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RELIGION AND CUSTOM

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actual or mythical feats. Among the more famous are Tin Hau (Goddess of Heaven and protectress of seafarers), Kwan Tai (God of War and the source of righteousness), Hung Shing (God of the South Seas and a weather prophet), Pak Tai (Lord of the North and local patron of Cheung Chau Island) and Lo Ban Sin Shi (patron of masons and building contractors). Many Tin Hau temples are found near the entrances to fishing harbours, and the best known of these is at Fat Tong Mun in Joss House Bay. Other Tin Hau temples originally established close to the shore are now some distance inland, as a result of reclamations.

Also famous is the Man Mo Temple in Hollywood Road, which is dedicated to the gods of literacy and martial valour. Other popular temples of Taoist origin include the recently rebuilt Sik Sik Yuen at Wong Tai Sin in New Kowloon and the Che Kung Temple at Sha Tin. Steps are being taken to provide proper facilities for the fast growing population in public housing estates to worship and celebrate religious festivals.

In the New Territories, traditional clan organisation has been preserved to a great extent. Many villages have an ancestral hall where ancestral tablets of the clan are kept and venerated. The hall is also the centre of both religious and secular life for the clansmen-villagers. Animism in the form of shrines, or simply joss sticks burnt at the foot of rocks and trees to honour spirits of the locality is found in the New Territories, particularly among Hakka villagers.

There are five major festivals in the Chinese calendar. The first and foremost is the Lunar New Year. Gifts and visits are exchanged among friends and relatives, and children are happy receivers of 'lucky money' from adults. During the Ching Ming Festival in spring, ancestral graves are visited. The Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated in early summer when the spectacular dragon boat races are held and steamed rice in lotus leaves is eaten. The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 15th day of the eighth moon. Gifts of mooncakes, wines and fruits are exchanged among relatives and friends and children play with colourful lanterns. The ninth day of the ninth moon is Chung Yeung, when large crowds climb various hills in remembrance of a Chinese family and its legendary escape from plague and death by fleeing to the top of a high moun- tain. Visits to family graves are also paid on this day.

Organised Christianity dates back almost to the foundation of Hong Kong, the first churches being established in 1842. Today there are nearly 600 churches and chapels. The most recent Hong Kong Church Directory lists about 50 denominations and sect groups.

There is no formal religious census, but the estimated number of Christians is 440,000-slightly more than 10 per cent of the total population. Of these, more than half are Roman Catholic, and slightly less than half, Protestant.

Protestant churches are responsible for more than 250 primary schools, and 130 middle schools and colleges. The Christian concern for post secondary education is shown by the existence of Chung Chi College of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong Baptist College.