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drought. He is also renowned for his supernatural involvement in the construction of major bridges.
In some villages when a person dies, an image of Ch'ing-shui is taken from the temple for a fourteen or twenty-one day stay, to help pass on prayers and supplications of the relatives to the Underworld on behalf of the newly deceased soul.
The dates of his annual festival vary considerably from temple to temple. The most popular dates are the 6th of the first lunar month and the double sixth. In Singapore it is celebrated more often than not on the 7th of the first, with the second and fourth days of the twelfth lunar months being quite popular too in Malaysia and Taiwan. In a few places he is revered on the 13th day of the fifth lunar month, the anniversary of his death. In Singapore his cult followers claim that his festival is not celebrated with processions as other cults do with their deities.
San P'ing Tsu-shih
The identity of the third cult deity, San P'ing Tsu-shih, has proved controversial as a number of temple keepers in Singapore and Malaysia have claimed that he is identical with Ch'ing-shui Tsu-shih. The majority, however, believe him to be simply an influential Buddhist priest whose name is now lost. He was generally known by his name in religion, I-chung and, according to T'ang inscriptions, was considered to have been a patriarch of Chinese Buddhism, a local claim which failed. Nowadays he is revered by devotees in the popular religion temples where his image stands on its own altar and where he is prayed to, especially, for his ability to cure sickness.
His cult centre is some twenty miles south west of Changchou in P'ing-ho district where his temple is popular with pilgrims from Amoy and Changchou who travel to the remote site by bus in large numbers. Very small images of the deity are to be seen hanging from the rear-view mirrors in taxis in Amoy where he is claimed to be the most popular of all protective deities.
Legend claims that he lived in Changpu in Fukien province, a learned man who was able to predict the patterns of lives and the dates of individuals' deaths. According to a temple keeper in Nantou in Taiwan,
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drought. He is also renowned for his supernatural involvement in the construction of major bridges.
In some villages when a person dies, an image of Ch'ing-shui is taken from the temple for a fourteen or twenty-one day stay, to help pass on prayers and supplications of the relatives to the Underworld on behalf of the newly deceased soul.
The dates of his annual festival vary considerably from temple to temple. The most popular dates are the 6th of the first lunar month and the double sixth. In Singapore it is celebrated more often than not on the 7th of the first, with the second and fourth days of the twelfth lunar months being quite popular too in Malaysia and Taiwan. In a few places he is revered on the 13th day of the fifth lunar month, the anniversary of his death. In Singapore his cult followers claim that his festival is not celebrated with processions as other cults do with their deities
San P'ing Tsu-shih
The identity of the third cult deity, San P'ing Tsu-shth, has proved controversial as a number of temple keepers in Singapore and Malaysia have claimed that he is identical with Ch'ing-shui Tsu-shih. The majority, however believe him to be simply an influential Buddhist priest whose name is now lost. He was generally known by his name in religion, I-chung and, according to T'ang inscriptions, was considered to have a patriarch of Chinese Buddhism, a local claim which failed. Nowadays he is revered by devotees in the popular religion temples where his image stands on its own altar and where he is prayed to, especially, for his ability to cure sickness.
His cult centre is some twenty miles south west of Changchou in P'ing- ho district where his temple is popular with pilgrims from Amoy and Changchou who travel to the remote site by bus in large numbers. Very small images of the deity are to be seen hanging from the rear-view mirrors in taxis in Amoy where he is claimed to be the most popular of all protective deities.
Legend claims that he lived in Changpu in Fukien province, a learned man who was able to predict the patterns of lives and the dates of Individuals' deaths. According to a temple keeper in Nantou in Taiwan,
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