Leung Yan-am梁仁庵

Style & Daoist names

Daoist name Ren'an

Period

Late Qing to Republican era

Dates

1861 — 1921

School

Quanzhen (Complete Perfection) Daoism

Role

Founder of Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin TempleDaoist Master of a Spirit-Writing Altar

Birthplace

Nanhai (present-day Nanhai, Foshan, Guangdong)

Places of activity

Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple

Life

Leung Yan-am (Liang Renan), a native of Nanhai, Guangdong, was the founder of the Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple in Hong Kong. During the Guangxu reign of the Qing he took part in spirit-writing (fuji) at the Pujitan altar in the Xiguan area of Guangzhou, and received a planchette revelation from Wong Tai Sin (Huang Daxian); around 1897 he established the Pujing Tan altar in Panyu in veneration of Wong Tai Sin, and later, owing to unsettled times, brought a portrait of Wong Tai Sin to Hong Kong in 1915. In 1921 he built the Sik Sik Yuen in Kowloon's Chuk Yuen, enshrining Chek Sung Wong Tai Sin (Red Pine Wong Tai Sin), and died that same year; his son Leung Kwan Chuen and others carried on the temple's affairs. Sik Sik Yuen later developed into Hong Kong's most famous Daoist organization, and through it the cult of Wong Tai Sin spread across Hong Kong, Macau, Southeast Asia and overseas Chinese communities, becoming a hallmark of Hong Kong Daoism. Since its founding in 1921, Sik Sik Yuen gradually developed from a private Daoist altar into a public temple and charitable organization, opening to the public in 1956; its history was laid by Leung Yan-am and his son.

Contributions & Influence

• Founded the Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple in Hong Kong
• Brought the cult of Wong Tai Sin from Guangdong to Hong Kong
• Laid the foundation for Sik Sik Yuen's development from a private Daoist altar into a public temple

Legends

The account of his receiving a planchette revelation from Wong Tai Sin appears in Sik Sik Yuen's own accounts and is a narrative of faith.