Thien Hau Temple, Los Angeles洛杉矶天后宫

Type

Overseas Daoist Temples

Location

United States · California · Los Angeles · 756 Yale St, Los Angeles Chinatown

Coordinates

34.0626, -118.2407 Map ↗

First built

The former Italian Christian church building was purchased in the 1980s; the three principal deity images were consecrated in 1990; an expansion was completed in September 2005 · Operated by the Camau Association of America, a native-place association of Teochew-descended Chinese from Ca Mau Province, Vietnam

Overview

Thien Hau Temple in Los Angeles is dedicated chiefly to Mazu, with Guan Yu and the Earth God (Tudi, Fude Zhengshen) also enshrined, and is operated by the Camau Association of America — an association of Teochew-descended Chinese from Ca Mau Province, Vietnam, whose members are mostly ethnic Chinese who re-migrated to the United States from Vietnam after the Vietnam War; the temple is thus a representative case of religious reconstruction by a "twice-displaced" Chinese community. In the 1980s the association purchased and converted a former Italian Christian church building; in 1990 the three principal deity images were brought from Vietnam and consecrated, and an expansion was completed in September 2005. The temple is the most important gathering place for Lunar New Year in Los Angeles's Chinatown, drawing intense worship from New Year's Eve through the Lantern Festival, and offers free vegetarian meals on weekends and certain days of the lunar calendar. It belongs to the category of a native-place association's folk religious site rather than an organized Daoist institution. It should be noted: "Fung Loy Kok" is the Chinese name of the Fung Loy Kok Institute of Taoism in Canada, and is unrelated to this temple.

Highlights

• Built by Teochew-descended Chinese from Ca Mau, Vietnam
• Converted from a former Italian Christian church
• Deity images brought from Vietnam (1990)
• Center of Lunar New Year celebrations in Los Angeles's Chinatown