The Custom of Hek Shan Tou Observed by Tang Clan at Autumn Memorial Ceremony

The 5th Day of the 9th Month of the Lunar Calendar

It was in the 9th Lunar Month when New Territories villagers held ceremonies to honor their ancestors. On each day of the month, there were villagers gathering to hold the memorial ceremony around the graves on hillside. The ceremony carried out by the Tang Clan of Ping Shan area on the 5th day of the 9th lunar month was quite distinctive. They set stoves to cook and had meals in an open area, the so called ‘Hek Shan Tou’.

As time changes, most clans had abandoned the custom to save the trouble and the risk of causing a forest fire. They may now eat cooked food prepared beforehand or dine at restaurants afterwards. Some clans chose to cook in the ancestral halls so that their people could take the food away and ate it at home. All these changes had led to the gradual disappearance of the ‘Hek Shan Tou’ practice.

The Tang Clan of Hang Mei Tsuen in Ping Shan

Wai Sun Tong of the Tang Clan of Hang Mei Tsuen in Ping Shan one of the clans that still observe the Hek Shan Tou custom today. On the fifth day prior to the Qing Ming Festival and the fifth day prior to the Chung Yeung Festival (i.e. the 9th day of the 9th lunar month), they visited Lung Kwu Tan in Tuen Mun to honor Tang Yuek Hau, the 18th ancestor of the Tang Clan born in 1708. Yuek Hau Study Hall is a property of the clan.

Sacrificing Live Pigs at the Ceremony

Before the memorial ceremony took place, Wai Sun Tong selected some people to prepare food for the ceremony by bidding. The bid winners together with female workers, a total of four persons, set off from Ping Shan early in the morning, carrying stoves, cookware, three live pigs (weighing 125 kilograms) and other food with them. When they arrived at Lung Kwu Tan, one of the three live pigs was placed in front of the grave of ancestor Tang Yeuk Hau and a person on behalf of Wai Sun Tong carried out a simple memorial ceremony and burnt the joss paper.

Cooking in the Fields

At the same time, other people built two stoves with small rocks at a lychee garden nearby. They made the fire in a traditional way by burning firewood. Then, the live pig that had been presented in the previous ritual would be killed, cut into pieces and cooked in a big pot. Bean curd stick, shrimps, squids and rice were cooked as well. As the food needed to be cooked separately given its large amount, it took as long as two and a half hours to finish the entire process.

Filling the Food Container

Depending on the number of participants, they placed about forty poons (literally, basins) on the ground. Then, they put four different foods in layers in the basins - bean curd stick and shrimps first, then squids and pork at last, a process called Ta Poon (filling the food containers). After that, according to the names already put down in pre-registration, all families got their own Poon Choi (food contained in poons) and sat under the trees to enjoy it. It giave people a feeling of having picnic.

The Reason for Preserving the Custom

What is the reason for the people of Wai Sun Tong of Tang Clan in Ping Shan to keep ‘Hek Shan Tou’ this old custom while other clans have all abandoned it? According to a member of the clan, this has something to do with Feng Shui. As the grave of their ancestor is located in “The Tiger Head”, a place considered having a “fierce force”, it is a must to sacrifice live pigs to the tiger to ensure the safety of later generations. Because of this, people of the clan can use neither cooked food nor food other than those four used for the ceremony. The preservation of this custom shows how people in the past carried out the memorial ceremony.