Seven Star Family Residence and Urban Redevelopment

Seven Star Family Residence (七星世居) is hidden among dilapidated buildings which will be soon torn down for the urban redevelopment program. Apartments built by the locals for rent will be cleared out. Striking red banners hung on the empty buildings urge the remaining house owners to sign the housing demolition contract immediately. A poster pasted on the wall states that the new regulation has been approved by the Standing Committee of the Shenzhen Municipal People's Congress. There the district government is entitled to requisition houses that do not sign the contract, on the condition that more than 95% of house owners sign the contract. 

Thereafter, the region will be transformed into a commercial neighborhood. However, Seven Star Family Residence will be preserved to respect its history (Chen, 2016). Obviously, the contract rate has not yet reached 95%, still, a few people live around. 

The residence was announced as an unmovable cultural relic of Longgang District in 2012. It was established around 1800. The exact year is uncertain on the grounds that, unlike other residences, there is no year carved with the name of the Seven Star Family Residence on the top of the entrance. 

The residence was created by Wu Rongguo (巫榮國), son of Wu Yanyi (巫廷異). Rongguo and his brother Wu Xinguo (巫新國)Xinguo moved from the current Longxi Sub-district to Zhutoubei Village (竹頭背村).  Xingguo built another residence just next to Ronguo’s Seven Star Family Residence. I do not know the official name of Xinguo’s family residence, because there is only the name of the gate “Liang Xun Men”(涼勳門).  A striking feature of both gates is that they are concave to the wall, rather than flat. 

Tan Gong Temple in Shenzhen

Tan Gong's statue/Yongbin

Tan Gong Temple was located in Kuichong Subdistrict, Dapeng New District, east of Shenzhen. He was worshiped along with the Buddhist divinity Guanyin (The One Who Perceives the Sounds of the World or Avalokiteśvara/in Sanskrit: अवलोकितेश्वर), to the left, and the Taoist divinity Taishang Laojun (The Supreme Venerable Sovereign), to the right.

Tan Gong Temple/Yongbin

Tan is his surname, and Gong is the honorific title, therefore, Tan Gong literally means Lord Tan. This temple was rebuilt in 2007. 

From the statue of Tan Gong in his temple, we can see that he has an image as a child. According to folk legends, he was born in Huizhou Prefecture and became immortal in heaven at the age of thirteen in Nine-dragon Mountain.  He cures patients, forecasts the weather and protects sailors in the sea. 

The existing record regarding Tan Gong was found as early as in Guangdong tongzhi chugao (廣東通志初稿), during the Emperor Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty (1521-1567), stating that his name was Tan Gongdao. Influenced by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, another Hakka Zhai Huogu(翟火姑) led the rebellion against the Qing Dynasty in Huizhou in 1854. He was also a member of the Triad, one of the major secret societies in ancient China. Eventually, the rebellion was suppressed by the government. Three local deities were recognized by the central government for their assistance in the battle against Zhai Huogu’s troops. Tan Gong was honored with the title Xiang Ji(襄濟). 

The recognition of the state boosted the belief of Tan Gong, spreading from Huizhou to Hong Kong, Macau and Malaysia along with the Hakka diaspora. 

饶宗颐先祖的商业网络和世界视野 Global Vision and Business Network of Jao Tsung-I's Ancestors

读书杂志是我从大学时代就开始喜欢看的，与自己对人文历史的兴趣比较契合。读到吴小安教授写的一篇《特殊的年代、特别的地方和特别的学人》，讲的就是熟悉的饶宗颐先生。熟悉并不是说我认识饶宗颐先生，只是因为同样是潮州人。他不仅仅是香港的文化符号，也是潮州的文化符号。

高中时代的三年，每天都徜徉在山顶的选堂书廊，那里有着饶先生各种字体的十八方书作。后来，潮州市在古城建立了饶宗颐学术馆，展出饶先生在各个学科领域的成就：敦煌学、甲骨学、词学、史学、目录学、楚辞学、考古学、中印关系史、西亚史、潮学……饶先生对改革开放后忙着做生意的潮州人来说，是一个巨大的激励。潮州人能选择很多人生道路，不仅能成为李嘉诚，也能成为饶宗颐。

潮州人实际上早已经不不仅仅广东省东部的潮州人或者潮汕人，而是离散在世界各地的一个族群。正如饶宗颐先生，在1949年之后，移居香港，学术足迹遍布全球各地。1962年新加坡建国之后，他旋即于次年被聘请到新加坡大学任教，参与到新加坡华人族群文化构建的历史进程中，这也是文中推荐的《上座传经事已微——饶宗颐新加坡大学执教考》所细致考察的。

饶宗颐先生的学术生涯看起来像是偶然，但似乎也是一种必然，这与1949年前潮州与南洋千丝万缕的联系是分不开的。我希望增补的另外一本书是饶先生父亲饶锷修的《潮安饶氏族谱》。饶锷不仅仅是金融家，也是一位修养极高的文人，甚至被称为“潮学研究的先行者和奠基人”。饶宗颐正是在这样的书香门第中耳濡目染成长起来的。潮州的饶氏是18世纪饶仕保从嘉应，也就是现在的梅州的松口镇迁移到潮州来的。先住在城东，后又移居城内。饶仕保的儿子饶显科在城里做起了生意，先后开了“源发”染坊和“顺发”豆店。

到了19世纪后期，饶氏已经成为潮州知名的富商大贾，他们眼里就不只是小小的潮州府了。他们带着雄厚的资本，整合潮州、梅州以及东南亚华人网络，在金融业取得成功，网点包括第二次鸦片战争后开埠的汕头，客家人下南洋第一站的松口，并且延伸至印尼雅加达、日惹、望加锡。致富的同时，家族积极获取政治和社会地位。饶宗颐先生的曾祖父饶良洵修建了祠堂，捐官封爵；祖父饶兴桐于1914年当选潮州府商会总理；父亲饶锷在1924年当选为潮安县商会公断处长。

拥有雄厚资本的饶家并不要求族人一定要走科举的“独木桥”。潮州位于帝国南疆边陲，在历史上科举成绩也并不突出，官场上更无势力，只出过一位状元林大钦。他在京城为官两年，无法适应官场，就辞官回家了。1545年，最终年仅34岁就病逝了。与此同时，世界已经进入大航海时代，荷兰人、葡萄牙人、西班牙人、法国人、英国人纷纷在东南亚占领港口城市、建立贸易据点，大规模的跨国贸易开始出现。中国的南疆边陲靠近东南亚，在贸易时代潮州的位置就变成了优势。

潮州人出海贸易，掀起了第一次移民潮，就连朝廷的海禁政策也无法阻挡。第二次鸦片战争后汕头开埠，又掀起了第二次移民潮。潮州已经深深卷入世界贸易体系之中。潮州人、华人在世界上许多地方已经站稳脚跟，甚至诞生了新加坡这样以华人为主体、包容多元文化的全新国家。所以，饶氏的先祖早已明白商业的重要性，通过构建跨区域、跨国界的贸易网络，与在中央集权下僵化的官场中谋取地位相比，有更多的可能性，且更加自由、安全。

做生意也离不开教育。接受更高的教育，提高修养，更能够适应多变的世界。饶氏在祠堂边开设书塾，同时又建了粤东最大的藏书楼天啸楼，藏书数以万计。饶家为子孙提供教育，考不考科举不重要，强调在读书后要学习一技之长。至民国，为能考上大学的族人提供学费补贴，让他们专心学习。饶宗颐先生的几位叔伯也都是潮州知名的学者和收藏家。在这样的时代背景和家庭环境下长大的饶宗颐，从小就拥有深厚的人文修养，以及辽阔的世界视野，也在情理之中。

在先人世界性的商业网络的基础上，饶宗颐在1949年之后移居香港，开启了自己世界性的学术网络。如若当年留在大陆，恐怕在49年后的历次政治运动中，饶先生也难以幸存，即便幸存，也将和其他大陆的知识分子一样，切断与世界的连结，中断学术研究。大陆的学术在改革开放后才重启与世界的连结。近年来不仅引进国外汉学家对中国、对华人的研究，大陆的学者也开始走进海外的田野，进行海外华人的研究。

诚如人类学家项飙所说，流动是对人发展抽象而又实证的理论化能力的一个很重要的推进。在读书杂志中，我们也能看到各种有着更广阔视野的文章。尤其是在当代交通便利、网络发达的年代，在全世界流动，接受不同文化的洗礼和碰撞，不管是商业、学术，还是对自己的人生，都大有裨益。在身体上、精神上身处充满可能性的更大的世界，我们也不会再纠结是要“内卷”，还是“躺平”了。

Huilong Family Residence and Its Renovation

Coffee with Hakka tofu (Yongbin)

Huilong Family Residence (迴龍世居) is undergoing a revamp funded by the government of Pingshan District. I was drinking coffee in the nearby fully renovated mansion. 

The spacious mansion became a fancy brand-new café with idyllic design and delicacies and attracted a bunch of young people to drop by and take photos for their social media. It can accommodate roughly 100 persons as I observed. On the ground floor, a playground for kids was designed so that mothers could leave their children to play while enjoying gossiping and relaxing from stress.

The owner named the café Hakka in English and 'ke ka' in Chinese, namely a café of Hakka. I ordered a tofu coffee which creatively combined the western beverage with tofu, a traditional Hakka aliment. When coming out of the café, I realized that its neighbor, a larger complex Huilong Family Residence was also given a makeover.

A kid is enjoying the café (Yongbin)

Fancy Hakka café (Yongbin)

Entrance of the café (Yongbin)

The residence was established by Huang Yaoqing (黃耀青) in 1848 as shown on the top of the entrance. 

I happened to meet the project director, a young man around 30 years old standing in front of the complex and discussing details with the construction company. He was also the owner of the café. His surname was Xue, not Huang the predominant clan in this area. Xue clan resides in Xuewu Village nearby. His great-grandmother is from the Huang clan and used to live in this residence. Eight years ago, ironically Xue’s ancestral hall was ravaged without any agreement with the village in an operation of land requisition for constructing the hospital, led by the government of Pingshan District. Nonetheless, the government claimed that it was a mistake. 

Entrance of Huilong Family Residence

In reality, at that time, a range of conflicts rose in urban housing demolition in China due to its hectic urbanization and soaring real estate development. Local Hakka began to organize themselves and promoted cultural and commercial values of traditional architecture. Several ancient Hakka residences in Pingshan, for instance, Dawan Family Residence, Hehu New Residence and Longtian Family Residence, have been revamped since then. At this moment, Huilong Family Residence is under restoration. 

I asked what it will be used for when the restoration project is finished. "I am not sure about the future plan," said the young project director, "yet probably it will be utilized as a commercial space."

Story Heard from an Old Gentlemen in Chengnei Village

Devastated entrance of Chengnei Village (Yongbin)

In Shenzhen, it is fairly rare to meet a real local since it is a migration city. Chengnei Village (城內村) is situated in Kengzi Subdistrict, the east corner of Shenzhen city. Last month, Kengzi Metro Station was open and the 14th metro line finally reached the city's east end. Huiyang District of Huizhou City is adjacent to the Kengzi Subdistrict to the east. The subdistrict was historically a Hakka area of Huizhou, but it was annexed to Bao'an Country in 1958 and administrated under Shenzhen City from 1979 onward. 

The village used to be a walled village called Xiushan Family Residence. It was constructed in 1794 by four brothers Huang Weiqiu(维球), Huang Weizhen(维珍), Huang Weilian(维琏) and Huang Weijin(维瑾). It was a huge residence covering 15000 square meters and a fortress, but only two gates, and some dilapidated walls made by rammed earth survive. Most of the ancient houses have been supplanted by modern buildings. Obviously, the ancestral hall of the Huang clan used to lie on the axis of the village since it still faced the crescent-shaped pond.

Huang Clan Ancestral Hall in Chengnei Village (Yongbin)

When exploring the village, a well-carved wooden beam on the top of a gate drew my attention among the decaying houses. Moreover, right in front of the gate was a wall, on which some elaborate patterns with birds and flowers remained. 

Unexpectedly, an old gentleman with an irate look came out of the house and yelled at me. He spoke Mandarin with a strong Hakka accent. After I explained my interest in ancient architecture and history, he showed me a smiling face and welcomed me to visit his house. He told me that he was a local Hakka, the owner of this house. Then he narrated his family histroy to me. 

Huang Xinquan with a smiling face(Yongbin)

Huang Xinquan is 70 years ago this year. He retired from the Kengzi subdistrict office, where he worked for the social affair department. His father Huang Guang was born in the Dutch colony Batavia, present-day Jakarta in Indonesia. The family was doing business in the colony and made a fortune. When Huang Guang was seven years old, he returned to Guangdong from Batavia. 

In 1942, he joined the anti-Japanese guerrilla force East River Column, which was organized by the China Communist Party.  In 1964, he joined the People’s Liberation Army when the East River Column was eventually annexed into the Communist army due to the agreement signed between the CCP and the Kuomingtang after World War II.  In 1954, he came back to the village and lived off farming after retiring from the army.

Mao and Huang Guang's photo (Yongbin)

The family that used to reside in front of Huang Xinqiong’s house was a landlord. Fortunately, they made the decision to flee to Hong Kong on the eve of the Communist takeover in 1949. Otherwise, they would hardly survive the political movements coming afterward. 

Delicate plaster carvings of the landlord's house (Yongbin)

Huang Xinquan studied at Guangzu School during the cultural revolution. The school was established in 1906 by Ou Jujia (歐榘甲), its first head teacher. At that time, he was a disciple and follower of Kang Youwei, the prominent political thinker and reformer in the late Qing dynasty. Meanwhile, he raised funds from overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia and introduce modern education to China at Guangzu School. In order to save the nation from a miserable fate, he also promoted the concept of the "Glory of Family and Nation" in his education. 

Although they had relatives in Indonesia, they could not contact them because having foreign contacts would be tantamount to counter-revolutionary and lead to a disastrous ending. Still and all, they managed to receive some amount of funds from overseas relatives in secret. 

Nonetheless, the school did not operate as it used to after the Communist takeover. Huang Xinquan remembered that he merely learned any knowledge there. Instead, he was educated to work in agriculture for most of his time. 

Guangzu Middle School (Yongbin)

At present, he actually lived in another new mansion in a nearby new neighborhood. He gave the old house a makeover in order not to be treated as a run-down house and torn down by the government. And he frequently came to the house to enjoy the tranquility and a comfortable milieu. Overall, for him, this house has lots of vivid memories of his family's history.