Ping Shan Tsui Sing Lau

　　Tsui Sing Lau, also known as Kuixing Tower or Wenchang Pavilion, is locally called the Literati Tower. It is located to the north of Sheung Cheung Wai in Ping Shan, Yuen Long, New Territories, Hong Kong. Originally constructed as a feng shui tower for the Tang clan—one of the Five Great Clans of the New Territories—the structure is the only surviving ancient pagoda in Hong Kong, boasting a history of over 600 years. The nearby light rail station is just a few dozen meters from the ancient tower. The site where Tsui Sing Lau stands was originally a river mouth facing Deep Bay. The pagoda was built to “ward off the northern calamity and suppress flooding,” and when aligned with the feng shui of Castle Peak, it was also believed to help clan members achieve academic success and pass imperial examinations.

　　Originally seven stories high, the upper four floors were destroyed in a storm, leaving only the current three. The hexagonal Tsui Sing Lau stands on a low platform, primarily built with blue bricks and granite. The three-story pagoda is about 13 meters tall, with the top floor enshrining Kuixing, the deity governing literary fortune and academic success. Each level of the pagoda bears auspicious inscriptions. From the top down, they read “Ling Han” (Soaring Above the Milky Way), “Tsui Sing Lau,” and “Guang She Dou Yuan” (Light Piercing the Dipper’s Wall).

　　According to Tang clan elders, when the village was first established, a feng shui master pointed out that its location, surrounded by mountains and water, would ensure the clan’s prosperity for millennia. However, there were two flaws: First, Castle Peak was tall and sharp, representing excessive fire, which needed to be balanced with more water; second, a gap in the northwest allowed the “northern calamity” to harm the villagers. In the future, when Tang clan members became scholar-officials, there would be a way to counteract the calamity—but what that meant exactly, the master cryptically replied, “Heaven’s secrets cannot be fully revealed.”

　　In the 15th year of the Hongwu reign during the Ming Dynasty (1382), Deng Yan-tung, the seventh-generation ancestor of the Ping Shan Tang clan and the magistrate of Ningguo Prefecture, had a dream on the night of his inauguration. He dreamed of a brilliant starry sky over the northwest corner of his ancestral village, but suddenly, the stars fell and gathered at the river mouth to the northwest. Startled awake, Deng recalled the words of the feng shui master from the village’s founding. Reflecting on his lineage—seven generations with only 12 male descendants, four of whom died young—he grew uneasy and hired a feng shui expert for advice. The master said, “The founder of your village indeed possessed remarkable knowledge. When you ascended the hall, the stars gathered, signaling the need to build a tower to gather their energy. By harnessing the power of the stars, you will have the might to subdue the northern calamity. But having a writing brush without someone skilled to wield it is futile!” Deng had an epiphany and built a seven-story pagoda (akin to a Buddhist stupa), enshrining deities of literature and martial valor to ward off disaster and suppress flooding. Indeed, over the next seven generations after Deng Yan-tung, 22 male descendants thrived—10 of them founded their own walled villages, several became longevity officials, two built ancestral halls, and some lived to over 80 or 90 years old. The Tang clan in Ping Shan grew to over 1,500 males. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the clan produced many talented individuals who excelled in imperial examinations, with countless scholars and officials. The clan believed this was due to the blessing of the God of Literature enshrined in the tower, hence they also called it the “Literati Tower.”

　　Transportation Guide

　　Location: Ping Ha Road, Ping Shan, Yuen Long District, Hong Kong

　　Getting There: Take Citybus routes 969B, 969, N969; KMB routes 264M, 265S, 269B, 269C, 269D, 276A, 69M, 69X, 869, N269; or Long Win Bus route E34.