Tin Ha Shan () is a hill in

Clear Water Bay Country Park Clear Water Bay Country Park is a rural country park located in the New Territories of eastern Hong Kong. The park is located near the beaches in Clear Water Bay. The 6.15 square kilometre park opened on 28 September 1979 with features like: * H ...

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 ...

History

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 Ma Tseuk Leng (), sometimes transliterated as Ma Tseuk Ling, is an area in Sha Tau Kok, 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 ...

Mound stood between present-day

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 ...

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 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.

References

{{Hills and Mountains in Hong Kong Sai Kung District