ABSTRACT
The original market at Tai Po was erected on land bought by members of the T'ang family near a temple, which has now disappeared. This shrine was dedicated to an individual named T'ang Shih-meng (i$IirIi~) who volunteered as a substitute for his father when the old gentleman was held to ransom by the pirate Lin Feng (#:JI). As he discovered that a corsair's career was contrary to the precepts of Confucius, he threw himself overboard and his body was washed ashore at Tai Po. The surrounding land was owned by the Tangs and the temple was maintained from part of the market revenues, from 1672 onwards. Early in the XIXth Century a man named Wen Yuan-che (3t5G~) tried to break the monopoly, and erect places of business near the market. After a long lawsuit he was only permitted to build dwelling houses and it was finally settled in 1892 that only the T'ang family had the right to trade. A violent typhoon in 1872 destroyed the whole village of Wen Wu ( 3tmtt ) so, after the failure of the lawsuit its inhabitants combined with those of Fan Ling, Lam Tsun and Ch'uan Wan (M.) to open a new shopping centre. This was euphemistically named . T'ai Ho Shih (*11l m) the 'Utmost Harmony Market', and it was a success from the first. All trade deserted old Tai Po, ~hich is now a very poor and dilapidated village.
