Nor Fu, Siu Kong, Sum Cheng (+ Maps of Toishan)
Mar 11, 2017 21:03:28 GMT -5
Post by jasonwu on Mar 11, 2017 21:03:28 GMT -5
Calling all 鄉里/heung lee's from 深井鎮/Shenjingzhen Township (formerly the three heung's of Nor Fu, Siu Kong, and Sum Cheng)...
This post may just be me talking to myself, as my region is the most remote area in all of Hoisan, thus, discouraging my people from traveling to the Americas and, consequently, decreasing the odds of finding Shenjing bananas on this site.
GEOGRAPHY
那扶/Nor Fu/Nafu - (villages) meaning "beside the rice fields" due to the flat farmlands to the southeast of this town; the north heung
小江/Siu Kong/Xiaojiang - (villages) meaning "little river" due to the rivers that run adjacent to this town; the middle heung
深井/Sum Cheng/Shenjing - (villages) meaning "deep well" due to the deep coal mines around this town; the southeast heung
Unlike most heungs in Hoisan and Hoiping, no single clan dominates my native region. This means that we value our maternal clans just as much as our paternal lineages; we have a township of "cousins" as opposed to a township of "brothers and sisters". Hopefully, I will be able to attract a few "cousins" to this thread to share our genealogical and historical findings.
I will start by sharing some maps of the region that I stitched together and annotated from historical record books:
清雍正八年《七省沿海圖》廣東省沿海圖
1730 Coastal Maps of the Seven Provinces (Map of the Guangdong Province)
清嘉慶十七年《廣東通省水道圖》四邑圖
1812 Map of the Guangdong Waterways (Map of Four Counties)
清道光十九年《新寧縣志》海晏都圖
1839 Edition of the Sunning County Chorography (Map of the Haiyan Region)
清光緒十九年《新寧縣志》縣西境圖
1893 Edition of the Sunning County Chorography (Map of the West County)
清宣統元年《新甯鄉土地理》新甯縣圖
1908 Edition of the Sunning County Geography (Map of the Sunning County)
FORTIFICATIONS
During the Qing Dynasty, the region was especially prone to outlaw and pirate attacks due to its mountainous and coastal location at the boundaries of 台山/Hoisan/Taishan, 開平/Hoiping/Kaiping, and 恩平/Yanping/Enping. According to old legends, the pirate 張保仔/Cheung Po Tsai hid his treasures at 將軍山/Jiangjunshan/General's Mountain in southern Nor Fu. Additionally, the region was the origin of the 土客械鬥/Punti-Hakka Clan Wars (link) in Toishan. In 1855, Hakka militia burned and robbed 29 villages in Nor Fu. Thereafter, dozens of battles occurred up until 1863, some resulting in casualties of as many as 4000 people. For security reasons, several military fortifications were places along 鎮海灣/Zhenhai Bay. In our region, there were:
COMMERCE
Although its location meant that it was prone to unrest, it also allowed the three heungs to become an excelling area of commerce for the three counties. For example, during the Second World War, the remoteness of Nor Fu allowed it to be described as "山鄉成鬧市，亂世小廣州/A mountain township turned into a busy market, a miniature Canton during a time of turmoil." (link) In just three heungs, there were 9 markets:
ATTRACTIONS
Due to the relatively low population density, many landmarks in the tri-heung region are nature-related:
Looking forward to seeing what comes out of this thread!
-Jason
This post may just be me talking to myself, as my region is the most remote area in all of Hoisan, thus, discouraging my people from traveling to the Americas and, consequently, decreasing the odds of finding Shenjing bananas on this site.
GEOGRAPHY
那扶/Nor Fu/Nafu - (villages) meaning "beside the rice fields" due to the flat farmlands to the southeast of this town; the north heung
小江/Siu Kong/Xiaojiang - (villages) meaning "little river" due to the rivers that run adjacent to this town; the middle heung
深井/Sum Cheng/Shenjing - (villages) meaning "deep well" due to the deep coal mines around this town; the southeast heung
Unlike most heungs in Hoisan and Hoiping, no single clan dominates my native region. This means that we value our maternal clans just as much as our paternal lineages; we have a township of "cousins" as opposed to a township of "brothers and sisters". Hopefully, I will be able to attract a few "cousins" to this thread to share our genealogical and historical findings.
I will start by sharing some maps of the region that I stitched together and annotated from historical record books:
清雍正八年《七省沿海圖》廣東省沿海圖
1730 Coastal Maps of the Seven Provinces (Map of the Guangdong Province)
清嘉慶十七年《廣東通省水道圖》四邑圖
1812 Map of the Guangdong Waterways (Map of Four Counties)
清道光十九年《新寧縣志》海晏都圖
1839 Edition of the Sunning County Chorography (Map of the Haiyan Region)
清光緒十九年《新寧縣志》縣西境圖
1893 Edition of the Sunning County Chorography (Map of the West County)
清宣統元年《新甯鄉土地理》新甯縣圖
1908 Edition of the Sunning County Geography (Map of the Sunning County)
FORTIFICATIONS
During the Qing Dynasty, the region was especially prone to outlaw and pirate attacks due to its mountainous and coastal location at the boundaries of 台山/Hoisan/Taishan, 開平/Hoiping/Kaiping, and 恩平/Yanping/Enping. According to old legends, the pirate 張保仔/Cheung Po Tsai hid his treasures at 將軍山/Jiangjunshan/General's Mountain in southern Nor Fu. Additionally, the region was the origin of the 土客械鬥/Punti-Hakka Clan Wars (link) in Toishan. In 1855, Hakka militia burned and robbed 29 villages in Nor Fu. Thereafter, dozens of battles occurred up until 1863, some resulting in casualties of as many as 4000 people. For security reasons, several military fortifications were places along 鎮海灣/Zhenhai Bay. In our region, there were:
- 那扶營/Nor Fu Barracks - (north of Nafu Town) complete with a rammed earth wall measuring 122 丈/407 metres/445 yards in circumference, 1 丈/3 metres/11 feet in height, and 4 尺/133 centimetres/4 feet in thickness; 1 守備/garrison officer; 1 千總/chiliarch; 1 把總/officer; 5 外委/external officers; 246 armed forces (12 cavalry, 31 infantry, 203 guards)
- 船汛/Ship Garrison - (in Nafu Town) 8 guards and 1 sampan
- 泗門汛/Sze Moon Garrison - (in Simen Village) 2 guards
- 旁鶴汛/Pong Hok Garrison - (in Shenjing Town) 2 guards
- 康華汛/Hong Wah Garrison - (in Kanghua Village）
COMMERCE
Although its location meant that it was prone to unrest, it also allowed the three heungs to become an excelling area of commerce for the three counties. For example, during the Second World War, the remoteness of Nor Fu allowed it to be described as "山鄉成鬧市，亂世小廣州/A mountain township turned into a busy market, a miniature Canton during a time of turmoil." (link) In just three heungs, there were 9 markets:
- 那扶墟/Nor Fu Market - (now the sourthern old market of Nafu Town) open on 4, 7, 10 days
- 黃竹墟/Wong Juk Market - (now the northern old market of Nafu Town)
- 沙包墟/Sa Bou Market - (now the new market of Nafu Town)
- 泥橋墟/Nai Kiu Market - (now Niqiao Village)
- 深井墟/Sum Cheng Market - (now Shenjing Town) open on 3, 8 days
- 小江墟/Siu Kong Market - (now Xiaojiang Village) open on 5, 10 days
- 大門墟/Dai Moon Market - (now Damen Village) open on 2, 7 days
- 獺山墟/Tat Shan Market - (now Tashan Village) open on 1, 6 days
- 聯和墟/Luen Wo Market - (now Lianhe Village)
ATTRACTIONS
Due to the relatively low population density, many landmarks in the tri-heung region are nature-related:
- 撒水鳴琴/Sprinkling Water, Singing Zither - (link) one of the Ming Dynasty 新寧八景/Eight Landmarks of the Sunning; located in Limao Mountain
- 丹竹水磨/Danzhu Mill - (no longer exists) located at the Danzhu Reservior dammed at the origin of the Nor Fu River
- 深井紅樹林/Sum Cheng Mangrove - (link) located in Sum Cheng Heung
- 醴泉/Sweet Wine Spring - (no longer exists) a natural drinking spring created by a sinkhole during the Qing Dynasty
However, there are also many man-made landmarks in the area:
- 深井碉樓/Sum Cheng Tower - (link) 1908 watch tower located in Sum Cheng Market
- 深井碉樓/Sum Cheng Tower - (link) 1920 watch tower located in Sum Cheng Market
- 泮湖碉樓/Pun Wu Tower - (link) 1918 watch tower located in Panhu Village, Sum Cheng Heung
- 怡勝碉樓/Yee Sing Tower - (link) 1921 watch tower built by "Golden Mountain Lai" of the Yau clan of Yueshan Village, an early Chinese-American pioneer, located in Nor Fu Market
- 月山碉樓/Ngeet Shan Tower - (link) 1918 watch tower built by the Yau clan located in Yueshan Village
- 碧崙司徒公祠/Bik Lun Ancestral Hall of the Szeto Clan - (link) ancestral hall located in Longgang Village, Nor Fu Heung
- 關聖帝廟/Guan Gong Temple - (no longer exists) temple once located where the Nor Fu Middle School now stands, hosted an annual 搶花炮 on the 16th day of the first lunar month
- 分界石/Boundary Stone - (no longer exists) a marker for the Hoisan/Hoiping border at the bottom of General's Mountain, Nor Fu Heung
Looking forward to seeing what comes out of this thread!
-Jason
