Two things became evident during my three full days in Hong Kong:
- The Koreans may love Kwan Yin, but those along the South China Sea love her even more.
- It's impossible for me to get an overload of Kwan Yin. But it's possible to get close.
Day 1. I am at a Taoist temple near my hotel in Kowloon, in the Yau Ma Tei district. The temple is dedicated to Tin Hau (天后, Heavenly Empress), an actual historical woman of supernatural powers who is the guardian of South China Sea's sailors.Kwan Yin is also attributed with the protection of the South China Sea sailors, and Tin Hau and Kwan Yin are often considered one and the same. And as the above temple hall attests, yes, there is a statue of Kwan Yin inside to represent Tin Hau.
I am not allowed to take photos inside, but here is what I can tell you. It's possible to buy a huge whirlpool-shaped cone incense for a nominal sum. When it is lit and burns overhead, suspended from the ceiling, it will take two weeks to burn completely; my wishes and dreams will come true as long as the burn continues. The entire ceiling is lined with suspended burning incenses. (A more practical, mortal consideration: watch your head - ashes are falling on your head and may burn your hair!)
Also at Tin Hau Temple. This is another hall dedicated to Kwan Yin, but this is more of an information hall and less of a worship place. No incenses, statues, or altars here, but rather writings and books for sale.
Outside the temple: plenty of statues for sale, including some white-robed Kwan Yins. While the Koreans tend to gold-plate their Kwan Yins, the Chinese tend to put her in white robes and give her a nice makeup job.I still need to see someone make a Kwan Yin clad in a pink miniskirt suit.
After hours of grueling sightseeing, I am finishing up on Hollywood Road, across the harbor on the island, and Hong Kong's antiques district. This shop has several traditional Chinese statues; the shorter, lit one in front is, yes, Kwan Yin.
Day 2. My day started at the Hong Kong Museum of History, where I not only got to see the juicy bits from Hong Kong's modern history (Opium War and British colonization to return to Chinese rule), but also the general tradition and culture of the entire Guangdong area as well. And here is one Tin Hau altar that I can actually photograph.
Still at the museum. Another Tin Hau, with a nice caption of her significance in southern Chinese culture.
Later in the day, I decided to visit the Temple of Ten Thousand Buddhas (萬佛寺). It's located in Sha Tin, in the New Territories, on the rail line leading to mainland China. (Sha Tin is also where 可口可樂 - Coca Cola - is manufactured and bottled/canned for the Hong Kong market.)A common mistake for many tourists is to end up at a crematorium next door, which offers good views of the temple but has NO access to the temple itself. The temple trails themselves are very hard to find.
The crematorium has no English signs (and employees there do not speak English), so it's very difficult to figure out for the non-Chinese speaker, but it does offer a peek into the Chinese spiritual world.
These Buddhist statues - apparently a Maitreya flanked by two Kwan Yins - stand in one area of the crematorium.
I have now found one of the two trailheads. I am about to start the climb up to the temple. Here are lots of statues brought in by the faithful - mostly white-robed Kwan Yins.The "Ten Thousand Buddhas" don't refer to these statues. Rather, they refer to the various life-size golden statues, mostly arhats, that line the rest of the trails.
The only female statue among the hundreds lining the trail up to the main courtyard.And yes, the caption in Chinese says "Bodhisattva Guanshiyin." It's our transgender matron saint alright!
Main courtyard. Kwan Yin in the middle, flanked by four arhats.
The Kwan Yin pavilion. Yes, she's wearing the white robe.My guidebook told me that this temple became famous after a young Andy Lau (a very famous Hong Kong movie star, who had sent millions of ladies drooling throughout East Asia in the 1980s) filmed a movie here early in his career. Lau's native Cantonese name is Lau Tak-wah (劉德華), and that's the name that's more likely to ring bells in Asia. I don't quickly recognize that pronunciation, but I do recognize the Mandarin pronunciation (Liu De-who) and the Korean one (Yu Deok-hwa, 유덕화). In fact, my guidebook, as it was purchased in Seoul and written in Korean, used the Yu Deok-hwa name throughout.
Christy - thanks for introducing me to Netflix. I have queued a number of movies from Hong Kong's 1980s cinematic golden age, starring the likes of Andy Lau, Chow Yun-fat, and the late Leslie Cheung. And as South Korea is in its own cinematic golden age today, I queued a few Korean movies too. Looking forward to watching them!
There is a tea house in the main courtyard. And yes, it is named after Kwan Yin.
There is a smaller, upper courtyard. I had to take the trail, as it was marked with some reference to Kwan Yin in Chinese.The trail starts with figures representing the Chinese zodiac; apparently, they guard the upper courtyard. This is the first - the Rat Man. Note the eye sockets; instead of eyes, he has two little arms sticking out, and his eyes are on the palms of the hands at the ends of those little arms.
As it turns out, the upper courtyard is dedicated to Kwan Yin, and all its statues are those of her.Here is the first one: Kwan Yin of the Southern Seas. Lovely cleavage despite her rather flat boobs.
I've shared this photo before - two topless Kwan Yins. The right one is the fabled Eleven-Faced Kwan Yin, baring her left boob.And as I said before, the smallish boobs are even more proof that Kwan Yin is transgender.
Two more Kwan Yins. The left one carries a fish in her basket, and stands for abundant fishing. The right one carries a baby, and stands for fertility and protection of children.Yes, seek Kwan Yin's mercy if you are trying to conceive a child - especially if you want a boy.
As stated in a previous post, Kwan Yin statues at this courtyard are all unique, but all fall into one of several pre-determined themes. And all Eleven-Faced Kwan Yins expose their left boobs.
Here's another photo I shared before. The courtyard has Kwan Yins stretching as far as my eyes can see. This is truly priceless.
Day 3. I traveled to faraway Lantau, which is the largest island in Hong Kong, and located next to the airport. Its claim to fame is Po Lin Temple, located in a very remote hilltop but easily accessible by a number of methods, including a 25-minute cable car ride from the subway terminus.At the temple's main hall (Hall of Great Treasure Hero), I saw this set of four statues, placed 90 degrees apart. As far as I can tell, these are examples of the Thousand-Armed Kwan Yin.
Kwan Yin will work tirelessly to save the entire humankind before she saves herself. To better do her job, she can and will grow a thousand arms and eleven faces.
That's it for now. All other Hong Kong art should follow in a few days (hopefully). But before I sign off - let me share two more unrelated photos.
Hong Kong has a branch of Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum - the first Asian branch. While you will find plenty of Asian wax figures (including Chinese politicians and movie stars), there are plenty of Hollywood figures too, including that homewrecker Angelina Jolie.Here is the most popular: Marilyn Monroe. Yes, those vents under her really work. If you are a woman, come here in an Ally McLesbian mini and brave the vents. If you are a man, look left; put on the wig and the dress, then brave the vents.
Seen on Lantau Island: a souvenir shop specializing in Buddhist paraphernalia. Yes, the Happy Buddha reminds me to be happy. A look inside the window reveals a very rare gem: a red jade Happy Buddha. Didn't even bother to check the price, though being jade AND red - two great symbols of luck in Chinese culture - he ought to bring the bearer TONS of good luck.I popped inside, where a very repetitive song, sung by a children's choir, was playing for over 20 minutes without end. As it turned out, it was a chant to Kwan Yin! By the time I left this store, I was HKD $300 poorer; I had purchased a lovely Kwan Yin statue of my own. It was also a way for me to dump my excess Hong Kong dollars, as I didn't really look forward to being saddled with them (or selling them to buy either fast-depreciating South Korean won, or US dollars I wouldn't need for another two weeks).
