The shrine at the end of Wo On Lane




Tucked away between tall buildings and at the end of Wo On Lane is this little marvel of a shrine,

I asked Chi who the figures represent and he was very surprised to see them together. The reason for displaying them together is rather enigmatic because they are normally never seen side by side.

The figure on the right represents the God of Long Life named "Sau Sing Kung". He is usually found as part of a trio along with the God of Luck called "Fook" and the God of Prospects called "Look"
He then told me this interesting anecdote.

The warrior-like figure on the left was a mighty general and has become the God of Justice named "Kwan Kung" or "Guan Yu". Who along with two buddies called "Liu Bei" and "Zhang Fei" from "Han" dynasty and they revolted against the minister "Cao cao" who stole the kingdom from "Han" by kidnapping the last "Han" emperor. Liu Bei was the cousin of the king and finally ascended to the throne after the emperor died.

Kwan refused Cao to betray his friend Liu several times, even though they respected each other and he was then defeated and killed by Cao. Their revolt was finally failed. Kwan was transformed to God because of his heroic loyalty to his friend.

The funny thing is that, not only many government departments such as the police, customs and correctional services pray to Kwan but also every triad. And as Chi put it: "It makes Kwan very headache!".




© evangelo costadimas 2004

Posted: Tuesday - June 01, 2004 at 11:08 PM          

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