In the history of the New Territories, there are five big families: Deng, Peng, Liao, Hou and Wen(Man), among which the Deng family was most celebrated. The old buildings developed by the Deng family have a history of more than a hundred years.
The Academe of classical learning of the two Kings, Man and Mo at the Kam Tin Shui Tau Village was built in 1821-1850 during Emperor Dao Kuangˇ¦s Reign dedicated to the two gods Man Chueng and Kwan Tai, sponsored by the 16 scholars of the Deng family. Because the front courtyard of the Academe was paved with white stones, thus known as the White Stone Hang and the scholars learning in the Academe won the fame of "White Stone Disciples". There is a bridge known as "Bridge Convenient for the Mother", which was constructed in 1701, the only bridge the "San On Annals" has ever recorded. There is a moving story behind this bridge. When Deng Chuen Yuen, the bridge builder living in the Shui Ta Village saw mother had to wade a small stream when coming to visit her cons and daughters and grand children that very year. He asked the mason to build this bridge for the mother's convenience and named it "Bridge Convenient for the Mother". There is still another academe in the Shui Ta Village known as "Zhou King Er Gong Academe" built in 1682, during Emperor Kang Xi's reign.
The academe was built with grey bricks, red tiles and red eaves. It is said during the early stage of the Qing Dynasty, a policy of "demarcation of Immigration of residents" was implemented, forcing the villagers along the sea coasts to move inland in an attempt to eliminate the anti-Qing activities along the coastal areas. Then the Governor-General of the two provinces Zhou You De and Governor Wang Lai Ren spent no efforts to strive for the abolition of the decree of immigration. To commemorate their benevolence, the villagers built this academe. It is a Bu Bu (divination of Future Study) Academe, which is of historic value.
Having visited the Shui Taw Village, we come to the Chueng Tsuen Yuen of the Kam Tin Pak Wai Village. It was built roughly in 1871, during the years of Tong Zhi's reign. It was used as a school for training military personnel. In the garden, three broadswords weighing 65, 85 and 112 Jin respectively are on display. It is said that these broadswords were used to test military men (Xiu Cai) (one who passed the imperial examination in the Ming and Qing Dynasties). Whoever lifted them were eligible to become military Xiu Cai. It was a place for resisting foreign aggression. A couplet at the entrance which says: As always I mount guard over China forever. The mainland will assume new look when Spring comes represented the determination of the people against the British troops.
There is a century-old banyan tree in the Shui Mei Village close to Pak Wei Village. With the passage of time, the roots have grown wild and the trunks and branches are intermingled with one another. It is said that when certain people saw the strange shape of the tree, they built a stone hut among the branches. Now only two stone props and a piece of wall left, the remnant house have been swallowed by the tree branches, making it look like a house, thus "the Tree House".
The scholar official mansion in the nearly San Tin Shui Pang Village was built in 1865, during Emperor Tong Zhi's reign by Man song Luen of the 21st generation of Man family, typical of the traditional architecture of the gentry class of the South China.
The so-called "Official Mansion" meant the scholar official residence. This senior official mansion is imbued with both Chinese traditional architectural feature and floral relief sculpture and the European Baroque style, in which an imperial edict has been kept intact.
There is an ancestral temple known as the Liao Man Sek Hall in the Shueng Shui Village in the New Territories, built in 1751, during Emperor Qian Long's reign, which is one of the most ancient architectural objects in Hong Kong. The Liao family whose originally home from Fujian, moved to the Shueng Shui area to free from social upheaval. However, this temple was built in the Qing Dynasty in commemoration of Liao Gung, the ancestor of the Liao family. Because Liao Gung and his son assumed high ranking officialdom in the South Song Dynasty, they received approximately ten thousand Shi (converted into present day measurement Jin, one Shi equals to 100 Jin; ten thousand Shi equal roughly to one million Jin) of grain as annual salary. So it was named by later generations Man Sek Temple (one million Jin of grain).
