page_title: Wong Tai Sin Temple (Hong Kong)
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Wong Tai Sin Temple (Hong Kong) / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Lighting incense sticks and lamp holding statues in Wong Tai Sin Temple, Kowloon, Hong Kong
context_page_description: Wong Tai Sin Temple is a well known shrine and tourist attraction in Hong Kong. It is dedicated to Wong Tai Sin, or the Great Immortal Wong. The 18,000 m² Taoist temple is famed for the many prayers answered: "What you request is what you get" via a practice called kau chim. The temple is located on the southern side of Lion Rock in the north of Kowloon.
context_section_description: In the early 20th century, Leung Renyan (梁仁菴) spread the influence of Wong Tai Sin from Xiqiao Mountain in Nanhai, Guangdong Province of China to Wan Chai in Hong Kong. Wong Tai Sin was obscure and largely unknown before Leung took it to Hong Kong.
  Leung arrived in Hong Kong in 1915 from Rengang village. He rented an apartment in Wan Chai, and set up an altar to Wong Tai Sin in his apartment. For the image of Wong Tai Sin, he used a picture of Wong Tai Sin which he brought from Rengang village. By March 1916, he opened an herbal medicine shop nearby and moved the altar to the back of the shop. Customers coming to his shop could pray at Wong Tai Sin's altar and seek advice for their ailments. Leung would then fill their prescriptions. The popularity of Wong Tai Sin then began to grow.
  However, in 1918, Leung's shop was destroyed by fire. Then, Leung moved back to Rengang village as he was now 57 or 58 years old and only could live for three years.
  In 1921, Leung said that he received a message from Wong Tai Sin instructing him to construct a new shrine through "Fu Ji" (扶乩). Leung Renyan and his Taoist fellow were advised to start walking to the cite which was 3600 paces from a pier They found the spot which was about the right distance form Kowloon City Pier. When they arrived at Chuk Yuen Village (竹園村), they put a piece of bamboo into the ground as a mark. Then they consulted Wong Tai Sin via the process of "Fu Ji". They were told that it was a good site. Wong Tai Sin also taught them to determine the would-be centre of the Temple by 3 Chinese feet (approximately 1 m (3 ft 3 in)) on the right and 3 Chinese feet backwards of the mark and the would-be temple was named as "Chik Chung Sin Shrine" (赤松仙館; 'the Red Pine Fairy Shrine'). The Taoist priests were also asked to start the construction of the shrine on 24th of the sixth lunar month by one of the Taoist Gods, Wen Chang Di (文昌帝) via the process of "Fu Ji". Eventually the shrine was completed and was officiated on the 20th of the seventh lunar month. In the same year, on the 23rd of the eighth lunar month, during the celebration of the birthday of Wong Tai Sin, the altar was named as "Pu Yi Tan" (普宜壇) by the most superior Taoist God, Yu Di (玉帝) via the process of "Fu Ji". Later on, the other Taoist God, Wen Chang Di gave the name of the premises as "Sik Sik Yuen" (嗇色園) via the process of "Fu Ji". Meanwhile, the managing body, Sik Sik Yuen was established. In 1925, the shrine was renamed as "Chik Chung Wong Sin Hall" (赤松黃仙祠; 'the Red Pine Wong Fairy Hall') by Taoist Fairy, Lu Ju (呂祖) through the process of "Fu Ji". Since then, the name "Chik Chung Wong Sin Hall" has replaced the original name.
  The funds of building the temple were mainly by four rich businessmen. It is likely that these men had been clients of Leung's medical prescription shrine in Wanchai, and had become believers as a result of the benefits they believed could be obtained from these prescriptions.
  During and after the World War Two, many Chinese escaped to Hong Kong from China and they only could settle in the Kowloon site which near the temple. These immigrants became refugees in Hong Kong. The Wong Tai Sin Temple, overlooking large stretches of these squatter settlements in the 1950s., filled a need for a major local shrine among this rapidly growing population eager for upward mobility. These people needed a god whose attention was not already occupied by the locals, luckily, Wong Tai Sin Temple was ready to receive any and all new worshippers, like these Chinese. The popularity of Wong Tai Sin Temple had rapidly been grown since that time.
  According to the then regulations, Sik Sik Yuen used to be a private shrine and only Taoists or their family members were allowed. It was not until 1934, Sik Sik Yuen formally applied to the government for opening the Temple to the public during the 1st lunar month of every Chinese New Year. Finally, Sik Sik Yuen was allowed to open completely to the public in 1956.
  In 1956, the government proposed to reclaim the temple for public housing development. Chairman Won
caption: Lamp holding statues in Wong Tai Sin Temple
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