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of tun fu ceremonies which, collectively, were said to be the largest of their kind ever held in Hong Kong.*
After referring to the Chinese almanac, Tung Sing, believed by some to be the world's oldest, continuous publication, an auspicious day, the 7th day of the Second Moon in the Year of the Rabbit, was selected for holding the main tun fu ceremony. The Author was invited. Thirty-six committee representatives attended with some of the larger of the 26 villages taking part having two representatives. Previously, other smaller tun fu ceremonies for individual villages at Pat Heung had been held, the first at the time of Lap Chun. This festival marks the advent of spring in the Chinese solar calendar, when winter ends, the earth awakens and there is a spirit of renewal in the air. In 1999, the year this tun fu festival was held, Lap Chun fell on February 4. Each village taking part in the Pat Heung ceremony displays at least one tun fu pot which each holds one split-bamboo talisman. Such a practice is not uncommon as, in the dawn of Chinese history, charms were frequently carved on bamboo. At Pat Heung, in 1999, some villages had three and some even as many as eight pots.
Duties for the person(s) performing tun fu ceremonies start well before the due date. He has to decide how many pots are required. Where will they be placed? Why should they be placed here and not there? How many talismans will be put in each pot and which gods will be summoned. Which magical forces will be brought to bear to protect the fung shui? What supplications will be written on the split bamboo talismans? Although the main rules that priests or masters follow may be similar there will be differences in detail, which can be pronounced, as the reader will see later.
The main ceremony, which the Author attended, was held in Sheung Tsuen (Village), in Pat Heung District, on March 24, 1999, where obviously a great deal of planning and preparation had been necessary before the big day. Here, alongside a 150 or so year-old, small-leaf, Chinese banyan tree, a matshed, approximately 9-metres long by 6-metres deep by 10-metres high, had been erected. For a religious ceremony to take place near a tree, with wood being one of the Chinese Five Elements, is quite natural. The banyan after all, with its trailing roots, gives the impression of multiplication, and from there the move to 'fertility' and the extended Chinese family is but a small