Sheung Cheung Wai

Sheung Cheung Wai Chinese: 上璋圍
Village
Entrance gate of Sheung Cheung Wai.
Sheung Cheung Wai
Coordinates: 22.446739°N 114.006539°E / 22.446739; 114.006539
Country	People's Republic of China
Special administrative region	Hong Kong
District	Yuen Long District
Area	Ping Shan
Time zone	UTC+8:00 (HKT)

Sheung Cheung Wai (Chinese: 上璋圍) is a walled village in the Ping Shan area of Yuen Long District, in Hong Kong. It is part of the Ping Shan Heritage Trail.

Administration

Sheung Cheung Wai is a recognized village under the New Territories Small House Policy.[1] It is one of the 37 villages represented within the Ping Shan Rural Committee. For electoral purposes, Sheung Cheung Wai is part of the Ping Shan Central constituency.[2]

History

Interior of the entrance gate of Sheung Cheung Wai.

Village shrine of Sheung Cheung Wai.

Defensive wall of Sheung Cheung Wai and remains of the lower storey of the southwest watchtower.[3]

Sheung Cheung Wai is one of the three wais (walled villages) and six tsuens (villages) established by the Tang Clan of Ping Shan, namely: Sheung Cheung Wai, Kiu Tau Wai, Fui Sha Wai, Hang Tau Tsuen, Hang Mei Tsuen, Tong Fong Tsuen, San Tsuen, Hung Uk Tsuen and San Hei Tsuen.[4]

It was built about 200 years ago by a line of the Tang Clan that branched out from nearby Hang Tau Tsuen.[5]

At the time of the 1911 census, the population of Sheung Cheung Wai was 119. The number of males was 52.[6]

Features

The moat that once surrounded the village has been filled.[5] Three of the original watchtowers have collapsed and only the lower storey of the southwest one remains, which has been converted for residential use.[3]

Conservation

Sheung Cheung Wai is the only walled village along the Ping Shan Heritage Trail.[5]

See also

• Walled villages of Hong Kong

References

1. "List of Recognized Villages under the New Territories Small House Policy" (PDF). Lands Department. September 2009.
2. "Recommended District Council Constituency Areas (Yuen Long District)" (PDF). Electoral Affairs Commission. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
3. Antiquities Advisory Board. Historic Building Appraisal. Entrance Gate, Sheung Cheung Wai, Ping Shan
4. Antiquities and Monuments Office. Ping Shan Heritage Trail
5. Antiquities and Monuments Office: Sheung Cheung Wai
6. Hase, Patrick (1996). "Traditional Life in the New Territories: The Evidence of the 1911 and 1921 Censuses" (PDF). Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch. 36: 78. ISSN 1991-7295.

External links

• Delineation of area of existing village Sheung Cheung Wai (Ping Shan) for election of resident representative (2019 to 2022)
• Antiquities and Monuments Office. Hong Kong Traditional Chinese Architectural Information System. Sheung Cheung Wai
• Antiquities Advisory Board. Pictures of Entrance Gate, Sheung Cheung Wai, Ping Shan
• Antiquities Advisory Board. Historic Building Appraisal. Shrine, Sheung Cheung Wai, Ping Shan Pictures
• Antiquities Advisory Board. Historic Building Appraisal. Yeung Hau Temple, Sheung Cheung Wai, Ping Shan Pictures