Sheung Yiu Folk Museum is housed in Sheung Yiu Village (), a

declared monument of Hong Kong In the sport of cricket, a declaration occurs when a captain declares his team's innings closed and a forfeiture occurs when a captain chooses to forfeit an innings without batting. Declaration and forfeiture are covered in Law 15 of the ''Laws o ...

, on

Pak Tam Chung Pak Tam Chung () is an area in the southern part of the Sai Kung Peninsula in the New Territories of Hong Kong. It is administratively under the Sai Kung District. Features Pak Tam Chung was described as consisting of six villages in 1911 with ...

Nature Trail,

Sai Kung District Sai Kung District is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China. The district comprises the southern half of the Sai Kung Peninsula, the Clear Water Bay Peninsula in the New Territories and a strip of lan ...

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 ...

. ''Sheung Yiu'' means "above the kiln" in Chinese.

History

Sheung Yiu Village (; Hong Kong Hakka pronunciation: ) is a

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 ...

village situated inside the

Sai Kung Country Park Sai Kung Country Park, a country park on the Sai Kung Peninsula in northeast Hong Kong, comprises: * Sai Kung East Country Park * Sai Kung West Country Park * Sai Kung West Country Park (Wan Tsai Extension) Sai Kung West Country Park (Wan Tsai E ...

. It was built by a Hakka family with the surname of Wong in the late 19th century, approximately 150 years ago. The village became prosperous due to its

lime kiln A lime kiln is a kiln used for the calcination of limestone (calcium carbonate) to produce the form of lime (material), lime called quicklime (calcium oxide). The chemical equation for this chemical reaction, reaction is :Calcium carbonate, Ca ...

whose produce was much sought-after for use in mortar and fertilizer, as well as lime bricks and tiles for building houses. It began to decline in prosperity when modern bricks and cement came into use. In the 1950s, the villagers' men moved away to the urban areas or went overseas to earn a living, leaving some of the aged and children to reside in this property. Eventually the whole village was totally abandoned in September 1968. After the full restoration of the village in 1983, the village was opened as Sheung Yiu Folk Museum in 1984.

was described as consisting of six villages in 1911 with fewer than 405 inhabitants: Wong Yi Chau (),

Pak Tam Pak Tam () is a village in Pak Tam Chung, Sai Kung Peninsula, Hong Kong. Administration Pak Tam is a recognized village under the New Territories Small House Policy. History Pak Tam Chung was described as consisting of six villages in 1911 with ...

(), Sheung Yiu,

Tsak Yue Wu Tsak Yue Wu () is a village in Pak Tam Chung, Sai Kung Peninsula, Hong Kong. Administration Tsak Yue Wu is a recognized village under the New Territories Small House Policy. History Pak Tam Chung was described as consisting of six villages in 1 ...

(),

Wong Keng Tei Wong Keng Tei () is a village in Tsam Chuk Wan, Sai Kung Peninsula, Hong Kong. Administration Wong Keng Tei is a recognized village under the New Territories Small House Policy. History Pak Tam Chung was described as consisting of six villages i ...

() and Tsam Chuk Wan. The six villages were all inhabited by

Hakka people 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, Zhe ...

, with the exception of two hamlets in Pak Tam.

Administration

Pak Tam Chung (Sheung Yiu) 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 ...

Museum

The row of the eight houses constructed on a raised platform with a watch tower at its entrance are preserved and opened to the public. In its 9 galleries, the museum displays various farming implements, village period furniture and other daily objects used by the Hakka people so that the atmosphere and environment of a small Hakka village is recreated. The lime kiln, where coral and shells were baked to form lime, had been restored for public viewing. The museum is open from 9am-4pm, from Wednesday to Sunday each week. Entrance to the museum is free. The restored building contains a number of typical Hakka utensils and farming tools, and also some displays on the history of the inhabitants.

References

External links

Official home page

Antiquities and Monuments Office

The Film Services Office
{{coord, 22, 23, 32.87, N, 114, 19, 18.08, E, source:zhwiki_region:CN_type:landmark, display=title Museums established in 1984 History museums in Hong Kong Declared monuments of Hong Kong Sai Kung Peninsula Folk museums in China Rural history museums in Asia Hakka culture in Hong Kong 1984 establishments in Hong Kong Villages in Sai Kung District, Hong Kong