celebration

Because of construction work being carried out along our local river, we’ve been taking an alternative route whenever we go cycling out west. That alternative involves following dedicated cycle tracks through Fanling and Sheung Shui, and whenever we’ve cycled along Jockey Club Road recently, I couldn’t help but notice that a village arch was being constructed spanning the road leading to Fanling Wai.

Such archways are relatively uncommon, although I’ve noticed that four new ones have been built in the areas where I cycle in the past few years. However, each of these has been erected at the entrances to villages whose lands have been traversed by a new elevated highway that originates in Shenzhen, and I conjecture that their construction has been by way of compensation for that intrusion.

And there has been no such intrusion in the vicinity of Fanling Wai, so I did wonder why an archway was being built here. Yesterday, I decided to take a closer look—and some photos. Unfortunately, it was almost impossible to take many good shots, because the sky was completely devoid of clouds, meaning that many of the things that I wanted to photograph were in the shade and therefore came out as little more than silhouettes.

I came back again this morning, this time with Paula, because I wanted to find out, if possible, why what appeared to be a major celebration was taking place. I would never have noticed, but my wife picked up an expensively produced and lavishly illustrated free booklet that provided a detailed account of the presence of the Pang clan in the area over the past 70 years. It will take some time to translate everything in the booklet, but in the meantime, here are a few photos that provide a sense of how elaborate the celebrations have been here.

This is a view of the new arch from the inside:

…and this is a closer view of the arch, which has a wider span than any other village arch I’ve seen, although that is merely because it spans a wider road than in other cases:

Note the two dragons facing each other on the roof ridge, with a pearl between them. There are also two dragons facing each other on the bas-relief on the crossbeam. Note too the fish, which are a symbol of longevity in Chinese culture. The flared-up corners of the tiled roofs are also dragon heads, which is unusual.

Referring back to the first photo above, you may have noticed that I included a strange figure on the right housed in his own shelter. This is a better view:

…and this is a close-up:

Paraphrasing the inscription: “I may be ugly, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t have positive qualities, such as kind-heartedness and generosity.” I actually thought, when I first saw it, that this was a representation of some deity or other.

This is a view looking away from the arch towards the wai (‘walled enclosure’):

…while this a view of the same row of celebratory ‘posters’ from the opposite direction:

Each of these features two chengyu (‘four-character idioms’) expressing various forms of blessing.

These are two views from the same position as that for the previous photo, looking to the left:

This is a general view of the scene at the end of the ‘street’ shown in the previous two photos:

…while this is a closer look at the structure on the left, which appears to be a kind of temporary theatre:

…and this is a closer look to the right:

There is what appears to be a temporary temple directly opposite the theatre, but I couldn’t get a decent photo because of the position of the sun. The Tang clan’s permanent temple is actually located on the other side of Jockey Club Road:

You can see the singularly unusual door gods guarding this temple in More Door Gods #2, where you can also see the door gods guarding the Pang Ancestral Hall. This is a view of the hall’s dong chung, which prevents the entry of evil spirits. If I were an evil spirit, I wouldn’t want to take on this splendidly painted dragon:

Incidentally, this ancestral hall is rarely open, but it was this morning. I’d been inside before, but Paula hadn’t, so we went in for a closer look. Like the temple, the friezes and other painted surfaces have been renewed recently.

Finally, here are two views looking along the front of the wai:

The temporary structure in the first photo, which obscures the entrance to the wai, houses a fortune teller!

When I walked past here yesterday, I didn’t realize that there was anything written on this long red strip—black on red doesn’t show up too well—but it seems that the names of every member of the Pang clan, past and present, are recorded here.

Incidentally, in case you hadn’t guessed, red is the lucky colour in Chinese culture.