The Hung Shing Temple in Wanchai, Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

 is one of several temples dedicated

Hung Shing Temple

Hung Shing Temples or Tai Wong Temples are temples dedicated to Hung Shing. Hung Shing temples have been widely built in southern China, especially Guangdong province and in Hong Kong.-Existing temples:...

 to Hung Shing

Hung Shing

Hung Shing , also known as Hung Shing Ye and Tai Wong , was a government official in the Tang Dynasty named Hung Hei serving Pun Yue in present-day Guangdong, China....

 in the territory.

Location

The temple is located at located at Nos. 129-131 Queen's Road East, Wan Chai. Tai Wong Street West

Tai Wong Street West

Tai Wong Street West is a street in the Wan Chai district of Hong Kong island, Hong Kong. It intersects with Queen's Road East next to the Hung Shing Temple, and connects to Tai Wong Street East....

 and Tai Wong Street East

Tai Wong Street East

Tai Wong Street East is a street in the Wan Chai area of Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. It intersects with Queen's Road East next to the Hung Shing Temple....

 intersect with Queen's Road East across the street from the temple. The two streets derive their name from the temple, as "Tai Wong" is an alternate name for Hung Shing

Hung Shing

Hung Shing , also known as Hung Shing Ye and Tai Wong , was a government official in the Tang Dynasty named Hung Hei serving Pun Yue in present-day Guangdong, China....

. The temple was originally built next to the shoreline, facing the sea, but as the consequence of successive land reclamations

Land reclamation in Hong Kong

Land is in short supply in Hong Kong, and land reclamation has been conducted there since the mid-19th century.-Projects:One of the earliest and famous project was the Praya Reclamation Scheme, which added 50 to of land in 1890 during the second phase of construction...

, it is now surrounded by clusters of residential and commercial buildings.

History

The temple was probably built in 1847 and may have existed previously as a shrine. Renovations were recorded to have been carried out in 1857, 1860, 1867, 1949 and
1992. An annex Kwun Yum temple was constructed to its left in 1867.

Features

The temple was built with boulders from the hillside and its right portion and back are sitting on rocks. It is a simple one-hall building with a granite

Granite

Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...

 platform right in front of its façade. The roof of the platform is supported by elaborate granite columns and accessing staircases are built on either ends rather than in the middle facing the temple entrance. The ceramic decorations of Shiwan

Shiwan

Shiwan is a town located in the southwest of the city of Foshan, with a land area of 38,0000m2 and a population of 42,700. Shiwan has a long history of ceramic sculpture, with many vivid works by generations of craftsmen. Its 5000-year-long ceramic making history has accumulated the rich and...

 kiln on the roof date from 1909. Together with Hung Shing, other deities worshiped there include Madame Kam Fa (金花娘娘), Pau Kung and Shing Wong

Shing Wong

City gods or town gods are deities in Chinese mythology, responsible for the affairs of specific cities.-History:There are temples dedicated to local town gods in many cities of China. Much like the ancient Greeks, the Chinese traditionally believe that guardian gods watched over cities...

.

Conservation

The management of the Temple has been delegated to the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals

Tung Wah Group of Hospitals

The Tung Wah Group of Hospitals , with a long history from 1870, is the oldest and the largest charitable organisation in Hong Kong. Their education Services and Community Services to the community with a total of 194 service centres spreading over the territory of Hong Kong.Although it appears a...

 by the Chinese Temples Committee

Chinese Temples Committee

The Chinese Temples Committee is a statutory body in Hong Kong established under the Chinese Temples Ordinance . It is mainly responsible for the operation and management of twenty-four temples directly under its management. It also handles temple registration...

 since pre-war times. It has been listed as a Grade I historic building since 1987 and it is part of the Wan Chai Heritage Trail

Wan Chai Heritage Trail

The Wan Chai Heritage Trail was launched on the 27th of September 2009. It was formed by the Old Wan Chai Revitalisation Initiatives Special Committee established by the Development Bureau in order to promote the local culture, history and architectural style of the Wan Chai District of Hong...

, established in 2009.

Festivals

Worshippers of Hung Shing go to pray in the temple on the 1st and the 15th day of every lunar month

Lunar calendar

A lunar calendar is a calendar that is based on cycles of the lunar phase. A common purely lunar calendar is the Islamic calendar or Hijri calendar. A feature of the Islamic calendar is that a year is always 12 months, so the months are not linked with the seasons and drift each solar year by 11 to...

 and on the birthday of Kwun Yum, the Goddess of Mercy.