Walls
Shaping bricks in a mould in a Chinese woodcut illustration. Brickwork at Tuen Mun San Tsuen and Nai Wai.
Brick
The walls of Hong Kong vernacular buildings are predominately of grey brick. Brick size, colour sharpness, quality and weathering vary greatly, and these variations may be seen in adjacent walls and within the same wall (note 94).
​
The high firing temperatures (1000 degreesC+) necessary to make bricks historically limited their use, though in 19th century Hong Kong they appear commonplace. In a village context they would be used by those who could afford them, and so are a mark of prosperity and status. Clay for bricks would be locally sourced, and the bricks locally made; local village brick and tile kilns are likely to have existed, but there are no historical records. Brick colour varies according to the quality of clay, and the techniques used in firing and cooling. Kiln fuel might be coal, grain stalks, tree boughs or brush. Firing could be for different periods to different temperatures. Dousing the cooling bricks in water in the last stage of firing turns an oxygen-rich environment into an oxygen-free environment, reducing the iron oxide to a grey colour, which can also result from oxygen reduction where the kiln becomes smoke-logged. Bricks of a different colour in the same batch are usually indicative of defective firing. Blue-grey bricks are usually of a later date and are smoother and more consistent in colour. Larger bricks tend to be of earlier date than smaller bricks. Bricks used in general contracting or conservation work today are imported from mainland China or salvaged from ruins.
​
Brickwork bonding might be “stretcher bond”, continuous rows of stretchers, or “English Garden Wall bond”, rows of stretchers between rows of headers, the stretchers being laid in one row, four rows, or very often more, eleven at Sik Kong Wai (Ha Tsuen), even in randomly differing rows within the same wall. Cavity walls would increase stability without the need for buttressing. The wide variety in cavity width apparent probably evidences the work of individual craftsmen rather than date, status or structural necessity. Holmes (2000) notes that cavity walls were used in all buildings in Hong Kong from the 17th century, whereas they appeared only after World War II in Britain. I have seen no instances of the “box bond” formed of alternately laid slabs in village architecture (note 95).
Adobe earth walls at Muk Wu (rendered adobe façade wall, whilst the gable wall is of brick) and Shan Ha Tsuen (cavity façade wall with headers at 8-course intervals, softer adobe bricks form the party wall). Brick firing in a Chinese woodcut illustration.
​
Earth Adobe "Clay Lump"
​
A cheaper alternative to grey brick was sun-dried clay lump or adobe, used in China as early as 2500BC. This would be formed by packing clay into a wooden frame, and wire cut. The adobe could have sugar, honey, rice and/or straw added to the mix for flexibility and strength. Adobe bricks would be subject to spalling and flaking under weathering, and were therefore usually plastered with mud, lime and whitewash, latterly cement render (note 96). The walls of a house can be seen to be of different types; grey bricks for the facade or around openings, adobe lumps for gables or courtyard subdivision. Earth or mud clay lump can often be found below rendering, indicating that either a deliberately poorer brick was used below the weathering surface, or eroded bricks were later rendered in an effort to prevent further decay. I have seen no instances of complete rammed earth structures, as found in the Hakka Tulou of Fujian, where the technique was used extensively to form sophisticated battered walls, but monolithic earth walls can occasionally be seen, as at Lam Ha Tsuen and Pak Sha Tsuen.
​
Stone walling at Shan Ha Tsuen, a granite house, and Pan Chung, granite infil between brick gable walls. The gatehouse of Ma Wat Wai, Fanling, stone built with the important village sign executed in red sandstone.
​
Stone
​
As Knapp (2000) notes, stone is “not used in China to a degree matching its availability”. Hong Kong sits almost entirely on igneous rock, granite (note 97). Granite was freely available in Hong Kong and quarried extensively during the 19th century (note 98), but is limited in village structures to key details such as gatehouse and shrine doorways, the tall granite blocks at wall corners and the lower courses of the front facade.
​
Red sandstone was also imported at great expense from Guangdong or Fujian provinces; as red is a symbol of wealth it was reserved for use at the main entrance to the village. Its ease of working enabled accurate carving with thin joints, and so originally will have given a smooth appearance, however its weathering characteristics will have softened this aspect (note 99). Imported stone gatehouses can be seen at Wing Ning Wai (Fanling) and Wai Loi Tsuen (Sheung Shui). The red sandstone walls of the gatehouse at Fui Sha Wai were replaced with red painted render in a 1981 rebuild.
​
Whilst the gatehouse of Ho Sheung Heung lies ruined and neglected, the red sandstone here indicates this was once an important building. Granite door jamb detailing at Kuk Po Lo Wai and Cheung Shing Street between Nam Pin Wai and Sai Pin Wai
​
Mortar and Pointing
​
Knapp (1990) indicates a common mortar mix of 60% sand: 30% lime: 10% earth. One resident informed us that rice was used in the mix, which would give added flexibility. Conservation projects today would specify 1:3 lime/sand, but it is known that contractors often add cement un-approved. The lime would still be derived from oyster shells today, sourced from accredited farms. Conservation practice is to lab test existing mortar before specifying replacement (note 100). Studies at the University of Hong Kong have confirmed the strength of traditional mortars, comparing a contemporary mix of 1 part cement : 3 parts sand + water with a traditional mix of 2 parts lime : 1 part sand : 1 part glutinous rice + cooked rice paste (note 101).
​
Although Hong Kong does not suffer the winter freeze-thaw cycle common in Britain, it is clear that the use of cement-based mortars has led to similar problems of brick weathering and deterioration, where the brick itself rather than the joint become sacrificial by moisture evaporation and salt effloresence.
Holmes (2000) states that the bricks were pressed into mortar dabs on the course below, “this is weak in theory, but economical and lasts sufficiently well. A final flush pointing with lime mortar merely fills the outer edge only.” The ideal joint would be “seamless”, of minimum thickness, used typically on the façade rather than the rear of buildings. A “wu yin” joint has a charcoal pigment applied to a normal brickwork skin, then a white line painted on the surface to mimic a fine joint; this gives a similar impression to that of “tuck” pointing (note 102).
​
Sourcing and burning lime in a Chinese woodcut illustration. Wu yin pointing at Tin Sam Tsuen. A partially collapsed wall at Wang Chau Yeung Uk Tsuen, the pointing appears to be a hard cement which has rendered the brick sacrificial.
​
Lime
​
Traditional building techniques used lime as the binder for plasters and mortars. The lime was burnt in a kiln (to around 1000degC) then hydrated or slaked in water, often in a pit covered with earth from which moisture was absorbed. The longer the slaking process, the better the product. Lime putty would be mixed with sand for mortar and plaster, or thinned for limewash. The lime in Hong Kong would be derived from oyster shells, there being no local limestone supply, and in conversation villagers have noted the use of ground sea shells in the mortar mix of even comparatively recent (post-war) dwellings. Holmes (2000) also notes that coral would be used for this purpose, that the lime would be slaked (water added to quicklime) on site, and that the practice of burning this ‘as found’ lime continues a tradition some 4,000 years old. Most kilns were therefore located by the sea.
The use of residual lime putty for bonding and finishing in various building processes is traditional throughout China: as a waterproofing layer in roofs, as a bonding agent for wall and floor plasters, with clay as a cement or with sand as a mortar (note 103). Lime is a flexible and vapour permeable material that will tolerate building movement, so is widely used in conservation practice (note 104). Render was sometimes used as a first line of defence to weathering. A white lime render or plaster would reflect the sun and therefore regulate the temperature of the wall. Mud, straw, and lime would be used to make the render until the 20th century when cement was used. Whitewash would additionally protect the structure beneath. Occasionally the lowest metre or so of a wall has been later rendered in a futile attempt to stave off damp.
​
A Decorative Frieze
​
The top of brick walls is often corbelled out along eaves and verge to create a roof overhang to throw water away from the walls below. This corbelling was usually given a decorative plaster coving, ornamented with birds, plants, flowers, vases, and fruit. Door canopies and an upper register of gable and lateral walls were similarly rendered or plastered with decorative details, a display of taste to the neighbours, protected from the rain by the roof overhang or wall canopy. Whilst these may appear repetitive in design, each was individually sculpted rather than cast in moulds (note 105).
House doorway canopies at Chung Sam Wai and Pak Sha Tsuen.
A Shaped Gable
​
Gable walls are often projected at party walls through the roof line, which would help resist fire spread. Gables might also be curled up to a point at the apex. A peculiar form of gable is the huoer, or wok handle shape, which can be seen on the corner towers of Tsang Tai Uk, and at Kat Hing Wai shrine. These wok yee gable forms echo those found in mainland China and Taiwan, but such occurrences appear to be rare in village buildings (note 106). The Tsang Tai Uk gables are crowned with metal tridents to ward off evil spirits.
​
Party Wall
​
The reconstruction drawings of Sam Tung Uk show a single thick party wall. This corresponds with the party walls of collapsed houses seen on site. Party walls usually extend beyond the roof line to a gable; this would no doubt give waterproofing problems but would help control fire or termite spread.
Doors and Windows
​
Doorways are typically rectangular, with a stone (facing) or timber (built-in) lintel. Arched openings are found at the entrance to shrines and the internal face of gatehouses. The characteristic full-circle “moon gate” is not seen in village buildings but appears occasionally in temples. Domestic doorways often have ornamented canopies, sometimes coordinated with a frieze at the top of the wall. These offered little protection from rainfall and so are more decorative celebrations of entrance and statements about the wealth and status of the household. Door jambs may be simply brick or full-height granite blocks. Occasionally the doorway is in a recessed bay affording a small semi-private space. The door panels of traditional buildings are wood plank, usually painted red. Cracks in door panels were painted with a filler mixture composed of ox blood and lime, and painted several coats (note 107).
​
Windows were often placed high up, to provide security, for shading beneath the roof overhang, to maximise the available accessible wallspace within the small house footprint, and to reduce ground radiant heat (note 108). Their main purpose would be to provide ventilation rather than light, and so are often termed “leaking” windows. The elaborate carved lattice screens characteristic of much Chinese architecture are rarely seen, a secure grille is normal, traditionally of stone or glazed or unglazed ceramic, and latterly of metalwork or cast cement. Steel casements appeared with 20th century modifications and are commonplace.
​
Huoer or wok-handle shaped gables at Tsang Tai Uk corner tower, and Kat Hing Wai shrine. A traditional house at Tai Tau Leng which over time has had an upper floor added and overclad with metal sheeting; the original roof line is visible left.
Overcladding
​
Traditional houses are sometimes fully enveloped in metal sheeting, giving them the outward appearance of squatter homes, but concealing a brick structure within.
​
Notes:
94. Ho (2009) states brick size is 280x110x75mm, but this can only be a common or average size. Ho (2002) investigating the wall of Lo Wai village, found a normal internal face brick size of 340x270x150, but could find no representative size of brick externally.
95. Both paragraphs on bricks and brickwork derived from Knapp (2000), Knapp (1990), Holmes (2000), Ho (2002), AAB List (2018) and personal interview, Ng (2019). Qingxi (2019) describes the craft process of brickmaking in detail. Ho (2002) refers to the 17th century illustrated book “The Technique of Making Things” by Song Yingxing.
96. Notes on adobe derived from Knapp (2000), where traditional techniques of brick making are described, including the formation of alluvial bricks as a complementary process to rice growing in paddy fields.
97. Note on geology derived from HKCLSO (1966)
98. Holmes (2000) quotes a figure of 81 quarries in Kowloon, from the Hong Kong Government Blue Book of 1871.
99. Notes on sandstone derived from Holmes (2000), and personal interview, Ng (2019).
100. Note on mortar from personal interview, Ang (2019).
101. The University of Hong Kong, Department of Architecture, March2 Thesis 2018, Lam Kat Tsz, Qiangang Ancient Village / South China Post Road. In tests, both mixes exceeded a compressive force limit of 500N, the contemporary mortar lost cohesive strength at 480N, and the traditional mortar at 395N.
102. Notes on pointing from personal interview, Ng (2019).
103. Notes on lime derived from Knapp (2000), who also describes the production process, and Ho (2002).
104. See for example Wingate, M (2017) An Introduction to Building Limes, SPAB Technical Guide, 3rd edition, London: SPAB
105. Source, personal interview, Ang (2019).
106. Notes on wok yee derived from AAB List (2018). Houses in Chung Sam Tsuen (Sheung Shui Wai) have wok yee gables.
107. Notes on door panels derived from Holmes (2000)
108. Notes on windows derived from Knapp (2000)
​
Floors
Foundations
Traditional foundations comprised tamped earth, with stone or brick inverted corbel. Footings filled with tightly packed stone were used, or stone walls raised above the ground. Some houses have a dressed granite slab forming a sole plate for the wall, the extent of dressed stone varying with family wealth. The stone would be from stream beds or quarried. A gulley below the drip line from a roof overhang would take rainwater away from the building (note 109). Freezing conditions are rare in winter, so are not a factor in foundation design. The lowest temperature recorded at sea level in Hong Kong is 0 degC, in 1893, although in 2016 lower temperatures were recorded on peaks at higher levels (note 110). Thermal insulation is not normally provided to structures.
Ground Floors
Houses were built directly off the ground with neither basement nor raised floor. Originally ground floors would have been compacted earth or lime screed, or walling brick used on the floor, or “Canton Tiles”, the layout of which may be subject to geomantic advice. Such floors have generally been replaced and are now typically described as “cement screeded” in AAB listings, which is assumed to mean a concrete slab on hardcore (note 111).
Notes:
109. Notes on footings derived from Knapp (2000), and personal interviews, Ng (2019) and Ang (2019).
110. Note on temperatures derived from HKCLSO (1966)
111. Notes on ground floors derived from Ho (2002), AAB List (2018), and personal interview, Ng (2019).
Roofs
Demolition reveals construction in this house at Shan Ha Tsuen; the tiled roof sat on rounded purlins at regular centres spanning between party walls of adobe bricks extended through the roof line. Also of note here fired brick cavity walls, screeded floor, and the courtyard with its water sump, blackened wall above the oven, remnants of later corrugated sheet covering (which will have inhibited fresh air flow) and granite plinth facing the lateral lane. Making tiles in a Chinese woodcut illustration.
​
The roofs of Hong Kong vernacular buildings are of grey ceramic tiles on wooden battens on purlins.
Purlins and Rafters
Purlins are cut as circular poles rather than rectangular sections in the West, 100 to 150mm diameter. The core of a tree (heartwood) is surrounded by an outer layer (sapwood). The sapwood is rich in starch, sugars and water, attractive to wood-boring insects in a termite sensitive region, and would be removed to leave a smooth pole section. The purlins are set in to adjacent gable walls. Roof pitch is usually between 20 and 28 degrees. Spanning between the purlins, thin sawn rafters, around 100mm wide by 15mm thick, support the lowest layer of tiles. A decorative eaves board might be provided to the ends of rafters. Internally the roof structure is usually exposed with no over-boarding (note 112).
Not Timber Frame
​
There appear to be no instances in humble walled village buildings of complete timber frame with posts to ground level, or of the elaborate bracket system with decorative tuofeng, this form of structure reserved for the more complex forms of ancestral halls and study halls. With no requirement for large span spaces in the traditional house, or indeed gatehouses and shrines which were also modest structures, and the density of planning increasing fire risk, the use of timber structures is limited. This may also reflect the comparatively low instance of earthquakes in Hong Kong.
​
Species of Wood and Preservative Treatment
​
The usual species of wood used for structural purposes was pine or fir: “roofs of tile laid on pine rafters” (note 113). The local species yielded only small sections of timber, therefore purlins tend to be small section, limited span and closely centred in simple loadbearing structures. This close centring may be due to the equally thin batten sections normally used, or to a desire to restrict burglars climbing in through the roof (note 114). Contemporary practice is to treat carpentry with a chemical process, replacing the use of natural oils (note 115).
​
Termites
​
Termites are present in Hong Kong, feeding on cellulose-based fibres including those present in timber. Their work is rapid, being able to reduce woodwork in blocks of houses to hollow shells in a couple of years, and also capable of eating through plastics pipework and cable in search of food (note 116). The shrine at Wing Lung Wai (Kam Tin) was reroofed in 1959 following a termite infestation (note 117).
​
Roof build-up display at Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre, and a roof at Mai Po Lo Wai in San Tin; dished tiles sit between flat battens spanning downslope, supported on rounded purlins. An upper roll or inverted dished tile weatherproofs the tile joints.
​
Clay Roof Tiles
Roofs might originally have been thatched, but became universally covered with grey clay pantiles. Pantiles were from the same clay source as bricks, made locally by bending a flat slab of clay around a circular former before baking in the sun, splitting and finally firing in a kiln. Just as for bricks, the kiln would be a reducing type to restrict oxygen, producing a green-grey colour. An oxidising kiln meanwhile would be used to produce red pantiles. The tile layout comprised alternating convex and concave columns, n tiles alternating with u tiles. Each column was referred to as a keng wa, which was possibly used as a planning module for the house itself, being 9 to 18 keng wa wide per jian. Even rows would provide a feng shui balance between yin and yang. The two basic types in Hong Kong comprised alternate concave red tiles with a red ‘roll’ tile over the joint, known as a “roll tile roof” or “Guangdong roof”, used by the Punti, and alternate concave tiles with convex tiles, known as a “Hakka roof”. Tiles were laid double thickness for ease of replacement and insulation against heat, using thermal mass and ventilated cavity to create a breathable roof with overheating protection provided by the air gap between tile layers (note 118).
​
Glazed tiles in Hong Kong were rare, as glazing required the expense of a second firing, but with greater prosperity have become more commonplace in more recent times on gatehouse and shrine rebuilds.
​
For feng shui reasons, bamboo nails were used rather than iron nails, fired in sand in a wok over a fire for 30 minutes, so making the tip very hard (note 119).
Tile Ends
​
Eaves tiles and end tiles (wadang) may be simple pots or decorative features. The circular form discharges water efficiently off the roof, a function often celebrated in calligraphic or symbolic decoration of the end disc. Any form of end tile decoration would be a symbol of household wealth and is rarely seen in village architecture (note 120).
​
Occasionally the pantile rows are seen with a cement cylindrical seal known as a “butterfly” end, as at Pan Chung. This is partly a weatherproofing expediency, but could also denote a village of mixed Punti and Hakka clans, or one where a weak Hakka clan wished to be perceived as Punti for defensive reasons – evidence of the comparative clan power relationship, the Punti having higher status and able to afford ‘correct’ construction (note 121).
​
More decorative forms of roof are explained in functional terms: “The half cylinder shaped tiles... are placed from bottom to top... and nails were used to secure the tiles at the bottom to the eave. To keep the rain from getting into these nail holes and rotting the wood structure, it was necessary to put a covering on top of the nail. In the hands of the master carpenter, these coverings were made into small animals” (note 122) This is a local example of ornament consisting of an enrichment of the essential construction, to reference Pugin (note 123). Decorative elements are much less in evidence on the humbler village houses, but are seen on gatehouses, shrines, and nearby temples, study halls and ancestral halls. Knapp (2000) notes “the resourcefulness of potters led to the production of tiles of many shapes and for many uses, unglazed and glazed, gray and coloured.”
​
Eaves roof tiles from L: Roll Tile or Guangdong Roof favoured by Punti, Roll Tile Roof with decorative tile ends, Hakka Roof comprising identical alternating tiles, Hakka Roof with Butterfly Ends.
​
Hakka butterfly tile ends, at Pan Chung and Wang Toi Shan.
A Decorative Kink
Tiles would be laid in rows up to the ridge, where they would be built in to a decorative render capping. Houses would typically have a plain flat ridge, but more decorative schemes appear on gatehouses, shrines, corner towers and halls. Sometimes ridges display a decorative kink at their ends, a form imported from mainland China, a characteristic of many Chinese buildings, and evident on early Han pottery models (note 124). These kinks are categorised by Ma (2001) as:
-
“Swallow tail”, “boat shaped” or “curling end”. This form has been noted as deriving from “applying mud to the ridge ends to make them thicker than elsewhere – most likely for the protection of the wood framework” (note 125). The elevated ends would be made of mortar, painted black with white reliefs.
-
Level ridge with geometric or stylised dragon ends.
-
Level ridge with ceramic figurines.
Further varieties of ridge ornament include kuilong or bogu ends (pierced geometric designs), or dragon-shaped dandion (infil between ridge and hip) (note 126). Hipped roofs were limited to palace construction by sumptuary regulation, which also limited size and decoration of buildings, and prohibited the use of red paint on external doors and windows (note 127).
Swallow tail ridge ends, at Tsang Tai Uk, and Lam Hau Tsuen, the shrine.
​
Notes:
112. Notes on roofs derived from Holmes (2000), Boyd (1962). The characteristic Chinese concave roof slope is not found in the simple architecture of walled villages.
113. Knapp, China’s Vernacular Architecture, p84, quoted in Cody (1997). Holmes (2000) though elaborates this as China Fir, a view confirmed in personal interview, Ang (2019).
114. Notes on purlins derived from Ho (2007); a village house example from Sha Lou Tung is quoted as spanning 4.2m, with 170mm diameter purlins, spaced at 400mm centres.
115. Note on preservative derived from personal interview, Ang (2019), adding that the treatment is ECQ(?).
116. Notes on termites derived from Cheng and Cheung (2014). They additionally note there are 34 species in Hong Kong, the greatest threat to buildings being from Coptotermes formosanus.
117. AAB List (2018)
118. Notes on pantiles derived from Ip (1995), Holmes (2000), and from personal interview, Ng (2019).
119. Notes on nails derived from Holmes (2000); also adding the ancient Chinese belief that wood, fire, earth, metal and water were fundamental elements of matter to be separated.
120. Notes on end tiles derived from Knapp (2000), Knapp (1990)
121. Notes on butterfly ends from personal interview, Ng (2019).
122. Department of Architecture, Tsinghua University, quoted in Ma (2001).
123. The well known phrase is from “True Principles of Pointed or Christian Architecture”, (1841).
124. Notes on roof forms following derived from Knapp (2000), with the various categories of upward sweep found in Fujian and elsewhere elaborated.
125. Chinese Academy of Sciences, quoted in Ma (2001).
126. Examples are given in Ho (2009).
127. Notes on sumptuary laws derived from Boyd (1962).
​
Ornament
Symbolism forms a rich part of Chinese culture, and ornament would be lavished on building detail wherever it could be afforded (note 128).
​
-
Dragons are the key symbol of good fortune. With a phoenix it stands for a good marriage, also represented by a pair of fish, or two flying geese, or magpies entwined on a branch, and by the plants lotus, narcissus and orchid. Unicorns are believed to drive away demons. Bats represent happiness, fish wealth, carp success. Cranes, tortoise and deer represent a long life.
-
The “swallows tail” roof represents the return of swallows to nest in the eaves of the house, an omen of coming success, with perhaps a practical bonus in limiting the local mosquito population.
-
The “dragon fish”, a fish with a dragons head, represents perseverance in overcoming odds. Also symbolised by plums, the first fruit to blossom each year.
-
The vase represents peace, prosperity or immortality, and is often filled with flowers or fruit, located in the middle of a panel. Evergreen trees and rocks represent a long life. Peaches represent spring or students, so are common in study halls.
-
Geometric overlapping rectangles or lattices may be simplifications or abstractions of zoomorphic motifs, and of the endless knot, a symbol of harmony in the universe and the wisdom of Buddha.
-
Auspicious animals, or are common. From the earliest times, birds have formed a rich subject matter for decorative schemes in stylistic or naturalistic form (note 129). A fish shaped gargoyle or water spout is common at the external line of the abutment of a courtyard to the main roof, from which it drains.
-
A mirror and three tridents, or a tiger face and an eight trigrams diagram, might be placed above a doorway to drive away malign spirits and guard the dwelling from misfortune. Such door gods would be attached to doors facing each other. Stone pillars would be inscribed to resist evil spirits.
-
Calligraphy texts expressing sentiments such as “rich and long life”, and “prosperity to all generations”.
-
Mirror as an anti-spectral device.
-
Hanging bamboo sieve to bring many children to the household. Grains of rice for fertility
-
Niche above the stove to Zaojun, the kitchen god. Incence lit daily. The paper image burned just before new year, to report to heaven on the family’s behavior.
-
Slips of red paper with fu (good fortune) character. Vermilion (orange-red) is associated with , life-giving and joy. The character is found on red paper on gates and doors. denotes that five good fortunes have arrived.
​
A fish gargoyle at Ma Tseuk Leng, discharging water from main-to-courtyard roof junction. An 8-trigrams motif inside the gatehouse at Tin Sam Wai.
​
Paintwork would be water or linseed oil based, wearing to a pale hue. Colour also had significant or auspicious meaning (note 130):
-
Flowers fruit and most animals would be painted their realistic colour.
-
Some auspicious animals such as bats would be painted red for good luck. Red being the colour of life and luck was used to protect against ill health and death.
-
The main ridge beam might be painted pink, mimicking the old practice of wrapping it in red paper or cloth at the “topping out” ceremony to celebrate completion of the structure and ensure prosperity for the occupants.
-
Gold leaf would be used where affordable, on a thin gesso base of lime and paint, with a yellow pigment to add a warm hue.
Whilst on the humbler village buildings, decoration would be limited to cornices below the eaves or above doorways, it was a popular expression of ancestral halls and temples, which often have specific dedication. Therefore temples dedicated to the sea god Tin Hau can be found at Sha Kong, Ha Tsuen, where the Tang clan engaged in marine salt production, and at Wing Ping Tsuen, San Tin, where the fishermen of the Man clan lived. Significantly however the iconography of religious shrines and temples is no different to that of other vernacular buildings in the village (note 131).
Notes:
128. Notes on symbols and charms derived from Knapp (1990), Ho (2009). Qingxi (2019) describes decorative patterns applied to brick and tile in great detail.
129. Ref eg British Museum, Bronze you vessel (late Shang dynasty); ref 1936, 1118.4.
130. Notes on colours derived from Holmes (2000), Watson+Watson (2004).
131. Notes on temple iconography derived from Ho (2009).
​