Tai Wai Village () aka. Chik Chuen Wai () is 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 ...

in the

Tai Wai Tai Wai () is an area in the New Territories, Hong Kong, located between Sha Tin and the Lion Rock, within the Sha Tin District. With three rapid transit stations, one of which an interchange station serving two lines, five bus termini and ...

area of

Sha Tin District Sha Tin District is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. As one of the 9 districts located in the New Territories, it covers the areas of Sha Tin, Tai Wai, Ma On Shan, Fo Tan, Siu Lek Yuen, and Ma Liu Shui. The district is the most populo ...

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 ...

Location

Tai Wai Village is located next to

Tai Wai station Tai Wai station is an interchange station on the and the of the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) system in Hong Kong. The station is located in Tai Wai, Sha Tin District. History The station opened in a temporary location on 15 August 1983 as ...

and the main commercial streets of the

area.

Administration

Tai Wai Village 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 ...

History

Tai Wai Village, where the name of the area came from, was the largest and oldest

Sha Tin Sha Tin, also spelt Shatin, is a neighbourhood along Shing Mun River in the eastern New Territories, Hong Kong. Administratively, it is part of the Sha Tin District. Sha Tin is one of the neighbourhoods of the Sha Tin New Town project. The ne ...

. It was built in 1574 during 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 ...

, and was called Chik Chuen Wai () at the time. It was originally made up of 16 families,

Wai Wai or WAI may refer to : Places * Wai, Maharashtra, a small town in India ** Wai (Vidhan Sabha constituency), a Maharashtra Legislative Assembly constituency centered around the town * Wao State (Vav, Wai, Way), a former princely state in Banas K ...

(), Chan (), Ng (), Yeung (), Wong (), Lee (), Hui (), Cheng (), Tong (), Yuen (), Yau (), Lam (), Lok (), Tam (), Mok () and Choy (). The Wai family, being the largest family, is thought to be the direct descendants of the famous founder general of the

Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

Han Xin Han Xin (; 231/230–196 BC) was a Chinese military general and politician who served Liu Bang during the Chu–Han Contention and contributed greatly to the founding of the Han dynasty. Han Xin was named as one of the "Three Heroes of the ear ...

, who purportedly fled there to escape executions ordered by

Emperor Gao of Han Emperor Gaozu of Han (256 – 1 June 195 BC), born Liu Bang () with courtesy name Ji (季), was the founder and first emperor of the Han dynasty, reigning in 202–195 BC. His temple name was "Taizu" while his posthumous name was Emper ...

's empress

Empress Lü Zhi An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( e ...

. The Han descendants changed their surname into Wai by splitting the word Han () in two halves and took up the character on the right hand side. The Cheng family, on the other hand, originated from a place called

Xingyang Xingyang (), is a county-level city of Henan Province, South Central China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Zhengzhou. It is situated 15 kilometers to the west of Zhengzhou city proper. The population of Xingyang is ...

Zhengzhou Zhengzhou (; ), also spelt Zheng Zhou and alternatively romanized as Chengchow, is the capital and largest city of Henan Province in the central part of the People's Republic of China. Located in north-central Henan, it is one of the National ...

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

which is the place where

Chang'e Chang'e ( ; , alternatively rendered as Chang-Er or Ch‘ang-o), originally known as Heng'e, is the Chinese goddess of the Moon. She is the subject of several legends in Chinese mythology, most of which incorporate several of the following elem ...

supposedly flew to the Moon. It is also the birthplace of

Li Shangyin Li Shangyin (, 813858), courtesy name Yishan (), was a Chinese poet and politician of the late Tang dynasty, born in the Henei Commandery (now Qinyang, Henan). He is noted for the imagist quality of his poems and his "no title" () style of poe ...

, one of the most famous poets in the late

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 ...

. Tai Wai appears on the "Map of the San-On District", published in 1866 by

Simeone Volonteri Simeone Volonteri () (June 6, 1831 – December 21,1904) was an Italian missionary and a bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. Life Simeone Volonteri was born in Milan, Italy. He joined the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions in 1855. He was ...

. At the time of the 1911 census, the population of Tai Wai Village was 350. The number of males was 164.

Features

The village was walled to protect the villagers from bandits, pirates and/or unfriendly neighbours. It was rectangular in shape with 4 watch towers at its four corners. The towers and the walls have long been demolished leaving only the entrance gate and part of the front wall. The houses inside the walls are in rows, and many houses have been built outside the walls due to later development.SCL - NEX/2206 EIA Study for Tai Wai to Hung Hom Section, Final Environmental Impact Assessment Report
4. Cultural Heritage Impact
October 2011 Historic and traditional buildings include the Entrance Gate, a Hau Wong Temple, the Wai Ancestral Hall and several old houses. A

Hau Wong Hau Wong or Hou Wang () is a title that can be translated as ''"Prince Marquis"'' or ''"Holy Marquis"''. It is not any one person's name. Hau Wong refers usually to (), a loyal and courageous general. Despite his failing health, he remained in th ...

Temple is located within Tai Wai Village. Originally sited outside the walled village, it was moved inside during the reign of Xianfeng (1850–1861). The current temple has replaced an earlier temple, probably built in 1884 and demolished in 1982.

References

External links

Delineation of area of existing village Tai Wai (Sha Tin) for election of resident representative (2019 to 2022)
{{coord, 22.375674, 114.178627, display=title Walled villages of Hong Kong Tai Wai Villages in Sha Tin District, Hong Kong