12
KEITH G. STEVENS
A typical Daoist temple is the very bare flatlet on the fourteenth floor of a high-rise block in crowded Shamshuipo, established by a widow from Fujian province in about 1965. Now in her early eighties, she lives alone in the flat, which has a resounding Daoist temple name, and has services performed once a week by a visiting lay priest. She recalled eight occasions when near death, she was saved by a specific Daoist Immortal, Lou Da Zhen Jun (**★**IA) who died late in the Ming dynasty, in Fujian, but who appeared again in spirit form in the twenties of this century in Amoy successfully to persuade a Bank of China manager to stop gambling. Lou's likeness is the only icon in the temple, and before it, services are held and sand-table prognostications obtained.
A modern major religious complex above Lo Wai, Tsuen Wan, has on its main altar large images of Confucius, Lao Zi, and Sakyamuni, representing the three religions: Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. Above the altar hall, which is a modern pagoda, there are several buildings dedicated entirely to memorials, and in two of these halls, Daoist services for the dead are frequently performed.
Folk Religion Temples
There are some two hundred and forty-six folk religion temples in Hong Kong. When sub-divided into architectural groups, approximately two-thirds of them are traditional buildings, two-ninths are modern constructions, legally built with the Hong Kong Government's permission,18 and one-ninth resettlement shacks, huts, or other illegal constructions. These latter fall into those tolerated by the Hong Kong authorities and those not tolerated.* The latter are regularly pulled down, often to be built illegally again nearby.
Traditional temples in rural areas tend to have flourished around a catchment area of a village or two and have been built on the outskirts of one of the villages. Frequently, there is an adjacent open space used primarily for holding elaborate festivities on the main deity's annual feast day.
Although most traditional folk religion temples built before World War II have a similar plan and general layout, no
* To be explained by the periodic amnesties given to older, but still not tolerated illegal structures. 1976 saw the last to date, the purpose being to provide a new, realistic baseline for demolition of new structures (Hon. Editor).
12
KEITH G. STEVENS
A typical Daoist temple is the very bare flatlet on the fourteenth floor of a high rise block in crowded Shamshuipo, established by a widow from Fujian province in about 1965. Now in her early eighties she lives alone in the flat which has a resounding Daoist temple name and has services performed once a week by a visiting lay priest. She recalled eight occasions when near death she was saved by a specific Daoist Immortal, Lou Da Zhen Jan (★★IA) who died late in the Ming dynasty, in Fujian, but who appeared again in spirit form in the twenties of this century in Amoy sucess- fully to persuade a Bank of China manager to stop gambling. Lou's likeness is the only icon in the temple, and before it services are held and sand table prognostications obtained.
A modern major religious complex above Lo Wai, Tsuen Wan, has on its main altar large images of Confucius, Lao Zi and Sakyamuni, representing the three religions, Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. Above the altar hall, which is a modern pagoda, there are several buildings dedicated entirely to memorials, and in two of these halls Daoist services for the dead are frequently per- formed.
Folk Religion Temples
There are some two hundred and forty-six folk religion temples in Hong Kong. When sub-divided into architectural groups, appro- ximately two thirds of them are traditional buildings, two ninths are modern constructions, legally built with the Hong Kong Govern- ment's permission,18 and one ninth resettlement shacks, huts or other illegal constructions. These latter fall into those tolerated by the Hong Kong authorities and those not tolerated.* The latter are regularly pulled down, often to be built illegally again nearby.
Traditional temples in rural areas tend to have flourished around a catchment area of a village or two, and have been built on the outskirts of one of the villages. Frequently there is an adjacent open space, used primarily for the holding of elaborate festivities on the main deity's annual feast day.
Although most of the traditional folk religion temples built before World War II have a similar plan and general layout, no
* To be explained by the periodic amnesties given to older, but still not tolerated illegal structures. 1976 saw the last to date, the purpose being to provide a new, realistic base line for demolition of new structures (Hon. Editor),
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