Tsat Tsz Mui 七姊妹 means seven sisters in Cantonese.It was the namesake of a former village in what is now eastern North Point in Hong Kong. According to local legend, there were seven girls who once lived in the area.
They were as close as sisters and pledged to never get married and always be together. Tragedy struck when the third sister's parents betrothed her to a man who she did not like. Unable to speak out against the parents, the sisters committed suicide, jumping into the sea while holding hands a day before the wedding. There were contradicting stories whether the bodies were recovered. Nevertheless, in all accounts, the villagers found seven boulders appearing along the coastline. The villagers take the blouders as the incarnation of the sisters and named them, Tsat Tsz Mui shek (七姊妹石 Seven Sisters Rock). The village renamed Tsat Tz Mui Tsuen (七姊妹村 Seven sisters Village).
According to old residents, those seven boulders indeed existed and were visible along low tide before reclamation. Unfortunately, the rocks are no longer here as they are buried under reclamation for urban development in 1948. It was also once a popular swimming spot, but men were warned to stay away. Like folktales with similar contexts, people thought the sisters would take revenge on men. The author, however, was not able to found any specific stories (fictional or not) about this during his research.
Anyhow, a swimming shed was eventually built there in 1911 but destroyed by the Japanese during the Battle of Hong Kong in 1941, and never rebuilt. The village is gone too, and is replaced by a cluster of office, residential buildings, shopping malls and restaurants today. What remains of the legend was a road named Tsat Tsz Mui Dao (七姊妹道 Tsat Tsz Mui Road) built and completed on December 15, 1939, and a post office bearing the namesake.
Picture Source: Wikimedia Commons
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