和合石不只是墳場Wo Hop Shek Is More Than a Cemetery

【和合石不只是墳場：1950年的啟用與1997年的政治與行政分界】

和合石於1950年正式啟用，成為新界主要的華人公共墳場。1997年則是政治與行政分界：它不是和合石作為墳場的開始，而是港英政府管理階段結束、香港特區政府接手的時刻。

對港英政府來說，和合石長期需要人力、物力和公帑維持。即使收費，土葬仍需政府補貼，整體入不敷支，像一個難以長期承擔的「燙手山芋」。然而，政府把大型華人公共墳場設在和合石，不只是為了解決基層華人的安葬問題，也與市區土地壓力、墳場集中管理和長遠土地安排有關。

早於1940年代初，政府已在華人領袖反對下籌備和合石墳場。當時不少人擔心選址偏遠、交通不便、設施不足，也認為它未能回應華人社會對「體面安葬」的期望，但政府仍然堅持推行。和合石啟用後，仍長期受資源、設施和管理不足影響。相比位置較好、設施較完善的墳場，和合石更常被視為基層和貧困人士的安葬地。說到底，它不只是環境較差的墳場，也是港英政府處理基層大眾安葬問題的重要工具。

1950年12月1日，粉嶺和合石公共墳場啟用；同日，新九龍七號墳場關閉。和合石由此接替多個被關閉的華人舊墳場，成為戰後香港主要公共土葬地點之一。當時人口增加，市區土地不足，政府逐步關閉港島和九龍部分舊墳場，把安葬安排轉到較遠、面積較大的地方。

1947年，政府宣布關閉多個港島墳場，包括咖啡園、雞籠灣和柴灣墳場。這些地方關閉後，原有骨殖、公墓、義塚和私人墳墓都要另作安排。政府曾呼籲家屬把雞籠灣東西墳場內的骨殖遷往和合石；若逾期不辦，便由政府人員代為處理。因此，和合石不只是新墳場，也是舊墳場遷葬的接收地。

雞籠灣西安墓園的遷移，是一個清楚例子。1947年西安輪船火災造成多人死亡，罹難者原本安葬在雞籠灣西安墓園。後來雞籠灣墳場關閉，土地被政府收回，相關公墓和義塚需要遷走。到1960年，有關骨殖已遷往和合石西安墓園。這說明和合石接收的不只是普通墓穴，也包括因災難而設的公墓。

政府收回雞籠灣土地後，曾考慮用作火葬場；後來部分土地實際用作公共設施和屋邨，例如華富邨。舊墳場被清走後，土地便改作其他用途；和合石則接收遷出的墓地，令原本的市區或近市區土地可以重新使用。

和合石也處理基層市民的身後事。1951年，家住天后廟道木屋、從事苦力的廖堂病逝。他的後事由銅鑼灣互助社襄助，並由大東道福壽支店辦理入殮。棺木先送至油街厝房，再由市政事務署職工運往和合石安葬。這個個案說明，和合石不只供一般家庭使用，也接收無力辦理殮葬的人。

紅磡永別亭和厝房的設立，也與和合石有關。由於墳場位於新界，距離港九市區較遠，政府需要安排送殯和暫存棺木的地方。紅磡靠近火車站，方便把棺木運往粉嶺，使市區亡者可以經固定路線送往新界安葬。

總括而言，和合石公共墳場有三個主要作用：接替多個被關閉的華人舊墳場，接收雞籠灣等地遷出的骨殖，並安葬基層或無力辦理後事的人。它的出現，與戰後人口增加、市區土地不足、舊墳場清拆和新界土地安排有關。1950年是和合石成為新界主要華人公共墳場的關鍵年份；1997年則是政治與行政分界。和合石不只是墳場，也是港英政府處理華人安葬、遷葬和土地問題的重要安排。

1997年後，和合石改由香港特區政府負責。不過，它在1997年前已設有火葬場，並非回歸後才開始提供火葬服務。其後，特區政府逐步改善和擴展原有設施，以回應市民對火葬及靈灰安置日增的需求。今日的和合石已不再只是以土葬為主的公共墳場，而是結合土葬、火葬及骨灰安置的殯葬空間；其設施、管理和社會形象都已與1997年前大不相同。

【Wo Hop Shek Is More Than a Cemetery: Its 1950 Opening and 1997 Political and Administrative Divide】

Wo Hop Shek officially opened in 1950 and became a major Chinese public cemetery in the New Territories. 1997 was a political and administrative divide: it was not the beginning of Wo Hop Shek as a cemetery, but the moment when colonial-government management ended and the HKSAR Government took responsibility.

For the colonial government, Wo Hop Shek required long-term manpower, resources, and public funding to maintain. Even with fees, burials still needed government subsidies, so the cemetery was costly to run. However, placing a large Chinese public cemetery at Wo Hop Shek was not only about meeting the burial needs of grassroots Chinese people. It was also linked to urban land pressure, centralised cemetery management, and long-term land arrangements.

As early as the early 1940s, the government began planning Wo Hop Shek Cemetery despite opposition from Chinese leaders. Many worried that the site was remote, transport was inconvenient, and facilities were inadequate. They also felt it did not meet the Chinese community’s wish for a decent burial place. Yet the government still pushed ahead. After opening, Wo Hop Shek continued to face limited resources, weak facilities, and poor long-term management. Compared with better-located and better-equipped cemeteries, it was often seen as a burial place for grassroots and poorer people. In this sense, Wo Hop Shek was not only a cemetery with poor conditions, but also an important colonial tool for managing the burial needs of ordinary Chinese people.

On 1 December 1950, Wo Hop Shek Public Cemetery opened in Fanling. On the same day, New Kowloon Cemetery No. 7 closed. From then on, Wo Hop Shek replaced several closed Chinese cemeteries and became one of Hong Kong’s main public burial grounds after the war. As the population grew and urban land became scarce, the government closed some older cemeteries on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon, moving burials to a larger and more remote site.

In 1947, the government announced the closure of several cemeteries on Hong Kong Island, including Coffee Garden Cemetery, Kai Lung Wan Cemetery, and Chai Wan Cemetery. After these places closed, existing bones, public graves, charity graves, and private graves all had to be dealt with. The government called on families to move bones from Kai Lung Wan East and West Cemeteries to Wo Hop Shek. If families did not do so by the deadline, government staff would handle the removal. This shows that Wo Hop Shek was not only a new cemetery. It also became a receiving place for remains moved from old cemeteries.

The relocation of the Sai On Cemetery at Kai Lung Wan is a clear example. In 1947, the Sai On ship fire killed many people. The victims were first buried around Kai Lung Wan. Later, when Kai Lung Wan Cemetery was closed and the land was taken back by the government, the related public graves and charity graves had to be moved. By 1960, the remains had been moved to Sai On Cemetery at Wo Hop Shek. This shows that Wo Hop Shek received not only ordinary graves, but also public graves connected to a major disaster.

After the government took back the Kai Lung Wan land, it once considered using the site for a crematorium. Later, part of the land was actually used for public facilities and housing estates, such as Wah Fu Estate. Once the old cemetery land was cleared, it could be used for other purposes. Wo Hop Shek received the graves that were moved away, allowing urban or near-urban land to be reused.

Wo Hop Shek also handled the burials of grassroots people. In 1951, Liu Tong, a coolie living in a wooden hut on Tin Hau Temple Road, died of illness. His funeral was helped by the Causeway Bay Mutual Aid Society and handled by the Fuk Sau branch on Tai Tung Road. His coffin was first sent to the Oil Street coffin depot, and then carried by Urban Services Department workers to Wo Hop Shek for burial. This case shows that Wo Hop Shek was not only used by ordinary families. It also received people who could not afford funeral arrangements.

The building of Hung Hom Farewell Pavilion and coffin depots was also related to Wo Hop Shek. Since the cemetery was in the New Territories and far from the urban areas of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, the government needed places for funeral processions and temporary coffin storage. Hung Hom was close to the railway station, making it easier to send coffins to Fanling. This gave urban residents a fixed route to send the dead for burial in the New Territories.

In short, Wo Hop Shek Public Cemetery had three main roles: replacing several closed Chinese cemeteries, receiving remains from places such as Kai Lung Wan, and burying grassroots people or those who could not afford funeral arrangements. Its creation was linked to post-war population growth, urban land shortage, cemetery clearance, and land arrangements in the New Territories. 1950 was the key year when Wo Hop Shek became a major Chinese public cemetery in the New Territories; 1997 was a political and administrative divide. Wo Hop Shek was more than a cemetery: it was an important colonial arrangement for handling Chinese burials, grave relocation, and land use.

After 1997, Wo Hop Shek came under the HKSAR Government. However, it already had a crematorium before 1997, so cremation services did not begin only after the handover. Later changes mainly involved improving and expanding existing facilities to meet growing demand for cremation and columbarium space. Today, Wo Hop Shek is no longer only a burial-centred public cemetery. It is a funeral and memorial space combining burial, cremation, and ashes placement, with facilities, management, and public image very different from before 1997.