Then Sze Koon Temple, Seremban芙蓉天师宫

Type

Overseas Daoist Temples

Location

Malaysia · Negeri Sembilan state · Seremban · Downtown Seremban

First built

the 20th century · Exact founding year lacks reliable documentation.

Overview

Then Sze Koon, Seremban, is a temple in Negeri Sembilan with Zhang Tianshi (Zhang Daoling, the founding Celestial Master of Zhengyi) as its principal deity, a relatively uncommon dedication among Malaysian Chinese temples — the great majority of Nanyang temples worship popular deities such as Tua Pek Kong, Mazu, Guandi or the Nine Emperor Gods, and few directly enshrine a founding patriarch-level figure of Daoism. Belief in the Celestial Master in Malaysia is mostly associated with the tradition of ritual masters of the Lüshan and Maoshan fajiao lineages: these ritual masters (locally called "sifu" or "fashi") perform rites of exorcism, dragon-pacifying and land-thanking, and salvation of the dead, and their ritual altars mostly enshrine the Three Ladies, Fazhu Gong and Zhang Tianshi, forming a Nanyang system of ritual Daoism (fajiao) distinct from the monastic institutions of Quanzhen or Zhengyi. This temple belongs to this same tradition. Its founding year and lineage of transmission lack reliable documentation; this entry makes no definitive claim and records it here based only on its inclusion in existing temple directories, noting its religious character.

Highlights

• An uncommon Malaysian temple with Zhang Tianshi as principal deity
• Associated with the tradition of Lüshan and Maoshan fajiao ritual masters in the Nanyang region
• The Nanyang fajiao system is distinct from the monastic institutions of Quanzhen or Zhengyi
• Its founding year and lineage lack reliable documentation