The Origin of Thai Pak Kong worship Significance of Thai Pak Kong Worship Cultural Background of Sub Gods
Festivals & Events Celebrations Spatial Layout & Circulation Architectural Style
FengShui and Cultural believes Conclusion
THAI PAK KONG TEMPLE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
THAI PAK KONG WORSHIP THE ORIGIN
THAI PAK KONG WORSHIP
Zhang Li is a mid-18th century SCHOLAR OF HAKKA DESCENT. Zhang Li left a troubled China along with two other companions Qiu Zhao-Jin & Ma Fu-Chun.
THE ORIGIN
THAI PAK KONG WORSHIP
Due to a storm accident, his boat accidentally landed on Penang in the mid-18th century and it was 40 years before Francis Light founded the British settlement at George Town. Zhang Li uses some of the goods from the boat to barter.
THE ORIGIN
THAI PAK KONG WORSHIP
After they passed on, they were buried in graves that today is to the left of the Tua Pek Kong Temple.
THE ORIGIN
THAI PAK KONG WORSHIP
Fifty years after the death of Zhang Li, the local Chinese began to venerate him as a GOD OF PROSPERITY, bestowing upon him the honorific title of Tua Pek Kong, meaning ‘GREAT-GRAND UNCLE’.
THE ORIGIN
THAI PAK KONG WORSHIP
This makes the Tanjong Tokong Tua Pek Kong Temple one of THE OLDEST CHINESE TEMPLE in Penang.
THE ORIGIN
THAI PAK KONG WORSHIP SIGNIFICANCE
THAI PAK KONG WORSHIP
1.Place of WORSHIP for the Chinese immigrants as well as to TRACE THEIR ROOTS.
SIGNIFICANCE
THAI PAK KONG WORSHIP
2. EMERGENCE of the temple is closely knitted to the EARLY CHINESE SETTLEMENT
SIGNIFICANCE
THAI PAK KONG WORSHIP
3. It has become a TOURIST ATTRACTION as well as a popular venue for CULTURAL ACTIVITIES.
SIGNIFICANCE
THAI PAK KONG WORSHIP
4. “GOD OF THE LAND” represents RESPECT, drawing a CLOSER RELATIONSHIP between deity and the locals. It also became a subject of worship for PROTECTION.
SIGNIFICANCE
THAI PAK KONG WORSHIP
5. Set up as a GESTURE OF THANKSGIVING to the deity.
SIGNIFICANCE
THAI PAK KONG WORSHIP
6. Believed as an ICONIC REPRESENTATION of the migrants from the Southern Chinese to this region.
SIGNIFICANCE
CULTURAL BACKGROUND OF SUB GODS
Typical impression of people toward Cai Shen that is holding gold ingots..
Cai Shen is the Chinese name of the god of prosperity. He can be referred to as Zhao Gongming (Chao Kung-ming) or Bigan (Pi-kan). People believed that Cai Shen are able to control the fortune and wealth for the
CULTURAL BACKGROUND SUB GODS-CAI SHEN
TIAN GONG CAI SHEN Slightly different from typical impression Bringing blessings from the Heaven
CULTURAL BACKGROUND SUB GODS-CAI SHEN
The oldest Chinese terms for the cosmos and a key concept in Chinese mythology, philosophy, and religion. Tian is often translated as “Heaven" Relationship to its complementary aspect of Di (Earth) become the representative of the dualistic nature of Taoism. maintain the two poles of the Three Realms ( 三界) of reality, with the middle realm occupied by Humanity (人, Ren).
CULTURAL BACKGROUND SUB GODS-TIAN（天）
GUAN YU Courtesy Name: Yunchang Referred as “ Emperor Guan” Taoist Title: "Saintly Emperor Guan" (關 聖帝君), and as "Guan Gong"
CULTURAL BACKGROUND SUB GODS-GUAN GONG
A Guan Yu statue holding the guan dao in the right hand.
CULTURAL BACKGROUND
A significant role in the civil war that led to the collapse of the Han Dynasty Establishment of the state of Shu Han A code of honour Reclining moon blade
SUB GODS-GUAN GONG
Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and other places with Chinese influence such as Vietnam, South Korea, and Japan. Chinese homes or businesses. In Hong Kong, a shrine for Guan is located in each police station.
CULTURAL BACKGROUND SUB GODS-GUAN GONG
Statues in police stations tend to hold the halberd in the right hand
Members of the triad worship the Guan as well. The hand which the halberd signifies which side the Guan Yi is worshipped. When the British ruled Hong Kong, all Chinese Secret Society were seen as criminal threats & together defined as ‘Triads’.
Statues used by triads tend to hold the halberd in the left hand
CULTURAL BACKGROUND SUB GODS-GUAN GONG
The Tiger Lord (虎爺伯 Hu ye bo) An honorific name for the Tiger Spirit (虎神 Hushen). also known as the Tiger General (虎將軍 Hu Jiangjun) and The General of the Lower Altar Representing the raw power of courage and strength and is regarded as a protector spirit. Worshipers revere the tiger spirit to curse spiritual enemies and villain hitting
CULTURAL BACKGROUND SUB GODS-HU YE BO
The only Hua Gu Niang statue in Malaysia that presents in Thai Pak Kong temple, King Street, Malaysia.
FLOWER GIRL 花姑娘 Unknown origin The God who loves to dress up. Pray for relationships Offerings from worshiper including flowers, cosmetics, perfumes.
CULTURAL BACKGROUND
SUB GODS-HUA GU NIANG
The spirit of Na Tuk Kong is believed to be presented on the piece of wood.
ď ą To most Malaysian Chinese, Datuk Gong is a local guardian spirit that resides in trees, ant hills, caves, river sides and in strange stone formations. ď ą Some common forms are a white tiger and the form of an old man dressed in white. A Datuk can also be 'invited' to reside outside (never indoors) a family home for spiritual protection and luck.
Typical appearance of Na Tuk Kong statue.
CULTURAL BACKGROUND SUB GODS-NA TUK KONG
Er Ye Bo- evil spirit known as the 'Black and White Guards of Impermanence' they are in charge of bringing the spirits of the dead to the Underworld. Dua Ya Pek was killed by hanging himself thus his tongue stuck out. Dee Ya Pek die of drowning and thus his face is blacken.
Da Ye Bo- good spirit
CULTURAL BACKGROUND SUB GODS-DA ER YE BO
ď ą Human Folks often time do prayer in front of their statues in the temple and seek Lottery Numbers. ď ą There is a popularly known fact - If anyone ever bump into them on the street at night or in the graveyard or along the dark alley or dark roadsides at night, they will confirm strike the Lottery.
CULTURAL BACKGROUND SUB GODS-DA ER YE BO
SPATIAL LAYOUT AND SEQUENCE OF PRAYING IN THE TEMPLE
Ground Floor Plan Of Thai Pak Kong Temple
1. Pay respect to all Gods towards the sky.
2. Pray to the main God, Thai Pak Gong
3. Tian Gong Cai Shen
4. Tian
5. Guan Di Sheng Jun
6. Hu Ye Bo, Hua Gu Niang, Na Tuk Kong, Da Er Ye Bo
PENANG ARCHITECTURAL STYLE
Thai Pak Kong Temple, King Street.
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE OF HOKKIEN
Hock Teik Cheng Sin Temple, Armenian Street
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE OF HOKKIEN
Ground Floor Plan of Thai Pak Kong Temple
Compact and rich spatial layout.
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE LAYOUT
Five foot way of Thai Pak Kong Temple
To provide a sheltered walkway.
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE FIVE FOOT WAY
Grey facade with granite carvings decorative ornaments
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE FACADE
Air well in the temple.
An air well located in between the prayer halls allows natural lighting and ventilation.
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE AIRWELL
Orange roof tiles
Decorative ornamentations
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE ROOF
Roof truss for the exterior facade
Cross-beams and main posts is widely used in designing a formal space for Hokkien style temple.
Two cross beam with decorative ornaments at Thai Pak Kong Temple
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE TRUSS AND CROSS BEAM
Five foot way of Thai Pak Kong Temple
Decorative roof ridge, Pai Tou and Dragon
Ornaments on the roof such as Pai Tou and Dragon can be seen and they are reknowned for the Jian Nian(cut-and-paste) shardwork by using porcelain.
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE ORNAMENTS
Kirin panel
Kirin(Qilin), known as Chinese unicorn symbolizes dignity, serenity and peaceful. While,elephant is considered as an auspicious animal.
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE ORNAMENTS
Wu Di Temple, King Street.
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE OF CANTONESE
Emphasize on having sheer height of wall and gabled wall end with straight roof ridge.
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE TALL AND STRAIGHT ROOF RIDGE
Lined up of four gable walls with the two adjacent building to create a strong sense of rhythmic skyline
Cantonese architecture emphasizes choice of location for groundwork and harmonious unification with the surrounding.
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE COMBINATION WITH LANDSCAPE
Influenced by Jiangnan region, establishment of closed building was stressed as a period of time where landlords often consist of four to five generations living together.
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE COMPACT LAYOUT
ENG TAI ASSOCIATION, TOH AKA LANE
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE OF HAKKA
In their detailing (timber carving) and the decoration of dragon head on the ends of beams.
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE
INFLUENCED BY TEOCHEW STYLE
The ends of the roof being being curved backwards.
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE SWELLOW TAIL STYLE OF ROOF
Curved roof with orange roof tiles
Grey and straight roof ridge
Grayish roof tiles with final end curved backwards
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE COMPARISON
Gray faรงade with decorative ornament
Full height granite walls with minimal ornament
Simple faรงade with granite wall
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE COMPARISON
FESTIVALS & EVENTS CELEBRATION
Birthday Celebration Of Thai Pak Kong (Lunar Calendar) 15th January 2nd February 15th February 15th March 15th August
FESTIVALS & EVENTS CELEBRATION
BIRTHDAY OF THAI PAK KONG
2nd Feb, a procession will be held to send Tua Pek Kong statue from King Street to Tanjong Tokong. The statue will be brought back at 17th Feb.
FESTIVALS & EVENTS CELEBRATION
BIRTHDAY OF THAI PAK KONG
The temple would not be closed during Lunar Chinese New Year Eve. Most worshipers would come to pray at 1st and 15th day of the month.
FESTIVALS & EVENTS CELEBRATION
1ST & 15TH DAY OF THE MONTHS
Worshippers will burn more offerings especially during the birthday of Gods.
FESTIVALS & EVENTS CELEBRATION BIRTHDAYS OF SUB GODS
Worshippers pray during Chinese New Year for blessings in the new coming year.
FESTIVALS & EVENTS CELEBRATION CHINESE NEW YEAR
15th day of the 1st month in Lunar calendar marking the last day of Lunar Chinese New Year.
FESTIVALS & EVENTS CELEBRATION
LANTERN FESTIVAL
An harvest festival. 15th day of the eighth month. Moon worship.
FESTIVALS & EVENTS CELEBRATION
MID-AUTUMN FESTIVAL
day of the last month in Lunar calender. 22ND
A festival to reunite.
FESTIVALS & EVENTS CELEBRATION
DONGZHI FESTIVAL
5TH day of the 5th month. Dragon boat competition.
FESTIVALS & EVENTS CELEBRATION
DRAGON BOAT FESTIVAL
15th
night of the seventh month.
FESTIVALS & EVENTS CELEBRATION
The opening of gate of hell. Permitting ghosts to receive foods and drinks from human.
HUNGRY GHOST FESTIVAL
Feng shui is a Chinese philosophical system of harmonizing the human existence with the surrounding environment. The term feng shui literally translates as "wind-water" in English.
FENG SHUI
Example:Guan Yue Temple （关岳庙）,Beijing
Typically,The Chinese believe the main door or entrance of a building has to face towards South(坐北朝南), and they rarely have openings face towards North.This is due to the geographical position of China.
FENG SHUI
ORIENTATION AND GEOGRAPHICAL CONTEXT OF BUILDING
However,Thai Pak Kong Temple faces South East and it has its own rule of orientation because Malaysia is an equatorial country.
FENG SHUI
ORIENTATION AND GEOGRAPHICAL CONTEXT OF BUILDING
East Facade
Rule 1: Fenestrations face towards east and west facades are minimized to prevent direct sunlight.
FENG SHUI
ORIENTATION AND GEOGRAPHICAL CONTEXT OF BUILDING
Rule 2: The Chinese emphasize on the origin of air and wind(气), they will normally orientate the building faces towards sea and hills at the back (背山面海).
FENG SHUI
ORIENTATION AND GEOGRAPHICAL CONTEXT OF BUILDING
Ground Floor Plan of Thai Pak Kong Temple
The Chinese believe everything is symmetry and balance（对称）, they believe everything has negative and positive aspects, this is explained as Yin and Yang(阴阳).For instance, there is heaven and earth, day and night, summer and winter, etc.
FENG SHUI
THE SYMMETRY PLAN
The air well is a part of Yin(negative), it collects the negative air(Qi,阴气).The Qi inside the building can flow through the air well and release to the sky.
FENG SHUI AIRWELL
FENG SHUI AIRWELL
During the day,natural light may provides effective internal lighting into the air well.
Airwell of Heong San Hoay Kuan with drain at the ground.
Water is one of the most important element in Feng Shui. The drain(水口) located at air well as it is able to channel water out of the building.The Chinese believe that the air well is a place where human can communicate with the nature.
Airwell of Nin Yong Temple
FENG SHUI DRAINAGE
Lattice in the prayer hall of Thai Pak Kong Temple
Persimmon pattern lattice in the prayer hall of Thai Pak Kong Temple. Persimmon means 柿子 (Shi Zi) in Chinese, there is a Chinese idiom 事事 如意 (Shi Shi Ru Yi), means everything goes smoothly as you wish.
FENG SHUI LATTICE
According to Chinese belief, the decoration and the pattern in the lattice will bring good fortunes.
The Chinese believe it is the spirit of wood structure connection, they symbolize a pair of husband and wife, who is firm will hold each other hands until the end.
FENG SHUI
TENON-AND-MORTISE-WORK
Tenon-and-mortisework at the entrance of Nin Yong Temple
Tenon-and-mortise-work at the entrance of Heong San Huay Kuan
FENG SHUI
TENON-AND-MORTISE-WORK
Dragon, as roof decoration in Thai Pak Kong Temple.
Painting of dragon in Thai Pak Kong Temple
FENG SHUI
According to The Chinese, they believe if there are Dragons fly through the clouds, it symbolized nobility, 高贵 (Gao Gui) in Chinese.
DECORATION: PAINTING AND ORNAMENTS
Kirin,(麒麟,Qi Lin)is a creature that has a dragon body but the legs of a horse. It symbolizes dignity, serenity, and peaceful.
FENG SHUI
DECORATION: PAINTING AND ORNAMENTS
Painting of bat on a wall of Thai Pak Kong Temple
FENG SHUI
Bat is called 蝙蝠 (Bian Fu)in Chinese, and the word 蝠 (Fu) is the same pronunciation as 福 (Fu), which means bless in Chinese.
DECORATION: PAINTING AND ORNAMENTS
Flower Vase is called 花瓶 (Hua Ping)in Chinese, 瓶 (Ping) is the same pronunciation as 平 (Ping), flower is placed inside the vase, means safety and fortune(富贵平安).
FENG SHUI
DECORATION: PAINTING AND ORNAMENTS
The Hokkiens consider certain fruits auspicious. For instance, they are fond of pineapple, which is called ong lai in the Hokkien dialect, whereby ong means "prosperous" and lai means "to come".
CULTURAL BELIEVES FRUITS
The pomelo is also popular among the Hokkiens because its pronunciation in their dialect coincides with yu which means "to have".
CULTURAL BELIEVES FRUITS
Taoists believe that the Jade Emperor is the ruler of heaven.Hokkien people consider this as a way to thank him for saving them. In the Hokkien dialect, sugarcane is called gam jia and this sounds like gam sia, which means "thank you".
CULTURAL BELIEVES FRUITS
Hokkiens has the tradition to burn “spirit money”, also known as paper money/ ghost money on festivals such as Tomb-Sweeping Day (清明节) believing that it will be received by their ancestral spirits as their pocket money in their afterlife.
CULTURAL BELIEVES SPIRIT MONEY
The understanding of the relationship between architecture and the significance of the building as well as its inhabitation is important in completing this documentation task. The research on this old building is important to be used for future development of the building and this may include both new and conservations works. The Thai Pak Kong Temple is rich in historical and architectural cultural heritage. Old buildings like the researched building will have to be preserved and conserved for the benefits of our future generations. Cultural heritage can provide an automatic sense of unity and belonging within a group and allows us to better understand previous generations and the history of where we come from.
CONCLUSION
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REFERENCES
Unknown (n.d.).祠堂建筑的历史与规制和建筑风格与特点 Retrieved February 13, 2014, from http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_5ebd7d710100mynz.html Unknown (n.d. ).Hock Teik Cheng Sin Temple (Poh Hock Seah), George Town, Pulau Pinang.Retrieved February 14, 2014 fromview-source:http://www.penang-traveltips.com/hock-teikcheng-sin-temple.htm Unknown (n.d. ).Cai Shen the God of Fortune - National Geographic Photo Contest 2013 - National Geographic.Retrieved February 14, 2014 from http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/ph oto-contest/2013/entries/240598/view/ Unknown (n.d. ).Agnostic仰庇神恩: Tiger God 虎爺 (Huye).Retrieved February 14, 2014, from http://adamagnostic.blogspot.com/2012/08/tiger-god-huye362010.html
REFERENCES
THE END THANK YOU