King Law Ka Shuk, in Tai Po Tau Tsuen, is the ancestral hall of the Tang clan of Tai Po Tau, which was once used as a study hall. It is an exemplar of Lingnan traditional architecture in a three-hall-three-bay layout with two courtyards. The exact year of construction is not known, but the ancestral hall is believed to have been built by Tang Yuen-wan, Tang Mui-kai and Tang Nim-fung, the thirteenth generation ancestors of the Tang clan in Ming dynasty to honour Tang King-law, their tenth generation ancestor.

The Tang clan of Tai Po Tau attached great importance to the education of young clansmen. In the early years, King Law Ka Shuk was used as a Bok Bok Chai study hall, where teachers were hired by the village gentry to teach the pupils in the private study hall. The cockloft of King Law Ka Shuk once served as a dormitory for the teachers and single students. According to clan elders, the teachers were hired from the Mainland. For instance, in the early twentieth century, a teacher named Zheng Guang-zhou, from Shangbu, Shenzhen, taught at the study hall. During its heyday, some 40 young clansmen studied in King Law Ka Shuk.

In the mid to late 1930s, King Law Ka Shuk was used by Tai Po Tau Tsuen as the premises of the newly established Kai Chi School until the completion of its permanent campus in 1954. Apart from the young clansmen, the school accepted also girls in the clan and children of close relatives.

According to clan elders, the plaque with the inscription “Lau Kwong Tong” in King Law Ka Shuk was written by Hu Han-min, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs and President of the Legislative Yuan of the National Government of the Republic of China. The plaque at the main entrance with the inscription “King Law Ka Shuk” was written by the renowned calligrapher Tang Yi-nga. His father, Tang Yung-kang, passed the Imperial Civil Service Examinations as jinshi in the tenth year of the Tongzhi reign of Qing dynasty (1871) and was named Hanlin Yuan Shujishi (scholar of the Hanlin Academy). Plaques inscribed with his academic achievements can still be found in several historic buildings of the Tang clan. Tang Yi-nga studied in Japan in his early years. In 1907, he returned to Guangzhou to teach the arts in various schools, and studied inscriptions, calligraphy and seal carving. In the early Republican Era, Tang moved to Hong Kong and built Luk Yee Yuen in Tai Po. He inadvertently wrote the inscription for King Law Ka Shuk, indicating that the Tang clan of Tai Po Tau Tsuen was closely connected with renowned scholars and had high esteem for traditional Chinese art and culture.

Opening Hours:
Monday and Wednesday to Sunday: 9am - 1pm and 2pm - 5pm
Closed on Tuesdays (except public holidays), Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year's Day and the first three days of Chinese New Year

Address:
Tai Po Tau Tsuen, Tai Po, New Territories.

Enquiry Hotline:
(852) 2208 4488