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1885), records the establishment of the temple about that time. It consists mostly of the names of the many contributors to the building fund, spread over several tablets. The tablet shows that a large number of persons contributed to the building fund, many of them presumably connected with the construction industry in Hong Kong in one way or another. They are grouped according to their home districts and include persons from no less than 22 districts (hsien) of the Kwangtung province including many from the districts round Canton, adjoining Hong Kong. A group from what may be Mangalore in India (????) is also listed among the subscribers.
Besides the inscriptions inside the temple, there are 2 outside the building. One commemorates the establishment of a school premises by the Kwong Yut Tong in the 38th year of the Chinese Republic (1949-50). Another, earlier, one dated in the year (1924-25) explains the ownership of the land on which both temple and school stand.
It appears that, as Carl Smith relates above, the temple had been built on the land bought by the Chinese consortium in 1883, but that no deed had been drawn up between it and the temple's managers, then or later known as the Kwong Yut Tong. After Li Po Lung (son of the leading member of the consortium) sold most of his local property interests in 1921, the Tong's managers discovered that the temple site had been included in the sale. After discussion with the new owners the latter agreed to make over the land to the temple; that is, to the Tong. This satisfactory outcome is recorded in the tablet. The only point of difference between the tablet and the official records consulted by Carl Smith is that the records state that the new owners sold to the Tong for $4,222.40 whereas the tablet indicates it to have been a gift with a then market value of about $40,000!
Lu Pan (in the Northern romanisation) (??)
As is usually the case in China, Lu Pan was a mortal man become a god; and as is equally common, there are different versions of his origin. E.T.C. Werner in his Dictionary of Chinese Mythology (1961 reprint with introduction by Hyman Kublin; pp 281-282) gives the following account which, in its essentials, may be taken as typical of the life stories and miracles attributed to many Chinese deities.
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NOTES AND QUERIES
1885), records the establishment of the temple about that time. It consists mostly of the names of the many contributors to the build- ing fund, spread over several tablets. The tablet shows that a large number of persons contributed to the building fund, many of them presumably connected with the construction industry in Hong Kong in one way or another. They are grouped according to their home districts and include persons from no less than 22 districts (hsien) of the Kwangtung province including many from the districts round Canton, adjoining Hong Kong. A group from what may be Mangalore in India ( ✯✯✯✯) is also listed among the subscribers.
Besides the inscriptions inside the temple, there are 2 outside the building. One commemorates the establishment of a school premises by the Kwong Yut Tong in the 38th year of the Chinese Republic (1949-50). Another, earlier, one dated in the year (1924-25) explains the ownership of the land on which both temple and school stand.
It appears that, as Carl Smith relates above, the temple had been built on the land bought by the Chinese consortium in 1883, but that no deed had been drawn up between it and the temple's managers. then or later known as the Kwong Yut Tong. After Li Po Lung (son of the leading member of the consortium) sold most of his local property interests in 1921, the Tong's managers dis- covered that the temple site had been included in the sale. After discussion with the new owners the latter agreed to make over the land to the temple; that is, to the Tong. This satisfactory outcome is recorded in the tablet. The only point of difference between the tablet and the official records consulted by Carl Smith is that the records state that the new owners sold to the Tong for $4,222.40 whereas the tablet indicates it to have been a gift with a then market value of about $40,000!
Lu Pan (in the Northern romanisation) (✯ ✯)
As is usually the case in China, Lu Pan was a mortal man be- come a god; and as is equally common, there are different versions of his origin. E.T.C. Werner in his Dictionary of Chinese Mythology (1961 reprint with introduction by Hyman Kublin; pp 281-282) gives the following account which, in its essentials, may be taken as typical of the life stories and miracles attributed to many Chinese deities.
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