上水應龍廖公家塾 Liu Ying Lung Study Hall

上水鄉莆上村應龍廖公家塾

有168年歷史的上水應龍廖公家塾，被古物古蹟辦事處評定為二級歷史建築物，經過兩年多的全面復修工程後，在2006年3月竣工。復修後的家塾榮獲2006年聯合國教科文組織亞太區文物古蹟保護獎榮譽獎。2006年12月5日，教科文組織的代表在應龍廖公家塾舉行了頒獎典禮，市民最快可於2007年中進入這座「兩進一院式」的清代家族祠堂參觀。

復修工程成功地拆除了家塾在60年代作為幼稚園時的後加現代構件，並恢復其原來清代的建築風格和布局，剛好趕及去年上水鄉每60年舉行1次的打醮活動。家塾亦在打醮期間開放了幾天。

除了清除了髹在青磚牆身的油漆之外，家塾內已受白蟻侵蝕的樑架、檁條、駝峰等木構件，亦按照原樣複製和重新安裝。為保留其古樸的味道，家塾所有的已損壞的壁畫、木雕、牌匾和對聯，經過文物復修組專家清潔和修補，再由畫師仔細修補。

應龍廖公家塾又稱「顯承堂」，位於上水鄉莆上村東角，歷史悠久，為上水廖氏應龍4世祖的家祠及學舍。家塾建於清朝道光十八年(1838年)，又稱二房東斗祖祠，為紀念廖應龍(字孝應)而建。顯承堂曾用作鳳溪幼稚園校舍。裡面的功名匾額很多，見證該族早年教育文化之興盛。


應龍廖公家塾與很多傳統祠堂一樣，結合了祭祖與書室功能，除了祭祀祖先外，也是從前社區活動、春秋二祭、嫁娶、添丁舉辦酒席的場所，到上世紀60年代，轉作教育用途，80年代便開始空置，橫樑木柱被白蟻侵蝕，石壁風化，一度荒廢了20多年。

前廳一對高門，稱「擋中」，作用是遮擋祠堂，避免祠堂外看見堂內神主牌。擋中頂部有一「欽點兵部主政」牌匾，顯示廖氏族人曾在政府中擔當軍事職務。



Liu Ying Lung Study Hall, Po Sheung Village, Sheung Shui

The 168-year-old Liu Ying Lung Study Hall at Sheung Shui was declared a Grade II historical building by the Antiquities and Monuments Office. A 2-year-long retoration project was carried out and completed in March last year (2006). The restoration project won an Honourable Mention in the 2006 UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards winner for Culture Heritage Conservation. The award was presented by the UNSECO at the ceremony held on 5 December, and the Qing period (1644 - 1911) traditional "two halls with an open courtyard" study hall will be opened to the public from July 2007.

As part of the preparation for the once-every-60-year Dajiao Festival of Sheung Shui Heung, this Liu clan study hall has been restored to its original Qing Dynasty condition. The removal of intrusive modern alterations added in the 60's to accommodate the village kindergarten has revealed the building's historic layout and structure. The restored study hall, complete with conserved murals and vernacular architectural details, was opened to the public for a few days during the Dajiao Festival.

Apart from the clearing of the later-added paint that covered the original green brick wall, disintegrated truss systems, purlins and camel humps eroded by termites were replaced by new timber components with compatible forms and materials.

All the wood carving, tables, the honourable plaques and couplets, as well as the murals on the facade and interior of the study hall werecarefully cleaned by conservation experts of the Conservation Section, and then re-painted by sophisticated artists.

Located at the eastern corner of the Po Sheung Village in Sheung Shui Heung , the Liu Ying Lung Study Hall (also called "Hin Shing Tong") has long been functioning as an ancestral hall of the Liu clan as well as a family study hall for the young members of the Liu's. Built in 1838 to commemorate their ancestor Liu Ying Lung, the hall has been used as the classrooms of the Fung-Kai Kindergarden in recent decades. The many tablets hung in the hall indicate that many of the Liu family members had been highly educated and done well in the Imperial Examinations for recruitment to the government officials.

Like the other traditional ancestral halls, the Liu Ying Lung Study Hall functioned as an ancestral hall as well as a study hall, and the meeting place and venue for communal social functions, traditional rituals and festivals, wedding feasts and celebration for the birth of male offsprings. A kindergarten was established here to provid educational opportunities for children in 1965, but was neglected for more than 20 years since the 80's, becoming termite-eroded and disintegrated.

Between the entrance hall and the first courtyard is a pair of high doors, called the "Middle Doors", which are used to avoid the direct view of the ancestral tablets from outside the hall. Above the door is a red-and-gold vertical tablet bearing an inscription of "By Imperial appointment, the chief officer of the Bingbu (Board of Army)", indicating that the Liu's family members had been important military figures in the Imperial goverment.