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RELIGION AND CUSTOM
Other leading deities include Kwun Yum, the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy; Kwan Tai, the God of War and the source of righteousness; Pak Tai, Lord of the North and local patron of the island of Cheung Chau; Hung Shing, God of the South Seas and a weather prophet, and Wong Tai Sin, a revered Taoist saint and deity. The temple in honour of Wong Tai Sin, around which a public housing estate has been constructed, is built in traditional Chinese architectural style and is extremely popular with worshippers. Dedi- cated to the Gods of Literary Attainment and Martial Valour, the Man Mo Temple in Hollywood Road, Western District, run by the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals charitable organisation, is equally popular and well known,
Besides providing for spiritual needs, Buddhist and Taoist organisations help to meet welfare, educational and medical needs in Hong Kong, either directly or by contributing to charitable organisations. In addition, money collected from donation boxes located in many temples is used for the same purposes.
Religious studies are conducted at monasteries, nunneries and hermitages. Being easily accessible, the monasteries at Sha Tin and Tsuen Wan are particularly popular with residents of urban areas, but the best-known monasteries are situated in the more remote parts of the New Territories. One of the most renowned is the Buddhist Po Lin Monastery on Lantau Island, which attracts large numbers of visitors at weekends and on holidays. At Tao Fung Shan near Sha Tin, there is a Christian study centre on Chinese religion and culture, where the work of the Christian Mission to Buddhists has been carried on for
many years.
In the urban areas, Buddhist Ching She (places for spiritual cultivation), Fat Tong (Buddha Halls) and To Yuen (places for Taoist worship), which have been established to cater for the spiritual needs of city dwellers are used for expounding the sutras and for gatherings held by various Buddhist and Taoist organisations.
In the New Territories, traditional clan organisations have been preserved and continue to play an important part in the lives of the villagers. Many villages have an ancestral hall, the centre of religious and secular activities, where ancestral tablets of the clan are kept and venerated. Animism exists in the form of shrines or simply joss sticks placed at the foot of certain rocks and trees within which spirits are believed to dwell. This practice is especially common among Hakka and Chiu Chow villagers.
There are five major festivals in the Chinese calendar, all of which are statutory public holidays. First and foremost is the Lunar New Year, when gifts and visits are exchanged between friends and relatives, and children receive 'lucky' money. The Ching Ming Festival in the spring provides an opportunity to visit ancestral graves. The Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth moon in early summer with dragon boat races and by eating cooked rice dumplings wrapped in lotus leaves. The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 15th day of the eighth moon. Gifts of mooncakes, fruit and wine are exchanged, and adults and children go to the parks and countryside at night carrying colourful lanterns. The Chung Yeung Festival is on the ninth day of the ninth moon, and is celebrated by large crowds climbing various hills in remembrance of an ancient Chinese family's escape from plague and death by fleeing to the top of a high mountain. Family graves are also visited on this day.
Christian Community
The Christian community - Roman Catholic and Protestant - is estimated to number almost half a million people, comprising more than 50 Christian denominations and independent groups.