Sailing with the Gods

Sea people do
not have permanent residence on land and boats are the tools
to earn living as well as their homes. They would
have the religious figures on boats as the tutelary
gods of family. In
the 1950s-60s, sea people in Hong Kong would
buy religious figures from the
‘Idol shops’, also called Kong
Chai Pou, which often located near
shore for sea people’s convenience. The carving
industry particularly flourished at that time and many new shops opened to satisfy
the great demand. 

Wood carving was very popular in the 1950-60s
when numbers of engravers from Guangdong and Ningbo moved
to Hong Kong and built up their business. Religious
figure carving was made in different style but exquisite. Large
number of boat people living in typhoon shelters or nearby sea bays brought
great demands on religious figures,
which flourished the
development of
industry, especially
those serving sea people.  However,
the business declined when more sea
people moved to the land; and more
critical is that, it
has being seen as a traditional craftsmanship rather than a profitable
business in
Hong Kong. Nevertheless, wooden
religious figures carving has already included in the First
Intangible Cultural Heritage Inventory
of Hong Kong. During 1920s and 1930s, religious figure carving was vigorous in Macau.
It was hindered by the war in 1940s and started to dwindle in 1960s with the
decline of fishing industry. Nowadays only “Tai Chong Wood Engraving Co.” and
“Kuong Weng Religious Figure Carving and Woodwork” are still running business. With the support of the government,
religious figure carving was inscribed on the Second National Intangible
Cultural Heritage List on 14th June 2008.

Chen Wang, seating and holding a fish in each hand and stepping on fishes, is the deity of Pearl River.

Tin Hau – literally Queen of Heaven – is thought to
have been a real person, Lin Moniang who lived in Fujian and was born in 960CE.
She was associated with a miracle and became venerated.
There is the interesting variation in face colour of the Tin Hau statues –
white or pink is the most common in land peoples’ Tin Hau cults while black Tin
Hau seems mainly to have been worshipped by the people of the sea. 

Tin Hau(Empress of Heaven) is known by other names including:
Mazu(Mother-Ancestor),
Mazu-po(Elderly Lady Mazu)
Tian Fei(Heavenly Princess Consort)
A-Ma or A-Po(Grandmother)

Boat people would worship deities unique to
themselves that are placed in the same shrine with their shipboard god, Tin
Hau. Chu Tai Sin, the god of
sea and the incarnation
of Dayu in
the legend, is one of them. Sea people believe that Chu Tai
Sin could protect them in the sea journeys.
Belief of Chu Tai Sin spread from Hong Kong to Macao in the last century and
there are a number of believers. Every year, they gather and organise Jiu Festival at Lung Ngam
Temple in Tai O and Aberdeen Typhoon Shelter. Small
figures of Chu Tai Sin will also be sent to the Jiu for
worshipping.

Chu Tai Sin, holding a fly whisk in right hand and an ingot in the other.