Li Ling Pagoda, Religious pagoda and shrine in Pok Fu Lam Village, Hong Kong
Li Ling Pagoda is a religious structure featuring multiple tiered roofs and decorative elements reflecting traditional Chinese design in Pok Fu Lam Village. The building combines characteristics of both a shrine and a tower within the Southern District.
The tower's only date is an inscription reading "Winter of the Bingchen year of the Republic (1916), by Lianqing Tang," which may mark a repair rather than the original construction. Villagers say it commemorates Li Ling, a woman who went into trances for a Taoist priest to heal the sick; after the priest died, they raised the tower in her memory. A reconstruction plan was abandoned after divination blocks gave no favorable answer.
The shrine is named after Li Ling, a woman said to have healed villagers while in a trance, not the deity Li Jing. Her birthday is celebrated on the 15th day of the fourth lunar month, formerly with large opera performances and now with simple offerings of incense. Villagers also stop here before the Mid-Autumn fire dragon dance.
The site is reachable via pathways through Pok Fu Lam Village and most easily accessed by public transportation to the village. Visitors should wear sturdy footwear and navigate carefully as the area is hilly.
The two stone beasts that once flanked the tower no longer stand beside it: they are set against the wall of a neighbouring house, and one has been coated in cement, so its original carved form is lost. The tower's entrance also carries a pair of Spring Festival couplets pasted over the older inscription.
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