Temple Chinois Kanti, Papeete帕皮提关帝庙

Type

Overseas Daoist Temples

Location

French Polynesia · Tahiti · Papeete · The Mamao district of Papeete

First built

First built c. 1860; present temple completed 30 May 1987 · The old temple was destroyed by fire on 20 May 1981; the present temple was designed by the Taiwanese architect and geomancer M. Liaw

Overview

The Guandi Temple (Kanti, the Hakka pronunciation of Guandi) is the only Chinese temple on the island of Tahiti and stands in the Mamao district of Papeete. It is recorded that an older temple stood on the same site around 1860, earlier than the arrival of the first Chinese labourers at the Atimaono cotton plantation in 1865; the old temple was a plain rectangular building with plank walls and a corrugated-iron roof, without upswept eaves, its religious character indicated only by the ornament of the roof ridge. The old temple burned down on 20 May 1981, and the present temple was completed on 30 May 1987, designed according to fengshui principles by a Taiwanese architect and geomancer surnamed Liaw, with red columns, green walls and double eaves of red glazed tile; the colour scheme carries an explicit symbolism — red for good fortune, green for hope, yellow and orange for wealth. The two white marble lions before the entrance were a gift of the Chinese government, and there is dragon ornament as well. The temple preserves deity images, ritual implements, porcelain vases and prints brought by the first Chinese immigrants at the end of the nineteenth century. The Chinese of French Polynesia are predominantly Hakka, and at the Lunar New Year this temple is the gathering centre of the whole island’s Chinese population.

Highlights

• The only Chinese temple on the island of Tahiti
• An older temple stood on the same site around 1860
• Rebuilt in 1987 after the fire of 1981
• Designed by a Taiwanese architect on fengshui principles
• Preserves ritual implements brought by immigrants at the end of the nineteenth century