Chinese Association of Fiji and Chinese Places of Worship, Suva斐济中华会馆与华人信仰场所

Type

Overseas Daoist Temples

Location

Fiji · Central Division · Suva · Suva is where Fiji's Chinese community is most concentrated today; the early community was centered at the old capital of Levuka

First built

Chinese arrivals from 1855 · The first documented Chinese immigrant, Moy Ba Ling (Hong Li), arrived at Levuka by sailing ship from Australia in 1855

Overview

Fiji's Chinese population numbers about 7,500, some 1.2 percent of the national population; roughly eighty percent speak Cantonese as their mother tongue, with another sixteen percent speaking Shanghainese. Documented immigration history begins in 1855: Moy Ba Ling (also known as Hong Li) arrived by sailing ship from Australia and settled in the old capital, Levuka; he later returned home and brought relatives back with him. The community first worked the goldfields, then turned to the sandalwood and sea-cucumber trade, and opened the earliest shops in rural Fiji. Several further waves of migration have arrived from the late twentieth century to the present; in February 1995 the Fijian cabinet approved the entry of up to seven thousand Hong Kong residents. The religious makeup of Fiji's Chinese community combines Buddhism, Chinese popular religion, Daoism, Confucianism, and Christianity. It must honestly be noted that no reliable sources document an independent Daoist temple building in Fiji; the community's worship of deities is carried out mainly through the Chinese Association, clan associations, and household shrines, consistent with the situation in most Pacific island nations. This entry is a composite record of the community and its places of worship, not of a specific temple.

Highlights

• The first Chinese immigrant arrived at Levuka in 1855
• About 7,500 ethnic Chinese, eighty percent Cantonese-speaking
• Religious life combines Daoism, popular religion, and Christianity
• No independent temple documented; worship is carried out through associations and household shrines
• A composite entry, not a specific temple