The shape of the pair matched those traditional flatstaff holders, mostly in front of temples and ancestoral halls over the city.
Villages would eract flatstaffs to commemorate the youngesters\scholars who passed their official academic examinations in flying colours. Among such holders usually the year of the achievement would be engraved together with their placement according to their results. For this particular pair I saw the 同治 era of the Qing Dynasty which last 13 years from 27th April 1958 through 12th January 1875). The actual year could not be read from the photo. The bigger words in the middle also stated the bloke was number 25 from the top. I could not read which examination was concerned though.
Thanks & Best Regards,
T
ps Viewed the photos again and the year seemed to be 同治葵酋. Convert it based on this table it would be 1873 AD.
pps Finally found a photo online showing what are holes for. Some are round, some are square.
Thank you, Mr T! What were the square holes for? Do you have a picture of a complete one? Found it very interesting as they were located in the middle of nowhere.
I guess I missed one of the photos. The other photo showed the lower part which showed 中試第二十五名舉人黃.
黃 is probably the surname of the person to be commemorated.
舉人 is a title for those who passed in excellence in local examination or a county or district. To really explain the system you need a Chinese History teacher as the definition of 舉人 differ over the Dynasties.
This Master Wong ranked 25th in that exam and was believed to be among the local elite. On the other hand, there might be an Ancestral Hall or temple in ruin in the location.
There are two of these in the Hung Sing Temple in Apleichau. However the holders are not clearly visible as over the years the administrators of the temple had pour concrete around the stones. If you were there a few months ago while they were replacing the flatstaffs you might be able to see the original holders in full.
The depressions are likely for inserting wooden blocks to hold or tide down the flat staff.
As far as I could recall the Hau Wong Temple in Tung Chung seem to have at least one flagstaff mounted in a pair of these. I may have some photos of the temple but have to dig it out somewhere in one of my hard disks.
I went pass the Hau Wong Temple in Tung Chung yesterday. There were two flagstaffs there. However they were not using the traditional way to fasten it up. On the other hand, the flagstaffs there were very thin.
Hi, sorry for the late response. Have you guys by any chance know the directions to reach this place. I am just going there to restore the original site.( eg. clearing some bushes and just sketching what the original place looked like.
This site is located next to the main stream that comes down from Violet Hill into the Wong Nei Chung Reservoir. The stones probably are not visible if you are walking up the stream bed so look out for a flattish area on your left 30 to 80 metres up the stream,
I'm sorry to press you further, but I ain't really familiar with the location around WNC reservoir, so I really have no clue on how to reach the stream. Is there a ribbon trail from the reservoir itself leading to the stream or do I have to bushwhack through the jungle.
The stream is a bit difficult to access I have been up and down it several times over the years and never seen evidence of others so doubt that there is a ribbon trail leading to it.
I have accessed this stream by two routes, the last time I came down from the top of Mt Violet but if you are not familiar with the area you might struggle to find that path, The first time I bushed whacked it in starting from the otherside of the dam walking parallel to the water ( 5m from waterline). If you go past the entrance to a Japanese tunnel then you are heading in the right direction.
The easiest way to get there is to hire one of those little paddle boats that they hire out at the reservoir, you would be there in two minutes!
Comments
Re: Traditional Flatstaff holders
Hi there,
The shape of the pair matched those traditional flatstaff holders, mostly in front of temples and ancestoral halls over the city.
Villages would eract flatstaffs to commemorate the youngesters\scholars who passed their official academic examinations in flying colours. Among such holders usually the year of the achievement would be engraved together with their placement according to their results. For this particular pair I saw the 同治 era of the Qing Dynasty which last 13 years from 27th April 1958 through 12th January 1875). The actual year could not be read from the photo. The bigger words in the middle also stated the bloke was number 25 from the top. I could not read which examination was concerned though.
Thanks & Best Regards,
T
ps Viewed the photos again and the year seemed to be 同治葵酋. Convert it based on this table it would be 1873 AD.
pps Finally found a photo online showing what are holes for. Some are round, some are square.
Flagstaff
Bob, that's an unusual find, thanks for posting. And thanks to Thomas for the explanation - I had no ideas what these might be.
Here are the other photos Bob posted of the granite slabs:
Thank you, Mr T! What were
Thank you, Mr T! What were the square holes for? Do you have a picture of a complete one? Found it very interesting as they were located in the middle of nowhere.
Re: Flagstaff holders
Hi there,
I guess I missed one of the photos. The other photo showed the lower part which showed 中試第二十五名舉人黃.
黃 is probably the surname of the person to be commemorated.
舉人 is a title for those who passed in excellence in local examination or a county or district. To really explain the system you need a Chinese History teacher as the definition of 舉人 differ over the Dynasties.
This Master Wong ranked 25th in that exam and was believed to be among the local elite. On the other hand, there might be an Ancestral Hall or temple in ruin in the location.
T
Re: Flagstaff holders completed with flagstaff
Hi Bob,
There are two of these in the Hung Sing Temple in Apleichau. However the holders are not clearly visible as over the years the administrators of the temple had pour concrete around the stones. If you were there a few months ago while they were replacing the flatstaffs you might be able to see the original holders in full.
The depressions are likely for inserting wooden blocks to hold or tide down the flat staff.
As far as I could recall the Hau Wong Temple in Tung Chung seem to have at least one flagstaff mounted in a pair of these. I may have some photos of the temple but have to dig it out somewhere in one of my hard disks.
T
Re: Flagstaff Holders
Hi there,
I went pass the Hau Wong Temple in Tung Chung yesterday. There were two flagstaffs there. However they were not using the traditional way to fasten it up. On the other hand, the flagstaffs there were very thin.
T
hello
hello where is these ruins?
Ruins
Hi, sorry for the late response. Have you guys by any chance know the directions to reach this place. I am just going there to restore the original site.( eg. clearing some bushes and just sketching what the original place looked like.
Two upright columns
Hi Lewis,
This site is located next to the main stream that comes down from Violet Hill into the Wong Nei Chung Reservoir. The stones probably are not visible if you are walking up the stream bed so look out for a flattish area on your left 30 to 80 metres up the stream,
Good luck and watch out for wasps!
Bob
Two upright columns
Hi Bob
I'm sorry to press you further, but I ain't really familiar with the location around WNC reservoir, so I really have no clue on how to reach the stream. Is there a ribbon trail from the reservoir itself leading to the stream or do I have to bushwhack through the jungle.
Thanks
Lewis
two columns
Hi Lewis,
The stream is a bit difficult to access I have been up and down it several times over the years and never seen evidence of others so doubt that there is a ribbon trail leading to it.
I have accessed this stream by two routes, the last time I came down from the top of Mt Violet but if you are not familiar with the area you might struggle to find that path, The first time I bushed whacked it in starting from the otherside of the dam walking parallel to the water ( 5m from waterline). If you go past the entrance to a Japanese tunnel then you are heading in the right direction.
The easiest way to get there is to hire one of those little paddle boats that they hire out at the reservoir, you would be there in two minutes!
Bob