Tam Kung Temple, Coloane路环谭仙圣庙（谭公庙）
- Type
- Temples and Abbeys (Gongguan)
- Location
- Macau, China · Macau · Coloane · Largo do Tam Kung Temple, at the southern end of Rua de Cinco de Outubro, facing the Shizimen Waterway
- Coordinates
- 22.1142, 113.5501 Map ↗
- First built
- 1862 (1st year of the Tongzhi reign of Qing) · Confirmed by the inscription on the temple's old bell, 'Auspiciously cast in the midwinter of the renxu year, the first year of Tongzhi, by the Xinchang Foundry of Foshan'; built with funds raised by the fishermen of Coloane
- Heritage status
- Macau Classified Immovable Property — Monument MC002 (1992)
Overview
The Tam Kung Temple in Coloane (popularly known simply as the Tam Kung Temple) was built in the first year of the Tongzhi reign of the Qing (1862), funded by the fishermen of Coloane; this is confirmed by the inscription cast on the temple's old bell, 'Auspiciously cast in the midwinter of the renxu year, the first year of Tongzhi, by the Xinchang Foundry of Foshan.' It is dedicated mainly to Tam Kung (Tan Xiansheng, said in tradition to be Tan De of Huidong), the guardian deity of fishermen along the Pearl River estuary, with the Celestial Master Zhang and the Earth God also worshipped there, placing it within the Daoist system of water-deity worship. This temple has the most vigorous incense-offering tradition in Coloane, and together with the Guanyin Temple, the Tianhou Temple, and the Temple of the Three Sages it is counted among the 'Four Great Temples' of Coloane. The temple's treasured relic is a model dragon boat carved from whalebone, donated by fishermen, over three meters long and fitted with a carved wooden dragon head and tail and embroidered banners — a precious surviving example of the material culture of Macau's fishing community. Beside the temple also stands a stele from the seventh year of the Daoguang reign (1827) prohibiting the harassment of the people by government runners, one of the earliest records in Macau of a ban on such harassment. Every year on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, the birthday of Tam Kung, residents of Hong Kong and Macau gather here, and ritual opera is performed. The temple was designated a Monument (No. MC002) in 1992.
Highlights
- The whalebone dragon boat model
- The 1827 (Daoguang seventh year) stele prohibiting harassment by government runners
- The old bell cast in the first year of Tongzhi
- Ritual opera performed on Tam Kung's birthday