CHINESE MONASTERIES, TEMPLES, SHRINES, ALTARS
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of deities. It is now only three storeys high though originally it had, according to differing legends, four or seven storeys.23
Internal Decoration
Popular religion temples vary from the traditional old, often magnificent buildings with carved and gilded panels and beams, furnished with rich embroideries, bronze and pewter vessels and numerous personally-donated items all of which enhance local pride in the temple, to the new jerry-built squatter constructions with ramshackle altar tables littered with tins, boxes and bottles, with one or two litho reproductions only to enliven the walls. Some of the rural traditional temples are bereft of much decoration due, in all probability, to the poverty of devotees,
The range of stylistic variations that emerged as temples evolved in Hong Kong and Macau, shows an essentially conservative character, although the inner decoration of traditional temples does vary from area to area. Some temples have a frieze of panels carved or sculpted in relief above or in front of the altar tables depicting birds and animals, court scenes with generals flanked by soldiers and scholars, and scenes and characters from Chinese myths and legends. Some temples have long red (occasionally black) boards inscribed with auspicious phrases in black or gilded characters, concealing the pillars of the main hall, and some have richly decorated lintels. Most however are relatively bare. Inside, the structure of beams, brackets and roof tiles are more often than not blackened with soot from incense smoke.
Apart from the strikingly rich crimsons on and around the altars, there is little colour in Daoist folk religion temples and the murk and dust tends to overshadow what little colour there is. Courtyards, paved with stone, are usually calm, shaded areas of green and blue, with little decoration apart from the murals which may have been preserved, painted over doorways.
Temple and monastery murals and decorative wall carvings, particularly in Daoist and folk religion temples, are so complicated in detail and pattern, and contain such a wealth of allegory and legend that non-Chinese visitors are either completely bewildered or overwhelmed by detail that usually they see little of the mural. Paintings and sketches of scenes involving numerous Immortals and deities defy identification, even though the main character may