THE ANCESTRAL HALLTai Hang
泰亨The bloodline that branched off first, with an ancestral hall of its own.
- FOUNDER
- Man Yam · 5th generation
- HAMLETS
- Fui Sha Wai, Chung Sam Wai, Chi Tong Tsuen, Tai Hang Yeug
San Tin
新田The village in the New Territories where the Man clan settled in 1429 – “New Field”, drained from marsh. San Tin isn’t the oldest Man village, but it is the one most of the family in Europe comes from. Together with Chau Tau and Tai Hang, it’s one of the three villages of our clan.
THE SET-UP
From marsh to visit
For those of us who grew up in Europe, San Tin is often just a name from our parents’ and grandparents’ stories. Yet the village is still standing: the ancestral halls, the Tai Fu Tai mansion, the fields that were once marsh. Here you’ll find where we come from – and how to get there yourself.
THE STORY
The land nobody else wanted
The Man clan was the last of the five great clans to move from China to Hong Kong. The fertile land had already been shared out – the Tang and the others got there first. What was left was marsh in the far north, up against the border.
The family drained it, grew rice on it and named it after what it had become: San Tin, New Field. It isn’t the first Man village: Tai Hang 泰亨 had been founded earlier, by another line. Chau Tau 洲頭 followed later, from San Tin.
RICE FARMING IN THE NEW TERRITORIESTHE THREE VILLAGES
One ancestor, three villages
Every Man in the New Territories descends from Man Tin Sui 文天瑞, the cousin of Man Tin Cheung. He is the first ancestor, the 始祖 chi jou. His descendants founded three villages, each with a founder of its own: the 基祖 gei jou of that village. In San Tin the line has now reached the twenty-eighth generation.
THE FOUNDERS, IN ORDER
SOURCE · WAN LOI MAN, ‘WHAT IS THE MAN FAMILY?’, 2011泰亨
Tai HangMAN YAM · GENERATION 5The first to branch off. The split comes as early as the third generation: Tai Hang descends from Man Nam.
新田
San TinMAN SAI GOR · GENERATION 7 · 1429Two generations later, through Man Tung, the brother of Man Nam.
洲頭
Chau TauMAN TING SEE · GENERATION 9Founded by the grandson of Man Sai Gor.
GEN.THE FAMILY TREE, SIMPLIFIED1245678928+
Man Tin Sui 文天瑞FIRST ANCESTOR · 始祖
Man Ying Lun
TWO SONS
3Man NamTAI HANG LINE
Man TungSAN TIN · CHAU TAU LINE
Man Sui Tung
Man Lai
Man YamFOUNDER OF TAI HANG 泰亨
Man Maan Sheung
Man Chung Yuen
Man Sai Gor 文世歌FOUNDER OF SAN TIN 新田
Man Lun Fung
Man Ting SeeFOUNDER OF CHAU TAU 洲頭
TO TODAY
TO TODAY
THE ANCESTRAL HALL
MAN TIN CHEUNG PARKSan Tin
新田Founded in 1429. There’s also a park in memory of Man Tin Cheung.
- FOUNDER
- Man Sai Gor · 7th generation
- HALLS
- Tung Yu Tong, Ming Yuen Tong, Ming Tak Tong, Lun Fung Chi, San Yet Chi
- HAMLETS
- Fan Tin Tsuen, Wing Ping Tsuen, Ching Lung Tsuen, San Lung Tsuen, On Lung Tsuen, Yan Sau Wai, Tung Tsan Wai, Shek Wu Wai
THE GATEChau Tau
洲頭Founded by the grandson of Man Sai Gor: the youngest of the three.
- FOUNDER
- Man Ting See · 9th generation
- HAMLETS
- None – Chau Tau is a single village
What still stands
Four places you have to see when you’re there – and that the clan still uses to this day.
大夫第
Tai Fu Tai
The mansion of a Man who did well in the 19th century: carved eaves, coloured glass and a façade that shows what the clan had achieved. Now a monument, free to visit.
祠堂
The ancestral halls
This is where the name tablets stand and where births, marriages and the autumn banquet are announced. Anyone coming back from Europe comes here first.
The great hall of San Tin, 文氏宗祠, dates from 1444 and in the 20th century doubled as the village school: the Tun Yu School.
圍村
The walled village
Narrow alleys, grey brick and houses built right up against one another – the original core, squeezed between new builds and the motorway.
文世歌
The grave of Man Sai Gor
Man Sai Gor founded San Tin and is the grandfather of the founder of Chau Tau. His grave therefore belongs to both villages: San Tin and Chau Tau honour their founder there together. It isn’t in the village but on a hill near Tuen Mun, where he first lived. At Chung Yeung hundreds of descendants gather there, from Europe too.
Then & now
ARCHIVE PHOTOS WANTED1960now
The paddy fieldsFrom wet fields to warehouses, fish farms and the border road.1970now
The main streetThe same corner, photographed two generations on.1985now
The banquetRound tables on the village square, then and today.Got old photos of the village or of family visits? Send them in – we’re building this block with pictures from the family itself.
Six centuries in four steps
1429Settling in the marshMan Sai Gor founds San Tin; the land is drained.
19TH C.Tai Fu Tai builtThe clan is established; officials and trade bring prosperity.
1920sThe first relatives in the NetherlandsSailors going ashore in Rotterdam; in 1936 the first family restaurant, in The Hague.
1950sThe great wave of departuresRice farming no longer pays; hundreds of relatives leave for the UK and the Netherlands.
Why almost all the men left within twenty years, how they travelled and how cousins helped each other: that story has a page of its own.
From the villages to Europe →GOING YOURSELF
A day trip from Hong Kong
San Tin is an hour from Kowloon. Tai Fu Tai is open to visitors; at the halls, just ask whether you can come in.
PRACTICAL
- DIRECTIONS
- Take the MTR to Sheung Shui (East Rail Line) or to Yuen Long (Tuen Ma Line). From both stations bus 76K runs to San Tin; from Yuen Long there’s also green minibus 75. Get off at the San Tin stop.
- WALKING TRAIL
- Hong Kong is laying out a walking trail through the village: the San Tin Timewalk 新田時光步道. It passes 23 places, including Tai Fu Tai and the ancestral halls, and ends in Man Tin Cheung Park. The trail isn’t open yet – check before you go whether it’s there.
- WHEN
- Around Ching Ming (April) or Chung Yeung (October) there’s the most to see. The grave of Man Sai Gor isn’t in San Tin but near Tuen Mun; at Chung Yeung the family goes there together.
- BRING
- Your generation name or a photo of your grandparents – that opens doors.
- MIND
- It’s a lived-in village, not an open-air museum. Ask before you take photos.