Not Just a Village Bumpkin with a Wealth of History

Ever experienced village life as a peasant? A simple life away from the city? Experiencing a territorial land so proud my grandma reminds us how poor life was back in their days. It is a Saturday, so glum, gloomy, grey, wet and cold in the heart of London. I was going to prepare some lifestyle flat lay photography but with no natural lighting coming through I sought for an alternative post for today. I uploaded a picture of me waking up to the beautiful sunrise from my bathroom view at the Westin Hotel in Singapore; but then I found some village pictures of my Dad’s hometown in HK. I spent some quality time with my grandparents and have learnt so much about their simple yet struggling life in HK back in the days and 80 years later, The Village in New Territory is on it’s way to create their own mini empire. The village have worked so hard to protect their land from government ownership and little did I know as to how much history involved in the large caption area of New Territory. I have visited HK more than 8 times in my life and this time marked a very special memory for me as to what I’ve learned. There are a lot of Lee’s in the village, but we are not the only “clan” (I don’t know how else to reference it) and I barely know any one around but we all somehow are related. Just a blog away from my Grandma’s house lies a standing shrine/temple. This is what my sister was talking about; my dad told her that the stone wall panel marks the word “dragon”…but it doesn’t actually mean dragon but Royal. You need Government approval to be able to use the word “dragon/royal” in a temple; so what’s the meaning of this? Only to learn that our ancestor was the great Emperor Taizong of Tang Li Shimin of Tang Dynasty.

I’m not going to lie, I daydreamed a lot during my Chinese school days so I am quite poor with my Chinese history. After some wiki searches; not only am I proud to be a direct descendant but I can’t help but frown and wonder that I may have been a descendant by royal illegitimacy by a concubine or a chamber maid as he had over 20 kids! Nevertheless, it was very liberating that my dad side family tree was so exciting; not only related to Emperor Li Shimin, but also the Philosopher Lizhao, the founder of Li surname and Taoism. Again, I had no idea what Taoism was so unsurprisingly did more wiki searches. So what happened? Where’s all the riches, gold, fortune? Apparently, there were many Emperors in China from different states (thank goodness for Chinese period dramas to educate me bits of the history) so off course there were many wars to conquer more states and unfortunately, the most glamorous reign in his time was robbed. Unlucky! However, this story will be passed down for sure and the next Li/Lee person I meet…I am sure we are somehow one way or the other related!

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