Wellington Chinese Masonic Society (Chee Kung Tong)惠灵顿华人致公堂（洪门）
- Type
- Overseas Daoist Temples
- Location
- New Zealand · Wellington Region · Wellington · First located at 81 Vivian Street, later moved to 23 Frederick Street; the lodge is listed on the Wellington City heritage register.
- First built
- 1907 · A branch of the Hung League in New Zealand; the lodge building is listed on the Wellington City heritage register.
- Heritage status
- Wellington City Heritage List
Overview
The Wellington Chee Kung Tong (English name: Wellington Chinese Masonic Society) was established in 1907 as a branch in New Zealand of the Hung League, which originated in the seventeenth century. Among overseas Chinese communities the Hung League served multiple functions as a mutual-aid society, funeral association, forum for fellow-provincials, and locus of the cult of Guandi; the hall housed a spirit tablet of Guandi and conducted rites of sworn brotherhood and oath-taking, its devotional content rooted in the popular Daoist cult of Guandi and in the tradition of sworn societies. It should be noted honestly that although the Chee Kung Tong borrowed the English term ‘Freemasonry,’ it had no organizational connection to Western Freemasonry, and only adopted some of its dress and ceremonial forms; in nature it was a mutual-aid association evolved from a secret society, not an independent temple. The lodge was first located at 81 Vivian Street, later moved to 23 Frederick Street, and its building is listed on the Wellington City heritage register, standing as an important material witness to the history of New Zealand's Chinese associations.
Highlights
- Established in 1907 as the Hung League's branch in New Zealand
- The hall housed a spirit tablet of Guandi and conducted society rites
- No organizational connection to Western Freemasonry
- The lodge building is on the Wellington City heritage register
- A mutual-aid association rather than an independent temple