A walled village (Chinese :圍村) 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 of wild animals and enemies. Usually, people living in the walled village are extended families or clans sharing the same surname. Walled villages are still found in southern China and Hong Kong. [1]
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the shore of Guangdong suffered from pirates. The area of Hong Kong was particular vulnerable to pirates' attacks. Winding shores, hilly lands and islands and far from administrative centres made Hong Kong an excellent hideout for pirates. Villages, both Punti and Hakka, built walls against pirates. Some villages even protected themselves using cannons. In Punti Cantonese, Wai (圍, Walled) and Tsuen (村, Village) were once synonyms.
The ancestral hall was the most important building in a village. It housed the soul tablets of the ancestors of the villagers and the villagers went there to worship. Ancestral halls were also used as schools.
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 Chinese-speaking areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhejiang, Hainan, and Guizhou in China, as well as in Taoyuan City, Hsinchu County, Miaoli County, Pingtung County, and Kaohsiung City in Taiwan. Unlike other Han Chinese subgroups, the Hakkas are not named after a geographical region, e.g. a province, county or city, in China. That is because their origins were of northern Chinese refugees fleeing social unrest, upheaval and invasions throughout the northern parts of China throughout history who then sought sanctuary in the south where the Cantonese-speaking provinces such as Guangdong and Guangxi are. The Chinese characters for Hakka literally mean "guest families". The word is Cantonese in origin and as the name implies, they are the guest of the Cantonese people. Over the centuries though, they have since more or less assimilated with the Cantonese-speaking population. Modern day Hakka are generally identified by both full Hakka and by different degrees of Hakka ancestry and usually speak Hakka Chinese.
Most of the walled villages of Hong Kong are located in the New Territories.
A Hakka walled village is a large multi-family communal living structure that is designed to be easily defensible. This building style is unique to the Hakka people found in southern China. Walled villages are typically designed for defensive purposes and consist of one entrance and no windows at the ground level.
Tai Wai is an area in the New Territories, Hong Kong, located between Sha Tin and the Lion Rock, within the Sha Tin District.
Sheung Shui is an area in the New Territories, Hong Kong. Sheung Shui Town, a part of this area, is part of the Fanling–Sheung Shui New Town in the North District of Hong Kong. Fanling Town is to its southeast.
Ping Shan Heritage Trail is a heritage trail located in the Ping Shan area of Yuen Long District, in Hong Kong. The trail was inaugurated on 12 December 1993 and was the first of its kind in Hong Kong. It passes through the villages of Hang Tau Tsuen, Hang Mei Tsuen and Sheung Cheung Wai and it includes several declared monuments and graded buildings.
Kuk Po is an area situated in the north eastern New Territories of Hong Kong, to the south of the Starling Inlet, opposite the town of Sha Tau Kok.
Sheung Shui Wai, also known as Sheung Shui Heung (上水鄉) is an area in Sheung Shui, in the northern part of the New Territories of Hong Kong. Its population is around 6,000 people.
The Punti–Hakka Clan Wars were a conflict between the Hakka and the Cantonese people in Guangdong, China between 1855 and 1867. The wars were most fierce around the Pearl River Delta, especially in Toi Shan of the Sze Yup counties. The wars resulted in roughly a million dead with many more displaced civilians.
Indigenous inhabitants refers to the people descended through the male line from a person who was in 1898, before Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory was signed, a resident of an established village in the New Territories of Hong Kong. They have special rights to preserve their customs. When the sovereignty of Hong Kong was transferred from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China in 1997, these special rights were preserved under the Hong Kong Basic Law.
Article 40 of the Basic Law
Lam Tsuen is an area in Tai Po District, Hong Kong, noted for its Lam Tsuen wishing trees. The nearby Lam Tsuen River, empties into Tai Po Hoi.
Ha Tsuen, or Ha Tsuen Heung (廈村鄉) is an area at the west of Yuen Long Town in Hong Kong. Administratively, it belongs to Yuen Long District.
The Tang Clan of Hong Kong is one of the Five Great Clans of the New Territories (新界五大氏族). The others are Man, Hau, Pang and Liu.
Lai Chi Wo is a Hakka village near Sha Tau Kok, in the northeastern New Territories of Hong Kong. It is described as a "walled village" by some sources. Lai Chi Wo is located within Plover Cove Country Park and near Yan Chau Tong Marine Park.
The Fujiantulou are Chinese rural dwellings unique to the Hakka in the mountainous areas in southeastern Fujian, China. They were mostly built between the 12th and the 20th centuries.
Lung Yeuk Tau, commonly known as Lung Ku Tau and also called Lung Ling is an area located northeast of Luen Wo Hui in Fanling, New Territories, Hong Kong.
Nga Tsin Wai Tsuen, also known as Hing Yau Yu Tsuen was a walled village in Wong Tai Sin, Kowloon, Hong Kong with a history spanning more than 600 years.
Tai Hang is an area in the Tai Po District of Hong Kong.
Tuen Tsz Wai is a village of Hong Kong, located in the Lam Tei area, in the northern part of Tuen Mun District. Part of the village is a historic Punti walled village.
Tsz Tin Tsuen is a village in Lam Tei, Tuen Mun District, Hong Kong.
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