Cheung Shan Monastery fully restored

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A rehabilitation ceremony was held today (Monday) to mark the completion of restoration works on Cheung Shan Monastery (Cheung Shan Kwu Tsz), a declared monument with a history of over 100 years in Ta Kwu Ling.

Located in Wo Keng Shan, the temple was declared a historical monument in January last year, placing it under the protection of the Antiquities and Monument Ordinance.

The restoration, funded by a 4.2 million donation from the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, was carried out in 1997 under the supervision of the Architectural Services Department and the Antiquities and Monuments Office of the Home Affairs Bureau.

The Monastery is now under the management of the Cheung Shan Tsz Management Committee, comprising representatives of Tai Tong Wu, Wo Keng Shan, Ping Yeung, Ping Che, Loi Tung, Man Uk Pin, and Lin Ma Hang in the Sha Tau Kok and Ta Kwu Ling areas.

The Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr David Lan; Chairman of the Antiquities Advisory Board, Professor David Lung; Director of Charities and Corporate Secretariat of The Hong Kong Jockey Club, Mr David P W Yau and Acting Director of Architectural Services, Mr Kwan Pak-lam were invited by the Committee to officiate at today's rehabilitation ceremony.

Other officiating guests include Police Regional Commander New Territories North, Mr Ng Wai-kit; Member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Mr Liu Ching-leung; Chairman of the North Provisional District Board, Mr Tang Kwok-yung; Chairman of Sha Tau Kok Rural Committee, Mr Li Hak-bun and Chairman of Ta Kwu Ling Rural Committee, Mr Cheung For-tai.

The Monastery consists of two halls built on two elevated platforms with the rear hall approximately one metre taller. Statues of Buddha, Kwun Yum (Goddess of Mercy) and Tei Chong Wong (Guardian of the Earth) are worshipped in the temple.

The temple was most probably first constructed in mid-eighteenth century by six villages in the Sha Tau Kok and Ta Kwu Ling areas. The villages are Loi Tung, Man Uk Pin and the alliance of Ping Yuen Hap Heung which consisted of Ping Yeung, Nga Yiu Ha, Wo Keng Shan and Ping Che.

The temple was of military importance as it lies at Min Keng (Temple Pass), which was part of the strategic road from Sha Tau Kok to Shenzhen. It was once a popular resting place where free tea was served to wayfarers to Shenzhen via Sha Tau Kok.

The present Monastery was a structure fully rebuilt in the seventh year of the Tongzhi reign (1868) as recorded in a stone tablet, the inscriptions of which has become almost illegible.

In addition, the building was formerly called Cheung Sang Nunnery, according to the inscriptions on an old bronze bell cast in the fifty-fourth year of the Qianlong reign (1789). In 1949, a monk known as Kuk Shan Kit settled in the deserted temple. Since then, it has been turned into a monastery for monks.

END/Monday, January 4, 1999

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