ERI@TSUI SING LAU PAGODA IN PING SHAN

Tsui Sing Lau Pagoda is located in the north of Sheung Cheung Wai.It is the only ancient pagoda in Hong Kong built by Tang Yin Tung of the 7th generation more than 600 years ago. It was declared a monument on 14 December 2001.

The origin of the pagoda can be traced to the Indian stupa (3rd century BC). The stupa, a dome shaped monument, was used in India as a commemorative monument associated with storing sacred relics. The stupa emerged as a distinctive style of Indian architecture and was adopted in Southeast and East Asia,where it became prominent as a Buddhist monument used for enshrining sacred relics.In East Asia, the architecture of Chinese towers and Chinese pavilions blended into pagoda architecture, eventually also spreading to Southeast Asia. The pagoda's original purpose was to house relics and sacred writings.This purpose was popularized due to the efforts of Buddhist missionaries, pilgrims, rulers, and ordinary devotees to seek out, distribute, and extol Buddhist relics.

Therefore, Pagodas are traditionally Buddhist structures even some are built to improve the fung shui of a particular locality. According to the Tang clan, the Tsui Sing Lau Pagoda was originally situated at the mouth of a river facing Deep Bay and was intended as a fung shui structure designed to ward off evil spirits from the north and to prevent flooding. Its auspicious location, in alignment with Castle Peak, would ensure success for clan members in the imperial civil service examinations. In fact, the Tang clan produced numerous scholars and officials in dynastic China.

The Tsui Sing Lau Pagoda is a three-storey green-brick structure with  hexagonal shaped for about 13 metres in height. A statue of Fui Shing (Champion Star), believed to be a deity who controls success and failure in examinations, is housed on the upper floor. Auspicious titles are inscribed on each floor, including: "Over the Milky Way" on the top floor, "Pagoda of Gathering Stars" on the middle floor and "Light Shines Straight Onto the Dippers and the Enclosures" on the ground floor.



There are some base information of Tsui Sing Lau Pagoda:

Address 

Ping Shan, Yuen Long.
Tel

2721 2326
Opening Hours
Tang Ancestral Hall (9am-1pm & 2pm-5pm;close on the first three days of Chinese New Year)
Tsui Shing Lau (9am-1pm & 2pm-5pm; close on Tuesdays, the first day of January, the first three days of Chinese New Year and the day following Christmas Day)
Transport

Take LRT to Ping Shan stop, walk towards Ping Ha Road for about 10 minutes; 

or take bus Nos. 53, 276 or minibus Nos. 33, 34, 35 in Yuen Long Town Centre, get off at Ping Ha Road; 

or take West Rail and get off at Tin Shui Wai Station.

SOURCES

http://vhe.lcsd.gov.hk/vhe/FEBS?pageAction=INTRO&bsid=49&langNo=1
http://www.amo.gov.hk/en/trails_pingshan1.php?tid=1
http://www.pingshan.com/ct-JuXingLou.html
http://plumbot.com/Pagoda.html