Hakka Village and Catholicism:

Heritage and Lifestyles in Yim Tin Tsai 

(Jan. 2008 – Mar. 2009)

Overview

Yim Tin Tsai is a small island not far away from Sai Kung. In the 19th century, the Hakka Chan clan moved from Guan Lan in Shen Zhen to Yim Tin Tsai and started to cultivate six acres of salty field, thus developing into a Hakka village. In 1866, Fr. G. Origo administered baptism to seven villagers and later in Christmas of the same year, Fr. S. Volonteri baptized another 33 villagers.

Yim Tin Tsai is the first village in Hong Kong in which members of three generations were baptized with evidence. St. Joseph’s Chapel was built on the island. With its hundred-year-long history and the effort to renovate made by the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong, the Chapel was granted the Award of Merit by the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Award for Cultural Heritage Conservation. Yim Tin Tsai became an important historical site in Hong Kong.

Receiving sponsorship from the Lord Wilson Trust Heritage Fund, this research project began in 2008. Through oral history, field study and textual analysis, it explored:

1. the culture, architecture and characteristics of the lifestyle of the Chan clan in Yim Tin Tsai;
2. impact of the mode of production and economic development on the development and fading of the village;
3. harmony and conflict between Hakka culture and Catholicism in Yim Tin Tsai as a Catholic village in the 19th century.
4.  

In addition to organizing a seminar and several guided tours, the Centre produced a booklet “活在鹽田仔——鹽田仔口述歷史計劃 (Living in Yim Tin Tsai: Yim Tin Tsai Oral History Project)” and published a book “天主作客鹽田仔——香港西貢鹽田仔百年史蹟 (God Visited to Yim Tin Tsai: the Centennial History of Yim Tin Tsai in Sai Kung, Hong Kong) ” to share fruits of this research project.