Hong San Si Temple

Hong San Si Temple (Chinese: 鳳山寺) is a Chinese temple situated in Carpenter Street of Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. It is part of the Kuching Heritage Trail.[1]

Hong San Si Temple
鳳山寺
Religion
AffiliationTaoism
DistrictKuching District
Location
LocationKuching
StateSarawak
CountryMalaysia
Geographic coordinates1°33′26.984″N 110°20′51.87″E
Architecture
TypeChinese temple
Date established1848[1]

History
Front view of the Hong San Si Temple with the historic Carpenter Street located in right. The St. Thomas Cathedral can be seen in the left behind.

The temple had been existed since 1848 which dedicated for Hokkien child deity Kong Teck Choon Ong.[1] According to its early history, the first Rajah of Sarawak, James Brooke saw a little boy playing with water next to the temple grand stage when he passed the area and began asking the temple worshippers who had just moved to the area from mainland China about the boy, only to be told that there is no children playing in the area.[2] The temple worshippers then said the boy is a manifestation of Kong Teck Choon Ong, which is a boy deity and adding that the emperors of many Chinese dynasties in China had honoured the deity with the name.[2]

Amused by the story, the Rajah then instructed the temple worshippers to build a water hydrant to give respect to the deity and wishing that the town of Kuching will be prospered in the future as well requesting his subjects to completing the temple building and seek his assistance if they faced any problems.[2] During the Great Fire of Kuching in 1884, the locals saw the child deity appeared on buildings rooftops in Ewe Hai Street to give warning to nearby people and summoning rain to put out the fire.[1] In 1993, the temple was declared as one of the historical building under the Sarawak Cultural Heritage Ordinance.[2] The water hydrant however was torn down in the 2000s to make way for development before being replaced with a water fountain and garden by the state government in 2005.[2][3] Earlier in 2004, the temple had undergoing renovation works with parts of the temple building is made from new structure.[4]

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References
  1. "Old Kuching Heritage Trail". Sarawak Tourism. Archived from the original on 26 February 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  2. Wilfred Pilo (16 February 2019). "Intriguing tale of James Brooke and boy deity Kong Teck Choong Ong". Dayak Daily. Archived from the original on 27 February 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  3. Wilfred Pilo (1 February 2013). "Miniature fountain marks ghostly spot". The Borneo Post. Archived from the original on 27 February 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  4. Joanna Yap (12 April 2015). "Retracing Chinese history along Carpenter and Ewe Hai Streets". The Borneo Post. Archived from the original on 28 December 2018. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
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