The Jingluo Family School

The Jingluo Family School

The Jingluo Family School is located in Tai Po Tau Village, New Territories, Hong Kong. It serves as both the ancestral hall and family school of the Tang Clan in the village. On July 21, 1998, it was declared a statutory monument. Legend has it that the Jingluo Family School was built during the Ming Dynasty by the 13th-generation members of the Tang Clan — Xuan Yun, Mei Xi, and Nian Feng — to commemorate their 10th-generation ancestor, Jingluo Gong, who is honored as the founding patriarch of the Liuguang Hall of the Tang Clan in Tai Po Tau. The Jingluo Family School was originally used as a family school where education was conducted using the traditional “Bubu Zhai” method, with up to 40 students attending at one time. Aside from functioning as a classroom, it also served as a place for clan meetings and holiday celebrations. The building was once converted into the campus of “Qizhi School,” and after the school relocated in 1953, it returned to its original use as an ancestral hall.

The Jingluo Family School is a traditional three-courtyard, two-hall structure. On either side of the front entrance are drum platforms, each supported by two granite pillars that hold up the roof. The stone plaque above the main gate, inscribed with the characters “Jingluo Family School,” was handwritten by the renowned epigrapher Deng Erya (1884–1954). The roof ridges and gable walls are adorned with geometric patterns, while the eaves are decorated with exquisite plaster carvings featuring floral designs. In the central hall, there is an exquisitely carved shrine that was custom-made in Guangzhou in 1932. The shrine has six tiers, each housing the spirit tablets of ancestors ranging from Yuanliang Gong to Jingluo Gong. The three characters “Liuguang Hall” in the central hall were written by the revolutionary Hu Hanmin.

King Law Ka Shuk

Why Go: One of the oldest private school buildings in Tai Po, Hong Kong