Ice in the tall glass cloaked with cola jostles bubbles of fizz, and I feel this heat tell only the hard wood under my tail-bone. The TV is mute: it addresses the room graphically, in fluent Chinese characters, beneath perfectly made-up faces lip-reading “facts” and “news”. The kitchen, for its few orders, roars industrially out of the wok, while — in the centre of his Imaginary Lounge Room — a man chats through a smart hair-cut deeper into the mirror of his private booth.
Please scroll down for the Chinese version!
“When I Walk up the Footbridge”
Sometimes I am inclined to
acceptance that vehicles driving along the road naturally
tend to get stuck in one direction
and refuelling is never a solution
susceptibility in extreme weather can only accelerate expansion or shrinkage
roads that are cracked open
people smashed to pieces
the world is supposed to be like this, full of defects
and we are fragile throughout
At other times, for example
in the face of headwinds, when my fringe is ruffled
it is easy to believe that
what I once accepted has already aged, and will eventually
be like the cracks in the road,
the people who repair the road,
will have to be us
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
〈當我走上天橋〉／ 胡世雅
有時我傾向接受
路上的車當然會向同一方向堵塞
加油永遠不能成為辦法
過份易感只會在極端天氣下加速膨脹或收縮
裂開的是路面
破碎是人
世界本應如此，充滿缺陷
而我們始終脆弱
也有一些時候，例如
逆風的日子，當瀏海翻動
便又輕易相信
曾經接受過的已經老去，終會
像路面斷裂
而修路的人
會是我們
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
● Woo Sai Nga, born in Hong Kong, is a member of Fannou Poetry Society. She graduated from the Chinese Department, Baptist University of Hong Kong in 2017 and is now teaching at a secondary school. She publishes poems in literary magazines in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and has won the Youth Literary Award (青年文學獎) and the Award for Creative Writing in Chinese (中文文學創作獎) in Hong Kong.
● Audrey Heijns, based in Hong Kong, is working at Shenzhen University. Her translations of Chinese literature have been published in literary magazines, including Het Trage Vuur, Twee Ronde, KortVerhaal, Terras, Renditions, Exchanges and Poetry International.
If you were unsure why the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance has provoked such outrage in Hong Kong, the recent case of 鄭文傑 Simon Cheng Man-kit is a perfect instance of what is at stake. Cheng, trade and investment officer at the British consulate in Hong Kong, disappeared on the evening of the 8 August on his way back to Hong Kong from Shenzhen. Finally, on 22 August, 耿爽Gáng2 Sóng2 (Mandarin: Geng Shuang) informed the world that Cheng had been placed under “disciplinary detention” [行政拘留] by Shenzhen police for fifteen days and warned the British not to go on “fanning flames and lighting fires”, a reference to the 2019 Summer of Protest. To date, no one has been informed of Cheng’s whereabouts.
On 22 August, the Chinese state-run tabloid Global Times reported that Cheng was being held for a violation of article 66:
The Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed Wednesday that Cheng was under administrative detention in Shenzhen. On Thursday, police in Shenzhen’s Luohu district told Global Times that he was detained for violating article 66 of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Penalties for Administration of Public Security. The article includes solicitation of prostitutes.
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12 new words:
外交部 ngoih6 gāau1 bouh6 = Ministry of Foreign Affairs (PRC)
證實 jing3 saht6 = to confirm, to verify
行政拘留 hàhng4 jing3 kēui1 làuh4 = disciplinary detention
治安管理處罰法 jih6 ōn1 gwún2 léih5 chyu3 faht6 faat3 = public security administration punishment law
處罰 chyú2 faht6 = to punish; to penalize
僱員 gu3 yùhn4 = employee
香港公民 Hēung1 Góng2 gūng1 màhn4 = Hong Kong citizen
敦促 dēun1 chūk1 = to urge; to press
發表錯誤言論 faat3 bíu2 cho3 ngh6 yìhn4 leuhn6 = to air/express incorrection opinions/views
指手畫脚 jí2 sáu2 waahk6 geuk3 = to make indiscreet remarks or criticisms
煽風點火 sin3 fūng1 dím2 fó2 = to inflame and agitate people; to stir up trouble; to incite discord
失去聯絡 sāt1 heui3 lyùhn4 lok3 = to lose contact with sb.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
(Introduction)
外交部證實英國駐香港領事館一個港職員被深圳警方行政拘留。
The mainland Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that a Hong Kong employee of the British consulate in Hong Kong is being held in “disciplinary detention” by Shenzhen police.
(Main story)
你提到的這個人因爲違反中華人民共和國治安管理處罰法，被深圳警方處以行政拘留15天的處罰。
The person you are referring to has been punished by Shenzhen police with disciplinary detention for 15 days for breaking the public security administration punishment law of the People’s Republic of China.
這名僱員他是香港公民。
This employee is a Hong Kong citizen
他不是英國公民。
He is not a British citizen.
他是中國人也就是說。
Which is to say, he is Chinese.
所以完全是中國自己的内部事務。
For this reason, this is in all respects [完全] China’s own internal matter.
外交部指，英方喺香港問題發表錯誤言論，敦促英方唔好再指手畫脚同煽風點火。
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the British has expressed incorrect opinions on the matter of the Hong Kong question, and urged Britain to refrain [唔好再 mh4 hóu joi3] from “making indiscreet remarks or criticisms” and from “inflaming and agitating people”.
英國外交部早前表示，高度關注駐港總領事館一個男職員由深圳返香港期間被拘留嘅事。
The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office had earlier said that there was a high degree of concern for the detention of this male employee of the British consulate, detained by Shenzhen police on his way back to Hong Kong.
嗰個男職員本月八日晚坐高鐵由深圳返香港期間同親友失去聯絡。
Close friends lost all contact with that male employee on 8 August while he was travelling on the Express Rail Link from Shenzhen to Hong Kong.
2019年8月21日
Related reports:
+ Hong Kong Free Press (in English)
+ BBC (in Chinese)
To stand in a black and white skirt stock-still against peak-hour’s
turbulent backdrop ―
oblivious of gold shoe-buckles,
of the weight of a bag
slung across the collar-bone dip in one dropped shoulder ―
and to wonder down the whole length of the station platform
further than you can possibly go
because no one else in the world will assist you with this train.
Sometimes ― hectic out of nowhere ―
thought is that hyper-animated insect buzzing at the top of its noise
inside your unfathomable head,
as if insight desperately despite you
demanded prompt payment from attention
even here in public broad daylight,
opposite carriage-loads of cattle-car commuters,
hell-bent too in their worldly mental chatter
on the next ― quite outwardly ― new idea.
對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對話對
攝影：Jennifer Creery
香港横洲大井圍天后古廟 Tin Hau Temple in Tai Tseng Wai, Wang Chau, Hong Kong
Ainslie Meares (1910-1986) was a well-known Australian psychologist with a particular interest in the use of meditation to relieve pain. Among his many books, there is an unusual work with the title Strange Places, Simple Truths, a collection of short prose pieces about his travels to various parts of the world in search of knowledge about alternative approaches to pain. Although Hong Kong is not one of his destinations, the book ends with a short text about the author’s very personal connection with the place.
Ainslie Meares （1910年至1986年）係一名知名嘅澳洲心理學家，對於以靜修達致舒緩痛楚嘅方法特別感到興趣。喺佢眾多著作當中，有一本頗為獨特，名為《陌生國度，簡單真相》，係一本小品集，講述佢遊歴世界各地，尋找處理痛楚嘅另類方法。雖然香港並唔係其中嘅目的地，但係該書最後一篇寫到作者同香港擁有十分獨特嘅聯繫。
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Since I first started to write about these experiences, I have wanted to say something about Kwan Yin. But somehow it has seemed too difficult. I think I have fallen in love with her, and that of course makes it hard.
自從開始以短文敘說我嘅旅遊經驗，我就一直打算講吓我對觀音嘅觀感。但係唔知點解，撰寫呢個題目總覺得太難。我諗，因為早就愛上咗佢，所以想寫以佢為主嘅文章，真係變成一件難以完成嘅事。
It must have been on my first visit to Hong Kong. In a curio shop I found a beautiful stone figure. This was some time ago, and then I did not even know the name of the lady who has come to steal my fancy so completely. She was standing at ease, about two feet high, clad in the flowing drapes of the classical Chinese, and with that mystique of expression which communicates the indefinable. I knew I had to have her. I bargained and bought her. And since then she has stood on the bookshelves in my study.
想必係喺我第一次去香港嗰陣時發生嘅。喺一間古董珍品店裏面，我發現咗一座優美嘅石制雕像。由於呢件事係好耐之前發生嘅，儘管佢之後令我全身全心墮入愛河，但係當時連佢係邊個我都唔知。呢個雕像悠閒地站立，身高兩英尺左右，穿著線條流動嘅古典中式服裝，而佢臉上嘅表情真係令人覺得莫名其妙，藉此傳達一種神秘又難以解釋嘅狀態。喺嗰刻我知道我一定要擁有佢。經過一番討價還價之後，我終於買到佢。自此以來，佢喺我間書房入邊書架上面一直站立著。
When one falls for a girl, a single picture is never enough. On my next visit to Hong Kong I spent the whole of my time in search of another. Do not be mistaken. Do not think of the hundreds of factory made figures of Kwan Yin with which the shops abound. No. My lady is not like those. The fact remains that each time I have been to Hong Kong I have come home with a stone figure of my lady. It has become a family joke.
愛嚫一個女人，僅僅擁有一張相片永遠不夠。第二次去香港時，我用曬所有時間去揾另外一座同樣嘅小雕像。你千祈唔好會錯意。嗰啲由工廠製造嘅，喺商店成千上萬咁擺放出嚟嘅觀音塑像，遠遠唔似我呢位親愛嘅女仕。絕對唔係。不過，無論如何，結果每次喺香港返澳洲，我都會帶呢位女仕嘅石制雕像返屋企。呢件事已經成為屋企人嘅家庭笑話。
One of the strange things about her is that she was originally a man. He was a Bodisatva, one who has attained Buddhahood, a kind of saint; and his saintliness was concerned with the depth of his compassion. Bodisatvas are always rather sexless. Perhaps all that is spiritual within them leads to something beyond sex. Then with the spread of Buddhism from India to China, Kwan Yin became worshipped as a female deity. It may be that compassion is an attribute of woman rather than of man. People think of her as the taking-away-fear Buddha. To Europeans she is known as the Goddess of Mercy. I know nothing of China, but I have seen her worshipped widely by Mahayana Buddhists in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan.
一個令人感到驚奇嘅事實係：佢原來係男性。佢已經成為菩薩，即悟到佛性嘅一個人，一種聖人，而且佢嘅佛性係同佢無限嘅慈悲連結一齊。菩薩多數係冇乜性慾嘅。菩薩內心嘅心靈或許能夠引導佢哋超越性慾嘅境界。隨著佛教由印度延至中國，觀音就被視為一個女性神而敬拜佢。可以咁樣講，慈悲或者係屬於比較女性嘅一種品質。眾生一般認為佢係能夠帶走恐懼嘅佛陀，不過對於歐洲人嚟講，佢係仁慈嘅女神。我對中國內地一無所知，但係喺香港、台灣同埋日本我曾經親眼見到佢受到摩訶衍那（大乘）佛教教徒嘅廣泛敬拜。
Ainslie Meares, Melbourne, 1974 (?)
I have found my stone image brings with it a sense of beauty and repose. But more than this, there is such a sense of mystique that it seems to have captivated me. So I continue my search for another. I have searched around the dust of old shops in narrow streets where such things are sometimes found. I have sought her from lush curio shops of the great hotels, where the Rolls-Royce and the rickshaw wait outside. One very hot day there was an old rickshaw man squatting on the foot-board of his rickshaw as is their custom while waiting for a passenger. He was very old. He was half asleep, half in a stupor. He was a worn-out man; his body almost gone, his mind insensitive to the noise and bustle that was all about him. I had just bought half a dozen mandarins to take to my hotel room. I quietly put one by his side, but he awoke from his stupor, and his eyes looked at me. Then arms stretched out from all directions, and I had to be off. Then, by strange coincidence, twice in the next few days I saw an old rickshaw-man wave to me. It was he again, not asking for more, but still bowing his thanks. And he seemed stronger. Strength that could not have come from my miserable mandarin.
呢座石制雕像優美，又能帶嚟安寧嘅感覺俾我，更加重要嘅係佢特有嘅神秘色彩，徹底迷住了我。因此，我到而家仲繼續揾揾其他觀音雕像。喺狹窄路上嘅舊式舖頭入邊，喺一片灰塵中曾經尋尋覓覓，期望揾到呢類珍稀物品。喺香港嘅豪華酒店中，亦有專賣古董珍品嘅商店，我都會試吓去呢啲商店揾揾佢。呢類酒店嘅外面通常泊著努斯來斯名貴汽車或者人力車。仲記得有一日，天氣非常之炎熱，我見到有一個人力車司機，佢按照佢哋嘅習慣，喺車上嘅踏腳板上面踎住，等吓一個乘客。佢年齡非常之高，當時半睡半醒，好似冇乜意識咁。阿伯十分老弱，身體狀況已經疲憊不堪，對四圍喧鬧已經達到痲木嘅地步。我當時啱啱買咗半打柑橘，打算攞返酒店房間。有見及此，我靜靜雞將一個柑橘放喺佢身邊，不過佢居然突然間醒過嚟，雙眼凝凝望住我。因為周圍其他人都伸手想攞到柑橘，所以我只好拿拿聲走開。咁啱得咁橋，之後幾日，我居然兩次遇到呢位年紀老邁嘅人力車司機向我揮手。佢唔係想問我要求啲乜嘢，只係以鞠躬嘅方式向我表示感激。佢好似好翻啲，精神體力有所提高，當然精力嘅提高同我送俾佢嗰個微不足道嘅柑橘肯定毫無關係。
In my search I have passed women in the briefest mini skirts I have ever seen, women in the traditional garb of the Chinese, women in rags, women like Chinese film stars with neat dresses and trim figures. And women with chubby babies strapped to their backs, and women with emaciated children begging for a few cents. I have been to shops where they would discuss nothing until I was seated on a china stool, and had had a cup of green tea. In others they cared little if I came or went, and in some their anxiety to sell me something spoke of their need of basic necessities. A thousand times I have asked ‘Kwan Yin, Kwan Yin’. But they could not understand my pronunciation. ‘Goddess of Mercy’. But they could speak no English. So I have rummaged around their shops. I have examined hundreds of stone figures of Kwan Yin, but none has had the strange quality of the first one which I so happily stumbled on.
喺我尋覓嘅過程中，我經過身穿短到冇得再短嘅迷你裙嘅女人。我亦都見過穿著傳統服裝嘅女人，衣衫襤褸嘅女人，穿著稱身衣裳、身材苗條像中國明星般嘅女人。另外我又曾經見到孭住肥嘟嘟啤啤仔嘅女人，同埋抱住瘦蜢蜢細路仔嚟乞錢嘅女人。而且，我去過好多間舖頭：有啲要等我坐低瓷櫈仔上飲完一杯綠茶先至問我想買乜嘢；有啲服務員對我都漠然不關，愛理不理；而有啲，好似要賺錢養家過活，所以急於賣嘢俾我。我到而家已經喺舖頭講過「觀音，觀音」過千次，但係佢哋無法聽明我嘅發音。用「Goddess of Mercy」亦都唔得，因為佢哋唔識英文。攪到收尾我喺佢哋舖頭裏面揾嚟揾去，曾經仔細咁觀察過好多好多嘅石制觀音雕像，但係都揾唔返好似第一次偶爾揾到嗰座咁、擁有特有嘅氣質——遇到第一座嘅運氣未曾重複。
I have sought her through all the turmoil that makes Hong Kong one of the most fascinating cities of the world. Through the bustle of it all; but no jostling, no pushing, that is not the way of the Chinese. Through the smell of narrow streets, where the stench of it would be enough to stop my breathing. Passed beggars who made worse their deformities, and those who sat in the gutter quietly awaiting death to take them. Passed old men who looked as if they knew what it was all about; passed women whose gaunt eyes told that they had learned to accept what it was. Stepping over gutters of filth and children. Passed police whose impassive calm and efficiency makes them some of the finest in the world. Groups of jabbering tourists on their world cruise bent on buying junk from the Kowloon factories. Children playing in the streets whose widest horizon is the gutter of the next alley. And through all this nobody interferes. And it goes on late into the night. Women and girls come who would lead me to another love, but my desire is elsewhere.
香港嘅凌亂令佢成為世界上最為吸引嘅城市之一，而我正正喺係呢種凌亂之中去尋找觀音。雖然人多混亂， 但係當中冇人擠湧，冇人撞你――推撞唔係香港華人嘅風土習慣。我又經過氣味難聞嘅狹窄巷仔，要忍著唔透氣。我又行過急於討吃嘅乞兒，其中有啲故意將身上殘缺畸形嘅部分整得更加嚇人，又見過另一種乞兒，佢哋粒聲唔出坐喺坑渠旁邊，好似等待死亡嘅來臨。另外，我又經過洞悉世故嘅老伯，經過眼神空洞且呆滯嘅婦女，見到呢啲眼神就知道佢哋已經接受現狀，聽天由命。我亦大步跨過污糟邋遢嘅坑渠及其週圍嘅細路仔。又經過冷靜無情嘅警員，佢哋嘅高效水平令佢哋成為世界優秀之列。又經過一班班嘰里咕嚕嘅外國遊客，佢哋坐郵輪嚟香港，一心想買到九龍工廠粗制濫造嘅產品。又經過喺度玩緊嘅細蚊仔，佢哋嘅生活範圍唔可以離開呢度至下一條橫街窄巷嘅坑渠位置。冇任何人會企圖改變呢啲狀況，種種嘅凌亂會一直繼續到夜闌人靜。呢個時候，女人同埋少女們會出現喺我面前，佢哋想將我帶進另一種愛情，不過我所渴望嘅係喺別處。
And now I have several stone figures of my lady-love. They are all different, each reflecting the craftsman’s own idea of the nebulous quality which finds expression in the concept of Kwan Yin. But as in life, none has the same mystique as the one which first so captivated my fancy.
到而家，我已有好幾座石制雕塑，而佢哋一律都係我親愛嘅女人。但佢哋都唔一樣，每一座都表現出個別工匠對觀音嗰種難以言喻嘅獨特氣質嘅個人見解同構思。不過，正正好似生活咁，未有一座可以比得上迷倒我嘅第一座觀音。
When you get off the train at the terminus at Tuen Mun and descend into the streets, you plunge at once into a canyon of sombre, towering buildings that seem industrial in nature rather than architectural. Through the centre of town, another degraded river — the so-called Tuen Mun River Channel — crawls rather than runs on its way past the Public Cargo Working Area and down to the sea, slightly murky in appearance and bounded in its expanse by the usual snug straitjacket of concrete. For all that, Tuen Mun had no power to shut out the Spring, and it had come to the city with a riot of bird-call in the sliver of park squeezed between Tin Hau Road and the water, and with a fragrant outpouring from purple bauhinia flowers and from those red floral giants sprouting on the leafless, grey-barked, ramrod-straight kapok trees.
The Hau Kok Tin Hau Temple is, according to the signpost, an 11-minute walk away, and I get there in good time, despite the obstacles put in my path by some new construction or renovation project. The word kok in Cantonese suggest a horn of land projecting into water, but perhaps reclamation has obliterated this geographical reality — a casual flick though the Hong Kong street directory will show you that there are many man-made straight lines in the Hong Kong coastline. Given the proximity to the sea, one would expect the worship of the goddess of the sailors to be vital to the locals, and this turns out to be the case: her temple sits against a hill in a large paved public square of considerable proportions, at the entrance to which is a magnificent though modernized ceremonial pai lau gateway. The interesting thing about this is that the matching couplets engraved onto it contain references both to Hau Kok and Tuen Mun, reinforcing the idea that such temples can play an essential role in sustaining not just a local community but in communing with a specific locale. “The region responds to the attention to the attention it receives from the various members of the community”, writes Thomas Berry, and I can only hope that it is so, because like so many other places in Hong Kong, clusters of high-rise apartment buildings are encroaching with grim determination on all sides.
The temple certainly seems to be an important focus for the community: it shows many signs of being well-used. Although hardly thronging with visitors on this special day of the Ching Ming Festival, the large censer in front of the temple is belching incense, as is the incinerator for paper-offerings located off to the left-hand side, next to a squat shrine — this one painted yellow rather than the typical red — dedicated to 社稷大王之神位 , the two great kings of the land and of grain. The main gates of this temple are painted vermilion, and the door gods have been rendered in a tasteful, antique style. Above the lintel, there are the usual paintings of auspicious animals and natural scenes. As an added bonus, reflecting perhaps the idiosyncratic bent of artist, we also have depictions of two of China’s greatest poets. On the left, Su Tung-p’o is shown “playing” with ink-stones (a less literal and more scholarly translation for the verb waan might be “makes a display of his connoisseurship”), while on the right we see “Li Po Getting Drunk on Wine” but still steady on his feet. To a foreigner, both seem frivolous if not immoral scenes, hardly edifying for the pious temple-goer intent on worship, but they suggest that the pleasures of this life are not incompatible with the upholding of the sacred, and serve as a gentle reminder that from early times, Chinese poetry has been associated with shamanism and journeys into the numinous spirit-world.
Continue reading “Hong Kong Tin Hau Temples: Hau Kok 口角天后古廟”
