Min Chih Tang (Chee Kung Tong), Havana哈瓦那洪门民治党（致公堂）关帝坛
- Type
- Overseas Daoist Temples
- Location
- Cuba · Havana Province · Havana · Within the Chinatown of Havana; restaurant on the ground floor, quarters and an altar upstairs
- First built
- Early 1887 · The organization's roots trace back to the anti-Qing secret societies of 1860s China; it was forced underground around 1967 and later re-emerged as a registered association
Overview
The Min Chih Tang (Chee Kung Tong) of Havana was founded by Chinese immigrants in Cuba in early 1887; the organization's roots trace back to the anti-Qing secret-society tradition in China of the 1860s. Its lodge is located in the Chinatown, with a restaurant on the ground floor and members' quarters and an altar upstairs. The principal deity enshrined is Guan Gong, known in Cuba as “San Fan Con” — a name blending Cantonese and Spanish, and one that has undergone a further fusion of identity with the Lukumí (Afro-Cuban) thunder orisha Shangó, making it the most celebrated case of the localization of Chinese religion in Latin America: initiation rites are held before the image of Guan Gong, with members burning incense and offering prayers. Today the lodge has about two hundred members, mostly elderly second- and third-generation Chinese Cubans, who receive daily meals and cultural activities for a nominal membership fee. It must honestly be noted that this is an association altar descended from a secret society, not an independent temple.
Highlights
- Founded in Havana in 1887
- Guan Gong is known in Cuba as San Fan Con
- Underwent a fusion of identity with the Lukumí thunder orisha Shangó
- About 200 elderly Chinese-descended members today
- An association altar rather than an independent temple