Self Providing: Rice

It is a known fact that rice is the center of the Chinese people's diet which also applies to the villagers of Law Uk Tseun who have rice every day as their main meal of the day accompanied by other types of food. Eating rice everyday was a norm for all villagers this is because it is something that has always been eaten on a daily basis as far as everyone can remember and in 1989, 65% of Chinese people performed heavy labour on a daily basis meaning that they needed rice to fill them up and provide them with the energy to do heavy labour for long lengths of time. As Law Uk Tseun is obviously secluded and very far from the central Hong Kong, everything had to be provided by themselves including the growing process using the land that each family owned.

Here is the typical process of self providing rice:
Villagers of Law Uk Tseun will first throw all of the seeds in shallow water with soil underneath.Once the seeds have grown a significant amount as shown in the first picture then they are all pulled out and placed separately in a another piece of land with also a small amount of water for the plant to continue to grow. This is all done by hand through the villagers. These plants will continue to grow for around 6-8 months depending on the weather until the reach the stage here they look similar to wheat in which villages will also hand-pick out of the plants.

"Rice Separator" 

These bunches of rice that look like wheat are then separated from their stems by being constantly hit against a pot as shown in the picture on the left. This is continuously done by a villager until all the piece of rice are separated from the stems. The leftover stem is then roasted and dried out in the sun and is soon used as fodder to feed cows and other bigger animals. The rice in the pot is also dried out in the sun ready for the next step in the process.



The dried out rice is the placed in a
machine like the one on the left. In this case, the entire Law Uk Tseun only had one of these machines placed in the community temple to share between the 18 neighbors. The process of this is that the rice is poured into the machine from the topped whilst someone is personally turning the handle for the turbine wheel. The machine will then help to separate the rice into three parts; the completely bad rice that cannot be eaten, the rice that is considered 'okay' and the rice that is of best quality. The bad rice that cannot be eaten is spread out onto the floor of where the animals are kept as these will help to soak up any moisture particularly animal urine which will make it easier to clean. The rice that is considered 'okay' is then used a food to feed chicken and then the rice that is of best quality is the one that will be eaten by the villagers.

The rice that will then be used to eat by the villagers will then be put into this rice grinder (picture on the right) and constantly hand ground until the shell of the rice is broken off making the piece of rice softer and much easier to eat when cooked. This is a clear example of hard labour as the grinder is completely made out of stone and is constantly handled until all the piece of rice is fully ground.





When all the rice is fully ground, when needed, it is then cooked in the cooker that many people back in the day used (picture on the left). Rice can be steamed in this cooker whilst the fire is maintained through the hole at the bottom as well as many other type of food.




Sources used:
- http://www.marksdailyapple.com/the-asian-paradox-how-can-asians-eat-so-much-rice-and-not-gain-weight/
- http://www.taobao.com/product/%E6%9C%A8%E7%82%AD%E6%9A%96%E7%88%90.htm
- All pictures were taken from secondary sources
- Information was given by my Father

Entertainment: Cricket

Taken from thebeijinger.com

Cricket fighting was a very common form of entertainment in Law Uk Tseun as adults will use it as a form of gambling whilst children used it as a form of competition of who would find the strongest cricket. These cricket would then be placed in a wooden bowl as shown in the picture and a staff would be used to encourage the crickets to fight. People will then place bets on which cricket would be the strongest, sometimes betting with money and sometimes just betting for fun. As well as a use of entertain, children would also use this to earn money for example, my Father used to catch these as a child and sell them to adults for 5HKD which was considered a lot in that time.


Sources used:
- My Father (anecdote and some info)
- http://nubesinfinitae.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/blog-post_63.html - more info
- https://www.thebeijinger.com/blog/2013/04/24/photos-cricket-fighter

Law Uk Tseun's Main Community Temple - After it's Renovations in 1993

As mentioned in the previous post, the same principals apply for the Law Uk Tseun's main community temple in 1993 however it was this year that they completed renovated the entire temple. Thanks to the close knit community, the temple was able to be completely broken down and then rebuilt again especially with the help of the donations made by members of the neighborhood.

Before and After its Renovation in 1993

As you can see here, major changes were made to it, some key ones being sectioning it off from the other building in the little village contributing to its significance as well as preventing hazard to it. None of previous things used in the previous temple were kept as a key feature of this renovation was a 'new start' and so everything is new to represent something anew. 

This was plaque on the wall here is a script showing the names of all the people who have donated money towards this new temple and how much they have donated. 

As it was with the previous temple, all celebrations were still held in this temple and it was still exclusive to the people who lived in the village and those who held the "Law" surname. Offerings of roast pork (also known as Golden Pig), chicken and duck were made to the spiritual Gods in the temple as this was given in exchange for the happiness and safety of Law Uk Tseun. The 'Golden Pig' was the most traditional offering to the Gods due to its association with family prosperity. Additionally, pigs were one of the most important animals in the Chinese economy and those who owned them were known to be wealthy relating to its symbolic meaning of general prosperity, wealth and overall good fortune making it the most traditional offering to give. 

Both of banners here are/were placed at the top of the entry of both the temple before and after its renovations declaring that only people who have the Law surname can enter. 

 One of the temple's most prized and valuable possessions are these candles holders made of stone. This is known as an heirloom of Law Uk Tseun that has been passed down by many generations. The original people who made these were the ancestors of villagers living in Law Uk Tseun and so can't be found anywhere else. In the past, these "treasures" of the neighborhood were originally stolen by someone who used to live in the village who sold it to someone else. They were then brought back to the temple after everyone in the neighborhood collectively donated to buy them back yet again showing the close knit community. 

Whilst this cannot be seen in the pictures of the new temple, both temples also have scriptures of Chinese symbols and characters on the door and the sides of the entry. These are mainly put up around Chinese New Year and its main purpose is to prevent any bad spirits from entering the temple whilst the villagers practice inside it. This is slightly shown in the picture of the front of the new temple above with the lanterns and the Chinese characters, however this picture of the old temple shows more by showing the picture of a God on the door who will help prevent the temple by not allowing any bad spirits in. This would also be placed on the door of the new temple however I cannot find a picture of it. 

Sources used:

- All pictures were personally taken by family relatives 

- Majority of information was given by my Father 

- https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=dAPQAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA317&lpg=PA317&dq=offering+golden+pig+to+chinese+gods&source=bl&ots=Dtp5JOfVxx&sig=WyJFlFgskaLzsp4x43LsbxWRJYg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwix0b_cw_HPAhXmCcAKHa4wDO0Q6AEIJDAB#v=onepage&q=offering%20golden%20pig%20to%20chinese%20gods&f=false

A House in Law Uk Tseun

My Father's House in Law Uk Tseun

Here is what a typical house would look like in Law Uk Tseun. The sizes of the houses in the village area was dependent on the size of the land that each family owned and so from there they built the house appropriate for them. My fathers house, in particular was longer in length than it was in width. The end of the house actually collapsed due to age which they then made into land. Furthermore, the house next to my father's as highlighted in the picture used to actually belong to someone else's however it was soon given to my father's family as the person died due to the close relations they had with my father's family. Partly due to having the same surname, the majority of people living in the Law Uk Tseun were very close and saw each other as family which was easy as the are only consisted of 18 homes. As everything also had to be self-provided, it also meant that people felt the need to be friendly with each other just in case of times in need of resources resulting them as seeing each other as more of a family rather than neighbors.

As the entire Law Uk Tseun area consisted of only 18 houses meaning that there were also only 18 families living there, it is not surprising that the community is very close knit and so people often did not both closing or even locking their doors. This is mainly because as everyone saw each other as family, theft was not a problem and due to the physical closeness, a thief or a criminal could be spotted a mile away and fellow neighbors would help each other out. The picture shown on the side is what many houses had back in the day (photo was taken in the 1970's) and it is basically an animal door that would enable the family to leave their front doors open especially in hot weathers as well as preventing any wild animals such as ducks coming into the house unwanted.

The layout/structure of houses in Law Uk Tseun 

Land opposite the houses (owned by certain families and used for crops)

As you can see here, the physical structure of all the houses in Law Uk Tseun is very simple in that all the buildings are built in a row reflecting the close-knit community. Additionally, this was also known to be a slight hazard as all the houses would be affected in the case of a fire or in many cases, when certain parts of the houses would collapse due to age it would often affect other neighbors.


Opposite these houses would be similar structure of land. Generally, each piece of land that is directly in front of a house would belong to the family of the house and this would often be used by them to grow crops for personal and business uses. However, not all families are restricted to this piece of land as some families would own more pieces of land and some would own less dependent on the family wealth. Regardless, wealth was not a major part nor was it a worry for many of the neighbors of Law Uk Tseun as everything was self-provided anyway and if they ever needed anything more then they could always trade with other families in Law Uk Tseun or families from other villages.

A side view of the biggest house in Law Uk Tseun

The picture here shows a corner view of another house in Law Uk Tseun. As you can see, not all the houses in Nam Chung during this time were restricted to only being one story. The house here actually consists of three stories making it the biggest house out of the 18 in Law Uk Tseun. Additionally, the size of the house as well as the size of the land they owned signifies the level of wealth of that particular family.




Sources:
- All the pictures here were taken from a family photo album and were personally taken from different family relatives
- Information was taken directly from talking with my Father and Uncle
- http://hiking.gov.hk/chi/trail_list/country_trail/Nam_Chung_Country_Trail/introduction.htm - also used for further background information

Law Uk Tseun's Main Community Temple - Before its renovation in 1993

As Chinese people in the past, particularly people who lived in villages and the older generation, were very superstitious and religious and so it was normal for every village to have its very own temple (Pinyin translation: chu-tong). In Nam Chung, there is one temple which is accessible for everyone however it is these temples that are only exclusive to the people who live in the same village or bare the same surname as the neighbors of the village.

Main Temple of Law Uk Tseun in the early 1900's

This is what the main temple of the Law Uk Tseun looked like for a very long time before its complete renovation in 1993. This is the place where the entire community would often meet to pray and practice their beliefs especially the older generation who would go there daily to pray. The temple is physically easily accessible to others as it was part of the structure of the typical houses there (it was only 2 doors down from my father's house!). No one from outside the Law Uk Tseun neighborhood and especially people who did not have the "Law" surname would be allowed access to the temple.

As mentioned earlier, the temple was often a meeting places for all neighbors of the community, it specifically hosted many important Chinese events especially Chinese New Year. In these events, everyone from the neighborhood would gather together to celebrate; firstly by praying and practicing together in the temple and then eating together as shown in the picture. In these cases, many of the neighbors each all made and brought an offering of food to share with others and added all together, everyone would have a big feast in celebration of the festivity.

*Further explanations of the temple will be discussed in an upcoming post of the temple after its major renovation in 1993*

Sources:
- All pictures used here were personally taken by some of my relatives
- Information was given by my Father and my Uncle

Kei Lun - 麒麟石

Just like the typical Lion and Dragon dances you may see every Chinese New Year, this is the Kei Lun Dance which is particular for Hakka (a Chinese dialect) people which was what many people of Law Uk Tseun spoke.

Picture taken from a Kei Lun Dance I
went to this year!

http://kungfu-norwich.co.uk/

As you can see here, the Kei Lun resembles a unicorn with a head of a dragon, the body of a deer with the scales of a fish, and the tail of an ox. Similar to the Lion and Dragon, the Kei Lun have a peaceful nature and reputation for being a protector of the kind-hearted. It is also considered one of China's more treasured mythical creatures.







The Kei Lun Dance is performed in the Law Uk Tseun every year in celebration of Chinese New Year. Occasionally, it would also be performed at weddings however only the wealthy would be able to afford this. By performing this dance at the start of a Chinese New Year, the villagers use this to welcome good omen's and a safe new year. A tangerine or a lettuce is also dangled in front of the Kei Lun with a lucky red pocket in it in which the Kei Lun will have to pluck. The purpose of this is to yet again represent prosperity and happiness.

Sources used:
- Two of the pictures were personally taken with the exception of the other one which I tagged with the link I got it from
- https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2014/02/13/kei-lun-lion-dancers-find-new-meaning-in-ancient-steps/
- http://kungfu-norwich.co.uk/index.php

Where is it?

The city, Nam Chung, currently resides in the north eastern New Territories of Hong Kong, west of Luk Keng and to the Southwest of the Starling Inlet (Sha Tau Kok Hoi), opposite Sha Tau Kok. It consists of four villages; Nam Chung Yeung Uk (南涌楊屋), Nam Chung Cheng Uk (南涌鄭屋), Nam Chung Lo Uk (南涌羅屋), Nam Chung Cheung Uk (南涌張屋) and Nam Chung Lei Uk (南涌李屋).

The village that my father lived in was known as Nam Chung Lo Uk (南涌羅屋) also known as "Law Uk Tseun" and used to consist of 18 house. The "Law" or "Lo" signifies the surname that everyone carried despite not being related and the "Uk" is a translation of house whilst the "Tseun" represents a village. 

Taken from Google Maps

Here we can see a map of how some of the villages are situated. The picture shows the location of the "Cheung Uk Tseun", ""Cheng Uk Tseun" and finally "Lo Uk Tseun" of Nam Chung. Lo Uk Tseun is clearly on a higher gradient compared to the other villages as this is in a very mountainous area in which you'd be travelling up from "Cheung Uk." All of the Nam Chung Villages are relatively close physically and mentally as everything is self provided and so a lot of trading takes places of resources.

Taken from "Hong Kong Guide Maps" book

Nam Chung is also relatively close to two other cities knwon as "Luk Keng" and "Tsat Muk Kiu." These are very similar to Nam Chung in that they too consisted of other villages and provided everything for themselves. These cities were also considered close as every 10 year there would be a gathering and a major party where everyone got together in a temple and celebrated. Additionally, to travel to Tsat Muk Kiu, people had to travel from Luk Keng to Nam Chung where the transportation and roads for cars were cut off so people would have to travel from Nam Chung to Tsat Muk Kiu by foot.


Sources used:
Google maps
Hong Kong Guide Map Book
My Father's memory