Tat Tak Communal Hall

The Tat Tak Communal Hall is the only surviving purpose-built communal hall in Hong Kong which served as both an assembly-cum-worshipping place for a joint village alliance, and a management office of a market place.

The establishment of Tat Tak Communal Hall in Ping Shan, Yuen Long was initiated by Tang Fan-yau (1812-1874), a member of the local gentry. The Communal Hall was completed in the seventh year of the Xianfeng reign (1857) of the Qing dynasty as an assembly place for the members of the Tat Tak Alliance, as well as the management office of Ping Shan Market. The Tat Tak Communal Hall is believed to be one of the meeting places at which the armed resistant against the British takeover of the New Territories in 1899 was organised.

As a venue for meeting, the Tat Tak Communal Hall was built with simple but functional design. The communal hall was originally a two-hall and three-bay structure. The Hall of Lonesome Consolation was added on the left side and the Hall of Bravery on the right side in the 5th year of the Tongzhi reign (1866). The building is mainly constructed of grey bricks with pitched roofs and granite blocks as lower course. Modern architectural elements in the communal hall, such as reinforced concrete structures on top of the grey-brick walls, are believed to have been added during later renovations carried out in the 20th century.

Tat Tak Communal Hall was declared a monument in 2013.