上水廖萬石堂Liu Man Shek Tong Ancestral Hall, Sheung Shui

歷史背景Historical background

廖萬石堂位於上水鄉，夾在門口村與中心村之間，是上水廖族的祠堂。廖氏始祖廖仲傑於元朝中期由福建遷入廣東，先後居於屯門及深圳河北岸的福田，最後在上水雙魚河一帶定居。十八世紀廖族富裕興旺，遂於清雍正年間（一七二三至一七三五年）興建祠堂，並於乾隆年間重修。建築屬典型的三進兩院格局，飾有灰塑、木雕及壁畫，圖案與畫意多含吉祥寓意。一九三二年，祠堂改作鳳溪學校，推行現代教育，學校至一九七四年遷往新址。祠堂先後於一九八四年及一九九四年修復，並於一九八五年列為法定古蹟。

Liu Man Shek Tong, between Mun Hau Tsuen and Chung Sum Tsuen in Sheung Shui, is the ancestral hall of the Sheung Shui Liu clan. Their founding ancestor Liu Chung-kit moved from Fujian to Guangdong in the mid-Yuan dynasty and finally settled by the Sheung Yue River in Sheung Shui. In the eighteenth century the prosperous clan built the hall in the early Yongzheng reign (1723-1735), later restoring it in the Qianlong reign. It is a classic three-hall, two-courtyard building decorated with plaster mouldings, wood carvings and murals full of auspicious motifs. In 1932 it became Fung Kai School for modern education, and the school moved out in 1974. Restored in 1984 and 1994, it was declared a monument in 1985.

香港紀事館編輯整理；來源：Compiled by Hong Kong Story; sources: 古物古蹟辦事處AMO紀事館古蹟頁Monument page