ENG-1983 — Page 272

RELIGION AND CUSTOM

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Other leading deities include Kwun Yum, the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy; Kwan Tai, the God of War and Righteousness; Pak Tai, Lord of the North and the local patron god of Cheung Chau Island; Hung Shing, God of the South Seas and a weather prophet; and Wong Tai Sin, after whom an area of Kowloon is named. The temple in honour of Wong Tai Sin, around which public housing estates have been constructed, is built in traditional Chinese architectural style and is extremely popular with worshippers. Dedicated to the Gods of Literary Attainment and Martial Valour, the Man Mo Temple in Hollywood Road, Western District, run by the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals' charitable organisation, is equally popular and well-known.

Besides providing for spiritual needs, Buddhist and Taoist organisations help to meet welfare, educational and medical needs in Hong Kong, either directly or by contributing to charitable organisations. At present, about 40 primary and secondary schools, one hospital and nine homes for the aged are under the direct management of the Buddhist and Taoist associations.

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Religious studies are conducted at monasteries, nunneries and hermitages. Being easily accessible, the monasteries at Sha Tin and Tsuen Wan are particularly popular with residents of urban areas. However, the best-known monasteries are situated in the more remote parts of the New Territories. One of the most renowned is the Buddhist Po Lin Monastery on Lantau Island which attracts large numbers of visitors at weekends and on holidays. At Tao Fung Shan near Sha Tin, there is a Christian study centre on Chinese religion and culture, where the work of the Christian Mission to Buddhists has been carried out for many years.

In the urban areas, Buddhist Ching She (places for spiritual cultivation), Fat Tong (Buddha Halls) and To Yuen (places for Taoist worship), which have been established to cater for the spiritual needs of city dwellers, are used for expounding the sutras and for gatherings held by various Buddhist and Taoist organisations.

In the New Territories, traditional clan organisations have been preserved and continue to play an important part in the lives of the villagers. Many villages have an ancestral hall as the centre of religious and secular activities, where ancestral tablets of the clan are kept and venerated. Animism exists in the form of shrines or joss sticks placed at the foot of certain rocks and trees within which spirits are believed to dwell. This practice is especially common among Hakka and Chiu Chow villagers.

There are five major festivals in the Chinese calendar, all of which are statutory public holidays. First and foremost is the Lunar New Year, when gifts and visits are exchanged between friends and relatives, and children receive 'lucky' money. The Ching Ming Festival in the springtime provides an opportunity to visit ancestral graves. The Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth moon in early summer with dragon boat races and by eating cooked rice wrapped in lotus leaves. The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 15th day of the eighth moon. Gifts of mooncakes, fruit and wine are exchanged, and adults and children go to the parks and countryside at night carrying colourful lanterns. The Chung Yeung Festival is on the ninth day of the ninth moon, and is celebrated by large crowds climbing various hills in remembrance of an ancient Chinese family's escape from plague and death by fleeing to the top of a high mountain. Family graves are also visited on this day.

Christian Community

The Christian community Roman Catholic and Protestant is estimated to number about half a million people, comprising more than 50 Christian denominations and independent groups in Hong Kong.