ENG-1959 — Page 352

RELIGION

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Chinese temples play an important role in the life of many of the people of Hong Kong. Temples are usually named in honour of one particular God though in many temples several deities are worshipped. Statues of Kwun Yam, the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, may thus be found standing next to the shrines of local Taoist dignitaries such as Wong Tai Sin and Tam Kung. As Confucian ancestral tablets will often be found in another part of the building, the three religions of China are frequently all accommodated under the one roof. Perhaps the oldest, and cer- tainly one of the most popular, of the Hong Kong temples is that dedicated to Tin Hau, the Queen of Heaven, at Causeway Bay. Tin Hau is the guardian of fishermen and temples in her honour are found near the entrances of most fishing harbours. The Man Mo Temple in Hollywood Road which is dedicated to the Gods of literacy and martial valour is equally famous and is under the control of the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals. All Chinese temples in Hong Kong, apart from those which are specifically exempted, must be registered with the Secretary for Chinese Affairs. Whatever revenue is obtained from these temples is placed under the control of the Chinese Temples Committee, whose first obligation is to ensure that the temples are kept in a proper state of repair. Any surplus is transferred to the General Chinese Charities Fund, which distributes it to charitable organiza- tions in accordance with their need.

In the New Territories, where a traditional clan organization has been preserved to a much greater extent than in the urban areas, many villages have an ancestral hall where the ancestral tablets of the clan are kept and venerated. In such villages the inhabitants often all belong to the same clan and the hall is the centre of both the religious and secular organization of the village. Such buildings do not fall under the control of the Secretary for Chinese Affairs.

The greatest festival of the Chinese Calendar is the Lunar New Year, which is welcomed in Hong Kong in the traditional manner with a deafening barrage of firecrackers, for the free discharge of which general permission is granted for two days. The traditional customs of exchanging gifts and visiting relatives and friends are also widely observed. Other festivals observed by the population as a whole are the Ching Ming Festival in the Spring, when visits