It's always been a great pleasure for me to be able to visit old Chinese villages. I don't really know why. Ruined and abandoned buildings to me are not just bricks, stones, timber, pillars, girders, eaves, staircases, doors, windows, pedestals etc. They all seem to want to tell me their own stories: who built them, who lived there, what their lives were like and after they're gone, what took over and what the descendants are doing or not doing to them... and a million and one other things.They are silent witnesses of the history or biographies of their former owners or occupiers. Some time ago, I visited an abandoned village in Guangdong Lai Sai Village (小塘獅嶺黎邊西村), a village of less than a few thousand people which produced a number of political and academic luminaries and some Communist revolutionaries. It forms part of Nam Hoi District ( 南海).
It shows signs of some Western influence in the way it put together some of its buildings. Perhaps some of its former residents went to West Europe and brought back the roman columns, the portico and arch reliefs, put in as decorative features?
Most of its inhabitants have moved to the new village nearby, built in the early 1990's, relying on the wealth earned in the construction industry .
It looks as if they must have some maritime connections as they worship Lord Hung Shing (洪聖王/洪聖爺/ 赤帝), a popular local god among fishermen in Southern China, originally a local official from the Tang dynasty well versed in geography, astronomy and weather forecasting for the benefit of the fisher folks who died early from his arduous work and was posthumously conferred the title "Universal Benefactor Lord Hung Shing"(廣利洪聖大王) by the Emperor. The old village might have been abandoned, but not the temple in his honour.
There are signs that joss sticks are still being offered to him and someone has been cleaning the altar, although the job appears a little perfunctory.
Is that a fish on the left hand of one of the guards?
At the side is one of the Buddhist arhats/arahants, although Lord Hung Shing is a supposed to be Taoist god, showing that to the ordinary folks, the origin of the gods is a matter of little concern, just so long as they bring in the gold and silver. But according to another legend circulating in Tung Koon, it was said that Hung Shing was originally a butcher who felt sorry that he had to slaughter animals everyday and then begged an old monk to accept him as his disciple, something the old monk refused but that after his persistent entreaties, relented that one day, whilst they were walking by the side of a raging sea, the old monk asked Hung Shing to take out his heart and toss it into the waves to calm it. Hung Shing did so without a thought. When his heart fell into the sea, a colored cloud appeared which took him to heaven. He then got permission from the Jade King to establish his residence at a spot in the South China Seas. It's estimated that there are altogether more than 500 temples dedicated to Lord Hung Shing in Southern China.
Its front entrance is guarded by a wooden screen with the traditional fish and dragon on the roof ridge. His feast day is 13th day of the 2nd Moon in the Chinese lunar calendar.
This plaque shows that the temple was rebuilt in 1997, with some donations coming from the offsprings from Hong Kong. According to internet sources, it appears that the Lai clan first moved here in 1274 during southern Sung Dynasty from 南雄珠玑巷迁 and up to now, there have been more 20 generations of Lai's and that during the Tsing Dynasty, they produced two high officials viz. one 黎廷桂 who became an advisor to the governor of two Quangs (两廣總督) and Lieutenant of the Chinese Army and another one 黎湛枝 got first position in the second rank of top scholars (二甲第一名) and became the teacher of Fu Yi, the last emperor of China. After the founding of the Nationalist Chinese Rupublic, one 黎照寰 went to study in America with 孫科, the son of Dr. Sun Yet Sen and later became the president of the National Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and later the Chancellor of the Communications University in Shanghai.
The traditional wooden locks to the Chinese doors typical of southern Chinese architecture.
The gates to the old village. We see arch-shape features everywhere on the side of the buildings.
A sign on the entrance: "Helping the Country". Probably a former local school?
The ancestral hall of "House of Ropes and Ropes". Perhaps, all their descendants have gone abroad?
Wooden door with a simple lock and the kind of wooden benches I used to sit on in front of the Tai Pai Tongs when I was a kid.
Weed sieves piled on top of what looks like a marble side cabinet with Western looking floral patterns.
Wooden tubs, benches, trays, chest stacked indifferently under a wooden rack.
rice and soup bowls, spoons, serving dishes of various sizes on the broken tile on the floor
What's that tiny ball under the raised door step?
The ancestral hall of the Lai Clan. Old customs die hard. Apparently, the newly-weds still want their ancestors' blessings when they marry. Or is it that it's just their parents' wishes?
The wedding of one of the members of the Lai clan still living here?
Hearts linked a hundred years; a joint flight ten thousand miles! All the houses here are joined by common corridors.
"Unending good luck with children and wealth; a rich, safe and fortune filled house."
Asking for blessing from Koon Yin Bodhisattva and Lord Hung Shing for the Lai Clan
A lonely old man was still living at this small house, whiling away his days by doing some metal spare parts for some machine or other rather than doing nothing . Perhaps his children don't like him spoiling the tidiness of their new house at the new East Village. Perhaps he has a special affection for this house in which he grew up. Perhaps this house was where his wife died. Perhaps he has no children at all. Who knows the true reason(s)?.
An overgrown space separating two houses, one of which had a Western style decorative arch over its wooden window.
The plants look healthy and strong.
Some chicken baskets in one of the abandoned houses. Or is it for ducks? The people here appear to live on what they can get from the ponds.
An abandoned courtyard.
tree barks, dried leaves as firewood?
A junk collector with his overloaded motorised tricylce on the village road. How fierce he looks!
life amidst dead wood, broken tiles and rubble
I really envy the vitality of plants: they can grow practically everywhere.
Another abandoned courtyard
Some fairly elaborate wall decorations
Abandoned bed, chair, drawers and cupboards.
Cobwebs in the light
How many meals had been cooked here for the Lai clan through the years?
Stairs leading up blocked by cobweb. It was once filled with the pitter-patter as its occupiers mount the steps in their wooden clogs.
some of the panes have come off
Some nice carved wooden balustrades on the first floor
A table and chairs for a Lai coupl over which they could share a cup of tea as they mused over what the harvest would be like for the current year.
urns and pots in an overgrown corner. When will they be next visited? Heaven knows.
Hi, my name is Galland Ronny. I wonder if you have more photographs or information on this village? In the past i studied a martial art that was practised by the Lai family. I was very delighted to find these pictures on the web. Before we only heard the name of that place. Please let me know if there is more info available. Thanks in advance. Galland Ronny
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