New Territories Gem: The Liu Man Shek Ancestral Hall

During the Song dynasty, the Lius lived in Fujian. In the middle of the Yuan dynasty (13th to 14th centuries), the ancestor Liu Chung-kit moved southward and settled down in this part of southern China. The Lius eventually founded their first village, Wai Loi Village. Then they took over the surrounding areas of Po Sheung Tsuen, and Mun Hau Tsuen as the clan grew in numbers. This area of Sheung Shui became known as Sheung Shui Heung. As the largest ancestral hall of all the Lius in Sheung Shui, the Liu Man Shek Tong Ancestral Hall celebrates a lineage that had exceptional beginnings. Many of the Liu ancestors were government officials and their learnedness is celebrated in the Liu Man Shek Tong Ancestral Hall. The Liu Man Shek Tong Ancestral Hall was built in the 16th year of the Qianlong Reign during the Qing dynasty (1751). Unlike most other ancestral halls in the New Territories, where they bear the name of a certain accomplished ancestor, the name Man Shek in this ancestral hall has a special story. According to the description on site, Literally meaning 10,000 shi (“shek” a unit of measure for grain), the name “Man Shek” dates back to the Song dynasty… a distant ancestor of the clan, Liu Kong, and his four sons were all high government officials who each earned an annual salary of 2,000 shi of cereal, thus 10,000 shi in total. Their descendants named the ancestral hall “Liu Man Shek Tong” in their honour. When the Lius have well-settled in Sheung Shui Heung for centuries, they began the construction of the Liu Man Shek Tong Ancestral Hall during the 18th century. Besides the five original ancestors that inspired the name of this first ancestral hall for the Lius in Hong Kong, there were some 47 members who have made notable achievements in the imperial examinations in the clan’s history. In terms of other architectural features, the Liu Man Shek Tong “is richly embellished with plaster mouldings, wood carvings and murals of auspicious motifs. The tiled roofs are supported on stone and wooden columns and an intricate system of carved wooden trusses and brackets.” #newterritories #sheungshui #liumanshektong #liu #ancestraltemple #hongkong #hongkonghistory #历史古迹 #declaredmonument #historicallandmarks