14
KEITH G. STEVENS
which are about nine feet high and consist of two vertical halves each bearing a painting of a guardian. Facing outwards, the pair of guardians can be military or civil officials. The doors usually are kept open by day, although if the temple keeper goes out for any length of time he will close and in certain areas, padlock them.
Immediately inside the main doorway, between it and the courtyard, are the spirit doors, a pair of wooden doors to prevent direct access to the temple by demon spirits.19 Instead of the pair of inner doors, some temples have a fixed, freestanding screen from floor to ceiling which performs the same demon-deflecting function (Illustration 5). Past the spirit doors, which are quite frequently left open or have been removed, there is the open area normally let down some 6" into the ground and frequently unroofed known as the "Incense Smoke Tower". This is the courtyard, though in smaller temples it may not appear to be particularly grandiose. It has been suggested that the open roofed forecourt dates back to an era when deities required open skies above them. In Macau it is quite widely held that the tutelary deity of the temple should have an open view of the heavens above, though this is only so in five of the temples there.
The main hall (zheng ting) contains the main altar and is situated beyond the courtyard and in the rear-most building, more often than not with other halls and rooms grouped around it. The rooms on either side are usually identical in shape and size. These rooms and corridors are mainly used as store houses by the temple keeper and by local inhabitants.
Advancing beyond the open area of the courtyard into the main hall, often up one or two stone steps, we face the altar table with an ordinary table before it. The former has the five major objects — an incense bowl, two candle holders and two vases — and the latter bears any offerings. Beyond these tables, usually backing onto the wall, is the main altar, more often than not flanked by side altars.
The main hall of the majority of traditional temples is about 15 to 20 feet wide, with each of the side halls a further 9 to 15 feet wide. Their length is usually some 35 to 40 feet from entrance to rear wall. However, the main halls of the larger traditional temples in Hong Kong (in Stone Nullah Land, Hollywood Road and Temple Street) are some 30 to 40 feet wide and 50 to 60 feet in length, with proportionally higher roofs.