It was built in 1574 during the Ming dynasty,[2] and was called Chik Chuen Wai (積存圍) at the time.
It was originally made up of 16 families, Wai (韋), Chan (陳), Ng (吳), Yeung (楊), Wong (黃), Lee (李), Hui (許), Cheng (鄭), Tong (唐), Yuen (袁), Yau (游), Lam (林), Lok (駱), Tam (譚), Mok (莫) and Choy (蔡).
The Han descendants changed their surname into Wai by splitting the word Hon (韓) in two halves and took up the character on the right hand side.
Tai Wai was mentioned in the 1688 Xinan gazeeter[3] and it appears on the "Map of the San-On District" published in 1866 by Simeone Volonteri.
[6] Historic and traditional buildings include the Entrance Gate, a Hau Wong Temple, the Wai Ancestral Hall and several old houses.