Ma Tseuk Leng (), sometimes transliterated as Ma Tseuk Ling, is an area in

Sha Tau Kok Sha Tau Kok is a closed city, closed town in Hong Kong. The last remaining major settlement in the Frontier Closed Area, it is Hong Kong's northernmost town. Geography The small rural village of Sha Tau Kok is located on the northern sh ...

, North District, Hong Kong. The area contains the villages of Ma Tseuk Leng Sheung () and Ma Tseuk Leng Ha (). Ma Tseuk Leng San Uk Ha (), part of Ma Tseuk Leng Ha, is a historic

Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...

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 ...

Administration

Ma Tseuk Leng is a recognized village under 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 ...

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 ...

. It is one of the villages represented within the Sha Tau Kok District Rural Committee. For electoral purposes, Ma Tseuk Leng is part of the Sha Ta constituency, which is currently represented by Ko Wai-kei.

History

Ma Tseuk Leng Sheung is a Hakka village that was historically inhabited by nine

clans 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 ...

. Some of them left and the remaining clans were the Tsang (), the Yeung (), the Yau (), the Mo () and the

Lee Lee may refer to: Name Given name * Lee (given name), a given name in English Surname * Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee: ** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname ** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese ...

(). The first settlers of the village were the Tsang and the Yeung. They arrived in 1655. The Tsang had moved from

Changle (, Foochow Romanized: Diòng-lŏ̤h) is one of 6 District (China), urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian, Fujian Province, China. It occupies a land area of and a sea area of . Changle was established i ...

() in

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

province and have the same ancestor with the Tsang of Sam A Tsuen and

Lai Chi Wo Lai Chi Wo is a Hakka village near Sha Tau Kok, in the northeastern New Territories of Hong Kong. It is described as a "walled village" by some sources. Lai Chi Wo is located within Plover Cove Country Park and near Yan Chau Tong Marine Park. ...

Antiquities Advisory Board The Antiquities Advisory Board (AAB) is a statutory body of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region with the responsibility of advising the Antiquities Authority on any matters relating to antiquities and monuments. The AAB was establish ...

. Historic Building Appraisal
Tsang Ancestral Hall, Sheung Ma Tseuk Leng
/ref> When the ban on human settlement of coastal areas of the

Great Clearance The Great Clearance (), also translated as the Great Evacuation or Great Frontier Shift, was caused by edicts issued in 1661, 1664, and 1679, which required the evacuation of the coastal areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangnan, and Shandon ...

was lifted in 1668, the coastal defense was reinforced. Twenty-one fortified

mound A mound is a heaped pile of earth, gravel, sand, rocks, or debris. Most commonly, mounds are earthen formations such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. A mound may be any rounded area of topographically higher el ...

s, each manned with an army unit, were created along the border of

Xin'an County Xin'an County () is a county in the west of Henan Province, bordering Shanxi Province to the north across the Yellow River. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Luoyang, and contains its northernmost point. History In an ...

, and at least five of them were located in present-day Hong Kong. 1) The

Tuen Mun Tuen Mun or Castle Peak is an area near the mouth of Tuen Mun River and Castle Peak Bay in the New Territories, Hong Kong. It was one of the earliest settlements in what is now Hong Kong and can be dated to the Neolithic period. In the more re ...

Mound, believed to have been built on Castle Peak or

Kau Keng Shan Kau Keng Shan ( Cantonese: 九逕山) is a hill in Tuen Mun, the New Territories, Hong Kong and stands opposite from Castle Peak. Kau Keng Shan has a height of . During the Ming dynasty era (1368–1644), the area around the hill was used as a def ...

, was manned by 50 soldiers. 2) The

Kowloon Kowloon () is an urban area in Hong Kong comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. With a population of 2,019,533 and a population density of in 2006, it is the most populous area in Hong Kong, compared with Hong Kong Island and t ...

Mound on

Lion Rock Lion Rock, or less formally Lion Rock Hill, is a mountain in Hong Kong. It is located in Sha Tin District, between Kowloon Tong of Kowloon and Tai Wai of the New Territories, and is high. The peak consists of granite covered sparsely by shru ...

and 3) the

Tai Po Tau Tai Po Tau (; historically ) is an area in Tai Po District, Hong Kong. It was named after a village of the same name. However, the village is now known as Tai Po Tau Tsuen (Tai Po Tau village; ). The village itself is named after Tai Po. In the ...

Mound northwest of

Tai Po Old Market Tai Po Market or Tai Po Hui is the name of an area within the modern-day Tai Po New Town in the Tai Po District, in the New Territories, Hong Kong. However, its exact location changed from time to time. It is considered as the town centre of the ...

had each 30 soldiers. 4) The Ma Tseuk Leng Mound stood between present-day Sha Tau Kok and

Fan Ling 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 is ...

and was manned by 50 men. 5) The fifth one at

Fat Tong Mun Fat Tong Mun () is a channel in Sai Kung District of Hong Kong located between the southern tip of Clear Water Bay Peninsula and the northern tip of Tung Lung Chau. See also * List of channels in Hong Kong * Tin Hau Temple, Joss House Bay ...

, probably on today's

Tin Ha Shan Tin Ha Shan () is a hill in Clear Water Bay Country Park, Sai Kung District, Hong Kong. History When the ban on human settlement of coastal areas of the Great Clearance was lifted in 1668, the coastal defense was reinforced. Twenty-one fortified mo ...

Peninsula, was an observation post manned by 10 soldiers. In 1682, these forces were re-organized and manned by detachments from the

Green Standard Army The Green Standard Army (; Manchu: ''niowanggiyan turun i kūwaran'') was the name of a category of military units under the control of Qing dynasty in China. It was made up mostly of ethnic Han soldiers and operated concurrently with the Manchu- ...

with reduced strength. According to the 1688 ''

Gazetteer of Xin'an County ''Xin'an Xianzhi'' (; literally ''Gazetteers of Xin'an County'') were the chorography of the historical Xin'an County (San-On or Sun-On County; literally ''New Peace County''; known at times as the Po-On County (spelt Bao'an in pinyin)) of Guang ...

'', only two villages were established in the modern day Sha Tau Kok area: Ma Tseuk Leng and Man Uk Pin. Both were small agricultural settlements. Wo Hang, although existing, was not recognized. The villages of Ma Tseuk Leng (upper and lower),

Yim Tso Ha Yim Tso Ha () is an area and a village in Sha Tau Kok, North District, Hong Kong. Administration Yim Tso Ha is a recognized village under the New Territories Small House Policy. It is one of the villages represented within the Sha Tau Kok Dist ...

Wu Shek Kok Wu Shek Kok () is a village in Sha Tau Kok, North District, Hong Kong. Administration Wu Shek Kok is a recognized village under the New Territories Small House Policy. It is one of the villages represented within the Sha Tau Kok District Rural ...

and

Au Ha Au Ha () is a Hakka village in northern New Territories in Hong Kong. Au Ha is located on the south side of Sha Tau Kok Road (Wo Hang Section) between Fanling and Sha Tau Kok, north of Sheung Wo Hang and west of Ha Wo Hang. Its name means "below ...

formed a ''yeuk'' (, a form of oath-sworn, inter-village, mutual-aid alliance. At the time of the 1911 census, the total population of Ma Tseuk Leng was 125. The number of males was 47.

Features

Two

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 ...

s of the Tsang were built in Ma Tseuk Leng Sheung. One of them was built in the 19th century. It was rebuilt in 1929 and renovated in 1951. The other one collapsed before 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 ...

References

External links

Delineation of area of existing village Ma Tseuk Leng Ha (Sha Tau Kok) for election of resident representative (2019 to 2022)

Delineation of area of existing village Ma Tseuk Leng Sheung (Sha Tau Kok) for election of resident representative (2019 to 2022)

Pictures of Tsang Ancestral Hall, Sheung Ma Tseuk Leng
* Pictures of Ma Tseuk Leng

Walled villages of Hong Kong Sha Tau Kok Villages in North District, Hong Kong {{coord, 22.533473, 114.199946, display=title