Kau Tam Tso () is a village in North District, in the

New Territories The New Territories is one of the three main regions of Hong Kong, alongside Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula. It makes up 86.2% of Hong Kong's territory, and contains around half of the population of Hong Kong. Historically, it ...

of Hong Kong.

Administration

Kau Tam Tso is a recognized village under the

Small House Policy The Small House Policy (SHP, ) was introduced in 1972 in Hong Kong. The objective was to improve the then prevailing low standard of housing in the rural areas of the New Territories. The Policy allows an indigenous male villager who is 18 ye ...

History

The ancestors of the people of Kau Tam Tso Village first came to settle in the New Territories of Hong Kong during the middle of the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

. They were nomadic farmers, planting rice and crops, and moved from one part of the New Territories to another before finally settling down in its current location towards the end of the Qing dynasty. Prior to migrating southward to the New Territories, they previously settled in the

Bao'an County Bao'an County, formerly named Xin'an County, was a historical county in South China. It roughly follows the administrative boundaries of modern-day Hong Kong and the city of Shenzhen. For most of its history, the administrative center of the cou ...

at the beginning of the Qing dynasty. The family tree of the Lee Clan in the Kau Tam Tso Village is documented in the Village Name List Book (). This Village Name List Book also holds family tree records that date back to the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

in which the first "Lee" ancestor was believed to have come from central China, an area around the current

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...

and

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to ...

border. At the time of the 1911 census, the population of Kau Tam Tso was 42. The number of males was 13. During the two great wars, Kau Tam Tso Villagers joined the Resistance Army with neighbouring villagers and fought against the Japanese occupation. It is believed that, in the vicinity of the current village location, long network of tunnels were dug into the hills as hiding places during the wars. These were later destroyed by the monsoon rains after the second world war. With recognition and sponsorship from the current

Government of Hong Kong The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government, refers to the executive authorities of Hong Kong SAR. It was formed on 1 July 1997 in accordance with the Sino-Br ...

, a monument has been erected near the entrance to the nearby

Wu Kau Tang Wu Kau Tang () is an area in Northeast New Territories, Hong Kong. It is administratively part of North District and is enclosed by Plover Cove Country Park on all sides. It is the starting point of the Wu Kau Tang Country Trail and the Plover ...

Village that commemorates those who lost their lives in order for present generations to live in peace. To date, many households still possess Japanese paper currencies that were used during the wars, with the hope that at some point in the future, the current or future Japanese Government will exchange and compensate with today's currencies.

Traditions

During the annual Ching Ming and Chung Yeung Festivals, villagers often visit the burial ground of the couple that first settled in the New Territories to pay their respect, gratitude and sincerity. They were buried in a sacred place overlooking the hilltops that has a grand view of the northeast shores in the New Territories.

Population

Currently, the majority of the villagers reside in the UK, around the

London boroughs The London boroughs are the 32 local authority districts that together with the City of London make up the administrative area of Greater London; each is governed by a London borough council. The present London boroughs were all created at t ...

and in the

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

districts.

References

External links

Delineation of area of existing village Kau Tam Tso (Sha Tau Kok) for election of resident representative (2019 to 2022)
* Pictures of Kau Tam Tso

{{Coord, 22.503802, N, 114.247871, E, display=title Villages in North District, Hong Kong