Hai Choo Soo Tua Pek Kong Temple, Tanjung Tokong, Penang槟城海珠屿大伯公庙

Type: Overseas Daoist Temples
Location: Malaysia · Penang (state) · Tanjung Tokong · Jalan Tanjung Tokong, on the Tanjung Tokong (Hai Choo Soo) headland
First built: c. late 18th century · A stone incense burner was donated by the Malacca Chinese Li Ci in 1792; according to one account a small shrine beside Chong Loo's grave existed even earlier, but the exact founding date cannot be verified

Overview

The Hai Choo Soo Tua Pek Kong Temple stands on the Tanjung Tokong headland; “Hai Choo” is the old Southern Hokkien name for this locality. The Tua Pek Kong enshrined here is traditionally identified as the Hakka pioneer Chong Loo, together with Khoo Tiau Chin and Ma Fook Chun known as the “Three Pek Kong,” and the site is regarded as the point of origin for the cult of Tua Pek Kong (the God of Prosperity) in Malaysia, generally held to be the oldest Tua Pek Kong temple in the whole of Malaysia. The earliest confirmable physical evidence is a stone incense burner donated in 1792 by Li Ci, a Chinese of Malacca, not long after Britain formally took possession of Penang in 1786; before this, tradition holds that a small shrine stood beside Chong Loo's grave, though the exact founding date cannot be verified, and most of the specific dates circulating in popular accounts lack documentary support. The temple is managed by the Kean Teik Tong (Tua Pek Kong Society), formed by the five Hakka sub-groups of Jiaying, Huizhou, Zenglong, Dabu, and Yongding. Every year on the night of the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, the “Requesting the Fire” (Chneah Hoay) ceremony is held, divining the fortunes of the coming year's trade through the form of the brazier flame — the most distinctive seasonal ritual in Penang. In nature it is a temple of Chinese popular religion, not of an organized Daoist order.

Highlights

The point of origin for the cult of Tua Pek Kong in Malaysia, generally held to be the oldest Tua Pek Kong temple in the country
A stone incense burner donated in 1792 by Li Ci of Malacca is the earliest confirmable physical evidence
Enshrines the Hakka pioneer Chong Loo, together with Khoo Tiau Chin and Ma Fook Chun known as the Three Pek Kong
Managed by the Kean Teik Tong (Tua Pek Kong Society) of the five Hakka sub-groups
The “Requesting the Fire” (Chneah Hoay) ceremony on the night of the fourteenth of the first month divines trade fortunes

References