwan Tai Guan Yu (; ), courtesy name Yunchang, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Along with Zhang Fei, he shared a brotherly relationship with Liu Bei and accompanied him on m ...

and Man Cheong (), was erected by the Pang clan in the area. It was moved to its present location, west of Ling Hill () and along Jockey Club Road, in 1948.Brief Information on Proposed Grade III Items. Item #1070

Conservation

The entrance gate-tower, together with the southwest and northwest watchtowers of Fanling Chung Wai are Grade III historic buildings.List of the 1,444 Historic Buildings in Building Assessment
(as of 23 October 2015) They were rebuilt in 1986. The Pang Ancestral Hall is a Grade I historic building, while the Tsz Tak Study Hall is a Grade II historic building and the Sam Shing Temple is a Grade III historic building.

References

External links

Delineation of area of existing village Fanling Wai (Fanling) for election of resident representative (2019 to 2022)
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. Hong Kong Traditional Chinese Architectural Information System
Fanling Ching Wai
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. Hong Kong Traditional Chinese Architectural Information System
Fanling Nam Wai
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. Hong Kong Traditional Chinese Architectural Information System
Fanling Pak Wai

Personal page about Fanling Wai

Pang family of Fanling Wai

Pang's family website

Pang's Family (Fanling Wai) Facebook Site
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{{coord, 22.4975, 114.1353, display=title Fanling Walled villages of Hong Kong Grade II historic buildings in Hong Kong Villages in North District, Hong Kong

History

Features

Conservation

References

Further reading

External links