Ancestral God, Locality God, and
Chinese Overseas
Tan Chee-Beng
Chinese University of Hong Kong
Introduction
• Chinese migrants, especially those who migrated to
Southeast Asia, brought with them the popular deities of
the regions where they migrated from.
• I should like to make a distinction between ancestor deity,
which is the ritual focus of descendants of a particular
lineage, and locality deity which is associated with a
particular locality in China. The locality deities discussed
here refer to deities of particular local origin in China and
continue to be associated with that locality. This has
significance for sub-ethnic identity of the Chinese
overseas.
My research (between 2001 and 2003) on the Ye lineage
in Shishan诗山, Nan’an 南安county in Fujian had led me
to pay attention to two important deities in Shishan. The
Ye叶 lineage there has an ancestor god called Huize
Zunwang惠泽尊王. This is different from Guangze
Zunwang广泽尊王. The former is honored by the Ye
lineage from Nan’an as well its descendants among
Chinese of different nationalities (CDN). The later is a
popular local deity from Nan’an, whose worship had
spread beyond Nan’an, but mainly in southern Fujian.
The worship of Guangze Zunwang is quite widespread in
Taiwan and Southeast Asia
• In this presentation I’ll discuss the significance of
such local origin in China for the religious life
and community organization of Chinese
overseas, as well as the significance of the
worship of these deities for the formation and
perpetuation of transnational links between the
Chinese overseas and the local religious sites in
China.
• Relevant works: Kenneth Dean (1993), Choo
Chin Taw (1968), Zeng Ling (2006)
• Chinese overseas, transnational networks and
China.
Guangze Zunwang and Chinese
Overseas
Fengshan Si, Phoenix Mountain Temple, in
Nan’an, is a well known temple locally and
overseas among the Minnan Chinese (Hokkien).
The temple documents trace its history to the
tenth century. This is an example of a local
temple that had become popular, and migrants
spread the worship overseas, making the
worship of Guangze Zunwang more known and
influential
Phoenix Mt. Temple
The deity is traced to one Guo Zhongfu郭忠福born to a very poor
family on the 22nd of the 2nd Chinese month in 923 in Shishan in
Nan’an, southern Fujian. The family was so poor that when his
father died Guo Zhongfu sold himself as a slave to a Yang family in
Anxi, also in southern Fujian. Guo Zhongfu and his mother
eventually settled down at the foot of Fenghuang Mountain or
Phoenix Mountain in Shishan. His filial piety and ability to do
miraculous deeds formed an important discourse of his deification
after his death/ascension at a young age of 16. The villagers built a
temple at the place where he died/ascended, hence the present
name of the temples that honor him, that is, Fengshan Si凤山寺 or
Fengshan (Phoenix Mountain) Temple, although the temple was
originally called Guoshan Miao郭山庙 or Guo Mountain Temple.
In 1195-1200 the deity was bestowed a long inclusive
title of Weizhen Zhongying Fuhui Weiwu Yinglie
Guangze Zunwang威镇忠应孚惠威武英烈广泽尊王
which gives the present popular title for the deity, that is,
Guangze Zunwang广泽尊王 (The Reverent Lord of
Great Compassion). Today he is popularly referred to as
Guo Shengwang郭圣王 or Holy King Guo. He is also
popularly called Shenggong, Holy Duke, or
Shengwanggong圣王公. His wife is similarly
affectionately addressed as Shengma圣妈, Holy
Duchess, or Shengwangma圣王妈.
Jinjiang Fengshan Si
During the Cultural Revolution, Guangze Zunwang was
treated as a landlord (the temple had land), and the
temple was attacked and destroyed. After the economic
liberalization of China, in 1978 the Nan’an tongxianghui
(hometown associations) in Singapore in cooperation
with the Returned Overseas Chinese Association
(ROCA) of Nan’an agreed to rebuild Fengshan Temple,
turning it into a grand temple of today. Chinese from
other countries like Malaysia and the Philippines also
contributed to the renovation over the years. By 1980,
the local government took over the control of the temple.
Commmodification of religion.
Every year there are around 60,000 people and
many delegations visiting the temple. Most of
these delegations are known as zumiao jinxiang
tuan祖庙进香团, and such visit and worshipping
is described as yezu jinxiang谒祖进香: sort of
pilgrimages. Thus the Chinese banner
welcoming the Sabah delegation in 2003 read
“Welcoming the Delegation from Papar Tengnan
Tang and Kota Kinabalu Binan Tang of Sabah
Malaysia Paying Homage to Guangze Zunwang”
(热烈欢迎马来西亚沙巴州吧巴腾南堂/亚庇碧南堂
广泽尊王谒祖团光临).
Penang Greenlane Fengshan Si
Kong Tik Tjuen Ong (Surabaya)
Ancestral God of the Ye Clan
Huize Zunwang is the ancestral god of the Ye
people who trace their root to Nan’an in China.
My Shishan Ye informants in Malaysia call Huize
Zunwang affectionately in Hokkien as zoo-ong
(zuwang祖王, “ancestral king”) or zoo-but (zufo
祖佛, “ancestral Buddha”). Some also refer to
him as zoo-gong祖公. The Ye people traced their
origin to Nanyang Prefecture南阳府 in Henan
province. Thus the temple in Malaysia in honor
of Huize Zunwang is usually called Nanyang
Gong南阳宫 or Nanyang Temple.
Huize Zunwang was originally a Ye person from
Gaotian in Nan’an born on the 10th of the 12th
month in the year 1189. Named Ye Sen叶森，
this twelfth-century Ye ancestor was a
vegetarian and he remained single until he
ascended/died in 1208 at the age of twenty. The
relatives built a temple called Cijigong慈济宫 to
honor him. He was awarded by the imperial
court the title of Huize Zunwang惠泽尊王, The
Reverent Lord of Kind Compassion.
Huize Zunwang is worshipped by the Nan’an Yesurnamed Chinese in Nan’an and overseas. In
Malaysia the Nan’an Ye people are mostly in
Kuala Lumpur and Penang. In KL: mainly
concentrated in Segambut (泗岩沫), Jinjiang (增
江), and Sentul (冼都), and they are mostly the
Ye people whose ancestral root is in Shetan社坛
village in Shishan. There is a Huize Zunwang
temple at each of these places, all named
Nanyang Gong, differentiated by the name of
each place, such as Jinjiang Nanyang Gong增江
南阳宫.
Jinjiang Nanyang Gong
Jinjiang Nangyang Gong
Penang Ciji Gong
Huize home altar (Penang)
• The Ye clan associations and Huize Zunwang temples regularly
organized delegations to visit the grand temple in Nan’an as well as
the respective ancestral houses of the respective sub-lineages.
• In 2003 the Yap Temple in Penang (槟州南阳堂叶氏宗祠) was
planning to build a new Huize Zunwang temple in Shen’an深垵,
Jintao Township金淘镇 of Nan’an Municipality. Convinced of
attracting tourists and establishing contacts with Chinese overseas,
the Jintao Township government provided 300 mu ( 20 hectares) of
land free of charge for the building of the temple. However, the
planning and the selection of building materials are done by some
Ye members under the coordination of the Yap Temple chairman.
Gaotian Cloud Mt. Temple
Conclusion
This presentation shows that the gods,
especially the locality deities and ancestral
deities, are important in linking the
Chinese overseas to the emigrant regions
in China. In fact these locality specific
deities, not depending on kinship ties
(although in the case of ancestral deity it is
related), is more lasting in perpetuating the
ties of Chinese overseas to their ancestral
homeland.
Chinese overseas of Nan’an or general south Fujian
origin established early local organization around the
worship of Guangze Zunwang. The Guangze Zunwang
worship in a number of early settlements preceded the
establishment of Nan’an associations. As the temple in
Shishan has the special status as being the original
temple, it has become the “Mecca” of Guangze Zunwang
temples and his worshippers everywhere. Both the
Guangze Zunwang temples and Nan’an Associations are
thus involved, together or separately, in organizing
“pilgrimages” to the original temple in Shishan.
• Other examples of locality deities: Qingshui Zushi清水祖
师 (The Patriarch of the Clear Stream) of Anxi County in
south Fujian; Fazhu Gong法主公 (Miraculous Lord)
associated with the Yongchun people in Malaysia and
Singapore.
• The ancestral deities are known mainly among a
particular surname group only, especially if they are
deified ancestors of particular lineages. However, some
surname associations have adopted some well known
deities as the patron deities of their clans. For example,
the Lim (Hokkien for Lin) clan associations in Malaysia
have adopted Tianhou as their ancestral deity as the
goddess’ surname was Lin (her full name being Lin
Moniang林默娘).
The description in this presentation shows that
locality deities and ancestral gods, and founding
ancestors, too, form the bridge between Chinese
overseas and the ancestral homeland. They
provide the symbols which link Chinese
overseas and those in regions outside mainland
China to the localities (villages and counties)
where they or their migrant ancestors had
migrated from. As long as these symbols remain
meaningful to the Chinese outside the ancestral
localities, the transnational networks will persist.
The religious and cultural symbols, as illustrated
by the locality and ancestral deities, link Chinese
outside mainland China to specific localities in
China. As the original migrants recede into
history, it is the symbol of the religious sites in
China, and not loyalty to the land or the
increasingly remote kin, that makes visiting
particular localities in China particularly
meaningful. Furthermore there are many tourist
sites in China, and so it is convenient to combine
religious “pilgrimages” with tourism in China.
Thank you