Liu Man Shek Tong Ancestral Hall, 2010.©Antiquities and Monuments Office
At the wall frieze above the main entrance is the “<em>Wuguitu</em>” mural painting, which honours five clan members of the same family, who passed the Imperial Civil Service Examinations. They earned a salary of 2,000 <em>shi</em> each, 10,000 <em>shi</em> in total, leading to the name Liu Man Shek Tong, 2010. ©Antiquities and Monuments Office
Plaque with the inscription “<em>Wen Xue Shi</em>” in the rear hall of Liu Man Shek Tong Ancestral Hall, 2019.©Antiquities and Monuments Office

Liu Man Shek Tong Ancestral Hall, built in the early years of the reign of Yongzheng of Qing dynasty (1723–1735), is the ancestral hall of the Liu clan of Sheung Shui Heung. Annual sacrificial rituals, discussions of village affairs, festivities and celebrations are held in the ancestral hall. In the early twentieth century, modern schools gained popularity. Fung Kai Primary School was housed in Liu Man Shek Tong Ancestral Hall in 1932 to educate young clansmen of Sheung Shui Heung until it was relocated to its new campus in 1974. Sheung Shui Heung was divided into four wards by the four cardinal directions. Apart from the clan ancestral hall, the east and west wards have their own ancestral halls, which were also used as schools. Other study halls in Sheung Shui Heung included Tsap Yin Tong, Shui Ying Tong, Wan Shing Study Hall and Ying Sau Tong. This shows the Liu clan attached great importance to culture and education.

After the establishment of Fung Kai Primary School, Sheung Shui Heung founded Fung Kai Kindergarten, Fung Kai Innovative School, Fung Kai Liu Yun Sum Memorial School, Fung Kai No. 1 Secondary School, Fung Kai No. 2 Secondary School and Fung Kai Liu Man Shek Tong Secondary School, among others. The schools that adopted the “through-train” mode of operation perpetuates the Liu clan's tradition of upholding culture and education. Every year, student representatives and honour guards of the Fung Kai schools attend the grave-sweeping and flower presentation ceremony to carry on the ancestral hall’s spirit of remembering the past and educating clan members.

Liu Man Shek Tong Ancestral Hall is an exemplar of Lingnan traditional architecture, in a three-hall-three-bay layout with two courtyards. Adorning the building are plaster mouldings, wood carvings, stone carvings and mural paintings inspired by traditional auspicious patterns. The wall frieze at the main entrance is decorated with a wuguitu mural painting symbolising five clan members of the same family, i.e. Liu Kong, an early ancestor of the clan, and his four sons who passed the Imperial Civil Service Examinations. They earned a salary of 2,000 shi each, 10,000 shi in total, leading to the name Liu Man Shek Tong (Liu hall of ten thousand shi).

There are more than a dozen title boards in the ancestral hall, including Cheng Jun Qi Jun (elderly scholar in the academy) and Wen Xue Shi (Bachelor of Arts). The former was presented by a Guangdong Provincial Educational Officer named Weng Fang-gang in the Year of Xinmao during the reign of Qianlong of Qing dynasty (1771) to honour an ancestor of the Liu clan who attained the rank of engongsheng (special first-class xiucai) in his seventies. The latter honours Joseph Liu Hing-chai, the first clan member to study at The University of Hong Kong and a renowned astronomer. The International Astronomical Union named an asteroid after him – Asteroid Liu – providing proof that his achievements were on par with those of the xiucai and juren in ancient times.

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