Klenteng Hong Tiek Hian, Surabaya泗水福德轩（洪天轩）

Type

Overseas Daoist Temples

Location

Indonesia · East Java Province · Surabaya · Jalan Dukuh No.2, Nyamplungan, Pabean Cantian, Surabaya

First built

dates are disputed among sources · The temple’s own account and the local gazetteers hold that it was established at the time of the Mongol Yuan expedition against Java (1293); this account lacks reliable archaeological or documentary support, and the surviving building is of far later date

Heritage status

Listed as Cultural Heritage (Cagar Budaya) of SurabayaWayang potehi (glove-puppet theater) inscribed as Indonesian National Intangible Cultural Heritage

Overview

Hong Tiek Hian is the oldest Chinese temple in Surabaya and stands within Chinatown. The temple’s own account and the local gazetteers trace it to the period when the Mongol Yuan expeditionary force against Java was stationed there in 1293; this account is widely current, but it lacks reliable archaeological or documentary support, and the surviving building is of far later date, so scholarly caution is in order. The temple is dedicated principally to Guanyin, with Tianshang Shengmu, Guandi, the Correct God of Blessing and Virtue and other Buddhist and Daoist deities also enshrined, making it a typical Three Teachings temple. Its best-known feature is its year-round performance of the wayang potehi puppet theatre — the localized form taken by Minnan glove-puppet theatre after its transmission to Java, performing Chinese chapter-fiction in Indonesian or Javanese; it is one of Indonesia’s national intangible cultural heritage items, and after coming close to extinction under Suharto it was revived after 2000. The temple is now registered under Indonesian law within the Three Teachings temple system.

Highlights

• The oldest Chinese temple in Surabaya
• The account tracing it to the Yuan army of 1293 is widely current but unsupported, and should be treated with caution
• Principally enshrines Guanyin, with Tianshang Shengmu, Guandi and the Correct God of Blessing and Virtue alongside
• Year-round performances of the wayang potehi puppet theatre, an Indonesian intangible cultural heritage item
• The localized form taken in Java by Minnan glove-puppet theatre